My ‘caesarian’ baby 24/07/2012

I always wondered why the birth of a book is compared to the birth of a baby. Probably  its because  the author  undergoes similar birth pangs while bringing out her book  which is a culmination of hard labour and toil. The comparison does not end there  because  there are similarities after the birth of both. During the cradling ceremony of the new born, family and friends are invited, so are they  when a new book is launched. You hear people commenting  about the looks of the baby and in the second  instance about  the book’s cover and contents, more  at a superficial level because people  wouldn’t have read the book. Again, a  book published by a publisher is different from a book published by the author herself/himself. In the first the author doesn’t have to bother either about proof reading or spending huge amounts in its making (infact he/she  earns a royalty, a bonus)   unlike in the latter. The first perhaps can be compared to a normal delivery of the baby  and the second to a baby born through a  c-section.

I think  siblings can also be compared to books  as no two of them are alike (for instance my two siblings and me). For that matter even identical twins too are not alike in their nature, habits or behavior. I could say the same  about my  three ‘children’, divergent in genres and treatment of  subjects: Humour/satire; journalistic writing; Travel experiences. However my first  two children  have something in common in that they are ‘normal deliveries’, but the third  is  delivered  through a c-section and it is the most  precious of all for two reasons apart from the cost incurred: 3 E’S OF TRAVEL comprises nearly 120 photographs I have taken with my non digital Kodak and Canon cameras (which have become museum pieces in this digital age) and  my Coffee Table book  was launched  on my dear father’s 100^th Birth Anniversary.

 

n.meera raghavendra rao