Emoticons - Short Stories on Emotions

I will not put it up as a review but as a teaser. Together with 5 other talented people, I have compiled a collection of short stories on Human Emotions titled 'Emoticons - Short Stories on Emotions' (https://www.facebook.com/emoticons.shortstories).

Emotion 1 : Guilt - A guilt laden woman plans to get her husband on bed with a stranger. Does she succeed? This one could be called a shocker. Grey characters and relatable incidents are the key points of this story.

Emotion 2 : Sacrifice - A doting son asking his father to let go and die. An emotional story on the relationship of a father and son who sacrifice a lot just to help each other out in different phases of life. There is a complete circle of life depicted in the story in the life of the central charcater who goes from nurturing his son to being taken care of by him.

Emotion 3 : Dilemma - Catching your ex BF's wife cheating on him puts a woman in dilemma on whether to tell him or not. She has still not let go off the feelings for him completely. The story takes you through the emotional turmoil of the woman as she grapples with the strange situation through a night at the hotel.

Emotion 4 : Gratitude : A rich corporate czar lands in a country he long left and reads an article. He is taken back in time. He decides to make a journey back to his roots, to his teacher. There is still one lesson she has to give him after all these years and there is still that one gift that he had been waiting to give her all his life. If you love your teacher, this one is for you.

Emotion 5 : Thrill : Get into the mind of a kleptomaniac to find what really goes in his mind as he picks clothes from stores to get a high. How does he get into the habit and what does the thrill lead him upto forms the crux of this story.

Emotion 6 : Betrayal : A cute love story ends in a bitter break-up. But are the reasons behind the break-up true? Few years hence the ex-lovers meet again and the secret unveils. Another shocker that is in your face.

Emotion 7 : Anger : A super successful single woman is angry - with God, the society and the world in general. Even when the world tries to embrace her, she cuts herself off. What is the reason behind the bitterness and how does she deal with it? Read about a single woman's successful yet lonely jpurney through life.

Emotion 8 : Pity : Another father-son story that is diametrically different from the first one. Here is a father  thrusting his will on his son who puts up with it. The father wants to make him into a tough man and not the softie that he is. Does the son put up with the status quo? This one will remind you of Taare Zameen Par's title song.

Emotion 9 : Greed : Bollywood style rags to riches story of a boy who makes it big in the world of shady business. His greed and obsession with money makes him do things that you won't even imagine. This one will make you start looking at the boys selling books at traffic lights in a different light.

Emotion 10 : Envy : Professional envy is a common thing. What are the side effects of this envy? The story talks about a man's envy affecting his personal and professional lives. Does he get saved timely? There is always a reality of the other side that we miss and feel that the grass is greener on the other side. This one deals with that emotion.

The stories are all by first time writers which could be a plus as well as negative. The good thing is that there are 10 stories so the chances of you lapping up a couple is pretty high. There are no boy chasing girl stories with a dash of Chetan Bhagat humor. There is an attempt to be different yet entertaining. The books caters principally to the 20-35 age group and is available on Flipkart at the moment.

At around 200 pages and 130 bucks (with discount), the book shouldn't be a bad buy for people not averse to trying something new and fresh!

Gandhi Ki Aandhi

The Baton has passed

India has been independent for 62 years and the Gandhi-Nehru family has been in the PM's office for almost 37.5 years. Yet you are not supposed to call it dynastic. Much of the name that India has earned elsewhere has been post globalization in the 1990’s. Strangely, none of the Gandhi scions have been in power during these times. Oh, maybe it was their policies that made globalization a reality for India. You might find it funny to hear old people in rural India still going out to vote for Indira Gandhi but that is the power that the surname commands.

Sonia was offered Rajiv Gandhi’s vacant chair way back in 1991 that she declined. She was probably still reeling in the aftermath of the tragedy that had struck her family but things are different today. Rahul has more than one reason to feel worthy for the throne that’s waiting for him adn why shouldn't he.

Reason 1 - The pedigree

There is nothing wrong in harboring political ambitions. Just as a doctor’s son becomes a doctor, a politician’s son can very well become a politician. Count this as a slight aberration when a doctor’s wife becomes the hospital in-charge and his son becomes the chief surgeon citing pedigree. Rahul Gandhi comes from a family that has a history of throwing up young leaders. Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi both became prime ministers while they were still in their 40s. Rahul needs to live upto that expectation as well. After retuning to India in late 2002, he has in no time acquired supreme capabilities as a leader. What he did while he was away is debatable. However, since the verdict is not clearly out, we must give him the benefit of the doubt. [Read: For Rahul and Against Rahul]

Dynasty..what's that?

Reason 2 - Forthrightness:

If I admit to being bad, then I am good! Talk of idealism and the face of Rahul Gandhi crops up. With forthrightness, he had extolled his family’s feats back in 1971 that had the potency of jeopardizing Indo-Pak relations had Rahul been in some position of command. The same naivety or “forthrightness” was on display when he sang praises for his adversaries and derailing his party’s relations with his allies. Such was the impact that it cost people their positions and emissaries including the PM had to rush to explain the deep meaningful thoughts behind the praise. The silver lining is the refreshing feel that his forthrightness has given to politics. It really doesn’t matter if the timing was wrong. Rahul Gandhi can just not be wrong.

Reason 3 - Connection with the Youth:

I listened to Rahul Gandhi’s interaction with the youth in Ahmedabad. The intelligent man that he is, he declared that Gujarat was bigger than UK (the Google result on the comparison of size and population of these two suggests otherwise). There were claps all around. Sometimes, the charisma overshadows the effect of the words spoken. This was just one such case. He then went on to proclaim that India was BIGGER than US and Europe put together. (Link)

This time there were no claps. Maybe this time the power of words outweighed the charisma or maybe people were trying to figure where he got his stats from. Was he talking of the size of democracy and not the actual size? What would that comparison mean? It doesn’t really matter. What matters is that no one questioned him and people listened with apt silence. That shows how well he connects with the youth. If there are no arguments, you can safely assume that things are under control. He also presented a unique solution to getting rid of terrorism in 15 minutes. I don’t consider myself qualified enough to dig deep into the radical method he would choose to adopt. Did someone say empowering the villages could be one way to do so? I am amused.

On a more serious note, there is no denying the fact that Rahul Gandhi has an identity of his own. The reticent Gandhi of 2004 has become a confident Gandhi of 2009. But is personal improvement a measure of knowing how well he will do as a leader of repute? What if he had been an Indian Prime Minister sitting across a table with his Sri Lankan counterpart and lauding the guts and courage of Prabhakaran, what if he met Obama and praised his nationalistic feelings for taking measures against offshoring and what if he had gone ahead an declared war on Pakistan thinking that it was probably as big as Bhutan?

No one knows what holds in future. With time he may learn and become worthy enough to lead. He does have age on his side and the intent to improve is there. But what makes me cringe is the way people go about lauding his credentials as a leader today when all that he has done has been to “understand” his constituency. The rational side of me finds it hard to accept a person with refreshing thoughts but no restraint as my leader. The opportunist in me says that I should probably side with him.

After all, the might is always right and whether you like it or not, the dynasty is here to rule!

Singh is Kinng - Review

Read at http://sensiblegarbage.blogspot.com

Blog Updates

Check out the review of Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na at http://sensiblegarbage.blogspot.com/. Sorry for the delay folks!

Also, read the 'Senseless Garbage - The Matrix of Life' at http://sensiblegarbage.blogspot.com/ to sharpen your reading skills :-P

Cheers!

Anurag

Jaane Tu..Ya Jaane Na

Friends, I am really sorry for not putting up the review of Jaane Tu in time on the blog. The reason is that nobody is willing to go and watch it with me :( I will try to watch it over this week itself. So check out the update at http://sensiblegarbage.blogspot.com in the next couple of days.

Cheers!

New Blog Up!

Read the review on The 3 Mistakes of My Life at http://sensiblegarbage.blogspot.com

Moving on..

Check out the latest blog entry - Football'ed' at http://sensiblegarbage.blogspot.com