Friday, August 10, 2012

I'll have the Mandala

Inadvertently, I step into the genre of mystery writing again. Last, it was The Mystery of Suspect X. Now, its The Mandala of Sherlock Holmes (by Jamyang Norbu), a novel that I had no knowledge of until I just unwrapped it in the office, then turned to Amazon to trace the breadcrumb to [Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery]. Three days back, I'd blindly ordered this book from Flipkart.

You can guess that the book is a recommendation. It is, and a subconscious one at that. I'm always chasing recommendations ("Listens to: Others' recommendations"), however, this one is slightly convoluted:

So I'd met this girl - a Czech, whom I could claim the most beautiful girl on this planet with the most creative dreadlocks - onboard a rickety HRTC bus enroute to Manali. She was coming from Leh. The crowd in the bus consisted of me and C, an army guy, and about half a dozen of foreigners (whom I assumed to be a cohesive group).

Not far beyond Marhi, we got talking [me adoring her tanned nose and forehand alongside] - she was traveling in a duo with another Czech girl; and along the way they'd made friends with a German guy with impressive Rastafari credentials. So this Rasta guy carried this book with him, whose cover was decorated enough to make the title illegible for most of the angles. When I finally did get the title, it felt an achievement. Moreover, with the added sweetness of the most beautiful girl I'd met, I decided to seal the memory of the moment, and in a Harry-Met-Sally-esque fashion, went "I'll read whatever he's reading" (note-to-self: what'd be the Bollywood parallel to 'When Harry Met Sally?' - 'When Harish Met Sneha').

I don't remember if I ever heard a mention of this one from any of my friends. I generally borrow in cases where a book is already available on somebody's bookshelf. But any-which-ways, now I have something to consume my weekend.

[One unwanted memory I ended sealing alongside was of the bus almost toppling down the valley trying to save a head-on collision]
[PS: Czech girl if you're reading this - marry me?]

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