My Book Shelf.... :-) ,Part 2

Hi it has been a long time since I wrote.... well lets talk about books again, I have read so many of them... Hills of Angheri By Kavery Nambisan, this is a story of a 12 year old village girl... going out to a big city and doing MBBS, the difficulties she faces in madras are hilarious, our protagonist has come from a village and is in awe of the city girls.. the description is really genuine and then comes a phase where in she is required to go to a village for her internship, while reading all that u can actually visualize the life of an Indian medical student, the description and details could not be more descriptive..... ummmm..... and then she decides to do MS, I mean in spite of the blunders in internship and her lack of confidence on her abilities imagine a surgeon... anyways she is associate to two surgeons in a government hospital who are rivals, and are as different from each other as one can possibly imagine, so imagine this poor under confident girl of ours and then to top that there is pressure from home to marry and then there is this guy she has a crush on since childhood but they are not that good friends... anyways the story goes on and on.. It’s hilarious, realistic and engrossing....

The next book I read was the Arrangements Of Love by a duhhh I don’t remember... the title could not be more deceiving, I wanted to read a love story :-( this one turned out to be another NRI saga... I mean I m sick of the kind of books Chitra banerjee (mistress of spices and arranged marriages), jumpha lahri (for interpretation of maladies and I am sure the unaccustomed earth now), preeti nayar (every thing she puts her hands on) and mera sayal (except anita and me) write, I mean I m a first hand Indian, I don’t want to see it the way you see it and please give me break.. Don’t give us your autobiographies, and your friends day to day experiences under the category fiction. chalo lets move on

The next one I picked up only because of its title, husbands and pumpkins..... it had those cartoons/ sketches we used to go see in magazines like ghrahshobha , I mean RK Narayanan kind of sketches, the were awesome and anyways I read it and seriously as my friend told me it looked like my grandfather was talking.. hehehe... but he had a very subtle sense of humor a wise man indeed though he was writing short stories I could understand his pace only by the time I was about to end it..

yes and ladies and gentlemen now comes the three mistakes of my life,chetan bhagat, I hated him for his second book one night at call centre it was more to encash on the success of his first book and was a pathetic story to tell , fitting only for a bollywood flick. anyways this one is surely not as interesting as five point someone but is much better than that call centre one, ok watt I like most about chetan bhagat.... he is an outgrown teenager is what one of my friends has to say and I cannot agree more, the way his love story progresses.. slowly , subtly and surely.. is something that any young Indian can relate too... What i liked most about this book is his way of narration and that feeling of belongingness you have when you read something you can fully identify and imagine..So I won’t say it was a bad read... but neither would I say that this is a must read...
chalo cya bye... I have no more energy left. cya next time

Its Raining!!!!!!..... but my heart is seriously not paining ;-)

Its not Monday…. It’s a Tuesday but for the first time ever it feels like a Friday… the weather out here is awesome.. Seriously I told you there’s nothing like Delhi in March… spring as good as it can get on the unclaimed (sans buildings) lands……
But if there’s something like icing on the cake then for spring 2008 Delhi the day would unambiguously go to 31 March – 1 April. I got up at about 7:00 Am to get ready for office… went out looking for a towel , brushing my teeth and oh my god… the weather was ultimate… cool, fresh absolutely unadulterated winds…. Stood there for full 3 Minutes… absolutely jealous of the birds.. they were chirping, playing and having the best of every moment……
Anyways came here cribbing and thinking about those 3 minutes….. Convinced my friends for lunch at Haldiram’s and Pls don’t laugh that’s the only place accessible without much trouble from my office. I am spending some of the best hours of my days of some of the best years of my life at a location which is as barren as the depleting Aravalli hills... Anyways about this going out thing the plan was aborted sooner than it was conceived. No point going into the details. Anyway I have absolutely 3rd grade work to do…. It’s not at all exciting and I feel sick the moment I see this application…. My fate alas….
I am a strong believer of the fact that the book finds the reader and its never the other way round. I used to read osho a lot… but then there was a time I found him artificial….anyways somehow I have discovered this Osho Book and am enjoying it so you see the book has found me at last…….. nice one its about Krishna…..
And then the fiction category I recently read love and longing in Mumbai….. nice time pass and then there was If God Was a Banker.. again a very different and authentic book as far as work culture of Indian MNC’s is concerned.. and then I was finally able to read the kite runner… Khallid hosseni is really one writer whose books touch your soul. My best in the current generation of Asian Authors.
PS: Mr Anu Malik,the Pun is seriously unintended.....

Remembering March

hey again....... what is it that I want to share today...... well lets see, its the month of march my second best (best being October/November....)well the wind these days are fresh , crisp and fragrant.. I see palash tress all around me posing magnificently with the red flowers crowned on the leafless, bare branches.... who said they are useless.... i see them as really brave fellows... They’ll remain leafless in spring season but still qualify as one of the most beautiful trees.
I like this month partly because this is the month when our final exams were over.. we had all the time to ourselves... I think we wouldn't be the person we are if it hadn't been for our childhood days.. .. The way we bonded with the nature...The way we felt when we first touched a butterfly...Watching earthworms scroll.... Plucking rose.. eating mulberry's , Guava, grapes fresh and unwashed....Playing those crazy games...

The smell still lingers and when the month is March it becomes nostalgic.... I want to go out and breathe as much air as i possibly can...
I still remember the way I used to stand on my roof tops around dusk, I used to look up and watch few bright stars and then go round and round and round... my head then used to become so light that it seemed as if I was floating... I used to giggle uncontrollably… The feeling seeping in slowly to each and every muscle…. awareness hundred percent. nothing else used to exist nothing else mattered it was just me and the stars and that feeling of completeness....

A few years back I used to actually laugh at people who talked this way.... but now I understand what they missed

The Introspection day

I am ashamed to admit this… really….
1. I live in the past…..
2. I always yearn for things I don’t have
And I am desperate to get rid of these habits… and I need to be taught (well ya… we are used to be spoon fed, at least I have lost the wisdom though I am intelligent (ego!!!!… it wont ever leave me alone……) but intellect seems to be missing… everything is learnt nothing comes from within even though I try really hard to listen and there is a voice talking to me from deep within but I am always in doubt.. I don’t know for sure whether I can trust it or not...) Anyways these are two habits I desperately need to get rid of. And I wish I could be more carefree towards life… I wish I could be more naïve……… there are so many things we take for granted that we don’t say WOW to nature’s most basic yet most complex, essential gifts……anyways I need to re- discover myself I say discover and not invent because I know everything is in place its just that I am not aware of its existence….Most of all I want to be someone who is satisfied with what is offered… I want to be one who accepts things as they come and yep though I know all these things I still think that I am one of the most credulous and venerable being……….  and you guessed it right its Monday again ;-) ….. it has become ‘The Introspection day’ or what?????

The Monday Syndrome

Well hi again….. TV , Blog , Poetry , Gardening , Reading are my escapes from the reality… which ashamed as I might be , is something I still am not able to digest…..
I have felt trapped ever since I grew up……. I am trapped amongst people with rigid mindset; they having there own definition of cool and un cool look down upon people who fail to understand their categorization…… I am trapped in the concrete hell read Delhi while lush green rain forests wait un explored….,I am trapped in a society where a 24 year olds are shown the harder way to live where getting bigger and fatter pay packages in the only acceptable aim….., I am trapped in a confused mind …… things I grew up dreaming about have slowly started loosing their meaning…. There are still few unfulfilled dreams and many desires…. But then I know living to see your dreams come true is only a vicious circle…come what may they’ll never cease to exist……I am trapped in a tired body ;-0 waiting to grow wings…………………. Anyways who cares…Bye for now…..I wonder again why is it always Monday when I look at life this way…. I am sure it isn’t half as bad as I think….. time to look out for a new escape.

My Book Shelf.... :-)

Well I know it has been a long time….But I want to make this blog really special….. so I have decided against writing mediocre things (though I have to admit that’s all I have to tell these days.) Well I think I’ll write about the books I read recently

‘100 Shades Of White’ Preethi Nair….

I don’t know why this happens with me…. If I read a book at a stretch I mean 1-2 days I really love it, there is nothing better in this world… but when I retrospect I feel that it was in fact a very mediocre one…. I mean I really liked this one after finishing it. Recommended the same to my book club friends (actually that’s the name I have given them…. I am not part of any official book club really) but now I think it was inspired by god of small things, Mistress of spices, Name sake, and To kill a mocking bird…. But the result was a truly amazing book… I don’t say it’s a must read but if you want to spend some lazy hours and you happen to have this book in your book shelf… go for it……


Any ways the next one I have started is ‘ The Hungry Tide’ Amitav Ghosh . To tell you the truth I was a little apprehensive before going for it primarily because my first encounter with this author.. The Glass Palace was a failure. I mean I was really looking forward to read this much critically acclaimed book but there were far too many characters in such a shot span that I was confused……any ways the next one really surprised me…. Its such a beautiful book on sundarbans …. Full marks to writer for the research he has put into the geological and historical facts/events enlisted… I at times wonder how I didn’t know about such a beautiful part of the country I was born and brought up into…….Any ways I am reading the last part of the book and I hope to learn much more….

Nothing more to tell really…. I have kind of stopped watching television., for good or bad I don’t know …..bye for now…….and I wont really mind if people leave a comment ;-)

January 29 2008 , Tuesday

I have a lot of work to do, but I think I’ll have to write first. Its not that I have something really interesting to tell but it’s a way of relaxing and beginning afresh..
Anyways I tried seriously very hard to read the book ‘My Little Boat’ but sorry to say I am not up to such a bold narrative attempt. This is for the writer Mariam Karim. Few drawbacks in your book…


1. You haven’t etched out the characters in your book neatly. The writer is neither writing fiction nor is it non-fiction. I think she tries to discover herself in nasreen and mehzabeen(the two main characters of the novel…). I personally feel the writer is a person trapped somewhere in between these two characters…...the prose is simply wonderful but the story line is weak. A brave and probably a successful attempt but it is something that fails to allure a reader like me because either we are not used to such things or we are too naïve to comprehend what she tries to tell us.

2. I have read three fourth of the book hoping to be gripped by the story but it fails here again.

3. Its way beyond confusing… I wont put it as "a brave narrative attempt "as writer says but honestly speaking Mariam was so confused while writing the book that she reached no where. At times the story and characters are so strong that they lead the writer to the climax… writer has to follow the flow and the end product becomes a novel for both writers and readers… for even the writer only partly knows about the fate of the characters when they started with the novel….. A strong story line and carefully carved out characters define the novel... Both of them truly missing in this case.

4. The only good things about the book are the prose, title (very inviting I must say…) and the cover page…

5. I hope the writer matures to a sophisticated and long accepted / appreciated way of story telling by her next novel…. Good luck for that….:-)


And ya let me start with my work…… lots to do... bye. Catch you later…

Adieu Appu Ghar …………

Suddenly I am reminded of those warm summer evenings; we were supposed to put on our best sports shoes, our hairs would be tied in a tight pony tail and we wore loose cotton trousers and a T-shirt. We would then drive our old Maruti 800 to Appu Ghar, pragti maidan.

The entire ride was bliss. With sparkling eyes we would read the road side hoardings… hoping to read Appu Ghar after the next turn. Nothing in this world could take away that smile, it was plastered literally… .

We would then wait near the popcorn seller with our mom, while Dad queued up at the ticket counter. The queue was the longest I have known and we would wait and wait and wait, practicing high jumps and trying to have a glimpse of the other side… we would read faces of other kid’s trying to decipher their experience closely monitoring dad’s progress as he slowly made his way to the ticket counter.

When we finally entered their would be no stopping us. It always started with bhoot bangle, followed by car race, udhan khatola, My fair Lady, Columbus…….The Ice cream vendor, Maggi at Nescafe outlet…..

Tired , dirty, messy, dragged by our parents, always trying to run back, licking good old choco bar we would slowly make our way to the exit gates.. only to be stopped by the people selling air bubbles solution , parachute, areoplanes and other knick knacks…

As I grew up, I almost forgot about this old summer vacation ritual of ours, But recently when I heard that Appu Ghar is closing Down I was disappointed……Some Experiences are closest to your heart, some of them you relive thousand of times in your memory, Some of them define what you are and some of them eventually become you…I know even if its closing down no one can take away the experience from me.. But to invest emotions in the physical forms comes naturally to humans…. I also know that my trips to the state of the art sophisticated amusement parks in years to come will always fall several notches below those warm June evenings……Bye Bye Appu Ghar… you’ll always live in my memory. And I know I sound like an idiot………

Sunday Again

Hi it’s yet another Sunday, but not as refreshing as the last one. I don’t want to go to the office… I mean its not that I am not good at what I do.. In fact I am very good but then I am very lazy too... Week days means getting up early, catching bus to office, doing blah blah… traffic jams in the evening , bumpy ride ,coming back very late and going to bed early because you have to get up early next day in spite of the fact that your unfinished novel just started getting interested. Any ways hope I’ll get used to all this… I don’t want to be a cribber…. But of all days Monday I hate the most….. . This weekend was a mediocre one. 80% of my time I spent curled up in my quilt. So nothing much to tell.. ….Bye

Food Frenzy!!!!!!!!!!!

What Vir Sanghvi is to brunch NDTV Metro (Delhi) is to the news channels!! They have taken it upon themselves to guide the ignorant lot like us as to what can we put into our mouths and what not. Yesterday while surfing channels I happened to hit NDTV Metro, name of the show food frenzy, Place Kashmir house, Chanakyapuri Delhi. This guy our host was talking to the head cook, discussing menu... it was fine one dosen't anyways expect much these days.

After the commercial break there were a group of 4 people sitting around a table, two of them were self acclaimed food critics, there was this third guy whose only qualification was that he belonged to J&K and there was this big mouthed girl even she didn't knew why was she invited.... anyways the menu consisted of 3 non vegetarian delicacies and a vegetarian dish... served in steel bowls with boiled rice. Ya bowl!!(badi vali katori...) . They started eating... their aim was to discuss and eat simultaneously... and I don't know why NDTV thinks this is Hot!!!
Anyways this guy our host and one of the food critics did most of the talking...
and yes with the other food critic, who was not that talkative but somehow seemed to be enjoying the attention. The J&K guy was comfortably left out of focus after introduction, but this girl i mean boss she was very hungry... and poor girl, she was sitting between these food critics and camera was placed at such an angle that she was always in focus.....
But obviously it was not a big deal for her , i mean to be in a show that's aired on a national TV....The amount of rice she put into her mouth without exaggerating doubled the size of her left cheek. She took 3 servings of rice while the poor guys had to discuss food as well and were not yet done with the first one.
She ate non stop for the next 10 minutes before the host finally for courtesy sake asked her a question. Oops!! She had no clue... what they were discussing... or what the question was....??? Finally after finishing her mouthful she started comparing the creamy flavor of the Butter Chicken and the tangy kashmiri dish... she absolutely made no sense and the moment last word was out of her mouth a big spoonful was into it???? I mean somebody please tell me what was all this...........

Another lazy yet refreshing Sunday

Hmmm…! It’s, Sunday, 13 January 2008, Lohri Day, the Delhi’s winters have calmed down a bit. Though it’s still chilly but we are all waiting for the warm February and the spring breeze…..


I got up much after the birds stopped chirping… at about 10am and decided to take blogging seriously…..after a hot cup of adhrak wali chai began my day with a movie on HBO Three Wishes… a very mediocre film and something I’ll forget in a week’s time. This was followed by nth re run of FRIENDS 2.5 hours end to end on Zee Café, I mean there were days when I used to laugh my wits out at the slightest indication of the fact that chandeller is about to twist his face but that was then… I have had my share of friends, and I’ll always remember those days lovingly….. Hostel, friends and F.R.I.E.N.D.S…..

I did usual stuff followed by an unusual chit chat with a very old school friend, she had come to my place… and we guys were discussing (like grown ups!!!) the various investment schemes available in the market, mutual funds and the usual tax saving chit chat everyone is having these days…..


Now, we the people, Barkha Dutta has been my favorite since childhood…. But somehow I miss all her discussions these days, I missed this Sunday’s show too, could catch just the last 5 minutes of the discussion…. And guess what they were discussing about us, bloggers ,. I heard someone saying that bloggers are giving serious completion to the writers. I know this hardly matters but Barkha was all thumbs up!!! And decided to start her blog by the end of the show…… 


Went for a long walk by EOD, it was really chilly but I enjoyed every step I took. People had already started celebrating Lohri… fires were seen outside almost every home down the street. People were smiling, their faces shinning in the warm glow, kids running around the fire, grown ups sitting on the garden chairs , mothers warning their little ones to be cautious….. Some dhol wallas played the bhangra tunes around the corner, and as I passed by I realized how much I love all this… we’ll start the Lohri celebrations in a few minutes so bye until we meet next time……..

January 14 2008

Hi, its 14, January, Monday first day of the week. I am in office bored, trapped, lost and dreaming. I dream of the days which were real once…. But I took them for granted. I dream to become a free person again, to go back to my college days where I could bunk lectures for endless rounds of coffee at the nearest Nescafe outlet, or when I could simply walk back to my hostel room, fight with friends as to who’ll make Tea??? And search for anything edible left in the long forgotten book shelves….. Snuggle in my quilt and enjoy the chatting session……
Those days were real bliss, I mean I know their was always shortage of money.. We wanted to buy the whole world and were perpetually in debt, but then now that I have enough to spend there is hardly anything I can spend it on…….
This message is for the entire student community. Guys enjoy your days to the fullest….. Nothing out here is worth the pleasure and bliss that you enjoy…Keep Bunking!!!! :-)