The Diary of Anne Frank

This book is the diary of a girl who keeps a detailed account of her short life during the period when the Germans had driven the Jewish on their land into hiding . It captures the various phases of adolescence she passes through , the turbulent emotions of a teenager and the sensitivity of a child . The family consisting of her mother , her father (Otto Frank) and her older sister (Margot)go into hiding in a small hidden apartment called the secret Annexe . Apart from her personal feelings and thoughts Anne keeps an account of the current happenings during the Hitler rule . On the 4th of August 1944 they German security police stormed into the secret Annexe and arrested the Franks where they were taken to the Auschwitz concentration camp known to be the most deadly of the camps . The brutality of the Holocaust strikes you then when scores of Annes are gassed out , made to do tons of manual work which is beyond them their main fault being their birth . The Holocaust will remain a black mark in our history and no amends can ever erase it , as it will remain an ugly reminder to how low human beings can stoop . Anne finally succumbed to scabies and died on september 3rd . Her father , Otto frank being the only survivor in the family came back to the Secret Annexe where among other documents he found Anne's diary . Discovering that she nursed an ambition to become an author he made a great deal of effort in trying to get her diary published . It happens to be one of the world's most cherished documents now and many countries have it published in different languages .
Anne shows extraordinary maturity for a teenager and even in those horrible circumstances the Franks try robustly to lead a normal life . It s an extremely touching book and very insightful.

IF - RUDYARD KIPLING

If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

This has been one of my most favorite poems . It is about a father who's advising his son on how to cope up in the world . I think this is what is called 'golden words of wisdom' . I remember reading this poem in my eighth grade and falling in love with it instantly ! I especially liked those 2 lines 'if you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same .' He's asking his son to neither let success nor failure get in his head . I get nostalgic whenever I read this poem . I'm transported to my 8th grade classroom !!!

Animal Farm - George Orwell

This book is a very sensitive portrayal on the failed concept of communism . George Orwell uses the situation of the animals in the farm who rebel unitedly against the one human being who runs the farm till they drive him off his own land . Euphoric with the success , the animals swear to never let humans dominate them again and start forming a community with the pigs taking the leadership as they were believed to be the most intelligent of the lot . A set of commandments are drawn proposing equality to all animals , no more slogging for the selfish humans , proper nourishment to all the animals and so on . An idealistic environment is created in the farm ! However as proven an idealistic government or a community is fictitious because slowly power , corruption , lies , manipulation creeps in . So much so that the animals under the Pigs (who form the so called government)do not know whether they were better or worse off under their previous master . Communism as we all know is a very desirable concept . Everybody is attracted by the idea of equality for all , equal wages , equal comforts , etc . However it has never worked , the biggest failure being that of the USSR (now Russia) . Man can never be suppressed and his desire to achieve all is an inborn quality , he needs to grow and tying him to a fixed position will make him rebel all the more against authority . Orwell has depicted the flaws of a communist authority and the gaping holes of the so called idealistic government witting manner . It is a simply written book with a meaningful message . One of the best books I have read till date !

goofy - part 2

This is quite a recent event which took place so therefore no excuses for my or rather our stupid behaviour . In our university elections , 2 of our lecturers had stood and on the day of casting the vote , we the 3rd years were asked to head to another college and campaign !!. now 'campaign' sounds like a big word but in reality it's just handing out pamphlets and beaming at all the voters to cast their votes for our candidate . We didn't care how demeaning or what a silly job it was !! as long as we were getting out of a class. anything would do . Only when we did go there did we realize that we were
a) in the dirtiest part of bangalore where there were no malls , eateries or any decent place where we could hang out.
b) in no way could we escape from that place . all the PGs and the lecturers descended on us to 'campaign' for our candidate like octopus tentacles
we were obviously disappointed but sod it... at least we got a chance to escape classes . Then came our biggest faux pas !! In our over enthusiasm to hand out all the pamphlets and finish 'em off so we could be free we handed out a pamphlet to a rather official looking person getting out of a car . We put on our best smiles and confidently said ' please vote for our candidate with so and so serial no' . He looked at us quizzically before saying ' I will vote for your candidate when you start campaigning for mine' . we were puzzled for a minute then it struck us like a bolt that HE WAS A CANDIDATE HIMSELF . we stood there feeling like total idiots !!! however I guess it's ok to experience such stuff once in a while so you have something funny to relate like this one :-) :-)

goofy - part 1

This incident happened a couple of years ago . I was taking a walk with my equally nutty friend Greeshma :-) we were walking in our usual park talking ninteen to a dozen like we do always !!! Suddenly we spotted a familiar face and Greeshma hissed into my ear saying that it was Sudha Murthy (not surprising because her house happened to be just a couple of blocks away) . We started excitedly discussing on how to confront her and what we would say when we come face to face with her (yeah i know we were behaving like desperate fools) . It started raining and started turning dark.. we started following her looking like 2 proper stalkers . Her PA was throwing suspicious glances at us all the time . We were relentlessly following her now our conversation reaching to the probability of the contribution of CAs and dentists in Infosys..!!!(CAs understandable but dentists......????? .. crazy..!!) as she turned to return home we came face to face with her and said 'hello aunty' as though we were greeting our neighbour !!.. with a crisp hello she walked off . We felt like utter morons at that time and our plans to talk to her sounding so foolish then !!!
PS - I should add that Greeshma was the one behaving more sensibly of the two . I was the one who acted all star struck and hysterical !!!!!

goofy series..!!!

Haven't there been certain experiences in your life when you just want the earth to crack open and disappear underneath rather than being there at the present moment..!!!.. well for my luck it's happened looaads of time.. some of them I look back and laugh and some which I'd rather not think about.... so i decided to start the goofy series where i can relate some of the harmless but pretty funny ones... hopefully you'll have a good laugh but at my expense :-( :-(

Once

Once is a movie which stars Glens Hansard and Marketa Irglova . It's an Irish film . Glens Hansard plays an immigrant who earns his living by playing his guitar in the evenings and working at his father's shop in the mornings . He's had a disastrous relationship experience and has never managed to overcome it in spite of 10 years having passed . It is at this point he meets Marketa who hears him playing the guitar on one of the evenings and is pretty much taken by the music . It turns out that Marketa (who plays a flower girl) is also undergoing a rough time , what with her husband having deserted her , having left her with a kid and a financial mess . She finds solace in Glens company and his music and him likewise . All this while Glens is moving directionless still nursing the wound which his previous relationship has caused him , he wants to put his life back on track by trying to patch up his broken relationship which has caused him so much of hurt , it is at this stage where Marketa enters his life and they find joy and comfort in each other's company (music being their strongest connecting link) . Here the movie takes a turning from it's conventional path because unlike our hindi movies the main leads do not get together but try getting their lives back on track even more forcefully . Marketa tries to talk to her husband and eventually they come to an agreement and Glens seeks his lost love . The best part of the movie is the relationship between Glens and Marketa , they act as each other's motivation for seeking a better life than what they live in presently . The movie is absolutely charming and had me floored completely . The soundtrack of the movie is very pleasant and refreshing . All in all a great film to watch !!!!

fiddler on the roof

I've loved this movie since forever and have never ever gotten tired of this . I think till today I have never been able to figure out as to why this movie appeals to me so much . I think that sometimes it is because of it's simplicity or it's very subtle approach to a matter so deep . It's about a a man who's torn between following age old tradition and keeping up with the changing times . The movie centers around a milkman , Tevye (played by Topol beautifully) who's jewish , has 5 daughters and who finds it difficult to make ends meet . The small Jewish community is settled in a hostile environment is a small village in Russia . In spite of the presenting difficulties Tevye's faith in God , his sense of humour and his strength is portrayed in a disarmingly charming way . His cheerful one sided arguments with God is very heartening to watch . My favourite part of the movie was when his eldest daughter is getting married and the classic song 'sunrise sunset' is played . The emotion which is depicted in that scene brings tears to my eyes every time (and i assure you i am in no way an emotional fool) . The manner in which Tevye manages to keep a balance between tradition and changing times is very heart warming to watch . My favourite movie ever and kudos to Norman Jewison for creating one of the most beautiful movies of all times !!!

I've always loved writing and sometimes i felt that i needed a pensieve (for all the non harry potter readers it means a tank full of thoughts or memories which u can choose to recollect at your desire ) a diary merely wont do because i want to share those ideas , opinions , statements with my near and dear ones . This blog is for sharing your ideas on any book which has greatly influenced you , a movie which u feel you HAVE to share it with everyone , a joke which has had you in splits or any article which you thought is very interesting . so come on people share your opinions with me on anything which YOU think is worth being known !!!
NOTE : This blog is NOT personal . so refrain from posting any personal comments . they are just your opinions or ideas on a particular topic !!!..