Bookshelf

2017 was the most disappointing year with respect to the number of books I read; I failed to complete a single book. Through the year I only, occasionally, read one book - Metamaus by Art Spiegelman and still did not complete it. To make sure I never repeat this disaster I have resolved to read more this year.

I started the year with Delhi by Khushwant Singh. There are numerous reasons behind picking up this amazing book by Mr. Singh and a lot of it has to do with nastoglia.

First, I recently started religiously reading a blog called ‘The Delhi Walla’. This brilliant piece of ongoing work hooked me and made me a lot more curious about Delhi - my home for 25 years.

Second, being a big fan of the architecture of Lutyens Delhi, Sujan Singh Park piqued my interest and I soon found that Mr. Singh himself used to reside there (and the flats were built by his grand father). Why I went looking for Sujan Singh Park I cannot recall but I’m sure it was when I was reading about Khan market.

Third, I was moving out of Delhi (Gurgaon actually. I had moved out of Delhi way back in 2013) and wanted to dig deeper into the rich history of the city.

Fourth, years back, while waiting for someone at a mall, I wandered into a bookshop and picked up this very book to read. I read a couple of pages and forced myself to put down the book because I knew I won’t be able to devour the whole book at that moment.

Hence, it was natural for me to choose Delhi as my first book of the year and the first read of Khushwant Singh’s work.