Book Review- The Almond Tree

Book- The Almond Tree

Author- Michelle Cohen Corasanti
Publisher- Fingerprint Publishers
ISBN- 978-81-7234-487-0
Genre- Fiction
Price- Rs 295
E-book- Available

The Readers' Cosmos this time gave me a chance to review "The Almond Tree" by Michelle Cohen Corasanti and and I am thankful that they did. It was a delightful read with words woven out of pure emotions.

There's also a website for the book thealmondtreebook.com and you can also read excerpts from http://thealmondtreebook.com/about/excerpts/

The first three pages of the book are full of praises and accolades for the book and its first time author. It is compared by many to the book The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini in terms of its appeal and the way it makes you familiar, even empathetic, with the culture of a far-off land. The book does have a universal appeal as the Ahmed of Palestine can easily be someone from Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Libya- any place where human sanity is crossing swords with fanaticism. Ahmed's struggle since childhood takes you through the conditions prevailing in the region and humanizes the numbers (of victims) that we almost daily see in news.

The cover design is well done with flowers set against a barbed wire fence and a handsome young man  representing Ahmed the character looking through the barbed fence with hope and determination. The back cover captures a barren landscape capturing the tough living conditions.

The language and the fonts are easy to the eye and are made for a smooth read. Hope of the characters' survival goes up and down like the pulse as the story progresses and the wordsmith has done such a complex task with use of a lucid words and common vocabulary. Kudos! Also, the familiarity with the culture makes one think that the author is from the Israel- Palestine region but reading in the introduction, you come to know that it was just based on what the author imbibed in one summer during a vacation; the respect for the way emotions are represented like one's own, increases manifold. It is this quality that sets apart good writers from great. Writing is nothing but understanding your characters and getting in their skin and this book does it well.

The story begins with a horrific incident that shakes the lives of a peaceful civilain family. This, and the way the family deals with it- sets the tone for the rest of the story. Ahmed, the protagonist witnesses death at a very early stage in his childhood and if not anything else, it makes him wiser. His intellect which exalts him from the rest of the characters specially in his academic pursuits, also enforces his identity as the protagonist. The questions that arise and the answers that he finds are what forms the rest of the story. Also, the story has emotional angles which tug at your heart, pinch you a little and make you smile and cry about how life plays us. Ahmed's marriage to Yasmine, the village belle, being one such piece. One cannot but feel sorry for her at times.

All in all, the book does a great job in character-detailing, story-telling and descriptions. I recommend the book to all who are looking for a good, thought-provoking read. Having certain bit of realism in it, the book might also interest non-fiction fans. I'd rate it 4 out of 5 stars!

Happy reading.

This book review is a part of The Readers Cosmos Book Review Program. To get free books log on to thereaderscosmos.blogspot.com

Children's Day - Last year's cartoon (Repost)

Special Pen for #Elections 2014

Here's how I spent my Diwali.

So, it was another Diwali at home. God, how much I love these times. Every Diwali with family is special because of the special feeling of togetherness with people who are your actual pillars of support is a great feeling. It also brings you closer to the place you belong to, mentally and emotionally. It was another day where we began with last moment panicking and trying to shop, clean, eat, talk- all at the same time. There was so much to eat and so much to do- this abundance that comes with Diwali is my favourite part. People splurge on sweets, crackers and clothes. I do believe in charity but an annual show of such emotions is more or less therapeutic to an otherwise middle-class, medium income-group family.

Also, it is a delight to watch all the family members come together and enjoy. My day began a late as I woke up at around 8-ish with Rangoli playing at the giant plasma TV set my Dad had just got. I think this tradition of watching Rangoli on Sundays will never leave my household. From the era of Black and White small CRTs to LCDs, this programme has been setting the whole day's pace and mood for us North-Indians since time immemorial. Then we drove to our Chhatarpur home where we were warmly welcomed by grandparents. It is always the fuzziest, warmest feeling to meet them after a while.

The afternoon was replete with shopping for diyas, sweets, Lakshmi Ganesh idols and other items of Pooja. The colourful Diwali markets, especially in small towns form an organic entity. The throbbing colours, young lasses shopping for Rangoli colours, women and men bargaining for random items, creative artworks, fireworks etc are a joy to watch and absorb. This very Indian-ness is missing in those newer entrants like - "Cadbury's Celebrations" gift packets with little or no personalization. Later in the noon, my Dad used some messaging site to send out Diwali greetings to all his contacts. I miss the good old greeting cards' tradition.

Half of the evening was spent helping in the cleaning and setting up of lights while the rest was spent napping! In the night, there was the quintessential Puja where my Dad, as always, recited the "story of Deepawali" (katha) and then later, we all sang the Aarti together.  After that, we set out to put diyas in each and every nook and cranny of the house and then there was the prasad distribution and touching of the feet of all elderlies. Then of course there were fireworks.

So, yep! That was my Diwali. :)

Hope yours was as simple and delightful. :) 

Our fundamental rights- Explained.

This idea of spreading awareness about our fundamental rights in a fun way has always lingered in my mind ever since I familiarized myself with the Indian Constitution. Finally today, I have found the push to finally sit down and write. So, without further delay, let's begin-

First a quick introduction- Our Constitution is divided into 25 parts, 446 articles and 12 schedules. (Originally, it had 22 parts, 395 articles and 8 schedules). Ok, so parts are like chapters dealing with different subjects eg. the subject of Part I is "The Union & its territory". Part III is our topic i.e. The Fundamental Rights. Over a period of time, parts IVA, IXA, IXB, XIVA were added and VII was deleted.
Articles are like clauses stating the rules and regulations regarding the subject; and within that, we have sub-clauses which include exceptions, special cases, specifications etc.

Got it? Ok, now let's begin.

FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS, PART III, ARTICLES 12-35

Ok so, the guys at the helm of Constitution making in the Ambedkar days wrecked their brains, argued till their throats got sore in putting together this part of the Constitution. It was discussed for as many as 38 days as our founding fathers wanted it to be really strong. #respect.
They're like the guarantee you have which is given to you not by the govt but by the Constitution ie. the basic law of this land. All the prevailing negativity aside, you should take immense pride in being a citizen of such a country.
But the question comes- guarantee against whom? Who is going to harm my fundamental rights?

Answer lies in Article 12- It tells you that the guarantee is against the State! Yup! It's the authority that is most likely to infringe on your rights. Now you'd ask- what exactly do we mean by state? Well, our founding fathers left little room for ambiguity. Here are the villains (in case they cause harm to you) that your Rights protect you from-
- The Govt and Parliament of India
-The Govt and Legislature of each of the States
-All local authorities like municipalities, district boards, Panchayats, Improvement trusts etc.
-Other authorities within the terrirory of India.

Now you ask- "Other Authorities Who?!?" Well, these cover the authorities created by the Constitution on whom the powers are conferred by law eg. State electricity boards, LIC, ONGC, DTC, Finance commission. Even private bodies with public service responsibilities entrusted to it can come under this category.

Now to those of you who are bit of smartasses, yes, I know what you're thinking and no, you cannot count High Courts and the Hon'ble Supreme Court in this list. Ok?

The next Article- Article 13 defines "Law" in order to establish that the Constitution must prevail in all cases. It ends all laws that are in conflict with the Rights whether made before or after the making of Constitution. Law here means all temporary, permanent laws, rules, regulations, notifications having the force of law; even customs like marriage etc.
Ok, enough setting stage- let's begin now.

The Rights- They are divided into six broad categories. We begin this series with the first category-

THE RIGHT TO EQUALITY

Article 14- Every person has the right not to be denied "equality before the law" or "equal protection of the laws" within the territory of India.
This right is available to everyone in India. Even those who are not citizens of our country.
So basically, if the traffic guys fine a scooter rider for not wearing helmet, they have to fine a Mercedes driver for not wearing seat belt too. 
There is of course provision for intelligent differentia for example- An Ambulance is exempted from penalties of breaking traffic rules on reasonable conditions.

Article 15- Available only to Indian citizens, this right states that the State cannot discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, caste, race, sex, place of birth or any of them. Here "only" is important as it gives state the right to discriminate on the basis of one or more of these articles PLUS also on other ground(s) would not be affected by this article. And the state can discriminate on basis of residence.
So, you can use a public toilet no matter what your religion, caste, race, sex, place of birth or any of them is. 
Clause 2 of the same article says that one cannot be subject to any disability, liability, restriction or condition with regard to- (a) access to shops, public restaurants, hotels and places of public entertainment or (b) the use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads and places of public resort maintained wholly or partly out of State funds or dedicated to use of general public.
So, you can jump into that municipality swimming pool, no matter what your caste is; but you cannot jump into it if it is Vijay Mallya's private pool!! 
Clause 3 empowers the state to make special provisions for women and children. So, no! You cannot use the Ladies' Washroom!
Clause 4 empowers the state to make special provisions for advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the SCs and STs.
Clause 5 (added  by 93rd amendment on 20 January 2006) empowers Parliament to make special provisions by law for socially and educationally backward classes and for SCs and STs in regard to admission to educational institutions including private aided or unaided institutions other than minority institutions.
Now as you might find them, Clauses 4 and 5 are a bit ambiguous. There have been questions raised on reservation. Hon'ble Supreme Court has held that, "caste and poverty may be both relevant for determining the backwardness. But neither caste alone nor poverty alone could be the determining test".
Ok, moving on...

Article 16- Equality of Opportunity in Public Employment. 
Clause 1- All citizens of India are guaranteed equality of opportunity in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the State.
So, if you're from Goa, you cannot be denied the job of a peon in a school in Maharashtra.
Clause 2-  No citizen can be discriminated against or be ineligible for any employment or office under the State on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth or residence.
So, these clauses make you eligible for all jobs in the country for which you hold the qualifications. Now, before you get all happy, let me introduce you to the subsequent clauses which are basically exceptions to this right-
Clause 3- Parliament is empowered to regulate the extent to which it would be permissible for a State or Union Territory to depart from or expand or supplement the general principles enunciated in clauses (1) and (2).
So with this power, Parliament passed the Public Employment (Requirement as to residence) Act, 1957 which repealed all the laws in force prescribing any requirement of residence within a State or UT for any public employment but exceptions were made in cases of Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura and the Telangana area of Andhra Pradesh where residential qualifications were prescribed for a limited period not exceeding five years on grounds of backwardness of the areas. But then in one case, SC declared a part of this Act unconstitutional as Parliament cannot impose a residential qualification in just a part of a State.
Clause 4- It is an enabling provision for the State and empowers the State to make special provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favour of any "backward class of citizens" which in the opinion of the State are not adequately represented in the services under the State.
Mandal Commission's much debated report recommended 27% reservation in view of the 50% limit imposed by Supreme Court. On 16 Nov 1992, SC decided that 27% reservation for socially and backward classes excluding the creamy layer was in order.
Clause 4A- Added by the 77th Constitution Amendment Act- in matters of promotion in services under the State in any category or categories, the State can make reservations for the SCs and STs.
Clause 4B- 81st Constitution Amendment Act, 2000- unfilled reserved vacancies are to be treated as a separate class and are not to be included under the prescribed ceiling of 50% reservation of vacancies per year.
The 85th Constitution Amendment Act, 2001 further clarified that the employees so promoted shall also be entitled to consequential seniority. The 85th Amendment came into operation w.e.f. 17 June 1995.
As you can see that the emphasis is on social backwardness and not so much on economic backwardness which makes the matter highly political.
Clause 5- provided that a law may prescribe that the incumbent (holder) of an office in connection with the affairs of a religious or denominational institution, or a member of the governing body thereof shall belong to the particular religion or denomination.
So, a Head Priest at a Hindu temple cannot be Christian by religion. Makes sense.

Article 17- Abolition Of Untouchability
Untouchabiliy practice is treated as an offence and is punishable under law. It is also the bounden duty of every citizen to ensure that it is not practised in any form. (Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1976)
So you cannot show your ancient scriptures if someone catches you practising this barbaric practice.

Article 18- Abolition of Titles
Prohibits the State to confer titles on anybody, whether an Indian citizen or a foreign national. Exceptions are Military and academic distinctions.
Clause 2- A citizen of India has also been prohibited from accepting any title from a foreign State.
Clause 3- A foreigner holding any office of profit or trust under the State cannot accept any title from a foreign State without the permission of the President.
Clause 4- No person holding any office of profit or trust under the State shall, without the consent of the President, accept any present, employment, or office of any kind from or under any foreign State.
 So yes, you cannot call yourself Sir Abhyudaya Shrivastava!

Do Boys Gossip As Much As Girls?

With my 6 months' stay in Delhi and my earlier 5 years in Davangere, I have been exposed to many guy groups. Guys who are supposedly kool with a 'K'. I regret to inform you though that I am a bit disappointed with what I have seen and observed. I am here to bust a few myth which is going to be inconvenient but it needs to be done for the welfare of mankind in general.

Myth 1- Guys don't obsess.
This is the most untrue stereotype ever created. I have seen a guy who would have only have one single topic of conversation i.e. girls. It tired me and I slowly tried to distance myself from him, which was an awkward process. It is often said that women fixate over stuff while guys are quick to move on with low attention span. I think this guy broke all those assumptions and stereotypes. Talking about girls was funny at first, then it became slightly boring, later days, I used to sing myself a lullaby as he went on and on about how that girl was looking at that guy etc.

In their obsession, guys forget that the subject of their obsession is also a human being. Sometimes, they are too busy playing the game that they end up trying too hard. One guy I knew liked this girl. He talked to her a couple of times at a metro train station, and the other day he just adviced her to keep her hair loose because he liked them that way. Now, if that's not creepy, what is?

Myth 2- Guys are direct. They don't play mind-games.
This is such a cute lie that I want to find the person who told it first and beat him with a bat! Here is how a typical Indian guy approaches a girl- He stares at her in the commute or in college or office for a week or so. Once he attains a certain level of creepiness so much so that he cannot hold it anymore, he says 'hi' to her. It is supposed that she'd be totally fine talking to a complete stranger as if they were long lost soulmates. Now, a few days later, he asks for her phone number but wait, that's too direct! So, he actually asks for her email address/ BBM pin and presumes that a phone number would be soon given. Even if he does ask for phone number, he wraps it in language like "Hey! Do you have whatsapp?" or "Do you need my notes? You can call me if you want. My number is 98486XXXX!"

They also aren't forthright in their conversations. Their conversations are always affected by their bruised ego if God forbid the girl hasn't been giving them their required dose of attention. They want the girl to worship them. In case that fails to happen, they'd play all sorts of games like pretending that they didn't notice her, abrupting ending conversations, suddenly being rude and all other things we generally associate with feminine traits.

Myth 3- Girls don't understand these tricks.
The fact is that they do. It is like the ostrich-desert situation. Those who pretend to ignore girls think very highly of themselves while most times, the truth is that their primitive behaviour is analysed, dissected and laughed at by womenfolk at their kitty parites. We can't win with them at mind games, guys! They invented them, remember?

Myth 4- Girls like it.
Fact is-- most girls, at least the sensible ones, do not like or encourage these mind games. They deserve to be treated like human beings and not some alien species who'd find it amusing if you whistled and jeered at them. Also, the time you spend trying to come up with a plan could be well spent talking to her like a regular person. Getting to know her would make it less of a chase and more of a converation. What's more? The world will be a better place to live! At least for girls!

Dancing It Out With Indiblogger!!

My #DanceItOut cause- 

We had performed a small skit-based dance about #EducationForWomen in the event. It was a cause close to my heart because as a male member of the society I see women rising, fighting so many adversities and balancing all roles that we assign to them; it humbles me to walk this Earth with one of the most tolerant and benevolent species in the World i.e. Indian Women. This may seem far-fetched for a person belonging to a metropolitan but truth is that the subordinance of women's role in the society is still quite deep rooted in our society. I see even among my female colleagues this nonchalance about their career as they consider marriage their 'escape plan' from every challenge to their professional lives. You know you're fighting an evil demon when even the victims happily resign to their fates.

This ambition-killing exercise sickens me because of its sheer magnanimity in our society. Even the most educated ones take it for granted that a girl has to be married by 25-26, otherwise there is something seriously wrong. We have systematically eliminated her dreams to make room for our conveniences. The women who have broken this stereotype have to pass the test of 'balancing both lives' on a daily basis without uttering a word. And that's just the mild urban face of the problem.

In smaller cities and villages, the situation is much more dismal. It bears close resemblance to all the stereotypes we used in our dance performance. The boy is encouraged to study while the book is snatched away from the girl, she is encouraged, almost forced to learn cooking and other household work so that she can be married off to a 'respectable' family. Later, she is married off in almost a way one disposes off a huge burden from his shoulders. She is now tested on those generic parameters at her in-laws' home and God forbid if they don't like her 'house-making' skills, she is subjected to sharp critique and in some cases, harassment. During all this, her mental aptitude, her ambition, her education- it all just becomes a joke. A sad joke which isn't even funny. True, the pressure is much less in larger cities but this whole attitude is still prevalent as after years of training, now it is self-imposed.

I hope to see a change in this attitude through this post and if I can get my message across to even one person through this, if I can get them thinking, the purpose would be considered fulfilled.

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The Event

It was my first time at an Indiblogger Meet and I now realized what I had been missing till now. In collaboration with Zee TV's Dance India Dance, Indiblogger came to The Oberoi, New Delhi and took our breath away. It was a party that although began a bit late but when it did, it thumped its way all the way to our hearts. The DID judges Mudassar and Feroz danced and partied with the Indiblogger cool gang. As pointed out by the the dynamic host of the evening, it was 'Dance India Dance' and not 'Sit India Sit' so, all of us were given chances to #DanceItOut. Live tweets were displayed on the giant screens in the ballroom, it was fascinating to see the power of social media come alive. It was one big happy family. I was almost a recluse though, humbled by the sheer aura of the event and celebs; also this hot girl was sitting right by my side which made me sort of nervous and jittery. Times like these I wish I was more of an extrovert and had the power to talk to women. Anyway, when she stood up she was like way taller than me, it'd not have worked out. So, grapes are sour. Anyway, I am deviating. I also saw so many celebs from the blogging universe like Anukriti Sharma et al, whose blogs inspire me to create better stuff, but didn't really have the courage to go up and say 'hi'. Maybe next meet. :D

I did meet some amazing bloggers and made friends too. Here are a few photos of mine with Deepika, Swarn, Divyanshu, Yogita and of course Nimi.

I did meet a few friends viz Nimi Vashi (Readers' Cosmos) and Monica Verma (The Forthright). I am proud to say that both my friends left an indelible mark on the event. Nimi through her Amitabh Bachchan-wala step. (She won headphones for that! You go Nimi!!) and Monica through her Lungi Dance stole the show.
The judges were really sporty and they even taught us their signature moves from the the theme song of Dance India Dance. It was a gala time. Later we were served dinner. Now, this is not a food blog but the Bhuna Gosht (Lamb) was particularly delicious and I thoroughly enjoyed the mango pudding too. There was an open bar and I am so sad that I had to hurry back home which meant I couldn't get my hands on the drinks. All in all, it was a fun event. And yeah! We got cool Indiblogger DID mugs as souvenirs.

Ok, this is pretty much it. I'd once more like to mention my cause #EducationForWomen. Please help us trend it and bring more and more awareness about it.

Cheers to Indiblogger and Zee TV DID.

Here are the links to
Indiblogger on FB- https://www.facebook.com/indipage
Zee TV on FB- https://www.facebook.com/ZeeTvIndia
Indiblogger's FB album from the event- The Album