A Babbling Booktrovert

Her Beautiful Eyes is a poem about a blind girl... usually when we see a physically or mentally challenged person, we tend to be biased towards them. We think that those people are incapable of thinking, behaving or doing things the normal way... But God when takes away something from someone, he makes it a point to bless that person with other strengths. In this poem, I've tried to bring out the fact that even a physically challenged person is as much capable of doing normal things as we are... here the blind girl has same mysteries, same questions, similar dreams in her eyes... but we cease to notice them coz we are so full of our preconceived ideas... No one saw her beautiful eyes... No one saw The depth in her eyes, No one saw Her curious eyes, No one saw The secrets hidden in her eyes, No one saw The questions rising in her eyes! No one saw her beautiful eyes... No one understood The mysteries of the depth, No one understood Her...

Book Title : Jaya - An Illustrated Retelling Of The Mahabharata Author : Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik Genre : Mythology ISBN : 9780143104254 Publisher : Penguin Books India Publication : 2010 Pages : 372 Binding : Paperback Plot : High above the sky stands Swarga, paradise, abode of the gods. Still above is Vaikuntha, heaven, abode of God. The doorkeepers of Vaikuntha are the twins, Jaya and Vijaya, both whose names mean 'victory'. One keeps you in Swarga; the other raises you into Vaikuntha. In Vaikuntha there is bliss forever, in Swarga there is pleasure for only as long as you deserve. What is the difference between Jaya and Vijaya? Solve this puzzle and you will solve the mystery of the Mahabharata. In this enthralling retelling of India's greatest epic, the Mahabharata, originally known as Jaya, Devdutt Pattanaik seamlessly weaves into a single narrative plots from the Sanskrit classic as well as its many folk and regional variants, inclu...

Most of us, whether we accept it or not are materialistic, true the degrees vary - but how many of us can really accept our materialistic natures? Live with this fact? Or maybe try to keep it under check, curb it? I am one hell of a materialistic person, and though it's not something to be proud of, I'm happy that I can at least accept it unlike most of the people. But is accepting enough? Shouldn't I be doing something about it? Can I even do something about it when it is a part of my nature, a part of who I'm? But then again, what I'm most materialistic about is books - yes I'm a book hoarder. So how bad can materialism in my case be, if it's about books? How can surrounding oneself with books be a bad thing?  I collect books - collector's editions, box sets, hardbound illustrated editions etc. etc... but I also read them - I have at least one suggestion for almost all the genres though I definitely haven't read all the authors - so there...

Arbi... one of the humble vegetables, I loved eating it, but never dared to cook it. Reason was simple - the whole exercise of washing them, drying them, peeling them and cutting them like my mom, was too much of a task - it was time consuming and difficult.  But then, I learnt a new way of cooking this humble vegetable post marriage from my mum-in-law. Not only, it was the easiest recipe but at the same time, it was even more delicious - made using most basic of ingredients. Here's my mum-in-laws super simple recipe... Difficulty Level : ☆ ☆ Time Required :            Preparation -  30 minutes           Cooking - 30 minutes INGREDIENTS: Arbi  500 gms Oil  2 and 1/2 tbsp Ajwain  1/2 tsp Asafoetida (Hing)  1/4 tsp Salt  To Taste (I used 1 and 1/2 tsp) Red Chili Powder  1/2 tsp Haldi  1/4 tsp Dhaniya Powder  1 tsp Coriander  for ...

So I thought, I will shed some more light on the reading challenges I have undertaken for the year. Like I mentioned in my previous nerdy talk post that I have taken up 3 challenges which are sort of interrelated in the sense that one challenge complements another and so they sort of overlap each other - let me discuss them in detail... Goodreads Challenge : 40 books | current status : 3/40 It's s simple challenge, where you just set a target to read a certain number of books in the given year. Last year I had set myself to read 30 books, I managed 43. This year I have decided on 40 books which coincides with my PopSugar Reading Challenge. The picture on the right is my summary from Goodreads for the year 2015 ---> PopSugar Reading Challenge : 40+1 books | current status : 2/41 This is the first time I have taken up a challenge like this. Basically PopSugar has provided with 40 different categories without specifying the book, which you are supposed to cov...

Imagine yourself, facing problems in every direction you turn... What would you do? Most people turn to God and ask him - 'Why Me?' But then, God never answers... not directly at least. He does drop in hints which we fail to see... And thus we continue questioning his motives... This poem is about those endless questions we ask him... But then, do answer yourselves after reading the poem, whether you still have the faith in him? Whether you still trust him? Whenever I am happy You leave me all sad... I ask you... why? Whenever I dream You wake me up... I ask you... why? Whenever I smile You leave tears behind... I ask you... why? Whenever I decide You leave me all confused... I ask you... why? Whenever I am ready to choose You take the options away... I ask you... why? Whenever I try to mingle You leave me all alone... I ask you... why? Whenever I see rosebuds You show m...

Book Title : The Girl In The Spider's Web Author : David Lagercrantz Genre : Crime (Murder) Mystery / Suspense Thriller ISBN : 9780857053503 Publisher : Maclehose Press Publication : 2015 Pages : 437 Binding : Paperback PopSugar Reading Challenge 2016 : 1/(40+1)《a book translated to English》 Goodreads Challenge : 1/40 Plot : Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist return She is the girl with the dragon tattoo - a genius hacker and uncompromising misfit. He is a crusading journalist whose championing of the truth often brings him to the brink of prosecution. Late one night, Blomkvist receives a phone call from a source claiming to have information vital to the United States. The source has been in contact with a young female superhacker - a hacker resembling someone Blomkvist knows all too well. The implications are staggering. Blomkvist, in desperate need of a scoop for Millennium, turns to Salander for help. She, as usual, has her own ...