It was 3 am in the morning and I was lying on my bed with a subtle wetness in my eyes. Halcyon images from the good old days were playing in my mind resulting in a quivering smile on my lips. A few hours must have passed but I couldn’t care less. I had drowned in a river of nostalgia, trying to get a grip on a raft in the turbulent water in hopes that it would pull me back into the realm of present time.
This was kind of becoming like a daily routine for me. After a full fledged day of sitting on my bum, munching on snacks in front of the idiot box, I dreaded the time when I would have to hit the bed. A deep slumber is what I deserved after such a constructive and wearying day but as soon as I lay down on bed I found myself immersed in the memories of my school days. A couple of hours had passed before the sublime rays of a new day peeped into my room through the window. It was sheer madness and I had to put an end to all of this but I failed miserably and began lamenting the loss of those endless days when I would stand in front of the mirror with my friends fixing our hair. I looked back with fondness at the time when my friends and I would abscond from our class like prisoners in shackles into the jubilation of the outside world.
Plunging into frays with my bete noires without any rhyme or reason used to be my behavior of choice since I knew I had the support of my clique, perching on school grapevine in the recess was our favorite thing to do. Proposing mind-numbingly lame excuses to my teachers for incomplete assignments and homework was one of my top-most habits and luckily the gimmick always worked in my favor. I reminisce how we hated wasting our time standing in the mile-long queues for the canteen waiting to buy food, so we discovered an effective solution to our problem which was to push and shove others in front of us and then make our way to the top like hungry maniacs.
Once during an extremely long and boring period of biology when my teacher was giving us lectures on the vile subject about the bisection of a frog, my evil mind spun into motion. I took out a fashion magazine from my bag, astutely placing it on my lap so that the desk shielded it and my teacher was unable to see it. I began flipping through the pages, simultaneously nodding my head as if I was in rapt attention of what my teacher was delivering. Soon the word spread around the class and before I knew it I was receiving nudges from my friends who were begging me to handover this source of entertainment to them. The magazine was passed around the class and the lecture which previously seemed to stretch so long, ended quickly.
Sadly my school life is over now, I reckon I have to make myself come out of memories of the foregone years that are over shadowing my life. I realize I should look forward to a bright future and hope that it will be as blissful as my past. As much as I want to go back in time and relive all those joyous memories, I know that life goes forward and the world spins no matter what. Now all I’m left with are the little memories of those big moments.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Quotations!!
Over the past few years I have developed a love for reading quotations. As a child when I first them in a weekly newspaper I couldn't really grasp the true wisdom of the sayings but as time passed I began to comprehend their meaning. What still attracts me and urges me to read and collect them is the fact that how a few ordinary words, enclosed in a sentence, can truthfully render an inspiring message of a very high magnitude. Therefore, I'll share with you some of my favorite quotes from my little black book of quotations : )
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Mark Twain
Don't go around saying the world owes you a living; the world owes you nothing; it was here first. Mark Twain
If you can't describe what you are doing as a process, you don't know what you're doing. W. Edwards Deming
One who sits between two chairs may easily fall down. Proverb from Romania and Russia
Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something. Plato
I haven't failed, I've found 10,000 ways that don't work. Thomas Edison
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Mark Twain
Don't go around saying the world owes you a living; the world owes you nothing; it was here first. Mark Twain
If you can't describe what you are doing as a process, you don't know what you're doing. W. Edwards Deming
One who sits between two chairs may easily fall down. Proverb from Romania and Russia
Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something. Plato
I haven't failed, I've found 10,000 ways that don't work. Thomas Edison
Monday, August 4, 2008
Review: NEMESIS
The book 'Nemesis' has been masterfully written on a very complex subject by Shaun Hutson. It is a bleak novel about love, lust, hatred and revenge. The book revolves around the life of a troubled couple John and Sue who's daughter Lisa had been brutally murdered in their absence. In a desperate attempt of running a way from there past, they move to Hinkston which is a small town situated on the outskirts of London, in a forlorn hope of starting afresh.
The story is written in two time periods, first is in the 1940's, during the time of world war II where George Lawrence- a man appointed by the government of Germany is given the crucial task of working on a mysterious project. He compiles his research, experiments and results in a sacrosanct document named 'Genesis', but suddenly after a few years he is commanded by the government to cease his work. Upon receiving Lawrence's strong refusal, the govt. murders him and assumes that their secret had been buried forever, but they are gravely mistaken as the project is to be continued by someone else.
Now in present times, the town of Hinkston had become a prey of a middle-aged secretive man named Curtis who works in disguise as a reputable doctor treating women who have lost hopes of conceiving children. Sue who had become sterile after the birth of her first daughter, expressed her wish of having another child through the treatment provided by Curtis. John, her husband is dissatisfied with Sue's decision because for some mystifying reason there was something enigmatic about the children that are born by Curtis's obscure treatment.
The story takes a sharp turn when John makes a shocking discovery about Curtis' work; he frantically goes to his wife to inform her, only to find out that Sue has been abducted by their daughter's killer! What happens next is totally unexpected.
This surreal novel gets haunting at times and deals with bizarre schizophrenic perspectives of a disillusioned doctor who is determined to complete his father's unfinished task. Disturbing phenomenon unfolds, olds wounds get resurfaced and harsh realities are faced which makes this enthralling book a must-read.
The story is written in two time periods, first is in the 1940's, during the time of world war II where George Lawrence- a man appointed by the government of Germany is given the crucial task of working on a mysterious project. He compiles his research, experiments and results in a sacrosanct document named 'Genesis', but suddenly after a few years he is commanded by the government to cease his work. Upon receiving Lawrence's strong refusal, the govt. murders him and assumes that their secret had been buried forever, but they are gravely mistaken as the project is to be continued by someone else.
Now in present times, the town of Hinkston had become a prey of a middle-aged secretive man named Curtis who works in disguise as a reputable doctor treating women who have lost hopes of conceiving children. Sue who had become sterile after the birth of her first daughter, expressed her wish of having another child through the treatment provided by Curtis. John, her husband is dissatisfied with Sue's decision because for some mystifying reason there was something enigmatic about the children that are born by Curtis's obscure treatment.
The story takes a sharp turn when John makes a shocking discovery about Curtis' work; he frantically goes to his wife to inform her, only to find out that Sue has been abducted by their daughter's killer! What happens next is totally unexpected.
This surreal novel gets haunting at times and deals with bizarre schizophrenic perspectives of a disillusioned doctor who is determined to complete his father's unfinished task. Disturbing phenomenon unfolds, olds wounds get resurfaced and harsh realities are faced which makes this enthralling book a must-read.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Being Fat!!
Neha is a most gorgeous girl I ever seen, I thought, being a little jealous. I mean look at her. Her elegance has enchanted every onlooker in this party, it's like she has the power of tantalizing everyone. Their she is wearing a spaghetti strap dress stitched to perfection that brilliantly fits her hourglass figure, it flatters her curves even more and makes her look like ravishing diva. She manages to be in the lime light due to her well proportioned body.
Huhhhh!!! Its all about the body, isn’t it? I thought as I saw Neha and my few others friends making their way towards me. How I wish I possessed a figure as great as hers, guess some girls have all the luck. Its not only Neha who always gets noticed, it's the same with all my friends, accept me. As Neha came closer she said ‘hey fatty’ in a sarcastic tone and started chatting with her girlfriends, whereas I sat there cursing my self, shrinking in the appearance of my perfect friends. Her acrimonious remark made me feel worst about myself. I had always felt intimidated around them, less confident and at times odd. Maybe it's because I am not like them, for I know they make fun of my huge hips and bulky body behind my back.
This is the story of a depressed teenage girl who is angry with herself. Unhappy with her own body. She wishes she could have a perfect figure like her friends that would draw people’s attention towards her.
Another girl Ramsha was telling her friend how she got dumped by her boyfriend: previously Hassan used to pay so much attention towards me and now all of a sudden he has changed. We have been going out for more than a year and yesterday he just ditched me to go out with another girl in my college. Hassan said that I resembled a fat potato and no one would like to date someone like me. I am devastated I so envy Muniba’s looks (Hassan’s new girlfriend). I have heard people saying that she eats like a cow but still manages to look so skinny. But now I’ve made up my mind, I am going to do anything and everything to get slim, I would go on a strict diet to macerate my body. Even if I have to starve myself, I will!
I am sure there are many teenaged girls who would relate to the stories of these two girls. Look around you and you will find fine examples of such people. Maybe it's your friend who keeps obsessing over her weight or maybe you yourself have a complex of this sort. In today’s world it has almost become a mind set of youngsters that if they want to be accepted everywhere they ‘have’ to appear slim. To accomplish this silly target they take a nonsensical approach towards it. Sometimes they go on useless crash diets, starve themselves or take supplements which are not only harmful for there bodies but are also of no use.
What we fail to understand is that it's not our outer appearance that makes us stand out from the crowd, its our personality, the way we are with people and our urbane manners. It's better to feel elated for what we have, than to brag and boast about things we don’t. Yearning to be like someone won’t make you like them. Transience of beauty is a recognized fact, it will not stay with you forever but what will stay is your true inner personality that would enrapture everyone. Appearance does matter to an extent but it should not be forgotten that what makes people important is their uniqueness. I think its totally wrong to whine about ones own body and then go through the trouble of starving themselves just to impress and be excepted in a certain group.
C’mon we all are different individuals and should be accepted for who we are, not how we look, if you are not getting to hangout with your so-called friends and are being ignored just because you are fat, then do hell with them. They are not worthy of being with you. Cheers!
Huhhhh!!! Its all about the body, isn’t it? I thought as I saw Neha and my few others friends making their way towards me. How I wish I possessed a figure as great as hers, guess some girls have all the luck. Its not only Neha who always gets noticed, it's the same with all my friends, accept me. As Neha came closer she said ‘hey fatty’ in a sarcastic tone and started chatting with her girlfriends, whereas I sat there cursing my self, shrinking in the appearance of my perfect friends. Her acrimonious remark made me feel worst about myself. I had always felt intimidated around them, less confident and at times odd. Maybe it's because I am not like them, for I know they make fun of my huge hips and bulky body behind my back.
This is the story of a depressed teenage girl who is angry with herself. Unhappy with her own body. She wishes she could have a perfect figure like her friends that would draw people’s attention towards her.
Another girl Ramsha was telling her friend how she got dumped by her boyfriend: previously Hassan used to pay so much attention towards me and now all of a sudden he has changed. We have been going out for more than a year and yesterday he just ditched me to go out with another girl in my college. Hassan said that I resembled a fat potato and no one would like to date someone like me. I am devastated I so envy Muniba’s looks (Hassan’s new girlfriend). I have heard people saying that she eats like a cow but still manages to look so skinny. But now I’ve made up my mind, I am going to do anything and everything to get slim, I would go on a strict diet to macerate my body. Even if I have to starve myself, I will!
I am sure there are many teenaged girls who would relate to the stories of these two girls. Look around you and you will find fine examples of such people. Maybe it's your friend who keeps obsessing over her weight or maybe you yourself have a complex of this sort. In today’s world it has almost become a mind set of youngsters that if they want to be accepted everywhere they ‘have’ to appear slim. To accomplish this silly target they take a nonsensical approach towards it. Sometimes they go on useless crash diets, starve themselves or take supplements which are not only harmful for there bodies but are also of no use.
What we fail to understand is that it's not our outer appearance that makes us stand out from the crowd, its our personality, the way we are with people and our urbane manners. It's better to feel elated for what we have, than to brag and boast about things we don’t. Yearning to be like someone won’t make you like them. Transience of beauty is a recognized fact, it will not stay with you forever but what will stay is your true inner personality that would enrapture everyone. Appearance does matter to an extent but it should not be forgotten that what makes people important is their uniqueness. I think its totally wrong to whine about ones own body and then go through the trouble of starving themselves just to impress and be excepted in a certain group.
C’mon we all are different individuals and should be accepted for who we are, not how we look, if you are not getting to hangout with your so-called friends and are being ignored just because you are fat, then do hell with them. They are not worthy of being with you. Cheers!
A book review: 'Girls of Riyadh'
REVIEW: 'THE GIRLS OF RIYADH'
RAJAA ALSANEA
The book 'Girls of Riyadh' has been innovatively written by a 25 year old girl, Rajaa Alsanea. The book revolves around a clique of four best friends who reside in Riyadh. These girls who have all the characteristics of an epicurean belong to the 'velvet class' of the city and enjoy the material luxuries that they can easily afford like living in palatial houses, wearing branded clothes and traveling to exotic locales but the book basically reveals their convoluted love life. It also tells about the impediments they face in their relationships, mostly caused by the conservative and critical thinking of their society. The book embodies the thoughts, ideas and desires of women behind the veils. It condemns the double standards and gender disparity that dominates the Saudi society.
This story is narrated by an unidentified writer who knows the life of these four girls and writes about them weekly in the form of emails that are sent out to all the users of the internet in Saudi Arabia. Every week the anonymous writer who is determined not to disclose her identity, apprises the readers about the kind of mixed response that she receives, replies to them and continues with the tale of the four girls who exemplify the adversities faced by Saudi women, most of whom find themselves constricted in shackles. The author uses inspiring yet pertinent quotes from playwrights, famous authors and singers in the beginning of most emails which whets the readers' appetite to read further.
The protagonists of the book are very realistic. Sadeem is a petite girl who is around 20 years old and is usually tangled in topsy-turvy situations. She is the one who suffers many heartbreaks and her quest for finding herself a suitable match throughout the book is quiet interesting. Lamees possess a little more freedom than her other peeps due to her influential and knowledgeable parents. She is career oriented and seldom faces hardships. From all the girls Lamees was the one I found the least interesting because in her life the quantity of drama that prevails is comparatively less than the one that can be found in oodles in her friends' stories. Gamrah is someone who dithers in almost every phase of her life, be it in marriage, raising a child or living with her parents as a divorcee, she is constantly in fear of being ostracized. The most delightful character for me was Michelle who is very different from her friends in every way. This liberal, half-American girl compromises on nothing, she never settles for anything less than perfect. She is much more independent than her friends who she thinks are responsible for their own bad state of affairs. Michelle has a different outlook on everything and more than often her perceptions and view points clash with her friends'.
Like many other reviewers of the book, I didn't find it amazingly revelatory, for the sole reason that the books depicts the emotions of young girls who have the same feelings, urges and desires like any other young girl of their age around the world. They fall in love, they do sneaky things, they get betrayed, they suffer heartbreaks, they despise the system and they have a strong urge to retaliate, it's all the same. The only difference is that in this book the girls do all this in a different society. The book has been banned in Saudi Arabia for its explicit albeit true details of the lives of the Saudi women. If this review triggers your curiosity and interest and you are looking for a light read then get a hold of it and read to find out what route the lives of these four girls take. The cover of the book would be compelling enough for most people to entice them into reading it, but as they say: 'Don't judge a book by it's cover' so for those who are seeking for more deeper information and a serious read about Saudi Arabia, I reckon that you have better options to choose from.
RAJAA ALSANEA
The book 'Girls of Riyadh' has been innovatively written by a 25 year old girl, Rajaa Alsanea. The book revolves around a clique of four best friends who reside in Riyadh. These girls who have all the characteristics of an epicurean belong to the 'velvet class' of the city and enjoy the material luxuries that they can easily afford like living in palatial houses, wearing branded clothes and traveling to exotic locales but the book basically reveals their convoluted love life. It also tells about the impediments they face in their relationships, mostly caused by the conservative and critical thinking of their society. The book embodies the thoughts, ideas and desires of women behind the veils. It condemns the double standards and gender disparity that dominates the Saudi society.
This story is narrated by an unidentified writer who knows the life of these four girls and writes about them weekly in the form of emails that are sent out to all the users of the internet in Saudi Arabia. Every week the anonymous writer who is determined not to disclose her identity, apprises the readers about the kind of mixed response that she receives, replies to them and continues with the tale of the four girls who exemplify the adversities faced by Saudi women, most of whom find themselves constricted in shackles. The author uses inspiring yet pertinent quotes from playwrights, famous authors and singers in the beginning of most emails which whets the readers' appetite to read further.
The protagonists of the book are very realistic. Sadeem is a petite girl who is around 20 years old and is usually tangled in topsy-turvy situations. She is the one who suffers many heartbreaks and her quest for finding herself a suitable match throughout the book is quiet interesting. Lamees possess a little more freedom than her other peeps due to her influential and knowledgeable parents. She is career oriented and seldom faces hardships. From all the girls Lamees was the one I found the least interesting because in her life the quantity of drama that prevails is comparatively less than the one that can be found in oodles in her friends' stories. Gamrah is someone who dithers in almost every phase of her life, be it in marriage, raising a child or living with her parents as a divorcee, she is constantly in fear of being ostracized. The most delightful character for me was Michelle who is very different from her friends in every way. This liberal, half-American girl compromises on nothing, she never settles for anything less than perfect. She is much more independent than her friends who she thinks are responsible for their own bad state of affairs. Michelle has a different outlook on everything and more than often her perceptions and view points clash with her friends'.
Like many other reviewers of the book, I didn't find it amazingly revelatory, for the sole reason that the books depicts the emotions of young girls who have the same feelings, urges and desires like any other young girl of their age around the world. They fall in love, they do sneaky things, they get betrayed, they suffer heartbreaks, they despise the system and they have a strong urge to retaliate, it's all the same. The only difference is that in this book the girls do all this in a different society. The book has been banned in Saudi Arabia for its explicit albeit true details of the lives of the Saudi women. If this review triggers your curiosity and interest and you are looking for a light read then get a hold of it and read to find out what route the lives of these four girls take. The cover of the book would be compelling enough for most people to entice them into reading it, but as they say: 'Don't judge a book by it's cover' so for those who are seeking for more deeper information and a serious read about Saudi Arabia, I reckon that you have better options to choose from.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
