The virus hits EKUK

Fellow bloggers, the virus that has been spreading around the blogosphere has finally hit Ek Kathak aur Uski Kathayen via Trivial Matters.

Here Goes -

1. Volume of books/music owned?

I never really counted the books. Can see around 30 as I type this. Then there were those days of collecting the famous five/hardy boys/five find outers then the Nancy Drew's which by themselves would have been a collection of over 100. The the books you read when you outgrow this stuff. Surprisingly the only books I never really "collected" were mills and boons... wonder why... Anyway, I estimate 500+ as the number of books owned.

A quick glance through my PC, says I have over 11GB of music on the PC itself. Plus an assortment of music I've bought but never managed to rip and copy to he PC. A lot of that 11GB has been stolen and collected from the 100 rupee "mp3 cds"... a lot of which is trashy and not worth listening to, while about 1GB (classic pieces) have been collected before the demise of Napster and AudioGalaxy.

2. Last book/CD I bought?

The last I bought were two books (for myself) when I was buying a few books for my sister as her birthday present. To Engineer is Human, by Henry Petroski and An Equal Music, by Vikram Seth.

The last music I picked up was the soundtrack of the movie Swades. I'm a total AR Rehman fan and don't mind blindly picking up stuff he composes!

3. Books/Songs that mean a lot to me.

Books -->

The Mystery of the Spiteful Letters by Enid Blyton.
This was the first "book" I read after the tons of Tinkle and Chacha Choudhary I had spent the first 8-9 years of my life on. This book got me introduced to novels, stories and of course the most endearing character that could ever be contrived - Frederick Trotteville a.k.a Fatty!

May it Please Your Honour by Nathuram Vinayak Godse.
This is the statement that he read out in the court justifying his act of killing Gandhi. This book was my first insight into a totally different facet of MK Gandhi, and a good part of it made much more sense than what my history books always taught me. But then history is always written by those who win the war.

Ayn Rand - Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.
It was in these books that I found words to thoughts that were hazy and inarticulate. I was reading Atlas Shrugged and almost died nodding my head in agreement - and the very famous "I swear - by my life and my love of it - that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine"

Collected Fiction - Ruskin Bond
If there was anyone who makes a simple story so alluring, it has to be Ruskin Bond! I first read him in the 8th standard in a chapter in my English textbook. The next I got my hand on a Ruskin Bond piece was sometime in my 11th/12th standard. He doesn't need elaborate people, sets, timelines - nothing. Just "Rakesh" and his "Granddad" and a "Cherry Tree", and the most enthralling story you can come across!

Music -->

Strangers in the Night - Frank Sinatra
Groovy kind of love - Wayne Fontana
Always - Bon Jovi
Nothing's going to top us now - Starship
I'll be there for you - The Rembrants
Jamaican farewell - Harry Belafonte
Amond hindi music, there's "Dil Se" (the title track), "Chupke Se" from Sathiya, The title track of "Swades". From the older days there "honton se cho lo tum", "huzoor is kadar bhi na itrake chaliye" from the movie Masoom, "yeh kaun chirakaar hai".

The list of songs I've put in here is pretty ad hoc, and could grow the minute I hear some track and go like - "hey, that one too!"

4. Additional Points

This isn't part of the original meme, but I'd like to add. Anyone who really wants a good laugh at Arundhati Roy's expense should read the "Algebra of Infinite Justice". It's the crappiest collection of her political essays! I also have never been able to understand how people enjoy reading PG Wodehouse. I guess that's a mystery that I'll never decipher!!!!

And do hear Tarzan and Jane by the Toy Box.... its real rofl material!

Nominations

I pass this onto Mathi, Danny, Charlie , Pearl and anyone else reading this who would like to take it up. If you guys don't want to do both the books and music, do at least one of them!