In a lighter vein

Of Meera Raghavendra Rao’s book Slice of Life - a Sequel, a compilation of her blog posts

Meera Raghavendra Rao. Photo: K.V. Srinivasan

Whether it is about a bureaucrat trying to deftly pocket her pen or a friend who takes more care of her dog than herself, Meera Raghavendra Rao’s musings are funny, sharp and explore the lighter side of life. Slice of Life - a Sequel , her book on such observations and other stories was launched in the city recently. It was released by P. Chellappan, partner, Palaniappa Bros. and also present at the occasion were B.S. Raghavan, IAS (retired) and writer Prema Kasturi.

Slice of Life is a collection of 90 >blog posts from Meera’s blog . The posts are categorised into five sections; My Husband and I, Chennai Potpourri, All In Jest, My Musings and The Privileged Lot. “The first are just impressions that my husband and I take back from our morning walks or my writing profession and our discussions on them. The Privileged Lot is about pets and how people give them more importance today. Chennai Potpourri is about things that happen in the city and my observations on them,” said the author.

“Meera has succeeded in giving ordinary conversations an extraordinary flavour and fragrance,” said B.S. Raghavan. “This is because of her command over the language. And if you read her book, you are left with a sense of well-being. There is no bitterness — she looks at life with optimism and hope.”

This is Meera’s third book this year, after the first part of

Slice of Life and a book on feature writing. “I call this year a hat trick,” she said with a smile. “My inspiration for my books are life and people. Pot Pourri is social commentary and All In Jest is where I talk about the lighter side of situations. In the book, I take a dig at politicians, how people have selective hearing and some musings on being old and healthy (those who don’t pop pills), about Teacher’s Day and so on.”

Slice of Life was the result of the many comments on many of her blog posts. “I update my blog thrice a week and that was how I was able to rustle up about 90 posts in six months. I get a lot of comments from my readers and this inspires me to write more. They understand the subtle humour in my posts,” said Meera.

The

Slice of Life - a Sequel even has illustrations at the beginning of each category, which captures the flavour of its contents. “The ideas for the illustrations come from my posts.” Meera is now hoping to bring out a book on the basics of journalism for students.

Slice of Life - a Sequel is priced available for Rs.180.