Veronica Decides To Die

The fifth one from same author and second in the trilogy of “On the seventh day”. Most of the part one would feel quite sad, especially the initial one as all talk is negative. But in spite of that it still manages to catch hold of reader’s attention. That is one common thing across all the authors book I have read so far (at least for me). The story is about young woman named Veronica who decides to take on her own life as she doesn’t see any good reason to live longer due to the same routine path every day. She has become bored with her current life. She swallows some dozen sleeping pills but the death doesn’t come that easy. She finds herself landed up in a hospital, not usual but mental. The reason I guess one would figure out. To her surprise she doesn’t seem to believe first but then as soon as she gains consciousness she again start thinking of ways to eliminate herself. The doctor says she has just a week to live as the swallowing pills have done a severe damage to her body. The book explains in details about the people she meets, their lives, about madness in those 7 days and how it changes the way she thinks of life and its meaning. The book finishes off at a happy ending which doesn’t look to be till the very last part. Plenty to think and ponder on from this read as well. I also feel all of us are crazy/ mad in some way or other. A person too occupied by something is generally considered crazy or asking questions which others generally consider as too stupid but for which others also don’t have an explanation. It’s the way it is, no questioning about the common rules which have been defined by don’t know who.

Quotes/Facts:
-Madness is the inability to communicate your ideas. Its as if you were in a foreign country, able to see and understand everything that’s going on around you, but incapable of explaining what you need to know or of being helped, because you don’t understand the language they speak there.
- Laws had not been created to resolve problem, but in order to prolong quarrels indefinitely
-Some things are governed by common sense, other things however become fixed because more and more people believe that the way they should be.
- Why the arrangement of the keys on typewriter the way it is?
The first such machine was invented by Christopher Scholes, in 1873, to improve calligraphy , but there was a problem: if a person typed very fast the keys got stuck together and stopped the machine working. Then Scholes designed the QWERTY keyboard, a keyboard that would oblige typists to type more slowly. It so happened that Remington- who were sewing machine manufacturers at the time-used the QWERTY keyboard for their first typewriters. That meant that more people were forced to learn that particular system, and more companies started to make those keyboards, until it became the only available model. (…. I also thought about same but then assumed its because this way one could type fastest, some research done and people would have arrived at this combination being the fastest…..till I read in the book)
- An awareness of death encourages us to live more intensely. This reminds me of the movie Griffin and Phoenix. This is exactly what the 2 people do (suffering from cancer and knowing they would die soon ),living and doing what they always intended to do but resisted. They were living out their dreams :).

By The River Piedra......

The 4th read, was quicker than I expected. As with the others once I started didn’t felt like leaving it in the middle. This one talks about story of love again, starts with a flashback (past) and ends in the present. This one is the first of the novels of the trilogy "On the seventh day". A woman from a small town who is in touch with his childhood friend meets him again on his request after 12 years. They both have stayed in touch with each other through mails all these years. She has stayed back at the same place where as the man has traveled around the world. The ‘Other’ in the woman is quite dominant in the beginning , she questions every move, though she thinks love is not possible as they had been living too far and for love closeness is a must. But to her surprise the man is in love with her and tells her. She first rejects it but as she spends along more time with the man over a week long trip, by the end of it she is deeply in love with him. The man is headed for a spiritual life, has got healing powers which makes him quite popular among the local population living there. They refer to him as the one who perform “Miracles”. The book also talks of the feminine side of the God in form of Virgin Mary (the mother of Jesus). The man has a big belief in the Goddess and attributes the reason for his special skills to be the mother goddess. He takes the woman to places and performs rituals as per those related to the Goddess. The woman has lost faith in the existence of god as she has suffered some setbacks over these years. But by the end of it she has regained her Faith, and in faith is the God. The end is quite interesting when one as a reader the story is poised towards a sad ending with lovers departing…the story takes a twist and the flashback is now complete and present starts…and the two childhood friends reunite.
The title comes from the woman sitting by the side of river Piedra , weeping and writing the story, detailing all what has passed by in one week she was with her childhood friend and who she loves dearly now.

Some quotes:

* Spiritual life is essential to love. One doesn’t love in order to do well or to help or to protect someone. If we act that way, we are perceiving the other as a simple object, and we are seeing ourselves as wise and generous persons. This has nothing to do with love. To love is to be in communion with the other and to discover in that other the spark of God.

More reviews here.

Loss

Lost companion which had provided support for 4 long years. Had travelled across to places including Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, Indore, Singapore & Chennai. Finally today evening ...the back sole of the left shoe came off. One of the best shoe which lasted for so long with my rough usage.

The Zahir

The third in the series by the same author as the last 2 books I read. Much more sophisticated and complex to understand but still holds on ones interest like the other two. Its about an author in search of his missing wife learning through the times what Love is all about before he finds her again. Though I read a lot more interesting things to write about but cant recollect. The lesson this book tries to convey in my view is to define the true essence of love which I guess many lack to understand. The word forming the title of the book means obsession which is what the main character in the story suffered from in the beginning. Also there is an interesting insight on why rail tracks are always about 143.5 cm apart. The book surely made me think again, trying to reevaluate some of the fundamentals which were so imbibed without ever realizing the same. The author does a beautiful job trying to say things generally marked taboo quite openly in the book, i guess one of the reasons of success for his books is he speak about things through the characters of his stories which people could relate to being in some bits their own and then trying to find and answer of how to deal with it in a correct way. As with the earlier book lot of things to ponder upon when one reads through the book, and definitely more readings required to understand completely. There are some sudden shifts in the plots so one gets confused sometimes as one has just been in same frame of reference as last read paragraph and suddenly some other scene is built up and it starts right away without any introductory paragraph in beginning....makes one feel lost out sometimes but that's a style of writing i guess :). Some interesting insights on some practices in Kazakhstan and France. Oh remembered, the book was banned in Iran, that drove further interest in me as to find the reason for the same ...which is guess happens to be some sharp comment marked against mohammed preachings.

More reviews here.

Some quotes which I could mark down while reading:
- Freedom is not the absence of commitments, but the ability to choose- and commit myself to-what is best for me.
- People always believe what they want to believe
-Love is an untamed force. When we try to control it , it destroys us. When we try to imprison it, it enslaves us.When we try to understand it, it leaves us feeling lost and confused.
-Epilepsy is an excess of electrical impulses in one specific area of the brain, which provoke convulsions of greater or lesser severity.
-acomodador: there is always an event in our lives that is responsible for us failing to progress
-Suffering occurs when we want other people to love us in the way we imagine we want to be loved, and not in the way the love should manifest itself- free and untrammelled, guiding us with its force and driving us on.

Anna Nagar Tower Park

(Entrance View)
(From the Stairs of the tower)
(view from Top)
Went out with Chiru(Srivatsav) today to Anna Nagar Tower Park to catch up on some reading but ended up bit late and by the time we came back after being at top of the tower it was already 6.45 pm..need to go early some other day.It was fun in moving up and down the spiral of the tower .....felt little amusing.

Crusader-Yuvraj Singh

Fastest 50 in 12 balls and hitting 6 sixes in an over. Simply stunning Yuvraj !! Must watch for all cricket lovers.

Pulicat Lake!

Went to Pulicat lake with Kaushik and Bala (Kaushik's colleague in office)this weekend.The lake is unique in a way that the maximum depth is about 6 feet. Its not a tourist spot as such so the crowd was not there and place was much cleaner as well. The water is clear as can been seen in some pics. Spent around 4 hours travelling around in a boat hired for Rs 600. The lake is close to Chennai- around 70Km ....on bike it took around 1.5 hrs to reach the place. On the way there is good scenery around as paddy farming all along the road stretch.We were lucky enough to spot the "Big Fish " which happen to enter the lake by mistake. If the slideshow is not running one can view the pics here.

11 minutes

Just finished reading the next book by same author, yes Paulo Coelho this morning around 3.30 am. It’s again a superb piece of work. As I read more books my appreciation for the author is increasing. What I like about the books read so far is they prompt me to think, shape up my views on various aspects. I was so involved with the story that I didn’t feel like breaking reading at all.

Eleven minutes happens to be story of a girl from interior of Brazil who goes on to become a prostitute in Switzerland. The book portrays the story of this lady finding true love, understanding various facets of the pleasure and pain. The story happens to be based on a true story. Also one gets insight on why some people find pleasure in pain, and how the same can be achieved by various means. The dialects sometimes seem too philosophical and difficult to understand sometimes and detailed explanation of justifying an act as felt by the character and the very next chapter is complete opposite as why the act is not good and how one can accomplish the same result using other means which seem to be much more correct. So at one moment you are bind to think what the character is thinking as being correct and the very next moment the author presents a completely different view of same through the character again. Paulo does a wonderful job of holding of the interest in the story till the very last moment. The story ends on an open note but only after one reads the Afterwords one can see the ending. Since most of the dialogues are without refereeing to who said it, it is difficult to grasp who said it if one is not into it…even then sometimes there are confusions …but mostly one can make out. I would be wrong to say I understood all what is there to learn in one reading, I guess I need to read it 2-3 times to get all points which the author is trying to make. There is a lot to learn from the book and reflect upon. I never felt fiction books would be like this as I didn’t read any such before.

Some quotes:
* Prostitution isn’t like other businesses: beginners earn more and more experienced earn less
* People talk as if they knew everything, but if you dare to ask a question, they don’t know anything
* If you live your life intensely, you experience pleasure all the time and don’t feel the need for sex
* World go round is not the search for pleasure, but the renunciation of all that is important
* As you go in on the first floor back window. –You need to read the book in order to get this one ;)
* True experience of freedom: having the most important thing in the world (love) without owning it
* 11 minutes- the amount of time spent actually having sex
*Some Brazilian superstitions:
-when you visit someone for the first time, you must not be the first to open the door when you leave, because if you do, you will never return to that house
-You should never light more than three things with the same match
*Shu-gen-do

More reviews here.

The Alchemist

It is an amazing book to read. No wonder the author Paulo Coelho shot up in limelight after its publication. Written in a very simple language and catches readers interest right from the start….though there were few words I had difficulty in comprehending. It is a story of a shepherd boy who goes on to pursue his dream and difficulties he faces and the learning’s he makes along the path to realizing his dream. There are many things to learn from the story. Balu referred this book long time back while in 2nd semester of MBA. I finally got hold of it in HCL library about last week. The story is not lengthy, only 177 pages. This happens to be my fictional book read after a very long time…I guess the last was in 2004.

Listed below are some of the quotes in the book which I really liked :
*If you start out by promising what you don’t even have yet, you will lose your interest to work towards getting it
*Intuition is really a sudden immersion of life, where the histories of all people are connected, and we are able to know everything , because its all written there
*When you posses great treasures within you and try to tell others of them, seldom are you believed
*There was a language in the world that everyone understood. It was the language of enthusiasm, of things accomplished with love and purpose, and as part of something believed in and desired
*Never stop dreaming

Here you can find more reviews of the book.

at Bangalore meet with Balu

from top-Beer(Sachin), Lime Soda(Balu) & Rum(myself)

Anil's Wedding

Landed in Chennai around 12.30 pm from Pondicherry on Sunday, wasted half an hour in first going for local train, then finding big queue , coming back to catch bus....only to wait in same for about 20 minutes, getting started and bus conductor telling bus will take about 1 hr to reach the nearest point to Chennai Central station, already 1 pm, got down few stops after at Guindy from bus to catch an auto, took half an hour , finally got into train where Kaushik was waiting in anticipation if I would make it in time....well I landed 15 min before departure of train at 2 pm...good enough :) and off to Nellore in AC Chaircar. Chiru(Srivatsav) came to pick us at the station , Nellore happens to be Chiru's hometown so we had planned to stay back at his place which happens to be a big one. One can make out how big just by knowledge of that his house has got a lift..no kidding ...a proper lift.... happens to be 3 storey building and has a swimming pool in house( not operational currently) . His brother is a well known doctor in the area and the first floor and ground floor are part of nursing home.

Attended Anils wedding in the evening around 8.45 pm, the place was well light with attractive lighting on the outside...we could spot a dozen buildings being adorned with lights on the way...signifying an auspicious occasion to get married...Anil and his wife Bharti were very well dressed for the occasion :)....Anil's shopping for wedding across Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad seemed to have payed off well ;) . People were lining up to give their wishes and blessings to the newly wed couple. On the terrace of the wedding location, delicious food was served....in both vegetarian and non-vegetarian varieties. Good to see smiles on everyone around :).


(chair car from Chennai to Nellore....saw the LED display panel giving Kilometer(Km) reading for the next stop...---at the end on right side along the luggage area----)


[view of Chiru's house, from the entrance gate, the side building is not captured here(lower right)]

(wedding reception place)

(reception location)
(newly wed getting blessings from relatives)
(Anil and his wife Bharti along with 3 roomies)
( Dude! he is one man show here, advertising poster put along while he is performing in hope of the next business opportunity knocking in )

Travel to Pondicherry

(click on the picture to know little more detail)

Finally went to Pondicherry this weekend with Sachin. We departed from my place at about 7.30 on Saturday morning and got hold of the ECR(East Coast Road) expressway bus. The view is very scenic along this route as the road runs along the stretch which has direct visibility to the ocean. We reached within 3 hrs to Pondicherry where a rickshaw man guided us to the guest house. The first one he showed was quite expensive, so we went around looking for something cheap as the room was to be used mostly for sleeping at night only. We managed to find a decent guest house for Rs.360/day pretty soon. We had done some research on the travel part and had already decided few places to visit and renting out a 2 wheeler for the same. After checking in we washed our faces, tried to play around with the number of TV channels and then left to have our breakfast. Rented out a Kinetic and left for Auroville….which was our first destination. Had a tough time finding the place with many U turns, but finally managed to get through. Auroville happens to be quite place where you can see lot of non Indians living peacefully in good ambient surroundings. The details can be found here. The property in Auroville belongs to the community as such and no one owns it personally, it’s a small city in itself. The motto is to signify human unity. The foundation happened in Feb 28, 1968 with collection of native soil of around 174 different countries bought by the representatives of those countries. The whole concept was the idea of Sri Aurbindo, whose pictures one can find throughout Pondicherry in Hotels, Guest houses and other places. We traveled around some places including Matrimandir. The place also has guest houses where people usually come to stay for a week. The whole atmosphere is very calm and relaxed. We headed back around 4.30 pm towards the Pondicherry city again, got our shots from the room and went out to the beach. Rested and gazed at the ocean for a while, felt very calm and relaxing to rest at the beach in sand. Sachin didn’t sit on sand for long, he was pondering or doing don’t know what starring at the ocean. The crowd at the beach was mostly young 24-29 mostly. By the time we were leaving it was already dark. Spotted a children’s park with French architecture buildings on way back, stopped for a while and then left for guest house for some cleaning after traveling all day. Went to a nice posh restaurant for dinner, where all things didn’t did not turn out that well as the way we thought…. There were no seats available at the start, so they asked us to wiat at the bar area…where Sachin happen to suggested to have some drink while waiting…we decided to have a Martini….did not asked for the price and it cost us a bomb…though it was good. Next we managed to get a table but to our amazement there wasn’t a single waiter or waitresses looking at us in case we need anything. We had planned for a buffet so started after waiting if any of the waiters would turn up. Then dal and chapattis were to be served at the table as written in the menu, we got all stuff but didn’t seem to find anyone coming with the chapattis after waiting for quite awhile. Finally had to call a waiter, who managed to look at us , and then got the rotis in next 15 minutes….I think we being placed at a corner area , were in advantage with respect to having the outside view clearly…but at clear disadvantage when it came to servicing by the waiters….Anyways we were quite upset with the same…finally after finishing off with dinner when I went to have dessert , a cook came and offered his services…as to help me out in picking up the same…I asked him about few dishes and he explained it with complete knowledge of the same….well the frustration cooled down a lot for me…though we were waiting for a feedback form if they would provide with the bill…but they didn’t ….anyways went out and strolled along the shoreline for a while…..Both were extremely tired with full days traveling and were off to sleep by 11 pm. The next morning started at 6 am, and we headed to the beach again and landed there by 6.30 am. Ah an amazing view in the morning…we missed the sunrise though…..throughout the journey period the weather was excellent so didn’t feel any heat….and no rain as well. Packed off the stuff by 8.30 am, had traditional south Indian breakfast (idli-vada) , returned the kinetic and left off for the bus stand…cool trip…though quite exhausting….and for me it was not yet over as I had to catch a train just after reaching Chennai to Nellore…to attend Anil’s (roomie Srivatsav’s friend) wedding reception. Going with Sachin to Pondicherry proved to be very beneficial as most places, people were much comfortable in speaking Tamil, though English was also acceptable but not well understood.