To kill a mocking bird...

Just read on yahoo home page that today is the golden jubilee of the publication of one of my favourite book, To kill a mocking bird, by Harper Lee.

It is set during the civil rights movement in America. The 'Hero' of the book is a lawyer of a small town, Mr. Atticus Finch. Who is a single parent of two children,  Scout and Jem. The story is told by the little girl, Scout.  Atticus is a man of principle and is appointed to defend a black man, who is charged with the molesting of a white woman. Later the book was made in to a movie by the same name, which won Gregory Peck (the original Dev Anand, and one of my fav actors) the Oscar for best actor in lead character (its one of the rare books, whose movie adaptation was equally good, but again, I haven't seen many such movies).

What I liked most about the book was the character of Atticus (I hope to be like him some day!!!). In the entire book, Atticus rarely speaks with anger and never hits anyone. He does not do any stuff which a hero is used to do. But still, his character grows on you, primarily with his conduct. I also liked how the innocent children show maturity as the book progresses. What was also touching to me was how Jem and Scout have their respect for Atticus grow during sort period of time (isnt to be respected and loved by innocence the greatest stamp of success ?) is . It was while reading this book that I realized that in the end, what matters is how the people whom you work with and your family see you.

I remember how much pain I took to find this book. As such, getting a English book was difficult in Gujarat. My college library had only two stacks of english novels, and most of them were in multiple copies, so effectively not many titles. Hence I tried to read this book on computer, which I hated and gave up. I finally found the book in Delhi, when we were on college tour. On seeing this book I was so excited that my friend K. thought I was either too much drunk or gone insane. The bad luck dosent end here. I was reading book while coming back to Gujarat. Even thought we were travelling by college bus, it was similar to state transport vehicle. I had put the book on the upper shelf while talking with friends and someone was trying to see it and it slips through the upper shelf and fell out of window. So, I was left without reading the ending for a long long time. Finally I found a copy of the book in ahemdabad crossword and was able to read it completely. But man, it was worth the wait.

If you are planning to read the book, don't read this paragraph. After reading the book I felt what if Atticus had won the case. Would book have been such a huge success then. Some how i have a feeling that people even though remember the great successes, the great failures are also quite remembered and treasured by them, albeit more dearly.