Book Review- Candide by Voltaire (First published 1759)

(Details of Publication: First Published: 1759. E- reprint: 1998, Electronic Scholarly Publishing Project, http://www.esp.org. 98 pp, available free for scholarly and educational purposes, subject to statement of copyright (reproduced in the screenshot below)).

                Candide is considered to be the magnum opus of Francois- Marie Aruoet, a.k.a. Voltaire (1694-1778), a French writer, historian and philosopher of the Enlightenment Era. This novel is said to be the most taught piece of French literature.

            The introduction of the author itself is an indication of what to expect of his book. Yes, the reader can expect attacks on the established arbitrariness of that age. An add- on is a feel of the society of that time. The means by which this task of injecting modern and progressive ideas into the minds of the people is done classifies this book as one to be chewed and digested, despite the chill it sends down the spine of the reader.

Of Leaders and Losers 7. The One who Trusts

          All of us would have had someone who trusted us when a majority around us didn’t. This story deals with such people, who appear somewhere on the horizon but make a profound impact on us, all the same. It is a tribute to all individuals who see the dawn in us while the day is still dark. I’m happy to state that I’ve known many great individuals, who have a special place in my heart. As usual, fact is mixed with fiction to make this story, which actually happened in the life of one of them.

* * *

Teenage and Pimples

          All of us heard of second childhood. I thought I’ll tell you a story of a person in her second teenage. We’ll stick to the same old heroine, Padma.

********************

          Padma turned off the TV after her channel- surfing habit showed her the commercial of “No Pimples- Softy Skin” cream for the umpteenth time. The advertisement featured a fair complexioned girl with red eruptions all over her face, looking eagerly at boys of her college, wondering if any one of them, who were busy with other girls, would throw a second glance at her. Suddenly another girl pops up from nowhere and gives her a bottle of the “No Pimples- Softy Skin” cream and lo and behold, the indifferent girls of the previous scene are now trying desperately to hold the attention of their boys, even as the latter are unable to take their eyes off this “No Pimples- Softy Skin” girl.

Jargon Management: The Management of Internalization

An Amma’s Child had just spent a month in a reputed management institution. Amma wanted to find out how her Child was doing. So, one Sunday evening, Amma calls up her child and this is how they conversed.

Amma (A): How are you, Child?

Child (C): Fine, Amma.

A: How is the weather there?

C: It’s uniformly pleasant. I can say that the standard deviation from the mean temperature is hardly one or two. Meaning, it shows a high measure of central tendency. Since you have a high sensitivity to weather changes, I strongly recommend that you come over here to enjoy better health.

Book Summary – Waiting for the Mahatma by R.K. Narayan

Book Summary – Waiting for the Mahatma

by R.K. Narayan

Indian Thought Publications, Chennai

27^th Reprint 2012, 256 pp, Rs. 125/-

          This is not one of wait to see the emancipation of one’s lot, rather it is of how a selfish individual waits for the Mahatma’s clearance to get married to the girl of his choice.

         

          The protagonist, Sriram, is an insipid person who can be easily influenced by anyone.  He grows up under the loving care of his grandmother, after the early death of his parents.

          When he is twenty, his grandmother hands over the fat sum of money she had been saving in his name.  His irresponsibility  is known immediately, when he wants to withdraw a huge sum of Rs. 250/-, but his watchful grandma restricts it to a decent Rs. 50/-.

Happiness

          Yes, I was missing someone.  I wanted to deny myself of what I was going through – in fact, I had camouflaged myself for a good fifty-two days!  This was the count after I realized that I was actually missing someone.  How many years went by since I actually lost this person?  I have no clue.  May be fifteen years, or, twenty.  Or may be more.  Anyway, now that I realized that this someone has left me (in the lurch!), I decided to place an advertisement in the seemingly vain hope of winning him back.

The Riot of Colours at the Flower Show, Lalbagh, Bangalore

                    Lalbagh was one of my favourite spots in Bangalore, not just for its greenery and the foral clock, but because it's pretty close to the MTR restaurant. I was there in mid- January, and it was just in time for the flower show. My schedule was packed ( I was eager to catch up with a lot of friends), so I was not too sure whether I'd visit the place at all. I managed to be there for the morning walk, but the catch was that one could see the beauty of the show in its famed Glass House only from outside- the show would open only at 9:30 a.m. I could not do much justice in identifying the plants, but I'm sure you'd enjoy the beauty of the flowers.......

The Eiffel Tower could be seen from all sides, but I could watch the mermaid only from one side.

Sunset in Nripatungabetta, Hubli and Tungabhadra Dam

Nripatungabetta is a hillock  near Hubli, Karnataka, from where one can not only have a bird's eye view of the city but behold a beautiful sunset as well. Recently I was there and here are the pics....

Whatte view! Nripatungabetta, Hubli

Twilight, Sunrise and Brightness

I was extremely lucky to get this one on an October evening in Baroda  in  2009

Suddenly, I realised that I was hardly doing any justice to the photo blog. So, let me make a small beginning. I did not want to stop at dusk, because it is followed by dark. So, I fast forwarded the night and took it to the next morning's sunrise......the locations are given in the caption.

Of Leaders & Losers 6. The Valmiki Part II (concluded)

(contd from previous post)

Life cruised on merrily until he bumped into former class-mate of his on one of his regular visits to the station.  ‘Hi, Vishy, are you going somewhere?’ asked Mohan.

‘No, I am here to help someone I know get into the train’, said Vishy.  After the exchange of pleasantries, Vishy learnt that Mohan was appointed as a clerk in the Accounts Department of the Railways, and that he got his ticket confirmed through the Emergency Quota.  Suddenly, Vishy felt odd-indeed, a petty clerk had a right royal way of getting tickets confirmed (i.e., by being a railway employee), while he was dealing in manipulation and earning his livelihood by it! Moreover, jobs in the Railways were permanent, and one could be assured of regular income and lead one’s own life, with no requirement to bribe one’s way through.  The best way to beat bureaucracy was by being a part of it, he felt.  Suddenly, he was overwhelmed by guilt and wanted to get into the railways to be assured of traveling accommodation.