Reading List 2019 to 2021

 

Reading as a habit is seemed to have lost its sheen thanks to the rise of digital platforms. But with an exploding population and old-world charm associated with books number of books being published is increasing, and a fraction of people are still holding to the good old habit of reading. Many people reinvented their lost love in the current pandemic, maybe reading, painting or cooking. 

 

I belong to the old world and still find solitude and self-realisation or a kind of meditation in reading. Going inside another person's creative process is sometimes like going into other people's lives, minds, and fantasies. Sometimes, it is their beliefs and struggles that I am interested in. Due to a busy mechanical daily life, I often keep my pleasure just by looking at books neatly kept in my Almirah. Many books are half-read, and many are yet to be opened.

 

Kindle was a thing I avoided over the years, just because I thought let me be in the old world. I saw the new generation comfortable with this reading, so I thought of giving it a try. I found it to be good in many senses -like lightweight, highlighting and taking notes, and keeping many books in your product. They may book has its disadvantage just like is with your book almirah. 

 

No time to read in conjunction with to busy schedule and a forgetful mind. I thought it would be best to keep track of what you have read every year. I was noting it in my diary for the last two years, but as they also have the chance of being lost, I thought of noting them up in my blog. 

Here is my reading list of the previous three years; it did not include the books which I collected and flipped only a few pages and kept for incubation; I wish I should have read more, but I can confidently say that the following books kept me engaged mentally and physically in my time with them. 

 

2019 

 

1.      মিচিমি বিহৰ সন্ধানত :তপন কুমাৰ শৰ্মা

2.     1984 -George Orwel 

3.     Man’s Search for Meaning -Viktor Frenkel 

4.     Buddha -Graphic Novel by Osomu Tezka (2 nd time read)

 

2020 

1.     Screenplay -the foundation of screenwriting (incomplete ) Syd Field 

2.     Assam Accord and Discord -Sangita Borah Pichorty 

3.     The Real Munin Borkotoy -Sisir Basumatary 

4.     Palestine -Graphic Novel by Joe Sacco 

5.     Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari  (incomplete read as COVID pandemic started after I completed first few chapters)

6.     IKIGAI Héctor García

 

2021 

1.     The Life at Play -Giris Karnard (Autobiography)- First literature book finished on Kindle 

2.     মোৰো এটা সপোন আছে -ৰুবুল মাউত 

3.     I, too, had a dream – Verges Kurien 

 

 

Bibartan

Full Cover

Front Cover

Back Cover

 

The Book Trailer of Bibartan (You tube)

A new Book of Fiction after a long time . A collection of short stories in Assamese. 

Bibartan or the Evolution 

The Short stories written between 2009 to 2019.  Thel stories set from the genesis of creation to an unknown dystopian future are set in varied places and people like 

The situation when the first murder of the planet took place on this planet 

Or 

An child labour in illegal coal mines of Congo to a Mahut who lost his Elephant in Corbett national Park 

To mind of a scientist entrapped in his own dream machines in Silicon Valley 

and 

Of courses many stories dissects the diaspora Assamese diaspora through layers of historical and sociopolitical prospects 

From evolution of Men-kind and the entity called Assamese identity. All the stories were published in leading Assamese vernaculars widely discussed in literary sphere of Assam. 

Pages : 282 

Publisher & Distributor : Papyrus Books and Beyond, PanBazar 

Also avaiable in Amazon (Clichttps://www.amazon.in/Bibartan-Bhaskar-Thakuria/dp/8194338131/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=bibartan&qid=1627831873&sr=8-1k here)

 

Maze of time

 In this difficult time , perusing your hobby is becoming a luxury.  You don’t have time , when you have some there is no temperament to peruse what you love to. Yes pandemic has taken a toll on all of us .  We wish the virus to vanquish , we all wish to revenge the devastation it has caused  . We are seeing innumerable accounts of hatred created out of it also.   

 

When you are away from what you enjoy things get suffocating. So I needed to reconcile with reading . But it is tough to have the royal combination of time and mindset amidst . I resorted to graphic novel once again and read two cult book Maus (Art Spiegelman

) and  ‘Palestine (Joe Sacco ) in last year. 

Maus – is about empathic narration of a son who revisits his father’s life through his neutral eye and tells the story of Fathers fate from an elite businessman in Reich to a Nazi prisoner to an immigrant in US holding to his charm and believe .

 Whereas  Palestine is a travelogue kind of graphic book  where author look into the misery of Palestine through emphatic ,satirical and at time gripping account of life in Palestine. 

 

Both are true events

The backgrounds are interconnected  

 

Both have successfully connected to the readers with the message that how things go beyond control once it slips away from your hand. The accounts told in the story goes beyond the narration time if we go to search roots of the problem. For more than thousand years one conflict has chronicled into layers of conflict across the globe. The entangled identity of religion ,race , language and pride and revenge have plagued and mankind again and again. 

We have attained knowledge but we have not learnt from it.    

Repeated efforts to change the course of history has always been mercilessly boomeranged. And to seek a revenge of Historical misfortune would lead to more holocaust.

 

We all know all that but still we fall in this trap again and again … 

The time , misfortune and misery of recent time is ripe for similar situation.

 Let’s reconcile to our past and walk the middle path in the time to come  

 

IKIGAI

I am not a big fan of self help book. In fact I hate most of the celebrated author in this category. The main reason may be might be my ego. I find it very ridiculous and funny if someone asks me what to eat, how to face life and of the foremost –how to think.

‘Think’ this the only thing that ‘I think I do best’

Then I lost my flow, forget writing I lost my art of thinking, reading and my philosophy.

My philosophy was –nothing

A subject matter that kept me engorged for about twenty years. It culminated in my last novel –Singhdwar. In the book the protagonist find sancta, six philosophies that artist Nicholas Rourich found answer the last stop of sancta was –And we open the door and the protagonist came out of nothingness and find a new meaning to life.

Many time writers are engorged in their plot and I was inside –Nothingness and my routine called life.

In order to reinvent myself I came back to my basics –to start finding time to read. I randomly ordered Viktor Frankele- Mens Search for Meaning. I was not a typical self help book but it worked as a self help to me. My ego was not affected as

1.      his suffering were much more than any human can imagine of (still he overcame it and emerged as a Hero) so I cannot accuse him of just another adviser

2.      and the book didn’t suggested anything like do this and do that but his philosophy of LOGOTHERAPY was based on finding individualised path to search for meaning of life

 

After some time I started hearing about this book: ‘IKIGAI -The Japanese Secret to Long and Happy life, and started seeing the book in roadside as well as leading book stores .Was little reluctant to buy it as I already have a long waiting list of must read books and yes paucity of time in this routine called life and off course it seems to be a Self Help Book with lot of advice that readers will never follow after few 

But I could not resist the temptation when a pile of book was purchased for college students by our college authority in order to promote reading habit.  I unabashedly asked my head of the institute –“May I have a copy of this book “?

To my relive Madam allowed very happily gave it to me in a public ceremony. So again in a bout of reading thrust I opened –IKIGAI and found it to be a continuation of my thought sequel –Singhadwar, Men’s Search for Meaning.

Author Hector Gracia and Fraces Miralles started with Victor Frankel and continued with how to search your own meaning of life. Simple steps to solve the modern life’s problem (with elaboration and emphasis on cell phone abdication) it also advices on

Eating habits (Eat 80% of your estimate to fill your stomach), returning to nature (a common modern day problem), getting rid of bad vibes, keeping the good vibes etc.

Most of the things we know we should do but never follow.... but this book is definitely an inspiration to follow a good habit in life.

And I liked it because it doesn’t enforce and rule but ask you to find your own IKIGAI that is reason for being.