MORE ARTICLES

DEEPTI SUDHINDRA, THEATRE ARTIST

At a point when I was searching for something, clueless to what it was, a book was given to me - German author Hermann Hesse's magnum opus The Glass Bead Game. The book is set in the 23rd century, in Castalia, set up by society for the intellectual elite, a place for the development of the mind. The story is of Joseph Knecth and his study of philosophy, logic, mathematics and music ? all in the pursuit of becoming the Magister Ludi or master of the glass bead game. Through this, Hesse spins thoughts and perspectives on conflict between the correct ways of living in society. It's a book on philosophy, on spirituality, on the functioning of the mind and life itself. It's all about finding deep and esoteric connections at the intersections of many disciplines and purposes. Hesse's relationship with eastern mysticism weaves through the words. To me, it was a study, a journey in learning to be willing to be open to an underlying unity, of knowing what depth, clarity, love and commitment really meant. It had a deep spiritual impact and my questions found answers within themselves. It changed me, and continues to do so every day. I have to say that it has such closeness to the Bhagavad Gita. I hold it very dear to my heart as it made clear my purpose on this planet. It says, ?The deity is within you, not in ideas and books. Truth is lived and not taught.'

VIKRAM SAMPATH, WRITER AND AUTHOR

I am what I am today because of Bhagwan Gidwani's The Sword of Tipu Sultan. I was just about 13-years-old when the TV serial Tipu Sultan based on this book was aired. People held Mysore royalty in great reverence. But like the rest of the serials this one too showcased royalty the wrong way ? the king with his courtiers and the queen always a scheming woman ? which led to much tension in Bengaluru those days. Out of my curiosity to get my facts right, I decided to read up on Mysore history. My first point of research was The Sword of Tipu Sultan. It is this book that triggered off the next 15 years of in-depth research on the subject. This culminated in the form of the two books that I wrote: Splendours of Royal Mysore ? The Untold Story of the Wodeyars and My Name is Gauhar Jaan ? Life and Times of a Musician, and in all a whole new life. In all its improbabilities, this book (including the serial) changed my life forever. I seriously want to thank them because they gave me direction. In the truest sense, this book made me a writer and an author. You are interviewing me today because of that episode in my life.

AJIT SALDANHA, WRITER AND PRODUCER OF MUSIC AND COMEDY SHOWS

It is not one but three books that changed my life forever ? Atonement by Ian McEwan, Equus by Peter Shaffer and Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome. Atonement by McEwan transformed my way of thinking. That is the function of good literature. All of us are born with prejudices. But books especially of great authors have the ability to dramatically change the course of a reader's life. McEwan's book is about a young girl who makes a terrible mistake that has life-changing effects. She lives her life seeking atonement. It revolves around the journey of a maid's son who goes to the prestigious Cambridge University. The author beautifully weaves the school boy fantasy when a wrong love letter with graphic details accidentally reaches the forbidden love. The consequences of the blunder are both liberating and incriminating. A wrong allegation of sexual assault convicts him and subsequently he joins the army which too has a graphic description of the war. There are no moral questions asked or answered till the end of the book. All novels are usually about good and evil. But essentially, all good people can do evil things and vice versa. Atonement shows the grey side of human beings.

Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat is a humorous account of a boating holiday on the Thames. It is a comic version of The Three Musketeers. I enjoyed the craft of it. Most of us have the problem of taking life too seriously. Also, we define and categorise people with what they do rather than how they do it or what they are. This book makes you look beyond the obvious. It is set 100 years ago minus modern appliances or thinking. Its genteel humour makes for fantabulous reading.

Peter Shaffer's play Equus takes up the burning issue of religion and how fundamentalism finds its way into horrible outlets. Equus is about a boy with a god-fearing mother who instills fear in him for ?taboo' subjects like sex. One day he finds his father at a blue movie theatre. Everything comes crashing down. The 17-year-old makes horses his religion. A girl seduces him and that renders him so guilty that he blinds six horses with metal rods. He is sent to a child psychiatrist for help. In his attempt to heal him, the psychiatrist actually envies the power of the boy's faith and thus finds his own life meaningless. In fact, I played the role of the boy when I was 17-year-old. I would say that the play was an early warning for me not to be a fundamentalist ever.

UPENDRANATH T R, ARTIST

Growing up, each of us is conditioned by the thought processes around us. And then we reach a point in our lives when we need to break free from all this and discover things on our own. I have found that this often happens from experiences, very often from books. Such an insight came to me from the book Bhoomiyuday Avakashikal by Malayalam writer Vaikom Muhammad Basheer. It speaks about the earth and that we humans are not the only inheritors of it, that every living creature has a right over the earth. The book helped me move into a new space of thinking. It helped me understand that my pride and ego as a human is so large that the world around us seems so small. In truth, it is the reverse ? the earth and all that it contains and exists in a balance is what is large. It helped me see the smallest of things in detail, how it eventually adds up to form a larger picture.

MEA ABRAHAM, FRENCH TEACHER

I first read To Kill a Mocking Bird while in college, more than 15 years ago and I keep going back to it time and again. It is a story from the perspective of a six-year-old girl and the simplicity of her childhood observations within complicated adult situations, the coming of age of her older brother who struggles to understand the separations of race and class.

It is a book that teaches us about human dignity and respect for others, about courage and integrity and simple childhood pleasures. There is a sentence in the book which sums up the thought of never judging a person wrongly: ?You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view ? until you climb around in his skin and walk around it.' This one sentence has changed my life tremendously. It has taught me not to pass judgements about anyone. I have seen that practicing it has the power to clear up misunderstandings, which are often the reason for many arguments.

MARY GEORGE, ADVERTISING PROFESSIONAL

"I grew up in a large family and plenty of books. I remember there were these two green book shelves in my house. The books were arranged in logical order. The lowest shelf had all the Enid Blyton books from Noddy to Mr. Twiddle to Amelia Jane. The next shelf sported Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books along with Biggles, Tintin and Asterix comics. The third shelf was dedicated to the memorable Westerns, Louis L'amour and JT Edison. And the topmost shelf was the Classics shelf with Louisa M Alcott, Sherlock Holmes and sundry books. As children we went through each of these shelves, completing every one of them (the arrangement was in accordance to our height and age!). But till today it is The Bible which has touched me and changed my life. The personal connotation of every word, the incredible strength I was able to derive, and the uplifting joy I experienced from it, made The Bible my greatest resource and unending source to any query of mine. My faith metamorphosed into an experience. Life has never been the same since."

??TANYA ABRAHAM