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Some of the most Beautiful books I have read so far

I think it was the summer of 2006 that I first read a book that made me realize there is more to a book than just a nice story. I went through the rite of passage in reading cycle by starting the habit with books written  by Sydney Sheldon & John Grisham. One fine day, in the college library, a book with a badly torn jacket caught my eye. The cover had a small pink flower in a pond covered with what look like lotus leaves. It was such a simple picture and yet I was so drawn to it. There was something about this book. I had to explore. And boy ! did I make the best decision. 1. The God of Small Things     Yes, the cover with murky, green leaves & pink flower was The God of Small Things. I don't think I have read another book this beautiful. The way Arundhati Roy describes the intricacies and nuances of her characters, the way she writes about Ammu's love for Velutha, the way she writes about Rahel & Estha's strange relationship, Baby Kochamma's

Art, Passion and Selflessness

Its not rare for us to see talent that exists all around us, but its very rare to witness the intensity of passion that goes into the making of their art. You sit in your cubicle, doing a 9-5 jobs, punching numbers and what not into your laptop with pressure mounting, each passing day. What is the only thing that liberates you amongst all the seriousness of life, personal or professional? Art! That's right. It could be a song like Young Man Blues where Keith Moon is destroying your soul or could be an Eric Clapton's duel with the face-filled-with-gazillion-expressions John Mayer or a pleasing wallpaper of a Picasso painting or even a powerful dance video like Mery & Maks' Freestyle Finale for DWTS 2014! You know why it is liberating? Because we all have in us a passion to do something great in life. And this passion, even if its for a blink and miss moment is triggered by the power of these other people's passions. Emma Stone was right when she

The Audacity of Independence (/Zayn Life Lessons)

What is it about people wanting to move from their herd to become independent these days? Has it always been there? Am I noticing it late or is this a new thing (in which case I am still keeping up, thank god!)? Either ways, I feel fascinated at people trying to move away from a comfortable setting to which they are used to, to find an identity for themselves. And obviously am talking about people like Zayn Malik. Nobody asked the chap to leave 1D, nobody pushed him to pursue a different identity than the one he was tied with, nobody assured him of the security blanket that encapsulated him at his time in 1D to continue protecting him. Despite all the odds stacked against this decision, he broke the protective barrier around him to find himself, the Zayn Malik, independent of his band.  When I was his age, I decided to study more just so I could buy more time before opting for a career carved out of an interest rather than of voicelessness. Even with a life s

If I could go back in time, 5(+1) wishes!

We all have this wish. It might arise out of having missed doing something in life or to just experience/re-experience the whole shebang the exact way it was. Either ways, what a wonderful opportunity it would be to go back in time! Sometimes I wonder despite having all kinds of capabilities, why humankind hasnt been able to build two things in particular: Personal wings (we ll worry abt the air traffic later) & Time Machine. Even best of the best minds havent been able to do anything to decipher a possibility like this in space-time continuum. Anyhoo. If it were a possibility of if it becomes a potential possibility, here are somethings I would like to experience -  Iran in all its glory - What a mighty fall this country had had. You could search of how beautiful and culturally advanced Iran was before the war. These guys would listen to punk rock, women had the liberty to wear anything they would want and not cover it with the hijab, academics were in huge numbers and thei

Cult Statuses of Women in Pop Culture and Why It Is a Good Thing

When Queen Bey oh-so-quietly dropped her album Beyonce in Dec 2013, I came across a tweet that said "God is a Black Woman". Right at that very moment, with one sentence, I realized how powerful and rightly so Bey was. With the world emphasizing on Feminism like never before, I think this is the right time for Women singers. We had Janice Joplin, we had Grace Slick, we had Joni Mitchell, we had Joan Beaz and we had Stevie Nicks but were they ever considered as widely worship-worthy as say Jimmy page or Paul McCartney? But if they were young and they started careers now, I think they would surpass any man in popularity section.  Its good for the humanity if you ask me. Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Lady gaga and girls like them coming out of their comfort zones, teaching the world a lesson or two is a mighty good thing. How endearing is it when Taylor Swift visits her children fans (lets please set aside kimye drama for a minute, shall we!)? How empowering is it to see her gi

Jodie Sweetin is back, you guys!

Three and a half years ago, I wrote a post about Jodie Sweetin and other child stars who went through traumas growing up. Little did I know, Jodie would be back with a bang! Because Full House is a syndicated show and I possess all 8 seasons of it in my hard disk (Thanks Susie !), I am frequently re-watching the show to kill boredom (or to feel good that I was born to a beautifully calm gen). And also I am a very huge fan of Stephanie Tanner that it border-lines on obsession sometimes! I was always keen on seeing where the girls of Full House would end up as grown-ups. And like most of the child stars of 90s, Hollywood wasn't generous on them. While Jodie and Candace continued to act, Andrea Barber left the whole scene to go live a conventional house wife life. I dont want this to look like a biased opinion of a Jodie loyalist, but she was special. She was not only a Grade A actress, but also a talented dancer and singer. You can see snippets of her dancing on the show in

Random Notes of a Closeted Hippie

My fascination with Woodstock festival started after I read this piece of article on The Guardian. My knowledge on this topic was limited before this article because I d only known that it was a musical festival that happened in the 69s ( I was researching about Janis Joplin then). But I hadn’t known how the festival was once a center of Universe for three days! I started reading more and more about the festival and also watched a couple of major documentaries.  And boy did I get hooked on to the cultural phenomenon! I have always been an ardent fan of psychedelic music. A good 4 years ago I discovered a rolling stone “Greatest Albums” list on their site. One of the albums on the list was Jefferson Airplane’s Surrealistic Pillow. Once I listened to the album there was no going back. Psychedelic music had a major influence on me in the sense that I understood there’s beauty in being non-conventional, that there are somethings that most people don’t understand but that