The Little Agatha Christie Fan

 Hi Koko, 

It is no secret that I love Agatha Christie. If someone says they love reading murder mysteries and in the same breath say they do not like Christie, be very suspicious of them. I remember when I was in my graduation days, the prevalent opinion was to look down upon Christie as "not literature". For a while, I swayed and had not read Christie for some time, because I had the morbid need to "fit in" with the elites. But now as I have grown older (and possibly wiser), I have developed the ability to distinguish bullshit from real knowledge and I have little patience for purists who keep harping on what is acceptable as great and trash literature. 

Reading is something I enjoy and if it is entertaining, that's good for me. 


The year was 2022 and we were visiting Calcutta, and as it happens we raid the old bookshelves to glean something interesting and I picked up a Bangla favorite, while you cheekily picked up an Agatha Christie. I think it was "And Then There Were None".  While you found it interesting, it was a little difficult for you comprehend and I thought it was well beyond your years so you received zero support from us to finish it. And that was it. I thought it was cute that you picked up a book by an author who has her own special shelf in our library, but we didn't think much of it, until very recently (3 years after the above picture was clicked) when you again picked up the same book in our house. 

You read "And Then There Were None" in a week and I am amazed and amused. I thought you didn't get it, until we discussed plot points and i was very happily proved wrong. You got it and you loved it. 

Welcome to the club. You are about to have your mind blown. 

Love,

Ma

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Elementary, my dear Koko

Image
When I ask you how was school You smile, or frown, or play around You don't have the patience To recall the names of your friends, or teachers A slight yes here, and a no there That is all I know of your school Then I play Holmes And rummage your bag Or your pockets or almanac Do I see some sand on your bag? So you've been to the park Again rolling about Now, I'd need to wash your uniform again Do I see a toffee wrapper in your pocket? Must have been someone's birthday Do I see some paint on your pants? Some serious painting must be going on Is that some chutney on your napkin? So you're sharing food with your friends  When I ask you these to confirm You're wide-eyed  in awe I smile, it's elementary my dear Koko.
Read more

The Usual

Image
Dear Koko, I have been highly irregular, but then life has been highly irregular the last couple of months - no about a year now?  I am sorry you had to see all this now. Now when you should be going to school and filling up your pocket with sand and share everything with your friends. Instead we are teaching you to be wary of people, stay away from them, not shake hands, not hug, not share. What a strange world it is! The other day I was telling you to sit and complete your homework. I know homework is such a chore for you. You don't want to do it. You'd rather watch TV and play video games. I used to get very irate initially (full disclosure - I still do) when I'd want you to read and paint and you sneak out for some TV time.  I think to myself, watching so much TV will fry your brain. But then wouldn't this crazy loneliness too? This weird time when both parents are home but hey can't give you focused attention for whatever reason (work mostly, or their own sanit...
Read more

The 2024 Euro Trip: Chapter 1 - Take Off!

Image
 Dear Koko,  I would say I had the privilege of travelling with the most enthusiastic 9 YO ever on the most high-octane Euro trip ever. While we wanted to be lazy and relaxed, we ended up packing our days with so much to do, and you kept up at every step. There was never a complaint from you. I am so happy that you adjusted so fast and so well. I know you had a lot of fun, so did I. In fact we had so much fun that one letter would not justify what we did.  I had in fact kept in mind about our letters so I had kept a short journal of sorts, which I will now transfer to your letters. So here is the first in the series. Let us start at the beginning. This trip did not start now when we took our flight and set foot far away from home. This vacation started months ago when we first started planning. Each of us had opinions which were tugging us in three different directions so zeroing in one place which covers all our interest areas was the first hurdle to cross.  Once we...
Read more