Book Review | Mirror City by Chitrita Banerji

Mirror City is a book that takes us to Bangladesh of 1970s has become independent and yet not completely independent from the internal problems that the country faced.

Mirror City revolves around the central character, Uma, her husband Iqbal, and their friends. Uma is an Indian Hindu Bengali, born and brought up in Calcutta married to Iqbal, who is a Bangladeshi Muslim Bengali. They met while studying in the US and finally getting married in the US itself. What goes through in their lives on returning to Bangladesh on various levels - political, emotional, physical, etc. - is what has formed this book. I'm not sure of the political upheavals Bangladesh faced during the 70s; however, I'm sure of the tension in the country on the assassination of a president (though never named in this book) must have been high.

Mirror City is a journey of Uma, as a child, student, wife, career woman, lover, and a friend. The disappointment of being called a foreigner, despite being married to a local, and a failing marriage leads to an affair (with a wealthy industrialist, Alim), which ends abruptly. Per me, a failing marriage cannot give license to have an affair,

The author, however, should have carved out the character of Iqbal more. I never got to know why he suddenly became a recluse. Yes, maybe was burdened by the fact that Uma was an Indian who left her country & family (never to talk to them) and settled with him in a newly formed Bangladesh. However, he is not shown to work on his failing marriage either.
I don't even know what happened to Nasreen and Maqbool either. There could have been a better closure to these characters.

At the end, I wonder who I should feel happy and/or sorry for - Uma, Iqbal, or Alim.

Many a times, authors draw references from their lives in the books they author. Chitrita Banerji was brought up in Kolkata, studied English in the US, and perhaps lived in Bangladesh (as per the acknowledgement in the book). She has been the author of some cook books in the past. The central character of Mirror City - Uma - was also brought up in Kolkata, studied English in the US, lived in Bangladesh (where she made some close friends), and was a good cook.

My rating: 3.75/5.

An easy read

'Or Forever Hold Your Peace'. When I read this title of the book, I wanted to know what it meant before I read the book. And I found it was very customary in Christian weddings that it is asked by all that speak now if anyone has a concern with the wedding or keep quiet forever.

This book is an easy read. It is a story about what happens in marriages - specially arranged ones. Since the wedding is about a Kerala Christian wedding, Donna has given details that I definitely did not know about a Christian wedding. The chapters are well-connected. In this story about a girl about to get married, it shows how difficult it can be when an arranged marriage is getting arranged. The unnecessary explanations given, specially by a girl, is painful.

Rating: 3/5.

Book review | Delhi Anything Goes by Anita Kumar

This book is about my Delhi, so I had to pick it up to read!

'Delhi Anything Goes' by Anita Kumar is about three friends - Zoya, Natasha, and Reema. These three friends grew up in Delhi in 1970s and 1980s and two move out of India to the US and the UK, leaving only one back in Delhi. The three friends reunite - in Delhi - as part of 25th wedding celebrations of the friend living in Delhi.

The friends who come to Delhi after a decade of staying away, find a vast change in the city. Not only in the landscape, but in people too. The difference in wealthy and poor is stark, and what's worse, the 'show-off'of wealth is almost sickening. The richer the people become, the display of international brands in terms of cars, purses, clothes is much higher.

What happened to displaying India? It seems a western lifestyle is getting displayed more than anything else.

However, with people getting richer in bank balances, they are equally poor in morals and ethics.

I have never liked any of the parties because I have never had any kind of addiction (neither alcohol, smoke, nor drugs) in my life - so, I never relate to these parties at all. For me, even the office parties meant hitting the dance floor and I could dance forever. I've not been to any 'high-society parties' so I couldn't tell whether what the author writes what happens in these parties is true or not. If it is true, then I am very happy to stay away from those parties.

Reading this, however, gives one-sided view about Delhi. Maybe Anita could have explored few other aspects too, such as the rich heritage that Delhi has over the centuries.

Rating: 2.5/5

Faction: Short Stories by 22 Film Personalities by Khalid Mohamed

Faction: Short Stories by 22 Film Personalities is a collection of stories by people from Indian film industry - be it actors or directors. These are stories from their lives that made an impact on them or stayed with them over time. As per the author, or edited by, as it is written, there were some stories that were excluded due to whatever reasons.

I personally liked 'A Calcutta Story' by the legendary actor Ashok Kumar; 'Disbelieve it or not' by the actor-turned-director Ashutosh Gowariker; and 'The Window' by the talented director Basu Chatterji. I liked these stories because these were experiences or some incident that happened with these film personalities. These experiences or stories were retold as stories. While reading these three stories I wanted to know what may happened next. Other film personalities shared some experiences that happened - one shared some interview that happened, another some postcards shared, and yet another the anxiety before the release of the first movie. So, there was no particular liking or disliking for those stories.

Rating: 2.75/5.

The Coca Cola Factory

Hey there!

Yesterday, we went to The Coca Cola Factory, which is located in Pemberton Place in downtown Atlanta. Actually, it was an impromptu visit. My son, Atulya, wanted to go to Georgia Aquarium to see the fishes, turtles, and crocodiles. We began from home around lunch time thinking we will reach the aquarium in 30 minutes. What actually should have taken not more than 30 minutes, it took us nearly 2 hours! And why? There was some soccer game in a stadium located next to the aquarium. We lost precious time. Nevertheless, we reached around 3:15 PM and we rushed inside the aquarium with Atulya. By the time it was 5 PM, the aquarium had to close down. We came out and while going towards the parking lot, Atulya wanted to touch the Christmas tree. While touching the tree, I saw that the aquarium and The Coca Cola Factory are interconnected. And since my husband had wanted to visit this place with us, I asked him if he wants to go. He was kind of upset - it's too late, it must have already closed down, leave it. And while he was saying all this, my attention was towards the ticket counter, which was at quite a distance, of The Coca Cola Factory. Seeing few visitors buying tickets, I ran towards the counter leaving my son and husband to follow me. And imagine what! I managed to buy the tickets - we were among the last few visitors to be admitted. (The saying, 'where there's will, there's a way', came true here).

Enough of all this. At the World of Coca‑Cola you can experience the fascinating story of the world’s most famous beverage brand. There is this vault, which supposedly contains the secret recipe to the beverage, there are so many artifacts related to Coca Cola, and much more. And if you are a fan of soft drinks - specially the Coca Cola products, you can tempt your taste buds with more than 100 beverages from around the globe.

The best part of the visit? My son enjoyed playing with the polar bear there - this was a person dressed as a polar bear. Atulya kept saying to the bear, "Hello bear". And loving him on his cheek.

And my husband being a fan of Coca Cola products, loved this place too!

Visit this place if you are visiting Atlanta sometime!

US - A land of opportunity?

Hello!

I was speaking to one of my friends back home and she said I should be happy that I am in the US, known to be the land of opportunity, specially for people of my age group. I have many work options, etc etc.

I started to read to find out the reasons the US termed as a land of opportunity. The one reason that came up the most important reason was that people are free to do what they want to do. In many other countries, people are bound by social boundaries and cannot do simple activities. Women cannot do a simple activity as drive and go out alone in some countries. In the US Declaration of Independence, it states all men are created equal. It was the American Dream to be in the US. However, the meaning of this American Dream has changed over the course of history. Historically the Dream originated in the mystique regarding frontier life. As the Royal Governor of Virginia noted in 1774, the Americans "for ever imagine the Lands further off are still better than those upon which they are already settled". He added that, "if they attained Paradise, they would move on if they heard of a better place farther west. 

This brings me to the question - is the US actually a land of opportunity in today's scenario? Quoting from the Internet,
"Blanden et al. report, "the idea of the US as 'the land of opportunity' persists; and clearly seems misplaced." According to these studies, "by international standards, the United States has an unusually low level of intergenerational mobility: our parents' income is highly predictive of our incomes as adults." Intergenerational mobility in the United States is lower than in France, Germany, Sweden, Canada, Finland, Norway and Denmark. Among high-income countries for which comparable estimates are available, only the United Kingdom had a lower rate of mobility than the United States." "This challenges the notion of America as the land of opportunity."[46][47][48] During a TED conference on the social ills associated with economic inequality, social researcher Richard G. Wilkinson said that, "if Americans want to live the American dream, they should go to Denmark."

I found a blog when I was searching for this topic - see if anyone wants to read it.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-ayres/america-the-land-of-oppor_1_b_5208374.html

What do you think? Is US a land of opportunity?

Play date

Hey!

I have been finding families who have toddlers or young children here in Alpharetta, GA. The main reason to do so is to find children of my son's age group with whom he can play. I did find few Indian families who are settled here and have kids who were born here & will be brought up here. There is one pretty American child who lives close by and we started to talk to her too. On initiating the talk of both children playing together, this child's mother suggested a 'play date' for both the kids. This got me to read about play dates for toddlers/young children.

A play date is a date & time set by parents for children to play. Apparently, it is very common here in the US in recent times because parents have a busy schedule, and media warnings about leaving children unattended. A play date is not to be confused with, say, an organized trip to the museum because that kind of a trip is more structured as opposed to a play date.

What happened to the good old times, when children simply went to a park and played with other children? No, you won't leave your toddler/young child unattended in these places; however these help children socialize and enjoy their free time instead of being boxed in the time frame of a play date.

What do you think? Is play date a cool idea?