Arranged Marriage by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

After reading The Palace of Illusions last year, I was looking forward to read more of the the author's work. That is why when I spotted this book in the library I picked it up. The Book - Arranged Marriage is a collection of short stories centering around Indian women. In most of the stories the protagonist is a woman with Indian roots, settled in America and the story is about her tumultuous journey of life where she is trying to strike a balance between her deep rooted Indian beliefs and modern American outlook.

The book has a collection of 10 stories, each of the story is different from the other and yet has something in common. Most of them are sad, some disturbing yet profound. These are stories which will leave an indelible mark in your mind and will leave you pondering. I have only one qualm about the book, as to why the author has stressed more on the negatives of Arranged Marriages. Arranged Marriage is a practice prevalent hugely in India. It is often labeled as an orthodox practice and mostly people from the West find it very difficult to understand, as how such a system could work in first place! But, it HAS worked and I have seen living examples of it. So, I do not think it is fair to explore only the grim side of Arranged Marriages.

The author through her stories stresses on the importance of independence in life, of women in particular which I believe is important for every women irrespective of nationality. Even though it is written in Indian context, it stresses on problems which is common to women from all walks of life and so, I think 'Arranged Marriage' doesn't seem to be a very appropriate title.

Having said that, I must admit that I could relate to most stories be it 'The Bats' where the woman despite all odds remains faithful to his wife beater husband or 'The Ultrasound' where the woman is asked to abort her child since she is a baby girl or 'Affair' where a husband leaves her wife for another woman. I personally liked 'Meeting Mrinal' where the woman finally accepts her fate and decides to move on in life. Since the author lives in America, I believe that it must have influenced the author's own perspective and the way has brought out the sentiments of the women in the stories.

These poignant stories did move me and made me contemplate about various things in life which I take for granted, but, for many it is a dream.

Linking it to A2ZChallenge and South Asian Challenge.

Thanks you for stopping by! Cheers

#24 Teaser Tuesdays ~ Last Man in Tower by Aravind Adiga

 "An old man leaned out of the open door, relishing the wind in his hair like a fourteen year old on his first unaccompanied ride. He stared at a train going in the opposite direction."

Page :189


Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! Share the title & author, too, so that others can add the book to their TBR Lists!


Do check out Lucky Library Picks on this blog. A post for is due this Friday. If you have something, do send in. Cheers!


Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!

Healthy & Hearty - An Event Announcement

With Christmas and New Year gone, life is finally back to routine. I am sure every one has started the new year with a few goals, be it personal, professional or even related to hobbies, food or even books. I had talked about a few reading challenges in my last post and now I am here with a food event announcement. With a flood of food related events in the blogosphere, you would wonder why another?

But then I say, why not? On going through the recipes I have posted so far, I realized that most of them baring a few are indulgent food items, either high in calories or deep fried. So, I decided to take a break and prepare something healthy yet delicious. That's when I thought of Healthy & Hearty.

What am I looking for?

Basically, I am looking for HEALTHY recipes. It can be either a starter or a main course or any guilt free dessert. No deep fried food, but baking is fine provided it is not laden with butter! You can also create a low fat version of traditionally calorie rich food item.The options are numerous and varied.. So, friends send in your healthy yet delicious entries!

Here are a few rules of the event, you would like to know:

1. It can be any course of the meal.
2. Recipe has to be strict vegetarian. No eggs allowed!
3. Multiple Entries are welcome. I will accept entries posted in 2012 but not older.
4. Please send in your entries starting today, 10th Jan 2012 till on or before Feb 29th 2012.

5. Bloggers can simply send your Name and URL of your recipe at sethiajyoti119@gmail.com (sethiajyoti119 AT gmail DOT com) with the subject of "Healthy & Hearty" with the following details-

Name:
Recipe Name and URL:
Picture of the dish reduced to 300px:

6. Link back to this announcement page is mandatory. Use of Logo is optional

Reading Challenges 2012

Sometimes back, I had written about a reading challenge I was going to take up in 2012. On blog hopping various book blogs I came across a few more, so thought of taking up a few more reading challenges.
The first one about which I have already written earlier is A2Z Reading Challenge.

The South Asian Reading Challenge.

This challenge is hosted by Swapna Krishna of S Krishna's Books. You can read the details about this challenge here. I plan to read at least 15 books which will qualify for this challenge.

Apart from this I have also taken up the Goodreads Challenge where I am challenging myself to read 50 books in 2012. I had taken a similar challenge last year but failed marginally. I am hoping to reach my reading goal this year.

I came across another interesting reading challenge in Hema's Blog. It is a challenge named Whats in the name hosted by Beth. The rules are quite interesting and here I am quoting them from Beth's space:

Between January 1 and December 31, 2012, read one book in each of the following categories:

1. A book with a topographical feature (land formation) in the title: Black Hills, Purgatory Ridge, Emily of Deep Valley
2. A book with something you'd see in the sky in the title: Moon Called, Seeing Stars, Cloud Atlas
3. A book with a creepy crawly in the title: Little Bee, Spider Bones, The Witches of Worm
4. A book with a type of house in the title: The Glass Castle, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, Ape House
5. A book with something you'd carry in your pocket, purse, or backpack in the title: Sarah's Key, The Scarlet Letter, Devlin Diary
6. A book with a something you'd find on a calendar in the title: Day of the Jackal, Elegy for April, Freaky Friday, Year of Magical Thinking

The book titles are just suggestions, you can read whatever book you want to fit the category.

So, this is all about reading challenges 2012. Are you taking up any? I will be glad to hear about them.
I have finished reading Arranged Marriage by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and the review will be up soon.

Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!

Deception Point by Dan Brown

This book was everything a typical Dan Brown novel should be: fast paced, full of twists and turns ensuring nail biting tension, adventurous, secretive, mysterious, thrilling with romance in between. For me, it was a welcome change after 2 disappointing reads. I am quoting the blurb from the back of the book for the plot.

"When a new NASA satellite spots evidence of an astonishingly rare object buried deep in the Arctic ice, the floundering space agency proclaims a much-needed victory… a victory that has profound implications for U.S. space policy and the impending presidential election.

With the Oval Office in the balance, the President dispatches White House Intelligence analyst Rachel Sexton to the Milne Ice Shelf to verify the authenticity of the find. Accompanied by a team of experts, including the charismatic academic Michael Tolland, Rachel uncovers the unthinkable—evidence of scientific trickery—a bold deception that threatens to plunge the world into controversy.

But before Rachel can contact the President, she and Michael are attacked by a deadly task force…a private team of assassins controlled by a mysterious power broker who will stop at nothing to hide the truth. Fleeing for their lives in an environment as desolate as it is lethal, they possess only one hope for survival: to find out who is behind this masterful ploy. The truth, they will learn, is the most shocking deception of all…"

I can safely call it a scientific novel since it has a strong scientific backdrop. Dan Brown is a master story teller and this novel is a good example of his immaculate ability at crafting ingenious plots that grips his readers with intrigue and awe. The character development is great, the plot is fascinating. The fact that the plot involves NASA a great amount of details about advanced technology and weaponry is cited in the book which at times, went above my head. On those occasions I could not really picture the scene in  my mind but non the less I knew what was going on and it seemed convincing enough. A movie based on this novel is going to be released this year and I am really looking forward to it.

All in all it was an enjoyable read, a real page turner. If you like his books, you can't miss this.
Finally, I have read all of the author's work. The other books I am written about by the author here are, Digital Fortress and The Last Symbol. To know more about the author and his books visit www.danbrown.com
My rating: 3.5/5
Linking it to A2Z Challenge
Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!