My World of Food and Travel

I had very few friends while growing up in Manas Wildlife Sanctuary, for the greater part. My sister, who is two years younger than me, used to be quite an introvert then and lived in her own world. Sometimes, my dad’s colleague’s daughter would skip across to play with me. But mostly, I was to be found rummaging about in my parents’ book shelves. My mom would tell me about the time when the family had left for some place, not realizing that I was still in the bungalow. Later, there was much commotion about my absence and they returned to find me buried amidst a tome of books, oblivious to everything around me. I grew up reading a lot of Enid Blyton, Jane Austen and Agatha Christie. I started with innocuous titles like ‘Bedtime stories’ and ‘Toyland stories’, dreaming of enchanting creatures like goblins and pixies and talking rabbits romping about in lush green forests.  Soon I graduated to the somber yet delightfully romantic, classical settings of Austen. I read about old Ge...