A Thousand Splendid Suns – Khaled Hosseini

He intended for it to move readers and show them a glimpse of the sufferings of Afghani women – and the book did, for me. Words threaded together to paint a picture of endurance, loss, grief and love. Lost love, found love. And with his books come a need to share – a wanting to discuss and make the intangible tangible.

He opens to doors to worlds you never thought could possibly exist – the cruelty, the reckless killings, the dry hearts of the Talibans; their blindness to culture – the Bamiyan Buddhas stand testimony to that, in memory only – their cold blooded murders, extortion, ripping families apart, banning education and entertainment – unimaginable.

Wars can cripple nations : to the extent of a caesarian section without anaesthesia. They turn living cities to dust and prey to drugs and poverty. But sometimes, they bond people in the most unthinkable ways. In ways so beautiful and pure – and Hosseini does full justice and more to the tapestry of the lives of his characters.

For a woman, endurance is the sole quality she must have.

PS : gifted ma this book this time – we’d both loved kite runner… and obviously i had to finish it before leaving for hostel

one week of hols left :(

time flies, it really does… and in a week and two days i have to board that inevitable flight back to college… these hols were simply the best and i really really don’t want them to end… i wish all life were hols

for the record, this was officially the best summer ever… may was one hell of a roller coaster ride and i loved all the twists, turns and loops ( the past 11 days ) june was a week in awesome andamans, a week in sultry yet oh-so-homely calcutta… and after cal, it was two glorious weeks at home… july, well, i’m still at home and rest latter half will, alas, be at insti…

what i did at home : read and read – digital fortress, deception point – both by dan brown, the devil and miss prym – paulo coelho, the cracking codebook – simon singh and halfway through ‘the adventures of feluda’ – satyajit ray…

dan brown,well, here’s the gist of the four books : one world disasterous situation… a maiden and her faithful scientist… one high class dude who wants to save the maiden because of senti reasons… and lethal killing troupe who are ruthless and have no idea who their employer is

paulo coelho is what ma calls too intellectual… you need to see as he ’sees’… his writings are vague yet i find them enjoyable… kind brings in a deeper aspect to your soul if you want to understand his writing, that is…

the cracking codebook – the history of cryptology, the evolution of ‘unbreakable’ ciphers… lost fame and recognition and wit at its very best… a MUST read for anyone who enjoyed dan brown and also others, even otherwise

feluda – a bengali detective, class apart – satyajit ray’s works of art come to life through his words ( though i’m reading the version translated to english cuz i ain’t that fluent in bangla )

and… i met up with a lot of friends with whom i didn’t think i’d ever meet up… painted bathroom tiles and kitchen tiles ceramic painting – the latest obsession for me

and ofcourse, conversations at 6pm

sums up the summer of 2008 was simply awesome