Day 228 : Before We Visit the Goddess!

Another beautifully written book from one of my most favourite authors Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. As always it is less about the plot and the story, but more about her characterizations, the flow, the poetic language and the fact that you can't help but fall in love with it! Beautiful!

272 more to go. 

Day 221 : Inspector Singh, Again!

I breezed through one more of Shamini Flint's Inspector Singh murder investigations. This time it was the "Inspector Singh Investigates : A Bali Conspiracy Most Foul" that I picked up from the airport bookstore, where else?!

Once again I thoroughly enjoyed the mixture of humour and thriller. I believe I have been through most of the series and I am going to really miss reading them once I am through the last one or two remaining.

But for now, Inspector Singh & Shamini Flint rock!

279 more to go. 

Day 216 : The Midnight Plan of the Repo Man!

Yet another incredibly hilarious, totally recommended book - "The Midnight Plan of the Repo Man" by W. Bruce Cameron! I caught myself laughing out loud SO MANY times! I picked it up from my favourite Times bookshop at the Changi Airport on my last visit to China, mainly attracted by that dog's picture on the cover. But what a superb find!

286 more to go. 

Day 212 : "Us"!

I read a delightful little book called "Us" by David Nicholls. It was so heartwarming, so thought provoking (could almost be a guide on marriage and parenthood) and not to mention absolutely hilarious! Loved, loved, loved it!

288 more to go. 

Days 205 - 207 : A Good China Trip!

It was yet another China trip with the highlights being (other than a couple of smooth work days) :

1) The Tamil film "Irudhi Suttru" which has what I believe one of the best female debuts on Indian cinema by Ritika Singh. The film is a well taken typical sports drama, but I was completely blown away by her performance. She was absolutely spectacular with her very natural portrayal of a foul-mouthed fisherwoman who takes up women's boxing. What more, she is not a Tamilian but can give all other South and North Indian actresses who make a mess of lip syncing in Tamil, a run for their money!

2) I managed to make about 10 pages of progress on my film script. Now I am officially stuck. I have the bits and pieces in my head but it is not flowing anymore. Time to take break, dream about it, and then get back when the time is ready.

3) I complete yet another book from the Inspector Singh series written by Shamini Flint. This time it was "A Calamitous Chinese Killing".

All in all, a happy Chinese trip!

Days 174 - 179 : Being Lazy!

Yup, it's official. I have become really bored of the blogging. Rather I have become rather lazy about it. Not that things haven't been good. But the quiet days continue to be quiet and with quietness, I realize, comes laziness.

So quick recap.

Sep 10 - Had a fab time at a friend's place celebrating his dad's birthday. In the evening went with the husband on a "date night" - with a little bit of shopping from Raffles City (trying to spend the vouchers I received at work for my "excellent service"), dinner at Podi (after a really long time and I thoroughly enjoyed their pasta with curry leaves) and drinks at the Gravity Bar at Carlton Hotel, which my newest find for a nice, quiet place with some good music of numbers from 1990s.

Sep 11 - Back to Shanghai, but not before I bought myself many books from my favourite airport bookstore at Changi! I watched a couple of films too, including Hail Caesar, which was set in the backdrop of Hollywood a few decades ago, and was fun with many a surprising moment.

Sep 12 - It was a public holiday in Singapore, but I was working away in China. A day full of meetings, productive ones thankfully, some yoga in the evening, and some reading before bedtime. Not bad.

Sep 13 - A couple of meetings in the morning before the flight back to Singapore. Watched a couple of films, but nothing to write home about. In fact, I don't think I actually ended up watching anything fully. Back home, was surprised by the husband who had come all the way to the airport to pick me up!

Sep 14 - The husband took off on his business trip, so it was me and Madam and Onam. To celebrate Onam, my brother in law and sister in law came over, we went to the temple (I even wore a sari!), got a really good sadya packed from Swaadhisht, relished it, and felt pretty happy about the whole thing.

Sep 15 - The husband was still away, so it was me and Madam again. We talked a lot, painted a lot, "worked" a lot, exercised a lot, played a lot and goofed around a lot.

Am loving these quiet, lazy days!

321 more to go.

Day 162 : Crime Fiction!

Early on, my dad had instilled an interest towards crime fiction in me. Recently, I had been lapping up book after book of thrilling investigations and the latest two are Ian Rankin's "Even Dogs in the Wild" and Michael Connelly's "The Black Box". Both took off with a slow start, but soon became engaging, fast paced and absolutely enjoyable.

To my dad and our shared love for crime fiction!

348 more to go.

Days 123 - 130 : 8 days, 8 pointers.

I am taking the lazy way out and combining posts for a few days. For a week, to be precise. Which is really awful but that's what am doing. Mainly because, after I got back from Phuket, everything has been a whirlwind. I no longer remember what I did every day. Plus of course, I procrastinated the blogging every day that now things have become old enough for my memory to start failing.

BUT...  I can find 7 things to be happy about. Or in other words, there are 7 things that I can remember that am allocatingfor each day.

So here we go.

1) I got back to dancing and practiced the Thilllana and Bho Shambho again.

2) I got back to Fitness Blender after a really long gap. It used to be one of my often visited channel for workout videos but recently I had been more into yoga and dance. But somehow I felt like some strength & cardio training were calling out to me, so am back at Fitness Blender. So far, am enjoying it.

3) I met a friend from school - "friend since 1991" to be precise - who was visiting with his family. I took them to National Gallery where his adorable daughter and my own Madam had a whale of a time. They were true blue foodies, so my treat to them was at my favourite restaurant Saha and they loved it! The fish curry, the chettinaad chicken curry, the hyderabadi biriyani, the mini uthappams, the dessert with nitrogen (as we called it), were all terrific!

4) I had my mid year performance review and I was told by my manager that he has nominated me for a "Emerging Leader Program" at work, which I think is his way of saying that I have done well so far. So, pretty happy about that.

5) Madam came up with a few more gems, Sample this :

Me : Don't be naughty, I'll give you one "adi"! (adi = whack)
Madam : You can't give me "adi". Because you are my buddy.

(Yup, now she rhymes when she talks back).

6) The husband and I had a date night after ages! I don't even remember the last time just the two of us stepped out. We went to Club Street and got ourselves some Italian food and wine. Felt good!

7 ) When Qlab started to work on the film, they noticed some serious quality issues with the dubbing in certain scenes. That's not surprising because the "dubbing studio" till now has been a random room in the actress' house. So they requested for some redub and since we are so close to completing the film, I didn't wanna mess up the redub of these last bits. So we dubbed in a real studio which was a very cool experience!

8) Last but not the least - I read three books. All three I loved! I wrote a little review on Facebook which am shamelessly borrowing and putting here.
In order of how much I loved each...
#3 - "Hector finds time" by Francois Lelord. While not as awesome as "Hector and his search for happiness" mainly due to many unnecessary strained attempts at humour, it was still a fun read and many a time, an eye opening one too.
#2 - "The Rosie Project" by Graeme Simsion. An absolutely delightful find - especially thanks to the incredibly adorable character of Prof Don Tillman. Had real fun reading this very fresh romantic comedy!
#1 - "My Grandmother sends her regards and apologies" by Fredrik Backman, the same genius who wrote "A man called Ove". These two now are my most favourite books of all time. Incredibly imaginative, "My Grandmother...." makes one laugh, cry and think - all in a sentence. Not once, but many many times. Narrated through the eyes of a quirky seven year old, this precious little book combines fantasy, wonder, magic, joy, dreams, hope, love, life and much more! Mr Backman has a fan for life!

So there. 8 days squeezed into 8 pointers. Lazy post, alright.

370 more to go.

Day 87 : Mini Book-Reading Vacation!

It's not often that I read an entire book in one sitting. And that's what I did. When I went to bed, I grabbed R. K. Narayan's "Grandmother's  Tale" and read it in one go.

OK fine, it was a small book with huge fonts, but still! It somehow makes you feel like you are back in college or on a vacation (even better!) when you could just read and read and do nothing else.

So yes, that felt like my mini book-reading imaginary vacation! 

413 more to go. 

Days 83 - 84 : "A Man Called Ove"!

A book I randomly picked up from the airport few weeks ago, on my way to London, but never got around to reading it until now.

Why did I pick it up? I have no idea. Maybe because my experience with my last two translated novels from Sweden ("The Hundred Year Old Who Jumped Out of the Window and Disappeared" & "The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden", both by Jonas Jonasson) were good.

But "A Man Called Ove" by Fredrik Backman... wow... it was at a totally different level! I think it may be my most favourite book till late.

For its style, for its content, for its simplicity,  for its ability to make me laugh out loud and cry copious amounts of tears all at the same time and for making me love and want to live better a little bit more.

I don't want to deprive anyone else of the sheer pleasure of reading and experiencing this book for themselves, so am gonna stop.

Go read.

416 more to go. 

Day 71 - 72 : Maxing it Out!

It was the weekend after the "D-Day" and I was feeling on top of the world from the good news we received yesterday - We can go back to a normal life, at least for six months! That was awesome!


So I did what I usually do best. I decided to max it out.


I went to the temple to say big round of thank you.


I booked two holidays - one to Phuket in July and one to Bali in August.


I spent some good time catching up with friends, in laws and of course, the husband.


I took Madam on many outings - to the temple, to United Square for her favourite ride followed by Japanese food at Ichiban Boshi, to get her favourite Thai food from E-Sarn (the only place where she heartily gulps down vegetables!), to play with her best friend K at the Singapore Cricket Club.


I ate a lot - Japanese, Thai, Indian and an overload of home cooked food.  


I read a lot - current it is Anita Nair's "Mistress" (once again, such beautiful language but terrible plot!)


I did a lot of yoga - so much so that I realized I can now do Heron pose (Krounchasana) and Compass pose (Parivritta Surya Yantrasana)!


Yes, I maxed it out and man, did it feel good!


428 more to go.

Day 64 : The People. The Book. The Rain.

It felt like the calm after the storm. The first Saturday, after a long while, when I actually had nothing specific to do - no travelling, no work, no film production, nothing really.

In celebration, I spent the whole morning lounging away at home - with a bit of yoga, a bit of reading, a lot of playing and chatting with Madam.

In the afternoon, we met two friends with their little son at Robertson Quay. The kids enjoyed each other's company - they ran about, played hide and seek, and hugged whenever they felt a surge of love for each other, which was pretty often. I myself hadn't caught up with these friends for a while, so we had our long overdue catch up as well.

After the family outing, the husband and I ventured out, for our own little "date night". I couldn't recollect when was the last time just the two of us went out and spent some time on our own. And that, obviously, was no good. So we went to Chimes and spent an hour or so over a glass of wine for him and a cup of tea for me. And we talked and talked. Or rather, I talked and he listened. It felt good.

By the time we got back home, it was pouring cats and dogs. Rest of the house went off to sleep and I snuggled up by the window with my book "Alphabet Soup for Lovers' by Anita Nair and read it cover to cover in one go. I simply adore her writing! I wish her plots were better - but she makes even a wafer thin plot, like the one in this book, so beautiful with her style!

Sitting there, well past midnight, in the company of the lashing rain that I let stray through the open windows, the accompanying thunder and lightning, breathing in the lovely fragrance of  the soaked earth, with a dreamy book to go along - it felt so perfect and I wished it would last forever.

436 more to go. 

Day 61 : R. K. Narayan

R. K. Narayan is probably my most favourite author. I love ALL his books, and I have been reading a fair amount. I love the simplicity of the plots and the simplicity of the language, and how everything makes you smile. Currently I am reading "The Financial Expert" and loving it! Am able to read only a few pages at a time but snuggling up to some Malgudi air right before bed, is just the perfect way to fall asleep.

439 more to go. 

Day 17: Night Time Reading

One of the recent habits I have fallen into is that of reading a few pages of any book I have on hand, before going to bed. I have always been a voracious reader, but over the last few years the reading had been restricted to travel times - in airports, on flights and during commute in Singapore.

The last three months I have been through about 20 books or so, which is really a lot - all thanks to Flipkart, visits to the library and my latest habit of reading something before going to bed.

My latest book is the French Lieutenant's Woman. Am about half way through it. The plot is not the most out of the box one - mainly because I think I have watched some really silly films loosely based on the same theme - A man falling in love with a woman who is pining for her ex-boyfriend, a sailor, who has gone off to the seas.

OK, that one liner makes it sound like it's some Mills & Boons mushy pulp, but it is hardly that. The book is "postmodern historical fiction" - i.e. it was written in the second half of the 20th century but the plot is based in mid 19th century. That alone makes it interesting, because the narrator calls out that he is in 20th century and constantly draws comparisons - on everything from societal rules, economic structures, and even fashion and architecture - to whats in the plot from the previous century. Plus he demonstrates a sense of humour at the least expected times and has a few kickass observations.

Sample this, as he writes about a lazy guy who asks himself why he should do anything at all when there are so many experts on it already in the world: "You will see that Charles set his sights high. Intelligent idlers always have, in order to justify their idleness to their intelligence." or "We all write poems. It is simply that poets are the ones who write them in words."

I am not sure where the current book will lead, but for now, everyday after am done with the evening's work calls and after Madam is fast asleep, am so happy to curl up in bed and cozy up with a book. It does have the ability to top off even a not-so-good day with a rather good night !

483 more to go. 

Day 3: From Coconuts to Khushwant Singh

I seem to have a lot of time on my hand these days. It may be because I am currently not actively working on any movie project (the latest one is under an awfully slow post production phase) or it may be because I am no longer on Facebook figuring out what everyone, from my best friends to my cousins thrice removed, are up to.

Of course, I could spend the time playing with Madam (which is what I respectfully call my daughter because she mostly acts like my grandmother), but she sometimes prefers to play on her own in her own imaginary world where she is the mother, doctor, chef, business executive or Bollywood item girl.

Also let me admit it, I like my me-time too.

So what have I been doing with this excess time? Well, I have been reading a ton of books.

Recently, I rediscovered the joy of the super awesome library system in Singapore, all thanks to Madam who insists on going to the library at least once a week. I also have been making full use of the cheap rates on Flipkart by getting them to deliver several books to my parents or in-laws' place and then getting them to bring the books over to Singapore when they visit.

This time around I got my mom to carry over 10 books to Singapore, much to her exasperation, "If I use up all the 20 kilos on Tiger Airways for your books, what is going to happen to my groceries?!!"

She had a point. Because of this atrocity, I had to have my favourite kadala (chickpea) curry without grated coconut because coconuts, which she usually packs over, were not available in time for the preparation. But the kuvva (arrowroot) payasam was saved in the nick of time, thanks to our helper who managed to procure the coconut the last minute, else I wouldn't have heard the end of it.

Anyway, coming back to my books, the first one I picked up from this lot was 'The Mark of Vishnu' - a collection of short stories by Khushwant Singh. It was the first time I was reading any of his works, so I didn't know what to expect. But I read the whole book within a single day - I loved the simplicity of the writing, the freshness of the concepts and the dry wit. Some of them did make my conservative self flinch with their boldness, but my final verdict is that I like Khushwant Singh.

Just as I was feeling rather pleased with my discovery of a new author whom I can continue to read, the hubby walks in, glances at the book and says, "Oh, you are reading 'The Mark of Vishnu'? It's a good one." 

I was aghast.

Because the hubby never, ever reads fiction. He might have read a grand total of 10 works of fiction his whole life, which includes books from his childhood such as Wizard of Oz. Not that he reads a lot of non-fiction - he hardly gets past 30% of any book, but with fiction, he doesn't even bother turning the first page. So obviously, this was too much for me to take.

Me: "You have read Khushwant Singh?!"

He: "Of course." (ultimate smugness)

Me: "Wow!"

He: "You mean, you never read him before?" 

Me: "Nope" (and I get a smirk in return)

He: "It is a really good one. The one about the snake."  

Me: "Where did you read it?" (suspicion takes over)

He: "You know... I also read." 

Me: "Tell me the truth."

He: "You know..." 

 Me: "This was part of your ICSE syllabus, right?" 

He: *sheepish grin*

497 more to go.

Day 2: Tibetan Tales for Little Buddhas

'Tibetan Tales for Little Buddhas' is a gem of a book my daughter and I picked up from the library yesterday evening. At first, both of us were simply attracted to its beautiful cover.Then  I was intrigued that a children's book has a foreword from His Holiness The Dalai Lama. I mean, I get that it is from Tibet, but it is just a children's book after all. Or so I thought.

In his foreword, the Dalai Lama says, 'I am sure these stories will bring joy to readers young and old.' And he couldn't have been more right. My daughter and I have been through the stories about three or four times already within one day and I am possibly more smitten by them than her. I also insisted that my husband as well as a visiting friend reads them, because I felt like I had to spread the joy!

Over the past few years I have been through a large number of children's books and I can safely say that most of them are a load of utter rubbish - even for kids. Some of them should have never been allowed to be written - I mean, did you know that the woodcutter who helped save Little Red Riding Hood's granny from the wolf's stomach, then stitched back its stomach with stones thrown into them? Or that in a version of Rumplestiltskin, he tore himself into two out of frustration? There are several such examples. Also, what's with all these useless women waiting for useless princes to come and rescue them from a variety of situations and then getting married and living happily ever after? Don't they have anything better to do?!

Closer home, the Panchatantra & Jataka tales are certainly better, but they too are filled with stories of deceit, jealousy, suffering and negativity. But each with some sort of a moral to go along, of course.

And then comes this book of tales from Tibet, with three beautiful stories accompanied by some beautiful illustrations by the Author Naomi C Rose herself. The stories talk about how one can overcome difficult situations simply by a change in one's mindset.

In the first story Yeshi's luck, Yeshi's wise father always question whether something is really good or bad fortune. How do you know what it is until all the events - until the very end - have unfolded? So he says 'Who can say what's good or bad fortune, give thanks for everything.' He keeps chanting 'Ohm Mani Padme Hung' or 'The jewel is in the lotus' bloom', referring to the strength and compassion that one can find in his own heart.

In the second story 'Jomo & the Dakini Queen', my most favourite of the lot, it is about how you have the ability to open your eyes wide and see beyond the obvious, to change your perspective - 'Lift your veil, my dear - I'm not what you fear' is the first line of a verse that comes often in this most mystical of the three stories.

And in the last story 'Chunda's Wisdom Quest', Chunda, the young monk sent out on a 'Wisdom Quest' by his teachers, forces himself to face his fears head on, instead of running away from them. He often falls back to the technique of breathing deeply to keep his head cool and fearless. My daughter and I had a fun time  together breathing in... and out...in... and out....  trying the technique ourselves. Sure, I was aware of it before, but it was a first for her and she seemed to enjoy it.

I can safely say that the summary above does little justice to the book. It was not just messages but how they were brought across with the narratives and illustrations that makes the book a rather joyful read.

In short, the book made our day! Now all I want to do is visit Tiber and its people one day. Because really, the land that spins such tales for its young, surely would be beautiful.

498 more to go.