On to a good start...

I am chugging my way through this year's reading challenges hosted by Bev of My Reader's Block- and it helps that I am on vacation! Most of the books I picked have been really great reads.

**Stay tuned for reviews of all these books!**

Vintage mystery challenge

Mystery at 31 New Inn by Austin Freeman; Published 1912 (Category number)
Currently reading Read: Dyke Darrel The Railroad Detective by Frank Pinkerton; Published 1886 (Category Scene of crime)
Currently reading:Woman in White by Wilkie Collins; written 1859  (Category color)

 



Color Coded challenge

The Black cat by Martha Grimes
Red badge of courage by Stephen Crane
Domestic Violets (P.S.) by Norman Matthew
Currently reading:The Ivory Trail by Talbot Mundy

Reading challenges this year

This is the first time I am taking on something like this, and I am super excited about it. I am doing two reading challenges this year- quite scary especially me and commitments do not go hand in hand you see. 

These challenges are hosted by Bev of My Reader's Block- she really does put me to shame!

A vintage mystery mini-challenge: must read 4 vintage books in one of the categories mentioned by Dec 31st (doable you think, I say you think?!!)

Below is my plan for the mystery mini challenge

Woman in White (Category: Wicked women or Color in title)
Mystery of 31 New Inn (Category: Murder by the Numbers)
Green mantle (Color in the title)


And the other more daunting one hosted by Bev again- Color coded challenge and here is my plan for that

1. A book with "Blue" or any shade of Blue (Turquoise, Aquamarine, Navy, etc) in the title- Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen

2. A book with "Red" or any shade of Red (Scarlet, Crimson, Burgandy, etc) in the title-  

Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

3. A book with "Yellow" or any shade of Yellow (Gold, Lemon, Maize, etc.) in the title-  
The Golden Notebook by Dorris Lessing

4. A book with "Green" or any shade of Green (Emerald, Lime, Jade, etc) in the title.

5. A book with "Brown" or any shade of Brown (Tan, Chocolate, Beige, etc) in the title- 
The Poisoned Chocolates Case By Anthony Berkeley

6. A book with "Black" or any shade of Black (Jet, Ebony, Charcoal, etc) in the title- The black cat by Martha Grimes

7. A book with "White" or any shade of White (Ivory, Eggshell, Cream, etc) in the title.

8. A book with any other color in the title (Purple, Orange, Silver, Pink, Magneta, etc.)-Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson

9. A book with a word that implies color (Rainbow, Polka-dot, Plaid, Paisley, Stripe, etc.)

I will update this post as I finish reading and come up with titles in the other categories! If you have suggestions for me- please do let me know. 

And in case you are interested, hop on over to Bev's to sign up for the challenge.

Mmhmm it is 2013....so what?

As a child and even as a teenager, I used to give in to the New year's eve festivities- we would not do much but mostly cut a cake, watch some TV is all but that felt like a world to me. But over the last few years- the festivities have lost all their allure. To me it is yet another day. I wake up today 01/01/2012 and nothing has changed- we still do not know if we were thrown off the fiscal cliff, the dairy cliff (and whatever "cliffs" CNN and the 24 hr news media could conjure up-I still hate them), my experiments still have not gone anywhere and Houston is still in drought!
    On a a day when millions are celebrating the past (hopefully) and welcoming the future/present, I cannot help but think about the people who call streets their abode, people who have been displaced from their homes and lands, people who starve each day, people who are grieving for their loved ones (this year- in Syria, Phillipines, Connecticut, Colorado, Delhi and many more countries). I wonder how do they welcome a new year, a brand new year.
    A part of me wants to believe that there is hope in all this (but haven't we been singing the hope song for a long time now) and that is why millions brave the frigid temperatures and swarms of crowds to be a part of "ringing in" celebrations world wide. But if it is HOPE then it should last all through the year and it should make us better people (may be I am missing something and hopefully I can figure it out before we ring in 2014!)
     Until then,
Stay safe
Be happy
Reduce, Reuse and recycle (do your part to protect the place you live in)
spread the love y'all, and remember
Do not do to others what you do not want others to do unto you..

Note to self- be more charitable this year since you do not need any more clothes, accessories, utensils, kitchen gadgets, art supplies....

HAPPY 2013!

Not-so-recent reads

Before an emergency flight to India (a while ago in May), the wise guy bought two books (e-versions for the iPad). I had not finished two books in a week in a long time (not after those crazy Jeffrey Archer days as an undergrad). The books are very similar sounding and I did feel like Brad Thor's was much more fast-paced than the one by Ben Coes.

Power Down by Ben Coes; a terrorist plot to cripple the United States by blowing off its energy supplies and Dewey Andreas is a serious threat to this plot

Brad Thor's Lions of Lucerne; Scott Harvath a secret sevice agent who is out to find the kidnapped President (of United States) and avenge the death of his co-workers


Henry James's 1880 Washington Square

A simple story about the relationship between a brilliant father and his plain daughter; a dominating brother and his sisters and a love affair gone wrong.

A must read classic!

Belly of Paris by Emile Zola

Belly of Paris by Emile Zola

The sights and sounds of Les Halles in Paris complete with the smells of fresh fish, butchered meat, fresh vegetables and fruits and fresh baked french beauties. Emile Zola took me on this amazing journey into Paris of around 1860 and into the day to day lives of Parisiens. It is about Florence Quenu (a political prisoner from Guyana who escapes) who returns to Paris and is reunited with half-brother who runs a charcuterie with his wife. The story, despite the apparent lack of plot, takes you through a journey of how people's reactions to a stranger in their town. The rumors that are spread, the complaints that are made, the love affairs that are kindled- all by this one stranger in their town!

And if you like a book that includes food as a major part of the story- this one is definitely for you.

Read it- today!

Two thumbs from me...

Don't be sick and bored

 

Image sourced from here

 

This was a few weeks ago when I was out under the weather...

When you are sick and bored

you make resolutions

when you make resolutions, you decide not watch the tele

when you decide not to watch the tele, you go crazy and paint the wise guy's nails...

don't go crazy and paint the wise guy's nails, don't be sick and bored....

Wonder how many of you watch as much TV as I do to get the reference :)

PS just kidding about painting the wise guy's nails :)

7 am arivu- makes me feel like a genius!

read as ஏழாம் அறிவு (seventh sense)- a movie by people with absolutely no sense/arivu.

We watched it simply because we were told that it was a decent movie, better than many of the recent times. But everything about that movie made me cringe in my own skin- the actors (Surya and the female history-genetics-public health- know it all PhD student whose name I don't care to know!), their acting, the screenplay, the plot, the songs- everything!

A misguided sense of regionalism/, misrepresented scientific facts...tch tch tch. Was it meant to be a sci-fi or was it meant as a Tamil propaganda film? Pick one people- do not confuse the two and hope that the audience would be fooled. For all the grandiose Tamil psenti they put- the female-know it all PhD student whose name I don't care to know could not even speak a word without some sort of a strange accent.

Serioulsy these movie makers think that we are stupid and we will pay real good hard earned money to watch such s*!# in a movie theater. Well we are not that stupid, or are we?

They did not even pretend to make an effort to know what the hell they were talking about in the first place- the female whose name I don't care to know could actually see the 3-d helical structure of DNA under a really low power microscope! Yeah she would make a credible geneticist- lets send her to Mars- may be she could make a few of her own clones and stay there FOREVER! Possibly even take Surya, the producer, the director and most importantly the screen play writer (or who ever wrote the damn story) with her!

PS In defense of tamil movies, we did watch two movies that were not so bad afterall- Azhagarsamiyin Kuthirai (Azhagarsami's horse) and Kadhalil sodhapuvadhu eppadi (how to mess up in love)

Onward we march

Our next stop along with a lovely couple from Cambridge, MA: Moab, Utah

We stayed at the quaint Red Cliffs Lodge- I mean it was right by the Colorado river and with all the snow that was melting, it was quite a dirty sight (literally the river was all muddy and brown; bringing down all that it could on its way!). We spent two days at this lodge.

We have been to arches before but it such a huge park- we clearly had not seen everything and if you have not already- you must definitely visit the fragile landscape arch.

As much as I hate heights- the canyoneering experience totally rocked!

This is where the nice couple had to return to work, while we still had a long way to go- oh did I mention- our final destination was San Diego.
If you are the kind that likes rugged individuals in cowboy hats and boots that say little but shoot a lot....you have then definitely seen "the monument valley"- home to a lot of western movies!

Well, that was our last stop in the Utah-Arizona border.  But we are not in San Diego yet, are we?

Where have I been?

WARNING: PHOTO HEAVY!


It is going to be almost an year since my last post- since June 2011 it has been a roller coaster ride with many trips culminating in Houston, Texas. We bid Cambridge, MA an adieu, packed our bags and left for our first stop (well, my first stop)- Boulder, CO by air.
 

 

 

A visit with a dear friend was something I definitely needed after a hectic month of packing, entertaining, and saying goodbyes. I love Boulder- a quaint little city surrounded my snow-top mountains. Nothing gets more idyllic than this, does it?

I even managed to spend a day in Denver- a trip to the Botanical garden and then of course some shopping.

My next stop was Colorado Springs- to join the wise guy who was attending his big annual conference. I got to literally not do anything or even think about anything remotely useful- complete mindlessness. Between sessions at the conference- the wise guy was nice enough to hang out with me.  We paid a visit to the Garden of Gods, and Pikes Peak (apparently one of the 53 14ers in Colorado- from my trusted source), no we did not hike up the mountain- we took a train ride up top with a bunch of friends. And of course there is always food to talk about (but I will probably resist it just because I cannot seem to remember much about the details!). The conference ended with a group lunch at Giuseppe's Old Depot Restaurant (of course the wise guy's group).

Now now- you thought the trip ended there didn't you? There is more- and I promise I will post more photos real soon. Till then sayonara folks

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.