Also once you work for long on organization specific stuff you lose touch answering generic stuff and so when you gotta go for interviews where they send poor people like us only to do interviewing and they ask the bookish stuff ,
youve got to start brushing up the question answer thing.
And to get in the mood for reading boring stuff I need some light reading practice.
So I decided to read something slightly fluffy to first get back to reading pages and well considering its gonna be soon a Julia Roberts movie I thought ok lets wrap this book first as I am not yet up for more complicated reading.
The book " EAT PRAY LOVE " to be frank is I feel slightly overrated on the overall bit, but I feel this is one book where the movie might be a bit more fun.
Julia Roberts kind of would add up to this movie. She has this knack of pulling up stuff like this pretty well.
The books written in quite good humor and all , but I especially found it written more like the journal / blog and sort of does not give that overwhelming feeling at all.
But then I've always believed that movies and books are different not only to different people but, different to the same people based on the mood and circumstance that the acquaintance with them starts.
So may be I just was in that kind of wrong mood.
Although the most boring part for me was her India part. The part dedicated to Pray.
I mean it seemed the most hopeless part. All she describes is her stint at a Ashram and where they teach her the usual stuff devotion, yoga and self belief.
Now most of it can be achieved at your own home if only you can self control or care to listen to general good.
But you cant , we humans love to led around by a Guru.
If someone we are familiar with tells us - wake up at 4am and sit still for 4 hrs would we revere him/her and do it - No not that easily.
Go to a ashram and have some hypnotic voice say it and you realize God.
I have nothing against the guru concept itself but its more often than not misused . But why complain - it simply shows that most of
humanity loves to follow - they just need a intoxicating and rousing enough cause /man/ woman who can convince them.
Any one can be the Guru -the ultimate pied pipers of this world - you just need to discover the right tune and the children of God flock to you.
Getting back to the book - the India part has nothing India in it except an Ashram and it in no way is India.
It is when I read such authors that I value authors like Shashi Deshpande etc even more whose writing may almost
seem boring to most Indians as its so very realistic and middle class compared to the exotic Western writing on India
Or the more famous Indian elite writers like say Rushdie .
I have written in previous review on Shantaram etc too how I hate this romanticzing the Indian rural village for westerners.
Its a very brutal and politicized landscape and the poorest too are hardly any innocent - the only argument would be they cant afford to be that.
So I felt absolute nonsense in that part OR may be familiarity breeds contempt.
I really wish someone from Italy or Bali can tell how they felt about the section on their countries compared to the others.
Now lets get to what I was not familiar with .
The Italy part - I sort of like it better. Now she might have called this the pleasure part ,
but this is where she delves mostly into her thoughts , so sort of liked it better.Though again I guess people who love food
would empathize with this part hugely.
The only part where I really could empathize was the point where she describes the situation of a friend who has a baby and
just then a successful exhibition of her paintings and throws a party about it and the situation what happens next
- she describes is something I've seen a bit often - where women do act as if its totally worth it and may be it is for them.It was the most realistic part. But well its all perspectives!!!.
I liked the fact that she didn't in the end totally romanticize Bali. She showed how the very kind hearted -- are also very human.
How many cultures in the east have a great reverence for a guest (e.g esp a guest from town in a village is taken such dear care of /
people from the west see our best and worst and not the real shades that we live in.)
and so on but can be brutal and heartless to their very own.
The part where she describes how the woman almost tries to blackmail her for more money -- based on the very permise that most
tourists are treated in here " Arre for them a few dollars is nothing" .
The very fact that normal people from the west somehow are slightly more gullible and easily open their purses in the name of charitable causes.
Its not like we are all misers here but we are relatively smarter about cheats (they being a part and parcel of life here).
Also fact is mostly we need a good enough cause for most things including charity
- like washing away sins
- feeling better for the day (ah my 5 rupee coin let a beggar live a day more on the street)
- or be with the in crowd
Ok I think I'm in my worst sarcastic mood but there are enough good and bad people all across the world just that we love to generalize.
As I said its a good read , but somehow the book did not have that touching effect.
I really feel the movie would be much better.
P.S: The nicest inspirational quote in the book
"it is better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of somebody else's life with perfection"
One thought here - why is it that westerners discover/ are told about such awesome quotes in our Bhagvad Gita.
When they teach it to Indians we have it interpreted differently or rather more stringently.
Imperfect lives huh - in Gita haan - that's against society , again parents and what not .
But that's what the best part of Hinduism - I guess with all its flaws . Its all about finding your perspective in the same words .
I kind of keyed this in a a hurry so well missed the truest line in the
book.Kind of hard to counteract in any sphere of life.
"There are only two questions that human beings have ever fought over, all through history. How much do you love me? And Who's in charge?" Everything else is somehow manageable. But these two questions of love and control undo us all,
trip us up and cause war, grief and suffering.
P.P.S
I guess Im in a kind of feminist tirade mood too - its not planned but circumstances seem to be all for it.
Saw a update on profile of friend who is a mom.
Some guy on her list confesses since my daughter was born ,I now respect women,
great you are you all moms Godly
earlier I disrespected women that they came to office for wasting time - did no work but you are all god
the lady applauds !! Better late than never
I dont know what to say - if I had to say (so glad I dont knowthe chap )-
appreciate that better late ...Or
yeah so now all moms are gods and rest - since they arent gods ??
I hate the whole updates and stuff ...should turn them off .
but they have their uses I guess
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