One Indian Girl - Book Review

To begin I should say I am not a die hard fan of Chetan Bhagat but yes I have read almost all of his fictions. I started with his Five point Someone and One night at call centre and loved them. I equally disliked his following books except 2 states. His 2nd last release Half Girlfriend was beyond what I could call terrible. Hence this time I was a bit sceptical whether I should buy his books further or save that money. I got mixed reviews in Amazon with negatives predominating. I just thought of giving it a try and judge myself.

In one sentence this book has no practical storyline, it is as filmy as his other books were. But there is some magic in Mr Bhagat's writing which will hook you to his books. It will make you laugh and take your life a lil less serious. This is a story about a young , independent , smart, good looking and "padhaku" girl named Radhika Mehta who completed her MBA from IIM-A and was placed in Goldman Sachs in New York. All through her student life she was a nerd and did not get a single boyfriend not even a 'boy' friend. All of a sudden in New York a man named Debashish Sen in short Debu met her at a party of common friends and liked her. They started hanging out as Radhika had never found a single so interested in her.And she has an utmost urge to get into bed. Never mind Chetan Bhagat finds it his most interesting topic to get into the minute details and explain. And then they started having a live-in relationship. But as luck would have have it the guy started having problem with the girl earning millions of dollars. A typical guy who at the beginning was a feminist and believed women should be more independent and follow their dreams suddenly changed to a mediocre loser who found it difficult to digest that his girlfriends earns more than him.  I am not surprised as in many cases this is the story. The relationship ended with Debu moving out of it and Radhika forced to take a transfer to Hong Kong. Well she did drop her papers and wanted to move out of the job yet she is so irreplaceable that the company cannot function without her ( I wonder how many of us would die to be like her).

Scene 2 she moves to Hong Kong and then again gets tangled with her boss's boss. The man is above 40 but want to retain his youth. He is married , father of 2 and since he and his wife dont strike a cord together he preferred to get involved with a younger girl half her age and never mind going to bed. I felt like Radhika is obsessed with sex. As if it is something she has never got and never wants to leave and obviously cant live without.Again there was an ego problem as Radhika wanted a family and this man was happy to have her as a mistress. With lil of her remaining self respect Radhika now moved out herself and again got transferred to London even after putting her papers.

Scene 3 Radhika's mom arrives in London and starts to find a guy for her. Many of them were rejected by Radhika. Some rejected her because of her huge salary and finally they stuck to a facebook guy.

Scene 4 Radhika's marriage event happened at JW Marriot Goa where she wanted to have a destination wedding. And there first popped in Mr Debu to get her back. Radhika being indecisive went on to be friendly with her fiance  knowing pretty well that she has other plans in mind. As the event progresses pop up her second lover Mr Neil Gupta leaving Radhika totally confused. At the end she decided to throw those men out of her life and also cancel her wedding as she herself was not sure where she is leading.

As I mentioned earlier the story is highly filmy , far from being practical. Yet it was Mr Bhagat's writing that kept me going through. His language and story telling is too cool. His witty lines and few truths about our society which he tries to point out makes you think. If you are looking forward to relax yourself after a tiring day, this book can be taken. It will make you think, laugh and wonder all at the same time. At least I have found his book somewhat refreshing, funny and light read. Chetan has improved a lot from his last work and this time I appreciate. Better judge the book yourself than getting the essence from others. You may like or not like but definitely you will not keep it down. Mr Bhagat makes sure of that . 

One Indian Girl - Book Review

To begin I should say I am not a die hard fan of Chetan Bhagat but yes I have read almost all of his fictions. I started with his Five point Someone and One night at call centre and loved them. I equally disliked his following books except 2 states. His 2nd last release Half Girlfriend was beyond what I could call terrible. Hence this time I was a bit sceptical whether I should buy his books further or save that money. I got mixed reviews in Amazon with negatives predominating. I just thought of giving it a try and judge myself.

In one sentence this book has no practical storyline, it is as filmy as his other books were. But there is some magic in Mr Bhagat's writing which will hook you to his books. It will make you laugh and take your life a lil less serious. This is a story about a young , independent , smart, good looking and "padhaku" girl named Radhika Mehta who completed her MBA from IIM-A and was placed in Goldman Sachs in New York. All through her student life she was a nerd and did not get a single boyfriend not even a 'boy' friend. All of a sudden in New York a man named Debashish Sen in short Debu met her at a party of common friends and liked her. They started hanging out as Radhika had never found a single so interested in her.And she has an utmost urge to get into bed. Never mind Chetan Bhagat finds it his most interesting topic to get into the minute details and explain. And then they started having a live-in relationship. But as luck would have have it the guy started having problem with the girl earning millions of dollars. A typical guy who at the beginning was a feminist and believed women should be more independent and follow their dreams suddenly changed to a mediocre loser who found it difficult to digest that his girlfriends earns more than him.  I am not surprised as in many cases this is the story. The relationship ended with Debu moving out of it and Radhika forced to take a transfer to Hong Kong. Well she did drop her papers and wanted to move out of the job yet she is so irreplaceable that the company cannot function without her ( I wonder how many of us would die to be like her).

Scene 2 she moves to Hong Kong and then again gets tangled with her boss's boss. The man is above 40 but want to retain his youth. He is married , father of 2 and since he and his wife dont strike a cord together he preferred to get involved with a younger girl half her age and never mind going to bed. I felt like Radhika is obsessed with sex. As if it is something she has never got and never wants to leave and obviously cant live without.Again there was an ego problem as Radhika wanted a family and this man was happy to have her as a mistress. With lil of her remaining self respect Radhika now moved out herself and again got transferred to London even after putting her papers.

Scene 3 Radhika's mom arrives in London and starts to find a guy for her. Many of them were rejected by Radhika. Some rejected her because of her huge salary and finally they stuck to a facebook guy.

Scene 4 Radhika's marriage event happened at JW Marriot Goa where she wanted to have a destination wedding. And there first popped in Mr Debu to get her back. Radhika being indecisive went on to be friendly with her fiance  knowing pretty well that she has other plans in mind. As the event progresses pop up her second lover Mr Neil Gupta leaving Radhika totally confused. At the end she decided to throw those men out of her life and also cancel her wedding as she herself was not sure where she is leading.

As I mentioned earlier the story is highly filmy , far from being practical. Yet it was Mr Bhagat's writing that kept me going through. His language and story telling is too cool. His witty lines and few truths about our society which he tries to point out makes you think. If you are looking forward to relax yourself after a tiring day, this book can be taken. It will make you think, laugh and wonder all at the same time. At least I have found his book somewhat refreshing, funny and light read. Chetan has improved a lot from his last work and this time I appreciate. Better judge the book yourself than getting the essence from others. You may like or not like but definitely you will not keep it down. Mr Bhagat makes sure of that . 

Intellectual me?

For the past few days I am trying hard to be somewhat intellectual, absorbing everything that came my way. As a somewhat book worm I am constantly scanning Amazon site for all the new book releases and then doing the same at Crossword or Starmark. With almost a lot of books in my 'to-be-read' list I am trying to absorb the character and words written as I find it pleasurable than my boring office work. With my office eating up almost 70% of my day's time I somehow try to fit in everything in the remaining 30% but being sleep deprived and having a lot of headache due to it I can hardly succeed. Hence my kindle is my companion in the early morning when I travel to office and the book if interesting enough will take me to an utopia from where I had to reluctantly return as soon as the bus arrives at the office gate.

Recently India is united with only one discussion and that is Modi and Demonetization. Nevertheless I get around 500 whatsapp msgs everyday where people are debating in the group and also my office cubicle is not exempted. I try to participate but due to lack of political knowledge I am more of a listener. However I feel myself to be somewhat intellectual if I do happen to say something in bits and pieces and is approved by others. I ruffle the newspaper or twitter, the next day only to add few more points to the same topic.

Now what defines intellectuality? Someone who is knowledgeable, confident, witty or someone who considers himself " i-know-it-all"? Mostly I get the second type of persons across the world. And people nowadays are confident enough to state that whatever he/she thinks is only correct, others are all fools. Facebook is flooding with wall posts of people proving this. I am amazed at common people who have voice to support or revolt against demonetization but can do very little about it. Love or hate Modi , he has made u stand in front of ATMs and Banks. The rule is a rule and u have to follow. So why all these things then? Yes, yes the famous "freedom of speech". My eyes sometimes roll up and down when I see posts like "God please impart some wisdom to these fools who consider demonetization as a boon." I wonder if God is confused about whom to impart this wisdom. No I am not supporting/ promoting or going against the govt , I am just amazed at the way it was stated.

I have a friend who has opinion about everything -- I mean everything. And if I happen to speak one or 2 things he is the first to point out , hey u r wrong which makes me feel like "Grrrr....who the hell are u to say this?"
I am generally attracted to people who have broader outlook and a lot of knowledge. It increases my knowledge manifold. But alas I mostly get Mr/Ms "Know-it-all" . Hence I my recent endeavour is to become someone whom I really like. That is to gather as much knowledge my little brain can hold and speak with utmost data points to counter debates and impress or somewhat enrage people. But as it takes a lot to succeed , I always end up saying something stupid and confronted by others. Blimey!

I,me, myself

I,me,myself is the thought that crosses my mind when I relax after a day of hard work reflecting back on the lessons I have learnt so far. It is absolutely true that no one knows me better than myself. No one can understand my pain better than me. So when people become judgemental about me I tend to retrace step backwards coiling into my shell thus avoiding to share anything more.

I read many articles and blogs where I found people have written that we ask our mirror, we dress to get noticed because we dont know who we are. No, we want to be appreciated. Thats our inherent desire. We dress good to look good, to feel good and if someone appreciates  bingo! thats exactly we want. If thats not the case why would we spring to our defense if someone says anything negative about the same dress? Do we gladly accept and say yes, it is horrible? No.

Till few months back I was in search of few wise men/women who would tell me how I am. What my character is? Do I make a good human being? A good friend? It was like I needed an approval to be me. But from bits and pieces of opinions that I gathered from people around me , my ego immediately gave a disapproval. Hence I concluded that they have not faced situations as I have or since we are different human beings our stimuli responds differently. Thus there is no such wise man/woman whom I am searching. Even if I get them I wont believe them. It is me who can answer all the questions I have.

To describe me in 1 sentence - " a stupid common woman who keeps on faltering and learning"

Love vs Freedom

It took me  a while to understand the topic for Indispire and realise its meaning . Love and Freedom are 2 completely different words with different meanings and should never be mixed with each other. Incase it should be mixed , it depends on the type of relation we are considering. A parent would be strict in the matter of freedom as it may hamper the child's growth. That doesnt mean the love is less in any way.

I have seen during college days my room mates used to give up dressing the way they want because their boyfriends didnot approve it. Thats something which even they found weird but followed because their love surpassed logic. Their freedom of dressing, freedom of mixing with other guys were restricted because their so called boyfriends were simply jealous.

Coming to freedom of speech nowadays people are more open to say anything they want. Gone are those days when people used to be tolerant. Now with the increasing rate of divorces we are proving that we are anything but tolerant. I have seen a girl who used stay with me in Chennai, misuses her independence. She was very soft spoken and always kept to herself. But from her life stories I gathered that she was brought up in strictness and once she is away from her home, she used her freedom the way she liked as if in protest to all the misdeeds happened.

It is unquestionable that people will always choose freedom above everything else. We were born free , we live free and die free. We might give into people's wish thinking that there is love but we cant sustain that.If people are not allowed to express freely they are sure to burst out one day. That has got no linking with love. It is stemming from other emotions like self worth, dignity etc. Imposing restrictions on meaningless matters harm a relation much more.If there is love there should be understanding and the other person should understand your restriction well enough to not consider it one. That will pave way for a happy relation.

Are you happy with your life?

It is a tough question when I ask people whether they are happy with what life had offered or is offering now. Many have answered I would like to undo many of my mistakes, avoid all the troubles that I had to face.

Well given a choice wouldnt we all want to lead a life full of only happiness? We would have luxury as our top priority and forget all the pain staking work that we do to earn our living. The negativities wouldnt have existed. But think for a minute. What good would it have done to us? We are because of our decisions- be it good or bad. If it was good we are happy, if it was bad we are humble. How boring would life had been had it not for the obstacles that come our way.

Looking back at life I do feel some unnecessary decisions should have been avoided. Some childish attitude should have been curbed. But as they say with time you become more wise, I realised that they were not to be repeated. The uncertainty of life is what makes it so sweet. You keep on planning for a future you know not. Had it been  your choice of life, I bet no one would have ever liked the word "Challenge". Life would have been dull. So you need negativity to remain firm with positive belief.You need obstacles to test your skills, your patience.

I dont want to alter my life. Whatever gone is gone. Maybe for good. What is upfront I know not. Still I am hopeful to deal with every situation with utmost maturity and yes a cool mind. If success can make a man King overnight, tragedy will make him humble. All our greatest poets, musicians,painters had to go through immense pain to come out unscathed and ever shining as a diamond.

At the end before I breathe my last I would like to say that I lived life on my own terms no matter how good or bad the situation was. I am responsible for what I am today and may Almighty forgive me for something I didnt do right.

A day for peace

I was travelling by bus with my whatsapp on and chatting with my teacher about one of her researches she is currently doing on human behavior. The answer that I got from her was full of positive vibes. She did acknowledge problems yet she never stopped making an effort to turn the situation positive.

Back home I was talking to my mother about the various problems that I was dealing with. She gave me an idea to meditate. Now thats something I never considered. As nowadays we have so much to do who would spend rather waste time meditating? I discussed this with my husband. But he insisted that we should at one point of time focus on the positives we have, calm our mind from the raging storm and let peace reign. Meditation can give you that peace.

I was about to retire for the day and just before that I switched on my Kindle as my daily custom. I was going through a book "change your habits, change your life" where the author states that it is always our choices , our limiting minds that restrict our ways to success. I dont want to delve deep into gyans as I find them boring. What I deciphered from it is if we have to dedicate a day to celebrate something lets celebrate happiness,peace and positivity. Lets forget our tensions for a day and concentrate on what we have, count our blessings and free our mind from fear.

I must say I am amazed at how my mother , mother-in-law or my teacher never stops to impart some positivity at the end of every problems so as to keep our focus intact. They may not deal with the situation the same way but they will never fail to look at the positive side too.

So lets meditate for a few minutes in a day, specially when your mind is racing. Just say "Calm down boss, life is not that difficult. This too shall pass."

Forgiven but not forgotten

I was watching the movie "Life of Pie" once more on television where Irfan Khan says at the end "its not the end that hurts but to say goodbye so unceremoniously does". He meant about his tiger friend "Richard Parker" who kept him alive through all the hardships and once he was safe to go back to his own clan did the tiger made his exit without even looking back. He felt betrayed and cried like a baby. The incident was so disappointing that he felt the pain years later while dictating the entire episode to a journalist.

Forgiveness is never easy. We all have to accept the pain and in order to be happy with ourselves do we choose to let go. But what if someone so close to you leaves you without a warning, a goodbye? What if you never get to ask him/her a question "Why did you leave?" I sometimes wonder we have the right to act like how we want but do we not owe anything to others? How cruel it can be if you walk away like this?

In order to forgive the above doing we need a lot of courage but definitely this will never be forgotten. Its not about the ego, the hatred or anything. Its just a question asking if the person had the right to behave like that. The answer will always be No. But the irony is the people who can do this no longer care for what you feel. Yes you must forgive them so that you live a better life. But time and again you will be reminded about the defaulter and way he/she exited from your life. You may mourn at the loss of a friend but its hard to accept that people can be hard hearted enough to not bother.

Love thyself first

The door of Heaven cracked open as I glided inside. There in front of me stood GOD himself.
"Hello Nita. How are you?" he asked. "Where am I?" I countered. " You are about to enter Hell"

"Why so? What have I done?" I  asked
"I kept you in heaven for 22 years. You came out of it willingly. Now its time to visit Hell."
"You must me joking  God as I was in Hell not in Heaven. My parents didnt love me, my boyfriend ditched me , my friends parted ways and you call it a Heaven?"

God smiled and said "Let me show you the picture I had drawn for your future"

And he showed me sitting in a posh office , holding an important position, a loving husband, 2 kids and my parents who are always praying for my well being.

"Now let me show you the picture at your home now"

And I saw my mother inconsolable. My father is silent. My little sister is crying in front of my picture and there is Nitish, my boyfriend happily engaged to another girl saying to his friends "Nita was a failure. She committed suicide as she cannot accept defeat. She has to win."
 To this my best friend Sonal replied "I know her since childhood. She is selfish. She didnt think about her parents."

Tears rolled down my cheek as I turned away. God asked me "So you committed suicide for Nitish who called you a failure. For friends like Sonal,Neha etc who called you selfish. They did not  understand your pain."

"And still you called it a Heaven" pat came my reply.

But God never stops smiling. "Yes it was a Heaven. You know why? Because I gave you to choose. Had you chosen anyone else as your boyfriend, he would have loved you. Had you chosen your friends wisely you would have been happy. Why did you let them hurt you? Why did you need a friend who dont understand you? And above all why did you not love yourself? I gave you brain to reason. I gave you heart to love. I gave you parents to support and you still didnt appreciate?"

I was about to  answer when my alarm clock rang. I sat upright on the bed. Blimey! I was dreaming. My mother entered my room and said "Happy Birthday Nita. Dont worry I will talk to Nitish and he wont leave you. Be happy now"

I hugged her tight and said "No mum. I dont need Nitish anymore. He is gone for good. I dont need Sonal, Neha, Puneet etc. I dont want any negative people. I need you. I need dad. I need my sister Naina. I love you all. And above all I love myself now. Much more than before

Second Chance

It was 10th Dec, their marriage anniversary. Rishita was upset since morning. She came early from her work. Her husband Joy has forgotten the special date. It was the first time he did. Before this he had never been so forgetful. Their's was a love marriage. Rishita belonged to a higher middle class family whereas Joy has to work really hard to earn a decent income. Yet Rishita adjusted well. She decorated their small yet cosy home with utmost love and care. Nothing was wrong in their world till a few days back.

Joy and Rishita quarreled with each other over small things and these often lead them to think whether they have made any wrong choice in their lives. Today was no exception. Rishita waited for Joy to atleast remember this special day and patch up. But Joy woke up with a grim face and after having breakfast  left for office without speaking a word. His silence pierced Rishita like a knife.She left for her office but couldnt stay there for many a time. Returning shortly afterwards Rishita started preparing some of Joy's favourite food. Atleast the food might remind him and he will be apologetic was what Rishita expected.

Around 5 pm the doorbell rang. Rishita hurriedly opened it to find Joy standing with a bouquet of flowers. Taken aback Rishita screamed with joy. Its now Joy's turn to speak ."Hello darling I did not forget today's date. Happy anniversary". Needless to say Rishita was overwhelmed. This was something which was beyond her imagination.

They forgot about their quarrels and started laughing and joking like before. Joy gifted her a beautiful necklace. He had been saving his money all the year round to buy her this. Nothing could be a perfect day for Rishita than this. She was cloud eleven. She was suddenly reminded of the food in the kitchen and she thus ran quickly towards it. Just when everything started looking fine, the phone rang.

Rishita was irritated. Thinking it to be some random promotional calls she went to pick it up when it displayed an unknown number on the screen.
Rishita: "Hello:
An unknown voice:"Is this Mrs Sen speaking?"
Rishita: "Yes. Who is this?"
Unknown voice: "Mam I am calling from Kasba Police Station. There was an accident today near Ruby Hospital and we have got the phone number from the wallet of your husband. We are sorry to inform that he is no more. I request you to kindly come and identify the body."

Rishita was stilled. How could this be? Joy came just now. She hurried to the living room and found no trace of Joy, nor the bouquet or the necklace. Was she dreaming. She sank down to the sofa. Is this possible? Joy has died and it might be his spirit who came for a last visit. She read something like this in story books. Do they happen for real? She started howling. She could never think of anyday without him. She did not even get a second chance to undo her mistakes. He must have died with a broken heart. And now there is no chance to say sorry to him. It was just their 1st anniversary and today she lost him.

Right then the bathroom door opened and out came Joy rubbing the towel in his forehead. "Rishita I forgot to tell you my purse had been stolen today, outside the shop from where I bought the gifts.I could not catch him and thus had to walk back home."

Rishita stared at him in amazement.

Life may not give a second chance to all. So live in the present and forget the differences. Its too short to wake up with regret or frown.

Rituals for people or people for rituals?

I remember one catchy line said by Mithun Chakraborty to Paresh in the film OMG "they are not God loving people , they are God fearing people" as the later tries to fight against "Act of God" .
The above line holds true for most of us. When we were kids we we asked to fold our hands in front of God or else face his wrath. In fear we used to do as was told.

I used to see my grandma being a widow, never used to touch any non veg food which she at one time loved dearly. She used to fast for every "amabasya" and then used to have some non cooked food like fruits etc. She was strict about not touching non veg also. My mother used to cook for us , clean the kitchen and then cook for her separately. All the non veg items should not touch any veg item. The utensils were not even barred.

Now when I was getting married I was asked to fast the whole day. I was made to eat at 5 am in the morning( I was feeling miserable eating at such time) and the remaining day I was made to eat only sweets or lassi. Damm. By the time I reached the mandap in the evening I was starved and feeling less energetic. I begged everyone to bring me some food. My elder brother brought a handful of pakoras and asked me to eat quickly. So I there was eating pakoras like a thief as if I am punished for getting married.

These are very common example that I have stated. We Indians follow loads of them almost everyday. Rituals are part of our lives. There are some rituals which we should follow whereas some are too much for us. Why do we need to fast the whole day twice every month? Just for pujas.What will happen if you do puja at your home? Will God not listen to you? Then why do you feed HIM everyday after bath? Why is a widow punished for someone who is no more? Why cant you live your life as before? As far as marriages are concerned we are told that in order to maintain good health fast that day. Comeon think about the sugar level getting dropped, the hunger pangs we get. How is that worth?

One collegueof mine says "We dont drink coconut water after sunset". Bewildered I asked the reason thinking it must be linked with acidity. But no her answer was something which lacked logic. "I am taught that way and I follow that".  I asked her instead "Is ritual for people or people are for rituals". Comeon drinking coconut water has nothing to do with Sun rise or Sun set. The Sun God is busy with other things. He is not perturbed by this. What gets perturbed is your system. It might not take it well as the metabolism slows down at that time.

But alas where there is logic there is no God and subsequently no rituals. So mainly the rituals are too much exaggerated. You follow some and do what you feel comfortable. God surely will not be angry on you. God is not vindictive. Love your God, love your religion but first love yourself. Dont sacrifice your health. Its not doing any good. Think about it. If you still cant get the answer I will utter like Shah rukh Khan "Rehn de..tu nehi samjhega".

 

Blogging - the journey I love

It all started some 7-8 years ago when a friend of mine studying in a elite college told me that he reads people's blog. He used to get unlimited internet connection in his hostel and was an addict. Bewildered at his words I asked "What is a blog?" When he told me about it I started reading few. I was studying Engineering and was not as fortunate as him to get an unlimited net connection. I had to coax the Airtel guy for not giving us proper 3G signal in our hostel (mind , in those days 3G was just launched and not every area had got it. If u get a 2G thats pretty good enough).

Back at home I used to stick to the computer chatting with him and surfing the various sites. There grew the urge to write my heart's content. I thought of giving it a try. I was not sure how to write and whether anyone will read it or not. As human beings we are always afraid to take the first leap. Once you are within it , your fear goes. I was tempted to write about my personal thoughts that too somewhere different from my diary.
There I went opening my 1st blogspot account and started with a movie review.

As years passed by the blogging continued. I enjoyed it thoroughly and its still my favorite pastime. The best part of it is I am not dutifully bound to it. People lack interest once anything becomes a duty. If any idea pops up in my mind I sit down and write it. Being moody I sometimes lost interest but that doesnt stop me from writing. I have invited people including my friends and colleagues to read and comment. Their honest criticism help me to look forward and improve.

In recent times people are more engaged in writing biographies and personal thoughts as a book hence the importance of blogging has  increased manifold. My best critic is my English Mam who read my blog posts and commented "Never give up on your passion dear." They say what your nature is will be reflected on your writing. I am too straight forward and believe in writing or talking to the point. Anything beyond that is something that can be ignored.

Coming to indiblogger I have found so richly talented people that its a complete pleasure sitting and reading their posts. Many are informative, some are funny , some are witty. I am amazed at the number of members this site has. It brings me sheer joy when I find people taking their time and reading my post or commenting.And with Indispire topics I am now never short of any topics to write my blog post. I dont write for all of them though( I am choosy about it).

For the last 7-8 years of blogging irrespective of any progress or improvement on my side I have just loved writing. Its just that I am the owner of my own kingdom and I can write whatever I like. The freedom and also boundless nature of blogging has given me the true essence of satisfaction.

The tagline of Indiblogger beautifully says "We blog therefore we are"....Happy blogging.

All about books

I am choosy about everything.Be it food,clothes,color even books. I read them all only if they are interesting enough to catch my attention . Once I am into it there is no leaving. As a book worm I read all type of authors. Some write great stories , some have great story writing style but the content is so-so.

To list down favorite author I would start with Agatha Christie. I am a fan of her books. The way she writes and solves a murder mystery is something which leaves me awe struck. I started her book with "The Crooked House" and then went on and on. She never disappoints me. Her detectives Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, Mr Harley Quin, Tommy and Tuppence , Mr Parker Pyne are by far my most loved characters.

Then comes Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Who can say no to Mr Sherlock Holmes. The suave writing and plots are something incomparable to any other mystery stories.

I must include my Harry Potter series. I am never too old not to read them again and again. I love them a lot and would love to read the 7 series of novel as and when I get time. I am in love with Harry, Ron & Hermione and have never missed any movie of them.

For Indian authors I have liked Chetan Bhagat but not fond of his writing now a days. He has the ability to hook the reader till the end but the content is not upto the mark. Ravinder Singh's books also has so-so content. What matters is the story and the way u r writing it.

A book is something I never regret to buy and build a library of my own. I carry my kindle everywhere and "I am never without a book". I love reading short stories if I cant complete my long novels. I thus reside in my own world most of the time.

Do you go looking for happiness?

Happiness - a term very important now a days. As a child I did not ponder much about this term as I did not encounter what a stressful life is. As with all of us, maturity and age brings a host of problems. You can avoid or resolve them but cannot deny. Amidst  such practicalities of life you have to be happy. Now thats  tough isnt it?

I was going through numerous health related articles where they mention that you have to sleep for 8 hrs, hang out with friends, eat right, exercise and God knows what else, to lead a "Happy" life. Inspired by it I started asking friends to go out on weekends. Most of them were busy many a times and I felt lonely. I exercised to be in shape and most of the days I did not enjoy it. I curse myself for being obese and again I cant let go my love to eat.

Then I found in an article that look inside you to find happiness. Now what does that mean? I am not happy. What will I do to make myself happy? Should I slap my boss and say that you are most weirdest guy I have ever met? Kill everyone whom I hate? This is possible only in dreams. In reality I will have to mingle with them no matter how much I curse them under my breath.

I discussed with a friend about this. Yes sometimes I do discuss some earthly things.  According to him no one is responsible for your happiness except you. Give up on the expectations. Your indifference will either matter to those who want to be with you or at least will help you having what you really want to do. Bang on.  I started dwelling in my own world. I mix with people but dont expect anything from them. If I need anything I would do it alone. All of those friends whom I used to call thousand times and who never cared to give me a call back was taken aback by my behavior. As I slowly moved away they asked me the reason for such behavior. I smiled and replied "I am too busy nowadays".

Happiness is ignoring the negativities of life. They will be there so dont bother. Move on with more confidence. Remember its your confidence and attitude which people fear. What you actually do is secondary. Depend only on you. Well I am no lecturer. But these are the simple things which we should remind ourselves from time to time. Live and let live. Dont go nosy about others. People dont like them. Sing, make merry and above all live. Dont think I will put on if I go for a chocolate bar or an ice cream which is too tempting. Its ok to treat your taste buds sometimes. Exercise to have a healthy body and mind but not when your body is against it.

Dont go looking for happiness. Find it in every small things like chitchat, cooking, singing, gardening etc. Be more creative and stop gossiping. And so I repeat "Live and let live".

Very short stories

After writing many a long prose the idea of short story tickled my mind. I personally love short stories than novels. Here's my first try at it.Do comment your thoughts. It will help me improve.

Story #1
With a mind full of thoughts about her busy schedule as she descends the stairs, a known voice which was not heard for long, calls her from behind and in a while all her past moments flashed in front of her eyes.

Story #2
 The curious child asks his older brother "Why did GOD create this world?" Confused by his question the older one smiled "well I guess he didnt have a choice."

Story #3
 The girl returned from school and called out "Mum, where's the food?" Little did she know that people die but habit remains.

How do you wish to be remembered as?

I was having a casual discussion with dad who had just returned from a "Smaran Sabha" (remembering a person who has died), of one of his colleague who passed by few days back. Dad was a bit gloomy as the thought of the inevitable loomed in his mind and made him realise that probably his danger time has started and one by one all his friends and relatives are bidding good bye.

I brushed up those thoughts immediately and started discussing something else. He then said that the uncle whose Smaran Sabha he has attended , was a man with acid tongue. No matter what he did, though genuine, did little to cut short his bitter tongue image. The people speaking on the Sabha tried their best to enclose his negative behaviour with a positive note yet that feeling which had hurt people was prominent from their words. I jokingly told my dad since the uncle is no more people are making this effort to sound their grievances as sweet as possible. Had he been alive they would have spoken only about the negativity.

This led me ponder as to how we would be remembered when we die. Surely we will not be there to witness everything , yet do we want people to remember us as a person who was jovial, sweet, loving, caring etc etc  or do we want us to be remembered for our anger, poor behaviour. As long as we live we care so much about our image but what happens when we die? Had that uncle been a little sympathetic towards people and had he not spoken ugly words, he shouldnt have been remembered like this.. Nobody is perfect but as they say words hurt more than physical assault, we can always choose our words wisely and think twice before speaking. This is not to say that we shouldnt take stand where necessary. Yes we should and its required. Again we can be only that much strict as required and always look at every possible aspect before giving our verdict. It would gain us people's respect and love.

Music Mania

Music is a part of our lives. It soothes your brain and calm it down, sympathises with your mood and relaxes you, acts as a medicine and help you to overcome grief. So on an so forth.

To describe the genre of music I would say I really dont have a fixed one. I like to listen to soft music mostly but during anxiety or joyful mood its the drumbeats that uplifts them. If I am at my singing class , classical music is what I feel I should rehearse more . I feel mesmerized by the sound of strings caused by the tanpura , the music of flute and never forget to thank the Almighty for this creations.

As I get stuck in the traffic while returning home the soft melodies of 80s and 90s never fail to grip me even I am thorough with their lyrics. Again I find myself dancing to the beats of the sound when I am in a jolly mood. This reminds me of a friend who relaxes mostly by plugging her earphones and dancing to the tune. Sad songs are another favourite of mine. I find great depths of emotions, voice and lyrics in them. It makes you think and related to your personal life.

Music has no limits, no bounds, no gender, no religion. It is simply wonderful in its own way. The day I am writing this post is Saraswati Puja and as an offering to God I simply pulled out my harmonium and sang whatever I felt like. It made my soul enriched with a sense of comfort and pleasure.

My dear Kindle

I was casually watching mobile phones on E-Zone 2 years back when I happened to see the kindle placed near it and people are scrutinizing it. I felt like "how can a device replace the feeling of a book" and thought it to be a waste of money.

1 year later when I was worried with the constant increase in my number of books and scarcity of places to keep them did my husband suggest to go for a kindle. I am a very slow reader as owing to day to day stress leaves me very lil time with myself. Yet book is my necessity. I cannot live without it. Together we thought of buying it with a purpose of reducing cost . I am not comfortable reading e-books on laptop or mobile. But e-books do save money as many are freely available on net.

The day it arrived I was delighted to see such a sleek and attractive thing. I had no problem in inserting my pdfs into it. Its better if you have it in azw3 or mobi format. The readability becomes much better. In one word I can describe my experience to be wonderful. It has its own in-built light and can be adjusted as per need. Its so light weight that it can be carried anywhere specially if you are travelling. I carry few hundreds of books and flip through some of them as per my mood. I even buy books from amazon and also free sample of any books are available before buying.

My kindle is one of my best buys and I am very grateful to it. The battery never dies. Though it depend upon your usage, brightness and wifi, it lasts for weeks not just days. I must say I have saved a lot of money by downloading ebooks and converting them online and finally putting into my kindle. Many would still say that nothing is compared to the hardcopy. Yet this digital device is best compared to any other devices.

Lets think for a minute...

I was travelling back from office via a cab when I read a radio advertisement. It was about Women Education but it has got a beautiful message. "you read about articles on women empowerment, post several of them in social media, follow their news channel but it is YOU who when gets angry will leave no stone unturn to abuse that same women irrespective of relation and age. Is that what your education all about?"

As they say there are few things which touch your heart. The message has touched mine. When we all will be writing about the books we have read in the previous days and think about its teachings, do we ever stop and think what have we learnt from them?

My heart fills with displeasure if I find people so less in moral values that they wont think twice before they react angrily, deceit and be treacherous. Let me ask you what is the true meaning of reading books if you cant take the message it is delivering?  The very next impression that comes to my mind is that they are ignorant and half educated . Half educated in the sense they know how to read and write but dont know how to think and speak. I am not talking about being straight forward. Not all straight forward people are rude. But it is the way you speak to someone matters. Words can hit more than a physical assault.

So while we are discussing about our various experiences in reading books, lets focus also on the teachings they have imparted. Lets make education our way of life. Lets learn as much we can and lets not forget the next time we deal with any odd situation.

Lessons are meant to be learnt and resolutions are meant to be broken

The year 2015 passed by and like every year my comment was "it was as if yesterday did we usher 2015 . It ended so soon."

So every resolution that I take at the beginning of the year is always broken. Not only mine I believe there will loads in the same ship. Definitely a year comprising 365 days, 52 weeks and 4 seasons will leave you with a lot of happy as well as bitter memories. Lessons taught must be applied in the coming days.

1. 2015 made me a lil more older and a lil more matured. I became more tolerant and non complaining. And also my self value increased. I learnt that if you value yourself only then the world will value you. Be confident and people will not dare question you. Raise your voice where needed and people will think twice the next time. Your confidence is what people will fear. You dont always need physical strength but have loads of mental strength. Your mind drives your day, your body. Every ailment can be cured if you think you can deal with it. You can go out of every situation if you are determined to.

2. In sync with point 1 it is also equally important to respect others. Instead of being judgmental allow others to speak and listen to them. Dont say anything rude which you cant take back later.

3. Reinvent yourself. Allow yourself to know more and more. Knowledge is never ending and lets not try to stop it either from coming. Life at every phase will teach you something or other but be knowledgeable so that you can become more wise and a better person that the last time.

4. I used to get angry with my husband for making so much tours all through the year but travelling gave me many ideas and a feeling that I am nourishing my soul with some of God's marvelous creations.

5. Last but not the least remember "This too shall pass".

I will not make any resolution this year just I pray to God to impart me strength to face every odds and come out unaffected. And with this year I am planning to make myself a lil better than the previous me. Fingers crossed.

“I’m sharing my #TalesOf2015 with BlogAdda.”

Book Review: The Bestseller she wrote

I am not very fond of Indian authors when it comes to novel, except very few and Ravi Subramanian is one of them. I have read his earlier books also and expected this too to be giving an insight into banking sector as his earlier books.

The Bestseller she wrote is different. I myself being one of the layman in knowing how the banking sector works found it difficult to understand his first book "If God was a Banker". Now I repeat this book is different.

The book starts from Aditya Kapoor addressing a crowd of students at IIM-B where he is one of the alumnus. He starts with a line saying that it is very odd that IIM has asked him to deliver lecture on something which was his passion and not something which is his profession and is being taught by IIM. He is a reputed best selling author as well as head of branch banking at National Bank. However at his lecture does he confront an arrogant girl who claimed all the Indian writers write shit and crap sells in the name of bestseller. Infuriated by her comments Aditya smartly persuade her to read his books thus winning her and the audience.

The girl Shreya is a voracious reader and very ambitious about writing a story and publishing it. She started reading Aditya's book and became his fan. She mailed him couple of times and the bitter feelings got washed away from both sides. Then came their placement and obviously Aditya selected her as he was somehow molten by lust. Shreya joined the National Bank and started getting closer to Aditya. She showed her the manuscript of her story and started using him to get her book published. Aditya was overwhelmed by her story writing capability and of course the way she praised him and made him superior did Aditya feel he was needed. And of course because of his fame, all the praises made his chest swell with even more pride. Aditya started coming closer to Shreya and their relationship turned into an extra marital affair much to the ignorance of his beloved and devoted wife Maya, who gave him always the space he needed in his life and handled her work and family beautifully having a blind faith on her husband.

Aditya completed his recent book and showed the manuscript to Shreya, this time before her wife who used to be always the first reader. Shreya made a few corrections and editions which Aditya blankly accepted. He was so deeply into her to ignore what she has edited. Shreya followed Aditya at every occasion which lead Maya to start doubting but Aditya was clever enough to fool her.

Maya left for Paris for a special meeting for her school and Aditya left for Kolkata for business work. It is when she returned did she got to know about the entire episode. But as luck would have have it Aditya was not given a chance to forgive as Maya was diagnosed with Ebola Virus and was almost in the death bed. Aditya realised what he has done and was highly apologetic. Shreya came to meet him at the hospital and there also she kept on bringing her book issue which nevertheless angered Aditya tremendously. He understood that Shreya was just using him because of his fame and nothing else. Nothing was worth depriving his family and be a traitor.

Maya recovered and Aditya ended the relation with Shreya. But Shreya now threatened to sue him for sexual harassment and also  of plagiarism.

It was next Aditya's fight against Shreya's vindictive attitude and how he gets back to his family is what the book is all about.

There are few flaws in the book which I would like to mention.

1. There can be no author who is a bestseller but doesnt read. Aditya was a bestseller for writing thrillers and he himself doesnt read any other thriller stories.

2. Aditya though smitten by lust yet he was the head of Branch Banking. He was more experienced than a girl in her twenties to be used by her.

Overall the story was simple as the author has now shifted his focus from writing banking details to more common world and his story writing capability would not let you keep the book down unless you have completed it.

Must mention that the ending was grand and superb. The way Aditya ended and showed his wit and intellect did help to win my heart and I believe it will win all the reader's heart too. The book is a must read. Ignoring the flaws its beautiful.