I've got your number !!!!!

"If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all "

 - Oscar Wilde


                          This quote is one of my all time favourite and being an ardent follower of it i thought of beginning this post this way since there is a connection. Many authors weave their magic spell in such a way that the effect of the book doesn't wither off even months after reading it.I felt the same way with 'I've got your number'. Ahh well i didn't get some body's number or whatever but Poppy did and that's how her life changed.

                            Poppy is a physiotherapist who loves her job. She gets engaged to Magnus,a super genius doctorate holder who sweeps her off her feet the minute he sees her, by bestowing her with the family ring thus making her his fiancee. Poppy is highly excited and at the same time worried about spending the rest of her life with the Tavishes.

                           The book begins with Poppy losing her engagement ring in a party. With no luck in finding it and her handbag being mugged along with her most precious possession - her phone and ends up finding one in the bin along with a name tag.Finders keepers !! Instantly she makes herself the owner of the phone only to find that it belongs to Sam Roxton's ex PA.Sam wants the phone back and thus begins the connection between Poppy and Sam.

                            At the course of time Poppy turns out to become Sam's temporary PA and by reading all of his mails(adapting the face that they share the same inbox) she gets to know everybody in his organisation which plays a key role in the end.The twist in the story begins when the number obtains a msg saying that the person's fiance has cheated on them. Whether it mentions that of Poppy's or Sam's is something the readers have to find out!

                                Throughout the book Sophie Kinsella maintains her trademark which is the hilarity. For instance the way Poppy distracts the Japanese delegates or the way she covers her palm with gloves in order to hide the loss of her ring or the way she cheats the Tavishes in scrabble with Sam's help is simply rib tingling (a trace of Becky Bloomwood). The way Sophie has adapted the text messaging concept is a perfect portrait of the reality.Although the book is funny it fails to reach the usual Sophie Kinsella mark.The author sounded a bit like Laura weisberger or Danielle Steel's books.

                               The characters are a bit too many which confuses the reader a bit. The best part of the book is the 'Footnotes', this is something new by the author and it definitely makes it's mark.On the whole this books begins in a very new angle and ends up like a melodrama.Of course the book does have an impact on the readers like the other Sophie Kinsella books with the intensity being a bit less. On the whole this is one entertaining ride, the tag like being the best - 'one ring and he's yours' .

                   This is my third book review on the row and i would like to thank all those people who keep motivating me to write such reviews. So i dedicate this post to all of you people out there who have been a positive influence !!!!!!!

Stupid guy goes to India..

Am back with yet anoter book review. Thanks to all my friends who had given a wonderful response to my previous book review which was a real boostup. There are very few books which triggers the reader to keep thinking about it even after the ending and 'Stupid guy goes to India' is one of them.

The author is a Japanese named Yukichi Yamamatsu and the book is about his experiences in our very own national capital Delhi. I've had my very own experiences in the cithy but Yukichi's book actually baffled me.Not that he wasnt just true but i was surprised that every person receives the same kind of treatment by our fellow country men.
 The beginning of the book shows Yukichi planning to weave the popular comic culture called MANGA is a non Japanese land. The introduction is highly hilarious but at the same time brings down the security level of our country,nowonder the terrorists are able to walk into the country really freely. So Yukichi finally makes it to India with nominal funds in dreams of releasing manga in the country. He is mislead though when he finds out the we arent new to comics.The manner in which he is received by the hotel staff and the way they fool him with the charges is absolutely hilarious but he lets the cat out of the bag. With that Yukichi establishes his base in the country. The next thing he does is begins his quest for apartment,This is really the important part of the book.

    Thus he begins working on the indian version of the famous manga with the help of various assistants who he manages to find. This part shows the sluggish and the carefree nature of the Indiand which is quite opposite to the Japanese who are well known for their rules and orderly way of living. In the end he manages to publish the book and whether he manages to sell it in the streets of Delhi or not is what you will have to find out by reading the book.

    The hilarity of the book is the trait to be cherished and enjoyed by the reader but at the end we could feel that the seriousness has been concealed by humour. The manner in which we Indians have been projected is something to be ashamed of. On the other hand every other country has it's own good and bad. An Indian in Japan would receive the same kind of feeling with the language barrier and maybe a different level of perfidy. The book clearly shows the difficulties a person would face in a foreign land minus the global lingo-english.

    Although the ending was a bit abrupt i really enjoyed reading the book. It made me wonder why Yukichi never tried visiting another city which might have given him a better outlook of our country.The translator has done a very good job in creaing the english version or rather the hinglish version of the book. It is an eye opener to all of us and maybe we could try to improve ourselves in the hospitality section. On the whole the book is a joyous ride and my first ever manga read.

I finally dedicate this post to all those people who are away from home in a foreign land and making the best out of it.
 

"Almost Single" !!!

Sometimes the title would indicate what the content is about, although we wonder how the very few words could summarise something so big. I hope that the above statement would be agreed by most of the people.Perhaps it would be correct with a wild guess, but for how many of us does it click? I suppose that the title of this post might indicate that it is related to me in some way or the other. Till now I have blogged on various subjects...from cycle rickshaws to my travel experiences in chennai,movies,boredom,etc.This time i wanted to write about something different and the moment i laid my eyes on this book i decided that my next post would be about it.

I found this book lying in my friend's rack when I was prying around [the usual ;)]. The cover page was a bit unusual for a book by an Indian author. I have read various chick lit's from all over the world and I was very much surprised to find one from our very own country. The Washington post had declared the book this way - "cheeky new writing breaks shackles". I ran home so that I could begin reading it, somehow I forgot the famous proverb-appearances are deceptive. Well the book wasn’t just cheeky, it was too cheeky.

The lead - Aisha Bhatia is twenty-nine years old and is single, though she is ready to mingle she seems to be very unlucky when it comes to finding her perfect man. Self-actualized people are independent of the good opinion of others. But this female is far more than independent which is a disturbing factor. She works as a guest relations manager at a hotel in New Delhi and is quoted to be an ardent traveller. Yes she is an ardent traveller to the night clubs, pubs and bars of the city. She tolerates her job which requires her to wear a sari everyday which she casually drapes over a jean which is the after effects of a hangover. She hates her boss who is a big time jerk who shuttles between his wife and his girlfriend a.k.a his sister in law(Seriously!!). Aisha bonds really well with her friends, a gang which is an embodiment of friendship comprising of a gay couple-Ric n nic, a divorcee- Anushka and a very hip girl - Misha who is constantly ends up with the wrong man. The hero of course is an NRI who is a perfect package - handsome, ultra rich and loves the leading lady.Like every other chick lit the hero is a guy who is really very rich and the leading lady an ordinary girl next door (sort of) person. 

The book comprises of experiences of all these people which are in the bollywood meets Sophie kinsella style or rather Hollywood meets Advaita Kala..Whatever!!! Aisha who is supposed to be an intelligent and independent woman fails in terms of morales..She is found to be constantly boozing and doing things which could probably be possible but unacceptable. Though such characters might be found in some or many parts of the Indian capital it isn’t acceptable when it is related to Indian women in general.

Although the author tries to be original, globalization has made us to read the chick lit's from the west and the context is found to be more than just similar. There is a very thin line distinguishing the content from that of the popular chicklit's .

Aisha meets Karan in a most embarrassing situation and somehow makes her way into his heart. Various other incidents help the leading couple to get closer and circumstances separate them. The book ends with Aisha getting down at Bhopal from a running train in the middle of the night (déjà vu anybody ??) and catches a flight to Mumbai to meet the man of her dreams and they unite finally.

The book takes desperation to a new level which is supposed to seem real but unfortunately fails. The champagne brunches, gay soirees and the dilemmas of hip young girls (not so young by the way) on the lookout for love and matrimony would work really well in the west but it is too soon to render Indian people this way. The parts of the book like the panditji(dude),a bossy house owner,the stupid boss,the bollywood moment-karva chauth..etc.that are named to be funny are highly pathetic (am still in search of the person who has called the book as the one with a wacky sense of humour).

The only good thing about the book is the depiction of friendship between the lead characters: the only non perturbing part of the book. The author is sensible enough not to tamper it any way, which was the only factor that kept me going till the end. A single afternoon is enough to read the book which was like watching the desi version of the Friends TV show or the inbetweeners or the recent blockbuster how I met your mother. Sadly the new breed of Indian women who are trying to draw a balance between their cosmopolitan life and an orthodox society are exhibited in a very bad way.

"Almost single " by Advaita kala - a book to read when there is no other go and you are stuck up with it !!

'The individual woman is required a thousand times a day to choose either to accept her appointed role and thereby rescue her good disposition out of the wreckage of her self-respect, or else follow an independent line of behaviour and rescue her self-respect out of the wreckage of her good disposition’. I dedicate this post to that special friend of mine - Tiyasha Sinha who has inspired me by being a representation of independency, whose constant encouragement has helped me in continuing this wonderful hobby/passion of mine !!!

Tucking it away in a scrapbook...

         People seem to get nostalgic about a lot of things they weren't so crazy about the first time around.Thinking back i realize that it has been more than an year since i visited this part of my life the part that has always been something i relish.

         Funny that i always manage to fall sick in the last week of december almost every year,time was passing like a hand waving from a train i wanted to be on which is perhaps why time is called to be slicky.Well now i dont want to elaborate on the part of me being sick nor is this post supposed to be about time..

        This day is the end of the year 2011 and the reason for nostalgia is that around same time three years back i discovered my passion towards blogging.xReading the first blog of mine brought lot of memories..the first one being the reason as to why i started blogging...thinking about it now now brings smile on my lips. Hats off to the sweet lady who was responsible for helping me add another feather to my cap...
        Going through my first blog i somehow connected with the old me..well now this post isnt going to be 'a christmas carol part 2'. But i just wonder how it would be like if each one of us attain a similar experience..maybe things would seem to be different after that..

        The person who i was three years back seems to be vaguely familiar to me now..she has written about her passion towards writing and about satisfaction.Comparing her with the person who iam now i discovered that the passion hasnt wuthered off yet and makes me feel that there is still a faint chance for me to kindle that flame..I have always been a reader,that too an ardent one.I have read at every stage of my life and i still continue to pursue it and yet i cannot pretend that the reading i have done in my adult years matches the impact on my soul that the reading i did as a child provided.

        With the new year on it's way and constant prodding from few friends of mine i decided to pursue this auxillary activity which makes me feel so good.There would be many instances which would declare that times would change,people change,something new would happen to us every moment. But the things that wouldnt change would be dreams and our aspiraions and the intentions which would never prevent us from chasing it...

         I would dedicate this post to people who have been there to remind me and help me out to be the person who iam now and also to the people who havent been there for me or the ones who have not been able to walk with me entirely because of which i was able to do things by myself...With this new hope i plan to end this post of mine which is the way i have spent waiting for the clock to tick it's way to the arrival of the year 2012 !!!!!!!

What is it that makes me get on this thing?

After a gap of 92 days am back with another post..This is about something which i had experienced in my stay at Noida which was a temporary one..
Noida is a place which is a lot different from our very own Chennai..not only the food we eat, people are different from that of Chennai but it's also the mode of transportation that is different..People mostly travel by the metro train which is both fast to commute and cheap...the metro train is preferred over the buses ( which appears in such a way that the pamphlet in the Asian paints ad can be replaced by pictures of these buses) and the second most preference is given to the cycle rickshaws.Aahh!!! the very thought of these rickshaws makes my stomach quiver..
A ride in these rickshaws would make people drop the idea of mounting a roller coaster..the thrill obtained is indescribable ( it's something that should be felt)..So am here with my experiences of traveling by the cycle rickshaw,something which is very ordinary but memorable..
So it was a weekend and myself and two of my friends were on a shopping spree..after going through the nook and corner of the atta market and having a proper dinner (which happened in rare occasions) we decided to get back home or rather the guest house..Now one thing which i have to mention is that finding a rickshaw is highly difficult as the process involves the task called "bargaining"..so after ten minutes of bargaining we finally mounted onto a rickshaw..
The journey begun slowly and we were busy chatting about the wonderful evening which we had..initially we were very much engrossed in the conversation that we had failed to notice that the driver of the rickshaw was Michael Schumacher's brother..he was so quick that he started overtaking the cars on the road.. At the course of time he lost track of the fact that three people were sitting at the back of his seat and he went into such a state that he became deaf to my friend's wailing and he paid no attention to my 'bhaiya sambhalke' (careful bro)...Now cycle rickshaws in Noida were mostly in a pathetic state..The driver turns left , the rickshaw would turn right and we lost the count of the number of such jerks produced..the speed was unimaginable and shuddery and all that i could hear was my heart thumping..The situation went out of control and all that we could do was pray that we would reach the guest house safely..

One thing that should be accepted is that these men are experts in handling the wagon..after 25 scary minutes we finally got down at the guest house paying 30 bucks for the ride..Now i must say that the ride was one of the most freakiest i had ever experienced in my life..something i had grown out of, but never recovered from.

A new journey..a new destination...

Responsibilities are nothing but social force that binds us to the courses of action demanded..one such force kept me away from writing a blog but then am back with another post ending the sabbatical...

As i was busy travelling day and night which is my daily routine i kept thinking as to what to write about and one day as i was pondering i got the answer.. Now my daily travel routine includes stampede of various degrees,getting almost dismantled like Vicky of 'Small Wonder', improving my probability capabilities as to who would be the next one to get down so that i could get a seat..sometimes i get lucky but at times i dont..i keep meeting new kinds of people in the bus, but everyday is a new struggle..a new journey..Okay then let me stop the rantings about my pitiable bus journey..that isnt what i'm intended to write..

This thing happend a few days back..It was 7.45 am and as i was listening to Shreya Gosal's voice(in bahara)and gazing outside the window of the bus i suddenly noticed something interesting out of the corner of my eye, yes it was really captivating.The thing i saw made me speechless..there were three children maybe 10 or 12years of age and they were conversing insign language..yes sign language and they were special children who were deaf and dumb i suppose. They were so much engrossed in their conversation and they appeared very happy. They were confined to their own world and they had put on their best behaviour without bothering anybody.

Now this was really surprising because those children seemed to be very happy although they have major drawbacks and all that we do is complain and brood that things arent the way we want it to be.We normal human beings forget our manners at times and are filled with characteristic traits such as jealousy,anger, self conceitedness and what not..you name any sour quality and everyone of us would have surely experienced that at one point or the other..
Why is it that people can accept others the way they are and find ways to make things better and lead a merrier life..People even forget to smile or acknowledge someone and the worst part is that it becomes an unintentional activity..Humour is forgotten and people get subjected to something called stress which is nothing but a bogus..

I think it's time for us to wake up and lead life the way it has to be lead like spending time with our loved ones, stop making comparisons or brood about something that doent exist. Why dont we take things easier?? why dont we jus let go off things that arent necessary?? I would say that everything is upto us and the answer lies within us..I would like to end this post with the song from the popular series of the 70's that Ron Howard used to sing about 'Happiness'

"Goodbye grey sky, hello blue,

cause nothing can hold me when I hold you.
Feels so right it can't be wrong,

Rockin' and rollin' all week long"

Lets just make a difference making things around us more merrier and lively !!!!!!!

Mission articulation

Today being "World EARTH day" i just thought of writing about few things which is happening around us and things which need to be brought to focus..

As we all know,summer's in and so is the scroching heat.The thing which am going to write about happened on one summer morning(approximately two weeks back). It was at around 7.30am in the morning and i had just returned home from my morning walk.Absent mindedly i picked up my landline to ring up my dad,the blank response provided to me by my telephone made me realise that our telephone connection was out of order(and it wasnt new to me)..

Cursing the telephone department(they hadnt paid much attention to our complaint) i headed to the kitchen to drink water and after few minutes i had realised that something wasnt right. The burner in the kitchen was on but the flame wasnt. I was astonished to know that the gas cylinder's life span had ended.Bringing this to the notice of my mom,we decided to change the cylinder. After struggling for 20 odd minutes i was finally successful in turning on the new cylinder,only in vain.

With the satisfaction of having fixed it i began reading the news paper and after few minutes i just started getting odd sounds,like that of the engine of an airplane and it was from the kitchen. I was baffled when i came ot know that the cylinder was a faulty one and the person from the gas agency didnt provide a satisfiable answer to our ailment and the response was frustrating. What would a family eat when there isnt the avilability of fire to cook the food ,early in the morning??

Unknowing that the worst part was yet to come i switched on the tv. It was around 8.45am and withing a span of five minutes the most deadliest of everything occured - the power shutdown.It was the shutdown for the monthly maintenance(that's what they have named it) and it was the most unexpected one because it had occured for the second consecutive week.

This is quite common in most of the places, but such an incident is disturbingly provocative. We were put in a worst state which the people of the stone-age wouldnt have experienced. I felt as though i was living in the era which occured before the flinstones. We were practically deprived of food,electricity and the power to communicate with the outside world.

For us it was manageable due to the presence of mobile phones to contact people,vechicles to drift to places where the power existed but it's hard to think about the plight of people who down own such contraptions.

We have neared the mid of 2010 and 2020 isnt far away. With such an irresponsible resource handling we lag an ecological approach to the management of these resources. We have the inertia of past habits, unsustainable habits.The gas agencies still stick on to the age old cylinders which are not women friendly ( a woman is the one who's at home most of the time-using it).The electricity board shutting down power every now and then in the name of power consumption or what-so-ever.In countries like China(our counter part) the power cut had previously occured on september 2009 but arent they moving towards worthwhile achievements which are the result of many little things done in a single direction and not to leave out the telephone department which is busy developing 3g services or whatever when most of the wired connections are at stake!! How on earth would India develop in such conditions?????

Something must be done to kindle the resource which we havent harvested in the minds of the people.We do not allow them to disperse because we've been ignorant of their value and that resource is nothing but "AWARENESS"!!! ( i guess it's time to call Captain Planet)