Someone once said — home is where the heart is.
Today, on the other side of e-learning, webinars, virtual family gatherings and my children’s art and music lessons, home is where WiFi, Zoom and the bookshelf are!
Among the many reasons for investing in a bookshelf, using it as a backdrop was not one, simply because it was a time before we let the cameras into our private spaces. Who knew that the bookshelf would be the biggest status symbol of the Zoom era?
Treasure chest for curious minds
The idea was to create a treasure chest for little curious minds, to give our inky treasures a home and to be able to open the glass panes and drink into a welcome gust of the fragrance of books and wood that pleasantly transported us to those moments of free, uninterrupted times that we curled up with one.
When my now-good-friend, Chandni, and I first decided to get discussing on a task we were going to undertake on our first Zoom meeting, she chose to break the ice by inquiring about an inanimate photo frame in the background.
Those with frayed edges, some whose bindings are barely holding the creased pages but best held the might of magic woven by the author when I had travelled alongside the protagonist, even become one, saving the day and still had time to speak the best lines and making adventure, dying in the midst of it and living through tragedy and pain seem like fun
I fail to remember if that meeting had accomplished much as far as the task was concerned but I knew I owned a coveted photo frame but needed to downplay the size of my forehead, my nose didn’t appear to fit well on me and eyes were too big when I saw myself concentrating.
It was easy to see all that was me and not me under a spot of blinding light because the other grid filmed the dark outlines of roller blinds and a human form sitting before it.
Connected through a virtual setting
Looking back, it must have been this shared vulnerability that we connected well even on a virtual setting.
A selfie addict had once explained that choosing an angle and light was the key to picture perfect. Choosing an angle when you are on video would look silly, even to you, so adequate lighting was the trick. I learnt that natural light streaming before you is better than the most expensive candle that could turn the setting creepy or soft light on your face that would highlight your features but also give you a halo.
Plop yourself before a bookshelf instead of opting to choose a background and you have everyone’s attention, even (especially) with wibbly audio.
The bookshelf has been our literary badge. It was when one of the husband’s colleagues was seen nosing around the its contents before inquiring about a book that we got shelf-conscious.
We were not very keen on competing with celebrities and their elaborate display of gold-lettered, red-spine hardcovers but we needed to re-arrange what little we owned.
Peeking through the fish-eye camera
The husband brought out all the perfect-looking self-help books into view. Any curious intruder peeking through the fish-eye camera would think we owed our very existence to the ‘magic’ that these books promised us with.
For a person who does not like to be told what to do, the husband has bought and is often seen reading (and sleeping through) them, but for the sake of marital harmony and the fact that he does not like to be told what to do, it was best to play along.
My fictions, every one of them — a little universe in themselves — that I have lived through and that have become a part of me, sit away from prying eyes.
Those with frayed edges, some whose bindings are barely holding the creased pages but best held the might of magic woven by the author when I had travelled alongside the protagonist, even become one, saving the day and still had time to speak the best lines and making adventure, dying in the midst of it and living through tragedy and pain seem like fun.
Curated bookshelf. Check. Lighting. Check. Now, if only my nose would fit on my face better.
— Pranitha Menon is a freelance writer based in Dubai. Twitter: @MenonPranitha
