The Good Book Corner Diaries- Goolbai Gunasekara
Hailing from a family of distinguished educationists Goolbai Gunasekara is the product of an erudite home in which humour, wit and a clever turn of phrase, was encouraged by Dr. Kewal Motwani – her North Indian father and her American mother, the well known Clara Motwani – Principal of Buddhist schools in the Island.
Goolbai Gunasekara is herself the Founder Principal of the ASIAN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL of Colombo. She has a Degree in History and a Doctorate in English Literature. She won the “Women of the Year” award in Education from the Zonta Club of Sri Lanka in 1996. She was Chairman of the Inner Wheel Clubs of Sri Lanka.
Other than books of humourous sketches, she has collaborated with the British Council and Sabaragamuwa University to write four books of History – specially aimed at Sinhala educated undergraduates. She has also just published a book on her Mother, Mrs. Clara Motwani, titled “Chosen Ground” which was a best seller and has gone into reprint due to great demand.
Goolbai Gunasekara and her husband “Bunchy” have a daughter and two grandchildren, Tahire and Rahul.
1.List the books on your bedside. The books on my bedside are “Me Before You” by Jojo Moyes. “The Grandees” by Stephan Birmingham. “Jinnah Often Came to our House” by Kiran Doshi.
2.How important is reading to you?Reading is almost as important as breathing!
3.How often do you read? Reading through the day, e.g. during my long drive to my school, in the afternoons and in bed.
4.Favourite genre? My favourite genre is Historical Fiction and books on History.
5. A book you would recommend? I would highly recommend “Jinnah Often Came to our House”
6. Your favourite drink/snack while reading? My favourite drink while reading is coffee (daytime) and wine (evenings).
7. Favourite literary/book quote? Is a common one from Shakespeare “the fault my dear Brutus is not in our stars but in ourselves that we are underlings (Cassius).
About artikaaurorabakshi
Artika Aurora Bakshi
Artika Aurora Bakshi is the author of five well-acclaimed children’s books,My Little Sikh Handbook, My Little Sikh Handbook 2: Ardas, My Little Sikh Handbook: Travel Journal, My Little Sikh Handbook: The Mighty Sikh Empire, My Little Handbook of Feelings, and an anthology of stories, Hold On To Me. Her first story, set in Amritsar, during the pre-Partition period, All She Had Left, was published on Story Mirror.
Her short stories have been published on Kitaab.
She co-manages thegoodbookcorner.com, a manuscript help and book review site. Her passion for reading has led her to helping other writers with their manuscripts.
She is a Contributing Editor for Nishaan, and the Associate Editor for SLIM Marketer.
She comes from a family of lawyers and has a master’s degree in International Banking & Finance.
A regular at the Galle Literary Festival and The Ceylon Literary and Art Festival, Artika’s articles and book reviews have featured in the Daily Mirror, Daily News, The Ceylon Chronicle, and various blogs, such as, talkingcranes.com, sikhchic.com, sikhnet.com.
An avid reader, Artika runs an online book club with a membership base of over 600 members.
Her quotes are featured under soul_nightingale_artika on Instagram and on Soul Nightingale by Artika Aurora Bakshi on Facebook.
You can reach Artika at bakshiartika@gmail.com .
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