As I keep mentioning here & there, I haven’t read most of the cult favorites, not even as a child. However, I chanced upon some of the novels that I really, really loved and continue to love.

My junior school library had a lot of books from Children Book Trust (CBT) publications and one of the authors associated with the publication was Devika Rangachari. I have read her short stories collections as well as three of the children’s novels – 1) Company for Manisha, 2) When Amma Went Away & 3) Growing Up. I love all three of them to bits. In fact, I have read the second one probably in my late teens or after reaching adulthood, I bought it alongside when I found a copy of ‘Growing Up’ somewhere (I don’t remember where I bought it from, but I am so lucky to have found it after school ended). I am searching for a copy of ‘Company for Manisha’ everywhere and I think I should just go visit the CBT library someday to look for it, now that I live in Delhi.

All three of them are based on more or less the same theme. How kids grow and improve after entering their teens, learning from their mistakes and all. I am not sure if they would be liked by today’s kids considering how fast they are becoming mature and all grown-up these days, you know what I mean?

‘Growing Up’ is also on the same theme. Story of two young girls, how their friendship gets affected by other elements, how teens do things to fit in with their peer group and how they should rather realize to stand their ground and be affirmative as opposed to gullible. Seriously, how many of us realized that in the teen years itself? 😀 Or, rather, have we realized it yet? 😀 Yep, not so realistic but, I don’t know, I just love to read her stories for some reason. Have any of my Indian friends read any of these? 🙂

PS: One more book to go from 2014 and I’ll be done with this self-imposed torture. However, I realized that there are now five books to go for 2015 before I come to my currently reading, guess I would never be writing about the same one that I am reading at the moment. What the..!