The Namesake - The book

I didn't read this book for very long, cause i have this fear of "literary acclaimed" books..they sometimes tend to be too profound or too crazy for my tastes. So i put off reading it for a long time.

Then they decided to go make a movie about it.
And the posters and trailors kept flying at my face...
and i inevitably became aware of the story...
And it didn't seem bizarre...it didn't seem crazy.

It seemed like a simple straightforward story.
So i decided to take the plunge...

Here's my take on it.

Its a beautiful story.
Its a simple story..
And its a fantastically well written story...
It tugs at your heart strings on every single page.

Its about a boy growing up
Its about a generation gap

Its about a new born baby,
The mother telling the father, " The fingers and toes are all there...I checked"

Its about a mother playing with her little baby
Its about learning to feed the baby and change the nappies
Its about stepping out of the house with the baby for the first time
Its about strangers smiling at you when you walk with your baby.

Its about a little boy holding his tiny baby sister for the 1st time.

Its about eating payash and sweet yogurt ( mishti dahi) as dessert when guests come over
Its about loochis and rice and potatoes

Its about when they come to India,
A younger sister holds her elder brother Gogol's hand
and says, "I'm afraid, Goggles"

Its about grandparents deaths
Its about visiting relatives houses
Its about sitting with the kids watching TV while the adults talk outside

Its about wanting space and independence
About living in 3 different houses in as many years...
but never being quite sure which home is

Its about...
No matter which country you live in
Or which school you went to or which language you think in....
Or no matter how much you grow up or how far away you live..
Some ppl will always remain Ma and Baba

Its about that guilty feeling when you live far away
And cannot do anything when someone back home falls ill or dies.

Its when your mom lives alone at home
And you are too busy to make it there on weekends

Its about realizing that many of things you mocked and made fun of while growing up
Sometimes are the only things that make sense

Its about being separate from your parents lives
Its about your mother having all your phone numbers and addresses written down in her diary.

Its about detesting your pet name
But missing it every once in a while...

Its about wanting to be a part and yet be apart

Its Gogol Ganguli's story
Its your story and mine...

Just a Clarification: The above is about the book, not the movie. Though the movie is good too. But I'm a bookslut. So that was my take on it.
Recommendation:Read the book before you watch the movie. It'll help you appreciate the movie better.

Ok..so i am in a senti mood...

Got this mail...I know its cliched..i know its a often received forward...i know i should curse it..
but im in a senti mood..and it brings back good memories...so here it is:

"Celebration means......
Four friends.
Bahar barsaat.
Four glasses of beer.

Celebration means......
Hundred bucks of petrol.
A rusty old bike.
And an open road.

Celebration means......
Maggi noodles.
A hostel room.
4.25 a.m.

Celebration means......
3 old friends.
3 separate cities.
3 coffee mugs.
1 internet messenger.

Celebration means......
Rain on a hot tin roof.
Pakoras deep-frying.
Neighbours dropping in.
A party.

Celebration means......
You and mom.
A summer night.
A bottle of coconut oil.
A head massage.

My basic matter is going crazy

So lets see if i remember this correctly...

Every animate and inanimate object is made up of molecules.
Molecules are made of atoms.
Atoms are made of electrons...
OK, I know that there are smaller bits of matter..
but i don't remember them and besides i like these electrons..so lets just stick to them....

So these electrons that my body is made up of.....

GAWD DAMN IT! They are going crazy!!!

I feel like every single electron in my body is in some hyper excited state.
I can actually feel them jumping about..visiting the different orbits...going berserk basically!

Last night as I lay on my bed, trying to relax my body so that I could fall asleep...
I could feel all the electrons getting ready to party!

Every single particle in my body was tingling with excitement.
My heart was beating faster.

I felt massively, unfathomably happy.
I don't know why I am feeling this way now-a-days.
I am irrationally exuberant. I smile and grin all the time!!!

I smile to myself as I go to sleep
I am grinning to myself in the bus on my way to work
I work for 14 hours and go home...my energy levels are still at an all time high
I feel like singing and dancing...
(and this is normally at around 11-12 at night...so i apologise to anybody i might have disturbed)

For those who are having a difficult time understanding this..let me give you an example...
(I have heard) it is similar to the feeling you have when you meet someone new, you just start going around, you are falling in love.
You walk around the whole day with a huge grin plastered on your face.
You smile at arbid people.
Try, as you like, you can't stop smiling.

That's how I am.
Except,
I am NOT in love.
I have NOT met anybody.
I'm NOT going around!
I have what you called a non-existent personal/love life.

But,
I'm high! I'm high! I'm high!
I can't help it!
I'm just going crazy!
I can't stop smiling
I don't know why,
but I'm high, high, high!

OK..so i have lost it...

My basic matter is going crazy...and...
"I am loving it!"

Cheers baby!

P.S: I am knocking on wood as I write this...

B&W Photography...

Ok...So i'm a sucker for B&W photography. Of almost anything.

It has certain charm to it that gets robbed with colours. Ofcourse a b&w photo with just one object in colour is out of this world....such as the one given here

So I'm currently totally in love with b&w photography.
Well actually I have always loved it.
I think I should seriouslly do something about it.

Found this awesome site NYCLONDON.COM
Its a collection of B&W photographs of obviously NYC and London.
They look so yummy.
Me thinks I need to so something similar.

You walk away...

I want to reach out
I want to find you
I want to touch your soul
But you walk away…

I want to hold your hand
But you’ve curled it
Into a fist
Oh you walk away

I want to find that smile
I want to hear that laugh
But you hide yourself
You walk away

I want to see that twinkle
In your eyes
I want to hear that passion
In your voice

But you run, You hide
You go away
You walk away
You walk away

I want to find in you,
The you I know
But I see you standing away alone
You walk away
You walk away

I wait by the door
To see you return
I know you will
I know you must

But whenever I think
I see you turn around,
You’re only looking
To check your ground

I feel that you are reaching out
As I raise my head to call out to you
You hide, You run,
You go away

You walk away
You walk away.

What Colour is your brain?

Your Brain is Purple

Of all the brain types, yours is the most idealistic. You tend to think wild, amazing thoughts. Your dreams and fantasies are intense.Your thoughts are creative, inventive, and without boundaries. You tend to spend a lot of time thinking of fictional people and places - or a very different life for yourself.

What Color Is Your Brain?

Half-full beer glass

If it aint a happy ending, then the story aint over yet...
Its called being an unrealistic optimist...

You aren't one of those whos meant to bear the pushes and shoves of fate
You are of those who take fate by the scruff of its neck
Take it to the corner and say, "look here dude...
Stop messing around with my life...this aint your playground..back off"

So go... yell at fate, my friend, and tell it to shut its trap!

I don't know you too long
And I don't know you too well
But I know enough to know,
If its a fairytale
Then you aint the dwarf

Brace yourself
Tomorrow is going to hit you
Good tomorrows, great tomorrows
Better days and better times

Heres to hoping all your wishes coming true
Heres to the hope of being in the right place at the right time
Heres to good health, love, luck and a full-on kick-ass to fate
Heres to a half-full beer glass.
What the heck!
Hope your beer glass runneth over.

Hic. TC.

I love God's Debris

Avatar's Gyan... (God's Debris - Scott Adams) Read it here

“People think they follow advice but they don’t. Humans
are only capable of receiving information. They create their
own advice. If you seek to influence someone, don’t waste
time giving advice. You can change only what people know,
not what they do.”

“The best you can hope for in a relationship is to find
someone whose flaws are the sort you don’t mind. It is
futile to look for someone who has no flaws, or someone
who is capable of significant change; that sort of person
exists only in our imaginations.”


“Conversation is more than the sum of the words. It is
also a way of signaling the importance of another person by
showing your willingness to give that person your rarest
resource: time. It is a way of conveying respect. Conversation
reminds us that we are part of a greater whole, connected in
some way that transcends duty or bloodline or commerce.
Conversation can be many things, but it can never be useless.”

MBA

"It sounds as if you’re trying to replace the word willpower with two new words in the hope that I will think it’s a new thought.”...Avatar in God's Debris

MBA anyone?