The 100 books I loved reading

Since I am reading book #200 after I started keeping a count (for the heck of it), I thought a post on the 100 books I liked and a one liner on each of them would be a good post. The list has a mix of classics, Non Fiction, Fiction, business and management books. 

Here are my 100 - Name, Author, my two cents/memorable quote and Good reads/Amazon link

1. One day - David Nicholls - Funny, serious, emotional roller coaster, coming-of-age story, also a story of harsh, albeit late realizations -  Link 
2. Past Continuous/A life apart -  Neel Mukherjee - Loved Mukherjee's prose, at times meandering into unnecessary details but mostly good, throws light on a young boy growing up in 70s/80s Kolkata. Has a very absorbing parallel story set in 1900s colonial India. - Link 
3. Essays in Love - Alain De Botton - Vintage De Botton, Finest piece of prose you may possibly lay your hands on, love becomes all the more enchanting in his hands - Link  
4.  The Romantics - Pankaj Mishra - Contemplative in parts, heart rending in parts, richly evocative of beautiful Varanasi, this is a surprisingly good read - Link
5. Indira Gandhi - Nayantara Sehgal - This is an insider's account of Indira Gandhi, at her vulnerable and ruthless moments, pacy for a biographical account- Link
6. The boy in the striped pyjamas - John Boyne - The horror of the second world war told through a young boy's eyes, this would leave the reader sad - Link
7.  Dear Zari - Zarghuna Kargar - A peek into Afghanistan's different customs, traditions and how the patriarchy takes a toll on a society's womenfolk. The brilliance of this book lies in the triumph of the women in its stories, despite all possible odds. - Link
8. Thinking fast and Slow - Daniel Kahneman - Sheer brilliance of Kahneman to the fore, a tour de force that will turn your conventional views on its head and leave you dazzled - Link
9. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov - You will not see a girl child with an ordinary eye, oops, did I say something wrong? I stand by it. Humbert Humbert gives you the creeps - Link
10. Steppenwolf - Herman Hesse - "Steppenwolf's nature was thus twofold, partly human, partly wolfish." - Link
11. The dark road - Ma Jian - The saddest book I have read, on the tragedy that is the forced family planning laws of China - Link
12. The wisdom of insecurity - Alan Watts - If there are a few books in this list that is recommended for rereading, this surely is one- Link
13. Bonded - Harold M Bergsma - The potential was great, the characters, too well sketched to be let down in such a fashion, Pakistan's child/bonded labour in focus - Link
14. In the shadow of the banyan - Vaddey Ratner - The civil war in Cambodia, the forced displacement of scores of people and a royal family caught right in the middle, this is a must read for the hope it offers and for the lessons in human spirit it teaches - Link
15. The art of travel - Alain De Botton - Please buy this if you like traveling, Amen - Link 
16. The conquest of happiness - Bertrand Russell - This book should be reread every month - Link
17. Reverse Innovation - Vijay Govindarajan and Chris Trimble - Replete with case studies and examples, this one should be read slowly and patiently. Gets a little repetitive, falls slightly short of expectations, nevertheless a good informative read - Link
18. The art of choosing - Sheena Iyengar - Choices will never seem straightforward after reading this one, a truly different perspective - Link
19. The museum of innocence - Orhan Pamuk - This is Pamuk's tribute to love, a laborious read in parts, but if you labour on, it becomes a rewarding read - Link
20. Lucknow Boy, A Memoir - Vinod Mehta - Mr Mehta comes across as touchingly human, quite different from the persona we see on TV debates - Link
21. Strategic Selling - Miller and Heiman - Selling is a science (and an art too), this is a classic text book, quite useful and a methodical approach to the function - Link
22. Code Halos - Malcolm Frank, Paul Roehrig, Ben Pring - Futuristic, relevant and complex concepts explained with a rare clarity - Link
23. Smoke and Mirrors, An experience of China - Pallavi Aiyar - "The new China was a land of dichotomies : chaos and control, change and continuity, wealth and poverty, good and evil coexisted here in a potentially explosive mix" - Link
24. Cinnamon Gardens - Shyam Selvadurai - This is a highly under rated book, would rate it among the top 10 books I have read (Fiction) - Link
25. Predictably Irrational - Dan Arielly - Descartes said, Cogito ergo Sum - "I think, therefore I am" But suppose, we are nothing more than the sum of our first, naive, random behaviors, what then? - Link
    
26. The difficulty of being good - Gurcharan Das - Mahabharata holds a lot of lessons for the modern day professional - Link
27. Man's search for meaning - Viktor E Frankl - "A human being is not one in pursuit of happiness, but rather in search of a reason to become happy" - Link
28. The idea of justice - Amartya Sen - Complex read, worth the effort, Niti and Nyaya, the difference between the two, exhaustive references, this is Mr. Sen at his brilliant best - Link
29. Swimming Across - Andrew S Grove - "I realized that it is good to have atleast two interests in your life. If you have only one interest and that goes sour, there is nothing to act as a counterbalance to lift your mood" - Link
30. The Reader - Bernhard Schlink - This is a story you will remember long after you turn the last page, remarkable love - Link
31. Chowringhee - Sankar - "If you want to preserve a corpse, put it into whiskey, and if you want to kill a living man, pour whiskey into him" - Link
32. Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi - The best graphic novel ever written, a collector's delight and an ideal gift choice for a book lover - Link
33. Fragrant Harbour - John Lanchester - "She was pretty but the most attractive thing about her was her evident talent for happiness" - Link
34. Black Margins - Saadat Hasan Manto - If there is one short story collection you are going to buy, buy this - Link
35. For the new intellectual - Ayn Rand - "Every form of causeless self doubt, every feeling of inferiority and secret unworthiness is, in fact, man's hidden dread of his inability to deal with existence" - Link
36. The audacity of hope - Brack Obama - "Alone in the kitchen washing the dishes, I imagined my two girls growing up, and I felt that ache that every parent must feel at one time or another, that desire to snatch up each moment of your child's presence and never let go - to preserve every gesture, to lock in for all eternity the sight of their curls or the feel of their fingers clasped around yours" - Link
37. The unbearable lightness of being - Milan Kundera - "Does he love me? Does he love anyone more than me? Does he love me more than I love him? Perhaps all the questions we ask of love, to measure, test, probe and save it, have the additional effect of cutting it short." - Link
38. Sputnik Sweetheart - Haruki Murakami - Classical Murakami, Amen - Link
39. Tears of the desert - Halima Bashir - Female genital mutilation and an autobiographical account of the war in Sudan - Link
40. Diary of a bad year - JM Coetzee - "You can't be honest in a marriage-type relationship where you live together, not absolutely honest, not if you want it to last. That is one of the down things about marriage." - Link 
41. Golden Age - Tahmima Anam - In my list of top 10 fiction books, remarkably well written for a first novel, a glimpse into Bangladesh during its birth - Link
42. Disgrace - JM Coetzee - A work of sheer genius, buy it if you want to know how well books can be written, buy it if you read to appreciate a master at his best - Link
43. Into the Wild - Jon Krakauer - "It is easy when you are young, to believe that what you desire is no less than what you deserve, to assume that if you want something badly enough, it is your God-given right to have it" - Link
44. To Sir with love - ER Braithwhite - "Every teacher should have a fund of ready information on which to draw; he should keep that fund supplied regularly by new experiences, new thoughts and discoveries, by reading and moving around among people from whom he can acquire such things"- Link
45. Darkness at noon - Arthur Koestler - "A second, smashing blow hit him on the ear. Then all became quiet. There was the sea again with its sounds. A wave slowly lifted him up. It came from afar and traveled sedately on, a shrug of eternity" - Link
46. Seeing - Jose Saramago – It’s odd how we spend every day of our life saying goodbye, saying and hearing others say see you tomorrow when, either the person we said to will no longer be here, or we who said it will not”  - Link
47. The Painted Veil – Somerset Maugham – “Because he had dressed a doll in gorgeous robes, and set her in a sanctuary to worship her, and then discovered that the doll was filled with sawdust he could neither forgive himself nor her” – Link
48. What are you doing with your life – J Krishnamurti – “We do not love and let it alone, but crave to be loved; we give in order to receive, which is the generosity of the mind and not of the heart. The mind is ever seeking certainty, security; and can love be made certain by the mind?” – Link
49. Blindness – Jose Saramago – All the people in a city go blind. This is the best book I have ever read. Mind blowing stuff. Would top any of my lists. – Link
50. Snow – Orhan Pamuk – “While Gemini men are best suited to Virgo women, the double personality of Geminis, which makes them light and shallow, can either delight or disgust a Gemini woman” – Link
51. The sea, The sea – Iris Murdoch – Murdoch is my favorite writer. This is considered to be one of her best works. – Link
52. A Writer’s notebook – Somerset Maugham – Very different book. Maugham wrote down his observations of life and musings in a diary to be used later in his works. “A thing of beauty is not, as Keats said, a joy for ever; it is a thing that excites in us a particular emotion at a particular moment, and if it does that it gives us all that beauty can give. It is absurd to despise people who don’t share our aesthetic opinions” – Link
53. The Siege – Helen Dunmore – “The three of them are far off, and it is hard to tell. Suddenly they move into a bar of light reflecting up from the water. Broken, shivering pieces of light run up and down their bodies. They look as if they are dancing. They are mother, father and child out for a walk on this beautiful may afternoon, as Leningrad settles like a swan on the calmest of waters” – Link
54. The house of blue mangoes – David Davidar – “He empties his mind, concentrates the senses. He regards the fruit he has picked for a moment, then raises the mounded end with the dimple in the centre, to his nose and inhales deeply. The bouquet explodes upon his senses: a huge delectable sweetness, overlaid with notes of freshness, lightness, sun and blue…” – Link
55. Shalimar the clown – Salman Rushdie – “Was he clothing an essentially savage, irrational thing in the garb of civilization, dolling it up in the dress shirt of endurance, the silk trousers of constancy, the frock coat of solicitude and the top hat of selflessness?” – Link
56. Cakes and Ale – Somerset Maugham – “I noticed as we walked along that sometimes men who passed us stared at Mrs Driffield. It occurred to me presently that they must think her pretty too. I began to walk with a certain swagger.” – Link
57. Norwegian Wood – Haruki Murakami – “Just as each person has certain idiosyncrasies in the way he or she walks, people have idiosyncrasies in the way they think and feel and see things, and though you might want to correct them, it doesn’t happen overnight, and if you try to force the issue in one case, something else might go funny.” – Link
58. The narrow corner – Somerset Maugham – “The wise man combines the pleasures of the senses and the pleasures of the spirit in such a way as to increase the satisfaction he gets from both. The most valuable thing I have learnt from life is to regret nothing. Life is short, nature is hostile, and man is ridiculous; but oddly enough most misfortunes have their compensations…” – Link
59. Arrival and Departure – Arthur Koestler – “The hardest sentences are those which people inflict on themselves for imaginary sins” – Link
60. The Frenchman’s creek – Daphne Du Maurrier – “What is the difference between happiness and contentment? It is not easy to put into words. Contentment is a state of mind and body when the two work in harmony, and there is no friction. The mind is at peace and the body also. The two are sufficient to themselves. Happiness is elusive – coming perhaps once in a lifetime and approaching ecstasy.” – Link
61. Love in the time of cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez – “It is incredible how one can be happy for so many years in the midst of so many squabbles, so many problems, damn it, and not really know if it was love or not” – Link
62. Sophie’s Choice – William Styron – “The look of love they exchanged – the merest instant of eyes meeting then melting together, but marvelously intense – was so embarrassingly intimate that I turned briefly away.” – Link
63. Vernon God Little – DBD Pierre – “You’ll have a honey of a life if you love the people who love you first” – Link
64. Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen – “Women fancy admiration means more than it does” – Link
65. The catcher in the rye – Jerome David Salinger – “I’m always saying ‘Glad to have met you’ to somebody I am not at all glad I met. If you want to stay alive, you have to say that stuff though” – Link
66. Round the bend – Nevil Shute – “You can only do a thing for the first time once, and that goes for falling in love. You may do it over and over again afterwards but it’s never the same.” – Link
67. Of Human Bondage – Somerset Maugham – “It is clear that men accept and immediate pain rather than an immediate pleasure, but only because they expect greater pleasure in the future” – Link
68. Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoevsky – “In order to understand any man one must be deliberate and careful to avoid forming prejudices and mistaken ideas, which are very difficult to correct and get over afterwards” – Link
69. An outcast of the islands – Joseph Conrad – “Fatalism is born of the fear of failure, for we all believe that we carry success in our own hands, and we suspect that our hands are weak” – Link
70. Desertion – Abdulrazak Gurnah –“I don’t want to find myself saying that they fell in love as soon as they caught sight of each other and the rest followed, that they looked into each other’s eyes and into each other’s souls and abandoned every other demand that circumstances made on them, can that kind of thing be true? Do such things happen? And even if they do, how can they be written?” – Link
71. Under Western eyes – Joseph Conrad – “A man’s real life is that accorded to him in the thoughts of other men by reason of respect or natural love” – Link
72. The remains of the day – Kazuo Ishiguro – Ishiguro writes poetry. Please buy this one to savour any day – Link
73. The Brothers Karamazov – Fyodor Dostoevsky – Dostoevsky seems to give the middle finger to all the proponents of freedom and liberty when he writes: “Humanity yearns above all not for freedom, but for ‘mystery’, ‘miracle’ and ‘authority’” – Link
74. This blinding absence of light – Tahar Ben Jelloun – “Even with the cruelest misfortune, there comes a time when forgetting begins, and discouragement fades.” – Link
75. Commentaries on living – J Krishnamurti – “What we are is made up of what we have been; and what we have been also shapes the future, without definitely giving line and substance to every thought and action. The present is a movement of the past to the future” – Link
76. Goodbye to Berlin – Christopher Isherwood – Isherwood was such a fine writer and this book is such a gem – Link
77. The people’s act of love – James Meek – “Death gave life the beauty of finity, the beauty of the edge line, and life, even a second of it made death small” – Link
78. Mr. Norris changes trains – Christopher Isherwood – “It’s so stupid to bear grudges. In this life, one is apt to lose a great deal through a mistaken sense of pride” – Link
79. Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie – “Memory selects, eliminates, alters, exaggerates, minimizes, glorifies, and vilifies also; but in the end it creates its own reality, it’s heterogeneous but usually coherent version of events; and no sane human being ever trusts someone else’s version more than his own”- Link
80. Notes from the underground – “In every man’s memories there are such things as he will reveal not to everyone, but perhaps only to friends. There are also such as he will reveal not even to friends, but only to himself, and that in secret. Then, finally, there are such as man is afraid to reveal even to himself, and every decent man will have accumulated quite a few things of this sort” – Link
81. The sovereignty of Good – Iris Murdoch – “We act rightly ‘when the time comes’ not out of strength of will but out of the quality of our usual attachments and with the kind of energy and discernment which we have available” – Link
82. The blue bedspread – Raj Kamal Jha – “This city likes lonely people, the city likes him. There’s no one to walk by his side, to wait for him at a street crossing, so the city moves in to help, it slows down the traffic, parts the crowds. There’s no one to talk to him, so the city speaks through its banners, its hoardings.” – Link
83. Fury – Salman Rushdie – “How does a woman for whom every man hungers decide that one is enough?” – Link
84. Under the Net – Iris Murdoch – The first work of my most favorite writer. “True virtue, true goodness, true love flow from the respect for the strangeness and the mystery of other people and the world that surrounds us. They flow from the refusal to inflict our own designs on them, to deny their innate elusiveness, their impenetrable quiddity.”- Link
85. The picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde – “Women love us for our defects. If we have enough of them they will forgive us everything, even our intellects.” – Link
86. By the Sea – Abdulrazak Gurnah – “You never stop wishing to live, or wishing for companionship and purpose.” – Link
87. The red and the green – Iris Murdoch – “Could reproach and love become so nearly identical? Yes, for this is the nature of the magnet by which what is good draws what is partly evil, by which perhaps mysteriously it may even draw what is wholly evil. The light cast from a perfect center cannot but define what is imperfect in a revelation which is both a rebuke and summons” – Link
88. The In-between World of Vikram Lall – MG Vassanji – “When men develop contempt for a woman, the vilest, filthiest language escapes their lips” – Link
89. Border Crossing – Pat Barker – “Do you think it is different killing a rabbit and killing a person? Yes. How is it different? Danny looked Tom full in the face. ‘Rabbits run faster’ “ – Link
90. An artist of the floating World – Kazuo Ishiguro – “When one holds convictions deeply enough, there surely comes a point when it is despicable to prevaricate further” – Link
91. Harry Potter and the half-blood prince – JK Rowling – “Greatness inspires envy, envy engenders spite, spite spawns lies” – Link
92. A fine balance – Rohinton Mistry – In my top 3 favorite books, next only to Blindness by Saramago. This is an Indian epic novel! - Link
93. The Double – Jose Saramago – “Too much imagination is not the best way to gain peace of mind” – Link
94. The Altman Code – Robert Ludlum – “What a caterpillar calls the end of life, wise men call a butterfly” – Link
95. The adventures of Tom Sawyer – Mark Twain – One book that every boy should read no matter how old he is - Link
96. Famous Five on treasure island – Enid Blyton – You will fall in love with the characters and you will start dreaming of adventures - Link
97. Roots – Alex Haley – The first fat book I read completely. This is the story of America. – Link
98. The magic faraway tree – Enid Blyton – I remember reading this sitting on the compound wall of the house when I was in 5^th or 6^th class. Fell in love with reading then – Link
99. Robinson Crusoe – Daniel Defoe – Was part of the school syllabus, inculcated the thirst for adventure – Link
100. Tell me your dreams – Sidney Sheldon – A Sidney Sheldon classic in every sense – Link

Tell me about your favorite books in the comments...

On reverse gender discrimination - a reality in urban India

Feminism is defined as the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. I subscribe to this definition. That makes me a feminist. 

Now, let me list a few instances to drive home what I want to convey - the reality of reverse gender discrimination in urban India - 

1. Last week, in a BMTC (Bangalore metropolitan transport corporation for the uninitiated) bus, I see this "Rs 200 fine for those who occupy seats reserved for ladies". I am standing and so are three other guys. This display appears to be warning us. Ahead of us, among these reserved seats, three are empty, all of them aisle seats with women occupying the window seats. Neither me nor the other three guys even contemplate occupying these seats. We continue standing until my stop comes (around 15 minutes). Through this 15 minutes, these seats remain vacant. 
2. I have also seen men in BMTC  Volvo buses treading with extreme caution when they have to navigate the area close to the driver where typically women stand/sit. Given that the drivers of these Volvo buses take a special liking toward applying brakes every now and then, this implies drawing on all skills of balance whilst walking amid a crowd.
3. In most suburban trains and buses across Indian cities, 1/3 of all seats are reserved for women in normal hours of commute.
4. I observe this in the elevators at work- Whenever girls enter, especially whenever young girls enter in a group, the men inside squeeze together. Those who are unfit even make an effort to draw their bellies in. It is amusing and disturbing at the same time. 
5. Early this week, two girls from Haryana beat up three alleged molesters. One "braveheart" girl put her belt to some good purpose thrashing these guys. These two girls became instant celebrities. Media houses scampered and queued to interview them, invite them to the studios and ask them all sorts of questions on "Women's rights". A few days later, another video surfaced, of the same girls beating up a guy in a park. Now, harassment is not pardonable but whoever arranges for these videos to be taken is a mystery. 
6. Whenever a case of rape is reported, there is a tendency to paint the entire male gender in shades of black. Men should be taught good manners at home, they say. This tendency to make sweeping generalizations doesn't help feminism in any manner. 
7. People joke (politically correct jokes you see) that men prefer "fair, beautiful, pretty, good looking" brides. Women too prefer "fair, good looking, charming, well earning" grooms. Somehow, if this is pointed out, many women feign ignorance. I wish they get to see what their friends and colleagues and sisters write on sites like Bharat Matrimony.Let us not even get into false cases of domestic violence.
8. Imagine a man after doing masters, sitting at home taking care of children and doing household chores. Somehow, a man like this is seen as "a-good-for-nothing-bloke", whereas, women can do this and get way. 
9. Corporates conduct "women focused recruitment drives" to increase representation of women and sometimes to "correct" gender imbalance. 

I have based these instances on my own experiences. I refrain from generalizing, hence the qualifier, "urban India". 
 
Sometimes, sometimes, I imagine the plight of men born into upper caste in India. I forget to find any reservation that they can lay claim to. 

The world is not a fair place. It is not a just place. However, as a race, we should strive for fairness and justice. The means by which we do that should not tilt the balance too much. I am afraid that, similar to reverse caste discrimination in the context of affirmative action, we are beginning to see many instances of reverse gender discrimination. If we, as a society, truly want our men and women to enjoy equal opportunities and rights, we should educate young children to see each other, first and foremost, as human beings.

And, yes, to reiterate, I am a feminist.

Bangalore to me

It is a little difficult to write about what a city means to you, when you have not grown up there, but you have nevertheless made it your home. Scores of people from all over the country and it is not just because of IT – believe me – have made Bangalore their home, and love the city so much now, that, they would not move out, come what may. 

It is a city that grows on you. At the outset, you would think it is small, there are only malls to hang out, but explore a little more and you will discover a treasure trove. This post is inspired by this article in THE HINDU. Needless to say, it is also inspired by the parts of the city that I have seen and experienced. 

Bangalore to me is the soothing pleasant weather that attracts relatives from all across the country. On a Sunday morning, one can just go to a park with a newspaper or a book and immerse oneself. One can’t tell the difference between 9 o clock and 12 o clock and 4 o clock except by the position of the-barely-there Sun and pangs of hunger. 

Bangalore to me is early-morning-long-drives on Kanakpura road, Mysore road and Outer ring road. The fresh air, serene atmosphere and a city just waking up is a combination that one can experience again and again. The beauty of this city is that one never knows, especially along these roads, when the city ends to reveal villages with all their cattle and neat small houses. 

Bangalore to me is BTM Lake, Ulsoor lake, Hebbal lake and the water bodies that are catchment areas during the rainy season. These lakes introduce freshness into the otherwise concrete landscape of the city.

Bangalore to me is the red BMTC Volvos speeding everywhere, oblivious to the other lesser privileged citizens of the road. 

Bangalore to me is the metre mela 20 rupees and one and half metre autos. Trust me, most auto drivers are reasonable. 

Bangalore to me is the gently admonishing remarks the traffic system receives every day, ceaselessly.

Bangalore to me is salpa adjust maadi

 

Bangalore to me is the flower show at Lalbagh and the Ganesh festivities in Basavanagudi and Jayanagar. 

Bangalore to me is Chitra Santhe organized by the Karnataka Chitrakala parishath and the thriving drama culture thanks to the likes of Rangashankara and Jagriti theatre 

Bangalore to me is Toit, Barley’s, HRC, Purple Haze and other drinking holes I have not been to. Also for their music, interiors and the glamorous crowd that frequent these places… 

Bangalore to me is the long stretch of restaurants along the Jyoti Nivas college road and Indiranagar 100 feet road offering cuisine – North Indian, Punjabi, Chinese, North East, South Indian, Malabar style, Continental, Turkish, Mexican, Hyderabadi – that would leave you perplexed

Bangalore to me is being asked, Samabaara, separate a at the numerous Sagars and Upahars that dot the city serving one by two coffee, open masala dosas, kesari bath and chow chow bath. These are the places where you run into toothless grandfathers reading Deccan Herald slurping hot coffee 

Bangalore to me is Sultan school of speech on Radio one

Bangalore to me is IISc and IIM

Bangalore to me is its passion for cycling and running and fitness

Bangalore to me is its youthful energy, its lazy charm, its cosmopolitan ethos and its busy urge to stay on top

Finally, Bangalore to me is the pride that one feels when saying Namma Bengalooru with a hint of We are like that only

Of backwaters, houseboats and beaches

Day one, on board, Gloria -

A sofa, a dining table, a television, two compact rooms with toilets and a kitchen, name: Gloria. Yes, Gloria was where we enjoyed the serene calmness of the backwaters near Allapey. She glided smoothly on the backwaters, so smoothly that we felt we were part of a performance where the scenery around us changed, albeit only in different shades of beauty.

A lone middle aged woman rowing a small yacht, another houseboat speeding away, overtaking us, a family having lunch aboard, a window being opened to reveal a pale yawning face, a group of kids waving enthusiastically to us, these scenes made our hearts flutter. We talked, mostly random things, not a care in the world restraining our expression, not a thought polished before utterance.

We clicked pictures, of heartfelt smiles, of unstifled yawns, of shy kids, of bemused houseboat steerers, of tall swaying coconut trees, of their reflections in the calm waters, of the Sun illuminating and bringing to sudden focus, a chameleon, of white beautiful birds, lone and in groups and of gorgeous houseboats moored to trees.

Just when we thought we must be dreaming, it grew dark. When the Sun emerged again, peeping demurely from behind clouds, she brought along in her wake, a rainbow with gentle shades of VIBGYOR.

We anchored at ~quarter to 17.00 at a busy marketplace. Shops sold soft drinks, coconut water, trinkets and sundry other snacks. We alighted, sauntered along the peninsula boundary and watched the Sun begin her slow descent. The clouds gathered and the sky darkened but the rains never came. It nevertheless kept the heat in check and lent the breeze a gentle coolness.

At half past six, Gloria was moored for the day. The moon lay as a thin crescent and darkness engulfed us in no time. I searched for the stars but couldn’t penetrate the thick layer of clouds. A lizard fell down and appeared to gaze for a few seconds at the television screen.

We were seeing Farhan trying to charm Katrina in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. Sarayu, ever mysterious, settled farthest from the television screen. Vidhya and Shruti continued their romance. Bragadeesh aka Brags was lost in reverie and I was trying my best to find a comfortable position that could afford me a view of my friends and the movie at the same time.

Most of us were meeting each other for the first time that day but a sense of bonhomie prevailed bringing us closer.  As the night darkened and dinner was getting ready, like ants slowly and patiently making their way around things, working ceaselessly and diligently, we indulged in the tireless endeavor of knowing each other a little more. The art of open and honest conversation is under threat by constantly evolving sophisticated messaging applications and social media.  Perhaps the biggest victim of these applications is simple banter in a group with each person making eye contact and exhibiting a genuine interest in the lives of the others.

Day two, Kondai Lip -

In the morning, the Sun bathed the backwaters in a gentle light. An entirely new world was getting busy to face the day - families and workers rowing to nearby villages, houseboats unmoored, engines cranked up and occupants coming out to breakfast, birds chirping and young men diving into the waters for a quick dip.  We had a simple breakfast of Idlis and Sambar and before we realized, our short houseboat sojourn was over.

A smiling Sujith was waiting to take us to Kondai Lip, a backwaters resort.  Listening to Palash Sen croon Dhoom pichuk dhoom and the occasional Tamil gaana song, our spirits were high. Kondai Lip was like an apparition out of the blue. A lanky boatman took us across a narrow canal to the entrance of the resort in a country boat.

After browsing through the food menu and ordering for lunch, we came to our cottage. The rooms were spacious and cozy with appealing woodwork. The sit out area at the entrance to the rooms of our cottage faced a large pond, one boundary of which was lined with tall palm trees. At the other end of the pond, two small boats were tied to a tree with rope. The reddish brick color of the cottages and the sloping roof also played their part in the slowing of time. The quietness of the place, the greenery interspersing the cottages and lining the paths, in the afternoon heat, this scenery was an apt textbook picture to illustrate solitude.

Shruti hovered, in communion with her thoughts. Sarayu and Vidhya indulged in fishing. To a hook, a hotel staff taught us to attach small wheat balls. Brags and I pedal boated the perimeter of the pond clicking pictures of the cottages and the girls waiting for the elusive fishes to fall for the humble bait.

Lunch was dal, vegetable curry, tomato rice, curd rice and ice cream. We ate slowly relishing each morsel. At 15.30, the resort staff knocked at our doors. Along with the other guests in the resort, we hit the backwaters in a boat. Sitting under the boat’s roof in the waning afternoon heat, passing by slumbering hamlets, we couldn’t help but contrast this pace of life with the pointless madness of the city folk.

At ~16.30, we reached a beautiful stretch of the Arabian Sea coast, Mararikulam beach. Shruti let her feet be kissed by the waves, wore a broad smile, turned to wave to us, cried in delight at the sight of a bigger wave, gathered her skirt around her ankles and gave her being over to the present moment.

A view of the Sea never fails to calm my nerves. I felt lighter, closed my eyes for a few minutes. We walked along the shore. The waves played pranks by constantly deceiving us with their strength. Brags got a couple of really good shots of our footprints on the shore.

On our way back to the resort, the sky opened up and it poured heavily for a good 20 minutes. Fishermen raised their catches by bringing up the huge Chinese fishing nets. Small boats rowed faster. Some kids waved to us unmindful of the rain. Even as it rained outside, inside our boat, a cute little encounter was underway. Shruti played with a little girl and both of them talked animatedly much to the amusement of the girl’s family.

Back at Kondai lip, thanks to the rain, the green cover looked greener. We had banana fry and coffee. A quick bath and some time at the sit out later, we had a simple dinner of rotis and curry. Post dinner, we gathered in one room and even as CSK and KKR battled it out in the IPL, we talked. After the match, we came out to the sit out area and resumed until my eyelids started drooping.


Earlier in the evening, I decided to chuck my original plan and leave for Madurai only the next day. I learnt in the morning that Sarayu, Vidhya and Brags had slept only in the early morning.

Day three, Cherai beach -

We woke up to a beautiful morning in Kondai Lip. The resort's beauty was multiplied manifold in the light of the early morning Sun. After clicking some good pictures, we left the resort with a heavy heart. 

It was a long journey to Cherai beach. We passed by a few towns before going through the city of Cochin. Despite it being a Saturday, the roads were busy.

It was close to 13.00 when we reached the blue waters hotel opposite Cherai beach. Since lunch was only at 13.30, we utilized the time to explore the rear side of the hotel. A small swimming pool and a large lawn area formed the boundary beyond which stretched a large water body. Post a sumptuous buffet lunch, Brags, Sarayu and Vidhya headed for a massage while Shruti and I talked. Conversation was easy.

The Cherai beach was a little crowded. We were happy to catch a beautiful sunset. What was a large hazy light in quick time became a reddish orange ball that steadily climbed down and moved farther until it was no longer seen.

 It was time for me to bid goodbye to the group. If not for the engagement of my friends the next say in Madurai, I would have gladly stayed back in Cherai. The goodbye moment was not easy especially because, in a span of 3 days, we were no longer strangers! As I settled comfortably in the bus that took me to Thrissur, I was pretty sure that I had made a few friends for life and I was carrying loads of good memories.

Eight lessons from Cycling!

1. No rise is permanent -  Life is like a game of snakes and ladders. For every ladder that we climb, there is a snake that is waiting to pull us down. Whilst cycling, ironically, one enjoys the fall! Some sections of the road may be well laid while some sections may be narrow and hardly ride worthy, but they have to be crossed if the journey is to be experienced. 
2. Riding the rise is hard but is worth it -  In life, to climb up the ladder calls for hard work, persistence and focused effort. But at the end of  it all, it is totally worth it. Some of the most breathtaking views of nature have been after riding steep inclines...
3.  Never give up - Sometimes, we give up too soon, sometimes we give up just before we reach the summit. The key is to keep going. A few cyclists quit just as they start cycling while many do all the hard work but give up just before reaching the destination
4.  We define our limitations - This is similar to the point above. It is our willpower that determines whether we can accomplish something or not. So many people assume that they can never cycle 80 or 100 kilometers on the trot but did they try in the fist place?
5. Choose the right role models - If we set our eyes on achieving something worthwhile, we should carefully choose our role models. If we set our eyes on completing a particular ride, we should emulate the rider who leads the pack and follow him.
6. There are no permanent companions in our journey - We may enjoy the company of the people surrounding us but we when it is time to move on, we must. When I cycle, I never cling to my companion and if I feel like I am clinging to someone, I either let him move on or I move on myself
7.  All of us are alone in our journeys - This is related to the point above. Darkness, rain, clouds, sunshine, steep inclines, easy plains, smooth roads, potholed lanes, we cycle alone. If we derive happiness - no matter what the terrain is and no matter what the weather is - from the act of riding, we can be contented without needing someone to depend on for our happiness
8. Slow and steady is the way to go - We should not exhaust ourselves by racing with others or cycle so slow that we can't make it to the destination. What is the point of a long ride if one does not do it with a certain sense of measured leisure? To pause and savor a moment of beauty and to rush through a patch of rough terrain in the heat, it is important to strike a right balance

 Readers are welcome to add more in their comments.