This document provides a summary of the novel Dahanu Road by Anosh Irani. It discusses the main characters Shapur Irani and Kusum, a Warli tribal woman, and how their relationship leads to unintended consequences. It highlights how the novel chronicles both the wealthy Irani community who were landlords, as well as the Warli tribals who worked on their lands. The summary praises the author's evocative portrayal of the communities and characters. It concludes by noting that while the Irani community has been explored in other works, the novel provides insights into their lesser known Iranian counterparts.

1. Volume 2 Issue 9
www.justbooksclc.com
blog.justbooksclc.com CONNECT November 2011
For limited circulation
A JustBooks Publication
A time for crime Pg 10
Quiz
Pg 12
Author
Profile
Pg 14
watching the ticking of his prodigious
Anindita Sengupta mind. His friend and biographer Dr John
H Watson narrates all but four of his sto-
Detective fiction is perfect for this ries and is the foil to his moodiness, Just
season that makes us want to curl up grumpiness, dopeyness and general lack
of all social skill. Kids
in bed with a good book says
Appearing in four novels and 56 short
Anindita Sengupta stories, Holmes remains a cult figure and
T
somebody who is constantly re-interpret-
his season makes me lazy. The ed and retold, most recently in the BBC
rains are on their way out and win- series 'Sherlock' produced by Hartwood Peter Wimsey, an aristocrat who takes up
ter is round the corner. Films. My winter pick: his third novel detection as a hobby. Together with his
My garden looks like its doing well on The Hound of the Baskervilles with its manservant Mervyn Bunter, Wimsey
its own (even the trees are somnolent) howling echoes of Devon and its demon appeared in eleven novels and a number
and my dog spends bulky time under the dog. of short stories.
covers. Doyle may have created the most While appearing to be a perfect English
The afternoons are perfect for curling famous of them all but (Dame) Agatha gentleman, aloof and stiff, in later novels
up with a good yarn, a good detective Christie was the best-selling novelist of he woos and marries Harriet Vane, a
yarn. Here's a round-up of some all time and her detectives—Hercule crime novelist whom he saved from a
favourite sleuths, disparate in looks, style Poirot and Miss Jane Marple—are no murder trial.
and snazz but similarly sharp and slackers. Many people believe Vane to be mod-
thrilling. Part of the Golden Age of detective fic- eled on Sayers herself and the last few
First up is Sherlock Holmes. The most tion (during the 1920s and 1930s), her sto- cases were solved by the couple working
famous of all fictional detectives first ries were racy whodunits which unrav- together. Clever and funny, the Wimsey
appeared in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's A eled clues with enticing flurry. stories reflect the social mores of gentri-
Study in Scarlet in 1887. Holmes claimed The only blot is a strain of anti- fied England in the period between the
to be the world's first "consulting detec- Semitism that has been widely remarked two wars and are littered with literary
tive" and touted the high cause of logical on. Around the same time, Dorothy allusions.
reasoning and much of the delight lies in Sayers introduced her detective Lord contd on pg 2...

2. 2 JustBooks Connect - November 2011
contd from pg 1...
From the Editor’s
Desk
T
he last quarter of a year is
always full of festivity.
There's Navratri, Diwali, Id,
Rajyotsava, Children's day and
then Christmas. The joyous and
festive mood continues till the
New Year's eve. This year we have
one more reason to celebrate.
For the last six months we have In America, in the late 1930s, a new the troubles that police face when deal-
been working on bringing out a form of detective fiction was popularised ing with criminals. In England, police
different but appealing literary by Dashiell Hammet: the hard-boiled procedurals were less about the nitty-
magazine for one and all. And we novel. His cool, jaded but idealistic Sam gritty of the police work and more about
finally reached the milestone; the Spade was markedly different from the the character of the detective. Baroness
first edition of our literary maga- golden age sleuths. Ruth Rendell's Chief Inspector Wexford
zine INK is ready. It will be avail- What set these books apart were the is an intelligent, sensitive family man
able for internal circulation only, copious amounts of violence and the who often finds it hard to come to terms
in all the JustBooks' branches. As a ambiguous morality of the protagonists. with the increasing violence in his small
JustBooks member you will able to Spade looked for his own form of justice, town.
get a complimentary copy of INK! largely ignoring the law and punishing Rendell's novels are about the reason
So grab your copy soon and give criminals in his own fashion. While Sam behind the crime and not merely about
your feedback sooner to our INK Spade appeared only in The Maltese solving the case and while Wexford him-
editor. Falcon, his character was the inspiration self may not be able to always fathom the
Coming to this edition of the for Raymond Chandler's detective Philip cause of crime, Rendell talks about the
newsletter, there is some exciting Marlowe. psychological reasons behind criminal
news. Check out the Just Kids Another well-estab- behavior.
page, we have expanded it. At lished form of the In her other, darker,
JustBooks, we believe reading and detective novel is the non-Wexford novels,
writing go hand in hand, and its Police Procedural in she has often taken on
best to 'catch them young'! Hence which the protagonist the perspective of the
we invite and encourage all our is usually a police criminal. Her 1977
young readers from 5-13 years to detective or some- novel, A Judgment in
write poems or stories of their times in an ancillary Stone, is lauded as
own, book reviews or any interest- police department sharp social examina-
ing article that you might want to like Forensics. tion of class difference
share with others and send it to us The most remem- but my rather nostalgic
along with your name, school bered police procedural novels are the favourite remains her debut novel From
name and JustBooks branch name. 87th Precinct novels by Ed McBain. Set in Doon with Death (1964).
Now who doesn't like to read a the fictional 87th precinct of New York A new crop of detective novels with
good thriller and with the winter City, over 40 novels about Detective unusual crime settings have become pop-
upon us, nothing seems better Steve Carella and his colleagues have laid ular in recent years. Dana Stabenow's
than been curled up with a nice bare the mechanisms that police detec- Kate Shugak series of mysteries are set in
whodunit novel. tives follow while solving a crime in their Alaska and her descriptions of cold and
So it's the perfect time to talk district. snow are quite chilling, as are the
about some good thriller novels Some stories, especially those featuring descriptions of crime.
and their memorable characters. recurring criminal mastermind "the Deaf Tony Hillerman's Leaphorn and Chee
Do feel free to share some of your Man", are a bit far-fetched but the major- novels are famous for their descriptions
favourites with us. ity are well-plotted and infused with a of Native American tribes, especially the
The other interesting feature we gritty realism that, even today, reveals Navajo Indians, and how the protago-
have for you is on pseudonyms nists' beliefs in the religions and rituals of
aka pen names used by various the tribes affect their investigations.
well known writers. Why they Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael novels are
used these pseudonyms and what set in an English monastery in the early
interesting and creative names 12th century and acclaimed as historical-
they came up with. ly accurate representations of the time.
Tell us what you think of this And there are lots I've left out like Colin
edition and write in your thoughts Dexter's Inspector Morse or Dennis
and contributions to editor@just- Lehane's Patrick Kenzie and Angela
booksclc.com. Gennaro series.
As usual happy reading!  Buckle on that sixth sense and arm
yourself for winter with an armful of
these. 

3. JustBooks Connect - November 2011 3
Rebirth A Different Sky
Jahnavi Barua Meira Chand
Penguin Harvill Secker
Anindita Sengupta Pushpa Achanta
A T
story of survival, self and hope, he lives of Indians, Eurasians
Rebirth is a novel as contained as and Chinese intersected in dif-
a poem, travelling smooth and ferent ways before, during and
deep, charting its intimate world with after British rule and Japanese occu-
profundity, lyricism and poignance. pation in Malaya and Singapore.
At its centre is Kaberi, in her second In A Different Sky, Meira Chand
trimester of pregnancy and carrying a weaves an engaging fictional narra-
child who is both solace and secret tive against this backdrop of real
(nobody knows that it exists except for events that occurred in the earlier
her gynaecologist). and middle part of the previous cen-
Her husband has left four months ago tury. Penning evocative prose about
for another woman and a divorce is these circumstances, she makes the
impending but Kaberi has held the characters seem real through her
knowledge of his child because she does not want him to come insights gained from her exposure to various countries and
back for the wrong reasons. researching extensively about the period.
The novel, written as a monologue to her unborn child, is a A Different Sky follows the lives of three protagonists
study of solitude-Kaberi's intense and restrained struggle to from different backgrounds and deals with various issues
cope with her new life-even while it is a chronicle of maternal like colonialism, racial discrimination, war and love, but the
hopes and worries. way she deals with this through her characters is not cliche.
What lingers is a very meaningful sense of having known a Meira Chand has previously written six novels on various
character as closely, as warmly, as one would know a familiar. subjects and historical incidents. Being of Indo-Swiss parent-
This is a controlled book, subtle and assured. There are no sud- age and having grown up in England and lived in Japan and
den twists of fate or revelation. Singapore, she infuses her work with her diverse experi-
The book ends on a surprising and suspenseful note which is ences. Although this tome makes an interesting read, its
somewhat unconvincing, almost as if it was tacked on in a hurry. length could act as a deterrent especially if one prefers a fast
This is a tiny flaw in an otherwise beautifully written book.  moving tale. 
The Power Of Intuition: How To Use Your Gut The Stuff of Thought
Feelings To Make Better Decisions At Work Steven Pinker
Gary Klein Penguin Books
Doubleday
Manjula Sundharam Dr. Rajagopalan
M T
ost corporate executives he moral of the parable of the five
learn to make decisions blind men and the elephant is not
based on analysis of facts. missing the whole by focusing
Does relying on just the data help only on its parts.
them make the right decisions? What Perhaps a similar moral exists even
do we do when we have fewer when one looks at a whole, but from the
chances to try options? vantage point of any specific discipline.
Author Gary Klein in his book The Biology, psychology, cognitive science,
Power Of Intuition shows leaders neurosciences, computer science and
how they can learn to use their accu- artificial intelligence have all made dis-
mulated and compiled experiences to tinct but partial contributions to our
become better at decision making. understanding of how we think. Steven
To those who are skeptical that rely- Pinker, a self-confessed 'verbivore' uses
ing on intuitions could be riskier, the author points out that our language, both written and oral, as a rabbit-hole to peep into
body's immune system makes decisions with high degree of human nature and thought processes.
speed and accuracy. The decisions of the immune system are Is there an abstract 'language of thought' below the layer of
made based on matching patterns. "When we can rely on our our manifest languages?
immune system's intuitive decision abilities, why not learn to use Our experience of learning languages and history in school
our experiences as well? ", Klein asks. The author also suggests was very similar-one damn thing after another. If the plural of
that we identify and understand the critical, difficult and fre- house was houses, why say mice and not 'mouses'?
quent decisions involved in our job. Understanding what When should we use past perfect and not past tense? Well,
makes this decision difficult, what kinds of errors are often Pinker avoids such dead-ends to take us on a thoroughly enjoy-
made and how would an expert make this decision differently able journey. 
from a novice would help learn how to tackle the decisions. 
For the full reviews check out justbooksclc.com

4. 4 JustBooks Connect - November 2011
The Parsi mystery
A life built on blood and tears
He can be kind and humane but he is a terrible state of mind. Desperate to
Dahanu Road also self-indulgent and cowardly enough understand his wife, Shapur Irani takes a
to pass off Kusum as a servant when his step that has unforeseen repercussions,
Anosh Irani parents return home unexpectedly after despite good intentions.
Harper Collins she spends a night in his home. The Warli-Irani struggle is well docu-
His intentions, of freeing Kusum from mented and Anosh Irani doesn't spare his
her abusive husband, are good but have community in describing some of the
repercussions that are far reaching and atrocities of the landlords.
Reshmi Chakraborty unintended. His portrayal of the Irani community is
Zairos also seems blissfully ignorant of meticulous and often hilarious, from Aspi
the discomfort his decision to flaunt Irani, who is obsessed with mosquito
Kusum at places frequented by fellow repellents to Hosi, who loves all things
A
Iranis has on her. grim.
Warli tribal's suicide acts as a cat-
Despite his growing attraction towards The author is on familiar ground when
alyst for a chain of events in
her, the gulf of class always seems to be describing the Irani community and this
Anosh Irani's Dahanu Road. It is
there between Zairos and Kusum, alone makes Dahanu Road worth a read.
an evocative novel about Dahanu, a town
whether it is in him teaching her to pro- We've had quite a few books that dwell
close to Mumbai, where the now Canada
nounce his name or in his last act of sus- on the Parsi community but the Irani
based Irani spent part of his boyhood. It is
picion with her. community, which followed the Parsis to
also a book that chronicles the Irani
India, is an equal treasure trove
community settled in Dahanu, most
of stories. The stories come
of them wealthy landowners and
alive in the author's description
the Warli tribals who work on the
of his Irani characters and their
lands that they once owned.
peculiarities and the confidence
The book starts with the young
with which he recounts those.
Shapur Irani, waiting to go to the
By contrast, the Warlis, espe-
sweetshop of his dreams with his
cially their history and myths
father in 1920s Iran. An attack on
come across as something from
his father by a Muslim royal's men
a fairytale.
prompts the two to leave Iran and
You need to read the book to
head to India.
know if Zairos finds happiness
The book then moves to Dahanu
with Kusum or without her and
in 2000 and introduces us to the
the terrible secret Zairos
Zairos and Aspi Irani, grandson
unearths in his quest to know
and son to Shapur Irani, who is now
his grandfather, and the land
ninety and a rich landowner in the
he is about to inherit, better.
area.
However, Dahanu Road is not
Zairos' life of carefree existence
just a three generation familial
hits a bumper when he comes
saga.
across the body of Ganpat, a tribal
At one level, it also docu-
who has committed suicide on his
ments how easily the
grandfather's farm.
oppressed can turn into
To complicate matters further,
oppressor.
Zairos is attracted to Kusum,
The Iranis fled from Persia
Ganpat's beautiful daughter.
because they were persecuted
Kusum regularly battered and
by the Muslims but in Dahanu,
bruised by her alcoholic husband,
it's a role reversal as Irani and
sees in Zairos a way out even if it
In a way, Zairos reflects the mistakes of Parsi landlords have taken control over
sets tongues wagging. Irani's narrative
his grandfather Shapur Irani, who too what once used to be Warli land.
weaves back and forth between Zairos
had faltered around his sweetheart Banu, They also seem to have devised new
and his pursuit of Kusum to a young
unable to understand her as she sinks into methods of oppressing the Warlis,
Shapur Irani's life in the 1940s with his
whether it is in taking any Warli
much loved wife Banu.
women they desire or opening fire on a
As Zairos delves deeper into Kusum's “The Iranis fled from Persia crowd of unsuspecting Warlis gathered
life, he suspects there is more to the
because they were persecuted by for a protest. Zairos, in many ways, is
story of his grandmother than his
grandfather has let on. the Muslims but in Dahanu, it's a the redeemer of the community.
He shares their life but understands
Irani's Zairos is a well-defined cre- role reversal as Irani and Parsi its origins and the blood and tears it has
ation no doubt. Son of the eternal
landlords have taken control over been built upon. It makes for good clo-
prankster Aspi, he's very much the
product of his surroundings and cir- what once used to be Warli land.” sure and in the end, despite some flaws,
cumstances. a readable, good book. 

5. JustBooks Connect - November 2011 5
Adoption and Adaptation
A search for her roots
had no choice, was forced to abandon her The only discomfort I had with the
Secret Daughter child in an orphanage. book was the kind of lopsided manner in
Shilpi Somaya Gawda
Harper Collins
T he alternative was too cruel even to
consider as a viable option. The
author delicately weaves into her narra-
which the Indian and the American ways
of life were juxtaposed, both albeit from
the perspective of our young protagonist
tive, the painful subject of female infanti- Asha.
cide in India. The author provides intricate details,
What I liked best was the conclusion. It uses colourful imageries, and delicate
was the ironic twists and turns and the brush strokes to draw the portrait of life
Rajeshwari Ghose tremendously complex monologue that in India, while broad generalizations and
one can imagine Asha to have had with rough sketch lines characterize life in the
T
he Secret Daughter is the quest of a herself before she makes her crucial deci- US. The American mother has no defin-
young adult, Asha, in search of her sion. ing personality.
biological parents and her own ori- I shall not take away the delight of the While I would like to think that it was a
gins. Asha is a child born in India of reader by giving away the conclusion. definite ploy used by the author to paint
Indian parents, raised as an infant the characters through Asha's
in a Bombay orphanage and eyes, I was still left feeling
adopted by a middle class couple that the American world was
in America, with the father being robbed of its richness and
Indian and the mother white made simplistic and reduced
American. almost to a caricature.
The novel mainly oscillates The father too was colour-
between two worlds, the Indian less-again is it that we are
world of rural poverty, followed asked to see him as Asha did,
by a description of life in a brutal especially at the time in her
urban slum in Bombay on the one life when she resented the
hand and the world of American comfortable bleakness of her
academia and professional physi- existence? She was dealing
cians in suburban San Francisco with issues of adolescence
on the other. and added to it was the mys-
Asha knows very little about tery of her birth and her feel-
India, as her American mother is ing of loss and that defined
rather lukewarm towards Indian her world view.
culture. She had visited India just
once and found it completely alien T here are instances of her
not knowing anything
about India that I found diffi-
and was upset by the dust, the
poverty and the apathy of the well cult to understand, living as
to do and made no further efforts she does in a multicultural
to acquaint herself with the com- world of California. However
plexities of Indian life. my white friends assured me
Her father too remains compla- that it was very possible to
cent and the issue of cultural iden- live isolated, sanitized lives
tity is never regarded as a concern even to this day in California.
worthy of discussion. After all, the book was on
The adolescent rebellion of the the best seller list for a very
young girl against parental long time in Canada and so
authority assumes an added the average Canadian reader
dimension of cultural alienation, does not seem to have picked
which she uses effectively as a weapon The moment when she collapses in the on this as a negative feature, for the
against her mother in the passive aggres- lobby of the apartment in Bombay, where reviews have all been very complimenta-
sive manner of a typical teenager. she knows that her biological parents live ry.
Her mother is at a complete loss to with their son, her brother, and her On another nitpicking detail, I could
understand this angst of the young girl. It intense feeling of abandonment at the not imagine how the biological mother
is this very familiar mother-daughter moment decides the final move she managed to escape the scrutiny of the
relationship with its inevitable friction makes-it is almost as if no rational solu- family and the village to go up to
that forms one part of the narrative. tion could be arrived at in that juncture Bombay and abandon her child. Such pri-
The other part of the narrative focuses and she can only respond with her aching vacy is a luxury of the west and is pretty
on the silent, every hour suffering of the heart, "for the dreams she carried in her heart hard to get in rural India. 
Indian mother of Asha, who, because she and in her white marble box are gone".

6. 6 JustBooks Connect - November 2011
In conversation
Does familiarity breed contempt?
Ram Mohan Susarla
M
y previous columns were all
about how reading books as a
habit and a hobby can be pur-
sued for pleasure and fun.
While we discussed the ways and
means to acquire books, how reading
contributes to wholesome experience
and other pleasures of the book lovers,
an aspect that has not been discussed yet
is whether one can have enough of books
or is there a point when reading becomes
boring.
The objective of reading should be to
increase pleasure and not to become put
off by books.
So, one needs to be judicious while
acquiring and reading books as like other
forms of consumption certain wariness
sets in with excess of it.
The trick lies in knowing when to take ner. Like the warriors who
a break and pause and when to resume pick their battles, one
the habit of reading, not in stopping to must pick and choose the
buy or rent books beyond a certain level. genres, authors, topics etc.
As said earlier, reading is like sipping By this, the books that
old wine, the pleasure lies in taking small one has would be dog-
sips and savoring the experience. eared from use rather than
My advice for book lovers would be collect dust from disuse.
not to read books by the same author in And what better compli-
succession. ment for authors to have
Authors have a particular writing style their books in the former
that they tend to carry in most of their fashion rather than the lat-
works and hence there is a tendency to ter.
be hit by repetitive turns of phrase and We live in times where
style. mass production rules the
One could get a feeling of déjà vu if one roost and hence consump-
reads the same author in succession. So tion is similarly driven by
take a break after a book and then return mass psychology. This is
to the same author after reading books the case with books as
by other authors. ing the books that one has. well.
This way, one can avoid what the adage A self confession from me would be that With publishing houses spending for-
"familiarity breeds contempt" says about reading a book from cover to cover is tunes to produce and market the books,
life in general. The best way to indulge in something that I have been able to accom- one must not get carried away by the
the reading habit would be to pick up plish not too often. hype and consume books the same way
books by different authors and preferably Once I get the gist of what the author is one consumes other items. With so many
on different topics so that one does not trying to say, I tend to skip certain por- avenues for renting and borrowing
fall prey to the repetitive style or content. tions, go straight to the final chapters or books, the ideal way would be to pick
Of course, there are many bibliophiles generally give the book a quick read to books from these libraries and instead of
who swear that one just cannot have get the essence of it. accumulating a collection just for the sake
enough of books and the more the merri- This is the case with a great many other of collecting, one can indulge in the book
er. book lovers as well who find reading the reading habit in the same way that one
However, given the fact that in our fast entire book something of a chore and pursues other fulfilling hobbies.
paced modern lifestyles, we tend to have instead, might read certain chapters or Book reading is indeed an experience
little time for our pursuits and with book key events in the plot. In case of non- fic- that can be savored over a lifetime and
reading being a time consuming affair, tion, reading key excerpts becomes the one need not get bored with it. By taking
one needs to pick and choose. norm rather than the exception. strategic breaks and timing one's reading
What this means is that no matter how With this in mind, one needs to have a for leisure time, one can make the most of
much one likes books, there is a point sense of perspective when buying, rent- this pursuit. 
when one should pause and finish read- ing or acquiring books in any other man-

7. JustBooks Connect - November 2011 7
What's In A Name?
M
ark Twain. George Eliot. Twain is an archaic term for two. Later, Wonderland and Through The Looking
Munshi Premchand. Three of Clemens admitted in his memoir and Glass was actually the English mathe-
many writers acclaimed world- travel book, Life on the Mississippi that matician Charles Hodgson. He wrote
wide. Their works would mostly con- his famous pen name under a pseudonym so that people
tinue to be read and appreciated for was borrowed from a would not confuse his identity. But, it is
long. And their names or rather their riverboat captain not clear why Dhanpat Rai Srivastava
chosen names would be remembered started writing with the name of
by current and future readers. These Premchand.
renowned novelists decided to write
under - pseudonyms, pen names or Contemporary writers
nom de plume - names different from and pen names
their own.
The how and why of some In most situations, novelists
famous pseudonyms and poets probably take on dif-
ferent names to safeguard their
identity and privacy. Irrespective of
George Eliot or Mary Ann Evans the specific reasons that a novelist or
believably adopted a male name to poet writes under a different name,
gain better acceptance as a serious readers, critics, fans and others must
writer. In the period that she authored realize that the private lives of many
some of her fairly popular novels and writers often become public.
poems, women writers who published As with George Eliot or Salman
with their real names were considered Rushdie, there are several instances
capable of penning only light hearted when peers, the government, reli-
romances. Interestingly, Eliot also gious establishments or the general
wrote essays and edited a literary pub- public have ridiculed and harassed
lication as Marian Evans around the writers severely. Though Rushdie
time her novels came out. When she never adopted another name.
did reveal her identity it had no affect Kalpana Swaminathan and Ishrat
on the popularity of her works. Syed, who jointly practise surgery in
Jane Austen published her first Mumbai primarily, write fantasy and
novel Sense and Sensibility using the other fiction together as Kalpish
name, The Lady. The Bronte sisters Ratna.
Anne, Charlotte and Emily, called This nom de plume is almost an
themselves Acton, Currer and Ellis anagram of their names and
Bell respectively for their early works translates in a combination of
such as The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Persian and Sanskrit, as the
Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre. "pleasures of imagination".
This was to prevent residents in Authors like them perhaps coin
local communities from understand- pen names for fun or out of cre-
ing that people in the neighbourhood ativity.
inspired some of the characters in Some authors adopt different
these novels. However, all these names to test the marketability of their
women are better remembered by their called Isaiah Sellers. Mr. Sellers con- books or to ensure that existing reputa-
real names. tributed brief, accurate and valuable tion does not influence sales or accept-
Samuel Langhorne Clemens apparent- paragraphs of simple and practical infor- ability of new work or to separate genres.
ly, had other pseudonyms before he mation about the stage and condition of Horror, suspense and science fiction
adopted Mark Twain. Until 1863, he the river to the newspapers, signing them writer Stephen King apparently con-
signed funny and imaginative sketches as as "Mark Twain". vinced his publishers that he would pen
Josh. As a new journalist on the Pacific coast, some of his initial works under the pseu-
Additionally, for a series of humorous Clemens "confiscated the ancient mariner's donym Richard Bachman. The truth may
letters he utilized the pen name Thomas discarded name" after learning of Captain not have been found out if not for a per-
Jefferson Snodgrass. Clemens claimed Sellers' death. But, Twain's biographer sistent Washington D. C. bookstore clerk
that his primary nom de plume originat- George Williams III, the Territorial called Steven Brown who like some other
ed from being a steamboat pilot on the Enterprise newspaper and Purdue retailers and readers recognized similari-
river Mississippi. There, the river boat- University's Paul Fatout supposedly ties in the literary styles of King and
man’s cry was “mark twain” meaning, believe that “mark twain” refers to a run- Bachman.
‘according to the mark on the line, the ning bar tab that the novelist regularly Thus, one can convincingly infer that
water's depth is two fathoms (a maritime incurred at John Piper's saloon in the quality of a writer's work determines
unit of depth equivalent to two yards or Virginia City, Nevada. her or his fame and not necessarily her or
1.8 metres) and it is safe for boats to pass.’ Lewis Carroll, who authored Alice in his name - real or otherwise! 

8. 8 JustBooks Connect - November 2011
Reader’s Voice
The best part is the hassle free issuing unavailability in the book stores. One
J
ustBooks is a first of its kind commu- and returning of books which you can do time I wanted to read a book by the
nity library chain to have come up in in seconds. author Marian Keyes and I couldn't find
Vidyaranyapura. I love this library because I am spoilt it in my branch. I requested the book
When I first heard of JustBooks open- for choices here. They have the entire col- which was present in another branch and
ing in our community, I was quite lection of the P.G Wodehouse books, in a matter of a few days I got an email
pleased. from JustBooks informing me
Being an avid reader and a that the book was available! All
student I was very aware of the I had to do was collect it.
hassles one faces to acquire JustBooks has a great collec-
good books to read. tion of books for Young
Being a student and on a limit- Readers. There are shelves full
ed budget, I used to frequent of books from Enid Blyton,
second handed book stores as Roald Dahl, The Nancy Drew
they were my only source of series, The Hardy Boys series
reading material. and many more which bring
The problem with that was the back sweet memories.
limited choices of books, Also present are books in
cramped spaces where books regional languages like Hindi,
are stacked and the unnecessary Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam etc.
expenditure. All the books are arranged
Having a library in my area methodically by genre and very
was not a luxury I had till easy to find using the row num-
JustBooks came along. bers allocated to them. Talk
I have been a member of quite about convenience. And to top it
a few libraries growing up, and all off, the prices are extremely
I thought I knew what to expect affordable.
from this library as I contem- To me, a library is not a luxury
plated joining JustBooks. But on but a necessity of life. I remem-
my first visit I was blown away. ber when I was a kid, my father
I was pleasantly greeted by would drive me to the library
the front office staff and in no and it was such a big deal for me
time I signed up for a member- to go in and get my own book.
ship. There are various plans to I would look forward to pick-
choose from depending on your ing out a book, reading it and as
reading habits. soon as it was done, to go to the
JustBooks has a well-stocked library again and pick out anoth-
library having a vast array of er one! Years later, that's exactly
books in all categories namely how I feel here at JustBooks.
Fiction, Cooking, Self-Help, Thank you JustBooks, and
Biographies, Spirituality, keep up the good work.
Travel, History, books for Young which is hard to come by otherwise.
Readers and magazines. I get to read books that I would have not Pooja Rao, Vidyaranyapura
been able to otherwise due to their Bangalore 

9. JustBooks Connect - November 2011 9
Reader’s contribution
Once upon a typewriter
we use today.
Sridhar Ramachandran Documents cre-
ated out of a
typewriter
R
emember those times, when for involved
fun we played cricket or bad- painstaking
minton and got engrossed in the effort on part of
lives of Archie, Phantom, Mandrake, the transcriber.
Amar Chitra Katha heroes and heroines, Duplication of
Tintin, and Asterix. effort and correc-
Reminiscing about those days, with hot tion of errors was
pakoda and tea on a rainy evening very expensive.
reminded me of concepts that were in Typewritten doc-
vogue at that time but now have been uments therefore
pushed and replaced by others. The gave a sense of
good old typewriter is one such example. permanency and
A common feature of that era was a a thought of
person working in a firm where one had 'behind the
to know and use a typewriter. A pop-
ular administrative job position was sell to a shopkeeper to pay an
normally referred to as typist - cum - overdue bill for sweets and ciga-
clerk. A similar sentiment is echoed rettes.
by Margery Davies in her book
Woman's Place is at the Typewriter, T he loyal typewriter was often
referred to as part of forensic
examination in most detective nov-
where such jobs were in vogue till the
30's. els where the detective identified
The job entailed a person (for some the typewriter on which the
reason typically a girl) to know the art incriminating piece of evidence
of taking down notes at the speed of was typed on.
speech via Pittman's shorthand and Typewriters today are still rele-
transcribing it on an appropriate piece vant in domains where the
of paper using carbon (blue or black) embossed feel on the paper is
for multiple copies and after appropri- important for the reader. At pres-
ate signatures, filing some copies and ent, the Braille typewriters used to
dispatching the original via the trusted scenes' effort to get it to the shape it is in. transcribe books for visually chal-
Indian Government Post. The 'clickety- We do not get the same sense with the lenged people are the only typewriters in
clack' sound of keys of the typewriter documents that we create in our comput- regular use
was the hallmark of a typical office in ers and print out in our printers these Over the years, desktops gained popu-
those days. It was the in-thing for the days. larity due to their ease of use and utility
T
majority to be trained in shorthand and ypewriters have been a major player extending beyond word transcription
typewriting skills with exams certifying in the creation of books that we have and that brought in the end of the type-
your words per minute (wpm) speed in loved and cherished. Various authors writing era.
typewriting - not belittling accuracy. have sworn by their typewriters and Today if a typewriter is missed then it's
The more affluent households actually even expressed anguish over losing their for that embossed feel it gave the content
possessed this machine or variants that typewriters. on the paper but more importantly for
were deemed electronic typewriters. The children's writer, Roland Smith those days gone by.
Remington Typewriters were very much was given an Underwood typewriter at
Sridhar, a member of JustBooks
in demand at that time. the age of five for Christmas.
These were English typewriters, In an interview during the release of a Rajarajeshwari Nagar, is a health-
although over the years' typewriters for book in 2004, he mentioned, "I can still care product manager and an avid
Indian Languages like Hindi and remember the size and sound and smell of reader with an amateur interest in
Marathi came up in India. The non-elec- that typewriter." Theodore Taylor, an writing.
tric typewriters did not need electricity, author for young adults, actually named His reading topics extend from non-
and the only consumables used to be the his autobiography, Making Love to fiction, Dalrymple style Indian his-
ink ribbon, whiteners, carbon papers, Typewriters. tory to fiction-detective, to laughing
and blank papers —it was almost a Our own R.K. Narayan, recalled in an with Wodehousian books.
maintenance free device. interview with affection his first type-
He is also trying to make urban
Typewriters gave rise to the QWERTY writer - an 'elephantine' Smith Premier
keyboard that became a standard for 10, which had separate keys for upper vegetable gardening work at his
keyboards and is still one in the laptops and lower cases, and which he had to home. 

10. JustBooks Connect - November 2011 10
1. Who is reffered as the 4. Byomkesh Bakshi, the famous Bengali detective was cre-
Grandfather of English detective ated by:
fiction? Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay
Charles Dickens W Satyajit Ray
Wilkie Collins Sabyasachi Chakraborty
Edgar Allan Poe
5. Sherlock Holmes first appeared in this novel:
2. This is generally considered The Sign of Four
to be the first detective novel: A Study in Scarlet
The Murders in the Rue Morgue The Hound of the Baskervilles
The Mystery of Marie Rogêt
The Moonstone
3. Who was not part of the original
'Queens of Crime'?
Margery Allingham
Ngaio Marsh
Sue Grafton
Wilkie Collins, The Moonstone, Sue Grafton, Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay, A Study in Scarlet
JUSTBOOKS The K-factor
TOP 5
A
n apt phrase that comes to mind is 'Kabhi
N EW A RRIVALS Khushi…Khushiyon, Khushi'. The reason for this euphoria
1. The Accidental by Ali has everything to do with new locations & libraries coming
Smith up either in cities or in places starting with the alphabet 'K'.
2. A Stranger's Child by Take Kochi, for instance. Kolkata, after that. Add Kondapur &
Alan Hollinghurst Karkhana (Hyderabad) next. Factor in Kothrud (Pune). Kandivili in
3. Gods Without Men by Mumbai.
Hari Kunzru In Bangalore, Kanakapura, as a satellite branch. Of course, there's
4. Rafa: My Story by the K letter in Visakhapatnam. We are tempted to rephrase Chennai
Rafael Nadal & John Carlin as Kennai, Coimbatore as Koimbatore & Gurgaon as Kurgaon now.
5. The 3rd Alternative by Stephen But you get the idea. Explosive growth kocktail, right?
R. Covey
R ECOMMENDED
1. Heat and Dust by Ruth
Prawer Jhabvala
2. The Tiger's Wife by Tea
Obreht
3. The Mask Of Troy by
David Gibbins
4. The Homage To Catalonia
by George Orwell
5. Fear and Forgiveness by Harsh
Mander
R ENTALS
1. Revolution 2020 by Chetan
Bhagat
2. The Secret Of The Nagas by
Amish Tripathi
3. The Kane Chronicles (Book
2) by Rick Riordan
4. Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Book
3) by Jeff Kinney
5. Percy Jackson and the
Olympians(Book 2) by Rick Riordan
From JustBooks blog - http://blog.justbooksclc.com 

11. JustBooks Connect - November 2011 11
On Beauty
Is beauty really skin deep?
The majority of the book is dedi-
Skin Deep - An Inside Out
cated to revealing the truth about
“The merit of eating healthy has
Approach To Looking Good, skin foods, in particular sugars, not escaped any of us, even the
Naturally! protein, fats, antioxidants, vita- junk food-lovers. But knowledge
mins, and minerals.
Aparna Santhanam What in the world are antioxi-
alone is not sufficient. We all
Harper Collins dants and why are they impor- know that sugary foods should be
tant? Is the uninteresting flaxseed avoided, more grains added to our
actually full of goodness? Are
coloured vegetables and fruits like
diets, greens are great and fruits
beetroots, papaya and mangoes are fantastic, and we do try and
Aradhana Janga really that good for skin? Won't manage these in our usual busy
Almonds and Walnuts make one
lives.”
T
here comes a time when one looks fat? Does protein help skin tex-
in the mirror and wonders if there ture?
is a solution to his or her skin. And last but not the join many more on your bookshelf.
With time, we grow older, we gain least, some 50- Unfortunately, reading a self-help book
weight, we lose weight, achieve mile- odd does not ensure that you can practice it
stones, go through many changes, yet to its entirety.
one thing we all seem to have - skin And it is quite possible that your skin
issues! Either its big pimples, regimen might very well interfere or
oily skin, hair, dark contradict with other diets prescribed by
spots, pigmenta- other health books that you have
tion, allergies, indulged in.
wrinkles or the zil- The merit of eating healthy has not
lion others that can escaped any of us, even the junk
possibly fight for a food-lovers.
place in this long list. But knowledge alone is not suffi-
Skin is the largest cient. We all know that sugary
organ in our body and foods should be avoided, more
also one of the few organs grains added to our diets,
that is in direct contact greens are great and fruits are
with the outside world. fantastic, and we do try and
It might very well be a manage these in our usual
reflection of our health and busy lives.
well being. So the question remains
Readers or followers of diet or that despite our busy
exercise books are much aware schedules with family,
that there is no routine whether children, work and
it's diet, exercise or environment home and ensuring to
that affects just one part of our body. provide a healthy
You are what you eat and so is your yet tasteful diet to
skin! our loved ones,
Aparna explains the characteristics of would we still
the skin and why it behaves the way it want to go on a
does; 'XPECT' - a group of five attrib- guilt trip because we
utes, namely, X factor (Glow), Pores, craved (and gave in) for that
Evenness of colour, Clarity and Texture, dessert?
which help us understand what and Read this book because it gives you an
how much to expect from our skin. new insight into what's going on with your
If you weren't paying close attention recipes ranging skin and helps you understand it better.
in your biology class, don't despair; the from summer coolers Include a few food tips if they're easy
book provides enough and more of the to Bruschettas to Watermelon enough to incorporate into your sched-
scientific explanation about the skin with Rice Crepes that are bound to bring out ule.
all its cells, oil glands, pigments and the chef in you. Try some new recipes because you like
what have you. Aparna does not restrict you to a diet, to experiment with food. But try not to
Aparna then helps you to figure out but encourages you to make some small go on a guilt trip because you don't have
your skin type, where you get to pick changes that might do you (or rather a flawless complexion. If you are
from normal, oily, dry, combination, your skin) a world of good. Having said healthy, happy and eating right, you are
sensitive and mature along with recom- all this, the fact does remain that this is doing just fine! 
mendations for your skin type. another self-help book that will possibly

12. 12 JustBooks Connect - November 2011
Author Profile
Anne Carson
Essay online at
Anindita Sengupta http://www.poetry-
foundation.
org/poem/178364).
C
anadian poet, essayist and trans- It might seem a bit
lator, Anne Carson defies precon- grandiose but infat-
ceptions. A scholar of the Greek uation is an accurate
classics, she is steeped in the stories and word for what
the language of the past. Yet her verse is Carson fans fre-
fresh and contemporary, easy to read, quently describe as
and read aloud, rhythmic with everyday her effect. The
sounds. Her books—all 15 of them— mood, when her
break and transcend the boundaries of name comes up, is a
traditional genres. They're poetry and bit hushed.
essay, prose and translation, dialogue As if something
and musings, many things in one. has passed over the
"Her poetry casts a cold eye on the wrin- room, something
kled cloth of the human soul and discerns a shared that
range of human maneuvers most of us never nobody's quite sure
glimpse," says reviewer Meghan poems, collages, paintings, letters, frag-
how to name. Autobiography of Red
O'Rourke of her in Slate.com. And it's ments, everything in other words that
(1998) is a lovely example of Carson's
true that Carson's work continually sur- represents Michael. I can't wait to get
best strengths. It blends myth, contem-
prises and informs because of its range. my hands on it.
porary story, poetry and insight.
In The Glass Essay, for example, she Based loosely on the myth of Geryon
combines ruminations about Emily and the Tenth Labor of Herakles, it IN A NUTSHELL
Bronte with a sharp look at the self, a tells of Red, a boy with red wings who
broken love affair and a disturbed moth- lives in the modern day. Born On: June 21, 1950.
er-daughter relationship. All of this is Teased at school and sexually abused
done in the language of the present and by his older brother, Red takes to pho- Born In: Toronto, Canada.
results in lines and images of startling tography and gets involved with a
beauty: young man named Herakles. Education: BA, MA and PhD from
Out the window I can see dead leaves tick- Red takes to photography and gets University of Toronto.
ing involved with a young man named
over the flatland Herakles. Disillusionment, loss and First Book: Short Talks (1982).
and dregs of snow scarred by pine filth. reconciliation echo through the book
At the middle of the moor as Red struggles to come to terms with Major Works: Goddesses And Wise
where the ground goes down into a depres- love and with himself. Women (1992), Glass, Irony and God
sion, I remember I left Autobiography of (1995), shortlisted for the Forward Prize;
the ice has begun to unclench. Red lying around on a friend's desk Plainwater: Essays and Poetry (1996),
Black open water comes once when I was spending a few days Autobiography of Red (1998), shortlisted
curdling up like anger. My mother speaks at her place. She picked it up and for the National Book Critics Circle
suddenly. squealed. 'I love Red.' I remember see- Award and the TS Eliot Prize; Eros The
That psychotherapy's not doing you much ing her differently, or rather seeing her Bittersweet (1998), Economy Of The
good is it? more because of that. This is someone I Unlost (1999), The Beauty Of The
You aren't getting over him. had known for ten years, seen through Husband: A Fictional Essay in 29
dysfunctional relationship, heartbreak, Tangos (2001), winner of the T.S. Eliot
Epic scales of depression described in love and marriage. And yet knowing Prize for Poetry; NOX (2010). Carson is
terms of nature represent the narrator's her through her liking for the book still also the translator of: If Not, Winter:
internal world. The shift from that to the yielded something more. Books will Fragments of Sappho (2002), Grief
outer world, into the anodyne reality of frequently do this between people. Lessons: Four Plays by Euripedes (2006).
psychotherapy is quick and sharp, a Some of Carson's books more often so. Her plays have also been staged.
blow to the gut. Carson's latest book NOX has been
Carson is skilled at creating this sort of described as a "deeply moving, medita- Day Job: Has taught the classics at sev-
dramatic tension which makes her tion on the contours of absence" by The eral colleges.
longer poems not just insightful but New Yorker.
also-a quality not usually associated Written in mourning for her older Awards: 1998 Guggenheim Fellow; in
with poetry-gripping. As Roger Gilbert brother Michael who died unexpected- 2000 she was awarded a MacArthur
said: "unlike many academic poets she ly, NOX is apparently typical Fellowship; won a Lannan Literary
deploys her scholarly voice as a dramatic Carsonesque genre-bending stuff: a Award; was an Anna-Maria Kellen
instrument whose expressive power lies book that looks like an accordion pro- Fellow at the American Academy in
partly in its fragility." (Read The Glass duced in full colour with photographs, Berlin, Germany, for Fall 2007. 

13. JustBooks Connect - November 2011 13
Venturing out
“Plunging into the franchise owners group”
The first branch of Pune, which was in How has been the customer response to
Sapana Rawat Aundh, was opened on 12th August 2010 JustBooks as a concept & your library, in
and exactly after 7th month we went live particular?
We have been profiling the franchise with the second one in Wanowarie. It Customer response has been fantastic
owners of JustBooks branches to give gives me a high when I am reminded of towards JustBooks in both Aundh and
an insight to our members into what owning two JustBooks branches! Wanowarie branches. I always remem-
it means to run a library and how ber one of the elderly members quoting
Why and how did this franchise option "Jo kaamal maathe par ek tilak karta hai,
these owners got motivated to start
happen? aapne wo kaamal iss community par kiya hai
it. My brother-in-law stays in Marathahalli, yeh library open kar."
This time we talked to Mr. Dhiraj Bangalore and we used to visit him often. Thanks to the operations team, our
Kothari, Manager - Franchise He knew I liked to read so during one of members love the collection of books we
Development for Strata Retail and our visits he took us to JustBooks, have.
franchise owner of JustBooks Aundh Whitefield library. At that time we were
and Wanowarie in Pune. in Indiranagar and JustBooks did not What do you think will be a great addi-
have a branch there. We use to frequent tion in terms of value to your existing
the Sai temple in Indiranagar and on one members?
Tell us a little bit about your- We want to delight our customers
self . by maintaining the collection, right
I am basically from Akola ambience and high standards of
(near Nagpur) and have com- service over the long run. It's our
pleted my studies in Pune. I aim to provide a platform to learn,
was born and brought up in a interact and grow like it happened
joint family. My dad, brother, during our Aunty Becky Story
sister-in-law and not to forget, Telling Shows, where we had story
my sweet little niece live in telling sessions for youngsters.
Akola now, whereas my wife
and I stay in Pune. How much of your time do you
I love reading books and spend at the JustBooks outlet per-
playing mouth organ but the sonally? How rewarding is the expe-
current workload leaves me rience of interacting with your
with very little time to pursue members?
these interests. I am generally there at the branch-
es in the evening and on weekends.
What were you doing before The experience of interact-
joining JustBooks as an ing with members and
employee? finding or getting for them
While finishing my MBA, I got an offer a particular book is highly
from E&Y through a campus interview. rewarding, it's highly satis-
I was working with E&Y in Bangalore fying to see their happiness
for about 4 years as Sr. Financial when they get the book
Analyst before joining JustBooks. they want to read.
Did you move to Pune just to start What kind of books do
you read personally? Who
JustBooks branch here?
are your favourite authors?
Yes. I am more into non-fic-
tion reading but have got
How has your experience been on work- hooked to Indian writers
ing full time and taking care of the like never before. I like
franchise? reading Robin Sharma,
It's been lovely because it has been like such visit I saw the JustBooks library on Abhijeet Bhaduri and Chetan Bhagat
work from home for me since Strata does Indiranagar 80 Feet Road. I went to the books.
not have an office in Pune! Jokes apart, temple and on my way back joined
both of my roles are such that each helps JustBooks, Indiranagar. I was a member What is your advice to book lovers who
me in performing the other one with bet- for a couple of months before plunging would like to turn entrepreneurs through
ter effectiveness. It has been very hard to into the franchise owners group. I always JustBooks?
manage both the roles but the helpful wanted to have my own business and What better business to add some value
staff and good feedback from our mem- this option looked noble and lucrative. to society and that too with decent prof-
bers keeps me going. its. 

14. 14 JustBooks Connect - November 2011
Just Kids
A Beautiful Lie minds. But most astonishingly when his Bilal in his task to shield his Gandhian
father begs for a newspaper he and his father from the truth.
loyal group of intrepid school friends This novel could definitely be classi-
Irfan Master even 'invent' good news and write and fied as 'dude lit'. Male relationships are
Age group: 13+ years publish a whole newspaper. This is the at the core of the world created here.
Pages: 304 "beautiful lie" of the title. The two defining relationships are
Bloomsbury The main cast of characters includes between Bilal and his father and
Bilal and his group of friends who between the four young schoolboys.
belong to different faiths. There is Bilal's relationship with his father is
Chota, a Hindu, Manjeet a Sikh, and unique because at one level the roles are
Geetanjali Singh Chanda Saleem a Muslim like Bilal. As in adult reversed.
stories, here too, there is an effort to Bilal's life revolves around looking
point out that in pre-partition India reli- after his sick father, and he does all the
I
t is unusual to have a historical mundane chores that normally an adult
event like partition of India as a would do for a child. Such an evocation
backdrop for a book for adoles- of a male-centric world is unusual in
cents. The same pattern of the slow Indian writing in English and is certain-
disintegration of family, friends and ly unexpected in a book for young ado-
community on the basis of religious lescents.
identity that has been a part of adult The male bonding among the group
fiction is replicated in this poignant of friends is also noteworthy. Their
first novel by Irfan Master. friendship is simple, uncomplicated
This novel is set in an India on the and direct. The single focus of their
verge of partition and independence in friendship is to band together to devise
1947. Bilal's father is dying of cancer. ways of protecting Bilal's father from
But the son fears that if his father hears the truth.
of the communal tensions that are cor- The end is expected in that the father
roding their small town it will not only dies. But the father too knows how to
break his heart but it will also hasten keep secrets. Bapuji's secret is revealed
his end. to Bilal in a letter which he reads after
His elder brother has already left his father's passing. The gentle, loving
home and urges Bilal and his father to and affirming epistle is one that any
leave home because India is not going son would long for and cherish. One
to be safe for them as Muslims. Bilal that makes the loss of the father bear-
has no intention of leaving and like his able.
father is committed to the idea of a sec- Young adolescents might find the
ular homeland. He has chosen to protect narrative a bit slow moving and will
his father from even the news of the gious differences were not a major issue. probably appreciate a more fast paced
unrest and impending partition of the The children are just children who are book. Bilal is cheerful, optimistic and
country. for the most part immersed in their thoroughly likeable but verges on being
He goes so far as to physically prevent school life, games and childish pranks. a goody two shoes. A Beautiful Lie was
people visiting his father so they don't What makes this group of children dif- short listed for the Waterstone's
talk about what is uppermost on their ferent though is their mission to help Children's Book Prize. 
JustBooks Picks for Young Readers
Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman Growing Up In Pandupur by Adithi and There Is No Dog by Meg Rosoff
Chatura Rao
Brahma's Butterfly by Meena Satin: A Stitch In Time by Payal Dhar
Raghunathan Room In Your Heart by Kunzang
Choden The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
Song Of The Bookworm by Anushka
Ravishankar Scumble by Ingrid Law

15. JustBooks Connect - November 2011 15
Just Kids
Nature Nature Maybe the numerous forms of life,
I dreamt last night If I ever meet nature, Struggling to live,
About nature so bright The first thing I would do, Or many other forms that are there to
Full of birds and animals in peace Is ask its signature give.
And busy buzzing bees Then I wonder to myself,
What is nature? But then I stop….
Nature is full of teaching Is there an exact description? I think again,
And our life is full of it's learning Then I think, How much of this do I see today?
Learning to be helpful Deep and quiet, This is what most people may think,
Making our soul delightful Only my breath to accompany me. About nature….
The need of the hour is to save nature Maybe the way the Earth was formed, The ways of life is rapidly changing,
Look around and make things better 3600 million years ago, Is nature a constant, for, ever and
Cleanliness and Aforestation are the Or that I came into existence today. ever?
ways to follow Maybe the deep, vast, silent sea,
This will make our future to be free Or the furious waves, Then I say to myself,
from sorrow Slamming the shore. "nature is what you think it is"
"you will see nature as you want to"
We need to nurture nature Maybe the bright loud thunder storms, "change is a part of the nature"
To get a peaceful future Or the powerful, strong, tornado. "nature is what you make it"
We need to be pollution free Maybe the high, proud, mountains, "nature is what you want it to be"
By not cutting a single tree Or the life giving rivers, "YOU ARE NATURE"
That are born in them.
Saving nature, for some people, is so This is what I know about nature,
obvious Maybe the dark, stiff, rocks, What do you?
But for others, it is very odious Or the gushing waterfalls,
These people need to understand That fall from them.
The need is to save nature Maybe the unbelievable trees, - Keerthana Thyagaraj, Class 9th, Creative
Or the thought that what we would School
- Manas Kabre, Class VI, Ryan do,
International School If there were not there.
Manas, who is 11 years old, is an avid Maybe the tiny insects, Keerthana is a student of Class 9th at
reader. He stays at Aisshwarya Serenity and Which till today we cannot count, Creative School, Bangalore. She is a member
likes to read Geronimo Stilton books. The number of their kind. of Justbooks Kalyan Nagar. This poem of hers
JustBooks Whitefield, has taught him to love Maybe the fresh, green, plants, first appeared in Eternal Life Times maga-
Or the colourful flowers they give. zine. 
books and to read them consistently.
Young Readers can send their contribution to editor@justbooksclc.com