Pens and Places

  If you ask me, I think almost 90% Indian - especially middle class families are the followers of classics and timeless fashion trends. Not because they truly care about the environment, but because of the economical crisis and overburdened responsibility of dependent families. But it’s totally unacceptable if I say they don’t crave for fast fashion. It’s like a status symbol, revolving around everyone’s mind to obsess about up-to-the-minute style. I am a core believer of the comfort zone. I love pajamas, and will love to die in pajamas. I love all the oldest clothes, which makes me nostalgic to the events wherever I have worn them. My family sometimes criticizes me for being constant in my choices, as they expect me to change according to the surroundings. I too love timeless fashionable clothes, and can repeat n-number of times as much as I want. But there are so many conceptions people refer to in everyday lives, that leads to so many questions of sustainability. For example -...

  There’s a famous book “Tuesday with Morrie” , written by Mitch Albom in which the character Morrie quotes “The most important thing I can say to you is, 'Teach.' You want to know what's wrong with the world? Ask yourself what's right with it. When you get the answer to that, go out and teach somebody.” This line made an outstanding mark on my beliefs, when I first read the book. Giving you a short glimpse, this is a heartwarming story of a dying professor imparting life lessons to his former student, showcasing the transformative power of mentorship and wisdom it can offer.  There are innumerable facts and real life examples where we can clearly see the importance of mentorship in any generation, whether it be the age of Chanakya’s authority or the digital era of Physics Wala, Khan Sir and many more . At every step of doubt, one looks forward to the resolution suggested by their mentor. And it’s not necessary that the guidance should be in academics only. Life is its...

  Honestly saying, before reading this book, I knew nothing about Malala except the global facts. I don’t generally say this a lot, but now, I am her fan. She is younger than me, Oh my god! What a courageous experience she holds. I believe some books are meant to be read just to revisit the realities one had faced and how they have tried to fit in their major lifetime in mere words/book. And this. This is that book. Through this book, she has shown plenty of sides of her own life, the political and army point of action in the country, the Taliban effect on and off, the patriarchal norms of Pashtuns’ traditions, the backward thinking in people’s perception and lots more. She showed the heavenly landscapes through her words. She started the prologue with a revolutionary title “The day my world changed”, that she really meant. You will be amazed how the incident of being shot made her universe upside down.  All the segregation/chapters of this book are tried to fit in the sync bu...

Freedom is a very sawn-off word for this world I think. Everyone has their own booklet of terms and conditions, when it comes to feeling free. For a farmer, freedom might be his/her desire to expand his/her land to neighboring regions. For a street dancer, freedom might be a desire to present art freely without any judgment of gossiping eyes. For a high school student, freedom might be a pathway to choose the right future without any family pressure. So, when someone is asking what freedom means to me, I also have my brief dictionary, which carries all my past experiences and visionary approaches that created a whole differently contextual definition of this seven-letter-word! I always adored my grandfather, not because he loved me more than all my siblings(don’t tell them!!), but for his lessons of freedom. He taught me how to be free and independent for taking my own decisions. And his formulation was not textual. Not at all. He just pretended to be a part of the lesson. Back then, I...

Murakami always has this kind of essence to make the stories more immersive rather than a decisive ending. This collection of short stories, “After the Quake”, I guess was the need of the decade for those people of Kobe, and their neighbors to cope up with extremities. Everything about all the six tales scripted by the author has something to deliver, something that either urges for a closure, or hopes for mending something exceptionally fictional to realities.  I find all the narrations very different from each other and yet united by the seriousness of the earthquake that happened in 1995.  The first one “UFO in Kushiro” will give a unapologetic vibe, “Landscape with Flatiron” will wrap you around the coziness of freedom, “All God’s Children can Dance” will certainly enlighten with some power above all, “Thailand” will offer a feeling of rejuvenation, “Super Frog saves Tokyo” will let you think about the dreams more often, and my favorite “Honey Pie” will hug you with ...

  The title itself will give a sort of “mystery” kind of thrill to start over the short story. And believe me, it's worth a shot! Everything about the story is bound to highlight something to the middle class family and its consequences. How money can transform the outer appearance, but never the nature behind the fleshy walls - you can see every layer of humanity clearly through the eyes of the author. This is a kind of tale where everything happens for a good reason, but then nothing becomes good eventually because behind the bars, it is creating loopholes in the mindset too. Readers will see the kind of childhood one has to spend when there is very little to share but a big heart to cherish the memories. And on the other hand, how one will be alone in a big mansion owning a huge pile of fake responsibilities and dependent work environments. The author has created such an aura for the head of the family - not the one who outcast everyone with age, but the one who earns bread for ...

  This book was in my TBR for so long, I don't even remember who recommended it to me, but I surely can recall that I was pretty sure I won't be able to finish it, thinking as it’s not my type. Here, my type specifically means “business”. I don't fit into the business category, but little did I know that everything starts with initial courage and zeal to manage, just like life. Anyway, on a random day, I decided to give it a try and oh man! This is a perfect package of turbulence, hanging right on the edge of life’s numerous decisions and outcomes. Phil Knight was an unknown personality for me, before reading this piece, and now when I think about it, I totally can live with him on the countrysides of Oregon. He represents a resemblance of every common person, every one of us, who just tried and tried and tried and never fed up with his dreams. Who knew that while running on a long trail, the craziest idea will become a revolution one day. Who knew that a venture with only ...

  "Unveil Life's Secret" is a sweet summary of human's observation of life. You will find so many common truth and uncommon myths that successful people use to adapt and deliver. This book is perfect start for a non-reader too, as it makes every chapter so unique and relatable in tis own ways. This book is divided into hundred segments of practical thinking and personal experience, that might have been extracted from author's life or her surroundings. Because I felt the connection between the provoking thoughts and Tanvi's presentation on that, it was quite connecting. The best part of the book, what I find, is it simplicity of chapters. Any reader can pickup any chapter at random, and can grab the truth of life. The bifurcation with small details, whether its a notion on personal beliefs or behavioral practices or even professional take on few things, will give a long lasting mark.  Talking about writing style, its very easy and, I literally mean easy for non...

  If I could share my part of the brain and let you roll around the neurons to find my best-loved genre, it would certainly be “Matt Haig”. Yes, my favorite genre, which I can pick even in my dreams to relive the whole narration again and again, is now ‘Matt Haig’. He is a genius of delivering words in the correct proportion of love and science to the world. “The Humans” is the third book of his I read, and yes-yes-yes, I loved it.  This book is just a shooting star in the infinite prime numbers of the cosmos, existing right here and  thousands of light years  away. Matt has articulated the Earthly-AI(Artificial Intelligence) into Universal-AI(Alien Intelligence), just to understand humans - the basic intelligent form of life on the blue planet. Right from the introduction of the story, where an outsider learns to understand the umpteen forms of greeting humans can have, to the end of the story where pain and sufferings are essential-magical gifts - every thing is ju...

  There’s a constant fight between the perception of what we know and what we should know more, that we often ignore the fact of reading self-help books. People often get bored or don’t connect for long run with self-help genres. They either pick it up when they feel there’s a need to change something for good in their lives or they want to get motivated. But it is a very important journey of learning and implementing throughout, as we all know “Life is a journey, not a destination” . Before writing this review, I was skeptical of what I should write about a book which people already know(even though they don't  follow). Then I got an intellectual suggestion from my partner that “you should write what YOU like about this book, how this book is different from other self-help books, why should anyone pick this masterpiece over billions of other books?”. And this, this small piece of information was although basic one but made me think of the fact that why I picked it in the firs...

  Please don’t ask me why do I write, join me in my expedition of exploring words and rhythms and you will know beyond horizons of lyrical world, there’s a small galaxy I created it on my own. There are clouds, of thoughts and experiences, analysis and consequences, there’s stillness, like water and patience, faith and complacence, there’s fire, on the nerves and veins, vivid mountains and planes, and then there’s me, resting in the firefly-lit summer night carefree and quiet. And still if you ask me, why do I write, I will show my ways of dawn and dusky days where I paint people and rainbows on a literary canvas. I breathe, see and feel through alphabets, where screen connects to virtual galaxies of love and friendships, reminding little packets of gossips scattered on my balcony. But please don’t ask me why do I write, instead read my mind between the lines and come to me, for feedback and suggestions, and we will talk for ages,  just like I do with my pen. Prompts: •  ...

Z oom-in the little things! Humans are trapped in the illusionary veil of pretentiousness. Hey today’s your birthday, you must be very excited to celebrate…Oh nice, you lost weight, that must be an exhilarating experience…Congratulations on your daughter’s birth, you must be proud.  These compliments seem like comments if you just brush off the accumulated dust from a person's perspective. One might not be fully prepared to become a father, he might not be financially capable of raising a child the same way he had imagined. One might be scared of celebrating birthdays because he/she might have lost someone very special on that specific day. One might not love himself/herself even after being considered in the fit community of society. There are zillions of cases, where the reality always stuns the other side of spectators. And this is what I am afraid of. People don’t usually share their share of loneliness with others. The matter of shameful status comes to their mind, and eventua...