Monday, November 01, 2004

Extreme depression

I'd posted a blog on having finally got my hands on CLR James' Beyond A Boundary. Well, I was in two minds about posting this blog, because setting it down would mean a final sort of thing. But...here it is...I have lost the book. To be more exact, it was stolen. From my berth in the train on the way back from Pathankot on Sunday.
For the best part of the trip — to Dalhousie, etc — I was finishing off Henry Blofeld's Cakes And Bails, a book I had borrowed from a friend and wanted to finish and return. That done — finishing the book, that is — I turned to Beyond A Boundary — and got through a chunk before putting it behind my head on the top berth of the train and turning around to sleep. I know I didn't misplace it or anything because this fellow passenger (I will explain why I wanted to break his face later) caught me searching all over the cubicle for the book and told me these people who got off a few stations before had taken it with them. As simple as that!
Why I wanted to break his face: Because he — in his words — dekha ki aap ke berth se woh kitaab nikaal liya...kuchh boundary ya kuchh...aur bag mein daal liya. Main socha aap ko batayoon, par phir socha ki finger nahin point karna chahiye.
It was, of course, too late to trace the thief/ves, so there wasn't much I could do but do all dark-faced and quiet.
But that's how things stand at the moment. I don't have my Beyond A Boundary anymore. Ajitha is trying to access it from the Net right now. Let's see what happens.
PS: If only I hadn't put it away to finish A Pale View Of Hills and Cakes And Bails, maybe I would still have had my Beyond A Boundary.