A useless pair of shoes !!

Hey. I see aplenty news on shoes these days. After a little jiffy of thoughtful but incomprehensible days, I can't desist from the temptation of penning the Shoe-fling-thing down; fire being rekindled by today's news clip - subject being our Honorable PM himself.

As i was packing my bags to set back to my shoe-hurling country, i realized that my worn-out pair might just cause some extra bit of trouble with the 20-kg luggage limit. I was just wondering where would i find some poor needy guy around a developed flourishing nation, when i came across the story. & viola - i have a remedy for my not-so-big a problem.

If some ignorant mind is still unaware, we (Indians) are undergoing a kick-a** democratic fiesta these days. & in the process, we've hurled shoes at our Home Minister, one sitting Member of Parliament, a leader of the opposition aspiring to be a prime minister, an accomplished actor campaigning for his politician-friend, & lastly & most-recently, at our very own Prime Minister. Sounds like a pretty decent guest list we have onboard.

Okay. That seems promising. Even with the sinking economies, we are proving what great role India has to play at the global level. Americans had it just once, & like everything in western culture, we quickly picked up this too. 5 is the count today, & i'm sure with our will & talent, we can keep it coming.



A few points:

1) In the PM's case, it happened to be a computer engineering student (so clearly publicised by the media) - well i know engineers are crazy. it's nothing  to do with the enlightenment of educated indians, believe me. It's exam time, how come he had enough time to attend a rally ?
2) What kind of shoes are being hurled. Are they worn, & wanna-be dispensed ? do people walk bare-footed after they take the aim or they have another pair in their bags ? (i wonder)
3) None have hit the target, yet. We are a cricket crazy nation (except for the fact that we can't afford to host our own tournament). God !! gimme a break. I agree it might seem a single stump as if from the covers. But you gotta blow them off guys. Buck up.
4) i wonder how my dad might feel. He's a policeman & it's his responsibility to make sure no mishap occurs when a politicain waves a rally. & then, if some lazy craphead missed his target by a few yards, it might land onto my poor old fella.

I was wondering if i could find a guy desperate to hurl. My useless pair would cherish their salvation !!

Book Review: Still Alice by Lisa Genova

The most recent novel i read is Still Alice. i got to know of it's fame from the New York Times, where it was highly praised & rated. ordered it at a book store & hit the pages right away.

Best part about fiction is that it pulls you into it, it makes you believe you are living it, rather than just reading it.

Alice, a professor at Harwards and highly successful on professional front, is diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer's Disease. & that's the central theme of the plot that revolves around Alice and people around her. Depicts, in a remarkable way, the impact Alzheimer's leaves on the sufferer & people around her. Alice is brave, with spectacular, sharply defined attributes, & so are the members of her family. I was shaken by the story. & still, as i knew there was no hope for Alice, i wished she remained as brave as she had always been. i could empathize with Alice. I felt like living a hellish life like her while i was passing through the pages with a heavy heart.

I won't desist to say that i hate John, Alice's husband. I hate him. I pray i never happen to wear his shoes, but i'd never have done things he chose to do. But i know it's tough - i've had some experience with that. Depression made me behave somewhat like Alice years ago. i know it's tough for others.

Love is the theme of life. Love is the only fragrance we actually know. Alice is no different. I was amazed how beautifully Lisa strung the melodies of love amidst cruel realities of life. I was skeptical about the climax, because story was gradually developing into a heartbreakingly sad mist. but i couldn't have dreamt of a better one. I was shattered, but smiling after i read the last few lines, & closed the book. i kept smiling for a while, & reflected what love means to me.

Book contains educative and brief terminology of medications involved here & there, but that ain't out-of-the-world. That never made me feel i'm reading some journal on medicine. If a disease is the theme, those gotta be there.

Personally, i believe it wasn't just about Alzheimer's. It was more about life. More about fear, loneliness, & a few other negative attributes of life. But mostly, it was about love !!

I'd strongly suggest this book to anyone & everyone who loves to read about life, who loves fiction, who wants to delve into not-to-discussed & heartbreaking nuances of life, & who respects life, in all it's wrath. I'm really proud to posses a copy of the same. & i feel good about the fact that i've read a very good book.

Still Alice by Lisa Genova
Winner of 2008 Bronte Prize
Simon & Schuster/ 320 pages
Price: Rs. 640/$10.20/€9.50

Language of love !!

We have weekly status meetings on friday here in office. I remember right before the first meeting i was attending, my manager, who happens to sit right behind me, uttered with a wicked smile on his face, "CHALO". I was heavily engrossed in work, but i was lured to turn back to him, because that hindi word came from an Israeli mouth, who knew precisely when to speak it.

Startled, i asked him, "what did you just say ?". With a big pride and smile on his face, he repeated "Chalo !!". & i've been hearing this word on almost all fridays since then. He had learnt one hindi word, by-heart, & he remembers exactly when to throw it. It brings smiles on all Indian faces around.

We are a bunch of Indians here, many Israelis, & a few local Finnish guys. So it's a mixed breeding of several cultures. & it's fun.

Yesterday, Daniel, another guy from an application team came up to discuss a few things with us. But we were all busy, & heavily loaded. So he went to another Indian guy, & asked him, "How do you say this in hindi - i'm very busy today". He got his answer, recited it a few times, memorized it within a minute, & then came back to us - "Aaj bohot kaam hai ?" & we all burst into laughters. He wasn't sure whether he was pronouncing it the proper way, but he knew we already understood. We told him, "Haan, aaj bohot kaam hai". All smiles !!

I myself tried a couple of words/phrases, but i can't hold it long enough. It goes off after a couple of times (Apart from the fact that i still remember the maddu work Entraa, & a few more). It's not about learning a new language, it's not about self-improvement. That's simply enjoying life. Trying to communite to others in their language. The universal language. The reason why i could bear Spanish songs without understanding them at all (I've actually started to enjoy Finnish rock songs as well). It's the language of love.

One fine day, my manager had a strong urge to learn counting in Hindi. So a friend of ours searched youtube for a song, & told him "This song will teach you counting till 13". & there it began. He asked, "who's she ?". We replied, she's the bollywood hearthrob Madhuri dixit, dancing on a hit number ek-do-teen. He said "Leave the counting. I'm liking the dance. We are all dirty men after all"

I'm happy i've such people around me. & it makes little sense to me why & how people go fighting over caste, creed, religion, nationality.

As Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues aptly said,
Great men, like nature, use simple language...

All people smile in the same language, isn't it !!