Friday, November 25, 2011

Why I love Eat, Pray and Love

Off late many people have commented much on the fact that I love this book, Eat, pray and Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Some say that a self help memoir is not what they need while some disparage the whole book, crediting Julia Roberts for its success. I had tried reading it before the whole "Julia Roberts came to India" angle and since I was in my Meg Cabot/Harry Potter phase, I pretty much gave up on it, until now.
I read it a month ago and since I have a final exam tomorrow, there is nothing better to do than write about why I love this book.
The book chronicles the life of Liz Gilbert for a year, after her divorce, as she travels through three countries, Italy, India and Indonesia. It is a journey of her thoughts and a mental growth process we all experience. I could relate to this book and suddenly, I had many of my friends queuing up to advice me on how to overcome my depression and sending me contacts of various shrinks.And I did contact one but I realised I was way better than this.
The reason I and a million other people connected with the book is that it is honest, blatantly honest about the woman and her feeling as she traverses the highs and lows of her life. Her courage and willingness to explore all sides of herself, as a person and a human being. Something, we don't normally do. We tend to love in a self created bubble of perfectness, an illusion that we are doing the right, we have what we want and we are perfect in every sense. But deep inside, every human being has this whirring noisy mind that gives a reality check now and then. It is all about how well we listen to it and how well we ignore it.
I have experienced it personally while judging certain situations in my life from an objective point of view, writing down my thoughts and all my convoluted reasons and logic and reading this book made me feel that I was not alone. There is this another person who echos my thoughts. maybe, the context is different but the basic thought process is the same. I could relate to her.
I could relate to Liz and the trauma she underwent during her divorce. The self loathing, the loneliness and the depression. I could relate to her need to indulge in worldly pleasures and her need to cleanse herself and her mind. 
And so can everyone else. As humans and people living life in a world where nothing is perfect, we encounter situations and deal with them in our own way. And the whole time we reason things out, each small step there is, we think about it and list it and keep going on and this is what the book is all about. Reasoning and logic.
And the need to escape.
Maybe, not escape in the real sense, but sometimes, we all need a break from the monotonous drudgery we build for ourselves, a break to clear our minds and experience world in a different light.
And the book gives hope, a hope for change. A hope that when everything in your life is down, you will find light at the end of the tunnel.
Liz lost all her money in the divorce, sold her house, left her country and had no idea where life would take her and she found the best friends and people from all over the world, Luca who became a friend for life, Richard from Texas, who taught her to clear her mind, Ketut and Wayan, who helped her as she helped them and finally Felipe, the man she ended up marrying, for life.
The book is a real account. And the story gives hope.
Attraversiamo!

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Exams and the perpetual state of non existence

Come end semester season and I get stuck in limbo. With a non existence I really hate. And here is my post, cribbing about everything and anything that causes me duress during this ghastly season of eternal boredom and brain damaging physics.

1.Too much Physics: I know I signed up for this, but really, I am a writer and forcefully pushing in all the mundane laws of physics, the formulae, the horrendous diagrams and graphs are all just an exercise in futility. I find no real use to all the crap I have been forced to learn because let's be real, no company would want me as an engineer, I'd only destroy anything that comes near me. I don't even know what those triangles are in the circuits we study and we did those in the second sem or maybe the first?

2.Forced break from writing: I love to write. Period. And these stupid crazy days force me to take a break from writing anything I want to. As a result, all those words in me, the great thoughts and future masterpieces of literature are lost to the world.

3. Random Research: That's what I call stuff I like to read about, dig deep into and be a know-it-all about, my random research. from the many serial killers to human behavioral patterns to the legend of the shroud of Turin to history of Mickey Mouse. I like it all and I like to know it all and frankly, people around me will only be scared if I try this "stunt" during the exams when I am supposed to be lapping up all those great new theories of physics.

4.Trade Fair?Not fair!!: Being in Delhi, I sorely miss the Mumbai Vada Pav. I really really do and trade fair is the only time when I can get something that closely resembles the real deal. Why cant Delhi street food vendors be more versatile?!! And my November exams have ruined this experience for me for the past three years. No more Vada Pav. Well someone said they will courier it to me, I am still waiting. ;)

5.Late night talks: The routine of every hosteler. Random chats on the SMS and late night phone calls and catching up with everyone you know. I miss that! Half the people I know are studying during this time and the other half are there but I have to pretend to be a part of the study bandwagon, sadly.

6. TV Shows: The winter season on TV starts and is at its peak in November. And to add to my duress, I have to miss these shows. i cant download them and watch at leisure because of this stupid guilt trip in my head. Hmph! Exams.

7.Work and All that: And all the work I need to do, from the classes to take, to new things to learn and the partying and socialising. I miss it all and this happens to be the best weather of all times!!! Cool and nice.

Exams really are a downer, especially when one is learning stuff that is really pointless. It is to me. Why cant we have a paper on Harry Potter??