1. You must post the rules!
2. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post and then create eleven new questions to ask the people you’ve tagged.
3. Tag eleven people and link to them on your post.
4. Let them know you’ve tagged them.
Here are the questions Hitchy asked, with my answers embedded.
1.) If you could have any superpower, what would it be ? Imagine !
>> To make anyone slim OR fat! I’d round up all the mean folks and make them super-fat, so they are grounded for life. (Er, today happens to be my Mean-Avatar day!!) I’d also grant nice people with a great figure (if they so wish it!). So be in my good books, people!
2.) What was your favorite childhood television program?
>> Spiderman and He-Man.. they both give me a feeling of ‘Sunday’ 🙂 day of rest and fun!
3.) Have / had any celebrity crushes ?
>> Hritik Roshan, who else!!!
4.) If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go?
>> At the moment it would be India, cos I’ve not been there for almost 6 months!! Yeah, I’m homesick.
5.) Name 1 thing you miss about being a child.
>> A calorie-free life. Not that I ate sensibly then, I was blissfully ignorant of words like Carbs, Monosaturated fat, blah blah blah.
6.) Name the one comic/book character that you loved the most and why ?
>> Er…. Suppandi 🙂
7.) What is the one thing that you are dying to try but haven’t had a chance to do so yet ?
>> After watching ZNMD, I think I might want to try sky-diving sometime, provided my BFFs join me!
8.) Do you have a role model – someone you want to emulate? Whom do you admire the most?
>> Chetan Bhagat.. who else can relentlessly dish out so much crap and still manage to become a best-seller?!!
9.) What do others make of you ?
>> (You mean, on my non-bitchy days, right?) That I’m very caring and pleasant.
10.) Have you ever gotten into a fight or punched someone ?
>> Nah! I’m too nice (read: timid) for that! But there are a lot of people I’d like to punch some day!
11.) For Girls – If you woke up tomorrow to find out you are Brad Pitt, what would be the first thing you’d say upon looking in the mirror !
>> Go, look for Writerzblock and take her out on a lovely date to Paris 😉
I can proudly and quite unashamedly proclaim that I’m a sucker for chick-lit and romance (er, novels, that is).
A friend was leaving on vacation, and very sweetly offered me two of her novels, that I grabbed outright.
So first, I read ‘The Notebook’ by Nicholas Sparks. I was not expecting much more than a light and refreshing read, and I have to say it proved to be more than that. It was a typically quick read, replete with romance and emotions, suspense and drama. All in all, quite an enjoyable book. Leaves one wanting to either fall in love, or envelope someone special in a bear-hug, and never let go.
****Spoiler alert**** I wonder if this Bollywood movie was made AFTER or BEFORE the book was released?!!!
Rating: 3/5
Then I grabbed ‘A Walk to Remember‘. I was expecting to see the same amount of mush in this book, but very interestingly, I found a lot of humour instead. (Now, if I’m a sucker for romance, then I’m an even bigger sucker for humour :-)) The author does warn you in the prologue. He says,the book will first make you laugh, then cry. I wholly agree. You will have more than a few laughs in the first half of the book, and even the second half, despite being sad, is extremely sweet. The book reminds one of the innocence and freshness of youth 🙂
Rating: 3.5/5 (enjoyed the humour)
And yesterday, I happened to get another book from the library. I had reserved ‘Atlas Shrugged‘ after reading a FB message by Rakesh (and loads of comments from our usual comment monsters :lol:) and I THOUGHT I was going to collect this book, but happened to bring home ‘Dear John’ instead.
Now, I confess felt very slightly bored, at the beginning of the book. However, it rapidly picked up pace, and I found myself, wanting to finish it before the day ended. And I did 🙂 (Kind courtesy: Little brat who very sweetly decided to keep himself occupied with winding his microphone around his hands and legs!!!!)
The synopsis of the book certainly does not do justice to the plot. This is not the usual ‘love story’.
For one, the characters in the book have been etched so beautifully, that you feel their love, their anxiety and their pain. They are very real.
Secondly, it gives one a glimpse into the ugly face of War, and how troops deputed in war zones actually spend their life. One actually ponders about the futility of it all.
And third, the book is not just about the love between a man and a woman, but also about the delicate relationship between a father and son. I loved the way this was brought out, in a very subtle and tender way.
To me, the character that stands out the MOST, is one that is mentioned neither on the back-cover nor the website. It is that of the Father of the protagonist. He is a simple, good man, who lives his life exactly the same way each day, but is a terrible social misfit. The father suffers from autism, and the way he reaches out to his son, in his own unique manner, twists and wrings your heart!!
Every character is true to life, and in those couple of hours spent on reading the book, one actually understands WHY each character takes the decisions he/she does, and how it seems both logical yet sad.
You must read the book, to FEEL what this is about.
I loved it, and I think it has made me more understanding of how a developmental problem can affect the lives of the person and his/her family and loved ones.
A note of caution : .This is a heart-wrenching book. It left me incredibly sad and dejected, wondering why life cannot be more simple. So, please save this for a long weekend, where you can recover and bounce back to your happy self 🙂 before the week begins again.
Rating: 4/5 (Exquisite characterisation)
Something I found to be a common undercurrent in all three books, was the almost naive, but constant emphasis on ‘true and ever-lasting love‘ (assuming, there is such a thing!).
I also liked the fact that the author managed to keep the ‘hero’ and ‘heroine’ from not jumping into bed, at the drop of a hat (or anything else for that matter). I understand that can be quite a put-off for a Mills & Boon fan 😈 😆 but it made ‘love‘ seem more special. Old-fashioned, perhaps. But ‘sacred‘ nevertheless.
As for the language and quality of writing, I was not expecting much, being ‘romance’ and ‘chick-lit’ and all. And neither am I into reading ‘difficult’ books (aka, I can’t understand them 😛 I’d much rather read a simple easily understandable sentence, rather than a paragraph full of words that contain 4 or more syllables! 😆 So yes, the language was simple, engrossing, and made all the books an entertaining read.
An afternoon with Handsome Giri, is what this title should actually read.
Yeah, now do not get ideas. ‘Giri-giri Peck’ – the dashing Gregory Peck (as my lovely little sister adorably named him once upon a time, when we – my sister and I – were both children).
Now, this week has been pretty busy, and with school re-opening today, I decided at noon (yesterday, that is) to ‘enjoy’ what was technically the last ‘holiday‘ for the term, by spending some quality ‘me time’.
Lucky for me, this is what we stumbled upon. And I say ‘we‘ because the brat refused to nap, and insisted on watching the movie with me, sitting ‘quietly’ on the other sofa!
As the curtains unfolded, I grabbed a mug of hot chocolate (Sigh! In reality, all I had was a plastic throw-away cup with some plain old water!), and curled up on the sofa. To watch the movie I’d last seen about two decades ago 🙂 with my mum (who had this huge crush on Giri-giri, which – at that time – I found utterly silly!)
Scene 1 – Dainty Audrey Hepburn (I’m sorry I only managed to find this video from Youtube and didn’t get the direct scene from the movie)
As I watch the movie unfolding, grinning stupidly, I am interrupted by this…
Lovely Audrey
‘Is she a Princess?’
I am amused by the brat’s interest. I reply ‘Yes darling’ with a huge smile. Yay! My son and I can actually enjoy a movie together!
‘Why is she removing her shoes? Is she naughty?’
I grin again. My sweet little funny, silly boy.
Wicked Witch??!!!
‘No, she isn’t naughty, her feet are aching, so she wants to take off her shoe for a few minutes’.. I venture to explain.
‘Is she trapped in a palace? Is there a wicked witch? Is that woman there the witch?’
I turn my head away from the TV, squint at the brat, just to check ….
Nah! Can’t be. He’s hasn’t even turned four. He can’t possibly… he can’t actually be doing this on purpose… !
‘No, there is no witch, now let’s keep QUIET and watch the movie’, I mutter.
A few seconds of golden silence. The spell is broken by this:
‘Why is she crying? Why? Why?’
‘Because SHE WANTS TO RUN AWAY from the palace… ‘ I say rather loudly, emphasising the ‘RUN AWAY’.
An innocent: ‘Why?’
‘Because she wants to enjoy life irresponsibly – like you – but cannot’ – I say, scathingly.
A few sober seconds. He watches TV. I watch him.
Next, the scene where Audrey Hepburn actually manages to run away from the palace.
The barrage of questions resumes. Reinforced.
‘Has she run away now?’
I refuse to answer.
‘Please speak! Has she run away?’
I give a cursory nod.
My eyes are now glowering, smouldering.. whatever.. at the little nuisance.
THE GLOWERING LOOK
Now, THIS look is going to keep him quiet. If this doesn’t, I swear I will change my name.. to.. to.. Oh sod it! Let’s just see if he can shut up now!
My brat looks uncertain for a moment. Then, he replies – BOTH to the nod AND the look, by a simple (and unflinching) – ‘Wwwwwwhyyyyyyy?’
And I’m thinking WTFFFFFFFFFFFFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙄 😦
The brat didn’t let me reach even this scene… that has been made, and re-made without shame, into every Indian language available.
So, guess what I very wisely did – turned the TV off, and took the brat outside instead!
Sigh! So much for an ‘interesting’ afternoon with a handsome hunk!!
I leave you to watch this: (well, if your children/grandchildren/neighbour’s children.. ANY children allow you to watch!)
1990: ‘Chennai’ – Old, dull city. Faded tin-like PTC buses plying across dusty roads, passengers hanging out from all doors and windows too, much like grapes spilling out of a basket! Dark-skinned auto-drivers harassing their ‘savaari’ (passenger) for extra money.
Marriage was ‘arranged’ by matching horoscopes and families. And Love signified something forbidden. Passion, lust and seduction – three words used interchangeable, but sadly, all meant something borne out of duty to one’s spouse, or for someone else’s!
Seduction took many forms. Some were naive and delightful, like this:
And marriage meant a mature (beautiful, nevertheless) relationship between two equally serious adults.
And suddenly, love was not ‘taboo’ or ‘gross’ any longer!!
This song, from Kalaignan, was as sensational (despite the heroine’s hair-do) as it was melodious. (Thanks, Vimmu & Scorpia, for reminding me).
Over these years, we had a deluge of ‘young’ movies, starring fresh and happy faces. ‘College life’ changed from ‘girls wearing dhavani and oily pig-tails’ to what-was-then-hep outfits 🙂 and Life also meant Fun 🙂
2000: And finally, while one could celebrate Youth and its associated freedom and carelessness, one also realised that beautiful sensual side to love.
This song from Alaipayuthey in particular was both naughty, and sensual. It showed that ‘marriage’ need not mean an always-behave-serious-relationship-of-two-mature-adults. Marriage could also mean ‘friendship’, ‘fun’ and spontaneity :-)
2001 onwards: Now, strangely, my mind goes blank when asked about songs that tingle the romance buds over the last ten years.
What songs redefined love and lust over the last ten years? Do fill in!
And on that happy note, hope you have a very good weekend, filled with sunshine, laughter and romance 😉
EDITED TO ADD:
Current faavvvvvvvvvvouurriiiiiiiiiiitttttttteeeeeeeeee:
Picture this awesome scene from the movie DDLJ – SRK and Kajol are running to catch the train, he hops aboard first, then heroically lends her a hand and she manages to get in too!
This is pretty much what happened on our recent trip to Disneyland Paris!!
Well not exactly, but something similar…
On a sudden whim, we decided on Thursday, to make a quick trip to Disneyland Paris 🙂
Our onward trip was rather uneventful, except for the fact that I (un)wisely decided to take only my old dabba (not so good) camera and leave behind hubby’s new one!!
Once we boarded the train, the tummy let out a rumble, so we opened out the aloo parathas that were meant for dinner (!!) and gobbled them up, quite oblivious to the glares from fellow-passengers 😉 In fact, I wanted to open even the Achaar and Yogurt (but I wasn’t carrying any of the former, and the latter was a HUGE tub, and even I felt embarassed to dip the paratha into it ;-))
As we reached, the weather Gods decided to make our trip rather memorable. We looked out of the train, to find, that everything to our left was Bright and Sunny and absolutely beautiful 🙂 ! While, everything to our right was CLoudy, Dark and morose 😦 🙄 Then, a light drizzle, followed by slightly heavy rain, and in a few minutes, LIGHTNING!! Luckily, the sky cleared up just before we reached our destination – Marne-la-Vallée.
We had read mixed reviews of our hotel on the internet. So our expectations were not that high! Thankfully!! The room was clean, no doubts, but it was Teeeeeeeeeeeeny Tiiiiiiiny!! There was one little sofa-bed which, once pulled out, left no space to even walk around the room! The bathroom was huge, which was really nice. There was also a tiny kitchenette, which pretty as it sounds, was also rather useful. Typical South Indian that I am, I actually carried a little rice cooker, paruppu-podi (and yogurt ofcourse, which is my staple diet :razz:)
Saturday morning was rather strange. As we ate our minimal breakfast (yummy croissants with jam) – and I say ‘minimal’ because the hotel didn’t provide fruits or cheese! – a thunder storm had broken out!! It was pouring…and we weren’t quite equipped for it!! All we had was one umbrella between the three of us (but the smart Mommy that I am, I had packed a raincoat for the Brat).
Anyway, we brave soldiers marched onwards to the mini shuttle that took us to the Disney Park. The local store made some massive business that day via Raincoat sales!!! So we donned our disposable raincoats and went all around the Park. We took a ride in the little train. The MAP looked rather daunting! What with all those mountains, forests, little rivulets and all. But soon, we realised the actual Disney Park wasn’t all that difficult to manouvre around.
It was amazing, how clean the park remained even with all the rains. There was no litter, no dirt… it was actually magical 😉
In a couple of hours, the rains stopped, and then we had a ball!!
We went on several rides. There was one Mad Hatter’s Tea Cups, that spun us round and round. Then, there was this other Merry Go Round. Remember the ones we find on beaches in India? Same thing. Just a little more colourful and cleaner. For a change, instead of hubby and me taking turns, all three of us went on the ride together!! The brat sat on the horse in the middle, while we were on either side. I loved this part!! And to my luck, obviously, when the ride stopped, my horse was high up in the air, and I struggled to get off it!! I am so glad I didn’t fall and make a fool of myself, which I am normally bound to do!!
Pic courtesy: Google
There was this Big Thunder Mountain Train-ride.. which was a breath-taking experience. The train was super speedy (as my brat calls it) and the carriages threatened to THROW us out horizontally!! The train went through tunnels that were PITCH DARK and steeped really high/low in turns!! We were all screaming our lungs out. At one point, I actually thought one of us would just fall into the ravine beside the little hill!! But this was the most memorable ride of all 🙂 Little R loved it 😉
There were beautiful parades, of all the cartoon characters… Pooh bear, Piglet, Tigger, Mickey and gang, etc…. Infact, I got pretty emotional when I saw all the fantasy Princesses and their respective Princes. I’ve lived on fairy tales all my life, so to see them in ‘pseudo-reality’ was rather moving 🙂 Call me crazy, if you like, but I did get senti!!
We also went in a Maze with a little castle at the top. From our prior experience, we have no luck with Mazes. At Hampton Court palace, we actually forgot to visit the maze!! At Leeds Castle, we did enter the maze, but 30 minutes down the line, we had just made three trips to the ‘EXIT’ and not reached anywhere near the centre! Now, this Disney Maze, for a change, was really quite easy. We found it in about 20-25 minutes and were rather thrilled as we reached the centre!!
As we sat to refresh ourselves over coffee, there was this HUGE tea-pot from which a little Rabbit would pop out every few minutes. I put R on it to take a photo. After which, there was this other Indian family, with 3 boys all climbing the tea-pot. One of them was standing at the very tip of the spout and YELLING OUT LOUD to his parents to take a pic before he fell down!! The parents were busy drinking something and chatting away happily 🙂 I’m not sure if they even got a picture of the heroic stunt 😯
By end of day, we were poooooooped!! We got back to the hotel, to eat our precious ‘curd-rice’ 😉 and crash into the lumpy sofa-bed!! 🙄
Sunday was Hot Hot Hot. We were also tired from the previous day’s excitement, so we spent the first couple of hours, in the Disney Village (window-shopping) and went on a quick ride on a beautiful Hot Air Balloon. It was stationary though..meaning, it was tied down to the base by a thick rope. Made me wonder.. what if.. the rope snapped and we went far far away… gosh.. it was both scary and fascinating.
We spent the second half of the day at Disney Studios. This had many shows – animation, live puppet shows, etc. etc. And yes, we had a good time at all these. Especially a Motor Stunts show, which I vehemently opposed, but ended up enjoying thoroughly.
Yeah, so back to our DDLJ in Real Life scene!
It was 6 pm, and our train was to leave at 7:34. We decided to be extra cautious, and reached the station by 6:30 itself! And waited. And waited. AND waited. There were no signs, and all the announcements were in French, which neither of us knew!! (The only thing we know now, thanks to R, is ‘Bonjour Come Es Stas’).
At about 7:15, little R had a bad fall – right on his face – cut his lower lip really badly – and was bleeding and howling with pain and shock!!
And in all that chaos, at around 7:25, the departure board announced that our train was to depart at platform 3. we were right at the gate. But… the gate was closed!!!
So we ran – literally ran – with bag, baggage and a screaming child – to the other end of the station – and tried to get through the other gate. And guess what? Even that was closed!!
Then we asked the Info guy, and he pointed out that we had to ‘check-in’. And as we discussed what we ‘should have ideally done’, we saw our train slowly chugging away!!
The Helpdesk however, on seeing R’s lip wounds, suggested that we catch the local subway to Paris city, change to another train, and then take the Eurostar back to London.
We were left with no choice!! We again ran ran ran all the way to the ticket counter, managed to get onto the subway and counted every minute as the train slowly slowly slowly pulled into Paris.
After a heart-stopping and breath-taking one hour, we finally made it to Gare Du Nord station. And guess what? It was 9:05, and the LAST Train to London was to leave at 9:13!!! And, to top it all, there was a serpentine queue for immigration and security check!!
I tried to get some sympathy from one of the female staff, thinking she would understand our situation with the missed train, baggage and wounded baby!! She was rather unsympathetic though.
Then Hubby worked his magic on one of the staff, who finally helped us jump the queue. And by this time, it was already 9:20. We were sure that by the time we completed our check-in process, this train too, would have left!!
Anyway, we continued to run, run and run. So there was my SRK running in front of me, carrying the brat, who was by now, screaming his life out, in pain, shock and sorrow!!!! And me, running right behind, panting, almost about to throw up (sorry for the graphic description) and carrying a trolley and two backpacks and some other junk that I could have easily just left behind!!! The staff watching on, had a taste of DDLJ 🙂 Just that, instead of a lovely Kajol, all they got was a panting fatso 😉 and screeching baby 😯 !! A couple of the staff actually said ‘Don’t worry, you have time!’
And you know what I realised after this incident – Kajol was carrying an EMPTY suitcase!!!! 🙄 Cheats!!
Like my friend commented on FB, ‘ordinary people huffing and puffing, with REAL luggage, is not romantic at all’!! 😦
And just as we jumped into the train, the doors shut……..but YAYYYYYY!!! We actually made it!! We reached home by 12:00 am. Exhausted, but so relieved just to be back!! 🙂
So there ended our Disneyland adventure 🙂 And guess what? No matter how awesome a holiday is, there is nothing better than Home!! 🙂
‘Beware of Dogs’ is a common signboard in India. This piece of news however, quite shocked me. And not because of the nature of crime per se. But the sheer age of the perpretators. How can boys of age 10 be so violent? What sort of upbringing do they have? In my opinion, its the parents of the boy who need to be punished, more severely than the children themselves! Reports say they were used to watching violence on TV.
Coming to think of it, every programme on every channel these days is inundated with violence.
Take a look at this seemingly innocuous Chota Bheem serial, which is very popular in India. Sonny has been watching this for nearly two weeks now, and you can imagine, why he has suddenly started ‘punching’ us!
Do you notice the amount of violence they are teaching little kids? What does a child know? Good.. bad.. they are all the same. The child only sees the ‘HERO’, Chota Bheem, bashing up another guy, and feeling very proud about it. Little does the child realise that the guy being hit is a ‘villain’ of sorts. So, what is it, that Chota Bheem is teaching children? Go, Bash Em Up!!
Or, this Ben 10 trailer.
The colours, the action… doesn’t it all simply reverberate with violence?!!
It is no wonder, then, that children these days are getting more aggressive and violent, than ever before. This is probably a bit of a lecture… ‘free advice’ if you insist.. but as parents, I think these are some small steps we can take, to make our children better people:
* Controlled TV programmes – I know of mommies who do not allow kids to watch TV at all. I think that’s quite extreme, because TV does teach a lot. Like the Playhouse Disney channels for example. So we could try to ensure our children only watch pleasant cartoons, and nothing violent.
* A vent for energy – Energy not channelised in the proper manner will most certainly cause problems for both the child and the parent. So, go out and kick that ball with your child. Or just take a walk down the road. Or go swimming, or something, that will physically tire out both of you, in a positive manner!
* Reinforce positive behaviour – Let’s practise basic manners (saying our please and thank you’s) and openly appreciate any positive behaviour in our children, so they KNOW that behaving well makes us all happy!
[Okay…End of serious post]
By the way, Sonny has just joined pre-school, and seems to have had his First Crush already!! A certain ‘Miss Vicky’ is the lucky girl 😉 and I can see stars in his eyes every time he mentions her name 😉
Groups of ill-paid chauffeurs gossiped over a smoke. None of them paid attention to the car in the darkest corner. Nobody cared, really. It was just another car. Tinted glasses, fully rolled up.
From the rear seat came muffled sounds. Floundering hands, unsure of their next move. A young couple, in their early twenties. Half-children, half-adult. Clandestine visits to the local video store had resulted in them getting to watch several tapes that read ‘Tom and Jerry’ but which were more than just a cat vs. mouse tale. They had a vague idea of how lips were to be used. Lips that parted feverishly, lips that burned. Lips – old, but still amateur. It was no wonder, considering that ‘boys from good families’ would never dream of even looking at a woman, let alone kiss her!
As the boy finally moved to the driver’s seat, the girl whispered nervously ‘Are you sure?’
‘Don’t worry… they absolutely adore you!’, replied the boy, giving her a final kiss on her full lips. She smiled. They drove over to the old quarter of the city, where his family lived.
‘Our lord has finally arrived!’, a frail-looking woman taunted as he walked through the rusty iron gate, and splashed his face with cold water drawn from the well. He didn’t reply, but gave her a quick hug instead. ‘Hungry, Amma!’ he muttered. The girl joined her palms and bowed her bead, in a gesture of greeting. ‘Welcome home, dear daughter’, the older woman replied.
Dinner today was an extravagant affair. Different varieties of rice, dhal, coconut-garnished vegetables. A feast in honour of the girl who was to be daughter-in-law. Relatives of various shapes, sizes and age had been invited. They introduced themselves. She smiled, trying hard to remember their unfamiliar names. At dinner, he sat beside her, licking his lips as he relished his favourite dishes.
When he had gulped down the last sip of sweetened milk, it left a moustache of white cream. ‘Look at your future husband! Twenty-five years old and still such a child!’, they teased. She blushed. The evening regaled with laughter and fun! By the end of the evening, she actually relaxed a little, and enjoyed the teasing smiles and affectionate innuendoes from the older women of her future husband.
Soon, it was time for him to take her back home. ‘Girls coming from good families’ didn’t venture out this late at night, they emphasised.
They took a detour through an abandoned road. It suited them just fine. An hour later, he took her to her home. As she tossed about in her bed that night, unable to sleep with excitement, she ran her soft fingers over her cracked lips. She blushed, as her body tingled with excitement. She thanked her stars, that her mother, with eyes like a vulture, had not noticed anything unusual about her that evening.
Back in the car, the boy tuned in to his favourite radio station, and set the volume as loud as he could. He was so much in love. He was happy too, that his family had accepted the girl of his choice. Under normal circumstances, a boy of an upper-caste family marrying into a family that was not Brahmin, would have caused an outrage. Luckily for him, his parents accepted the girl without any visible animosity!
By the time he returned home, the lights were all out. Not wanting to wake up the sleeping family, he walked around the dusty path to the back door. He was surprised to notice an open window in one of the bedrooms. Silvery moonbeams cast long shadows, and carried out the soft sound of late-night whispers.
‘These women!’ he thought, and smiled to himself. ‘They seem so excited about my wedding! Chattering away at this late hour!!’ He discreetly edged towards the open window.
‘You are a fool!’, he heard an angry voice.
‘Hush!’ came the reply.
‘A bloody fool. Had I been in your place, I would have never allowed that lower-caste girl into the family!’
‘I am helpless’
‘Disgraceful! He wants to marry into those, whose impure names are never ever uttered by the same lips that chant our sacred texts!’
‘What to do? He just announced unceremoniously that he had DECIDED to marry this girl! We had no choice!’
‘Stupid woman. People of our caste do not allow untouchables into our house even! And here, we have that little vixen taking over our lives!’
He stared in disbelief. The evening had gone off so beautifully. They had all been so excited, and so happy. But behind all that, the unspoken truth was being unravelled.
He peeped into the window, and squinted until his eyes could see the shadows. A woman sat on a coir mat, her head in her palm, as if she had lost everything. In the light from the candle, her eyes seemed swollen, with crying. She covered her mouth with the edge of her crumpled cotton sari, as if she had lost everything, and had nothing left to say!
As he slowly recognized the shadow of his mother, his lips parted in shock. His mouth went dry. He desperately needed to get away. But he couldn’t move a step. He felt numb. A silent tear rolled down his cheek, and disappeared into the dust.
‘How could you…. Amma !!!’ he sighed, and walked back towards his car. After all that he had heard, he could not face his family, not just yet.
As he tiredly walked out into the night, he felt nothing but the relentless throbbing of his swollen lips.
So first, I read 
Now, I confess felt very slightly bored, at the beginning of the book. However, it rapidly picked up pace, and I found myself, wanting to finish it before the day ended. And I did 🙂 (Kind courtesy: Little brat who very sweetly decided to keep himself occupied with winding his microphone around his hands and legs!!!!)
Secondly, it gives one a glimpse into the ugly face of War, and how troops deputed in war zones actually spend their life. One actually ponders about the futility of it all.
Every character is true to life, and in those couple of hours spent on reading the book, one actually understands WHY each character takes the decisions he/she does, and how it seems both logical yet sad.
Something I found to be a common undercurrent in all three books, was the almost naive, but constant emphasis on ‘true and ever-lasting 
Next, the scene where Audrey Hepburn actually manages to run away from the palace.
Writer-z-block 
