Finished reading 'Doctors' by Erich Segal a couple of months back. I liked this novel like anything. It was recommended by my friend Neha Bansal from Chandigarh, thanks Neha. Though I am too late at reading Erich Segal's novel as every second person around seems to have read it long back. Not my fault, as I said I am new to reader's world but believe me its an amazing world, world of books. I am sort of obsessed with it, sorry, can't help it! :-)
I had read Erich Segal's 'Only Love', 'Love Story' and 'Man Woman and Child' before. They all were good but Doctors is a class work of Erich Segal. A very good novel on doctors' life. It seems that Mr. Segal must have done a lot of research on doctors before preparing his mind for it. He has used a lot of ultra-technical medical words that went above my head but still I could get every bit of the novel.
This novel is that great that it really doesn't need any review or something. Its a brand in itself, a masterpiece. A fabulous book, indeed. Lead characters are Barney Livingstone and Laura Castellano, friends of each other from childhood. Their friendship takes too many curves in the story but most of the time they kept connected to each other. They studied together in Harvard and became successful doctors. Barney became a Psychologist while Laura turned into a Paediatrician,.
Me. Segal has shown us a clear picture of this profession, he has covered every aspect of it. There are good doctors, bad doctors, scared doctors, Merci-killing doctors and so on. Doctors do need doctors and they need them very badly, I came to know this from this book only. General parents do take care of their kids but they are very far from the fears of doctors. Doctors seem to find every second decease in their kids/families. How hard it is for a paediatrician,to become a mother is shown in this book. 'Doctors' gave several examples how hard is it to become a doctor and live being a doctor.
An amazing book, I guess it must be the best work of Erich Segal.
Book details:
-------------
Doctors by Erich Segal,
Publication: Bantam Books,
Binding: Mass Paperback
Pages: 615
Price: Rs.250/-
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Friday, July 07, 2006
Draupadi by Pratibha Ray
Finished Draupadi by Pratibha Ray this morning. A great book on a great character of Mahabharat, Draupadi! The novel is originally written in Oriya with as 'Yagyaseni', I read its Hindi translation. 'Draupadi' was awarded with Murtidevi Award (worth 51,000 rupees) of Bhartiya Jnanpith.
The central character of the novel (and the narrator) is Draupadi or Yagyaseni or Krishna or Panchali, the wife of five Pandavas. It was the first time I was reading a book written by a female author and narrator was a female as well. It was a entirely different but great experience. It gave me an insight of feelings of a woman. The second most effective character in the book is Lord Krishna.
Novel covers entire life of Draupadi, from birth to death. The novel starts with a letter written from Draupadi to Krishna and finishes when she finishes reading it. Almost complete Mahabharat is covered in the book and it was a great experience to read it through Draupadi's point of view. I noticed one thing special in the book that Ms. Ray hasn't described a single scene of war, even she has cut the Mahabharat war in a couple of pages.
Every time I read Hindu epics, they force me feel how great they are. Every character, story, everything is simply great and has something to learn. They seem to be ideal, just perfect in every aspect. It seems, nothing better is possible. Even the smallest characters seem to inspire thoughts. They make me think and wonder. Ms. Ray has written the book so beautifully that I was lost in thinking from the page one. I enjoyed every page of the book. Her explanations on various things were fantastic.
Special thing about the book was that Ms. Ray has emphasized on Draupadi's sacred love for Krishna I wasn't aware of this fact. Though Draupadi was wife of all five Pandavas but her love for Arjun was different. But it was quite unfortunate for her that she couldn't get some moments of peace with Arjun, so many dramatic events occurred in her life.
We can consider Draupadi as one of the most unfortunate women on this earth ever lived. She was produced from fire just to take revenge of her father. She loved Krishna and she was married with Arjun. When she prepared herself for Arjun, she became wife of five Pandavas. She kept waiting for Arjun for her entire life but he never came to him. She was insulted in front of thousands in Kaurav-sabha for no fault of her. Dushashan, who could never dare to touch her, abused her and not only touched her but also pulled her all the way by her hair to the sabha. When she became mother of five sons, she went to exile and couldn't love her sons, in the end of Mahabharat, her sons too were killed by Aswasthama. I guess, this is the worst a woman can have in her entire life.
Another interesting take on of Ms. Ray was her explanation of Draupadi's marriage to five Pandavas. In Mahabharat, it was told that Draupadi's marriage to all Pandavas was an accident. When all Pandavas came to Kunti after winning Draupadi in Swayamvar, Yudhisthar informed her mother that they have got something special today. Kunti ordered, 'share it all of you'. Ms. Ray has explained the same as: Kunti already knew that Pandavas have gone in the Swayamvar to win Draupadi. When they came back, Yudhishthar intentionally told Kunti that 'we have got something special today' while he could say 'Maa, Arjun has got bride for you' or something. Further as per the plan, Kunti ordered him to share it.
Reason for this peculiar and unfortunate drama was the fact that every single Pandav desired Draupadi as their wife because of she was an extreme beauty. If Draupadi was wife of just Arjun, it was possible that all Pandavas ended up fighting with one another for Draupadi. Since they had to do fight for Dharm, it was necessary to keep them united. Hence Krishna planned this all along with Kunti and Yudhisthar. However it was a great strategy for Dharm-sake but it was unfortunate for Draupadi.
I liked the book like anything and give it full marks. I would like to thank my EI friend Pushpak Karnik for writing a wonderful review of the same book which made me read this book.
Book Details:
-------------
Draupadi by Pratibha Ray,
ISBN:
Publisher: Rajpal & Sons
Binding: Paperback
Pages: 268
Price: Rs.95/-
The central character of the novel (and the narrator) is Draupadi or Yagyaseni or Krishna or Panchali, the wife of five Pandavas. It was the first time I was reading a book written by a female author and narrator was a female as well. It was a entirely different but great experience. It gave me an insight of feelings of a woman. The second most effective character in the book is Lord Krishna.
Novel covers entire life of Draupadi, from birth to death. The novel starts with a letter written from Draupadi to Krishna and finishes when she finishes reading it. Almost complete Mahabharat is covered in the book and it was a great experience to read it through Draupadi's point of view. I noticed one thing special in the book that Ms. Ray hasn't described a single scene of war, even she has cut the Mahabharat war in a couple of pages.
Every time I read Hindu epics, they force me feel how great they are. Every character, story, everything is simply great and has something to learn. They seem to be ideal, just perfect in every aspect. It seems, nothing better is possible. Even the smallest characters seem to inspire thoughts. They make me think and wonder. Ms. Ray has written the book so beautifully that I was lost in thinking from the page one. I enjoyed every page of the book. Her explanations on various things were fantastic.
Special thing about the book was that Ms. Ray has emphasized on Draupadi's sacred love for Krishna I wasn't aware of this fact. Though Draupadi was wife of all five Pandavas but her love for Arjun was different. But it was quite unfortunate for her that she couldn't get some moments of peace with Arjun, so many dramatic events occurred in her life.
We can consider Draupadi as one of the most unfortunate women on this earth ever lived. She was produced from fire just to take revenge of her father. She loved Krishna and she was married with Arjun. When she prepared herself for Arjun, she became wife of five Pandavas. She kept waiting for Arjun for her entire life but he never came to him. She was insulted in front of thousands in Kaurav-sabha for no fault of her. Dushashan, who could never dare to touch her, abused her and not only touched her but also pulled her all the way by her hair to the sabha. When she became mother of five sons, she went to exile and couldn't love her sons, in the end of Mahabharat, her sons too were killed by Aswasthama. I guess, this is the worst a woman can have in her entire life.
Another interesting take on of Ms. Ray was her explanation of Draupadi's marriage to five Pandavas. In Mahabharat, it was told that Draupadi's marriage to all Pandavas was an accident. When all Pandavas came to Kunti after winning Draupadi in Swayamvar, Yudhisthar informed her mother that they have got something special today. Kunti ordered, 'share it all of you'. Ms. Ray has explained the same as: Kunti already knew that Pandavas have gone in the Swayamvar to win Draupadi. When they came back, Yudhishthar intentionally told Kunti that 'we have got something special today' while he could say 'Maa, Arjun has got bride for you' or something. Further as per the plan, Kunti ordered him to share it.
Reason for this peculiar and unfortunate drama was the fact that every single Pandav desired Draupadi as their wife because of she was an extreme beauty. If Draupadi was wife of just Arjun, it was possible that all Pandavas ended up fighting with one another for Draupadi. Since they had to do fight for Dharm, it was necessary to keep them united. Hence Krishna planned this all along with Kunti and Yudhisthar. However it was a great strategy for Dharm-sake but it was unfortunate for Draupadi.
I liked the book like anything and give it full marks. I would like to thank my EI friend Pushpak Karnik for writing a wonderful review of the same book which made me read this book.
Book Details:
-------------
Draupadi by Pratibha Ray,
ISBN:
Publisher: Rajpal & Sons
Binding: Paperback
Pages: 268
Price: Rs.95/-
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Was this the right attitude?
While coming to office today we visited Varenyam Motors as Rajeev had to do correct some bug in their software. When he went inside the showroom, I and Satish were standing outside, beside the road. It was hardly two minutes, a woman (beggar) came to us with her daughter and asked both of us for some money. I was the first who denied any sort of help, Satish did the same. She walked away...
After a little while a gentleman in his mid-fifties came to us. He addressed Satish first and asked for some help. He begged us for 5 rupees so that he can have some food. He said "5 rupaye kam pad rahe hain khane main. Please help kijiye. Aap log engineering ke students lagte ho." He wore a light-coloured shirt and dark pants, shirt was in. Overall he looked like a descent human being in need of some money.
5 rupees is not a thing to think twice, still I saw Satish and waited for a couple of seconds. He gave me a blank look, without any further delay, I pulled out my wallet and drew a 10-rupee-note and handed over to the gentleman. He thanked me and walked over.
Just before he left us, I smelled something! He was drunk! Okay, so he has just begged for 5 rupees to take another drink. He seemed a gentleman and I donated him 10 rupees while I didn't have a single rupee for that lady who wasn't wearing a good dress. I didn't give her a rupee because I knew, she will misuse my money! What the worse misuse could be other than drinking. She had a daughter and they really seemed in need while that rascal came to me in good dress and I gave him 10 rupees happily. I know there are lakhs of beggars in India and I am not a king who can donate every one of them but I didn't do the right thing to the woman in the morning.
Was this the right attitude? Should I have given that woman 1 rupee or shouldn't I have given that moron a 10-rupee-note? I am really confused and hurt.
After a little while a gentleman in his mid-fifties came to us. He addressed Satish first and asked for some help. He begged us for 5 rupees so that he can have some food. He said "5 rupaye kam pad rahe hain khane main. Please help kijiye. Aap log engineering ke students lagte ho." He wore a light-coloured shirt and dark pants, shirt was in. Overall he looked like a descent human being in need of some money.
5 rupees is not a thing to think twice, still I saw Satish and waited for a couple of seconds. He gave me a blank look, without any further delay, I pulled out my wallet and drew a 10-rupee-note and handed over to the gentleman. He thanked me and walked over.
Just before he left us, I smelled something! He was drunk! Okay, so he has just begged for 5 rupees to take another drink. He seemed a gentleman and I donated him 10 rupees while I didn't have a single rupee for that lady who wasn't wearing a good dress. I didn't give her a rupee because I knew, she will misuse my money! What the worse misuse could be other than drinking. She had a daughter and they really seemed in need while that rascal came to me in good dress and I gave him 10 rupees happily. I know there are lakhs of beggars in India and I am not a king who can donate every one of them but I didn't do the right thing to the woman in the morning.
Was this the right attitude? Should I have given that woman 1 rupee or shouldn't I have given that moron a 10-rupee-note? I am really confused and hurt.
Saturday, June 24, 2006
One Night @ The Call Center by Chetan Bhagat
I have read 'Five Point Someone' of Mr. Bhagat too, I liked the book. I don't say Five Point was a great book but it was above average effort from a debut author. I was expecting 'One Night @ The Call Center' something better from Chetan Bhagat but what all I got was disappointment. Sorry, its not Chetan's better work.
When I started reading the book, I was taken aback by the prologue only, what a drama! However epilogue was even more dramatic than the prologue and the story itself. In first 50 pages or so, I started to think it might be my third book that I am not going to finish (first was 'Hunchback of Notre Dame' and second 'The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari'). But since the book started to evolve as a bollywood drama and some characters started to seem interesting, I could finish it comfortably at last.
At times Chetan gives a feeling of very professional, researched writing, and at other times, he hasn't given a thought on what he is writing! For example, Chetan thanks Bill Gates for the wonderful software MS Word in the acknowledgements. He tells he is fond of this MS Word, and we will know the reason in the book. I was so curious, what the hell is special in MS Word. In the story, Chetan points to rand() function and calls it as a bug. I am not a supporter of Microsoft but Mr. Bhagat it isn't a bug at all, its a function provided by Word to insert random text in the document.
Chetan Bhagat tells, he is writing this book to depict the life of youths at Call Center, but in essence I find it a life of maximum Indian youth and none at the same time. It has nothing to do with Call Center! 'What genre in fiction this book is?' was the question I was unable to answer until I finished the book. Even after finishing the book, I couldn't find the answer but was sure that book will be a success due to its low price and the hot content. Hot! Yes, he has presented the complete 'masala' for youths. Lead characters drink, undergo sex and use abuses extensively. I was considering 'Pulp Fiction' as movies with most abuses, this book is no less.
I liked few things about book. Agent Vroom was very good. Priyanka was good at a few times especially her restaurant-CBI-lady scene was too good. 'Military uncle' character was good as well. I liked the speech Vroom made at loud-speaker very much. And last but not least, Vroom's hatred for advertisements. I almost laugh whenever I see some person smiling or laughing in a hoarding advertisement. I liked the term 'black piss' for cold-drinks. ;-)
Overall, a below average book. 2/5.
Book Details:
-------------
One Night @ The Call Center by Chetan Bhagat,
ISBN: 8129108186
Publisher: Rupa and Co.
Pages: 280 odd
Price: Rs.95/-
When I started reading the book, I was taken aback by the prologue only, what a drama! However epilogue was even more dramatic than the prologue and the story itself. In first 50 pages or so, I started to think it might be my third book that I am not going to finish (first was 'Hunchback of Notre Dame' and second 'The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari'). But since the book started to evolve as a bollywood drama and some characters started to seem interesting, I could finish it comfortably at last.At times Chetan gives a feeling of very professional, researched writing, and at other times, he hasn't given a thought on what he is writing! For example, Chetan thanks Bill Gates for the wonderful software MS Word in the acknowledgements. He tells he is fond of this MS Word, and we will know the reason in the book. I was so curious, what the hell is special in MS Word. In the story, Chetan points to rand() function and calls it as a bug. I am not a supporter of Microsoft but Mr. Bhagat it isn't a bug at all, its a function provided by Word to insert random text in the document.
Chetan Bhagat tells, he is writing this book to depict the life of youths at Call Center, but in essence I find it a life of maximum Indian youth and none at the same time. It has nothing to do with Call Center! 'What genre in fiction this book is?' was the question I was unable to answer until I finished the book. Even after finishing the book, I couldn't find the answer but was sure that book will be a success due to its low price and the hot content. Hot! Yes, he has presented the complete 'masala' for youths. Lead characters drink, undergo sex and use abuses extensively. I was considering 'Pulp Fiction' as movies with most abuses, this book is no less.
I liked few things about book. Agent Vroom was very good. Priyanka was good at a few times especially her restaurant-CBI-lady scene was too good. 'Military uncle' character was good as well. I liked the speech Vroom made at loud-speaker very much. And last but not least, Vroom's hatred for advertisements. I almost laugh whenever I see some person smiling or laughing in a hoarding advertisement. I liked the term 'black piss' for cold-drinks. ;-)
Overall, a below average book. 2/5.
Book Details:
-------------
One Night @ The Call Center by Chetan Bhagat,
ISBN: 8129108186
Publisher: Rupa and Co.
Pages: 280 odd
Price: Rs.95/-
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Indian-Literature is no more
I have just abandoned my yet another blog The Great Indian Literature. Reason: I couldn't do justice with that. 1 post in a month is not anticipated frequency. Here I will not only write about Indian Literature but also on a number of things.
I have copied all the posts of that blog in this blog and put a refresh-tag there. All posts are copied today i.e. Saturday, May 20, 2006. If you are looking for them just read out previous 6 posts.
Now its the only blog I have, wait, Carwale.com blog too. :-)
I have copied all the posts of that blog in this blog and put a refresh-tag there. All posts are copied today i.e. Saturday, May 20, 2006. If you are looking for them just read out previous 6 posts.
Now its the only blog I have, wait, Carwale.com blog too. :-)
Gunahon Ka Devta by Dharamveer Bharati
I bought this hardbound from Bhopal Book Fair, yes, along with Muktidoot and Kshama Karna Jiji. This novel too is from Bhartiya Jnanpith, no doubt this publication possesses real diamonds.
This is one of the best love stories I have ever heard or watched in movies. Truly amazing story with no flaws. When I first saw the book at the shop, the title 'Gunahon Ka Devta' seemed somewhat awkward to me, felt like it is a title of some C-grade Indian movie. I didn't purchase the book and came back, googled for Dharamveer Bharati and found this novel and 'Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda' on top. I heard about the later novel, more precisely, I had watched the movie with same title. The other day, I bought the book's hardbound edition.
Every character is depicted in a way that you start feeling them from the page one of the book. Not too many characters to remember either. Sudha, Chandar, Binti, Dr. Sahib, Dadi of Binti, Gesu and a couple of others, that's it! If I tell you the story, you might say "what's new? It seems that I have listened it earlier!" But my friend, think, this novel was written in 1948 by Dr. Bharati, almost 6 decades ago. You can consider this novel basis for a number of bollywood movies.
This is the story of Sudha and Chandar, two youngsters living under same roof of Dr. Sahib. Sudha is daughter of Dr. sahib and Chandar is a poor-fellow, who is quite intelligent and co-operative. He helps Dr. Sahib in his college work. Dr. Sahib is that impressed with him that he asked him to live with him only. Story is quite straightforward, as it seems! Sudha and Chandar start to love each other, wait, this is not the love of Hindi films, it was sacred love! Sudha was more devoted than Chandar, maybe, Chandar's stand was the problem. He lived in Sudha's father's house and he didn't want to prove Dr. sahib wrong. Dr. sahib had had a great faith in Chandar and Chandar didn't betrayed!
I don't want to go ahead with the story any further...
I don't have words for expressing innocence of Sudha. I can tell you for sure that if there were to be made a film on Gunahon Ka Devta storyline, it could become almost impossible to depict the character of Sudha on the screen. I can't say about actresses of yore but today, I don't find a single actress with that caliber.
This is a must read for everyone out there. Read the novel and you will keep blessing me for your entire life. I give the novel full marks. One of my favourite book...
Book Details:
Gunahon Ka Devta by Dharamveer Bharati
Pages: 248 (Hardbound)
Price Rs.110
Publication: Bhartiya Jnanpith
URL: http://www.jnanpith.net/book_catalogue/detail.asp?id=993
This is one of the best love stories I have ever heard or watched in movies. Truly amazing story with no flaws. When I first saw the book at the shop, the title 'Gunahon Ka Devta' seemed somewhat awkward to me, felt like it is a title of some C-grade Indian movie. I didn't purchase the book and came back, googled for Dharamveer Bharati and found this novel and 'Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda' on top. I heard about the later novel, more precisely, I had watched the movie with same title. The other day, I bought the book's hardbound edition.
Every character is depicted in a way that you start feeling them from the page one of the book. Not too many characters to remember either. Sudha, Chandar, Binti, Dr. Sahib, Dadi of Binti, Gesu and a couple of others, that's it! If I tell you the story, you might say "what's new? It seems that I have listened it earlier!" But my friend, think, this novel was written in 1948 by Dr. Bharati, almost 6 decades ago. You can consider this novel basis for a number of bollywood movies.
This is the story of Sudha and Chandar, two youngsters living under same roof of Dr. Sahib. Sudha is daughter of Dr. sahib and Chandar is a poor-fellow, who is quite intelligent and co-operative. He helps Dr. Sahib in his college work. Dr. Sahib is that impressed with him that he asked him to live with him only. Story is quite straightforward, as it seems! Sudha and Chandar start to love each other, wait, this is not the love of Hindi films, it was sacred love! Sudha was more devoted than Chandar, maybe, Chandar's stand was the problem. He lived in Sudha's father's house and he didn't want to prove Dr. sahib wrong. Dr. sahib had had a great faith in Chandar and Chandar didn't betrayed!
I don't want to go ahead with the story any further...
I don't have words for expressing innocence of Sudha. I can tell you for sure that if there were to be made a film on Gunahon Ka Devta storyline, it could become almost impossible to depict the character of Sudha on the screen. I can't say about actresses of yore but today, I don't find a single actress with that caliber.
This is a must read for everyone out there. Read the novel and you will keep blessing me for your entire life. I give the novel full marks. One of my favourite book...
Book Details:
Gunahon Ka Devta by Dharamveer Bharati
Pages: 248 (Hardbound)
Price Rs.110
Publication: Bhartiya Jnanpith
URL: http://www.jnanpith.net/book_catalogue/detail.asp?id=993
Domination of Gita Press in Hindu spiritual literature
Fellow-EpicIndian Saravana Kumar suggested a website www.gitapress.org for Gita and other Hindu spiritual books. As the name of website suggests, its website of Gita Press Gorakhpur. The press publishes Gita, Ramayan, Mahabharat, Puran-Upnishads and other spiritual books for all age.
What attracted me most was the variety of books available on every subject. Another advantage is the extremely-low-prices. Gita of 14cmx21cm 430pages is priced at Rs.25 only. Strange! They are definitely not earning anything out of it.
Gita Press was founded in 1923 by Jayadayal Goyandka. The press has published over 37 crore books so far, isn't it a huge figure? They say that their selling price is lower than the production price. They don't seek any kind of donations for their survival. They have many outlets all over the India. Alas! There is none in Bhopal :( Anyways, Internet Jindabad!!! :-)
What attracted me most was the variety of books available on every subject. Another advantage is the extremely-low-prices. Gita of 14cmx21cm 430pages is priced at Rs.25 only. Strange! They are definitely not earning anything out of it.
Gita Press was founded in 1923 by Jayadayal Goyandka. The press has published over 37 crore books so far, isn't it a huge figure? They say that their selling price is lower than the production price. They don't seek any kind of donations for their survival. They have many outlets all over the India. Alas! There is none in Bhopal :( Anyways, Internet Jindabad!!! :-)
Vayam Rakshamah by Acharya Chatursen Shashtri
Few months back Mr. Mohit Dubey (My boss) asked me to read a book 'वयम् रक्षामः(Vayam Rakshamah)' by Acharya Chatursen Shashtri. I was eager to read the book as Mr. Dubey highly recommended it. I asked Priya didi (Mohit sir's wife) for the book and she immediately handed it to me. Thank you very much didi :-)
I had very high expectations from the book as I always admire mohit sir's recomendations. Without knowing the fact that what is this novel all about, I started reading it and believe me I wasn't disappointed a bit. I remember very well that with very high expectations, I couldn't appreciate even Sholay very much while the movie is a milestone in indian film industry, you know that!
This book solely concentrate on Ravan, yes the Ramayan Villain! Started reading it as a fictional novel and ended up realizing that it is an Epic. The way of story-telling is good and entirely different. There is too much voilence, let me correct, blunt voilence! but still I liked the way of presentation. In first 50 pages or so, Shashtri Ji tried to connect the virtual terminologies of Ramayana to the places on this earth. Let me explain, he said the Baikunth or heaven is nothing but a place in ancient Iran or Persia, the Paradise Mountain! The Nark or hell too situated in Persia itself, Australia's ancient name was Andhra Pradesh!!! However it is hard to digest all this (I don't say, Impossible!), but still this seems better than the Bakunth and the Nark itself. I don't know whether the facts covered in this book about India, Ravan or any Aryas are correct or are just an imagination, but I really liked those. So many doubts in my mind about Hinduism, India etc seem to have some base now :-)
I googled for this book then but couldn't get enough satisfying results. There was no review available at all. I immediately thought of reviewing it. Firstly I sent its ultra-small review to Mr. Ashok Banker (great writer, retelling our epics) in the Epic India mailing list. I didn't have a blog then to write :(
This book was written in 1955 and the writer claimed to have written as many as 136 books before but I can't find any satisfying results for him either! Now since I had read this book, I purchased his another renowned book, Vaishali Ki Nagarvadhu. Rajeev is reading that at the moment. :-)
I am attaching the complete details of the book. Anyone interested can read it. The book is in Hindi but a huge vocab of Sanskrit is used. Sometimes it becomes very hard to understand the meanings :-) Writer passed few (1 or 2) chapters writing in Sanskrit only, then explaining in the next chapter.
Overall was a good read. I must say the book seems controversial and may not be widely accepted. This is one of the book, either you love it or hate it. 7/10. :-)
वयम् रक्षामः(Vayam Rakshamah)
By: Acharya Chatursen Shashtri,
ISBN: 81-216-0877-7,
Pages: 500 (Complete Edition)
AHW HPB Hindi Series,
Publisher: Hind Pocket Books
Price: 125/-
I had very high expectations from the book as I always admire mohit sir's recomendations. Without knowing the fact that what is this novel all about, I started reading it and believe me I wasn't disappointed a bit. I remember very well that with very high expectations, I couldn't appreciate even Sholay very much while the movie is a milestone in indian film industry, you know that!
This book solely concentrate on Ravan, yes the Ramayan Villain! Started reading it as a fictional novel and ended up realizing that it is an Epic. The way of story-telling is good and entirely different. There is too much voilence, let me correct, blunt voilence! but still I liked the way of presentation. In first 50 pages or so, Shashtri Ji tried to connect the virtual terminologies of Ramayana to the places on this earth. Let me explain, he said the Baikunth or heaven is nothing but a place in ancient Iran or Persia, the Paradise Mountain! The Nark or hell too situated in Persia itself, Australia's ancient name was Andhra Pradesh!!! However it is hard to digest all this (I don't say, Impossible!), but still this seems better than the Bakunth and the Nark itself. I don't know whether the facts covered in this book about India, Ravan or any Aryas are correct or are just an imagination, but I really liked those. So many doubts in my mind about Hinduism, India etc seem to have some base now :-)
I googled for this book then but couldn't get enough satisfying results. There was no review available at all. I immediately thought of reviewing it. Firstly I sent its ultra-small review to Mr. Ashok Banker (great writer, retelling our epics) in the Epic India mailing list. I didn't have a blog then to write :(
This book was written in 1955 and the writer claimed to have written as many as 136 books before but I can't find any satisfying results for him either! Now since I had read this book, I purchased his another renowned book, Vaishali Ki Nagarvadhu. Rajeev is reading that at the moment. :-)
I am attaching the complete details of the book. Anyone interested can read it. The book is in Hindi but a huge vocab of Sanskrit is used. Sometimes it becomes very hard to understand the meanings :-) Writer passed few (1 or 2) chapters writing in Sanskrit only, then explaining in the next chapter.
Overall was a good read. I must say the book seems controversial and may not be widely accepted. This is one of the book, either you love it or hate it. 7/10. :-)
वयम् रक्षामः(Vayam Rakshamah)
By: Acharya Chatursen Shashtri,
ISBN: 81-216-0877-7,
Pages: 500 (Complete Edition)
AHW HPB Hindi Series,
Publisher: Hind Pocket Books
Price: 125/-
Muktidoot by Virendra Kumar Jain
In Bhopal book fair, past month, I stopped at Bhartiya Gyanpeeth stall to buy books. I decided to buy at least three books, I had no problem in buying two books, Kshama Karna Jiji (Narendra Kohli) and Gunahon Ka Devta (Dharamvir Bharati) but I was finding it hard to choose third one. I went to Rajeev and told the situation, he said in his usual manner, 'Why third one? Two are enough, we already many un-read at home!'. Now the condition was worse, I had to choose a third one even faster! I went back to stall and chose a random book, titled 'Muktidoot'. There was no criteria for choosing it, the only thing I could notice about it was a small note on top right corner of front-cover, saying 'Murtidevi Award Winner'
While reading the prologue, I came to know that the book is a love story of some Pavananjaya and Anjana and the story is about 2,500 years old. Name 'Anjana' and 'Pavananjaya' seemed to be known, listened! Hanuman's parents??? God knows! Anyways, I started to read it...
Despite of reading 50 pages, I couldn't get into the book. The story was written in very good Hindi, very good Hindi indeed! A native-hindi speaker had to understand the meanings! But the story was going smooth.
When I finished the book, I realized, whatever I has just finished reading, was awesome. I was really amazed at the story and the way of telling it. Virendra Kumar Jain must have been a master of Hindi.
Yes, the story is about Hanuman's parents. What a great love story, indeed! The novel was written back in 1947 and was lost until 1973. Now its considered to be a milestone in Hindi literature. I remember the moment, I was going to buy it thinking maybe its going to be a wrong decision. No regrets! Was a wonderful read. The story is great and informative. I didn't know too much about our great Hanuman Ji's parents. :-)
Highly recommend it. 9/10.
book details:
Muktidoot by Virendra Kumar Jain,
248 pages, paperback, Rs.75/-
Bhartiya Jnanpith, New Delhi
Kshama Karna Jiji by Narendra Kohli
I bought this 100-odd-pages-long Jnanpith-Paperback from 2005 Bhopal National Book Fair. I had heard about Dr. Narendra Kohli before and just wanted to read any of his book. I think smaller book is always better to start with, so I just grabbed it.
This novel tells story of a very common, middle-class, Indian family. The central character is 'Nirmala' (also called Guddi). The narrator is Vineet, younger brother of Nirmala. Vineet calls her Jiji(elder sister). Story of the novel is that simple and realistic that any medium-class person can feel it happening around.
'Kshama Karna Jiji' is all about caring, love, respect, responsibilities and commitments for relations, family. We all try to give our cent-percent to our families but still we miss something very important and we don't even realize it until its too late to do anything. Then remains - regret and sorry! In relations, sometimes we take things for granted. This tendency makes things worst.
Mr. Kohli has tried to depict this feeling. Vineet gave his hundred-percent to his jiji, tried to make her happy, whenever she needed it. She was the sister of five brothers, all of them loved her, she too loved all her brothers but Vineet was her most-loved-brother, he too really cared about her, but still he couldn't help her when she desperately needed it. Why Vineet had to say 'Kshama Karna Jiji' is well told.
This is the only book, I have finished in one sitting. Reading this book was as same as reading a story of our street. So real, indeed! I was watching 'Magnolia' last Sunday, while I felt, this is not the story that any Indian can feel. I can't imagine any Indian literally abusing his/her father but I can imagine someone dying to help her sister who is married for 10 years. After finishing this book, I couldn't stop myself to feel like crying.
Overall, the book was a good read. Dr. Narendra Kohli wrote it very well and I am bound to read his other great works.
Complete Book Details:
Kshama Karna Jiji (Hindi Novel)
by Narendra Kohli
ISBN: 81-263-1079-0
Publisher: Bhartiya Jnanpith
Pages: 108
Binding: Paperback
Price: Rs.35/-
Book URL: http://jnanpith.net/book_catalogue/detail.asp?id=1468
Neele Ghore Ka Savar by Rajendra Mohan Bhatnagar
Few days back I borrowed a book from Mr. Arun Sahlam, 'Neele Ghore Ka Savar' in devnagiri 'नीले घोड़े का सवार', by Dr. Rajendra Mohan Bhatnagar. In English, it means: The Rider of Blue Horse. Finished it long back, wanted to write about it then only but alas! I hadn't had a blog :~)
The novel is in Hindi (as the name suggests) and completely based on Maharana Pratap. I have no idea how many other books are available on Maharana Pratap and where this book stands among them. The publisher is claiming that it has received some 'Sarraf' award(I don't know what is this award all about and what is its value!). But as a
matter of fact, whatever place this novel has in Hindi Literature, its completely forbidden on internet, at least. I couldn't find even a single link, which talks about this novel.
I liked the novel. The book is only 365 pages long. Writer has written it as a pure historical novel, he has mentioned appropriate dates of the incidents occurred to make things more accurate. Dr. Rajendra Mohan seems to have a good study of that era. He has brilliantly described the story. He has also used local dialect words in the
conversations, songs, poetry etc.
This novel is not a biography of Maharana Pratap. It begins when Maharana's father was about to die. There were chaos concerning the next Rana of Mewar. Reading this novel is not at all a fun, it mostly depicted insights of Rana's various dilemmas, reluctances for the wars etc. The other leading characters of this novel are Akbar, Rani Ratnavati(Rana's youngest wife), Bhamashah(Rana's Prime Minister), Amar Singh (Rana's Son), Rani Avajande Parmar(Eldest Wife) and Maan Singh.
After Pratap, my favourite character of the novel is Queen Ratnavati. She is youngest wife of Maharana Pratap, but I guess most intelligent. She refused to accept Pratap as his husband. She hated polygamy (Maharana already had many wives) so badly that she gave a descent lecture to Pratap the same night of their marriage and make him realize that he shouldn't have married more than once. However Ratnavati became the best friend and consultant of Maharana Pratap later, moreover she offered Rana to go with him in the war.
Maharana Pratap is not a victor in the novel, he had been shown struggling all the time. However author has presented too many facts to make us proud on Maharana Pratap and feel why he is considered to be a great warrior. He was the only Indian king to oppose Akbar and refused to present himself in front of Akbar's court. He decided to go for a war rather than putting his weapons down against Akbar. He fought Haldi-Ghati war against another Rajput king Maan Singh. The Haldi-Ghati war was cut to be very short, it could be streched in few more pages.
The novel has a good story-telling style along with better content from the history point of view. It can be a good read for guys seeking history of Mewar. The book is in Hindi and I don't think it might have any English translation, so some of you might be disappointed.
Despite of being a hardbound version, paper quality is not great and you will find so many typographical errors in it, its one of the rare cons, I could find in the novel. Overall a good read. 4/5 :~)
Complete Book Details:
----------------------
Neele Ghore Ka Savar,
By Dr. Rajendra Mohan Bhatnagar,
ISBN: 81-7028-049-4
Publisher: Rajpal & Sons
Binding: Hardbound
Pages: 365
Price: Rs.250/-
The novel is in Hindi (as the name suggests) and completely based on Maharana Pratap. I have no idea how many other books are available on Maharana Pratap and where this book stands among them. The publisher is claiming that it has received some 'Sarraf' award(I don't know what is this award all about and what is its value!). But as a
matter of fact, whatever place this novel has in Hindi Literature, its completely forbidden on internet, at least. I couldn't find even a single link, which talks about this novel.
I liked the novel. The book is only 365 pages long. Writer has written it as a pure historical novel, he has mentioned appropriate dates of the incidents occurred to make things more accurate. Dr. Rajendra Mohan seems to have a good study of that era. He has brilliantly described the story. He has also used local dialect words in the
conversations, songs, poetry etc.
This novel is not a biography of Maharana Pratap. It begins when Maharana's father was about to die. There were chaos concerning the next Rana of Mewar. Reading this novel is not at all a fun, it mostly depicted insights of Rana's various dilemmas, reluctances for the wars etc. The other leading characters of this novel are Akbar, Rani Ratnavati(Rana's youngest wife), Bhamashah(Rana's Prime Minister), Amar Singh (Rana's Son), Rani Avajande Parmar(Eldest Wife) and Maan Singh.
After Pratap, my favourite character of the novel is Queen Ratnavati. She is youngest wife of Maharana Pratap, but I guess most intelligent. She refused to accept Pratap as his husband. She hated polygamy (Maharana already had many wives) so badly that she gave a descent lecture to Pratap the same night of their marriage and make him realize that he shouldn't have married more than once. However Ratnavati became the best friend and consultant of Maharana Pratap later, moreover she offered Rana to go with him in the war.
Maharana Pratap is not a victor in the novel, he had been shown struggling all the time. However author has presented too many facts to make us proud on Maharana Pratap and feel why he is considered to be a great warrior. He was the only Indian king to oppose Akbar and refused to present himself in front of Akbar's court. He decided to go for a war rather than putting his weapons down against Akbar. He fought Haldi-Ghati war against another Rajput king Maan Singh. The Haldi-Ghati war was cut to be very short, it could be streched in few more pages.
The novel has a good story-telling style along with better content from the history point of view. It can be a good read for guys seeking history of Mewar. The book is in Hindi and I don't think it might have any English translation, so some of you might be disappointed.
Despite of being a hardbound version, paper quality is not great and you will find so many typographical errors in it, its one of the rare cons, I could find in the novel. Overall a good read. 4/5 :~)
Complete Book Details:
----------------------
Neele Ghore Ka Savar,
By Dr. Rajendra Mohan Bhatnagar,
ISBN: 81-7028-049-4
Publisher: Rajpal & Sons
Binding: Hardbound
Pages: 365
Price: Rs.250/-
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Do Raaste...
Last week I was watching Do Raaste on TV and was wondering how real the old films were. Very simple but realistic story, class acting and direction. They depicted contemporary problems very well. This was entertaining and learning, indeed. Considering the old films sometimes I wonder, how far new films are from reality.
Three brothers live with peace in a single home with their mother. The eldest brother Navendru (Balraj Sahni) is married and his wife Madhvi (Kamini Kaushal) considers the home her own home, her brothers-in-law Birju (Prem Chopra) and Satyam (Rajesh Khanna) her own brothers and her mother-in-law (Veena) her own mother. Story takes a sharp turn when Birju falls in love with Neela (Bindu). They get married and Neela starts to live with them. She was from somewhat high-class family thus finds it hard to adjust with the new family. Navendru and Madhvi try to settle down matters but in vain. Disputes turn into quarrels and finally Birju and Neela left the home and start to live separately. Goodwills of Satyam, Navendru and Madhvi make the couple awake and fetch them to live with the family at last.
This seems to be the story of every middle-class joint family, doesn't it? However the difference is that in real world stories ain't fairy tales. Once a family breaks, it never joins again, never!
I forgot to mention Reena (Mumtaz) here. She is Satyam's lover and Neela's younger sister. Both the sisters' nature is quite contradictory. Both are from same family, grown up with same comforts but still are different.
Reena is of type which is rare today. We find lots of Neelas around. If we look closely, there is one Neela in every other family. However it wasn't Neela exactly who broke the family, instead it was Birju who didn't give a damn to his family. He kept on doing things Neela demanded for. Neela could do all this just because of his husband. So, I should rewrite my phrase, We have one or maybe more Birjus in every other family around.
How good it must be to live in a joint-family. You share your happiness, sorrow. There is lots of support for everything. Why this generation wants to live alone, separate from their parents, siblings? Why new brides want to be Neela not Reena? Why brothers start to act like Birju as soon as they get married? Is it that hard to become Navendru or Satyam?
Three brothers live with peace in a single home with their mother. The eldest brother Navendru (Balraj Sahni) is married and his wife Madhvi (Kamini Kaushal) considers the home her own home, her brothers-in-law Birju (Prem Chopra) and Satyam (Rajesh Khanna) her own brothers and her mother-in-law (Veena) her own mother. Story takes a sharp turn when Birju falls in love with Neela (Bindu). They get married and Neela starts to live with them. She was from somewhat high-class family thus finds it hard to adjust with the new family. Navendru and Madhvi try to settle down matters but in vain. Disputes turn into quarrels and finally Birju and Neela left the home and start to live separately. Goodwills of Satyam, Navendru and Madhvi make the couple awake and fetch them to live with the family at last.
This seems to be the story of every middle-class joint family, doesn't it? However the difference is that in real world stories ain't fairy tales. Once a family breaks, it never joins again, never!
I forgot to mention Reena (Mumtaz) here. She is Satyam's lover and Neela's younger sister. Both the sisters' nature is quite contradictory. Both are from same family, grown up with same comforts but still are different.
Reena is of type which is rare today. We find lots of Neelas around. If we look closely, there is one Neela in every other family. However it wasn't Neela exactly who broke the family, instead it was Birju who didn't give a damn to his family. He kept on doing things Neela demanded for. Neela could do all this just because of his husband. So, I should rewrite my phrase, We have one or maybe more Birjus in every other family around.
How good it must be to live in a joint-family. You share your happiness, sorrow. There is lots of support for everything. Why this generation wants to live alone, separate from their parents, siblings? Why new brides want to be Neela not Reena? Why brothers start to act like Birju as soon as they get married? Is it that hard to become Navendru or Satyam?
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
My Lovely Yamaha RXG
I belong to a medium-class family. When I was in school, my father used to set goals (regarding studies) for me and if I achieved a goal, he awarded me as committed.
I can remember very well, when I was in 11th standard, he announced a bike (motorcycle) for me if I top the 12th exam in my town. From that day on, I pretended to ride a bike while in essence I was riding bicycle, I used to pull the right handle of cycle as if it were throttle of bike :-)
I liked the sound of Hero Honda CD100/CD100 SS. It was the only commonly-used four-stroke bike then. My interest started to increase in bikes. I noticed every bike passing beside me. After few months of noticing, trends, talks, I realized that CD100 is not the bike for me, this is Yamaha RX100, I should go for.
I was so enthusiastic about RX100 those days that I knew colors, model and even Registration numbers of most of the RX100s in Ambah. Few of them were on top of my mind. After all, I had to choose one of them someday! Actually my father maybe couldn't afford a new Yamaha RX100 then, moreover I too wasn't in favour of buying a new one. I always thought, its best to buy a almost-new bike. Its a good bargain!
As soon as I reached in 12th, there was a rumor all around. Yamaha company has been sold and the new Yamaha company doesn't produce the RX100 any more. In essence, Yamaha had acquired all the shares and it had no collaboration with Escorts. The news about discontinuation of RX100 was also true. Now the new bikes which were rolling out of the factory were RXG/RXZ.
When I first saw a RXG in Ambah, I was amazed at the sound of the bike. It was too soft in comparing to RX100. I immediately decided to buy a second-hand RXG. I just had to prove myself the best student in Ambah! Those days, my passion about bikes was at the maximum.
results of 12th announced, I was third in Ambah with slightly less than 80%. As per the commitment I didn't deserved the bike, but father is a father after all. He got me the RXG paying Rs.28,000/- in cash! I was the happy kid then.
Bike was in really good condition. I and my younger brother Girraj ran it to the limits. Whenever we were together, I always saw the speedo-meter saying 100KMPH, no matter who was riding! As per my information RXG was not as great as RX100, but still it was better among the competition. I always enjoyed it running on higher speeds. Don't ask me about mileage, you won't believe me. It gave me a 60+ many times without any modification in bike!
I have it today as well, however I haven't driven it for months now. I am in Bhopal and my RXG is in Ambah. :-)
I can remember very well, when I was in 11th standard, he announced a bike (motorcycle) for me if I top the 12th exam in my town. From that day on, I pretended to ride a bike while in essence I was riding bicycle, I used to pull the right handle of cycle as if it were throttle of bike :-)
I liked the sound of Hero Honda CD100/CD100 SS. It was the only commonly-used four-stroke bike then. My interest started to increase in bikes. I noticed every bike passing beside me. After few months of noticing, trends, talks, I realized that CD100 is not the bike for me, this is Yamaha RX100, I should go for.
I was so enthusiastic about RX100 those days that I knew colors, model and even Registration numbers of most of the RX100s in Ambah. Few of them were on top of my mind. After all, I had to choose one of them someday! Actually my father maybe couldn't afford a new Yamaha RX100 then, moreover I too wasn't in favour of buying a new one. I always thought, its best to buy a almost-new bike. Its a good bargain!
As soon as I reached in 12th, there was a rumor all around. Yamaha company has been sold and the new Yamaha company doesn't produce the RX100 any more. In essence, Yamaha had acquired all the shares and it had no collaboration with Escorts. The news about discontinuation of RX100 was also true. Now the new bikes which were rolling out of the factory were RXG/RXZ.
When I first saw a RXG in Ambah, I was amazed at the sound of the bike. It was too soft in comparing to RX100. I immediately decided to buy a second-hand RXG. I just had to prove myself the best student in Ambah! Those days, my passion about bikes was at the maximum.
results of 12th announced, I was third in Ambah with slightly less than 80%. As per the commitment I didn't deserved the bike, but father is a father after all. He got me the RXG paying Rs.28,000/- in cash! I was the happy kid then.
Bike was in really good condition. I and my younger brother Girraj ran it to the limits. Whenever we were together, I always saw the speedo-meter saying 100KMPH, no matter who was riding! As per my information RXG was not as great as RX100, but still it was better among the competition. I always enjoyed it running on higher speeds. Don't ask me about mileage, you won't believe me. It gave me a 60+ many times without any modification in bike!
I have it today as well, however I haven't driven it for months now. I am in Bhopal and my RXG is in Ambah. :-)
IndianDrive is no more
Just deleted my IndianDrive blog!
I wasn't doing justice with that blog, had posted there just once! However I am not doing justice with this blog of mine either, but I will try to post rather frequently now on. My literature blog too is ignored for a long now. Have read too many books after I posted the last review there. Will find time and post reviews of them too very soon.
Its getting late today, so leaving office right away! :-)
I wasn't doing justice with that blog, had posted there just once! However I am not doing justice with this blog of mine either, but I will try to post rather frequently now on. My literature blog too is ignored for a long now. Have read too many books after I posted the last review there. Will find time and post reviews of them too very soon.
Its getting late today, so leaving office right away! :-)
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Another Blog!
Hi,
Couldn't post as committed. Its also a very tiny post like the earlier(and first) one.
I have created two more blogs, 1. for Indian Literature and 2. For Automotive in India.
Write in detail in a couple of days ;-)
Couldn't post as committed. Its also a very tiny post like the earlier(and first) one.
I have created two more blogs, 1. for Indian Literature and 2. For Automotive in India.
Write in detail in a couple of days ;-)
Thursday, December 01, 2005
First Post!
Hi,
Its my first posting. I was planning to create a blog for so long but couldn't do that. Today only it could happen finally.
I also wrote a review on carwale.com at MouthShut.com.
Will write in details within next few days. :-)
Its my first posting. I was planning to create a blog for so long but couldn't do that. Today only it could happen finally.
I also wrote a review on carwale.com at MouthShut.com.
Will write in details within next few days. :-)
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