Bits And Pieces

Target:    100 books Current:      5 books I wanted something light, especially after my previous, slightly heavier reads. I found the perfect book. I picked it up thinking it was fiction, but it turned out to be non-fiction. Not that it mattered. These days, I find that I'm equally receptive to both fiction and non-fiction, unlike during my childhood days, when, I considered it a waste of time reading anything that wasn't completely made up. #5 The Cat Who Came for Christmas - Cleveland Amory Liked it, Non-fiction, Amusing, Sarcastic, Cat love, Animal rights, 1980's We all know that one person who is a Cat Person. The one who thinks the world of their cat(s). The Cat Owned Person is probably more accurate. Maybe you are that person. If so, this book should resonate even more with you. Cleveland Amory, a self professed dog lover, takes in an extraordinarily dirty and skinny Manhattan alley stray cat one fine Christmas eve. Thus begins his slow but su...

Target:    100 books Current:      4 books I've been up to some things. I didn't forget my reading, just that I haven't gone all guns blazing as yet. I picked up Poor Economics several months back from my favourite book store, and I finally decided to commit myself to it. #4 Poor Economics - A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty - Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo Loved it, Non-fiction, Interesting, Widely acclaimed, Well researched, Layperson's book, Relevant  Many of us have been witness to poverty around us at one point or another. Especially those of us from countries in Asia and Africa. How many times have we seen a beggar on the streets carrying her scrawny little baby, and cringed inwardly, while turning away? Do you remember the kid at the traffic stop, who'd give your car windscreen a quick, unasked for cleaning, and hold out her/his hand for some money? Maybe we'd even give them something sometimes, but mostly we lea...

Target:    100 books Current:      3 books I paid for this book in Bitcoin. It was a super snowy weekend when I visited my friends up in Boston. I still cannot believe that my reasonably comfortable journey on a Wi-Fi equipped bus cost me just $4! I suppose it had something to do with my ungodly hour of arrival. It was my first time in Boston, and I wanted to take a walk around the Harvard and MIT campuses. Along the way, I learnt a cringeworthy little something about the tradition of peeing on John Harvard's foot. I learnt of the infamous three lies of Harvard. And I visited the Harvard Book Store. While there, I picked up His Monkey Wife, and my friend paid for it because yours truly had a problem with her card. He asked to be paid back in Bitcoin, and that's when I decided to get a Bitcoin of my own. It tanked right after I bought it. Sigh! #3 His Monkey Wife - John Collier Mildly amusing, Fiction, Tough read, Literary gold mine, Satirical, 1920's wom...

Target:    100 books Current:      2 books I figured if I'm going to read a lot of books this year, I might as well make the most of it. I will be making a conscious effort to read as eclectic a bunch of books as possible. In that spirit, here's book two. #2 Subliminal      How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior - Leonard Mlodinow Liked It, Non-fiction, Interesting, Factual, Lots of case studies When friends visit me in New York, I have this habit of taking them to one of my favourite places in the city: Strand Book Store. Invariably, we end up buying one or more books. On one such trip my friend decided to pick up this book. Although it piqued my interest, especially with its witty cover, I decided I didn't want it for myself. The rest of the long weekend played out, and then everyone went back to their own lives. A few weeks later, sometime around my birthday, I received an unexpected package: a second hand book. My friend had s...

Target:    100 books Current:      1 books I claim that I'm a Book Lover, but the truth is, I have no idea how many books I end up reading in a year. If I reach my target by the end of this year, I'll continue to call myself a Book Lover. If I reach half my target, I'd like to call myself a Book Friend. Anything less than 25, and I'll know in my heart that I'm a Liar. I'm also quite curious to see how sick of books I'll be, if at all, by the end of this exercise. #1 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee Liked It, Fiction, Easy to read, Lighthearted despite heavy themes It's all over the news that Harper Lee's second ever book is coming out soon, 55 years after her much celebrated first. To Kill a Mockingbird has been on my "Get to it" list for several years now. And obviously, when you put something on a list like that, it's license to forget all about it. Besides, I'm a little suspicious of all those books they call "C...

Clichéd though it may sound, it IS really the small things that make life "funner".  Here are a few things that can help improve the quality of your life –   Get Wet Water is amazing! Never EVER miss a chance to be near/in water (unless great white sharks are swimming around). H 2 O can be your personal therapist and masseur. It can even get you contemplating the origins of our universe. Get drenched when you go to theme parks. Walk in the rain once in a while. Go to a beach and let the waves kiss your feet. Have a luxuriating bath. As long you are not drowning, water really is your best friend. Get Addicted NEVER TO DRUGS/CIGARETTES!!! Addictions can provide immense satisfaction. Just make sure to pick one that is not harmful to you in the long run. Ever started to read a book and realized you can't put it down without finishing it? That dear friends, is addiction. There are a zillion addictions to pick from once you start looking. Become a movie buff, or becom...

Sorry about the highly pedestrian title guys. If Benjamin Button , and a dog in the night can have curious cases, well, so can I! What happened - I had a mobile phone in India paired with an Indian SIM card. Now here in the US (where I'm currently kuppa kottufying*) I have the same mobile phone with (Surprise Surprise!) an American connection. I keep getting a particular kind of weird Call on my phone all the time. Sometimes, several days pass by with no signs of it, and on other days it wreaks vengeance with an annoyingly high frequency. For two years now I have had this problem. The Call leaves no trace. Never shows up in my Missed or Received Calls list. It comes up as "Unknown". You try to reason with whoever/whatever only to be greeted by dead silence on the other end. One can only wonder at the intellectual genius of the Call that can so effortlessly transcend SIM card boundaries! What everyone said - "You have a stalker! Kalakku**!!" (??? Serio...