Paper Boats by K. S. Venkataramani

THREE of these Essays were origin¬ally published in East and West in more or less the present form. “The Indian Beggar” appeared in Sep¬tember, 1913, “On Fishermen” in Feb¬ruary, 1913, “The Hindu Temple” in February, 1914. I sent a reprint of “The Hindu Temple” to Mr. A. C. Benson, who promptly replied to me as follows, on March 2nd, 1914:
“I have received your paper on the Hindu Temple and have read it with very real and lively interest. It throws a perfectly new light upon the whole question, and I am very grateful to you for bringing it before me in so picturesque and impressive a form. I cannot help feeling that a number of similar sketches on Indian Life and Customs would be of great service to us here in England.”
This generous letter awakened in me the dream of authorship. I have...