On the sixth of this month I turned fifty four. I am yet to believe that I have actually crossed fifty years. As the age increases the gifts seemed to be coming down. However, there are two friends who never fail to give me a present on my birthday. This year too they offered to present whichever title I wanted since they knew I loved to get books as gifts. So I chose two books. I told M to send me ‘Ghachar Ghochar’ by Vivek Shanbhag and when I went with Hari to Landmark I picked up ‘When Breath Becomes Air’ by Paul Kalanithi.
I had actually picked up ‘The Great Derangement’ by Amitav Ghosh but when I saw ‘When Breath Becomes Air’ I picked it up instead. It isn’t a book to be read by those in their fifties especially around their birthdays. It is a crushingly sad account of a young neurosurgeon’s account of his struggle with lung cancer that ultimately defeats him. I felt terrible after reading the book and for a couple of days I found it difficult to shake away thoughts of death that were in mind all the time.
On Sunday I had been to Abids but I hadn’t found anything worth buying there. So I returned empty handed which felt good for a change. I hope next Sunday I will find something good.
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