People Say Something, Do Something

During my marriage hunt, my father learned an important lesson. He passed that lesson to me. He said, 'People say something, do something'. 

Couple of weeks ago I read the book, ‘Think like a Freak’, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. I was surprised that there is a similar principle in economics, which mirrored what my father said. ‘People often say one thing and do another, or more precisely, we will say what we think other people want to hear and then in private do what we want’. In economics these are known as declared preferences and revealed preferences. There is often a hefty gap between the two.

Declared and revealed preferences become important when designing incentives. It involves a lot of effort to figure out the right incentives because, ‘People say something, do something else.’ The authors give several examples when an incentive backfired. One example was the cobra effect.

A British Lord in colonial India thought that there are too many cobras in Delhi. He offered cash for cobra skin. Indians bred and slaughtered cobras to cash the bounty. People will do everything they can to game the system, so rather being cross at their acts, appreciate their ingenuity and design a more clever incentive.

The other principle that is valid in today’s world is about failing fast, failing cheap and failing smart, on the path to success. We view quitting as being cowardly, but it is important to know when to quit.

The authors discuss about the sunk-cost fallacy or the Concorde fallacy, named after the supersonic airplane. The British and French Governments suspected that the Concorde was not economically viable but had spent too many billions to stop. It is tempting to believe that once you have invested heavily in something it is counterproductive to quit. So the next time, you are in a theatre, watching a boring movie, don’t waste anymore time watching it. You cannot get your money back, but at least you can save time.  

I enjoyed reading this book. The Freakonomics and Superfreakonomics authors came up with another great book. I recommend it for reading. 

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Image from www.businsessinsider.com

Oh my God! Men are turning into Women!

In a leadership workshop at my workplace, an American woman, who is in one of the top leadership positions in our company, spoke about her life experiences/hurdles. Her major career roadblock was having 3 three kids in 4 years. The only option she had was to keep working and go to a mental institution or quit her job. She stuck with the first option and kept on working and few years down the line, she is managing a global team. She recounted an experience which I will always remember. Her neighbor was a working woman, who gave up her career to raise children. After about 15 years, the children left home for school.  The neighbor lady remarked to her, ‘I thought my kids will be different because I stayed at home to bring them up. Now, I look at my kids and yours, they are not at all different.’ The manager lady was like, ‘What? Just because I was a working mother, you expected my kids to become some kind of anti-social elements?’ Well, she didn't tell her neighbor that, she just kept silent.

In Apurva Purohit’s book, ‘Lady you’re Not a Man’, she writes about the guilt demon which tags along with women wherever they go and whatever they do. If you give up your career to raise children, you feel guilty about wasting your education. If you are a working mother, you feel guilty about not being with your child all the time. Apruva asks, which guilt are you more comfortable with? Leaving a career or leaving your child a few hours in a day? Because being guilt-free is a no-option for a woman.  

There are few other points in Apurva's book, which make you pause and think.

She sees many women who stop working after they are married, either because their in-laws don’t support it or  because their husbands' are too rich. She says before quitting, think about all the women who could not afford the right education to be in the position that you are. She tells, you are wasting all that education, and the opportunity to use that education to gain financial independence for a very trivial reason. Really think before giving up.

For a woman to be successful, she requires a support system, at home and at work. Ask for help, especially in upbringing children. It is true that, ‘it takes a village to bring up a child.’

   

Just because you are woman, it does not mean that you are the only one having tough life. Men face challenges too. The society stereotypes them as the primary provider and protector of the family. A woman can quit her job anytime, stay at home to bring up kids and can be seen as a martyr of the society. Men cannot do that.

Women are better at multitasking than men. In this age, we have to juggle a lot of things, both at the workplace and at home. Eventually men will have no other option but to evolve into women to survive.  Men are on their way to becoming better at multitasking and being more empathetic.    

The book, ‘Lady You’re Not a Man’, was an absolute delight to read.  I definitely recommend this book for reading (especially to women). 

I am Malala

'I am Malala' is an autobiography of Malala Yousafzai. Malala is teenage education activist from the town of Mingora in Swat district of Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. She became renowned worldwide after she was shot by the Taliban and suffered fatal injuries.

Malala was born in the land where sons' are given greater importance than daughters'. Only her father rejoiced her birth. He asked his friends to throw sweets and dry fruits in Malala's cradle, something which is done only for the boys. Malala was named after Malalai of Maiwand, the greatest heroine in Afghanistan. Malalai inspired the Afghan army to defeat the British in 1880, in the Second Anglo-Afghan War. She came under fire and lost her life in that battle. Just like Malalai, Malala also fought a battle for girls’ education, she came under fire but she survived. 

Malala had a simple desire, to go to school and learn. Under the Taliban regime, Malala's right to education was revoked. The Taliban oppressed women. If women went outside, they were allowed to go only with their husbands or brothers, and they had to wear the burqa at all times. They also bombarded many girls' schools, so that girls would not go to school. In that age of oppression, Malala protested in her own way. She wrote a blog on BBC under a pen name. She revealed to the world, life under the Taliban regime and the atrocities of Taliban. After that she publicly went on to the radio and television, gave interviews and publicized girls’ education. In tough situations, it requires the courage to do the right things. At outset, I felt that this girl has done nothing extraordinary. But, if you are aware of the power of Taliban and how she could be punished for her acts, then indeed she has done a feat which requires extreme courage. 

I also understood the power of good will, how everything will eventually come back to you at the right time. Malala's father is an activist who supported girls’ education. He went through great pains to set up a school in Swat region. He gave free education to those who cannot afford to pay the fees. Malala's mother always cooked in excess so that she could feed anybody hungry who came to her doorstep. Her parents’ good will came back to Malala. 

When Malala was shot she was bought to the Military Hospital in Peshawar. The bullet grazed by her skull and lodged in her left shoulder. At the same time, two doctors from U.K, Dr. Javid Kayani and Dr. Fiona Reynolds were in Pakistan, on some other engagement. They suggested taking Malala to be treated in U.K, to increase her chances of survival. Dr. Fiona specialized in moving critically ill children and treating them in intensive care. She was the right person for the job. When the issue of transporting Malala to U.K. came, the ruling family of United Arab Emirates offered their private jet to take Malala to U.K for treatment. All the decisions and actions were taken at a swift pace; otherwise Malala would not have survived. I felt that the Universe has conspired to save her.

I wish Malala’s dream to become a politician and help people will be realized soon.

Queen

Even before you start reading it, don't waste time reading my review. Go watch the movie!

I have heard a lot of good reviews about this movie. I dragged my hubby along with me. I am glad we went to the movie.

Queen is the story of a simple girl, Rani who is transformed into a confident woman. Kangana Ranaut has lived in Rani's character. The movie begins with Rani's marriage preparations. Apt to Cafe Coffee Day's caption, 'A lot can happen over coffee', her fiance breaks up with her over coffee, just one day before the marriage. Rani will be depressed. Her grandmother advises her to be strong, she could find her life partner in the most unexpected places. Rani decides not to cancel her honeymoon trip. She goes to Paris and Amsterdam by herself. Rani has never traveled alone in Rajouri, her younger brother always accompanied her, now she is off to explore the world. She makes good friends in her travel. She makes a friend in Paris and chaste Rani will be forced to share a room with three men, a French, a Japanese and European. In the end, she discovers the freedom women have outside her home and her hometown, Rajouri.

There are a few subtleties in the movie which touched my heart. At the coffee shop, when Rani pleads her fiance to reconsider the marriage, he refuses to accept her request saying that he has grown up by staying in London and she is no longer suitable to him. After Rani leaves crying, he nonchalantly brushes off the dried up Mehendi that fell from Rani's hands. Brushing off that Mehendi was a scene, which was so subtle, yet conveyed a deep meaning. Her first experience in French restaurant, where she unknowingly orders a fish's head. As she struggles to eat it, the eye pops out, she runs away screaming and pukes. The moment when Rani discovers her freedom to belch and dance. Rani goes to a bar in Paris, she gets drunk and dances on top of the bar for a hindi song. All the women beside her throw their jackets. Rani removes her sweater, but she does'nt throw it away. She carefully places it in her bag and starts dancing. After that she goes out and dances in front of a Parisian taxi driver. The driver tries to ignore her by looking at his phone. The drunk Rani belches repeatedly in the taxi, telling to her friend, 'Women are not allowed to belch'.

It is a great movie! I have a new found respect for Kangana Ranaut who pulled off the character so well.

300 Rise of an Empire

In my life, I regret not watching a few movies in theatre. They are Troy, The Dark Knight and 300. I did not make the mistake of not watching the sequel of 300 in a theatre. This is one of the best movies I have watched in a very long time. There are a few movies which we wish would not end. 300: Rise of an empire is one such movie.

Lot of blood got spilled on me. The fact that all the blood was animated gave me a lot of solace, otherwise I could never be able to watch such a gory movie. 300 was about the Spartans led by Leonaidas, the sequel is about Athenians led by Themistocles. Unlike 300, which was on land, in the sequel the entire warfare is on sea. What I loved in the movie were the back stories. How Xerxes became the God King ? Why Xerxes went on a war with the Greeks? Why Xerxes's naval commander, Artemisia is thirsty for vengeance against the Greeks?

I loved the women in this movie. Queen Gorgo and Artemisia were powerful women who led their countries to the war. Themistocles comes to the Queen Gorgo to ask for her support in the war with the Persians. He does not come to the King, with his request, but the Queen. Artemisia influenced Xerxes to become God King after death of his father, Darius in the hands of Themistocles. I loved the confidence, ruthlessness and the war strategies of Artemisia. It was a perfect women's day movie for me.

Few of the dialogues were excellent. I cannot write them in this blog due to censorship issues but they are parallel to 'This is Sparta' and 'This will not be over quickly. You will not enjoy this' dialogues in 300. There is going to be another sequel, where all hell is going to break loose. I will eagerly wait for that, be it 5 or 10 years.

My recommendation: Great movie, go watch it in a theatre, if you loved 300.

Unbound - Indian Women at Work by Gita Aravamudan

My kindle took a vacation from me and is currently in Hyderabad. I had no option but to go to the local bookstore and pick up a few books. One of those books was Unbound. 

Gita Aravamudan is the author of the book, Unbound, Indian Women @ Work.  This book has stories about women at the workplace. The stories are from varied professions, IT, film industry, hospitality and social services. Gita has divided her book into different sections. In Unbinding, it is about women, who had to come out of the four walls of their home, to fend for their families and to elevate their social status.

Dr. Vatsala Samant, headed the hospital built by Pandit Nehru, in Allahabad. She married an Airforce Officer. A busy doctor and a roaming Airforce officer is not a good combination for work-life balance. Vatsala’s daughter, Sameeta decided to be a stay-at-home mother. Sameeta made this decision because she missed having a normal mother. Due to weird quirk of fate, Sameeta lost her husband at age of 42. Sameeta had no other option but to work, to support her kids. She became a busy mother too, but out of necessity.

Another story is about Sumati, who is from the third generation of domestic service providers. She worked hard, to become a telemarketing agent, and released the family from the bondage of domestic service.

In Husbands, Babies and Motherhood, Gita writes about  women who quit their jobs after having a baby.  After the gap, they excelled in a completely different field. Neeta, worked as a software engineer for ten years. She took a break for four years after birth of her first and second child. After the break, she entered handicrafts business and became successful. Riti, a journalist took a break from a full time journalism career of twenty years to spend with her daughter Amala. After the gap, she founded an enterprise, Riti’s Murder Games, which conducted proactive murder mysteries. A Chief sub-editor at Indian express became a Radio Jockey.

In Perceptions, Gita wrote how society perceives men and women and how it affects a woman’s life. The concept that man is the bread winner is ingrained in Indian Culture. It is the primary responsibility of a man to take care of his family, whereas it is not the responsibility of a woman. Hence a woman does not need her job as much as a man does. During the recession, in 2009, women were given more pink slips than men. In one of the stories, a manager has fired his woman employee and asked her to see it as an opportunity to spend quality time with her kids. 

New Delhi based journalist, Nisha Susan George and her three friends started the pink chaddi campaign. The idea was to collect pink chaddis from all over the country. The pink chaddis were sent to Pramod Muthalik and his men on Valentines Day to spread the message of love. Pramod Muthalik was the founder of Rama Sene. In 2009, his men barged into the pub Amnesia and beat up a group of young women to straighten them up. They were fanatics who viewed women’s independence as threat to the existing patriarchal structure. 

Being an Indian working woman, I could relate to the stories that Gita wrote in her book. On the occasion of Women’s Day, I would recommend women to read this book. It has overwhelming and inspiring stories about ordinary women like you and me and their extraordinary journey through life.

An Act of True Love

Last week, I watched the movie, Frozen.  The movie is a simple story of two sisters and the wonderful bond they share. The two sisters are the princesses of a kingdom. The elder sister has the power to create ice. Unfortunately, she cannot control her power. On her coronation day, after her power gets exposed to her subjects, she runs away from the palace to the Northern Mountain. The younger sister goes in search of her sister and confronts her. The elder sister accidentally freezes the younger sister's heart. An act of true love is required for the younger sister to live.

The moment I heard about true love, I thought, ‘Phew! A kiss from a prince to save the princess; Why can’t Disney make more meaningful movies?’ 

I belong to an era in which I watched Cinderella, Snow White and Seven Dwarfs and Sleeping Beauty, as I grew up. In Snow White and Seven Dwarfs, the princess goes into a coma like situation and a prince has to kiss her red lips to revive her. In Sleeping Beauty, the princess touches the tip of the spindle and falls asleep, only a kiss from a handsome prince could bring her out of her misery. Kisses from princes always save the day for the princesses. If women face any hardship in their teens, they should wait for their true love to stumble by and get a kiss from them. The kiss solves all the problems and the princes and the princess can live happily ever after.

It is no surprise that I was disappointed that an act of true love, in the movie Frozen, will be another kiss from a handsome prince. Disney has proved me wrong. It was an act of true love between the sisters. The younger sister almost sacrifices her life for her elder sister. It was a happy ending, as it always is. 

Disney is changing with the times and came up with a story which showed love failure and highlighted the relationship between siblings. There are so many other wonderful relationships other than just love and Disney made an entire movie around it. I hope that Disney brings much more meaningful movies like Frozen, in the future. 

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I am always a great admirer of how Disney animates it’s non-human characters. In the movie, Frozen,  it was the reindeer and the snow man, which had human-like expressions and emotions.

In the movie, Tangled, it was the horse and the chameleon.

The Dinner by Herman Koch

I picked this book because NPR books recommended it. I was interested to know how the author, Herman Koch, can write an entire novel about one dinner.

This novel is about relationships. A brother is jealous of his big brother because he is more successful than him. The two brothers and their wives, sit down for dinner at a high-end restaurant, to figure out how to deal with the murder committed by their teenage sons. The book is divided into five sections, Aperitif, Appetizer, Main Course, Dessert and Digestif. I regretted buying this book until I came to the Main Course.

There a few details in this book, which have been hammered down to death. The entire Aperitif and Appetizer section is about the restaurant, the setting and the manager with his pinkie hovering over the dishes. It was too much to read in such a great detail, about the mundane setting and the ordinary servers, managers and the other diners in the restaurant. I was also tired of the younger brother bitching about the success of his big brother. He speaks about how people treat his big brother because he is a successful politician, how they get down to their knees to please him.

The book became interesting, after the younger brother describes the murder committed by his son and nephew and delves into his past. I will always remember one point of view of the younger brother. He was a history teacher at one of the schools in Germany. He asks his students to do a simple arithmetic; ‘If Second World War has not taken place, if all the 55,000,000 people had been able to just go on fucking, how many people would be there now? ’ He believes that most of the people who were killed in World War II deserved to die. He supports his stand by saying, ‘don’t you have an aunt or an uncle is your family who is a weirdo and wished he or she were dead? Definitely there were a few people like that who were dead in World War II.’

I would recommend reading this book, but you need to have a ton of patience until the Main Course, after that you cannot keep the book down. This novel is all about the complexity of relationships and about one weirdo family who will go to any extent to protect their son. 

Sita by Devdutt Pattanaik

Devdutt Pattanaik’s book, Sita is an illustrated retelling of Ramayana, which focuses on Sita. It is the power of mythology that no matter how many times we read it, we never get bored. Devdutt maintained that charm. The book was a good read.

What I loved in this book was the fluid writing style of the author and the pictures. The pictures are simple caricatures and in a few strokes the pictures reveal the emotions of the characters.

I always admired Sita. Sita is a woman of strength and character. The first time she was asked to prove her purity, she does it. The second time, she calls upon Mother Earth to take her in, because she was tired of a husband who doubts her for the sake of others.

There are a few interesting aspects I learned from this book

I loved the confidence and the understanding nature of Sita. Laxman was given the responsibility of leaving Sita in the forest. When Laxman shows anger on Ram’s decision, Sita tells him, ‘Ram is God – he abandons no one. I am Goddess – I cannot be abandoned by anyone’.

The book also tells about why Ram is called as Maryada Purushottam, which means a person who abides by the rules of the society without caring about the feelings of the loved ones. Ram left his father Dasaratha to go to forest for 14 years in spite of his father’s bidding to not leave. As a result of his decision he caused Dasaratha’s heart break and death. He abandoned Sita when she was pregnant with his sons because the people of Ayodhya doubted the character of Sita. He was responsible for his brother, Laxman’s death. He ordered Laxman to uphold his word of killing anybody who entered Ram’s room while he was resting. Unfortunately Laxman was the person who entered the room, so he cut his own head. In the next incarnation, Vishu is born as Krishna, who twists all the rules and caters to satisfying many women.

Devdutt also writes about the angst of separation that Ram goes through when he is away from Sita. He tells that in Sita’s company, the forest felt like a palace. The palace without Sita gave him no comfort. Ram lives in a palace; hence he has to abide by the rules of the society. He left Sita in the forest where there are no rules. She is free to do as she pleases. In this way, Sita was independent of Ram whereas Ram was still dependent on Sita. Ram longed for Sita every single moment but yet upheld his decision of being away from her.

It is a book which will keep you hooked even if you have read Ramayana many times before.

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother is a book written by Amy Chua. Amy Chua is a Chinese American. In this book she writes about her strong and willful parenting style as a Chinese mother and compares it with the weak American style of parenting. Americans hold their children’s whims and wishes above their own, whereas Chinese children are enforced to act as per their parents’ wishes and choices.

­­Amy Chua writes about the generation decline in Chinese immigrants who come to the United States (I think the generation decline philosophy applies to all Asian immigrants). 

The immigrant generation is the hardest working. They come to the States almost penniless and work hard to become successful. They also live thriftily, save money and spend it on their children’s’ education and real-estate. They are also extremely strict with their children lest they forget their roots and behave in an American way.

 The next generation (Amy’s), the first to be born in America, will be typically high achieving. They will play the piano or violin, will attend an Ivy League or Top Ten Universities, earn more income and be less frugal than their parents. They will often marry a white person and relax their parenting style. Amy married an American and is a Professor at Yale University of Law. 

The third generation reaps the best. They are born with golden spoons in their mouth. They will have wealthy friends who get rewarded for B-pluses, wear the designer clothes and are likely to disobey their parents and ignore career advice. The third generation is headed straight for decline. 

Amy’s children, Sophia and Lulu belonged to the third generation and she wanted to prevent the generation decline. The eldest daughter, Sophia, is the obedient and sincere Chinese-American. The younger daughter, Lulu is rebellious and there are a lot of skirmishes in the book between Amy and Lulu. 

Amy forced Sophia to play the Piano. At one point of time Amy finds small teeth marks on the piano on which Sophia played. 

Lulu played both violin and piano when young. As she grew up she played the violin more. Sometimes, Amy would make Lulu skip her lunch/recess breaks at school so she could practice violin. The children were always busy, with their piano or violin sessions. They were not allowed to go to sleep over, have a play date, be in a school play and get grades less than A.

I thought her parenting style was extreme when she rejected the birthday card her daughters’ made, saying that they have not worked on it enough and makes them do her a better birthday card. Amy’s mother-in-law expires due to cancer. The children have to write a short speech for their grandmother, which will be read at the funeral. Amy is behind the children correcting/editing their speech. Amy did not care about the kids’ grief at losing their grandmother; she wanted a perfect speech which everybody will appreciate.  

I found it a bit humorous and ridiculous when Amy tries to practice her Chinese parenting style on her pet dogs. After her futile efforts she settles that her pets will not have jobs like bomb sniffer dogs and lets them be as they want. 

It is definitely not a book from which you can take parenting advice but it gives you an idea of one extreme in parenting style.

                                      Amy with her daughters Sophia (on Piano) and Lulu (on viloin)

The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahari

Jhumpa Lahari’s novel, The Lowland is a story of two brothers.

Plot: The story is based in Tollygunge, Calcutta. It starts with how the brothers, Subhash and Udayan spend their childhood in Tollygunge. In their teens Udayan joins the budding Naxalite Movement in Calcutta and Subhash goes to do a Ph.D. in the U.S. The rest of the story is about how Udayan’s life changes and how it affects Subhash who is in Rhode Island. He is far away from Tollygunge, yet not that far.

It is also a novel about relationships. The novel tells about how one brother, Udayan gets more love from their parents than Subhash, the complicated relationship between Udayan’s wife and her daughter and the scars each person carries in their hearts, yet on the surface they pretend that everything is going to fall into place. Reading this novel, I felt that each of the characters is so complicated. The decisions of one character affect another like ripples in the pond and the effect is farfetched

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What I liked: The description of Calcutta through the eyes of Jhumpa Lahari. In India, Tollygunge and the lowland in Tollygunge was the focus of the novel. In the U.S., the beaches of Rhode Island get a good showing. I loved the way the author jumped across different timelines and the way she wrote about different points of view from each character. You get an insight into the character’s personality and why each character behaved the way he/she does.

What I did not like: The novel had too much showing and very less dialogue between the characters. After a certain point of time, I skipped all the descriptions of the cities, the universities, the houses in which the characters lived and jumped right into the story. The main twists in the plot were predictable.

Rating: If you are a budding writer, this book is a must read. For all others 3/5

The Power of Habit: Why we do what we do in Life and Business

The Power of Habit is a book written by Charles Duhigg. In this book, the author writes about how habits are formed in individuals, in organizations and societies and how habits can make the entities better or worse.

The most interesting story in this book is how the American retail chain Target, banked on their customers’ habits. North American baby market is worth 36 billion a year and Target wanted to attract/retain the customers who were in the early phase of pregnancy. Target developed an algorithm which is based on the products that people who were pregnant bought. If any new customer brought these products frequently, the algorithm identified them to be the would-be parent. After identifying the customer base, Target would send baby coupons to the would-be parents so that they can use them on their next trip to the grocery store.

Imagine the shock of the people if they knew that their neighborhood retail store was spying on them.  

A father angrily stormed into a Target store and demanded to see the Manager. He said to the Manager, ‘My daughter is in high school and you sent her coupons for maternity products’.
The Manager apologizes to the father and tells it was a mistake. The next day, the Manager makes a courtesy call to the father and apologizes again.
The father says, ‘I am sorry. Apparently there were a few household affairs which I was not aware of. My daughter is pregnant’.
After that Target used the sandwiching technique to send the coupons. They would send the customer, baby product coupons alongside wine bottle openers or dining sets coupons so that they seem random and innocuous. No more fathers were hurt after Target changed their marketing technique.

Habits are brain’s way of saving effort. Habits are a three step process. First there is a trigger, which tells the brain to go into automatic mode and which habit to use. The second is the routine which is physical, mental or emotional. Finally there is a reward which helps brain to figure out that this particular routine is worth remembering. 

Let me take my example for understanding the habit loop. For some weird reason, I always have craving for food as soon as I get home from office. My hands immediately reach to the eatables in the Tupperware boxes on the dining table. It is mostly unhealthy stuff, food that is fried in oil. My cue is craving for food after a tired day at work. Then follows the routine in which I eat the unhealthiest stuff and I pack up pounds. ­­Third is the reward in which the craving for food is satisfied but it is followed by guilt.

Fortunately, habits can be modified by changing the routine in the three step process of trigger, routine and reward. I will still have the craving for food but what if I replace the stuff on my table with healthy stuff like fruits or cut vegetables? I would be choosing the fruits or veggies rather than the fried foods. Well, an inventive way to trick the brain.

This book is like a thesis but it does give interesting details about the power of habits.

The spy who lost her head

'It is not your wrong - you are not having children with me so I am seeing other man to find outlet and he is saying to kiss your pumpkin' 

If you are wondering what kind of English that is. Well, it is Queen's English. This is how SS Gulabi, the pink rose, speaks all through the novel, 'The Spy who lost her head', written by Jane De Suza. 

Gulabi comes to Mumbai in search of her Bemba (BE + MBA graduate). Her father who has many cows and sheep in the village gives her six months time to find her own Bemba. After six months Gulabi will be offered to the groom of her father's choice along with cows and sheep. Gulabi lands in Mumbai with her seven suitcases in hot pursuit of her Bemba. As a lucky co-incident her landlord happens to be her Bemba but he does not reciprocate the same feelings for Gulabi. Unfortunately Gulabi also gets tangled in a mess in which she finds herself with the head of a man she does not know.She transforms from mere Gulabi to the spy SS Gulabi and investigates the case of the decapitated head. She happens to lose her much endeared head a couple of times, hence the name the spy who lost her head. The rest of the novel is about how Gulabi tries to convince the landlord Bemba to marry her and how she cracks the case of the head.

The plot is simple, but the character of Gulabi is hilarious. Her Queen’s English, her village attitude and dressing, her pious/religious opinions, her love for Bemba and her interactions with disinterested Bemba made me roll with laughter. I was reading the book in train and I laughed so hard that my husband said, ‘Can you read it some other time. Everybody is looking’. Well, I couldn’t do that. I would recommend this book for light reading. The book costs only Rs. 143. Pure entertainment for 143 bucks, not even movies are that cheap in Bangalore these days. The book totally worth reading.  

Miss Preregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

                                              A novel by Ransom Riggs. On cover, the flying girl 

What if we were given an opportunity to relive one day of our life over and over, which day would it be? For me, it would be my graduation day. The day I finally saw the train…oops…light at the end of the tunnel. On my graduation day, I wore a red gown and took the doctorate certificate from my advisor on a stage decorated with multi-colored flags representing different colleges of the University. I can relive that day once or twice but reliving that day forever would have been boring.

In the book Miss. Preregrine’s home for peculiar children, the peculiar children relive the last day of their lives for several years in a parallel universe. This book is a debut novel by Ransom Riggs. The protagonist, Jacob is a rich kid who is bored of his parents’ wealth. He loves his grandfather and the stories he told when Jacob was a child. The stories were regarding his grandfather’s peculiar friends during his stay in the orphanage under Miss. Preregrine’s care. His friends had super powers; a girl who can create flame with her bare hands, another girl who can fly an invisible man and many more interesting characters (kind of like X-men). 

The girl who can create flames in her hands

Jacob always thought that these stories came out of his grandfather’s imagination, until his grandfather was murdered in the woods, close to his home. The last words of his grandfather are, ‘They are coming. You are not safe here’. At the murder site, Jacob finds a weird creature in the woods. 

                                                            The creature in the woods

After that fateful night of his grandfather's murder, Jacob has nightmares everyday with the creature in it. His parents take Jacob to a psychiatrist. As a cure for his bad dreams, the psychiatrist advises Jacob to go to his grandfather’s orphanage, to dispel the myths of his grandfather’s alternate world. Jacob goes to Cairnholm, UK to demystify his grandfather’s tales. The rest of the novel is about how he discovers these peculiar children and how he helps them to escape their enemy.

What I loved in this book were the pictures of the peculiar children.

                                      

                                            Can you guess what is weird about this picture

I also loved Jacob’s character, his wit and the humour in looking at things from a different perspective. The suspense builds up until Jacob finds the peculiar children. I could not keep the book down until Jacob met the peculiar children. The novel went downhill after Jacob discovers the dark secret about his new friends’ sunny place. In the end, I felt that the author put a villain in the story because all stories should have a villain in the end, which the virtuous must defeat. The ending is written with a thought to continue the novel but I felt it to be abrupt & incomplete. I did not get closure. I wanted more. I would not recommend this book to anyone because it starts with a great momentum which fizzles out after three quarters of the novel.

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All images from google images

World War Z

I do not like zombies. There you go, I said it. All the zombie fans can come and attack me in the zombie style but I do not care. I belong to the vampire club. To my great surprise, one fine day I picked up a zombie book to read. What can I do ? I had no other book within my reach and I was itching to read a book. This is how history was made, Soumya reading a zombie book.

World War Z is written by Max Brooks and is now made into a major motion picture starring Brad Pitt. This book is the oral history of the global zombie war. A series of oral interviews are compiled by the narrator who is an agent of the United Nations Postwar Commission. The book starts with how zombies were first found in China and how the epidemic spread to the rest of the world. It ends with the description of the socio-economic & political situation after the war.

                   

 The humans go to war with the zombies. Zombies are living corpses which feed on fresh human flesh. Max Brooks writes about having to deal with a new kind of an enemy, who is fearless, ruthless and emotionless. All the military strategies are based on striking fear in the enemy but this particular enemy cannot be stunned. The strategies had to be revised. For example, the military is trained to shoot in the upper part of the body. This strategy does not work for the living corpses; they have to be shot in the head to be killed. Military personnel had to be trained, to instinctively shoot the zombie in the head. Another strategy was to use humans as the bait to trap the zombies and kill them. These were a few strategies that were thought by the humans to win the World War Z. The military also came up with new weapons to kill the zombies.

After war Cuba becomes the super power, whereas America still needs to catch up with Cuba to get the super power title. The reversal of the superpower status was an interesting concept and it brought a smile to my face.  

The writing style of Max Brooks got me hooked to the book until I completed 70 % of the book. It is through progression of interviews that the reader comes to know about the zombie epidemic and the wars in different parts of the world. I got goose bumps when I read about the invincible enemy and the way zombies attacked and devoured the humans. I really loved the way the author analyzed the socio-political and economic angles of the zombie menace.  As I reached the end, I skipped through the pages, because I was bored reading about too many zombie killing strategies and political details of different countries.

Max Brooks writes as though this fictional history took place. It was so unreal, yet so real. This book is a survival guide if we were to be attacked by the zombies. All the zombie fans out there must have already read it. For all those, who belong to the vampire or the werewolf clubs, zombies are interesting as well. This book is a good zombie book. Do not blame me, if you feel like changing clubs after reading the book. 

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All images from google images

The day I stopped drinking milk

Sudha Murthy is a social worker and a writer. I read her book, ‘The day I stopped drinking milk’. This book is about her life experiences. There is a proverb, ‘A wise man learns from the mistakes of others, the fool has to learn from his own’.

What I learned from this book is that the world has become a place of personal gain and selfishness. Sudha Murthy recounts two of her experiences in which she helped two youngsters complete their education by providing monetary aid. After these two people completed their education and became successful they do not acknowledge her help. When they meet her after a few years by chance, they pretend not to recognize her.

After I read these two stories, it really made me question philanthropy. Sometimes we help others thinking they are in need but if they are not, then they end up thinking, ‘Well he/she is too rich that is why that person helped us. He/she has nothing to lose’. There is no gratitude from the beneficiary and such kind of ungrateful attitude hurts the philanthropist. In the end, every human being craves for recognition and appreciation.

I also liked her story in which she questions the overseer of a temple, as to why she cannot perform shradha for her father. The overseer does not have any explanation for that question but simply tells that this ritual was performed by males since generations so it has to be done that way. In this regard she tells a story about how we foolishly follow our traditions without knowing the reason behind the traditions.

A person did puja everyday in the morning. He owned a cat. The cat used to disturb him at his puja time so he tells his son to tie the cat and feed it milk at his puja time, so that it will not disturb him. Every time the man did the puja, his son used to tie the cat and pour milk in the cat’s bowl. After a few years, the father dies and the son continues the puja along with the cat ritual. One day the cat dies. The next day the son gets a new cat, ties it up, pours milk to it and only then does the puja. He never knew the reason behind tying up the cat while performing the puja. 

Eventually Sudha Murthy succeeds in performing the shradha with the help of a priest and a few other women follow her example and perform shradha for their beloved.

In this book, Sudha Murthy writes her experiences in the form of short stories, in no particular order. The book is written in a very simple language with no frills. Few of the stories were interesting but most of them were written in a report format. It would have been more captivating if there were a little bit more showing & telling.  She fails to paint a picture of her memories to the reader and we are not part of her world. There is also very less dialogue, reading through most of the stories was more like reading a text book. I feel that she is much better at writing magical stories for children rather than her life experiences. 

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All images from google images