Books by P. Lankesh

Seedlings That Are Books

Gidadante Beleyuva Kruti

We may cry hoarse about literature, but there is a test of good writing.

When you are so dejected that you don’t want to go out nor want to talk to anyone, you hanker after solitude. The feeling that a book may soothe you makes you look for a book in the rack.

The feeling is comparable to the moment when you are hungry plus pick up a snack. When you are hungry for love and tenderly touch a loved one. Just so, your heart hankers after a book that will lighten your mind and please you. Such a book is a really good one. The book need not be about philosophy, ideology or enigmatic knowledge. It is enough if it comforts you. You feel grateful if you find a story or a column or any piece by an author who lives through his writings.

At such times, I reach out for George Orwell, Anton Chekov, Marquez or Yates. I look for Jane Austen’s novels, compendium of erotic poetry, or Kannada poet Bendre’s ballads.  You know how much I enjoyed Malleshiya Nalleyaru, a Kannada story that I read recently. It is a light hearted, witty story about the efforts of love and lust of a simple young man who lives in a healthy society.

Some one asked me which old books I like. ``Books that grow. Books that are alive. Does a book grow? Yes they do. The books that Orwell wrote 40 years ago, still create a sense of awe and pleasure in my mind. I don’t know if the readers of his time enjoyed his books or not. They were like tiny seedlings then. They keep growing all the time. I like Orwell now, more than ever. Some of Chekov’s stories are dear to me. His Cherry Orchard for example…., I went on saying.

That is how you end the mind’s hunger and quench its thirst.

Eom