Book Box: A masterclass in cockroaches

In Mumbai, Sonya Dutta Choudhury, founder of Sonya's Book Box, finds herself contemplating the ephemeral nature of life and community. The recent discussions within her book club about "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," with its themes of student protest against authoritarianism, have resonated deeply amidst current real-world events.

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So much has happened, it almost feels like too much to take in, and this morning I have woken up with my mind clouded.

The immediate catalyst for her reflections is the impending departure of the youngest member of her book club. He is moving to New York for his company, prompting his engagement to his girlfriend of four years. The author notes the bittersweet occasion of meeting the girlfriend for the first time, acknowledging the group's significant presence in the young man's life and the inevitable sense of loss.

Driving home through the rain, Dutta Choudhury and her companion recalled numerous members who had joined the book club over the years, only to move to distant cities like Hong Kong, London, Toronto, or New York. This recurring pattern of members leaving, though not entirely disappearing from their shared narrative, evokes a sense of melancholy.

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We have lost them one by one, though not entirely. They remain part of the story we tell ourselves about this strange little community built around books.

This cloudy Sunday morning, the author sits with a mix of emotions. There is a sense of triumph regarding student protests, yet also an unease about their ultimate outcome. She questions whether the momentum will last or if things will simply revert to the status quo. The feeling that nothing endures, not book clubs, not ministries, not even protest movements, is palpable.

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It feels melancholy that nothing lasts, not book clubs, not ministries, not momentum.

However, Dutta Choudhury finds solace in the enduring power of words. Poems, songs, and epics, she writes, persist through time, returning to captivate new generations. Whether it's a man's story told across centuries or a cockroach's complaint echoing a hundred years later, literature and art offer a lasting legacy. She ends by posing a question to the reader: what poem or line has stayed with them unexpectedly long?

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Except that one thing does last, and I am grateful for it: the words. The songs, the epics, the poems, they endure, they come back.