Title : Maximum City , Bombay lost & found
Author : Suketu Mehta
What can be there in any city that the city gets adorned with an adjective "maximum" ? What's that feature which is making a city--the city of Mumbai stand tall among the rest of the Indian cities? The author tries to unravel through the various mysteries and aspects which shroud people's minds. He tries to unfold and present the heart and mind of Mumbai and this he does by actually being a part of everything. He mixes up with the people, lives among them,move with them, works with them,assists them and cares for them. Hence, the book is more of a first-hand encounter with the city rather a mere account of the various worthless incomprehensible facts and figures.
The author has tried to delve into all the possible facets that Mumbai can have. From the dark worlds of crime and dons, the author meanders to the religious and sacrificing semi-world that exist side by side. A vivid and apparently true account of the cops,bar dancers which serenade the night-life of Bangalore is worth applauding.
Most of the book sheds light over many new things but it has indeed helped me understand the Rent Act and the Mumbai Riots of 1992 in the most original way , as if the entire history is being replayed in front of me. He uses beautful epxressions,allegories and imagery to create this effect.
In his venture of exploring the morbid and hushed history of the city, they way Suketu mixes up with the local goons and vagabonds is quite impressive though slightly unbelievable.The trials and turbulations faced by them, the way the underworld gangs got formed, their internal and external squabbles and most importantly their overall influence on the working of the economic capital of India is quite revealing.A nice thing about all this is that he doesn't force the reader to have either a good or a bad opinion about them. He presents them as they are.
His description of an encounter specialist Ajay Lal is also interetsing though I found it a bit hard to swallow that he was one of the rare gems of India who doesn't accept bribes :) . Well , everyone wants to paint himself in good light and there is no reason why Ajay Lal should be an exception.
From one sphere of sadness which was external , he deviates to another sphere of sadness in Mumbai which is although quite beautiful externally. He permeates into the life of a beautiful and sexy bar dancer-Monalisa , someone who has the looks that can give a run for money to any of the leading Bollywood actresses these days. Her external physical beauty is contrasted with her immense inner grimness that has even forced her to attempt suicide.One can't miss this section for sure !!
And how come is it possible that Bollywood is missed when everything else is being taken into account? Needless to say, Suketu ventures into film-making ,although informally, with Vidhu Vinod Chopra for his film on Pakistan-Mission Kashmir.
Overall, the book was quite awe-inspiring and a valuable source of knowledge
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Saturday, December 27, 2008
The Fountainhead
Book: The Fountainhead
Author: Ayn Rand
The title of the book is quite impressive. But that was definitely not the only reason why I decided to give it a read. Egged by my teacher, I had to read it and now I find myself observing the philosophy promulgated by the book.
The author seemed to be quite garrulous at many places,something which was confusing and inexplicable initially but looking at the point which the author was trying to drive home, most of my confusions needed no second clarification.But still, I couldn't understand why the author portrayed each and every character to be so much complicated.I found almost every character save Peter Keatings and his mother (and some unpopular characters) quite distant from reality.
The character whom I despised initially but started liking towards the end is Dominique . The elegance and the poise which she portrayed throughout the story is something which impressed me the most. The ability to adapt to everything and anything without even a single wrinkle on her eyebrows was something that intensified my liking towards her.The way she pretended to be a bypasser when Hortolds buildings were bombed show that she was a master actress.But whatever, the qualities of humour,fun and innocence were more than enough to make me fall for her.And the final blow came when she started working in the office as nonchalantly as possible to assist his then husband-Mr Wynand .Her act of cleaning the room indicated that she could do anything...anything as menial as cleaning to anything as bold as modelling naked for the statue at the Stoddard Temple.The range of virtues possessed by her seemed to be endless. Can write Fountainhead Part-II in praise for her but that would be too much for just a fictitious character :)
The theory of objectivism as perceived by me is that no matter what I do ,whatever I think, all my actions and thoughts are for ME. Working for ME doesn't mean that I have to step on others' happiness etc. In fact,it has nothing to do with the OTHERS-neither good nor bad .It treats every man as an important,rather the MOST important creature and this is something which one should feel whenever he does something.Every humanbeing should work towards his self-elevation and not bother about sacrificing his happiness for the sake of others.If someone wants to do charity, he should do because HE feels happy to do it ,because HE is gaining self-elevation and not because others are in dire need.
The crux is whatever I do-good or bad ,whatever I think-noble or evil,whatever I practise-magnanmity or stinginess...my self-elevation and my happiness should be the motive guiding every action and thought of mine
Author: Ayn Rand
The title of the book is quite impressive. But that was definitely not the only reason why I decided to give it a read. Egged by my teacher, I had to read it and now I find myself observing the philosophy promulgated by the book.
The author seemed to be quite garrulous at many places,something which was confusing and inexplicable initially but looking at the point which the author was trying to drive home, most of my confusions needed no second clarification.But still, I couldn't understand why the author portrayed each and every character to be so much complicated.I found almost every character save Peter Keatings and his mother (and some unpopular characters) quite distant from reality.
The character whom I despised initially but started liking towards the end is Dominique . The elegance and the poise which she portrayed throughout the story is something which impressed me the most. The ability to adapt to everything and anything without even a single wrinkle on her eyebrows was something that intensified my liking towards her.The way she pretended to be a bypasser when Hortolds buildings were bombed show that she was a master actress.But whatever, the qualities of humour,fun and innocence were more than enough to make me fall for her.And the final blow came when she started working in the office as nonchalantly as possible to assist his then husband-Mr Wynand .Her act of cleaning the room indicated that she could do anything...anything as menial as cleaning to anything as bold as modelling naked for the statue at the Stoddard Temple.The range of virtues possessed by her seemed to be endless. Can write Fountainhead Part-II in praise for her but that would be too much for just a fictitious character :)
The theory of objectivism as perceived by me is that no matter what I do ,whatever I think, all my actions and thoughts are for ME. Working for ME doesn't mean that I have to step on others' happiness etc. In fact,it has nothing to do with the OTHERS-neither good nor bad .It treats every man as an important,rather the MOST important creature and this is something which one should feel whenever he does something.Every humanbeing should work towards his self-elevation and not bother about sacrificing his happiness for the sake of others.If someone wants to do charity, he should do because HE feels happy to do it ,because HE is gaining self-elevation and not because others are in dire need.
The crux is whatever I do-good or bad ,whatever I think-noble or evil,whatever I practise-magnanmity or stinginess...my self-elevation and my happiness should be the motive guiding every action and thought of mine
Friday, December 26, 2008
Life Of Pi
Book Review : Life of Pi by Yann martel ( Winner of Man Booker Prize)
Recently only, i happened to lay my hands on a novel gifted to me by someone . A picture of a tiger on its cover page had never attracted me towards reading it but the fresh and crisp pages of the book always lured me towards itself. I didn't pin up great hopes on this book
The author successfully manages to compel the readers that his novel is based on a true story but after having read it, any sane person would be in a position to dismiss the claim made. Anyways, who cares ! Most of us are adept liers. The story starts with a boy named Pisciline Motorla (self-nicknamed "Pi") who stays in a zoo as a son of a caretaker of the zoo. Young Pi , Hindu by birth, found Islam and Christainity to be as interesting as Hinduism and starts practising all the three religions simultaneously. All this gibberish strangely doesn't bear any significance towards the main story . Afterall, most of the novelists are quite garrulous.
The crux of the book , though can be summarised in 12 pages or so, but still the author decides to stretch it to 360 pages so that the vocabulary of its readers can be improved atleast,if nothing else. The book revolves around the boy Pi's life after he was shipwrecked . And lo, who were his companions on the boat... Hyena,Orungatun,Zebra and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker . The description and behaviour of the animals were apparently original .
Initially a vegetarian boy, Pi turned into the most obnoxious non-vegetarian eater and from this point onwards, i started hating him inadvertently :) . The story that ensues is quite depressing , sad and grim . But once you start reading it, you won't find it easy to drop it back ...Such is the power of the book !!
Regarding the favourite character, I cant say much because the sole human character in the book is that boy only. Yes, I can say that I developed good feelings for his mother and father since they were portrayed as simple people and died along with the ship.
Overall, no great moments of laughter and cheerfulness. Great descriptions of animals and oceans and fish !!
Recently only, i happened to lay my hands on a novel gifted to me by someone . A picture of a tiger on its cover page had never attracted me towards reading it but the fresh and crisp pages of the book always lured me towards itself. I didn't pin up great hopes on this book
The author successfully manages to compel the readers that his novel is based on a true story but after having read it, any sane person would be in a position to dismiss the claim made. Anyways, who cares ! Most of us are adept liers. The story starts with a boy named Pisciline Motorla (self-nicknamed "Pi") who stays in a zoo as a son of a caretaker of the zoo. Young Pi , Hindu by birth, found Islam and Christainity to be as interesting as Hinduism and starts practising all the three religions simultaneously. All this gibberish strangely doesn't bear any significance towards the main story . Afterall, most of the novelists are quite garrulous.
The crux of the book , though can be summarised in 12 pages or so, but still the author decides to stretch it to 360 pages so that the vocabulary of its readers can be improved atleast,if nothing else. The book revolves around the boy Pi's life after he was shipwrecked . And lo, who were his companions on the boat... Hyena,Orungatun,Zebra and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker . The description and behaviour of the animals were apparently original .
Initially a vegetarian boy, Pi turned into the most obnoxious non-vegetarian eater and from this point onwards, i started hating him inadvertently :) . The story that ensues is quite depressing , sad and grim . But once you start reading it, you won't find it easy to drop it back ...Such is the power of the book !!
Regarding the favourite character, I cant say much because the sole human character in the book is that boy only. Yes, I can say that I developed good feelings for his mother and father since they were portrayed as simple people and died along with the ship.
Overall, no great moments of laughter and cheerfulness. Great descriptions of animals and oceans and fish !!
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