Things I learned from Harry Potter :)

If you are reading this then by now you know that I am a Harry Potter fan. No, the word 'fan' would be an understatement, I would say that I am literally Harry Potter obsessed. I have read the whole series by almost 75 times till now and I am currently re-reading it :P
                             

Also, I have watched all movies numerous times. I know movies are not perfect when compared to books of the series, but movies give a face to all my favorite characters by which I can connect to them.

      Some of the best things about this series is that they gave me some of the best life lessons throughout my growing years. So here is a list of some of the things that I learned from Harry Potter:

1. It's perfectly okay to be different. The thing that is more important is to be yourself :)                                               

2. Rules are there to be broken. Okay, not always but most of the times!!!                           

3. Love is the most powerful magic.                       

4. Family always comes first :)                       

5. It's perfectly okay to miss exams. After all, they are just exams.                     

6. Friendship can pull you out of the darkest moments of your life.                             

7. There is no post on sundays.            

8. It's nice to be curious about unknown things.                                               

9. There are things that are worse than getting killed may be getting expelled!!!                           

10. Sometimes friendship just strikes in a moment :)                                         

11. Sometimes all you need is a good laughter.                                               

12. Mom is always right.                        

13. Life without imagination is a dull place.                                                     

14. In the end, no career is worth sacrificing your family.                                   

15. Wherever you go, home will always remain home :)                                     

Anyway, the list is endless but that's it for now :). So be happy and                                              

Pics courtesy: Google, Pinterest

My summer love!!!

Okay, first thing first this heat is killing me, I mean literally every time I step out it feels like standing in the middle of a volcano (If I can still feel anything after that!!). But even if it feels like I will soon be drowning in my own sweat(yucks), I still love summers. Oh yes!! and the only reason for this is Watermelons.

                                                

      I am a fruity person (if something like that exists), I love almost every fruit, but there is a special place for watermelons. Mostly everyone in summers waits for mangoes but not me. It's not that I don't like mangoes I love them, but watermelon hold a special place in my heart. Every time I saw a roadside vendor selling them my eyes start shining. I can have watermelon three times a day. And that too without any regret of not doing any exercise and hogging too much.

When you come home after spending a whole day in scorching heat, eating a chilled watermelon is the best way to refresh yourself. These days I am enjoying these ruby red pieces to the fullest.

                                

But this love affair was not always the case. There was a time I used to hate this delicacy just because I used to think that its really messy to eat with all those seeds spilling out from every piece. But then daddy dearest came to my rescue and shown me the perfect way to spit seeds in between teeth. I'm telling you this is the best way to enjoy watermelon but don't let your mom see the mess you create.

So what are you waiting for, go enjoy this little piece of heaven and let me enjoy mine.

            Happy Summers :)

Post Great Election Tamasha!!!

So here ends The Great Indian Election Circus and what a superb ending it is with lots of emotion drama celebrations and also disappointments. I guess everybody had expected the same results also. Finally, we can take a break from all these Modi and Rahul jokes. But what next, I mean what is going to change by the change in government.
                                   

Pic Courtesy: Google

Will the new government be able to change the sad plight of women in the country? Or be able to provide youngsters a secure future? Will soon to be prime minister be able to prevent corruption? Are problems like female foeticide and child abuse going to national issues or not? Or as always all these problems will be ignored royally.

May be I sound like a person who can't see any positivity in a situation, but I don't know what to expect from NaMo. India for the first has voted for a change and I really hope that changes happen. Wishing for a bright future of  India!!!

Book Review- The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri

Title: THE LOWLAND
Author: Jhumpa Lahiri               
Genre: Literary Fiction

Goodreads Blurb: Two brothers bound by tragedy; a fiercely brilliant woman haunted by her past; a country torn by revolution. A powerful new novel--set in both India and America--that explores the price of idealism and a love that can last long past death.

Growing up in Calcutta, born just fifteen months apart, Subhash and Udayan Mitra are inseparable brothers, one often mistaken for the other. But they are also opposites, with gravely different futures ahead of them. It is the 1960s, and Udayan--charismatic and impulsive--finds himself drawn to the Naxalite movement, a rebellion waged to eradicate inequity and poverty: he will give everything, risk all, for what he believes. Subhash, the dutiful son, does not share his brother's political passion; he leaves home to pursue a life of scientific research in a quiet, coastal corner of America.

But when Subhash learns what happened to his brother in the lowland outside their family's home, he comes back to India, hoping to pick up the pieces of a shattered family, and to heal the wounds Udayan left behind--including those seared in the heart of his brother's wife.

Suspenseful, sweeping, piercingly intimate, The Lowland expands the range of one of our most dazzling storytellers, seamlessly interweaving the historical and the personal across generations and geographies. This masterly novel of fate and will, exile and return, is a tour de force and an instant classic.

My Views: This book has been on my 'To Be Read List' ever since its release. Being a fan of Jhumpa Lahiri's writing style, it is no wonder that I fell in love with the simple yet poetic language used by her. While the language used blown me away like always, it is the plot that has left me craving for more this time. I admire the way Lahiri looked at the Naxalite movement and didn't go more into the political details of the movement. It is a powerful story, but I think characters don't come across as powerfully as they should have.

This is a complex story which deals with two lives Gauri and Subhash joined by a common thread Udayan. The story deals with the aftereffects of a tragedy that strikes on Subhash and Gauri with the death of Udayan and how their lives change post that. It deals with how the relationship of Gauri and Subhash progressed from strangers to a couple and parents and again to strangers.

What I like most is the sibling relationship between Udayan and Subhash and also relationship if Subhash and Bela his daughter. But I don't know why I couldn't relate to the character of Gauri. Okay, she is a victim of tragedy and it can somehow justify her relation with Subhash  but that doesn't justify the way she takes her relationship with Bela. For me Gauri comes out as a rude, emotionless and selfish person who just can't get over with her fears.

Overall it is nice read a bit sad though, and to be frank, I am slightly disappointed with the end. I'd recommend this book for its depth and language.

Favorite Quotes:

• “Isolation offered its own form of companionship” 
• “And yet he had loved her. A Bookish girl heedless of her beauty, unconscious of her effect. She'd been prepared to live her life alone but from the moment he'd known her he'd needed her.” 
• “With children the clock is reset. We forget what came before.”

My Ratings: 3.75 out of 5