Quotable Quotes from an old diary and Hobbies!

Did you persue different hobbies as a child? Have your hobbies changed over the years?

Mine has.

Some of interest have remained the same, some have developed further and some are quite forgotten. Reading is one of my many hobbies that has developed over the years and others have changed a lot with time. Apart from reading books, drawing and sketching is another thing I still do sometimes even today. One of my first serious hobbies was gardening, but it was gone by the time I reached 10th standard. I was neck deep into my studies and did not even realise when I had stopped tendering my little terrace garden. I still desire to do a bit of gardening but now I don't  have the space in my apartment.

Then, I took interest in stamp collection. I was inspired from younger brother and maternal uncle. But, soon there were competition and quarrels! What can you expect when kids in the same house are after the same thing. Well, I gave up and my brother inherited what ever little I had.

Listening to music was also an interest and is still there. But, I never call it a hobby.These days I have taken to cooking and baking, it was something I had never dreamt I would be interested in.  Another of my unsusal hobby was to collect quotations. That, I think was more prominent when I was in college. I loved collected quotes on different subjects - inspirational ones topped the list. When ever I found one either in a book or a magazine, I would just jot it down in my diary. But, this interest was also short lived.

Well! You must be thinking why am I talking about all this now. Actually, I happened to open my old diary today and found so many nice quotes, that I thought of sharing it here. Some are profound and some are plain 'gyaan ki baatien'.

Here are a few ~

" I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives in. I like to see a man so live that his place is proud of him".

-Abraham Lincoln

"To err is human, but to repeat the same mistake is foolishness."

- Unknown

" I am not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence I can reach for Perfection is God's business"

- Micheal J Fox.

" Try as hard as we may for perfection, the net result of our labours is an amazing variety of imperfectness. We are surprised at our own versatality in being able to fail in so many different ways."

-Samuel McChord Crothers.

This one I have always found my intriguing, but I think I have never been able to actually understand what it means!

" The knowledge that you can have is inexhaustible... The knowledge that you cannot have is of the riddles of birth and death, of our future destiny and the purpose of God. Here there is no knowledge, but illusions that restricts freedom and limit hope. Accept the mystery behind knowledge; it is not darkness but shadow."

- N FRYE

Do share your thoughts and your hobbies and if they have chaged over the years. It will be fun to know how things change with time.

Thanks for stopping by! Cheers!

A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon

I am sure those who have read 'The Curious Case of the dog at the night time' by Mark Haddon must have added 'A Spot of Bother' by the author in their TBR list. I too had and that's why I picked it up from the library as soon as I spotted it.

The story starts with George Hall, a rather quiet man who has retired from his work and is looking forward to a comfortable, quiet life. But, things does not go as per his wishes and expectations. George is hypochondriac and hence when he notices a leison on his hip while trying out a suit in a shop, he is certain that it is a symptom of the onset of cancer. He ignores the doctor's diagnosis of eczema and get sets to put things right himself by doing a self surgery, by cutting the flesh with a pair of scissors! Well, things are bound not to go his way and he nearly acts like a mad man.
But, that is not the only thing going wrong in George's life. His wife, Jean is courting his ex- colleague and is contemplating on leaving George. Also, his divorced daughter is going to tie the knot with his boy friend, Ray, who is not very much liked by her family. On top of all this, his son Jamie who is a gay is deciding on going public about his sexual orientation, much to the embarrassment of the the family. All this adds to the trauma of the old man and he has panic attacks every now and then.

There are so many plots in the novel but it all culminates to a rather long and monotonous story. Why? Because, the characters are so poorly sketched, they seem very unreasonable, unnatural, absurd at times and even selfish. Through out the novel, George seemed to be having a pathetic time, yet I could not bring myself to empathise with him, coz the whole act seemed very fake and artificial. The writing style lacked poise and warmth. There are 140+ chapters in this 592 paged book, some of them as short as one page. I could not understand why the book was formatted in that why, it didn't make it an easy read for me. There were some points when, things seemed amusing and funny, but soon you would get something equally nonsensical and absurd that things will be squared off. I particularly did not like the way the novel ended.  I was expecting something more sensible, more reasonable after going through the 592 pages (skipping a few pages in between), but was dissappointed with a rather rushed upon end. The characters did not seem to have learnt a lesson from the turn of events in their life and still, as fate might have it, things worked out smoothly for everybody finally. I could not figure out the reason behind that. After giving the story such a slow and rather detailed build up, Haddon could have ended the story more pragmatically

After having enjoyed Haddon's The Curious Case of the dog at the Night Time', I was looking forward to a similar experience in 'A Spot of Bother'. But it turned out to be a big let down for me.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Grey Sky!

Wordless Wednesday

Mango Mania ~ Mango Lassi/ Mango Smoothie!

Lassi is a yogurt based drink from Punjab, India. It can be either sweet or salted or flavoured with fruit. It is usually served chilled as a refreshment during summer days. Mango being in season, this Mango Lassi is currently at the top of my drink list. It is best to use ripe, sweet Alphonso mangoes when available or you can use canned mango pulp as well. I prefer to use fresh mangoes.

Mango is a nutritionally very rich fruit. Read this to know the benefits of this exotic tropical fruit. Coming back to the recipe, here is what you will need to blend a yummy Mango Lassi.

Ingredients:

Flesh of 1 ripe mango chopped.

150 ml low fat yogurt.

150 ml water

2 cardamom pod seeds freshly powdered.

Sugar to taste.

Ice cubes (Optional)

Process:

Add all the ingredients in a blender and churn till smooth. Sieve it to remove any fibre and adjust the sugar as per your taste and the sweetness of mango. Serve chilled. It like it reasonably thick, add more water if you like thinner.

Linking it to Fun N Sun , Seasonal Indulgence Series- Summer Coolers , Only Mocktails and Coolers . The 'Only series' is a brain child of Pari Also linking it to Healing food Sukham Coolers, this event is the brain child of Siri

Thanks for stopping by! Cheers!

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

When I saw this book in the library, I instantly picked it up. I had a vague memory of knowing it being into a movie and probably, I had seen one of its trailer. But, I wasn't really sure what to expect from it.

I read a couple of reviews on Goodreads and found that many people classified it as a science fiction. After reading it, I really won't agree to that. The book indeed has a scientific backdrop, but overall it is a story about 3 friends Kathy, Ruth and Tom who were boarders at Hailsham. It is the story of their friendship, how it bloomed and survived the test of time and the haunting realities of life.

Hailsham is a fictional elite boarding school in England where children are brought in a supportive environment with a special emphasis being given on creativity and health. The students are treated special and told that they are going to be very vital to the world after they are done with their schooling and leave Hailsham. The seemingly idyllic boarding school seems like an ordinary school at first, but soon the readers get an idea of what exactly it is. One of the few things I noticed was that none of them talked about their home or their parents and infact said not to have an idea how the world was beyond the boundaries of the school.

The story starts with Kathy, now 31 years old, working as a carer reminiscing her school days at Hailsham. She reflects on her life and charts a slow progression of her growth, her friendship with Ruth and Tom. She tells how the knowledge of what lies ahead in life for them and what role they have to play in the outside world affects their life and personality. The readers get to know the story through the voice of Kathy through out the novel. The deep introspection in Kathy's narration leads to a monotonity in the story. I am not really very enthusiastic how the novel reveal itself to the readers. Despite, the fact that book has won apprecation and accolade and have been loved by many, I found it rather slow, inconsistent  and unengaging after a point of time. Having said that, I did love some parts of it, like when the narrator tells about her school and friends, I was transported to my own school days. Once Kathy, Ruth and Tom completed their schooling at Hailsham and left for the outside world, there wasn't much apppeal for me in the rest of the story.

This book was a bit too heavy for my taste and the ending left me a bit too uneasy. I didn't really get well with the whole scientific idea behind it and in the end found it a bit disturbing.

Kazuao Ishiguro is Japanese born British author. Never Let Me Go was nominated for 2005 Man Booker Prize.