Friday, June 20, 2008

Almost Single

Almost Single - Advaita Kala

The more I think about it, the more difficult it seems to write something about it. For one, I am not sure how to characterize this book. It might be chick-lit, but not exactly so; it has elements of M&Bs, but altogether its substantially different. Perhaps I would liken it most to what we call a 'masala' movie :-)

It is a story of three bosom pals, ladies who are approaching the dreaded age of 30. One of them is getting divorced, and the other two are desperately looking for a good matrimonial catch [before they hit the expiry date from the marriage market ;-)]. They go through a lot of mishaps - comic and not-so-comic, before the first one frees herself of the trauma of divorce, and the other two find their soul-mates in unlikely places/people.

I looked at some online reviews of the book. Most of them claimed it to be an accurate commentary on urban, single, working Indian ladies - using phrases such as - "you will know a lot about what women think", "it gives you an insight into the minds of women, especially those nearing thirties", "it tells you a lot about relationships" ... you get the drift. From my personal experience, I have to disagree with all these exalting statements. The "relationship facts" seem a collection of cliches to me, and none of the single, working, nearing-30 ladies I know are like the characters in this book - they are too busy struggling to manage the demands of jobs, single-living, and parental pressures, to go partying every night. But then, I do not know any hard-partying, page-3-type people.

What I mean is that I do not think it represents real people, or at least the people of my world. Perhaps my world is too constricted :-) Having said this, I will also say that this is a good fun read, with a lot of humor.It moves at interesting pace, and keeps one entertained - commendable for the first book of an author. If you are not in a mood for serious reading, you can enjoy this book for the comical predicaments of its characters and witty humor it is interspersed with.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Daag Dehlvi - IV

Agiyaar ke naale to bahut tumne sune hai.n
Mazloom ki taasiir-e-dua ko nahin dekha
[agiyaar=enemy/rival; mazloom=victim]

You listened attentively to the cries of my rival
Have you seen the effect of a victim's (my) prayers?

***

Zindagi mei.n paas se dam bhar na hote the juda
Kabr mei.n tanha mujhe yaaro.n ne kyun rakh diya

In my lifetime my friends didn't leave me for a moment
Why did the put me in my grave all alone

***

tu na kar nakhwat-e-shabaab bahut
hamne dekhe hai.n inqilaab bahut
[nakhwat-e-shabaab=proud of beauty; inquilab=changes]

Do not take so much pride in your beauty
I have seen a lot of drastic changes happen

***

Jis qadar maine tujhse khwahish ki
Usse mujh ko siva diya tune

Mujh gunahgaar ko jo bakhsh diya
Phir jahannum ko kya diya tune

O lord! As much as I asked of you
You always bestowed much more upon me

You pardoned a sinner like me
Then what did you give to the hell

***

Rahti hai kab bahaar-e-jawani tamaam umr
Maanind-e-bu-e-gul idhar aayi udhar gayi

The bloom of youth does not stay the entire life
Its like flower's fragrance - comes and goes away

***

Tangi-e-gosh-e-zinda.n ke ham khugar the
Gor mei.n bhi na kabhi paanv pasaare hamne
[Tangi-e-gosh-e-zinda.n=scarcity of a cell;khugar=used to; gor=grave]

I was so used to the lack of space in a cell
That even in the grave I never stretched my feet

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Daag Dehlvi - III

Now for some couplets from some of his Ghazals ...


Baad muddat ke ye ai Daag samajh mei.n aayaa
Woh hi dana hai jis ne na mana dil ka
[dana=intelligent]

It was after a long time that I understood this
He is intelligent, who didn't listen to his heart

***

Marg-e-dushman ka jyada tumse hai mujhko malaal
Dushmani ka lutf shikwe ka mazaa jata raha

The death of my rival saddens me more than you
The thrill of enmity, and the joy of complaints are lost

***

Hazaaro.n hasratei.n wah hai.n ki roke se nahi.n rukti
Bahut armaan aise hai.n ki dil ke dil mei.n rahte hai.n

There are thousands of desires that cannot be controlled
There are many wishes that do not leave the heart

This 'sher' always reminds me of Ghalib's
'Hazaaro.n khwaahishein aisee ki har khwaahish pe dam nikle
Bahut nikle mere armaan, magar phir bhi kam nikle'
Apart from the choice of words, which is astoundingly similar, I think both try to convey the same thing.

***

Bemahal baat bhali bhi to buri hoti hai
Shukra karte hue darta hoo.n shikayat kaisi
[Bemahal=untimely]

At inappropriate time, even a nice thing sounds bad
I am afraid even to thank you, complaint is out of question

***

Kya us badgumaa.n se baat karei.n
Jo sataaish ko bhi gilaa jaane
[badgumaa.n=suspicious; sataaish=praise]

Tum na paaoge saadaa dil mujh sa
Jo tagaful ko bhi haya jaane

What to talk about with that suspicious one
Who considers praise to be criticism

You will not find another simple-hearted person like me
Who mistakes neglect for shyness

Monday, June 09, 2008

Authors Featured On This Blog

Advaita Kala
Almost Single


Alistair McLean
The Dark Crusader


Asha Miro
Daughter Of The Ganges


Audrey Niffenegger
The Time Traveller's Wife


Chetan Bhagat
One Night At The Call Centre


Dan Brown
Angels And Demons
Digital Fortress


Dhruva Chak
Chatterjee Babu : His Life And Lies


Gita Mehta
A River Sutra


Ira Trivedi
What Would You Do To Save The World


Ismat Chugtai
Chidi Ki Dukki


Jane Austen
Sense And Sensibility


Jeffery Archer
A Quiver Full Of Arrows
False Impressions
Not A Penny More, Not A Penny Less
As The Crow Flies


Jhumpa Lahiri
The Namesake


John Grisham
The Last Juror


Jug Suraiya
Delhi Belly


Kaavyaa Vishwanathan
How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild And Got A Life


Ken Follet
The ModiGliani Scandal
A Place Called Freedom


Khaled Hosseini
The Kite Runner


Kiran Desai
The Inheritance Of Loss


Mark Haddon
The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night


Nevil Shute
A Town Like Alice
On The Beach


Richard Bach
Jonathon Livingstone Seagull


Richard Feynman
Surely You are Joking Mr. Feynman


Rider Haggard
She


Shivani
Chaudah Phere


Sudhir Venkatesh
Gangleader For A Day


Tushar Raheja
Anything For You Ma'am


Yann Martel
The Life Of Pi

Sunday, June 08, 2008

How can I have sub-categories in labels

I post a lot of poetry and book reviews on this blog. And I want to have a quick access to the works of a particular poet/author I have posted about. If I create labels for each poet and author, it will make my labels' list unmanageable. And Blogger does not allow me to have sub-categories under a label (ah! how I would love that feature!).

I know the answer is - get your own domain and you can have code that will do this for you. But that is too much work to do when all I want to do is simply to post. Moreover, where will I find time to create and manage a site, when I dont even have enough time to read all the blogs I'd like to, or post on my own.

What I have resorted to for now is create a post, and compile lists of poets and authors in separate posts, and link to these posts on the navigation pane. It is still not a single-click access as I desire, but at least one can manage in two. Any ideas how to do it better?


Friday, June 06, 2008

Daag Dehlvi - II

Sharing another ghazal by Daag Dehlvi. It is nice, but I find it amusing more than anything else, specially because of the second couplet.


Jab jawaani ka mazaa jata raha
Zindagaani ka mazaa jata raha

Woh kasam khaate hai.n ab har baat par
Badgumani ka mazaa jata raha

Gair par lutf-o-karam hone laga
Meherbaani ka mazaa jata raha

Daastaan-e-ishq jab thahri galat
Har kahaani ka mazaa jata raha

Daag hi ke dam se tha lutf-e-sukhan
Khushbayaani ka mazaa jata raha


When the joy of youth was lost
The joy of life was gone

She now swears about everything
There is no pleasure in doubting now

She has started bestowing favors on rivals
I no longer enjoy her attentions

When the story of our love became untrue
Every tale lost its joy

It was Daag who made poetry enjoyable
Without him, there is no beautiful verse


The last sher of this ghazal reminds me of one of Ghalib's couplets -

Yuu.n to hai.n duniya mein sukhanwar kaii achhe
Kahte hai.n ki Ghalib ka hai andaaz-e-bayaan aur

There are many good poets in this world
But Ghalib's style has a class of its own

Thursday, June 05, 2008

Poets featured on this blog

I make a lot of posts on poetry on this blog. Since it is not possible to have individual tags for each poet (it will make labels' list unmanageable!), I have compiled a list of poets (in alphabetic order), and list of posts for each (in reverse chronological order) in a post. I'll keep updating this list as required.


A.C. Swineburne

The Triumph of Time


Bashir Badr
Bashir Badr - VI
Bashir Badr - V
Bashir Badr - IV
Bashir Badr - III
Bashir Badr - II
Bashir Badr


Daag Dehlvi
Daag Dehlvi - IV
Daag Dehlvi - III
Daag Dehlvi - II
Daag Dehlvi - I


Dushyant Kumar
Saaye Mein Dhoop - IV
Saaye Mein Dhoop - III
Saaye Mein Dhoop - II
Saaye Mein Dhoop - I
Saaye Mein Dhoop - Intro
Ek Aashirwaad


Ibn-e-Insha
Yeh Baatein Jhoothi Baatein


Javed Akhtar
Tarqash - III
Tarqash - II
Tarqash - I


Mirza Ghalib
Open to Interpretation


Nida Fazli
Nida Fazli


Ramdhari Singh 'dinkar'
Dinkar
Parichay


Sahir Ludhianvi
Taj Mahal

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Down the memory lane - IX

The JC Encounters - II

I have posted earlier, an anecdote from my college days, about our professor JC. Apart from being very strict and principled, he had quite a sharp memory. He taught us for two years [he refused to take the final year classes, as according to him, final year students were not serious enough]. When he first started teaching our class in second year, he recognized everyone by their names in one week, and by roll numbers in two. One of my classmates happened to meet him last year, and he remembered her roll number after 8 years!

In the third year, one day there was a highly interesting cricket match going on. Many people would have liked to bunk the class, but JC took a severe exception to mass bunks, so most of the students decided to go to his class, and rely on his generosity. The people who were not interested in the match, would not mind an occasional off!

Once in class, they asked JC to free the class, but he refused to do so on account of a match. The students persisted, that there was no use of staying in class, since they couldn't concentrate on studies. They thought that since JC was passionate about making students really understand (rather that just teach), this should do the trick. But poor things, they didn't really understand their teacher in two years! JC said he could not free the class, but he'd not teach, so we would have a general discussion! We then kept imploring that it would be better to study, but now JC was adamant! And what a unique talk it was! After half an hour we really pleaded to him to teach us instead, but he didn't relent!!

Frustrated, some people started asking irrelevant things. One guy asked, "Sir have you been married?", while JC had turned to face the board. With some difficulty he managed to reply, "No, not yet", his back still towards the class. Thinking of taking advantage of anonymity, another guy shot out, "Why?" The class was really at his audacity, and fell silent. JC couldn't keep facing the board indefinitely, so he turned to face the class. And oh! He was blushing!! He called on the student who had asked the second question [yes! he managed to single him out by his voice, in a class of 60, even though he must have taught a number of batches over the years!], and asked him the same set of questions. Now it was this guy's turn to turn red! He managed to reply, with great difficulty, "Sir, I am not old enough". JC replied, "Same answer".

Chapter closed, and we moved back to few more minutes of horribly boring "conversation", before the hour finally got over, to the relief of all.

Parody time

Sharing a very beautiful and poignant poem by Gulzaar ...

Subah subah ek khwaab ki dastak per
darwaza khola, Dekha,
sarhad ke us paar se kuch mehmaan aaye hai.n

Aankho.n se manoos thay saare,
Chehre saare sune sunaaye
Paao.n dhoye, haath dhulaaye,
Aa.ngan mei.n aasan lagwaaye,
Aur tandoor pe makki ke kuch mote mote rot pakaaye

Potli mei.n mehmaan mere
pichle saalo.n ki faslo.n ka gur laye thay

Aankh khuli to dekha ghar mien koi nahin tha,
Haath laga kar dekha to tandoor abhi tak bujha nahin tha,
Aur ho.ntho.n per meethe gur ka zaiqa ab tak chipak raha tha,

Khwab tha shayad,
Khwab hi hoga,
Sarhad per kal raat suna hai chali thi goli,
Sarhad per kal raat suna hai kuch khwabon ka khoon hua hai.

***

But does this all matter to a nerdy software engineer? All s/he cares about are awards and bonus ...
With due apologies to Gulzar sahib ...

Subah subah login ki dastak par
mailbox khola, dekha
corridor end wale room se kuch mails aaye hain. (1)

Requirement se P0 the saare! (2)
Issues saare sune - sunaye
Meeting bulaayee presentations dikhaye
Brainstorming sessions karwaye
Aur StageGate ke template mein kuch mote mote docs banaye. (3)

Attachment mein mails mere
pichle release ke project ka award laye the

Aankh khuli to dekha award kahin nahin tha
Test chala kar dekha to fix abhi tak chala nahin tha
Aur hothon par nightout ki coffee ka swaad ab tak bidak raha tha

EPS kam tha shayad (4)
Bonus nahin milega
Samandar paar kal raat suna hai deal huii thii
Samandar paar kal raat suna hai ek aur acquisition hua hai. (5)

reference:
(1) Corridor end wala room - the room at the end of the corridor, which belongs to my manager
(2) P0 - The highest priority customer requirement
(3) Stagegate - A specific (fussy) format in which we are required to write our functional specifications
(4) EPS - Earning per share - which determines the half-yearly bonus
(5) When a company acquires another, its share price typically falls, causing employee bonus to be cut back


PS: Apologies to the readers who do not know hindi, but this is a case where i cant provide a meaningful translation for either the original or the parody ...

Friday, May 23, 2008

Gangleader For A Day

Gangleader For A Day : A Rogue Sociologist Crosses The Line
- Sudhir Venkatesh

I have just finished reading this recently-published widely-acclaimed title, which is quite different from my usually preferred fare. I am not into gangster stories (leave aside a classic like Godfather), and I rarely go for non-fiction. But I really liked and enjoyed this one. Perhaps because I do like real-life human-interest stories. I had read a couple of reviews, which I found interesting; the author's Indian origins were an added curiosity/attraction. So, while browsing in the bookstore a few days back, I found it on their shelf, I read a few pages. And I was hooked!

The book describes the author's experience over more than 7 years, as he conducts his doctoral research, by having a first hand, close look at the life of his research subjects, the poor black people of Chicago living in a housing society plagued by evils like gang culture, drug abuse and lawlessness. His adventures have a very amusing start as he arrives at the housing society armed with a questionnaire. He is apprehended by the members of the local gang, the Black Kings. The gang's leader, known as JT, advises him to spend time with the people, rather than asking inane questions, if he really wants to understand their lives. Sudhir takes his advice, and goes on to develop a close relationship with JT, and other members of this "society" of people. In the course of time, he learns how mistaken are the perceptions of the outside world, of these people. To begin with, it is assumed that all gangsters are uneducated; but Sudhir finds that JT has attended college, and one of his closes aides is working towards a degree! He has many different unusual and interesting experiences, including the one when JT lets him act as the leader of his section of Black Kings for a day. However, all this does not mean that all is great; there is an ugly side too, though by his own admission, he gets a censored view of that.

The author's research on the economy of drug-dealing made a chapter in the widely popular 'Freakonomics' and was [apparently] very well received. [I did not read Freakonomincs, but everyone I know who has read it, was all praises for it.] Unbiased by this fact [I only realized this while reading 'Gangleader ...'], I found 'Gangleader ...' quite an interesting experience. The 'story' is captivating, and the style is amusing and fluid. I loved this one!