Book review- Shikhandi and other tales they don't tell you.

Sexuality has become a much debated topic these days. Homosexuality is a taboo, and the so-called upholders of morality of the society would not hesitate to pick up cudgels against anyone who dares raise a voice in favour of it. Was our society always like this? Was it always a crime to come out openly and admit one’s sexual orientation?

Apparently, not. Our ancient civilisations have rarely been moralistic about sex. Neither has discussing about sex ever been a taboo. In fact our epics are replete with stories about homosexual relationships, transgender encounters and queer behaviours.

Devdutt Patnaik’s ‘Shikhandi and other tales they don’t tell you’, is based on this premise. It explores ancient stories from literature in India and also from around the world, which shows that queer behaviour has been accepted as normal in societies since time immemorial. His collection of 30 stories capture the essence of ancient Indian society’s approach to sexual behaviour.

The collection begins with the story of Shikhandi, who was born as a girl but raised as a man; struggling with a dual identity of a man trapped in a woman’s body and who beacme a man to satisfy her wife. There are stories of men who become women, and women who become men, of men who create children without women, and women who create children without men, and of creatures who are neither this, nor that, but a little bit of both. Stories such as Vishnu, who became a woman to enchant the Gods, demons and hermit, Mahadev who became a woman to deliver a devotee's child, Chudala, who became a man to enlighten her husband, Narada, who forgot he was a man, Samavan, who became the wife of his male friend, Krishna who wore woman's clothes, and many more stories that give us an alarming insight into the unique Indian way of making sense of queerness.

With patriarchal systems gaining prominence, codes of conduct, behavioural attitudes, morality and puritanism began to take root, laying the foundation for a judgmental society. What was normal became against the norm!

What is refreshing about the stories is that the author does not impose his own judgement or prejudice about the relationships neither does he thumb his nose at the order of things. But he does manage to take us back to the times when queerness was not frowned upon, and the society was comfortable with the idea of it, making us contemplate on the ignorance and rigidity of our thoughts right now.

My rating- 3/5

Book Review- Many Lives, Many Masters

Many religions talk of reincarnation. Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and even followers of minority religions like Kabbalah, believe that our souls are indestructible and re-inhabit the earth again and again assuming different bodies and identities.

In his book, Many Lives, Many Masters, Dr. Brian Weiss, details a past life hypnotic regression therapy with a troubled patient Catherine, which changes and challenges the way he has looked at life until then.

This particular case turns the author’s life “upside down”, transforming him from merely being a psychologist who believed in standard textbook treatment backed by scientific methods to a believer and practitioner of past life regression as a more holistic approach to the treatment of a patient.

The recollection of the past lives of Catherine make a vivid and compelling read. It is intriguing how a past life can influence the issues that we carry in this life. It is even more fascinating to know that the answers to our present life traumas can lie in resolving unsolved issues with a past life. Every experience that we undergo, be it traumas and pain, or happiness and peace, they are all rooted and recorded in our mind. The author says, “The experience is necessary to add emotional belief to intellectual understanding. But the impact of experience always fades to some degree.” With the help of past life regression, it is possible for a person to recollect the memories of their past life and learn the lessons that would help them progress in their present life. 

Life has always been a puzzle of sorts, people often wonder what happens to them after they have passed over. Does the concept of a heaven or hell really exist? Are people really reborn? If they are indeed reborn, how long does it take for them to do so? What happens in the in-between state, or the time between two lives? The author attempts to find answers to these and many more questions through his patient Catherine.

There are also messages that are conveyed by master spirits through the hypnotised Catherine, revealing to us the way to live fruitfully and knowing our purpose in life. The lessons from the masters also forms an inspiring part of the book.

Life is indeed not as simple as we think it is. Irrespective of whether you believe in an afterlife or not, you should read this thought provoking book. If you are a believer, it will take away your fear of death and teach you how to make your present life better. It will change the way you look at yourself and at others. It is quite a relief to know that one is not meant to have to all the answers, we are just supposed to learn our lessons and move on. It also teaches you not to compare your life with another, because each person is learning a different lesson.

And if you think this is a figment of someone’s imagination, you still risk losing nothing reading it. You don’t have to believe all that is written here, but you will learn to appreciate the intricacies of life along with lessons on living to be a better person.

My rating: 3.5/5

Book Review- A Dog Eat Dog Food World

This has to be one of most intelligent books I have read in a long time! Add to that the generous heap of humour- nope, not ‘in-your-face’ kind of humor, not slapstick humor, but the classy Wodehousian kinds…AND immaculate grammar (I haven’t seen people use such grammatically delightful sentences these days either!!), and before I forget, there’s almost the entire Philip Kotler…dipped in gooey chocolate.

The writing is smooth, the ideas flow uniformly, uni-directionally, and that is so important because one can tend to go all over the place especially when humour is such an integral part of the book and gets incorporated along with a story and lots of management lessons! The author gives us some great insights into his characters and life at the same time, tinged with subtle sarcasm and classy humour.

The story is enjoyable, in a certain ‘have-been-there-have-done-that’ or ‘have-experienced-that’ kind of way- be it as the dumb boss Spike, to whom even concepts in plain English sound like Swahili, the poor subordinate Jerry who’s suddenly thrust into limelight, except without any light, or as Tyke who is intelligent enough but yet, not enough to make any sense to his boss! And then there’s Tom the rival, unwillingly dragged into the game of one-upmanship and his even more unwilling subordinate Jasper. People who have seen the ugly underbelly of corporate life will tend to nod their heads assertively at every scene.

The plot is hilarious to say the least, Kotler would probably now be wondering why he didn’t think of such an innovative and humourous way to teach us his principles! Be it a satirical face of the society or the basics of marketing management, the plot smacks you hard on your head before leaving you to contemplate in solitude and then…contemplate some more!

I’d say pick up your copy right away, and savour the delight of some exceptional writing, but leave the hot coffee behind, lest you scald your behind, laughing long and hard. Yeah, that’s what this book is, a complete laugh riot!

Title- A Dog Eat Dog Food World
Author- C.Suresh 
Price- Rs. 150- in paperback, Rs.99/- on Kindle

My rating- 4/5

You can buy it on Amazon or download the e-book or get it free on Kindle Unlimited.

Un-Bliss...

Snug on the white settee,

He reposes,

Slumps against its silken head,

She lounges nearby,

Reclines, props up against him,

Cozy, together, in love.

The lights dim,

A candle burns in the distance,

Its glow surreal.

The cool breeze,

Tickling the wind chimes,

Their jingling laughter,

Musical.

The moon

Peeks from behind the clouds.

Romance

Wafts through the air.

Bliss.

   ***

And yet they remain,

Cozy and yet so restless,

Together and yet far away,

Connected and yet unplugged,

In love but not with each other.

They lie unaware,

Of the moments that pass unnoticed,

Of the moon, the breeze, the jingle,

Of the presence

Of one another.

Romancing a different universe,

Through the device they hold in their hands,

Devoid of each other,

Oblivious to the drama,

That plays around them,

Of precious moments slipping by.

Un-bliss.

Some people, I tell you....

I’m in the middle of an interview, and I can see the light flashing on my mobile telling me there’s a call from a neighbour in the apartment. I cannot take her call and so I continue with work. Once I’m done with the interview, I pick up my mobile to call her back. There are 6 missed calls from the lady. I suspect something must be very urgent, so I call right back.

Me: Hey P, I’m sor…

P: (In an angry tone) How many times I called you, why can’t you take my call?

(Okay, it is no rocket science to know that if someone hasn’t picked your call, either they are busy, or they are ignoring you and don’t want to pick your call, and in both cases, your question becomes irrelevant!)

(Yea, the angry tone did amuse me, because I don’t remember being in any kind of answerable relationship with her ever!)

Me: Sorry P, was busy with an interview, couldn’t speak to you…what’s up?

P: But you could have messaged me saying you were busy…

(Seriously? She couldn’t let this be?)

Me: No, I couldn’t, because I was recording the interview on my mobile. Can I know why you called?

P: Yeah, I’m also busy, I’ll come to the point.

(Yay!!)

P: Your younger son called my son “fatso….

Me: What????? You called me at office to tell me this??? See, I’m sorry, I’ll teach him not to call people names. Okay, I got to go now, bye.

P: He also called him a girl.

Me: Yep, noted, I’ll talk to the little one. Bye..

P: You can’t hang up…how can he talk to my son like that? It affects my son’s morale. He should have common sense….

(Now she had begun to get on my nerves…)

Me: That’s a 5 year old you are talking about, P, they are kids for god’s sake!! And I’m sorry again… I said I’ll talk to my child.

P: That’s what’s is so worrying, a small child should be taught what to talk and what not. In fact I called him to our house yesterday evening and he said I have to go to a party, he didn’t have to go anywhere, I know. He lied. Can you see how over-smart he is?

Me: That’s enough P, We did go a party last evening. See P, we shouldn’t be getting into this, let the kids handle it their way. They may fight today, they are friends tomorrow and we end up looking like fools.

P: No, I don’t agree, I will protect my child if people make fun of him. Are you denying that your son called my son fatso?

(Oh dear, this was not about to get over so soon..)

Me: I am not denying anything. Kids are capable of doing or saying anything. All I’m saying is let’s not drag ourselves into this. Why don’t you call all the kids and try to find out what happened.

P: I just spoke to your elder one half an hour ago and he accepted that his brother had called my son as fatso and girl.

(Ah!)

Me: Are you sure you spoke to my elder one today?

P: Yes, do you think I’m lying?

Me: No P, of course not. Did you call him up or speak to him personally?

P: Personally…

Me: Are you sure you spoke to MY son, maybe you mistook someone else for my son.

P: What nonsense, I know your kids.

Me: The elder one is in Kanyakumari right now, for a karate tournament…he will be back the day after tomorrow.

(Silence….)

(I’m enjoying the silence.)

Me: Hello?

P: I think I have an incoming call, I’ll speak to you in the evening.

Me: Sure.

                                                                            *****

She’s not done yet. In the evening, she brings her sons to my house and summons all the kids.

(Seriously? How old is she??)

P: Did S call R as fatso?

(The heavy voice scares the kids and all fall silent.)

Me: Were you all playing together today?

Kids: Yes aunty.

Me: R is your friend, isn’t it?

Kids: Yes Aunty.

Me: It’s not right to call anyone names. They feel hurt. Don’t do it again, ok?

Kid 1: R’s mother told us some months ago that R is fat and so make him run and exercise. But he doesn’t run, so G told him 'are you a girl? Why aren’t you running?'

Kid 2: And we thought by irritating him and by calling him fatso, we can motivate him to run. We thought he will feel bad and start participating.

Kid 3 : R is a bully, he keeps pushing everyone. Today he pushed S from the slide and he hurt his knee. Since he couldn’t hit him back, he called him fatso out of anger.

Me: I get it. You did it out of good intentions, but it is still not ok to call anyone names. Come on now, say sorry to R and go out to play.

(Time for “an egg on the face” moment… she had called a 5 year old , liar, someone without common sense, and all that without verifying the truth..., she herself had effective lied, and behaved like someone without any sense, leave alone that which is common!! I wondered, if she'd have the guts to apologise...)

P: No need. We know how to take care of our kids.

(She turns to her kids and warns them not to play with the other kids and drags them home.)

I don’t know what to say!