#BookReview: Eleanor & Park - To be young and in love with a book

Frozen yogurt and books are my perfect combo

Do you remember what it likes to young and in love?
Those butterflies in the stomach when you see him/her?
Making mix songs tape and sharing all your favourite book with that special one?
Looking for quiet places to grab a kiss and a quick hug?

DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR THAT FIRST TEENAGE LOVE?

If the answer is yes, then #Eleanor&Park is a book which will take you down on that memory lane again. An adolescence love story book tells the story of a boy name Park an American-Asian boy who likes to stay invisible in school and Eleanor, a new girl in school who get attention for all the reasons. Their story started on their school bus journey when Eleanor started to sit next to Park and slowly in the process of sharing comics, walkman and short-conversation, they fell in love with each other, just like the way love happens to most of us. the books not only covers romance but also highlights other realities which are part of most of regular human being life- school bullying, domestic abuse and how all of this shapes our personality etc.

This is my first Rainbow Rowell book, her language is very Americanish and full of slangs but still what makes her stand out is the way she details out emotions and develops necessary characters quite well. Like when Park gets angry with Eleanor for hyperventilating in his Living Room for the first time and still holds her hand like he is praying. How Park's mother behaves when she first saw E and how she changed her perception & behaviour as the story progresses. Their story folds in 325 pages and leaves you with a mystery in the end. It's a perfect book for the preadolescence to 18th years old. However, I also recommend to all those who want to relieve again how it feels like to be in love and butterflies in the stomach.

#BookReview: The Airbnb Story: How Three Ordinary Guys Disrupted an Industry, Made Billions... and Created Plenty of Controversy

The Airbnb Story: How Three Ordinary Guys Disrupted an Industry, Made Billions . . . and Created Plenty of Controversy by Leigh Gallagher
My rating: 3.8 of 5 stars

Who thought two guys with a background in designing would build an empire that would disrupt the whole hospitality market and make top hotel, motel players and public policy people sweat! Joe Gebbia and Brian Chesky with Nate Belecharczyk challenged the odds. Three guys had one simple idea and a mission to build on something that already existed. They tapped on the need for the future and with an understanding of the needs of millennial- Airbnb was launched. A tech company that disrupted the world in less than a decade. They are the largest accommodation & experience providers without owning any property. They call themselves missionaries, not visionaries!

The story of Airbnb is not just a storybook but a whole compendium of how a simple idea grew, challenges it faced, kept going with thousands of enemies and where it would be taken in the near future. Journalist, Leigh Gallagher has done justice to the idea with his work. A very well researched book, thoroughly explained instances unbiased information sharing makes it a pleasant read. One can get a clear picture of what kind of people are the founders and what it takes to build something like this up! The book is intense and requires rapt attention of the reader. The detailing of public policies, disclaimers and compliances of the states that a company/startup/citizen needs to follow part might spin-off your head. However, it does get balanced out in the chapter like "The Bad & the Ugly" and "Learning to lead".
In the end, I would recommend this book to all the people who are looking to build something up in the hospitality sector, or part of this industry. It will definitely give you many insights & fair idea of how it all works.

My take away is- "Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell and organise"- Chris Lehane.

#BookReview: A Man Called Ove

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Some books click with your thoughts. And then some others grow on you. A man called OVE fits in the latter category. I bought this book because of its fantastic marketing and good word-of-mouth by many other readers. I bought the book and started it quite excitedly. Little did I know that I will fall asleep within the two chapters. I was bored to death and couldn't connect with the book. I put it back on the shelf. After complaining about the book to half of the world and regretting my purchase, something made me pick the book again. Lo and behold, I don't regret my choice this time. The moment chapter 4 ended in the book, I got glued to it. The storyline is warm, engaging and simple. It is full of witty remarks by the lead character, love quotes by the side characters, and a lot of emotions as well as ongoing suspense of death is present. The story is explained retrospectively with the present and past of the Ove's life, which makes it more appealing.

The lead character Ove is the one we all fall for, but I believe what made all of us love OVE is his love for Sonja, the side character. She has been written beautifully like all the other characters in the book who are very well spaced out. The build-up is gaped thoroughly in the book.

I do accept that there have been some moments when I had tears in my eyes while reading. And I feel other readers might experience that too. My review for this book is 4.5/5 as I know this is going to be among one of those books which I am going to visit again.

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Faith in the time of Kalyug

It just feels like yesterday when I wished to earn a specific award within my work industry and noticed how the universe listened to my smallest wish & conspired to make it my life’s reality after 3 years. It was not only a proud moment for my mom but a fulfilment of her faith in her current god. Yes, “Current God”. 

My mother is a religious woman. She worships her divine photo-frames and sand sculpture 2-3 hrs every day. During festival season her love for them gets overwhelming that she starves the whole family till death until her divine frames are fed! Yeah, her passion can compete with the love of Meera for Krishna. With my blurred memory, I remember her having Ram & Sita, Krishna, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesha and infinity pics of god fixed on a small table. She made sure, my bother & I also love them as much as she did. Being a confused kid, while performing the rituals I look at all of them and then thought about how to worship them? Ram Ji ko pehle namaste kia toh Krishna bhagwan ko bura toh nahi lagega? (If I worship Ram before Krishna, will Krishna get offended?). I mean how to decide whom to worship first? Thanks to neighbours aunties and their farthest cousin's maid success story with a specific god, made my confusion easier. I started worshipping that particular god first and rest later. If I am facing trouble on a Saturday, I used to start chanting “Jai Shani Dev”, If Tuesdays are going bad then I turn towards Hanuman Ji. Or if I knew, I am not going to score well in final exams then March’s Navaratri is where I spent all my pocket money on Durga Maa ka diya & parshaad.

My faith in the almighty was switching according to my needs and desires. However, it didn’t take me much time to realise this pattern and the charge of this unfaithfulness behaviour was taken care off. I also realised that this pattern was not only followed by me, but it was passed on to me by my family seniors and to them from their surrounding and to them from their surroundings. Basically, a vicious circle. Thanks to some meditation sessions and a lot of reading on culture & religion, I moved to spirituality and with some more self-introspection with time I realised how we as a human are ready to shift our faith on that supreme power which we only believe is the provider of everything. How we start believing that watering a specific plant on a Sunday morning and milking a stone will wash our sins and make the magic work in our favour. How we not being faithful towards our own faith and expect a favourable return. Well being a young and naïve in this area I don’t know if this system right or wrong, but I do understand that people’s faith on god is now same as a person's faith on another person in time of Kalyug

Their love won! They got married!

Their love won! They got married! 

Won? What you mean by winning here? Getting married is a win? All you got is a legal badge to live together with your love in this so-called society. You still need to figure out ways as to how your love is going to sustain. 

We worship a love story that never got a legal stamp of society, in the form of Radha & Krishna. We believe it is as pure. 

So, people next time when you decide to focus on winning your love via marriage, please think again. Rise in it and make it work rather than labelling it because it is not a race that you need to win darling.

I decided to jot down my random short thought. Happy to hear yours :)

Being Dark is a gift that I'm born with

I remember my childhood days when I was constantly criticized for my dark complexion. Being the only dark skin child in the house made me a soft target for all my relatives and neighbourhood aunties, who are always ready with uncalled for sympathy for Pooja being a dark-skinned “GIRL”. Not only this, they also had tips and tricks to make my skin look better and fairer. These tips were shared with my Mom and Taiji. The bullying was not limited to just the neighbourhood. It continued till my school, where the academicians also played a major role.

The pressure of being part of a society and applying the products was not only physically painful but drained me out mentally as well. It’s not only made me feel under-confident at my instances but also left some deep scars on my soul. It took me a long time to get comfortable with my own skin and to learn to stop accepting the beauty standards set by the westerners and great grand ancestors whose bills I’m paying.

Being born with a dark skin is not a choice I have made, but it is something I’m gifted with. Saying “Dark is Beautiful” and “Tan is in” sound easy to ears but difficult for heart & brain to under

stand. There are many initiatives started by the designers, activists, brands and celebrity for this are not enough. The work needs to start on the ground today itself. Where we not only telling our girls that beauty is not about fairness but teaching our boys as well as us that “Beauty is being confident/comfortable with oneself”.

What Dark-Skinned People Will Never Tell You: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76X4JvjpXug

Inspired by TTT

The Very Moment of reality check.