Blackberry Wine-Joanne Harris

In spite of its similarities to Chocolat in character and themes, Blackberry Wine stands alone. Readers need not read Harris's books in any particular order to appreciate them.

Jay is a writer in his late 30s, living in London with his much younger and much more successful chic girlfriend, Kerry. Once upon a time, Jay wrote an amazing book called Jackapple Joe , his hugely successful one-hit wonder. He is never able to reproduce the energy or acclaim, and so he writes fantasy and sci-fi under a pen name to make a few bucks. Jackapple Joe was a heightened and nostalgic retelling of Jay's childhood summers spent with his grandparents at Kirby Monckton and the older man on Pog Hill Lane with whom he forged a unique but nurturing relationship. Blackberry Wine acquaints readers with its characters through a series of flashbacks interspersed in the narrative of the present. Joe's folk wisdom and gardening tips endeared him to me as they helped bond him to a young and lonely Jay; Jay's teenage struggles with a neighborhood thug help to shape the adult he becomes.

One morning, after Jay has slept in and makes a very small attempt at working, he notices the mail being delivered and sees, illuminated in golden sunlight, an advertisement for real estate; specifically, a picture of a French chateaux, or "chatto" as Joe called his dream house. The picture is exactly what Joe described as his life's ambition. The advertisement is so enticing that Jay spontaneously buys the estate and moves to Lansquenet on the spot, somehow feeling that Joe is there.

The estate, Joe's bottles of homemade liqueur called "The Specials," and the not-so-unreal memories of Joe inspire Jay to write again. He begins writing about Lansquenet and its inhabitants, quizzing Josephine in the café about an especially interesting villager, Marise d'Api, whose land borders his own. After weeks of inspired writing, rewarding hard labor in his gardens, and getting beyond the surface pleasantries of the townspeople, Jay quickly comes to feel that the truth about the villagers and the life he is building for himself are more important than writing the great follow-up novel, that self-fulfillment and contentment in one's life are more alluring to him now than fame and notoriety once were. Life is the true inspiration for art, but, in the end, life is more important to Jay than the art that once helped forge his identity and success.

Blackberry Wine is the sort of book that can be read in a day or two, but is also a book whose characters and setting implant themselves under your skin and don't go away. I found myself suspending disbelief in many sections of the novel, especially when Joe describes his "astral travel" abilities. The fairy tale qualities of the story make it a sweet read rather than a trivial one, and the genuineness of its inhabitants make me want to visit Lansquenet someday…

Thanks, Ira....for recommending this to me....

 

Of Friendship and Travel!!!!

I am getting married. Very soon, really soon, sooner than you think. you may ask, why am I repeating this to myself, it’s probably because I am trying to come in terms with it myself. It’s not that I am not excited about the marriage or anything; it’s just that you get a lot of usual jitters….thinking about what the marriage entails, the whole lot of changing equations….the plethora of emotions, the omnipresent uncertainties, the changing me!!!!
I have stayed with Mohan, my roommate for over a year. He is been a senior from law school and a roommate, ever since he moved to Bangalore to join the big “Jewish” Golman Sachs. For all those who don’t know, here is a fun fact. Most of the top billionaires in US and the big bosses of the really big bad investment banks have a all been Jewish. God gifted them with the fabled money mindedness. Anyway, that being an aside, let’s return to Mohan.
As I enter this new phase of life, that is getting married, I can look back and safely say, I am going to miss him, miss his company, miss the travel, and miss all the stupid and silly talks, the agreements to disagree and above all the travels.
Yes, we travelled, we travelled a lot. Most of the time just the two of us, until new found friends, Jakob, Thomas and Hilka came in to the picture. and what fun we had? What fun!!! we have wolves chasing us, nature slapping us on our face, not to be screwing around with her, having a leopard running around our tent in the middle of the night, me falling in a ditch with Mohan holding my t shirt trying to pull me out, jingling keys in the middle of the night to keep the khichkarni away, going white water rafting, trekking and the like, the list, guys is endless. I cherish every moment of it. It pains me deeply to think that these will change and soon. Mohan tells me that this would not have been possible if we didn’t have the same mindset….though I agree with him, I also think, it’s more to do with him forcing me to go the extra mile. I love travelling but then I would not have enjoyed it as much, if it was not for Mohan.
Mohan is the one who convinced me to buy a good DSLR camera; I did buy a Nikon D80 and I think that it’s a fabulous buy. I have learnt to take snaps without closing one eye, and achievement which was from ever instilled confidence from Mohan.
We joined Muay Thai (read Thai kick boxing) classes together, sweated it out, collapsed, drained out together, lay on the carpet tired beyond our wits, all screwed up.
I am quite emotional….do not think I want to write any further…..
Hope the craziness never dies out…hope the travelling never stops …..I am going to miss you dude….a lot mate….

Meet the Parents!!!!

Well, I want the reader to start by asking a very simple question to themselves, as they start reading this post. The question being, “are you married?” if the answer is “yes”, well read on, recollect and introspect. If the answer is “no”, read on and do so carefully. Take it as a “Book for Dummies” or “The Survival Book” or whatever you may like to call it. But read carefully because it might help. On second thoughts, not really though. Nothing can prepare you for what may be dished out in the process.

In India, there are two kinds of marriages that can happen, “love marriages” and “arranged marriages”. Love marriages are those where you find your own bride; that is a metamorphosis from a “boyfriend/ girl friend” to “husband/ wife” takes place. Arranged marriages, on the other hand are where you really have no clue as to what’s coming your way and the best way to describe the same is, to be “venturing into the unknown!!!!” Arranged marriages are what we are going to be talking about here.

Let’s start with how an arranged marriage works. Parents, relatives, all those people who take it upon themselves to be our self appointed well wishers (as in most cases) to find a “suitable” match for us. They employ various available means for the purpose. They talk to friends, relatives, browse through matrimonial columns, visit matrimonial sites and as in some cases these days look at every beautiful girl/ handsome guy on the road and visualize a prospective bride/ groom.

The process involves scanning through numerous photographs and  bio data (equivalent of a curriculum vitiae), in some cases astrological charts, rashis, kundalis (some believe in them while some don’t). Some even go to the extent of getting the kundalis of the prospective bride and groom matched against each other and evaluated by astrologers and professional Pandit ji.

Then of all the prospects, some are short listed, further shortlisted and then debated internally, talked about with the groom or the bride as the case may be and then communicated to the respective families.

But tarry a little. That’s not all. There’s more. Once the “yes” has been communicated, starts a process of court ship and background checks. That’s when you dig up a snake when looking for worms.

Everybody has a past and it’s best left unattended, undisturbed, unanalyzed. Once we start doing these background checks, we invariably come  across some amount of information which disturbs us, which makes us put a question mark on the character of the individual in question.

There’s more to it. In the case of arranged marriages, I believe the expectations, these days are too high and that’s probably the reason why we get disappointed at most of the time. Come to think of it, when was the last time, you got everything that you wanted at a given point of time. Hardly right!!!   You have to compromise somewhere to be happy. Otherwise, you will just about keep on looking without ever being happy. And that would suck, and truly so.

The bottom line being, it’s a long drawn process, very subjective in nature and the more you play with it, the more it gets to you. And that’s when you had it.

Love marriages, well it’s another story….

 

 

Auto Rickshaws and Bangalore

I might be in a complaining wagon or just the cribbing type. But these auto rickshaws in Bangalore just triggered me to write. I decided not to get a car in this city due to various reasons and the only other option to commute is to take an auto ride.

I will give a couple of examples to drive home the point.

I live in Koramangala, quite a posh locality, pretty close to Forum Mall (a place which allows you to spend your money, without feeling too much of a guilt). Off and on I go back home to my parents in Vijayawada and do this journey by bus. My bus (usually a Volvo) reaches the city pretty early and I get down at this place called Tin Factory. There are two reasons for this. Let me explain. The bus usually goes through the city traffic until it reaches a place which is really close to Koramangala. However, it would delay me by an hour or so and get me to miss my office shuttle. Hence the option is to get down at Tin Factory and take an auto. Once you get off, auto drivers flock to you. They will ask for anywhere between 200 to 500 rupees and you do not have too much of a choice. Because everyone wants the same and they will stop anybody trying to charge you less. I guess these guys do not understand that we do not want to buy the auto, just take a ride.


The situation worsens if there is rain in the city. That’s it. they blankly charge high fares or simply refuse to carry you around. I remember this friend of mine telling me that she waited and asked for a lift to over twenty autos (could be an exaggerated number) and finally asked one where the auto was going (instead of asking for the lift) . He said Indiranagar (her destination too) . She told him that she wanted to go to Indiranagar as well, and the auto driver just waved his hands and said, “nehin nehin, nehin jana” and drove off. I am sure he appreciates that none of us want a free ride. Then why? Beats me.


My friend Mohan has his office at Embassy Golf Links. On getting a new job, he moved into this city only to find that after long hours at a demanding investment bank job, he does not get an auto to get back home. They just refuse. Blankly. Mohan thought better of it, did a 650 kilometers road trip on his cruiser bike to circumvent the problem. Sounds good, true….I could do the same but then there is one glitch in the whole thing, I do not know how to ride a bike. Sigh!!!In other countries the cab drivers get in conversation with you and also check if you are doing fine and often greet you with a smile. Aren’t they from the same industry? I don’t see this in this India. They are often ready to take you for a ride. They commonly goof up with the meter so you are always charged more. And take you on the longest ride ever, if you do not know the way to your destination. You can pay the auto driver more if you don’t have change but you can never give them one rupee less. They are very arrogant and also drive rashly on the roads. It’s also not safe for women to travel alone late night in an auto.


Is there a solution for this? Can I smile at them and converse with them, to change their attitude? I guess that also would be misunderstood. After all, this city never fails to surprise me.

Introduction

While I was in Law School, our Law and Literature teacher had once, asked us to write a critical appreciation of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. The Rubaiyat is a collection of short poems, originally written in Persian with beautiful illustrations accompanying each poem. The Rubaiyat, as FitzGerald puts it, is a “juxtaposition of the conscious, subconscious and the unconscious”. I think, it’s a potent description of the human mind. You look into yourself; you will always know that all thoughts have a meaning. To quote Polonius, “there is a method in its madness”.

Thoughts, random as they may be, always mean something to someone.

I am of the opinion that, it would be great to pen down these thoughts, these “Signs” all around, speaking out loud, only if you are willing to “hear” and see the “method” in these.

Welcome to Random Thoughts.