I remember the first time I got enamoured by a book.
I was in LKG or UKG and it was one of those illustrated Peter Pan/Cinderella book that had characters which popped up when you turned the pages.
I didn’t get to own them as my parents couldn’t afford it but over time that situation changed but certain titles were always beyond my reach.
I missed out on the Harry Potter franchise and at the time I remember thinking why people lined up to buy a book. I did however manage to read them but much later.
But this is not a sad story because growing up, especially during summer holidays, I was more than happy reading the likes of The Famous Five, Secret Seven, Hardy Boys, Goosebumps, Tinkle, Chacha Chaudhary and Amar Chitra Katha.
If someone today were to claim that I am a well-read person ( far from it but stick with me here) I have Indian Railways to thank for and also owe much gratitude to second-hand books that were a god-sent boon for a lost student with a tight allowance.
Every summer holiday, my mother along with my two sisters and me used to take a long-ass, three-day train journey deep into the heartland of Eastern Uttar Pradesh to visit my relatives.
Stocking up for those journey used to be a huge deal for us kids because the route didn’t have enough hauls to buy “essential supplies” like different types of chocolates and walkman batteries.
But one of those things that were available were books. I still remember the excitement of seeing the bookstall at the start of the journey, colourful titles hanging beside thick stacks of books. I still remember the smell of books that built up as you got close to the shop much like how it happens with coffee shops.
The affair with books started from the time you waited on the station to get on the train, which more often than not was delayed, to when you spotted wooden carts filled with comics & magazines pulling away.
For me, growing up in Kerala, I didn’t have access to comics such as Chacha Choudhary or Doga and the moment you saw them being sold on platforms, you knew the borders of UP were close. This was one way I kept track of the 3-day journey and the three kids certainly had our “are we there yet” moments (send medals to my parents).
For many people that I studied with in school, the barrier to reading books was not just the price but also class. I, fortunately, did not face this but for the less privileged, the barrier arose through intimidation created by elitism in our school where novels were generally read by the affluent kids.
You have to remember that the relative price and availability of books were nothing like they are today and in a certain sense.
Books were a luxury, people who had them spoke "that" kind of English.
I have come to the understanding that this is a shared experience of many across India.
So when I got a chance to create a podcast about books, my number one objective was to make the show a kind of a gateway drug for the listener into the world of literature irrespective of whether he/she had a reading habit or not.
A key component of achieving that objective was prose and concentrating on the story, the process of how it came to be and building relatability with the listener especially through the personal journey of the authors rather than just critiquing their work with complicated analogies.
The idea behind the show was to break the notion that picking up a book or consuming a particular kind of content was an elite behaviour but that it actually was quite accessible and all one had to do was reach out.
‘Not A Book Review’ positioned itself as a podcast that was a means to that reach.
This was also in line with my ambition of making easily understandable content in genres that may be considered a niche without compromising on the quality.
The response to the show has been gratifying to say the least, both from the authors and listeners.
But the biggest reward for me has been quite personal.
I feel like that kid on the platform again who is waiting to get on the train and dive deep into the world of fantasy and adventure
Come to think of it, much like Harry Potter.
Check out the podcast here.
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