On the parchment

***Spoiler Alert*** The writing and the quotes were so deep that shows how much one should have dug into self realization to write such a book. I am only reviewing the book and not commenting on spirituality or divinity. This is just a few remarks on the beautiful thoughts and insights shared by the author which has touched me and inspired me and given me a few moments of peace of and clarity while reading the book. I hope that it lasts forever. "When the living gets unburdened with needs and desires, the life becomes simple and easy to carry." We all have so much to do in the short span of time, but we never really are sure what we are doing and why we are doing it. We just follow what is being done for generation to generation. We don't even find the time to stop and think for a second. When we look back at our life towards the end, we realize that we have been running a race without noticing that we were on the wrong track. I am not a big fan of spiritual books or ...

It was raining. We were sitting in the cafeteria on the terrace. Class was over before the scheduled time so that the students can reach home safe before it started pouring. Few of the students took this opportunity and left even before our teacher could announce that the class was coming to an end. So it was only me, Shalini and Sabrina in the cafeteria, enjoying the after-class mirchi bajji in the cold weather. Shalini was busy copying previous day's notes and asking questions to Sabrina that would make her wonder why she stayed back after class. "Did mam teach how to use articles with respect to adjectives yesterday?", asked a curious Shalini. I didn't want to be the geek and answer that question and invite glares from Sabrina. Sabrina said, "Just copy the damn notes."  Shalini pouted for a while and went back to writing. She was so engrossed in it that she didn't notice Sabrina eating her bajji. We had some tea while we waited for it to stop r...

"He wants to meet you in a coffee shop", said my mother. "No, let them come home", I said. It is bad enough that my parents are arranging a date with a guy for me, imagine meeting him in a coffee shop in maami's area! We all know how that would go. Hailing from a typical Indian family I was aware of the usual drill and kind of had an idea how this would end. At least I was prepared to make it end the way I wanted: make the guy say no. That was my whole idea. "Ask them if they are free the day after tomorrow. I have an appointment tomorrow in the evening after work", I told her. She conveyed the message and I thought the guy's side would drop the whole idea as the girl was fixing the date. But that did not happen. He came home five minutes earlier than expected, with his parents of course. And there I was, meeting him comfortably in my house in my room. He said, "Hi". Damn! I was going to open with that. I said, "How is ...

You'd think that the book is from Sita's perspective but it is not. Like every other girl in India I did not like Ramayana for the same reason that Ram abandons Sita on the account of being a righteous King. I was prepared to give only three stars to this book no matter what as I have been told and retold of this epic a million times so far. But this book by Devdutt opened my mind's eye to a lot of significant roles played by Ram. But that still doesn't mean I will disregard Sita's abandonment. I liked Lakshman's character more than Ram's during their exile. When Ram was exiled from his own country, Lakshman was determined to go with him. Urmila's loyalty in helping out Lakshman by sleeping for fourteen years was mind-striking. Ram often snapped at lakshman. Like when Lakshman questioned about a tigress killing deer or when Surpanakha was infatuated to Ram, he rejected her, directed her to Lakshman which was totally unacceptable and uncalled for. La...

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only one.”-George R.R. Martin. Well, I lived a thousand lives while reading just one series 'Shiva Trilogy'. The series consists of three books: The Immortals of Meluha, The secret of the Nagas and The Oath of the Vayuputras. The story is about Lord Shiva who is worshipped as God now, but in the book, set in 1900 B.C, he is showcased as just a common tribal man trying to protect his tribe from the enemies. He is taken to the land of Meluha by Nandi, where the people believe in the prophecy of Neelkanth: an incarnation of God. And sure enough, Shiva turns out to be Neelkanth who now has the responsibility of saving the immortals of Meluha from the evil. He meets Sati, the Meluhan King's daughter, who plays his love interest and in the later part, his wife. She is also a warrior like every other Kshatriya in Meluha. The Meluhans consume Somras, the potion which keeps...

Rating 3.5/5 Movie was very different.. The humour element was ample.. The ending was clichéd.. The dialogues failed to receive laughs while the tragic scenes managed to bring tears from the spectators.. Ornaments and costumes looked cheap but that's no wonder since Gautami is the costume designer . The portrayal of a mortal selfish actor in real life with the comparison of the irony in the movie where he is immortal and sincere, was drawn neatly and reached its pinnacle at the climax.. We have enough 'daddy heroes' in our industry, Kamal should do more quality roles instead of taking every role in the movie except for heroine. And I bet he'd do that too if he could kiss himself.  Kamal going around kissing every XX chromosome carrier in each of his movies is kind of crossing the line when the target audience is still conservative and Indian cultured. KB's performance as an actor will definitely leave an impact in all our hearts. KB's reminiscence gives us a gl...

Its time to bash Jeffrey Archer again (Jeffery Archer's fans, please don't read this. But I will give you this, I love to review his books!) Okay, here we go. War, politics, family business and family money...... There are other topics and genres too Jeffrey. Snap out of these for a change! I am not even going to bother retracing the story. Cut to chase. The doctor in the Russian camp helped only Abel to escape from the camp, giving his map, money, support, guidance and risking his life. The lady in the train helped Abel to escape again and considered him her son. Mr. Leroy, owner of the Richmond group of Hotels, gave away his 75% share of hotels to Abel before dying? He couldn't think of his daughter while generously giving away the hotels to a third person? And it was obvious that the Baron would bequeath his property along with the silver band on to Abel. And on seeing the silver band, the Englishmen stop Abel from being amputated. Why is everyone kissing his ass? ...