2 States - Read 2 States, to Develop a Broader Outlook In Life

Interesting read, a book written out-and-out for the Indian audience. Highly melodramatic yet mesmerizing, incredibly comprehensible yet compelling, that makes you complete the book in one sitting. The book has two hooks to be very precise. One, it more or less revolves around the IIM-A culture, offers a few insights on the sort of food, the kind of lifestyle students lead within the campus. Second, the book obviously speaks about the two states- Punjab and Tamil Nadu where Krish and Ananya respectively hail from.

Anyone and everyone who reads the book will able to relate with the characters effortlessly, given that every second couple in India has to unfortunately go through the same experiences. Little wonder then a Bollywood film is in the offing based on the book.

The book talks about the struggle, Krish, a north Indian Punjabi boy, had to undergo to convince Ananya (Tamilian Brahmin girl) parents to let them marry. Krish influences future bro-in-law with his charm first, by and by he captures the hearts of Ananya's father and mother as well. Once Krish succeeds, it's his girlfriend's turn to influence her future in-laws. However, Ananya fails miserably, for she is a bad cook. Anaya has never entered a kitchen all her life, let alone do some cooking. Come to think of it, a female who is into cooking and stuff, can she manage the heavy-duty stuff of the IIMs.

The catch is that both don't want to elope and be married, rather the duo wish to solemnize their marriage with the blessings of their parents. As a result, both Krish and Ananya had to go great lengths while convincing not just their parents, but in-laws as well. In addition, the thought that in India, you don't marry the girl or guy, in fact you end up marrying the family is nicely brought out. For instance, Krish gets 4 gold rings to propose girl's entire family. Chetan has taken digs at both the Punjabi and Tamilian culture. When it comes to Punjabi's he speaks about the obese women and their cravings for food. On the contrary, south Indian's are more into classical music and are studious types, who love to keep a study silence more often not.

The premise is realistic and draws your attention to the cultural differences in diverse India. One should read the book once, if only to be reminded of what lovers from diverse communities go through at the hands of their families. How love is invariably at the mercy of societal, familial norms. And how a man perpetually finds himself torn between his girlfriend/wife and mother?

The 3 Mistakes of My Life - It's No Mistake If You Read The 3 Mistakes of My Life

The book opens with an interesting dialogue by Chetan, the author, "I don't want to be India's most admired writer, I just want to be India's most loved writer. Admiration passes, love endures". And this line of his strikes a chord right away. And interestingly all his novels have done just that. He has become the darling of Indian masses. His simple, lucid language has got the entire nation reading; forget about grammar and punctuation folks, it's the concept that gets you hooked big-time, specifically when it comes to 'The 3 mistakes of my life'.

Yes, the concept used is unabashedly Indian. It talks about young, ambitious and passionate Indians. The backdrop is the city of Ahmedabad (where Chetan took his MBA degree) though urban is no where close to its metro counterparts. The city still retains its small town flavour, which one can find in pols, conventional households and eateries. The story revolves around Govind, Ishaan and Omi. Govind is best known for his acumen for accounts and business. Ishan is insane about cricket while Omi believes in what his friends believe in. He has no opinion of his own. And if at all he has one, he expresses it, but finally gives in to his friends liking.

The story opens on a dramatic note. The author receives an email from Govind saying that he had taken sleeping pills and is waiting for death to embrace him. Chetan was so hit by the mail that he makes it a mission to track down the boy and finally finds him in an Ahmedabad hospital. Fortunately, the boy is still alive to tell the tale. The book revolves around the three mistakes Govind made in his life.

His first when he takes a loan from Omi's uncle to sets up a sports shop and is unable to pay back, as earthquake strikes Gujarat, and ends up losing everything in the process. His second mistake, when he makes love with Ishaan's sis Vidya. The third, when he fails to save Ali's wrist from an attack from Hindu hardliners. Ali had to go through a painful and expensive surgery to get his wrist back in shape and play cricket as usual.

A mix of cricket, religion, business, love and friendship, the story is spell-binding. The melodrama involved gives you goose bumps. However, one cannot stop noticing the regular use of f*** in almost all the pages. Overall, an interesting read. Just hope, he churns out more of such stuff, for his books touches the heart effortlessly.

A Thousand Splendid Suns - A Soul-Stirring Novel

Indeed, your heart-strings will be pulled by Khaled Hosseini's first novel, 'The Kite Runner'. And, 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' is equally good. Some might even find the latter far better. Yes, indeed the book is Soul-stirring and Heart-wrenching, to the core. High on emotions and melodrama, the book brilliantly chronicles the sorrowful saga of the Afghanis, crippled by constant wars waged by the insiders and the outsiders.

The book is a poignant tale of two women, Mariam and Laila, though not blood-related; nevertheless related by circumstances. Mariam, born a harami- illegitimate child-is married off to a short tempered, bitter Rasheed, 30 years her senior, a man of disagreeable temperament. Two decades later, Laila, born in a highly influential family, is forced to join Rasheed's unhappy household to be his second wife.

Mariam is living a troubled life with Rasheed, and Laila's presence is troubling her a lot more, akin to a salt rubbed on an open, raw wound. However, Laila tries her best to win over Mariam with her friendly gestures, and finally manages to win over her confidence. The bond between them grows so deep that both wives conspire to flee Afghanistan together, and thereby free themselves from the clutches of their abusive husband, Rasheed.

However, their escape attempt flops and conspicuously both wives have to bear Rasheed's wrath. As time passes on, there are other innumerable events, both ugly and lovely, dotting the women's life. Laila and her children become Mariam's only solace when her own womb ditches her time and again. The bond between them the two women grow so deep that on one fateful day, when Rasheed under his fury was suffocating Laila to death; Mariam pulled a shovel from nowhere and hit it right on her husband's head.

Rasheed lay on the floor dead, and Mariam was persecuted for the crime. On Mariam's insistence, Laila fled to Pakistan with her children and lover, but with a heavy heart, constantly reminding herself of the sacrifice Mariam made for her.

The flow of the narrative is mesmerizing; moreover pregnant with metaphors, the book keeps you hooked and goads you to continue reading till the end. Humans' self-sacrificing nature is brought out well in the book.

Quotable Quotes

Like a compass needle that points north, a man's accusing finger always finds a woman. Always.

In Laila's head, Mammy's voice rang out. "Like a myriad bird in your hands. Slacken your grip and away it flies". (pg. 153)

Life Lessons From JK Rowling

She writes, therefore she is. J.K Rowling was very much convinced, rather early in life than she can do only one thing in life: write novels. And possibly her over active imagination apparently amplified her confidence level. However, she had an Achilles heels in the form of her parents who believed that her unusual personal quirk would land her in troubled waters. Explaining things to them for Rowling was like casting pearls before swine's for neither of them had gone to school.

However, she states there is an expiry date when it comes to blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction, because the moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you. Eventually it is for us to decide what constitutes failure, for the world would happily go the extra mile to give you a set of yardsticks if you let in. In her case it is said that she failed on an epic scale. An exceptionally short-lived marriage, was jobless and a lone parent, once upon a time.

One may think, why speak about Rowling's failure in details, when this woman has gone on to capture the imagination of the young and the old alike, through her mind-boggling books? Simply, because failure is the stepping stone to success, failure gave Rowling all the energy to finish the only work that mattered to her the most, i.e. living her imagination through her Harry Porter series.

She once remarked 'You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all- in which case, you fail by default".

In fact she says, failure filled her with a sense of inner security which she could have never attained by passing any examinations. Through failure she discovered her strong will and determination power. Failures help us emerge wiser and stronger. Moreover, the best time to judge yourself and can even judge the strength of your relationship is when you are struck by a hardship.

To sum it up, life is not all about your CV, your qualifications, though there are many people who give too much of importance to all these. Indeed, life is complicated and beyond anyone's control and the realization of it will help endure its vicissitudes.

Why Midnight Children is Called the Booker of the Bookers

For those looking for a racy, rousing read, kindly keep your hands off 'Midnight's Children'.

Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children - Winner of Best of the Booker, needless to say is a masterpiece in magical realism, brilliantly unfolded at a snail's pace. However, the novel's beauty lies in its style and not action. Nonetheless, a little familiarity with Indian history will make the novel a tad more interesting, given the allegorical references to India's social-political events strewn all across the story.

Hilarious and heartbreaking in equal measure, the story revolves are two children (in fact midnight's 1001 children) who were born at the precise instant of India's arrival at independence. Their destinies inextricably intertwined forever, thanks to the time of their births.

Saleem Sinai, the protagonist, when tumbled forth into the earth on Aug 15, 1947, was greeted by none other than Mr. Prime Minister's Letter. Yes Saleem was destiny's child. Born as an illegitimate son, he got all the good things that life had to offer, thanks to the nurse who without forethought swapped children just after their birth. Baby Saleem, naturally benefited in the process as he was entitled to all the care and riches of Shiva's household, Shiva, one of the 1001 children born at the same time, on the other end was relegated to the darkness of slums.

Noses and Knees, Nose and Knees. Saleem with his powerful nose could smell out every damn thing on this earth, be it the smell of anger or jealousy. Interestingly, he could read other minds and was endowed with the power of telepathy. Shiva on the other end had preternaturally powerful knees, knees that were exclusively used for pushing, shoving and crushing others. Though royal blood ran in his veins, his actions spoke otherwise. He turned out to be a brutish killer. Saleem, however, is portrayed as a nice fellow. His aberrations are shown in lighter vein, while Shiva's aberrations make you feel sick.

The use of the term 'optimism' is anesthetizing. The analogues employed are breathtaking. Numb as ice, clean as a slate, main fresh-water pipes which were city's lifelines began to blow fountains into the air like giant steel whales, tiny grain of grit in the sea of old age and so on. Philosophy dealt in the form of Snakes and Ladders. For every ladder you climb,a snake is just waiting around the corner; and for every snake a ladder will compensate. Very descriptive, simply explains the painstaking efforts put in by Rushdie. The story some time may seem long-winding, the language used may seem incomprehensible, but carry-on is the catchword here.

The political scenario post- Indian independence is nicely interwoven into the story. That's makes you wonder about Rushdie's brilliance. Rushdie dishes out everything history, politics, myth, food, magic, wit and dung all in one book, the partition of India and Pakistan, the power of "The Widow" Indira Gandhi, war and, finally the enforcement of martial law in the country.