Variety is the spice of life

As the year winds up to a close, the book also got over. A man called Ove was such a pleasant experience that it would definitely be one of the best things that happened in 2016. When I was mid way into the book, I was almost certain that this is the best book ever. Hard to say the same emotion is retained towards the end. If one could mercilessly chop off say 20% of the chapters from 60th till 80th percentile, may be it can reclaim the masterclass status. To sum up, the book is about Ove, an elderly widower, who unable to bear the death of his wife, wants to commit suicide. The book illustrates how his repeated attempts on his own life fails miserably and how the interruptions make him the darling of the very neighborhood, he despises. From an uncompromising person, he is made to change so much and is forced to accommodate all those changes/people in to his life and house, right from an adamant cat to LGBT guy. Even though he doesn’t want to involve others in his life and wants to l...

I started this year with this statement as a wish,” Gils plan to be more steady and static. No more jumping and changing. Planning to stand and stay secure for more time to come :)” It was more like an objective to stick to and it didn’t even last 5 months L Of all the changes that happened this was the saddest and I could never forgive myself for what happened. It was demoralizing to say the least and has left a lasting gash in my psyche. If could go back in time, I would stop myself from making that decision  2 years back that changed the course of my career. But that would’ve meant I would’ve still been doing what I left, a dull boring job which made clichés look brand new. If not that instant I would’ve intervened on my other decision that came like an year back, which was solely attributed to my non-sticky nature that longs for change once familiarity sets in. I always have the best phases of one’s life coinciding when my mindset is at its peak negative or foul. Prob...

The best thing about the first part of the movie, Chennai-28, that came like a decade back was its originality. The pin code had a role to play and was right in the scheme of things which made the movie a hit. It was a nostalgic walk through for people like me who grew up near that area and all those cricket grounds and lanes and streets had ready recall value. Bonus was the simple story with tongue in cheek one liners and the climax twist that was a roftl howler on the team. Even the songs were memorable and everything clicked well in first part. Very rarely do we get sequels which are a literal continuation with almost the same cast playing their age per the story. A big kudos to the director for the setup. Nothing seems artificial and he has played to the strength of the story pretty well. The cricket crazy boys in first part have all become adults, with none, but for one, are bachelor. They’ve their daily routine life, which other than many things, is totally devoid of playing cric...

“How do I look” If 143 is the universal love code for “I love you”, this 3214 should be the universal alert code for men, especially husband folks. However innocuous it may sound, the question has all the traps one could ever fathom and is as tricky as navigating the trap ridden field in “Black Hawk Down” movie. What do you answer for that question? More importantly what is the expectation as an answer for this question is what makes it the most difficult question ever posted to “man”kind. Should you answer honestly? If you are someone who goes by that virtue as a best policy, probably there are lot of other policies you may’ve to opt for post the answer. Should you blatantly lie? It may and will backfire and whatever you said will be held against you and your right to silence can’t save you anymore. Should you be a constructive critique? May or may not work and has all the chances of a rework effort involved for both parties which would definitely delay an...

I don’t have many references to compare. But I can say with all my heart that “A man called OVE” is probably the best I’ve ever read, with still about 60% of the book to complete. As mentioned on my previous post about this book, would take as much time as possible to read it and I am sure would probably read it a lot more times even after I’ve finished reading it, for it has not just impressed the hell out of me, but every time I open that book to read, I simply lose track of all that happen around and start to follow Ove on his daily routine. If there is a list of impossible things to do, "not liking Ove" would probably top the list. Just realized while commenting about the book that OVE is one letter short for LOVE. So much for my takku regarding this. As the story grows on, what I’ve read till now is about the life of a stubborn old man, OVE, who is a loner and is a stickler for rules. He hates interacting with people especially those who has no respect for rules and...

My friend suddenly got a call from his kids school to come and meet him. When he went there the teacher showed him the answer sheet of his kid. Draw 5 fish was the question that was highlighted and against which the kid has drawn numeral 5 followed by fish diagram. The teacher hadn’t given her any marks for that answers but a golden star badge and made it a point to talk to her mom during PTA. In fact so impressed where they about the kid that they’ve asked her to be enrolled in lot other mind improvement courses. Reminds me of another kid of my friend. One day my friend had got an unscheduled call from her kids school asking her to meet the class teacher. Worrying for worst, she had rushed to the school only to be pacified by the teacher that it was nothing to worry, but the news was definitely about her kid. The teacher had shown my friend the answer paper of her kid and she was stunned to see the answer that was highlighted in red. The question was to name a living thing and a non-...

I couldn’t resist posting about this novel. I had resisted the temptation for a few weeks now and even now without completing 25% of the book I have yielded to the temptation of sharing it as a blog post. In a way, I had been way to selfish and childish and lot many “ish” in not writing about this book for I wanted it to belong to me alone. Considering the fact that it was a loaned one shared by a fellow blogger friend, the idea sounds all the more ridiculous now. I owe a lot to Bragz, the blogger friend, for sharing with me this book – A man called Ove. The first few chapters give the visualization of grumpy old Ove as the grandpa character from the animation “Up”. I could almost visualize him with his square thick black specs and blond white hair and him in his suspenders. For some reason, without a word being described about how he looked, this image crept in my mind. I never realized when it got changed to that of my dad. His meticulously pain staking effort for detail, perfectio...

Month of December and TN usually are never in best of terms with each other. The month has separated the state from its most popular leaders who breathed their last, the worst natural disaster ever wrecked the state as tsunami and the most recent man made (??)water logging disaster stuck in December as well. Even before the dust could settle on the news of J’s demise, time has claimed its next victim in Cho. Having been her advisor, at least been touted as one, it wasn’t surprising that he followed her quick to her heavenly abode. Though being on medical review since two and a half month, the news was more or less expected, considering her age and deteriorating health. What was surprising was the agony it created mentally on everyone who came across. Till few days back, the very same people, who were cribbing over the non-functional government and how the entire system is paralyzed  by the absence of one person, who held sway over every single function and when the rains came,...

Some posts back had marveled at Vijay Anthony, the music director turned actor, for his knack of picking the best script that suit his limitations yet are intriguingly good. Saithan, his latest movie, impressed right from the trailer, with its scenes reminding of Sujatha’s AAH novel and the movie posters only added to the mystery. Was eagerly awaiting its release and the reviews were more or less similar to his other movies – being predominantly positive and credit for his improving performance. Decided to take the risk and saw the movie on second day. Storywise, its about a newly married IT guy, who solve complex issues with his obsessive dedication and concentration,  when he suddenly starts hearing voices. What starts as a jumbled incoherent mix of noise soon starts taunting him, forcing him against his will and almost driving him to suicide. The voice keeps telling him to kill some lady named Jayalakshmi who murdered him. It even makes him create an accident in which he...

At times, despite all the warnings and caution, you still end up doing things just for the heck of it. Watching "kadavul irukaan kumaru" and "kavalai vendam" fall into that repent after reason failure category which would be definitely followed by "i told you so" by all those on whom the same misfortune had befallen.   Note:   Idhulam padam, ithuku oru review..topic vera kedaikalaina enna vena ezhuthivia nulaam kraas kostin pannapadaathu. Considering that black money and demonetization being flavor of the day, want our government to send notices to the producers and backers of these kind of movies. Its pretty obvious that they had money to burn and ended up burning not just their excess money, but also the call sheets of the actors and time of the audience who ended up watching them on theaters. Worse of all, the censor board need to be sued for certifying these movies for public viewing. Probably there should be a guideline at their level itself to ...