Tuesday, October 14, 2025

Unread, Yet Unshaken!

Hearty congratulations to Mr. László Krasznahorkai, Nobel Laureate in Literature 2025. I read the review of his work in Saturday’s Loksatta. Mr. Nikhilesh Chitre’s review is as intellectually demanding as the book itself—yet educative, elaborative, and worth reading. Congratulations to him!

Still, I choose not to read the book.

Why? Because I am an optimist.

The world is burdened with real problems—poverty, injustice, the downtrodden deprived of health and education, deceit, depression, communal strife, dirtiness, pain, and sorrow. This is reality. One cannot escape it. But one can strive to address these issues within one’s own boundaries, in one’s own capacity, and through the role one has assumed. That is my belief.

I have penned a book in English, and I have used a full stop after every sentence, respecting the grammar I learned from 'Wren and Martin'. I have not written sentences that stretch across 300 or 400 lines without a full stop. Hence, I will not read Mr. Krasznahorkai’s book—out of respect for the grammar that shaped my language.

Likewise, I will not read 'Mother Mary Comes to Me', the Booker Prize-winning novel by Ms Arundhati Roy. It is a bestseller. Congratulations to her!

But my mother did not beat me. She did not torture me. She loved me. Not only my mother, my parents, my teachers, my students, my friends, and my colleagues, they all loved me. I am still filled with that joy!

So I will not read 'Mother Mary Comes to Me'.

What difference does it make?

It does make a difference.

I am optimistic.

It is not just about what I don’t read- it’s about what I choose to live by.

And finally, Mr. Krasznahorkai and Ms. Roy will not mind that I choose not to read their books, just as they are not obliged to read mine!

Dr. Mahendra Ingale @ Pune on Oct 14, 2025

( Engineering Heart Beats, Publishing soon)

#Optimism #Literature #Reflections #EngineeringHeartBeats #WrenAndMartin #Gratitude #BoundariesAndBeliefs

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