Click the image to the left for a trip to Jaipur via The Guardian and the fertile mind of Amitava Kumar:

When I was younger books were fetish objects. They sat in a small group on a bare shelf or a window sill, depending on whether I was at home or staying in my room at the college hostel. Now, with more money, I’m able to acquire the books more easily, and they have lost their ancient magic as objects. Now, they are treasured as friends. Or, more likely, as guilty reminders of money wasted — because I hardly have the time to read one-tenth of the books I buy.

Mr. Kumar is quoted here in a series called “Of Writers & Reading” in honor of the Jaipur Literature Fest.

There are plenty of other ideas in that linked article that make it worth reading to the end, but on the topic of the Jaipur event, David Remnick’s blog post from Jaipur, and WSJ Blog’s comment about Remnick’s session at the Fest, are both worth the several minutes they take to read.