Ravali Priya: UNCONVENTIONAL

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Sunday, January 13, 2013

My very first Lohri!!

January 13th, 2013!
Woah!! Look at that,it is two 13s there! ;)

Haha! For everyone who said that today.. I just wanted to share something I realised today, I felt it was important I wrote it down somewhere(later thought, why not share), lest I overlook and forget! It might sound stupid for some,nevertheless that wouldn't stop me from writing it here!

We have so many superstitions, (the 13 thingy I was referring to before), true having an awful day gives every reason to sulk, But doesn't that only mean, this placebo is robbing you of all the opportunities that can kick the day up?! That is old wine! Yeah, it is a universal truth so, I don't have anything new to share there,moving on.

Ohkk ok,Here is what I really wanted to write on,We are so vulnerable and gullible most of the times. We are so full of inhibitions (This stands no exception to the so-called most egalitarian societies of the west). We judge! A lot, and today, I realised that does more harm to us than to the person who is being judged! It is like living in a coffin. Though I can not share the incident that made me realise this, here is what, We end up naming relationships, quantifying them. We always have this preconceived notion that some people 'close' to us can always make us happy. While some people, are always nettlesome. Not at all true.
Well,an hour of Lohri celebrations, pop corn, winter night,bonfire, songs and a few friends, shattered this impression of mine. I had one of the most memorable days, away from home.

Turns out,a truly hearty, selflessly happy person can always make others happy. It is like the sun! It is a radiation,warm and soothing.
People are only what their feelings make them, we never know what their journey is all about,judging them would be robbing ourselves from all the happiness a person can potentially share with us! We might as well make ourselves less gullible.

May be a little less of judgement, can promise a hell lot of happiness. People may not be the same, but then unfeignedly shared happiness has no substitutes. True celebration, is all about sharing,shattering all the inhibitions we brought along with us! We all come in uniquely wonderful, the pursuit might change us,after all.. It is but the 'Difficulty of being Good '

Friday, March 30, 2012

A Letter is a Joy, No doubt!

Well this is going to be weird. For the first time since I started blogging, I felt like sharing something really personal, as a
testimony to a wonderful friend I have! Chinni Chintu! Yeah, she rocks! :D

For this to make any sense, I ll have to fill you in, May 15th 2011, the last day at BITS Pilani,we were bidding farewell to each other when Chinni said, we should write to each other and stay in touch not only through calls and mails, it will be nice to have something to save, in an unconventional way. After 3 months in Bangalore, when I left to Delhi, I started writing to her! Here goes..

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Dear Chinni, 21st March 2012
Wednesday, 19:48

When I first wrote to you,even when I was to write a simple letter I was scared stiff as if faced with looming seasickness. I am writing this letter in a very very very very.. yeah, keep that going for 2 days and you ll get to.. right about how happy I am, right now. Well, here it is.. Sometime around Nov 15th last year, I was reading the newspaper and underlining away to glory (yeah, thats what I do now! ;) ), when I saw this headline about a boeing crashing down in Haryana,saying one of the cockpit pilots lost his life, that was also the time around which I started writing letters to you.. I got the details of the guild which he belonged to, and wrote down a condolence.. Well, it was not a war, but I just felt like writing. Today, I got a postcard, I think it would be more appropriate to say, a 'Thank you' note saying that the letter meant something to the family. I am very happy seeing the reply!It is beyond me!I just read it with a grin from ear to ear! I did not expect that a 'postcard' would make me so happy! Walking on air, I must say! I owe this to you, Chinni! You made me take interest in writing to you, whatever it might be about.If memory serves me correctly,today, in the 6 months I have been writing to you, for the first time, I feel like I am writing something that is worth the postage. Elated, I am! This feeling is oddly unsettling! Love you Chinni, you are one person who just brings the best out of me! Love does not come to you only through calls, e-mails, msgs and Facebook,I would love to write something that is worth reading, and if not, something atleast worth the postage.. It is good to know that someone is ready to read what you wrote,even if it is not worth reading and that it is always means a lot to them! Love you Chinni, for not letting me give up my old habits for the new..! :) I know, I ll love reading them even 50 years from now because, Its good to know, someone remembers and treasures your handwriting.. Leaving behind, a value legacy!
Love,
Ravali (Snug as a bug in a rug!)

PS: I ran out of inland covers the other day, and when I went to the post office and asked for 20 of them. I got one of the weirdest stares I ever got!Call me old fashioned,but I am learning to write! It feels good!
Out of ink now,till I next write to you then! Take care..

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To send a letter is a good way to go somewhere without moving anything but your heart.

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Recent Library

~ Imagining India- Nandan Nilakeni

A complete neo-liberal approach in introducing the ideas that are being taken up or are making the possibility of of a vibrant country a tad closer.. Mitigating the challenges wile in a convergence to the new India. it really helped me renew the dreams I had.. I am a better optimistic egalitarian now.. I can say without a doubt

~ Fault Lines - G. Ranjan

The best caught spirit of the importance of contemporary economics and how the hidden but intricate and threatening fault lines , contradicting to 'under the sea bed of chaos lies a calm regularity',are to every economy. My new found interest in economics was quenched by the book while giving a silver lining of the recession prediction. Hats off!!

~ Splendour in the grass - Dept of Admin Pub

The most respectable knowledgeable minds of the country have contributed to this book while being in the cutting edge and facing the real problems of policy implementation while taking into view the large ,nope, huge demographics of the country is a well knit policies and the innate and eternal strife towards betterment.Nice one! Did not realize the complications till I read this book. There is always something more than what we can spell out in the texts

~ The immortals of Meluha and The secret of the Nagas - Amish

It was a by chance read (I buy Indian authors' books even without a thorough review)and I was pleasantly surprised to have stumbled upon Indian Mythology in the form of fiction. First off, hatsoff to the mind that brilliantly, vibrantly yet carefully moulded the known mythology into a gripping fiction. I actually fell in love with the name 'Shiva' after reading the introduction paragraph over and over again. As claimed there are some mishaps regarding the relation drawn to the Harappan civilization.. It was a gripping read and eagerly waiting for the next one to be on the stands soon..

~ Siddhartha - Herman Hesse

The one thing I loved about the book was that they profoundly made it clear that what is read and what is preached is completely different from what can be experienced. Picking the right choice from a lot and learning to love it grows from within and it is nothing like someone holding your hand and making your way through the dark. Though not initially interested in reading the book, it really got to me by the time the writer started the beautiful illustrations of relating the life to a coursing river.

~ Revolution 2020 - Chetan Bhagat

I was intrigued by the title ‘Love Corruption and Ambition’. By the end of the book also I was left to hold on to three discretely different things tied in a poor knot at one character who is, as always in Chetan Bhagath’s books, the narrator. Nicely put in words the frustrations undergone by a student facing IIT JEE and the other competitive exams. The story was too predictive at most of the places and the theme of the book had a late start and demands a better ending throwing more light on other characters a bit more than they got. I still can’t understand why girls need to be portrayed with a total lack of clarity!

~ I too had a love story - Ravinder Singh

In a desperate attempt to find some book that didn’t talk about the society and will be a small detour and a light read into a love story I ended up reading this book and I still regret reading it completely due to my weakness of not being able to stop reading a book half way through. Seriously poor narration and a very boring story till the last 20 pages. It vividly reminded me of a poorly narrated south Indian movie which was a hit in Telugu and Tamil, sans illustrations. However, the efforts were great. Better language would have done a lot of good to the book. I hope that goes into ‘Can love happens twice?’

~ JAYA- An illustrated retelling of Mahabharata- Devdutt Pattanaik

This was one book that really got to me in the recent past. I fell in love with every inch of the book, the cover design and everything that added to it from Lorem Ipsum to the very end of the book. For the love of the book, it demands on whole post. It was nothing less than – “AWESOME”. I might not find enough words to describe the feeling after I read this book in less than two days. ;) If you are, even at the slightest, thinking of buying the book, go to the store, turn to page 300 and read the third paragraph on ‘Kaliyuga’. After that I don’t think anything can stop you from buying it.

~ White Tiger -Aravind Adiga

The book was a series of letters written by the protagonist. The novel studies a strong contrast between India’s rise as a modern global economy and the lead character, Balram who comes from crushing rural poverties, and the opening lines of the novel establish this fact. It not only makes you laugh out loud but makes you think. ‘Take whatever comes out of a Prime minister’s speech and exactly the opposite is true about India.’ The way he clearly portrays the widening gap, dysfunctions and how least it bothers a poor man of how many international forums India is a part of really got me to think. Heavily thought provoking and darkly humorous and an honest account of the staggering economic inequality book. I just went wow after the book.

~ Non Stop India- Mark Tully

I must confess, I ended up ordering this book only because of so much written in The Hindu and the fact that I loved the cover page! Seriously, I should stop judging the book from the cover. :D Just two words would do: Simple and Awesome. Everything from a village’s malignant problem to a city’s sophistication beautifully penned down by Mark Tully. India is divided into two distinct classes: the contented and the discontented, the optimists and the pessimists, those who gush about the glorious future and those who anticipate a violent revolt. Tully meets both kinds during his extensive travels and presents objectively the scenarios which are provoking the extreme views. His conclusion at the end of the book is: “I am confident that there won’t be full stops to halt progress over the next twenty years.” I really loved the way the author institutionalised Vote Banks by saying ‘Vote Banking’. The Biblical dictum that "there is no new thing under the sun" in some measure applies to Non-Stop India.

~Playing for Pizza - John Grisham

Charming short novel which enthralls the reader about the culinary, cultural and architectural marvels of Italy through the fall and rise of a loser NFL quarterback. Great pace and perfectly enjoyable.

~The Secret- Rhonda Bryne

The first book of philosophy I thoroughly enjoyed reading. Great Read! Inspires and all.. But then, can't comment too much on philosophy.

~Guerilla Warfare - Che Guevara

How a small band of guerrilla fighters might use specific strategies and tactics to resist and defeat an oppressive state enemy in asymmetrical warfare. A peak into the manifestations of Che's mind and a great insight into his vibrant brilliance.

~ Motorcycle Diaries - Che Guevara

If you're on the bottom end of the social spectrum, you would wish that life were a little bit easier, hoping that the the riches those bourgeoisie enjoy would trickle down to your own plate. That's the hope. Alas, it is easier said than done. That I have seen the film before reading the book,knowing the places helped a lot and got me back the flashes of the film.

~Chanakya's Chant -Ashwin Sanghi

The book runs alternatively between 2300 years ago and the present day. One chapter speaks about the legend chanakya who helped unify India and bring in the golden rule of Chandra Gupta Maurya as the emperor of India, while the other is the present day account about GangaSagar Mishra, Chanakya’s modern avatar, with the same narrative, where his protégé is the oxford educated slum child Chandini, who becomes the eventual prime minister of India. The writing style is great felt like an awesome screenplay and never felt like putting the book down.

Ravali Priya

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Sunday, January 13, 2013

My very first Lohri!!

Friday, March 30, 2012

A Letter is a Joy, No doubt!

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