Book Box | Reflections on Diwali from across continents

Perhaps this feeling of safety springs from having Meryl Streep’s voice in my ear. Coincidentally, Streep is in a cemetery too; it’s late afternoon for her character, on the most perfect day of the most perfect summer of her life. I am listening to Streep’s voice in the story of Tom Lake by Ann Patchett.

A car drives by, and then another. I look at my watch. It is time.

I head to the Modern Chapel Building. A small group of people have arrived and sat around on the upholstered chapel benches. I learned later that many of these people are part of the cemetery community, attending workshops and discussions on grief and loss as part of the death education program.

A cheery moderator with curly black hair and oversized black-rimmed spectacles greets us all. Phoebe Bridgers’ Funeral is playing in the background. And on the dais sits the writer – a svelte and slim figure, all in black.

Then the music stops and the moderator begins to speak.

“I’m Gaby,” she says. “And this is Alix Strauss—she’s a contributing writer for The New York Times and also the author of our book for today, The Joy of Funerals, first published 20 years ago.”

“When I was young, I loved going to funerals,” she says. Strauss grew up on the Upper East Side in Manhattan, the only child of a wealthy Jewish couple who were estranged from their siblings. She missed being invited to family functions like weddings and bar mitzvahs. It was only at funerals, that she got a taste of being part of an extended family.

Loving funerals sounds morbid, even macabre. Then Strauss reads out an extract of The Joy of Funerals, and I am drawn in. Suddenly I am in the world of lonely Nina, a young woman who gate-crashes funerals to find connection. The prose flows and the dialogue sparkles, as Nina forges an instant bond of sorts with a grief-stricken widow.

The next day I find myself surrounded by a different sort of death. Literally.

Around me are murder mysteries, each featuring at least one corpse. From Ross Macdonald to George Pelecanos, a cornucopia of crime stories line the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves of this cosy space. I am in the Mysterious Bookshop on Warren Street in downtown Manhattan, listening to crime writer David Swinson.

The son of a foreign service CIA officer, Swinson grew up all over the world. He studied film, met a girl who introduced him to the alternative punk movement, set up a record store, and then opened a nightclub before finally electing to join the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington DC, where he spent 17 years fighting crime.

From those days on the streets come his homicide novels, and his dubious detectives—the morally compromised Frank Marr in The Second Girl, and the even more dubious detective Alexander in Sweet Child, his latest police procedural.

By the time I exit the bookstore, it’s dark outside and the streets are deserted. Walking to the subway, I shiver in the autumn chill. I think of my home eight thousand miles away. It will be warm in Mumbai, and festive, with Diwali parties and gifts. The stories will be different—those of the many Ramayanas and of gifting.

And yet, in this world of sundered families scattered all over the globe, I am grateful for my gift of Diwali – the gift of spending this festival with my firstborn, of a Sunday spent reading, walking, and playing board games, never mind that we are minus mithai and sparklers.

And what about you, dear Reader? How are you spending your Diwali, what gifts are you giving yourself and your families – consider adding some books to this mix – here are some book gift recommendations for you.

And until next week, happy reading!

Sonya Dutta Choudhury is a Mumbai-based journalist and the founder of Sonya’s Book Box, a bespoke book service. Each week, she brings you specially curated books to give you an immersive understanding of people and places. If you have any reading recommendations or suggestions, write to her at [email protected]

The views expressed are personal

Books referred to in this edition of Book Box:

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

The Joy of Funerals by Alix Strauss

The Second Girl by David Swinson

Sweet Child by David Swinson

Perhaps this feeling of safety springs from having Meryl Streep’s voice in my ear. Coincidentally, Streep is in a cemetery too; it’s late afternoon for her character, on the most perfect day of the most perfect summer of her life. I am listening to Streep’s voice in the story of Tom Lake by Ann Patchett.

A car drives by, and then another. I look at my watch. It is time.

I head to the Modern Chapel Building. A small group of people have arrived and sat around on the upholstered chapel benches. I learned later that many of these people are part of the cemetery community, attending workshops and discussions on grief and loss as part of the death education program.

A cheery moderator with curly black hair and oversized black-rimmed spectacles greets us all. Phoebe Bridgers’ Funeral is playing in the background. And on the dais sits the writer – a svelte and slim figure, all in black.

Then the music stops and the moderator begins to speak.

“I’m Gaby,” she says. “And this is Alix Strauss—she’s a contributing writer for The New York Times and also the author of our book for today, The Joy of Funerals, first published 20 years ago.”

“When I was young, I loved going to funerals,” she says. Strauss grew up on the Upper East Side in Manhattan, the only child of a wealthy Jewish couple who were estranged from their siblings. She missed being invited to family functions like weddings and bar mitzvahs. It was only at funerals, that she got a taste of being part of an extended family.

Loving funerals sounds morbid, even macabre. Then Strauss reads out an extract of The Joy of Funerals, and I am drawn in. Suddenly I am in the world of lonely Nina, a young woman who gate-crashes funerals to find connection. The prose flows and the dialogue sparkles, as Nina forges an instant bond of sorts with a grief-stricken widow.

The next day I find myself surrounded by a different sort of death. Literally.

Around me are murder mysteries, each featuring at least one corpse. From Ross Macdonald to George Pelecanos, a cornucopia of crime stories line the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves of this cosy space. I am in the Mysterious Bookshop on Warren Street in downtown Manhattan, listening to crime writer David Swinson.

The son of a foreign service CIA officer, Swinson grew up all over the world. He studied film, met a girl who introduced him to the alternative punk movement, set up a record store, and then opened a nightclub before finally electing to join the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington DC, where he spent 17 years fighting crime.

From those days on the streets come his homicide novels, and his dubious detectives—the morally compromised Frank Marr in The Second Girl, and the even more dubious detective Alexander in Sweet Child, his latest police procedural.

By the time I exit the bookstore, it’s dark outside and the streets are deserted. Walking to the subway, I shiver in the autumn chill. I think of my home eight thousand miles away. It will be warm in Mumbai, and festive, with Diwali parties and gifts. The stories will be different—those of the many Ramayanas and of gifting.

And yet, in this world of sundered families scattered all over the globe, I am grateful for my gift of Diwali – the gift of spending this festival with my firstborn, of a Sunday spent reading, walking, and playing board games, never mind that we are minus mithai and sparklers.

And what about you, dear Reader? How are you spending your Diwali, what gifts are you giving yourself and your families – consider adding some books to this mix – here are some book gift recommendations for you.

And until next week, happy reading!

Sonya Dutta Choudhury is a Mumbai-based journalist and the founder of Sonya’s Book Box, a bespoke book service. Each week, she brings you specially curated books to give you an immersive understanding of people and places. If you have any reading recommendations or suggestions, write to her at [email protected]

The views expressed are personal

Books referred to in this edition of Book Box:

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

The Joy of Funerals by Alix Strauss

The Second Girl by David Swinson

Sweet Child by David Swinson