Life as I know It

A Thomas Hardy classic, set in the Wessex countryside, the tale depicts the life of beautiful Bathsheba Everdene, born to a humble background, who inherits her uncle’s farm upon his demise. Much of the story revolves around Bathsheba’s three suitors who experience success and failure in trying to woo her. Gabriel Oak, a shepherd by profession, is the first to be struck by her beauty. Farmer Boldwood is the most persistent of the lot, who also suffers the most cruelly through the story. Troy is the unscrupulous charmer for whom Bathsheba falls, and in marrying him, alters the course of her life to betrayal and tragedy. What is most remarkable about the book is the characterization; it is the defining feature of the story. One is likely to remember the composure and humility of Oak, the doggedness and pain of Boldwood, and the fickleness ad charm of Troy for a long time after reading the book. The three rivals are distinctly dissimilar in their nature, behavior and social standing...

Every morning when I go for a walk to my neighborhood park, I see many people from different age-groups and backgrounds, some walking leisurely, others briskly, a few jogging and some simply sitting on the park benches. Apart from the health benefits offered by a morning walk, there are several reasons I prefer it over sweating it out at the gym. Through my own experimentation over the past 4-5 years, ever since I entered my early twenties, I realized that brisk walking is the best form of exercise and if done regularly for a duration of 45-60 minutes, can also help reduce weight. Only last year, I reached my minimum weight since reaching adulthood (50.5 Kgs.), which is on the lower side for a girl measuring 5’6’’. How did I do it? I simply walked for 60 minutes every night post dinner, at least 5 times a week. Walking offers the best exercise, keeps your body in shape, without putting undue pressure on your knees, as could be the case with jogging. I love the morning fresh air, cri...

Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence is the story of the attachment of a mother with her son, and her pervasive influence on his life. Mrs. Morel is a married woman with four children, and a miner husband who often quarrels with his wife and spends the little money he makes on alcohol. The children grow up in an atmosphere of discord and sometimes abuse, hating their father for mistreating their mother and at the same time, developing a deep reverence for their mother, the only real parent they have. Mrs. Morel loves all her children dearly and hopes to live some of her dreams through her children William, Annie, Paul and the youngest Arthur. Particularly attached to the eldest child William, Mrs. Morel influences his life and his choices, including the women in his life. Life seems to be getting better for the Morels with William supporting the family financially when tragedy strikes and William passes away. The entire family is shattered, Mrs. Morel most of all. At this point, Paul ...

Ever heard of someone named after err – not a historical figure, not an incarnation of God, not a renowned poet, not even a human being, but a swimming pool? Meet the protagonist of ‘Life of Pi’ – Piscine Molitor Patel, named by his swimming enthusiast uncle after a famous swimming pool in Paris. If you find this weird, let me warn you - the name of the protagonist of this book is one of the relatively less weird things about the story. Although ‘Life of Pi’ is a fiction novel, it is narrated in a non-fiction, anecdotal format. The Canadian author who is in India on a grant to find a story for his third book, after a lukewarm response to his second book, chances upon a stranger in a coffee house in Pondicherry who promises to tell a story that will make him believe in God. And thus begins the story of Piscine Molitor Patel. Pi Patel, born to a family in south India has spent most of his childhood in Pondicherry, where his father owns a large zoo. For a good part of his chil...

Dracula , by Bram Stoker, is one of the defining novels of its genre. First published in 1897, Dracula employs the medium of letters exchanged between primary characters and their journals as the medium of story-telling, popularly known as epistolary. Frankenstein , published by Mary Shelley 69 years before the first publication of Dracula , is also written using the same enthralling format. Needless to say, this form of story-telling allows the readers to peek into the inner thoughts of primary characters through their private journals, and follow the rest of the events through the medium of letters exchanged between them, rendering the story much more credible. The chilling story opens on a cold dark night. Jonathan Harker, a young man employed with a law firm, travels by night to visit a client, Count Dracula, who lives on an isolated hill in Transylvania in Eastern Europe. At first, disarmed by the Count’s hospitality and grace, Jonathan finds the castle and its surroundi...

At first I wasn’t sure I could write a review for this masterpiece, not because I didn’t want to (in fact, I was extremely keen on capturing my experience of reading this wonderful book so that I could re-live it whenever I wished), but because I didn’t know if I could write a review that would, in effectively capturing the nuances of the character of Buck, the protagonist, his feelings and experiences, his unparallel loyalty, his life lessons and his frightening ferocity, do justice to this marvel called The Call of the Wild . But then I realized I couldn’t complete the journey I’d embarked on by turning the first page of the book without a proper and befitting farewell by way of a book review. As evident from the title, The Call of the Wild is the gripping story of an animal, a dog named Buck, who lived a King’s life in Judge Miller’s house, a Californian ranch home. Greatly loved and adored, Buck enjoyed hunting with the Judge’s sons during the day as much as he loved curling up ne...

Today, I chanced upon three news reports on the recent Maoist attack wiping out almost an entire CRPF patrol, killing 75 paramilitary men and a policeman in Chhattisgarh on April 6. It anguishes me, as it does every conscientious, patriotic Indian, that our paramilitary men became cannon fodder for the Maoists, who after mercilessly carrying out the carnage, walked away with the rifles, SLRs, bombs and other ammunition of the massacred paramilitary men. What’s even more shocking is that 48 of the 82 men of the ill-fated CRPF patrol had little idea of the area they had been patrolling for the one day and two nights before the morning of the attack. These men belonged to the Alpha Company of the CRPF transferred to the location only a week before the attack. Compare them with the rebels, who know the forests like the back of their hands because they were born there and probably have the backing of hundreds of thousands of tribal people. No wonder our jawans were sitting ducks for the Mao...