The 3 mistakes of my Life..

Well...not my life...it is Chetan Bhagat's! The namesake book that I had read (and tossed recently) is the third book (or mistake?) he has written. I have nothing against him. I picked up his books as I just wanted to finish those off my list. They are what I call "Throw-away fiction"...you just read and throw ..totally guilt free!

In fact, it is probably the best of his trilogy. Better plot and some ponderous real world themes like religion in politics, cricket mixed in with themes that perhaps grab the eyeballs of people one-third my age. It starts with a lot of promise, but, it fizzles out by the end perhaps due to sheer fatigue or due to a publisher breathing down his neck.

Language has gotten slightly better along with some traces of humour and some interesting turns of phrase.

I would rate it "A Good Attempt"
- Krishnaprasad

Which call do you want to take?

I was at a temple yesterday. It was amusing (and slightly unsettling) to see the forms templegoers take these days. There was one in jogging attire (if I may call it that!); there was another with ears plugged with ear buds of his cell phone and doing a circumabmulation (you never know when the call might come! or is he listening to the music of his soul?); there was another with a talking T shirt shouting "I might puke at anytime" (hence keep the distance!). There was another talking on the cell phone while praying in the front row (Lo! A new variant of Multi-tasking!).

It seems that the worshippers at the temple were not sure which call they wanted to take - a call from their favourite telemarketer or a call from God! It is their calling...They need to make the call on that one.

If only we could all learnt to do one thing at a time and do it well, the world will be an easier place to live in.

- Krishna Prasad

Words carry history in their bowels and colour our life

....and finally, we have a word for that 'wierd feeling' we have been feeling all along and could not pin it down let alone articulate!!

I could not agree more with Mr. Ammon Shea and Mr. W H Auden. Rifling through dictionaries, pausing often at interesting words, can be a pastime.

If you don't believe it, then, just read on...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7654511.stm

- Krishna Prasad

To Cross or Not to Cross?

It all depends on the mood I am in. I am either amused or exasperated watching people making the crossing of the busy road into a sport! I am talking about India and Bangalore specifically. My nephew refers to the city of Bangalore as the 51st state of USA. But, I am sure that he leaves out the roads from the scope of his definition.

There are three kinds of people among the pedestrians that Bangalore teems with.

There is one kind who cross the road in stages by crossing one vehicle at a time. The number of rows of vehicles is at least twice the designated number of lanes, if any. A good dose of negotiation and influencing skills are demonstrated by this lot who look pleadingly at the bus drivers for a quick pass while assuming the role of self-policing cops by showing the stop sign with their up turned hands when dealing with 4 wheelers. Understandably enough, when dealing with the lowly 2 wheelers, they just let a bit more of their animal instinct pierce through their docile exteriors by locking horns with the mopeds and their ilk while successfully keeping them in suspended animation.

The second kind are those that are in some kind of race with themselves. They seem to be in a sort of misplaced olympian spirit and seem bent on breaking their own records. Come what may, whatever the speed of the vehicles be, even if it means that they are crossing a highway meant for cars, all they are keen on is making that 80 or 100 feet dash and breaking into all gold medal grins in case they make it to the other side. These specimens come in all shapes and sizes and in singles or groups. In order to fully focus on the event at hand, they tend not to fritter away their time by looking at the left side or the right. Every second counts, you know. When these come in groups, the ones that make it (Gold medalers) look at those that are left behind (the Silver/broze medealers) in unstinted glee. Ah..The taste of success in any culture is the same to the lettered or the unlettered. These are some kind of mavericks and intrepid folks thirsting for adventure. "Who cares about life, there is rebirth anyway" seems to be the line of thinking they are wedded to!

And then, there are those that wait on one side of the road having fertile dreams of making it to the other side, but falling short in the gallantry department to do so.

A lot can be gleaned about a person and his personality style by merely watching him cross the road. Next time, you are looking for a candidate to fill a role in your home or business, just come out and watch how they cross the road.

Scarlet Letter and 5.someone

I had read two very contrasting books recently. Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and 5.someone by Chetan Bhagat. I knew Scarlet Letter was a classic. I had read somewhere recently that Classics are those that every one talks about but no one reads! Well, I have been into classics for the last 1 year. On a whim, I picked up Scarlet Letter.

Scarlet Letter is full of amazing prose that flows like a river in spate. It vividly depicts the two contrasting protagonists whose hearts are so entwined but are in writhing pain and unable to express. It was really a great reading surprise. Pearl (Hester's daughter) is literally a gleam of hope and cheer while Hester is as resolute as a rock!

OTOH, I picked up 5.someone from the neighbourhood library for easy travel reading. It is a pretty adventurous choice considering that I had thrown away 'One night @ call center' by the same author not wanting anyone else to suffer it in future! I must say that 5.someone is marginally better and reads like one of those orange tinged pot boilers you find on the sidewalks or in railway stations. To be fair, its fiction is reasonably well narrated holding the reader and the book in good grip. But, the language is lacklustre with little subtlety and everything too explicit leaving nothing to imagination. It feels as uncomfortable as being caught off-guard in rain on a cold day leaving readers/characters in complete discomfort. It is not as bad as his first book, but, it is not that great either. By Time magazine's book review benchmark, it is a mere 'SKIM'.

More on "Through the Looking Glass", "Tipping Point", "Huckleberry Finn" etc. later in a future post. Cheers!