What do you say when you have a noisy colleague sit right next to you, who shouts whenever he is on the phone, who eats at his desk all the time, most of the time food that strongly smells, stands in the passage often and needs to be reminded to give some space for others to walk by to their desk, who stares at your monitor whenever he is out of work…
Worst of all, he uses “ok fine” so many times that it annoys you to hell coz it is just not ok and just not fine.

There was an article today in the paper (TOI) debating the literary skills, or the lack of it, of Enid Blyton. This has made me wonder whether recognition in the name of awards, peer praise, or critical acclaim is ever in its truest sense? Any of this is usually the opinion of one group versus another, and the group losing out is always going to feel wronged. If somebody did not get an Oscar, does it mean that person’s body of work is of no good? Is this how we should have felt about A.R.Rahman until he pocketed it last year? At best, these recognitions only help give the book or movie or album a global appeal. It does not make it any superior or inferior than it already is. If one has done adequate marketing of one’s products, it is bound to sell irrespective of the quality, atleast in the short run.

This brings us to the point if this debate is really necessary in the case of Enid Blyton. This author’s books are still popular and are stocked in most children’s libraries even today. Noddy is being discussed with the same fervour as Archie is. The characters of her novels may be alien to children outside UK, but she has managed to capture their imagination. Tales of ginger ale and short bread have caught the fancy of boarders world over, and in her own way she teaches that responsibility is a good thing. BBC might have made an error in judgement in the past in ignoring her works, but then who does not make a mistake. Inspite of all this debate, she continues to live through her works and cannot evoke mass hysteria to the point of hating and ignoring them. And thankfully, I can now stock up on her books for a re-read as an adult.

After my last Chetan Bhagat read (2 States – The story of my marriage), I had sworn off his books for sometime. Okay, sworn off buying them inspite of not being as heavily priced as some of the other non-authors. Quite coincidentally, I got an e-copy of the 3 mistakes of my life last week.

A thin plot around the true story of a state coming of age, the trademark masala mix of love, hate, religion, girls, egos, ambitions and Chetan has managed to produce 150 pages of it.Sometimes I wonder if many authors are languishing in us without being published, as we fail to see the obvious in making a best seller.

Post reading this, I am sure this and the next is not the last we will see of him. The business mind in him has realized it is not tough writing half baked storylines, mish mashing it with whatever is the flavour of the season (maybe swine flu or terrorism this time) to have a reasonably good seller of a book in his hands.

No wonder, he “gave up” working to write.

In awe,
Me

Read this over a 4 hour journey. I have now begun to wonder if he writes books as a teaser to buy himself movie deals. It was a complete Hindi/Tamil movie flick, maybe as the author himself points out, Ek Duje Ke Liye with a different ending. There was too much stereotyping, and as filmmakers do these days, has put a disclaimer that the story is real. It sure adds curiosity value to the book as he is one handsome author(inspite of a receding hairline). He also apologises and conveniently excuses himself if the sensibilities of any community is hurt because of the way he has portrayed them.As a (female)reader I could feel a definite positive tilt towards the male ego and his views. Ananya’s (the female lead in the plot) views are not elaborated as much as that of Krish’s, as it is a narrative from Krish’s point of view. What were the reactions of Ananya’s relatives when the marriage was being arranged, or does he mean to say that they have no views besides academics and on the Hindu.

All said and done, the fact remains that he has survived 4 books, is able to convert each of them to a movie, keep his family life private, and quit a boring desk job. Given the Punjabi generalizations he has made, this is over achievement that should be rightfully honoured by some Government (!), or maybe he will soon become an MP to be able to say no to these awards. (For those of you who missed the last jibe. go read Shashi Tharoor and his tweets)

I am not the kinds to be inspired by random people, even if their biography boasted of great achievements. This is not because I doubt them, but I place more emphasis on the circumstances and the opportunities that led to them. Given the right setting, many more could have shone brighter than them is what I have always thought. Sheer talent is one, but that alone cannot make one an achiever. I had the opportunity to listen to several such prominent people at IIT/IISc and my corporate life, yet they failed to move me – on second thoughts, maybe they were not as great orators as they were achievers.

And then there came Kiran Bedi. One whom I had grown up wanting to emulate since the day I saw Udaan, but I lacked the physical stamina or mental dexterity. What passion and energy she combines, and packs a powerful punch. Her one hour speech was nothing short of stating the obvious, but what made it for me was the way she spoke. Dimunitive in size that the podium almost blocked her out, but she made up for it with her vigour. Here was one who was destined to be an achiever. I came away convinced, that if you have the mettle, even circumstances mould themselves to suit you.

It is not even a classic filmy case of facing the odds and then overcoming it that convinced me about this. After all, most great men and women have this story behind them and it somewhat glorifies further their status.

It is perhaps something unexplainable, it is maybe an extra dose of Horlicks, or  it may even be mass hypnotism by her . But then, I remain her fan.

A week’s holiday in Orissa confirmed that India is the best tourist country in the whole world, which can boast of natural beauty, superior man made architecture, and untouched simplicity of the folks out there.

Our trip began at Bhubaneshwar, the capital city of the state, over the Good Friday weekend. Bhubaneshwar is such a planned city that one began wondering that is Orissa a developed state already, and the media only shows us places of diametrically the opposite type to evoke sympathy. The stay at Ginger hotel was memorable – clean, efficient though a tad overpriced for the meals that are on offer.

We had hired a car earlier, to take us to the sights of Orissa. The OTDC (Orissa Tourism and Development Corporation) is helpful, and reasonable. The prices on offer are the best. We came to this conclusion after having scoured several tourism agencies, and asked acquaintances from that part of the country.

 So off we went first to the Dauli caves, the Lingaraja temple, …I am not going to describe what is there in these places. You will find a dozen other sites explaining this. But what I should mention is the magnificient structures leaves you spell bound for atleast the first 5 minutes. The lack of proper maintenance, and the argument by the local agents that you will be blessed only if you pay what they demand as parking charge for the car was daylight fleecing. It brought out in me the urge to argue with them in an unknown tongue about how the same Gods will curse them for charging dishonestly, but then I am not that adventurous either  Inspite of all this, if you keep your ears and eyes open, you are not likely to be taken for a ride in this place.

Any trip is incomplete without some shopping. And just to annoy my folks, I embarked on one the very first day. The sambalpur prints, and the handicrafts are way too expensive and did not particularly appeal to me. Nevertheless, bought some for fond memories.

The next morning was a relaxed morning at Ginger. Then we set out to Satpur, around 10 am to the Chilka lake. The heat roasted us until we melted, but what greeted us on arrival requires a poet’s description. The beautiful lake was nested amidst mountains, and one doesn’t get to see it, until one reaches the far end of the road. The stay at the OTDC resort here was not a pleasant one though, but then this seemed to be the best resort on display. The people here are scrupulously honest, and they believe in earning their living through devoted hard physical labour. Our boat ride towards the mouth of the sea is one I would cherish, amd I would not be doing justice in describing the serene waters, the sunrise, the dolphins ducking away from the boats, the sea gulls, and then vast stretches of sand suddenly out of nowhere, before we could catch sight of the blissfully clean, untouched sea waves. At that moment, God’s magnificence strikes you in all its glory. Thoughts go back to how tsunami would have raged havoc here, and thankfully how nobody was there to talk about it.

From there to Puri was a relaxing drive. The abode of Lord Jagannath is the quintessential tourist hub. More than once people tried to con us, and what miffed me more was that even the sacred place(temple) is not free of these conmen. To get a good glimpse of the God, you need to stuff them with money like a Christmas turkey. It left me feeling that God is much more beautiful and sacred in one’s own heart and mind, than at his worldly home. Somebody had remarked before we left on this trip, that we should be prepared to lose all the money on us when we enter the temple. And the naïve me had thought that it would be the pick pocketeers that are ubiquitous in crowded places, and I need to hold on to my valuables. It was only later that I realized this:- inside the shrine, the locals  demanded money and persisted until you parted with it for fear of them ganging up and manhandling you. No wonder the God there needs to die every 12 years and be accorded with a funeral..to relieve himself of the sins people around him commit. If you are not really religious, skip this.

The Chandrabagha beach and the Konark temple are different delights…one natural and the other historically engaging.

The entire trip lasted only a week, but left me proud on several fronts :- that I managed to plan this trip, that it was a good family holiday, that I belong to this rich, diverse country.

1.  Check into a beautiful room with a great bed with all cushions, and comforters etc. and sleep on the wrong side, so that i can block the tv out.
2.  Fill the jacuzzi and watch it while it froths with the perfumed salts, hot water etc. and then let it grow cold as I am too lazy to have a bath.
3. Go to Japan and ask for aloo paratha, while in Italy ask for noodles.
4. Go with a plan to shop, but dont buy anything. On the other hand go with a plan not to shop and come back loaded with goodies.
5. Buy desserts, especially pastries and carry it back to the room to have at night, this after a nice long dinner which included desserts. 
6.  Check the view through the window in the dead of night, and then complain that they charged you heftily for things that are not visible.
7. Wander aimlessly for nearly half a day and then crib that haven’t seen the sights while time is running out.
8. Promise to self to get the conversion math right in foreign countries, but absolutely detest any country whose conversion rate is multiples of 13, 27, 37 and the likes; why cant they all be nice round numbers like 10,20, 50 etc..actually 1/10, 2/10…

I can now claim the unique distinction of having been to Singapore and not done any shopping, that too on a leisure trip. In this trip I discovered what can be aptly named the lazy shopping genes. Suddenly I found every shop worth its salt stocking the same stuff as you would find elsewhere. Nothing seemed to appeal to the avid shopper in me, that I was wondering if I was fed some mysterious potion en route the flight. For all this, this time I had gone with a plan to just splurge, and splurge only on myself because I was cross with the world for not having treated me well in the last few months. I found everything about the place artificial, no good deals anywhere, and not even as clean as it is famed to be. But I did love the trip to the bird park, though for a moment I felt sad for the birds bred in captivity inspite of the best efforts to keep them fed and clean.

I recently read somewhere that playing sudoko makes you fat. It further reasons that playing such mind boggling games uses will power and that will power is no longer available to do any other form of exercise. Weird logic! By this, everybody who is intelligent or for that matter, uses their mind should be fat. I seem to like the obese club better now.

Read this book a while ago. It is quite an engaging family drama, engaging because the happenings are so pedestrian. The voluminous book captures quite well the varied hues of family emotion, that ever so ethereal family bonding, and the constant cribbing over money. It gets a little too boring somewhere halfway due to the unending misery, and how life revolves around just one character in the plot. But then isn’t real life by itself a glorification of how man overcomes misery. I don’t think I will pick up the book again for a second read, however I liked the ease with which the author has moved from 1 chapter to another, and kept 2 sets of stories interwined, with all the human drama intact. It also introduced me to another set of interesting characters besides the Bengalis..the Parsis. Henceforth, I shall watch out for them.