One of my objectives while planning a vacation in Dehradun was to visit Mussourie, be at the Cambridge bookshop on Saturday evening when Mr. Ruskin Bond is reported to visit, and get one of my books autographed by him. Unfortunately, we ended up being in Mussourie on Friday, and even though we optimistically trotted off to the Cambridge bookshop, Mr. Bond wasn’t there. Shaken, but not stirred, we bought a Ruskin Bond book each at the shop, I picked up one titled ‘Rain in the Mountains’.
A passage from this is reproduced below, it reminded me of one of my bird-watching friends, she must be related to Sir E in some way.
Someone asked Sir E if he could shoot a bird on his land at Ramgarh. The man wanted the bird for dissection in a biology lab. Sir E refused.
“It’s in the interests of science,” protested the man. “Do you think a bird is better than a human ?”
“Infinitely,” said Sir E. “Infinitely better.”
Does the sentiment sound familiar to you too ? :-)
By,
Zenobia Driver
Showing posts with label book. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book. Show all posts
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Thursday, July 07, 2011
Book Review - Palace of Illusions
Author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni.
Same old Mahabharata, refreshing new perspective.
Story told from the enigmatic Draupadi’s perspective. Gripping, read it from cover to cover and then some parts again, especially the last chapter. Have read this author before and didn’t like her all that much, therefore was pleasantly surprised.
Will share some facets of her character that are not commonly known
• The author deals with the relationships that defined her – that with her father, brother and Dhai ma in her childhood, mother in law, five husbands and with Karna in her adult life, the latter for whom she harbored a secret attraction from when she saw him first.
• Draupadi was perhaps never a little girl even when she was one– always strong willed, longing to see the world, sitting in on her brother’s lessons on war to understand what life out there was about.
• We know the incidents that led to the great war – from her bastra haran in Duryodhan’s court where none of her husbands protected her to the twelve year banbash and the supposed fight for the Pandavas rights. What the author dwells upon is her mental anguish at the war Kurukshetra especially since she felt it was her pride, arrogance and desire for revenge that caused war, widowing many and leaving many helpless.
• We also know that the blind Dhritarashtra could see vicariously through his charioteer what was happening at war. But we don’t know that Draupadi had been granted the same vision too and she saw all the misdeeds committed on the battlefield by her husbands including the killing of Karna .
• Nor did we know that she was a not great mother, choosing a life of adventure with her husbands in banbash over being at home with the womenfolk to bring up her children.
• And it depicts her relationship with Krishna, the constant strength in her life. Her playmate as a child, her confidante when she needed one and her protector when she was being humiliated.. Her consort in her darkest of hours standing by her in her when everyone else failed her. Spouting wisdom when she needed it like – “a situation was only as bad as you thought it to be”.. Yet he teased her, never revealed his divinity to her and gave her convoluted answers when she asked probing questions about her predicament.
Why this book is worth a read –the writing is racy, a page-turner. It unravels Draupadi as a real woman – attractive, ambitious, independent minded, strong willed and real limitations like stubbornness and an ego that supposedly led to her downfall. As a woman she fought hard to play the game by her rules, to do what the men in her life did, yet she never quite got equal status.
I was left startled how ancient yet modern the story of Draupadi is. You feel like you know her.
By,
Soma
Same old Mahabharata, refreshing new perspective.
Story told from the enigmatic Draupadi’s perspective. Gripping, read it from cover to cover and then some parts again, especially the last chapter. Have read this author before and didn’t like her all that much, therefore was pleasantly surprised.
Will share some facets of her character that are not commonly known
• The author deals with the relationships that defined her – that with her father, brother and Dhai ma in her childhood, mother in law, five husbands and with Karna in her adult life, the latter for whom she harbored a secret attraction from when she saw him first.
• Draupadi was perhaps never a little girl even when she was one– always strong willed, longing to see the world, sitting in on her brother’s lessons on war to understand what life out there was about.
• We know the incidents that led to the great war – from her bastra haran in Duryodhan’s court where none of her husbands protected her to the twelve year banbash and the supposed fight for the Pandavas rights. What the author dwells upon is her mental anguish at the war Kurukshetra especially since she felt it was her pride, arrogance and desire for revenge that caused war, widowing many and leaving many helpless.
• We also know that the blind Dhritarashtra could see vicariously through his charioteer what was happening at war. But we don’t know that Draupadi had been granted the same vision too and she saw all the misdeeds committed on the battlefield by her husbands including the killing of Karna .
• Nor did we know that she was a not great mother, choosing a life of adventure with her husbands in banbash over being at home with the womenfolk to bring up her children.
• And it depicts her relationship with Krishna, the constant strength in her life. Her playmate as a child, her confidante when she needed one and her protector when she was being humiliated.. Her consort in her darkest of hours standing by her in her when everyone else failed her. Spouting wisdom when she needed it like – “a situation was only as bad as you thought it to be”.. Yet he teased her, never revealed his divinity to her and gave her convoluted answers when she asked probing questions about her predicament.
Why this book is worth a read –the writing is racy, a page-turner. It unravels Draupadi as a real woman – attractive, ambitious, independent minded, strong willed and real limitations like stubbornness and an ego that supposedly led to her downfall. As a woman she fought hard to play the game by her rules, to do what the men in her life did, yet she never quite got equal status.
I was left startled how ancient yet modern the story of Draupadi is. You feel like you know her.
By,
Soma
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
I'm Lovin it !
Five reasons for loving the book :
1. The title : ‘Zenobia – the curious book of business’
2. The description : ‘A book of triumph over Yes-Men, Cynics, Hedgers, and other Corporate Killjoys’
3. The question marks scattered topsy- turvy all over the cover
4. The stance the heroine adopts as she gazes at the question marks, and what it implies about her no-nonsense attitude
5. Her glorious red shoes and red-striped socks, on her first day at a new job !
While I relish the title of the book, in all honesty I must let you know that the Zenobia in the title is a once-mighty corporation bedevilled by paralysing hierarchies, grossly inadequate communications, distrust and over-reliance on stultifying rules.
Into this mess steps Moira, a young lady responding to a help-wanted ad that directs her to room 133A. Except that nobody knows where the room is, there are no directions or signs either. Her journey through the Zenobian maze is filled with obstacles such as twisted ladders with missing rungs, a tight-rope walk, people that heckle, scorn and discourage her, a room full of power-pointers endlessly revising slides with old data etc.
A reviewer described this book as ‘Harry Potter meets bureaucracy’. While I wouldn’t go that far, I will admit that it’s a rollicking ride !
(I didn’t write this book, but I wish I had).
Zen.
p.s. Rads, thanks for the book.
Monday, August 22, 2005
Review of ' The feast of the goat' by Mario Vargas Llosa
This semi fictional semi realistic novel recaptures the dictatorship of Trujjilo (the ‘Goat’) who was the brutal dictator of the Dominician Republic from 1930 until his assassination in 1961. The novel unfolds with the visit of Urania Cabral, a successful New York lawyer and the daughter of one of the chief lackeys of the Goat. Her unbridled hatred of her father and the recounting of crucial events during the dictatorship, the assassination, the reprisals and the political machinations post the assassination make for a fascinating and insightful study into the ‘mind’ of a dictatorship.
This novel works on several levels – it’s a powerful subject, handled with intensity. Inspite of being written as a series of flashbacks, the story never loses its fluidity and keeps you involved to the very end. The most important takeaway from the book, for me, is more on a micro level. While many books deal with the effect of dictatorship on the country at large, this is the first novel that I have read dealing with the shattering effect of a dictatorship on the people closest to the dictator and their families. Also Trujjilo’s skilful handling of the people around him - keeping them on tenterhooks and playing one off another - is a classic lesson for politicians of all hues. The language is taut and the description of the events leading to the assassination and the actual deed inspire a rush of adrenalin and literally explode on the pages. The torture and reprisals of the population, complete with the mock trials, is brutal and eerily reminds me of the various riots and atrocities that have taken place in India over the last few decades.
This novel is a must read for all people living in democracies who sometimes lament about the bumbling nature of progress in a democratic system and pine for dictatorial rule. Dictatorships and authoritarian rule of any sort breed pure evil. Denying dissent is but a mere step away from denying the right to a life itself.
This novel works on several levels – it’s a powerful subject, handled with intensity. Inspite of being written as a series of flashbacks, the story never loses its fluidity and keeps you involved to the very end. The most important takeaway from the book, for me, is more on a micro level. While many books deal with the effect of dictatorship on the country at large, this is the first novel that I have read dealing with the shattering effect of a dictatorship on the people closest to the dictator and their families. Also Trujjilo’s skilful handling of the people around him - keeping them on tenterhooks and playing one off another - is a classic lesson for politicians of all hues. The language is taut and the description of the events leading to the assassination and the actual deed inspire a rush of adrenalin and literally explode on the pages. The torture and reprisals of the population, complete with the mock trials, is brutal and eerily reminds me of the various riots and atrocities that have taken place in India over the last few decades.
This novel is a must read for all people living in democracies who sometimes lament about the bumbling nature of progress in a democratic system and pine for dictatorial rule. Dictatorships and authoritarian rule of any sort breed pure evil. Denying dissent is but a mere step away from denying the right to a life itself.
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