In a famous film by director K. Balachander that revolves around music and musicians, there is a line that says that anything to do with music brings great satisfaction to an aficionado, let it be singing or listening to or even talking about music. I always marvel at the truth in these lines. I think I can say the same for a bibliophile too. Yes, a book lover and a writer like me draws great satisfaction from what we write. Equally enjoyable is reading a book. And even if I am not writing or reading, talking about books gives me immense pleasure.

On a recent train journey, I remember having a conversation with a total stranger till he got down at his station — the only thing we were talking about was books. Later, thinking about it, I realised how talking about a book or books in general has been a fascinating pursuit all my life.