Tuesday, June 9, 2009

I've been dormant on my blog for over a year. Not that i didn't have the resources to write.. More like i had nothing to write.

Or so I thought ..

Looking back in time as well as through my blog I realized how impersonal I sounded. Like i run a radio show whose fans had to be kept entertained although not at the expense of divulging the dirty secrets of my life.
It took me some time to realize its only a matter of perception. Yours and what you think/dont think others perceive of you. Sounds like a whole load of hogwash .. I know. But thats the truth of it.
I will name a few blogs at the end of this post whose genuineness is the only reason behind its popularity. I look up to these people. Those who aren't scared of being frank, honest and more importantly of being themselves; to hell with what others adhere to as being acceptable social behavior. Let them practice it if they love it so much.
You may find it hard to comprehend what the fuss is all about... I'd say you are one of the lucky few who are either past this stage or are yet to reach it.

I remember a time when I so wanted to fit in that I chose to be confused rather than stand my ground. Of course, on the outside I was still seen as stubborn and ill mannered with a short fuse. My image mattered more .. because i couldn't stand the possibility of being ridiculed of who I actually was.
Ridiculing me for who I am not ... ? Sure.Go ahead.Whatever.

Today I wish I had never set eyes on some of the people I so wanted to fit in with.
Today I'd rather get my tongue pierced with a hot iron needle than try to fit in with them.

Sounds like i hate them. Guess i have changed for the better. And thankfully so. Hopefully they have realized it as well... although I still have reservations of them seeing through my thin veneer of contempt.

I am 21 and unemployed and never felt more optimistic about my future.

Regards,

A typical confession by a typical twenty something.




http://phishfish.blogspot.com
http://thecompulsiveconfessor.blogspot.com

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Inscrutable Me ....

WARNING: The following post is very long and it WILL test your patience. At the end of which you may not consider it a virtue.

INSCRUTABLE AMERICANS – by anurag mathur( spoiler!)

Anurag mathur’s Inscrutable Americans is the book to read if you want to laugh away your free time. The book, of just around two hundred and fifty pages, is a whole new form of original humour within a cliché-humour with the apt grammer and hilariously literal interpretation of American slangs by the novel’s main protagonist, Gopal.

The book begins with Gopal, a regular 20 year old country bumpkin, writing a letter to his brother back in his small hometown of Jajau about the many wonders of American lifestyle. His insatiable appetite for the “American” Coca-Colas, to the pride over his ‘national hair oil’ factory and his complete bafflement when a total stranger warns him –“watch your ass”(“ Now brother ,this is wonderful. How is he knowing we are purchasing donkey?”)- everything fits in to give the character a refreshingly naïve amusing charm. Of course, what makes it more convincing is that all the letters that Gopal writes to his brother are in present continuous tense.

‘Inscrutable Americans’ is infact nothing but Gopal’s first impression of America written in a series of witty remarks and other times, just plain moronic observations you cant help but laugh at! Gopal being used to dark hair all his life asking- “Are red haired women….red all over?” and afterwards pointing at billboards that advertised undergarments- “Look! Whole family is naked!”.
The soul of the story lies in the friendship between the all American dude, Randy and Indian hair oil prince, Gopal. Some of the funniest as well as heart-warming scenes occur in the presence of these two characters. ‘Operation de-virginisation’ and gopal’s fascination with almost everything American sounds so curiously real, one wonders if it’s loosely based on the author’s own experience.

However, the story is not just about the crazy antics of rustic Gopal. As the story proceeds further, it unravels gopal’s natural shrewdness and keen intellect. It gives an insight into the life of a foreign student living in America. There are several embarrassing instances of racism, Gopal’s undying patriotism for his motherland and he in turn discovering that in America, they do not speak English, but an alien language called American.

Anurag mathur ends the story with a subtle and unexpected twist in the tail that has its own unique style. Not to be ignored, the book is a definite must read- a blessing for those looking forward to a light read and escape from the usual soporific course books.

 
template by suckmylolly.com