Wednesday, August 29, 2007

A Thousand Splendid Suns

The moment i saw Khalid Hosseini's second book on the stands, i knew i wanted to read it. Thanks to a good friend of mine, i managed to land up a copy of it on my birthday. Expectations were high because of his wonderful first book, The Kite Runner.
My emotions while i was reading this book, and on completing it was surreal, to say the least. One thing that has to be very clear is that it is a very depressing book at times. But, then, you feel its a depression you have to try and understand. That these kinds of lives are being played out in a million homes around the world. That to close your senses to this book, is a crime, in a way.
So, does it surpass his previous work? In a nutshell, i would say, yes, it does. While the Kite Runner was also a story which had its roots in Afghanistan, it was at times, an adventure story. This book, though, is a stark and unflinching look at the lives of two women in war torn Afghanistan. The book opens with 15 year old Mariam living in a kolba outside city limits. She is the harami daughter of a rich person in the city. Circumstances force her to marry Rasheed, a widower, and move to Kabul. Rasheed, a staunch believer in age old customs, starts getting increasingly violent towards her. In the same neighbourhood lives Laila, whose parents have a more modernistic outlook towards life. Tragic circumstances force Laila to join Mariam's household. While the hardships continue, the women form an unbreakable bond, which allows them to get through all the hardships they have to face.
The story does get too melodramatic at times, but you realise there is a message here. That behind every burqa, there lies a million stories. Stories of pain, suffering, dreams... The melodrama does seem justified here. The book also paints a vivid picture of Afghanistan, and how that country has been at an endless war for the last few decades.
Redemption is alsways a recurring theme in Hosseini's books. Even here, past the suffering, the pain and the ravages of war, finally, there is hope again. This is a book i highly recommend to anyone. If not for anything else, atleast for an amazing character study of two unbelievably brave women.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

I...

Well actually... I dont know what i am writing about. This blog is my attempt to break my duck for the last 6 months on this page. Right now i am absolutely inspired to write something. Problem is, i dunno wat. So maybe i can write about my lunch today. Which was nothing special. I had my perrenial favorite in the Infy food courts, the egg noodles served by the Tamanna canteen. I had lunch with Vandana as usual. Probably irritated her too, as usual. Which is okay i gez, since yesterday she had sent off a mail to my colleagues sayin that i got engaged! (I am still getting compliments).
I could write about the fact that i had a slight fever yesterday, which actually scared me no end, since i have to go on a much awaited pleasure trip tonorrow to Delhi and Goa with my hommie from college, Arun and his American boss. But then again, it doesnt seem too interesting right now.
And now, when i so seriously want to discuss the problems besetting this world of ours, my gal pal from college, Sangeetha, has interrupted me! Talk about problems!
Hmm.. Well, the last movie i saw was the Insider on my laptop. Now that was a good flick. An amazing drama. Excellent performances, not just from Russell Crowe and Al Pacino, but from an excellent supporting cast. Micheal Mann is a director whose movies impress me no end. Even his supposedly 'worst movie', Miami Vice. I absolutely loved it. And of course, if tobacco companies actually do what is mentioned in the movie, it is a MAJOR problem. Although i feel a bit hypocritical now, since i am a smoker myself, but there you are.
Well, i did get inspired to write after coming across my philosopher pal's blog (privatesofthecarribean.blogspot.com). The idyllic environs of Sleepy little Thrissur seems to have brought out the writer in him. Although there was a part i did not totally agree with. In one post of his, he has mentioned that one of the things he likes the most about Kerala is the people. Somehow, for me, the thing i like the most of the place is the amazingly pristine beauty the land offers. Sometimes you feel that God has taken residence for good in this part of the world, and forsaken the rest of the world. The PEOPLE, on the other hand, have always, i have felt, taken this for granted. Its not that the land is so beautiful because of them, rather, in spite of them. Of course, i am not totally against them, but then, that old adage i heard somewhere, comes to mind.. Gods Own Country with the Devils own People...

And therein lies a long story...