The 3 Mistakes of my life - Chetan Bhagat

Looks like Chetan Bhagat loves the number 3, numerology or otherwise. It is his 3rd book and its called "The 3 mistakes of my life" and it revolves around the lives of 3 friends ! Overall a good read. It starts off with Mr Bhagat receiving an email from an anonymous person quoting that he has made three mistakes and is going to end his life. Bhagat goes in search of him ( yes, he is fortunately alive to tell us the story !! ) and the book forms his story ( Govind Patel) in the first person narrative. Govind along with his 2 friends Ishaan and Omi starts a small business, a cricket shop and the story is woven around their lives.

The 3 characters-

1. Govind - The protagonist, yes the very same guy who mails Chetan and pops pills at the end of every sentence. Business and mathematics are his main passions and he along with his mother runs a small catering business after his father walked out on them. He also makes money by taking maths tuitions. He is an agnostic and doesn't believe in emotions either. For him, life is all about probability and equations.
2. Ishaan or Ish as he is fondly called - Cricket is his main passion in life. He has been the best player in school and played at district level but feels terrible about not making it to the national team. He coaches the local school boys in cricket.
3. Omi - He is the son of a priest and doesn't know what he wants in life except that he doesn't want to be a priest. He gets the trio a place to set up their shop on the temple premises.

And here are 3 reasons to read the book-

1. The cover price ( Rs 95 ) wont really burn a big hole in your pocket and its worth the price for a decent read.
2. It has the regular ingredients of a potboiler - friendship, romance, fun, cricket - and then some serious stuff like politics, religion, violence and an action packed climax to keep you entertained.
3. It brings focus to the futility of fighting or killing in the name of religion or God.

Some fine moments in the book-

1. Omi, a brahmin boy and the son of a priest hesitates to eat food at Ali's house since he is a Muslim, but the same Omi doesn't hesitate to risk his life to save Ali.
2. Govind calls himself an agnostic when it comes to having faith in God. When a natural disaster destroys his lifetime of savings, he starts believing in destiny and perhaps a little in God.
3. Ali, a cricket prodigy, whose every hit is a six is offered a free scholarship to train in Australia provided he applies for Australian citizenship. The 12 year old boy instantly declines the offer saying that he wont play if its not for India. Patriotism at its best !

Some not so fine moments -

1. An 18 year old small town girl having sex on the terrace with her maths tutor and later worrying about pregnancy !
2.(i) These guys fooling the security guards by posing as big businessmen and entering the VIP enclosure of a cricket stadium before a match (ii) Convincing an Australian player to bowl to a small boy after the match (iii) The Australian player ( who is an amateur himself) sponsoring 4 tickets to Australia after bowling to a 12 year old kid and watching him hit sixes.
3. A guy breaks up with his best friend because he dared to love his sister.

And last but not the least, the crucial 3 mistakes -

1. Business

2. Love

3. A few seconds delay in acting to save a life in a mob situation.
Whether these 3 actions are really mistakes or not, they form a crucial part of the story as one event leads to the other.

P.S I Love You

I must admit that the title of this book and the attractive cover ( of the lead actors from the movie ) caught my attention at the bookstore. Of course I had heard of the movie of the same name which came out sometime back. I flipped over the book and read the back cover and the story immediately appealed to me. It was most certainly not the boy-meets-girl and they live happily ever after love story. This debut novel by Cecilia Ahern ( written when she was 22 ) is sure to creep into your heart, fill it with warmth, sadness, hope, despair and happiness.
Its the story of a 30 year old woman coping with life after her husband's death. Holly and Gerry have been childhood sweethearts and have been together for more than ten years. Fate had other plans and Gerry is diagnosed with brain tumor and finally succumbs to it. Holly is left shattered and lonely. She has a good support system of family and friends but no one can fill the gap that her beloved husband left behind. She almost becomes a recluse and stays in bed most of the time with her house and garden neglected.Holly then receives the surprise of her life - a package from her now dead husband. In it there are 10 envelopes for each month of the rest of the year and a note to open them in order and to follow the instructions in them. This is a list sent by her husband to help her cope with the grief and to move on in life. They contain instructions like buying a bed lamp, a new dress, entering in a karaoke competition, going on a holiday with her friends, finding a job etc. Each note is signed with the words "P.S I Love you".
Holly follows these notes and they become her life. Gerry had even arranged for a surprise holiday for her along with her friends. She looks forward to the end of the month to open the next note. This gives her a feeling that her husband is still alive and is guiding her in life. She starts dreading the day when there would be no more notes. Meanwhile exciting things happen in her friends lives like marriage, baby etc which leaves her drained out. She is happy for them but her own loneliness and grief takes over. She is running out of funds and needs to get a job but doesn't have the courage to do so. She has hated all her jobs in the past. Finally when one of Gerry's notes instructs her to get a job, she tries and succeeds. Slowly she starts enjoying her work and feels more positive.
The whole book is about her ups and downs, she is happy for a while and then the depressing feelings take over. She also starts enjoying the company of a new friend, Daniel. The notes from the guardian angel end with the one asking her not to be afraid to fall in love again. There are also lots of light and funny moments in the book like a regular chick-lit book. The funny episodes like Holly and her friends get drunk on her birthday, getting stranded in the middle of the sea on a holiday, Holly's sister displaying the tattoo on her rear during a family dinner etc will leave you rolling with laughter. There are a variety of colourful characters too like Ciara - Holly's boisterous, loud and adventurous younger sister, the gay hairdresser, Richard - the cold and distant elder brother etc. Each character has a small story revolving around him/her that keeps you engrossed. But the entire theme makes it different from a chick-lit and how Holly overcomes her grief and starts living beyond the letters forms the crux of the story. Last but not the least, the ending is a pleasant surprise and a perfect one.

Fitness Freaks or Freaky Fitness?

As a precursor to the upcoming annual sports day at office, there is a fitness camp planned for 10 days. It includes a variety of activities like aerobics, kick boxing, pilates etc. Reminds me of the saying Jack of all.. well, do I need to complete it? The excitement levels were pretty high yesterday ( first day of the camp! ) with some people coming dressed to office in sportswear. Day one started with some good music and movement with the trainer claiming it be to be low impact aerobics. Whether the impact was low or high, only the participants can tell ! There sure was a collective echo from the crowd "If this is low impact aerobics, then what exactly is high impact????". The trainer being really agile kept changing the steps and it was quite a challenge to keep pace with him. At the same time we had to be on the lookout for hand and leg co-ordination. And making sure that we don't hit the person in front,back,left or right, and avoiding the walls or mirrors. Tough one indeed. By the time we got the hang of one step, the instructor had moved on to the next one, or even the next to next one ! After sometime the trainer proclaimed that it was a warm up session and we could proceed. Hearing this there were lots of loud gasps and exclamations, as the activities actually caused heating up. Reality dawned on all those who thought running for the bus, climbing the stairs or a post lunch stroll everyday was exercise. The cool AC in the room didn't help and people were soon sweating it out like being exposed to the Sahara sun. One participant rightly remarked, "I have never exercised so much all my life". It could be debated as to which was funnier, watching others perform or watching your own self in the mirror. The class was wrapped up amidst giggles, pushes, dashes, pants and exclamations. Did the enthusiastic novices get past the freaky stage to move over soon to being fitness freaks? Only the coming classes can tell.

You can make a difference

During a recent training session a video narrating the following story was shown.There was a man on the beach who appeared to be dancing and moving about. When asked what he was doing, he said that the tide was out and there were lots of starfish stranded on the shore. If not rescued they would slowly die. He was picking each one up and throwing it into the sea. The observer said that there were hundreds of starfish lined up for miles along the beach.How could he make a difference. In answer to that, the man picked up one starfish, threw it into the sea and said "I made a difference to that one"! The observer thinks about this and the next day he joins the man in the rescue operation.
In our lives too, we can make a difference, however small it may be. The general thought is that what difference can one person make ? So no one takes the initiative to initiate any change. It is rightly said that little drops of water make the mighty ocean. We can choose to be one little drop. We can choose to not litter our roads and contribute to a cleaner and and a greener environment. We can choose to feed one hungry child on the street. We can choose to wait till the signal turns green before speeding off. We can choose to cast our vote to the most appropriate candidate. We can choose to stand up and fight injustice. And the list goes on. The situation may be as big as the ocean and the hundreds of starfish, but if you have made a difference to even one starfish, it makes the situation better than before. And if every person makes a difference to at least one starfish, there wouldn't be any left to die.

The diminishing art of writing

As I write or rather type this, I realise how less I hold a pen and write. Gone are the days when I would write for hours ( especially during those marathon exams ). Now my pen holding ritual is limited to recreating my signature on cheques or documents. Yesterday I had the arduous task of writing an official letter and I was nursing my hand by the time I finished one page back to back ! I felt the need to go back to the basics and learn cursive writing, since my hand almost refused to turn at the appropriate curves ! It is so much easier to just jab the keys and see the words instantly appear on the screen right ? And you have spell check and dictionary, so why does anyone need to remember those impossible spellings! Well, I do maintain a notebook to jot down notes at work or some random thoughts, but its not fluent writing, just a haphazard scribble and hardly legible. It is almost as if the fingers have mutated to aid fast typing or texting and I can boast of a decent speed when it comes to typing or texting. Talk about holding a pencil or a pen, well, its so passe ! Who needs to write, when you can type ? Address books or phone books are replaced by mobile phonebooks and PDAs, diaries are replaced by blogs ( like the one by yours truly ! ) and letters by e-mails and phone calls. Most of the authors/writers of this age type their manuscripts. So who really writes? Is it limited to only the school and college kids? Or the non tech savvy people who still prefer to be manual ? It is so nice to read about Harry Potter and his friends dipping their quills in ink and scratching on parchment, and no, they don't use magic for this sacred task. So why do we look for easier alternatives?
A recent study reveals that school children's grammar and vocabulary is fast diminishing. Also their reading habits are almost non existent. Bt de txtng skils r rockng nd goin gr8 !! They also write their exams papers in the short format without paying heed to grammar or correct spelling. Looks like the english language does have some unnecessary letters which can be eliminated ! As for keeping in touch with your writing skills, how about writing down your favourite quotes, lines etc instead of the usual cut-copy-paste ? And noting down some one's telephone number instead of saving it on your mobile phone ? It will help you if your phone snores when the battery is down !

Contentment

It is said that teachers influence children the most. I will never forget what my 2nd standard teacher used to repeat often - "Be contended with what you have". Without fully understanding its meaning, I used to repeat this along with her. Every time I wasn't happy with things around, these words would resonate in my head. Life would be so much more simpler and happier if all of us could follow this mantra. But I always had this doubt, if everyone got happy and contended, then who would aspire or want to achieve more ? If no one dreamt of the big things, the world wouldn't be what it is today. Everyone would just live on being satisfied with mediocrity. So where do we draw the line? This is best explained by Bill Watterson in the following strip. Read on , enjoy and reflect.

Limerick?!!?

This one is really old; wrote it for the Times of India NIE in my 8th std.

There was a man with a huge nose
When he smelt a big red rose
He failed to notice and to see
That in it there was a honey bee
Which stung him right on the nose