Yatra Naryastu Pujyante Ramante Tatra Devata

The above lines mean that God resides wherever women are respected. As I was reading this book a cartoon made its existence felt; The PowerPuff Girls. I don’t know how many of you recall this but it took over my entire childhood and I feel the way I’m right now has something to do with it.

A person creates chemicalized girls by fluke who have superpowers and that man or scientist became their father. Those girls became the saviour of the world. Whenever disaster fell over the people these girls came for the rescue and succeeded every time. This book “The Daughter from a Wishing Tree” by Sudha Murty gave me such vibes. Describing women in Hindu mythology who saved the world from horrid catastrophes.

A single-life starts from a woman’s womb. If she can give birth she can do anything and everything. Though being able to bring life into existence, this including all other endeavours women are undermined the majority of the time. This book highlights the anecdotes which talk about the efforts by women to protect our world.

Here are some facts which I found to very interesting:

1. Goddess Lakshmi manifests in eight forms known as AshtaLakshmi. Ashta means eight in Sanskrit. The manifestations are Adi Lakshmi (represents compassion, love and affection), Dhaanya Lakshmi (represents grains and in turn represents prosperity in terms of food), Dhairya Lakshmi (represents courage), Gaja Lakshmi (represents good fortune), Santaana Lakshmi (represents the provider of a child for childless couples), Vijaya Lakshmi (represents victory and bravery), Vidya Lakshmi (represents knowledge and education) and the last form Dhana Lakshmi (represents wealth).

2. Well, the concept of cloning was first introduced by a woman called Sanjana who was the wife to God Surya (Sun). She was the daughter of Vishwakarma who was the engineer and architect of the heavens. The Sun God and Sanjana had almost five children. First was Yama (son) who was to protect Dharma or justice and was to rule the Mrityuloka (underworld) waiting to give punishment to all the people who die based on their karma. Then came Yami (daughter) flowing on earth as river Yamuna, around which Lord Vishnu’s avatar Krishna grew up. Bathing in her waters washed people’s sins and women who prayed for the well-being of siblings came true. Then came Shani who was known to hold the hardest responsibility of giving punishments or rewards during people’s lifetime so they could improve. He also was given the position of a planet called Saturn. Then came Ashwini Kumars who are considered the first morning rays from the sun and are considered to be a great source of Vitamin D.

3. There is a place called Chamundi Hills in Mysuru, Karnataka where Goddess Parvati killed an Asura (monster) named Mahishasura (Mahisha means Buffalo in Sanskrit). She fought that Asura for almost 9 days on that hill.

4. Goddess Parvati not only had two sons but she also had a daughter from a wishing tree known as Kalpavriksha. The daughter was named Ashokasundari which meant a beautiful woman who reduced loneliness.

Few stories talk about how love in terms of devotion is more appreciated than love in terms of possession. In the majority of stories, the themes of love, sacrifice, devotion, obedience and making hard decisions are very common.

The writing, as always has been very simple to understand and it’s an advantage as mythology can’t be understood properly with complicated language usage.

The Distorted Mirror

Rasipuram Krishnaswami Laxman also known as R K Laxman born in Mysore, Karnataka was a great political caricaturist/cartoonist. He started drawing cartoons from a very young age. In 1947 he drew cartoons for ‘The Free Press Journal’ in Bombay along with Bal Thackeray.

R K Laxman won many awards; Padma Bhushan in 1973, the Ramon Magsaysay award in 1984 and a Lifetime Achievement Award for Journalism by CNN IBN TV18 in 2008.

He wrote sketches, short stories and travelogues in a collection called “The Distorted Mirror” published in 2003.

Laxman’s drawings or cartoons carry an air of satire on political institutions and politicians and the same goes for his writings. His writing style involved humour, elegance, simplicity and grace. In this book, his short stories revolve around children and their perspectives. Travelogues have given some wonderful insights into human life. Sketches are short, shorter than a short story, with little or no plot at all.

Just like his elder brother R K Narayan, Laxman also tried depicting the simplicity of human life with a punch of anecdotes from the common man’s life.

This book has my heart. The more I read Indian writers, the more I fall in love with them and their writings.

Who Wants to Marry a Mamma’s Boy

Life is very simple when it is seen through the right lens. We humans are the only ones on this planet who can think and act rationally. And during this expedition, we face a lot of issues yet we have the resilience to stand head fast during such tremulous times. It’s no less than a miracle that we experience such things in our lives and yet are ignorant enough to not learn from those ventures.

There are eight stories in total. In the majority of the stories, the theme revolves around love and marriage; issues while searching for a match, getting married at an age which is somewhere between late and very late, issues of losing the first love, reuniting with that love, issues facing after getting married, remarrying if divorced and concept of virginity, etc. whereas it covers only 2 stories which focus on somewhat sub-themes.

One can find the common thread among these anecdotes is that of love and kindness. Love between husband and wife, between parents and children, love among siblings, kindness towards poor people and their children, kindness towards one’s family members and accepting them, etc.

The stories written by Manjula Pal has captured simplicity of life and her language has retained it.

The future won’t change

Story line, same as the previous book; time traveling. But reading this book i faced a revelation of themes.
● selfless love or unconditional love
● unabashed positiveness
● moving on from trauma
● getting rid of guilt
● change in perception
● attempting things though the fact that it would change nothing

These are some themes which I came across in the novel.
One more question it raised in my consciousness, why we, humans try at things which we know for a fact that it would change nothing at all?
I’m searching for the answer or answers as it is completely a subjective attempt so answer might differ from person to person.
Over all this book gives a lot of insights and who knows it may answer some questions of a reader.

Shikhandi

“Vikrati evam Prakriti” translates into anything that is different should be included into nature or is nature. Shikhandi is a book that focuses on queerness seen or observed in Hindu Mythology.
Contemporary world is facing issues to adjust with queerness but when we turn the pages of past there are multiple instances proving so.
A character in Mahabharat, Shikhandi was said to be queer in nature. Though being in a man’s body, inhabited a woman’s soul.
A good start to commence questioning whether queer is really something to be ashamed of or not.

Sad girl remained sad forever

Usually due to the common theme of love story there is a fresh twist of suicide which in turn was a murder. Well the title serves the story right. The girl remains sad throughout. Trying to find the meaning of her existence and realizing that she can never be happy. I would have given only 3 stars but one extra is for the twist and the several endings author left for the readers to imagine.

“Brahma had five faces.”

Well I’m no scholar and cannot decipher the original scripts so only such books can be informational source of Hindu Mythology. This book “The Man From The Egg”, is all about small accounts of the Trinity; Brahma(the creator), Vishnu (the preserver) and Shiva (the destroyer; not as in negative sense but in a way that talks about life and death cycle of all living organisms).Wonderful stories to walk through and the author’s language make it very simple to understand.

Stories filled with multiple themes and learning; arrogance can be one’s destruction, diplomacy, finding loopholes in boons(ultimately making sure to avoid giving boons to dangerous people), avoiding ignorance, considering that everything happens for a reason, and one more thing that I understood is that one must always think a lot before saying anything to anyone or about anyone, as whatever one says keeps echoing the world and might take you by surprise.

क्रोधाद्भवति संमोह: संमोहात्स्मृतिविभ्रम:।स्मृतिभ्रंशाद्बुद्धिनाशो बुद्धिनाशात्प्रणश्यति॥

Mahabharata is one of the Indian epics. The basic plot is that brothers fight over the right to rule as they belong to clans of kings.
To be honest this epic is considered to be a myth but archeologists in India have found places where this whole battle of Mahabharata happened. Just the thought of it gives me goosebumps.

Meaning of the title:
Anger leads to clouding of judgment, which results in bewilderment of the memory. When the memory is bewildered, the intellect gets destroyed; and when the intellect is destroyed, one is ruined.

Pointing out as to why this epic is considered to be the greatest:

1. This is equivalent to a guide that informs us on how to live one’s life, or in other words imparting us with the guidelines for life.
2. Guidelines such as respecting elders, considering the thoughts of younger people too. It provides us with instances which tells that disrespecting women can lead to the destruction of a whole clan. It talks about how important it is to keep promises made to others and when promises are broken a lot of devastation follows.
3. There is one more important thing that occurs through out this epic; adjusting one’s actions according to the situations especially when you have to do something good. For instance Sri Krishna who is a God has changed his righteous actions into not-so righteous one’s especially when he had to uphold the morality.
4. Only during the ongoing battles, Sri Krishna gave mankind the not so easy version of living one’s life; Shrimad Bhagvad Geeta. Not so easy version basically means in a different language that is Sanskrit and in a twisted and complicated way which definitely needs simplification.
   

The ultimate take from it is that if followed properly one will definitely experience happiness, content and peace.

Either nothing happens at all or everything happens at once

As the name itself suggests this book is about a woman having an extra marital affair. She knows she is committing adultery and still goes on with it and all the revelations she finds herself in. A lot of my questions about love and marriage are answered in this book.

I may have been able to get one reason as to why people commit adultery that is just to get out of their boredom. Boredom is really the culprit here because when one cannot get out of it constructively then it can cause tremendous devastation. Or maybe they just want some thrill through causing some problem in their lives which will given them adrenalin rush and sometimes people crave for such feeling. This can only be achieved if they can go all the way till the end and realise nothing can be changed.
I have heard that adultery for men is just a stupid mistake and for women it can be a spiritual crime and this view is agreed by society also. So women are scared of “what people will think? People will abandon me…” so on. But well with feminism women have become quite courageous in these matters just as men.

“We have to find a middle path, where there is neither joy nor suffering, only profound peace” Paulo Coelho

Maybe adultery should be traced to evolution. Let me simplify it as the author has done and this part is my favorite; in order to increase the human race men used to mate with multiple women and women were always indulged in care taking so they never had the time to mate with multiple men.
Overall the book, when read by someone who might have certain similar problems can have more interesting intakes.

The Forest of Wool and Steel

A narrative about forging one’s own way in life. Some people are fortunate enough to grasp it fast, while others take longer, but it is still worthwhile. And, even when we think we’ve figured things out, one question still lingers: “Do I have what it takes?”

Forests are compared to the task that you are afraid of, despite the fact that you have acquired knowledge and training in that sector. The fear of becoming obsolete in a certain field makes it difficult to stay current. Uncertainty, a sense of being inferior to someone, or simply a lack of confidence while knowing a lot about something.

Being decisive does not imply sticking to your guns; it simply means being strong when the situation demands it. Rest on the path as needed to meet your requirements. You have the option of not walking down that path.

Mysteries, miracles, and magic abound in life. Things that are vital to one person may not be so to another. It could be anything in nature, from the simplest to the most essential. What feels good to me could not feel good to someone else. For example, while I feel at ease in social situations, the same situation could be a nightmare for someone else. Everyone takes their time when it comes to learning. This learning period becomes manageable, even “bearable,” with patience and perseverance. I won’t say it’s easy since we all have days when we feel a little under the weather. Nothing seems to be working, but with patience and hard work, we can get out of it.

There are times when things about which we have done a lot of research or exerted a lot of effort appear to be more tense-inducing. And that’s fine. It’s fine to be terrified. Because being terrified while learning new things demonstrates that you are aware of what could go wrong or what you might do incorrectly. And this is something that comes with experience. Yes, you should be afraid at times, but you should also be prepared to overcome that fear.

Dialogue “just as a newly hatched chick thinks the first creature it sets eyes on is its mother, so I to grew attached to the first performance I heard of each piece.” It’s a modest but all-too-familiar occurrence. It’s like if we’re listening to a song, and each song makes us fall in love with it. And, every now and then, we listen to it on repeat. For me, it’s like I fall in love with almost every song I have in my playlist.

Quotes that made me feel at home and at peace

“bright, quiet, crystal-clear writing that evokes fond memories, that seems a touch sentimental yet is unsparing and deep, writing as lovely as a dream, yet as exact as reality”. 
“It’s a lot more painful to be jealous of someone than to be the object of jealousy”. 
” Who is it who stays on to practice tuning pianos every day after work, hmm? How many do you think you’ve tuned altogether? How many books on tuning do you have piled up on your desk at the office? Read and study to that extent and you’re going to know an awful lot. And you listen to piano music every single night at home, don’t you? You’ll be fine. But don’t be put off if you feel anxious. Now’s the time to be scared, of you’re going to be”. 

Written by Natsu Miyashita, this book has all my heart.