Love, Rosie by C Ahern

I got through this book... Though it did drag and drag.
Who takes 45 years to decide they need to be together?
Absolute utter nonsense.
The only part, in the whole book, which I found original and fresh, was when the bikers from the pub rob Greg and give Rosie some of the loot.
That was the only part I liked.
I guess the writing style was different. But I wish they had gotten together sooner.
Movie, in my opinion, is infinitely better. 

We live like dogs

So recently, someone told me that we live like dogs.
I was quite taken aback by this statement. What did it mean?
I was also quite surprised. Surely, just because we in the Government sector don't live like multi-millionaires, does not mean that we don't have certain standards of living.
Perhaps this person has never seen the adverse conditions in which over 60% of India lives. Everyone makes do with what best they can. Even us government servants make do with what best we have. One should be grateful for all that one has and the sacrifices being made. We all do the best we can in our prevailing circumstances.
I also feel it underlines a lack of respect. For money, for time, for sacrifices, for the other person's feelings.
Overall, the level of respect for Government appears to be at an all time low I feel. It is very easy to criticize and not appreciate all that we do... I personally don't understand why I bring work home. I don't get any kind of reward for it. No one appreciates it.
Sigh...
We live like dogs but we eat like kings. That has got to go down in my history as one of the worst things I have ever heard. 

Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

This has got to be one of the best Murakamis I've ever read.
Often I feel my mind wanders back to the book... the well.
It touches somewhere deep in your subconscious.
I often think about it when I am alone.

Even the scene during WWII, the gruesome death of the soldier.
It leaves an imprint in your mind.
There is some kind of testament to the modern day world as well
How are we living? What are we doing? 

Norwegian Wood by Murakami

Just a girl... meeting a boy...
What is life? What are we thinking about? Why don't we just live, instead of thinking about living?
This book is an insightful story about two young people growing up. Both feel guilty about their friend's suicide. But one just can't let him go.

Quitting is easy... staying on is the challenge

It is so easy to just quit and let it all slide!!
So easy....
What's not so easy is dealing with the consequences!!

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Started in Singapore, finished in New Delhi....

The best part of this book was the beginning. When you start reading about The Cemetery of Forgotten Books, you just get enveloped into a new land and want to read more about Daniel's life, Victor Hugo's pen and Barcelona. The book comes together so perfectly, that you start believing that the author must be some born-again Buddhist who personifies karma and the circle of re-birth in his writings.

I don't know Spanish, but the English version of Zafon's book was wonderful. I finally finished it on the October 2 long weekend in 2014. And I'm so glad that I came across this beautiful book. My next Spanish author is Marquez. I'm not sure when I'll be finishing his 100 Years, but that book is so well written that I thank God for such talented authors in our midst.

And that I have access to them all!! 

Data mining

So I'm reading a book called "Numerati" which is all about the world of analytics and data... then I came across an article in the Business Standard about how "data scientists" were earning millions because companies like Walmart were interested in seeing patterns in buying behavior.

Manipulation of buyers is frequent... but what you want to avoid are the barnacles, that in turn take advantage of the free deals without contributing in return. So it's like people like me, who have a credit card but always pay before the deadline... hence never having to avail of credit in the first place!! I love credit cards btw,... It makes life so interesting!! And online shopping so much fun!!

Deviations though are common - so let me get back to my main theme. Am I a predictable buyer? Well Yes, and No. Every weekend, I visit the grocery store, and buy my veggies and household provisions for the week. Every other day, I buy 3 L of milk and some bread.

I really don't have that much else. It's good to have a mini-supermarket behind the house, particularly when you want to make pizza at home.

I hardly spend on anything else, except my dry cleaning. Rest all goes in sundry expenses....

Even if there are deals in the store, I remain loyal to my brands. Particularly Amul.

What will data miners do about me? How will companies manipulate me? They can try... but the thing about manipulation is when you know it is happening... you won't be party to it!! 

Lies

What does one do about liars?

How can someone look another person straight in the face and lie and lie and lie.

It amazes me.

I hope to God Karma exists. Please exist. Because without that, I am losing hope in this world. 

Actualizing Self

There are some lectures that really do change you. I had one such lecturer in my recent program, who helped push me.

I am glad to say that because of that... I pushed myself and did quite well. 

So go out and live. Breathe and remember, all will be fine. 

All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them. ~Walt Disney

16 May 2014 The Day India Changed

Well Election results are out and .......
it was as expected....
16 May 2014 will go down as the day India changed.
Surprisingly it reminded me a lot about a day in 2004 in Nehru Place sitting in my old office when Congress came back to power....
So history does repeat itself - though now the parties have changed yet again.
Let us see what the future will hold!!

Astonishment is the starting point of Philosophy

Yes, what a boring way to start my blog. I am in the midst of exam preparation - for two exams... am extremely stressed and trying NOT to think about a deadline my group missed. Really got to stop worrying about missing deadlines!!
Well what has been happening. It took me two vodkas in Melbourne to stop thinking about the B- grade I got in one paper. But let us not let that define how I operate. I am not all about studies!!
Paper presentation at Melbourne went good - even though I was all alone it was fine. I think I didn't speak to fast (reason why I got the B- btw). I even got a question at the end!!
I liked the conference. It was thought provoking. I liked the Italian (?) who spoke at the plenary on the second day. I liked what he said "Astonishment is the starting point of Philosophy". Imagine, starting a speech with that. He linked it up to the absence of borders in Europe and how amazing it was that the younger generation had no idea what border controls looked like and didn't have the privilege of waiting for hours to get immigration clearance. I was reminded of "Shadow Lines" by Amitav Ghosh - one of my favourite books that I haven't thought of in a long time but did in the middle of Melbourne in a crowded lecture room.
Am looking forward to meeting my husband and baby soon. In fact, I am so traumatized by recent experiences and the meanness of people that I would just like not to be ignored for once. At least my baby and husband love me!!
Smooches to them.
I have also fallen in love with this song called "Wings" by a band called "Birdy". Absolutely love it. I think I am in love with the lyrics. It's like poetry.
Well, let me get back to my microeconomics. I wouldn't call it soul destroying, but sometimes it comes quite close.

Girls night out on Arab Street

Following a bout of bad luck and my superstitious nature, I ventured to Arab Street in Singapore with a fellow friend to track down a nazar from Turkey. It is my expert opinion that I am being tracked by an evil eye and I need the blue glass to counter it.
My friend humours me - though she believes I am mad as well. How can forces of the universe converge in such a manner? Merely bad thoughts do not influence how another person behaves. Sheer nonsense.
I have given her enough food for thought though.  We have met twice at Raffles MRT station - in the middle of a throng of at least 10,000 people. The first meeting was purely a case of serendipity - with me scrounging around in my purse for my MRT card and her walking through the turnpike at exactly the same time. If you know Raffles MRT - you know that the chances of two people accidently bumping into eachother at 9 in the morning on a weekday are very rare.
The second was me coming out of the MRT EXACTLY where she was standing. How bizarre is that??
Surely not enough to make you believe you need nazars - but heck... she did buy two in the end!!
:)
The three of us always have a girl's night out once a month. We let our hair down (literally) - in fact I also wash my hair for the occasion!! Shamedly I am extremely unkempt these days!! We visited a nice pub/restaurant and had a great time.... after one glass of wine I was pretty much sloshed.... After four I can't imagine!!

Lo Hei - The Prosperity Toss

It has been over a year since I last posted in my blog! So much happens and I just don't write!!
So in the midst of a public policy assignment, I will take a few minutes to document Lo Hei - The Prosperity Toss that we did yesterday at a friend's house in Singapore during the Chinese New Year festivities. What did I learn?
1. Nice to have a community feeling being fostered!! After all, we are all in this together - whether it be a class, or friends, or family
2. Need to eat more salad this year!!
You also make a wish during the ceremony. It is all symbolic: asking for wealth, prosperity, good health, progress, youth, good luck, prosperity, sweetness...
I'm so glad we did this!! It was a good way to reinforce what we thought of during the New Year!!

Why we should all be dry cleaners

I recently gave four sarees of mine for steam pressing at the local dry cleaners. We have a major wedding in the family coming up. In India, wedding equals four functions, MINIMUM. So I had to give four sarees for steam pressing (and one suit for dry cleaning for the fifth function).

It is a woeful process. First you must go through your cupboard and locate the sarees. Now, being in my job, I have both cotton and silk sarees. Silk sarees are of two categories: office wear and shaadi wear. Shaadi wear sarees are needed for wedding type occassions.

Anything less would bring dishonour to your family.

So on this sombre note, I picked out my sarees. However, having gone through the magical experience of giving birth and feeding my child, my weight however has not managed to get back to my pre-pregnancy situation. Which ofcourse means, the blouses for the saree will need to be altered. You'll need to do a google on saree, if you don't know what I'm talking about. But sarees are accompanied by blouses, tight cotton stitched pieces of apparel that need to be fitted.

I think it is just a way for the tailors to stay in business.

Lo and behold.

Problem no. 1: No blouse will fit. In fact, no blouse will even go through my arm. It is embarrassing admitting this. But this is the price you pay if you want a child and don't want to go to the gym.
Problem no. 2: Buying the material for the blouses (4 since there are 4 sarees)
Problem no. 3: Getting the blouses stitched. That involved going to the tailor with the material. Then collecting the blouses
Problem no. 4: Getting the sarees steam pressed.

At problem no. 4 I realized just how much money dry cleaners make. They must be raking in lakhs every month.

Imagine. The first store, which was the nearest to the main road of the market, was charging me Rs 150 per saree for dry cleaning. When I pulled out my red saree (with the excessive embroidery), he took one look at it and said Rs 200. When I shrieked - after all, I'm not stupid - how can you charge different rates for different sarees, the man looked at me with contempt and stated

"Take your business elsewhere Madam".

Customer service in India is not up to the mark. They don't need to give you a reason.

So I did. I walked around 15 shops away and found a guy who would do each saree for Rs 100.

We should all become dry cleaners though. Excess competition would force the rates down, but I think there is a lot of margin for profit.

The Grey starring Liam Neeson

Set in the isolated land of Alaska, this movie looks at how a group of air crash survivors deal with a pack of territorial wolves, as they hope for rescue.
My husband got this movie home by mistake. He doesn't like - as he calls them  - "arty farty" movies.
I on the other hand adore the cinema and appreciate anything that isn't mainstream. (I love mainstream too - and am simply waiting for the Hunger Games to come out on DVD - due to my little baby I couldn't see it in the theatre).
Liam Neeson was brilliant and I loved everything about the film. I also like the poem in the film - I loved how it was introduced into the movie and how it is actually what the movie was about in a way. The power of poetry never ceases to amaze me.

One more into the fray
Into the last good fight I'll ever know
Live and die on this day
Live and die on this day
From the movie "The Grey"

If you do not hope, you will not find what is beyond your hopes.
St Clement of Alexandra

I'm going home to sleep

We recently have been blessed with a beautiful baby girl. She is the cutest darling anyone could ever wish for!! There was an incident recently that I'd like to share. I'd come over to my Mom's place for a few days.
My baby got sick two days back - a reaction to a vaccination given on Saturday. She was crabby that night, but I didn't think much of it.
On Sunday when she woke up at 5:30 am, she had a low grade fever, which rose to around 10:00 am. A call to the doctor and medicine later, she became a little better.
Which is when her Daddy saw her, around lunch time.
Now I think men are programmed differently from women. That's why books like Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus come out. That's why even Gretchen Rubin's husband thinks watching The Shield together makes the couple bond.
I was tired that day, and so was my baby. Both of us starting to nod off after lunch, because it had been a tiring morning after all. My baby with her fever, and me with a baby with a fever.
What does my husband say?
Supportive he is. I suppose.
"If you and the baby are going to sleep, I'm going home to sleep!!"
After that, I gave him a sound talking about how HE HAS TO HELP ME WITH THE BABY!! What do guys think? A baby is only the woman's responsibility??!!!
After all, we are a family with expectations of each other.
Sorry my dear baby daughter, but this is the truth.
I hope the fever goes down and my baby becomes her normal laughing self!!

Ram Kinker Baij retrospective at the National Gallery

I had to drag my husband out of the house to see this exhibition. He finds his Sundays too precious, but then, doesn't have any time to spend with his wife and child on any other day. So I forced him to take us to this exhibition.
It was Aditi's first exhibition. She was an angel through it, only getting agitated when we reached the seventh room of water colours! She is a trooper!!
Ram Kinker Baij was a Bengali, born in 1906 and passing away in 1980. He is known for his seminal sculptures. You may even have seen his sculptures without knowing it!! I didn't know that he was responsible for the Yaksha and Yakshini that is portrayed outside the RBI building. Awesome.
K S Radhakrishnan has done a really good job with the exhibition. Being an economist by training, I've never studied art after school. But I really appreciated the quality effort.
Bravo!

Downton Abbey in New Delhi

I was fortunate enough to borrow the DVD series of Downton Abbey (Season 1) and watch it last week. I had read about the programme and its popularity in the news.

I must say I was amazed when I saw the first episode. I actually wanted to see the rest. What amazes me is how the relationship between the lower classes and the upper crust has been depicted. How the world is changing and how that has been portrayed. How women's rights and the fight for them has entered the consciousness. Even the romance between Mary and Matthew proceeds!! (He's so cute!!)

Reading Moby Dick in 2012

I am sorry to say, I haven't read too many of the classic novels.
Which is why I've picked up Moby Dick this time in March. It is an all - American classic, beautifully written. The reviews are "rave" reviews.
I know it is about whale hunting. It is written by Herman Melville. I'm sorry I don't know much else!!
To encourage myself to read this novel regularly I will be updating the site every week to highlight my progress. I know myself. If I don't do this, I'll never read the book!! And that's what I really want to do!!

The Inspiration bookstore at Kotla (Delhi)

Whoa....
There is a really nice bookstore at Kotla (South Extension) called Timeless Bookstore. It is a great place to come to get inspiration. It is located just next to South Extension I, so if you're in the area you should drop in and see the store.
It has books from all topics, and titles that you will not find anywhere. Just walking into the shop is like a breath of fresh air!!
Plus they give you a free beverage - non-alcoholic but still it lifts your senses!! I think if you come early you can even get a brownie!!
Why I call it an inspirational store is because it has all the ingredients that one needs to get inspired. It has pazazz, great music, brilliant decor, nice ambience and a collection of books that need to be savoured and relished.
I wish I'd known about the place when I was at LSR!