A Slick Life

A Slick Life is a biography of my father Shri Satish Chandra Bhatt who was an ordinary man during extra ordinary circumstances living the tumultuous life during and post independence times of India. the story is set during the freedom struggle period when he was a little boy living without the presence of his father who was a freedom fighter. His childhood was spent amid such uncertain biddings while having a large extended family for company. This gives a glimpse of those lost times when large families were a thing and how it moulded his personality. his youth, education and finally the job accompanied by the aspirations of a newly formed nation is what his life story entails.

Why is it important that one reads a common man's story. there were scores like him after all. What was special about him. The truth is this book isn't to laud a man out of the blue and hammer people to read it just because it has been written. No. That is not the purpose for me- his daughter to have written the book. My aim for writing it was to track the course of his life which was concurrently following the track of the progress of our nascent nation and it was easier to learn the feelings, decisions and motivations of those times, at least some of them. Undoubtedly, it was my curiosity to know what the previous generation had done for the country that could be pointed out with pride and satisfaction that it had indeed helped move the engines of a broken down economy, zero industries and an education that could not guarantee employment. and hence to answer that he started with the dams, IITs and Scientific research centres that the government had initiated. That evoked some more queries , more and then some which lasted in a heavy and hearty and multiple exchanges with him over phone, face to face and sometimes some tidbits in notes that he would give me. 

A lot of time was spent in creating a coherent picture out of the snippets offered to me and with two small kids it was definitely an ask but something that I looked forward to. 

Why is it called 'The Slick Life'?

The protagonist's life takes him through  different routes finally to his karm-bhoomi which as an oil well driller in ONGC which was just starting out in its baby steps. Herein lies the destiny of both- the worker as well as the organisation trying to make the best of of the situation during the times when such advanced technology or money for oil exploration and scouting was not available but the people engaged- normal graduates were asked to somehow deliver the results. These were the pioneers who went through a rough regimen, training, learning on the job while trying to avoid fatal accidents all the time. With joi de vivre and bon homie especially of the Dehradun boys. This book is a homage to those wonderful people who bonded over their ties from Dun and became more than family even in later times. 

Just a reminder, the ONGC was not what we see now. Much initial blood and sweat has gone into its making and splendour it has today. And that is one major reason why I set out to chronicle those lives and times that was easily forgotten in the rough and tumble of normal lives as we see now. The characters are all from real life except a couple of them who you may try to identify when you read about them. 

I believe that those were the times when people really lived their lives well with all the perceived shortcomings and less riches. Hence the title- A Slick Life. And of course the word 'slick' is associated with oil and here we are, celebrating an oil well driller's life story that is also the story of new India. 

Man or Salman

Good and bad reside inside a person.

If we see a lot of bad happening there is also an exceptional number of do-gooders in this world that kind of brings the world order at a par. Man will not desist from doing wrong as also some good. So it is rather a pesky thought to burden oneself over why people behave the way they do. If you know someone who has done something wrong and may be does so consistently, then apart from it giving you the gee bees you may also want to know his/her nature, compulsions, motivation, circumstance or the situation of that individual as to why a certain action took place. And after you’ve known the needful, you may still be restive in your mind with dissatisfaction of sorts as you mentally shrug with incredulity at the ridiculousness of the situation. A wrong can never be accepted as easily as a correct deed can be.

On the other hand if someone does good, it is taken as de rigueur and sometimes even acknowledged for what it is worth. That’s how nature ordains in its rule book.

However, we also seem to have contrived of ways to assimilate things that are not right and are untrue, into the web of our life and that has become de rigueur too. We are ready to forgive faults of those we think we like and whose image sits pretty in our hearts. We allow what our heart desires and pleases the eye to decide how things sway in the major play of elements so that the truth becomes a mere point in the agenda and the last one at that.

Whatever the repercussions: they will come as they come. There’s a very clever explanation in the Hindu philosophy for any good or bad happening in our lives and which btw transcends its communal limits to explain things to the general citizenry of our country and that is called ‘fate’.

If we have a bad turn of events it would mean simply that we did something bad (karma) in our previous birth or life and are now paying for it. Even if we are two goody shoes or boots as the case may be in the present birth, we may still have to suffer because of our misdeeds we did foolishly and spoiled our stay for the present.

The good we are receiving is similarly proportional to the goodness we’d done then. As you sow, so shall you reap....... in another birth. So you recharged your mobile phone balance but the money went to some other number by mistake. But you know what to blame it on. Same thing you pavement dwellers.

Image courtesy: spiritual-knowledge.net

What should a reader do to be a good reader?

It's a fad these days to be professing one's love for books when all around you see people deeply engaged in online gaming or surfing net. For all the love declared towards an act that takes such religious heights for some (and a small % only at that), you try forming an interesting, leave alone a learned conversation on the topic of books and it doesn't take more than a few minutes to abandon the effort altogether and start on another one involving a movie or an actor or mobile chatting or some such. Anything but the sacrosanct books that are something like a deity to be revered but not made close bonding with.
My 14 year old daughter  believes she is an avid reader and is happy to remain quite smug in that knowledge. So much so that she doesn't feel the need to go to the nearest library more often as she has her staple of Harry Potter, Eragon, Percy Jackson series that are apparently enough for her requirements. The vocabulary given therein is sufficient to help her 'Rowling' in clever English as she spreads her wings with 'wingardium laviosa' to 'ascendio' to the higher limits of knowledge sphere and many others.

But I digress. My point of writing this post is my alarm at the state of readership in the citizenry of present day India that is for some reason not able to devote him/herself to the written word but lives in the notion that they otherwise are devoted readers ie bookworms. Many older and well known authors have given their views on what they expect a reader to behave like to show he /she is a true blue follower of the word. Expectations aren't a one sided process you see. If a reader expects good, interesting or engaging writing from a writer, the writer too expects something out of its readers. Hummmm! Now that's a thought!

The renowned author Vladimir Nobokov had a rather straight forward requirement of a reader when he laid out the following 10 points of reference to be a good reader. Check yourself out dear how you fare in it! ;) Any four out of the lot makes you eligible at it.
Here goes:

1. The reader should belong to a book club.
2. The reader should identify himself or herself with teh hero or heroine.
3. The reader should concentrate on the socio-economic angle.
4. The reader should prefer a story with action and dialogue to one with none.
5. The reader should have seen the book in a movie.
6. The reader should be a budding author.
7. The reader should have imagination.
8. The reader should have memory.
9. The reader should have a dictionary.
10. The reader should have some artistic sense. 

Not just this Nobokov also believed that a reader should be a re-reader to really appreciate the writing. he says:

'A good reader, a major reader, an active and creative reader is a re-reader. And I shall tell you why. When we read a book for the first time the very process of laboriously moving our eyes from left to right, line after line, page after page, this complicated physical work upon the book, the very process of learning in terms of space and time what teh book is about, this stands between us and the artistic appreciation.

But I guess if there is even a single time of reading happening, the writer should be grateful enough. that would be enough a discharge of his/her duty towards the book.

As Samuel Johnson says- 'A writer only starts a book. The reader finishes it.'

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Book Review: Crossed & Knotted

Crossed &Knotted

India's First Composite Novel

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The Blurb

Crossed & Knotted is India’s first Composite Novel, a book written by fourteen authors in close collaboration with each other. The chapters, each a story in itself, are knotted with one another through characters, events, settings and emotions. The result is a read that criss-crosses through a multitude of emotions bringing out deep rooted human desires. They narrate tales of love and betrayal, suspense and mystery, courage and dilemma, along with hope and resilience. Read it for a taste so tantalizing, that your mind will surely be craving for more!

My Take On It : 

Crossed & Knotted as a composite novel comes out as one whole bunch of flowers in a bouquet, varied in colours and design yet joined at a common point. This being an experimental genre gives a unique opportunity for creative writers to excite their creative juices and bring in an individual voice unique to each one of them. The novel is therefore naturally not a straight take off about a single story but has a different takes on the various characters as a separate entity with every writer’s imprint on them. All in all a very interesting and enjoyable read all through the 14 stories. Here’s a brief look at what the stories have to offer:  

Beginning with Sutapa Basu’s story ‘A Curious Dalliance’ which has Sudip Roy’s wife Megha dying of a curious disease leaving behind a daughter Shivi, in-laws and of course her husband. Shivi is a grown up girl in the next story by Ayan Pal- ‘The Diary of Joseph Varughese’ who is inordinately fond of collecting old diaries and which could turn into her undoing in this thriller-ish story with her boyfriend James emerging as someone we wouldn’t think he would be. The novel diverges into the lives of various characters not holding on strictly to the original characters or story line so that we have Shivi’s friend’s Siya getting a lead place in the next story by Sanchita Sen Das- ‘The Web of Life’ and we venture into the esoteric realm of karma and regressive hypnotherapy.  The novel takes an unexpected route into fatalism and rhetorical musing regarding the aim of writing a story in ‘The Real Fiction Of Illiana Braun’ by Arvind Passey as he effortlessly  merges real life characters of the novel within his own story to surprising results while also propagating the diary as a perfect prop to advance a story line. ‘A Burning Candle’ by Mithun Mukherjee has Illiana  make a new friend in Catherine and find her nemesis in her quest to find the truth about Lily Brown whose story took shape in Kochi and where Illiana found herself in on a trip to India for a workshop on Architecture. Her brief acquaintance with Illiana leads Catherine- a journalist on a mission to Afghanistan to cover a story on situation of women and children there in the next story ‘Relic to Ruins’ by Avanti Sopory. Through her, we get a peep into the life of people in present day Afghanistan as well as that of Jameela and her children. ‘Leap of Faith’ by  Bhaswar Mukherjee, moves the story of Jameela- a fiercely independent  and progressive woman in an atmosphere that encouraged the subjugation of women and the weak but who manages to fight it while her daughter Rukhsana is able to break free of  it all completely and make a life for herself in India. ‘Reclaiming Life’ by  Anupama Jain shows an aspect of women in India not really in control of things concerning themselves as portrayed by Poorni, who is a friend of Rukhsana aka Dimpy, and is helped by latter to gain her lost ground in a patriarchal society as ours. Kamu aka Kamala Devi is the ‘Dragon Lady’, also Poorni’s vampish mother-in-law who has been illustrated vividly by Deepti Menon  in this story that explains why and how she came to be called the ‘dragon’. Her scheming and machinations lead everybody become afraid of her and thus making her succeed in her plans. This is how she also manages for her under qualified son Pankaj to have a better educated and simple girl Poorni as his wife. Pankaj’s younger brother Binoy leaves his mother’s home to find his own bearings in ‘For a Speck of a Moment’ where Amrit Sinha brings to light the terrifying moments of the Cafe Leopold and German Bakery bomb blasts through Binoy who has reached Pune to make a life for himself. He moves ahead in life in ‘To Ma & Pa, Con Amore!’ by Monika Nair, managing to find a wife in Mona Lisa who brings out the struggle between two generations, one- her father Shankar preferring the small town while she her self, the city life.

‘Look Beyond’ by Amar Lakshya Pawar reconnects the lives of a happy couple namely Aditya and Meena, destined for a tragedy as Shankar tries to lend a helping hand in the melee. A recently widowed Meena tries to build a new life with Sudip Roy without knowing much about his past in ‘Dawn to Dusk’ by Bhuvaneshwari Shankar. This penultimate story brings around the story line to the cast of the first story and gets anchored in the end chapter called ‘The Last Act’ by Arpita Banerjee. It attempts to bring a logical closure and peace to the demons raised by Sudip’s actions although quite dramatically!

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ABOUT THE EDITOR

Sutapa Basu is an Honours scholar from Santiniketan and holds a Masters degree in English Literature. Her professional career has seen her as a teacher, editor, and publisher. She has worked with renowned international publishing houses like Oxford University Press and Encyclopaedia Britannica. In the last five years of her professional career, she has launched 111 educational titles, 33 CDs and digital products, a language lab and a website. She has also developed and edited over 450 books over the last thirteen years.

ABOUT THE PUBLISHER : READOMANIA

India has traditionally been the land of storytellers and a lot of us have an inherent skill of creating good plots, stories and narrations. With a little encouragement and support, many more authors can be widely read. This is the essence of Readomania-an initiative that nurtures emerging stars of the literary world.

Readomania is an online content discovery platform that brings to life a whole new literary world, with stories, authors, books and a lot more. We also have a publishing house that takes the best of Readomania from the online format to print editions and launches debut authors. Our focus is to bring to the market, new authors and novel concepts, a composite novel being one of them. Our previous book, Chronicles of Urban Nomads, a collection of short stories, was also an experimental publication. 

It would not be an exaggeration to say that Readomania is the talent hunt in fiction that goes a step beyond, nurtures talent and showcases it to the world, in the process, creating a powerhouse of content.

Our website also has a lot in store for the reader. Since the content is edited and curated, by a strong team of editors, readers get quality reads on a platter. The variety on Readomania is impressively vast; we have romance, emotions, thrills, travel, humour and drama. 

Accessing Readomania makes for a perfect break of fifteen minutes from your daily grind. The website was launched in January, 2014 and is already very popular with about 3500 registered users, of which 300 members are active contributors and authors. The site also boasts of 800 online publications and more than three lakh page views till date.

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Book Review: And We Remained

And We Remained 

by 

Asad Ali Junaid

The Blurb

It is Bangalore in the late 1990’s. There are tremendous socio-economic and cultural transformations taking place as a result of liberalization. How would these changes impact a group of friends in their late teens? How would they cope, find opportunities and what of their original identities would they be left with, after western ideologies are brought in and bombarded into their awareness by cable TV and new media? 

Told through emails and first person account of events, And We Remained is a light and entertaining read of these friends as they experience love, heartbreak, prison, politics, drunken binges, strip clubs, sexcapades, US and Europe during their journey into adulthood


My take on it:

Junaid brings here a breezy and honest-as is where is account of life of an engineering student. This is such a sincere portrayal of a set of students and also their families coming from the middle class; their struggles and boys being boys come what may! It is a story told in a very simple and forthcoming manner.....yeah a no-holds barred definitely as you go through the untraversed territory of the male psyche and habits. :)
Five friends Sahir, Gopal, David, Sandeep and Anand give us a peep into the life in an engineering college where they share the back benches, pretty teacher's classes, a villain of a principal and even a girlfriend in a girl called Wardha, that forms a gamut of collective experiences throughout their seven semesters. This inspires quite some funny, light hearted moments in the narration like the time when due to paucity of money, Sahir and Sandeep end up giving a valentine's day card jointly to the same girl!
The various ups and downs therein form the basis of how they fare in the outside world which is not too great as they find out eventually. The tough life of the youth abroad while the families back home remain blissfully unaware of the hardships they face in the land of opportunity is also highlighted seamlessly into the story.
Since it showcases the lives of these students in the 1990s the emails emergence as the new tool of communication has been put to good use here as a means to relate the story from the various character's point of views.
All in all a light read to be enjoyed by all and also an enlightening one especially for the parents of budding engineering students to get a perspective! 

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Meet the Author

Asad Ali Junaid is a design professional in Bangalore working in the area of Human-Machine Interaction. He aims to resolve problems to enable humans interact and use technology efficiently.
Junaid writes whenever there is a compelling story inside him bursting to get out.  Junaid’s first fiction novel –And We Remained – started as a story which needed to be told… and one which needed to be told differently. He joined a three week in residence ‘Just Write’ fiction writing workshop where he got a chance to learn the nuances of and hone his story telling skills from authors Anil Menon, Anjum Hasan and Rimi Chatterjee. And We Remained then turned into a 52,000 word novel with an absorbing storyline and a unique narration style – the story is set in the 1990’s India and is told through emails and first person accounts of events.  Junaid is getting great feedback for the story depicting the mindset of engineering students in that era and the unique narration style it follows.
Junaid is married and his wife is a Post-Doctoral Researcher at Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore working in the area of Molecular Biophysics. Their toddler completes their home while keeping them on their toes.

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Book Review: The Rozabal Line

Republished from wordpress blog with the same title:

Book Review: The Rozabal Line

Well! This is the Indian version of the famous Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. The discerning point here is that what Mr Dan Brown indicates not very emphatically, Mr Ashwin Sanghi bases this book on that very premise namely that Jesus  came to India after the crucifixion and lived as a messenger of God among the local people and in fact died here too. Mr Sanghi’s book begins by detailing a crypt in the depths of Kashmir mountains that is believed to be the grave of Jesus and is known by the name Yuz Asaf locally.

In fact the whole book is a continuation of factual details mixed with some fiction and simultaneously concluding how all religions are actually a derivation or have been linked to each other in some form or other. The prophecies at various times of the world coming to an end, the bloodshed, murders and all good or bad things are a consequence of one’s karma, is all interconnected with all the peoples of the world– is what Mr Sanghi tells us in this very descriptive and interesting book.

There is no single hero or heroine but the various characters whether a murderer or a priest in distant parts of the world, find themselves coming face to face as a natural process of their karma and actually a one and only one shared history that we have with each other although some links have become blurred with time.

I found the book quite engaging, well paced, and well researched work of historical fiction, one that will make you like history if you’d never liked the subject in the past.

Sonnet: Within a Moment

So much chaos within a moment

Spent in mono,dia & sometimes trialogues

What is good, better or best

Soundlessly sneaks out the rogue

Leaving the fretting, fuming & more

Keening heart with restlessness

Sinking into subdued torpor

Bind the shackl’d to the harness

Check the unreined! Faraway it gallops!

Tether the strain or you’ll strain the tether.

***

You delve in its whys and wherefores

Seeking answers if not the joys from it

Indecisions burden it as the clock keeps score

Burning & turning & roiling on the spit

Were you searching a better instant in a morrow?

For now is the future you waited for yesterday

There’s just so much further time to borrow

Do, please do- when sun shines make hay!

Einstein’d vouch; the time is relative

Be in the moment & the moment You’ll Be.

A Slick Life-- a story of Dehra Dun and its people and ONGC

Ruskin Bond isn’t the only one who has made ‘A Town called Dehra’ his home. His book by the same name apart from reliving his childhood days growing in this sleepy town is also an endorsement of the fact that there is something uniquely special about it. What? There’s the ubiquitous greenery, simple hill folk that flock it in search of jobs, a sort of unhurried pace of life; well! Sort of! And people still find time while on walks or scooters to say hello to that acquaintance you spotted on the road. Do people still want this kind of life? The answer is yes they do. But without losing out on the speed they’ve gathered in the fast lane. So we find many a city slickers homing in into the town for rest and recoup because the place gives a deep sense of contentment as well as the spiritual connect that is such an integral part of it.

Dehra Dun, the capital of the state of Uttarakhand (India) has always evinced much interest of people even since the olden times as the yellowed pages of history would tell of its renown as the place of ‘green hedges and grey heads’. Lush green foliage dotted the landscape of the valley and made it one of the greenest in the country. The grey heads- symbolized the retired senior civil and defence officials who chose it as their last refuge because of its salubrious climate and peaceful ambience.

Migration of people from various part of India had begun more than 200 years ago and gave it the cosmopolitan character that it bears now. Apart from the hill folks like the Garhwalis and Gorkhas, many disciples of Guru Ram Rai settled here. During the early 1950s, the setting up of the Oil & Natural Gas Directorate (now Corporation) brought in many Bengali families who took jobs in ONGC, Ordinance factory and the Survey of India. Needless to say, all who came to know the place and it’s people, embraced the place as their own and settled down here.          

 The times then saw a wonderful camaraderie, cultural and reassertion of Indian values in the society what with the call for freedom struggle gaining strength. Gandhiji had unified India like none other could have and the country and its people were nervously excited to see how the development of the country would unfold post independence. The many sacrifices, turmoil, thoughts, mental state of the common people during the struggle are something nobody knows about. We have been inundated with many books eulogising the contributions of political stalwarts time and again but nothing on the contributions of the common man.

  A Slick Life  is a story of a common man from Dehra Dun who joined ONGC as a driller. His life exemplifies the joys, laughter, difficulties, the wars that shook the country, the Dehra Dun of yore and most importantly how the oil industry took firm roots in India and the immense contribution of ONGC in it. The story is a never before explored subject of oil well drilling and an endearing look at the past at how people used to be once upon a time! Perhaps, you’ll recall things you’ve probably forgotten by now.

It is a must read for every Indian.

PS: A Slick Life is available on 50% OFF for the month of JUNE so HURRY....n grab your copy today.

For PAPERBACK of the book contact:  authoricha@gmail.com

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A copy of my review from wordpress blog. COMMENTS AND VIEWS, YR EXPECTATIONS CORDIALLY INVITED!!! :)

Book Review- Be Careful What You Wish For by Jeffrey Archer

18/02/2015 / LEAVE A COMMENT / EDIT

This is the latest from one of my favourite writers in fiction writing. A gripping tale of a family becoming victim to personal vendetta and business rivalry in an arena that knows no value for ethics. The story has all the neccessary ingredients to keep it going but I do miss the incisive wit and cunning that spewed from Mr Archer’s pen in his previous novels like ‘Kane & Able’,’Not a penny more, not a penny less’ and others.
The story is about the Clifton family who is being targetted by Don Pedro Martinez with a vicious vengeance that will brook no obstacle to obtain his aim. While the Cliftons are being keenly guarded by the police, Don Pedro takes his fight onto Emma Clifton’s brother the cabinet secretary Sir Giles Barrington’s chances to further his political career. Other than that all is well in everyone’s personal lives as Emma’s children Sebastian and Jessica find suitable life partners too with all sides giving their blessings until Don Pedro plays his heinous part to bring unhappiness all concerned what with his connections with the Nazis and even the IRA.
In all of this, Cedric Hardcastle, an outsider to these families, appears like a godfather and sets about righting the wrongs. But is he able to help them despite his efforts is what is most interesting.
Just when I’d decided Mr Archer going all mellow and spongy soft with most of his characters, he lends a twist that made me ask him- Why sir why…?

Mother-By Order

 Hey all, here's something I'd posted sometime back for you all to read while I'm reading another book to review for you all! Enjoy...... 

Two news items caught my eye this month...and I came to the conclusion that the world will never cease to surprise us ever since the old order changed into a never-settling-into-any-fixed pattern world.

Mothers are in demand. Well, they’ve always been since eternity. The old order had a fixed place and role for the women and when ambitions and feminism were hidden well underneath the many folds of petticoats and patriarchy, she delivered herself very ably to the various demands made on her. Of all else her role as a mother was what she excelled in the most as the one who could go to any lengths to take care of her children. She has been widely proclaimed the nurturer, the care giver, the nurse, the hearth warmer, the house keeper.....the keeper and so on.

Ma, maman, mamma, mutti, mother, madre- as she is known in different regions of the world n different languages. But it without doubt is an entity that has been most referred, revered, and loved than any other relationship.  Whatever the older social system gave to the women, it itself received the better of the deal naturally. A picture of a happily laughing family, the mother serenely knitting away as they sit comfortably in the drawing room or kitchen or wherever, comes to mind when I think of the them days.

Men as we know have traditionally been the providers. Mothers devoted, fathers providers- the complete package.

So the first news that caught my attention was of a man from Hong Kong who had put out an advertisement for...hold your breath...yes a ‘mother’!

Now now! After the initial stumping I went into the next stage of consciousness and asked myself in my mind ‘Exactly why? And what kind of mamma?’ To which the news report stated that the man did not have a mother since his childhood and he wanted to know the feeling of having a mother. That was about all the report had to give so I do not know the answer to my next query- What kind of mamma?

I am still waiting for any more news about this man’s quest to find a mother and good luck too! Hail ye changing order, mothers are now a commodity that I presume will gain more in demand in times to come.

The second news item was closer home and again, is an indicator of the times we are in. A young man from Kerala, India shocked not just his own parents but all who heard of it when he said that he wanted to be with ‘HIS’ mother-a nurse working in an Arab country, who he had found through the internet! No it was not a case of a biological mother finding her separated child or vice-versa. The boy had come to know her through internet and remained in touch with her so much so that they became a family!

She apparently had also transferred some money into his account and thus...strengthened the filial bonds with self. This raises a good set of questions itself but one thing that I find in it is that it fulfils the need of  being a ‘Provider’ ;) and a mom too!

Living in a virtual neighbourhood, FB family and friends we’ve become the 3-D caricatures of our human lives. We are being virtually manipulated into believing that the world is enclosed inside our laptops, i-pads, mobiles and the lot.

Another thing Hong Kong man.....you may have to wait a long time to find the old order mom if that’s who you are looking for.

We – the Phoenix

              Today’s early morning walk brought a close encounter with the perpetual persevering quality of nature when one finds oneself at the end of the road. Well, literally. Reaching the point where right at the curve, one road gave into another that itself winded into a never ending maze, was where I came upon this sight that I thought was extra ordinary.
Beyond the wire mesh that divided the footpath from the protected and enclosed green cover that included a host of wild flowers, tall Cedar, Ficus, Casia, Mulberry, Pine etc, came to view a green bouquet of Banyan branches, each one healthy, independent and ready to very soon enforce an identity of their own. Nothing new in that. All plants grow this way. Some grow laterally into a bush, some tall and erect some tall and wide canopied while some raise branches in this or that direction according to space, climate, or the general environment. The one thing common to all these plants is the fact that they grow while drawing strength from their roots.
My Banyan tree branches did the same as nature ordained they should. In the prime of their life, they grew gaily unmindful of any dangers or care for or of the world while they received their strength from the ground below their stems. Except, the ground wasn’t immediately beneath them. What formed a fertile base for them was a lopped off or possibly a storm fallen stump of an old Banyan tree that lay rotting and circled by a net of grass that wove itself around the still carcass of a once magnificent glory. It was something that wasn’t very old, but mature enough to demand veneration of all those that passed under its fulsome shade at some point in the past.
The tree mustn’t have expected an early demise too for it must’ve had many hopes harboured in its tough wood, through its seeds or its potent rooting branches. It is the tree of eternity. It can perpetuate its life interminably if left on its own. The sapling that emperor Ashoka’s son Mahendra and daughter Sanghamitra took to Sri Lanka with the Buddha’s message of peace and non violence still lives on. Faith is the key. Faith didn’t let the sapling be destroyed, veneration gave it longevity.
My fallen stump- mine for the moment- went down to forces beyond its control and even when virulently infested by termites and ants from within, it maintains a sturdy facade on the outside. With the young roundish and green leaves radiate in the early sun’s rays, the stump slowly, almost imperceptively crumbles down unto its dull, earthy grave. Dust unto dust. With it will die away the last remnants of its reigning magnificence and power that those passers by withheld with much awe and more such aspirations it kept within itself to achieve in later times. Or will it?
The sprouting branches tell a different story. Why have they made a home in a crumbling nest of termite ridden pocket of a bark and not taken the solidity offered by the earth just a little distance away? The only reason I can find is that it’s because the stump wanted it to happen. They are a product of the stump’s own hopes and aspirations and instead of letting them die; it strove to create other entities to perpetuate itself. The tree was re-birthing itself from its own dust much like the phoenix from its own ashes. Makes me believe that the Phoenix wasn’t just a lore and in fact its the way the nature’s cycle works. Evolution is all about perpetuating the self. We keep repeating such cycle even in our lifetime. Every time we fall, we rise, we perpetuate our beliefs, we- the Phoenix.

Name of book:      DORK-The adventures of Robin Einstein Varghese

Author:                   Sidin Vadukut

Here’s a book as promising many a funny adventures, as the title suggests, bringing us close to a dangerously normal, humble and unwittingly intelligent Robin Einstein Varghese, whose office travails pull us into the whirlpool of his first year in his consultant firm- Dufresne Partners.

The book takes you through the inside-out ways of an organisation and its people’s way of thinking and functioning and makes you a willing participant in the process. Despite the rich dose of humour sprayed all over the story, there are times when you feel like shouting at Robin, the hero (?) for thinking or doing something no one else would otherwise think to do. You live and breathe his anxieties, fortunes and misfortunes as you move ahead with each word.

It is a story of a fresh business school pass out who lands himself a job with Dufresne Partners who in turn have hired him out of desperation themselves. Being a pass out becomes a catch phrase with Robin as he shows extra ordinary ability to pass out leading to unprecedented and unpredictable consequences. As he tells himself in incredulous wonder- “Sometimes I think I am the character in some insane office culture novel.”

This is the first volume of the Dork trilogy by Sidin Vadukut and promises engaging and good writing by the author.

A must read.