Taking A Stand In Life

To Kill a Mockingbird is a heart warming story told by a child, showing the innocence of children. It carries a message towards the society, to shun all the prejudices. Along with this, the book is a journey of the characters coming of age. The best part is the feelings of a child being shown. One connects with the childhood instantly and a fresh perspective evolves towards the evils in society. The concept of justice has been exemplified. Most of all, To Kill a Mockingbird is a morality tale of how injustice must be fought —a story which should awaken the society from its deep slumber.

The story is set in an old tired town of Maycomb, Alabama, where Scout Finch (6 years old, The Narrator) lives with her father, a lawyer and widower named Atticus and her elder brother Jem. Scout and Jem meet Dill who visits Maycomb to stay with his aunt for the summer. The first part of the story revolves around the fascination that these children have with a scary character "Boo Radley”, a man in his thirties who has not been seen outside of his home in years. They think of Mr. Radley as being a charlatan.

Then comes the part where a black man, Tim Robinson is wrongly accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a white woman, daughter of Bob Ewell. Atticus sets an example by fighting for the justice despite being ridiculed for helping a man not of his race. That is when Scout realizes the prejudices of the society and says “It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived”. Atticus on his part tells the children “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”

The theme of the story is explained in a line “Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy... but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird”, which depicts how gruesome is it to hurt someone who is innocent. The coming to reality from a dream world of the children is another aspect shown. A world with sin like rapes and racism. That the society is not perfect and they would have to face the challenges. There are lessons learnt by Scout from Tim Robinson’s tale and through the demystifying of Boo Radly’s character at the end.
The story ends with Bob Ewell looking for revenge for the shame he had to face due to Atticus, and how the scary Boo Radly does something special and unexpected. The serendipity of the gifts coming from unexpected quarters summarise the ironies present in life.

Finally, Atticus is a character who would remain an inspiration for the generations. The manner of portraying the concept of injustice is marvellous. The innocence of children oozes out and the dawning of the reality on them is just right. The beauty of this narrative, To Kill a Mockingbird, is that each character has flaws, just as in real-life. This helps the readers connect with the characters. To Kill a Mockingbird is enormously touching and powerful in its being a simple story. The book in my view is a must read to appreciate the essence of being a human being.

A Thousand Splendid Suns – Splendid Indeed!

A Thousand Splendid Suns is a heart wrenching story of the pain that some women have been going through due to conflict and culture in Afghanistan.
It is a farewell ode to the city of Kabul

One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs
Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls.

Khaled Hosseini has the gift of making the characters come alive. It is like you are living a life, feeling the tenderness of the characters, the surroundings become all the more familiar.
He had indeed set high standards with “The KiteRunner”, but this particular book would not leave you disappointed.

The innocence of a child, the playfulness, the mystic beauty, the curiosity and the urge to be loved – all these feelings are what you get submerged with. The characters have to leave their home places due to tragic events, invasion by Soviets and the infighting among the Afghan Warlords.

The agony of Mariam at being called a ‘harami’ since a child, her longing for gifts from her father and the tragic death of her mother sets the tone of the book. She suffers through her life with a dominating and somewhat savage husband. The pain of miscarriages and abuses fills her life with misery. Another girl named Laila grows with dreams of bright future, just to be taken away by the conflict. Family dies, love of her life has to leave her and she ends up being the wife of the same husband as Mariam.

Among the wild bushes lay some flowers as well. There are small joys, small bouts of happiness accosted to these girls. They try to find joy in the beautiful valleys, the flowing streams, and the thrill of running away from the pain in the end. Killing of an unjust and cruel man was liberating.
What amazes one is how early are the girls forced to marry (15) and expected to follow so many rules and regulations. The Purdah system, a woman cannot go out without taking a man along with her, the biased rules of the society towards men, the in-numerous beatings that a wife takes, the curses sprayed on them for not bearing a boy child.

The fear of being stoned at a man's allegation of a bad character and if they escape this fate, to please their husbands remains the fait accompli. Education is treated as an offense for them.
The writ of Taliban holds strong. No one dares to disobey. TV and Music is banned. Cosmetics are forbidden. Painting pictures, writing books and dancing are forbidden. Any interpretation of the holy book these people make is to be followed as writing in the stone.

A Thousand Splendid Suns will moisten your eyes, the respect for a democracy and liberalism in our country increases many folds even if it is not perfect here.
All in all, it was really splendid reading this book.

The Saint The Surfer And The CEO

This Book is truly Inspirational and the one from which every person can learn something.

I have gathered some of the Thoughts which I liked....

• The top of one mountain is the start of the next.

• No matter how insignificant the thing you have to do,do it as well as you can,give it as much of the care and attention as you would give to a thing you regard as most important.For it will be by those small things that you shall be judged.

• Just start writing and keep writing without lifting the pen from the page.And then stop when you are clear and feel liberated.This exercise will work wonders for your peace of mind,for your inner power and for the best life that you are reclaiming. Write about all your irritations,the greatest desires of your heart.Write about the person you are and whom you would love to be.Just write freely-as days go by,you will go deeper and deeper.

• Morning Questions

1. How would I live out this day if I knew it was my last?
2. What do I have to be grateful for in my life?
3. What one thing could I do today to make my life extraordinary?
4. What can I do to make today incredibly fun?
5. How can I help someone today?

• All of us ,whether or not we are warriors,have a cubic centimeter of chance that pops out in front of our eyes from time to time.The difference between the average person and a warrior is that the warrior is aware of this and stays alert,deliberately waiting,so that when this cubic centimeter of chance pops out,it is picked up.

• There’s a place deep inside every single one of our hearts that knows answers to our biggest questions.Each one of us knows our truth and what needs to be done to create extraordinary lives of ourselves.

• Make thy books thy companions.Let thy cases and shelves be thy pleasure grounds and gardens.

• The real trick in life is to turn hindsight into foresight that reveals insight.

• Let your past serve you.

• Stop blaming others for everything you dislike about your life.Look in the mirror and regain some accountability over your life.That’s how personal change and leadership begins.

• Breakdowns always lead to Breakthroughs.

• Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.

• The place where your greatest fears lives is also the place where your greatest growth lies.

• In about the same degree as you are helpful,you will be happy.

• Who looks outside dreams.Who looks inside awakens.

• Meditation is nothing more than using your mind and its imagination to create a better inner life.It’s all about envisioning the way you would like to be in certain circumstances.Meditation is glorified visualization-mental concentration with a personal development twist to it.

• Pain deepens you and reveals you to yourself.

• Whats the point of living a long life if you cant enjoy it by feeling good,strong and healthy-----stay fit as those who don’t make time to exercise must eventually make time for illness.

• Now is the time to raise your standards about what it means to be a person,to show the world who you really are.And if not now then when?

• The wise man always does it at once what a fool does at finally.

• There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.

• Leave a Legacy.

• I wept because I had no shoes on my feet until I saw the man without any feet.

• Reflection is the mother of wisdom.

Thoughts Forever.....