Another update on Books I am reading...

Finally I completed "O Jerusalem" a week back.

The story of the struggle of the Jews and Arabs to acquire a land of their own was constantly interrupted by my own effort to  buy my own plot :)

I picked up this book because I was curious about the story of Jews , who are they, why they are being subjected to so many hostilities. 

This book doesn't deal about these subjects rather it talks about the days,events around creation of Israel and the fight for Jerusalem.

Israel is the country of Jews and its creation was opposed by the whole Arab world as the Jews were immigrants who came to this area as their ancestors were from this area but they have been long thrown out of these area by the Arabs but after World War II the Jews of Palestine fought for their own land and finally after UN approval they got their own land but Arabs opposed it as they were the current owner of these lands and they wanted Jews to be put under their rule but Jews opposed that and thus started the war of 1948 between the Arabs and Jews for the acquisition of land and the main piece of Cake called Jerusalem as Jerusalem is regarded as the birth place of three religions Christianity , Muslims and Zionists (Jews).

Seeing this UN proposed the internationalization of Jerusalem and divided the rest of Palestine between Jews and Arabs. Now it was not acceptable mainly by Arabs so they attacked the Jews.

By the end of this book Jerusalem(which is currently capital of Israel) was still divided among Arabs and Jews when ceasefire is called and it was won by Jews after the Six-Day war of 60's.

This book is another example of how a single moment can change the face of the complete history.

It also showed how a relatively small but organized bunch of people can defend themselves against a relatively large but diverse army.

I think after Italy and African Safari, now Jerusalem is the third place on my list of must visit places :)

Dominique Lapiere and Larry Collins, just like Freedom of Midnight, have written this book brilliantly.

Currently I am reading "Five people you meet at Heaven" by Mitch Albom. I have read half the book and its truly amzaing, a must read.

Its one book which after reading has made me want to die quickly so that I can reach heaven or hell as it says that Heaven(After Death) is the place where you get to analyze your life on earth, why everything happened, what was the good for you in it etc.

Will give a complete review once I complete it.

Another weekend but not an ordinary one...

This weekend was simply one of the best I had since a long time. Its not that something great happened but the small things that I did, gave me an immense sense of satisfaction. 

Ok Saturday I got up around 9, read the newspaper, took my bath as I had go to bank with my friend. Then had my breakfast. Then my friend told me that we will go by 12 so I just sat and played guitar. Then I reached crown plaza where the bank was located. I saw its hoarding on the first floor and went upstairs but there I couldn't spot their office so I asked someone and they told me that its on third floor so I raced to third floor but there I found that its some other division of that bank and they told me its on ground floor. 

So on third floor I spotted a fleet of stairs which I haven't seen any normal public use. I thought its because normal public is not aware of it. So I sprinted down those stairs but so many people always told me that don't think so much , I soon found out why sometimes they are so correct. The moment I reached ground floor and tried to push open the door to my amusement I found it locked. So I had to tire back to top floor again and walk down the normal route :-) to ground floor and went to the bank. There I asked where does Mr. O sits. The guy at the inquiry told me that  he sits on first floor. Huh. So I finally reached first floor and looked carefully among the various shops and finally I spotted their office. 

So I entered inside and went to Mr O, sir I need this document which I had to submit. So he asked me my loan account number and as I din't have that so I gave him my name and he said Aapka to abhi approve nahi hua? I Said oh and asked him to check for my friend. He said Unka ho gaya. Then after waiting for a while he said I will check for you. 

In the meantime my friend has arrived and he also went to third floor straight but because I had done his part so he din't have to run much and I called him to first floor directly. 

The bank guy told me that your office verification is pending and I need to send an email from my office id. I said it will be difficult as my office is closed today and I can't access the office network from home. Then my friend told me that he can access office network from his laptop. So we now ran to his home. So after sending a mail we went back to crown. There he said that yes I got the mail but the person who will approve is not reachable. So I inquired about by what time is his office open and we left. 

On my way I purchased a sketch book. Oh I forgot to mention a dear friend of mine long time back has started sketching and she used to share her creation with me and those used to motivate me too. Ok I know I used to dread making diagrams in school but somewhere I always wanted to someday sketch too and I somehow feel confident that I can be good at that. And ya this is the same friend for whom I purchased the sketch book few weeks back. 

So on reaching home I got my internet connection reinstated and after that I also got a message from bank that my Loan has been approved. So I again raced back to crown plaza to collect that document. My friend had already collected it the last time we went there so I was alone. So while giving me the document he told me Are aapko to itne ka loan mil nahi sakta, you have to give me letter to reduce your amount. I thought are mere dost ko to bina kuch bole de diya. Then he told he has to give that too. Then he gave me the document and while checking I spotted that he has entered the year as 2009 hmmm. So I got that corrected and left but after walking few paces I realised that the same mistake must have been there in my friends letter. So I went back and got a new print out for him. After that I went again to give a letter. 

Then I went to McDonald and bought three burgers to take home. There I met two of my college friends after a long time. Then I went back to home. So as net was working I sat and uploaded the Bengal trip pics on facebook which I am yet to make public as some editing is left. And as the active x control was not working I had to select each pic manually. In total there were close to 200 pics 80 from a previous picnic trip I had with my office friends. So by the time I finished I was too exhausted to edit and add captions to it. And also ManU's match has started so sat and watch them win after a long time. Then I slept little exhausted with the days work. 

Next morning I got up around 10 and as already planned I have to watch 3 Idiots with Mom. So as soon as she got free with her daily chores, we too sat and watched it. Nice movie. I don't know if I had mentioned it earlier or not but I had already watched it with my friends. It was fun to watch with Mom as always. 

So after the movie ended I sat and started my love with sketching (So I am back in love with something). Oh it was fun. Had difficulties in making circles but by the time I stopped which was around 10 in the night I was happy with myself. I am little sceptical about whether I should share it on my blog or not. May be I will wait till I have sketched something substantial.

I had difficulties in making eyes and the first sketch I made was of a Girl, mom told me that it doesn't look like a girl. So I edited few features and by the time I said I am finished drawing it she agreed that ya to certain extent it does look like a girl.Hmmm...

In between I also played guitar and learned to somewhat play " Give me some sunshine." :-) :-).

Then in the night I continued with the book O Jerusalem. I have just read 200 pages out of 700 :-(. 

Anyways overall I fun weekend fulfilling one of my wishes. Now I think next wish to fulfill is theater. :-) :-)

Books I have read or reading ....

Its been a while since I updated about the books that I have read or reading.

In the last year I have read more than 20 books so on that front it was a remarkable year. It also firmed my believe that one should never stop reading. Although I started regular reading late but now it is something that I want to carry on for life.

So in the last few months I have read Freedom at Midnight by Dominique Lapiere and Larry Collins and must say a must read book for every Indian. Its a non fiction book that covers the events that happened in and around India's independence year including the partition, its reason, effects, who was responsible, how it was carried, the events before and after it. Then it mentioned in detail about Bapu (Mahatma Gandhi), his decision and stances during those troubled times, how he single handedly averted the ill effects of partition in Bengal when even 55000 policemen could do nothing in Punjab.

This book touched certain aspects of Bapu's life and beliefs which both increased and diminished my respect for him.

It also covered in detail his assassination by the Hindu extremists. Infact the authors reconstructed the complete assassination bid with the help of Nathuram Godse's brother and surviving convicts.

Since the book is written by foreigners (read non Hindu or non Muslim) so I really believe in the authenticity of the content, although they have been accused of being pro-British because of their elongated meetings with Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India, during their research for this book.

They are so many incidents that are nerve wrecking and hair raising so I will really recommend reading it for all those who want to know about India's recent history. The world renowned movie Gandhi's some part were based on this book.

After that I read Two States by Chetan Bhagat and as I had already mentioned its a lovely entertaining book, maybe I liked it because it does not deal with teenage or collegiate romance. It talks about the part after the mushy mushy part is done with i.e. the part which involves marriage and parents. Its both amusing as well as highlights the two different cultures of India in such a way that you can both relate as well as feel pity at the irrational traditions. But its indeed according to me the best book of Chetan Bhagat.

After that I started with Papillon which is an autobiography of Henri Charriere a french convict who falsely get accused with a murder and is sentenced to life imprisonment in the hostile prisons of French penal settlement at an young age of 25. So its a story of his stay or rather escapes from these prisons. His continued failed attempts and the brutality mentioned in the prisons is what makes its an interesting read.

This book was recommended by my colleague who spoke very highly about it telling me that once picked you won't be able to keep it down till you complete it and you will definitely be impressed by it. And I will say I wasn't disappointed , but despite being constantly highlighted by the author that he is suffering miserably for no wrongdoings of his, it failed to stir any feelings of sympathy in me for him. I never felt how sad but yes his courage, luck and bravery is really commendable. A really intriguing and adventurous story.

Currently I am reading O Jerusalem another controversial topic covered by Dominique Lapiere and Larry Collins. Jerusalem and in fact the conflict between Jews, Arabs and Christians is something that fascinates me and something about which I am curious. I have just started it and will give my comments later but have heard its indeed a masterpiece.

So that's all on reading front. Will keep updating and do recommend me some interesting reads.