The sky was a beautiful shade of pink today. But it took me a while to look up and see its loveliness, so engrossed was I in the book I was reading. The Bridge Over The Drina by Ivo Andrić, suggested reading by the Second Born. ‘‘You will like it, Amma!’ he had said on one of our weekly calls and I ordered the book right away.

The book arrived yesterday. “No better introduction to the study of Balkan and Ottoman history exists” (William H. McNeill) it said on the cover. I was intrigued. I know practically nothing about the Bosnian region or its history. Besides, there’s nothing that interests me more than historical fiction.

Today evening I took the book up with me to the rooftop garden.

When I read a book I do so from cover to cover. The introduction, the foreword, the translator’s foreword, the author’s words, everything interests me. As I started with the introduction to The Bridge Over The Drina, I came across words I was unfamiliar with, like Bogomil and Manichaeism. I couldn’t just pass those up. So I did a Google search on my phone and spent time reading up on them.

I was also curious about the author who won the Nobel prize for literature in 1961. So then I had to read about him and his life too. An author’s life is as interesting as the book he writes.

After all the digging around and the extraneous reading, I finally reached the first chapter of the book and suddenly realised the light had drastically dimmed. It was now time to go home, but before that I took a picture of the beautiful sky to share on my blog.

Tonight, as soon as I post this, I start the book proper. I simply cannot wait!

©Shail Mohan 2022