Book Review of 'Brahmahatya'

BOOK- BRAHMAHATYA
AUTHOR- RAJIV MITTAL
FORMAT- E-BOOK

BLURB-

A story of revenge and redemption and deeds shaped by forces that humans believe they have defined through mythology and scriptures but still struggle to understand.

A woman employee of a retirement home is shocked to discover that a new resident is in fact the son impersonating his father. The son is seeking revenge. She, by her past actions, is unwittingly complicit in his being there and now tries to thwart his peculiar plans. A senile woman-resident and an enigmatic founder offer him sage advice. The samudra manthan (a major episode in Hindu mythology), a slightly dim secretary and a sinister boss play their part in ensuring justice is finally served but in an unexpected manner.


MY TAKE ON THE BOOK-

“Brahmahatya” as the title reveals it is the act of killing a Brahmin.

Ravi Narasimhan referred to as Ravi in the content is the son Naru sir (generally used in the book)

Ravi works in Dubai and is the only descendant of his family. His father is a lone man staying in an apartment connected to his son through a mobile phone. His father was quite old and remained ill most of the time. The hospitalization of his father brought Ravi Narasimhan back to his hometown Chennai from Dubai. After reaching his hometown, he went directly to meet his father. His father’s condition was unstable and meanwhile, he needed to go back Dubai soon to attend a meeting. Since time was less, he thought of enrolling his father in a retirement home so that someone would be there for taking care of his father along with helping him in certain activities.

He got information about GMR, which was a retiring home, from a doctor who was treating his father. He tried to enroll his father there, but to his fate, the admission of his father in GMR wasn’t possible because of some medical regimen. His father wasn’t stable and that was the reason he had to take his steps back from GMR.

With the last hope, he went to “Blessing” which was yet an old age home where old people are taken care of. Somehow Ravi did his father’s admission there and went back to Dubai for his work.

One day, a sudden call from “Blessing” gave the news of his father’s death.

Ravi was fired from his job. And on that very day, he received a parcel informing that his father’s admission is approved by the committee of GMR.

Ravi was lost and didn’t know what to do.

Dr. Chari was the person who refused the admission of his father in the medical ground at GMR due to which he blamed Dr. Chari for the demise of his father.

Bhavna was a nurse at GMR, who used to take care of the people admitted in GMR. It was due to the fault of Dr. Chari, her daughter, Laxmi was born with cerebral palsy, which ruined her family and her husband.

Ravi, with no hope in life, acted the role of his father and took admission in GMR.

Mr. Kasturi was the founder of GMR, who was also a regular visitor in Ravi’s room. Kasturi handed over a book to Ravi which once was given by someone to him. What was that book about? To know more, read the book.

P.S.-The story has many turns and twists which eventually keeps a person engrossed in the story.

What happened at the climax was totally different from the initial chapters. Go through the book to resolve the tangled mystery in the book.

Overall rating- 4/5

Book Review of 'The Forty Rules of Love'

BOOK- THE FORTY RULES OF LOVE

AUTHOR- ELIF SHAFAK

PAGES- 350

BLURB-

Ella Rubinstein has a husband, three teenage children, and a pleasant home. Everything that should make her confident and fulfilled. Yet there is an emptiness at the heart of Ella’s life—an emptiness once filled by love.

So when Ella reads a manuscript about the thirteenth- century Sufi poet Rumi and Shams of Tabriz, and his forty rules of life and love, she is shocked out of herself. Turning her back on her family she embarks on a journey to meet the mysterious author of this work.

It is a quest infused with Sufi mysticism and verse, taking Ella and us into an exotic world where faith and love are heartbreakingly explored…

MY TAKE ON THE BOOK-

Firstly, the cover is really gorgeous and beautiful.

Secondly, if you are lost, looking for answers or if you want to read some philosophical writings I will suggest you this book

The Forty Rules of Love is a book full of wisdom and knowledge. It is a novel within a novel. Looking at the title of the book one may mistake it simply about rules of love between partners but it is something beyond that. It explores the love in friendship, family, religion and life.

 This book consists of two parallel narratives. The first one is Ella. A bored housewife who feels stalled despite her gracious suburban life in Northampton, Massachusetts. Her teenage children are growing away from her and her husband is distant and unfaithful. Ella’s new job as a reader for a literary agency introduces her to Sufism through a manuscript she is sent to read which had a life changing impact on her. And the second one is ‘Sweet Blasphemy’, set in 13^th century, which is about a wandering dervish Shams of Tabriz, a mystic Sufi who thinks he should find a companion to whom he can deliver his knowledge.

(Let me tell you the meaning of Blasphemy- here you can take it as disrespect or something that is wrong)

Building her whole life around her husband and children, Ella lacked any survival techniques to help her cope with life’s hardships on her own. She was not the type to throw caution to the wind. Even changing her daily coffee brand was a major effort.

Love came to Ella as suddenly and brusquely as if a stone had been hurled from out of nowhere into the tranquil pond of her life.

As the story unfolds, Ella finds herself mesmerized with the tale she is currently reading. She felt so engrossed with her work that she wanted to know about the characters more and more. That’s when she googled ‘A. Z. Zahara’ the author of the book she was to write a report on. And to her surprise a personal blog appeared. The blog was titled ‘An Eggshell Named Life’ she found pictures of different places and underneath one photo it read:

No matter who we are or where we live, deep inside we all feel

Incomplete. It’s like we have lost something and need to get it back. Just

 what that something is, most of us never find out. And of those who do,

even fewer manage to go out and look for it.

Ella scrolled up and down the webpage and that’s where she got the e-mail address of Aziz. She noted it down and after a few days of exchanging e-mails, it became more frequent. It was obvious from the novel that both of them were in the same page of love. But you never know what life is going to bring isn’t it?

Baba Zaman was the one who taught Sufism to Shams of Tabriz. Baba Zaman got a letter from a person which said he was looking for a companion of Rumi(Maulana Jalal-Uddin).

(At first I thought that Rumi is a female character in the book, but then I was wrong :D)

 Shams believed he had a special mission in this world, and to this end he wished to enlighten an enlightened person. Thus, when he got the permission from Baba Zaman if he could go for the mission, without thinking of any consequences he went forward to an unknown land of Konya.

The author nailed it narrating the ‘sweet blasphemy’ the way it was shown in many perspectives of Shams, sometimes a beggar, the zealot, Rumi, the prostitute or even the family of Rumi. The novel beautifully portrayed the love of Rumi for Shams and the hatred of the townspeople and Rumi’s family towards Shams.

Kimya didn’t deserve the sorrows. My heart really bled while reading her part. Kerra too was annoyed and not satisfied with the change that Rumi was having in him due to the influence of Shams.

Ella later abandons her family and follows the path with Aziz. But that happiness didn’t last long. Aziz died after almost two years and his body was buried at Konya, where he wished it would be.

What happened to Aziz? How did he die? You have to read the book to know the details.

Some of the lines I liked the most in this book-

•       The past is a whirlpool. If you let it dominate your present moment, it will suck you in.

•         Life is temporary loan and this world is nothing but a sketchy imagination of reality.

•        Love cannot be explained. It can only be experienced. Love cannot be explained, yet it explains all.

•         The past is an interpretation. The future is an illusion. The world does not move through time as if it were a straight line, proceeding from the past to the future. Instead time moves within us, in endless spirals.

•         In chess, just as life, there were moves you made because they were the right thing to do.

This book is something that will make you feel good. But again, it depends on the choice of your reading.

P.S.- This book won’t make you feel sad or low. Instead, it will make you stand in the sea of reality and teach you things that will provide you a sense of realization of everything that relates to you and your life.

 And yes, forty rules are there but they aren’t just the rules of love, it includes life, religion, patience and God.

Overall rating- 4.7/5

Book Review of 'STORIES WE NEVER TELL'

BOOK- STORIES WE NEVER TELL

AUTHOR- SAVI SHARMA

PAGES-207

BLURB:

There are stories we never talk about. Stories we are afraid to share. They simply hurt too much, or no one wants to listen to them.

Such is the story of Jhanvi, who is a budding social media influencer. She appears to have it all together, living her ideal life, but something is missing: Jhanvi has this impossible need that drives her to be more perfect than any person could possibly be.

And the story of Ashray, who had a rocky start in life. with hard work and determination, he translates his dreams into reality, but his deep-seated insecurities come to the fore when life throws him a curveball.

As the two stories intersect, their lives change in ways they never expected.

In a world of loss, darkness and destruction, will Jhanvi and Ashray be able to tell a story of hope, light and recovery?

MY TAKE ON THIS BOOK-

The title of the book appropriately go with the story.

‘Story we never tell’ is the story of Jhanvi and Ashray, and it starts with the heartbreak of Jhanvi, and Ashray’s new job.

Ashray was left on the steps of an orphanage when he was a baby. He never knew his parents or whoever it was who left him there in the orphanage. He was never allowed to grieve for the loss of his parents. He was an orphaned child and that was his reality.

Akshita, who was a widowed woman, visited the orphanage to fill her life with the love of children. Soon, Ashray and Akshita formed a bond which felt unbreakable. By the time Ashray was five, she adopted him and Ashray found a new Maa in her. Through the years, they worked through the internal pain and fears.

He(Ashray) met Sakshi when he was travelling by a train where he had a small conversation with her and somewhere deep inside he found himself attracted towards her.  Though he never found her on his train ride from his office or from his home, but destiny is great. After he got a new job, he along with his friend Rishi went to Goa Music Festival where he met Sakshi again. There they formed a good bond and continued to be together when they were back at Mumbai. He was deeply in love with her and was even prepared to marry her but then, one day Sakshi told him that she has to marry someone her parents have chosen for her and this breaks him.

After a few days, when he wasn’t even over with Sakshi, his mother has a heart attack and lands up in a hospital. And unfortunately she dies.

‘Life is fleeting, it is temporary, and it should be spent loving the people we choose to let into our life. Everyone who enters our life must leave it eventually. But how we choose to spend our time with them is entirely upon us.’  

The death of his mother gave him a total shock due to which he got admitted in the hospital his mother died because of his panic attack.

Jhanvi on the other hand, trying to be a perfectionist, kept posting her pictures to show people how beautiful her life was when inside she knew how she was living her life. She was so much addicted with alcohol and diet pills that one day she ends up lying unconscious on her floor. Kavya, her friend helped her in all the ways she could and later on tells her that she needs to visit a psychiatrist.

Ashray was told to visit the psychiatrist for his panic attacks.

It was at Dr. Shyam’s clinic both of them met each other and developed a bond. People in need tend to lean on each other, the wounded often seeking out other wounded.

According to Sr. Shyam, Jhanvi, always resistant as she is, was a challenge. Her need for perfection so deep-seated in her created identity that it was tough to get her to separate herself from her perceived reality. But eventually, she could change herself and that was an achievement.

Ashray, he was a proof that life is sometimes nothing more than a roll of the dice.  A game played by fate in which some win and some lose, but no one loses forever. Ashray needed to learn that losing didn’t mean that he was lost, and that winning was not defined by how much, or how little others loved him. For him, the sense of abandonment was formed in his core that will never be replaced. The best that he can do is to find a way to know without a shadow of a doubt that they do not have control over the actions of others.

At the end, Jhanvi and Ashray, two slightly damaged planks laid in opposite directions, bore the weight of their illness. They leaned on each other when the pressure was too much for one of them to handle, and they made it through by finding the one thing that every human being needs. Love.

Overall rating- 3/5

P.S.- It is a story of hope, light and recovery. A light read that can be completed in one go.

Book Review of 'WILL GRAYSON, WILL GRAYSON'

Book- WILL GRAYSON, WILL GRAYSON

Authors- JOHN GREEN & DAVID LEUITHAN

Pages-308

BLURB-

One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two strangers cross paths. Two teens with the same name, running in two very different circles, suddenly find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, culminating in heroic turns-of-heart and the most epic musical ever to grace the high-school stage.

MY TAKE ON THE BOOK-

To begin with the title, the title depicts a name and they are basically two names of two different person but ironically the name of both the individuals that the authors described in the novel is the same. 

The story goes along the narratives of Will Grayson who is straight, the other Will Grayson, who is depressed and Tiny Cooper (the world’s largest person who is really, really gay). Tiny is putting up a musical ‘Tiny Dancer’ for which he is very much energetic and optimistic about.

After reading the first few chapters I was so much confused thinking what was actually going on in this book. Because as you go on you will get to know there are two Will Grayson. And it’s difficult to keep a tract of who is who.

 It starts with them not knowing each other until their paths inevitably converge the night the first Will Grayson went to meet Isaac, his online friend but ended up meeting the Other Will Grayson(o.w.g)  and Tiny Cooper.

You can differentiate the two Will Grayson in this way. For one of them, the letters are small without any capitalization like-

me: i’m glad that you exist

tiny:  i’m glad to be existing with right now.

me: you have no idea how wrong you are about me.

tiny: you have no idea how wrong you are about yourself.

me: stop that.

tiny: only if you stop it.

me: i’m warning you.

While in the other Will Grayson, the words are capitalized, like this-

‘Five hundred channels and nothing’s on’

‘You get the day off?’ I ask.

‘I can always get someone to cover’ he says. ‘Always’

‘I’m okay,’ I say.

‘I know you are. I just wanted to be home with you, that’s all.’

I blink out some tears, but Dad has the decency not to say anything about it.

This is one way of differentiating Will Grayson from the other Will Grayson.

This generation knows the perks and curse of the internet unknown and fake social media which in the novel is pointed out. O.W.G(Other Will Grayson) is also shown how he ends up heartbroken knowing that his internet friend, Isaac was actually Maura. While the first Will Grayson’s love life is set up by his friend Tiny to Jane Turner.

Will Grayson after knowing that Maura was Isaac, stopped talking and paying any attention to her. although she came and begged and apologized to him, he didn’t pay any heed. But at the near ending of the novel, Will goes up to Maura and says that ‘look. i just want you to know that while i still think what you did was completely shitty to you, too. not in the elaborately shitty way that you were to me, but still pretty shitty. i should have just been honest with you and told you i didn’t want to talk to you or be your boyfriend or be your best friend or anything like that. i tried—i swear i tried. but you didn’t want to hear what i was saying, and i used that as an excuse to let it go on.’ ‘It wasn’t you I liked. It was Isaac’.

In this book, the authors used the trial and error thing so nicely that it really makes sense. In a part where the two Will Grayson were talking to each other, one of them says that ‘In my recent experience, I’d say hurt tends to drown out sorry.’ To which the other Will says that ‘I guess there’s a reason they don’t call it ’trial and success’.It’s just try-and-error’.

But then, somehow this trial and error is pessimistic and maybe that’s what it is most of the time. And that’s how you find ‘it’. Like try-error-try-error-it or may be try-error going on for 15 more times and then you get ‘it’. (it- meaning what you really want)

Tiny Cooper ties the lives of the two Will Grayson in the end which makes him a hero

.

This book is a book about love in all its forms. About falling in love, about falling out of love, about loving your family, your friends, about realizing that love does not equal sex and its okay to love platonically; it is about acceptance, love for oneself. Even if you are a gay or the biggest fat guy.   

P.S- This book describes about the things a teenager guy faces being a straight or a gay whichever he is.

P.S.S- I can’t say whether you would like this book or not because it truly depends if you are able to understand the authors point of view.

Overall Rating: 3.6/5

Book Review Of- 'LIFE'S AMAZING SECRETS'

BOOK- LIFE’S AMAZING SECRETS

AUTHOR- GAUR GOPAL DAS

PAGES-208

BLURB:

While navigating their way through Mumbai’s horrendous traffic, Gaur Gopal Das and his wealthy young friend Harry get talking, delving into concepts ranging from the human condition to finding one’s purpose in life and the key to lasting happiness.

So whether you are looking at strengthening your relationships, discovering your true potential, understanding how to do well at work or even how you can give back the world, Gaur Gopal Das will take you on an unforgettable journey with his precious insights on these areas of life.

MY TAKE ON THE BOOK:

Well, to begin with Gaur Gopal Das, I got to know him from one of his videos which was shared by one of my friend on facebook. And that was how I got to know this man. His lectures are amazing and his speeches are graceful. 

‘Experience is not what happens to a man, it is what a man does with what happens to him.’ It’s how we respond that makes all the difference. If there is one possession we have that is the most valuable and can truly transform our lives completely, it is our free will. We are the authors of our own life stories. Challenges and difficulties may fall upon us, just as the monsoon rains fall upon our head. They just come our way and we must choose how to respond.  This book is a pure motivation book, you can also call it a self-help book. It not only teaches you about your situations of life but also motivates you to take a step of your own.

Each chapter in this book start with a quotation, and that is one of the plus points of making it more attractive. Attractive always doesn’t mean fancy words or sketches; simple words and brevity are attractive too.

The entire book revolves around Harry, his wife and the author himself. This book talks about privilege, miscommunication, anger, journey, gratitude, distress, worry, spiritual practice, speaking sensitively and many more.

One of my most favourite part in this book-

People want to be the best, sometimes at any cost. When there are limited recourses and many takers, competition is natural. This is found in all domains of life. From music to sport and even of owning possessions. Competition is a tendency that occurs in nearly every ecosystem in nature.

But human beings are not just another species. They have the ability to cooperate and subscribe to higher values such as harmony, loyalty and trust. We compete with people who have the same skills or outlook in life as us. An engineer competes with another engineer, a musician with another musician and a doctor with another doctor. When another person’s skills have no bearing on our life, we really feel threatened. But if someone can outperform us by doing better in what we aspire to do, the base tendencies of competition can settle in.

We should imbibe the thought pattern of self-competition, rather than feeling insecure about others going ahead. We should be striving to do our very best to realize our dreams about our future selves. Not only will this help is keeping the mind free from insecurities but also this will help in becoming a better version of our own selves.

This book also talks about  one of the Japanese concept of Ikigai, which is understood to mean ‘a reason to live’ or may be having a purpose in life.

The author points out one more concept in this book which is ‘The ice cream, and the candle’. The ideology behind ice-cream is that: enjoy your life before it melts. It symbolizes hedonism; to savour every moment of the life through personal enjoyment. On the other hand, the candle symbolizes to give light before it melts. Both ice-creams and candles melt, but their reason for doing so are completely different. The candle is formed from wax. Its very essence is burnt to give light for other people to see. This is the selfless nature of a candle.

Some of the things that we can learn from the book-

-Do what you wish for, even when you know there will be fingers pointed at you for that.

-Do what makes you happy because you cannot make each and everyone happy.

-Do what makes you feel complete, because it will give you satisfaction.

Some of the quotations I liked the most-

•          ‘Truth is, I’ll never know all there is to know about you, just as you will never know all there is to know about me.’
•           ‘Forgiveness is a deep and often obscure value to understand.’
•           ‘It is strange that swords and words have the same letters. Even more strange is that they have the same effect if not handled properly.’
•           ‘When things are beyond your control and there is nothing you can do, why worry?’
•           ‘Having a friend to listen to your problems and discuss them with you is the beginning of finding a solution.’

Life is a challenge and yes, it is us who are at the charge of our own lives. Discover the secrets of your life and learn how to find balance and purpose in your life. Nobody is going to live your life for you. Just enjoy your life before it melts away.

Love your dear ones and tell them how much you love them because you don’t have the entire life for confessing it. Life is now, life is here. So don’t waste it and savour each and every moment of it…

P.S.- I just told Rashi di that I want to read this book and now here it is, in my hand. Thank you so much for this book.

P.S.S.- This book is just as amazing as its title. Read the book and I bet you won’t regret.

Overall rating- 4.8/5

Book Review Of 'All The Bright Places'

Book- All The Bright Places

Author- Jennifer Niven

Pages- 392

*Trigger- The story of a girl who learns to live from a boy who wants to die.

The story starts at the Bell Tower of the high school Finch was studying in. Finch, full name Theodore Finch starts his day thinking Is it a good day to die? Every morning he wakes up, this is the first thing he thinks.

Standing as high as a narrow ledge of six stories above the ground, he was thinking if it’s the time for him. He opens his eyes and the ground is still there, hard and permanent. Standing on the ledge of about four inches wide, he saw a girl on the bell tower when the guy from the ground turned his head from Finch towards another direction. That’s all it took for him to change his mind. She was Violet Markey

Mr. Embry was the counselor of Finch. He called him Embryo, (not loud enough that it can be heard but yes, in his mind). At the beginning, Finch needed to go once a week to Mr. Embry but later on that turned into twice a week. Monday and Friday.

Mrs. Marion Kresney, school counselor of Bartlett High was the one to whom Violet needed to go every Friday. Although she used to go there, the things she spoke there was a complete lie.

In school, the news of Violet, who by then became the hero for saving the life of Finch spread like a wildfire. Although it was the other way round, but it became a sensational issue among the students and also the teachers who took it as the truth and no one corrected them.

Mr. Black teaches U.S. Geography and it was then he was taking about the ‘Wander Indiana’  section Finch raised his hand and suggested for something-A field trip to see the wondrous sights of Indiana. Mr. Black thought it was appropriate and gave the class a project wherein they have to make a report on at least two, preferable  three wonders of Indiana. And, they were supposed to work in teams. A team of two. When Mr. Black just finished his sentence, Finch raised his hand again and asked if they can choose their partners. The answer was ‘Yes’. And the next thing he said was I choose Violet Markey.

Finch tries to find Violet on Facebook. He went to Amanda Monk’s page first thinking he might be able to get Violet’s profile from there. And he pulls up her friend list, typing in ‘Violet’. Desperate to know more about her, he Google searched Who is Violet Markey. Instead of knowing more about her, what he pulls from the Google search is EleanorandViolet.com which lists Violet as cocreator/editor/writer. The next thing he pulls up from the search is a news article-

Eleanor Markey, 18, a senior Bartlett High School and member of the student congress, lost control of her car on A Street Bridge at approximately 12:45 am. April 5. Icy conditions and speed may have caused the crash. Eleanor was killed on impact. Her 16-year-old sister, Violet, a passenger in the vehicle, sustained only minor injuries.

After reading the news article, he sign up for Facebook just so that he can send he a friend request. When at night he logged in to Facebook, there was a notification. Violet Markey accepted your friend request. From that night onward they started chatting over the project they were into. The Indiana wanders.

Through the course of the Indiana wander project, Finch and Violet catched up often to decide the places they would like to make a visit for their report. And it was during that time they bonded well with each other. After the death of Eleanor, Violet was left broken. She thought it was her fault, the entire thing that happened with Eleanor. When Finch asked her to tell him about the accident, Violet told that, that night, Eleanor and Eli Cross had a fight after which they left the party. It was her who told Eleanor to take the A Street Bridge and then once they were on that road, Eleanor told that she can’t hold on and that was how it happened.

After they started with the project, Finch took Violet to places she had never been before. They went to a place where a giant chalkboard in which people wrote what they wanted to do before they die. Finch picked up the chalk and wrote ‘before I die I want to play guitar like Jimmy Page. Come up with a song that will change the world. Find the Great Manifesto. Count for something. Be the person I’m meant to be and have that be enough. Know what it’s like to have a best friend. Matter.’ After sometime, Violet placed her hand on the chalkboard and wrote ‘Stop being afraid. Stop thinking too much. Fill the holes left behind. Drive again. Write. Breathe.’ Violet used to write about the places they have visited in a notebook  and keep a note of the place they have wandered. All the places and along with it all the memories with Finch too.  

Finch was the guy who helped Violet to get into a car and then let her drive a car all by herself (because she left getting inside one after Eleanor died). Finch helped Violet to get a life of her own. Finch gave Violet a hope that life doesn’t ends when people do. Finch was a motivation for Violet that made her live her life. But what about Finch? Was it the same for him? The guy who wanted to die every day (the guy whose first thought used to be if today was the day for him to die), will he be able to survive the conditions of his life?

For me, Finch as a character was cool, crazy and always-there-for-you kind of guy who made me belief that Jovian-Plutonian gravitational effect actually exists but then later on confessed that it was an April fool’s joke. I liked his sense of humor.

Finch’s parents were divorced a year back and Finch sees him once a week.  And the worst thing is his father is married to a lady who is half his age, Rosemarrie, and has a son who is so small that he doesn’t look like he is the child of his father. For him the time spent at his father’s new home where he lives with his new wife and his small son is the worst time for him.

If you note the thing in the book you will notice that Finch was depressed from the beginning of the story although the ingress of Violet in his life made him momentary happy, Violet on the other hand was depressed too, but Finch helped him to get out of that. Eleanor’s accident thing.

The saddest part in the book is the death of Finch. I wish I could have saved him.

The project of Indiana wanders remained incomplete when he died but Violet decided to finish the wanders and went on alone with the car of her mom.  When Violet completed all the places she needed to travel, in the last wanders, she got an envelope where her name was written on it ‘Ultraviolet Remarkey-able’. She pulled the envelope and took out three sheets of thick staff paper, one covered in musical notes, the other two covered in words that look like lyrics.

You make me happy,

Whenever you’re around I’m safe inside your smile,

You make me handsome,

Whenever I feel my nose just seems a bit too round,

You make me special, and God knows I’ve longed to be

That kind of guy to have around,

You make me love you,

And that could be the greatest thing my heart was ever fit to do…

You make me lovely, and it’s so lovely to be lovely

To the one love…

You make me happy…

You make me special…

You make me lovely…

At the end of the story, you will get to know that before Violet visited the places that were left by both of them to travel together, to make a report on, it was not the quest that was completed by Violet alone. Before Finch died,  he visited all the places they were to visit and left something behind so that Violet would get to know that he was once there.

 This book isn’t about just the story of Finch and Violet. It is a story of many of us.  It somehow teaches us that we are broken. We all are. At some point or other in life. We are shattered. We lose hope. But that’s life and that’s how we have to make our self strong  and moving.

P.S.- Thank you Angaihi for letting me read this book J

P.S.S- It is a great book but again, it depends on the taste of your books . (Don’t read it if you are depressed, instead of feeling good, you will feel more low reading the life of Violet and Finch)

Overall rating- 3.8/5

Book Review of 'Chokher Bali'

Book- Chokher Bali

Author- Rabindranath Tagore

Translated by Radha Chakravarty

Pages- 384

‘Chokher Bali’ as the title suggests means ‘grain of sand in the eye’. Being a Bengali novel, the title is quite captivating. In the story while Binodini and Asha became friend,  Binodini asked Asha what name she wanted to keep for their friendship. Asha named Ganga water, Bakul blossoms and several other auspicious items. But Binodini considered them as outdated and less affectionate. That was when she suggested ‘Chokher Bali’, a constant irritant as to name their friendship. Though it felt abusive to hear, Asha accepted this abusive term of endearment for the sake of their friendship

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The story starts with Binodini’s mother appealing Mahendra’s mother to consider a match between their children. Both of their mother were once childhood playmates in the same village. After plenty of pleads by Mahendra’s mother when Mahendra’s refused the subject of marriage his mother became gloomy. To please his mother he decided to see the girl once and then refused himself from seeing saying what’s the use when he is going to marry her only to please his mother.  With a carefree mind, Mahendra’s mother fixed the date of their marriage and as the days approached, Mahendra became more and more anxious and just a few days before the marriage he declared that he can’t go through with it (he refused to marry).

Written more than a century ago I wonder how amazing a writer Tagore was. Going through his work for the first time I grew more and more drawn towards this book.

Bihari was Mahendra’s close friend. And as there was no alternative, Mahendra’s mother asked him to fulfill this duty of marrying the girl. But, joining his hands in supplication, Bihari told that’s the one thing he can’t do. Bihari considered Rajalakshmi (Mahendra’s mother) his mother and addressed her as Ma.

Finally, Binodini got married to a fellow villager from her birthplace (which was suggested by Mahendra’s mother). But not long after, the girl became widow.  

Three years later, Mahendra’s mother told him that, it’s her, people blame for not letting Mahendra to get married for the fear of losing him to the bride.  Mahendra laughed off the topic but he continued saying to his mother after a pause that a wife takes over a man’s whole life upon arrival and then the mother who has lavished so much care and affection on her son is forced to step aside.  He didn’t wanted to marry for the fear that his wife will supersede his mother.

Mahendra’s Kaki and his mother often had fights on small-small issues and the fact that Mahendra’s kaki had no one by her side she weeps her sorrows alone. Mahendra inwardly gets hurt when his mother taunts her and makes her feel ashamed.

Mahendra’s Kaki had an orphaned niece, whom she hoped to wed to Mahim (Mahendra) just with a thought that she would be able to keep her own sister’s daughter close to herself and see her happy. Looking at his Kaki’s face who was sitting by the open window of her room, her head resting against the iron grill, Mahendra’s heart was filled with pity. After the meal, he went to his Kaki to ask her if she would allow him to see her niece once. Annapurna (Mahendra’s Kaki) was amazed and asked Mahendra if he is inclined towards marriage but he said he has persuaded Bihari for the marriage.

Later, the two friends went to see the girl. Ashalata (Asha)was barely twelve or thirteen years old.

Mahendra who went with Bihari to see the match for his friend, liked the girl and persuaded Bihari to let him marry the girl. Bihari though, departed without raising any objections himself liked the girl and found no reason not to marry.

Later the unfulfilled desire in Kakima’s heart was fulfilled when Mahendra got married to Asha and she came as a bride of Mahedra in the house. Although Mahendra’s mother raised an objection saying that if he married the girl he will have no prospect of enjoying a relationship with the in-laws (since Asha was an orphan). But Mahendra resolved it by saying the he won’t regret the lack of social interaction with his in-laws but he really desires to marry the girl.

After marriage, Asha was found not to be well versed in domestic skills and thus her mother in law drained her energy in learning the daily chores of the house. Mahendra saw his wife everyday drained out after the heavy works of the day. Sometime he used to quarrel with his mother for letting his wife do such works. Mahendra took out time and made his wife learn how to read and write. Mahendra failed in his medical exam that year.

After the long span of verbal abusing by Mahendra to his mother, his mother decided to go to her birthplace for sometime where  Bihari accompanied her throughout her journey and stay. She arrived Barasat her birthplace where Binodini, the widowed girl came to mitigate and serve Mahendra’s mother (her Pishima). When it was sometime of her stay there, Mahendra’s mother decided to go back to Kolkata. Binodini who found her solace in serving her Pishima had an outburst of emotion since she had no one to serve and live with. Later while they were returning to Kolkata (Mahendra’s mother and Bihari) they took Binodini with them to live along with them.

Binodini was a well versed lady in all kind of domestic skills. Mastery came naturally and easily to her and she had no qualms about setting the domestic staff to work, rebuking them or ordering them about. She likes doing things herself without any help or assistance freely. At first Asha was jealous of the way Binodini used to manage all the work alone but later they became good friends.

As days went by, Mahendra began to get attracted towards Binodini while Binodini started having a huge respect towards Bihari. And Asha without any notice about the changes in the attitude of Mahindra kept on going with the daily chores of work.

Later Mahendra’s Kakima leaves for Kashi leaving the worldly attachment.

Binodini creates a gap in the pure relationship between Mahendra and Asha through the letters she had written to Mahendra during Asha’s absence (when Asha went to Kashi to meet her Mashima for some days)

The story contains many untold revelations which you can discover yourself after reading the book.

The advice given to Asha by her Mashima when she was leaving for Kashi was one of the realistic advice I would like to share, which is - If you wish to be happy don’t cling to all your memories. The pain dwelling on the wrongs done to us by other people far exceeds the little bit of pleasure we derive from condemning others for their guilt.

If you can’t forget you will keep alive the memories of other people too. Even if you can’t accomplish this of your free own will, take it as an order.

The story depicts the pureness of a bond and along with it the acceptance of the orders laid by the elders. Marriage is a bond which not only is sacred by the vows taken during the seven pheras of the fire but also a bond of trust and respect throughout the journey of the married life.

P.S.- This book is written more than a century ago and thus the virtue and the way the book is written is different from the modern day.

Overall rating- 4/5