A great first time experience

We all yearn to do something we haven't done before, and I'm no different. Before getting down to speaking about what it was that has me so excited, I must tell you world looks totally different when you see it in perspective. And today I heard from a person who has seen reality the harsh way, who writes about these realities, and then those, who sometimes also film them reel.

This was the first time ever, I attended a book launch event. Fortunately for me it was of 'The Professional' by Subroto Bagchi at 'CROSSWORD', Residency road. The occasion also saw Kannada cine star Chetan Kumar release the book. 

But the whole event would have been a dampener without the protagonist Mahadeva whom Mr. Bagchi has written about in his book and refers to as the Professional's Professional. Mahadeva's story is one which is an embodiment of the spirit of humanity. 

On the occasion Mahadeva spoke about why he does what he does, being a public undertaker. It's not love for the profession, but its the spirit of service that matters to him, the spirit of giving something back to his motherland Karnataka. It was a humbling experience to listen to the man speak after Mr.Bagchi undertook a public reading of the first chapter of the book.

I liked the event because of the sheer magnitude in the stature of these people:

• A full bright scholar from Yale, born to Doctor parents, who found his calling in the land of Kannada cinema and theatre.
• A corporate honcho who writes about the greener pastures one should look towards in their professional career.
• And then, Mr. Mahadeva!

I can't wait to start reading 'The professional' and maybe imbibe a few professional values here and there. All thanks to Sona for letting me know about the event. It surely was an evening that I will cherish.

Cheers

~Sanju

Book Review – The White Tiger

Apart from being the famed 'Man-booker prize' winning novel for 2008, 'The White Tiger' has a Kannadiga author Aravind Adiga, reason enough for me to buy a hard paperback from one of the book fairs in Bangalore. No-no! I'm not one with any regional biases, but just like how 'familiarity breeds contempt', 'proximity breeds choice'.

If there is one thing Adiga really succeeds in, it is his sheer knack of keeping his readers engrossed right from page 1 waiting for what's to come next. It must be the sheer talent in story telling that makes travel from the darkness of Dhanbad to direction of light he felt in Bangalore. There is a certain tempo which Adiga has maintained throughout the book which makes the wit more satirical, dark and fearful all at the same time. The portion where he compares his father's spine to a rope was one such instance which first made me laugh, then made me visit the line once again and then literally sent shivers down my spine when I imagined it. 

The story beautifully woven over seven days is a startling mirror that he holds to show the kind of India we live in. The depiction of characters is so simple, yet so detailed that, it for sure made me think about people in a different, vein whom we generally choose to conveniently ignore. 

Many a times I have this feeling of remorse of having spent days together on a novel and gain nothing. But then, having read this without anything else to do, I had my own moments with it, all through. It is definitely worth a read!!!

Cheers, 
Sanjay

Only vacations can make me do this

Do-this-what, you might ask me. For the first time in MBA I am finding this break a bit too much to make real good use of. 

Coming to think about what I've done with semester breaks until now, it always comprises of a customary trip with my closest group of friends and on returning sleep a lot, watch movies, read books, retrospect and worry/plan about the upcoming semester. 

When it comes to movies, books, sleep and the trip too(upcoming weekend) It has been no different this time. But somehow the upcoming semester has a had a way with the structure of my thoughts. I've been spending lot of time on social networking websites with more than just the usual intention. Good or bad, i don't know. 

Anyways over the last two days, I read Aravind Adiga's much acclaimed 'The White tiger' and watched Quentin Tarantino's 'The Inglorious Basterds'.  I would usually move on with more books that I've stacked up in my shelf. But I have made a pact with myself of trying to be more regular on my blog and hence this time I decided to maybe review them both.

Statutory warning : I have little experience in what i'm attempting in the upcoming posts, so please do feel free to be critical of my work.

Will be back...

Sanjay