Today, 2nd July marks exactly half the year gone by. It is a good time to take stock of the days gone by. Even though I had made no New Year resolutions this year, I did have some goals in mind and it is time to see how I fared.
Taking Stock
| Reading more | I did manage to read more |
| Blogging more regularly | Not very satisfactory |
| Walking more regularly | There were days when I did cross 5000 steps |
| Losing weight | Failed abysmally |
| Doing yoga | ok ok |
| Being more organised | slowly getting there |
| Seeing more of the world | Failing with a big F |
| Paying more attention to my grooming | There has been a remarkable change for the better |
| Painting | Sadly this is still not happening |
So overall if I had to give myself a score it would be C for effort and D for progress.
The kids are back
This year Anna Shetty and her family went off to the Himalayas to trek. Little Po and Wow Ding managed to climb up to 1450 feet in minus temperatures, across snow, icy-cold streams, and even a hailstorm.
Prima Donna and Ms. Papaya had a totally different holiday but had fun nonetheless.
As for me, I had planned on taking a short trip to SHOONYA, a friend’s resort in Northern Karnataka. Sadly, that plan didn’t materialise because another friend who wanted to come along bailed. Besides, the rains had begun to pour and I thought it more prudent to watch the pelting rain from my balcony rather than from a balcony in Belgundi.
While the girls were away, I was Ithie-sitting. I also managed to have some ME TIME with my friends in the ‘burbs. We met up at Homemade café, a cosy little place opposite the Juhu Marriott. The food was tasty and plentiful, the ambience pleasant, the company scintillating, but alas. the service was slow.
There were several books that I borrowed and returned unread simply because they didn’t really grab my attention.
However, I did manage to go through three of them that I really found interesting.
Book Reviews
Looking for a book to read?
Look no further.
AS usual, Kinni was right when he suggested Annie Zaidi’s novel.
Not being much of a theatre goer, I had absolutely no idea of what went on behind the scenes. I also thought that drama in small Indian towns was restricted to the traditional folk theatre. So this book was a revelation of sorts. Simply written, the book is an engaging tale of two friends whose friendship sours because of an interview given by Jaun, who attributes his success (rightly so) to his friend Asghar. Unfortunately, Asghar abandoned theatre for a more respectable and stable job in banking. In the course of the interview, Jaun’s careless remarks about how he helped Asghar in his examinations brought Asghar’s world crashing down, as he found himself jobless.
Over the Jaun who was now an out of work, has been TV star and Asghar work on starting afresh.
Deftly crafted, in simple language, Zaidi neatly ties up all the loose ends to spin a delightful novel.
This newly published book has created quite a stir, being the the first Booker for an International collection of short stories.
This translation of stories from Kannada revolves around the humdrum, everyday lives of Muslim women in small-town India. Oppression, physical and mental abuse isn’t much of a surprise seeing how male dominated most societies are. But what really shocked me was the sheer poverty and the deliberate misinterpretation of Sharia law as is followed by the small town clerics.
The book is worth reading, but quite honestly, the grittiness got to me, and after a while, I couldn’t take the torture of the women any more.
This seemed to be a month of rather serious reading. Normally, not the kind of book I’d pick up, James was again a suggestion by Kinni who told me that I’d enjoy it.
The book is not really enjoyable as it is about slavery and the story of a slave who is trying to escape. Along the way, he meets several characters, chief among them being Huckleberry Finn, everyone’s favourite character invented by Mark Twain.
James and Huck are unlikely partners as they try to make their way to the North, where slavery was illegal. Slaves had their own language ( proper spoken English) which they used only amongst themselves as they realised that part of their survival depended on how ‘amusing’ their white owners found them.
I was quite horrified and stunned reading this book and would gladly recommend it to anyone who wants to get a clearer understanding of how enslaving and humiliating the life of a slave really can be.
So, as July rolls out, I do hope to make better progress at the goals I have set myself.
Have a nice month ahead.
Ciao,
Twenty- five Seven 
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