meethapani

The Importance of Being Idle When my daughter was about 3 or 4, and we grown ups were busy talking she would say in great frustration “stop I can’t hear my voice”. She was referring to her inner voice, her thinking process. Of course conversely she would also say in despair “ I can’t stop my think” ! We all need those moments of silence and receptivity to cultivate our inner thoughts. Childhood used to be a time of playing in the neighbourhood with friends, creating imaginative scenarios, flying kites, playing pitho or gilli danda and sorting out disagreements. Then school got to its serious stage and slowly we were expected to be responsible and think of our possible future careers and lives.  Earning a living was important but there was always time to sit with family, or go on outings. People were not less ambitious then. Almost all our most valuable inventions were created before the infamous 80s  -  when the Yuppies ( young upwardly mobile ) defined  ...

‘ A book is like a garden carried in one’s pocket’ Cicero said “ If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need”. Some  of my best memories are of reading a book through the night, then going out in the garden to watch the sun come up as the birds awaken, the sun rays catching the dew drops on spider webs. Reading and gardens have a natural association. Both reveal themselves slowly to those who are patient.  Garden design almost always includes spaces that lend themselves to a quiet read surrounded by teeming life that seems to echo the words coming to life as we turn page after page.  Many writers have found inspiration sitting in their gardens or wandering the countryside. Charles Dickens had ‘a Pavilion room in the garden, with a delicious view, where you may write’ More people read books than one would expect given the demands of life today, especially as digital formats are growing.  Even in Pakistan, the literature festivals...