Me, Books, and an Audible Milestone

 I can confidently boast that I am more receptive to technology than most 50 year olds. Right from learning how to use the Internet, to writing blogs, to doing online banking, to meeting friends from social media, and to reading books from an e-reader I have done it all.

Reading books is a pursuit I took to seriously after undergoing depression in 2009. I started with buying PG Wodehouse books at bookstores. When I found that all of his books were not available offline, I started buying them online. The inability of my dwelling to accommodate a vast collection of books lead to buying books through Kindle.

Much before I purchased a Kindle, I came to know that most of the classics were originally told orally. Knowing my lack of ability to concentrate, I thanked my stars that there were printed books.

It was during covid I got allured to Audible. They were making a juicy free offer and I took it up in the firm belief that this tryst with technology will be a short lived one. 

The first book I read err. heard on Audible was Ikigai, the book that makes living upto hundred years look like a cult practice. The next one was "The Alchemist" just to prepare for an online meet of Audible. This book opened my brain to the magic of an audio book. How one could visually open up to a book listening to an audio version of it became obvious to me. I vowed to stick on to Audible.

There were a few more books in the interim. I had never read Harry Potter and didn't intend to read it either, despite several friends reasoning against such obdurate behavior. The second wave of Covid had just begun and I was infected with it. At the beginning of the year I had resolved to read Harry Potter in 2021. I got infected with covid when I was alone in Dehradun. It was a harrowing time for my family, friends, and yours truly. Though I got away without any damage, I developed anxiety symptoms. I could not read even a single page without feeling irritated.

My good friend Dr Akshay Singh, a psychiatrist by profession suggested me various methods. He was one of those who used to be annoyed when I used to put up statuses that I don't intend to read HP. I thought I will listen to a bit of fantasy just to overcome the inertia of reading. I listened to a sample of the first part read by Stephen Fry, and I got hooked on to the book just for his voice.

Soon I was transferred back to Bangalore, and listening to HP in the traffic became a meaningful indulgence. I did complete HP. Subsequently, I listened to Poniyin Selvan in Tamil. This is the only way I could have read a book in my mother tongue.

Audible assigns proficiency levels based on the hours one has heard, and today I attained the "Master" status. Listening to an audiobook is not as easy as it seems, especially for a vagabond concentration like mine. It was tough to start with and has not become an easy thing to do even today. There are many times I have to go back and listen. Thus, my 500 hours of listening are to be discounted by at least 30%. 

Don't be stuck with this idea that only reading a book held in the hand, is reading a book. Hearing a book in Audible can help you with your pronunciation, imbibe various accents, and most importantly save your senses from the cacophony of traffic.

So go ahead and hear that familiar sentence "That was an Audible presentation. There are many more to come". You would have read a book and possibly improved your concentration too. I am interested in knowing what you are listening to. 

My Covid Experiences - Part II - The age of innocence thrives, and rise of the WhatsApp University

 

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I landed in Dehradun on March 10th. It’s that time of the year when the bitterness of winter is giving way to the harshness of summer. Whoever said it, Paradise lay in the transition got it right. The nights are the most pleasant and people like me who were ensconced in their burrows during winters would begin to venture out for walks. 

The next day I reported for duty. My boss who had to go on tour abroad had to cancel his trip because of the seriousness of the pandemic in the west. WHO declared Covid 19 as a pandemic on March 1. However, life continued in India with gay abandon. 

The next day International Women’s Day was celebrated in my office and there was no trace of any protocol. Only biometric access had been disabled, and the freedom to come to the office at flexible hours was given. Some sensible people were wary of the virus, but not ones like me. The age of innocence was beginning to crack at its foundation.

In all this, the ubiquitous WhatsApp University was spreading the theories of its random renegade research(RRR). First among them was, Indians were more immune to the virus because they live in a country that has not yet become fully “Swatch Bharat”. Next up was, due to the Indian style of cooking Covid will perish in penury. Then was this theory, the Indian Summer will decimate Covid. There were some sensible messages on how to improve immunity, and they were worth a try to avoid being infected. Largely, the pandemic period was the beginning of the golden age for WhatsApp University. Read,  unsubstantiated claims credibility in the guise of “Don’t be skeptical, there is no wrong in believing “. Wonder whether such people would believe if someone would say you can sneeze out your brain, if you tried hard. Here is the link to a research on fake news in India through WhatsApp during covid 

Fake news through WhatsApp University

I was still celebrating my return to Dehradun. How uncouth was I! The storm was coming and it waited for an event. 

My Covid Experiences - Part I Covid Won't Affect Indians

 

 

 

I am writing down my experience during Covid. There is a lot of sarcasm, disbelief, vituperative language, and hidden messages in the length and breadth of this write-up.

I use hand sanitisers while on vacations in remote places. On one such occasion, a lady walked up to me and said. " It na bhi delicate hona nahin chaiye" (Read one should not be so delicate). I wonder, how did that lady get through the covid crisis without using a hand rub!!!

When I first heard about Corona Virus, I was in Hassan, having received a transfer order to Dehradun. I didn't even care to Google to know about the disease & It was my reckless assumption that the disease spreads because of the way the Chinese cook their food & the sumptuous diet of reptiles, insects, and other living beings they consume. 

 

Then happened the Trump visit to India. If the disease was as significant as it was made out to be, my belief in the Government told me that the visit would not have been allowed. So I went on with my life, merrily moving around crowded places. Protocol at that time was a requirement to be complied with during VIP visits.

 

 My mother had expired three months back, and after completing that ceremony, I departed for Dehradun. Novel Corona Virus had by then become Covid. The whispers about covid had become a chorus by then. To be safer, I purchased two surgical masks and one bottle of hand sanitiser. I was confident that one out of the two masks would remain unused.

 

 Nobody at the airport was bothered to check whether people were wearing masks or not. This was the case in Bangalore as well as at Delhi Airport.

 While boarding the Delhi aircraft, I noticed that a few French citizens were my co-passengers! On landing at Dehradun airport, I noticed no worry about Covid. The French group went ahead of me and their temperatures were scanned using a thermal gun. I thought it was mandatory for all passengers, and I presented myself in front of the scanning officer. I was promptly told that it was only for foreigners. I gave a sarcastic smile and winced about this selective screening.

 

 

 I did not know much about Covid except that it spreads through the air, and fever is one of the symptoms. The drive from the airport to my guest house conveyed that the Dehradun ki junta cared about Covid less than the Sumerian script.

 

 

 More in the next part...