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Books and romance are intricately intertwined - not just romantic books, but even the romance of reading, letting you live many lives in one!
Books and romance are intricately intertwined – not just romantic books, but even the romance of reading, letting you live many lives in one!
As an academician, my father often visits different colleges and universities, speaking with and motivating students and staff members. On one such recent visit, he met an elderly librarian who very regretfully said that students do not visit the library anymore and the books seem to be lying unused. Next day, my father jokingly expressed that he had missed telling the students that books hold the promise of bringing romance to their lives.
Before the internet era, while reading a book whose pages had browned with age, you could often be pleasantly surprised to find a dried rose in between the pages. Perhaps, someone had received it from their lover and kept it safe from the prying eyes of family. A book was often used to conceal and send love letters to one’s beloved. A book can provide an excuse to strike a conversation with someone. It can be a beautiful gift with a personalised message written in a stylish, cursive handwriting. A book is also a quick way to discover shared interests or philosophical orientation. Many a love stories started because women were charmed by the ‘Shayari’ (poems) that were spoken in their honour.
A rare book was sometimes recommended by the college professor and the lone guy who would have accessed this book would roam around the entire campus showing it off. This was often done in the hope that some beautiful girl would request for it. The exchange of books and resultant conversation could possibly be the start of a relationship.
Who can forget the scene from the Hindi movie ‘Mere Mehboob’ where Sadhana dropped some books and Rajendra Kumar bent to pick them up. Their hands touched accidentally for a fraction of a second and he caught a glimpse of the girl behind the veil. And he fell in love instantly. In movies, the library was often a place where love between the hero and the heroine blossomed. It was a place where future lovers would exchange surreptitious glances between the stack of books. I particularly loved the scene in the movie ‘Sarfarosh’ where Sonali Bendre leaves her scarf on the bookshelf in the hope that Aamir Khan would pick it up. When he walks away without noticing it, she looks heartbroken. This scene of quiet longing is such a stark contrast to a scene in the movie ‘Befikre’ where the heroine climbs up a table in the library and starts stripping!
With the advent of ebooks which are not only cheaper but easier to access, many amongst us are reading them. I have known several book lovers who have been thrilled to discover the ebook reader. However, their happiness is often ephemeral and they start missing a ‘real’ book very soon. I can understand if they do because there is something so immensely romantic about holding a book, turning its pages and breathing in it’s intoxicating smell. It is a prized possession but somehow it is hard to say that about an ebook. You have it yet you don’t own it.
Books are often a way to access a bygone era, an unknown culture, understand a personality type, imagine an alternate world or unravel a mystery that you have been thinking about. The element of accessing the unknown or mysterious is a romance in itself.
The act of expanding your knowledge or imagination is a great stimulant for the brain. There is so much to know and discover in this world. Even if we read one book per day every day of our life (which may practically not happen!), I don’t think we would be able to exhaust the vast reserve of knowledge that is available. To most of us, this may be fascinating and exciting in our own ways.
Just as books led to many a romance, real life romance became the inspiration for many books.
It is widely known that Rabindranath Tagore’s work was deeply influenced by the wonderful women who were part of his life especially his love interests. Some of the books that found inspiration from real life romance were ‘The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas’ by Gertrude Stein, ‘The Mandarins’ by Simone de Beauvoir, ‘Madame Bovary’ by Gustave Flaubert and ‘Tender is the Night’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
As George R.R. Martin said, “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.” This is true of women too! I would take the liberty to improvise and say that the reader not only lives a thousand lives but he experiences a thousand romances too! Books and Romance truly have a mutually nurturing relationship.
Image source: pexels
An HR professional by qualification, have worked for close to 10 years now across Pharma and IT sector, voracious reader and writer at heart. Married, and mother to a 4 year old. I love to read more...
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We are conditioned to normalise domestic violence out of fear of abandonment. Thinking that 'trauma bonding' is better than no bonding holds us back from speaking up!
(Trigger Warning: This post may be triggering for survivors of domestic violence. This post has been published especially to honour the International Day For The Elimination of Violence Against Women.)
Everyone said my perfect husband was like Lord Ram…. but this is how he took unfair advantage of my tolerance!
My grandmother was very fond of my husband whose name is synonymous with Lord Ram’s name. Every call she made to my husband started with the bhajan “Aaj sab mil mangal gao, Awadh mai, raam aye hain“. (Hail everyone, sing praises, Lord Ram has come in the kingdom of Awadh.) It was a mandatory welcome song whenever she met him or even spoke to him on the phone. Yes, his attributes were like that of Lord Ram. His attitude, chivalry, persona, fair skin, smile, height, physique and charm illustrate the perfect image of Lord Ram.
He was a generous man but she hardly knew much about the investments or their financial health. A couple of times, she had asked him and he had been vague. Now when she thought about it...
He was a generous man but she hardly knew much about the investments or their financial health. A couple of times, she had asked him and he had been vague. Now when she thought about it…
The Muse of the Month is a monthly writing contest organised by Women’s Web, bringing you original fiction inspired by women.
Chandrika R. Krishnan is one of the winners for the November 2021 Muse of the Month, and wins a Rs 750 Amazon voucher from Women’s Web. The juror for this month, Anuradha Kumar commented, “This introspective, quiet, story with its depiction of the relationship between two relatively older people is quite impressive. A lifetime spent together can bring familiarity and still allow for many mysteries and secrets. Also, the structure of the story, shifting from an external perspective to an internal monologue is well-done.”
Romance novels are fun, escapist reads for most of us. Yet doesn’t the genre need to get with the times? Is feminist romance an oxymoron?
Some of the flaws of romance novels are inherent in the genre: romantic love exists and is important, if not the ‘most important thing to yearn for in life’. (After over ten years of marriage to a man I still love silly, I am still profoundly sceptical of the concept of being in love.) ‘The world is heteronormative’, or at least our protagonists are of opposite genders. I’m referring specifically to het romances (note to self: read more queer romances) but it’s rare to have a depiction of queer relationships in these books at all (even excluding the protagonist pair).
Feminist romances exist: I especially love Courtney Milan and her latest contemporary romance, Hold Me, where the hero is a bisexual man and the heroine is a trans woman. But even the best of these — the few I’ve read include ones by Tessa Dare, Elizabeth Hoyt, Grace Burrowes, and of course Milan) seem to use the same tropes, over and over again. And while I love reading romance novels as escapist fiction, I often wish they could be a little more feminist, reflect a little more the kind of relationships I and many of my friends seem to have. I wish they would let women expect more from the men in their lives, and from their lives themselves.
Richa Mukherjee uses humour to write about serious issues to get through to her reader better, "as it lowers their defences," she feels.
Richa Mukherjee uses humour to write about serious issues to get through to her reader better, “as it lowers their defences,” she feels.
Every month, the Women’s Web team identifies three contributors whose work has really resonated with readers, who have brought something new and impactful to our community. This April 2018, Richa Mukherjee is one of our featured Authors of the Month.
Richa often looks at people and situations in a unique way, and she hopes her observations continue to inspire her in her writing. She also feels that becoming a mother has had a huge influence on her thoughts, that she tries to put down, often to articulate what she feels. You can find Richa Mukherjee writing here at Women’s Web.