2102 -...every tune you have ever heard is just a different combination of 7 swaras

2085- Books

2079- Books

2056- who to read Gita?

2020- Reading

1985- A couch, a cup and a a book

1916- MONEY IS YOURS BUT RESOURCES BELONG TO THE SOCIETY

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(This nice fictitious anecdote is not Chetan Bhagat's own story but is mentioned as such in the book 'Sound and Silence' by Dunstan Chan at page 295 in its chapter titled Capricious Consumption and its consequences.)
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Germany is a highly industrialized country. In such a country, many will think its people lead a luxurious life.
When we arrived at Hamburg , my colleagues walked into the restaurant, we noticed that a lot of tables were empty. There was a table where a young couple was having their meal. There were only two dishes and two cans of beer on the table. I wondered if such simple meal could be romantic, and whether the girl will leave this stingy guy.

There were a few old ladies on another table. When a dish is served, the waiter would distribute the food for them, and they would finish every bit of the food on their plates.
As we were hungry, our local colleague ordered more food for us.When we left, there was still about one third of un-consumed food on the table.
When we were leaving the restaurant, the old ladies spoke to us in English, we understood that they were unhappy about us wasting so much food.
"We paid for our food, it is none of your business how much food we left behind," my colleague told the old ladies. The old ladies were furious. One of them immediately took her hand phone out and made a call to someone. After a while, a man in uniform from Social Security organisation arrived. Upon knowing what the dispute was, he issued us a 50 Euro fine. We all kept quiet.
The officer told us in a stern voice, "ORDER WHAT YOU CAN CONSUME, MONEY IS YOURS BUT RESOURCES BELONG TO THE SOCIETY. THERE ARE MANY OTHERS IN THE WORLD WHO ARE FACING SHORTAGE OF RESOURCES. YOU HAVE NO REASON TO WASTE RESOURCES."
The mindset of people of this rich country put all of us to shame. WE REALLY NEED TO REFLECT ON THIS. We are from country which is not very rich in resources. To save face, we order large quantity and also waste food when we give others a treat.
(Courtesy: A friend who is now changed a lot)
THE LESSON IS:- THINK SERIOUSLY ABOUT CHANGING OUR BAD HABITS. Expecting acknowledgment, that u read the message and forward to your contacts.

VERY TRUE -"MONEY IS YOURS BUT RESOURCES BELONG TO THE SOCIETY."
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"This linkage (our consumption and loss of resources) can be illustrated with the issue of shark fin. To many traditional Chinese shark fin soup is a status symbol. The inclusion of it in a feast gives the host much “face”. He can say to the anti-shark fin soup brigade, “I can afford it, so what’s that business to you?” It is our business because for that little bowl of soup a whole shark is wasted."
Sound and Silence, Dunstan Chan.

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comment:  
We don't learn good things...
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"I hv studied nd lived in abroad... all I see is we have not learnt much good thngs from them... like
(1)manners,
(2)caring/ consideration for others
(3)united thinking for country nd not only individual,
(4)respecting law even whn nobody is watchng us....
bt learnt almost all not so good thngs"

Rajeev Pareekh
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1722- Manorama yearbook

This Manorama Yearbook, used to be Rs8 in late 1960s, now it is Rs.250 (despite the publishers getting revenue from so many advertisements)!

1708- "50 writers, 50 books: The best of Indian fiction"

Edited by Pradeep Sebastian and Chandra Siddan
(Rs.499 priced book got at a bargain price of Rs.149 on purchase made on Amazon.in)

1706- reading

1649- Books

1587- Books

 

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1454- BOOKS

1430- BOOKS

1404- A rich man's son, rejected the life of ease in favour of physical and spiritual challenges!

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1378- Khushwant Singh, journalist and writer, dies at 99

NEW DELHI (AP) — Khushwant Singh, the self-proclaimed “dirty old man of Indian journalism”, a journalist, editor and one of the country's best-known as well prolific writers for more than six decades,whose work ranged from serious histories to joke collections to one of post-Independence India's great novels, died Thursday at his New Delhi apartment. He was 99.

He received the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian award.

His wife died in 2002. He is survived by his daughter Lata and a son Rahul.
His self-written epitaph says humorously, “Here lies one who spared neither man nor God; Waste not your tears on him, he was a sod.”
RIP!
"we look at some of his most important works - a difficult task given the immense body of work he leaves behind.

Train to Pakistan (1953)
In the summer of 1947 when India is being partitioned, the hamlet of Mano Majra comes to terms with the new reality of India and Pakistan, Hindus and Muslims. The truth is brought home when a ghost train arrives in the isolated village, carrying bodies of hundreds of refugees. It is left to a boy and a girl, from different religions, to rise beyond this abyss of religious hatred.
I Shall Not Hear the Nightingale (1959)
Set in British India, Kushwant Singh's second novel is about a magistrate loyal to Britishers and his nationalist son who believes in using the gun to drive out the Britishers. The son is arrested and the father is given two choices - either the son betrays his comrades or get hanged.
A History of Sikhs (1963)This two-volume book is considered the most comprehensive and authoritative book on the Sikhs.
Based on solid research, it is written in a way to be accessible to even the lay reader.
The Company of Women (1999)
A work of fiction, Khushwant Singh wrote this novel at the age of 84. A comment on hypocrisy in the Indian society, the book tells the story of Mohan Kumar who believes "lust is the true foundation of love". The book was talked about for its unbridled sexuality and brazen views on man-woman relationship.
Truth, Love and a Little Malice (2002)
His image was not something Kushwant Singh was ever overtly concerned about. His autobiography which delves into his personal life and all those he met during the journey was controversial yet true to its title. Right from his first relationship to important political events he witnessed to his familial roots - all find a place here and are handled unabashedly and truthfully.
Why I Supported the Emergency (2004)This bold and thought provoking collection of essays on India's Emergency explained the reasons why Khushwant Singh supported the proclamation on June 25. In the book, he goes to point out the mistakes which were made then and which, he says, must be avoided the next time conditions require suspension of democratic norms for the preservation of law and order. The book was edited by Sheela Reddy."


(Hindustan Times)
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1377- Mini Gita in 18 Slokas for daily contemplation:

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1339- VIKAS SWARUP ISMS (From "The Accdental Appentice")

Vikas Swarup isms (1)
"In life, like in business, u never get what u deserve: u get what u negotiate.

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Vikas Swarup isms (2) :
"The dead don't die. As long as we remember them, they remain alive in our hearts."

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"Vikas Swarup isms(3):
It is the basic rule of human nature that the promise of unexpected wealth, short circuits both intelligence and common sense. That is why we have all these Ponzi schemes, chit-fund scams, timber plantation frauds, Nigerian scams etc.

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VIKAS SWARUP ISMS(4):
'We are in kaliyug, the dark age, full of sin and corruption. Religion is no longer in fashion.The youngsters are consumed by consumption. Their God is money, first and foremost.'

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Vikas Swarup ism(5):
"In life you don't get what you deserve: you only get what you negotiate."

'Now I am negotiating with you.'

"But in order to negotiate you need to have LEVERAGE of some kind."
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1305-Religion - root of all evil?

" Imagine, with John Lennon, a world with no religion. Imagine no suicide bombers, no 9/11, no 7/7, no crusades, no witch hunts, no gun powder plot, no Indian partition, no Israeli/ Palestinian war, no Serb/ Croat/ Muslim massacres, no persecution of Jews as 'Christ-killers', no Northern Ireland 'troubles', no 'honour killings', no shiny-suited bouffant haired televangelists fleecing gullible people of their money ( God wants you to give till it hurts). Imagine no Taliban to blow up ancient statues, no public beheading of blasphemers, no flogging of female skin for the crime of showing an inch of it."
-Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion)
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1274-A prize for weighty prose

The decision to award this year’s Man Booker Prize to the virtually unknown 28-year-old New Zealand writer Eleanor Catton for her door-stopper of a novel, The Luminaries, is as much a recognition of a new voice as proof that the Booker judges’ capacity to surprise remains undiminished. In a year when the critics and bookies were rooting for one of the shortest novels in contention — the British writer Jim Grace’s Harvest — they went and chose the longest (The Luminaries clocks in at 832 pages) and the most formally structured contender. Yet in the past they have gone for novels that were so brief (Ian McEwan’s On Chesil Beach and Julian Barnes’s The Sense of an Ending) that many questioned whether they could be considered as novels at all. Two years ago, there was a huge row when one of the judges suggested that for him a book needed to “zip along” to pass the selection test, prompting criticism that the prize had dumbed down with “readability” taking precedence over “artistic achievement.” This year’s choice is a riposte to critics on both counts. Good literature transcends considerations of structure and size. Robert Macfarlane, chairman of the judges, described The Luminaries as a “dazzling book, vast without being sprawling.” Hailed as a “compelling’’ thriller, it is set against the background of the 19th century New Zealand gold rush. The story is told through a complicated plot structure divided into 12 zodiac-themed chapters, each decreasing in length in conjunction with the lunar cycle. Judges acknowledged that readers needed to make a “huge investment” in getting to grips with it, but the effort was worth it.

At 28, Catton is the youngest ever writer to win the Booker, beating Ben Okri, who was 32 when he won it for The Famished Road in 1991. It is after 28 years that a New Zealander has won the prize since Keri Hulme got it for The Bone People in 1985. That was a controversial choice, still cited after so many years as an example of the Booker’s “eccentric’’ ways. Perhaps no other literary prize is scrutinised as closely as Booker amid persistent rumours about its imminent death. Consistently, however, it has always proved its critics wrong, demonstrating that even after 45 years, there is still life left in the old beast. In India, there will be disappointment that Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Lowland missed out and elsewhere too, critics will carp that their favourite was ignored. But that’s the beauty of Booker — its unpredictability. From next year, the prize will be open to American and other writers with British publishers, making the competition tougher — and adding to the drama that has become so much a part of one of the English-speaking world’s most storied prizes for writing. 

(The Editorial, The Hindu, 17:10:2013)

(‘The Luminaries’, set in 1866, contains a group of 12 men gathered for a meeting in a hotel and a traveller who stumbles into their midst; the story involves a missing rich man, a dead hermit, a huge amount in gold, and a beatenup whore. The multiple voices take turns to tell their own stories and gradually what happened in the small town of Hokitika on New Zealand’s South Island is revealed.
The novel was up against Indian-American writer Jhumpa Lahiri’s ‘The Lowland’— a story of a young man’s tryst with the Naxalite movement at the cost of his family. Set in Kolkata, ‘The Lowland’ was among six books shortlisted for the prize.) 

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