Friday, May 28, 2010

The palace of illusions

This book by Chitra Lekha Divakaruni Banerjee had been creating quite the hullobullo in the blogging world a few months back.

Since I have been in the alternate world as far as books are concerned, this caught my attention only now and I have been wanting to get my hands on a copy of the book. I already have 4 or 5 different Mahabaratha versions, including the 3 volumes comics by Amar Chitra Katha.
Its one of the most fascinating story(ies) ever produced. It has something for everyone and shows a new facet during every read.


Its even more powerful than Ramayan because of the lack of clarity on right and wrong, on good and evil. The story basically revels in gray.


But my all time favourite character in Mahabharatha is Karna.


In all the different versions of the book that I have read, none of the authors were able to put him in a box and label him. For an evil guy who had joined hands with the kauravas, he advices them to face the pandavas in a battle rather than win through cunning. For a guy who is said to be a very wicked person, his name is the cornerstone for charity.


When Krishna and Kunti, both though knowing the truth about his birth, come to see him only before the beginning of the war, to tempt him to the side of Pandavas, his loyalty shines through.



Be it C.Rajagopalachari's classic or Amar chitra katha's comics Karna begins his unlucky life as an obscure character who then gains importance through his friendship with Duryodhana. But from that point he is deemed evil and all his actions are seen with jaundiced eye. There are quite a few mentions about the Evil Karna peppered through the book.


But after Karna gives away his armour and earrings in charity and refuses to join the Pandavas, despite the temptations from Krishna and emotional blackmail from Kunti, he is suddenly the epitome of charity and goodness, though somewhat misled by unwanted loyalty.He then becomes the noble Karna. (well Duh uh)


Bheeshma who insults him at every turn and at every opportunity, suddenly becomes all sacchrine sweet at his death bed.


Karna is a man who is hounded by ill-luck until his very death, and even that through cunning and not on a face to face battle.


I have always been curious about the relationship between Karna and Draupadi and I hear this book deals with that part in detail.
So more after I get my hands on the book.

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Eye Candy

My friends and i have been discussing this for sometime now.
The absolute dearth of eye candy in office. Its so depressing

Its not like we are asking for someone with loads of intelligence and adonis good looks and who is loving and caring with whom we can spend all our lives. (I mean we are talking reality here not someone's fantasy)

Just some eye candy we can spend time sighing upon whenever we see.

Is that so much to ask for?

Someone to pass time on. Just one.

There used to be such an adonis at school. He was a senior, a whole year elder to us. He was also rumoured to have had fought a girl's family for her love and been hurt too.
So not only was he good looking but was also a star crossed lover and a tragic hero. Needless to say my BFF and I spent a whole year having loads of fun discreetly ogling and sighing over him.

The next year he completed school and left, breaking our hearts for almost a week.


So here we are back.. dreaming of an eye candy .. someone to take our minds off our work load now and then.

Wat say gals?

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Liberated

I have cribbed and ranted about my time in the purgatory of my old company.Infact even hearing some of those names used to make my blood boil and blow my top off.Thinking back on those experiences even used to bring me to tears (which I absolutely hate)

But after almost 6 months of being incommunicado from them, I got to meet an old colleague from whom I heard news about all the folks out there.


It was so weird. Where, once I used to have a morbid curiousity on who is doing what and wondering if they had a chance to suffer atleast a little of what I underwent.. Now, I just dont care. I have to think hard to even put faces to the names and news about them holds absolutely no interest to me.

Well!!! No, I dont want to get in touch with them and I couldnt care less what happens to them, But no more does thinking of them cause a knot in my stomach either.
The experiences seems to have glossed over with time.

Yayy!!! I am liberated!

When they said time heals. I guess the old people knew what they were talking about huh?!

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Value of human life

Today morning my friend and I caught an auto to office, as usual. But what was not usual was that this auto-wallah did not even bargain, he asked for a nominal price and we got in.We had hardly gone a kilometer or so, when he got a call.

His wife had gone into labour and the baby was breach. The hospital was refusing to do anything until he paid them 6000 bucks.The man had been driving all day yesterday and all night too and still had earned only 3000 Rs. and the way the situation stood, he would probably be losing his wife and child.

The man could hardly drive, he was trembling and crying and screaming into the phone to somehow save his wife, even at the cost of the baby.

My friend and I gave him what money we had in our hand and asked him to go the hospital and told him not to worry and that our prayers were with him. (Trite, but thats what we could think of at that time)
Even at this time of crisis, the man was not willing to take charity. He promised to drive us for free next time he came that way.
He sounded so dejected and frightened, that his words are still sounding in my ears.

If my friend and I, who were only hearing his story as third parties, felt such sympathy, how can the hospital folks, actually, seeing the woman suffer not have an ounce of humanity? The sheer callousness of these people makes my blood boil and I am helpless to do anything about it.

The value of two lives is 3000 Rs a piece. hmph!

PS: I have been kicking myself. He wanted only another 3K. I could have stopped at an ATM and got him the money. It just didnt strike me at that time :-(