Book Review #113 : Patna Blues

Book :- Patna Blues

Author :- Abdullah Khan

Publisher :- Juggernaut

First thing first. I would like to express my utmost gratitude to Mr. Abdullah Khan for entrusting me with the review for his debut book ‘Patna Blues’.

"Patna Blues" revolves around three main characters; Arif, a Muslim boy from the lower-middle-class family who dreams of becoming an official of the IAS and changing the fortune of his family. Zakir, Arif's younger brother and an aspiring actor who eventually becomes a victim of the fascist side of India. The love of his life, Sumitra, a mature married Hindu woman. Arif and Sumitra, two amateur poets, share their love and passion for Urdu poetry. Urdu Shayaris are the fragrance of this story which will certainly make you fall in love with them.

The book is hard cover and the cover looks very good with a picture of a young boy who plants a lots of questions and curiosity in the reader's mind.

The book illuminates the post-Babri life of Indian Muslims too. The way the author has explained the life of a Muslim boy or a Muslim family in the Hindu majority India is the highlight of the book.

The book is a heart-wrenching tale from dream to destiny with a gripping storyline and admirable characters. It explores the various taboos existing in our society and highlights the hostility towards Muslims. The characters are relatable inspired from those who we have met at some point in our lives. My most loved character is that of Arif, a boy who despite of several hurdles doesn’t lose hope. His relationship with his family and friends is warm and pleasant.

The book is a gripping read which doesn’t allow you to take a break from it. At one point, it seems that Arif is a reflection of the author himself. The distinct portrayal of emotions make this novel an interesting yet realistic read.

Patna Blues does full justice to its title. As we accompany Arif Khan, the protagonist, along his life’s path, mostly strewn with speed breakers, pothole’s and occasionally down gravel filled paths as he trips and falls, again and again, we can’t help but root for him to do better: to pass the all important IAS exam this time, somehow be with the woman of his dreams, help his Abba with the financial burden that wears his lower middle class police officer father down, find his beloved younger brother Zakir who the police have picked up one dark night and then have denied picking up.

There are a lot of scenes and incidents that take place and are left unexplained as to why it happened or what exactly happened. I humbly demand him a sequel. The author writes lucid language that is relatable and understandable. The narration is a combination of crispiness, ornamentation and a bit of a drag at places.

I recommend this book to one and all. Especially to those who wants to try out new storylines, that are different from the unusual boy-meet-girl tale. It is a heartrending tale that would eventually pull the reader to the very depth of the narration. The ending is touching, a feast to the readers’ soul and perhaps the best part of the book.

Rating - 4.5/5

Book Review #102 : The Last Lecture

If you know that you have a very short time of good health, how would you like to spend your time? You want to fulfill your dreams, spend quality time with your family or do what you are best at. Very similar is the case of Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. He was asked to give a lecture and he couldn’t imagine it to be his last one. Randy said “We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand”. 

This book is inspiring, motivating and can craft the inanimate to life. The author has beautifully combined humor, intelligence, and wisdom. He has exemplified many stories which cover subjects like hard work, team work, sacrifice, self-confidence, modesty, dreaming big, perseverance, positivity, courage and dealing with adversity. For the reader, the book is a glimpse into the life of a dying man who fights every moment to be alive and not a mere story.

He finds himself winning the parent lottery. He was influenced by his loving and supporting parents. During his life, he learnt many lessons from his experiences and has shared them in a striking manner. He also reveals how he achieved his childhood dream of becoming a Disney Imagineer, getting to Zero Gravity, being the coolest guy at amusement park and playing in the National football League (which he never made it).

The book shows a transformational change of his life when he is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, portrays the changes in his day to day life and how he managed to achieve more in those turbulent times. He always maintained a positive outlook. Pausch loved his wife and children and he expressed it after every slide of his last lecture. He has dedicated his last lecture to his children and concludes by looking forward to sharing his dreams for his children. He recounts that his wife Jai was his caregiver and this means a lot to him. This book makes us feel like family to him, supporting him in his battle against a terminal cancer.

In a chapter entitled, “It’s About How to Live Your Life,” Pausch talks of his cancer and it’s effects on the remainder of his life. He described how he tried to live his life and offered some tips on coping saying “this is what worked for me.” He talks about giving yourself permission to dream big, and achieving your goals. He points out that we all have a finite amount of time and energy and that time spent complaining cannot help us achieve our goals. 

The book is an easy read, that’s packed with a lot of punch. It’s a collection of 61 short stories and is a celebration of a life worth living. Pausch packed a lot of distilled wisdom and knowledge of his 47 years.

There are many nuggets of wisdom interspersed throughout The Last Lecture. 

If you want something bad enough, don’t give up. 

Luck = Preparation + Opportunity. 

Recognize when it’s time to change your strategy. “I signed up for the hardest treatments that could be thrown at me because I wanted to be around as long as possible to be there for my kids.” When Pausch realized that, that was not going to be the case, he changed his strategy to leaving a legacy and spending quality time with his wife and each of his three children. 

Get the fundamentals down for everything. Have you mastered the fundamentals for your job? 

Your attitude affects the outcome of every situation. 

Complaining does not work as a strategy. 

Value people more than you value things. 

While reading The Last Lecture, I gleaned three questions to differentiate us, and I’m still trying to answer them for myself: 

What are three things that matter the most to you? 

What’s unique about you? 

What do you alone truly have to offer? 

Written in a highly personable and conversational fashion, The Last Lecture is part autobiography, part life lesson, and all heart. Through a quick tour of his life and career, Randy demonstrates how one should live while being candid about his impending death.

Despite his condition, Randy’s writing is light-hearted and upbeat. One can’t tell from the prose that its the work of a dying man as its often peppered with deadpan and occasionally self deprecating humour. 

Perhaps the hardest part of the book to read are the sections where Randy writes about his family. One can feel how painful it must be for him to plan so many things ahead – writing little notes to his kids, making videos, bringing his family on various activities etc – while in the throes of death.

It is certainly admirable that Randy manages to rise above his circumstances and to continue to be a teacher even unto his death. As the author himself has shared, the book isn’t about dying but about living. I do know for sure that it has provided me with lots of food for thought about what I should do with my own life.

What readers take away from The Last Lecture is in this same vein. The book isn’t about one man’s struggle against cancer, or the outcome of his treatment (Pausch died on July 25, 2008). It’s not an overcoming-all-odds story. It’s about making the most out of what you have, and enjoying every minute of the adventure, regardless of how it turns out in the end.

RATING -5/5 

A must read.

Book Review #100 : The Perils of Being Moderately Famous

Title: The Perils of Being Moderately Famous

Author: Soha Ali Khan

Publishing house: Penguin Random House India

Pages: 207

Price: Rs 299 

In the book’s first chapter, ‘Big Shoes, Small Feet’, Soha (meaning star in Arabic) speaks of people sometimes knowing her as ninth Nawab of Pataudi and brilliant cricketer Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi and versatile actress Sharmila Tagore’s daughter or Saif’s sister. 

The book, containing 9 chapters, begins by saying that if you bought/borrowed/shoplifted this book in the hopes of finding out the secret behind Kareena’s glowing complexion or what Bhai really meant when he talked about nepotism and eugenics, then unfortunately this is not the book for you. Here she mentions, to her credit, that she is content to bask in reflected glory while seeking out her unique destiny. Her self-deprecatory humorous streak shines through in a comparison of her paternal grandmother’s rigid daily routine as compared with that of her own on a non-working day. 

Writing about her father, she mentions how if he went shopping in London for a pair of socks, he would buy just that, without falling prey to consumerist temptations. After a car accident, he said, “I lost sight in one eye but I didn’t lose sight of my ambition.” Even after he’d retired and was hospitalised, surrounded by tubes, masks, drips, pills, syringes and doctors he refused to make a fuss and was always polite, ever-charming – making every technician feel comfortable, despite his own discomfort. 

In ‘Wakeful City’, in something most people can connect with, she candidly mentions how financial jargon of investment banking can be akin to googlies. She adds that for bankers SLB is Securities Lending and Borrowing and not Sanjay Leela Bhansali, just as PC is P Chidambaram and not Priyanka Chopra. 

About the 2005 floods in Mumbai, she recollects how she was stranded after her car stalled on SV Road and how warm total strangers were in going out of their way to give her directions, offering drinking water and the use of their phones. At one point, when she sat shivering on a stationary BEST bus, two women across the aisle glanced at her and whispered to each other, making her think of getting off the bus. But one woman said, “It has to stop sometime, don’t worry.” Here she candidly admits that they were not judging her, she was judging them. She ended up chatting away amiably with two women for two hours and for those two hours they were comfortable companions of circumstance. This bond with the city, its people, their resilience and compassion made her keen as per her own words, to do Tum Mile, the 2009 love story set against this very deluge. 

A disturbing recent phenomena she flags attention to, is of how people misuse social media to revel in hate and troll people they have never met and know nothing about. In this context, she cites two examples of the time she was targeted on Twitter for having expressed regret over former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan announcing his exit in 2016 and then on another occasion when she had worn a sari. 

About relationships, she opines that many seem to survive only on the surface, with an emphasis on having fun and living in the moment. It is too tedious to share our deepest feelings, too hard to commit to being there when things get too tough, too demanding to learn from our mistakes… so much so that people have stopped really knowing each other or impacting each other’s lives. It is more of an existence and less of a life, a life more empty than full. And love is not the absence of irritation, conflict or disappointment. It is hard work and there is always room for improvement. 

This breezy read with reader-friendly text font sizes is based on her personal experiences and has warmth, candidness, humour, offers insights and features never-seen-before images of her family, childhood and her daughter Inaaya. It is hoped this book will help clear up people’s misconceptions about her and add to her fans in the days to come. 

Only Soha Ali Khan should write a memoir. Because what other woman, even on the peripheries of contemporary Bollywood, would get away with writing that her husband frequently "does something that makes me want to get up and punch him in the face." This follows a sentence where she is half-admiring, half-mocking husband Kunal Khemu’s arms which are so sinewy that she can see his muscles flex when he types something into his phone. 

Most chapters in this book have the easy quality of early 2000s personal blogs. And if ever Khan had a noble mission in writing this memoir, it is frequently sidelined by her desire to make a joke. Frequently the jokes are about herself. Like discovering as a full-fledged adult but half-baked Bengali that the Kolkata journalist who referred to her mother as Sharmila Thakur was not wrong; she was just not using the anglicised version, Tagore. 

Perhaps it’s because Khan is not selling anything right now that the book has this bright, genial and extremely enjoyable quality. 

Soha has written crisply about her life so far. Knowingly or unknowingly, she has made sure that the readers do not get bored of her anywhere in the book. This kind of regulation comes in writing only when people are comfortable in their shoes. 

I am in awe of Soha’s writing skills. I don’t know if she can ‘flirt’ with the camera or not, but I do think that Soha Ali Khan can trifle with words. In about 200 pages, she has written on genres like travel, cricket, cinema and romance giving a glimpse of what all she is capable. Though she might not be very popular, undoubtedly she has lived a life full of stories and adventures. 

I really wish though that the cover of the book was more appealing. The land we live in does judge a book by its cover and it’s time that Indian publishers take notice of this. 

It is, a well-written book as well. It doesn’t bore you with unnecessary anecdotes, everything has a purpose. Soha talks about her grandparents, parents, brother, husband and her new bundle of joy with utmost candidness. With an extremely fluidic writing style, which is simple enough to understand but doesn’t score low on finesse. 

I would recommend this book to all those readers and non-readers too who just want to read and spend some time in reading book written with sheer honesty. It is enjoyable. 

RATING – 4.8/5

Book Review #90 : Odyssey of Courage: The Story of an Indian Multinational

Publisher : Maven, Rupa Publications 

Copyright : Habil Khorakiwala, 2017 

Genre : Non-fiction, Autobiography 

Price : Hardcover Rs 595/- 

Pages : 225 

In today’s time, when autobiographies have flooded the market, this particular book stands out as the most prolific yet humane account of an entrepreneur. Habil Khorakiwala who managed to take his small family chemical business to the zeniths of Medical Research, in matter of just four decades is a living legend. 

However, the book is not just about the inception and journey of Wockhardt as a brand, but is also an up, close and personal account of the Khorakiwala family. It has some amazing anecdotes which give the readers a rare insight into the working of the genius mind and amazing human qualities which truly mark his passionate story as the ‘Odyssey of Courage’. Everything about this book is inspiring and makes us believe in our dreams. 

He elegantly describes his work life as well as his personal one. The fascinating lessons he learnt from his father, his hands on experiences with business and his observations of the people surrounding him, his passions and dreams are all described precisely yet adequately. I felt as if I was having a deep conversation with him sitting right beside me. 

Odyssey of Courage is more than just the story of Wockhardt. It offers invaluable insights into the making of a knowledge-based Indian multinational. Policymakers, business executives, students of management and public policy will relate to Khorakiwala’s experiences in ‘learning by doing’, taking risks and handling crises, and in managing change—within the industry, within India’s policy environment, and within the world of global pharma. Few pages down and Habil starts to make sense in every possible way and wins your heart at the end of the book. 

It is one of the many reads that hold your attention from the start to the end. He briefly describes about his college life, his love for spicy food and the city of Mumbai. He built his now multinational company, brick by brick and the struggles and obstacles are clearly expressed in his account. Something that connects the readers to him is the aptly placed quotes at the start of every chapter. They very much do reflect in our lives. 

But what makes this book a really good one is that, it gives so much of information about various issues that need to be raised in our country being Antimicrobial Resistance, dwindling antibiotic discoveries, patenting and so on. He explains in a simple manner that people not in touch with science can easily understand what he conveys. It was an inspiring yet entertaining read. 

Language used in the book is simple and easily understandable. Title is catchy and attracts readers and cover is appropriate with the book. Story flows smoothly and binds readers with the book. 

The book recounts four different transformation journeys from the time he started his company and survived in the first 10 to 15 years to become an important national pharmaceutical organisation, after liberalisation established global footprints along with research initiatives and now moving forward to introduce Novel Drug through its Antibiotic Drug Discovery Program. 

The book has followed an approach of storytelling which makes it a compelling read. For practitioners of business and management, there are many unique learnings like taking risks, committing mistakes, determination, hard work, success, which come out of the lifetime experience in his journey with a great degree of ups and downs. 

Odyssey of Courage touched my heart. Habil Khorakiwala with his autobiography serves us a highly motivational story of courage, hard work and hope. Inspiring stories never fail to amuse me and this book was no exception. When the empowering essence of the stories was sprinkled with lucid writing, the book met my expectations. 

VERDICT: Buy this book. Read it. And imbibe it within yourself to give a new direction to your life! This book is a gem. It is a must read for entrepreneurs. 

RATING: 5/5

25 Perks Of Dating / Marrying Me !!!

“What are the perks of dating/ marrying you?” This question probably went up a long time ago on Quora. A question that says, “Talk about yourself, and on this one question, you are only required to give the good points.” Wow! I can see narcissists’ eyes lighting up everywhere. But I think it might be fun. I have never marketed myself before but here’s my attempt :

1. I am an old school romantic - You will receive a ton of hand-made gifts, letters & notes. And the best part, I will get them delivered to you when you aren’t expecting anything.
2. I am unpredictable - I will show up at your work unannounced and make it a lunch date with you. I will travel across the world to come see you and say “Hi”. Show up at your doorstep at 4am, whisk you away to say “I love you”.
3. I am a big time foodie - Rest assured, we will eat at each restaurant out there. I love to try different cuisines and dishes.
4. I will love you for who you are - I either love you or hate you, nothing in between. I won’t try to change you or your habits in any way (unless they are really bad for you!).
5. Lots of new adventures - We will keep trying out a lot of new things, right from learning a new language to clay painting to pottery to dancing classes, it will be an adventurous ride. Ooh and did I mention travelling?
6. Anniversaries - We will celebrate our anniversary every year, no excuses.
7. Financial Freedom - I am great at managing money & finances. I will help you achieve financial stability & freedom.
8. I am great listener - You can talk to me the entire night & I will listen to you patiently. I will respect your opinions & thoughts always!
9. I can handle my life very well - I am extremely independent and I have learned to handle my life pretty well, so you won’t hear me whining about life.
10. Time is everything - Of all things on earth, I will make sure I always have time for you. I understand that time means everything, hence you will never complain that I don’t give you enough time.
11. When we fight - I can’t stay mad at anyone for long, so even if we have a big argument you are pretty sure that I am going to come back and say sorry first.
12. I love kids - I love kids a lot, the only time you will need to share me is with our kid(s).
13. Pretty committed - If I say 'only for you', believe me more than the Myntra offers saying that. I’m a forever and always kind of person.
14. I am a writer. If I love you, you’ll automatically become my muse. So you’ll probably have beautiful poems written about you. You’ll also be bombarded with long, genuine, letters/messages/emails that express my love for you. Also, throw in 3-4 male fictional characters, because they’ll definitely be inspired by you. And at least one full length novel that tells our story. So in short, if I fall in love with you, I’ll make the whole world fall for you too. Like they say, the easiest way to achieve immortality is to make a writer fall in love with you.
15. Memes: I’ll tag you in a lot of memes that will keep you laughing and smiling throughout the day.
16. Our dates will be low-key. Expect pizza dates, strolls at the park, while we have a heart to heart; chilling at the beach, sipping coffee while we listen to good music; gazing at the night sky while we try to unravel the universe, small picnic dates, to name a few.
17. I’ll always split the bill. I’m very systematic when it comes to money. I don’t like owing anyone money or taking them for granted.
18. Honest. I can’t beat around the bush, and I’m honest to bits. So if you ask me something I’ll be completely honest about it. I’m also very good at taking criticism. So you don’t have to lie to me when I ask you something. I expect you to be 100% honest with me when I ask for your opinion.
19. Feelings > Material. So I don’t expect you to splurge on me or buy me expensive gifts. I’d prefer something more thoughtful like a mix tape of all the songs that remind you of me, or a heartfelt letter (I won’t ever say no to pizza though.)
20. Your dreams are my dreams. I’m going to fight for you. I won’t let you give up. I like ambitious men. So if there’s something you want to achieve, I’ll give you all my support. Feeling down and under confident? Hit me up and I’ll give you a nice little pep-talk that will make you feel like you’re the king of the world, and you can achieve anything you set your mind to.
21. I’m tiny. I’m short, like exactly 5 Feet. Short girls are adorable. You automatically feel protective of them. Also, you’ll enjoy giving me hugs.
22. I’m a hopeless romantic. And since I write about love and read about it too…well, you can expect our relationship to resemble the kind people make movies on, or write books about. And not in a bad way. You’re going to feel like the luckiest guy alive, trust me.
23. Not just falling, but growing in love. I believe that there’s no point in being with someone if you don’t somehow make each other better in some way. Us meeting each other, and being with each other has a purpose. That’s why fate brought us together. And that purpose is that we both become better versions of ourselves. So I’ll strive to grow. With you.
24. Always there for you. While it would be nice if you didn’t call me at 4 AM but if you did, I’ll be there. I’m very good at solving problems and making decisions. So if you’re confused, you know who to come to.
25. I won't ask you to lift heavy bags for me. Just to prove the stereotype wrong, I will lift your bags too. I'm crazy like that. :D

Letter To My 21 Year Old Self

Dear Me!

Ah, you will be turning 26 this November! Although it isn't quite a lot of time, since 21, but you were a different person, 4 years ago, mentally at-least. I wanted to write a letter to you; a letter full of truth, confusion and hope - raw and authentic and not a rosy one. This is you from the future, sailing in to drop a few bombs of knowledge on that you will wish you knew back then. This is what I could have written to that girl I was, and to any other girl who is feeling overwhelmed by life as a young woman growing up in today’s world.

In these 4 years, I’ve seen you fall into the deepest of lowest and I’ve also witnessed your rise, your strength, your glory.  At times you have impressed me, you have really left me speechless by your boldness, your efficiency. At other times, I have wept for you. I have bled for you. I have felt for you. I have wanted to move mountains and slay dragons just to console you & take away your pain. You have had moments of unspeakable fear, of crippling anxiety. There have been times when you stopped believing, when your heart - blessings to it - was shattered by life circumstances. You have been through it; some things no one even knows. 

You just turned 21 - milestone! Woot, woot! Feels like a woman, no? Just got done with B.E, with what-to-do next lying ahead, life still feels good as you finished what you didn't want to take up! Four years went by, didn't they? 

And this isn't going to be the most flowery representation of what lies ahead of you. Life is about to churn you up. And it still does to me! But you ought to stay calm, as you cannot do anything better.

You will finish your Masters in the next two years, with wonderful opportunities coming your way. And then as you look back, at the journey from wanting-to-become a 'doctor' to a 'professor', you would still be content with life. And you know what? Your students will adore you to bits!

Disappointments from people and friends are going to be the best thing that would've happened to you because you're going to engross yourself in work and would try to do your best to be the best. Make yourself a priority, in this phase.

You don't even know what a pure soul you're because you won't treat anyone badly. From a waiter to a beggar, to a taxi driver you'll love and respect everyone equally because you know the value of being loved unconditionally without any labels. 

You'll have everything you want and some days you'll still feel bad but that's just the part of life. Don't over think it.

Don’t be afraid to rest sometimes. On the days where you are exhausted and just feel like you can’t keep going, give yourself a break. Self care isn’t selfish, and as life progresses you will need it even more. Take time to do the things you love because they’re just as important as “work.”

If you feel alone at times, talk to your mom she'll do anything to keep you happy, trust me - she's going to be your biggest supporter. She is your best friend and wants only the good for you, in fact, the best. Listen to her advice.

Develop the mindset that the creator does not make any mistakes. Everything is going to happen as planned. Let go, master that art. You will suck at it. But try to let go and not cling on to what you are losing. Let shit go.

Btw, you will soon have a blog. Cool things will be happening. You will get so many books to review, from authors. You will have a huge bookshelf adorning your room! Your blog will lead you to meet Bollywood Biggies for a day and even clicking pictures with them! You will get to attend Lakme Fashion Week complementary passes for three continuous years and so many other blogger events! You will get to see Rekha Bharadwaj and Kumar Sanu's live performances! 

Value Mama Papa, spend more time, and talk more with them, rather than being busy in your phone always. You will be blessed to have casual trips with family and friends often. You have the best parents who never leave you with empty pockets and sad moods.

Pray often. Go to the gym, don't neglect fitness. Read more!

You will have a cute baby girl in your neighbour when you shift houses and she will be responsible for almost turning your sadness to positivity, on tough days!

You will never truly know the beauty of what lies ahead, should you have chosen to give up. Don't give up on things that will take more time to come to you.

I know inside you’re not feeling so glamorous. In a city full of chic, slim women you feel like you stick out like a little fat sore thumb. You feel ugly and you are conscious of the fact that almost everyone around has had a boyfriend, and you never had a guy telling you ever that he liked you. You are probably thinking you have some problem going on. But wait... a little sneak peek into the future, hardly any of the girls you saw with boyfriends are with their boyfriends now, even the ones you found so cute together and saw them as "goals".

I know it feels like a boy will never fancy you and you’ll often try to validate yourself. Your friends will all be in relationships and you’ll feel left behind. 

Yet, never feel sorry for yourself. Which brings me to, please don’t stress about not having everything figured out. The truth is you never will, but you will get better at accepting it in time.

I know it doesn’t seem like it, but you have so much more privilege than you have any clue about. Practice gratitude every damn day. Count your blessings rather than misfortunes. Don't surround yourself in negative energy, be less angry.

Don't regret something after it meets a bad end, because at one point, it will be dearest to you and you would want it badly at a point.

As the world gets bigger to you, you will realize how small you are within it and how little anything you do really matters. You are an imperceptible grain of sand in millennia and millennia in a universe greater than anyone can imagine. So stop worrying so much that you’ll make a mistake, because it’s not as big of a deal as you think. Cherish your mistakes and learn from them.

Try choosing happiness often. Choose your battles carefully.

The greatest skills you will acquire over the next 4 years are recognizing the power of honesty, the importance of compassion, and the incredible skill of patience. To be honest, that last one is still something you struggle with!

You’re going to spend a lot of time alone, which right now probably sounds terrible, bleaky, but it will be exactly what you need.

You will face a lot of rejections related to marriage, and job - based on religion, some due to lack of your own preparation, some you will lose to luck. But never give up. Improve yourself every day.

As I can see, you are almost always fighting to get things that are your rights. I want you to take things easy and learn to let go of things that are beyond your control. Because that way you have lost things and people. Actually, they didn't belong to you in the first place. Since what is given to you with full heart, you don't have to yearn or fight for it. What is yours, stays. Remember this. Don't force connections. Let the vibes come naturally.

Never allow yourself to become any man's option. Wait till you have someone who has his life inside you, and is ready to do what it takes when THE TIME comes. 

Never hurry to fall for someone, by getting in the worldly traps of "You have crossed the age, get married", or a man saying sweet things. Take your time! Finding someone to love you and be your life partner is not and never will be the answer. There’s nobody coming to save you. You have to save yourself.

Don't depend on others often. Be on your own. Shop alone, eat alone. Learn this. Love yourself enough to know how well you deserve to be loved by someone. Enjoy your company before you share your time with somebody else.

Memories... they are easy to make. Please be sure who you choose to make them with, because they are almost impossible to erase in time.

There will be times you will ask yourself ’why me?’ The answer to that is simply, ‘why not you?’ Every fucked up thing that has happened to you has made you me. Know that it’s all going to happen the way it’s supposed to happen, just as the Universe intends. I am far from perfect but I know based on everything that will happen to you, I am now enriched with resilience, empathy and worldliness. Accept your journey as it is.

You will become the girl you always have been and you will let her shine through. I ignite these luminous beacons of advice not so much to help guide you but rather reassure you that everything is going to be ok.

I am so proud of you! XOXO. Focus on joy, and chase your dreams… I’ll be watching, and I’ll be checking in. Go get ’em.

Love Always,

Aayesha.

Book Review #73 : In Loving Memory

Title: In Loving Memory
Author: Haimanti Datta Ray
Publisher: Rupali Publications
Pages: 100
Genre: Non-Fiction/ Biography

In Loving Memory is in Haimanti Dutta Ray’s own words a memoir where a doting daughter recounts how she had seen her father the late painter Shyamal Dutta Ray, who passed away in 2005, at close quarters as well as her reflections on the art fraternity to which her father had belonged. The book isn’t about lamenting the loss of a beloved father; it is primarily a daughter’s reappraisal of his influence on her life that has been wilfully accentuated, and a celebration of this.

It is a memoir where a lovely daughter, the author Haimanti Dutta Ray, expresses her love to her father,  Shyamal Dutta Ray, a noted water colorist, in a sensitive way. It is a very short and sweet read with less than hundred pages. The artistic paintings done by author's father gain attraction.

The writing is so appealing for the fact, the memories were captured not only from the aspect of a doting daughter but also from the aspect of a fan who loved the art. She has written not just about the artist, but about the man behind those beautiful canvases that adorn the walls of several museums and private collections.

It also portrays some of her outings with her dad on special invitation to few places and what her dad liked the most. The book also points how her father stuck to the water colors when his counterpart moved to oil painting. Rivers have made the impact to create wonders in his paintings. His paintings have got a place in the hearts of thousands of people as well as they are displayed in national and international galleries.

What moved me the most was the final chapter "And Life Goes On" where the author talks about how her life and that of her mother changed after her father's demise. She writes, "Life must and should go on. This is the lesson that I have learnt after Baba’s death. Books have become a constant companion and a solid mass of unalloyed love and commitment, post our bereavement."

This book is an honest and humble tribute to a father by his daughter. It is a fantastic attempt by her in remembering her father for his great works getting national and international repute. This book is of great help to understand and appreciate the works of one of our major painters.

Born in 1934 at Ranchi , Shyamal Dutta Ray started drawing and painting at a very early age. The author of this book Haimanti Dutta Ray gives a clear picture about her father’s commitment and devotion to his job as a painter. He was blessed with a keen mind and the ability to impress others with his paintings. Since he worked hard to give life to his drawings and dreams he was honoured by laurels and prizes. 

Coming to the book – the writing style is simple and to the point. The inclusion of some of Dutta Ray’s paintings is an added bonus, as you flip pages.

The book is a good read for the artists and students of art so that they get a clear picture of an artist's life.

Rating: 4/5

P.S: I won a review copy from The Tales Pensieve as part of Reviewers Programme. Register on #TTP for lots of #book fun and activities.