Growing up in rural West Bengal, we didn’t have much to do. As a child, I was always sickly and wasn’t really good at sports. I spent most of my time at home. I always enjoyed listening to my mother’s stories, which ranged from local tales to epics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.

Growing up in the middle of lots of books, I was always curious about what could be so special about those big, voluminous bundles of paper. I still remember the day my father brought me Anondomela, a Bengali children’s magazine. This was my first introduction to a hitherto unknown treasure. To put things into perspective, Read more…

I was born among books. I remember seeing colorful, boring (boring for a five-year-old means books sans any illustrations or pictures) books around the house during the formative years of my childhood. Thick and thin paperbacks and hardbound books kept me constant company. That is why it should come over as no surprise that I Read more…

There was a time when books were only available as printed copies; smartphones and tablets had yet to revolutionize the way we perceive and look at books. I belong to a generation that grew up in that era, luckily in a family that valued knowledge as much as any other quality needed for survival. Textbooks Read more…