Stumped and Out

Today was very unusual day in many ways. A very very wet September evening, with rains, winds and lightening. I thought Gods must be angry today. And He seems to be. Anyway, only god knows what He is thinking.

After reaching home, completely drenched, of course, and a hot cup of tea, I settled down and opened my favourite HT newspaper, I was stumped to see the headline on the first page: Have sex, Indian cricket team told. This headline and the the news story completely stumped me, and made me smile.

And, later while having dinner with family, I was allowed to swap news channels in-between the dreadful soaps to catch some news. I was unlucky to hit Times Now button on remote and watched Mr. Arnab Goswami, Editor-in-Chief interviewing Mr. Raj Thackeray. Only the questions of Mr Goswami were in dear old English and answers of Mr. Thackeray were in Marathi. It made for few minutes of fun watching, most for my children who do follow Marathi, but it made me Out. I know some dear soul will make a YouTube video of it and I will certainly post it. Just to share the fun.

Yesterday

Yesterday I happen to be walking by near the Flora Fountain, Bombay. On an impulse I thought I will check the pavement second-hand booksellers to see if I can get a rare P.D. James book. And I was lucky, I was able to get her first book, Cover Her Face. I had asked a bookseller if he had any P.D. James book, and he replied no, but they had an almost complete set and someone had purchased it just a few days ago. I felt dejected. And the person called me back, as I turned to go back, and handed me over the book Cover Her Face saying that one copy of this book is left and would I be interested? My dejection turned into happiness instantly. I have been on the lookout for this book for many weeks. Barely containing my excitement, I said yes yes, of course, and I purchased it, immediately. Now my P.D. James Library is growing slowly and steadily. The following is the list of books written by P.D. James :

1. Cover Her Face, 1962 (have, and currently reading :) )
2. A Mind to Murder, 1963 (did not have, yet)
3. Unnatural Causes, 1967 (have and read. The first P.D. James read by me)
4. Shroud for a Nightingale, 1971 (have and read)
5. Maul and the Pear Tree, (co-author) 1971 (did not have, yet)
6. An Unsuitable Job for a Woman, 1972 (have and read)
7. The Black Tower, 1975 (have and read)
8. Death of an Expert Witness, 1977 (have, yet to read)
9. Innocent Blood, 1980 (did not have, yet)
10. Skull Beneath the Skin, 1982 (have, yet to read)
11. Original Sin, 1995 (have, yet to read)
12. A Certain Justice, 1997 (have and read)
13. A Time To Be In Earnest, 2000 (did not have, yet)
14. Death In Holy Orders, 2001 (have and read)
15. Devices and Desires, 2004 (have and read)
16. The Murder Room, 2004 (did not have, yet)
17. A Taste For Death, 2005 (have and read)
18. The Children of Men, 2006 (did not have, yet)
19. The Lighthouse, 2006 (did not have, yet)
20. The Private Patient, 2006 (read, but not have, yet)

Hope my own P.D. James Library will be complete soon. In the meanwhile, I continue to enjoy reading P.D. James on my train commute.

Goodbye, Gulshanji

Just read the news that Gulshan Bawra is no more. Gulshanji wrote lyrics for many songs composed by R.D. Burman. May his soul rest in peace.

The following lines of Gulshan Bawara, written for song Sanam Teri Kasam, are my all time favourite.

माना के ख़ता मेरी है पर इतनी सज़ा न दे तू
ले पइयाँ पड़ू तेरे सजना अब तो गले लगा ले तू
तेरे दम से है मेरा दम
सनम तेरी क़सम ...

A charming tale

Finished reading `An Unsuitable Job for a Woman' by my current favourite P.D. James. I must say I found this book, though it is a crime thriller, very charming. It features Cordelia Gray, and it is her first case. My heart went out to Cordelia as she tackles her first case to prove a suicide is a murder. Do read this if you get a chance.

Yesterday I visited my favorite bookshop and asked for P.D. James titles. They had none. I then went for a hunt on the pavement booksellers near Fountain in Bombay. I was very lucky to find five PDJ books in very good condition. Needless to say I grabed them immediately. The tittles are: A Taste for Death, Devices and Desires, Death in Holy Orders, A certain Justice and The Original Sin. On reaching home it was difficult to decide which one to begin first. I settled for Death in Holy Orders, which I am reading currently. The title appealed to me for some reasons, maybe because I am an atheist.

P.D. James has now become a habit with me. With so many titles at hand, this monsoon I will be preoccupied both at home and in the train. Thanks P.D. James for writing so well and telling a good story, every time.

Finsished reading ...

Last week i finished reading The Private Patient by P.D. James. This was second James book which I had read. I must say I found it quite engrossing and it made for a good read while commuting. I had borrowed this from a kind blogger, who happens to work in the same place where I do, and had mentioned about this book in her blog.

Now I had become a fan of P.D. James. Last Friday, I purchased, from the pavement stalls, near American Express Bank in the Flora Fountain, Bombay, two second-hand books by P.D. James: An Unsuitable Job for a Woman, and Shroud for a Nightingale (which I am currently reading and is making my train commute a pleasure). These pavement book stalls have many other James books, and I plan to build my complete library soon.

Email Forward

Got the following email forward today.


HUSBAND SHOPPING

A store that sells husbands has just opened in New York City, where a
woman may go to choose a husband. Among the instructions at the
entrance is a description of how the store operates. You may visit the
store ONLY ONCE!

You may choose any man from a particular floor, or you may choose to go
up a floor, but you cannot go back down except to exit the Building!

So, a woman goes to the Husband Store to find a husband.

On the first floor the sign on the door reads: These men have jobs and love the Lord.

The second floor sign reads: These men have jobs, love the Lord, and love kids.

The third floor sign reads: These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, and are extremely good looking.
"Wow," she thinks, but feels compelled to keep going.

She goes to the fourth floor and sign reads:These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, are drop- dead good looking and help with the housework.
"Oh, mercy me!" she exclaims, "I can hardly stand it!"

Still, she goes to the fifth floor and sign reads: These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, are drop- dead gorgeous, help with the housework, and have a strong romantic streak.

She is so tempted to stay, but she goes to the sixth floor and the
sign reads: You are visitor 4,363,012 to this floor. There are no men on this floor. This floor exists solely as proof that women are impossible to
please. Thank you for shopping at the Husband Store. Watch your step as you exit the building, and have a nice day!

1349- pages !

Started reading A Suitable Boy (1349 pages) today. Wish me luck.

The author of the book is Vikram Seth. This book was published in 1993 and I rememberit had good reviews. Naturally, one tends to praise longish book, as one has done superhuman task of going through it. 1349 pages is bit too much for a fiction. It certainly is longest Indian fiction book. I had hesitated to buy this book for long time, I was sure that it will lie in my bookshelf unread. A few days ago, I happened to see this book lying around in an office in our department. On enquiring to whom this belong to, it was revealed to me that the previous owner, who I know was voracious reader, had now left our department, had left this book in case some one is brave enough to pick it up and read it. So far, no one has been brave enough. But I had mustered enough courage to picked it up, and am its temporary owner, until I finish it.

I have braved myself read this book. Maybe I will finish it in two or three months or maybe more. I hope it will be a goodl read. And it will certainly will be a personal achievement, I mean reading it till page 1349.