Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Hyderabad
Travelogue with a personal touch
|
Kamala Parasuram's book "The Lotus Beckons" is an account of her life and travels
|
HUMOUR, HER STYLE Kamala Parasuram
Kamala Parasuram is 66, but her infectious enthusiasm doesn't quite match her age. Sitting at her office on Velachery Road, Kamala with a twinkle in her eyes, recounts her travels covering four continents and spanning four decades. And she writes the way she speaks. Her travelogue, "The Lotus Beckons", speaks to the reader without any pomposity. The style is simple, and the description, laced with humour.
Writing the book in isolated bursts for four years, she would dash off a page or two like a mail to a friend whenever she sat in front of the computer. The book has historical value, as it describes events associated with a place. At the right time, however, a personal anecdote would pop in, rescuing a chapter from degenerating into just another historical account.
Sordid tales
Kamala says she felt more drawn towards places that had stories to tell, even if they were sad stories, such as the Killing Fields (Cambodia), a kind of morbid homage (because it has seven tiers chock-a-block with skulls) to Pol Pot's victims or Terezin (near Prague) where 15,000 Jewish children were murdered by the Nazis.
"We need to talk about these places. They are reminders of how low we can stoop; and these victims tell us we have no reason to sulk."
Numerous places of worship have been accorded elaborate descriptions. Not one religion has been left out. "My travels have made me more tolerant. People are the same everywhere," she says.
A student of biology herself, Kamala's co-travellers on these journeys were not people with any particular interest in history, archaeology or human sciences. Her husband Parasuram is an electrical engineer and her daughter Mira, also an electrical engineer, holds a doctorate in quality management and her grandson is still in school.
These travels were results of business commitments. The Parasurams have been running Kappa (means `electrical' in Greek), which manufactures and exports electrical products, for forty years. Every business trip would be followed by four or five days of sightseeing. The travelogue happened when Mira launched "Ahana", a publishing house that aims to promote women's literature. The mother-daughter duo will soon offer another book "A Boy Called Kicha". Kamala informs, "It will be out in another three months."
PRINCE FREDERICK
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Hyderabad
|
