ANNOUNCING MY BOOK - Our Quizzing Journey

Have great pleasure in announcing the launch of my book co-authored with my brothers "Our Quizzing Journey"

Available on Amazon and you can buy it here.

Also available in paperback which you can buy here.  

The second helping…

One of my social acquaintances - a voracious consumer of books, movies, TV serials, newspapers etc  mentioned he’d seen only one TV series again as in twice.  No, He wasnt showing off - but it was purely a mindset that a lot of folks have including my better half - my wife.

“Why are you watching this again, havent we seen this before?” if I am watching a movie on TV - one that we have seen before. I sigh and move on.

The Vagina Monologues

No two shows of the Vagina Monologues are the same, and its definitely worth watching several times preferably in different cities.

I saw only the Indian version in English of the Vagina Monologues.  This was created by Mahabano Modi Kotwal a prominent theater artist and producer in Mumbai, who saw the original show in the US and got in touch with them to produce an Indian version.

Haruki Murakami’s The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

Murakami’s book The Wind Up Bird Chronicle (WUBC) was more of an experience rather than a book, and a surreal experience at that

I was introduced to Haruki Murakami only a couple of years back and didn't know of him or any of his work earlier.  I tried to read as many books and his stories as I could, and enjoyed most of them.  I of course couldn't afford quite a few books of his and saved them for later…

“Freedom At Midnight” and “The Men Who Killed Gandhi”

I am lumping these two books together as they are on the same subject and I thought offered a different perspective from what I knew about or was taught about history.  Both were great reads - only I read them nearly two decades apart.

India & Indians are quite open about hypocrisy in our lives, inevitable since the system is geared up towards that.  A honest discussion is almost rare and shied upon - we are more queasy than the Brits on a lot of subject.

Sai Paranjpye and her “Jaadu ka Shankh”

If you belong to my generation or the prevous, there’s a good chance that you have seen and enjoyed the works of Sai Paranjpye but an equally good chance that you barely knew who she was. Since DoorDarshan was the only channel available those days, and Sai Paranjpye somehow had cracked how to deal with bureaucrats from both the films division departments as well as the Doordarshan, she did a lot of work with them which we got to see on television and boy was it good!.

Not judging a book by its cover – Ronin and Narcos

Two of my favourites Ronin the movie and the TV series NARCO Swere ones I had a chance to see early but missed, because the posters and communication didn’t appeal to me.

But finally when I did see them, each one was a superior pearl that was not to be missed.

Oprah and Deepak’s Meditation challenge online course

In her book EAT, PRAY AND LOVE, Liz Gilbert talks about how advanced methods of  meditation needs to be done carefully under supervision and with the blessings of an expert – usually the experienced Guru.  This normally would mean going to a retreat or an Ashram and dedicating a month or a few weeks to this.  Seems unlikely most would even consider this.

Which is why the 21 day meditation course by Oprah and Deepak Chopra is such a blessing in disguise.

The lovely Bengalis - Bongs and their “Adda”s

‘Bongs, don’t you love them?’- Vir Sanghvi

Its unlikely you have never met a  Bengali (or bong as the nickname goes) if you’ve been brought up in India.  I had the pleasure of getting to know a few of them in the industries I have worked in, as well as the schools and colleges I studied in. It was a ball getting to know them.

How does one describe a bong? You really cant fully – has to be experienced firsthand, and boy, can that be a great experience!!

The genius of Mindy Kaling

Dr. Mindy Lahiri (created and played by Mindy Kaling) inhabits a parallel universe created solely by herself - and I really badly want to get in!! 

Its a charmed life and she is reveling in every moment of it, and surprisingly its worked as the Mindy Project is one of the most popular series of recent times.

                                 

Meryl Streep's stance

Was this really said by Meryl Streep or is it attributed to her?  In any case this is one of the most liberating things I have read in a long time, and of course needs to be adapted without any apologies whatsoever.

Will it be easy? – like hell no! But when you do it might save you a lot of trouble and give you mental peace.

Kafka on the shore by Haruki Murakami

To me, Kafka on the shore is one of those really engaging novels – wouldn’t call it unputdownable, but it can really get into you, like few books do.

I fell in love with Haruki Murakami (nearly 35 years after he wrote his first book – so that’s really a late start).

 

Ghayal – one of the best movies ever

I have seen Ghayal quite a few times, and that was in the Cinema.  And on TV and even, with all the irritating interruptions and staggered intervals – its one of the few movies that gives you such a strong adrenaline rush.

I simply loved it.                 

I saw it late – after the movie was already a big hit, and I saw it possibly in the second week – this was in Vijayawada, and went with my younger brother. The movie hall was still packed, and the majority of those who’d come were seeing it for the 100^th time already, but seemed to be experiencing the film for the first time. There were the cee-tees (whistles) and laughter, but mostly a lot of clapping.

And then One day... A memoir by Naseeruddin Shah

Hi, Not much to write here. The title pretty much says it all.

Ever since this book was published and I heard about it on the web waves, I wanted a copy of this. Unfortunately not so easy when you are in distant shores.

So the moment I land in India, I manage to grab a copy,

Seema Goswami's recommendations of books to read

Sharing things that bring you joy is such a simple and fundamental delight – it’s not celebrated enough.  This is not gifting, but telling people you know (and others) that you discovered something new or unknown, exciting and loved it, and now are recommending others to try them.

Marketers dub it 'word of mouth' and try influencer marketing to get opinion-leaders to push their wares (nowadays through SEO).  This gets so overboard that it’s hard to find the real expert advice from say a paid testimonial.  Further, it is hard to get a recco that sooo much meets your requirements and matches your tastes that you simply have to go and get the recommended product – and, of course recommend this to more people – just like I am doing right now.

Meditation

This is a humble note of gratitude to a bunch of white folk who visited my primary school for a few days and taught each class by class, each student at a time, the magic of meditation.  It has meant a world of a difference to me.

Dick Francis

I discovered Dick Francis much later in life and it took quite a bit to get to like him.   But once I did get a hang of him, it was hard not to consider him one of my favourites.

I do not read intense stuff like what comes in Oprah’s reading club nor a fan of classical literature. (In fact books like ‘to kill a mockingbird’ and ‘Color purple’ used to leave me rather depressed and frustrated). My preference has always been popular pulp fiction. In fact I dig anything that is an easy read – preferably the faster I can finish it the better – which means my brain is not taxed much, and yes, usually these books also help me fall asleep. 

Oprah...

Some of my best learning's have come out of watching the Oprah Show. However, most of it would be serendipitously, for the majority of Oprah’s shows didn’t interest me – from makeovers, the book reading club, some odd American celebrity that I didn’t know anything about, and then the episodes which I hated the most – Oprah’s giveaway programs where you just simply hated everyone lucky enough to be in that audience!.  Clearly it was mostly targeted mainly/ and only to Americans.