Chasing the Monsoons

Dusty brown boots in the corner
By the ironing board
Spray on dust is the greatest thing
Sure is the greatest thing
- Beta Band, Dry the Rain

I feel like life has taken this turn from which there is no turning back (is there ever??). I miss old friends, am shy to make new ones, and am more than looking forward to life with my wife :D

Book(s) that changed your life/thinking: None really.. I do usually take a few things from most books that I read.

Book(s) that mirror(ed) your life: All I can say is that my life is pretty plain, I like watching the puddles gather rain.. no books mirror my life :)

Book(s) you’ve read more than once:
Aren't there enough books out there to read once?

Book(s) you’d take to a deserted island:

• Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris
• Butter Chicken in Ludhiana by Pankaj Mishra
• Chasing the Monsoons by Alexander Frater
• The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Book(s) that made you laugh:

• Inscrutable Americans by Anurag Mathur
• Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris
• Me talk pretty one day by David Sedaris
• Surely you're joking Mr. Feynman by Richard P. Feynman
• Time Flies by Bill Cosby
• Love and Marriage by Bill Cosby

Book(s) you were surprised you loved:

• Butter Chicken in Ludhiana by Pankaj Mishra
• A short history of nearly everything by Bill Bryson
• Dabawalas by Shrinivas Pandit

Book(s) you wish you had written: None really.. I love to read :D

Book(s) you’re currently reading:

• Into thin air by John Krakauer
• One minute manager by Blanchard and Johnson

Book(s) you’ve been meaning to (re)read:
Too many to list here.. I usually buy 4 books at one time, so I am usually left with 3 remaining after every 1 read :)

Book(s) you’re embarrassed to admit you have not read: None.. why be embarrassed.. go out and read 'em!

Book(s) you’ve been meaning to finish: Again too many.. sometimes I start, and then I'm like naaah.. and so it goes.

... and taking each day and night at a time...

Have been doing a lot of investments related reading, in order to work out an ideal investment strategy (I know I know there never really is one).

I found 2 gems on the topic recently, through different sources:

1. The magic book that beats the market by Joel Grenblatt
2. Interpretation of financial statements by Graham and Meredith

So this weekend while I was in mumbai visiting my aunt, I ran into a very chirpy rickshaw driver. He was, no doubt, very vocal about his view on the goverment (bhenchod neta) and the police (maderchod lootere). I agreed with him on both counts.

I'm finding my way back to sanity, again
Though I don't really know what
I am gonna do when I get there
Take a breath and hold on tight
Spin around one more time
And gracefully fall back in the arms of grace

Lifehouse has been the music of choice for every turn in my life, ever since I heard Jason sing Hanging by a moment on the radio while in Dubai for a break during my first year at IIT Kharagpur.

It's just another manic Monday
I wish it was Sunday
'Cause that's my funday
My I don't have to runday
It's just another manic Monday
- Bangles

I just feel like lying down and relaxing for the day. Instead I've decided to head out and tackle the unknown. I think I need to get back in the game.

Footfalls echo in the memory,
down the passage which we did not take,
towards the door we never opened,
into the rose-garden. - T. S. Eliot

So since so many things seem to be going wrong or awry, I decided to channelise some of my energy towards doing good. I had been in touch with this NGO known as the Door Step School (DSS) that works out of Pune and Mumbai.

They needed to revamp their site so as to make it more friendly for visitors to find information they need as well as for those who update the site on a regular basis (they don't now, but want to).

There are moments when I don't know if it's real
Or if anybody feels the way I feel
I need inspiration
Not just another negotiation

All I want to do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love

- Music & Lyrics

Just when you think you know all there is to know about your mate, just when you think you have enough to begin the divorce, something new pops up to bewilder you, for men and women belong to different species and communication between them is a science still in it's infancy.

- Bill Cosby in Love and marriage.

How very true... :)