A Dull Job and Finding Two Good Books

Mine is an inherently dull job (I am a file pusher) but it has its moments of excitement. Last week there was one such occasion for me to get a little excited to be out of the office for a couple of days. We were holding a conference and I was assigned in the support team.

On Wednesday last week I had slipped out of the office to visit a bookstore. I had just then picked up Pico Iyer’s ‘Tropical Classical’ and was feeling overjoyed at finding it when the phone rang. I was asked to rush to the airport to pick up someone arriving from, of all places, Dharwad.

I love being at airports because it affords me to do a bit of people watching. I love to watch the people walk through the arrivals terminal holding their bags, eyes searching for the person sent to receive them at the airport. The plane bringing in our guest was two hours late. I wandered around the airport which is now more like a bus terminal with so many people thronging the place.

One can always tell the regular fliers from the first timers. The regulars are the ones carefully dressed, neatly combed and an unhurried manner. The newcomers are the ones whose eyes dart around nervously and are the ones usually dressed in outrageous clothes.

I leafed through Pico Iyer’s book and it was a real treasure. It was a collection of his essays published in various publications. In it were essays on writer’s like Peter Matthiessen, Norman Lewis, long essays on books and write ups on places. Iyer’s is a careful analysis of books and people and his style is something I have come to love. I will write more about this book in a later post.

Another book I had found last week at the Best Books sale was Barbara Wallraff’s ‘Your Own Words’. I got this hardcover book for a hundred and twenty five rupees which is a bargain. I hadn’t heard of the author earlier but I picked up the book when I read that she writes a column, ‘Word Court’ in The Atlantic Monthly. I was also influenced by a blurb that said ‘Anyone who cares passionately about writing should read this book.’ It appeared to be a book worth reading and I hope the book doesn’t disappoint me. More about it later.