Ruskin Bond

Ruskin Bond has a very special place in my heart. I guess, I was in my 7^th standard when I read the short story The Woman on Platform No.8 in my English Textbook. Of which I could remember every single detail because the language he spoke was so clear and straight from the heart. Also, I could relate to that story. As children, we were always warned about suspicious strangers who offer food or chocolates, and if we accept them that would be the death of us. As a kid, I was always intrigued by this because I have never seen a stranger who offered chocolates to me did any harm to me. They were all sweet to me and I felt it’s just parents trying to be overly cautious of others. I mean, how bad it is to live in a world where you can’t trust each other? How can you live in a society, among people, who you always have to doubt? Isn’t it better to leave that society instead of NOT living in peace or making peace with others?

‘I like strangers’ are the exact words to which I can relate to.

I have never seen any author who writes so candidly and makes me feel refreshed every time I finish a story. I’m so glad to have read Ruskin Bond’s books.

X Square - Book Review

X Square by Srinu Pandranki

Angelina, a tall and slim girl with an athletic body is an aspiring writer at Stanford University likes to keeps her options open when coming to committing in a relationship. She was found dead in her apartment.

Gayatri Prasad, an Indian mother with a loving husband and a handsome boy categorized herself in ‘happily married’. She was found dead, has been pushed off her balcony.

Anne Martin, a French girl, possessing an angel-like beauty. She loved America right from the second she got off the plane at L.A. Airport. She looked forward to discover the adventures which lay ahead of her in this beautiful city. She was found dead, and brutally raped.

Shreya Dutt, a head strong, tough homicide detective and Kevin Holmes, who gave up his job as a detective to find some peace in his life was dragged into solve these crimes.

X-square is a novel which takes on the Emotional Intelligence which human beings lack. This story holds the suspense for a long time. Un-putdownable(if there is any word like that). The relevance of the title to this book itself is a shocking twist.

I would recommend this book to people who want to have a good crime-mystery read. Although this book has some grammatical errors, it wouldn’t interject with your reading.

I'm a pigeon.

My mom has this habit of feeding sparrows and pigeons. So, I suggested her to tie a small bowl to our window sill, so that birds can come daily and have their food. She did. I love watching how those pigeons fight one another to fit on that window sill and have their tasteless seeds (don’t they get bored of same food?). Few birds wait in a row for their turn to have lunch. I really mean it, I saw few birds waiting for another bird to finish its lunch and it was the most magical thing I ever saw.

Order.

They follow unwritten rules to keep the peace among themselves. Isn’t that beautiful?

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So, today evening something has happened which is both beautiful and sad simultaneously. How? Lemme narrate this and I hope you have enough patience to listen.

My dad caught one pigeon with his bare hands for me. It’s his one way to show love towards me, also, amusing himself when he gets bored stiff. I was shocked to see that helpless pigeon struggling to get out of my dad’s firm grip. Its beautiful fluffy grey feathers all over the floor (how many days will it take for a full-grown feather? Is that time worthy of my dad’s time pass thing?). I asked him not to hold so tight fearing about its breathing function and its tiny stomach (eh?). My mom was suddenly so enthusiastic to hold it, and me, I was SO goddamn afraid that I’m making the bird afraid of our presence. What will it think about us? Will it think we are bad people? Will it come back again to the same place for food? Did we break its heart by taking away its freedom for few minutes in order to entertain ourselves? So many questions about its freedom. Finally, I can’t help but touch its soft feathers and pet it and say sorry like a million times in my head that my dad caught it to show it to me. I felt sorry that I made it uncomfortable by clipping its wings which are not supposed to. I’m afraid I have made it think “This is it. This is where I die”. Isn’t that a horrible thing to think, if at all it thinks?

After some time, dad decided to tie it with some thread to see how it will behave. My mom brought some of that tasteless seeds worrying about whether it ate properly or not (of course, that bird won’t eat forcibly and I’m pretty sure its appetite is dead by now).

After we tied, it is still trying to free itself and fly away. But, how can you little Jo? (I named it ‘Jo’)

I then started asking questions to her (in my mind, of course).

Do you now understand how it is to be like me in this house? Legs tied and wings clipped?

Do you understand how it feels to be force fed?

How it feels when someone uses you to entertain themselves?

Do you now understand how LUCKY YOU are when compared to me?

After some time, my mom started worrying about that we are worrying the pigeon in this hot weather. So, dad untied its legs to let it fly away and opened the window.

To my surprise, it didn’t fly right away. I thought it would be gone in a Nano-second after we untie it. 

But, no.

It was standing on the sill. Looking or observing something, or may be waiting for its friends or some unknown pigeon to narrate what just happened to it, so that other pigeons will be warned not to come this way to have food anymore (I was afraid about that!). May be it is observing the location not to come this way the next time. On a positive note, I also thought it didn’t think bad about us after all, may be it believed that we won’t do any harm to it since we fed it all these months (I was relieved but anxious).

When I stopped looking and turned my head, it flew away as if it saw something or someone. I wonder if the same pigeon is going to come this way again. Will it dare so?

I guess not.

--

As much as I think about this pigeon, it reminds me of ME, in Delhi. When I had absolute freedom to do things which I always wanted to do. But, now, I can’t.

I’m exactly like that pigeon. It’s both beautiful and sad simultaneously.

20 Questions - II

1.  What is the last thing you thought about?

I was crying thinking about how my parents didn’t celebrate my first birthday and I don’t have any memories of that age. I don’t remember celebrating any birthday like my friends did with all their relatives, balloons, and cake. I only remember one birthday where I went to a photo studio with mom in my favorite white dress.

Isn’t it sad to know that when you look back and realize you didn’t make many memories to cherish?

2. Do you regret anything?

Oh yes! Many things. One among them is, I couldn’t bring those awesome characters from my favorite novels to life.

3. Do you prefer revenge or just pure jealousy/envy?

I sometimes imagine myself as the heroines in Sidney Sheldon’s books. Especially, like Noelle in The Other Side of Midnight where I am hell bent on taking a revenge for what was done to me when I didn’t deserve to be treated that way. So, yeah, definitely revenge.

4. Would you rather go to a party or out of town?

Not a party person. You’d definitely find me sitting on a chair, all alone, staring at my phone screen for no reason if am in a party. Out of town sounds cool.

5. Are you slowly drifting away from someone close?

Yes, I am. It’s a painful process.

6. When was the last time you held someone’s hand?

Hahaa. Sad question.

7. Who can you tell everything to?

I don’t think I have a person in my life who knows EVERY SINGLE THING about me. I’m afraid, I’ll be a burden to them.

8. Missing someone right now?

None.

9. What’s the seventh text message in your inbox say?

Message from IRCTC. Your Tkt Cancelled. PNR, 4632405290, Amt 1160 will be refunded in your account.

10.  Last time you had butterflies in your stomach?

When I left Bangalore last time. And I know I will regret that moment in future.

11. Who/What would you like to see right now?

Sunset. Beach. Sitting in the sand with my best friend and just staring at the waves as the sun sinks into the horizon.

12.   Is there an empty place in your heart?

Yeah, well. I don’t know that myself.

13.   Do you count down the days till anything?

Right now, counting days till my college starts.

14.   What are your chances of getting with your crush?

I have many crushes. I don’t think I have a chance with them in near future.

15.   When was the last time you laughed so hard you thought you were going to cry?

Today. Message by my friend which was hilarious! :)

16.   What color are your eyes?

Black. I would loooove to have light brown eyes.

17.   What always makes you feel better when you’re upset?

Left alone with my thoughts.

18.   Name three things you would not tolerate in a relationship?

Taking my gestures/love for granted, nagging, overly possessive.

19.   What famous person(s) would you like to have dinner with?

Ruskin Bond, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Elon Musk, Osho, Ayn Rand.

20.   What is the best part of traveling?

Staring out the window and thinking about how beautiful life is! 

Perks of being a single child

Things I’m clearly not allowed to do:

Watch movies in theatre.

Read novels.

Chatting with strangers.

Talking with friends more than 20 mins.

Coming to home after 5pm.

Friendship with boys.

Riding a bike.

Spending money on clothes/food.

Going to tours with friends.

Don’t die all of a sudden.

Things I must do:

Breathe.

Eat.

Study.

Sleep.

So, what if I do things which I’m not supposed to do?

House arrest until I change. Mom escorts me to shop even when I want to buy a small pen or pencil.

--

And yes, I did things which am not supposed to and I got the punishment I mentioned above.

--

Perks of being a single child, nice no?

Will you judge me for being online on social media for 24/7?

Monday Morning

I wrote this piece of fiction for my friend as an assignment 3 years ago. The assignment is about describing things around the subject in detail. I hope you like it.

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The morning sun was coming through the window behind her, falling on the pink flowers of the hibiscus plant that sat on the sill. She was resting on a rocking wooden chair with a book in one hand and a coffee cup in another, sipping the coffee as she flips through the pages of her recent favourite novel. She wore a navy blue poplin sweatshirt over gray sweatpants, looking, at thirty-three, like the type of woman she’d once claimed she would never resemble.

After a while, when she finished her cup of coffee, she walked to the door to see how the weather is. It’s a warm, cloudless sky with sun shining in its brightest way possible. On mornings after a party, she becomes too lazy to wash her face, too eager to have a cup of coffee so that she could enjoy the peace in her house.

She made a sigh of satisfaction, welcoming the warm sun rays to touch her face and feet. After a moment, she stepped back, hands on her hips and made another sigh looking at her room which was messy from the party last night.

Her eyes scanned through the room. She found birthday caps scattered on the floor, balloons touching the roof, half-finished coke tins, empty champagne bottles, crunches of muffins on the plates, scented candles still burning. She is still amazed looking at the presents piled upon the cherry wood table from one end to the other.

Discarding all this clutter with a heavy sigh, she made her way through the kitchen and ate a piece of chicken out of the tray on the counter. For a few minutes, she was lost in her thoughts and then she spotted a crate of champagne resting on the edge of the counter. It was an extra one she bought just in case and found that all the bottles were unopened. She walked on the wooden floor which makes creaking sound with each step and put the crate in the refrigerator.

A bird came out of the wall clock making a cuckoo-sound; it was now 8:00 AM. She grabbed a towel to have a shower and get ready to face another Monday morning at her job.

-- 

Palace of Illusions - Review

Palace of Illusions – Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Re-telling of the timeless tale ‘Mahabharat’, the story of Draupadi which is often not heard by most people. Guess who is the narrator? Draupadi, Daughter of Drupad, Princess of Panchaal, and widely known as wife of five husbands, Panchaali.

Divakaruni gave a powerful voice to Draupadi in this book, with all her joys in little things, her lonely childhood, her struggles and her triumphs, and the un-answered questions, the enduring pain and the revenge she seeks for what was done to her. Through all the complex emotions and doubts in her heart, Draupadi keeps you engaged with this story in her Palace of Illusions.

The story starts on a lazy winter afternoon, with her nurse, Dhai Ma telling about her fiery birth. Apparently, King Drupad was praying only for a son, but he was gifted beyond what he asked for. As her brother, Dristadyumna stepped out of fire, after few minutes of cheering and celebrations, there comes the Girl Who Wasn’t Invited. She amuses herself by making fancy names for herself such as Off-spring of Vengeance, the Unexpected One. She was as dark as her brother was fair, as hasty as he was calm. And the gods said, “She will change the course of history.” Thus, the first steps to the epic battle Kurukshetra were laid.

This book centrally focuses on women which are not often discussed or who weren’t given much part in the tales of our history. For instance, there was Kunti who was widowed and struggles all through her life to see her sons become Kings and that they get what they deserve. There was Gandhari, who was blindfolded for rest of her life as she was devoted to her sightless husband, thus abandoning her power as queen and mother. And then, there was Panchaali, King Drupad’s beautiful daughter. By her headstrong nature, she brings about the destruction of the Third Age of Man. However, these women were seldom portrayed as important characters in our history and often misunderstood by most of the people.

Divakaruni brings about the roles which these women played in changing the course of our history and the importance which they deserved. Her writing style is very grippy, and she doesn’t go astray from the actual story of Mahabharat.

Read the tale of Draupadi, her lonely childhood, love for her beloved brother, complicated friendship with the enchanting Krishna, her unfortunate marriage with five husbands, her secret affection on Karna – the tragic hero, her failure as a mother, and be welcomed into her entrancing

Palace of Illusions.

Little Women - Review

Little Women – Louisa May Alcott

A family drama set in 1860’s during American Civil War where men folk are engaged in fighting for their country, whilst the women and children are anxiously waiting for their return and silently praying for their good health.

Little Women is about four girls, struggling with poverty and yet trying to find joy in little things which they come across. Mrs. March and her four daughters Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy will engage you with their virtues, down-to-earth behaviour, and their supportive and caring nature despite their poverty.

Meg, a practical and sensible girl. Being a teenager, she dreads the unfortunate financial problems in her family which doesn’t allow her to buy new clothes every now and then. Yet, she makes most out of what she has and doesn’t throw tantrums, always supportive to her mother. 

Jo, full of joy and fun. She always finds a way to cheer herself and her sisters in the direst situations. Being a tom boy in her family, she surely stands out among her sisters. Jo is a writer by heart but a sweet heart by nature. 

Beth, sweet girl and has a musical talent. She can make you angry through her childish nature, also she can surprise you with the love she showers on her pretty doll and on an unfortunate child who died in her hands. 

Amy, the youngest of all and artistic by nature. Always trying to be sincere in her actions and trying to be lady-like.

All four girls are downright adventurous and fun. Mrs. March makes sure that her daughters are brought up with important lessons in their lives, also making sure not to be so hard upon them. The four girls eventually make friends with a boy in their neighborhood and play innocent games, start writing a newsletter which includes excerpts and poems, opens a small post office which carries heart-warming letters.

This book makes sure that young readers unfailingly identify themselves with each of its characters, and the story always succeeds in drawing the grown-ups into the beautiful spring-time. 

A classic book which cannot be missed and you wouldn’t feel like parting away with these

Little Women.

And Then There Were None - Review

And then there were none – Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie was rightly given the title ‘Queen of Crime’. Let me write a poem which is a key factor in this book of hers.

Ten little soldier boys went out to dine;

One choked his little self and then there were Nine.

Nine little soldier boys sat up very late;

One overslept himself and then there were Eight.

Eight little soldier boys travelling in Devon;

One said he’d stay there and then there were Seven.

Seven little soldier boys chopping up sticks;

One chopped himself in halves and then there were Six.

Six little soldier boys playing with a hive;

A bumble bee stung one and then there were Five.

Five little soldier boys going in for law;

One got in Chancery and then there were Four.

Four little soldier boys going out to sea;

A red herring swallowed one and then there were Three.

Three little soldier boys walking in the Zoo;

A big bear hugged one and then there were Two.

Two little soldier boys sitting in the sun;

One got frizzled up and then there was One.

One little soldier boy left all alone;

He went and hanged himself

And then there were None.

Frank Green, 1869.

Christie brilliantly laced the plot such that it goes according to the nursery poem which I’ve written above. Ten people, who are strangers among themselves were invited as weekend guests on a private island. The assortment of those strangers was very curious considering their diverse backgrounds. So, they were taken to this isolated island which was cut off from the rest of the world and you could find only one house in the entire island. Everyone were wondering about their guest, but no one ends up receiving them except the already assigned butlers. They eventually make themselves comfortable for that night and hit the bed. The next day, they encounter such an incident that everyone in the room will be exposed of their dark secrets that no one wants to reveal by themselves.

By the end of the week, one by one, they fall prey to the murderer and then there will be none.

The atmosphere of the island was so described that you would feel as trapped as the people on that island itself feel. One beautiful thing about mystery novels is that we all try to be Sherlock Holmes during the course of reading a book, which makes us get so involved with it. This book offers you so much fun in finding out who the murderer was that it will be too difficult to point your fingers at just one person. It’s a delicious way to exercise your neurons. But don’t worry, there is an epilogue written at the end of the book which was brilliantly written by Christie.

The characters are very wisely developed all the way through the book. The plot was clean and neat, you’d be bewildered and horrified by the perfectionism that Christie achieved in murdering the people on the island.

This is one Christie’s outstanding work and a masterpiece. A delight to mystery lovers.

   

Remember?

Remember?

Those long calls

Comfortable silences

Heartfelt laughs

Remember?

Refraining yourself to call

Those tacit feelings

Pain of the weeping heart

Remember?

The plans you made together for your future

The long walks holding each other

The moments when you forgot that you both were two different people

Remember?

The endless tears which drenched your pillow

The lonely nights and haunting days

The melancholy of life

Remember?

The unrequited love (?)

Finding Juliet - Review

“Maybe this is why we read, and why in moments of darkness we return to books: to find words for what we already know.” 

― Alberto Manguel

This quote is as true as it can get while reading this book! Have you had break-ups and patch-ups all your college life? Have you had that one friend who doesn’t leave your side no matter what? Have you had an almost complete stranger listening to your heart breaks as you drink few shots of Vodka?

Well, Finding Juliet is all about YOU relating to every event happened in your life as a young adult. There is this graduate student who falls in love (or, may be, trying to Find his Juliet?) not as a matter-of-fact but without having nothing but the desire to be truly in love with a girl.

From his college days to his office days, he never ceases to fall in love with a girl (or, may be, trying to find true love?) he comes across. But, with every break-up he has, he tries to learn few things about a girl, few do’s and few do-not’s, few life lessons which will change his life, forever.

I think I can safely make an Alchemist reference after reading this book. You go on looking for treasure elsewhere, when in actuality, it is right under your roof.

(Well, in this case, the treasure is love)

What I actually mean by this reference? You must definitely read this book to find out and I guarantee you that you’ll relate to every incident this guy goes through while trying to find his Juliet.

Likes –

My favourite character in this book is that constant friend to the guy who is trying to find his Juliet. Her perseverance, her emotional strength, her unconditional love towards her friend, and what not! She is like this perfect friend you would love to have beside you! (Believe you me, I know you can relate to this character as much as I did).

Dislikes –

The narration part, I found it difficult to get used to it since its like just reciting lines from a personal diary of a guy. But, nonetheless, after 100 pages into the book, I got totally hooked up to the story and the narration didn’t matter anymore. I also thought, there could be more humour added in the book.

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But, which book isn’t without any flaws? For a budding author, I guess the author did a pretty good job at hooking me up to the story TILL the end! (The climax was amazing, I say!).

I suggest this book if you want a quick read, if you’re fond of young-adult romantic story, or pick this up while you’re on a long train/bus journey and I’m sure it will make you feel nostalgic about your college days!

Rating: 3/5

Note: The book is available on the Juggernaut Books App. You can get it here.