Some Book Fetish…

I came across this link yesterday. Its a list published of all time top 100 Novels published since 1923 by TIME Magazine in 2005. Apparently, it took me 3 years to discover it. A quick glance through the list highlighted 15 titles that I am familiar with and also introduced me to a world of 85 books and authors whom I never heard of. Going by the experience of those 15 which I loved, my expectations on the rest 85 are really sky high.

And so began a book fetish to hunt these books. I spent some quality hours tracking these books and I can say that I have around 40 of them in my collection now. 🙂

For those Ebook lovers, these Websites offer most of the books in list for free download.

http://www.truly-free.org/
http://www.4shared.com
http://www.esnips.com
http://www.scribd.com
http://avaxsphere.com/ebooks

Apart from grinning like a Cheshire cat, I cannot offer a reason to myself as to why did I spend so much time assembling them together, when I would have read them one by one. For me, greed has a pet name. Books. I feel strangely secure when I am around books that I haven’t discovered. Peculiar Behavior, isn’t it? Am planning to read 50 of the list by Feb 2009 and hopefully share the experience here. Wish me luck, for its a stretch goal, even for me. 🙂

Close To the Wind..

There is an advantage when one subscribes to a library. One buys a chance to discover new authors and antiquated books that tell myriad stories. I was so glad that I chanced upon this book titled “Close To The Wind” written by John Harris, which I picked up as an afterthought, lured by the title. Must say I am really enticed by this beautifully penned tome.

Its a story about a debt ridden Italian Couple Joe and Rosa who prefer the capricious Pacific to surrendering their mortgaged houseboat. Aided by their daughter Frankie, a school atlas, a nonfunctional ship engine, penniless condition and derelict instruments they sail to the unknown, hoping to discover an island where they can hide their only means of livelihood, the boat Tina S to safety. Pressed by the need for money, they take an unknown stranger Willie with questionable past for passenger on this sea adventure.

What follows then, is a story of grit, emotion, belief, and love as the passengers discover themselves over the challenging voyage. Little did the older couple know that their antique old boat is no match for the journey that they set themselves ahead. To reach America and have a chance at creating life for Frankie and Willie who fall in love with each other over the wild voyage.

To make the issues worse, the old couple is haunted by the media who thought that their impossible sea adventure makes good headline story, and the police for Willie who committed a murder and is postponing the inevitable capture by discovering himself over the Pacific. Life over the sea becomes a roller coaster ride for these four members who discover love, bonding, temptation, struggle, hurricane, and loss while they struggle for survival with little food and meager money, from the vagaries of the Pacific.

The characters feel so natural that you may wonder if they are conjured from your daily life experiences. Captain Mama is a tower of strength in handling the crisis and her devil may care attitude, positivity and enthusiasm tugs a chord at heart while the evolution of Willie from a wayward ruffian to a responsible person does manage to cheer up your spirits. The ways of God are ironic they say, for Willie sacrifices himself on the face of death to save the family, just a few days after he discovers contentment, lady love and purpose of life.

Devil’s Most Used Instrument…

This little story is most profound as it sinks in the thought. I couldn’t help sharing it!

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It was advertised that the devil was going to put his tools up for sale. On the date of the sale, the tools were placed for public inspection; each tool being marked with its sale price. They were a treacherous lot of implements… Hatred, Envy, Jealousy, Deceit, Lying, Pride, and so on.

Laid apart from the rest was a harmless looking tool, that appeared to have been heavily used, and was priced very high.

“What is the name of this tool?” asked one of the purchasers, pointing to it.

“That is Discouragement,” replied the devil.

“Why have you priced it so high?”

“Because it is more useful to me than all the others. I can pry open and get inside people’s hearts with that when I cannot get near them with my other tools. Once I get inside, I can make them do what I choose. It is badly worn because I use it on almost everyone, since very few people know that it belongs to me.”

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There are some stories which require a moment to read but a life time to comprehend. And discouragement is like a slow poison. Who says language doesn’t matter? One word can lit someone’s face and one moment can change somebody’s life. We love, live, cry, smile, share and care through it. So be careful while using it. Hope you would remember this little story next time when you are tempted to indulge in destructive feedback.

Dream Merchant Strikes..

Though a piece of fiction, this is a beautiful composition so I thought I would share it. I fell in love with it when I read it over a mail. I am not sure of the author to acknowledge (as I guess both these poems are written by different people and are connected by someone), yet kudos to him as he laces words beautifully to create a fairytale. Now don’t you dare wonder whats with me and horse riding metal guys! I just happen to like that idea! 🙂

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She dreams of her knight and longs for companionship. As her thought shapes into an expression, the words sway like this.

“In this world full of hurt and pain,
I need someone who would help me through the rain.
To comfort me when Im sad,
Doing everything just to make me glad.

In this world I need a Brave Knight,
Who would never give up any fight.
A knight who would dry away my tears,
Telling me to overcome my fears.

A knight who loves me for who I am inside,
With him there’s nothing more I need to hide.
A person who will still be standing strong,
Even though everything has gone wrong.

I need someone who is willing to give me more,
Someone I can call my Knight In Shining Armor”

And the Knight muses on and fills all his love to pen his promises which flow this way..

“Love is a many splendored thing, they say,
And I believed it when you looked my way,
Out of the blue, things seemed to happen
By chance or destiny, is the question.

Living my life so long, without knowing your existence,
Then came a day we felt each others presence,
Guess what’s meant to be will always find a way,
Love creeps into hearts and decides to stay.

A love so exquisite, yet so intricate,
In a world of only “you and I”
A love we can’t even demonstrate,
A secret we have to keep for life.

I love you, honey, and it’s from the bottom of my heart,
I would wait for the day when you say “I Love you” back,
You make me fly without wings,
You make my heart wants to sing.

Every moment I spent with you,
Is every one of my dreams coming true,
More than words, I want to show you how I feel,
Someday, some place, sometime, I will.

Love is a journey for two,
Step by step, me and you,
The future we can’t see,
Let love lead the way for you and me.”

Their dreams connected and as the fate choose to unite them under the blessings of heaven. And then they lived happily ever after.

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Note: Now you may wonder why its titled Dream Merchant? The story rings so good and runs like a dream, yet I want to be connected with the reality that not all verses are true and not all stories end up with happy endings. There are times when life plays the dream merchant, be braced for that. There is a thin line between truth and fantasy. How much ever we wish we want our wildest dream to be true, life will have different plans.. The best way to brave it is to greet the situation with a big smile and savor moment by moment with no expectations. Tough call indeed! I wish u all the best!

Playing Process Executive..

This goes as a humble attempt of mine to sketch a life like story in BPO…

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Suma has always thought that she should have a first hand experience of a BPO or call centre. All that glitter, media talk and allure of that career is enticing enough. She is a first class degree graduate and finally she landed in a plush job as a process executive in one of the most popular BPO’s in the Metro. After her hectic training she ended up dabbling in the billing operations to learn reality the hard way.

Suma walked to her desk. Her maniac monday regime is set to begin now. Its 9:05 AM and she is already five minutes late! Her mistaken sense of punctuality is at draggers with her again! It doesn’t make a difference that her office starts at 9:30 AM. Its an internal sense of commitment that gets her going!

One look at the inbox work, and Suma is longing for her carefree times again! She has to finish off a lot so that her team leader can audit it in time. People work for around 16 hours a day in her team, resolving escalations or raising plain bills in India for some UK or US customers. Their celebration of life starts by switching on their monitor to prune through the innumerable mails dealing with several requests and hours roll on in characteristic nonchalance..

Just 3 days old into this and she wonders at all those bright minds entangled in the routine humdrum of mundane activities. She discovered new friends along the way.. Anusha is an MCA, ended up in this role as she wanted to enjoy financial independence in marriage; Ketan is preparing for GMAT and wanted to make his own dough; Leela is an orphan and this job is godsent. Everyone is always on run, helping eachother in their issues, dealing with escalations, managing workload and trying to scrape some moments of personal time in that maddening rush…

Suma has found a shortcut to tackle the situation though. She prompty switches off those inner rantings which drive her crazy and gets herself going at that insane pace which her work demands.. There isn’t time enough to be with herself or is it that she hates to take a maverick stance?

As she muses over herself, she considers ‘Hey what’s wrong with me? I earn 20 grand, family is happy, I got great friends and I freak out every other day. What’s wrong with my job anyways? ‘ Suma has always based her life on rule book.. Yet, when she opens it to check what she really wants to do, the pages are all blank!

Stifled Expressions!

She stared at me from the mirror. She has this peculiar oblong face, with sharp eyes and a small mouth. It has pleasant features, and she looks feminine and gentle with a lock of her shiny black hair falling over her cheek. Not girly though! She looks every inch an independent woman full of poise and grace, albeit trapped in her mistaken priorities. And those large sharp eyes! Is that a sharp determination that I see? Or is it a raw confidence or defiance?

As I mused over the woman in the mirror, all those age old stifled emotions seem to spring from shadows. Several questions pounced in my mind, trying to account me for her lost dreams, raging feelings, swirling emotions and confounded sanity. Is She real? Is She true? Why her vacant stare pierces my heart?

Haunted by those expressions of silence, I am lost in the depths of her eyes!