Love the one you’re with

Author: Emily Giffin

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, it’s a nice light read and it falls into that category of books which I felt like reading at one go!

It starts with the heroine of the story, Ellen – who’s a successful photographer and happily married to a wonderful husband, bumping into her ex-boyfriend. He is not just an “ex” for her – they were so passionate together; all her memories of their time together come flooding back to her when she sees him and keeps her mind pre-occupied for days to come. She has a cup of coffee with him but never tells her husband about it. One lie leads to another and soon she’s trapped into a web of lies. She starts comparing her husband to her “ex” even though she doesn’t want to. Soon they move from New York to Atlanta and unhappy with her life, she tries to compensate that unhappiness by giving freedom to her feelings. It is interesting to read what happens thereafter; whether lust wins over love.

What is intriguing about the story is that when she runs into her ex, she has everything that she wanted in her life – a great career, a caring, rich and smart husband and the package. Still on meeting him, she’s aflame with all the feelings she had for him. So there’s a point in the novel when you almost want to scream at her and tell her that she’s lost her brains and I think that’s what kept me going to see if she got them back (the brains I mean) or not :).

As my DH calls some movies “chick flicks”, I think this book may fall into a similar class of books but I’m sure it’ll be a fun read for all women at least.

Bottom line: Liked it.

Why do we get angry?

This is an excerpt from Naradapurana. It is absolutely lovely and so meaningful.

One possesses a body because of his actions

Body binds him to desires

Desires entrap him into greed

Greed enslaves him to anger

Anger destroys his virtues

Loss of virtues destructs the mind

A destructed mind commits sin.

Gita also preaches the same and it is the truth. I especially found the correlation with anger so easy to understand. If and when you get angry, spend 5 minutes trying to analyze why you got angry and you can trace it to a desire of yours that was not fulfilled. If you didn’t have a desire in the first place, you would never get angry. We get angry with our family because we expect from them. We get angry with drivers on the road because we expect them to be good drivers.

The first step towards reducing anger in your life is to absolve yourself from desires. As a normal human being, it’s hard to completely free yourself from desires but the less you have them, the more peaceful your life is. You would think that when you’ve done your duties you’ve the right to have desires/expectations from this world. Your desires/expectations will give you nothing but pain. My answer to you is – trust in God. He’s right there for you, looking at you. You will get what you deserve. If you’ve done what you were required to do, you will get what is good for you. Many a times, we say “Life is not fair”. It can only be said in jest because God is fair.

A thousand splendid suns

Author: Khaled Hosseini

Khaled Hosseini,  in my opinion, is a brilliant writer! This is the second book of his that I read, the first being Kite Runner, and I enjoyed it thoroughly! It was one of the few books that I just couldn’t resist finishing. However, I do have one negative to say about it and that is the excessive  torture portrayed against wives. I just can’t bear to see women being tortured, there’s something unbearable about it – maybe because I share the gender I can feel the pain. Some people would argue that it’s the reality but my argument is: maybe, not always you would like to hear the reality – stark naked! All I can say is that though it upset me at times, it didn’t deter me from reading it fully.

Coming to the story, it’s set in the background of troubled Afghanistan with political unrest and centers around Mariam. Mariam was born an illegitimate child and lived with her mother. Her mother, who had endured a lot, was bitter in life and that was often manifested in her behavior towards her daughter – that is not to underestimate her love for her. Kids being kids, Mariam was more fond of her father who would visit her once a week, never accept her in public and try to get rid of his guilt by sweet-talking her and getting her gifts. When Mariam left her Mother to stay with her father, she neither gained her father nor got her mother back. Forced by circumstances, she was married at the age of 15 to a 40-year old and sent off to Afghanistan from Iran. Her mother’s statement “a woman endures” stuck with her for life and her journey all alone in a new land is complete with crests and troughs.

The characters in this book are very well-sketched and I think that’s what makes a great writer! I felt bad for Mariam that she was sad with her mother and after leaving her too and that got me wondering: would we say she was destined to misfortune? Or is it that the misfortune that befell her was of her own doing – had she not left her mother none of it would’ve happened? Food for thought…

Bottomline: 4.5 stars

Letter to my daughter

Author: Maya Angelou

As Maya Angelou says, this is a letter to thousands of her daughters all around the world. The book consists of anecdotes from her life each of which taught her something about life. It almost feels like the moral studies class I had in my school, just a little more interesting!

Its a pleasure to read each of the chapters. Her most important lesson “never whine”. Love it! Absolutely love it! I think that sums up the means to a happy life. I also liked her poems that were in the book – though I’m not much of a person who can appreciate poetry – but hers were simple to understand and beautiful!

Here are some sentences that I loved from the book:

1. I can be a giver by simply bringing a smile to another person.
2. Was that event an accident, coincident or answered prayers? I believe my prayers were answered. This simply shows that depending on a person’s belief/gratefulness one event can be viewed so differently by different people.
3. This one is not something close to my heart but something I found good food for thought: Lets tell the truth to people. Sometimes when people ask you “How are you” and things are not well with you, Maya suggests that you tell them the truth. According to her, it’ll probably drive people away and maybe you can use the time you gained to solve what’s troubling you. A very interesting perspective. I’m unable to make up my mind either way: is it good or bad?
4. Obesity is not funny and vulgarity is not amusing. By far the best statement I’ve read from a celebrity. She scorns those entertainers who use profanity and vulgarity as a means to entertain. I’m right there with her on that! There are so many entertainer out there today who do not care a cent about what language they’re using or what topics are on their tongue but today’s audience seems to lap it up!
5. If I insist on being pessimistic, there’s always a tomorrow. Today, I’m blessed.
6. A friend may be waiting behind a stranger’s face.
7. The epitome of utter sophistication is simplicity.

Bottomline: 5 stars – absolutely fabulous!

Gold Coast

Author: Nelson De Mille

After reading Wildfire, I’d become a huge fan of Nelson de mille! Almost anywhere and everywhere I could lay my hands on his books, I did. The more I read him, the more the craze wore out. This novel was the nail on the coffin!

A lawyer husband and a wealthy wife lead a happy life on a huge estate that was gifted to the wife by her parents. Their peaceful life is interrupted by the moving in of a mafia-don in their next door estate. Little did they realize what impact this event would have on their future! It starts with a friendly chat and ends with a killing, literally. The couple visit their neighbors as a courtesy and the wife finds herself attracted to the house next door and the don. Her visits become more frequent and her husband, even though not wanting to be a part, gets dragged into family dinners and parties followed by favors showered on him by the don. These he returns with lawyer-ly favors to keep the score even and before he realizes, he steps into the trap and is the lawyer for the don in a case of murder. This is exactly what he wanted to avoid in the beginning! The story has interesting twists and turns.

I liked the base concept but I didn’t like the way the story was weaved. The start was pretty sloppy and the element that pinches me is that – though the protagonist is smart, he’s not smart-enough! Something so unexpected of Nelson’s stories.

Bottomline: It’s a time pass read.

Places to see in Barcelona

Continuing on my previous post on Barcelona, here are things we did and liked as well as what we didn’t like. A tip: you *must* get a guidebook with you if you’re an avid sightseer and read it! We used Fodor’s “See it – Barcelona” and I must say it was very helpful. You can also go to Fodors but its not as comprehensive as the guide book.

Things to do:

1. Port Vell: This is the port of Barcelona. Nothing specific, its just good to roam around here. If you’re fond of shopping then there’s the Mare Magnum mall which has all the famous stores. You can spend an evening here. We ate at the “Take away” and I don’t know if it was my appetite or the food but the vegetarian pizza we had here was very tasty! So was the gelato.
2. La Sagrada Familia: This was the church that Guadi couldn’t complete in his lifetime. It looks awesome from outside! The intricate sculptures on the church are worth seeing; BUT if it says there’s construction going inside do NOT pay 11 euros for the entry ticket! We did and were not at all pleased with what we got to see – construction infrastructure! Construction frames all around, signs, restricted path and what not! There was absolutely nothing inside and by that I mean really NOTHING!
3. Parc Guell: This is another place which houses some of Gaudi’s work. The art pieces at the entrance are gorgeous! Its a nice place to see.
4. La Pedrera (Casa Mila): By now, like us, you would have realized that Gaudi was an important man in Barcelona :). He was actually a very famous architect. La Pedrera is an apartment building built by him. Its a beauty in itself! We took the audio tour and realized how much more we enjoyed the architecture because of the audio. Entry with audio tour was around 11-12 euros.
5. Manzana Discordia: This is a block of three apartment buildings a little south of Casa Mila, also on Passeig de Gracia. The three buildings are Casa Batllo, Casa Amatller and Casa lleo morera. We didn’t go inside any of these, just relished the outside views especially the Casa Batllo. And it was not until we read the guidebook which explained the inspiration behind various facades of the building. So read the guidebook’s section on the place before looking at it to appreciate its finesse.
6. Palau de la Musica Catalana: This is a famous concert hall and is very beautiful from the inside. The entrance includes a guided tour so that’s a good thing. Its situated in an alley so be careful for signs or rather keep asking people. We had crossed it and didn’t even realize till we asked somebody and were told to retrace our steps. Most of the guidebooks suggested watching a concert here to comprehend the beauty of the hall but unfortunately we couldn’t. Entry was around 12 euros.
7. Mercat de la bouqueria: This is one of the many open farmer’s market in Barcelona and a famous one. We had some delicious fresh fruit juice and fresh fruits here. The area around it was also lively so it was fun walking on those streets.
8. Museum of history: Barcelona is based on top of the roman city Barcino and it is the ruins of this city that are housed in this museum. If you’re interested in historical things, then this is a must I would say. How often do you get to see ruins from the roman time! The entrance includes the audio tour. Entry was around 6 euros.
9. Flamenco show: This I think is a must watch. Depending on your interest in music and dance, go for an appropriate show. Though I’m quite interested in watching music and dance, my Dh isn’t so we decided to go for a reasonably-priced show so that we have our cake and eat it too! The place for a good reasonable show is Tarantos in Las ramblas. The ticket is 7 euros and the show is for 30 mins. It begins and ends with the dance performance each of which is around 5 mins and in between the two is song recital which I must say is not as engrossing as the dance. the dances were awesome and such a pleasure to watch! If you’re fairly interested in dances, I would say that you should try one of 37 euros show which lasts for 1-2 hrs. Of course I don’t know how much of it is dance but I hope for that money a lot of it is. Here’s a flavor it:
   
10. Magic fountains: These are located close to Plaza d’Espanya and though there are not as great as the Bellagios of Vegas, they’re good to see if its not a detour for you. For us they  were walking distance from our hotel so it was nice otherwise I wouldn’t have made a stop specifically for them.

Places we did not appreciate much:

1. Museu Picasso – I’m certainly not an art connoisseur so I would’ve only appreciated it if there were some famous paintings of his, which there were none.
2. Santa Maria del Mar: Though I remember reading a lot about it and hence was quite eager to see it but couldn’t understand why it was so famous. Maybe because it was closed and we couldn’t go inside.

Our new temple

My DH gave a new look to the mini-temple we have at home by painting it. Since before-after comparisons are my favorite, I found this old photo of the temple (I wish I’d taken one just before painting):

and here’s how it looks now:

Those paper garlands and flowers were made by my MIL – aren’t they beautiful?!?! She’s very good at these things.