Idle musings

THE MINOR MISHAP I had a close shave on the roads tonight. As I opened the throttle of my bike, I noticed a moped swerving to the right on my left, coming from behind me. I had been aware that he was looking to overtake me and further slowed down to let the man in a hurry proceed. What I had not been aware of was the pillion rider. This gentleman (?) had a round, filled sack that can be best described as huge. The sack hit my bike, which wobbled and toppled over to one side. Even as I mentally cursed the driver, I was aware of shouts behind me and the screech of brakes. It was lucky that none of the vehicles were in full speed. I was also luckier that the vehicle behind me was a taxi. Taxi drivers, in my opinion, are used to any kind of interruptions. The taxi driver easily braked even as I and my bike toppled to one side. Dazed and a little panicky (but physically almost unscratched), I lifted the bike and put it into neutral. I faced a problem though : the bike still wouldn't mo

    A BEAUTIFUL BOOK : THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING     I have finished reading a beautiful book, "The Fellowship of the Ring", part 1 of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. http://www.lordoftherings.net has more details.     When my friends and I saw the picture based on the book a year or so ago, we were none too impressed. A colleague I know mentioned that the picture does not do justice to the book - and that the book is far better. Having read it now, I can confirm that statement !     Tolkein, the author, explicitly states in the foreword that the story should not be interpreted as a metaphor. It was written around the time of the second world war and the parallel drawn then between the story at that age was naturally the war itself. Tolkein says it was his intention only to narrate an engaging story - and engaging, for me, it certainly is !     To those who have not read the book, the story in its essence is of short, humanlike, mythical creatures called hobbit