Madhav Mathur's The Diary of an Unreasonable Man Review

Well, that's two down and two more to go.. From the IOU note!

Moving on!

Sometimes you relate so much to a book or character that you lose your objectivity. You can't help but think it's a fantastic book. I mean, after all, the main character is so much like you and you are fabulous, right?! What's not to love?! The problem is that I've never been able to figure out if this loss of objectivity is a comment on the quality of the literature ( after all, great works of art are the ones in which you lose yourself, least for a while, right?) or just an emotional blind-spot born out of some ego massaging.

Either ways, I really liked 'The Diary of an Unreasonable Man'. After all it begins with my favorite quote of all time :

And it goes on to echo the sort of quarter life crisis we, ie pretty

Maybe not this bad :-/
Courtesy: cowbirdsinlove.com

much everyone in and around 25, at one point or the other have faced. For those lucky brats who escaped unscathed or not yet there, your standard quarter life crisis mostly consists of asking yourself :

1. What the hell am I doing with my life?
2. Is the pursuit of money really the pursuit of happiness?
3. Will I forever be a worker drone, an almost invisible and almost dispensable cog in the vast machinery of corporate-whatever-field-I'm-working-in?
4. Is there nothing/anything I can do to change the corruption/pollution/commercialization/pick-your-favorite-socio-political-peeve around me?
5. Will I ever break out of my comfort zone long enough to make any real difference to the world at large?
6. Some variant of all/any of the above questions which will make you lose sleep for an hour or two  of soul searching which then you'll give up on for the lack of definite answers and sleep. Least till the next bout of conscience attack.

So that's your basic dissection of your standard quarter life crisis. Anyways, where were we? Ah yes, the unreasonable man. We all have our moments. Like the time we sit and argue with the auto driver for that 4/3/2 or even one rupee change not because we can't afford to lose it but merely because we just got sick and tired of the bloody unfairness of the whole thing; Just because we don't want to cave in and be reasonable. But at the end of the day we continue being the almost invisible cog because the whole thing seems too daunting to take on our own. So Pranav, the protagonist, is so us with his slow and steady ad exec job and his frustration at the larger picture. 

One reason I liked the book was because it surprised me with the finesse with which Mathur handled the language. Call me a snob if you want, but most Indian writers who get published these days are very very shoddy with their English. But Mathur's got a knack of spouting cliches without sounding cliched; most likely because of the wry tone Pranav uses to acknowledge them. And his handling of English was far from amateur. Overall B+ in this area. ( Note : I'm a very harsh grader in general )

Another thing I liked was the tempo of the book. Just when you wonder how long is this existential crisis of our hero going to last ( I mean, we don't need to read this book to remind us how it goes, right?!) it picks up and gets going. And just when we start to wonder how long can anyone play the vigilante without getting into trouble, the story takes a twist. Another thing I appreciated was the consistency of the character, least the main character. Which is a pretty tricky thing to do given the rather fickle nature of the character. This is pretty much a one man show, Pranav's, with the other characters having little influence. But then again, the book is mostly from his viewpoint so I find it quite reasonable, the overwhelming 'I' perspective. 

Now the part that makes me lose objectivity. You know the dream where overnight you become a sensation because finally, and I mean finally, people recognise your genius and you go about setting the world right? To say this sums up the plot of the book would be doing it some injustice, but this is pretty much the allure of the book. But in Mathur's defense, he's done a pretty neat job of it. Unlike our daydream, his hero plans his execution meticulously and get himself into a pretty nifty mess in the process because changing the world also means creating a few enemies who liked it the way it was. And usually these are the big cogs in the machine! (Whether he gets out of the mess or not is for you to read and find out!)

But end of the day, it's biggest strength or weakness, according to me, would lie in the fact how often you have dreamt about being the hero. In a lot of ways, it reminded me of the feel-good factor I get after a chick flick when the girl finally says yes to the right guy ( As much as I deny it, there are times even I need my dose of sentimentality :-P ). Does that make it a bad book?! Well, I still say no, just the way some chick flicks can be good cinema( No, we are not going to argue on which ones they might be! I'm sure all of us have our guilty romantic movies we are addicted to). More over, the fact that it made me sit up and look at all the bill boards and life around me in general with a little more focus I think makes it worth a read.

Well, that's my take on it. Let me know if you think I was being unreasonable about it! :-P

The cynical sister says... :)

I'm a very cynical person.

I saw 'The Help'.

Ohwait... I forgot the connect. No, this is not about how I dint like the movie. In stead it is about why I liked the movie, in spite of it being a slightly Disney-fied version ( btw, is this a very Indian thing to do, or does everyone do this... making a new word by '-fying' it ?!) of the black emancipation. To explain why, I need to give a little bit background about myself.

Like I said already, I'm a very cynical person. Not the kind of schizo person who thinks everyone is bad and out to get you. Nope, I'm a more difficult to argue with sort of cynic- the kind that believes that people really want to be good, but ultimately they'll do only what is convenient for them. Period. There are obviously exceptions but at large it's a pretty good rule to hold 99.999% of the population. This might not make me a very nice person, but it sure allows me to be more tolerant and have lower expectations of people in general and that makes me a nicer person than I might have been.

Is anything Impossibile for these brats?!
Courtesy: goldenagemag.com

But there are two situations where this cynicism doesn't apply. 

One, with children. These fresh souls run largely on instinct and the sheer amount of energy, imagination and curiosity they have leaves little which appears to be inconvenient. Rather the thought process doesn't process convenience or inconvenience, just the way they don't always process good and bad. Which means these little angels and monsters almost always do things directly from the heart till they are told otherwise. And it's downright criminal to be cynical in the face of such brutal, life affirming openness and honesty. Every time I talk to a child, I'm renewed with hope that humanity is not entirely a lost cause.

The other, is when I see a sisterhood. It's a rare thing. And it's hard to explain the magic around one. It's not like an all accepting bond like a brotherhood. Nope, we fight, we bitch about each other, we even refuse to stand by each other occasionally. But we never cut each other away. Not even when someone wants to. In spite of all the dissension, there's a collective wisdom that holds the women together.

Viola Davis, Jessica Chastain, Octavia Spencer, Emma Stone and Bryce Dallas Howard : The Help cast

Part of the magic might be in the fact that a lot of times, the bond is formed without having a lot of common characteristics. There's no ulterior motive. This is pretty much the only other space, especially in adulthood, that I've seen where people think less of how it might be convenient or not and more about what the other person needs! And there's pretty much only one rule or code - Loyalty. But it's not your conventional definition ( we are women, ergo there can be nothing conventional about the way things are done.. esp the way men have defined it! :-P) but I wont even try to define it. One, because it's complicated even as a woman to understand it. Two, hehe.. Why give away the secret to men?! :D

Another curious thing is the fact almost always, the sisterhood is made of people who are not even remotely related. And I felt 'The Help' was a beautiful example of that kind of sisterhood.

[Spoiler Alert!!] One of my most favorite scenes in the movie is when Hilly Holbrooke tells Skeeter that she should not cut herself short just because her mama(Skeeter's) thinks she's not good enough to meet nice guys. For the most parts, Hilly's a self serving, arrogant woman who insists that she can never be wrong.  But you always bring out the best when you are rooting for a fellow sister! :)

Another favorite scene is the when Celia Foote cooks an entire dinner all by herself for Minny which gives Minny the strength to finally confront her abusive husband. There's pretty much nothing which can stop you when you have your sisters backing you.

Another scene which hit a chord is when Constantine talks to Skeeter under the tree; along similar lines,when Aibileen tells Elizabeth's kid in the morning to repeat after her,"I is kind, I is smart..." They are the Yin to your Yang, your sisters and that's what keeps you in balance.

Touchwood, because I've always been blessed with that rare kind of sisterhood all my life so far. I've always had women, some whom I am still in touch with, some I'm not ( and the blame's almost always mine!), who argued with me, comforted me, scolded me, complimented me and no matter what reminded me how lucky I am to be me! And that's why I like 'The Help'. Because it made a very cynical person sit up and reminded her that there are somethings in life which are unabashedly beautiful and one ought to be grateful for it! :)

MUUUAHH!! to all my sisters, past, present and future! :D

Curious and Funny Thing!

http://pinterest.com/ is my new found internet obsession. I'm not exactly sure why. This particular meme more or less sums it up!

Well, not that bad.. yet! Thankfully I caught on early that I might be more vulnerable than usual to the addictive-ness exactly because I can't figure out why/what is the attraction. Well, the initial pull was easily explained. They had a lot of DIYs which is a special weakness of mine. Gimme satin, paper,scissors and glue, leave me in an uncluttered corner and I'd be happy as a clam. The only easier way to make me happier is to put me away with a book in the same corner.. on my bean bag! :)

Anyways, started out by trying a few of the paper crafts and stashing away idea for future projects. But then the number of boards gradually grew. Score so far :10 ; which is not as bad as some of other I saw ! For now! Started collecting ideas for places and spaces, things I might use as inspiration to draw, yummy recipes I certainly doubt I'll try and of course, my favorite, the dream wardrobe collection which would, in all reality, stay a dream!

The curious thing is when I started I dint think it would mean much. It seemed the equivalent of an online scrapbook, nothing more. Well, it still doesn't mean a lot, but it did surprise me with a few things about me. Few things were a reinforcement of what I already knew about myself. Like the clothes I like. I love deep, bold colors over patterns. Simple cuts and styles are preferred. But accessories  need to be delicate and detailed. Nothing new there.

But when searching for inspiration to draw, that's a different story. Because I dint expect any particular pattern to emerge, but there it was. And being someone who needs to analyse every tiny detail of her life and rationalise why, it left me with a couple of curious questions. I found myself drawn to doorways. Show me a pathway, or stairs or anything which connects two different spaces and I wanted it on my board. Windows don't appeal, walls don't appeal.. no matter how pretty. Sometimes I wonder if it's because that's roughly where I am in life. At a threshold, both professionally and personally. And I'm looking for the freedom to move to any of the different opportunities which are present for me. And doorways are the perfect symbols to represent that.

Another thing which I found curious was the kind of people and faces that I wanted to draw. In all the free hand drawing I did, I never drew hands, only faces( that too abstract most of the times, and if there was a focus, it'd be on eyes). But when I started pinning, I found myself drawn, in stead, to lips. And picture where the limbs frame the person. I don't know what it means yet, but somehow I feel there's been a gradual yet definite shift in the kind of person I was to who I am today. And I don't know how, when these shifts happened. And I din't expect to find it through, of all things, Pinterest!

Self discovery is a funny, curious thing. It's not easy for sure. For better or for worse, we find it difficult to accept changes especially in the way we view ourselves. So most of the time we attribute the change to someone else's personality. How many times do we say 'She's not the same anymore' without giving a thought to the fact that we are not the same anymore either?!

But, at the end of the day I think it's a necessary evil. Some things might be sweet, but most are likely to be bittersweet, things you find out. But I still rather know if only for the fact that it might be the only way I'll get to change what I don't like. Or stick to it stubbornly ( which sounds more likely in my case! :-P ) And the fact that knowledge is power and self discovery might be the most effective way of empowering yourself for/against yourself!

Anyways, it's random ramble. More a reminder to self that we need to look into ourselves more often and we might just surprise ourselves. And that pinterest is fun! :D