Acre - George Johnson

“Genius is 1% talent and 99% percent hard work” 

This is a simple book, written straight from the heart. It tells the story of a talented baseball player's journey to success and the obstacles he faces along the way. It manages to interest and inspire its readers, most of whom, specially the baseball lovers, won't put it down without finishing it.

The author's love for baseball and his firm belief in working hard is apparent while reading this book. His protagonist, Acre, is superman in disguise (figuratively of course!). Acre works hard, stays disciplined and relentlessly pursues his dream of playing baseball. He keeps his promises, helps the poor, isn't greedy etc etc. Not sure if such a person could actually exist, but he is definitely the ideal we all unconsciously strive to achieve. His hard work and determination bring him the success he deserves but they also make the other players jealous of him. They taunt Acre, ignore him. With his professional career taking off, Acre is informed of the death of his sweetheart, Sharon. The way he deals with these issues and doesn't let them interfere with his career makes this book interesting and different from others in this genre. His father's penchant for tweaking and his creation of an unique baseball cage (the description's given in the book) is another interesting part of this story.

There are parts of this book that do seem repetitive and at times the story seems too slow. The various baseball statistics and plays simple went over my head* and I would have appreciated it if the author had, either provided more graphic descriptions or gone easy with the stats et al.Still the pros far outweigh the cons and I would suggest this book as a leisure read, specially to baseball fans and sports lovers around the world.

The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand

“To say "I love you" one must know first how to say the "I" ” 

A must read.

There are few books that force you to think hard about your life, your goals and the world around you. The Fountainhead definitely falls in this category.

This is a story about a talented architect, Howard Roark, who believes in himself and refuses to compromise with his work, refusing any sort of collaboration project and ignoring suggestions about his work. He believes that the end result of one man's effort can be used as a starting point by others but an idea that is formed by mixing together several ideas, isn't half as good as the original ones. His radical and uncompromising attitude causes Roark a lot of hardships, which he faces with the attitude of a stoic. At the same time, Gayle Wynand, a man just as talented and determined as Roark, publishes in his newspaper whatever the public wants to read. Unlike Roark, he doesn't believe in expressing himself through his work. So at one hand you have a media mogul, content to sit back and let people read what they want, not interested in sharing what he believes, only in making money and on the other, you have Roark, the man who believes in working for no one except himself and who won't do anything he doesn't like to do, no matter what the consequences. The contrast in the beliefs and the lives of these two individuals forms the basic plot for this novel.

You can't help but love both of them. Roark and Wynand seem like brothers who chose different paths in life and are now set for collision. Other characters like Toohey, Dominique and Peter will remind you of certain people around you. Remember the boy who wanted to be a painter but is studying science under family pressure? He's Peter Keating (or will be unless he changes his dreams or his profession). The confused boy who always does what others tell him to? He's a representative of the confused masses, lost and gullible.

The greatness of this book lies in the way it makes major philosophical commentaries, without being the least bit boring. Rand talks about the need for individualism and independence, she criticizes altruism and subsidies based on need, and she does all this with flair. As a reader, I never felt bored of this novel. Even during the philosophical parts of the text, my interest never waned. The examples given in the book, the situations created are all practical and while reading it, we are often reminded of real life incidences where these things do occur.

The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger

“I'm quite illiterate, but I read a lot. ” 

Weird.

This word pretty much sums up this book. You often come across authors who attempt to write books on concrete events or topics but the resultant is nothing except trash. Their attempts to convey meaning fail and the readers are left confused. But what about an author who deliberately does this? Catcher in the Rye is one such book. It has no moral lessons to impart, no special experiences to thrill.

It is the story of a teenage boy,Holden Caulfield, who after being kicked out of school, decides to spend sometime in run down New York motels, before going back home to face his parents. He spends the next few days visiting bars, meeting old crushes and wondering about the motives of people around him. The story has no major twists and turns. A detailed narrative of Holden's simple(stupid?) adventures is all it tells. And yet, this is considered a literary classic by many (myself included). The reason? Because of the sheer difficulty of penning down accurately the thoughts and actions of a teenager. Teenage is a phase we all go through. Each of us has experienced the moments of self doubt, pity and confusion that Holden goes through. Most of us spend hours trying to find out what we really want in life, few of us succeed. In this book, the author captures the angst of Holden and his confusion beautifully. Holden's hate of movies, slobs, wars and almost everything that's fake is expressed in an interesting way.

This book is not for the rational people, the ones who believe every story must have a head and a tail. For this one doesn't. It's simply random thoughts penned down together to create a narrative. I thought it was easy to do it, till I tried it myself.

Reasons to read it:

• Reading about Holden's views and actions reminds one of our teenage. The period when people seem fake and all actions pointless, the time of wondering what we really want to do. Believe me, its fun.
• This is one book which all aspiring writers should read. Simple everyday events are always the toughest to describe and Salinger does this beautifully. You can learn a lot from him. 

We, the losers of the world

"You are never a loser until you quit trying"

-Mike Ditka

Loss is a funny thing. People celebrate victory, the winners are cheered and parties are thrown. Somehow, all of us forget the losers. The ones who were 'almost' the winners. It isn't as if they didn't work as hard or didn't deserve to win. It's just that on that particular day someone else won.

It is often said a cricket match, for example, has eleven winners and eleven losers. The winners are felicitated while the losers are ignored. However, I believe that each match has twenty two winners. The ones who win as well as the ones who gave their best to it. As long as someone doesn't quit, he hasn't lost. Anyone who falls but retains the courage to stand up and try again, is a winner. I know its hard to get back up. I know it's hard to look your family in the eye. But pain is the best of teachers. Each time you fail, you learn a new skill, gain a new experience.

I speak as the man who lost it all. The man who failed at all conceivable competitions and events. Failed in academics, failed in sports, failed in life. Its tough to live through life with a smile, when each and every moment, you are reminded of the dreams that were left unfulfilled and the only thing you feel is a big hole in your chest.

I came close to quitting once. It was the day I got my tenth board exam results. I had failed. Staring at the report card, all I felt was shock. I could feel my own heartbeat but I couldn't speak. I saw the disappointment in my mother's eyes and ran out of her room. I locked myself in my room and broke down. The tears wouldn't stop. All my thoughts, all my dreams started coming back to me. They seemed to mock me. Every failure and disappointment of my life, came to haunt me."You are a loser", they seemed to say. The moments I had spent in joy and happiness seemed undeserved, wasted. Who was I, a loser, to enjoy life? The man who can't pass his exams doesn't deserve happiness or joy. My entire existence seemed a mockery.

It would have been easy to quit. To admit my failure.To get the gun. But a part of me refused to give in. This was the part which believed in Abraham Lincoln and Mahatma Gandhi. They were losers too, it said, but they didn't give in, they struggled on and they won. What do I have in common with them, I scoffed. Still, that part refused to quit. I was raged by turmoil.

Half my days was spent in contemplating suicide and the other half, wondering if I could ever recover from this loss. Over a period of several months, I became normal again, or as normal as I could be. The hole was still there, as was the pain. But I managed to make peace with myself. I realized I had nothing to lose. After all, I was at the bottom of the pyramid and so, I decided to try.

I still am at the bottom. But now, my eyes set on the top. I continue to try new things, continue to fail. Each failure brings its share of disappointments but each failure also teaches me, new things. I don't know if I will ever win, if I my dreams will ever come true. But I hope and I work.

Are you like me too? Then come, let's join hands and work together, to change the world. We, the losers of this world.

Have you failed in life too?

What was it that defeated you?

Are you the loser who lost his job?

Or the one who is afraid of the mob?

Come, O loser, take my hand,

Together, we can change this Land.

With our feet in the gutter and our eyes towards the sky,

The world will know us, the day we fly.

I, The Reader

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one."

- George R.R. Martin

I am a reader. I come from nowhere and everywhere.

From the streets of India, the meadows of France, the slums of Karachi and the craters of mars.

I am nobody and everybody. I am that poor beggar on the street, the grouchy lady beside your house. I am the sick man breathing his last, the lost girl desperate for help, the dreamer banished by society, the lover bound by tradition. I am all around you. I am you.

Each time I pick up a book, I become something different. A painter, a businessman, a monk, a dog, a cat and god knows what else. I have even been God. Each day, I live a different life and die a different death. Each day I gain new desires, new hopes, new fears and pleasures. I have felt the awkwardness of not belonging, the longing for love, the desperation of hunger and the pain of being hurt. I have had my bones broken, my dreams shattered. I have seen loved ones die, seen people change and yet, I have struggled on. I fought in the battle for Troy and have participated in Satyagraha. I have set up industries and factories ,and have worked in them for meager wages. Each life, I learned to be more than just me. I learned to be you, to be she,to be he. I learned to be us.

And this is why I understand you. Your hopes, your dreams, your fears. The expectations you have from society, the despair you feel at times. And this is why I promise you, I will be there. I will support you as a mother, a friend, a lover and a father. I will be the oppressor and the oppressed. All of it for you. I will give voice to your hopes, dispel your fears and help you stand in this world. I promise to stand beside you in your struggle, to guide you. I will teach you the lessons of my life, will encourage you to live them too.

Because then you will see, the similarities between the children in the States and the adults in Emirates. You wouldn't call one different from the other, instead would love them both as brothers. Start your journey today, my friend. Understand that all of us are the same, me and you, you and me, us.

Pick a book and live a life,

Today, I am Don Juan, will you be my wife?

 

Jonathan Livingston Seagull – Richard Bach

“You have the freedom to be yourself, your true self"

This book is counted amongst the best spiritual and self-help classics of the previous century. You will find it quoted and referenced in many places, and this was the prime reason I picked up this book.

After reading it, I can say that it is a good read, not just due to the concise manner in which it deals with heavy topics like spirituality, individuality and dream chasing, but because the simplicity of language and allegorical references used, make it easy to forget that the story has a deeper meaning (whether this is a plus or a minus, I will let you judge for yourselves). While reading the story, I felt that at times, it was abrupt, concentrating more on the end results or teachings rather than providing actual justification or the rational behind the views given. Maybe a deeper discussion or justification of the ideas would have helped both the 'Breakfast flock' and the readers. Then again, as is often said, actions speak louder than birds*, the obvious happiness and greatness achieved by Jonathan Livingstone, can be a regarded as a more proper justification of his views, than any other.

The book tells the story of a misfit bird, Jonathan Livingston, whose sole goal in life is to fly faster and with more control. He stays away from his flock and concentrates all his energy on flying. Upset by his attitude and believing him to be wrong, the flock banishes Jonathan. Despite becoming an outcast, Jonathan sticks with his love of flying and keeps on practicing. His practice and perseverance are rewarded when he meets another flock of gulls, who love flying as much as he does and are willing to teach him. Under the guidance of his new teachers, Jonathan learns a lot about flying, life and spirituality, until he decides to spread the message amongst his old flock and leaves his new one to go back.