A weekend of unusual journeys

This weekend, journey into the innermost chambers of the diary and mind of renowned Indian poet-scholar A K Ramanujan; Hop onto a train - or eighty - that take you around the world; And finally, begin the 100-day sojourn to a healthier and well-exercised brain.

1. Book: Journeys - A Poet's Diary; Editors: Krishna Ramanujan and Guillermo Rodríguez; Publisher: Penguin; Price: Rs 599; Pages: 351

The hitherto unpublished personal diaries and journals of late poet-scholar A K Ramanujan, who wrote in both English and Kannada, have been published as a book.

Edited by his son Krishna Ramanujan and Guillermo Rodriguez, an active promoter of Indo-Spanish cultural relations, the book ‘Journeys: A Poet's Diary' includes accounts from his travels, his thoughts on writing, many improvised as well as early poetry drafts, and dreams. As per the introduction penned by Rodriguez, the book brings together a selection of the unpublished diaries that trace Ramanujan's ‘journey' - in his own voice - as a writer and poet, and his maturing as a unique intellectual luminary.

The title comes complete with a foreword by film-theatre personality Girish Karnad and opens a window to the author's innermost thoughts and his creative process. 

2. Book: Around the World in 80 Trains - A 45,000-Mile Adventure; Author: Monisha Rajesh; Publisher: Bloomsbury; Price: Rs 599; Pages: 326 

After her book "Around India in 80 Trains", author Monisha Rajesh has turned to world travel, which she shares with us in a new book called "Around the World in 80 Trains".

After quitting her job in 2015, she carefully plotted a route that would cover 45,000 miles - almost twice the circumference of the earth - coasting along the world's most remarkable railways; from the cloud-skimming heights of Tibet's Qinghai railway to silk-sheeted splendour on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express.

Packing up her rucksack - and her fiance, Jem - Monisha embarked on an unforgettable adventure that took her from London's St Pancras station to the vast expanses of Russia and Mongolia, North Korea, Canada, Kazakhstan, and beyond.

3. Book: 100 Days to a Younger Brain; Author: Dr Sabina Brennan; Publisher; Hachette India; Price: Rs 499; Pages: 296

Your third journey this weekend could extend upto a 100 days. One day, one exercise at a time, this new book coaches you to maximise your memory, boost your brain's health and defy dementia.

Packed with essential information needed to empower you to make informed choices everyday about your sleeping, eating and lifestyle habits that will benefit all aspects of your life from work to relationships and achieving your personal goals, this motivating book contends that complicated neuroscience is not needed to look after your brain, inspiring you to do at least one small thing every day to radically improve your brain's health.

Authored by a research psychologist and neuroscience expert, it is not just a read-only book, but allows you do chart your sleep, stress, mental, social, heart-health, physical activity, attitude, and brain health profiles through interesting exercises and questionnaires. IANS