Tada Falls - Dec 25th 2008

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These are selective snaps from our trip to Tada falls on December 25th. Shall be updating the same once I get the pictures shot by Ranjith. By the way, he owns a Canon EOS. These pictures were shot using my Canon IXUS 80IS.

Link to Flickr Webpage  (Contains Commentary!)

The legend does it, yet again

With the passage of years...

I may have stopped fanatically collecting every single picture of yours that appears in the newspapers

I may have stopped repeating your famous boost ad, start to end, word by word without missing a beat

I may have stopped sticking your posters in the walls of my room

I may have stopped raving to my  friends about your Sharjah 'Desert Storm' innings

I may have stopped switching off the tv when you get out

But still...

... you were and are and shall be my HERO

We love you Sachin.

Image courtesy: Cricinfo

My Dear Munnu, your book is with me

A few minutes back I realized that I own one of the world's oldest original hardbound editions of the cult novel 'The Godfather'. It is 40 years old (come January) and belongs to the first edition printed in Great Britain, way back in 1969 by Bookprint Limited, Crawley, Sussex.

I had picked it up at Flora Fountain, Mumbai, 39 years later.

It has been gifted to one Mr. Munnu, by a person whose signature somewhat seems to correspond to the name Prempralime on February 1st 1970. 

Text on the inside page

"

Bombay

My dear Munnu!

Hearty Congratulations, you are going to Nagpur to join your office. I am giving you this gift, my best wishes go with you. Keep up the good work.

The best of luck to you.

Affectionately yours

Prempralime

1.2.70"

So, if you happen to know this Munnu who went to Nagpur to join office or, still better, Munnu yourself (in which case you might be atleast 65 years old now), please get in touch with me. If the book really matters and means a lot to you I am willing to give it back.

I really don't know if all this makes any sense or if anyone really cares at all. Just doing my part.

Bloggers and twitters, your help solicited in spreading the word. Thanks.

Parkour

David Belle - Founder of Parkour



Clubbed to Death + Parkour = Deadly

What is the What

'What is the what’ – The autobiography of Vatentino Achak Deng. A novel by Dave Eggers.

As confusing as that might sound, ‘What is the what’ is neither an autobiography nor a novel. But it is a mix of both.  It is a work born out of the real life experiences of a Sudanese Boy – Valentino Achak Deng who flees his village – Marial Bai in southern Sudan when it comes under the attack of the deadly Murahaleen. Valentino is all of six years of age when it happens.  What then follows is the journey Valentino undertakes along with hundreds of similar ‘Lost Boys’ who travel eastwards towards the country of Ethiopia in the hope of finding peace and safety. And from there on his travel and stay at a refugee camp in Kenya for over a decade before being relocated to the United States of America.

Dave Eggers, the author of the book puts to use his extraordinary gift of story telling and mastery of the art of narration as he concocts a novel approximating the voice of Valentino using the events of his life as a foundation.  And doing so he reveals to the readers the horrors and trauma the boy undergoes all throughout his life. The book has been dubbed a novel for it is not a blow by blow account of Valentino’s life but at the same time, as Valentino himself acknowledges in the preface  ‘…the world I have known is not so different from the one depicted within these pages’

The story opens with Valentino opening the door of his apartments in Atlanta answering to a knock. And pretty soon we see him being attacked, gagged and bound by an African-American couple who ransack his apartments.

As a half African himself the attacker address Valentino ‘Brother’ and asks him a simple question.

“Don’t you know you shouldn’t open your door to strangers?”

Dave Eggers with Valentino Achak Deng

And lying on the carpet, Valentino starts narrating the story of his life to the Attackers (that is, in his mind). This is one habit of Valentino or rather a technique used by Dave Eggers to narrate the story. We get to see Valentino addressing the story of his life to people he encounters along the span of two days, but the narration actually happens in his mind. So the audience comprise of people from various walks of life including the attackers, an investigating cop, a hospital employee and members of a fitness centre and not to forget the most important person – we the readers.

If that has brought scenes from the movie ‘Forest Gump’ to your mind, well we also have ‘Alaipayuthey’ coming up. Like Mani Ratnam, Dave Eggers juxtaposes the present and past side by side, moving back and forth between Africa and America as the story blazes through.

For starters, this book is a wonderful introduction to the land of Sudan. The cause for the Second Civil war of Sudan that raged from 1983 to 2005 is presented clearly.

Sudan is a land torn by conflict. And conflict does not snare its teeth from outside but rips apart from within. The predominantly Muslim dominated areas of Northern Sudan are a constant threat to the Christian Dinkas of Southern Sudan. The government of Sudan, located in Khartoum in the North is obviously driven by the sentiments of the Arabs. The Muslim law of Sharia is being implemented across the country much to the anger of the southern parts.

And the northern half has much at stake as it is the southern portion that is fertile and suitable for agriculture and cattle grazing and incidentally also sits over a wealth of oil. The northern fraction is fully driven by the government and resistance appears from the south in the form of the SPLA – Sudan People’s Liberation Army.

As expected attacks begin and caught in the cross fire between the government soldiers and the SPLA rebels are millions of civilians, one among them being a little boy of six named Valentino Achak Deng. Separated from his family in the ensuing commotion and utter horror and chaos Valentino flees the village and ends up joining a gang of boys trudging along in the hope of reaching the country of Ethiopia. And reach he does to Ethiopia but not before facing a line-up enemies including the army, lions, hyenas, vultures, landmines, dysentery, and death. Hunger is kept at bay by eating wild fruits, nuts, flesh of just killed elephants, and carcass of dead animals and thirst is quenched by drinking the contents of one’s own waste.

The story tracks Valentino’s life in the refugee camp in Pinyudo where he lives for three years before the squatters are chased and massacred by the Eritreans. They cross a river, and in the process lose a few to the appetite of the hungry crocodiles before reaching yet another refuge camp called Kakuma in Kenya. It is here where Valentino spends a decade of his life before being chosen by the American government for resettlement in the United States.

The novel is a triumph of hope amidst unbelievable misery and the resilience of the human spirit. It is not just the story of Valentino but a representation of a community of people – The lost boys of Sudan. Though the story appears to be extremely bleak filled with misery, the truth is far from that. Dave Eggers manages to inject enough humor (sometimes dark) and brings out a lively narrative. I especially enjoyed the portions of Valentino’s experience with the four sisters in the Pinyudo camp and his love for Tabitha at Kakuma.  I could personally relate to many of the feelings his heart possesses at this stage of his life. But the fate that befalls Tabitha in America was unexpected and totally shocking.

And as for the title of the book, it is derived from a story that Deng remembers having heard as a child. God appears before the people of Southern Sudan and asks them to make a choice between two of this offerings. They either get to have any number of cattle they desire and enjoy the benefits it has to offer or choose the What. He never explains what is the what. Being unsure of the unknown the people of southern Sudan choose the cattle.

Looking back, the decision seems to be a wise one at the time when it was made – in a world of peace and harmony. But in the present day scenario where people live amidst terrorism and atrocities and cruelties of unspeakable nature, may be it would have been a good choice to have embraced the unknown. The What.