Mothers are special beyond Mother’s Day

This post was actually meant to be posted last Sunday, on Mother’s Day. But since it wasn’t possible for me to post it either on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, I’m going to stop stressing and post it today anyway.

If you’re a mother, I hope you had a fantastic Mother’s Day! Or perhaps you spent your day making sure your mother had an amazing day!

Although in past years I’ve never had any elaborate plans to celebrate Mother’s Day, this year I decided to host a special Tea Party for my mother and her friends. But since we were expecting guests Sunday onwards I planned the party for Saturday afternoon. Although, to be precise, the invitation read, ‘five o’ clock in the evening’ as it’s still way too warm before that this time of year.

I had so much fun planning the Tea Party, beginning with the shopping. I never thought that shopping for baking material could be so much fun! And then I enjoyed myself completely while making the invitations. It was an excellent chance for me to practice my calligraphy skills.  I even got a little creative and made my own envelopes. It was a little disheartening to discover that my envelopes were probably prettier than my invitation cards. But then, I did make the cards at work! ( I hope my boss isn’t reading this post.)

The entire business of hosting a tea party began with a craving for lemon tart and not clue as to where I’d be able to get it in my city. So I browsed the internet and found this amazing recipe with step-by-step instructions perfect for someone as hesitant as I am in the kitchen.

A little while before this I’d been flipping through my mother’s cookie book (now mine) and came across a recipe for Brownies. Now I have successfully baked brownies by following a basic recipe. I never imagined that there were ways to perfect it and make it even more sinfully decadent. I know, silly me! This recipe used two ingredients that I hadn’t tried before – strong black coffee and melted chocolate. With two dessert recipes that I was dying to try and a year old idea of hosting a fancy tea party for my mother that resurfaced at the right time, proper planning for the event  commenced. The Praline Pavlova cookies happened to be the first recipe I came across in my cookie book that used the egg whites left over from the lemon tart recipe. Plus they looked pretty. The finger sandwiches were there to even things out. And the juice was served at the very beginning since I had also planned games, or a game and an activity before the eats were served.

I know, these cookies look more interesting than pretty, But they tasted yum and that made me feel alright.

The tea I used for my Tea Party was a present to my mother from a friend who’d picked it up on a visit to Calcutta. It was one of those deliciously fragrant teas that are sold loose in old world places like Calcutta where people guzzle tea all day long. 

I seriously think God blessed my baking endeavours because I prayed very hard both during the trial baking session and the actual baking for the party. (Since I hadn’t made lemon tart before I made it a point to try out the recipe at least once before Saturday evening.)

Shall I tell you the games I planned for this supposedly elegant Tea Party? I think I will, although the games weren’t as elegant as you’d expect. The first game we played was Drop the Handkerchief (but I used a pretty scarf) where the leader throws the handkerchief/scarf into the air and everyone laughs while it’s up in the air. As soon as it touches the floor everyone has to stop laughing and be serious. No smiling allowed. The person who isn’t able to stay serious is the next leader. 

The next game, or rather an activity, consisted of my providing them with all kinds of stationary and pretty ribbon and the mothers having to make bookmarks that showed why they were glad to be mothers.

Again, I had so much fun planning this party for my mother, and it made me all the more glad to see her having a good time without having to worry about anything. That the party was a success was one reward for all my planning and endless hours in the kitchen. The other reward was the tea set that my mother and father (she chose it, he paid for it) got me as a thank you present and, as my mother later told me, to encourage me to host more such parties. And it worked. Although this time I’m thinking of hosting something more adventurous like a themed dance party or a water fight with lunch after.

My pretty tea set with a party favour- cookies for tea time at home!

Review: Holes by Louis Sachar

Contrary to what I’d imagined, work has not eased up and is still as busy as ever. In my free time I have to choose between reading and writing (for my blog). And since I’m mid-way through Anna Karenina, a book I’m finding very interesting, I tend to prefer reading over writing. But today is a Sunday and I can make time for both reading and reviewing a book.

Holes by Louis Sachar is the intriguing story of Stanley Yelnats. Stanley has been falsely accused of stealing a pair of sneakers and as a punishment has been sent to Camp Green Lake Juvenile Detention Centre. Since his family has had a history of bad luck for generations now, he takes it in stride.

When Stanley gets to Camp Green Lake he finds that it is neither very green nor is there a lake. In fact, there is no water for miles around making it impossible for any of the boys to attempt an escape. The Warden at Camp Green Lake is rather mysterious with strange correctional methods. As punishment, the boys must dig a five-foot wide by five-foot deep hole in the dried-up lake bed every day. According to the Warden, this is to build character. Stanley cannot help but suspect that there must be more to the Warden’s strange punishment.

When I first began reading I had a general feeling that this story had been told before. But it’s been told so well that I couldn’t put it down. The story’s been sketched in quick broad strokes that describe plainly without any of the usual poetry. This style of story-telling added to the description of the heat and arid way of life in Camp Green Lake, and also the lack of vitality Stanley must be experiencing in such a situation. I’m not sure if this is a spoiler, but in case you’re worried you may skip to the next paragraph right now. Alright. Still with me? I may have been fooled at the beginning and believed that I would not, in all likelihood, be surprised or taken unawares by this book. But that was probably the exact reason why suspense snuck up on me, leaving me all the more speechless at the author’s incredible talent.

I enjoyed reading this book very much. I consider it light reading because I was able to complete it in half a day and read Artemis Fowl directly after that. But although it wasn’t heavy reading I still wouldn’t compare it with many of the other books I consider light reading. To compare it with food, Holes is a medium sized snack and extremely satisfying, even if it is for a short while.

If you like books with a magical twist in them, and at the same time believable, this book is perfect. This is also a perfect fix for the book addict cramped for time.

Poetry for a Blissful Afternoon

I was calmly preparing to write a book review yesterday afternoon when it struck me that I needed to choose a poem for Tuesday’s Rhyme Time. So, of course, I put away my writing material and pulled out a few poetry books from the growing stack of books on my table.

I really wasn’t in the mood for Keats. Spike Mulligan didn’t interest me at the moment either. I felt like reading something in between solemnly beautiful and crazily funny. Something light and entertaining, but not too entertaining either – I just didn’t have the energy for it right then. And although I didn’t think R.L. Stevenson suitable to the mood I was in, I decided to flip through a collection of his poems anyway.

Up until now my exposure to R.L. Stevenson was limited to ‘A Child’s Garden of Verses’. And what I was reading this fortunate afternoon was a random collection of his poems, a book I’d picked up on a whim at the Delhi book market for the simple reason that it was sold to me for ten Rupees. But after having spent the afternoon reading aloud nearly the entire book (it isn’t a very large book) I was extremely glad – for two reasons. I’d found the perfect verses to suit my mood and second, the business side of me was completely satisfied that I had got more than my money’s worth for this amazing book!

After some difficulty in choosing which poem to post today I’ve finally settled on this one poem. I hope you will like it as much as I do.

To Any Reader

As from the house your mother sees

You playing round the garden trees,

So you may see, if you will look

Through the windows of this book,

Another child, far, far away,

And in another garden, play.

But do not think you can at all,

By knocking on the window, call

That child to hear you. He intent 

Is all on his play-business bent.

He does not hear; he will not look,

Nor yet be lured out of this book.

For, long ago, the truth to say,

He has grown up and gone away,

And it is but a child of air

That lingers in the garden there.

- R.L. Stevenson 

Review: Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Although I’ve missed blogging these past few weeks, I’ve had so much more time to read. I’ve also discovered that there are a number of very good and interesting books on my list, many of which I’d been hesitant to add. It’s truly a blessing that these books are on my list for I may not have read them for at least a couple of years more. One of these fantastic books that I an grateful to have unintentionally put on my list is Little Lord Fauntleroy. This book is now one of my favourit-est books of all time! Let me tell you why.

This book, written very clearly and simply, tells one of the most heart warming stories a person could ever read. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough and wouldn’t budge until I’d reached the last page.

Little Lord Fauntleroy is the story of  seven year old Cedric who’s lived all his life in New York as an American. His mother and he, although quite poor, live decently on what they do have. One day a very distinguished looking lawyer from England visits Cedric’s mother and informs her that Cedric is the heir to a large estate, fortune, and title.

This book has been described as the classic rags to riches story. What sets it apart from the other Cinderella type stories is that the difficulties arise only after the good news of the inheritance (to an Earldom) has been shared. It is interesting to know that the author had also been very poor as a child and though originally English had emigrated to America in 1865 with her family. Although they didn’t become any richer after having left the slums of Manchester, they were happier settling in Tennessee, America. Many of Burnett’s early stories follow the same theme as Little Lord Fauntleroy, and this book offers deep insight into what her childhood dreams and fantasies must have been like.

This book tugs at one’s heart just the right amount. It was only after I’d completed this book that I discovered that the author of Little Lord Fauntleroy, A Little Princess, and The Secret Garden were the same person. That explained a lot. A Little Princess, another favourite of mine, is just as stirring and delightful as Little Lord Fauntleroy. And I have become quite sure that Frances Hodgson Burnett’s books should be made mandatory reading.

If you haven’t already read this book you must make it a point to find it and read it soon. Although children’s books are a personal soft spot, I am willing to guarantee that this won’t disappoint anyone easily. On a side note, Little Lord Fauntleroy has been adapted into movie form with several versions. After having watched two versions, I would strongly recommend that the book be read first.

Making A Comeback

After an unannounced break that lasted over a month I feel more than terrible about having abandoned my blog. And the reason I was so occupied these past weeks doesn’t seem sufficient to offer as an excuse anymore. In case you’ve been kind enough to wonder what had kept me so busy it was a seemingly hopeless swamp of work and studies that took me by complete surprise when March began. But after that dreadful month was done, I have had no other excuse for myself apart from this, that I was too busy meeting friends and reading!

How I’ve missed blogging! I never thought I would, quite honestly, since my posts aren’t very regular and the time I spend labouring over my book reviews isn’t always looked forward to. But I have missed blogging very much and am glad that I’ve somehow managed to stop procrastinating and have begun to make serious efforts to post today.

During my time away from the blogging world I was able to visit my friends in Pune, take another oh-so-adventurous  trip to the book market, and complete a great many books on my list. Here is the list of books that I need to review:

• Alcott, Louis – Little Women
• Burnett, Frances Hodgson – Little Lord Fauntleroy
• Bunyan, John – Pilgrim’s Progress
• Colfer, Eoin – Artemis Fowl
• Hesse, Hermann – Siddhartha
• Ibsen, Heinrich – A Doll’s House
• Lewis, C.S. – The Four Loves
• Lewis, C.S. – Surprised by Joy
• Sachar, Louis – Holes
• Uris, Leon – Exodus

I’ve found that the more I put off blogging the more difficult time I have of ever sitting down to write anything decent. So I shall be trying very hard from now onwards to be more disciplined in learning to blog.

With friends who are graduating

Review: Hans Brinker or The Silver Skates by Mary Mapes Dodge

Lately, I’ve been finding it difficult to keep up with reviewing the books I’ve been reading. But far from being worried I’m glad for the pleasure I’ve found in reading them. The book I’ve just finished, not more than half an hour ago, is Hans Brinker or The Silver Skates by Mary Mapes Dodge. It’s on my TBR list for 2012 and I was thrilled to find it in a dusty corner of an old book shop in Delhi this Sunday. The book turned out to be spell binding! It’s true! I found that once I began I had such difficulty in raising my head away. I liked it even more because it reminded me of my school days. I used to be so absorbed in my books that people used to think that I was ignoring them. Actually I could neither hear them nor sense their presence nearby. Hans Brinker is the kind of book that I would normally choose to read simply for pleasure. 

“Holland is one of the queerest countries under the sun. It should be called Odd-land or Contrary-land, for in nearly everything it is different from other parts of the world.” And by the way Mary Mapes Dodge continues to describe it it does make one hurry through the pages in wide-eyed wonder at this amazingly magical land that actually exists! This was another reason why I loved this book. It made me want to visit Holland though I wonder if it will be the same as it has been described in this lovely book. I hope there might be at least glimpses of resemblance in reality to what’s in the book.

Set in Holland, it is the story of a young boy, Hans Brinker, and his sister, Gretel whose family is so poor and friendless that they struggle simply to survive. And when they hear of the most talked about race in Broek in which the winner will receive a pair of silver skates they hope to join too. Unfortunately, all they have are heavy wooden skates that Hans has made on his own. Now if you’re under the impression that Hans and his sister are going to win the race anyway with their funny skates then let me stop you now and tell you that this book will not disappoint. The race, though an important part of the story isn’t the main part of the story. This book won’t disappoint. It’s story is incredibly realistic. But miracles do happen even today, don’t they?

Through the stories of the individual lives in this book, the author has weaved in stories of Holland, it’s fastidiously clean and tidy people, and the honesty and quiet courage that its people have shown through ages past. While reading the afterword it occurred to me that the author took a major risk in writing so much about Holland, it’s history, and its brave men, instead of simply focusing on the story at hand. But readers like me who are hooked to her narrative can hardly complain of this detour as long as it’s told well. And like the author, the characters in this book are also shown to take risks which eventually brings them happiness as well.

Hans Brinker or The Silver Skates is another one of those rare books that can be held as examples of what YA Fiction should really be like. Whether you would like to know more about Holland or simply enjoy good reading, this book has both.

“Take a risk that you may become more happy.” ~Mary Mapes Dodge, 1862

Books, books, and more books!

Book Shopping in Delhi’s Daryaganj Book Market!

These are the 20 rupee books!

More books

You can find books of all sorts here...

We noticed that there were more textbooks this time than last time. So now we know what India's been reading. Sad!

People standing around a 20 rupee book piles.

Love and Friendship by Emily Bronte

I happened to come across this poem by Emily Bronte and I’m really glad I did. For years now, I’ve had an inexplicable aversion to the Bronte sisters. It’s baseless and another of those silly things about me where I have difficulty exploring things outside my comfort zone. So this year I’ve decided that come what may I will bring myself to read Wuthering Heights.

Until I found this poem I’d been looking with dread to the day I began reading Wuthering Heights. This charming poem has made me eager to explore more of Emily Bronte’s writings.

Love and Friendship

Love is like the wild rose-briar;

Friendship like the holly tree.

The holly is dark when the rose-briar blooms,

But which will bloom most constantly?

The wild rose-briar is sweet in spring,

Its summer blossoms scent the air;

Yet wait till winter comes again,

And who will call the wild-briar fair?

Then, scorn the silly rose-wreath now,

And deck thee with the holly’s sheen,

That, when December blights thy brow,

He still may leave thy garden green.

- Emily Bronte 

The Himalayan Queen

For a few weeks now our church group has been in the process of planning a camp. Many in the group were bent on going to Narkanda. Narkanda is a skiing resort in the foothills of the Himalayas. But with its frequenters being largely tourists, it’s also very expensive. Plus apart from skiing there isn’t much else to do. I’m sure you can guess from all the lovely things I’ve been saying that I wasn’t one of the many who dreamt of going to Narkanda. I wanted to go to Shimla and nowhere else. So when I got a message from one of the camp coordinators saying that we probably wouldn’t be able to make it to Narkanda and may have to have the camp in Shimla instead, I couldn’t stop smiling. And when he asked us to pray that things might work out for us to still have the camp in Narkanda I couldn’t resist saying that all along I had been praying for us to go to Shimla!

The train ride to Shimla

I love Shimla! I’ve been going there every year for the past three years and before that, every few years since I was a child. It’s one of my favourit-est places in India and every time I go there it’s as magical as I remember it to be. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of it. Though I do love it best in Summer. The snow and ice makes everything less cheerful, unless it’s the first snow and I’m indoors.

The Cecil

I love the open air, the sweet smell of pine, the view that only a town in the hills can offer, and the fact that there are very few cars there. (Although this has changed recently. The government has levied a green tax for all out of state vehicles to control traffic and bring things back to the way they were.) I could never stop appreciating the slow quiet pace of life. Did I also mention that my favourite hotel -The Cecil – is also in Shimla? It’s the quaintest and absolutely the most charming hotel ever! I love the old world charm that still describes Shimla.

The Viceregal Lodge

In olden days you weren't allowed to walk here in everyday casual clothes

Our church group isn’t as keen on visiting on Shimla because according to them there isn’t much to do there. Not much to do there!? The train ride alone is a delight! Especially since the trains going to Shimla are all narrow gauged and toy like. Then there are the long walks that never get boring in pretty places like these, the yummy momos that can’t be found anywhere in the plains, and the best gulab jamuns in all of North India! And if you like history you can take a walk to the Vice-Regal Lodge. Buildings from years ago still stand and are, in fact, still in use. How can anyone find Shimla boring? Everything about the place is a fairy tale dream come to life (except for the scary monkeys and leopards. But come on, they do add that dose of adventure that makes beautiful places all the more magical).

How many places have cars parked on the roof?

March 8 can’t get here soon enough. I’m looking forward to those lovely long walks, collecting pine cones to throw into the fire, and paying homage to Aunty’s Momos and Baljee’s Gulab Jamuns. A word of warning, when I get back I may still be gushing over the reasons why I love Shimla and what a lovely time I had there.

Someone, most likely a student, reading by a fire

Review: The Return of the Native

I began The Return of the Native with the impression that I would find it difficult to enjoy. And that was simply because the blurb made it sound like it would have something to do with Red Indians and the picture on the jacket made me feel even more sure. I admit, that was very silly of me. Because the blurb did read that The Return of the Native was set in the English country-side. Anyway, the story is of a young man, Clym Yeobright, who falls in love with a beautiful, passionate, darkly discontented girl, Eustacia Vye, on his return from Paris, and of their stormy marriage.

I began this book with a closed mind and the first few pages were the dullest pages I’d ever read. I actually had to read aloud to keep from drifting. But even while fighting the urge to put down the book I realized that there was a rhythm to the sentences and a smooth flow to the words. I was reading a mellifluous open ended poem describing Egdon Heath, the setting for this violent tragedy. The poetry changes to prose as the action begins.

Eustacia Vye is the beautiful, mysterious girl who lives with her grandfather and haunts the hills of Egdon Heath. Some people think she is a witch. And Eustacia is too proud to mix with the villagers to worry about clarifying any wrong beliefs that they may have of her.

Under a facade of cool nonchalance and unconcern Eustacia Vye is as passionate and insubmissive as the ocean. Thomas hardy describes her as “the raw material of divinity”. She is something of a romantic though not in the conventional sense. She desires to be “loved to madness” and would rather have a short mad affair than settle for a placid love that lasts forever. For want of a better object and not because he is up to her standards, Eustacia has an affair with Damon Wildeve.

Wildeve is very similar to Eustacia. He is as ambitious and passionate as Eustacia. But during a pause in their relationship he begins courting another woman, Thomasin Yeobright. They even plan to marry. But the wedding doesn’t take place due to some error in the marriage license. Later that evening Wildeve visits Eustacia. He isn’t so sure that he wants to marry Thomasin Yeobright anymore. Eustacia, on the other hand, is with Wildeve only because there isn’t anyone more exciting in Egdon Heath. So when she hears that Clym Yeobright, the native in question as well as Thomasin’s cousin, will be coming to visit from Paris she is full of hope that he might be the person to help fulfill her ambitions of an exciting life away from Egdon Heath.

The Return of the Native is a complicated story and I’m a little afraid that I might give away too much without even realizing it. So I shall stop with the story telling and try analyzing as much as I can.

This book begins with a description of Egdon Heath. The language is poetic and calming and doesn’t instantaneously pull in firm readers of prose. But as the story progresses it gets difficult to put the book down even for those of us who have a certain fixed limit for serious poetry. I found that I was so engrossed in the story that I wasn’t able to find time to make side notes for later use.

Now I don’t normally read tragedies but this book made me wonder if perhaps I should begin to. Of course the happy ending here was added later by Thomas Hardy to please the unapproving public. But he had initially planned for the characters to carry on with their lives with no remarkable and happy event.

After having completed this book I can’t help going back on my own words and saying that I thought this a very absorbing book. I especially enjoyed the subtleties and the perceptive observations of character and personality that have been described so thoroughly. I liked the fact that the characters had depth and were complicated. They were obviously thought out very carefully.

While reading, I had a feeling that The Return of the Native wasn’t simply to entertain and the story was perhaps only a base or a vehicle, if you will, for the thoughts and ideas that Hardy wanted to share. The afterword in my copy of the book was written by Horace Gregory and he confirms this thought.

“Hardy observed life with the eye of a great poet. His literary guides were the King James version of the Bible (much of his concern was for the Fall of Man, man leaving the Garden of Eden and passing out of the sight of God), Greek tragedy, Ovid, Shakespeare, Milton, and Wordsworth.”

I think it was the descriptions and the analysis of every situation and character that made up a major portion of the story as well as the complications.

One interesting thing about this book was the Reddleman, also known as Digory Venn, a person trading in red dye. He loves Thomasin Yeobright and had approached her. When she refused he left Egdon Heath and took up the reddle trade. He loves Thomasin to the extent of devoting himself to her happiness at all costs, even when it causes him unhappiness. The reddleman, though not exactly omniscient, is in a position where he knows most of what is happening on all sides. He adds an interesting element to the story.

Another thing that made this book stand out was the Narrative. The story is told from an outside view while at the same times from the minds of the characters. I say ‘minds’ because the characters aren’t always aware of why they behave the way they do. Sometimes we know their thoughts. Everything has been described so completely.

Finally, if you’re still hesitant and skeptical about reading this book, like I was when I began, don’t worry. This book is a delight and has kindled in me the curiosity to explore more of Thomas Hardy’s books.