P.S. I Read It !

Have you read "PS I Love You"?

The BOOK?

Yeah...

No, I have seen the movie.

Movie is good but book is very very good..

Having got back to back recommendations from two female colleagues , I could not resist but ask for it .

" Can you give me the book to read ?

Surprisingly, the book was delivered to my desk 2 days later and I was coerced into reading what was already touted as a tearjerker of sorts by both the ladies.

Well, having seen the movie quite a while ago, I had faint recollection of the two central characters of the story , Holly and Gerry and the plot in its entirety. I had loved the emotional perturbation portrayed by Hilary Swank (Holly) after losing her dearest hubby, Gerry (Gerad Butler). Twenty minutes into the movie, and I was lost deep into the sublime plot of how a bereaved wife comes to terms with the death of her husband by reading letters left for her by him, each guiding her and ecouraging her to live life afresh....and of-course, a gentle reminder at the end of each letter ...P.S. I love you . 

I still remember that as I finished watching the movie, I was smiling with a heavy heart and sighed 'wow...good one'!

Now as I read the book, I could almost feel going back in time to that emotional frame of mind. I did not anticipate any twists and turns to the plot , nor any deviation from the grief and sorrow of Holly , albeit it was a deliberate attempt to absorb myself into her grim life and 'feel' the loss and desperation through the words of the author. ofcourse, those visuals from the film never left me , for me Hillary was Holly and Gerad was Gerry. 

Well, now having gone through both the mediums that told the same story, I would say the film took much liberty in restructuring the plot in quite a few ways but still it did justice to the book just because of the sheer fact that it touched and moved every little way the book intended to be.

But the book, as a debut work by author Cecelia Ahern, remains an original and quite a remarkable attempt on this subject , which I would say, is a naive and honest depiction of an enamored love.

Just the very thought of how much somebody loved you that he left you with a 'list' of things-to-do that would help you overcome the grief and make way for a better life for you..., this very thought calls for an applause for all those die-hard romantics (including those two ladies who recommended me :)  ...the 'love' is still so alive!!!!

In today's times where love is merely an easy adjective or an overused verb , the feeling is restricted to mushy romance of the movies or that song which gives you goosebumps ....am so enthralled that somebody recommended me this book ....a testimony to the pleasant fact that there are suckers of such love stories... living , thriving and 'feeling' the vagaries and veracity of an imperceptible thing called 'True Love'!

"...she was a woman with a million happy memories, who knew what it was like to experience true love and who was ready to experience more life, more love and make new memories. Whether it happened in ten months or ten years, Holly would obey Gerry's final message. Whatever lay ahead, she knew she would open her heart and follow where it led her.In the meantime, she would just live."

Thats the author's expression and summarization of an undying need for love and the mystery of what life holds.

As for me , it was not exactly a tearjerker, nor did I got much convinced with all that never-ending 'drink and dine'  ceremonies of Holly's friends and families that almost became a ritual for grief-stricken ladies...call it a 'cultural-backdrop' or ignore it for the debutant writer's brave attempt to rope in a pastiche' of characters to give some light and flight to the tale.

So lets just raise a toast, in the ritualistic fashion of this tale, for those who are in love and will always be....and celebrate the 'passion-in-a-relationship'  as aptly confessed by Daniel , towards the end...

“I am happy, Holly, I guess I just can't live without the drama.”

P.S. I Love It !

Five Point Something .

Well, I was a Mechanical Engineering student and spent 4 years of my college life in an hostel .But my college was not IIT. Yes, not IIT , the only place next to Nirvana for any engineering aspirant.
But I did appear for the entrance test and I still remember looking blankly at the answer sheet for the entire period of the exam.
Ofcourse, I had no clue what those around me were scribbling on the sheet.
Some of them might have cracked it. The IIT JEE , that is, the toughest entrance exam for getting into one of the best technical institutes in the world.
So, let me suppose(or dream) that I did crack the exam and made into IIT. So what would I call myself . Son of Einstein or something. Yes, I would ...or rather would bask in the glory for the rest of my life.
Well, 'what if' I do the opposite and end up screwing my entire 4 years and ofcourse, the rest of it.
Chetan Bhagat's national bestseller, "Five Point Someone" tries to answer my 'what if'.
And it does it with a unique raunchy humour and style that befits the typical student mindset and lingo.
No, you dont need to be an engineer to understand this book, or rather you dont need to be anyone close to being scientific to relate to the events in this story.
The characters are much like ordinary college students who just , yes just, happen to have made it to IIT. Because once they are in, they want to get out.
So you have these 3 friends, Ryan , Alok and Hari (Mech Engineering students) who typify three different personalities you would find almost everywhere in your life, and definitely within you. But then at times, these characters end up being caricatures drawn intentionally just for the purpose of the story.
Though it is a work of fiction, you can not escape from the fact that Chetan Bhagat was an IITian himself and he chooses the first person narrative to make it look like autobiographical account through the protagonist Hari.
Ryan and Alok are opposites and Hari plays the neutral maverick and then there are a few Professors who do their bit , one of them having a beautiful daughter , Neha who ends up making out with Hari. Way to go!
Well, I liked the parts where Chetan indulges in some serious thinking mechanism about a typical Indian middle class family depending on their only son (Alok); a rich businessman's son (Ryan) hating his parents for their money; the hard boiled Prof Cherian 's daughter (Neha) nudging between modernity and tradition while her brother ends his life for not making into IIT.

Yes, serious enough to excercise your lazy brains because otherwise this book is as light as its weight (30 gms paperback). It borders in its langauge and narration from mediocrity to slapstick to rauncy and ugly to being plain simple naughty. And ofcourse , funny throughout. But no , it did not made me laugh till the end , neither it moved or touched me deep within. It was just too easy on my nerves to go in some sort of emotional imbalance. Fair enough.

Its an idea that was so simply told and simply sold. And yes, its a bestseller just for the very fact that it catered to the fastfood taste of so many young readers who would definitely enjoy reading the antics of the 'three idiots in IIT' who would do all stupid things to 'screw' up whatever sanity was left with them. And Hari's take on girls and their behaviour and mannerisms is the most enjoyable of the entire lot. His dating with Neha and then ending up making out with her in her room in broad daylight was dealt quite effervescently.
Neha's subtle outcry of 'now I am a bad girl' and feeling 'liberated' after having sex with her 'boyfriend' Hari was a dark look at our society's so called 'traditional' and 'ethical' trap . For anything outside it , is considered to be a sin. But then Chetan leaves so much dangling pointers in this story that you have hardly anytime to think whats wrong or right.

Back to IIT. I have seen IIT Delhi and also remember Kamaon Hostel (the premise of this story). But that was years ago when my father took me to the institute and told me 'Son, thats where I studied....and thats where I want you to study."
No, I couldn't but my younger brother did. He cracked JEE and is studying in an IIT. So I can almost feel the pulse of this tale of 'what not to do in IIT' , because I know their Grading system , the GPA, is a torch you can hold for the rest of your career. So if you are a Five Pointer then you are considered an underperformer and things can be quite difficult and strange. And thats where this book tells you the horror of being Five Point Someone.

So, towards the end, as Prof Cherain delivers his HOD speech on the convocation, he puts so many things in context ....of the importance of being an IITan, the value of a GPA, the 4 years that change your entire life, how to think straight and make the best of the system, how being too ambititous about your children can ruin their lives, how friendship is the greatest relationship in this world...etc, etc.
I just wished that this speech was not a dream sequence for Hari and more of a profound reality.
But thats about this book, it teases you with reality and then cooks up so much of make believe to relish. If only it dealt it more scruplously and had better literary connotations, it would be have been a great work of fiction. Nevermind.

So, here's my grade.
On a scale of ten, I would rate this book...'A Five Point Something'.

"I ran." and so did "The Kite Runner."

Last night I finished reading the’ Kite Runner’. It had been on my mind space for a long time. I first saw the cover of the book lying in my colleagues’ apartment in US last year. Until then, I had no idea about the book or the author, but somehow it seemed that I had heard the word ‘Kite Runner’ somewhere, someplace before. Anyways, from that day until the day I finally got the book, I read numerous reviews and heard several things about it. The desire to read it multiplied and am glad that I could finish it the way I wanted to.

The front and the back of the book revealed the theme of the story, a ‘devastating, shattering’ tragedy. The funny thing about me, as a writer, is that am very fond of writing tragedies.This book being a bestseller proves the fact that people still love tragedies, universally. That they still have a Hassan and an Amir somewhere in their heart. That a plot set in the arid land of Afghanistan can break barriers across the seven seas.

Because, just because, “there is a way to be good again.”

It was so evident and inevitable from the very first page, the impending ‘shattering’ tragedy to occur, I knew what it was , but wanted to read ‘how’ the author spun it. He did a fairly good job, taking the reader upto the sequence and then leaving it there. The details, of course, cropped up several times later in the story. The shock and awe spread over the entire length of the book.

Personally, as a reader, I wanted the author to give me some light moments, take off the tense and grim underlying current. Well, the author did try to elevate the mood, initially through Amir and Hassan’s innocent mischief , interludes and the Kite running; and later through Baba and Amir’s coming to terms with the American life. The romance between Amir and Soraya served the necessary succor. There was a potential subplot lurking behind Soraya’s past, thankfully Khalid did away with that, on the night before her marriage with Amir. If it was me , I would have tried giving it another layer, making things complex for the reader.

Complexity of the plot, that is what appeals me. I was just going through the pages of most part of the book, like an ordinary reader.Until Amir returned to Rahim Khan in Pakistan. That is where the plot became thick, viscous and complex. With few chapters remaining, I felt I was writing along with Khalid, we had become one. The plot intensified the way I had perceived it, layered and interwoven.The grip was tight.

Sorhab‘s characterization was perfect, Amir’s dilemma subtle. The conversation between the two, in my opinion, was heartwarming and the best part of the story. Sohrab’s silence and Amir’s courage were the winning combination. I simply loved the author’s narrative in the last few sequences; the writing style was classic, maverick and eccentric.Amir’s wandering thoughts resonated back and forth, simply living upto the moment.

With few pages left, inching towards the end, I gave up my pen back to Khalid. I wanted to enjoy the moment. It was already past 2 am, in the dead silence of the night, I had deliberately tried to stay awake and read until the last page. And it was worth it. The Kites were flying again, this time in the San Francisco sky. And as Sohrab smiled, I did too…just like him, restrained.

My heart ran, and so did the real “Kite Runner”.

Visit Flipkart to read my review.