Wednesday, June 11, 2008

The 3 mistakes of my life, Chetan Bhagat

This one is a delightful read. His best so far. It has all the ingredients that make it a must read - simple but interesting story line, realistic characters, humor, drama, thrill/ action, facts, insights into political situation in India, romance, suspense... It's wholesome entertainment. This one would make a great movie. I've already figured out the cast: Shahid Kapur as business-minded, mathematics genius Govind, Kunal Kemu as Ish who is hot-headed, passionate about cricket and bravely fights to save Ali's life and Tushar Kapoor as gullible and kind-hearted Omi. I absolutely loved it.

One of the events this book touches upon is the burning of the train carrying kar-sevaks in Godhra and the subsequent riots in Gurajat. This brought back the fear i felt when i read about similar events in The Source. It's scary how 'normal' people could turn into cold-blooded mass-murderers when provoked.

What i like most about his style is he writes in simple English, unlike some of the other Indian authors who use such 'heavy' words and metaphors that you have to keep reaching out for the dictionary/ read a sentence multiple times to comprehend it's meaning. E.g., Arundati Roy's 'God of small things'

I wonder why his books are priced so low though... this one is priced at Rs.95 only

Saturday, June 07, 2008

Brida, Paulo Coelho

In Brida, Coelho establishes that God exists, we can experience him in all things around us, we are all born for a purpose and only God knows what that purpose is. We just have to keep faith in Him and follow His lead. Tradition of the Sun & Moon teach you how to know God's will & live your destiny. Tradition of the Sun advocates conscious living & meditation (concept discussed in The Alchemist) to connect with the universe/ invisible world. Tradition of the Moon (witchcraft, discussed in Brida) is about communing with the invisible world thru' rituals, time & space travel, talking to spirits and so on. All that is fine. But there's one part that didn't make sense to me...

It says that everyone has a soulmate (sometimes you may meet more than one soulmate in a lifetime) and we are all looking for our soulmate coz only then can we experience true happiness. Further it goes on to say that people with higher level of consciousness can recognize their soulmate by special light in the other person's eye or light on the left shoulder. Rest of us ordinary people have to rely on intuition. So far so good. In Brida's story, The Magus (teacher of the Tradition of the Sun) breaks up with his girl friend whom he loves very much because she's not his soulmate (no light in eyes/ left shoulder). He spends many years waiting for his soulmate and finally when she (Brida) comes along and both of them recognize that they are soulmates, he lets her go because she's in not in love with him but with another man who's not her soulmate. And then he consoles himself saying that he'll meet someone else and fall in love again. Duh!

Anyways, it was a interesting read...

Friday, June 06, 2008

Sex And The City

It was a bad bad movie... complete let down. I had expected it to be like the TV series - lot of fun girl talk, dating mishaps and a touch of emotions. But what i got was whole lot of emotional crap... it was tiring to watch Carrie mope around half the time... Imagine Samantha controlling her libido and being stuck in a relationship in which she's not getting enough of 'it'... that's so not her... There was very little city and no sex at all... Oh, wait a second... Actually, there was sex - a puppy humping stuffed toys and pillows... You get the idea... The only bright spot was the charming Mr.Big... He hasn't aged as much as the others.

Monday, June 02, 2008

Zoya, Danielle Steel

It's a interesting read. The story starts off very well with Russian Revolution and First World War as the backdrop. But then it fizzles out. The problem is it tries too hard to capture the impact of all the major events of 20th century (the Russian Revolution, World Wars and the Great Depression) on the protagonist's life, as a result of which the story moves in high-low-high-low pattern. You've got a heroine who finds 'true' love with one too many men and gets a lucky break every time her life hits rock bottom. You don't fall in love with Zoya like you do with Scarlett O Hara of Gone with the wind.

High point of the story is the sneak peek into the life of Russian nobility before and after the Russian Revolution - apparently those who managed to escape alive emigrated to Europe and made a living by driving taxis and doing other menial jobs - and the sad execution of the Tsar and his family. Depressing.