December is a time of retrospection about how life passed by this year with its various highs and lows , reality bites , lacerated illusions , bandages of fantasy to ease and to celebrate life
People come and go, touched us in various ways and made us experience the slices of emotions , love, hate, ennui, indifference but the only constant companion all through these moments were my books , my most revered companions , never failing to provide all that’s wanted
They are the biggest aphrodisiacs , the power to let on the imaginations, the surreal thoughts , sometimes taking you down the memory lane , sometimes ahead of the moments for inspirations, each page lets you revere the flights of fulfilling enrichments or as i call it the ultimate bliss
The ones that i took on in this journey of 2010 enthralled me with the combination of the outer state of mind as well as the inner state of mind.
The Kite runner – Khaled Hossieni
The Secret – Rhonda Bryne
Tuesdays with Morrie- Mitch Albom
Kane and Abel- Jeffrey Archer
The Zoya factor –Anuja Chauhan
The Reluctant Fundamentalist- Mohsin Hamid
A case of exploding mangoes-Mohammad Hanif
A Piece of cake- Swati Kaushal
Tales from a Turkish whorehouse-Philip Ceallaigh
Who will cry when u die- Robin Sharma
Each book is unique in its own way, a lesson in life, a romance with words, inspiriting you zeal and fervour to take on the world by the horns
For a mortal like me, living the mundane routine boring days, they impact you BIGTIME
While the kite runner takes you right into the final days of Afghanistan’s monarchy to the atrocities of the Taliban regime introducing you with the grey protagonist’s childhood friendship that would live his life with repentance, trying to undo the one wrong with the redemption, the feudal society amidst the felonies of the black characters. It teaches you to stand up once and the power of forgiveness to make peace with oneself, an epic tale of fathers and sons and of friendship.
Tuesdays with Morrie are inspirational lessons of an old man with his protégé. It tells you the aftermath of living life on the busy road and losing the track of your elders and the importance of wisdom from them when the world seems a colder place. It leaves you with the warmth of the intransient meaningless life and the afterglow of getting a second chance to discover life through the death of a mentor.
Kane and Abel brings you to think hard on the similarities of the biblical characters of the first breed of humans, the struggles of two diff aspects of life and the unputdownable tale of fiction pages after pages . Glaring similarities of how US a forward moving society gets their first women president as their 42nd president
With the passage of time and bits of inhibitions, entered the world of social networking and getting exposed to global viewers I’m thankful to a project called Aman ki Asha which led me to interacting with the new age Pakistani writers , the Diaspora writers in the book fair .pick of the week was The Reluctant Fundamentalist
Amidst the backdrop of 9/11 a book tracing the life of Chengiz an idealistic young Muslim man who out throws many to make a recognised successful life in US but after the incident is regarded with suspicion and overshadowed by the fellow personal demons, as well as his own growing paranoia and resentment at the country he has made home. The politics of the Middle East and South Asia and the relationship of the United States with many of the countries in the region in the present state make it a riveting book. Written in the first person narrative, it leaves you with a lot of unanswered questions in your mind.
Comes next in the various facets of life is romance and becomes more delectable, if it has a flavour of cricket in it...The Zoya factor, perfect blend of Mills and boons with cricket, it’s a warm witty humorous book and the dashing Nikhil Khoda , the fictional hero one can easily fall in love and a predictable love story with a happy ending. What more do we all want!
And the other classics revisited like The Alchemist, Pride & Prejudice, Who will cry when you die providing the various philosophies, new dimensions infusing hope, dreams and the greatness.
And hence the journey continues, stumbling along the road of life, exploring new paths, yearning for those long lost in the mists of time, searching for a place called bliss!
