“You are my author friend, I’m not going to let you go at it alone,” she said over the phone. “I’m coming with you!”
It was in the early 90s that I first met Sangita. As a teacher at Vasant Valley, she had engaged RVentures to organise a trip to Bharatpur for her class of students and I was the Naturalist assigned to the group. We bonded immediately and subsequently as she grew professionally, she continued to involve me in her journey. It was through her good offices that I was hired to conduct nature workshops at RKK, Jodhpur. When Sangita became the first woman to be appointed as Head Mistress of my alma mater, The Lawrence School Lovedale, she invited me to conduct nature workshops each year during her tenure.
Little did I know that 12 years later, I would meet these same students at the Bangalore Catholic Club, now all grown up, sitting in the audience, listening to me and buying my book. Life is a practice – what I do each day reflects how I choose to live my life.
As the Executive Principal at the Amity School Dubai, Sangita travelled to Delhi. She was on her way to meet me and take me to her home in Wellington, which also happens to be where I was born. Brimming with ideas and a determined spirit to help make my book a success, she arrived, and the next day we set off for Coimbatore. The scenic drive up to Wellington was a familiar landscape filling me with a sense of blending past and present and where the future was opening up with new possibilities.
The Nilgiri Library
Before her arrival at Delhi, Sangita had urged me to get in touch with the Secretary of the Nilgiri Library at Ooty. I had also sought assistance from Hari Ram Shastri, a friend and an Old Lawrencian. The Secretary soon called to request that I send him more information about my book, which I promptly did. Not long after, I received a flattering message. The Book Club coordinator, responsible for selecting titles for the library, had already ordered a copy based on the glowing reviews the book had received on Amazon. To my delight, he was excited to learn that I was Head Girl in 1966 of the Lawrence School Lovedale. Now they were eagerly awaiting my arrival. The date for the book event was set for Saturday the 13th. But on the 9th of July, I would be granted a visit into the inner sanctum of the library. This indeed was an honour. They didn’t know that it was also my birthday. What an absolutely wonderful way to spend the day!

The Nilgiri Library, located in Ooty, was designed by architect Robert Fellows Chisholm, an influential British architect of the 19th century. Although his design for the Nilgiri Library was in the Gothic style, he innovated a domed entrance pavilion for the library. It was a common feature of Indo-Islamic mosques and, in its present structure, the Library was completed only in 1869. More importantly, Chisholm had also designed the Lawrence School main building.
Today, the library has a collection of 60,000 books, both fiction and non-fiction. The President, Kamala Ramachandran, shared with me a little-known fact about one of its treasures – a commentary on the Bible printed in 1585 called The Ancient Ecclesiasticall Histories of the First Six Hundred Years After Christ. This book is stored in a rather quaint safe to safeguard it from book thieves and dampness. As Kamala put it, here is where you can find “more treasures than all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island, and where one can spend two lifetimes.” This heritage building houses rare and valuable source materials, covering a period from the 1600s to the present day. It’s a world class landmark, one that I was so fortunate to visit.
According to Ramakrishna Nambiar, the honorary secretary of the library, the Nilgiri Library is one of the few public libraries in the country that is privately held. Priceless editions and original manuscripts are all found here.
On my birthday, I was escorted to the beautiful double-storied building with large windows that shed wonderful light into the large reading room furnished with teakwood flooring and ceiling. A balcony ran around the upper level. Clever use of the architect’s sense of acoustics shielded the circulating library on the ground floor from conversations up above. Roman and French books in the teakwood glass cases of the Wardrop Room line the walls where there hangs an oil painting of Queen Victoria. In here, among the octagonal tables, and leather armchairs, bound volumes of the classic Punch magazine, a 16th century Bible in Greek, an exhaustive recording of the World Wars in embellished leather-bound magazines, are to be found. Books are precious and, for those who read, eternally fascinating.
It was against this charming backdrop of the library’s historic atmosphere rich with literary tradition that my book reading event was set. Kamala was generous in her praise for the book. She would later write: “A singular privilege for the 165-year-old Nilgiri Library to have hosted you, Jennifer. While your books sold out, your reading from the book was one of the best we have been audience to. Your rich humour and timing with that incredulous look in those bright and expressive eyes with that strenuous narration was riveting, transporting one easily to the fascinating Northeast. Thank you Jennifer for a most engaging evening. Indeed you are a true icon of vitality and vision, defining ‘she’ with style!”
In the lively Q&A session I was asked thoughtful questions about my writing process, the themes in my book, and my personal experiences that influenced the narrative. I tried my best to answer with warmth and openness, creating a meaningful connection with my audience. But I think it was the spontaneous banter that flowed between Kamala and me that the audience enjoyed. It was natural and not contrived. And so they listened, captivated. Everyone was ‘in the moment’!

The evening ended with a sense of fulfillment and inspiration, as I forged a deep bonding with the sincere and dedicated Mr Nambiar, and a delightfully entertaining Ms Kamala. The art of storytelling is what keeps me socially engaged. The bonus is that people leave with a deeper appreciation for my work.
More was in store. Sangita held a lunch party in my honour at her home and had invited interesting people to interact with me. It was at lunch that I met the inimitable, diversely accomplished, and delightful Sangeetha Shinde. Her Magazine Inside43 features people who have chosen to settle down in the Nilgiris. Although I don’t live in the Nilgiris, I went to the Lawrence School at Lovedale and I was born in Wellington—surely that should qualify me—it did; she interviewed me!
At a dinner at the prestigious Wellington Gymkhana Club that she had organised, I had the pleasure of meeting her friends. They were a remarkable group of women—each one vibrant and deeply passionate about her work. Engaged with life in the fullest sense, they loved literature, shared a sharp sense of humour, and offered interesting perspectives on various subjects. I found myself utterly captivated by their lively conversations and the unique insights they brought to the table. I was so happy to have made Sangeetha Shinde’s acquaintance and was richer for it.
Ink On The Move goes to Bangalore in the next episode