Born A Crime

Born A Crime is an ode to Trevor Noah’s mother for the most part of the book. At other times, it is an autobiography of Trevor Noah’s childhood and a little peak into South Africa’s apartheid era and what happened once it was scraped off and the country embarked on the journey of Democracy.
The laws were gone for good. Sure. But what remained was the sporadic violence and the cycle of poverty, both in the land and in the life of Trevor Noah himself for quite sometime.

With his mother standing by his side as a rock, he made it out of that vicious cycle of poverty and the surrounding violence and made a name for himself. His mother on the other hand, only had her God by her side as she picked up her pieces not once but several times and started over.

A Time To Kill- John Grisham’s First

Based in a fictitious Ford County in Mississippi, Southern part of the USA, the very first novel of John Grisham, is a fast paced, riveting story of a brutal rape, racism and themes of vigilantism.

The story opens with the horrific details of the rape of a ten year old girl, Tonya, by two drunk men and the subsequent killing of the two men by the girl’s father, Carl Lee Hailey. It was the 1980s and the critical part of this story was that the rape victim was black, the murderer was black, the rapists were white. The law definitely see them as equals(theoretically). But the people responsible for upholding the law and seeking justice were prejudiced and obviously didn’t see it the same way.

Grisham managed to convey the racist undertone in the entire novel and was praised by most for it because of how real it was. The reader is bound to be aware of how the jury feels at each point of time in the trial and prays for the acquittal of the father who’s special little girl’s innocence was taken away by two punks. Her womb damaged permanently. Even though Grisham’s writing doesn’t vividly describe the emotions of the girl and the family but rather it is left to the reader’s imagination to comprehend it.

Grisham mentions that the defense lawyer hired by Hailey, Jake Brigance’s character, was very similar to his own. And even though a lot of people have disliked the character in the book(liked it better in the movie), I found him real. Why do all protagonists have to be a hero? Yes, he was the defense lawyer. Yes, he believed in his client and would’ve done the same thing had he been in his place. Yes, he put a lot of things at stake for this one particular case which could make him or break him. But he also enjoyed the media attention that came to him because of this case. Why does he have to be perfect to be likeable?

I have read other books of Grisham before this and I thoroughly enjoy his books but dont find them extraordinary. This much talked about debut is just the same. I also feel that the book would’ve faired better had it been a little shorter. The story is not worthy of a 500 page novel. The movie adaptation also does justice. Mathew McConaughey’s ending summary had so much humility and emotion, I think it was one of the best scenes in the movie.

Let me know if you’ve read this book and how you’ve liked it in the comments? Also, please do let me know what should I read next in the legal thriller genre. I’m extremely hooked to a good courtroom drama that is well written!

The Fountainhead: Mini Review

Needless to say, the book is not for everyone to read and understand. Some have criticized the size of the book by calling it gigantic, ‘a whale of a book’ but it is thoroughly impactful to the minds of the readers who care to live the story and the reason behind every character’s every action.

Howard Roark was everything an ideal person should be. Independent, self sufficient, the thinker, the originator. Peter Keating was his antonym in his complete existence. He reeked of dependency, the ‘second handers’ doing everything for the sake of others. Earning money because it’ll make him rise in the eyes of the society. Marrying the wrong woman because the people expected him to marry someone they thought was more suited to him. He hated Roark because he worshipped him and what he stood for. Individualism.

People who preach self sacrifice are the virus of any society, self immolation is the disease. You run the other way when someone spreads the message of doing good for the collective and in turn implies self destruction. When one tells you to value yourself, keep yourself first, you’ll know that person has no expectations from anyone whatsoever. He is whole on his own, never to ask favours, never will do any either. Most of us are scared of this kind of independence.

Humankind is supposed to be valued for its work, its mental prowess not how much charity it does for the society.

This is what the book ultimately tells us. If it requires a service to be done by you, it means someone on the other end is being served. If you sacrifice for others, there’s a master you’re sacrificing for. And then there are the other kind of second handers like Ellsworth Toohey. They are the biggest leech on the planet. They are the ‘noted’ writer, altruist, architect. They appear anywhere and everywhere and they have the masses in their pockets because they preach about self sacrifice which sells big time. But is that what Toohey believed in? No he didnt. He knew he was not an originator, not an individualist. He knew he could never be. Toohey’s kind always has and always will loath Howard’s kind because they know they are the real force to be reckoned with.

There’s so many aspects of this story that I’d like to talk about but it’ll probably take me days. I really felt bad for one character: Gail Wynand and what he could have been. Someone who lost the battle of the spirit. Someone who was a loser in his own eyes. He was the real loser. This was also true in case of Peter Keating but he lived in denial and would probably have lived the rest of his years in denial. It hurts the most when we lose in front of ourselves. Not the society, not others but our own selves.

I loved Ayn Rand’s writing and books like this really teach you something. It’s a book on philosophy if you think but with a story so good you might almost miss the point if you’re not careful of what you’re reading. Go ahead and get a copy of this old classic for yourselves and hope that you don’t miss the point of it.

Diary of a Young Girl

In remembrance of Anne Frank and her Diary.

I have cumulated some paragraphs, sentences which were of importance to me and my beliefs.

Be it about religion and a sense of belonging that comes with it;

To some of my childhood pleasures and fears which surprisingly she also went through. My fountain pen which I used during my early school days were as dear to me as hers was to her. And the loss of it too was equally heartbreaking;

She talks about parenting and how it’s not just the Mother and Father who’s responsible for a child’s upbringing but we, as individuals are equally responsible for raising ourselves;

She talks about her time in hiding which lasted for about 2 years and how she’d been so desperate to feel the fresh air outside. Much like our situation fighting the virus outside but in her case, it was worse;

Her father was the only one who survived the concentration camp, found the diary and distributed copies of it to his kin, which later got translated and got published in as many as 30 languages and in as many countries.
Thus the young girl’s (last) wish that ‘I want to go on living even after my death’ did come into being with a tragic undertone attached to it!

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The White Tiger is truly a rare species

For quite some time I kept stumbling upon the title of a book, ‘The White Tiger’ on those ‘Books to read before you die‘ blogs. Well of course because its a Booker Prize Winning book.

So I quickly grabbed a copy. Not true. I quickly received the book as a gift and got engrossed in the Jungle that was ultimately ruled by the White Tiger. It was a very wicked book to be honest and a real one.

The problem with real books is they never really go out of your head. Very similar things, similar occurrences, incidents play out in your own life and you instantly go back to the book. Now reading a book like ‘The White Tiger’ will most certainly shake your conscience. So you’d feel horrible at how things really unfold in the book. But. I hate the but. There’s always a ‘BUT’.

It’s your Time

It is yet another day as I sit down to write. I have been pondering over thoughts that essentially aren’t connected. I have thoughts all throughout the day, good and bad. The lay call people like us ‘Overthinkers’ but oh what do you know what its like to not be mundane.

Forest Of Enchantments

It is a pleasure to read a book that makes you go through a myriad of emotions.

I wrote about this book on my Instagram account but I wanted to do a more elaborate review on this.

One love conflicts with another

Reading Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s Forest of Enchantments showed me a different perspective of love. The fire of love, that burns so bright that it doesn’t see anything else but itself, not even the one, within whom it’s raging. It showcased the splendid hues of love and its repercussions on the bearer, more than the beloved. No one is above love. Even the most powerful of the lot, suffer because of it.

Bulbbul: The Goddess

Hi everyone! Long time no see. I only take up writing a piece in my blog when something either bothers me or moves me.

Today, it’s both. I’m bothered and moved at the same time. I’m not sure how many of you ended up watching the recent horror fiction produced by Clean Slate(Anushka is doing an equally good job as a producer) i.e., Bulbbul. I did. The day it released. And I loved it. Reading certain negative remarks urged me to pen down my thoughts. I do not possess the energy to fight battles where logic has been evaded altogether. Hence, penning down something, actually, is like therapy to soothe this unrest soul of mine!

This is my two cents on the movie. I saw this post on vice today which rightfully said Women’s role in Indian Horror Movies( and I think this includes all genre of movies to a certain extent) is changing. To name a few: Philauri, Stree even Pari and of course now Bulbbul.

Oh before I start with my piece *Spoiler alert* Read it only if you’ve watched it.

13 Reasons Why and its impact on me

“Hey, it’s Hannah. Hannah Baker. That’s right. Don’t adjust your…whatever device you’re hearing this on. It’s me, live and in stereo. No return engagements, no encore, and this time, absolutely no requests. Get a snack. Settle in. Because I’m about to tell you the story of my life. More specifically, why my life ended. And if you’re listening to this tape you’re one of the reasons why. I’m not saying which tape brings you into the story. But fear not, if you received this lovely little box, your name will pop up. I promise.”

So I’m back with another piece on my blog. I know you must be thinking, I was supposed to write on the lines of something completely different. So what made me change my mind? Yes, it is the series, “13 Reasons Why”. The Third Season came out on the 23rd of August, 2019 but somehow I ended up rewatching the First Season, all over again. Maybe 70% of you think of the series as drama or maybe “too much drama”. But I give it up to Selena Gomez, who came up with this idea to put forth something like this. I have my own thoughts on this series and would like to share it with you. (*Spoilers Ahead*)

I didn’t watch the Third Season because I think the producers have now diverged from the main issue. The trailer of the Third Season starts with the line “Who killed Bryce Walker?” Is that even the point? I haven’t read the original book by Jay Asher(the web series was based on his book) so I don’t know if the current season is part of it. Anyway, the essence of the show was pretty much lost in the Second Season. I was disappointed with the ending. Not the ending of the gunning that happened in the school. But the fact that Bryce Walker walked free. They got in extra characters and some of the courtroom drama. There were other revelations that just proved Bryce Walker was a heinous monster. His best friend Justin Foley(Brandon Flynn) even pointed out that Bryce has “Lots of money and no class”. Still he walked free(almost).

My own depression

The truth about depression

Hi ! Guess, who’s back !

Quite a writer’s block you might say.

Anyway I happened to have given up on writing something on my own but with a little free time that I have on my hands for now, I could squeeze some time for my blog too.
The last time I was here, I typed the heading of the next article that I was going to work on and left it. Guess the phase of depression had passed and I continued with my normal life, which btw, had lots of ups and downs.