Things I want to do and I don’t

There are endless things that I have already done I always wanted to and there are still more…Human Wants you see…Anyway this is self analysis about things I want to do and also those I don’t want to do. Posting them here would remind me when I have to move and to stop…Just sharing!


Want to do…
- Want to be an optimistic person forever.
- Want to be a real good human being regardless of relationships, just a Good Human.
- Want to visit Wagah Border to feel the true essence of patriotism.
- Want India- Pakistan to reunite.
- Want to drive a truck atleast once.
- Want to become techno-friendly…far from techno embarrassment.
- Want to fly a kite , nope never did it.
- Want to learn dancing  I can’t dance but move on Punjabbi music.
- I wish my name would have been ‘Krushna’.
- If at all I get a next birth, I want to be a SARDAR and fight for the country.
- Want to write a book, sensible one, on an issue?
- Want atleast one trip to abroad, anywhere which is naturally beautiful.
- Want to visit a village every two months.
- Want to become a great cook some day.
- Want all useless people to get rid of me ASAP.
- Want to interview Kiran Bedi and Ruskin Bond.
- Want to keep WRITING….


Don't want to do…
- I don't want to be a pessimist.
- Don't want to betray anyone.
- Don't want to be grammatically incorrect, it's so embarrassing.
- Don’t want to have any kind of pets EVER.
- Don’t want to be a latecomer.
- Don’t want to be friend with new people anymore.
- Don't want to be remembered like Gandhi and others.
- Don't want to lose my attitude, my originality though it pricks many.
- Don’t want to embarrass others due to their drawbacks.
- Don’t want to stop WRITING…

Book Review: Train to Pakistan

From The Book Shelf

Comment: Breathtakingly superb
Genre- classic fiction
Pages:181



A story that connects each Indian and Pakistani to its past to feel that we weren’t always the way we are now. A confrontation which couldn’t be undone, the brunt of which India and Pakistan is still facing. ‘The Partition’.
The author’s very debut novel though written in the year 1956 still carries credence enough to stand and contest the latest bestselling novels of the recent years. In the beginning it depicts an interesting and peaceful picture of a rural place in the borders of Punjab and Pakistan called Mano Majra that would compel today’s reader wondering on the survival of ancient people in absence of mere resources like ‘watch’. People of Mano Majra actually depended on the morning and evening trains to sleep, wake and eat, trains were the time-tellers to them.
The story gives an idea that it’s been written with a focus to highlight the turbulent situation during partition but featuring the lifestyle of Mano Majra and a tiny love story in the backdrop keeps balm-ing the painful wounds both to the writer and reader as well.

Khushwant Singh in this book reveals the unerasable outbreak of our country’s history that’s haunting both India and Pakistan till date. With millions of men killed, women raped and children burnt, it’s been more than half a century old now. Thus, it carries an ability to move every patriotic nerve of the country lovers.
His powerful writing doesn’t allow the reader to ponder over the gory inhuman incidents of murder and slaughter for a long time as the mood of the story took sudden turns to bring back the reader’s composure.

The presumably highlighted characters like Lalaji the Hindu moneylender, Juggat Singh alias Jugga one of the notorious elements mostly in and out of the prison, the Muslim priest and the Magistrate cum Deputy Commissioner Hukum Chand, simple priest of Sikh temple, Iqbal, the communist party worker whose religion remained disclosed till the end, none of them proved to be a monopolist. Rather played acceptably till the end while Jugga’s strong dialogue delivery, aggressiveness, mood swings and indigenousness in the end give him a saviour’s title.

Khushwant Singh sketches his characters with a sure and steady hand.
Train to Pakistan highlights the political complications after sudden taste of independence while the author made sure not to be judgemental over the people behind mass murders, rapes, robbery and violence, he didn’t blame anyone. Instead he emphasised on those innocent people who were absolutely ignorant of what’s and why’s of the happenings, while they were brutally killed or separated from their own people for reasons they didn’t knew, they were bewildered, victimised and torn apart. Things change for the worse when an east-bound train makes an unscheduled stop at Mano Majra, the wagons full of corpses. The most heart-rending passage in the book is when the government makes the decision to transport all the Muslim families from Mano Majra to Pakistan.
It’s a must read for every Indian and Pakistani to know the hard truth of the begged independence away from just the politics, Britishers, Gandhi and Nehru gaatha. This gimmick book has been reprinted and translated into many languages since its publication in 1956. Another reason for its publicity was also the author’s boldness and exposed writing in terms of the women characters including a little teenage girl in the story. Compared to the conservative era of 1950s, it’s considered as an intrepidly courageous step in the world of writing for Indian writers and readers.
Khushwant Singh since then went on to become a famously truculent, humorous, and eccentric columnist and editor, but this is one book infused with his compassion and humanity or say inhumanity.
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Book REview: The Kite Runner

From The Book Shelf

Book: The Kite Runner
Author: Khaled Hosseini
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Pages: 336 pages

An Afgan-American author Khaled Hosseini’s debut novel The Kite Runner released in 2003 is something to be curled upon. An amazingly powerful book speaking the stories of wounded part of the world, Afganistan. The horrifying realities of war, inhumanity in the caste system between Sunni and Shia’s Muslims and the chemistry between a loyal and disloyal friend makes it a perfect page turner. Precisely this book is about life, society, friendship, betrayal, guilt, love and Afganistan.
Kid Amir belonging to a culturally and luxuriously rich Pashtun business family has Hassan a lower caste Hazara boy as his taken for granted pal whose father is an age old servant at Amir’s bunglow.
The story starts with a phone call to a grown-up Amir from his late father’s old friend Rahim Khan. This call gives him a chance to revive his life of betrayal and guilt he has been carrying since childhood. A flashback is then followed with friendship between Amir and Hassan where Amir secretly envies him due to his father’s affection for Hassan while the latter loves him unconditionally and says ‘for you a thousand times over’ whenever his friend asks him something.
The powerful expressions in sentences could take the readers on a flight to Afganistan allowing them to visualise the happenings. The story takes a required U-turn with Amir’s betrayal that forcefully departs Hassan from his dear friend forever. Actually devoted Hassan was brutally beaten and raped by a group of Pashtun bullies when he was on his way with Amir’s last cut kite in the local kite-flying tournament. Where Hassan played unbreakably loyal, Amir didn’t turn up to rescue his friend inspite of being an eye-witness of the piteous incident. Novel’s name suggests Hassan’s skillful quality of knowing where the kite would fall, it was assumed that perhaps he follows the kite’s shadow and reaches the landing place before the kite.
Hosseini describes further story as if he was Amir, followed with the unwanted departure of Hassan and his father Ali, war in Kabul, refuge to Pakistan and then America, Amir falling in love with a beautiful girl Soraya and healing the scar of guilt by adopting Hassan’s orphaned son Sohrab. It was a perilous task for him to free Hassan’s son from violent Talibanis’ grip.
Though The Kite Runner runs around Amir’s life but leaves Hassan’s mark in reader’s mind through out. The author has perfectly utilised the characters in the story to strongly portray the Afgan history from the non-violent 70’s to ugly truth of Taliban taking over in 90’s.
The story twists many times in between surprising the reader as well as Amir. The beauty of writing lays in The Kite Runner which is definitely addictive and not a topsy-turvy.
The book is heartbreakingly moving right from the start. In the end reserved and unfriendly Sohrab only shows a smile to as he runs the kite for Sohrab, saying, "For you, a thousand times over."
The Denver Post, a daily in US says The Kite Runner "ranks among the best-written and provocative stories of the year so far." The book has also been conceptualised into a motion picture in Dari language with the subtitles in English.
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Casual events n blah…

Latest updates from today till last:

~ Went to a nearby village for a story, didn’t get a very interesting scoop though but the air, energy, greenery, chai-samose and ofcourse the villagers added a new life in me- One time experience. Aha!!
*****

~ Created an online ‘Personal Diary’ not for public ;)
(I can reveal atleast about maintaining one)
*****

~ Read ‘Train to Pakistan’ by Khushwant Singh- A powerful book with lots of emotions served. It made me wonder about the existing tension at the time of partition. Wept after reading it.
*****

~ India won Asia Cup, I danced on the couch.
*****

~ Wrote an article on same sex marriage that encouraged office colleagues to whisper behind me. They whispered: revealed vishwasniya sources. Actually the definition of 'bold topics' is completely different here. I told you!
*****

~ Watched Kites, Houseful, I hate Luv storys, Raavan, Mr and Mrs Mehta (yucks, left the theatre before interval) Raajneeti. (Duh! Too much of movie watching?) All were disaster except Raajneeti. I loved Arjun Rampal and the flow of movie, gave 4 stars in the movie review  While Raavan was just ok.
*****
~ Finally got the nerve to learning Facebook!! Yeah! Quite regular now, still trying to get along and finding it good. Not tried the funny games yet. And I have decided to keep away from them.
*****
~ Undergoing process of de-addiction-> idiotic movies, Maggi my love (somewhere I know it’s not possible), impulsiveness, freaking out aimlessly, unconstructive talks like gossiping, SMSing, just being in myself, expectations, last but not the least, friends…well will explain ‘why’ later, it needs another individual post.
*****
~ Hey! Learnt to play Poolgame  yayyy!! Quite late isn’t? Tell you the stick was too heavy for me to hold but great experience.
*****
~ Oh! Went to this new mall where they have ‘hauntplex’, those like horror houses filled with darkness and weird people wearing ghost masks trying their best to scare you. Precisely, it was hilarious and didn’t scare a cell of mine. Rs 100 wasted.
*****
Lately Discovered
~ He likes short hair on him (that I don’t like) and likes long hair on me (that I too like).
~ He doesn’t like to wear watches or anything in his hands. No point in buying bracelets or expensive watches. Nva mind!
~ He likes blue, weirdly all shades hehe…
~ His favourite actor is Amir Khan and Priyanka Chopra.
~ He has an instinct that traps the liars.
~ He is a good informer in terms of being around a Journalist (that’s Me).

As of now, enough. Soon with something new :)

Cheers!!