Thursday, February 14, 2008

Love in the time of cholera



This is another book by Gabriel Garcia Marques, the author of 'One hundred years of solitude'. I enjoyed the book very much. Each page is hidden with abundant treasures of life.

The main theme is the natural affinity between men and women and the life of ordinary people in general as it is. He projects the otherwise hidden side of people's characters like, weakness and follies in sex, love, and relationships while they try to lead a normal life in society.

Now, I am going to read Gabriel Garcia Marquez' 'One Hundred Years of Solitude'. As I have failed to concentrate on its Malayalam translation, I have a little fear but the beginning so far is ok. It is so smooth...

The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success- Deepak Chopra


This is really a useful book. There are 7 simple ways (practices) to make our life meaningful, purposeful and peaceful.

I read 'The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success' long before and got enlightenment and gave the book to somebody to save them from depression and so the book was not with me for the past 2 years. Now I bought a new copy from India.



Here are the Seven Spiritual Laws

SUNDAY
The Law of Pure Potentiality
Take time to be silent, to just BE. Meditate for 30 minutes twice a day. Silently witness the intelligence within every living thing. Practice non-judgment.
MONDAY The Law of Giving
Today, bring whoever you encounter a gift: a compliment or flower. Gratefully receive gifts. Keep wealth circulating by giving and receiving care, affection, appreciation and love.
TUESDAY The Law of Karma
Every action generates a force of energy that returns to us in like kind. Choosing actions that bring happiness and success to others ensures the flow of happiness and success to you.
WEDNESDAY
The Law of Least Effort
Accept people, situations, and events as they occur. Take responsibility for your situation and for all events seen as problems. Relinquish the need to defend your point of view.
THURSDAY
The Law of Intention and Desire
Inherent in every intention and desire is the mechanics for its fulfillment. Make a list of desires. Trust that when things don’t seem to go your way, there is a reason.
FRIDAY The Law of Detachment
Allow yourself and others the freedom to be who they are. Do not force solutions—allow solutions to spontaneously emerge. Uncertainty is essential, and your path to freedom.
SATURDAY The Law of Dharma
Seek your higher Self. Discover your unique talents. Ask yourself how you are best suited to serve humanity. Using your unique talents and serving others brings unlimited bliss and abundance.

The Mistress- Anitha Nair




In Mistress, Anitha Nair narrates a rich lady's fickleness and her desire to get true love as she was trapped in a loveless marriage and the resulting controversies.
I like Anitha nair's style of writing. After reading her story, "The Better Man", I was an ardent fan of hers, thirsty to read more, just because she used the exact translations of Malayalam thoughts in English. I felt like I was reading some great Malayalam novel itself. She narrated Kerala and its nature and life in the village all so vividly that I could not enjoy even a real Malayalam novel with such a longing.

A grain of sand (Chokher Bali)



A Novel by Sri. Rabindranath Tagore. The main character is a widow named Binodini (Chokher Bali) who finds it hard to live normally in the world with others and her fickle mind tries to intrude in other peoples heart and lives and in the end the divinity in her leads her throught the correct path by correcting all the mistakes she has done and she gives up worldly life and goes to Kasi with her old aunt.

May be Rabindranath Tagore is giving us the chaos a widow has to go through to live a normal life and he points out that it is a fruitless attempt to live like a normal person rather than becoming a Sanyasin.

The story takes place in the previous century. Now women are more independent and society also is broad minded. Now women have every opportunity to live independently without losing their nobility. (This Novel was adapted into a film named 'Chokher Bali', starring Aiswaria Rai as Binodini.) Tagore's Githanjali is indeed a balm to our soul. I have a Malayalam version of Githanjali with me.