The illusion busters !!!

               Yay so the birth of the new year just happened and with people resembling Taio Cruz's song i decided to pen down the thoughts which have been gnawing my mind for quite a while. I'm happy to announce that i have successfully maintained my last year's resolution to quite a greater extent, although i haven't devised any resolutions for this year. Anyway this isn't going to be another post on resolutions,since am almost done with that topic i decided to write this post on something which i have been observing for a couple of months..something that disturbed me to an extent.Well it isn't about the popular Delhi rape case or similar stories. I decided i shouldn't write about that since it is the much talked (hyped) about subject.

                Now from where do i begin..i have always had issues with beginning my post or rather opening up the topic since the thoughts keep flowing at a greater velocity in my mind.Most of us would have heard about Brahmanism.I'm not referring to the creative aspect but to that of the religious side.A Brahman refers to the term supreme self or rather that's what i came across while reading an article.The ancient theories have defined us brahmins as supreme not that is a bit barbaric but then the reason for it was stated that the most intelligent people came from this part of the group,hypocrisy isn't it. Well it is not especially in those days.

                            There were many reasons for that statement,i'm not going to mention those in this blog post. Things in the ancient period were defined for a cause,more of a reason for which it was followed that way. But as time passed people started following it blindly and there were various versions according to their comfort level.Sadly the essence is missing these days.The way things were practised is being seriously ignored by the gen y or x or whatever.I find lot of people scoffing off the practises,mocking at it while the entire world brands them as being a Brahman. It is like they are frantically trying to move away from the originality and trying to affix themselves to the other type of living and in the end sadly they are neither here nor there. Of course this is 21st century and we having conquered the so called doomsday - 21st DEC(I'm still trying to find the person who created the sun tsunami theory..lol !! )the religious beliefs are meaningless.

                                But then sadly i find that we brahmins are the only ones who are scoffing at out religious theories whereas i find the people of other religion (Islamic..Christianity..Buddhism etc) sticking on to their practises no matter where they are.This was seriously disturbing since i found many people in the past few weeks laughing at Brahmanism..making us appear like fools which is seriously pathetic.This has lead to various conclusions about the rest of the people due to the presumptuous nature of the society.On one side i find fellow brahmins mocking at us and on the other side i find the rest of the world mocking at Brahmanism which leads to a conclusion that we are eventually being ridiculed.

                         I wonder what made me convert this post into a very serious one but i wasn't able to help it but to pour down the thoughts.Hope the new year brings about some changes !!!

Gently Falls The Bakula

Its been a long time since i wrote a book review and the reason was that i was stuck in the complexity as to which book to write about.In came the surprise and the perfect solution to my confusion - 'Gently falls the bakula' by Sudha Murthy ,the wife of the famous Narayana Murthy of Infosys and one of the board of directors of the organization (well i guess who doesn't know it). Okay now this books isn't about gardening although i wouldn't have minded if it was but then as usual the title of the book was misleading (poor me).

                          The bakula is supposed to be an ancient and sacred flower well known for its fragrance. According to the author it is profound in the northern parts of Karnataka.The story revolves around two people who share a bakula tree since childhood and how it unites them in spite of the odds like family feuds,ego clashes etc.But the story doesn't end there though and that's where the author creates a twist.

                         Shrimathi and Srikanth belong to two different families famous for their feud. Shrimathi being the smarter or rather the intelligent one excels Srikanth not only in the history essay competition but also in the board exams and becomes the state topper and him getting the second rank in the state.She chooses history as the major and he chooses science and since they ended up choosing different paths and wouldn't have to compete with each other anymore they decide to be friends (wonder what would have happened if both of them had chosen the same stream).

                      Time flies and so does the intensity of their relationship and they end up marrying. Shrimathi being portrayed as a calm and down to earth person bears the kind of treatment given by her in laws and sacrificing her love for history for the love she has for her husband she drops the idea of doing a PhD and moves to Mumbai with him.

                Yes the fellow is in the IT field and i don't have to elaborate on that since most of us know how it is to be in this field. Srikanth's focus on career is inversely proportional to that on his wife and soon he becomes the general manager (the author covers 10yrs in 2-3 chapters..not bad though) of the organization.Shrimathi having had enough is tormented and embraces her love for history leaving her workaholic husband behind and him not paying much attention to it.

                     I loved the book for few reasons..one being the fact that the moral is so very oxymoronic - give your ambition the first priority /never compromise on your loved ones for your dreams.The other being the way the author had described the various historical facts of our country (the lady has truly made a great deal of research).Now for the bloopers, the story was so very sober.It had an abrupt end and lagged logic.Of course considering the fact that the book was a translated one maybe it had failed to convey whatever it had wanted to convey.I have mentioned the entire story in the blog unlike my previous ones since i really didn't feel like recommending the book although it isn't that bad or maybe i felt that way since this is the third time I'm reading a book by an Indian author (no offenses meant) and it really wasn't up to the mark.

                  Finally i would like to dedicate this post to that friend of mine who surprised me on my birthday with this book. Thank you Arjun for making my day and also for the silent message which reminded me not to lose out interest on my passions no matter what !!! Gently falls the bakula - not as fragrant as the bakula but worth the read !!!

That awkward moment !!!

             The title of this post is really a famous one,thanks to facebook. But then i really couldnt help but implement it as a title since it is so very apt to the experience i encountered.So i just finished a long vacation and with the effect lingering around i thought of sharing a funny incident that happend to me.

                      Most of us know the cultural differences between that of our country and the others. Although globalization has changed most of the practises there are quite a few which has remaind the same.Well let me stop this boring rationalism.This post is about my travel to Singapore.Now i mentioned about globalisation since the airway in which we commuted offered people complimentary drinks.Not the h2o but the hydroxyl - CH3CH2OH (thanks to organic chemistry).Ahh yes this is such a common thing,especially these days but still it was quite unusual for us(since it was our first trip abroad). 

                   So when the air hostess announced that the passengers would be offered complimentary drinks jubliation arose from most parts of the cabin.Me being busy shooting pics (well yeah even in the cabin too) kept my listening skills at bay and wondered the reason for the hushes that appeared suddenly.The realisation stuck when i saw the air hostess bringing the trolley with peculiar bottles in it.

                           Being a non alcoholic person i didnt show much interest to the stuff that was being brought and i continued with my photo shooting process.Since i was sitting farthest (near the window) i was engrossed in cloud viewing. The air hostess brought the trolley newar our seat and my father who was sitting near the corridor mistook a green coloured Carlsberg tin as sprite and i was explaining him what it actually was and we were having a chat. Suddenly the air hostess asked me if i would like to have a whisky,when i refused her offer she asked me if i needed a Carlsberg and when i refused again she just gave me a smile and moved forward without paying attention to my parents ( not even a glance in their direction) which was when my mum pointed out that i was the only person who was asked the question among the three of us (myself,mum and dad).

                    History repeated itself on my way back to India..since my parents had already encountered the scene all the three of us ended up laughing after the air hostess left. Well that was one memorable flight journey alright !!!!!

Infinitesimally Impossible

The word infinitesimally although is a large one the meaning it conveys is something different. I came across this word while studying quantum physics at school. Quantum physics a subject which has fascinated me to every bits and it never ceases to fascinate me. Now let me stop the train of thoughts on QP since that is not the topic of this post (maybe i should write about it in the near future though).

                 This post is about my disability. Yes i do have one and a very common one. This disability would be shared by many other fellow human beings. It is something that i could find in my palm and unable to let it disintegrate since the absence of it shatters me.Well yes it is my very own phone. I have got so much attached to t that, instead of typing this post it about my disability i had typed this phone is about my disability and had to rewrite it.

                   The world is in our hands,thanks to the mobile phone.It is the second thing to which man gets addicted to (first thing being facebook). The device has helped us in so many instances although originally it was created only for talking now it is created in such a way that we wonder what is it that this thing cannot do. Well let me stop my essay on mobile devices right here. I get carried away way too much don't i ?!!

                  Okay so it's been almost twenty months since i became the owner of my darling phone and i must say am so very proud of owning it.Right from improving my multitasking abilities to making people envious by flaunting about it(laughs) and responding to my official mails in record time i literally grew up with this phone. It has become so very dear to me that am unable to bear the partition (now that's a sad story of mine).

                     I suppose most of the people would have gotten addicted to their phone,who wouldn't with the various features that is available. I fell into the same trap or rather the wormhole.Right from making calls,chatting with people,texting,downloading songs,listening to music i can do whatever i want and do it concurrently.Isn't that cool no wonder my TL calls me the walking wikipeda (i don't know where the connection lies).I hope they include the fastest qwerty typing or the maximum number of times a phone can be dropped contests in the next Olympics,i really have a chance of winning a medal for our country.

 

                      Now that my phone has crashed i really feel the disability to adapt myself with a not so wonderful phone.It is almost impossible to be without my phone.The essence of initiative is taking action and keeping that in mind i have taken steps to revive my long lost love. I hope i tend to be successful.

Bagging IT

Giving a pause to my book reviews am back with another post of mine. Sticking to the thought that i should write atleast one blog post per month is becoming a bit difficult, nevertheless i somehow end up writing one thanks to my saturday work schedule. Ahh yes i work on saturdays too..although most of my friends know about this now i get a chance to let the whole world know about it. 

                 This month july is really special to me. There are quite a few reasons for it but the best one is my relationship with the IT field. It was on the first day of this month exactly two years back, i had begun my career.I still remember the day very clearly(seems as though it was yesterday) and i wonder how time flew.It was and will always be one of the most important and cherished days of my life,the part of my life which helped me in learning more about myself." A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions"

                  As we grow we realise that many things learnt in the childhood becomes meaningless,I'm not quoting about education(ofcourse that's a different issue) but about the other things like the way we treat another person,the way we behave or treat another person due to which sustainability becomes a gruelling race.

                   I still remember the day when a senior at work asked me if i have entered 17th standard (summing up my years at school and college) just because i didnt know something which he knew. Ofcourse he was such a snob and at that instant two things dawned upon me..one that i was put in a barbaric land where any kinds of display of intelligence is stupidity unlimited and the second one being my notion to not treat my juniors in a similar way.Two years down the lane it occurred to me that people behave in such a way when they feel intimidated.They behave in such a way so that they can pull you down. Unfortunately this i realised, is the heart and soul of the IT industry. The grass looks greener on the other side of the fence which ultimately is a mirage.

                             True i really learnt a lot of things and my patience helped me a lot in various instances..i came across different types of people who both amused and annoyed me at the same time. A person once told me that we could never have friends at work place and at that juncture i found some ambiguity in the thing he told. But now there is a role reversal and i have ended up telling the same thing to many people.Period !!

                              Two years and three projects later i realise that i have fallen in love. Yes i mean it..i really am in love and it is so very profound that it brings tears to my eyes. The romance which i encounter makes me speechless at times (most of the time rather).I'm ending the usage of cliches here but i cant help it can i..i'm so very in love with my work, since i spend atleast 54 hours a week with it i'm one step behind addiction.This has crafted me into a workaholic which astounds me at times : who ME ? a Workaholic? since when ? Well it was since the moment i realised that i have fallen in love with the work i do..something that keeps me going on when everything else pulls me behind.

                         So here iam sitting at my workplace on a saturday afternoon not knowing whatever is going on in the outside world as iam binded with work..i understood that i am getting used to it irrespective of the aghast reactions i receive when i tell people that iam working on a saturday. Somehow it gives me a sense of pride since it helps in defining the new 'career-girl' ME.

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.