The Minimalist Journey - Day 2

"Start Small" that is one of my guiding principles for this journey towards Minimalism. So, this weekend I did start really really small - by organising my really modest earring collections.

Throw - zero
Give Away - 6 Pairs of earrings that I never use

Minimalism - Lets Start with the Clothes!!

Minimalism Goals!!

So, yes I need some motivation to get the Minimalism drive going. Who better than my mom to motivate me. Mom and Dad are here on 6th of September. So, that gives me more than a month to get all the clothes , my store room, my cupboards, my kitchen and my so-called study room under control. Mom was trying to get me to clean the study room last time she was here.

What do I start with?

I think the biggest mess is clothes. The reasons are many - out of season clothes, clothes kept in the hope that they will fit one day (ha ha as if they will), clothes that I never liked and never wore but feel guilty to throw out as they are practically new.


So, I will start one piece a time. Lets sort them - Keep, Give Away, Rags, Store


#Minimalism

TIME's list of ALL TIME 100 Novels

100 best English language novels since 1923 - As picked by TIME

20/100

• A - B

  • The Adventures of Augie March
  • All the King’s Men
  • American Pastoral
  • An American Tragedy
  • Animal Farm
  • Appointment in Samarra
  • Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret
  • The Assistant
  • At Swim-Two-Birds
  • Atonement
  • Beloved
  • The Berlin Stories
  • The Big Sleep
  • The Blind Assassin
  • Blood Meridian
  • Brideshead Revisited
  • The Bridge of San Luis Rey

• C - D

  • Call It Sleep
  • Catch-22
  • The Catcher in the Rye
  • A Clockwork Orange
  • The Confessions of Nat Turner
  • The Corrections
  • The Crying of Lot 49
  • A Dance to the Music of Time
  • The Day of the Locust
  • Death Comes for the Archbishop
  • A Death in the Family
  • The Death of the Heart
  • Deliverance
  • Dog Soldiers

• F - G

  • Falconer
  • The French Lieutenant’s Woman
  • The Golden Notebook
  • Go Tell it on the Mountain
  • Gone With the Wind
  • The Grapes of Wrath
  • Gravity’s Rainbow
  • The Great Gatsby

• H - I

  • A Handful of Dust
  • The Heart is A Lonely Hunter
  • The Heart of the Matter
  • Herzog
  • Housekeeping
  • A House for Mr. Biswas
  • I, Claudius
  • Infinite Jest
  • Invisible Man

• L - N

• Light in August
• The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
• Lolita
• Lord of the Flies
• The Lord of the Rings
• Loving
• The Moviegoer
• Lucky Jim
• The Man Who Loved Children
• Midnight’s Children
• Money
• Mrs. Dalloway
• Naked Lunch
• Native Son
• Neuromancer
• 1984
• Never Let Me Go

• O - R

  • On the Road
  • One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
  • The Painted Bird
  • Pale Fire
  • A Passage to India
  • Play It As It Lays
  • Portnoy’s Complaint
  • Possession
  • The Power and the Glory
  • The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
  • Rabbit, Run
  • Ragtime
  • The Recognitions
  • Red Harvest
  • Revolutionary Road

• S - T

  • The Sheltering Sky
  • Slaughterhouse Five
  • Snow Crash
  • The Sot-Weed Factor
  • The Sound and the Fury
  • The Sportswriter
  • The Spy Who Came in From the Cold
  • The Sun Also Rises
  • Their Eyes Were Watching God
  • Things Fall Apart
  • To Kill a Mockingbird
  • To the Lighthouse
  • Tropic of Cancer

• U - W

  • Ubik
  • Under the Net
  • Under the Volcano
  • Watchmen
  • White Noise
  • White Teeth
  • Wide Sargasso Sea

The Long Journey To Minimalism - Day 1

I managed to clean my shoe rack and one bookshelf today. It took around 15 minutes

1. Throw : 1 Pair of  Torn Slippers
2. Sell: 5 Books/Novels


I love to read and have lots of books. I think I will never be able to completely let go of my books. But I took a kind of hard look at the books in one of my bookshelves and thought about the books I don't like and will never re-read them. The books that haven't given me any joy. I came up with 5 books. I think I can come up with a few more once I take a re-look at the bookshelf.

1. Start Small
2. Ask yourself - Does this thing give me joy?

I want to be a Minimalist!

Recently, I came across the term Minimalist on the Nourishing Minimalism blog for the first time.
http://nourishingminimalism.com/

Once I read more about it, I realised that I surely want to be a Minimalist. It does make a lot of sense to me and this is something I would really like to try.

Mess or clutter is something I have never liked. It makes me stressed and unhappy. Though my house doesn't look messy, there is a lot of hidden mess. Our house has a lot of open space as its a big space and we don't have a lot of furniture. Also as it was just the two of us, we had enough space to store all the junk we had. But now with two kids and with one set of parents living with us, it is high time to declutter.

So, the plan is to start decluttering ASAP. I think the strategy that will work for me is the everyday 15 minute declutter. Right now, I really don't have the luxury to spend large batches of time to declutter. So, the 15 minute challenge will work for now though I feel I need to spend at least a couple of weekends taking care of my clothes situation.

So, let the decluttering challenge begin!!

Stew - A Fave Recipie (From Nigella Bites)

This is a recipie from Nigella's show , "Nigella Bites". I saw this episode late night or early morning one day (Why is it that you come home exhausted at 4 in the morning and only things showing on TV are workout program, satsangs and food programs..) and tried it over the weekend. It was amazingingly simple to make and was lipsmackingly fingerlickin good.

But be warned, though Nigella called it a stew, it was more like a pasta with a slurpy sauce and yummy tender meat. It is comfort food at its best. Ideal for the coming monsoons..

Ingredients : It has been a while since I watched the episode and cooked this dish so I really do not remember the exact amounts. And this is not available on Nigella's website also. So change the amount as per your judegement.

1. Mutton - 1/2 Kg
2. Celery - 3-4 sticks
3. Onion - 2 Medium
4. Tomatoes - 4 Medium
5. Carrots - 2-3 Medium
6. Ginger Garlic paste - 2 -3 tablespoons
7. Red Wine/White wine - 1/2 cup
8. Oregano - for seasoning
9. Olive oil - 3 tablespoons
10 Water, salt and a dash of pepper
11. Pasta (penne or any other short pasta) - 2 handfuls

Serves two.
Prep time - 15 mins
Cooking time - 2 hours

1. Roughly chop onions and celery and make a coarse paste in the blender. Also mix in the ginger garlic paste.
2. Take a big pot and add oil. Put in half of the celery-onion-ginger-garlic paste. Add the meat and put the remaining paste. Let the paste cover the meat.
3. Stir the meat on low flame for 10-15  minutes. Add chopped tomatoes. Nigella recommends canned tomatoes. Add the carrots (cut in large pieces, large enough to be spooned out later)
4. Stir for 5 mins. Add some red wine and oregano, pepper and salt to taste. Stir for another 5 minutes.
5. Add lots and lots of water. The amount of water is dependent on the desired consistency of the dish.
6. Cover the pot and let it simmer for around 1.5 hours on low heat. Make sure there is enough water and the dish does not start burning.
7. Take out the carrots. Add some olive oil and sprinke some freshly ground pepper. These carrots will taste yummy. I think the carrots were my main reason for cooking this dish the first time.
8. There should still be some water left in the pot. Throw in the handfuls of pasta and cover the pot again.
9. Allow pasta to cook.
10. The yummy stew / pasta is ready....

A Leh Interlude

Cellphone pictures from parent's leh visit last week. Click on the picture to enlarge.

Simple Cooking - Chicken Curry

I have never been much of a cook. I like the idea of cooking but cooking, not so much. I used to enjoy the occasional cooking with roommates as a student but the the idea of everyday cooking does not enthuse me much. So my cooking abilities remained limited and I was clueless about cooking chicken. But nowadays I have some time on my hands and wanted to surprise hubby with home cooked chicken.

So google to rescue and I found an amazinging simple recepie that does not ask for any exotic spices and yet the end result is yummy and a rich impressive looking dish. Click
here for the recepie.

I just added a green chilli with the onions to make it more spicy. Also I think you can use your favorite chicken readymade masala, if you have instead of all the mentioned masalas.

New Happenings!!

One of the new year resolutions is to blog more. There have been a lot of changes in 2009. The most important change has been on the professional front. I have opted for the dial-down option at work and just work 4-5 hours a day. It has made all the difference in the quality of life. This change is now giving me some time to do "other" stuff like exercise, read, relax..

Started this work arrangement in October, went on a vacation to Goa, another vacation to Pune (was more of food tour though),re-decorated the home, spent time with hubby, improved cooking skills and just relaxed at home.

Restaurant Review - Rajdhani

Name : Rajdhani
Location : 4th Floor, Big Bazaar, Ameerpet
Type of Food : Gujrati/Rajasthani Thali (Veg)
Cost : Reasonable
Ambience : Functional
Service : Warm & Quick
Experience : Great
Contact # : 64593998

Rajdhani is a no-nonsense place that serves only Gujrati/Rajasthani Thalis. The focus is on the quality of food and service. The service is extremely hospitable. It's similar to being some esteemed guests at someone's home rather than being customers in a restaurant.

And did I mention it is extremely quick. Go, grab a chair and it starts.One guy comes with Chutneys and papad and salad. The third guy with the sabzis and the fourth guy with the dals. Then there is Khichdi and Chawal. And of course the sweets. And dare I forget the dollops of ghee (Optional). The food is unlimited. The menu changes everyday.

One word of caution though. Maybe this is not place for you if you like your food real spicy. Nothing is spicy and the Gujrati Dal and Gujrati Kadi is actually sweet.

I have been there twice; once on a weekday and once on a weekend. I wud recommend going for a weekday lunch if you can manage as the service is far better. It is a lil crowded on weekends. And my weekday thali was much better than the weekend thali. The weekday thali had Dal Bati and I am huge fan of Dal Bati.

So give this place a try if you want to sample Gujrati/Rajasthani food or if you are in mood for a quick wholesome khana that tastes a lil like home cooked meal.

Restaurant Review - Punjabi by Nature

"Punjabi By Nature", a chain from Delhi opened up in Hyderabad 2-3 months back admist quite a lot of hype. And of course being Punjabi by birth and also being Punjabi by nature we were very eager to visit it.


So one Saturday we landed up in front of this place and man was it crowded!! The whole of Hyderabad and its aunt was there, waiting. So we did the sensible thing and went to Ohri's next door. Hyderabad is crazy in this particular way. You can see hordes of people hanging around every new restaurant. I think we Hyderabadis just love to eat out and try out every new place.


Last weekend, we decided that we have given enough time for things to cool down at PBN and we can now try it out. So we again landed up there. The crowd was still there and we waited for 30 mins and finally got a table.


It is a two level restaurant with a pretty good modernish ambience. The stairs to the upper floor are lighted and look pretty good while walking into the place. We were escorted to our table at the upper floor near the good-looking bar. The seating in that particular section is very spacious. And then we were handed the "Liquor" Menu which had only Mocktails.Imagine the horror!! We learned on inquiring that the restaurant has applied for the liquor license but have not received it yet. So we ordered our mocktails which were pretty good and refreshing.


The menu, I felt was pretty limited. We ordered Fish Tikka for appetisers. It was pretty good. Soft and Juicy. For the main course, we ordered what else but "Punjabi Chicken" and 1 Tandoori Roti and 1 Naan. Imagine our surprise, when the waiter told us that 1 tandoori roti will be enough for both of us as their rotis are two feet long!! And no he was not exaggerating. The food, I felt was strictly OK. I was very underwhelmed by the place. Maybe it was because we had heard so much about it from our Delhi friends and had our expectations really high. The food was very very heavy and both of us had upset stomachs the next day. It was not a good feeling.


But I must mention that the service was excellent. The guy who waited on our table was cheerful and had a great attitude.


Food - Not really good. Need to visit again
Ambience - Good
Service - Great

Repeat Visit - Yes ; to give it another chance

If you love punjabi food and want to give this place a try it is on Road # 12, Banjara hills very close to Ohris' but on the opposite side. They do not take reservations on phone.

Restaurant Review - Chhattees (36)

Discovered this great place this weekend. We were driving around the city looking for swim wear for hubby. Not available at Lifestyle, not at Central, not at any Nike , Reebok or Addidas outlet in Banjara hills. WTF ?? Then remembered a shop at Madhapur with the sign "Swim Wear available for the family". Went there and bought the stuff.

On the way back, impulsively decided to try out the new place called Chattess (36) that has opened up on Road # 36 (where else), Jubilee Hills (It is a little ahead of Barista on the way to Hi-tec city. There are signs there). Went without any expectations and came back with a very pleasant experience.

It is behind a new building that is being constructed. Looks like that a residential house has been converted into a restaurant. Something on the lines of "Southern Spice" but much bigger. It is a pretty big place with lots of options on where to sit. You can sit out on the ground floor, sit out on the terrace on the first floor, sit in a lounge-like area on the ground floor, sit inside on the first floor or the best of all sit in a balcony-like area on the first floor. That is where we sat in the balcony-like area on the first floor. Imagine a BIG balcony-kind space open on two sides, having four set tables with lot of space between them. Imagine the area painted a warm crimson and the two ceiling fans also painted the same color (Yup thats right). Now imaging a beautiful chandelier hanging in the middle. Its pretty nice. Thats what we felt and so we sat down there though the place was not very popular with other people who either wanted to sit inside in the AC or out in the open because of the heat. But it was good for us.

Now comes the important part, the food. They have Indian, Thai and Chinese. Glancing through the appetisers came across "King Crabs" with choice of sauces. Whoa we decided on that as hubby digs crabs. So we ordered the King crabs with Schewan sauce and beer and breezer. I have never eaten crabs before and it was a messy affair but it was yummmy!!

We decided on Dal Ghosht ( Lamb+Lentils) and rotis for the main course which was the most wonderful thing I have eaten in a long time. The lamb was tender and the full of flavor. The gravy had the consistency of a haleem. It was wonderful with plain tandoori rotis.

The best thing was the service. Most of the times, waiters get your two rotis together and dump them on the table and by the time you finish the first one the second one is already cold. And if you ask them to get it after some time, you have to wait and wait. But that day was my lucky day. As soon as I put the last morsel from my first roti in my mouth, the waiter was there with the second hot roti. That was the best part.

We finished the meal with the so-called fresh kiwi ice cream. It did not taste very fresh and was a little bit too sweet for my liking.

I would definitely like to go there again for the food and service.

So here are my ratings :

1. Food - Yummy
2. Ambience - Nice
3. Service - Great

Repeat visit - Yes.

The prices are pretty reasonable when compared to other places like it.

1 Beer (the big bottle of RC) + 1 Breezer + 1 Fresh Lime Soda + King Crabs + Dal Ghosht + 4 Butter rotis = RS 1,100 Approx

Contact # : 64580000; 64590000

Hyderabad Restaurants - Little Italy

Me and DH (Dear Hubby) love eating out. I think it is that I love eating out. And Since having wasted a considerable amount of money on this activity, I feel almost qualified to give you Silent Melody's eating out guide.

So here it comes in no particular order, the places we frequent:

1. Little Italy

Love this place for its wonderful food. This place is a haven for pizza-lovers and vegetarians. It serves only Vegetarian Italian food, yummy italian food it must be said. The wood - burn thin crust pizzas are amazing. There is a large choice of pizzas to be had. Pastas are good. I did not like the rissotos though.

The ambience is fine. They used to have outside sitting which was great when the weather is good. Hyderabad has a serious lack of eating places where you can sit out, which is something I like I lot. I am not sure if they still have a place to sit out as some major construction was taking place the last time I drove past Little Italy.

They have live music at times which is good. There is a boutique in there which looked pretty expensive. There are wine bottles at display which strangely speaking we never tried.

If you are vegetarian and love Italian food THIS is the place for you. If not but you want to try something new you must visit this place. You can try the Weekend Buffet priced at around Rs 400 as far as I remember. That way you can try all the variety available there and decide if it works for you. The atmosphere for the buffet is great.

The crowd here has lot of firangs. They seem to love this place. Speaking of the crowd reminds me of this incident. Picture a beautiful late evening during the monsoons. Me & DH plan to go to Little Italy and have a pizza. The weather is good, the breeze balmy and we are sitting outside at the candlelit table. Two young guys come and take up the next table and order for Tangdi Chicken or something like that. The waiter informs that this is a vegetarian place and those two guys are shell-shocked. The expression on their faces is like really funny as if they can not believe that an expensive looking place can be vegetarian.

Poem, Not Mine

Do not know about you guys but I feel like this at times.


The Woman who Worries Herself to Death
by Kathryn Simmonds

She wasn't robbed or raped or made a scapegoat of,
she didn't take ill-fated flights on shaky planes and

no one splashed her house in paint. Kids with hoods
and sovereign rings and hates left her alone. That twinge

she sometimes felt was just a twinge. Her fillings didn't leak.
At office dos she danced and no one laughed.

Her children didn't have disorders, fail exams, take smack.
Her husband didn't love his secretary
or get the sack. But, if you saw her fidgeting
towards the dawn, her breathing playing tricks,
a thousand what ifs snaking in a queue, you'd feel for her,
you'd wish she had something to pin her torment to.

Courtesy: The Guardian

Back Again!!

I am almost tempted to open a new site and then start all over again and write everyday(At least that is the intention). A blank page, a new start..It is all very tempting but come on how many new starts can a girl have? How many new blog sites should be created before we get a regular one??

So no more, I should continue from here.Life had gotten into an awful mix of lethargy and frustation. Now is the time to snap out. Why now? Because have beeen undergoing a lot of inspirational & rejuvenating corporate trainings lately. Is there such a thing, I hear some people ask. Well well I hear you folks. I was a cynic till last week but just decided to have an open mind for a change and it did make a difference.

SOS!!

It is 6 AM and I am awake. I mean I have not slept yet. I have been in office and yes have working since noon yesterday. This work is overwhelming. Do I really need to work so much???


Does it help to know that the web is cast around all? That we are not alone in bearing the weight of it all. And that the prison is well populated with our
fellow beings. The commune of shattered dreams. Perhaps it adds a new dimension to our insignificance. Cogs in the wheel of despair.

But how does one explain the beauty ? The obstinate refusal of hope to die away. Of the heart to continue to beat. The sweet seduction of life. Where from did that come from ? Whats our true nature in this merry go round ?

Is it a poem

This is the first time,
I try and compose a poem
directly onto my blog page.

I am a little old fashioned,
used to pen and paper.
This way seems little strange,
some would say it is better.

I can save, I can delete
go back and edit.
It is a just key here
and just a key there.

This way there are no versions,
just the final poem
which I can easily delete;
Paper is just too hard to tear.

There is no history
of how the poem evolved.
But then those notebooks in the closet know
that history is hard to bear.

The Three Incidents

Incident 1 : The Siachen Guy
----------------------------

Place : Pathankot , a small town two hours from Jammu
Time: Late evening, summer of 1994

Dad and I were in a small STD-XEROX shop photocopying some papers. A man dressed in the army uniform came in asking if the STD phone was free. Pathankot is a army town and you have soldiers all over the place. But there was something about this guy's voice that I looked at him. He looked weary; tired to the bone. He ambled towards the phone and made his call. Dad and I could easily hear the conversation; he was calling up his family after a long time and he had been posted at the Siachen glacier for the last 6 months or so. That conversation gave me goosepimples. There were so much of emotion; happiness and relief.


Incident 2: The Picnic
---------------------

Place : Hyderabad
Time: Late evening, sometime in 2001

I had accompanied dad for a section picnic to a nearby lake. The picnic was fun; the usual games, prizes and the mess food. While coming back, somebody started singing a old popular hindi song. Everyone joined in and it was fun. It went on for another hour or so till we were pretty close to the Air Force station. And suddenly we were tired and thirsty and quiet. And then an uncle started singing "Saare Jahan se accha". Everyone joined in. That performance gave me goose pimples. I had sung this song numerous times at school and heard it countless times. But had never heard it being sung with so much of emotion, so much of pride.

Incident 3: The Train Journey
-----------------------------

Journey: Hyderabad to Delhi
Time : Sometime in the year 2000

This was my first solo train trip. Mom and dad were a little apprehensive at the station giving me all kinds of advices at the last minute. But all their apprehenions vanished once we were inside the train. Mom and dad discovered, to their delight that the entire section was full of Army officers. They were all going to attend a colleague's wedding. The journey was great fun. Lots of great converstaion. I was amazed to find out that most of the officers there came from families steeped in the army way of life. Their dads, grand-dads, great grand-dads had been in the army. They were married to or were about to marry daughters of armymen. Their battalion had served in Kashmir, in Siachen and other areas. One of them had won a "Vir Chakra" for an operation against the militants. They had known fear and had looked at death from close quarters. But yet they were wanted their children to join the army and when they said that they wanted to "serve the country" ; they did actually mean it. I felt so proud of these guys. Where does all this come from?

After a long time!!

Last post was dated 25th Jan. Today is 9th of June. It really has been a long time!! I started this site with the very optimistic notion that I will update it every day. LOLz Lolz lolz.

So what have I been doing all this time? Nothing much. I took back my resignation papers and have been buried neck deep in work ever since. Oh the sweet irony of life!! Work has been gruelling and never ending. But it has been fun in its own way. And I added some more books to the list mentioned previously. Read "My ear at his heart" by Hanif Khureishi, "The Argumentative Indian" by Amartya Sen and "A House for Mr. Biswas" by V.S. Naipaul.

"My Ear at his Heart" is an honest story about the writer, his family and particularly about his father's literary ambitions and heart breaking efforts to be a writer. Growing up, I wanted to be a writer. I was a dreamy- eyed, painfully shy kid who was always around books. I was Enid Blyton in my kiddish fantasies.

But now, when I read books like "Beach Boy" or "My Ear at his heart", I realise that I could never have been a writer. These two books are autobographical; they are about growing up and they are about the writer's families. And both the books are honest. I would have never managed the endearing honesty of BB or the brutal honesty of "...at his heart". Hanif Khureishi wonders in his book if he is doing the right thing by writing about his father and his family in this way. But he goes ahead and does it. Would I have the courage? I do not think so.

Picked up "...at his heart" without knowing anything about Hanif or his earlier writings. Hanif's uncle Omar Khureishi is also a kind of celebrity (a famous cricket commentator among other things) and has written two autobiographical novels. Hanif's quotes from his uncle's books a few times and they really seem interesting. On the other hand, his dad's writings do not impress. His dad's writings are all about his personal experiences, the bitteness and a few deep rooted memories and complexes. If I had tried to be a writer, I think I would have churned out something that. How do good writers go beyond their personal experiences, rise above their personal lives and write?

Recent Reads

Have read a few books and not blogged about it. So let me get started on that. Read since last Book review: Beach Boy (Ardershir Vakil), Never Let me go (Ishiguro), Namesake (Jhumpa Lahiri), Lord of the Flies (William Golding), The Kite Runner (Hosseini), Getting there (Manjula Padmanabhan), Shadow Lines (Amitav Ghosh), The Hungry Tide (Amitav Ghosh) and One Night @ call center (Chetan Bhagat).

Bought the Beach Boy , Never Let me go and the Kite Runner together at "Akshara" the neighbourhood bookshop. I love browsing for books at Akshara. It is not one of those shops with rows and rows of neatly classified books and the ever - polite staff ready to help you with just the book you want. It is one of those shops with books strewn all around with no apparent order or scheme. One never knows what book one might just come across and I love this element of surprise. Also, it takes me back to my childhood jaunts in Chandigarh during the annual summer holidays. Dad used to take us to big book stores (They did seem BIG those days) in Chd which sold only books and nothing else. Me and my sisters used to go crazy running around the shop while dad looked around for the books that interested him. But slowly these shops closed down or were renovated and most of them became card galleries/coffee shops/stationery shops with a tiny corner for books. Do we have any exclusive book shops left? I guess not if you do not count the weekend second hand book markets which I think almost every city has but then that is mostly study books/study guides, Mills & Boons and Sidney Sheldons. One of favorite fantasies is wandering into these second hand markets and buying great books at throwaway prices (the logic being that the book sellers do not appreciate that kind of books :-))!! Well that certainly has not happened yet.

Anyways back to that boring weekend evening, I picked up these three books based on comments and reviews by ssm and ano. Loved the Beach Boy and Never Let me go. I think the Beach Boy has the one of the most lovable Protaganist ever, the Young connoisuer of food Mr. Cyrus readymoney. The book is about growing up in an affluent Parsi family in Bombay in late seventies. The best thing about the book is it's honesty. Cyrus is what he is. There are no explanations and no excuses. Ishiguro's book is also growing up but it could not be any different from BB. Loved the style of writing and the theme is kinda unique and a little errie. But the book is heat wrenchingly sad in parts and I fell in love with this girl too. If I could write a book, I would write something like this I think. No, I am not talking about the subject here but the way this book mixes up the past, the present, the thots and everything. And this reminds me of "The Shadow Lines" one of the best books I have ever read. I just can not stop raving about this book.

...to be contd.