an itinerant observer

1.       The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien “One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all And in the darkness bind them. In the land of Mordor, where the shadows lie.” [The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien] And thus started, during my teens, a lifelong love affair with this epic trilogy – probably, the most popular work of all time from within the fantasy genre. That there can be reality in fantasy accompanied the realization that Tolkien’s Middle Earth is no different from the world that I inhabit. As happens in Middle Earth, there are hobbits, elves, dwarves, mythical and magical figures or creatures around me and in me – yet the beauty and evil, light and dark, of that human entity is paramount. I would like to call upon the  Tolkienian  in you to recall the conversation between Gandalf the wizard and Frodo Baggins a hobbit, and the presumably inconsequential ring bearer, in the 1st part, ‘...

“ Baba , what are you reading?”, Noori peered over my shoulder to get a look at the book. All my reading life I have been much irritated when anyone has tried to peer into my book, especially by the over the shoulder route. It’s as annoying as someone peering over your shoulder to catch a glimpse of your email, while you’re working at your desk. Yes, I accept the double standards, but it’s okay for me to look over the shoulder of the other, but I certainly cannot tolerate it when I am the recipient. I took a deep breath, counted to ten, and very patiently told my 5-year-old kindergartner, “It’s a book called ‘the forty rules of love’”. It vaguely occurred to me, given the nature of the book, to pat myself on the back for not being short-tempered with her. “Is it about love?”, Noori asked. “Yes and no”, I said, “It is about love and no love for the other person”. “ Baba , when there is no love for another person then is there hate?” She wasn’t going to let go of this rare disp...