Mathilukal is a Malayalam novella by the veteran Vaikom Muhammed Basheer. Translated into English as The Walls, the story is about Basheer who spends a brief period of his life at the Travancore Jail.

As the story opens we see Basheer, the protagonist, as a man who is spending his life at the prison befriending other prisoners, planting roses, and frequently in conversation with other inmates. He is obviously not happy being in the prison but is rather very unhappy due to the indifference being shown to him. The prisoners who had come in after him also have left the prison, but not he. So he protests by growing roses in the prison and spending his time writing.

The prison is separated from the women’s prison by a high wall. In due course of time, we see Basheer falling in love with Narayani, a prisoner on the other side of the wall. Though they haven’t met, they exchange words and promises of love, standing on the opposite sides of the wall. There are quite a few romantic moments and dialogues involved.
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The book is an autobiography of APJ Abdul Kalam, the Missile Man of India. It was written by Kalam and Arun Tiwari. Though autobiographical, I consider it as an inspirational, and positive book of a rare breed. One would really relish incidents quoted in the book, for a life time.

The co-author, Tiwari is also a former missile scientist who worked under Kalam and idolizes the him. The book was released in 1999 and made huge waves across the country and abroad. The extreme simplicity of the person, high thinking, and humility captures the minds of the people. No wonder you would simply admire Kalam after reading the book.

The story starts with the early life of Kalam, his family, education,
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This is a masterpiece by Charles Dickens. The story is told in a semi-autobiographical style and is the story of Philip Pirrip, referred to as Pip in the novel. We see Pip telling his story to us. And as the title goes, it is a story of expectations and life.

Pip is an orphan who lives with his older sister and husband, Joe. He works with Joe, who has a warm affection for Pip. Pip once gets food and rum for a convict who escaped from prison. The convict turns up again towards the end of the novel bringing about a considerable turn in the story. Other major characters in the story are Miss Havisham and Estella. Miss Havisham lives in a mansion and is an eccentric character. There are mysteries surrounding her like a big house and none else, a wedding gown,
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This was one of the first novels I read. I had received this book as a prize for a literary competition in my junior school. I was quite happy that I bagged the prize but was not quite happy with the prize received and never intended to read it. It had a lavendar cover with the image of Jane Eyre on it. In those days I had difficulty in pronouncing Charlotte Bronte.

Reading short stories were interesting to me, not big novels. But don’t know why, one day I started reading the book. I don’t remember the pace with which I read the book, but do remember that I was quite fascinated by the story. The language was extremely simple and does prompt a reader to read on.
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