The letter I never sent

Dear Mama,

Some things never change, do they? Starting from my early childhood when you used to force me to earn my B'day presents by setting me difficult quizzes to the present day when you don't hesitate to point out every slip I make (wasn't Circa the last?), I got to hand it to you for being the most influential person in my life. And believe me, that’s as big a compliment as I can ever give. Cutting to the chase, why this letter today? It’s because of this "Hypnerotomachia Poliphili" thing you mentioned in one of your mails a month back.

(For the uninitiated,"Hypnerotomachia Poliphili" as a book defies categorization - is it an autobiography, a book on architecture, erotica, or does it champion women's rights. Is it a puzzle book or is it plain gibberish? For more details, here is a very interesting link)

At that time I had dismissed it as yet another attempt by you to show me how much more catching up I had to do (how about a handicap system like in polo or golf) but I just managed to read an article in ET a few days back on those two wonder kids and their book "Rule of Four". And yes, mildly put, it was very intriguing indeed.

It seems Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason, two 28-year-old Ivy League super-achievers have drawn upon an authentic 1499 Renaissance text to create a thriller about two Princeton undergraduates who try to unravel the mysteries in "Hypnerotomachia Poliphili". It’s rumored that Caldwell and Thomason, who grew up across the street from each other in Northern Virginia, put in almost 6 years of research effort into this book. The book has been released in the US in May and has been declared an instant hit. Critics have compared it more than favorably with my other favorite Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code (which you must surely read)

I am not so sure "Rule of Four" is out in India but you can be rest assured that I shall buy it, read it and send it to you as soon as i am done. After all, so many people read this blog of mine and I am sure someone must be thinking of it as a nice present for me :-)

Forever
Me

ps: Love to Abhi and Nandhini