Bits And Pieces

Here's another one I found while removing the dust off my blog. I wrote it two years back. I was newly married, and packing my bags to move from New York to the Netherlands, where I would join my beloved. While excited about the prospect of a new adventure, it also felt like I was leaving a part of myself behind. Poitu Varen, New York Tamil is both a language and a people. In Tamil, there is no word for goodbye. Instead, we say poitu varen - I'll be back. I always wondered about that. I am one of a few thousand Tamils living in New York. I love this city the same way that any other might love the place where they first came into themselves as a young adult. I started out alone, not really knowing anyone here. I worked on my first real job. I made new friends and acquaintances - wonderful people, some, the likes of whom I'd never met before. I traveled the city's subway arteries and ate my way through the different neighborhoods. I soaked myself in the art, m...

Verbal diarrhea from eight years back - an attempt to deal with built up frustration. I found this sitting in my drafts, and thought, "Eh, why not!" Spring Cleaning The unexpected happiness The perplexing downs Is it really a wonderful world? Did Armstrong truly believe that? Does he now? Things are always changing You like it or you don't Sometimes you don't even know Time turners don't exist If one did, I'd turn back to all the times my mind was blank It is seldom blank now Sleep seems to help, but never permanently Just when you think it's over It's back again, peeking over your shoulder You feel too small; your throat constricted Not a clue what's going on inside your head Wishing you could have it all figured out The dream couldn't have been farther Worse yet is when you don't dream A million directions Yet moving in circles You wish you could fly off on a tangent and soar deep into the...

Target:    100 books Current:    23 books Where's book #22 you ask? It was The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger. I thought it was okay, and I'll write about it soon. It's just that I wanted to get this one out while I could. I read The Fountainhead about three months ago, and I think I'm finally ready to talk about it. #23 The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand Loved it, Idealistic, Intense I feel as if anything I might write about this book will sound trite and pretentious. There really isn't much to say other than that it moved me like not much else has. I don't care for architecture, or for books about architects. I don't usually care for authors whose views are borderline offensive and polarizing . I'm not sure what Ayn Rand was hoping I'd get out of The Fountainhead, but that's not really up to her, is it? No. Her part ended when she penned the words, and now I've made the book mine. It is quite possible that I have, for lac...

I find myself often contemplating things that have no apparent immediate effect on my life whatsoever. I just can't help it. These aimless mental meanderings help me constantly erase and redraw regions of my personal morality. On one such journey I came up with a simple thought that helped me explain the purpose of my own life to a certain satisfiable extent - Help Einstein. I define Einstein as the stroke of genius that can reside in one or more human beings living in this universe. Einstein will help humankind break barriers, and will help us understand more about the universe we live in. Einstein will take us forward in our quest for that thing which we don't even know we are looking for. Einstein could just as well be silly and kill us all. Einstein's mind could be dulled with hunger. Einstein could be a girl or a boy, or neither. As we speak, maybe Einstein is being raped, or being forced into marriage, or being forced to rear children. Einstein might not have ...

Target:    100 books Current:    21 books I've read one other George Orwell novel before this - Animal Farm. I loved it! It is a small book with the story line being that anthropomorphic animals have taken over the running of a farm. Masquerading as a slightly twisted children's book, what it really is is a full blown political satire that makes sharp jabs at the Soviet Union that came into being after the Russian revolution of 1917. While you can definitely read and enjoy the book without noticing any of the hidden meanings, an understanding of the then political climate adds to the overall experience. It wasn't my intention to "review" Animal Farm, but looks like I sort of did it anyway. The bottom line is that I have fond memories of reading George Orwell, and I figured I'd give his other famous book, 1984, a shot. #21 1984 - George Orwell Liked it, Dystopian, Political, Censorship, Social hierarchy I'm going to go out on a limb here an...

Target:    100 books Current:    20 books I found this one while walking around in the book store. The title piqued my curiosity. The covert art helped. Before I knew it, I had picked it up, and was reading the little blurb at the back. The reviews were all glowing. I thought I'd give it a shot, and proceeded to read the first few pages right then and there. That's something I do - reading the first five, or ten, or twenty pages at the store before deciding whether to buy a book or not. I feel like I didn't have much of a choice here. The style of writing was one that I'd never encountered before. It was far too intriguing to ignore. That I'd be buying the book was a foregone conclusion. #20 A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing - Eimear McBride Liked it, Fiction, Tragic, Heavy themes, Irish Catholicism, Stream of consciousness writing style I mentioned that the style of writing was something I hadn't experienced before. It felt like the entire book was a jumb...