Here’s Celebrating You.
Happy birthday to Me.
I’ve been thinking about birthdays. Why are we always so excited about them? I know I am. Every year. Why is the date that you were born on so important to the people around you?
The answer is simple. Because you’re important. You are worth celebrating. It’s a miracle that somebody as wonderful as you exists. And this day is a happy day just because of that fact.
All year round, you make mistakes, you falter, you work hard to correct them, you fail again, you beat yourself up, you are harsh on yourself. Then comes this one day when everyone around you showers love and hugs on you. When long lost friends call you up. When people who genuinely love you, are genuinely happy making your day. To remind you that you are beautiful albeit flawed. You are loved albeit misunderstood. You are missed and never truly forgotten.
Happy birthday, Neha. I love you.
99 is a brilliant compilation of Khushwant Singh’s writing, put together by his granddaughter Mala Dayal, and David Davidar, who has worked with him earlier as editor.
If you have never read Khushwant Singh, and are planning to pick up one of his books, make it this one. Singh’s writing was always unabashedly unapologetic, often provocative and sometimes bawdy. It was evident he enjoyed writing. And hence as a reader, you’d enjoy his writing too.
In the editors’ words, 99 “is intended to be a lasting tribute to an iconic and much loved writer.” The book, divided into fifteen sections, features Singh’s finest fiction, journalism, essays, translations, historical writings.
I enjoyed reading 99. Having read some of his fiction, it was a delightful revisit for me while his translations and some other pieces were new to me and they were very interesting. Singh has been one of our most fascinating writers and you should not miss this compilation of his finest work.
Buy here
Book Review : 60 minutes by Upendra Namburi
60 minutes by Upendra Namburi is one of the recent books I received for review and I finished it over this last weekend. It is the story of Agastya, the CMO at a corporate firm, who has 60 minutes to save both his job and his marriage.
The story is interesting, especially for someone like me who is also in the sales and marketing profession. Agastya is ambitious and arrogant while his adversary Sailesh is calculative, and the author describes very well the animosity and cold war between the two. However, sometimes the description of the enmity does seem a tad over the top.
The story also prominently features Maithili, Agastya’s ex, who is hell-bent on seeking revenge from him for breaking her trust. Their interactions are racy and passionate.
The book is a roller-coaster ride, really. Sometimes, the pace is fast and I was breezing through the pages, and yet there were certain sections that were hard to get through and they dampened the pace of the book. Overall, though, 60 minutes is a nice, interesting weekend read. Go pick it up and tell me what you think.
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Life is a rat race?
You run because everyone runs. You don’t know where they’re going so you don’t know why you’re in the race. You slow down and get trampled.
That’s life.
No. That is not life. You are fooling yourself if you think life is a rat race. I do not think so. I don’t even like rats.
I don’t know what life is. Who knows, really. And I am not going to try to figure it out. That is supposed to be done when you are done living it. All I know right now is that life is not supposed to be a battle. It is not a race against time. The more you fight time, the more it will resent you. Time runs because that is it’s nature. No matter how much you run behind it, it will always be ahead of you. Don’t waste your energy.
Why failure is fantastic.
Do our dreams define us? Does success validate your existence?
When you are constantly evolving every single day, why wouldn’t your dreams?
Many of us pick and choose from a list of dreams one dream/goal and stick to it and constantly strive towards it. It is a great thing, of course, to persevere. But I have often wondered, for how long? Will it make more sense to alter the dream a tad bit as life goes by, because if you are not the same anymore, why should your goals? Dreams don’t have to be given up on, but can change slightly for sure.
And it is failure, constant heartbreaking failure, that makes you ponder whether it is time to relook at your dreams and change them a little. Failure is fabulous that way. It makes you think. Success makes you a happy fool.
Today I am at the most scary stage of my life. I am in the process of tailoring my existing dreams to my current needs and situation. And to suit the new me. It is a scary stage indeed. But also the best and most exciting.
Update: I came across this post that I wrote in 2009. Also about dreams.
Book Review: An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield
I have been following Chris Hadfield on twitter for quite some time and have thoroughly enjoyed his tweets. He has posted scores of fantastic pictures showing us our magnificient planet as it looks from a space station. Hence, I had to pick up his book “An Austronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth”.
What makes the book amazing is that anyone can relate to it because it is not just about an astronaut’s life. It is about life and people in general. Hadfield comes across as a hardworking and passionate person, and everything he writes infuses in you a sense of awe.
The anecdotes he writes are really interesting, and not just for a space geek. This book is an interesting look at the life of a successful person, who clearly is in love with this world and appreciates every small detail. The book has an inspirational tone and Hadfield does not fail.
Hadfield realized he wanted to be an astronaut at the age of nine. The book is an inspiring account of what happens later and how he becomes one, and how his perception of life on earth changes.
Pick it up, you will love it!
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The Addict
Familiar with the agony,
Yet the addict wants to be,
Drowned in love,
Oh the beautiful restlessness of love.
Aware of the perils,
Yet the addict baffles,
The cynics in love,
Oh the beautiful restlessness of love.
Irresistible aches, addictive pain,
The addict wants it all again,
Wants to fall in love,
Oh the beautiful restlessness of love.
© Neha Kapoor
To read more click here.
Neha Kapoor
