Jean-Do

Last month's book club which I did not go to (may I add...) was all about Jean-Dominique Bauby's The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Le Scaphandre et le Papillon).
Bauby, Jean-Do to his friends, was the editor of the famous French Elle magazine. Almost at the end of 1995, he suffered a massive stroke that left him in a coma for nearly 20 day. He woke up only to find himself a victim of the "locked-in" syndrome wherein his mental faculties were intact but his body was paralyzed (all he could do was blink his left eye). The book is devoid of self-pity or even anger.
He dictated this book alphabet by alphabet and blinking when the correct one was mentioned.


This is a beautiful memoir that shows the authors' courage and wit. A heart-wrenching narrative of what happened to him as a person who can think but cannot say a word. Bauby talks about food, his girlfriend, his children-

"Once, I was a master of recycling leftovers. Now I cultivate the art of simmering memories. You can sit down to a meal at any hour, with no fuss or ceremony. If it's a restaurant, no need to call ahead. If I do the cooking, it is always a success"

A very poignant story that at times is witty and funny even (you wonder the how resilient this man must have been). The English translation is really good- not that I have read the French version.

"Today is Father's Day. Until my stroke, we had felt no need to fit this made-up holiday into our emotional calendar. But today we spend the whole of the symbolic day together, affirming that even a rough sketch, a shadow, a tiny fragment of a dad is still a dad"

Bauby died about a year or so later, you can read more about him here and here.

A must-read, really!

 

Words from the past

I found it funny when my mom recently said "think she got a centum in maths"- then I realized that now there are words in my vocabulary that I do not use any more.

maths- mathematics (math)
centum- 100%
stepney- spare tire (see I don't even spell it tYre)
flat- as in apartment
Rubber- eraser
Pass- out- as in graduated
this one's a favorite- carrying- as in pregnant
dicky-  trunk of a car

Tell me do you remember any more?!

Help me complete this list and tell me if you have any lost-in-translation-stories with these words!

I don't know if you know

about Anna Hazare and his crusade against corruption. This past weekend, a bunch of us (actually few of us) met at the square to walk for the cause. He has been in the news for a while now and I really appreciate what his crusade has done for the general morale of the country. The recent deluge of scams has left a bad taste and it will be quite interesting to see as to how this movement shapes up.

Every time I go home to Chennai, I cannot help but get angry. I absolutely detest the rowdy DMK rule but at the same time I wonder if it is not the DMK goondas then who else- surely the other party is not any better. The only positive- not as much nepotism in AIADMK unlike DMK where even his बहु की चची के ननदोई* के रिश्तेदारों को भी government post दिए जाते हैं!

If DMK does not already own half of TN, it surely will if they come back this time around. I was never much of a fan of Madras (now Chennai)- always thought that people were extremely narrow minded and culturally very closed. But now over these past few years, I have also added "laziness"to the "why-I-do not-like-Chennai" list.

Anyway back to the corruption issue-

India is ranked 87th (among the 178 nations) on Transparency International's 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index. A report released in November last year found that India lost $462 billion (that is right 462 followed by 9 zeros!) to illicit cash flows resulting from tax evasion, corruption, bribery and kickbacks, and criminal activities (this report is available here). Now this is seriously preposterous- the money that can be put to good use to help people like better education. 


So go ahead read all these articles and more- have healthy discussions and arguments with people you know. Talk, talk, talk...


A conversation overheard:


Lady- I am too scared to drive in the US while driving in India is pretty easy. 


Guy- really, how is that?


Lady- Oh, even if you make mistakes in India you can bribe your way out!


Guy- Hmm...yeah they made me pay 50 bucks for making a right turn on red. Come on, I did not see the "No turn on red" sign.


Me- an eerie silence at the plight of my fellow Indians!

Some references and source materials that I have used to write this
Corruption threatens India's growth
Wiki entry for Corrutption Perceptions Index
You can read all about his letter to the PM or the lokpal bill
Make giving bribe legal while taking it illegal-Kaushik Basu
Poverty in India-World Bank

Wedding 2011

Yes so finally it did happen- after being together for almost 6 years, the wise guy and I tied the knot. It has been a very surreal experience so far and in my books- nothing has changed except I now adorn a ring (could have been a lot more of traditional permanent jewelry indicative of a married woman except my lectures on feminism and how such adornments are not really me paid off). Yes, they did spend a ton of money but the family was all smiles and who in their right mind would ever say no to all that attention that is being given? Sure the price tag is huge but hey we can afford it, can we not?

News worthy

We are the nation that does not deal with what needs to be now, we only know to celebrate dead people and their achievements. No disrespect to the great minds that we celebrate but come on- when do these thugs otherwise known as politicians get away with not doing an iota of good for the people (never mind the people are stupid enough to vote for them everytime!)

The Hindu : States / Tamil Nadu : 151st birth anniversary of Singaravelar to be celebrated

A good read

Ha Jin's relatively unknown novel "In the Pond" was published in 1998. The book set in Communist China around the time of cultural revolution, takes as its protagonist, a small town Harvest Fertilizer maintenance employee Shao Bin. Bin with his wife and a two year old daughter live in a 12 by 20 foot room. The story begins when Bin's application for a larger house in the employee quarters is rejected despite is seniority in the company. He is rejected because of the rampant corruption at the higher level. A really quick read, funny at times deals with some weighty issues- power, corruption, art and vanity. Shao Bin sets out to seek justice through art (he was a self taught artist), the constant struggle between him the two powerful figures at the company, his alienation among other workers, his wife and her struggles- all these give the story its poignance.
Personally, I did not like Shao Bin- I thought he was egotistical and used everyone to further his own agenda. Doing the things that he did during a revolution, I was surprised at the happy ending, at least for Shao Bin.  I did love the book. It gave me a glimpse into a society which I am so far removed from and have never been able to fathom. Can't wait to read Ha Jin's well acclaimed book "Waiting".

James Baldwin

If you are looking for something to cheer you up- this certainly then is NOT for you! A very simple, yet powerful book written about the isolation felt by homosexual men. This second novel by Baldwin was first published in 1956.
Almost every male character in the book is homosexual and the ways of rich men buying the services of and in fact having a sense of entitlement of the younger, vulnerable out-of-towners was disheartening. There is David, an American so ashamed and afraid of his sexuality- he flees to Paris to save himself from embarrassment.  In Paris, with no money in hand, he is forced to get help from Jacques. Jacques was the reason that David and Giovanni meet. Giovanni works at a bar owned by Guillame in Paris. Hella was one odd woman out- David's girl friend who is off in Spain as she takes a break from the relationship and my be even Paris. It was during this time that David and Giovanni's relationship and love for each other blossoms. The end is quite tragic (I will not tell you what happened) but I would just say that I went through myriad of emotions. I am still unsure if I hate David- I was definitely furious with his dishonesty- not just to himself, but he was dishonest with Hella, Giovanni and pretty much every one else! I am also not able to fathom why Giovanni would love David so much and would need him so much for his survival? The title itself has many interesting metaphorical connotations (you have to read it to understand it).

Baldwin himself, as an isolated gay black man in the 50's moved to Paris and when he finished this manuscript his publisher suggested that he might as well burn it. You can read all about it here, here or here.

I will leave you with David's words-

"What happened was that, all unconscious of what this ennui ... meant, I wearied of the motion, wearied of the joyless seas of alcohol, wearied of the blunt, bluff, hearty, and totally meaningless friendships, wearied of wandering through the forests of desperate women, wearied of the work which fed me only in the most brutally literal sense" 

Must Read!

Laura Childs- mystery or misery

 "There are books of which the backs and covers are by far the best parts"- Charles Dickens

I usually do no pick up books in the spur of the moment from the library, because when I do, I end up picking ones that are quite bad. But we never learn from our mistakes, now do we?

I love mysteries and so I picked this book up hoping for some. The book started off with a good note- Protagonist- Carmela who runs a scrapbooking store called Memory Mine

Her friend- Ava runs a voodoo store (JuJu voodoo, I think)

Setting- New Orleans, a week before Halloween (apparently NOLA is big on Halloween, I had no idea- see I did learn something!)

With two murders in the story you would think it would keep you on your toes- but instead I found myself amidst incessant trivial portrayal of  high-society's (both women are reasonably well to-do, especially Carmela who got a  big fat alimony pay-out) celebrations culminating with the halloween parade. The descriptions of one party after another without any intelligent mystery-solving, the constant harping about Carmela's mystery-solving abilities and how she always has an eye for where trouble is was quite irritating (I mean come on- she definitely was no Miss. Marple). Not to mention the boring details of how Carmela and Ava go about getting ready for these parties!

May be it was a young adult read, but I love some of those young adult books. Anyway the good thing was there are interesting scrapbooking ideas and recipes (Carmela is supposed to be a great cook!) that I might try. May be I should give another of her mystery series a try- may be they won't be as bad!

Judgement

Read it as your own peril!

Consolations of Philosophy-

Funny and interesting read

I wonder if anyone has been wondering why this blog has been silent- well there is no good reason for why the silence, could always blame it on me being lazy. Now if you look up this book on the world wide web, negative reviews are aplenty, especially this one by Skidelsky. I sure do not understand Skidelsky's argument about using philosophy as therapy (which is exactly what De Botton does in this book), I mean why the heck can we not use philosophical theories/arguments as theories. I am sorry Mr.Skidelsky but I do not buy your arguments as to why this book was bad. I mean as a person with ample inadequacies I sure thought I could have put to use some of what these great philosophers have put forth and hence lead a fairly happy life. I also thought it was funny and the diagrams/pictures throughout the book added to the humor. It made philosophy an easy read for common people like me Mr.Skidelsky!

This book is a compilation of some of the theories from 6 great philosophers that De Botton says can be used as therapy or consolations for our failures, frustrations, inadequacies and even being unpopular. My favorites were Socrates and Epicurus.

Go ahead read the book and tell me what you think.

A request to the blog readers...

Hi guys

This post has nothing do with food, so if you are here to get a dose of food fix- sorry not today. I am writing today to raise awareness and potentially some money for the organization I volunteer with "Stop Child Trafficking Now" and an issue that is close to my heart.

My teenage years in India involved feeling helpless and angry at households that employed children as domestic help. Many such scenes have left a deep impression on me early on in my life (they still do) and I remember making my mom promise me that she would never ever hire a child (thankfully my mom never did hire help for a long time). I could not bear the thought of someone my age doing all the household chores while I bask in their labor and get all the education I need to move me forward in life. Only a handful of us think twice before we hire children to perform duties that we are fully capable of handling.

I must clarify here that even though I talk of child domestic labor, in many countries a lot of these children working far from home are easy prey for the sellers, and therefore sooner or later some of them will be trafficked and sold! A majority of trafficked domestic workers are girls, this is especially true in Africa (source: UNICEF). Children are trafficked for sex and slavery.


I do my part in small ways by refusing to buy anything that I know was the product of child slavery. Anyway my anger issues aside- now I have actually started involving my time and effort in learning about various forms of human slavery and more recently volunteering with SCTnow. SCTnow provides me with a perfect platform to help stop any and every child from being trafficked for sex or as slaves.

 I am writing to encourage you to take a look at their website- register for the walk, volunteer with the organization, donate any amount of money to support the cause (remember human trafficking is the SECOND LARGEST criminal enterprise after the selling of drugs and weapons). Together lets put an end to the misery of millions of children- it is our duty to protect them.

If you are interested in walking or volunteering, check here. The walk is taking place in over 50 cities worldwide, so be sure to check the list and register for the walk.

You can donate here by clicking "support me" on MY donor page.  Remember the walk is happening on Oct 2nd and Oct 3rd in many cities.

Junot Diaz- brilliant!

Judgement: THUMBS UP!

When I started reading this book, I was not too sure about it- but in the end all I can say is "Wow". The book is about the lives of people in Dominican Republic and how their lives change as immigrants in the US (I thought this part was quite subtle).

Oscar de Leon, (or Oscar Wao as his school mates christen him) an overweight, second generation Dominican- American fantasizes about writing science fictions (called himself the dominican JRR) and falling in love with a girl. The story is narrated in parts by Oscar's sister Lola and his friend Yunior (although the way he acts, you would at times doubt if he indeed was Oscar's friend). Trujillo's regime acts as a perfect setting as the novel- it is not just about the life to Oscar's mother Beli and her parents but also about how the family had to escape from the clutches of fuku (a curse probably).

The language was amazing overall, again one of those novels where I feel like I am part of the story.

The only problem I had was understanding the Spanish phrases- some I could sort of contextually understand but long sentences were out of my league. I wrote most of them down in the hope that I would some day translate them.

The White Tiger-a review

Highly Recommended

Arvind Adiga has me hooked. I loved this book- his first book for which he won the Man Booker Prize. His writing style is simple yet powerful. This book by virtue of being ironic, was quite humorous. I could not help but laugh out aloud (on a crowded "T", yeah and I did get "the looks") many a times. There were times throughout the book where I would give a knowing grim nod. Balram, a despicable character, did capture my heart. I usually have strong opinions about various characters in any book, especially the protagonist- but here I was not so sure- did I pity Balram, do I fathom his reasons for being the way he is and is he justified in doing what he did? The book is in the form a letter, a narration to the Chinese Premier. Balram escapes his life of nothingness and fear of landlords (with creative pet names such as mongoose and stork!) who collected hafta from the poorest of the poor, to start anew as a driver for a rich family (Amrica-returned golden boy of Stork and his wife). Now the story is all about how Balram gets there, how he learns all about "The Rooster Club" and how in all desperation he wants out of the club.

A beautifully crafted story that will melt your heart and make you laugh.

Read it to feel it!

Sultan's Seal- a review

This was our book club read for June and the exciting part was that the author Jenny White was going to be at our meeting. But unfortunately, I was unable to attend the meeting (I was enjoying my stay in Chennai!). Set in Stanbul on Bosphorous, close to the end of Ottoman empire, this book was quite a riveting read. It is a mystery novel with a subtle yet beautiful romance between the protaganist Kamil Pasha, the magistrate and Sybil (daughter of the British ambassador, who helps Kamil during his investigation). Kamil Pasha's investigation in to the drowning of an European governess becomes increasingly difficult as he finds out that the lady (Mary Dixon) was a governess in the Sultan's household and that that this murder might be linked to a previous similar murder. The book has its fair share of chicanery, passion and betrayal. I liked the author's style of writing a lot too.
                                Overall this book was unputdownable.

A trip to remember...

This India trip was not your, or rather, my usual, run-off-the-mill trip. I did a teeny weeny bit of traveling. Landed in Chennai and rather unusually, my parents were out of town (well I did know that before hand)- so I was off to my uncle's place (my gran was there to pick me up!). The third day I was out of Chennai.
Next stop: Pune, Maharashtra to visit my aunt (mausi/chithi) and chitappa.
Day 1: Talk, talk on the way to Lavassa (a planned hill city) and more talk on the way back since we had to play a guessing game "will we reach the city before we run out of gas and get stuck in the middle of no where?". Since we did reach the city, we treated ourselves first by stopping to get some farm fresh happoos. I also got into fight with a security guard outside the National Defense Academy- I mean the sense of power is so misplaced. So when you see a big bulky canon being promptly displayed- what is your first thought- "I need a picture". Now you would think that this was a harmless endeavor- no not for this security guard, apparently he was guarding the antiquated, hardly functioning canon outside the academy that was in full public view.

Day 2: More talk, on our way to Mumbai to see more people...night show Rajneeti, of the 4 of us that went to the movie, only I thought it was kind of alright- the rest of them hated it!

Day 3: Leave Mumbai, en route stopover at Lonavala. Now as a sight to be seen on "World day against Child Labor"- I saw two little children, a girl (pictured here) and a boy were running a small tea shop that also served roasted corn (of course the mother was there too). I was so distressed with the amount of plastic strewn about in those beautiful hills- I do not even know where to begin and for this I blame no one but the damn people who lack curtsy and even the slightest sense of guilt when they go about throwing their shit around! Funny story: we walk around the "Lion's point" for a few minutes. A Tata sumo with three people, all three of them stuffing themselves with food. The lady drops throws her napkin on the ground. I turned to see what the gentlemen were going to do and I held my gaze on one of them. This guy held napkin for as long as I was staring and smirking at him- the moment I got in the car, the  damn guy threw the damn paper on the ground.

Day 4: Early morning flight to Delhi, out of the flight and into the traffic jam! After a considerable talking, it was dinner time which was at some fancy schmancy Dhaba- they even had a truck cut out and dhaba music but sadly food was no where close to a real dhaba food and neither were the people as nice as the people who usually run dhabas! So in the midst of all talking, I even got some pictures of the baby pigeons!

 

Day 5: DU by metro with cousin, spent a couple of hours there watching students dance their way through a college admission. I was quite impressed with the Delhi metro system. And as usual could not help but get angry with men who could not stop staring at women (age no bar). Dinner at a place whose name I cannot remember!

Day 6: Flight back to Chennai. Appa was there. Thankfully not on his "Hero Winner" moped (I think we are the only ones in the entire country that have this model)

Taken Over...

 

Image source is this blog here

I cannot believe I had once vowed to never step into the computer centers at BITS- neither to check emails on that UNIX machine nor to do my coursework (yes, it got quite out of hand and I did land on the infamous notice board!). Today when the Harvard network was down, leaving us all without any access to the world outside for about 29 minutes, I was amused by my own reactions. I had to find out what was going on, why all of a sudden things went wrong- had to find out when will I get my world back. It was quite early in the morning for our lab and people were just strolling in, booting their computers up- I go "aha! I am not alone, soon these people would be join me in my frenzy" but they seemed unfazed by it. I begin to wonder may be something was wrong with my machine and that drove me even crazier.

Well after enough dramatizations, 2 coffees down the throat- I sensed relief, I mean I could feel it. And there it was- I was back on people!

Tell me how much has the world wide web changed your world, do you believe we are in fact all that global as we claim to be?

Boy play or boy dismay

 Image courtesy: Free thinker

A recent episode of Frontline aired this program about boys in Afghanistan. Apparently an ancient practice of Bacha Bazi has been brought into life again. It is a secret (it is an illegal act under the law in Afghanistan) that was never meant to be kept. This Frontline show is called "Dancing Boys of Afghanistan" and it chronicles the lives of poverty-stricken children, either abducted or lured using money, who dress up like women to dance in front of grown men and more often than not perform sexual acts. The boys usually start off at a very young age, around 10 or so- they get trained to sing and dance and when they are ready, they begin to entertain their masters and other people. A boy who does well is quite popular and in demand. There have been boys who have wanted out and well their only way out-getting killed.
It is only in the recent times that this issue has been getting attention, not as much as it should. It is complicated by the fact that government officials and military men also engage in such a preposterous act and amongst them have a boy toy accompany, is a matter of prestige and power.
As far as I am concerned, you do not put children in harm's way, does not matter where you come from. The perpetrators should pay and hopefully the law (I am guessing it is going to be some form of international effort as we all know how well the Afghan system is working) will catch up with them sooner than later.

The Yacoubian Building

- by Alaa Al Aswany, a dentist by profession. Be prepared to be angered and saddened by the portrayal of the characters' struggles.
The story follows the some of the people living in "The Yacoubian Building"- the building constructed in the art-deco style still exists in Egypt but the description that the author provides in the book is something of a wonderful classical European architecture. The story follows the residents of this building:
Taha-el-Shazli whose frustration at not getting through the police academy makes him vulnerable and eventually he joins the Islamist movement

Busayna, Taha's girlfriend, well ex-girlfriend, enters prostitution (well she has a day job too) after her father dies to take care of the family. She, to me seemed liked the only ray of hope in the entire book!

Hatim Rasheed, a reporter of a leading newspaper in Cairo and a homosexual. His story is quite an interesting one albeit very sad one too. I can only assume that the author has portrayed the life of homosexual people in Egypt as close to reality as possible and let me tell you- I do not like what I see.

Hagg Azzam, an old guy who enters the crooked world of politics- takes a young beautiful Souad as his second wife, of course secretly. He made her leave her son back in the village- that was the deal he made and she took it because the money and gifts were good and she could imagine a better life for both her and her son.

Zaki-el-Bey, an old flirt who had no qualms about womanizing- he would sleep with anything that looked remotely like a woman! But in the end, he does deliver another ray of hope in this forsaken land- I am sorry but I do not know what else to call it. I hope it is better now than when the book was set.


The author does a fantastic job of painting a broad picture of Egypt especailly Cairo. I was really moved by the daily struggles that people go through and somehow they did not look as horrid or sad as they should have been. They seem to carry on just fine...


Read more about this book here or here.


Enjoy!

A Lost Lady by Willa Cather

Thanks to our book club, I got to read my first ever Willa Cather. In a nutshell, I liked the way she played with her characters and all of it in simple, plain English- nothing fancy. She does a brilliant job of bringing out the emotions of her characters! A very interesting and a courageous lady, Willa Cather- she dressed like a man most of the times and most of her strongest relationships seems to have been with women. Her sexual identity apparently is one of contention- remember she was born late 1800's.

Anyway about the book which was originally published in 1923- it is the story of Marian Forrester and Capt Daniel Forrester told to us through the eyes of Niel Herbert. The story is set in a small yet rich railroad community of Sweet Water in Nebraska (this is an almost fictional place- Cather draws most of her inspiration from Red Cloud, Nebraska for the description of Sweet Water in the book but looks like there is also place called Sweet Water in Nebraska). It is story of the downfall of the town- the local elites losing it to the national big guns- the advent of capitalism. It is also the story of Marian Forrester, while she does seem lost after her husband's death, is she really "a lost lady"? Neil Herbert, the narrator, grows up loving Mrs. Forrester- most of all he admires her loyalty to her husband.

" Mrs. Forrester was the only woman he knew who wore earrings of which, they hung naturally against her thin, triangular cheeks"- says Neil in the book.

But as time passes by, he realizes that Mrs.Forrester was having an affair with Frank Ellinger and that she was not what he had imagined- she was a survivor!

"It was what he most held against Mrs Forrester: that she was not willing to immolate herself, like a widow of all these great men, and die with the pioneer period to which she belonged; that she preferred life on any terms. In the end, Niel went away without bidding her goodbye. He went away with weary contempt for her in his heart"

You can begin to wonder at the end- who was lost?

Judgement: Thumbs up for this novella and double thumbs up for Cather!

PS- You can check this or this to learn more about the author. Interestingly one of Fitzgerald's character in Great Gatsby is said to resemble Cather's lost lady!

Savithiri Satyavan

... well Satyavan is her husband's name. In South India, Savithiri's successful endeavor of bringing her Satyavan back from Yama's grip is celebrated as Karadayan Nonbu. Apparently she knew she was going to die young, yet she marries him. We celebrate this festival for the husbands or husbands-to-be, womenfolk fast the entire day and break their fast with the delectable adais/cakes.

Agreed this mythological character was devoted to her husband and as the story goes her devotion (पति वृथा ) is what brought him back to life. Okay but there is more to her than just a dutiful, unfaltering wife. She was a STRONG, CLEVER and WITTY woman. Should'nt we be celebrating her for just THAT?

Image from Omaha Habitat

May be more of her story might make it clear to you as to why she should also be celebrated (see, I am being generous- I said "also").

Anyway-

Savithiri born to King Ashwapathi, decided to find a husband for herself (1). Her search leads her to a forest where she meets Satyavan, son of Dyumatsen, a king who had lost everything. Even though Satyavan had only another year to live, Savithiri married him (2).  She lived in the forest with her husband and his parents. The day that Satyavan was presumably going to die, Savithiri went along with her husband to chop wood. She decided to go without food that day. Yama, Lord of Death, finally descends in the evening and takes Satyavan with him. Savithiri follows them- Yama tells her that she cannot follow beyond a certain point. 
Depending on where you hear the story, Yama grants either one or three boons to Savithiri. Nevertheless, Yama blesses her with children and Savithiri says "Oh dear lord, you blessed me with children but how can I have them if you take my husband with you"- Yama pleased by her devotion and wit grants Satyavan his life back (3).


There you have it


(1) She was confident enough to make her own decisions. PARENTS TAKE NOTE!
(2) She was gutsy and she decided to be responsible for her actions
(3) She was smart, clever and witty


Without her Satyavan would have been long gone! So are these good enough for us to celebrate this festival in HER name?! Just asking...

I have so many complaints...

...  that I could

                

       Image source: here

....right NOW!!

That is right, you heard me. I have too many issues with people around me and I complain too much. I wonder "is it me?" or "is there really something worth further investigation?"- and the answer is: a bit of both! What can a girl do people?!

I don't know may be this is some kind of a strange mid-life crisis- but I thought it was the disease of middle aged men that makes them go crazy. I am a woman and I am not even MIDDLE AGED!

Oh whatever!

You can read more about women's midlife crisis here.