Book Review: Tuesdays with Morrie

There are some books you read and forget. There are some books that you read and remember. There are some books that you read and keep coming back to. And then there are some books that you read and feel like you want to keep it safely because you know you want to come back to it sometime. You don’t know when, but you have the instinct that you might just suddenly want to read it again! 'Tuesdays with Morrie' belongs to this last category of books. The book has a very simple message – "To learn to live". I know it sounds like it’s a run-off-the-mill self-help book, but it’s not! 'Tuesdays with Morrie' is about the last few interactions between Mitch Albom, the author (who is a Sports Journalist) with his dying Professor Morrie Schwartz. Morrie is down with ALS (a deadly disease which is slowly decaying his body) and in his last few days Mitch revisits his old Professor every Tuesday just like they used to spend their Tuesdays 15 years ago while Mitch was a student at Brandies University. 'Tuesdays with Morrie' might pull you down at times but it flows like a river – meandering and I must admit that Mitch expresses himself wonderfully. You can almost feel his emotions and identify with similar situations in your own life when you felt the way he did. It’s actually a perfect recipe to make you think, and I must admit it’s one of the finest pieces I have seen which gives one the impression that it’s been made to "sell" and at the same time appears like it has been written from the bottom of the author’s heart. And moreover - a very small book; so won't take much of your time - "bezy pepal" :-P PS: Tuesdays with Morrie has also been made into a Movie, I read. Anybody to confirm that for me, please?

About Me v1.0

By choice...Computer Engineer (on the verge of it :-D) Trained...Keyboardist Passionate...Composer Regular...Reader, Blogger Occasional...Photographer One-time...Tennis player Once-in-a-blue-moon...Cook Bathroom...Singer Time pass...Dancer (freestyle is my forté :-P) One-off...Flirter Wannabe...Me, a name, I call Myself! PS: I'd love if you come up with your own About Me v1.0 :-)

What's In A Name

The title to the post sounds very clichéd, agreed. I got the idea of writing on this topic while we're discussing different names for my cousin's baby boy - the latest entrant to our family :-) I believe one's name is one's Identity. It is the sound that catches your ear when you are in a crowd - even though you might end up realizing that what you just heard merely 'sounded' like your name but was actually not. A lot of people have been obsessed with names - their names or the 'concept of name'. In fact, in this endeavor of ours we came across an organization (if I could call it that) on the Internet that offers an analysis of your first name - and even offers 'services' of name-change for a fee! According to them: "Every alphabet has a consistent mathematical order, which allows it to be measured. An analysis of the letters in your name will determine the qualities of your personality. Your name determines your every experience. It defines your personal strengths and weaknesses - both mentally and physically (sic). It interprets your whole nature. It shows your position in life and your measure of success or failure. When you are named your destiny is created." Now while I do believe that having a catchy or 'good-sounding' name can have an impact, I have noticed that people with 'uncommon' names usually get noticed very quickly. For instance, names like Writankar, Shauryaman, Wainateya :-O - the names themselves command attention in a group. I’m sure more often that not, people with uncommon AND hard-to-pronounce names would find themselves in a situation where they’d have to repeat their name to the listener and instantly this translates into the former occupying more of the latter’s mind-space! No Wonder Ekta Kapoor spells out the names of her Soaps with 2 K's, 3 G's and what not! Astrological reasons aside, it is about mind-space! It is about the casual observer noticing weird spelling, perhaps! Who knows? The effect is, in my opinion, temporary. It is your experiences, your interactions and your thoughts which ultimately mould your individuality. So what the 'observer' finally concludes about you will depend on more than just your name. Moreover, it will depend on factors that have nothing to do with it! As Mr. Shakespeare puts it - "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

The 4-Letter Word

Q. Name a 4 letter word that starts with 'F', ends with 'K', and if you can't get one you can use your hands - A. Fork What?!! You thought I was referring to 'The F word'. Of course not. I refrain from the use of such foul words on my blog. One has to maintain decency, you know :-P

Tryst With The Pune University!

The last ten days or so have been quite eventful - full of anger and frustration. I along with a couple of my classmates fell "victims" to the whims and fancies of the Pune University! I assume those reading this post are aware of our ill-fate :-( No. I'll still reiterate it! (what the hell if it's the zillionth time) This was the last thing I expected...and certainly not in the "closing-stages" of my Engineering life (which has hardly been kind to me) - The Pune University gives us a marksheet with a goof-up. They print an elective subject I hadn't applied for instead of the one I opted for. Now if this wasn't ghastly enough, they FAIL us in "that" elective with a 0 (zero). Beat that!!! OK. So, where do we go from here? (figuratively and literally) After submitting application, xeroxes and that dreaded marksheet, we thought we'd done enough; wrongly! Ten days since...and we still didn't have a clue about what was in store for us :-( Finally, it was because of a pep-talk given by an experienced-fellow-unfortunate-"victim" of the Pune University (different time, different reason), that we actually took efforts to go the hallowed turfs of the Pune University; taking matter in our hands, quite literally! What do I see there - the exact verbal description of what I'd only heard so far. Yes, the how-the-sarkari-kacheris-work stories! Gardi, Gondhal, Pasara, Halgarjipana,...(continue filling it up for me please :-P). After the expected from-table-to-table run, we ended up at the "authorized" person who after having made certain that I'm the same guy as in the Hall-Ticket photo (!), gave us our corrected marksheets. Wait wait. Picture abhi baki hain mere dost :-D What do we see then - almost everybody had passed in that elective subject with borderline marks. I agree that I've been barely managing to score "The Engineers' Number" all these years (:-P), but now when I'm super-confident of the my marks... :'( I did make my one last throw of the dice today by applying for the revaluation of the answer sheet. Did you say no use? But, with the way the Pune University is coming up with "surprises" for me, who knows, I might have the last laugh, rather WE (Yes. I, still have a glimmer of hope; the optimist that I'm!) I was sincerely hoping that the first, and the only time I visit the Pune University...OK OK - the hallowed turfs of the Pune University will be at my convocation ceremony. Sadly that wasn't meant to be. The "date" was a bit premature, wasn't it?! And to think of it, it's not over yet...I still have to face them once... :-( Ummm...is there a way to get even??! PS: "The Engineers' Number" = 40