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His favourite authors were Dickens and Mark Twain. These were well-represented in his collection. Almost every night after dinner he made us gather at the dining table and read to us some of his favourite books.

These included ‘Pickwick Papers’ and ‘Huckleberry Finn’. We sat there and listened to the fascinating narrative in absolute silence which was broken periodically with laughter. He also read to us Jerome K. Jerome’s ‘Three Men in a Boat’ and Stephen Leacock’s ‘Literary Lapses’ and ‘Nonsense Novels’.

Since then I read these books at least once a year.

Apart from these authors the collection in the office room had the works of Jane Austen, George Eliot, Bernard Shaw, H.G.Wells and many more. We were acquainted with all these books thanks to our grandfather.

He also ordered for some rare magazines which came to him direct from England. Some of his English friends brought him the books he needed from England. So his collection was up to date and exhaustive.

In the evenings he went for a few sets of tennis after which he sat in the Thinker’s Club, an organization started by some of his friends. They discussed literary and intellectual topics there till eight O’clock or so. And then went back home for dinner and after-dinner readings. This became an unbroken routine.

My grandfather had a slight resemblance to Gandhiji. He had a tennis playing friend who had a striking resemblance to Jinnah. After the tennis game they both walked together to the Thinkers’ Club. And the people on the road shouted Gandhi-Jinnah! Jinnah- Gandhi!

The two gentlemen just ignored the comments and went their way.

When my grandfather started reading to us, all of us listened carefully. My grandmother also listened but pretended she was not interested.

Among the magazines my grandfather got were the ‘Strand’ and ‘Tit-Bits’. Strand magazine serialized the Sherlock Holmes stories which were illustrated by certain popular artists.

Tit-Bits was my favourite magazine. Printed in large format, the magazine carried jokes, articles, stories and cartoons. My grandfather had a number of these magazines bound together and I remember spending many pleasant hours going through them.

The first two pages of the magazine were made up of very funny jokes. Some of these were illustrated by the cartoonist, Ridgewell. The third page had a thought-provoking article written either by H.G.Wells, Bernard Shaw or some such intellectual. The middle page had a large sequential cartoon by Ridgewell. Then there was a short story by Ursula Bloom, Edgar Wallace or H.G.Wells. Then there were a couple of articles by some comic writers. The magazine was a highly satisfying read.

Later when my grandfather passed away, we decided to shift from that small town. The house was put up for sale. Some “friends” who came to help, looted the office room.

The great books so painstakingly collected, vanished overnight. When this was brought to my grandmother’s notice, she broke down and wept inconsolably. Anyway, that was the last we saw of that office room. I still think of that office room with gratitude.

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