Keep off the Grass and Catcher in the Rye!!

Just finished reading both these books 2 days ago.... Keep off the Grass by Karan Bajaj first and then Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, its one of the TIME 100 All time best Novels.

Keep off the grass:
Its is a story of a NRI who comes back to INDIA, kicking his million dollar job at the Wall Street. He is haunted by the thoughts of his 'roots'. He gets admitted to IIM B and begins his bizarre self-discovery journey with another crazy character, Sarkar (I was in awe with this person, except few of his eccentricities) and Vinod. The book comments a lot on the Indian Institute of Management, not in very good light though. In India, every ambitious student dreams of getting in the IIM and here is Karan Bajaz going completely ruthless with his comments and observations about the finest of B schools in the world, and to our dismay its quite true.
The story is pretty stereotype in the sense these guys make big goof ups, get the lowest of grades, do all kind of possible screwing up but ... at the end of the day they find what they always wished for..... A lil hard to believe... BUT, what makes this book keep away from monotony is the language which is completely engaging and the thoughts on self-discovery and happiness the author has come up with. Its like the author is articulating the thoughts you always wanted to express but didn't have the right words.
The confusions of today's youth, the fucked-up concepts of happiness, the ways of getting away from it and finding oneself going in deep shit..... All is very well explained by Karan Bajaj. BUT, he not only explains the problems but comes up wid a plausible solution.
A truly engaging and un-putdownable book. A journey with your own thoughts if you belong to the pool of lost and confused souls.

Catcher in the rye:
It was a pleasure meeting HOLDEN CAULFIELD(The Protagonist).
A weird narration style by Salinger which gives you a feel of being zonked. The book does not have a plot nor a story. The author establishes a first person dialogue with the reader and then there is no stopping. He goes on to explain every detail of Holden's life for 3 days and his thoughts. The language may be obnoxious to few as it uses words like "phony" "goddamn" "corny" "fuck" in huge amounts.
Holden wants to be the Catcher in the rye and wants to keep away his sister and other kids from the 'phonies' and 'goddamn world' but towards the end he realises that he cant do so and his sister, Phoebe MUST learn the hard way and on her own.Salinger leaves the actual events of Holden's presumed suicide attempt and hospitalization ambiguous; Holden only uses euphemisms such as "getting sick" to describe what has happened to him, but the implications are clear. Yet even more ambiguous than what happened to Holden is whether or not Holden will recover from his difficulties. Nevertheless, while looking back on his situation Holden still harbors some of the same suspicions and deep cynicism that afflicted him throughout the book. Salinger ends the novel inconclusively: he gives no strong indication what Holden has learned from his difficulties, if he has learned at all, and allows for a strong possibility that Holden will continue his self-destructive and suicidal behavior.
(Some part taken from official review.)

More than half a decade separates these books but what surprises me is the questions, the problems, the confusions and the SOLUTION still remains the same. BUT every individual will have to DISCOVER it on their own.... That's the FUN.....

Enjoy the self - discovery :P

Lite le!!!

After my last blog, I got a lot of worried e-mails and messages from friends (yes, few ppl still follow my blog, duh) about the 'sudden' outburst of my thoughts. But, let me make it clear, its NO sudden outburst, I've been thinking about this one for quite sometime now.

This does not mean I'm turning into some non-believer of humanity or something. I'm not gonna turn into a Hippie and smoke marijuana :P It was just a figment of my imagination, a reflection of my thoughts and the kind or reading and music I'm listening to. (Been reading and listening a lot of revolutionary stuff off late)

Howmuchever this system might suck, I like it here. May be we are adapted to it. I will find a way out through this shit. Its too bad, very bad like I've written but not so bad that we stop hoping. I know its contradicting my own thoughts but these are two different moods and philosophies. And like always, I'm confused which one to follow. Atleast, no harm writing, may be some day, I'll will know my own philosophy.

Plus, it was high time that I digressed from my usual comedy format and wrote something I really feel about. Here on I'll try and mix both forms of writing. So all of you take it lite and hang on :D

The Cosmic Conspiracy

All of your life, you've been lied to, been fucking lied to. You've been told what life is supposed to be about, what you are supposed in this life, birth fuck n die... A lil more here n there while doing so....

Grow up, do well in school - scholarships - merits - best colleges; make friends - hang out - coffees - nite outs - placements; get a girlfriend or boyfriend - seek love from him/her - try n love or act so if nothing works keep seeking all your life; get a good job - good means which gets you money and stability not satisfaction; get married - have kids; spend rest of your life taking crap from them.....

Watch tv, read books, to attain some peace go to some temple, talk n preach philosophical shit, attend crappy self-discovery courses, to keep up with everything and jazz bout work-life try and take up some extra activity. Work till your ass aches to earn money and then donate money to charity to feel good about it. Go on vacation to forget bout the pressures but end up getting haunted by the same worries. Get old, retire, spend time with the grandkids. Look back on your life with nostalgia, look forward with hope.

This is what you're supposed to do, this is what normal people do. This is what everyone else is doing. Oh sure, there are a few aberrations here and there, sometimes some people slip off this track, but they get back on at any time. They have to, there is no escaping it.

Well ya, sometimes you meet that young pretty couple who socialise so much that people go green. The wife cooks, irons, washes and does everything needed. The man works n earns, but she stopped sleeping with her husband several years ago, the love has drained and dies, possibly it never existed. But that's ok, cause he sneaks off a couple times a week and and gets his needs satisfied. He feels a bit guilty about the whole affair but thats OK too, he tips her extra and gets away with the guilt. The wife indulges in bhajans and kirtans and cares a fuck bout anythin, for her its her karma. For her the life is better than the girl in her village school whose own dad sold her off for 15oo Rs. She loves her son immensely, he loves her back too but cant express due to the Marijuana overdose he injects to stand his parents and the tormenting educational system. He is a bright kid, but the system doesn't spare one.

A girl across the hall tries every morning to shed few kilos off herself to attain the so called happy state, her brother slogs nights together to get a Medical degree only to realise its no good for him in the rat race. The widowed maid wets her pillow every night in memory of her husband who had beaten her up on several occasions. She spends time raising others' kids cos she didn't have any of her own only to know, for them she is just a maid servant.

The intelligent smart looking guy with solid values commits suicide as he can't stand loosing a job in the MNC while the kids he used to teach on Sundays cry for basic education and food. The girl in the BPO gets laid by her boss in a 5-star for a 2,000Rs raise while her mother visits every temple barefoot for her well-being. The homosexual who tries and hides his own identity to the limit of not himself acknowledging it to fit in the norms of normal happiness. Ends up distraught and spends a life with disharmony with himself, just to keep others happy.

While privileged few whine about standards of living, work culture, growth, next holiday plan, their Gucci watch and Armani suits..... For them the emptiness of the life is too much to handle, they seek the meaning in various ways. Get disappointed and live disillusioned lives.

These are just small problems. Often enough to happen at least once during the average human lifetime, all the most powerful nations of the world divide up into sides and begin slaughtering anyone they can find on the opposing side by the millions. This is agreed by all to be unfortunate but necessary.And the city you live in, if you're in a western country and living in a city, has already been targeted by some country's nuclear weaponry. A few pushes of the right buttons, and you'll be vaporized, or survive and live in some radioactive waste. But that's ok, because it probably won't happen in the immediate future, so you might as well go out and buy the week's groceries.

But this all keeps happening in the backdrop of your fucking life. You can convince yourself that once you lose that 3 kilos, get more money or become famous, or get your husband to stop beating you, or finally kick that addiction, you'll be a normal happy person like everyone else. Like everyone else looks. Happiness is an illusion, it will make you run as far as you can and as fast as you can. Other person looks happy until you meet him and when you know his story its another quest for happiness.

The problems of life are all symptoms of the same cause. The locks on your doors which you need to keep out burglars, the schoolyard bully, the serial killer, the drug addict, the drug dealer, the billionaire who thinks he's being exploited by the poor, poor who is exploited by the politician and your own unhappiness, all are interconnected. We're a fucked up species, striving to be healthy and happy while simultaneously destroying ourselves and all the happiness around. Quantifying happiness and loosing its essence.

But in the end, nothing matters, absolutely nothing. Once you die, it wont matter to you if you were fat or underpaid. Like someone rightly put it, its just one life in the ocean of lives. As inconsequential as it can get. Its a cosmic conspiracy to keep you chasing the non-existent.

I'm BESPECTACLED!!! :(

It happens to all and so I always thought, I will accept it with grace when it happens to me.... But, NOOOO... I found myself shouting (inside, as I couldn't do it in public :P).. "Why GOD why..? Why ME...? Why so soon !!!!"

NO, I'm not talking bout Death or marriage (both are almost equivalents :P), I'm still talking about my SPCTS only :(

Some History: My mom doesn't want me to divulge this in public ever as she thinks it will reduce my chances of becoming a prospective matrimonial stuff... Little does she know, this can never happen... :P
Crap apart, as a child I had a WEIRD philosophy.... Like one can "write" with only one hand, one can also "see" only with ONE EYE...... YES, I could not see properly with my left eye ever since I know, but always thought it was very normal... (DO NOT laugh, it can happen and is very LOGICAL) So, I never told my parents bout it, AND... when I did, they where shocked like I was blind... he he... After some diagnosis, it turned out it was Chronic... My mom refuses to accept though (that she produced a faulty piece :P) and still thinks, it was due to one of the KARATE tournament I participated in when very young....
To cut the long story short, I can see (properly) with only my RIGHT eye (like I can write) and the Docs said it won't cause any problems whatsoever....

THEN, I joined work and started spending more that 9 hour in front of the monitor... Moreover, I have a desktop and a laptop (YES, I DO :D) both and their brightness doesn't match so I ended up affecting my Right eye too and one fine day had to meet the Oculist.... She gave me a Positive 0.5 cylindrical power glasses for my right eye...
Nonetheless, I look really SMART in these glasses and I have to put them on only while working so I don't really mind, so all you feeling devilishly happy can shut up.... :P

GOD and his ways of inkling me to grow up, but lil does he know, I don't have any plans to... Come Glasses Come what may, I will be the same spoilt pampered and bratty kid inside....

On my LIST !!!

I should stop making promises....
I suck at keeping them.. (I can see, rather predict the huge nods and smirks my friends givin)

I can't say I was particularly stuck with work but was kinda busy doing a host of things...
Made a loooong list of TO Dos to finish in coming 18 months and beyond...

The reason for 18months cannot be published online.... NO NO, I'm not getting married... :P
1. Promised myself a PHOREIGN TRIP in a few months... Gotta save for that... Apart from a business trip, hopefully it falls in place..
2.A few Adventure activities before that like trekking, rafting and stuff... One comin up in the coming weekend... :D :D
3.Made a list of 15 books and 100 movies (along with the normal releases) to watch and read (Will post it in a day or 2... I hope :P)
4.To post a blog atleast once a week (ok, I know, how lousy I'm)
5.Listen to a hell lotta different music and try and appreciate slow borin (oops) music.... :P
6.Teach the underpriviliged students or different kind of Community service... I'm currently enrolled to Teach India and Maher...
7.Complete DRUMS basic and embark upon advanced and may be guitar sideways... Also toying wid the idea of singin,, (OK FINE...)
8.Learn to SWIM and DRIVE A FOUR WHEELER... At least swimming for sure :P
9.Visit the gym at least 4 times a week... And reduce a lil here n there :D
10.PLAN beyond these 18 months and EXECUTE IT !!!! Find a path to move ahead !!!


You may say I'm a DREAMER, but I'm not the only one…..

Anti-Library

In the book The Black Swan, the author Nicholas Nassim Taleb introduces the concept of the anti-library as the collection of books you haven’t read, of knowledge you don’t know, a massive collection of unknowledge. A more qualified description would include the caveat: books you haven’t read but possess.

"A massive collection of unknowledge, the anti-library contains all the books that may still change your life. Most of your favourite books are there, hidden and forgotten. It has facts you need to know, authors you’d worship. Only people who read very little can think the anti-library doesn’t matter. To book-lovers, and especially generalists like me, who jump all over the place without focus, the stacks of the anti-library loom higher and darker for every book we read. Every book that changes me reminds me of the ones that still might."

Another list:
My Anti Library:
1. The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai - Bought this book as it won the award and all (forgot which one :P) but never could get myself to read it.
2. State of Fear by Michael Crichton, one of the most celebrated authors of Jurassic park. This book I went till the very end and just lost all the patience I had put into reading it.
3. Ek hota Kharver: Its a story of an African kid growing up to become a great scientist, gifted to me by a special friend on my B'day cos I wanted it, but as the book is in Marathi, no success... The friend promised that she Will read it aloud for me but alas...
4. The Bhagwatgita: Like everyone else, even I was determined to read it at least once but alas.
5. The Hitchhikers Tale: I don't know what pleasure ppl derive out of tormenting others to read "such" tales... aarghhh... a complete painful read, rightfully left half way...
6. Midnight's Children by the Bookers of the Bookers' winner Salman Rushdie, like most of you, I couldn't complete it either :P (Had bought it as a gift to myself, nicely gift wrapped and all, I can be so tacky at times :P)
7. The Afgan by Frederick Forsyth, the complexity of the book went to such heights that I promised myself that I won't torture myself again... :P

The list is bigger... But now I'm unable to recall partly and partly I don't want to confess having bought some of the books....

What kind of a Blogger am I??

Found this link while just loitering around in others' blogs.... Its pretty cool, you might want to give a try... Your Blogging Type is Pensive and Philosophical

You blog like no one else is reading... You tend to use your blog to explore ideas - often in long winded prose. Easy going and flexible, you tend to befriend other bloggers easily. But if they disagree with once too much, you'll pull them from your blogroll!

What's" Your Blogging Personality?