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The Shining – By Stephan King

Thanks to this book, I am off horror stores for a long time now!!!

(In fact I haven’t read anything for past one week!!!)

An aspiring writer, who has recently lost a job, gets a caretaker position in an isolated resort in Colorado. He takes his wife and son along. Known for his anger bursts and struggling with keeping off alcoholism, he tries his best to keep things moving smoothly in the hotel, and fight of bad memories of his own actions. His son is gifted  and has certain psychic powers, thus provoking ‘spirits’ that lay in the hotel’s dark secret.

How the ‘hotel’ takes over the father, trying to destroy the entire family is what this story is about. With the help of the hotel chef, who himself has some psychic powers, the mother and son try to run away.

I started reading this book at 8:00pm and couldn’t put it down without finishing it. By the time it was done, the clock had struck 2! Now that is quite an unearthly hour! All I can tell you now is that it was one of the most restless sleep I have ever had!

 

I rate it at 3.5 of 5 stars

When Diya goes to Momma’s office!

She wins hearts and smiles 🙂

 

A one hour commute on Papa’s bike under scorching heat.

Excitement which made her forget her hunger/thirst/tiredness.

The enthusiasm and curiosity to explore every other mobile on the floor.

The short attention span, and long winding talks.

The urgency to soak in and enjoy each and everything that happens around!

The nakhras and jhatkas. The shy look and her trademark smile.
Yep.. that is what my daughter did when she came to my office and stayed for a couple of hours!

Too glam to walk!

I love high heeled sandals.. I really do!!! They have been on my lust-list for a long long time now.  But I haven’t bothered to even try them on when I go for shoe-shopping! Seriously! Who can wear them? And then walk… That too on Indian roads, which have either no footpath.. or if they do, they are too rough and uneven to walk on… No. I am not the kinds who has a chauffeur driven car with a maid to look after her bags and kids while shopping. I do my own walking (sounds crazy to my own ears 😉 ), carrying shopping bags, and running after my kid who feels that shopping mall is the right place to practice and perform all kinds of acrobatic acts!  It is difficult even in my old fashioned shoes to keep up with her pace and make sure that she isn’t out of my sight even for a second. I dare to wear heels that are over two inches only when I am out with hubby, sans daughter. And he is warned even before we are out of the building gate. He is supposed to watch out for me in (rare) case that I am walking all by myself, without clutching his arms tightly. If you ask , he would show you the purple lines on  his arm which I had been clutching during such trips!

 

 

Pic from here

Full Dark, No Stars – by Stephan King

A collection of very dark stories.

It is the first time I read Stephan King’s stories. And they have left me speechless. The details, the description, the characters – they are all so real that you can almost feel them around.   After you have finished the book, some of the incidents might seem a little far-fetched. But while you are reading them, you cannot point them out.

The stories just suck you in.

I rate them at 4 out of 5 stars.

 

 

Pic from here

The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings

Any book that has George Clooney on its cover page has to be good! 🙂

I haven’t seen the movie, but I had heard enough about it to buy the book.  I liked it. Not LOVEd – but just liked it. The plot is simple and quite believable. The trauma, emotional turbulence that goes on inside the mind of a person who realizes that his spouse was cheating on him is heart breaking. To make the matters worse, he can’t vent it out simply because his wife is dying and he is decent enough to value the memories they had built together.

But that is not the only dimension to this story. It is also about a lonely man coming to terms with the fact that he would have to take care of his children all by himself now. Their physical as well as emotional needs are to be considered. At this point, one is reminded of the fact that a mother’s touch is something that can never be replaced, no matter how troubled the relationship is with her children.

I rate it at 3 out of 5 stars

 

Pic from here

The Secret of the Nagas – by Amish

The sequel to the ‘The Immortals of Meluhas‘, this book takes the story of Shiva a little further. With the title and responsibilities of a hero being thrust on him, Shiva goes out and tries to fulfill his dharma. As a story, it is full of twists and turns. But even as you enjoy the surprise elements, the underlying message gets clear.

There is nothing that can be called pure good or pure evil in this world. All this is just a word play, thanks to different perspectives. And also, unconditional acceptance is what true love is all about…

I liked the book… Not for its language (which is rather stale at certain places), or flow of the story (sluggish at times). But for its ability to invoke certain old memories when I have been unfair and unjust towards others.

I give it 2.5 out of 5 stars.

 

 

Pic from here

The challenge..

The house is almost empty again..and I am left to face the enormous challenge – how to entertain Diya without resorting to TV, laptop or mobile phones!!!

 

It is the first day of ‘us-alone’….

I have my arms and ammunition ready (books, activities, craft project ideas, shopping trips,…)

We started the day early, went for our usual morning walks (which didn’t happen in past one week due to irregular sleep timings), finished daily chores, and look forward to the day ahead.

Till now, TV time = 20min.

………………………………………………….

 

What activities do you plan for a four year old kid? Diya has a very short attention span (like perhaps all other kids of her age), and I need to invent something or the other to keep her busy (and off my back while I am working 🙂 ). She had got stencils and colors as gift from friends and family. And we spent exactly 15 minutes doing that!

The next ‘activity’ was to make her baby doll swim in bucket of water!

In between, a few trips were made to the living room, to check if the TV is working! (I had unplugged the set-top box 😉 )

And then the rigorous dance session commenced!

It is only11:00am. And my work has just started!

But I have a few ‘ideas’ that should keep her busy and hopefully get her tired by lunch hour…. And more than anything else, away from that idiot box!!

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Things that we teach Diya!!

 

Me: Diya, Are you my daughter?

Diya: Yes. I am  your BEAUTIFUL daughter!!

 

….

Me: Diya, Are you my friend?

Diya: Yes, I am your BEST friend!!