I

I am thinking about...
the present... if i am making the right choices...

I said...
i hate lies... i mean every word of it...

I want to...
be satisfied... nothing satisfies me... there is always scope for improvement...

I wish...
i had made better use of time in my earlier days... played more...

I hear that...
endurance running is bad for the body... yet i run like crazy...

I wonder..
what is the purpose of my life...

I am...
cynical…yet i get hurt…

I dance...
for lesser than a second when i think i will be super-duper-happy...

I regret...
not being able to keep every one happy...

I sing...
only in my head... and always "nothing else matters" by metallica.. its my anthem...

I cry...
occasionally... last time i cried was while reading the kite runner...

I am not always...
as optimistic as i look/behave...

I make with my hands...
more trouble... than I can get out of...

I write...
while introspecting...

I confuse…
obsession with dreams...

I need...
to be pampered...

Blur

It has been long since I scribbled anything. Any occasion to pen my thoughts and realize what I actually feel was curbed by instincts to protect myself from the pain I would inflict on myself.

Here I am writing without a purpose. Yet my subconscious reminding me that I need to be an optimist and the least amount of pessimism in the tirade of optimism is like a drop of poison in a copious meal.

Is it a crime to bask in the sun, after applying sunscreen? It is just my defense mechanism.

Fitness for busy people.

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The Kite Runner

“You are reading Kite Runner! Keep a box of tissues with you.” exclaimed my friend.

One of the books I loved and recommend to everyone nowadays is authored by a 40-year Afghan Doctor, Khaled Hosseini, now settled in the US. The book speaks about Amir and Hassan, childhood friends in beautiful and peaceful pre-soviet Afghanistan and life as they grow up.

The author amalgamates his memories of his motherland and the nostalgia of his childhood friendships in this 336 page marvel. In this Amir runs away from responsibility because he did not have courage to standup for his friend. Instead like a coward he distances himself from his friend.

The story is beautifully intertwined. There is so much joy in reading this book, because the author uses words from urdu to increase the impact. And increase impact it does, like you living in Afghanistan yourself. This book is all about fighting the ghost of the past, those open wounds you try to escape from.

Housseini stuck a personal chord with me. And the ghost of my past caught up with me, curled up with me, along with the sorrow of Amir, I ached too. There was a constant use of the box of tissues, from cry of pain to tears of joy; this book takes you through a gamut of emotions. It also checks your justification for your redemption.

Undoubtedly a book is a man’s best friend and his worst enemy. Trust me, this book does quite a bit of soul stirring. The Kite Runner is a must-must-read.

Rating: 5.0 / 5.0

Freakonomics

My mother is an economist and not for once during my education did I ever think of being one myself. It is only of late that I have been drawn to economics, a social science seeking to analyze and describe the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.

When I saw the title “Freakonomics” and it read a best seller. It was an impulsive buy and I journeyed two evenings with a rouge economist who tried to explore the hidden side of every thing.

The book follows no unifying theme and has 6 chapters, ranging from the relation of crime and abortion; to questions like which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? Though these may shock you off your wits because this is not what economists do. But the author calls himself a rogue economist, so I cannot complain.

If you skip the introduction, Freakonomics is a brilliant read and you will wonder if you are looking at data the right way. Levitt does not show any humility in the 242 page book and blows his own trumpet all through the book. Why would he not, he received his B.A. from Harvard University and his Ph.D. from M.I.T.

Rating: 2.5 / 5

Indira Gandhi: The story of a leader

On a travel, that was expected to be short and bumpy, I wanted to read a small book with big prints. The first book that caught my attention was a 129 page book titled “Indira Gandhi: The story of a leader”. Just having heard of terms like Emergency and Operation Blue Star, I took the book without a second thought in my mind.

The author Shahana Dasgupta, previously unheard of, made an instant mark by the way she presented the subject. Presently living in Berlin, and graduated from Ann Arbor, Michigan this was her first work I was reading. She tells the story of Indira Gandhi through the eyes of a 13 year old, Priya, who was asked to work on a school project “The women of India”.

The book is a breezer and gets over quickly. Though initially I thought the author would treat our late-prime-minister as a demigod. The author has researched on the subject very well and has given the sequence of events which are a brief and concise. And blames her for which the author thinks she was not right.

Reading the names of her other titles, initially she passes of as a feminist, atleast she did to me. In the book she does speak of her subject in equal light and gives the feeling that she wants to present the iron-character of Indian women.

Though the book did not elaborate on Emergency or Operation Blue Star, it’s a worth read; to see how a shy and tongue-tied-Indira transformed into a bold and powerful leader. Now I think those subjects could be books in themselves and would have been out of context especially when the story has been narrated through the voice of a 13 year old girl.

My Rating: 3.5 / 5

If you want to more about Operation Blue Star: Watch Amu.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

I started to read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which was gifted to me by a dear friend, with a lot of skepticism if I would like it. Even the beginning was without any amusement or something that tickled my rib. But i would be proved wrong.

The story, a science fiction / comedy, revolves around 2 characters Aurthur Dent and Ford Prefect. Arthur Dent wakes up to find his house is about to be knocked down to build a road. His friend, Ford Prefect, takes him to a pub and they both get drunk. Arthur then explains the world is about to end, and, just before a Vogon constructor fleet destroys the Earth, they hitchhike their way off the planet. During their travels through the galaxy, they encounter adventure, adversity, and a diverse array of beings and objects. Also in the book, Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy (with the words DON'T PANIC on the cover) is one of the best humor/scifi books ever in the universe.

The definite high point of the book is the 2 characters they meet aboard a space ship heart of gold: the severely depressed Marvin the Paranoid Android, and a computer with an attitude. The thing truly amazing about this book is that a fully grown man, Douglas Adams, wrote what we as 6 year olds played with toys and dreamt about. He not only aired it on radio, published it as a novel, made computer games out of it and also made a movie out of it.

Written in high school English and told in 3^rd person, HHGG uses very little technical jargon. So this can be read by anyone as old as me or a girl attending middle school and be teleported to the world of Douglas Adams. Douglas Adams considered a genius in literary circles was a Cambridge Grad, who was also a sought-after lecturer on topics including technology and the environment. He died at the age of 49, while working out in a gym.

Who said you cannot make a living out of fantasies?

Rating 4 / 5.0