the 3 mistakes of my life

Just finished savoring my second Chetan Bhagat's. 'the 3 mistakes of my life' is the story of a young guy with two close friends, his desire to be a successful businessman, his small indian-style love story, packed neatly against the backdrop of Ahmadabad. It revolves around his life and the externalities which 'affect' it big time - natural sabotage, communal violence and norms of the indian society.

I don't relish much of fiction per se, but sometimes it's a nice break. I do enjoy reading what Chetan Bhagat writes - casual, easy, fast-paced turn of events with intermittently embedded smart witty one-liners.

Here are some of the funny one-liners to give a glimpse of his style :
...
'This is a suggestion. Don't take it the wrong way. But do consider taking a bath', my wife said.
I looked at her.
'Just an option', she said.
I this she is overcautious sometimes. I don't bite back.
...
It looked like a marriage party where only priests were invited. Most of them carried some form of accessory like a trihsul or a rudraksha or a holy book.
Ish and I exchanged a what-are-we-doing-here glance.
Omi went to meet a group of two bald-whites, one grey-saffron and one bald-saffron. He touched their feet and everyone blessed him. Considering Omi met these kind of people often, he had one of the highest per-capita-blessings ratio in India.
...
She had a track pant on that I think she had been wearing since she was thirteen and a pink T-shirt that said 'fairy queen' or something. How can a grown-up woman wear something that says 'fairy queen'? How can anyone wear something that says 'fairy queen'?
...
There were many others. This is something inseparable to Chetan Bhagat's style. Overall, a fast-paced, funny, (minimal-junk but not no-junk) nice read, but its fiction after all. Fiction of the cheesy type - the Bollywood type? more so,the atrocious type? Enjoy the humor - thats what marks his style I would say.

In the valley

Atop peppy pines, junipers and embracing grass-clad slopes,
Over chilled water springs and the beaming placid lake,
She flew in her dreams,
flew unto eternity, beyond those clouds shrouding the mountain peaks.

In sparkling waters, and on soft lavender blooms
In the green overgrowth on entwining trails around steadfast bens
She fluttered in her dreams,
fluttered blithe fully in the valley of beauty and bliss.

Silence whispered a sweet song,
When the moonlit valley cuddled her in its arms,
She smiled in her dreams,
with the twinkle in her eyes surmounting those of the diamonds in the sky.

Virgin sunshine and chirpy chirps,
Soft wet grass and morning bells,
Bubbly butterflies and the flora of spring,
She touched them all in her dreams.
She dreamed in the valley of beauty and bliss.

...

I spent two good days at the Vall d'Nuria. Nature does it for me. I like standing amidst tall high trees, so tall that they gracefully defy the famous saying "Sky's the limit". When you look up through the dense shroud of those leaves high above, you do but believe "N'ah, I don't see the limit!".

Song I am listening to : How Great Thou Art
We sang this song in our class assembly when I was in the eighth grade in high-school. The topic of our morning assembly presentation was Nature. Good Old days :). In spite of the disputatious stand I take on my confounded belief in the presence of "God", I like this hymn a lot.

An Evening @Jongleurs :D

Quite an evening...yeah it was! A marvelous evening at Jongluers with four great stand-ups - Keith Fields, Glenn Wool, Micky Flanagan and Ben Norris at their Camden location, London. The UK is often considered the stand-up center of the world, and Jongleurs often the largest comedy club in the world. Thence, my first involvement with stand-up comedy had to be quite an affair.

A mildest recollection of that evening involuntarily brings a grin on my face :D. Keith was hilarious. His innovative style of combining props (and magic :P) with admirable way of penetrating the crowd in style was incomparable. Yeah right... alleluia, it was a miracle! :D

Micky Flanagan and Ben Norris were great too, though they made me realize that I surely have a problem with the British accent. :D A performer who deserves a special mention is the one who replaced Glenn Wool. The new performer was a New York based stand-up comedian and I laughed my heart out on but all his jokes.

In general, the experience was unforgettably entertaining. Jokes ranging from traffic, travel, sex (some quite explicit), weather reports :D, frisky talks between friends, and well, the list is too long. Do experience an evening with stand-ups, at least once in your lifetime if you can. It can be matter-of-factly amazing.

About me, yeah..sure, would love to jongleurize another evening any day! Do check out the hair bands with ever dangling antennas that we happily donned in the true spirit of Jongleurism that night :D