Alexander Pope

Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 – 30 May 1744) is considered to be the leading 18th century English poet. He is best remembered for his satirical verses and for his translation of Homer. Pope is always remembered for his use of heroic couplet. Born to a linen merchant, he formed a group named Scriblerus club along with his friends and Tory writers such as John Gay, Jonathan Swift, Thomas Parnell and John Arbuthnot in the year 1711. The aim of the club was to satirise ignorance and the display of useless knowledge in the form of the fictional scholar Martinus Scriblerus.

The Rape of the Lock and Windsor Forest are his considered to be his best works. Besides he also authored several essays on criticism.

Pope is the third-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations.

Janet Dailey (born May 21, 1944) is a popular American romance novelist. Her novels have been translated into nineteen languages and have sold over 300 million copies worldwide. She has written 57 novels for Harlequin. It is said that she used to complete some of the novels for Harlequin in just eight days. She has initiated the Janet Dailey award worth $ 5000 annual award to be  given to an author whose romance novel best addressed a social issue.

“Dakota Dreamin, Wild and Wonderful, Heart of Stone, Maybe This Christmas and The Ivory Cane” are some of her notable works.

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Ruskin Bond

Ruskin Bond was born in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh on 19^th May 1934. He is a celebrated Indian author in children’s category.  His father worked with the Royal Air Force during Second World War. He has incorporated the social life of the Hill stations on the foothills of the Himalaya in his writing style. The Room on the Roof was his first novel which was based on his experience of his small rented room on the roof. The novel fetched him John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize in 1957. Since then Bond has authored more than three hundred short stories, essays, novels and two volumes of his autobiography.  Scenes from a Writer’s Life, which describes his formative years growing up in Anglo-India, and The Lamp is Lit, a collection of essays and episodes from his journal.

“The Blue Umbrella and 7 Khoon Maaf” are two bollywood movies inspired by Bond’s novels with the latter based on “Sussana’s seven Husbands”.

Browse through your preferred Ruskin Bond book from INDIAreads

Edward de Bono

Today also happens to be the birthday of Edward de Bono.  He is credited to invent Lateral Thinking. He is the author of the best selling book “Six Thinking Hats”. In the year 1969 de Bono founded the Cognitive Research Trust (CoRT) which produces and promotes material based on his ideas. De Bono has developed a range of ‘deliberate thinking techniques’ – which emphasize and promote thinking as a deliberate act. De Bono was one of the 27 Ambassadors for the European Year of Creativity and Innovation 2009.

He was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2005. Several corporate training are based on his techniques of “think outside the box.” In 1995, he created the futuristic documentary film, 2040: Possibilities of Edwatrd de Bono. Interestingly de Bono stated that the low level of zinc in people can be a reason for Arab-Israel conflict.  As low zinc level is directly linked to aggression.

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Rabindranath Tagore

Not many of us know that Gandhiji got the title of Mahatma from none other than Rabindranath Tagore. Today is the 150^th birth anniversary of the man who gave a politically charged slogan “ Ekla Chalo Re” during India’s struggle for freedom. Tagore won the Nobel Prize for literature in the year 1913, the first Asian to be honoured so. Like Leonardo Da Vinci, Tagore is regarded as the modern day Genius of India, having diverse talent in the field of Literature, Music, and Painting. He was the leading force behind the Bengali Renaissance movement. His songs comprised the Rabindra Sangeet which later on became an integral part of Bengali Culture. He was also fondly called as” Gurudev”.

Though known mostly for his rhythmic and lyrical poetry, Tagore also wrote novels, essays, short stories, travelogues, dramas, and thousands of songs. Tagore’s short stories are most highly regarded; he is credited with originating the Bengali-language version of the genre. He also wrote non-fiction books with topics ranging from Indian history, linguistics and spirituality.

Gitanjali, Gora and Home and the World ( Ghare-Baire) are some of his memorable works.

Tagore founded the Vishwa Bharti University in Shantiniketan in the year 1921. Tagore was an extensive traveler; he is believed to have visited thirty countries in five continents. The idea behind his travels were to make his work familiar with non-Indian audience and to promote his political ideas.

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Please browse through our extensive collection of books by the nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.

Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud (6 May 1856-23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist who discovered Psychoanalysis. He is best remembered for his theories related to the subconscious mind and the mechanism of repression. Freud can be best termed as prolific essayist, drawing on psychoanalysis to contribute to the history, interpretation and critique of culture. Though some of his critics believe that his psychoanalytical theory is attributed to his use of cocaine in his earlier days.

“The Interpretation of Dreams” remains by far the best of his works.

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Have you ever read a novel that posessed you so intently that you felt a character from the book would make a great pen pal?  Ever fantasized about sending a letter adressed to ‘the people living in the attic‘ or perhaps to  ‘the young wizard at hogwarts‘?

Ben Greenman, author of the highly anticipated What He’s Poised To Do has launched a blog called Letters With Character: Letters Written to Fictional Characters by Actual People. As the name suggests, the site is an interactive literary environment where the author encourages people to submit letters to their favorite literary characters. Besides being a clever and fun way to indulge in literature, it is also a wonderful and fun learning tool.

Out of the many letters that are sent, the funniest and most interesting ones are collected and published on the blog. A selection of those that have already been written include a critique of Shakespeare’s Goneril, a moving consideration of middle age addressed to a García Márquez heroine, and a hilarious query to Richard Scarry’s Lowly Worm.

Letters addressed to the characters can be mailed at LettersWithCharacter@gmail.com. To visit the website click here.