July 10, 2016-----COMMITMENT PHOBIA

I have a deep rooted fear of commitment. I call it Commitment Phobia. I am not sure if it is recognized by the American Medical Association---but it should be. When I looked up commitment phobia on the internet, I got all kinds of definitions most having to do with fear of intimacy and making emotional connections. That isn't the type of phobia I'm referring to. I suffer from making commitments about  every day things including attending  a party, wedding, lunch, dinner--even  registering for a race.  I don't like to sign up for a race ahead of time because that turns it into a commitment. I am the person registering for every race a half an hour before it starts. I think commitment give me anxiety.
I know you are wondering what this could possibly have to do with reading, but in my case it does. Believe it or not,  sometimes I have difficulty committing to books. These are usually longer books that I know will take a big chunk of time-- like a 20 mile run for the runners out there.  This happened to me the first time I read,  A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. When I first looked at it, I was a little intimidated  by the girth --a little over 600 dense pages.  In addition to that, I was a put off by the size of the font--it's a little smaller than I like. It is also about India--what did I know about India at the time--don't worry--today I love stories from all over the world--especially India. The only reason I took the plunge was because the back cover said, "A compassionate realism and narrative sweep that recall the work of Charles Dickens." Any writer compared to Dickens is well worth the time and effort to me.

Slums of India

This is a beautifully written story that centers around 4 main characters -Dina, Maneck, Ishvar and Omprakash  during the 1970's. Although they are from various backgrounds, these four strangers are forced to live together due to circumstances beyond their control. In many ways it is a tragic story about the caste system and injustices done to people based on a structure of society that seems prehistoric. It is also a story of friendship and love. This is a book that I reflect on often and have reread a few times because the writing is fluid and beautiful.  I love the characters too.  If I were you though, I would make a list of them because there are many people in the story and they are all connected in some way. Someone you meet in the first few chapters will appear later in the novel because it has a circular plot much like a traditional Dickens' novel. Give it a try. Take it from a commitment phobic person-- it is  well worth it!