![]() ![]() But she left me an autographed copy of the book at the store. No, Karen apologised, she couldn’t meet me because she would be out of England at the time. Could Karen meet me at the Paddington statue there or at the Paddington store, also on Platform No 1? I wanted to buy a copy of the last Paddington book that Bond wrote – a birthday present to myself as it were – and have Karen’s signature on it. I decided I would make my first trip to England and featured at the top of my list was a venue – Paddington Station. Last year, in 2019, they did, twice over. And yet.and yet.there was just something about Karen Jankel that made me feel better things could come. The magnificent homage at St Paul’s Cathedral as well as celebrities recounting their Paddington stories certainly made me realise where I ranked in the scheme of things. When Bond died in 2017, I doubt that my brief message could have surfaced amidst the waves of real and virtual condolences that flooded Britain. Rendered quite speechless after such an exchange, I settled down thinking that was that. What I received was a stiff envelope with two photographs and personalised inscriptions from the author himself. Would it be possible to have a scanned copy of Michael Bond’s autograph on mail? Bond’s daughter went one better. Paddington has taught me to be a firm bargain driver, so, even though keyed up, I pushed for more than just those three sentences (each more thrilling than the one before). We shared it with Michael Bond this morning who was delighted and said that it made his day! There are so many inaccurate articles written about Paddington that it was a pleasure to read something that sums up his character so perfectly.” Next, quite unaware of the excitement she would cause, came a mail from Karen Jankel, Michael Bond’s daughter: “Many thanks indeed for alerting us to your wonderful piece in the Huffington Post which in fact we had already picked up via our press alerts. In 2014, Huffington Post published my first article on Paddington Bear and just to be doubly sure (of what I can’t say, but it’s a Paddington policy to be doubly sure), I put the link on several Paddington sites. It is from Paddington that I draw many philosophies, and with this bear in mind I now go ahead, perhaps as purposefully as Paddington himself, to write what I think is a big story in my small world. But nothing replaces the sheer charm of the distinguished young bear gentleman in the books written by Michael Bond and originally illustrated by Peggy Fortnum. A new translation of Bengali writer Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay’s beloved novel ‘Ichhamoti’ is hereīy now, everyone should know Paddington Bear from the movies.Does comfort food like chocolate add to environmental damage? Yes, says this book.A new book offers detailed historical accounts of the Sultans of Oman in the 19th century.WTC Final, IND v AUS, Day 1: Ashwin’s exclusion to Head’s century, a look at three talking points.Watch: How this lone buffalo outwits a pride of lions to escape an attack.Watch: Beyoncé was joined by her daughter Blue Ivy on stage for a dance routine during UK concert.Has minor withdrawn her complaint? A media narrative war has broken out over wrestler’s allegations.Bring out the earplugs – ‘Gadar: Ek Prem Katha’ is back.Jailed, suspended, fired: How teachers in UP have paid a price for Hindutva campaigns against a song.Why Assam’s farmers are furious at Himanta Biswa Sarma’s ‘fertiliser jihad’ jibe.Three Doordarshan-era anchors recall what a dignified era of television news looked like.‘I’m a small man but my music is huge’: Wasifuddin Dagar on the AR Rahman plagiarism row. ![]()
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