Brave New Age
The ambitions of the Age of Aquarius in the 60s shrank rapidly from wanting to change the world to being willing to live in it so long as free love and marijuana were at hand. The exact opposite is happening to this generations New Agers like a holdall on speed, the movement is expanding to include almost everything under the sun. Acupuncture, firewalking, environmental consciousness, witchcraft, the Tao, dolphins, feminism and dowsing sticks co-exist in peaceful togetherness.
You couldnt ask for a better label if you were looking to open a specialist bookstore with a wider range than the tag specialist would suggest. Full Circle, billed as Delhis first ever specialised book store, clearly thought so too. (Incidentally, they are the first new age bookstore, but the first ever specialised book store in Delhi is the one at Jawaharlal Nehru University that caters exclusively to aspiring government officers.)
At the opening, Dr Aruna Sareen, wife of the air chief marshal, pointed out that many new age books can help rid us of the mental tensions which afflict urban society. There was a murmur of approval from the gathering assembled on the well-manicured lawns of the Santushti shopping complex. The only cause of urban tension there was the heat, and that was taken care of by the discreet airconditioners and the even more discreet bearers offering glasses of all-natural ginger ale and mango panna.
Dr Ashwini Chopra of the Aashlok hospital and a director of Full Circle publications, pointed out the choicer tomes on health. Along with Poonam and Shekhar Malhotra of Hind Pocket Books and marketing man Vikram Raina, he had worked for a year to see this project through. As people browsed the stacks in between catching up with old friends, the atmosphere resembled a soiree in the home of a particularly literate hostess. The only hint that business was being conducted was provided by the gentlemen from Life Positive, who handed out free copies of their magazine.
The categories are familiar spirituality, romance, cooking, gardening, fiction, therapy, health, even poetry and theatre criticism. Naturally, Crichton and Clancy dont make it to the shelves. Instead, the alternative bestseller list features Deepak Chopra, the ubiquitous Osho, F Scott Peck, and Buddhist scholar and monk Thich Nhat Hanh.
And thanks to the all-encompassing embrace of new age, there were also books on origami, chess, and antiques. From The Sign Language Companion to Zoo: The Modern Ark, from shiatsu and reiki guides to water therapy, from Meditations for Women Who Do Too Much to The Secrets of Sculpture, there was a book for every enlightened mind. I was tempted by Goddess, Guide Me, which promised to deliver oracles from 12 goddesses, including Hekat, Lakshmi and Aphrodite, for the measly sum of Rs 680. They come more expensive than that with a pujari as middleman. Unfortunately, it was wrapped in impenetrable cling film, so I couldnt settle down in the browsers corner and ascertain whether the stars were against me.
I left mulling over a minor problem. Despite the user-friendly surroundings, the hardened reader begins to crave his James Joyce or Calvin and Hobbes but then, I reasoned, new agers arent like the rest of us. Theyre more focused. Centred, if you like.