Rules for the New Bookshelf!


I am getting a new bookshelf!

No. The development is not that small. I’ve never had a bookshelf before, and the event needs some preparation. I am pretty excited about the thing and I am very particular about which books deserve a place on the bookshelf.

The plan flows along essentialist lines.

I carefully evaluate all my books and give away most of them. Then, I keep on the bookshelf, only those books that  offer absolutely brilliant experience as hard copies, for example, ‘S’ by JJ Abrams. Of course, all books are better read in hard-copy, but then, those books which are cheaper in digital form, and those that I believe are an inseparable part of me, will go to kindle.

I also have another weird idea: A book shall remain on the shelf for maximum five to seven years. After that, it has to be donated to the local library, regardless of whether I have read it or not. If I think it is worth keeping, I will buy a kindle version of the book.  If it is not available on kindle, then tough luck; but the hard copy has to go. This will keep the shelf de-cluttered while at the same time enabling me to hold on to favourite books in their digital form.

Secondly, I do not think I have space for fiction such as the Harry Potter series or the Shiva Trilogy. Of course, I am a fan, but once you understand the story, you can let the book go. The books that truly deserve shelf-space are the ones like “Pax Indica” by Shashi Tharoor which traces the history and evolution of Indian foreign policy from 1947 till about 2008-09.
Last but not the least; I have this habit of giving the things that I like, a name and a personality. And yes, all the things that I own are magical.

My laptop for instance, is called “Zeus”.  He is a magical laptop that will throw tantrums and slow down if anyone else other than its true master tries to operate it. As opposed to Zeus, my office laptop, named “Lieutenant Leo”, can do anything for anyone.  However, being a magical laptop, the readers will instantly like anything that I write using Zeus.
My phone is named “Ajeya”, which is Sanskrit for invincible. He allows me to get through to other people, but when people try to call me, they hear that my number does not exist (This really happens). He is good at running videos, websites, and apps, but will not properly serve his core function itself: voice calling. And this works fine with me because I am not very keen on talking to people.

Coming back to the bookshelf, it will be named “Akshaya”, which means limitless. It shall be a magical bookshelf that is a door to eternally flowing river of books. It will always feature new titles and previous ones will automatically vanish after sometime. Being a magical bookshelf, every book that is kept on this shelf shall be read, and loved.And Akshaya shall only have happy and optimistic books, and heal the mind of whoever comes and reads the books stocked in its shelves.

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