…all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it!

Wonderful book ‘The Alchemist’ and a wonderful quote.But more than three years after having read this book, and having lived life with twists and turns, me have come to think that,

“when YOU really want something, YOU have to conspire to make it happen. The Universe will play along, but not until you conspire and take the step forward to achieve what you dream…”

Chennai Sangamam banner.(click here to goto their home page)

The harvest fest of Tamil antiquity – The Pongal re-discovering itself as   urban thanksgiving. It’s Chennai Sangamam. More than 2000 performers will ignite the spirit of Chennai for seven days with around 4000 performances.All in parks, streets and beaches. From January 10-16, 2009….more about the event, click here on the image to the left.

The Moon.(fisrt time am clicking it so clear on my camera!)

Went along to catch a glimpse of the event, also hoping to click a few pictures of  the colorful stage show that was scheduled. The events were being held at around 15 odd places in and around Chennai. The Elliot’s beach at Besant Nagar  lured me in, with the full moon in all its glory caressing the Bay o f Bengal providing the backdrop to the stage set for the event.And a surprisingly quiet and controlled crowd, neatly seated on the sands watching the events.

With the maximum extent of digital zoom and settings on my point and shoot digi cam, here is a image of the moon! I guess it looks ‘kind of ‘ okay here, but see it in higher resolution and i bet it doesn’t look any close to how good it looks here.

Catching up with friends and chatting away for ‘i don’t know how long’ time made sure that i missed the first half of the events, which was folk dances and traditinal art forms of TamilNadu. We moved in towards the stage in time for the Colourful dance ensemble of Indian Folk- “Varna Jalam” -by Anusham Group.

Now starts my hapless attempts to ‘try to capture’ the colorful vibrant folk dances being enstaged.

I take out the camera to find that i haven’t charged the batteires! One click in night mode using flash and the LCD pops out “change batteries”.

Next, i get hold of my friends Nokia N73, which gives remarkably clear and un-blurred images, but when the distance from the stage seemingly hampered my attempts at ‘trying to capture’, i thought i’d move in to the front and take my positon amongst the pros, armed with cameras as good and huge as AK-47s and semi-automatic rifles, shooting away every moment on stage!

I see a couple of familiar faces, (or so i think!). I go find my place amongst the ‘mobile phone photographers’ at one corner of the stage.Even before i start clicking, theres is this policeman on duty who chases us away, sneering at us,”

பேரிய சினிமா டைரக்டர்னு நினைப்போ? செல்ப்பொன் வெச்சுக்கிட்டு இந்தா சீன்ன பொட்ரிங்க?!”(“u guys think you are big cinema directors..eh?! using a mobile phone camera, and putting up a show in front of the crowd?!)

I quickly take out my camera,sans the battery,atleast to show him that am serious about takinga few good photogrpahs, and yet he takes a look at the other huge black heavy equipments hanging around the necks of most of the other photogs there, and sneers at me again!

Amidst all these futile attempts to capture the event, i realise am not actually enjoying the event.Nor did i want to give up an attempt to capture a few pics. Turning around, see a familiar face, a photog friend from the photography club at my ex-place of work, whom i had met exactly 11 months ago, while clicking away on the roof-top of the Chepauk cricket stadium. Luckily he had batteries to spare and i began my mission, taking a sideward glance at the police uncle who seemed to be ‘not-bothered’ now!

the ever graceful 'Manipuri' folk dance

Trust me the folk dances were so colorful and gracefula nd vibrant! Just that my attempts at framing it with my camera failed.What followed is dismay, to an extent more than words can describe.Here are a couple of the best shots i could produce with my compact digi cam..!

this was real good! graceful and divine!

this is the famous 'balle balle' Bhangra dance from punjab(trust me!)

‘Disgrace’ these amy seem to the pros and serious hobbyist photogs out there, but i did feel a little sense of achievemnt of having atleast tried and learnt ‘how to’ and ‘how not to’ capture events like these.

another vibrant folk dance..using 'dhols'(drums)

I had to return the borrowed batteries after a while, and then went back and joined my friends to sit and watch the colorful show on display.

I had missed a lot of the folk dances, yet loved the last few dances which i was able to watch!

The best ‘click’ of the day that i think came out well, i’ve posted on my101clicks blog.link. click here.

Cheers

“that doesn’t mean it is the way it should be!”

These lines linger in my mind…long after having heard it last saturday nite watching  the movie “Australia”. A magnificient movie i would say. Loved it, even though it was old fashioned and long and dragged on for three hours. Well..am not writing a review here…all i would say is watch it if you are a movie buff.! Wether you like it or not, am sure you would apprecaite and acknowledge  the director’s effort and love for movie making!

Coming back to “this is the way it is”…me have been thinking of  how erring the conventions gets people around you go insane. They go insane and yet they would call you insane for daring to err.!

Moments like this,when someone reminds me of my ridiculous choices,i re-read the following lines and know that am not supposed to be worrying because ‘this is how others think it is’…

These are truly inspiring words…from a speech by former US President Theodore Roosevelt

“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”

~Theodore Roosevelt

“Citizenship in a Republic,”
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910

“Human nature will not flourish,any more than a potato,if it be planted and replanted,for too long a series of generations, in the same worn out soil.My children have had other birthplaces, and so far as their fortunes may be within my control, shall strike their roots into unaccustomed earth.”
-Nathaniel Hawthorne(“The Custom-House”)

Jumpha Lahiri mentions this passage in the prologue,which pretty much sums up her entire body of work in “Unaccustomed Earth”

Description(Courtesy:About.com:BookReview)

* Each story deals with a Bengali family transplanted to the United States.

* The older generation struggles to assimilate while their children juggle mixed cultural identities.
* The characters’ lives change, some in dramatic events, some through subtle moments.

I read the book 9 months ago, last April…n browsing through my box of books…got this one and was reading it again!

Now not being a book critic or reviewer, me would just share thoughts on what i’d felt reading the book.Being a Lahiri first timer…not having read any of her two previous books(except for book n’ movie reviews of ‘Namesake’), i really liked the style of writing and the book as a whole.

Unaccustomed earth is not a full lenght novel.The book is presented in two parts.

Well the first part of the book…..four short stories(can i call it that…?!?!) Each a slice of life of the protagonist,of similar background…..n facing similar dilemmas….as they get accustomed to life..!
By the time me started reading the third story..started feeling lull….the ‘flavour’ of each slice of life being same and the flow of the story being very much similar. Yet its Lahiri’s  writing, which is kind of descriptive…poetic…lucid, that keeps me goin on. And also the fact that inspite of the stories being slow to evolve….it comes to the last couple of pages to comprehend how it all ends….or rather, how life continues to go on!

And reading the Second part,with three slices,and a similar story to start with….but a more wonderful style of writing i ge thooked to the book and don’t want to put it down till i finish it. Now thats mainly bcoz i realised that inspite of being written as three seperate stories,the protagonist Hema n’ Kaushik are the central theme of the entire second part.
And its worth holding on till the last part….the last couple of pages again bringing out with some kind of emotional maturity…in a beautifully devastating manner…the realities of getting accustomed with our own lives….
The second part really makes the book a ‘worth read’

Though the book potrays the lives and struggles of a particular community and generation, as a whole its about all of us….,about how we are striving towards getting accustomed to our lives…..letting go of all those unsaid words….unanswered questions…..unlived dreams….letting go of it all and getting accustomed to life!

“Hope it isn’t late to wish…”

“..to wish you a happy new year”,he said.

“No not really…”

“The year is still new”,she said.

He could see her smile..even though they were talking over the  phone! But..was there a hint of sarcasm in her voice..? He brushed away the thoughts on realising the growing silence even as they held the phone to each others ears..!

“So…”, he said, to break the silence.And again silence followed.

Even as he was thinking of how to carry forward the conversation.., he started hearing the soft sobs from the other end.This was not the first time he has heard her cry..nor was this the first time he knew that he was the one who caused her the tears.His mind races past a few years…

22:53:07 hrs,May 3,2006:

“Hello! hey whats up”, he said. “You sound so drab..?”

“Hey anything wrong”, he continued, and her soft sobs grew louder.

“Alright alright… relax”, he said, even as he was getting restless, trying to figure out what  would have upset her.

As he let her take her own time to settle down…sitting on the hostel stairs…his mind races past through the four years that passed by…the four years they had known each other.They had chatted away the previous night..before wishing each other good night. He was relieved as he cut the call last night, as he had kept his friends waiting to start what would be their last celebration together at the hostel.The next day would be the last working day at college. A couple of weeks, final exams and then graduation.Then it would only be memories that last as they step ahead into the real world.

Now there was this uneasy silence even as he anxiously waited for her to stop crying.. He could hear her sob…and was wondering why.Then he heard her trying to calm down as she took a deep breaths.

“Okay now? Whats wrong sweet heart”, he said..

“I hate you”, she said.

“What?!’

“i hate you”,sob..sob…” you make me cry..”..sob sob sob..!

“Now what is all this about?!” said he.

“You forgot me.! ur friends are important…eh! Last day in college and you wouldn’t even care to meet me..!..blah blah blah.

sob…sob sob..! and a series of “i hate you”, “i will never talk to u again..”

Why is this happening he wondered.They have been the best of friends ever since they met on campus…and the first time she is behaving so strange.But then…not that he didn’t really understand..! A smile escaped his lips even as on the other end she kept on telling,”i won’t talk to u again..”

His heart did skip a beat before he said it out. “i love you”

silence followed..for what seemd like a decade…!

He continued..”go ahead! hate me…don’t ever talk to me again..hurt me,tease me..do whatever..but i love you..”

silence before she spoke up again..!

“promise me”,she said

What?

“promise me you will never leave me..”

“u hate me right?!”

silence

“hello!!!”

“i love you”,she said in a feeble voice.

“hello!!! i can’t hear you”, he said even as his heart kept pounding with joy,at this moment he had so long cherished would happen!

“i love you”,she said… this time a little louder..

“i love you”, she repeated again and again..feeble…quick…breathless!

“promise me u’ll be with me forever..!”

“forever..!”

they talked away the night…even as the birds started chirpping at dawn…and were off to sleep by the time the morning sun’s golden rays caressed the window sills and brightened up the rooms.

The days turned slowly into years…there was joy there was fear…and tears and laughter…there were those tough times when time and distance, career and passion took relationship for a ride..! There was reality that lay ahead..!

6:18:23 hrs,January 2, 2009:

All these memories just flashed across his mind in a jiffy, and he was snapped back to the present, as he heard her say it again.

“i hate you”. That same sweet voice..that same sweet sarcasm..!

“ur business is more important to you..eh..!don’t ever talk to….”

She stopped half way through and  rushed to her kids who had woken up and had started crying. Twins they were, their first birthday today…a day after New Year! And papa was not at home…!

“Say hi to papa”, she smiled..as she turned on the phone speaker and held out the receiver to the kids..who by now had started smiling on seeing mom and hearing papa on the phone!

The golden rays of the morning sun caressses the window sills, brightening up the room…

The days will slowly turn into years…there will be joy there will be fear…and tears and laughter…and there will be  tough times when time and distance, career and passion will take relationship for a ride..! There is reality that lay ahead..!

But then…falling in love is not something that is going to be easy…there will be joy…anger…tears…laughter..It’s when you want to be together despite it all.That’s when you truly love one another…”

Discalimer:The dates and time mentioned are fictional.The characters and events are fictional too, though there are chances the reader might come across or may have come across one or more similar characters and events bearing resemblance to real life.Readers may call it co-incidence.The author calls it serendipity.Blessed be them those who are so in real life.

P.S:The following two posts from blogger friends tickled the author’s grey cells to get started with some  creative  writing after quite a long time..

Rahul’s “Three wet leaves”

Kavitha’s “She was twenty something…”

Their feathers are just too bright and when they fly away, the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up does rejoice, but still, the place you live in is that much more drab and empty that they’re gone.

I guess I just miss my friend.”

~another of those memorable quotes from ‘Shawshank Redemption’~

just felt like reading thro it again….nothing more in ma own words here….

“some things are best left unsaid..”

its when u know for sure what u don’t want to do…..but are still wondering at the posibilities of what else needs to be done..! u see a zillion possibilities to be…to live it up….!so much so that  u can’t make up ur mind…!

‘surviving on random thoughts’~ named a blog so on random….jus like tht!! those days when days were jus going by….things happening around…and me moving along with time…..unmindful of  where what when why……and looking back…..thats the only way it could have been…! in all its randomness…me had let life and events shape up to a favourable situation where me had to set aside ‘randomness’ and get into ‘conscious thinking’ mode..! and u know wht happens then: its again back to planning and looking at a million possibilities ahead and way round back to ‘randomness’ to continue the cycle…!

serendipity…! just been random blogg hopping when me comes across this:7 Acts of Randomness to Disturb and Enrage Buried Creativity…its about adding the spice of randomness into the mix of your life.

and another link on the 7 acts of randomness…. post…..gets me to read this: Its a post on interview with Ben Casnocha…

Some interesting reading ter for me from the post…

‘If you want interesting, grand things to happen in your life, stop trying to plan out every last detail. Instead, go out of your way to expose yourself to randomness. Lots of it. And then put in an effort to follow-up.‘

hey and to wind up…..’…..every day can’t be an experiment in randomness. Every day shouldn’t be random meetings, random web surfing, and random walks through the park. Allocate certain time to pursuing unusual paths — but it shouldn’t be your whole day.’

Wow..now this gets me going on with what lay ahead….sure to find a lot more intersting stuff with a little bit of randomness to spice up life…

well maybe coz its raining outside…its been raining hard n life seemed to be comin to a stand still….n sitting n thinking long made me realise that am on the way…i’ve been moving..!

Its now been more than a year since starting this blog….and after a long hiatus in between,now me have started looking inot it again…

i did really keep away the temptaion to write up something…..mostly ridiculous, sarcastic comments on life and the weather and the roads and the way people behave..

Phew…! glad tht i’d kept back from spending my energy on that…and dont know whom i’d have to thank for that…some efforts into photography is going fine with the photo-blog…. my101clicks.blogspot.com

Looking back, its been 50 days after i quit ma job..! now done with telling everyone who cares abt my decision, all explanations an reasonings done. At peace with the way things are turning out to be..! all is fine in my point of view..!

looking out at possibilities of taking up a job..had a discussion on a job which kinda interested me….and hopefully something i’d like to be doin in longterm..!

and the discussion happened to be valuable…real valuable for me coz it helped me give a thrust to the inertia that strted to exist…and helped me re-organise a few thoughts….and the realise the fact that…am confused..! yeah am confused..but i realised the fact that its not FEAR anymore that would keep me from going ahead..but the inability ot make up my mind on what to and what not to,,!

now reflecting on that thought i got….the fact tht am confused now is coz sooner i’d be having answers to questions which people normally leave unasked..and the proximity to dreams which would other wise have been buried n forgotten..!
hmm….i know this alll sounds like some attempt to creative/imaginaitve writing….but then u know…its for REAL..!!! i  BELIEVE..in Change…in mySelf!!!

Its only after finishing it i looked for online book reviews, n found tht many critics were not much in praise for the ‘literature’ n ‘depth of characters’.But that wouldn make this a bad book.

Here is a gist of the story line:

Its about, Holly, an Irish widow going through grief of having lost her high school sweetheart husband, Gerry, after been married for ten years.Gerry dies of a brain tumor, Holly finds life hard and lonely after his loss. She turns to her family and best friends for support. However, Gerry,well aware that his absence would be hard on his sweetheart had written her a series of letters that prove to be his final gift to his wife.

Starting in March and ending in January, there are ten envelopes to be opened on the first day of each month in order to help her deal with his death and move on in life.!

Now add to the plot a lot of characters….Holly’s four crazy siblings-each a different charater, her two best friends,new friends,possiblity of falling in love again, and the letters written by Gerry to guide her through the grief and make fall in love with Life again.!

Now thats heart warming…if not more than ‘feel good’…where the story seems to start with ‘tragedy/grief’ mode where as the title PS ILove You making you expect some kind of cute sweet plot…

Read along and you get involved in the fun and frolic of the girls(almost into their 30′s..hehe..),moments Holly share with her family…discovering never before seen facets of her siblingsd…realising how true friends are friends indeed and finally realising that life does move on,pretty much what Gerry wanted her to realise.

All these written in a readable,simple language and in good flow as time moves on for ten months as each letter from Gerry is read.Now the book has been adapted into a movie-thats what you see on the book cover!

Well am not too keen on watching the movie version, but i’d guess it would be good even though they may trim the script a bit.