The Eagle Has Landed

 

 

Well I picked this because I simply loved "The Day of Jackal" by Frederic Forsyth and another of his book and my research of this book told me that Jack Higgins if not better than Frederic is in the same league and Eagle Has Landed surpasses The Day of the Jackal.

 

Unfortunately whenever you have high expectations from something it generally disappoint, even if if it has been good if not compared.

 

The story depicts how Hitler orders his General to plan to kidnap Winston Churchil from Britain so that it will turn the tide of the World War II back in favor of Germany and how one of his Major devises the whole plan in which 16 paratroopers were to land in a small coastal village of England where Churchil was planning to spend a quite weekend. The book narates how they prepared to carry out the capture with the help of an old lady who was residing in that small town and was serving Germany as a spy since a long time with the sole hope of causing damage to Britain and an IRA soldier Liam Devlin who reached the village early and made all the arrangements. Like Day of the Jackal this too unfolds a meticulously planned plot which some how fails due to an act of bravery and sacrifice by a German soldier for the people of that village.

 

Honestly I did not like this book as much as I loved The Day of the Jackal. Yes Jack Higgins is comparable to Frederic Forsyth but the content and execution comes just short off.

 

Before I come to why so, let me first list down the pros of this book

 

Pros
1. The subject of Adolf Hitler ordering the kidnap of Winston Churchil right in the fag end of World War II is indeed quite fascinating and attractive.
2. Naratives and the charatcers are really admirable and to an extent lovable.
3. Despite it being a war / assassination themed story, there is large scale humane touch in it. It characters make you think that everything is not black and white in war. Even in the enemy ranks there are people who are good and likable.
4. Like I mentioned for The Day of the Jackal, despite you knowing that its a fictious failed attempt you crave for it to succeed.

 

Cons
1. Well the fact that the Day of the Jackal mentions to you in the second page itself that assassination attempt failed ,you still till the last page hoped for them to succeed. But in this book that feeling was not strong enough and you somehow were hoping it to fail sooner than later.
2. The books could had a few more twists and turns :) It looked too plain and simple at times.
3. For me the book failed to keep me revited to it as can be seen from the fact that it took me almost 2 months to finish.
4. Some questions were left unanswered in the end which I would have loved to know about.

 

Overall I would have give it 3 and 1/2 rating.

 

I can't say if I would like to read more from this author but as they say you never know when you might fall in love with a book ;)

The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby is 1925 novel by F Scott Fitzgerald

The book was recommended to me by my fellow blogger and friend Maverick and since recently a motion picture was released based on the same, so I was also eager to read it before watching the film.

The book is reminiscent of a classic with its elaborate and almost poetic rendition of nature and surroundings and is considered quite popular for creating and depicting the period before the constitution of the American Dream.

Its the story of an extremely rich guy Jay Gatsby, narrated in the words of his neighbor , Nick Carraway. Nick was a bond salesman who was trying to make his own on the East side of America and Gatsby was his next door neighbor who used to throw lavish parties, full with sea of people every day, which used to run till wee hours of next day. Nick too got invited to one of these parties , where he finds that most of the guests don't know Gatsby and have only heard unconfirmed rumors about his claim to fame and inheritance. 

Nick initially thought that Gatsby was friendly to him due to their common war background but later gets to know that his proximity was more due to the fact that Gatsby once had a small fling with Nick's cousin Daisy in past , who was now married with a kid to Tom Buchanan ; And Gatsby was still in love with her and Nick could be instrumental in getting them together.

So the book covers how their relation and past unfolds leading to intense drama and murder.

To be honest it cannot be termed as a great read but at the same time it had some uniqueness which makes one glued to reading it.

I liked the flow of the story despite the fact that the story has not much to offer. But as I said it had a classic sense of drama which narrates a simple period story at its own comfortable pace. 

The fact that its been told from the perspective of Nick Carraway instead of Gatsby gives an added punch to the book.

I will rate it as a light read and one that should be enjoyed by ardent readers.

Next up will try to see the motion picture to give visual to the imaginations that the book has created.

Lajja by Taslima Nasreen

Photo of the copy I was reading

 

 

Finally I completed Lajja by Taslima Nasreen and honestly this time it wasn't me but the book and author herself to be blamed for the marathon reading.

 

Lajja is the story of Dutta family who are Hindus living in Bangladesh thus part of the minority population who once thrived in those parts of subcontinent before it was partitioned.

These people were true believer of homeland before religion and thus kept on clinging to their country even after lakhs of people migrated to adjoining India during partition in 1947 and again whenever riots broke across those regions.

 

The story starts the day after Babri Masjid is demolished by Hindu fanatics and as expected Muslim fundamentalists in Bangladesh blamed innocent Hindus over there for such an act and thus resulted in widespread riots across Bangladesh resulting in Hindus being butchered , looted , raped and forced to leave their country of birth.

 

The Dutta parivar being the leftist they were, did not believe in these religious doctrines especially since they so actively fought for the independence of Bangladesh in 1971 from Pakistan. Dr. Sudhomay, the father, who once was quite rich and prosperous but had to sell everything and relocate to Dhaka due to pressure from Muslim extremist, always taught his children that this land is as much theirs as is of the Muslim people . His son , Suranjan, who followed in his footsteps of being a liberal social activist filled with same passion and principles about his motherland as his fathers. Then their is the mother, Kironmoyee , who is a typical Bengali housewife, whose life is devoted to the care of her husband and children. And lastly , Maya, the daughter, who unlike her father and brother does not want to struggle or oppose anything and just wants to live her life in that world even if she has to convert to Islam or has to marry a muslim guy. She takes refugee in the Muslim family when situation worsens and her brother decides to do nothing at all.

 

With due respect to the atrocities suffered by people , I am really disappointed after reading this book. I appreciate the grim and inhuman suffering that Taslima Nasreen so aptly portrayed in this book but portraying that only in each and every page and chapter somehow makes it a dull and boring read. Every page you read, you crave for something more to happen but in the end you are left disappointed.

 

The book is written in sequence of days in the life of Dutta family starting from Babri Masjid demolition to the day when they finally decide to leave. Their struggle to keep believing in their rights and despite the constant fear, trying to justify that this is their homeland too. But all hell breaks when the daughter is kidnapped and they could not do anything and thus result in Suranjan challenging all his beliefs and finally asking his father to leave to India.

 

I always wanted to read this book in order to find out why Taslima Nasreen is subject to so much atrocities from the Muslim fanatics. Although after having followed her for a while on Twitter I could understand the reason some what owing to her constant rebellion of the religious doctrines and dogmas. And perhaps I did not need to read this as it showed the same feeling of her tweets repeated on every page but nevertheless I believe you should read anything and everything at least once, thus helping you to decide what not to read again :-D

 

Have been an admirer of Taslima Nasreen and somehow consider her an example of what to have once we manage to remove the boundaries of inequalities between male and female from our society. But let me keep that to another post as this post has anyway became quite long.

 

What Next ? Well , till I get the next book "And the Mountains echoed from Khaled Hosseni", I am fighting to read FountainHead..lets see how it goes..

Oath of Vayuputras and Others...

 

 

 

I completed Oath of Vayuputras. And I don't know if you will call a book a success if you expected it to disappoint you and it succeeds in doing so?

 

There are few reasons why it disappointed

 

1. It came quite a while after the second installment of the trilogy, so you tend to have a vague remembrance of the characters and incidents. And it takes a while for the flow to restart.

 

2. There was a lot of scope to play and demonstrate the passion and compassion especially the part where Shiva destroys the city (spoiler alert). There was so much opportunity to show the Rodra roop of Lord Shiv, his Tandav ( Dance of Destruction) , his anger , probably his Trinetra etc. The only passionate part I felt was the depiction of Kartik as the warior lord. The way he deployed his War tactics and the intensity with which his battles were depicted were commendable.

 

Rest like his previous book was mediocre. Surprisingly I came to find that he is an IIMK alumnus.

 

Ok I may sound hypocritical of him as I dislike his writing so much but at the same time I ardently read through his novels unlike those of Chetan Bhagat which I just labour through. I agree with his content and masala rendering he appeals to masses but I personally feel he could be more articulate. But having said that I will recommend people to read the triology and also awaiting to read his next series which he hinted to be on Mahabharata.

 

The next bunch of books ( I like to read couple of books at I time) I have picked are quite popular, kind of modern classics, that everyone who is into reading must have already read.

 

The Alchemist and The Fountainhead.

 

I was kind of avoiding these for the reasons that one they are popular , second I am a non fiction lover and last the font size of the copies I have seen have been too small to be comfortable.

 

Luckily this time I got a copy of Alchemist which is decent and I have already read most of it and should complete it by today. To be honest I find it quite simple but of course appealing. With its plot of chasing your dreams and proverbial lines ,I can see why it is so popular.

 

Having read few pages of Eleven minutes and then failing to proceed I had my apprehensions about Paulo Coehlo but now I am glad that I picked Alchemist and now again want to pursue Eleven minutes.

 

Coming to Fountainhead ,I have purchased a second hand copy long time back but never had the courage to read it, so it was lying packed as it is in my cupboard. But recently with having nothing else to read I took the plunge. With its minuscule writing I could manage few pages, I liked it and have made up mind to read at least 10 pages daily.

 

Having started so late to read novels is something that I regret about my life and is one thing I would like to change if given an opprotunity to start life again :)

Have a little Faith....

God is one..

I had a doctor once who was an atheist. This doctor like to jab me and my beliefs. He used to schedule my appointments deliberately on Saturdays, so I would have to call the receptionist and explain why, because of my religion that wouldn't work. Anyhow, one day, I read in the paper that his brother had died. So I make a condolence call.

After the way he treated you?. "In this job," the Reb said,"you don't retaliate."

So I go to his house, and he sees me. I can tell he is upset. I tell him I am sorry for his loss. And he says, with an angry face, "I envy you."

Why do you envy me ?

"Because when you lose someone you love, you can curse God. You can tell. You can blame him. You can demand to know why. But I don't believe in God. I'm a doctor. And I couldn't help my brother."

He was near tears. "Who do I blame?" he kept asking me. " There is no God. I can only blame myself."

That , he said , softly,is a terrible self-indictment."

Worse than an unanswered prayer?

"Oh yes. It is far more comforting to think God listens and said no, than to think that nobody's out there."

 

Forgive me for writing about "Have a little Faith " by Mitch Albom before talking about "City of Djinns" by William Darymple, which I read first. Its just that I am little lazy and writing about City of Djinns would take more effort :)

 

Mitch Albom, another of my favorite writer whose novels I simply adore, has come up with yet another thought provoking, soul stirring non fiction book which helps you rekindle your belief, hope that something supreme is there who is guiding you forever.

 

Ok not being spiritual :) I will just touch the main points that he highlighted which makes it another of his must read books.

 

Mitch, like in Tuesdays with Morrie, is asked by his ailing 82-year old hometown Rabbi(Jew priest) to deliver his eulogy. Eulogy is the speech that you give at ones funeral , talking about his good character, achievements and how he will be missed.

 

Mitch is stunned when the person whom he describes as the Man next to God, from whom he used to run away at every instance possible. asks him to do his eulogy. Thus starts a series of close meeting , interviews where they discuss about various aspects of lives.

 

Parallely he threads the story of his current town's Christian pastor , Henry,who had a dark past. The man was a criminal ,drug peddler and had served jail term for man - slaughter which he incidentally din't do. He narrates how Henry was given numerous chances to be a good person and everytime he faltered until the day came when he was about to be killed and he beg God to save and in return offered his life in his service. Thus on being saved , he devoted rest of his life in service of fellow human beings. He helped the homeless stay in a broken church where he preached them, served what little food he could manage, provide them what meagre facilities he could afford to fight the terrible cold of America. But despite all this he never lost hope and always motivated and helped others irrespective of their caste, creed or background.

 

When people including Mitch had apprehensions about him because of his terrible past , he said these lines which were so beautiful "You knew me , you knew that person I was but you don't know the person I want to become.", which tells us that sometimes we judge people because of their past when we just need to respect them for their present.

 

With due respect to Christianity and Judaism, I always had an impression that Christianity and Judaism is all about making communities i.e. belonging to a particular church or temple, following customs of a particular group and thats why I am always apprehensive of visiting a church as once a Pastor on seeing me there starting preaching me and dragging me to join their church. So I always thought with this tendency they can be no good. But in this book the Rabbi mentions certain instances when because if these closely knit communities people are provided the much needed financial and more so over moral support when they needed it the most. They were more of an extended family.

 

They talk about many topics like rituals. Rabbi says that rituals followed from generation to generation is what keeps one connected. Gives one the feeling of belonging to some thing.

 

He mentions that being happy is all about being contented and the you die a second death when you are forgotten thats why we all want to do something in our life so that people remember us , years after we have died.

 

When being asked about why marriage or in other words commitment is necessary, he tells that without being on the other side you cannot experience the beautiful things the other side has to offer.

 

The best part about the Reb (Mitch's name to the Rabbi) was that he din't try to give false logic or unconvincing motivation. When being asked why bad things happen to good people , without trying to unduly convince the other person ,he simply says he doesn't know.

When his daughter died at the age of 4, he like a normal person cursed God and got angry with him.

 

He talks about how necessary it is to say the things while you have time even if it is saying sorry to someone.

 

A man buried his wife, he was standing at her gravesite with the Reb. "I loved her", he whispered. "I mean I really loved her". The man broke down. "And I almost told her that once". Nothing haunts like the things we always don't say.

 

The best part was when he talks about various faiths and how a faith that teaches that its the only faith thats true is the most wrong faith in the whole world.

The following story , I don't remember if it was from this same book or I read somewhere else at the same time while I was reading this book, but this is one story that truly describes how all faith are true and they are complementary to each other.

 

Once in a city inhabited by all blind people, a news spread that an elephant is going to pass nearby the city the next day. So the people selected three people to go and find out how does he look like. So next day three blind people reached the spot and soon the elephant arrived . The first one touched his ear and found it to be like a big fan, always swinging, the second one touched his leg and found it like pillar , strong and cylindrical. and the last one touched his trunk and found it like a huge pipe. So each of them went back and reported their version of elephant. Each din't believe others version and were quite adamant that the description they gave was the correct one. Thats true of each religion. Each one of them are true in what they say but neither expect that what they have seen is just a part of it nor they are open to accept what the other person is saying.

 

Although this book talks of faith and Judaism and Christianity in particular but in no way it is making a statement rather like Mitch's previous work this one too makes you think , makes you question the things happening in your life and help you find answer to those.

The Day of the Jackal

I had completed the Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth. Arguably the fastest I have completed any book of substantial length.

Well I won't call it a scintillating thriller although it has an intriguing webs of twists and turns that makes you continue reading.

The book is about an attempt to assassinate the President of France , General Charles De Gaulle by the OAS which is the rebellious organisation comprising of the army rebellions who felt let down by Charles De Gaulle as he relinquished the control of Algeria and gave it its independece after he became the President of France. This act was taken as an act of betrayal by some loyal France army as they have given their blood and sweat to fight in Algeria against the rebels to whom he had now given the control.

So after 6 failed attempts themselves they plan to hire a foreigner who is a professional assasin.

The reason I was disappointed with the book was  because in the starting pages itself the author reveals that the attempt was a failure (Sorry to have revealed it but I knew anyway if you plan to read it you will get to know about it very quickly).

So the reading became more of an ordeal to find out to how such a meticulously planned attempt fails.

Well hats off to the writer for the way he depicted the planning and also the way the sleuths went about to uncover the plot. The book is like a cat and mouse struggle between the assassin and police . At one point you feel, wow how brilliantly the killer has planned his particular move and at the next the police are at his tail. Then just as you feel, oh he is going to be caught, he changes his plan and again escapes.

One thing about these writers like Frederick Forsyth , John Grisham etc is that they have a vast knowledge about the topics on which they are creating the fictitious story. They are so thorough and detailed about everything that one point you forget that its fiction and you just start beliving in whatever they are saying.

Nevertheless a nice book to read ....

Next I have picked City of Djinns from one of my favorite non-fiction/travel writer William Darymple. I know I am going to love this book as not only the writer is of my liking but even the story is also about my national capital Delhi. Its a story of his first years stay in New Delhi and what all stories he found in this city full of Djinns (Magical creatures who are invisible)

Will update how it was once I am done , which I hope is real quick :)

Update on Books I have read...

Its been real long since I updated about the books that I have read or reading. Infact so long that it was hard for me to locate which was last book about which I updated :(
And I found that I stopped updating long time back last year so I have not written about most of the books last year (I have read close to 25 books last year :)).


So I have decided I will restart from the books that I have read this year and in case anything strikes me about what I read last year I will definitely write a post about it :)
Infact just while searching my blog , I noticed that these posts do help me a lot in recapping what was the book all about, the story, interesting facts etc. So definitely something I must do whenever I complete any book.


While looking for what all books I need to update about, I was really disappointed to note that out of the 12 books that I have to read in this first half of the year (as per the library plan I am subscribed to) I have only managed to read just 4 books :( :(


Nevertheless here is the update...


"From the Holy Mountain " by William Darymple.


A nice travelogue from one of the most contempary travel writer of this generation. This book covers his travel across the conflict trodden Middle East, tracking the ancient Christian sites. He follows the same path as followed by 7th Century traveller and monk John Moschos and bring forth how Christanity is almost on the bringe of eradictation from the holy land, from where it once originated.




William Darymple recreates the landscape, terrains, cultures, people so beautifully that it seems you are yourself travelling alongwith him.


The only drawback I personally find with his writing is that he fails to link a story and instead makes it too obvious that you are reading a non-fiction.


Nevertheless a nice read...


Next up was the man booker prize winner "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel.


Life of Pi is the story of Piscine Mortel Patel, an Indian boy who lived in Pondicherry (modern day Pudducherry) alongwith his family. His father owned a zoo. Due to India's political emergency of 70's his father decides to sell it off and migrate to Canada with some of the animals and his family. Its during this trip that they meet with a sea disaster and Pi is left stranded on a life boat with a Zebra, a female Orangutan, a Hyena and a young Royal Bengal Tiger for more than 200 days.


In the initial year of his growing, Pi religiously follows three religions, Hinduism, Christanity and Islam. And his undiluted devotion for the three and the depiction of how religion is not only confided to only those who are born with it but is free for all to pratcise is truly worth reading.




A truly riveting tale of a boys struggle to survive. Keeps you binded and interested. The way the writer describes various animals , their behavior and their surrounding is really commendable. Very rightly in the league of Man Booker Winners.


Next came the spy thriller which is touted as the best spy book ever
"The Spy who came from the Cold" by John Le Carre.


Its indeed a nice book and it seems you are reading a Hollywood movie. The book is quite old so actually its other way around i.e. you can sense that what you see in most of Hollywood spy movies are somewhat inspired from it. Not in story but the character sketches, the aura thats created, locations etc have the essence of this book.
Well the story is not that griping or suspense filled , infact its seems quite a straight forward read but yes it does have a special touch which makes you feel intrigued and plugged to read it continously.


Recently I completed " The Old Man & His God" by Sudha Murty


Sudha Murty is wife of Infosys founder Narayan Murty. She is a very notable writer and social worker. She has written may non-fiction books sharing her experiences and incidents that have occured in her life.

In Sudha Murty's own words, "People often ask me how it is that so many interesting things happen only to me. To them I reply that if you have a sensitive mind and record your observations regularly, you will see your life too is a vast storehouse of stories."

This summarises very well this book , which is collection of short stories rather experiences that Sudha Murty has experienced during the course of her life and work. All of them are quite touching and inspiring. It also contains a story on how Narayan Murty had a change of ideology which eventually led to the formation of the hugely successful Infosys.

Its a nice short read to learn about various human traits and characters that exists in this society.


Now I have started with The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth. Its another best selling thriller. Having already read Afghan by the same author I am really looking forward to it.

The Tale of Two Seats...

The two place on which my bum rests the most play a very significant part in my life and that too in a contradictory manner.... 

The first one is the seat on which I want to spend the least amount of time in a day i.e my bus seat (I generally sit at the same seat everyday in the bus in the morning and another one in the evening) but its the one which gives me the most positive vibes I ever experienced in my life....Its like an old hindi saying "Keechar me hi Kamal khilta hai (Its only in mud that Lotus grows)"...Its the place where I feel so low because of the surroundings but its the only place where I get to think and ponder upon what I want to do with my life... All the ideas and thoughts , thinking which I feel a sense of life, a sense of going to accomplish something are born while sitting there.... Its where I get motivated to do all that I want to do and feel the enthusiasm to go to office and accomplish not only my professional but all my personal goals too.... Its where I make my to do list, prioritize them... Its where I feel like studying everything I want to.... Its where in the morning when the whole bus is sleeping , I am either reading a book or reading technical stuffs on my laptop.... the reason I mentioned technical is because like most of the people I too don't like reading those stuffs most of the time ..but while sitting on that seat I somehow get all the interest and motivation to read anything and everything...and most of the stuff that I have ever written on my blog has been thought of on that particular seat.. And when I get down from bus I am all pumped up to go and conquer the world and thats when I reach the second seat...i.e. my office seat...

Unlike my first seat the moment I reach my office seat my thoughts change..I don't know if its the path between the two or the seat itself but once I am seated there I loose most of the motivation and almost everyday the first 30-45 minutes of office are spend procastinating my work, about which I have planned so enthusiastically in the bus, and also the personal stuffs I quickly wanted to do or check after reaching office and instead I spend it surfing and checking my personal mails and facebook..... All my planning and thoughts of getting down straight with the work goes out of the window.

And as you can make out that the time spend on the first seat is relatively less than that on the second one so as result my actually efficiency is far less than what I can achieve.... 

Just for the records I am still performing above expectations for my office people but as the quote I love the most "People judge you on the basis of what you have done and you judge yourself on the basis of what you are capable of doing " 

Jack of all trades , Master of some...

Oflate I have decided that I will pick up few subjects and develop a mastery of them. May be even pursue a higher degree in it or write articles or books on them but foremost study them thoroughly.

While we were completing our education in school and then in college we studied a lot of subjects. Some we liked , some we din't but all of them were read with the sole purpose of scoring good grades or marks.

Still in school I used to grasp a lot of subjects with utmost interest and devotion but in college due to the culture, teaching methods and my laziness I could never develop a dedicated interest in any of the subjects. Its not that none of them fascinated me but I was somewhat caught between procastination and finding the answer to the question why am I studying it, which by the time I realised I was already working at some place which din't need any of that :)

Well while in college itself I have made up that I will revisit my college curriculum some day to study some of the subjects thoroughly . For that I even retained some of the books I bought in college but either I lost some of them to people who had younger brothers studying engineering or never "found" the time.

But now I have decided that I will pick up some subjects. I  agree that I wanted this from start but the motivation for the same came after I started watching the sitcom "Big Bang Theory". The sitcom is about four geeks ,3 of whom are Scientist and the fourth one is an engineer from MIT. The comedy revolves about their life. One of them, Sheldon who has an IQ of 197, is the most irritating but awesomely knowledgable. Nevertheless seeing them it made me appreciate their knowledge and the fact that they have total command of their subject and from their I got the idea to master some subjects.

So now coming to the subjects:

• Physics - Yes I am engineer so it ought to be one of them, But not only that, its nevertheless one of the most fascinating subject that comes the closest to satisfying the rational human mind. I know Physics is quite a vast subject and one of most dreaded too but I do want to understand the logic behind all the theories and stuffs.
• History - This is one subject thats one of my favorite and the reason I love reading books. Although I do read fiction at times to lighten up my mind but history n non-fiction is by far my most lovable subject, This was one reason I scored so high in Social Studies in my higher secondary. Ok again in history we have ancient, medieval and modern history. I don't know which one I will read more but nevertheless I will.
• Theology - Although not that different from History in broader sense but study of religions is one thing I really want to do because this is one thing that has been responsible for changing the face of the world all the times. Be it partition of India, Holocaust ,Jehad , you just name it. In fact for sure one of my book will definitely be about religion and India if not world religion. In fact I have even thought of the name but I will disclose it the day I will really start writing it :)
• Psychology - One of my favorite topic. Intially I wanted to study this subject to understand people but now I want to pursue it more to understand my own actions, Whether what all I think or do or feel is normal or I am really a psycho :). Although every now and then I can find some instances where others also feel and behave like me but still. Thats why I like to watch the reality shows like Roadies, Emotional Attachayar etc , seeing which I feel so bemused. It really surprises me to see that such people do exist and kind of make me appreciate myself.

Thats all. May be I will add some more but nevertheless this is something that I will really do.

Expressions ...

Nowadays when I read books I let my expressions flow without paying any attention to where I am, whether I am reading in a public place surrounded by strangers or sitting somewhere more private. And these expressions are varied at times. 

Sometimes I smile when I read something which is either funny or reminds me of something. Sometimes I give a sigh if I encounter something that is tragic. I laugh too at times if it is hilarious but most of the time its the smile. I forget that may be someone might see, which seldom happens. In fact due to human tendency I sometimes deliberately let them flow for others to notice. But most of the time it comes out naturally.

Books I have read or reading ...

Finally an update on what books I have read since I last updated and what book I am reading currently. Well as I have mentioned in my last books-i-am-reading post I have completed Tuesdays with Morrie next. Its a book which captures Mitch Albom's discussions with his teacher Morrie on various topics concerning life, which happens on Tuesday. Morrie was his college professor and is about to die. Mitch has lost touch with him after college and comes to meet him after hearing about his illness. Like Five people you meet in heaven this book too has certain statements that I liked very much and I have mentioned them in another post on Tuesdays with Morrie.

Needless to say another must read.

Next I read The White Tiger by Arvind Adiga. I am amazed with the liberty these authors take. He so freely used phrases like kissing God's ass and the way he openly called Muslims terrorist. May be this liberty is one criteria that helps them win the Booker. It started well but the ending was disappointing. The books traces the story of Balram who belongs to a small village in Bihar who despite being good student couldn't study because of his economical background but because of his trait of creating and reaping benefits out of any situation he becomes an entrepreneur. Although the book throws light about India, its villages, its disparity in working classes i.e. how a landowner's son inherently becomes the next landlord and a halwai(sweet maker)'s son can only become halwai etc , its corrupted politician and work structure but I don't agree the way it ended , the way Balram easily got away with the crime he committed and started his new prosperous life without caring for the consequences.


Anyways a nice read.


The next came "For one more day" by Mitch Albom. Like with other Mitch Albom books I have read ,from this too I liked certain statements which I have mentioned in another post on that book.
For one more day is a story of an ex baseball player who tries to commit suicide after he fails completely in his life and when even his daughter whom he loved so much doesn't want him around and don't even call him for her wedding. So when he goes to his native place to kill himself there he find his Mom who has already died and this book captures that one day he spends with his mother and when he goes through all the things that has happened in his life. Like all his book this is also must read from my side and its more touching because it captures a son-mother and son-father relation. Have written more about it in the other post I mentioned.


After that I read a sci-fiction novel by Satyajit Ray titled "Adventures of Professor Shonku" translated in English. Its a so -so book as the adventures it talked of were interesting and at times mysterious but the level of suspense and thrill was quite less. Also the main character's power was the scientific discoveries that he had made which were quite in the line of sci-fi like time machine, tablets which could make you immune against any poison or disease etc but like the famous Bomkesh Bakshi who always knew everything this guy also seemed less acceptable.


Then I picked up Bourne Identity by Robert Lundlum. Although I din't wanted to because I always pictured Bourne as Matt Damon whom I don't like. But nevertheless I did and as I have not seen any of the movies from the Bourne series this book was sheer pleasure to read. Its a really gripping book full of twists and mysteries and actions and although I could guess one of the main plot of the book beforehand but still it was worth reading. This book is the first of the trilogy and talks of a person Sam Bourne who has lost his memory and could not remember what his true identity is . So its a story of his struggle to find not only the answers to the questions but to also uncover the various questions that will lead him to his real identity.
I am looking forward to read the other two parts soon too.


Then I picked "Siddhartha" by Herman Hesse. A spiritual and philosophical book on life. Its a fictional story about a Brahmin Siddhartha who lived at the times of Buddha and talks about his journey to find salvation. How he leaves his home at an young age to become an ascetic and then he leaves the sages with whom he was living as he found that all their learnings and practices is not helping him in conquering his self. Then how even after meeting Buddha, the Illustrious One, and listening to his teaching he still doesn't get satisfied and moves further on his journey and then he gets attracted to a courtesan and for her he starts working with a merchant to earn money and how slowly he gets indulged in the mortal life forgetting everything and then one day he realizes his mistake and he leaves everything and decides to die owing to the sins he has committed and then while he is about to take a plunge in the river he experiences a change and realized all his mistakes and decides to become a ferryman as he found that river teached him what he couldn't learn from anywhere else. And then story continues to his meeting the courtesan again who has also bored him a son and how she dies leaving him their son and how his son becomes rebellious as he is not used to a life of poverty and how Siddhartha tries to win him with love despite him being so spoilt and then the boy runs away to town and Siddhartha's longing for him and how he overcomes that and then attains salvation.


I will say a nice read and gives a nice perspective about life , its questions, its answers etc.


Currently I have picked up "The Reluctant Fundamentalist " by Mohsin Hamed. Its a discussion between a Pakistani and an American in Lahore cafe and throws a light on the disparities between the American West and Islamic East. Seems to be a kind of book I want to read about Islam and modern situations in Pakistan. This book was nominated for a large number of awards including the Man Booker. 


Will update in my next post how it was.

Tuesdays with Morrie

Its a book which captures Mitch Albom's discussions with his teacher Morrie on various topics concerning life, that happens on Tuesday. Morrie was his college professor and he is about to die. Mitch has lost touch with him after college and comes to meet him after hearing about his illness. 

Morrie has been a guide and more so over a friend to Mitch when he was in college. He used to call him Coach. This book apart from being an inspirational book about life also depicts a lovely teacher - student relation , which I wish I could have. The way he calls him Coach and the way he reads his mind is really worth experiencing.

The book captures Mitch's meetings with Morrie at his house on every Tuesday, I guess around 7-8 Tuesdays. Mitch records each of their meeting in a tape recorder as directed by Morrie as Morrie wants everyone to listen to them even when he is no longer in this world. Every tuesday they meet to discuss one topic on life which includes family, marriage, children, career etc.

This book makes a very interesting and motivational read and like all inspirational books it doesn't tell anything that we already don't know but the way the story is stitched you can always relate to it.

So there are certain statements that are mentioned in the book that I would like to mention here and also comment about. They are as follows:

"Accept what you are able to do and what you are not able to do. Accept the part as past, without denying it or discarding it. Learn to forgive yourself and to forgive others. Don't assume that it's too late to get involved. "

Very true and as also mentioned by Dale Carnegie in one of his books , accepting things as they are is very important aspect of life. You just can't be rebellious about everything all the time. You can't always say No it can't happen to me. I don't deserve it. I guess the best way to overcome something or to do something about anything is to first accept how it is first then only we can be in a better position to overcome it.

  

"A teacher affects eternity;he can never tell where his influence stops" Henry Adams. 

He quotes this quote from Henry Adams and  of course he is damn right. No matter how old we get teachers are one people whom we respect and remember throughout our life. Even when we get highly successful we never fail to mention or remember their teachings which has helped us become what we are.

There is no experience like having children. There is no substitute for it. You cannot do it with a friend. You cannot do it with a lover. If you want the experience of having complete responsibility for another human being, and to learn how to love and bond in the deepest way, then you should have children. 

After reading this statement I again longed to have a child, The way a child loves and trust his parent is something that is must for everyone to experience. Many times I try to find out what we mean by being mature or maturity , although I don't have an answer but I guess one point when I can say that this person is mature or has matured when he is with his children , he somehow has an aura of responsibility, maturity and respect around him.

Devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning. 

Hmmm the last line is quite thought provoking.

Each night when I go to sleep, I die. And the next morning, when I wake up, I am reborn. - Mahatma Gandhi

I think that it  would be really beneficial if we could practice what Bapu has said. If we could get over all the thoughts , miseries etc when we go to sleep as if we are never going to get up again then when we will get up next day we will definitely feel quite fresh and rejuvenated.

Don't let go too soon, but don't hang on too long.

The question it makes me ask is how long is too long and how soon is too soon? As they say that may be you have been successful if you had just hold on for one more moment or you gave up just before you were about to succeed. I feel the answer to how long or how soon is generally based on intuition.

:(

Its been so long since I wrote anything. And I have so many things to write about starting from the Hockey World Cup match I twice went to see, then there is the IPL match I saw at Ferozshah Kotla, New Delhi, where I watched God play cricket from so close. Then there is the trip to Orchcha, Khajaraho and Bandhavgarh. Then the regular updates on the book I am reading. Also my observation on certain incidents that happened around me. Many naughty and serious things. Etc etc ... 

Although more than lack of motivation it was due to lack of interest and at times means because of which I have not written anything. Although I was busy with office work but I believe you are never busy for the things you want to do ...

Anyways in mood today to write about certain things .... :) 

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.

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.

Random Thought XXXIX

Reading the you-will-take-it-for-real fictions written by the Indian authors portraying the life of Indian youth I sometimes feel that I myself have been living a fictional life quite contrary to the real life portrayed in those books.