The Namesake

The Namesake directed by Mira Nair. I watched it today, because this was the only DVD i could lay my hands from the list i dutifully carried to the library.(Sigh, in this age of online streaming, i still rent DVD's from the lib).

If you are expecting pace in the lines of Monsoon Wedding, this is a let-down. The pace is real slow, almost qualifies for a documentary. When i read the book there were several parts that impressed me and some i did not care for. Somehow in the movie, the parts that are emphasized are the parts you do not remember from the book.

Kal Penn has given a good performance but we have seen so many ABCD's that we can't really appreciate his conflicts anymore. They are streo-typed and cliched. Tabu looks old and masculine. She does emote well but too lanky for the role. I would have preferred ... let me think..... cant think of any actresses in bollywood.. Can you?

Most of us who have travelled far and wide from our homelands have an inexplicable longing to get back and an intense desire to defend our country, traditions, cuisine and kinship. When children are born in the US to Indians, there seem to be a sea of change and the family is always raging a war. I was hoping The Namesake would bring out these aspects... but i guess it was lost in traslation!!!

The Lost Symbol - sooo lost!!!

The Lost Symbol goes on a fishing expedition and the city of choice is Washington D.C. Dan Brown's fascination with symbols and ancient mysteries were overwhelming in Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, but he is losing his touch.

The book starts with Robert Langdon being summoned for a lecture in D.C.Once he arrives the scene starts spiralling out of control. They are in search for Ancient Mysteries of the Masonic Order and a Lost Word. DUH???

Thats the expression that stays with you till you patiently plod through all 133 chapters amounting to 509 pages. The search is stereo-typed, the evil comes in weird forms and you dont really care whether they find what they are looking for.

If you thought stunts in Rajni movies defy gravity, Balakrishna running on the trainning is laughable, i encourage all directors and story writers to read Lost Symbol to discover new tactics and stunts that is fodder for upcoming movies. New ideas for Kollywood and Tollywood. But you have to read through all 509 pages.

I could almost imagine Robert Langdon being played by Tom Hanks and visualize most of the scenes in the book in a major motion picture in a couple of years, but this is a movie i would gladly skip. Why willingly undergo torture?

Nights in Rodanthe

"Happiness is that most young people seemed to think that those things lay somewhere in the future while most older people beleived that it lay in the past" - Chapter 15, Nights in Rodanthe, Nicholas Sparks.

When i started reading this book i felt myself thinking about Bridges of Madison County. While the latter is a masterpiece, the former is a bit amateurish. Also i can never understand how two people who spend about three days in all can find ever lasting, eternal love. It would take more time for me to trust a person, more time before beginning to open up about personal tragedies and definetly more time to fall in love... leave alone sharing the same bed. (Maybe am not one of those self confessed romantics afterall). The protagonists, however, seemed to field through these emotions and hold them dear for their rest of their life, in all but three days.

That said, the writing is brilliant. The author uses the right words and paints the picture of a women shattered by her divorce poignantly. The man who thought he was running for something, realises he is running away from something and wants to make amends with his son. The war he wages within himself is portrayed well and although we are not sure how he acheives this change, we begin to think he attained what he started after.

I'm not sure why the author introduced the character of a widowed husband trying to make a doctor understand what the loss of his patient has done to his life. No feelings evoked whatsoever.

If you are looking for a light read, pick up this book but its definetly not a romance on the likes of Francesca and Kincaid.

A Good Indian Wife - Anne Cherian

A Good Indian Wife as the name suggests dwells on Leila who struggles with her infidel husband and life in a new country. Leila is waiting for her knight in shining armour with two younger sisters who form her protective shield. Neel is living the american life he dreamed when he was 20. Dead against arranged married, tricked to land in India and forced to tie the knot while there - This book travels through the familiar travails of NRI's. Struggling in a new country with a new language, making new friends and finding the bond with her husband Leila is a breath of fresh air.

There are some parts of the book that are appreciable - Leila's first day in SFO, her chance meeting with Rekha, her explanation to Anu's silence when abused and always striving to be her amma's daughter. Although the book fails to capture and entertain us with anectodes on adjusting to the american life, why Leila would put up with her infidel husband and what forces Neel to marry Leila, it is an interesting read.

There is no dearth in the Indian Born American Living authors and though Anne Cherian is no Jhumpa Lahiri, she does keep the pace moving and is definetly worth a read.

When you move halfway across the globe, its not enough to change your wardrobe, accent or hair style, you must also restyle your tolerance, adaptablity and kinship. You are always trying to identify the new person on the outside while being the same person on the inside.

Photographical Pursuits

Toss of a Lemon

Grannies are a special relationship in our life. Their wrinkled skin, face oozing with affection and kindness, her diamond earrings and nose ring with the diamonds set in a trade-mark triangle, the nine yards, delicious food and her silent spirit. All of these memories came back to me in a rush. When i turned the pages i was reminded of the times when i used to lie in her lap and she narrated mythological stories to me post-lunch.

Toss of a lemon is not about grandmothers. Its about the life of a women who gets married at 7 and widowed at an early age of 18, two children and countless grandchildren and great grand children. A confidant maid with whom she develops a life-long kinship and how she stood ground silently. The book takes us through the time of pre and post independance and how the brahmin community has evolved. How we have shed all those innumerous customs, beleifs and traditions.

Sivakami is born in a small village and defies custom to stay in her husband's home even after losing him. She wages a silent battle with everyday problems and raises her grandchildren as her own. She is abandoned by her son and is the central rock of her big family. She follows all customs and traditions religiously and works tyrantly for the well being of her family.

There are subtle incidents in the book that reminds us how life would have been in the yesteryears.There is a reference to the movie Parasakthi and how cinema touched the lives of people living in the villages, how birth certificates we recorded with a toss of a lemon, how street plays were a sign of worship and a stone-carved ramar could be the center of your entire lifetime.

I have asked my grandmother why her mother always wore a faded shaded of brown and why she tonsured her head. My grandfather has patiently answered my questions of yechal and pathu and why mom keeps a morsel of rice for the crows to feed on. We often ate brunch at 11:00am which was a full-course meal, my grandfather insisted that we shut the door and never get up in the middle. There was no eating in front of the TV, low-carb diet or worries about what to eat for snacks. My grandmothers ginger chutney was a delicacy that i still cant master and her hand made seedai and thatai still taste so delicious.

I always used to think that change is for the good. But the way our lifestyle has evolved, the countless manners and traditions we have silently side stepped, maybe not so much. Maybe change is good when we know we are evolving but not moving so far away from our roots.

Toss of a lemon brought back so many old memories and its going into my permanent collection. 

Sisterhood

Sisters by Daniel Steel and True Colors by Kristin Hannah all revolve around an important relationship in my life - Sisters. Both were really nice reads.

Sisters by Daniel Steel talks about how a family of girls stick together when their very core is rocked and a freak accident costs more than what they could bear. They stand and support each other when the time calls and learn how to let go and when to stand ground. Four sisters - a lawyer, TV producer, artist and a model all come together for July 4th weekend and never really get back to their lives. Their lives are never the same but they never really complain about it.A quick paced and a very emotional book, i thoroughly enjoyed it.

Kristin Hannah has been my favourite for a while now and she lives up to the expectations with True Colors. The book is set back in time in Seattle in a ranch - Waters Edge and how three sisters Wionna, Aurora and Vivi Ann grown up side by side and how love is celebrated and lost. Through all this the sisters stay with each other, learn from mistakes, difficult choices and put family first. A very nice Sunday afternoon lazy read with some murukku and burfi :)

Eat Pray Love ===> Endurance

I picked up Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert only because it was in the travel section and it was a journey through Italy, India and Indoneasia. Not to be very critical but this book was a complete disappointment.
First of all i dont think it is really a travel book, although Liz talks about the places she visits, they are not woven together but stand out as big chunks not really belonging anywhere. I also dont think its a book on self-realization - maybe it is but doesnt really potray it.

The author probably thought of writing a book on self-realization and then thought of travelling through three exotic places and ended up stopping mid way. This is why you never get the satisfaction of reading it. The last book i read about Italy is Under the Tuscan Sun, it def was a great choice. Rome is a place of great history, exotic cuisine, world class culinary experience but still so much is lost in translation.

India is prob the first yoga retreat that any Westerner thinks off, but i have read more rewarding experiences than running to the tower of an ashram to let go of past hurt and conversing with god. There is some authenticity missing here. Especially if you have visited Ramakrishna's ashram you know the level of commitment and self control required to even meditate for an hour.

I have never visited Bali so am not even sure if she has dont justice to this chosen holiday island destination.
Since Elizabeth Gilbert did not quench my thirst for a good travel book, the search continues....

Remember Me?

You wake up in a hospital room and realize that you have lost 3 years of your life. This chunk which has escaped your memory has a husband, a leap in career and a palatial loft-style living apartment. The worst part is you cant remember how the hell all this happened.

Sophie Kinsella takes you through the memory path of Levi a.k.a Alexia for the three years that she had metamorphised.

This is definetly chick-lit category but not a very romantic or a cheesy book. A light read but i wouldnt recommend it if you want to curl up for the afternoon.