Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Topi Shukla


I read this brilliant book sometime back (about 4-5 months back). Might have read another 4-5 books after it but have been profoundly affected by it. I wanted to write about it just after reading it. But got distracted by the wedding etc :)

And today, I was talking to a friend of mine who is from Lucknow. And suddenly, Topi from Rahi Masoom Raza’s book quietly slipped into my consciousness. He was there and I could not ignore him. Iffan was also there of course. How can one be without the other? It is not possible to think of just the one of them. They are like the yin and the yang. Not really, they are more like two shades that go really well with each other. So much that you forget for a few seconds that other shades exist. And it is ok, because you are not missing the other shades really.

Topi Shukla, is a hindi-urdu-khichdi novella from the 50-60s. Though the context is post-partition India but the flavor is universal. It tells the story of people wherever they might be. It tells the story of who people have suffered separation/ loss due to events much larger than themselves. It tells the story of those who have loved in vain. It tells the story of innocence and realism. It tells your story and it tells mine. It does all that a good book is supposed to do.

I read the Khichdi version. Two reasons for doing so. I could just borrow the hindi version from a friend (who is coincidentally named topi as well) and throw return it if I did not like it. The other one being that I knew the language and there was no reason to read it in a foreign language. I would strongly urge you to pick up the hindi version if you can understand (not just read) the language.

Set in Aligarh, it is the story of two friends and the people around them. Raza deftly tells the tale of people who become hapless victims of history. The small ways in which partition affects conversations, silence, love, hate, friendship, daily actions, language, food and everything that might and might not matter have been superlatively captured. It did not want the book to end. In a long long time, this was a book that made me fear for its end. May be because the characters felt so close… may be because the characters felt so real…

You can read a sample of the book at Google Books

You can buy it at Rajkamal Prakashan. You can also buy the book at Rediff.com. Both Hindi and English editions available. You have the option of buying the book from Amazon/ Barnes and Nobles etc as well. But you cannot get the hindi version there.



Friday, September 11, 2009

Rubbing Hands

I have started loving the A(H1N1) paranoia. Even though we in India lose more lives to Malaria, Hygiene related infections, the entire health machinery, media and we (the aam aadmi) continue to be fascinated by Swine Flew.. Flu.

I got this from a friend. I still cannot believe it that someone somewhere thought that this absolutely needs to be posted. I love the 'Wedding Band Allowed' part the most!



Enjoy
!!!








Friday, May 15, 2009

Fruits and some veggies at work

In the aftermath of the animals post, I figured out the following fruits and veggies are colleagues as well. It seems that animals are more popular!

Grapes, Joyce
Ongkiko, Apple
Chen, Mango
Zheng, Orange
Lee, Kiwi
Peach, Liz
Durian, Marcel
Zhang, Date
Cherry, Ashlen
Berry, Adam
Lemon, Justin
Corn, Vance
Kale, Prasad
Turnip, David
Parwal, Apurva

Thursday, April 09, 2009

Me and other Animals at work

Call it corporate ennui, but all of the following names are colleagues at work. My favourites being the Chimpanzee, Donkey, Doggie and the Anteryami Panda!

Enjoy!
Mink, Lisa
Pigeon, Tamara
Bullock, Liz
Ma, Pony
Seal, Tony
Fox, Ani
Li, Tiger
zheng, eagle
Hawk, Chris
Xiong, Bear
Llamas, Rosy
Puma, Terese
Zhao, Kitty
Swan, Rich
Canard, Robyn
Wang, Snake
Li, Lion
Chen, Chimpanzee
Fang, Jackal
Wolf, Dafmar
Liang, Doggie
Fish, Tim
Panda, Anteryami
Peacock, Justin
Bullock, Jeff
Yu, Dragon
Lu, Donkey
Shen, Mouse
Crow, David
Bird, Richard
Lee, Kiwi
Sparrow, Simon