In Other Words - Jhumpa Lahiri

At first, the words just seemed friendly. Soon I started travelling with them to every nook and corner of the writer’s thoughts and before I knew, I tumbled down with them unto this unexpected journey for freedom.

A renowned writer decides to learn a new language. She has won the Pulitzer Prize for her work written in English and now she has decided to abandon English for Italian. She is learning Italian from the scratch. She is crazy. She has left her home in the USA and shifted to Italy so that she could be amidst the language she is trying to learn. She has stopped reading English books. She reads only Italian and she writes only in Italian. This is non-fiction. This is “In Other Words” where Jhumpa Lahiri tells us about her extra ordinary journey into a new language. In her quest for Italian, the writer is searching for a new dimension of herself. She is seeking to be free from the grammars and memories of her earlier language. She has left behind her earlier language. She has left behind her earlier baggage. In this journey, she is born a new writer, with new merits and new demerits. She is free from her past!

Rabindranath Tagore’s heroines were always very free spirited. Jhumpa Lahiri seemed like a creation of Tagore; but a Tagore of modern times, of an evolved era where freedom is not at all about a dowry or a purdah system but only about the freedom of mind. Where do I stand here? Like Tagore’s heroines, I belong to both the worlds. I am trapped between both the worlds. Society knows I have the choice but they will keep hoping that I go by their choice and not mine. I will keep being polite and they will keep nudging at me till my patience is so broken that I can no longer be polite. Then they will shrug their shoulders but “let” me have my way, blaming the “time” for my follies. They will keep on loving and blessing me as usual. It will take them a long time to notice that I have stopped respecting them. My freedom is a rose, and roses have their thorns.

Jhumpa Lahiri tells us a short story she had written (in Italian) about a sweater. Suddenly a girl could no longer recognize her own sweater. She had been wearing it for a long time but today, it did not feel like her own. Something must have changed.

How much do we notice the changes that happen to us? I am not talking about the new freckle on your face. I have this very cool uncle whom I have known as a kid. I did not meet him for a long time and then, when I met him again, he did not seem that cool. But my parents found him the same, he had not changed. I had changed! Everyone changes. Some evolve.

Jhumpa Lahiri could feel the change in her; the change that whatever may be the reason, English as a language no longer did much to her. She wanted more, she wanted Italian. Like all free spirited women, she followed her pursuit and arrived in Italy. She did not shoo away her wanting as a light hearted impossible whim. She knew that she had the choice and the freedom to follow her whim for the Italian language into a reality.

How many such whims have I shooed away? Innumerable, if not more. I still believe I did the right thing most of the times. But now I also know that with each such shooing away, I have also shooed away one more opportunity to explore myself further, to probe myself deeper. Sometimes it is comfortable to get lazy but sometimes, it is important to go out of one’s comfort zone and test different waters. That’s how we grow, that’s how we become free. And this is a never ending journey.

As Jhumpa Lahiri says it IN OTHER WORDS: “In the face of everything that seems to me unattainable, I marvel. If everything were possible, what would be the meaning, the point of life?”

Read in March, 2016

After Reading "Before We Visit the Goddess"

Before We Visit the Goddess is about Sabitri, Bella and Tara – three generations of women; a grandmother, a daughter and a granddaughter.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The characters have integrity – they never falter from their essence. The book does not follow any chronological order; Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni makes us travel to and fro through decades and she does it so skilfully that instead of being cumbersome, it’s actually a pleasure to shuttle through time. The time essays each protagonist journey through life to find salvation.

What is impressive in this novel is the poetic quality of the prose. The poetry in the prose is subtle with phrases like “her thoughts whirling like a flock of startled birds”. They build up images or thoughts in your mind. Better so because the author goes deep into the minds of the protagonists. Bella has an imaginary friend, a magician. The whole episode has such a surreal quality to it that you cannot but marvel with wonder at the art of fine story telling that the author possesses.

I found many facets to the novel. Ofcourse, the underlying theme throughout is the mother daughter relationship. The mothers are not perfect here – this novel is not a fairytale. Nor are the daughters perfect.  “I didn’t know then that mothers can’t necessarily save their children, no matter how much they want to.” – Bella knows this only after she helplessly has to see her own daughter go downhill. Like all daughters, Bella turns to Sabitri, her mother for help. “I guess that’s when people call their mothers – when their world is falling apart.”

But this novel is about other relationships too. Mostly, its about life. Vipin Babu’s love is respected but never reciprocated. Forever he remains a faithful friend. Vishu loves being the elder brother to Sanjay and his wife, Bella. But Bella finds this an invasion. The interplay that follows changes everyone’s lives forever. Estranged from parents, Tara finds solace in strangers; strangers who could have almost become family.

Infact, the novel has so many underlying themes that I feel much have been left unexplored. I wish the author could have delved a bit deeper, thrown some more light into each character. Also, because I had so much expectation from this book, as I read the last page, I was left wishing for more. Unlike Chitra Banerjee Devakaruni’s other books, I found this one less thought provoking. But this said, I am happy I read this book. The story has a strong pull – it is believable and intriguing at the same time.

To my friends, I recommend this book. But I would also like to tell them that if you expect this book to fare with you as well as the author’s most popular book till now – The Palace of Illusions, you might be slightly, if not much, disappointed. Mostly because, this novel ended too soon – it left me feeling there is more to know.

What Dumbledore said to Harry Potter

The old wise guy who peers at you out of his half moon shaped spectacles; that is Albus Dumbledore for you. Albus Dumbledore, who knows all the big things and big people too, and yet cares for all the small things in life. He is the greatest sorcerer of his time ( in the Harry Potter world ofcourse), but he believes more in people than in magic. The man whose eyes would twinkle not with just how much he knows but with how much he understands. He is the one person to have faith on; the one person, people can turn to when in trouble. And he never disappoints. And everything he does, he does in style! No one can forget the style with which he disappeared right under the eye of the ministry when they came to arrest him. If he were on facebook, that event alone would have earned him a million more fans.

Yes, I am a big fan of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore ( I had to google his full name!) and I love him more because he said some of the wisest things to Harry Potter in the most sweetest way possible. Here are some of my favourite Dumbledore quotes: 

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”

( Reminds me of what Descartes said," I think, therefore I am". And isn't it so for all of us? Its the same world we all live in - some of us find it beautiful, some of us find it to be a horrible place. We all live in the world we have created in our head.)

“What happened down in the dungeons between you and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret, so, naturally the whole school knows.”

(When I read this quote, the theme song of Pretty Little Liar starts ringing in my head nowadays:

Got a secret

Can you keep it?

Swear this one you'll save...

'Cause two can keep a secret

If one of them is dead? )

“It's going to be all right, sir," Harry said over and over again, more worried by Dumbledore's silence than he had been by his weakened voice. "We're nearly there ... I can Apparate us both back ... don't worry ..."

"I am not worried, Harry," said Dumbledore, his voice a little stronger despite the freezing water. "I am with you.”

(Faith grows with love. As long as we love a person, we will have faith in him/her. And as long as we are with that person, we are never scared.)

“Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic. Capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it.”

( This holds true even in our un-magic world. Words make us happy; words make us sad. Sometime even simple words like morning greetings can brighten up our world a hundredfold and sometime a hell is created  because of absence of words between two people. Words are magic. As the song says,"words are all I have, to take your heart away!.")

“It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”

( We often know what is the right thing to do; but when it comes to making a choice, we make a slip and end up doing the easier thing instead. In this, sometime I have failed horribly but as they say, practice makes a man perfect. So, I will keep on trying and see, if practice can make a woman perfect too! :)  )

“Happiness can be found in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.”

( A hug from a friend won't make our trouble disappear. But it helps us in finding solace during troubled times. Ice-creams do not cure heart-breaks; but they help us stride through difficult times. My favourite music may not console you during your hard times, but you will have your own favourite poetry or may be a movie, which will help you pass the night. We are different; some of us might turn to a person for courage and happiness, some of us might look up to God and some of us might go to the neighbourhood store for more chocolates - but all of us have in us the ability to turn on the light; and that we must!)

“The truth. It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution.”

( Yes, its bad to lie. But may be sometime, we should know just to keep our mouth shut and not utter a word. The trick is to know when to talk and when to seal it up. )

It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.

( In fact, its so much easier to stand up to our "enemies". Anyways, we don't like them. But its in standing up to our friends that we need courage - what if the friend chooses to never talk to me again? what if he is too hurt by my words? what if she misunderstands me? 

I have been hurt more by what my best friend has said to me than by anyone else. Yet, I know those words have been said because only a close friend can see my faults so well and only such a friend will use cruel words, if necessary, to make me a better person. And those are the words which have later actually made my path easier. But yes, sometime it needs a lot of courage to stand up to our friends. And we all should know when to stand up to our friends.)

As much money and life as you could want! The two things most human beings would choose above all - the trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them.

( I love this quote because it always makes me think. We need money to be happy - not may be loads and loads of money ( but if the money is coming, then why not!).  We need money to buy food and books and medicines - money cannot buy happiness, but in today's world, there can be no happiness without some amount of money in the pocket. And that is why this quote makes me think a lot. May be, if all us stop going after money at the same time - we won't need it any more and then the world will become a happy place!)

People find it far easier to forgive others for being wrong than being right.

( Because in doing so, you have to let go off your ego. And its easier said than done!)

If there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. He didn't realize that love as powerful as your mother's for you leaves it own mark. Not a scar, no visible sign . . . to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever. It is in your very skin.

( How much can we understand love? Love is too simple, too pure. And may be we live in too complicated a world to actually understand love. We can only choose to love and maybe, in loving, we will understand it. May be.)

I am a Dumbledore fan. Even when he says odd words like "nitwit blubber oddment tweak" (yes, he said them once!) I find joy in them. And I hope that you too enjoyed reading some of his quotes. 

every book has a right time for each reader: on reading Girl Meets Boy by Ali Smith

Do books have soul? Sometime I feel they do. I think, when a book is born, it is born with a soul. And when that book is published and reprinted, the same soul keeps beating as one among the million and million copies of the same title. So all The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho - those millions and billions of copies  - some lying by unmade beds, some in neatly dusted libraries, some lying forgotten in crevices of  drawers and desks, some being read by people travelling in buses and trains and flights even as we are reading this line - all of the them have the same soul coursing through their pages.

And soul falls in love. Sometime, when a reader reads a book very lovingly, may be the book falls in love with the reader too. And, if you start reading a book when its soul is already in love with another reader; you will never fall in love with that book - however great a book it might be.

At such time, we must keep the book aside, and pick it up later. We need to pick up the book after the first reader is done reading the book; after he has read the last page, shut down the cover and put it back among the other books in the library.

When we read the book then, we will fall in love with it. And the book will love us back with all its soul.

When I first read this fantastic book, Girl meets Boy by Ali smith in the April of 2013, I strangely could not keep going through the pages. I know its a great book, I was loving the words within but I could not carry on with it. So I kept it aside. And now, in the May of 2014, I am reading Girl meets Boy and loving every page, every word in it. And every word, every page of the book is loving me back, with all its soul.

Reincarnation - true cases of children who have lived before by Trutz Hardo

I came across the name of this book while reading an article and was immediately drawn by the title. Subjects like reincarnation or near death experience have always been very alluring to me. I have spent countless evenings of my childhood coaxing my grandmother for such stories. And needless to say, I have rarely been disappointed. Those are still some of my favourite evenings. When I came across the name of  this book, that old  spirit was rekindled and within an hour, I had ordered this book online.

I do not yet know whether I am a believer or a non-believer here. Here, more than anything, I am a very interested listener/reader and this book did not disappoint me. The book begins with examples of real incidents of reincarnation. These are all scientifically documented examples and the main protagonist is always a child. The writing style is simple and yet those are carefully chosen words because each documentation can be read like a story. However, the author is more a story teller than a good writer and this is often reflected; sometime I would feel that these could have been written better by a favourite author of mine. But at the end, I was not disappointed; the author has done justice to his work. Trutz Hardo has done a good job of plainly telling us the different cases he has studied/researched throughout his career and all of these sums up to a really interesting read.

Through these real life "stories", slowly Trutz Hardo takes us through different aspects of reincarnation. Some of these are simple incidents: a girl recognizing the brother of her past life or another child claiming to miss her grandmom from her previous life. Then there are incidents where a boy could identify his murderer from past life and so accurate was his evidence that the murderer finally admitted to his crime.

The books tells us what happens between two lives - the time when a person is yet to be reborn. Sometime hundreds of years passes before a person is reborn while sometime it can only be a few months between two lives of the same soul. Some "soul"s hover in the earthly plane while some "move on" to an "intermediate realm" during this time. In this intermediate realm, the soul meets old friends and relatives and prepares for his next birth. Sometime, such souls arrange to meet again in the next birth and the author tells us an incident where two best friends are born as twins in their next lives. In this intermediate realm, the soul can still be aware of the people they care about; the emotional being of a soul continues from one life to the another.  The author tells the incident of a young boy (he died in an accident) who would appear in the dream of his aggrieved mother to console her and assure her of his return; he is soon reborn nearby. In his next life, he reconnects with his mother from earlier life. Often, the soul is guided by other wise souls in the choice of his next parents but sometime, it is the individual choice of the soul too. On each rebirth, a soul has an aim - and the soul chooses a set of parents who can help him best fulfill these aims. For example, a man who showed less compassion in his earlier life may choose a life path in his next rebirth that will make him understand compassion better. A man may be reborn as a woman to experience motherhood. Deformities or birthmarks are often a connect between two lives of the same soul and panic attacks or phobia can be often be rooted in one of the  past lives of a soul.

Most of these information is gathered by the author with the help of regression therapies that he conducts with people who believe to have been reincarnated. During such times, often the person remembers incidents of his past lives, as well as his experiences in the intermediate realms.

It is not easy to believe such "science"; nor did I try to believe or disbelieve them while reading this book. These might be true; these might not be true. But it is always interesting to read about such possibilities and I had a very enjoyable read.

Next time I meet a person I instantly like or dislike; will I wonder if this emotion is rooted in past life? I donot know! May be I will wonder :)

the Crossover - open heart verses

The first thing that I liked about this is book is its cover. It shows a man walking out of darkness to the path of light. As I read the verses within, I realized that the cover page has very adeptly depicted the underlying theme of all the verses that follow. Through the verses you can sense the poet's journey from turmoil to peace.

The book is divided into three sections: Dream, Reality and The Path.

The verses flowing through Dream are the ones I liked the best. It hints of the poet's oneness with nature, with a spirit above and with his own inner self.

the poet says:

amidst mountains of mist
lies the truth deep within
between frozen moments in time
mind evolves towards bliss

Yet, it leaves me longing for more poetic expression in the poet's words. The underlying thoughts are beautiful  in each of the verse but as verses, in most places, they fail for me.

the poet says:

i ride on an ants back
to see its unseen track
it gives me goodies to eat
and they taste so sweet

I would have found these lines very endearing if my 8 year old nephew had written them. But reading them here as a part of a published collection by a grown up for another grown up, I am left wishing for more.


As the poet moves to Reality, we find him dealing with different subjects of the modern world. Through his words, he points out the flaw in them. The subjects range wide. Sometime he talks of the outer world where people go to discos in fancy dresses, only to impress other people while completely ignoring their inner selfs. Sometime he talks of the widening gap between the rich and the poor in a world full of high price tags. Again, the subjects are mature but I find the words lacking a bit in maturity. Also, when I say the words lack maturity, I do not mean that I am disappointed by lack of "fancy words"; I am myself a believer of verses in plain simple words. What disappoints me is the inability of the poet to string these words together into a more matured expression of his thoughts.


the poet says:

hello jumping jack
get off my back
stop giggling around
and get back to track

are you nuts
are you insane
all your attempts to impress
will go in vain

Yes, again I am reminded of my 8 year old nephew!

What is often brilliant though here is the thought process of the poet, and whenever his words has matched his thoughts, we come across brilliant lines of verses. One of my favourites is:

light cannot contain darkness
but darkness can contain light
if we are open to destroy all our beliefs
only then we can reach a greater height

Finally we come to the last section of the book, The Path. Here the poet points out the path to peace, spirituality and the inner world. And he has done a good job. Very matured thought process, and his style of expression is much better here.


The book is an interesting read. But I feel it is best suited for readers who are below 16- 18 years. Readers above this age group would have higher expectation in form of maturity in expression and in this regard,  The Crossover will be a  disappointing experience for them.

AJAYA - Roll of the dice: Anand Neelakantan

This is not an easy book to write. Everyone in India knows Mahabharata. Everyone knows the Pandavas are the heroes, the Kauravas are the villains. And then suddenly, Anand Neelakantan (of the "Asura" fame) gives us a book where the Kauravas are the good ones, the Pandavas a manupulative lot! This is an intriguing plot; here Anand has approached the well established mythological villains with understanding and compassion. Though I am quite familiar with the story in Mahabharata and though all the incidents in this book are exactly the same as those in the traditional Mahabharata, this time it was almost like reading a new story - a totally convincing story where the Kauravas are the heroes of the epic. And by the time I arrived at the last page of the book (which is the first of a series), I ended up, if not a fan, an admirer of Duryadhana.

Admittedly, at the initial pages of the book, it was difficult to agree with Anand's interpretation of the Pandava's characters. Yudhisthira is a smug kid who grows up into a man who knows to twist "dharma" to meet his own ends. Bhima is a greedy bully, who grows up and remains much the same. Arjuna is not brave enough to stand for his own beliefs and easily bows down to what Yudhisthira and Krishna have to say. And ofcourse, Nakula and Sahadeva just follow lead. Together with Krishna and Kunti, they plot and plan to acquire the throne of Hastinapur, which rightfully belongs to Duryadhana. But Anand has done such a good job that soon I started wishing that the Pandavas would fail!

One most endearing character in this book is the beggar Jara who walks the street of Hastinapur with his blind dog, Dharma. He does not play any pivotal role, but he, with his unfaltering love for his God, Krishna will win the heart of every reader.

Also, by virtue of characters like Karna, Vidhura and Ekalavya, this book ends up being a good exploration of the caste system of the society. All these people belong to "lower" caste and are shunned by society in one way or another. The book unflinchingly points out how the able and the worthy were made to eat dirt because they belonged to a "lower" caste. Duryadhana is shown sympathetic to the pain of the "lower" caste people. This should not come as a surprise because in all versions of Mahabharata, his best friend has always been Karna. Duryadhana would often question this caste structure and go out of his way to bend the rules, to help the people. On the otherhand, the Pandavas strictly upheld the cruelty and the inhuman treatment meted out to the "untouchables" in the society; this was Dharma for them. This has great context in the present day society of India which still carries the ancient evil burden of casteism.

Interestingly, compared to the other tales of Mahabharata, we get to see a lot of Ekalavya in this book. We see his turmoils, his hard work, his success, his failures, his hunger, his dreams, his fears and his tears. Also, Shakuni is not just a villain behind the curtain in this tale. He is a scheming villain, actively conspiring with the dark sides to bring the downfall of the empire. He has his reasons and he will leave no stone unturned to get his revenge.

Who will steal your heart in this book? It is Duryadhana. He loves his friends and always remains loyal to them. For the first time, we see the romantic in him when he falls in love with Subhadra. For the first time, we see the seed of a benevolent ruler in him when he manfully takes betrayal in his stride and refuses to  wage war against a state to satisfy his own ego. He loves his countrymen and is often found amidst them. He respects his elder but is brave enough to question them. He knows how to forgive. But sadly, he has Shakuni as his uncle, who knows how to manipulate people.

Ajaya - Roll of the dice is a brilliant exploration of Mahabharata. It is a very intelligent piece of work; it effortlessly makes us see the other side of the coin. Would I recommend this book to my friends? Ofcourse yes. This is an account of Mahabharata which should not go unheard; that it is written so lucidly and intelligently is a bonus.