Too many passions, too little time

I am at the edge of the 20s, negatively said nearly 30 and I still have a child's dream of pursuing these multiple careers that still appeal to me more than my own. When I was 5 or 6 years old I wanted to be a teacher in the morning and a cop by the night. Nearly 20 years later the dream professions are no more of being a teacher or cop, the reason for which will need a separate blog but the fancy of pursuing multiple interests, hasn't died yet.

When I was 17, I wanted to be a fashion designer. At 18 I dropped a year of college to become a doctor, under peer pressure (that's the last time I came under peer pressure, thanks to WB Board which didn't pass me in the exam, I would have died studying for as long as docs do). As I took up Statistics as my major in college, I realized its not my cup of tea and made a smart decision to study management. 5 years I worked as a marketeer and kept yearning to start my own business to increase the rate at which I was learning the trade and also I must admit, it seemed more challenging. To ease out the days of ass-kicking challenging days of self employment, I leaned back on my child-hood hobby of painting. An overwhelming response to my creations, shot up my hidden desire to be a professional artist and earn my living, selling these painted canvas(es). Now that I am in a revelatory mode, I will confess that this blog itself is an indication of my deep-seated desire to be an author someday. A few days ago I was frantically searching the internet to find a way to become a professional reviewer of books.

As I write all these desires down, I keep contemplating whether you would find this entire piece extremely funny or just the opposite, obnoxious. I mean, how funny is she that she wants to be all of this in one life time, time for her to grow up? Or, how irritating is she that she has still not been able to figure out the thing to do in her life? Some are also probably thinking, not everything you love has to turn into a profession. Here's the correction to the idea that might emerge out of the previous para, I don't want any of these above listed things as my profession, because any passion followed as profession makes it boring as hell. I just want to earn a little by painting, writing and oooh did I mention it yet, even travelling ;).

Whatever your thoughts, the story of my life has always been about having too many passions and a dream to live all of these lives in one life. After all who can vouch for a re-birth and even if there are multiple lives to live who knows if I am reborn as an ant and my only passion turns out to be worrying about collecting food, while maintaining the straight queue that my leader ant has asked us to maintain.

India Grows at Night: Book Review

India Grows At Night: A Liberal Case for A Strong State by Gurcharan Das
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

After reading Gurucharan Das' last release 'The Difficulty of being Good', I picked up 'India grows at Night' with much expectations. Das seems to be stuck with his last book too, having made dharma the central theme of this book as well.

On the brighter side it is a book that can be read to get oneself updated about the current political and economic situation of India. Das has filled his book with data about India's political environment right from Independence with references to even Mahabharata. So, if you think you have pieces of the Indian political puzzle missing in your memory this will be a quick brush.

Such an extensive data has perhaps made this not such an interesting read because the author has gone all over the place and it is difficult to stitch the whole story together. Most of the solutions and analysis given in the book are rather obvious ones that even we naive readers have registered at different times in our minds.

It is nice to have books like these released in India given the current state of the nation, to serve as a reminder, that this is not a sleeping country. But, all in all I was expecting a better analysis and a more compact read from Gurcharan Das.

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Wise Enough to be Foolish: Book Review

Wise Enough to be Foolish by Gauri Jayaram
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A book that keeps you hooked with a story which in parts will make a lot of us identify with it, right till the end. Even though I am not into light reading and prefer non-fiction or fiction very close to reality this is one of those books that I truly enjoyed or rather couldn't put down till I reached the end. As you read Gauri's life story you keep wondering where does she get all the strength to make all the choices that she makes and still keep her head high. Ofcourse that makes me question if she has revealed all her dark times in life to the fullest extent. I assume no and imagine that being as open as she has been is probably a lot for being in India. The biggest proof of how she has lead her life is in being able to write this book without hiding that its her true story. Every man and woman in India probably needs to take a small little inspiration from her life and seed it in theirs. Leading life by the heart and not the brain which forces us to conform and compare, listening to your heart doesn't come easy and Gauri has definitely achieved, what is challenging.

A delight to read and a recommended read for any one who likes to follow their heart and everyone who want to but cannot gather enough courage to defy the society and follow their instincts.

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