Demystifying Indian Girls

Name of the Book: One Indian Girl

Author: Chetan Bhagat 

Publishers: Rupa Publications 2016

Genre: Fiction

A book that I read over two days and mostly while sitting in a cab travelling across Bangalore. I like the ending of the book but not sure what Bhagat aims to achieve. A book dedicated to the few Indian girls who dare to dream. A book where the protagonist is a successful  debt analyst and yet mops over her unsuccessful and complicated relationships. Her fault is endearing yet the feminist bits of the book are cringe worthy. It doesn't go the complete distance. The men provide literary eye candy. It's at best a light read,  a perfect recipe for a Bollywood movie. With the story set in New York, Hong Kong and London and the lead characters wearing matching colours (shades of blue), in the pre-climax. 

I read the book out of pure curiosity like I have all his books after being impressed with Five Point Someone. I do hope young girls do not begin to believe that Bhagat has given them the prototype of one Indian girl. Because 'we' are much more than what this 270 page saga presents. We all want to dream,  we all dare in bits and pieces,  we have our successes, we have our failures,  we are single,  we are married, we are career material,  we are maternal type, we are confident and we are confused. But, isn't that what makes us. We are a myriad mosaic. 

#Book2Review #Booksin2017 #Fiction

Celebrating love…The distance between this day this year and the next

I dislike roses

I dislike diamonds

I dislike soft toys

I dislike pomp and show

I love love-stories

I love romantic poems

I love books

I love candle light dinners

Today is Valentine’s day.  A day when the world celebrates love and some remember a saint by the same name. A day when some reminisce their unrequited love, some bask in the sunshine of being in love, some find scepticism in every act of love and some live in eternal hope for that ‘one love’ and some are just plain rational about this thing called love. A day when the consumer industry make the most of our hopes, our despairs, our ambitions and our desperations. In our country, this day is also marked by some vandalism and moral policing in the name of culture. Pyaar ki toh aisi ki taisi.

While I agree that we do not need a single day for love, I also believe that every moment needs to be celebrated because life is just so precious. And there are such small ways to celebrate the love. Celebrate the love everyday by respecting the person you are with. Respect his dreams and his ambitions, embrace his shortcomings and his fears, enjoy his quirkiness and his misadventures. If you are in love, cook with your partner. Cooking is one of the beautiful ways to connect. Learn about each other’s preferences in food and make the effort to cook that special dish. Plan little surprises, small love notes tucked away for your partner to find. The glint in the eye and that meaningful smile will take your breath away. Have conversations, the mundane and the intellectual ones. Talk books, talk politics,  talk love,  talk child care... Speak what you are thinking and express what you feel. Share opinions,  agree to disagree,  have vehement debates and emotional outbursts. Have conversations. Do things you both enjoy(ed) doing together- a long drive, dinner at a quaint place, watching a play or just making a tub of popcorn and catching that series on the laptop. Remember the moment when you chose him in a heartbeat and if you took ages, remember those ages. We live such rushed lives that we often forget to be grateful for what is there right in front of us. Count your blessings. Count the love of your partner, your family and your friends because love can conquer everything (says the die hard romantic).

There will be a 14^th Feb every year. There will be a rollercoaster ride of emotions every year. Just decide how you want to travel the distance between this day this year and the next.

To love and the beautiful world it creates!

May I say, Happy Love (Valentine’s) Day!

Say it with words,

Say it with silences,

Say it with a song,

Say it with a dance,

Say it with a cake,

Say it with a biryani,

Say it!

Mamma, the Centipede will find me!

Ira and I do a little walk in the evening in our apartment complex. It involves a few rounds of walk, taking turns to chase each other, plucking the magic leaf () that when eaten with honey helps her throat and new stories every day. We also take either the ball or ben the plane with us. Demands are made to carry bigger soft toys for a walk too. But little twigs, dried leaves and stones make their way into the stories being told.

Today it was about a centipede. Ira had first seen a centipede at IISc on one of her visits and she was intrigued. Today, I told her that I saw a centipede and then it went missing in the garden. Ira then promptly plonked herself on the corridor and with a stick began tracing an imaginary centipede and then the centipede slowly found its way home into one of the crevices in the wall. While the centipede made its way home, we continued our stroll and she said that the centipede will find her and behold, eat her new pink shoes! So, we must hurry and she is scared and so I must carry her. The dramatic gestures must have convinced the other walkers that indeed a centipede is following her. She also said that the centipede will eat her small lappot (laptop). Convinced that the centipede is on her trail, we increased the paces. We reached the lift and she said, “Mamma, the centipede will find me!”. A hug convinced her that I shall keep her safe.

These little stories will be cherished life long. Hope the imagination grows leaps and bounds and Ira, the story teller stays on.

#Ira #Iraisms #storyteller #imagination #playtime

You feel like an Islander, instead of an outlander

Name of the Book: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Authors: Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Publishers: The Dial Press, August 2008

Genre: Fiction

You open this book,  you smell the yellow pages (mine was a borrowed copy) and then you fall in love with the characters. Imagine a book that's filled with letters.  Letters that tell a story,  enumerate the history and the geography of a place.  Let's you delve into the lives of the inhabitants. You experience their joys,  their fears,  their insecurities.  You immerse yourself in their warmth and openness. You want to be Juliet and Elizabeth at the same time. You like Sidney and Dawsey, find Mark charming, yet annoying. We all want a friend like Sophie. Eli and  Kit steal your heart, while Isola's world of potions seem too tempting.  The ravages of war,  the human atrocities,  the times when good wins over evil, goodwill has a hard day,  courage takes you places. You live the lives of these characters vicariously and you pine for more letters to be written.  The contents of a little wooden box bound by a ribbon and those 'Wilde' letters in a tin box in the kitchen enthral you.  And of course, what is not there to love about a story that talks of a literary society,  about book lovers and potato! By the time you turn the last page, you feel like an islander, instead of an outlander. 

Go on and read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society because living so many lives in 274 pages has never been this fascinating before. 

#Book1Review #Booksin2017 #Fiction

The day I took a Nobel Laureate on a guided tour of the Institute

Being a student at IISc, have had the opportunity to listen to many Nobel Laureates over the years.  There is always a sense of awe and admiration.  As a student and a researcher, your ears are keen, eyes are wide open as you soak up every word they say.

Today, the IISc Alumni Association hosted a special lecture by Nobel Laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus on 'The Zero Effects of Social Entrepreneurship'. At some point, all of us would have read about his work on micro finance and the changes that the Grameen bank model has brought about in the lives of people in Bangladesh. Apart from his inspirational talk today where he spoke about how change can be brought about by encouraging every woman to understand her entrepreneurial abilities and how we need to be job makers, not job seekers for the economy to grow today.

Prior to his talk, once the introductions were done,  we took him on a guided tour of the Institute. I have deep love for the Institute and earlier as a student,  have taken visitors from other University also on campus walks. This request from him and a keen interest to see the campus just filled me with gleeful happiness to share all that I know. Talking about the expanse of the Institute,  the heritage buildings,  the new initiatives and the subway. Post the tour,  we took some snaps at J N Tata Statue and as we proceeded to the faculty Hall,  I requested him for a selfie and he was all smiles. We spoke in Bangla and I told him my Baba is from Farithpur and my Ma from dhaka. He also invited all of us to Bangladesh. The warmth,  the humility and the knowledge just blows you away. A day that shall be etched in memory.  The day I took a Nobel Laureate on a guided tour of the Institute.

#NobelLaureate #IISccampus #Memoryforlife

Mamma, I am looking beautiful

The world is a beautiful place when you see it from the eyes of a 2 year 8 month old. Ira has recently learnt the word beautiful and uses it in multiple situations and for multiple people. She finds the characters in a book beautiful, she finds a tree in a park beautiful, she find mamma's institute beautiful, she also tells snowy (owl) that she is beautiful. This morning she wore a dress for school, looked at the mirror and told me, "Mamma, I am looking beautiful." The grin that accompanied the line was heart-melting. She then turned to me and said that am looking beautiful and gave her papa the same compliment. It didn't matter that I looked as draabe (shabby) as I could with unkempt hair and a rushed morning look. What mattered is that she has begun perceiving beauty in everything and everyone. Beauty that those little doe eyes see. The world is beautiful Period.
We have always told her how "Ira is brave, Ira is strong and Ira is smart (accompanied with gestures)." Guess, she has added the new line- "Ira is beautiful."

#Ira #Iraisms #microblogging #beautiful #childrenperceivebeautyineveryone #beautifulworld #positiveaffirmations