2 States - The story of my marriage

Chetan Bhagat's 2 States - The book is about a marriage between Krish Malhotra and Ananya Swaminathan which is irrelevant. What is relevant is the marriage between a Punjabi and a Tamilian, brahmin at that.

It starts of with a college romance set in the backdrops of IIM(A). While most of us are used to anecdotes on inedible mess food, low cost STD calls, we dont have a peek at the romances that blossom between the creme de la creme of Indian intellectuals. It is heartening that the conversations are not over head transmissions but Bollywoodish and a lot of love making involved. I guess Chetan Bhagat wanted to make sure that this gets made into a movie.

While there is little respect left for Chetan Bhagat after his 3 idiots debacle, 2 states comes as a surprise. He is responsible for readers turning to Indian authors for chic lit and fictions. A light read but not a must read.

Balancing Acts

Yoga is not only a form of exercise but it develops a deeper connection with your mind, body and soul. For four friends who bond through yoga after their school reunion, yoga not only cures their aching muscles but helps reprioritize and refocus their energies to things that really matter and are passionate about.

Debut author Zoe Fishman has captured the personalities of the four women adequately and NYC life is not all about the Carrie Bradshaws and manalos.

This i have to agree with, everyday jostlings, bills and ambitions have nothing to do with the Carrie Bradshaws of SATC... infact it has nothing to do with NYC. Life in the city is more than just that, so i was thrilled to read a book that captures the city life with a bit more maturity and with a little less smoking and bedtime :):)

This book is perfect for a light read and i would definetly recommend it ... for yogites or non-yogites :):)

In the time of the butterflies

This is probably the second book i have read about a revolution, the first being Freedom at Midnight.

Books/movies about war and rebels are always enthralling... it takes us to the period of war and the thrill, suspense, remorse and urgency is always near and present.

The Mirabal sisters fight the dictator Trujillo in their own way.. with the wit of knowledge, sharp tongues, ammunition they learn to use and store and through love and prayer. The book also brings out the distinct personality of each of the sisters - Religious Patria, submissive Dede, Rebellious Minerva and timid Maria... their collective spirits and indivijual identities. The regime of Trujillo is not adequately presented although we realize any rule of a dictator is merciless and power hungry.

After wikipediaing the Mirabal sisters, we realize the author seems to have left behind chunks of violence & crime committed against them. Neverthless, the book takes you through their fictional life while being as close to the real one as is possible. This is a chance we get to understand the history of the much touristy Dominican Republic.

I would definetly recommend this book and a review(in-depth) can be found here.

Chic-Lits

Chic-Lits are there for a reason. When you dont want to indulge in the characters, immerse in the storyline, entangle your thoughts with that of the authors.. you grab a chic-lit. These books are a light read, you can start and finish them in a day or hours. The two reasons are sufficient for me to have picked up

• Hope in a Jar - Beth Harbison
• How Opel Mehta Got kissed, Got Wild and Got a life - Kavya Vishwanathan

Now i forgot to mention that one of the reasons i like reading chiclits are for the cheesy factor. Like when you watch Alaipayuthey or Pretty Women - there is a very high quotient of cheesiness but also the story is well told. Likewise, the literature shouldnt suffer because it falls into the category of Chic-lit.

Hope in a Jar by Beth Harbison is definetly better of the two. While she wrote the famed shoe addicts series, this one is not very engrossing. And why is it that one of the protagonists are always fat and finding secret ways to lose weight and failing at it miserably. Somebody change the scene and set a new tone. I have never gone to high school in america but from the movies and books i have read, it seems more scary than hell. Friends break up in high school and make up when they are 40.. nice but too late. Worth a read once but if you find something else, please move along. No love is lost in this one :)

How Opal Mehta Got kissed, Got Wild and Got a life by Kavya Vishwananthan. If you think you have heard about this author or book somewhere, you are right. This article is an interesting read compared to the book itself. So help yourself.

American Indians or ABCD's as we refer to them are definetly a confused generation. They suffer in their social life but excel in academics. They are smart but not cool. Opal Mehta definetly fits this streotype and when Harvard almost rejects her for the lack of social life(duh?),she strives to get cool and chic. The parents draw elaborate plans(with pie charts, flowcharts and flash cards) and get their dear daughter to even kiss a guy(american ofcourse). Anything for Harvard that is. While i laughed my heart out watching Bend it like Beckham where indian parents are stuck in the British lifestyle, i can hardle grin at how the Mehta's plan and plot. It isn't funny and definetly not realistic(i hope so).

I wonder why Kavya had to plagiarise her work, am sure most of us could come up with this book if we put pen to paper. For each one's own, but if you want to know what not to do with your kids you can read through this one.

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.

Shoe addicts anonymous

What is it with Manalos and NY women? Is Prada the answer to your solitude searches? Will Jimmy Choos lighten up your day as much as wine 'n dine?

The answer to this what i hoped to find when i picked up Shoe Addicts Anonymous. If you have watched Sex and the City you would understand a wee bit of why NY women swarm up the shoe stores and have closets designed with a larger than life shoe rack. But honestly, the book was not quite intriguing.

It dint make funny anecdotes about the shoes or the people who wear them. It doesnt explain the character's passion for the leather or how it seems to wash away the pain and lack of happiness. Shoes bring four women in an ever-lasting camaraderie but doesnt seem to delve deeply into the bonds of friendship itself.

This book is a light read and probably enjoyable for those who are forever in love with footwear.

The Friday Night Knitting Club

36 hours on a flight from SFO to Chennai and the first thing i did was land up in Barnes and Noble to pick up a book to read when am not dozzing or seeing reruns of the movies in the flight. I had to choose between The Namesake, Berlin and Something borrowed. Then i saw this one and was captivated with the color of yarns - noth the best way to pick a book. Never to judge a book by its cover i flipped it open to read the first few lines. Ofcourse i read the synopsis and decided this would be a good one to carry along.

Georgia Walker is a single mom, a business women and a great friend. She and her daughter Dakota own and run the store - Walker and Daughter where the Friday Night Knitting club was born. Lucie - TV Producer, Darwin - Thessis student, Peri - visionary entrepreneur, K.C - laid off publisher, Cat - rich New Yorker and Anita - the wonder women have something to discuss, lament and rejoice during their club meetings. All are welcome whether they knit or not.

This book inspired among many other things, my hand at knitting. Sometimes when i read books i wonder if i would have been a different person if i were not born in India and then begin to ponder what are the things that restrict me and be the way i am. The answer almost always startles me because it is my desire or lack of it to pursue the things that interest me and get sucked in the daily monotone of life.

That said, some of the characters are beautifully portrayed like Anita who is wealthy but manages not to see the money but the life is people and value it. Georgia and Dakota get their share of the limelight but i think the number of characters should have been limited because some of them dont get the significance and are lost in your mind. Also the book is too long and somehow you wanted it to end more quickly. 

All said this book is refreshing for a first time author and i would recomment it.

Memories in a click

Sunset in the waters

































Kissing the waters

























Alone fishing in the waters - Connecting to the inner self.





















Racing the waters

The boat on which we cruised Lake Waramaug, CT.

Hit List

Berlin - Pierre Frei
The Master Butchers Singing Club - Louise Erdrich
The Memoirs of Helen of Troy - Amanda Elyot
All for Love - Amanda Elyot
A Good Indian Wife - Anne Cherian
Darcy Collection - Elizabeth Aston
A Wedding in December - Anita Shreve

Books by Ernest Hemimgway

The Things we do for Love

Kristin Hannah again. Thats the fourth book i've read in 6 months. I'm really fond of her writing.

A women trying hard to conceive and failing three times and a girl forever trying to find a mother in her own mom. The choices we make as girls can haunt us more in our later lives.

It is important to find love in life. I beleive that if you can wake up everyday with hope and love then getting through the day makes it that much more easier. Although romances are for books only it is nice to beleive in them. Lauren and Angie connect to each other and look out for each other and there is something charming about the DeSaria family. The mother who talks to the husband long after he is dead and the sisters who are opinionated but still manage to look out for each other. It is only when you have a family do you realize the importance of putting your loved ones in front of your own needs.

Kristin Hannah's style of writing is really gripping and opens doors into your soul. The book was a lovely read and definetly recommended.

Something Blue

Emily Griffin's Something Blue is of the chic-lit category. A snobby, beautiful and rich girl finds the way to her soul without worrying about her kennith cole shoes and nordstorm boots. She learns why its important to realize that there are people who look beyond just the outer beauty. I've always been sure that it is important for women to move beyond the comfort of their own homes where you get a taste of the real world.

Emily Griffin's style is refreshing and makes a good read.

The Zookeerper's Wife

I read about this book in my friend's blog and wanted to read this book forever. Everytime i went to the library optimistically searching for it, i would never find it. I even tried reserving it but somehow it never seemed to land in my hands. Finally i got lucky and when you get something you wanted for so long, you always get doubly lucky. I got a brand new copy of the book from the library and its always a tad thrillng to have a new copy in your hands.

Now for the book itself. There is something extremely alluring about World War II books and movies. I have seen some of the movies like Schinder's List, Escape from Sobibor and Life is beautiful. When i was in Germany, i had this nagging thought of visiting Auschwitz but one of my friends who visited the camp told me that it needed a lot of emotional guts to walk that place.

World War II was not about war, killing. It was about extermination and going against evolution. What makes men kill each other without emotion or remorse. How can you hold a gun to another man's head without knowing anything about the man except that he was a Jew.

I wouldn't say the world is a better place now and i would never understand religious or racial hatred but reading this book gave me an insight on why people risk their lives and put them in the line of fire to save hundreds of innocent lives. Why people risk their own safety to protect people they had never known.

War is never justifiable but i had never read about the Underground or how Jews escaped Ghetto and scrambled off trains reaching camps. To read about it sends shivers down your spine and reading about how Antonina escaped near death experiences and how she protected Jews by hiding them in the basement and in cages makes your imagination run wild.

Diane Ackermann slows the pace of the book by getting into the details of the war but her detailed accounts of the animals and how Antonina communicated with them makes for a splendid read. This book is a splendid read and it gives you a peek into what happened during world war II.