Book Review - Grass is singing by Doris Lessing

The Grass is Singing is power-packed with emotions, psychological analysis and bleak racial truths. One thing I feel reading any women writer, is the psychological depths they travel and traverse. Mary’s degeneration in the novel is the degeneration of a vivacious mind - out of ennui, or failures, or anger, or helplessness. She deteriorates within and it starts flowing out - through anger and lust for the Black. She is very much agential, primarily because of her Whiteness, but she doesn’t make it enough to save the situation. A very powerful, disturbing novel. The most recurring theme in the novel, I feel, is the love-hate combination. Mary hates Dick, but marries him. She hates Moses for being a powerful Black, but cannot resist him. Dick knows Mary can help him succeed in life, but will not oblige him; still he is very sympathetic. Moses, though untold by the author, must be hating his mistress for lashing the whip on his face, for treating him as an inhuman, but he serves her with utmost care. He cannot leave her and when she lets another White man to ask him to leave, he realizes that as a time of reckoning. What killed Mary: her cruel racial prejudices or unsympathetic love for the slave? Perhaps she was dead much before Moses killed her. In that sense, the novel is the story of how she walks into her death and lives her death, minute by minute in the hot dry sun, till one (very significantly) rainy night, finally Moses relieves her– out of love or anger? The theme of failure is also striking. Dick is the obvious perenniel loser who loses his crops and his life in front of him. But Mary, who blames him for is failures is a failure in herself. That she realizes her failure is evident in her pining for the city life, at the same time her refusal to meet her old friends. Hers is a pre-stated tragedy with no escape.

"A man can be destroyed but not defeated"

This is my favourite quote from the book 'The Old Man and the Sea' by Ernest Hemingway. I had studied this as part of my syllabus in undergraduate level. But it turned out to became one of my favourite book. To tell you the plot in brief it is the story of an epic struggle between an old, seasoned fisherman and the greatest catch of his life. For eighty-four days, Santiago an aged Cuban fisherman, has set out to sea and returned empty-handed. So conspicuously unlucky is he that the parents of his young devoted apprentice and friend, Manolin, have forced the boy to leave the old man in order to fish in a more prosperous boat. Nevertheless, the boy continues to care for the old man upon his return each night. He helps the old, secures food for him, and discusses the latest developments in American baseball, especially the trials of the old man’s hero, Joe DiMaggio. Santiago is confident that his unproductive streak will soon come to an end, and he resolves to sail out farther than usual the following day.
On the eighty-fifth day of his unlucky streak, Santiago does as promised, sailing his skiff far beyond the island’s shallow coastal waters and venturing into the Gulf Stream. He prepares his lines and drops them. At noon, a big fish, which he knows is a marlin, takes the bait that Santiago has placed one hundred fathoms deep in the waters. The old man expertly hooks the fish, but he cannot pull it in. Instead, the fish begins to pull the boat.

Unable to tie the line fast to the boat for fear the fish would snap a taut line, the old man bears the strain of the line with his shoulders, back, and hands, ready to give slack should the marlin make a run. The fish pulls the boat all through the day, through the night, through another day, and through another night. It swims steadily northwest until at last it tires and swims east with the current. The entire time, Santiago endures constant pain from the fishing line. Whenever the fish lunges, leaps, or makes a dash for freedom, the cord cuts him badly. Although wounded and weary, the old man feels a deep empathy and admiration for the marlin, his brother in suffering, strength, and resolve.

On the third day the fish tires, and Santiago, sleep-deprived, aching, and nearly delirious, manages to pull the marlin in close enough to kill it with a harpoon thrust. Dead beside the skiff, the marlin is the largest Santiago has ever seen. He lashes it to his boat, raises the small mast, and sets sail for home. While Santiago is excited by the price that the marlin will bring at market, he is more concerned that the people who will eat the fish are unworthy of its greatness.

As Santiago sails on with the fish, the marlin’s blood leaves a trail in the water and attracts sharks. The first to attack is a great mako shark, which Santiago manages to slay with the harpoon. In the struggle, the old man loses the harpoon and lengths of valuable rope, which leaves him vulnerable to other shark attacks. The old man fights off the successive vicious predators as best he can, stabbing at them with a crude spear he makes by lashing a knife to an oar, and even clubbing them with the boat’s tiller. Although he kills several sharks, more and more appear, and by the time night falls, Santiago’s continued fight against the scavengers is useless. They devour the marlin’s precious meat, leaving only skeleton, head, and tail. Santiago chastises himself for going “out too far,” and for sacrificing his great and worthy opponent. He arrives home before daybreak, stumbles back to his shack, and sleeps very deeply.

The next morning, a crowd of amazed fishermen gathers around the skeletal carcass of the fish, which is still lashed to the boat. Knowing nothing of the old man’s struggle, tourists at a nearby café observe the remains of the giant marlin and mistake it for a shark. Manolin, who has been worried sick over the old man’s absence, is moved to tears when he finds Santiago safe in his bed. The boy fetches the old man some coffee and the daily papers with the baseball scores, and watches him sleep. When the old man wakes, the two agree to fish as partners once more. The old man returns to sleep and dreams his usual dream of lions at play on the beaches of Africa.

And now the theme that has fascinated me all these years...

Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea is the deceivingly simple story of an old Cuban fisherman who undergoes the most difficult struggle of his life. Despite being a relatively short work, the novel is filled not only with drama but with the parable of one man's perseverance through the hardest of times. In the title character, Santiago, Hemingway depicts one of the most distinguished examples in American Literature of an individual looking deep within to summon the courage necessary to get through the triumphs and tragedies that life -- represented by the sea -- presents. Alone on the sea, Santiago continuously struggles to find hope in several seemingly hopeless situations. The old man exemplifies Hemingway's ideal of exhibiting "grace under pressure," as he refuses to submit to the overwhelming obstacles presented by the sea. Santiago's attitude seems to be that although he is faced with tragedy -- as everyone is sooner or later in life -- he will not cease struggling. Relying on memories of his youth, news of the Great DiMaggio's recovery from injury, and thoughts of the boy, Santiago finds the strength to physically and emotionally carry on throughout the story. After hooking the great marlin Santiago realizes he is unable to quickly kill the fish, and it proceeds to tow him farther out to sea. Yet, throughout the test of endurance between man and fish the old man begins to recognize a bond between he and the marlin, repeatedly referring to it as his brother; he elaborates, "Now we are joined together and have been since noon. And no one to help either one of us" (50). The old man and the fish are both mere inhabitants among the diverse tropical life residing in the Gulf Stream, bonded by the fact that they are at the mercy of the sea. The fish, therefore, transforms from merely being Santiago's prey to serving as a metaphor reflecting the old man's emotional and physical state. When the sharks mutilate the dead marlin hanging off the side of the skiff as Santiago struggles to sail home, the old man fights them off as if they were attacking him. Only when the marlin's carcass has been entirely eaten away does Santiago give up, knowing he "was beaten now finally and without remedy" (119). Although the old man seemingly fails once the sharks steal his prize fish, they cannot take away the fact that Santiago -- the primary target for the jest and pity of other fishermen -- has done the unthinkable by staying with and catching a fish "bigger than he had ever heard of" (63). According to the "Hemingway Code," based on principles of courage and endurance, the old man has actually triumphed in spite of his loss. In spite of not successfully bringing the fish back, Santiago fights with dignity -- first to land the marlin, then to protect his fish from the sharks -- and in doing so asserts his humanity. Santiago endures and successfully survives his supreme ordeal, fighting the timeless battle of man vs. fate, with honor by remaining resilient in the face of triumph and tragedy.

The Ten Habits of Emotionally Intelligent People

High EQ people:
1. Label their feelings, rather than labeling people or situations.
"I feel impatient." vs "This is ridiculous."
"I feel hurt and bitter". vs. "You are an insensitive jerk."
"I feel afraid." vs. "You are driving like a idiot."
2. Distinguish between thoughts and feelings.
Thoughts: I feel like...& I feel as if.... & I feel that
Feelings: I feel: (feeling word)
3. Take responsibility for their feelings.
"I feel jealous." vs. "You are making me jealous."
4. Use their feelings to help them make decisions.
"How will I feel if I do this?" "How will I feel if I don't"
5. Show respect for other people's feelings.
They ask "How will you feel if I do this?" "How will you feel if I don't."
6. Feel energized, not angry.
They use what others call "anger" to help them feel energized to take productive action.
7. Validate other people's feelings.
They show empathy, understanding, and acceptance of other people's feelings.
8. Practice getting a positive value from their negative emotions.
They ask themselves: "How do I feel?" and "What would help me feel better?"
They ask others "How do you feel?" and "What would help you feel better?"
9. Don't advise, command, control, criticize, judge or lecture to others.
They realize it doesn't feel good to be on the receiving end of such behavior, so they avoid it.
10. Avoid people who invalidate them, or don't respect their feelings.
As much as possible, they choose to associate only with other people with high EQ.
Copyright 1999 Steve Hein, The EQ Institute

Top 10 Most-Positive Habits of Life

“Good habits, once established are just as hard to break as are bad habits” Robert Puller

1.Set goals.
2. Stop worrying.
3. Appreciation.
4. Don’t be afraid by failure.
5. Find a good mentor.
6. Start everyday with a positive mind-set.
7. Practice gratitude.
8. Cultivate patience.
9. Always learn something new.
10. Respect and treat your body right.

I like odds they help me get even

Success has no address
No landmark
No calling card
But the path is steep
And some will take the elevator
But I will take the stairs
Some will get there faster
But I will get there stronger
And adversity will be my traveling companion
Because, when I will get there
I can turn to adversity and say,
So long,
And heave the bag of taunts
And insults I gathered
Along the way, and scatter them
To the birds
I will miss them
But feel lighter
Yes.
That will be the day
When I stand at
A large bay window
And unclean my fist
For there will be no more
Odds to conquer
Not even in the mind.

Book Review - Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

My Review

“This book deals with the situation in Nigeria in the 1960s. The first half of the book describes the life of an academic family and their servant. The first half of the book describes the normal problems that couples and families deal with, while in the second half of the book, the war in Biafra (where they turn out to live) is very present. The professor and his wife, child, and servant end up in a one-room flat, without any prospects. Stil, the writing is not too confrontational or accusing. It touches on the terrible things that happened during the Biafra war in an almost matter-of-fact way. The book is a fabulous read i must say. The inclusion of an Engishman is probably for the benefit of non-African readers, so we could identify"

Albert Einstein

Here are some of my favorites quotes from Einstein:
1- “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
2- “Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.”
3- “Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.”
4- “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”
5- “Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.”
6- “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”
7- “If A is a success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut.”

8- “The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.”

Can you love me?

Can you ever love me for myself?
For being who I am through and through?
Can you love me for my imperfections?
Can you see me as i am and not as what you want me to be?
Can you ever love me for me?
For my mistake and for speaking without thinking?
Can you love me even when i am unreasonable?
Can you see me as I am and not for the angel you seek?
Can you ever love me for me?
when I cry because i am hurt?
Can you love me when I am sad without having a reason to be so?
Can you see me, as I am not as what I once was?

The More I Sweat The More I Shine...

I'm not a star
there's no hollo ver my head
Fate doesn't like the colour of my eyes
Struggle and strife are old friend of mine
Who am I?
I am Survival, I am Guts, I am Pride
I like odds
especially when they are stacked against me
Because there will
come a time when i will
stare them in the eye
Anad smile the smile of
the one who's pulled it off
I am the guy who will have
deep lines on his face someday
And it'll make me look good, when i laugh
Because that is the day I will fear no fear
And taste sweat that is sweet
And look back for the very first time and say
i did it my way
The long hard way...

Seize the day .. Enjoy the moment

I could smell the freshness of the surroundings, the leaves, the land, the birds, the flowers and that of the water… is this heaven? If this is heaven, they why to die and leave this place?

It was sort of mesmerizing, like the opening song in the Opera! It was sort of creative, like the Mona Lisa of Leo Nardo Da Vinci! It was sort of spectacular, like the crackers in the sky on your independence day and was a sort of ecstatic, like being with some one you love so much!

I had positioned my camera, adjusted the lens according to the dimness of the early morning hours and was about to arrest him within my frames that he had flown away!

The bird had flown around, circled away, came back, fluttered above one of the rocks lazily and then had flown away once again! I was watching him, fascinated, and was wondering about his next move! He had moved with the wind as though floating on the clouds and had finally settled down on a small rock!

I had finally captured the moments

Writing to me

Writing is like sleeping on the rainbow, snuggling close to the freshness of the sky!Writing is like murmuring your love to someone so close to your heart!

Writing is like walking on the moving wind, reaching beyond the cloudsTaking a piece of God and presenting Him in the form of words to the world!Writing is like moving within the moves and sleeping within your sleep!

Writing is like flowing on the waves of the ocean, running away, winding up,Moving ahead, rolling over and chanting OM to the great God!Writing is like gleefully walking through the unending passages of the snow cavesWriting is like breathing within the oxygen mask, getting the fullest dose of theGoodness of life!

Writing is like becoming young again and moving within the whirlwind of theLove, passion, wonders and happiness of the big and beautiful world!

Writing is like meeting your best friend after tens and tons of yearsWhen you need someone the most to talk to!