If reading had a huge role to play in my growing up, Higginbothams had a greater role to play in building my reading habit. If I were an artist, I would have sketched a portrait of the man who used to keep the Higginbothams store at the Thrissur Railway Station. He was already an old man when I first met him. He was dark and slightly on the stouter side, with sloping shoulders. Not one strand of hair on his head was black. He had round, curious eyes staring out of an oblong face. He must have been short. Whether he was sitting down on his stool or standing up to cater to his customers, I never saw much of his torso above the counter of the book shop.
Wednesday, 17 April 2024
Higginbothams - Where I stumbled upon my childhood
If reading had a huge role to play in my growing up, Higginbothams had a greater role to play in building my reading habit. If I were an artist, I would have sketched a portrait of the man who used to keep the Higginbothams store at the Thrissur Railway Station. He was already an old man when I first met him. He was dark and slightly on the stouter side, with sloping shoulders. Not one strand of hair on his head was black. He had round, curious eyes staring out of an oblong face. He must have been short. Whether he was sitting down on his stool or standing up to cater to his customers, I never saw much of his torso above the counter of the book shop.
Thursday, 11 April 2024
To Paint the Complete Picture
Pick up your thinking brush. Dip it in the skies. Let it soak
in the blues. Then sweep it across the mind’s canvas. From end to end. Repeat
once, twice or thrice. Or as many times as it takes for the blues to rub off
the brush.
If the blues are too intense, dip the spiky bristles in the
cloudy whites. Wait until the blues wash away, and then touch up your skies so
they light up just a mite.
Now steep your brooding blues in the twilights. Blotch up
your canvas with blobs of red, yellow, orange, and blends of all three. Make
sure you leave some room for the occasional blues. Draw a few defining strokes
so the blobs know their space and don’t spill all over the place.
Splash across the bottom some earthy hues. For all those
shades need to bury their roots. Then plant a bed of sprouting greens of the
upcoming spring. And there you are! Your canvas is complete.
Some brights and some
blues
A picture replete with all hues
Ups and lows, joys and woes.
[Picture: Yarra Valley, Melbourne]