Sunday 30 September 2012

WoW - 1


I wish someone told me......
When I was 11 years old that it is absolutely fine to raise hell against that creep who relentlessly sketches excuses to feel my body in a bad way. I wish someone told me that you need not to feel guilty about the whole thing and it is that slime ball who should be ashamed.

 I wish someone told me......
When I was standing at the important crossroad of my academic life that instead of just following the herd I should choose the subjects for my 10+2 as per my strength. If I am good at Mathematics then it is not necessary that I can perform well in Physics & Chemistry as well.

I wish someone told me......
When I was wasting time & money in various engineering entrance exams that identify & draw your career path intelligently rather than making futile attempts in the field which does not interest you. I wish someone told me that increase your awareness and opt for various different career paths which align with your inclination.

I wish someone told me......
When was in my late teens & early twenties that this phase of life is not going to come back so don’t try to act maturely in every situation. Enjoy the life, take things bit lightly. I wish someone told me then that acceptance from all cannot be gained. So, don’t feel dejected and disappointed if you are not able to make it to some so called ‘in’ groups.

I wish someone told me......
Leadership capabilities have few dark sides as well. If you love to bask in the glory of being in the front, then you should also be ready to face the brickbats as well. Don’t feel bad when people criticize you….it actually emphasize that your style has something about which people want to talk about.

I wish someone told me......
That it is better not to invest your feelings, emotions & time for a wrong person who gives a damn about it. I wish someone told me that do not be so overtly emotionally dependant on anyone that even you are scared to speak your mind due to the insecurity in your relationship. I wish someone told me that asserting your feelings & thoughts can never drive away the right person from your life but can help to weed out the wrong ones.

I wish someone told me......
About blogging few years back when it came into existence. I am profoundly late into entering this wonderful world of blogging. Anyway, ‘Better late than Never’.

I wish someone told me......About the blissful feeling of motherhood which I am enjoying today few years back. We would have definitely planned our baby earlier hushing aside other priorities of life.

In case, this post appears like some regret post of my life then I would beg to differ.  There are so many unspoken, untold, undone chunk remnants exist in everyone’s life, to which when they look back compels them to ponder about it.

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda

E.T.A. : This got selected as one of the best entries for the theme. :-)

Wednesday 26 September 2012

The Krishna Key - Book Review


 This is going to be my first official book- review. I received this book as a part of the initiative of  BlogAdda.com .

As I had to post the review within 7 days of receiving the book, I started reading it instantly. But soon, I realized that it is not of that kind of book which you can read casually while multitasking other chores. It needs your exclusive focus.

Snapshot:

Five thousand years ago, there came to earth a magical being called Krishna, who brought about innumerable miracles for the good of mankind. Humanity despaired of its fate if the Blue God were to die but was reassured that he would return in a fresh avatar when needed in the eventual Dark Age—the Kaliyug.
In modern times, a poor little rich boy grows up believing that he is that final avatar.
Only, he is a serial killer.
In this heart-stopping tale, the arrival of a murderer who executes his gruesome and brilliantly thought-out schemes in the name of God is the first clue to a sinister conspiracy to expose an ancient secret—Krishna’s priceless legacy to mankind.
Historian Ravi Mohan Saini must breathlessly dash from the submerged remains of Dwarka and the mysterious lingam of Somnath to the icy heights of Mount Kailash, in a quest to discover the cryptic location of Krishna’s most prized possession. From the sand-washed ruins of Kalibangan to a Vrindavan temple destroyed by Aurangzeb, Saini must also delve into antiquity to prevent a gross miscarriage of justice. Ashwin Sanghi brings you yet another exhaustively researched whopper of a plot, while providing an incredible alternative interpretation of the Vedic Age that will be relished by conspiracy buffs and thriller-addicts alike.
My Take:
A murder thriller with a serial killer out on a killing spree, the complex methodology used in each murder & remnants of evidence which he leaves behind are more than enough to keep you gripped till the end of the book. Dramatic twists and carefully carved characters keep the chemistry alive. The complexity of the characters add on to the spice of the plot.

Ashwin Sanghi completely captures the mind of his target audience with an exemplary style of narration in this book. Although narration of life instances of Krishna (the eighth avatar of Lord Vishnu – as per Hindu mythology) was there in the book to render relevance to the modern mystery thriller but somehow I read it as a parallel story-track. It almost gave me the feeling of reading two books simultaneously.

As a kid, Mahabharata & story of Krishna always interested me. This great Hindu mythology epic fascinated me so much that I had even borrowed from the local library and read it while I was in my twenties. Anyway, coming back to the book, its mythology portion made me nostalgic. The best part of this book is the smooth transition & connectivity between various diverse subject highlighted by the complicated tracks of that mystery killer’s mind. If we try to segregate the subjects covered in this book as per the literary notes, we can jot down so many different names like: Ancient history, Modern history, Chemistry, Astronomy, Geography, Sociology, Geology, Simple as well as Vedic Mathematics, Botany,….the list is long. Author has done a commendable research in all these subjects to pen down the smooth story-telling. The pace of the story loosens a bit in the midway but again braces up after few revelations of the mind behind the murders. The awesome blend of mythological tales traversing through ancient civilizations and moving onto various different time-period and correlating all of them scientifically makes this book stand out in crowd.

However, I personally felt the end was a dampener. The philosophical and bit abrupt end after a beautifully woven thriller packed in mythology was quite disappointing for me.
But still I would recommend this book. Even if we keep the fiction part aside it is a book which is meant to be experienced. Plethora of knowledge about our ancient times and its link to today’s world is the best feature of this book. Having read this book, I have already ordered my copy of 'Chanakya's Chant written by the same author to revisit the time-travel between mythology & present.

  • Title – The Krishna Key
  • Author – Ashwin Sanghi
  • Publisher – Westland Ltd.
  • Pages – 475
  • ISBN – 978-93-81626-68-9
  • Price – Rs 250
  • My Rating - 3.75/5
This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!



Monday 10 September 2012

Mishti-ful Days!!!


Since last week Mishti was not well. The cold & cough relapsed this time with fever within 15 days. The cough was really bad one….poor girl, was getting so irritated with her ill health. Being an adult, we can clear our throat of mucus, but she felt irritated when too much cough ache her throat and would start crying which would end up in more cough. Generally cheerful Mishti was found whining, crying & throwing temper tantrums at the drop of hat.
Initially for two days I gave her some medicine for cold which her ped has prescribed previously, but when her condition remained same, we decided to visit her ped again. SG asked me to take her to hospital where he would join later after his office hours. Our auto ride to hospital was going smooth till Mishti decided to pat auto-drivers back & pull his hair!!! Thankfully, the distance was short… I leaped out of Auto hastily at the hospital after saying sorry to the driver.
While I was getting the appointment at the reception Mishti ran away to the Automatic sensor door at the entrance and started behaving as if she is a magician whose magic powers are making that door open & close again!!!
I had to drag her from there to the OPD. It was a big waiting area surrounded by various doctor cabins. Few things which Mishti did while making me run on my toes are:
  • Tried to climb the ‘slide’ (a poly-fibred slide & some other toys were kept there to keep the ‘ill’ children engaged) from the wrong side, i.e. from the slanted side!!
  • Tried to scare other kids (even who are twice her size) who came to get a ride to that slide. She scares people with her mouth wide open- tongue stuck out and making a noise ‘Haen- haen-haen’…weird na!!!
  • Pushed the slide like an ice-cream cart all over the waiting area.
  • Ran around the waiting area like a break less bike!!
  • Fiddled with the taps of the water dispenser and deliberately touch the hot water tap and shout ‘Ooohss- Ooohss’!!
  • Barged inside the dentist cabin twice & Orthopedics cabin once and then flashing her million dollar smile to the people inside those cabins. I had to catch her as if I am catching some hen and had to apologize to them.
  • Climbed up the chair of nurse the moment she went away for some work. After that she pushed the  revolving chair kept there, meant for patients to that nurse’s knee really hard.  I was feeling like arrrrghhhh!!!
  • Lied on the floor on her tummy many times……Did anybody mentioned any words like ‘germs or infection’??
  • When she saw the sweeper mopping the floor with a large mop with a handle generally used in hospitals, she was amazed with the gadget. She followed that sweeper like the mice followed Pied Piper and went out of that waiting area leaving me behind. Again I had to get her back forcibly.

She is generally scared (??) when I roll my eyes and say ‘NO’….but that day my eyes almost popped out of socket but she gave a hoot. She only stopped her antics and started running when she saw me get up from my seat & rushing towards her.
By the time our turn came, I was exhausted and showering curses to SG who was getting late because of traffic jam. I clearly saw the sympathy for me in everybody’s eyes that were present there. A couple of people were kind enough to catch Mishti when she tried to run away from there!!
Finally, we met our doctor. He administered antibiotics & cough syrup. As soon I came out of his cabin I saw SG coming there. By that time I was gritting my teeth with anger!!
Anyway, after five days, Mishti is quite better now. I don’t know how parent of other toddlers give them medicine, because in Mishti's case it is a mess EVERYTIME. She would shout, scream, hit and spit out the medicine as soon as it is given. One person has to hold her hands & head and another person has to make her open her mouth & squeeze the medicine there.  Man…this is so tough!!!
Another behavior of Mishti about which I am bit concerned is that she has taken up this habit of hitting & slapping people when anything is done against her will. We never hit her.SG says it is the defense mechanism she has developed to stop us from giving medicine, but I am worried. ‘TerribleTwo’ is still 9 months away. Sometime, she vents out her anger & irritation like some adult by shouting & clenching her fist in air.
I banged my head in various sites regarding this violent behavior of Mishti and found it consoling to know that this is going to ‘just a phase’. But till this phase lasts, it is really angering & embarrassing.
Gosh….parenting comes along with so many hurdles!!


Tuesday 4 September 2012

JMPE contest won......


Yayayyyy....won the prize for blogging contest by Yashodhara Lal (her debut book Just
Married, Please excuse is launched recently),would be joining the lunch with the writer & Chief Editor of Harper Collins soon.


For a rookie blogger like this is indeed an exciting moment....Looking forward for Saturday. 
Check out other wonderful entries as well....It seems like everyone has some goofy things shoved under their wedding blanket!!!

Again following Smita's book review I have ordered 'Bangalore Calling' from homeshop18. Also, it is so nice of Smita who told me about another website where I can compare the prices of books available in various online stores. Do check it out:



Mishti Unplugged - 15 months!!


Mishti is at her peak of cuteness phase now days. So, before I forget what all she does throughout the day, I think it is the high time I should jot it down. And, these post would be really cute to read once she grows up.

She can answer (identify & point with finger) few questions 90% of times successfully ( rest 10% of times just she would only clap instead of answering any questions!!) which are:
Where is the fan?
Where is the clock?
Where is your tummy?
Where is your nose?
Where is your tongue?

She recognizes lizards & refer them as ‘ThikThiki’ (actually lizard is called tiktiki in Bengali). The moment she finds any of these reptiles out on wall, she jumps around , chases them , stomps her feet and tries her best to shoo them away.

Soon she would be declared as an ‘Ant –eater Serial Killer’ by the ants’ community. She has a special liking for ants’ species and her taste buds starts itching when she sees any in sight. She has already chewed up almost 5-6 ants by now! Whenever I see her mauling any I have started saying ‘Please leave it, it is a baby, chhota bachha…leave it please’…….this trick works most of the time to stir her conscience!

At present she is trying her climbing skills all the time. So she is found practicing it with everything with a bit of height like sofa set, table, and bed, her tricycle, big grocery containers etc. However, some slight technical glitch still there which means she climbs up but parks her bums randomly and so most of the times it climbing – wrong bum parking- loud thud- loud cry- mamma picking her up and distracting to some other thing.

She loves the applause we give after she answers every question. Even she joins in for the clapping. Her Mashu has taught her a cheat question. When we say ‘Mishti, when is you birthday?’ she would point her index finger and we have to answer the question in background ‘It is on 1st of June!!’ Now you understand why I say it is a cheat question, just because she is born on 1st of any month, it has the easiest symbol attached to it – the index finger!

She has now started understanding simple instructions like ‘Please sit down’, ‘Give it to me’, ‘Come here’ and is able to catch keywords. She knows well for what all things I say ‘No-No’ and move my index finger. So, if she is going to do any of these things first she would look at everyone present in the room and sway her index fingers to them as if they are going to do that and proceeds to do that. Examples are, touching TV screen, pulling out plaster from damp wall, touching shoe rack, mashing the ants …..List is long.

She loves to play with anything which is not her toys. So you can find random utensils, TV remote, cushions, newspapers, shoes lying in every possible places of our house where it is not supposed to be!

She likes to go through her books, although the maximum attention span to them is still very negligible. She can point out the buffalo & pig if that particular page is open. She also raises one hand, sways it and says ‘Yaaaaaaaannnnn’ when asked ‘Elephant says…..?’ . Her book reading process is quite weird though…she holds our finger and makes it go through it and point out various pictures and with every picture we have say what it is like ‘duck’, ‘crow’, ‘horse’ etc.! She likes to read (see) the ‘Ant & Pigeon’ books herself and can identify the hunter when asked.

Her latest achievement is that when I say this question -answer: ‘What is your name, my name is Ishaani Ghosh’, she would say her last name as ‘Go’ with me & then clap-clap-clap!!

She has some previous birth relation with Salman Khan & Ranbir Kapoor….even if their slow songs are aired she is glued to TV set.

I am sure, I must be missing out so many antics of her…leaving it for another post.


Monkeying around with her cycle!!