Thursday, January 05, 2006

Books and the Birthday

Enjoyed the birthday with roomie and one more friend. Also watched Bluffmaster and came home around 1.30 am. It was unplanned and therefore, fun. I refused to see any other male friends. God, I am ageing gracefully. Birthday also gave me the opportunity to break the ice with some colleagues. Visited a children’s home and what did we see? Two ladies in the management, fighting. We didn’t know what to do? All of a sudden we were received with smiles. This was a new home and different in so many ways from the one I used to visit.

Reading two very different books. One is by Prakash Singh, Retd. IPS officer and former DGP of UP and DG of BSF, on his experiences in the army and the fight with terrorism. Having posted in Assam, Nagaland, UP, Punjab and Kashmir in the wake of all the major upheavals in those areas as a task master, he gives a good first person account. He also highlights the difficulties faced by the army in trying to implement things while brushing shoulders with politicians and the decision makers. Anyway, he quotes a line used by Former Prime Minister P.V Narashimha Rao in his autobiography. “The decision not to take any decision is also a calculated decision.” It sounds womanlike and bitchy. Therefore, I like it.


Fear of Flying by Erica Jong is a total contrast to the above. It is an unconventional story about an unconventional woman. Laughed at the character’s idiosyncrasies. She is a compulsive dreamer and in pursuit of string-less sexual encounters she calls the ‘zipless fuck’. She is funny, witty, sarcastic and sensual at the same time. She manages to reduce men to mere sexual objects. It has always been perceived the other way round and so, the book is fun. I am in the last few chapters.

So I leave with some of her famous lines:

“You see a lot of smart guys with dumb women, but you hardly ever see a smart woman with a dumb guy.”

“And the trouble is, if you don't risk anything, you risk even more.”

“You take your life in your own hands, and what happens? A terrible thing: no one to blame.”

“Men have always detested women's gossip because they suspect the truth: their measurements are being taken and compared.”

“I have not ceased being fearful, but I have ceased to let fear control me. I have accepted fear as part of life specifically fear of change and fear of the unknown; and I have gone ahead despite the pounding in the heart that says, turn back.“

21 comments:

Ashish said...

I do not see the way the second woman is "unconventional". Indians, yeah maybe, but there are women in the other parts of the world too and surprisingly similar in traits, if not identical.

Sathish N said...

hey

wish u belated happy birthday :)

cya

Dreamcatcher said...

Happy birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy birthday dear Arunima
Happy Birthday to you

d4u said...

I guess ill catch on the second book too:) Interestin lines!!

anumita said...

Happy birthday! Hope you had fun. And yes, a very happy new year, Arunima!

rebel_on_loose said...

Hello there....interesting reading habits....therefore predictably interesting blog as well.
Lolz@ “The decision not to take any decision is also a calculated decision.”
I'm currently reading "My Bleeding Punjab" which was written by Khushwant Singh at the height of militancy.(Not in publication now).
Keep those posts coming !

Jo said...

Belated birthday wishes... :-)

AmitL said...

Hahaha....'the decision not to take a decision is also a calculated decision.' is a great line...(Wonder why it sounds bitchy to u?)....Glad the bday went off happily...No 'bluff',there,na??:)A quote from the other book is also interesting,'the trouble is,if you don't risk anything,you risk even more'...whew..how true.:)

Anonymous said...

hi arunim,

belated happy returns of the day... :-)


hey heard PV narsimha rao's autobiography too is a kewl one it is called "the insider"


The remark from PVN - "the best decision is not to take a decision at all " - would sound more bitchy in the contexts it was used in.... "not doing anything when they had awareness that the AYODHYA mosque was going to be razed down"....

PVN's government had information that such a thing would happen when LK Advani's rath yatra was proceedin there.


PVN refused to let the centre intervene into the state's business ( the best decision is not to take a decision ) as a result the KALYAN SINGH government being abettors to the RSS lineage remained mute and the result a permanent BLOT!


sathya



sathya

Brajeshwar said...

Belated Happy Birthday!
May you live happily and to the fullest for the remaining days of your life.

Digvijay said...

Wishing you a belated HAPPY B'Day !!

Have a nice time !!

manuscrypts said...

a very happy birthday to you :)
so, howdy ol' gal?? ;) ..

junat said...

a belated happy birthday and new year to you.

Anonymous said...

Nice lines there :)

Anonymous said...

happy belated birthday?
how old are u?? that ageing gracefully part has made up a new image of u in my head, nothing like the salsa dancing flirty youngster i had thought u to be.

burf said...

"the inferiority complex" :p

Dreamer said...

“You see a lot of smart guys with dumb women, but you hardly ever see a smart woman with a dumb guy.”
-> Now I know why I dont have any girl friends... Sigh.... Hee hee... Take Care

unforgiven said...

“The decision not to take any decision is also a calculated decision.”

Reciprocated by Narasimha Rao's fourth law of physics, "Each and every action has no reaction" ;)


“You see a lot of smart guys with dumb women, but you hardly ever see a smart woman with a dumb guy.”

Priorities for men/women in life are different (a generalization though, ofcourse there are exceptions, which prove the rule)

“And the trouble is, if you don't risk anything, you risk even more.”

Brilliantly put.

“You take your life in your own hands, and what happens? A terrible thing: no one to blame.”

There are times when one gets to the point, that the buck stops with him. *shrug*

“Men have always detested women's gossip because they suspect the truth: their measurements are being taken and compared.”

Ofcourse, that's the real reason! Really! Nothing to do with the fact that we kinda don't really care to have extensive discussions of who wore what and who fucked who. ;)


“I have not ceased being fearful, but I have ceased to let fear control me. I have accepted fear as part of life specifically fear of change and fear of the unknown; and I have gone ahead despite the pounding in the heart that says, turn back.“

Perfect. Watch Lawrence of Arabia. He says something similar about pain.

"The trick is not to not feel the pain. The trick is not to mind it."


Where did you pick up this book from? It seems like a book I'd like to read.

Pradeep Nair said...

A belated birthday wishes to you. May the coming year have lots of surprises, happiness and success for you. Those quotes are very interesting.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.