tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28520839813082882312024-03-26T18:53:12.770+05:30StorywalaNeha http://www.blogger.com/profile/06296487004789159994noreply@blogger.comBlogger443125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2852083981308288231.post-72881588856628362972024-03-26T18:52:00.001+05:302024-03-26T18:52:17.563+05:30Welcome to Paradise: A quintessentially Twinkle <p class="p1" style="margin: 0px 0px 3px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 28px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-weight: bold;">Title: Welcome to paradise Author: Twinkle Khanna </span></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px 0px 3px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 28px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-weight: bold;">Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️</span></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px 0px 3px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 28px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><img id="id_fcf7_1909_9f6d_4042" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/1HFjMyReLrgfc7IDQEpHS69y6bfLzLgzO" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="font-size: 17px; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br></span></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px 0px 3px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 28px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 17px; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The much awaited book of Twinkle Khanna, now a graduate of Goldsmith university. She returns to her trusted genre of short stories, Indian, contemporary, fiction, nostalgia, feminism. Her formula clicks every time is as she has her own unique and quirky way of looking at the world, serving nostalgia in a comical way.</span><span style="font-size: 17px; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><img id="id_c3cd_d4d6_52ca_57f3" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/1IvJDhJGK6M7ELsgXVQrHEPfqVJhqq3-J" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">As an aspiring author, I have a tendency to reflect on the writing process of the author. Imagining and interpreting how the stories have been inspired from their own life. I believe that each story by an author is like a horocrux where the author leaves a part of his or her life. After some research I find strong female figures, drugged relatives, and </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><img id="id_519a_b50f_dd28_e36d" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/17VUFaRojBXK4yR9oLtBShKsyQO0uhS7D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The first story plunged me into the back story of the author. It’s probably me trying to find the characters and their motivations. Khanna has a complex backstory by the tabloids coming from a filmy family, drama is inevitable. Apparently her uncle was a drug addict, so her story felt real and authentic. I am sure most us imagination but a big part is inspiration and the authors interpretation. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><img id="id_f9b_87c2_768f_966f" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/1kxlrQhxX1C7KmcK9qxbUNa2vL5yyWYjV" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The second story of catfishing is a cute one. I have never done it but what sense of freedom, imagination and morality. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><img id="id_3ba7_c343_b73c_366b" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/1LD9iYS0LyECbjSvl4uIfEz0dl5DYailj" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The third story, was the aeging tale of a woman and the city of Bombay. The hanging gardens, revolving restaurant, vada pav, Sea Rock, the race course, and others. Only someone who has lived and left Bombay can understand the romance. It’s your past and it belongs to you. There were imprints of Khanna’s own love for Bombay the city she calls home and Panchgani school where she studied. Euthanisea is a complex subject but being old is not easy. I do not fear so much unless u can keep writing and thinking. But like everyone, I would like to go in my sleep. </span></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br></span></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><img id="id_93ec_427b_e0c2_64de" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/12W6LAWznWSwqxrm4x2B5Sp8zXEVXoLiM" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br></span></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><font face="UICTFontTextStyleBody"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><img id="id_de6a_277_6a4e_cf52" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/1uBSoNkmmhwOq50xVbDfMYaMZFbIzXHpi" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><font face="UICTFontTextStyleBody"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></p> Neha http://www.blogger.com/profile/06296487004789159994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2852083981308288231.post-49720668354872022292024-03-26T17:44:00.001+05:302024-03-26T17:44:19.131+05:30Girl in white cotton: The cotton threads of a mother daughter relationship <p class="p1" style="margin: 0px 0px 3px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 28px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-weight: bold;">Title: Girl in white cotton</span></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px 0px 3px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 28px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-weight: bold;">Author: Avni Doshi</span></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px 0px 3px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 28px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-weight: bold;">Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨</span></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px 0px 3px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 28px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-weight: bold;"><br></span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><img id="id_5e87_b2d2_9d04_2b92" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/1f0BvKNqw7PlQzct5grVA9s-5IA5YXyd-" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Nostalgia, Indian, female author, mother daughter relationship, the coming of age and Pune city. All my favorite themes. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">For long I had been wanting to read a good Indian fiction and this book was timed well. The journey of Antara with her mother and motherhood is the symbolic unfolding of a circular life. Many times the things that happen to you, set certain patterns for you, which play on repeat. You believe to do a better job than your parents but unknowingly you become their version. I loved how she shifts between reverie of nostalgia and the dilemmas of present. As you try to reject your past you also loose hope in future, both tied tightly, leaving one means losing both. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">And not to forget the lovely lines and quotes from the book: </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;">A low dose of something can be a panacea. A high dose can be fatal. I wish moderation were a comfortable state. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;">Baba said, do not record history. They decide history. If there are no pictures of you, you never existed. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;"></span><img id="id_68fb_5013_67df_4954" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/1F6qX5Kls1n2IJH6beJNiB3gRa1_trHav" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;">The past seems to have a vigor that the present does not. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;"></span><img id="id_2fa6_bf6f_8653_b844" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/11xou-QJCh-hrEg8HyZxlK0lGxwH5IXZj" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;">The sun is still high in the sky and blazing thought the windows, turning the backs of by eyelids into kaleidoscopes. </span></p> Neha http://www.blogger.com/profile/06296487004789159994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2852083981308288231.post-85448182921699634092024-03-26T17:35:00.001+05:302024-03-26T17:35:22.454+05:30Expats: Netflix series review <img id="id_910d_53da_ba28_cf1a" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/1jv49qYrnbiJk55bb6wom_jCEtWcP_Vgy" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px 0px 4px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 22px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-weight: bold;">Name: Expats </span></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px 0px 4px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 22px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-weight: bold;">Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨</span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The title sounds like entitled people coming from rich countries to poorer countries and making big bucks at the expense of hardship. But how wrong was I. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">An accident is what it is. And then there is a victim story. But what happens to the accused. It’s not like they committed murder. They live to tell the tale but how does one tell a story where they are the villain. With this premise the show starts. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">A mother grieving under the guilt of losing her child, an Indian middle aged woman and her desire to be a mother, and a young lonely woman fighting her demons. The Asian, Indian and American cultures colliding together only emphasizing that humans and their joys and sorrows are all the same. Then comes the climax wheee they are in small claustrophobic places with their fellow tormented souls, and there is no escape from their demons. A daughter with her mother, a mother with the father, and a couple facing an unwanted pregnancy. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Then it rains like redemption! </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">I particularly liked the captures of Hong streets, people and noises thru their differ t eyes and overheating stranger conversations. I always thought HKG was a busy business district but the sadness of the characters showed a human and chaotic side of it which made it so real despite never being there.</span></p><br> </div>Neha http://www.blogger.com/profile/06296487004789159994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2852083981308288231.post-78914238217226605482024-03-23T20:16:00.001+05:302024-03-26T17:50:23.685+05:30My girl: Film review <p class="p1" style="margin: 0px 0px 4px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 22px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-weight: bold;">Name: My girl</span></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px 0px 4px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 22px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-weight: bold;">Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️</span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><img id="id_440c_bb64_c099_cfcc" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/1eUyqurHo9SPBA2D6dBWR0PICbeM1AqbP" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">I recently took a staycation and felt like watching a classic movie and tada! My girl just popped on my Netflix, they are truly listening to our thoughts. </span></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br></span></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><img id="id_d910_3e71_54af_5483" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/1obfd6pmarNP0UMdP7stPJQoWvDSVmHxk" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br></span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">It’s a short soulful movie with a strong theme about life and death. A young girl has seen so much death and change in life does she get to move on. The movie despite its tribulations has a happy ending like all stories should, it’s just how you look at them. </span></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><img id="id_59ad_758a_99b6_d7f5" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/1wHnXl-hSqLztkw2zcom6PWDkJI1J6CNx" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_1d2b_8386_3fbb_f1bc" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/1u4pL9F66BK61px35phFZkhGcY4rJGSl6" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br></span><br><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The parts I loved especially were the ones with her writing teacher Prof Delerix. His way of teaching, the inspired quotes and the love for writing, it took this movie a notch higher. </span></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br></span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><img id="id_f8d2_80b2_e38f_c797" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/1x6_GMw7QAUAnrLlddLYsZEj1O-RmGStX" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">This movie is like the warm embrace of cupping a hot tea mug and a cosy quilt on a winter evening. </span></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br></span></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><img id="id_9b6a_9626_6424_7bb2" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/1QyEG8pBiwk2hPDj086B6E4dw_Jaf3Tm1" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br></span><br></p> Neha http://www.blogger.com/profile/06296487004789159994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2852083981308288231.post-45106762379347574982024-02-17T17:19:00.001+05:302024-03-26T18:52:39.244+05:30Remnants of a Separation - A graceful poetic tribute <p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 17px; width: 300px; height: auto;"><img id="id_c81f_1077_9008_10f8" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/1IGH1zQt0I7EKtv-ynVGgOHHYqxxt3oyI" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"></span><br><br><font face="Palatino" size="6">Title: Remnants of a separation </font></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><font face="Palatino" size="6">Author: Aanchal Malhotra</font></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><font face="Palatino" size="6">Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️</font></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;">A fistful of soil, mutthi bhar mitti. </span></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;">Till today how many people, on both sides have been pining just for that!</span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">These are the last lines of the book and with this I crossover the border of time and memories and come to the present moment having lived all the stories. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Aanchal Malhotra is a brilliant historian and author creating visual tales of nostalgia thru archiving the material remnants of the past. Those whose grandparents crossed over have grown up with tales of the land they lived once. My grand parents would sometimes narrate their lives as a beautiful memory, probably hiding the gory past, as if by not talking about it, it will be forgotten and left only beautiful memories of a lost world where everyone lived happily. As if the curse of partition was the worst thing that could happen and everything else is a toast story. Imagine the wrath. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><img id="id_bcd3_800e_9c02_ad6c" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/1XlMyhV03Ir-aMPl9d4buURK2c-loKW3q" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Aanchal deals with the trauma in a graceful, respectful, poise and poetic manner. It’s past and dwelling in it is toxic. People who went thru it have forgiven it so why can’t we. I too regret not talking about it more with my grandparents or not having to worry about getting a visa to Lahore, my grandmothers hometown. Why it’s so far. Why it’s seems so near. Slowly the generation who lived thru it is dieting but the scars stay, like remnants of old wounds showing as birth marks.</span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><img id="id_3a8c_5e1_428f_2715" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/1Rogctc2RVIaa5ecTyg2LnbXOxn9VZ01a" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Every time the violence was described - people killing, jumping in the wells, cutting children, raping women, lost families, hunger, and poverty - my eyes would tear up and something swelled inside me, ready to burst from my throat. It’s true the pain never goes, it seeps into your soul, your bones and passes on to the next generation with stories and blood running thru us. The facts and events enter the books but the feelings of anger, helplessness and loss pierce the elements of earth, passing stories to the next generations thru the food we eat, the songs we sing, the wind that blows and the river that flows. Like remnants of a lost love! The love of motherland. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Ps I can’t tell you the amount of poetic quotes this book has. My prompt booklet is half over but they are to be cherished. Like a beautiful past, which must be visited a few words remembered and then closed to be loved from far.</span></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br></span></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><img id="id_b9c4_a05a_cd5a_74b9" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/1_hoLDr8-TErl0Ej2VPWjB-T_PPlxVeww" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_b7ad_4bc1_e3a8_934c" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/1y9LdF1rFDDCrGfh7CuWXshT0B2tyagop" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_5cf_30da_e776_264a" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/1O45fLtVlC5MfCGtADHUJafXL3JteP3Z3" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_fd88_cfdd_1de_4063" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/1GRC4LqOJMpy_PlnqpbivFxHCprCBNi9U" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_b9cb_a640_d484_d695" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/1YE6LLrBv4Zj1vJyPdAdXYVi3CItLVJfV" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br></span><br></p> Neha http://www.blogger.com/profile/06296487004789159994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2852083981308288231.post-38175890922055601122023-12-24T11:47:00.001+05:302023-12-24T18:31:18.010+05:30The Authenticity Project - A book review <div><br></div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_5ca9_2996_ebc4_13ac" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AEYmBYR2YOReGIG0FW70PXOHjLPmh9BR0Gf-uTVFFY5N_3xBecxPzWewCBs-bj3x_hidMm2fPWRRsZ_bUuStsmPOKRyF4NFwzQ" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px 0px 3px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 28px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-weight: bold;">Authenticity project</span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Rating: </span><span class="s3">⭐️⭐️⭐️</span></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Author: Clare Pooley </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">December book read of our book club. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">What if you find someone’s personal diary? How would it make you feel. This is the premise of Authenticity project where others’ authentic stories become a mirror for you to face your own. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">At the surface it seems impossible that one would write your deep down secrets and desires out there for public to read. Then I thought about the book post secret which is all about sharing secrets with strangers. We discussed this concept in our book club and the authenticity was questioned. This book was called more as the lonely project, vulnerability project and what not. We all agreed that sharing secrets is one thing but putting your name and address next to it is not a secret. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Like usual, I started connecting dots to myself, trying to find if my personal experiences fit into the shoes of these characters. There was a time when I found an old diary in my daughters room hidden behind the drawers in a secret space. It belonged to the previous resident in our house. Page after page of truth, emotions, and turbulence. It belonged to a teenager and reminded me of my own teenage days blurry but real. I wondered what some of her quotes or lines meant. I saw in awe at her beautiful sketches, drawings and poetry. Without ever seeing that little girl I built an emotional connect. One day I will find that girl and return her that book but till then it stays with me as a keepsake. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Another time during my own teens, a friend had given me her own diary for safe guarding. It had poetry and writings of her boy friend for her and she didn’t want it to be found by her parents. It stayed with me for years like a well guarded secret (hidden from my own mother). Later the girl married the same boy and I presented this diary to them to remember their whirlwind romance. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">These incidents make me believe that we can inspire others with our stories. It’s no different from the human libraries they talk of where one can ask people to tell their stories instead of books. Telling our secrets is a process of accepting and healing. A way to manifest closure with the universe. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Recently the feel good genre has got a boost after books like Fredrick Backman and Jonas Jonasson. Or probably after the intensity of global pandemic, wars, terrorism and the mental health awareness. In fact at some points the book seemed similar to ‘A man called Ove’ but with a green book at the center. Similar type of feel good story where strangers come together for a lonely old man. In fact we all agreed that this could easily be a movie or a TV series and imagined who could play the lead characters. At places the other protagonist Monica seems like her namesake from Friends except she has no friends before the green book lands at her cafe. Her life logo - ‘</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;">Preparation is the key to effective spontaneity.’</span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s4" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;"></span><img id="id_fb1b_40f9_2cd0_cbf7" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AEYmBYSTNIa5gKzUx8zfZZL7F4UWFH59YZrcwUU1pF_oPOgNEA5x1oh-K1cr2X4MWSBJCNQqA5zeLkJPt4mvwgIIHkdZIk5V-Q" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_4228_f35c_fea4_f188" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AEYmBYTjp26AyImc9ryRT4-PJsGvHV-MnlAv0P5K1vF9FSIoQPMdvDtsQVulgTSvsdLJ7iSQ-q8MV11tHiWSlM4pHK2mPOn5Zw" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_e814_d9ae_e489_af" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AEYmBYT_MHrGcMN1uzOTG568KjtmHhiMOqrO-NV-u0JbusZTRSMuLDclKQAGAwXfAS-IN27R4rQIU666FASN0SMW-xJCS0HQeA" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><img id="id_f84c_96ed_d5ab_9d7a" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AEYmBYQNz1Yy89f1FDQh2dAhAZIelB56jCghdY8kKiz_YVhd1cElfIWsKn2RD247C11hOzDVFpe540AH6rTZHq09xUFGrqhX" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span><br><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">It’s not a book that I would keep my book shelf as a collectible but I could recommend if someone is looking for a light feel good read. In fact it was quite perfect as part of last books of the year leaving a nice aftertaste. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Overall a fun read and the 400 odd pages can be easily finished over quick sittings. I managed to finish the book about half an hour before the book club meet. The book club meeting was equally vibrant and loquacious celebrating the book and the end of year with the same feel good fervor. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><img id="id_a4ba_2c02_8394_6f7f" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AEYmBYQRX6usy_fWXYrkDTyPVksM15kXlGCDbCIwycvOOYL8fJtaFo5Us0dKNK-GlDxRbiF5PHE-PRu6zE-T6IgtvCPGBx8RwQ" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><br><br><br></p><br><br></div>Neha http://www.blogger.com/profile/06296487004789159994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2852083981308288231.post-34853527597282700752023-12-18T10:43:00.001+05:302023-12-18T10:43:41.592+05:30Shopaholic - Should have gone shopping rather than read this! <img id="id_a90_5566_a986_5f9c" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AEYmBYQPoi5ALTiKAdl2SfrzB2wZyvTFR_Xd1JEcnQMJk4yltFUkJyDkhDw0kBahINlT20fW91gcWWXlZLflSoiTCx1r42IE5g" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px 0px 3px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1"><font face="Arial">I picked this book at a Bali resort during a holiday. I had watched an enjoyed the first film of this series so felt the book would be enjoyable. However it was the run of the mill romcom chiclit. The cliches were so tacky that it reminded of ever chick flick from Hollywood. A poor rich bride in NYC with a shopping addiction. She is only a personal shopper but is literally getting the richest Manhattan template wedding. I would have said ok this would have been a better film but probably the worst script ever. Predictable one shaded weak characters. The bad is bad and the good is good, and despite all the emotions there was nothing authentic about it.</font></span><span class="s1" style="font-size: 28px; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-weight: bold;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">After a 100 pages I gave it up. Life is too precious to waste on a bad book. Have you recently dumped a book or managed to drag thru it to finish it. Either way you have won. </span></p><br><img id="id_b532_f205_9c49_1dce" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AEYmBYTEQUni42J-cmA5OtSLZv-mBd8gGNifvYmbitLqCOiSjbRjkWBkZscdZli4K-tDJfDVFECxVXVvJ8m8uO6YQA3XcXPobQ" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Some lines from the book which kept it interesting for a short while:</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><img id="id_5cd7_a5aa_b3e9_7ae" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AEYmBYSI-icCr3U211sdV39haxZQX-Ex2plLGnLXgiszNL7Bg_8G3p6n47xh9YWAzLgrn4fot4-ycnqWLiroTpSzxRVayXz_" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_811a_e6cb_439e_872a" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AEYmBYQZqM438VESonm6T_IpPtKAfH198ypnFMXdQl9HXWBOgM537FPhCFFig1qH1UJNDC__7lWLPyQjtO61BL2HdmMu1oAK9A" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_c827_7a00_3760_a416" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AEYmBYTtej08CZcjibhQrPU_DrM4-mwe0jLgZVmKjC7wpnBzVud0-t7M3sLsCwenI4tG9JSox99Djs8my-Se8C8qFngzl6uS-Q" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span><br> </div>Neha http://www.blogger.com/profile/06296487004789159994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2852083981308288231.post-47921762158282169602023-12-10T09:24:00.001+05:302023-12-10T09:35:36.761+05:30How I create characters <img id="id_5ac9_99fd_2410_f6f9" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaCrOmI2NZohm-J_bOrnBEqN74EHJCzcNMv7czHSXzJH6WFZfvh81lrHnwjAVC_REen9CSqEz0hY0F_x_JHNqLGkx6C1cA" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px 0px 4px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 22px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-weight: bold;">Tell your story</span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s3">🗣️</span><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Silhouette, an anthology of short stories sits somewhere in my drafts. A collection of ideas of character based stories, </span><span class="s3">📚</span><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">mostly women, I encountered and witnessed their lives unfold. They were far enough for me to see them whole and close enough to hear their voice. </span></p><p class="p4" style="margin: 0px 0px 4px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 22px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 28.5px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-weight: bold;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Most of my characters are a mix of imagination, inspiration and interpretation. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s3">💭</span><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> Imagination based on their individual quirks. Is it a normal fellow with an interesting life or an interesting character in a real life. You build traits, thoughts, behaviors which lead to action. There has to be a consistency - say if a person likes books then it will be embedded in his life like books lying on a bed side shelf, a study, a book shop or an old library. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s3">💡</span><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Inspiration comes from people around me, books around me, the thoughts, feelings, ideas and conversations. Observing lives unfold and things happening. Why is this person like this? Is there a back story. Once a friend told me about their spouse who had a traumatic childhood and hence they are like this. I often wondered what trauma. Part of it comes from empathy and part to know their story. What makes us what! But these people seep into my characters asking me to tell their story. I often feel I owe them to tell their story. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> </span><span class="s3">🧐</span><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Then comes the interpretation, my interpretation of the story. Even imagination is so unique to me. Only I am thinking what I am. Only I listen from what I hear. Only I have the view of what I can see. Only I have the words to express it. Only I know it has a story in it. Only I can tell it. Cos only I feel what it makes me feel. Say you might tell me a great story about your holiday but I might read it as show off or the exuberance of it. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s3">🧠</span><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">But then again as a narrator and writer I keep the rights to my characters. They are real but not real too. They are fiction but existed too. They are quiet but saying a lot. They live in my head and not God’s earth. The wonderful world inside my head where characters have their own story and I am just the instrument to tell. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Remember, If your story needs to be told, I am ready to tell. </span><span class="s3">📢</span></p> </div>Neha http://www.blogger.com/profile/06296487004789159994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2852083981308288231.post-68000269820282415002023-11-21T08:03:00.001+05:302023-11-21T08:03:16.785+05:30Bookish Bags <img id="id_72cd_4230_22c9_9857" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaAjs38Qln1WXYO9hqd9CrKItprP9771JLJ-5Gb8XgdZdTHe1B2FfB9rsFdpQuDZM1KdOKW3eEcSj_HUH9JDnW26p5ompg" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">No Gucci, nor Dior </span></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">A bookish bag, is all I adore </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">On a book shopping trip - just buying books is not enough, you need the right kind of bag to flaunt your treasures. Here is mine - the precious collectors item from the iconic Shakespeare and company in Paris, Blossoms a popular Bengaluru book shop, and visits to annual comicon and many litfests. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">#BookishStyle #LiteraryTreasures #ShakespeareAndCompany #BlossomsBookHouse #Comicon #BookLover #litfest </span></p><br> </div>Neha http://www.blogger.com/profile/06296487004789159994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2852083981308288231.post-43431185726652022802023-11-03T10:56:00.001+05:302023-12-25T07:26:27.098+05:30Between You, Me and the four walls by Moni Mohsin <img id="id_7c46_ba62_94b1_f2a5" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AEYmBYQKn80Cy-6K5fTEmXy_ABNkl-XWzKmlfAF-BW_goU4IX5L0-PULJoOdSK1iff2TwVZXPgSgi3oT89KfObJHEZwqNlNpKA" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><br><div><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br></span></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Sweet, salty, quirky and witty, butterfly aka Moni Mohsin is my spirit sister. She is like this girl friend who I meet every few years to share the worldly gossip and have great laughs. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Butterfly’s punglish and Punjabi-ness resonates with the Punjabi in me. The joyously wicked humor and an ability to call a spade as ‘</span><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;">chaped</span><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">’. The queen of kitty parties and page 3 events, Butterfly has a bundle of frenemies plus a mother, and enough relatives to generate chitchat about the whole world. She has funny nick names and private jokes. She makes fun of right, left, centre, liberals, and everyone while being frivolous herself. Showing us that no one is better than another, just live your life with some humor and some style. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">She has opinions </span><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;">hazaar</span><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">, and they are equally crazy and brutally selfish. She spares not a single politician, self proclaimed public leaders or celebrities. There is frequent name dropping from Imran Khan, Nawaz Sharif, Malala, Modi, BoJo, and who nots. The Middle East crisis, American foreign strategy, Pakistani politics, Kashmir are interspersed with Dubai shopping and summers in London. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Her love for good things and society gossip is like sucking on a good lemon pickle when only the base is left. It’s spicy, sour and sweet. Her unapologetic quirky version of a typical Punjabi aunty, makes me go in awe of women and what they are. An enigmatic bundle of contradictions, desires and sass. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">She is not a feminist nor a damsel in distress. She knows what she is and knows how to shut people up with her witty comebacks. She lives a life of an urban </span><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;">pushtaini</span><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"> rich landlord class of Pakistan who has never seen less. She blatantly describes the world with her rose tinted glasses and can’t see how anyone can be more troubled than her own little inconveniences. It’s truly a butterfly’s view of living in the crowded and chaotic Pakistan. Bringing live stories and conversations from the grand air conditioned drawing rooms in big mansions with foreign cars and staff serving imported stuff. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">I must end with great appreciation for Moni Mohsin, whose books have been my go to read for laughter and femininity. With her peculiar world view, she has been my personal sunshine on a rainy day, and a source of joie de vivre. The silvery, stylish and sassy protagonist is like a dear friend whose shenanigans and public commentary I love to hear. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">One doesn’t change the world with only seriousness, anger or tragedy. You can change it one laugh at a time. In today’s world of trolls, it’s a luxury to laugh at ourselves, our religions, our country and leaders. Moni does the tight rope walking like a pro with some wit and style. </span></p></div>Neha http://www.blogger.com/profile/06296487004789159994noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2852083981308288231.post-88932215544594010302023-10-27T00:14:00.001+05:302023-10-27T00:14:29.566+05:30You can Heal your Life- Book summary Can you imagine how your mind the hub of your thoughts and beliefs can be the root of all things. Your growth, success, happiness, health, relationships and possible everything that holds a meaning. After all it’s the mind that gives meaning to things and life! <div><br></div><div>Enjoyed reading this book summary by Headway. Short, smart and inspirational just like I want my non fictions! </div><div><br></div><img id="id_bf63_93d5_8b52_b6dd" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaDCgPrH0_pc200GsEUh2YfZILkr4WNqd62tCOK8Fe4Zke69twYyKsKTSJncvEKTEm6qbXrNkdt70UKM_ajpFTH0sJ3_6A" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_7e55_1eeb_5e32_c28c" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaCNiO0ymgw-djmNOZg3yywkf2Gv8ru-kZf8xfBqx7SDWvaAnnOJ_ATQpMx9tGaR9ZgDavZa170MnBDZRu-qKWaLmenybw" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_c685_8992_df59_2b3a" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaC7bMAVILEa576C1XYof7Ogb-cfKAz8dfhB_cc5epGYrFzhVsrPUsprK0dozkhjq_53FtfpQQhbNntQpWB1rYgkBf1xbw" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_1972_fefd_91bf_4b1d" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaBdLBxmmJgUGI1I67P2t9PBXcoWAA2GIiFy8DOaUMnB9zy_sZG6YGfHnb31evNzZ5i5TPDeWtJjJZ7cfvQLkVA3RPBizg" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_1a0a_67e5_bfdc_c2ce" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaAtokfkl_kKFVtKivgV7-WaZ8frG3scphZoOtxlbVSNi8ZQRltgz_tYT7i_ysFDG9miygothKsMJtS0P8X6FdHWrTe3Wg" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_17d2_5b07_2b3c_ace6" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaBd81C5sOPM6vdZ51bljNUQK_0cYydwxeIcwoMIjB7jreWKVxJmNzm2kaThqaYIkdk8j0lTBxraZsk3V8MuH37HWDkr" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_ba96_5092_7073_3a2f" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaDaoKTeQU2o6DIZkdOEGnkY6w_gGR3q-TQod9KDIX1-VxlRTmbphZPP1qLy46YiWV2vfqsJREaGKWfS8bhzg1-bJLS0MA" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_f2b9_6af3_9d9f_d163" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaArCK4TqcGlcvNk7nA_34iy9BogBnLB0Pg_igGmn_rH-o3jCb0c7AXwBHhkCqjrlroZC0laWjCUEYfSCfMR2toFqlSpUw" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_7f8b_821b_23cf_e10e" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaDWAumvBJQZEudg3p0XDv2gvwfv4iOy1lG1b9oMW6rJqHgbSKhKH4otqVBjD9KRwnPpaKtjkPl8d4lqKqCSLL45IdqaaA" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_64e3_f74d_714b_9f6a" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaBOwjueS1EjlJIxqbdE5KnXwe4wHzu5_wSjs1ivFtX__Tb8L_UJ4Bn_N0jg_VyslqkmScya_W1tmHcOEooAfJFQAYWAFg" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><div> </div>Neha http://www.blogger.com/profile/06296487004789159994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2852083981308288231.post-59199287065595225892023-10-23T14:09:00.001+05:302023-11-09T13:54:35.971+05:30Post secret - A private affair with booksA private affair with books. <div><img id="id_2259_dfe2_3eb0_ad39" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaB1A--aktXKdRxqoZY5KbWxIHs3OT3aWMK3mPkClARGc90Ij4bkJDpZDUWTWarjd6kA1PRp6sNXFZyxXsozJLLtCy0p" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><br></div><div><div><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Each secret a prompt for a story </span></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Each secret pregnant with life </span></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Each secret a post to a reader </span></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Each secret finding a keeper </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;">A private affair with books - </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;"></span><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;">Settling in with a beloved companion to spend some quality time together. On a cozy couch or by a sunlit window, let the world fade away. A cup of tea warms your hands and every sip a journey into new realms. taking in words with every sip. You hold it nicely in your lap as you caress the pages. The intimacy, the warmth, the scent of ink on paper. The gentle laugh and eyes crinkling at a ticklish part. A furrowed brow at an intense moment and a silent aww at heartwarming one. The souls of characters and stories entering your body, mind and spirit. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">One of my favorite places to visit in Bombay is Prithvi Theatre. The vintage architecture of the theatre, cosy sitting under the stars and fairy lights, the cafe with old recipes of bread custard and Irish coffee. The little center stage with seats in a half circle making me feel being on the stage and amongst the audience. A quaint shop stands in a corner called Paperback. The place is <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>an ode to theatre, Bombay and the art of book writing, a collection so unique that I could spend days in it. That’s where I found this unique book - Post card by Frank Warren </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">This has been my go to book when I wanted to be kind to myself and this world. While people share their deepest darkest secrets giving them a release, you the receiver also goes thru your own journey of accepting and making peace with your own. There are times I have cried for the senders, some times I laughed at the sneaky ones and most times my arms ached to hug and heal those who dared to say these. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">It’s pretty and vibrant, with colors and pictures splashed on both the lightest and the heaviest secrets of humanity. These beautiful postcards gives it shape, form, and a life so you can feel them and see them, making these your own. It’s not a standard coffee table book and definitely to be kept away from children but please do buy a copy and keep it on a day when you need a good cry. </span></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br></span></p></div><div>Here are some Post Secrets about books </div><div>Each secret can be a prompt for a story. Let’s try some. <div><br><img id="id_6d94_6fb2_627d_f8d2" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaAfSjcabFsbHP_Pu3vTavarKI5ykNB9DkiG91cGU8-DYjWvSq0k_CGazcm6aaAVvrGcR52Ixy6fjuUXgxK6ntngsFupLQ" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">A genius writer with quirks but a keen ability to form plots and fluent writing. <br></span><br><img id="id_c6a0_88d9_e1bc_2e89" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaAoqOjZ38cLBEBRMi7tNiM07IQB5tENSdw3W0DcZDDWEO2fyeX9Gk3MfR5EQyxoNBtQ5Fo6USkJ9PR7xVHaA9ltclN1IQ" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Wow this is so real! Writing is a process of self discovery. When you write the stories are inspired from outside world but they are created in the figments of your mind and heart. Each element coming together and sometimes in the folds you find a real memory. Something you wish never did come out. Forgotten and lost. Alas fear is always there lurking in the crevices of your minds haunted by those hidden secrets. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span><br><br></div></div></div>Neha http://www.blogger.com/profile/06296487004789159994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2852083981308288231.post-41002617249153973622023-10-09T08:50:00.001+05:302023-10-09T08:50:37.417+05:30Eating Animals <font face="Palatino" size="6">A life long vegeterian (Minus the eggs), I have struggled to accept people’s non chalence to eating animals. The simple act of violence, slavery to taste, mental block, indirect cruelty and many other perspectives have angered me. </font><div><font face="Palatino" size="6"><br></font></div><div><font face="Palatino" size="6">Till I became a mother and my own daughter wants chicken and bacon all the time. Sometimes I wonder it’s if her taste or just a rebellion against her mother. However this book helps to put across my points with patience and perspective. It’s true it’s like smoking for people. They know it’s wrong but you do it for peers or addiction. Growing up a Hindu vegetation is inculcated into my life since childhood. </font><span style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: xx-large;">Living in Scandinavia and travelling abroad I saw how prevalent non veg is in the world. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: xx-large;">Despite having good food and non violent choices people still won’t change their behaviours. I am thankful for my culture and bringing up that I don’t have to make such choices. But I struggle reasoning with my daughter. May be one day when she grows up she will make her choices. Or may be if I stop fighting and show her the reality and allow her to make her choices. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: xx-large;"><br></span></div><div><img id="id_faa5_4ae7_a194_be41" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaCCTSCnBdEVMCUhNyNaj1D8QFHOw1hwhCK6o1P0-IYnSR6ZNUJiKhxOJWPeH8rUZTpIxv_c9xwPvhFZevE_QdtotwAN" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_ca2e_6cdb_4457_46fe" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaDmkONfxfgG41_FblmDJOI1zzF1eN-HQt6JyaAtr8mAP7hLcBvssziRxYRlQRypEfHj1kT3dQQah2TByWYtFjT0mbNPyQ" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_6419_d17c_9d8b_27be" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaCqLingPeuyowA4bQeHR7s05_SKpWm4TYujkYh1oH8qlx6WNQClLFRcerCU0v4zgOAegWPkik12-tFnQJRZ4WCvGKWt" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_d63a_ab48_1e53_f05e" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaAsti-9Igj4CAxattKh0OS2Z-ht-sER7RPt7pIwEAQdozMmnfOeBf1U0mn1x-E3A8mv-0sEzfJai6r4xFuEZyS5CDu6_Q" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_3567_b334_3fa5_ed41" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaA1WNs5wG8Ce6uNJKpkFoWczCmdnI5YFh55MZ4AP9mDCkENMxVZ30Z3YIAP2SwxRsBFh9zH37EiVTv273cIhDCR3b-O" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_e4c8_2c_a8d9_dacc" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaAVtt1tSuUEq5eM0Ck-RsXFW725xs7GG2P8SuKK7tg8im4ivjTG4sR1byysirOmwTwYqABjO6kj2G89JxQPDQsLY7qY5g" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_5ab6_a55d_3fd0_64eb" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaCFO8iaobkbg-mFpnmyXHzSSwyimc0MO_XmXrlEcN9X3HzQnt1XGwz61XLx4b1HxY7S7zxhbT5FBvPq4jO1JqaxaNym" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_c0aa_6afa_20b1_a94a" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaDxli_NFurcgMQ7z5NlGZbLQXpPBxlULc83tPUIIctbeQPFYsA8_5rs5KVugZsrFGo7uBBzytXmHuGqND9_E_XyN3h7Ng" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_b29a_3582_a78f_cee8" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaAMJ4kVix09aGx3wWxqYdjm2IY3v90_V2pryAGszH_nskQ6Py0GZuP7zumFzMHDp5mst98nBVDUm_BkxuPs0ybokWPj" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_4130_9b1f_3c8b_562e" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaCEtmWNdfpa8PrSmT8X7Odq6nZ_DJI4pYJnM5Q0XTo1z0TEuhtH3xpsU0UreUH1xux8oKnl5Kxx83tqgprkXjtQ-xpv" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><img id="id_ea96_ea0f_d2b6_64a8" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaDY4E42IIgl5YuY6R_eUK2XNLDbH_NGGeDtMD7SlWIJfewDk_h1gmNFsdaiSIrC70REIEmXThBc1ujV8p1TmbHUyitEoQ" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_47a1_d88f_6ad3_9893" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaB2dIcslb9igHaUzY7EZH61flFSyrn2Fb6ynjoMwVTr01NEa_RBeqHjOuVoMWepri9fpsDXZlKLQU96wgfONx0riWwFnQ" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_1be4_ef98_5d5c_c5d3" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaDwh9xVFt4lBIt6bSHCPaxMhcCysmJaEt91FK3YfgOGU83VTqRBY4qXgQ306s_jaqMWuxr9ohSw1p8WbRoZjblJ7Ohh" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span><br><span style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: xx-large;"><br></span></div>Neha http://www.blogger.com/profile/06296487004789159994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2852083981308288231.post-3383979681827586532023-10-02T11:37:00.001+05:302023-10-09T09:04:05.904+05:30Steal Like an artist Part II <img id="id_9775_d14e_818a_8d6f" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaBezPGbd_bZDj7a-GXarJTAGdAvY65nd-wCqo3jrg3_wpqoX8RKjmblvrbWsLzQtoFsBIjDouX7VwcZIoXgnYQlyUA4Sw" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><br><br><img id="id_8f57_ce07_56e9_6fbe" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaDPamZ3UZGSblkJPpEb3PPKFL-MgyPI5btSHGu09iYJx4a_G2bm7mG71BXH9cYgOj0cedpNFLHBR2MszWc3YjIq_qRiCg" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_a003_8613_c93a_339" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaCDHMGAA0qjzJvdimFLzFQP4Vd-MBf3XZqBcHLI4SXm92OVXw_zqZ1hwp9qTEhzA4i7cMw0l-8j8ESgxNT11KOxnzk7Bw" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_bd84_d105_33be_b92e" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaCaNL_mQO4xpuaCmoWowwbZI-rq47Q7fJyyv8nJsZ8Q1nMW7uXEnmS6gqfMxe-2_aQ2HgaMOKsQRgB9swIT2jAw0LKK" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_70ee_bf54_72c_8b25" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaBgrStNAUXqpSDVJssYD8wx9AzuZd9ro9D5Z49jBX9KAQhx_htYr9inO22Vb52pR7_0vT7m1UNjiF9aGauAdwOwuFNo" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><br><img id="id_f3ec_6956_8c29_4f9f" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaC8S8n8aEztlsz6l77llBrg5an_diF52qy-r_pxXmMHRWNpaspptzk1cPeT3unkScNkPHRDb-ig-cOpCLLukbJC07m6" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_d81f_70b2_6556_c66a" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaC_qY35DyMr34TumReHwGGeLMACU9Ip85fSoarSe5pokXcj4ZpLGDB5zHCcqs-Z4XQa-ROFMzTDVIJO_ngaOCNpCMu98w" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_23bf_e74f_91bc_d000" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaD8a3Mu6dttqGOFv-F9Hf17ZiyVjtFPuoEnb0P_DK8ITeN6on2YWq_Md0yYXYWY54ZFnWvl4bCungl5t36_W4Fmoueq7g" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><img id="id_c77_8674_576d_3d09" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaDF-UiCiQHYF18t86_n2JCmQB4Q5gq1QI7cuFdll_rTaqOQqGNjM-f4iLHdWtS3DeT7ZYBO7bfgjKFhxFAKVqd3iBj9" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_5581_7cc2_b240_56c9" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaDarK9-OjNq8YI7SQoCcHKxKNZlzpZ5Itx3vOC3lbVpJ1rYboFziZb6eKyHf802PuN79rlCVBQ0hgZcFHksfzLDDUaP8A" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><br><br><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span><br> </div>Neha http://www.blogger.com/profile/06296487004789159994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2852083981308288231.post-5169704639575788562023-10-02T11:33:00.001+05:302023-10-02T11:33:52.953+05:30Steal like an artist Part I<img id="id_ba92_2e0c_c4e8_5939" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaCiAGFLuc6J8Dia77zDF0ijujKQbOp0qZSg-xxM_f8FHhSP2iVg6_Kpy8j_QH-wD-Y-mgO8iMaPy-kz30S7f_BHt_Oo3Q" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">A brilliant book if you are a creative person striving to create your art. Bookmark this summary for inspiration <br></span><br><img id="id_cf0e_aa96_12b0_6f7b" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaBR_4NnTFeVMAut4K7XIRztSPQJZldJHEU4sD0DnucioOR_c6yEoP4ydNIIR45hekZcBk6_FqmcUBFM6UeQYJ-C7gzxBg" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_57eb_c280_812b_b18d" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaDMXtGlqqkLLKrIt0JZqJjwYNNZhqP1wpt0_j6fnyB_cB1eVFLOeXCetgHB8kMJo7AX0cPnUffnC9NoboOo6fgSRiBrUQ" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_6982_4228_e8be_f6f0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaCbTEyhX2SUjhZQdasDqQLcXMCt7R8AMHjdBQYdMNOfHcUCVFjax59TE5xQHOlRXAJUns5Yz_F5csN4lKXcFjvotDcgPg" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_c445_1d72_1d22_27dd" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaBP4iiH4f64b22ps3n_Q2X4KkAZbGSaRz9_grUrb-LPgPq1ZzJ6Mvi4GlZTmOeYmIA-dyF7oU2_xxfMJnjRmFqS-useGQ" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_f085_3fd8_57dd_95fd" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaC0hc-FUniy9Gfth8fsmXhr_qDB_Ib50-jOCw6twnCd3PY1PFP9GDQVLuhW7EKeru-vdXidtb7zQ5Kk_u1J2DxOL0yDmw" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_a700_3b25_2208_cbe1" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaA_wfrSd4Wp2GIZ_-YqV4s98YEACDISo0PmvgnZSIAa3n7RIZ9lISDX4m9o_jMSoSqOIb6FtCdIZyg9quLgWgfCLUoXgQ" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_d8d7_8ed8_b297_1d53" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaB37IrEK54KdEWd6ijegyeXbr_wEQKzJif80exZvHHZtdtjJwjsLE-SqUM_UvydB4zxYqnijUTTAIR3F2fsNyBkjEFV" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_4ad5_71da_9931_99e7" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaBCVEPrijUDjox6Ea1eKQ1s3jEK3lZmxbV97RaCNZlfrRaLdkfQDB6QwSCOAHB9LAKJY4HRcGdL6qCDPNPwonuzuWzfXg" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_de6c_5974_51c2_54fa" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaCBzNHWVkLOpBLfidlPh10L8lmcseXf006IZR2qlPrGsycf0VOMoAHD8fZ3RW9bp8FQhzAp2sR6FuT5lPWQwpM4vDME" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br> </div>Neha http://www.blogger.com/profile/06296487004789159994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2852083981308288231.post-33822865350785255512023-10-02T09:30:00.001+05:302023-10-02T09:32:00.829+05:30Rock paper scissors by Alice Feeney <p class="p1" style="margin: 0px 0px 3px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 28px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><img id="id_b72a_2db0_c07b_a71d" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaC_BQHwHvQBsaX2hSoQ2CLx4gESFV6OxPOd464BLzydDJyrEjLQhV1eAWIAU4rj0EUe2goOtyZCOENrGR_toZVwGPUJ8g" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">What do you get when you get a bunch of dysfunctional protagonists who are writers. Their dysfunctionality combined with storytelling skills is a crime thriller. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Spoilers ahead - </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The book could not be more aptly named. Rock for marriage, paper for writing and scissors the weapon. It has the right mix with quirky characters who came with murky pasts. Loss of a parent, self centeredness of another and growing alone. When you haven’t seen love you believe when anyone shows you a little. You start needing it being addicted to that love. For years of a dead marriage which survives only for the common misery shared by the two. But it takes three to tango as the past catches up with the protagonists. Like a game of RPS it can land anywhere. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The book builds up brilliantly, in a quirky shady lonely place in the outskirts of Scotland. Perfect setting for a murder and a thriller. The characters opening up like layers of an onion. The self talk, epistolary confessions and their writing showing their thoughts and building the plot. Their actions suspicious and incomplete. The author does an amazing job of keeping the reader hooked ending each chapter at a cliff hanger, each chapter narrated by a different medium and character. The people blur and reactive actions leading the story further. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Only at 80% of the book the suspense opens up. I could have never guessed that twist. I have taken much pride in predicting the crime thrillers at about 40% of the book. But not this time. I went back a few chapters to review if I had missed something but the story was water tight. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">A wonderful read and I would give it 3.5 stars. Why not 4 well the ending was not as satisfying as I thought. There was something that didn’t fit well. How could things end so calmly, why did the detective had to make an appearance. May be it was authors attempt to give a closure. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Is it important that a good book must have a <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>good closure. Sometimes it’s just unfinished business which leads to curiosity and the reader grudgingly accepts it but rates it lower. After all, I want more but I don’t want it to be obvious. An ending that should take me for a surprise would have been brilliant but sometimes it just has to be real. </span></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br></span></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><font face="Palatino" size="6">PS it was even more special as the first book of my new book club. The book was satisfying and so was the discussion on a Saturday night. The joy of reading as much as talking about them. </font></p> Neha http://www.blogger.com/profile/06296487004789159994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2852083981308288231.post-57809532123860014472023-09-30T14:44:00.001+05:302023-09-30T14:44:35.743+05:30The Sense of an ending - to my vlogging <br><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/K3mLAQAeL1E?si=XZz-m5XI8PT0BCpj" width="500" height="281" id="y_id_193d_acbf_f64f_5b9d" frameborder="0"></iframe> <div><br></div><div>After years of blogging I tried to experiment with a video book review. It was 2018 and I was not a mother yet, so I had ample time for the shenanigans. As you can see I didn’t do a great job with it but have a laugh and mock my accent. I will stick to writing my words. 🙌📚</div>Neha http://www.blogger.com/profile/06296487004789159994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2852083981308288231.post-50757978140140140282023-09-26T07:22:00.001+05:302023-09-26T07:22:06.740+05:30Guns, Germs and Steel<p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><img id="id_cbc6_1b0d_b4d7_cd66" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaAXYX8lgMXZXmrDA-F1k0SoWsIkwBwI9tJuIHRU986pV5Op6nUF-cgrROy0SPR1nO6eTKbmiizdgk8DA8iCG3prQw03LA" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">A gem of a book and summary with great insights on evolution of civilisation. How geography was the reason why some parts grew. The Fertile Crescent, natives, farming, writing, industrialization, domestic animals, colonisation, immunity and much time. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Do read this interesting one. Till then cherish some quotes here - </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;">The farmers who planted the most productive crops became the most productive farmers.</span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;"></span><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;">It sounds almost incredible that the inequalities of the world came from the crops we grow and eat.</span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;"></span><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;">Any two points of the globe that share the same latitude will also share the same length of day, similar climate and vegetation.</span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;"></span><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;">The Anna Karenina principle was borrowed from Tolstoy’s novel “Anna Karenina” where Tolstoy stated that “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Similarly, animals that could not be successfully domesticated had their peculiar reason that prevented their domestication.</span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;"></span><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;">It was not just agriculture that helped Eurasian societies, their geographic axis played its part. For the Americas and Africa, their land mass goes from North to South. Europe and Asia have a latitudinal land mass—their axis is an east-west axis. It is easier to travel along the east-west axes than the North-South axes. The ease of travel allowed ideas and innovations to spread rapidly. Also, the similarity in latitude resulted in similar climate and time zones.</span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;"></span><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;">Did you know? More than 50% of the food choices available today are from cereal crops.</span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;"></span><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;">The development of writing is extremely complex and could only have been achieved by those who didn’t need to worry about sustenance. ~ Jared Diamond</span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;"></span><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;">Europeans conquered the rest of the world, not because of their bravery but because they were the first people to acquire guns, germs and steel. ~ Jared Diamond</span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;"></span><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;">Since the world had entered into the Industrial Revolution at this time, railroads were constructed for transporting people and supplies over long distances. Also, the Maxim gun was made. It could fire 500 rounds in a minute. No African tribe could match this weaponry.</span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;"></span><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;">Try this</span></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;">• By knowing what happened in the past and why we are empowered to change things today to get different results in the future.</span></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;">• Are you in a position to change things? Realize that the smallest of details can alter the course of a person’s life.</span></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-style: italic;">• In your own way, contribute to the fight against endemic diseases, hunger, and poverty in parts of the world that are impoverished by lack of access to opportunity.</span></p> Neha http://www.blogger.com/profile/06296487004789159994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2852083981308288231.post-57329116173904245862023-09-25T14:45:00.001+05:302023-09-25T14:45:07.079+05:30The NewYorker <img id="id_44a6_2b_11cd_6f69" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaCcHrix1JzjZhl4TjwrhEbr5-5k_roBNaVBH0yAm4SI8qJJH54YQf7IaB-IckHd3eCz7EtIUWPE_vNNz1YQNYKSRDSOvQ" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br> Neha http://www.blogger.com/profile/06296487004789159994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2852083981308288231.post-51744509347571422902023-09-25T14:44:00.001+05:302023-09-25T14:44:15.791+05:30The art of work ~ Jeff Goins<p class="p1" style="margin: 0px 0px 3px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 28px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-weight: 700;"><br></span></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px 0px 3px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 28px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><img id="id_d466_71aa_5a24_8410" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AK7aPaDzt48cqDHSAXu695voiNRgcitEVrEbOTppwocFyTOn2dPE8qsBXNCFpDoeFPuBxvLtL5d7mR_mSq_rftIReyiqAS-8Hg" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-weight: 700;"><br></span></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px 0px 3px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 28px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-weight: 700;">The calling </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleEmphasizedBody; font-weight: bold;">We humans have been proven to have only three sources of fulfillment: meaningful work, quality relationships, and a redemptive view of suffering.</span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Until we learn to move from seeing work as a means for survival to see it as a calling and a channel through which we impact the world, we would never stop being frustrated. You weren't designed to do every job that comes your way just for survival’s sake, there's a specific path that has been cut out for you — a calling that you must realize and start living. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><ol class="ol1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><li class="li3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><span class="s3" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleEmphasizedBody; font-weight: bold;">Discover your calling - the purpose </span></li></ol><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleEmphasizedBody; font-weight: bold;">Discovering and fulfilling your calling is the secret to lasting fulfillment. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">A calling isn’t something new and shiny. Often it’s something old and predictable, a familiar face that’s easily taken for granted, an old habit or hobby that comes back into our lives. It will come as an internal longing for a particular cause or an unusual fascination for a specific field of human endeavor. That longing in itself is not your purpose, but it's prompting you into discovering more.</span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">I used to think that your calling was about doing something good in this world. Now I understand it’s about becoming someone good—and letting that goodness impact the world around you.</span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><ol class="ol1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><li class="li3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><span class="s3" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleEmphasizedBody; font-weight: bold;">The principles of the calling</span></li></ol><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleEmphasizedBody; font-weight: bold;">There are no exact formulas for discovering your life's work, but there are guidelines that will help. What governs life is not formulas but principles. Principles don't change but tactics do.</span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The fact that your father worked for 38 years and retired rich is no guarantee that you'll be rich after working for 38 years yourself. You could create wealth earlier than that, and you could even die trying. The best you can do is adopt the wealth creation principles he applied in his life. If you are able to grasp and implement them, chances are high you may even replicate the same result faster. your goal shouldn't be to see how others did it but to understand the principles behind it. Your experience will be unique, but principles will guide you.</span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><ol class="ol1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><li class="li3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Follow the direction </span></li></ol><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">If you look back at your life so far and consider your experiences, gifts, and desires, you would notice a fine thread of purpose coursing through your experiences and passions. you'd see that your current passion and the overarching desires you've had since childhood synchronize in a good way, pointing you in a specific direction. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">You won't know where the road will lead, but the best you can do is begin actively working in that direction. Clarity comes with action and not just waiting for a miracle to happen.. You don't just jump into the unknown without some level of preparation, but at the same time, you don't sit and wait for everything to be perfect. A wise thing to do is to come up with a plan. Maybe a two year plan or three, or shorter. Your plan should include starting the new on the side and saving money for when you’ll leave your day job. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><ol class="ol1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><li class="li3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Mentorship</span></li></ol><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">You may be the main player, but you can't possibly do it alone. mentorship could come from the authors we read, our parents, friends, total strangers, colleagues at work, online resources or the people we follow on social media.</span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">More you work towards it more mentors will come your way. Humility is a requirement for mentorship. you have to intentionally decide to learn from people when they show up.</span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><ol class="ol1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><li class="li3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Growth mindset </span></li></ol><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Avoid the effort excuse, you can exceed your expectations. For many people, there is a fundamental problem with the understanding of their own capabilities. However, with enough encouragement and self-motivation, anyone can achieve whatever they set out to achieve. Hardwired in our brains and bodies is a potential greater than we realize, and all we have to do to unlock it is, believe.</span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">With the fixed mindset, people are born with a certain number of finite abilities and cannot exceed those abilities. With the growth mindset, however, potential is unlimited. You can always get better. For this kind of person, the goal is not so much to be the best in the world but to be better than you were yesterday.</span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><ol class="ol1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><li class="li3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Deliberate practice research claims that talent is not the cause of excellence — practice is. </span></li></ol><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Sometimes, the only way to know the difference between a hobby and a calling is to put yourself through the crucible of painful practice.</span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><ol class="ol1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><li class="li3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Failure</span></li></ol><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Failure can either last a lifetime or be seasonal. The first one is what you should avoid at all costs, but the second type of failure is normal. Lifetime failures are products of backing up the wrong tree. You can be successful doing the wrong thing and that is very bad. Do this: When you see yourself going in a direction contrary to your dreams and passions, pause — go on a retreat — and really think about what you're doing. Change directions if it doesn't align with your deepest desires.</span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><ol class="ol1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><li class="li3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Patience </span></li></ol><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Patience is important in all these. You can't force things when it's not yet time. The best you can do is take action and believe that you're getting ahead. The reason you can't just rush into it is that there are skills that you need to acquire along the way, and these take time. You won't even know all the skills needed when you begin. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><ol class="ol1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><li class="li3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Legacy </span></li></ol><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Your work is supposed to outlive you. The crown of your life's work is when you're able to replicate yourself in others whose paths are similar to yours. Try this - Think about the work you’d like to be remembered for after you die. Start doing it if you haven’t because that’s your purpose right there.</span></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br></span></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Source - book summary by Headway </span></p> Neha http://www.blogger.com/profile/06296487004789159994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2852083981308288231.post-62937284337238207282023-09-21T09:48:00.001+05:302023-09-22T08:43:19.991+05:30It takes a lifetime <p class="p1" style="margin: 0px 0px 3px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 28px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><img id="id_683_48ec_23d1_5a75" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AITFw-wbX9KdWqlnEeeHL3hy6A8u9gczXAT2yhwDhafcXgDkoJyHGG6xfurEPPvSxTHch2iRWLlSMxzWD3q6SjCh4QC95uxG" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">I have been writing for over 15 years. Initially they were notes, doodles, and diary. But it became blogs and short stories. I didn’t grow in a house full of books but when I found them I took to them like fish to sea. A new world opened up to me, the one with magic and reality. As a child there were only three books at our place, owned by. Eldest brother. </span></p><p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><b>The autumn of patriarch</b></span></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><b>Future Shock by Alvin Toffler</b></span></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><b>Don Quixote </b></span></p><p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><img id="id_a0f1_cef0_5564_ec8b" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AITFw-yZferXGtGFJrIdyVNo_3ThFgHgioL5sjGw7_1A4UgYZ1WpMKiF3-6-BrdVWtnqgd7K3oIYvR0pkemcuJoo7GxMmuVN7g" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">These books in no situation are the starting books for someone. I still can’t read such heavy literature. They are intense and heavy. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The <b>comic strips in the newspaper</b> elated me. I would put my Hindi and my grandpas Urdu versions next to each other as they went in opposite directions. </span></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><img id="id_1fe8_e80e_c83c_1e0f" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AITFw-zFHwQZrcxBv8ImyMVMrIOpUsEE1oLBOCclURhUSyZoQ_52LYaB3u35au4FCY-MhImcuYnsHet_Hd7qXgzcQ0deoK8YCA" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br></span><br></p><p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">I took to Hindi comic books eventually I found at a distant cousins place. He had 100s of those and I would go to their house to read them all the time. The big fat digests of <b>Nagraj, Doga, Captain Dhruv, Pinki, Chacha Choudhary </b>and many more. This was before I knew of spider man or batman but saw their glimpses in these local characters. Bought from local book shops or train stations they were my favourites. I would negotiate with my mother to buy me a copy whenever we went to the market. I would start reading it while walking, waiting or returning in the rickshaw. </span></p><p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">When I was 10 I would get Rs 10 pocket money and would go to this book shop in the market or my residential sector. The guy would rent out one comic at Rs 2 per week. If you got late he would charge extra from kids. I was happy to read 5 comic books in cost of one. </span></p><p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><img id="id_287d_b36_41ac_5815" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AITFw-yfnXyPQKwo7RzROJ4-tkprMHBMZSXCsuJ6nQhobbTkFResFARfVbIr-jQaIO_zizTy4zEyoqYkAqCy7Jt56VH24C_4" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">I would visit my mother or fathers cousin sister’s home. They had a lush girly room with <b>Archies lying in a corner book shelf along with MBs</b> and other novels. While the college girls were being what they are at that age, I stayed in a corner with a comic book and spend hours. Where ever I went I would find a corner and a book, and simply forget the world. Archie’s was special as an almost teen. I rooted for the nice and kind Betty, but now I know Veronica is just being herself and Archie is no big deal. </span></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br></span></p><p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><img id="id_3108_8410_a896_b6e8" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AITFw-x1rhrTSsulXUyqYSQXRaVxh8u1x1VdcskBxIS_J_0xmb9sMw5d3WdGldzOTU84ZbmkekHefAAls7YGxtAODySD75Nr" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_35e7_5667_44fe_3371" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AITFw-yOvgGBC9pvMZ1862OGdcvMGT-RgiAtv3sIlEe7dUMq8KCIqR-cSKmhNkiQKNzV7sFLTENUFZL7jf6FeWHxLKF1Exe0IQ" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 318px; height: auto; margin: 4px;"><br><br><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Then I made a friend. She was the daughter of my fathers bureaucrat friend. A business man had a friends circle. Our families often hung together. She was two years younger to me and her house was full of books. Her mother who became fond of me would often have me for a night stay. My mother who would never allow me sleep overs was surprisingly ok to. She had <b>Noddy, Cinderella and all sorts of fairy tales</b> which my Hindi background was not familiar with. </span></p><p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><img id="id_8761_ad79_748d_a470" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AITFw-w_R9g2l_CZ5hWtrxEh-EKKwJbqg8R2Uc-uxLciY0TgeeAYWvt510A8p1o9JM8WivZanzRikcC0ZGoGtFHVMDCm_sXbtA" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Finally at school library I discovered Enid Blyton and the English classics. We had an English teacher at Sacred Heart convent. Mrs Vasundhara Bhatt, a smart Kashmiri woman. She gave us a summer holiday homework to read <b>The Wuthering Heights.</b> My first romance novel and that too a tragedy. It broke my heart and for the first time love felt so painful. My simple mind could f fathom why two people who love each other can’t be together. Most problems in life are poor communication. </span></p><p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><img id="id_63dc_52e2_c479_701e" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AITFw-wN6BlBW0ZpMw4u8dez-wyGfj4rdrPtp6H7ZGa2jMj2JP8yECRAIJG2IWjWd-1bdU2ql5SLkTbKk3Tg2B_Zs5h29szWpQ" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Anyways then I moved to SRCC college in Delhi and found the ancient library. True to its genre it had economics and accountancy books for the past 75 years of existence. I wonder if the problems have changed over this period. In one corner there was some novels of not such high quality. I read Second Lady which was a sleazy spy novel about a US President. I read The partition book by Urvashi Butalia and many other books on partition as I sat in the heart of Delhi telling its tales. </span></p><p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">But the biggest source of books came from my college BF. She was an avid reader something she inherited from her well read father. She would keep buying books and also recommend me. I read some beautiful literature thru her. The love story, Angela’s Ashes, and many others. She had a great taste and I got hooked. At one time she stopped talking to me. Probably because I left some marks on two of her books while borrowing. Not sure but we never found out the why. </span></p><p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Then I read some street literature during my hostel days and PG stints in Mumbai and Noida. Much feminine fiction which is exactly I was surrounded by - Indian + Women + Drama. Probably that’s what I still like. Explore some great book shops like the Paperback at Prithvi Theatre, Oxford Connaught Place, Om and Crossword bookstores. This was the first time I was earning and I was enjoying my favourite hobby. I found many a heroines and their inspiring stories. The tales of sisterhood, mother and daughter, generations of family and the legends passed. I discovered the different genres of Indian and some women fiction with the brilliant works of <b>Chitra Banerjee, Jhumpa Lahiri, Salman Rushdie a</b>nd many more. </span></p><p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><img id="id_d14c_7b6f_56d_6c92" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AITFw-xQmjV0Svwmv9_WRXnZPE_XiKWhNmwJ47oZzR0wsJ2PUNLDbAgyLp_9Fnq2AxwSVLXCku8hcxsZo-e1ERleb-iK2oU6" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><a href="https://storywala.blogspot.com/2014/09/indian-subcontinent.html?m=1">https://storywala.blogspot.com/2014/09/indian-subcontinent.html</a></p><p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">When I moved to Mumbai again with Lehman bros, I found this wonderful online library called Kwench. It was everything - minimal fees, delivered on site and a wonderful collection. I explored the different worlds of Indian literature with aspects of </span><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">immigrant fiction, Bengali classics, detective works and Hindi literature. </span><b style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Manto, Sarat Chandra, Devkinanda Tripathi, </b><b style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Rabindranath</b><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">, <b>Bhisham Sahni, etc etc </b></span></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br></span></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">I would finish books per week. There was one year when I read 55 books. That has not been repeated since. I made a good book friend, with whom I am still friends. We meet every time at a bookshop and still share books every time we meet. </span></p><p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">That’s around the time Lehman went bankrupt and I was coming to office without work anticipating some kind of acquisition or bailout. This was the window when I was sitting in front of a computer without any work. That’s when I was introduced to the world of Blogging. I read and write significantly at that time. Whenever I was done with the free games me and my colleagues were playing to pass time at work. </span></p><p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The two blogs took birth - Pictures and Words and Pictures and places. I head read somewhere that visuals were important to make your blog attractive. Hence it has been an intimate part of my blogging. There is always a visual. I wrote and I wrote. I found Good reads which was a great site for book lovers. Completely harness this was not blocked by IT teams. This was the kind of social media I could spend hours on. I read and reviewed books. It was my fav part of the day. </span></p><p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The blogs shaped up, with book reviews, travelogues, beautiful clicks and stories. They became a vision of my thoughts, dreams and ideas. An online journal <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>of my hobbies - reading, writing, travelling, clicking pictures, memories, tales and thoughts. I grew with them and so did my art. </span></p><p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The short stories came up, I took a writing workshop and an acting workshop. Both exposed me to art of story telling. Yo cherish experiences and channel these into stories. Both Ramesh Menon and Niraj Kabi are good teachers passionate about their art and craft.</span></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br></span></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><img id="id_c4ca_76fa_fe83_5a0b" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AITFw-xI5s0-g72dVg9RYsJg_T7FLK0xZKzu_PAaY5l2OxSnpCDtwrT3oN_QY0DGIWCe2Xx_9O9ZM9bK_aGOYu1ADKeO1jFz" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">I started discovering international literature the great works from <b>Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia</b>. My wanderlust dreams took me to new worlds thru the imagination of some great authors. American and British fiction is by far well distributed and I was able to get to the translations as the world opened up to new languages and stories. Imagine reading - <b>So long a Letter or Things fall apart from Africa, Three sisters and Haruki Murakami from Asia, the European literature of Swedish crime fiction and Milan Kundera’s surreal literature</b>.</span></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br></span></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Some countries continue to be my favorite -</span><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The close to home and heart - <b>Pakistani literature by </b></span><b style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Kamila Shamsie, Moni Mohsin and Mohsin Hamid</b><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><b>. Iranian literature by Azar Nafisi, Marjane Satrapi. Nigerian literature with Adichie and Nearly all Men in Lagos are Mad.</b></span></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><b><br></b></span></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><b> </b>Some real gems have come my way over the years and I have built a reasonable circle around of people who read and talk books. Even if you come from a family where they don’t have a book shelf forget a study. Or a husband who reads Harry Potter, Robert Ludlum and Wilbur Smith, and never talks about books. You will find your people. I have been part of book clubs in Mumbai and Bengaluru, I have had libraries at work and Copenhagen. </span></p><p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">It took me some time to accept my writer self to my corporate self. I divided these one for sustaining my heart and one for the tummy. The realisation that they don’t need to be mutually exclusive they can find themselves if I pursue both. When you don’t know what to choose, engage yourself equally, then life will choose and it’s never wrong. This is how the process of manifestation works. </span></p><p class="p4" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p3" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">May be artists, authors have to be a bit maverick. Self motivated, passionate, creative and know the art of storytelling. Finally my book of short stories, Keepsake is around the corner. I can’t imagine I have had such a long journey. It takes a village to bring a book and it takes a lifetime to write one. But it was a good like filled with <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>stories of all sorts. </span></p> Neha http://www.blogger.com/profile/06296487004789159994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2852083981308288231.post-91249866144181461292023-09-20T08:33:00.001+05:302023-09-21T09:50:11.216+05:30Everything I know about love <br><div><img id="id_c199_b3a9_ca8e_e678" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AITFw-w3UxXObJHwOGIHzO-yFIxCfzuTdkuEf8ORq4Qx8cbyI9u5Bg-od3EbQJTp0Kj4Ddq__sgGD1m33pF58nApZBJiHujV" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span><div><div><br></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font face="Gill Sans" size="6">Female friendships leave indelible marks on our lives, like mothers and sisters they are core to our soul! </font></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font face="Gill Sans" size="6"><br></font></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">A perfect title to a perfect story. A coming of age tale of a woman. She has self destructive tendencies and eventually looses her Childhood friend. You know you have grown up when you start loosing friends. </span></div><div><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">It’s rare a friend that has stayed with me from school to university to work. I have made new friends with every start. Few carried forwards but most left behind. Everything I know about love is a finely aged friendship of fourteen years which comes crumbling with mean things said. Probably some friendships become like dying stars with loosing its shine. They no longer become comfort places just formalities as you speak once in a while. There is something in them but you can’t put your finger to it. </span></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Those friendships which knew everything about you. How your day went? Your latest crush. Your bad bosses or evil people. You’re demanding parents. Your other friends. Petty jealousies and conflicts. Little secretes, big drama. The childhood nostalgia and the adult reality. Careers and sustainence. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Love and marriages. Moving towns and chasing dreams. Failed relationships and bad decisions. </span></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Only some friendships succeed the test of time. You don’t move when you are ready. You move when you have outgrown them. Some friendships are worth leaving behind. Probably they were nothing but mutual needs and relevant for certain times or situations. </span></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Enjoy the quirks of Maggie. She is a Lolita on drugs. The only thing is she comes from a good home and parents. So no psychoanalysis these are just self destructive <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>tendencies. Sounds very personal. I like how she is a go getter and straight talker. But she is kind. Also a beautiful girl. She has brown eyes which also reminded me for my own eyes. Again personal. </span></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">This is how one identifies with the character. So this show will always be personal because I thoroughly enjoyed it. I have lost many friendships over the years. The two from my childhood school with whom I played with dolls. The one from Dad’s circle with whom I read stories and played tonnes of games. The BF in school which turned into a scandal. The BF in college which made a Boyfriend and her life changed for good. I think this is the story that comes closest to this book. Well not all are BFs for forever, </span><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">some come for a reason, and some for a season. </span></p> </div></div></div>Neha http://www.blogger.com/profile/06296487004789159994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2852083981308288231.post-57525961946874443782023-09-20T08:32:00.001+05:302023-09-20T08:32:18.128+05:30A book cover - The wall with the clock <font face="Palatino" size="6">This is a powerful book cover with a strong visual of a vintage clock, old books, a wooden table, lamps, frames. All dripped in nostalgic colors. </font><div><font face="Palatino" size="6"><br></font></div><div><font face="Palatino" size="6">However it seems like a thriller cover with detectives or adventures. Does it look like a short story collection of ordinary lives. </font></div><div><font face="Palatino" size="6"><br></font></div><div><img id="id_d13b_393c_a85b_4490" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AITFw-xxtOtNLcdItTnegsLmkyJ6z5bjKm103xTDmW-3p89ARr_XqUVqkdGrGRkFC8tkRKTUe7RN05nS7ctL5guexT_tpd-0Ig" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_95c1_73ff_c551_dbaa" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AITFw-zO2xs_aI0jMi-ftJ9OxlyXBs_qFFsfSCIAH2re1225j34f4JBo84SOsqnQC1vj4rk3JlNGIV1AeTCe-ov2K_7b33lGJw" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_588f_e7ef_b486_1ed7" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AITFw-wikNC2FpIUsDEhpJhgbBqXo8i7A3eM5OmM8XETcjjBFG0FuWaaIMZ0i093tfpVbks2bvwnAj4h-JktOEMrzk0gcprICQ" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_c0d2_a003_fbbc_aaed" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AITFw-wJMiogcR4Nw89BH2m_vuqJNYDBOO-Ce3Qbg40-Mg_joj64eprWHl1F1v6fwoAityZoMpnhukrR-vKxmnE7-XSZVdyg" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Drop a comment with <br></span><br><font face="Palatino" size="6"><br></font></div>Neha http://www.blogger.com/profile/06296487004789159994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2852083981308288231.post-31399165161964033082023-09-15T17:09:00.001+05:302023-09-15T17:09:42.753+05:30The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek<font face="Palatino" size="6">I have been reading much non fiction book summaries. Knowing my bias to fiction, nonfiction was a nice surprise albeit the abridged version. </font><div><font face="Palatino" size="6"><br></font></div><div><font face="Palatino" size="6">The infinite game was crisp and to the point. Hitting the nail on the head. I get it. Be a infinite leader by following a just cause, being inspired from rivals, because it’s not win or lose, you are only behind or ahead. </font></div><div><font face="Palatino" size="6"><br></font></div><div><img id="id_5659_437d_de32_b2d6" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AITFw-yPdd3swXw90CLcwz4fqL5TXPHzPuS19XppzCGSzQ6LuB8luBnfyRmUbHnFO34Dl9QB0YDezYORV_CCir_5Jx4kBI8M" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_2958_64a2_3fc5_2532" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AITFw-yWw5ZM8weRyDTLmnC_gcWcMkdMaWx_OuKxnSDQdLztu83Sslksf05HH6_Jp6Dc4l3bJIWfT3_hV57MqxlNdekjXaj-hg" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_dfb2_6be0_caf9_c837" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AITFw-z1Fnq01oyeMrsC1gteBG3wjdirWhv13djTz4mv-DzHqJYxSutQmyDomCN8ZHiHnMY7fKdaQ0-mkivimk8sfyr8OodZ2g" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_4e99_5e72_f9f8_d2a7" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AITFw-zHpsghpNx70tu2sDjKNVYTlGcfWCEjdqF-ngHFfBaVKGUKvvm5oBghapVWFuiero8mGQwC6Y6HgpHLFuTLxVU-VpPP" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_3a43_ca81_1284_25a2" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AITFw-wm_wwQb4aM_GeH3XNDIsqAu_MdgM38xkuX6ShBb6p2hQqxPw-LPabAbnULE1y5RJ0JL3YxJa_qZjAmR5GaNrOVpZ7pzA" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_bac_b148_8f9_e120" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AITFw-yPAIphxXfOrkh-1M7acK8AC8xZXBzP4fgTxcr7Nab5hajYggVwVNvgNRRYiiATp_coSSctgWkev2kWc4ow1csnDUznrw" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_a6d5_b963_b9b5_193c" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AITFw-xDtW27H149b_DG993QmC4McagDHkwWb8nwCMLt_IMuQmqJo26EfpWswjmCrQpcf4xBnhL9fQ0rJ84y9TsuxY1rACN48w" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><br><br><font face="Palatino" size="6"><br></font></div>Neha http://www.blogger.com/profile/06296487004789159994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2852083981308288231.post-44971021831214031762023-09-11T06:26:00.003+05:302023-09-11T06:26:59.684+05:30Airport book shops <img id="id_ac93_357d_4d60_ee3d" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AITFw-yARO514sDRRB-RRZewNmHiD9L54Px2i4DSotDwMetbWkJeZj9VvLaLwPvYgDSr8eu4wa0MTkPPd2DHHlq8whjvuFsv" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Back to travel the time spent at airports is a norm. The connecting and transit flights means you may spend some hours at a busy and loud airport. I recently travelled to Europe and Paris, Frankfurt, Bengaluru, Copenhagen and Lisbon airports were my frequent stops. It was nice to spend some time in the bookshops there. <br></span><br><img id="id_7b66_a791_c631_2670" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AITFw-ymzn5ZJP09VHrbZovyJ_bI6I5n-WQnS8AkGv6GNDOuOBJ-NsnEOOZPuKNtPOFgV3L1HKbTtFaVdsGtfJkEklx-8M9SEQ" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">You could see the usual bestsellers were on the display shelf. The seven husbands of a Evelyn Hugo - I can vouch for its latest popularity as I just wrapped it myself. After lives of the latest Novel laureate. Life of Putin in light of the current affairs. Putin makes for an interesting character for Europeans. There was bridgerton to titillate the young and old female readers. I only wait for the Netflix version. After all it should titillate the mind as much as the eyes. </span><br><br><br><img id="id_54c1_e7e4_395e_c857" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AITFw-x-f9lAwCzMecpg5Rf8fC-HiX2ijya25jOi0X_LnLeJBUOwSCYeQkwZ198aa8eSMkLHBWhMohNKRL74SO82YLVAYIjRIA" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">While English books are widely available, you can find the local loyalties to French, German, Portuguese and Danish. I anyways buy the books back home as it’s much cheaper. <br></span><br><img id="id_9d23_6cfe_6029_acc6" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/drive-viewer/AITFw-wqp1FKIScrazX1PlYEtvJuIOMbgSxRpN-YGuwrgjwOWrvmHjwFcReuUKrb66om93Yt2QkRoES1ZSD8tcJU6QWsC_EdtQ" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 300px; height: auto;"></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">But that doesn’t stop me from browsing, choosing and learning about the reader patterns. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">How has been your reading and traveling or reading while traveling going?<br></span><br><br><br> </div>Neha http://www.blogger.com/profile/06296487004789159994noreply@blogger.com0