Book Review : The Story of A Suicide

The Story of a Suicide indeed illustrates the circumstances of how an individual decides why he no longer wants to live in this beautiful world.I am totally against suicide,yes even in cases where a person has no longer a life,we proclaim fit to proceed.I believe we are one of a kind and the mere fact that we are alive and thinking,must help us overcome the thoughts of being dead.I feel that half the courage one has in oneself  to be able to choose death willingly is more than enough for him to face the world and live a life ahead.

And the real reason,I believe that one becomes forced to choose death over life is the weight of the burden of expectations that hangs as dagger above us.Only if we are able to break free the expectations set upon us,will we be able to rise and make a mark.If we are born poor,our society deems us unfit to be a part of it and taunt us.Even if get the right education,if our social status is different that their “superior” ones we get insulted.It’s a truth that this sort of expectation kills,especially in our social set up.The ranks,marks,relationships, everything matters to parents.Their entire future is closely aligned to their children’s.So if the child deviates a little bit from their path of dreams aka expectations and if there is an emotional background to it,it’s better to be dead that be alive and being taunted for their rest of lives.

Being said that this web-novel narrates the story of four people Hari,Charu,Sam and Mani and how fate had intervened in their actions that each one becomes a responsibility to the death of the protagonist,Hari.It was a final destination of how the entire chapters were set up for the final showdown.The characters are well thought of and important taboo topics of child sex abuse, homosexuality, love, betrayal, expectations, cyber crime, sex, passion are well described,connected and illustrated.

The crux of the story,I felt was the failure of expectations.Sam believes Charu is in love with him and when he finds out it never was the way he had expected,he sets out for revenge.He sets up Charu and stalks her,that she decides to catch hold of him while in the act. A twist in the tale makes the trap set up for Charu ends with the life of Hari.Hari is forced to take the decision of death,due to the burden of expectations his parents,his social status and the expectations he had in his partner.He expects to find solace in his partner,Mani but Mani’s actions had his relive his most traumatized part of a life of his robbed childhood.And Mani,he expects Hari to understand his acts as his love,but Hari could not tolerate the same.

We need to be aware that times are changing so fast that our outlook towards life also needs to be changed.The social status or facebook status is no longer important but the life status, on finding what you are meant to give this world and how you can do it must be one’s aim.Parents should help and guide children to find their passion and support them for what they need to win their life.No matter what  circumstances are parents must spend time with their children,make them feel comfortable in sharing their thoughts and struggles.

Child sex abuse is very prevalent in any society and we all need to stand up against it.Status shows that mostly it is our family members whom we think we can trust, takes the chance to exploit the innocent kids.We must never turn away from what a child has to say and we must always support and help our child,cause these scars run deep and in turn changes their personality.By staying with them,helping them heal we can also forgive oneself.There are more ways of healing than ever before and I urge everyone to make use of it,rather than staying within themselves and being afraid of taboos.The website itself tells us more ways on how can one find a way out,it just a matter of reaching out.

Maybe I am too old for today’s youngster’s modus of Operandi in achieving instant likes,twitter shaming ,being bold by stating tales of vagina and penises.This novel also told me how I must help my child to channelize his talent to the welfare of another person.I as a parent must know that I can help my child build his world without comparisons,without hate but with compassion and love.It made me realize how the entire thing is relevant only in my head and not anywhere else!!

One of my quickest,deepest read of this year,this web-novel shows that we can easily mess up with a life.It is very easy to go into depression and thoughts of being insignificant emergences.It is a brutal truth of society we live in today.The tale ends with a death,not the sugar coated , the happy ending which we normally crave.The highlight of the web-novel is the illustrations.They were commendable and very apt to the chapters.It felt like Namboodiri’s drawings. 🙂

Note : The entire team of The Story of Suicide,deserves a round of applause as I have never seen such a kind of amalgamation of gems in setting up of a story.Usually, when I read a book,I glance through the Thank you page and the names go into oblivion,but not in this case.Kudos to each one of you.

 

Story Time!!

I used to wait for my summer vacations,just like every other kid in the town.I will be traveling to my mama’s home.A place so far away from cities and deep in the forest.And there,my grandma will be waiting for all us,me ,my brother,our cousins .It was the big-fat-get-together.It was a kind of ritual , late in the evening, after we light our lamps,we all kids sat around our dear”ammama” while she recites the stories of Mighty Kings,their wars with cruel Rakshasas.The wild chases,war,divine interventions from Gods and finally the always happy endings.The tales of her wild imagination combined with the mythical stories .Some tales took days to complete as they had sub-stories.I used to remember every single word she used to say,every single emotion she used to explain the situations.And then,after vacations,I used to tell these stories without any loss of expression to all my friends at school and in my colony.That part of a storyteller in me, made me a star among all my friends.

Then,”TV” came to our ancestral home and the story telling became a thing of past as vivid cartoons replaced my grandma’s stories.Even she became more interested in those stupid-never-ending serials.And eventually,the art of storytelling was lost as we all grew up.

Some form of storytelling appeared in those hostel days when someone would be able to  watch a movie or two and describe the same to us,the unfortunate hostellers in the room and of course,stories of imaginations stretched only to the that of the movie maker.

Storytelling was totally forgotten until I became a mother.The excitement of telling my girl stories that I heard,collected and absorbed in myself was very high.I wanted my girl to enjoy stories as much as I did and I didn’t want to force her onto it.With a lot of expectations and eagerness I had bought her those colorful books with a lot of pictures and minimal words,but then she quite didn’t like it or rather didn’t show much of an interest.And I understood,it was me to be blamed!!.Which kid would like to read or go through books when they have immediate access to growing animations,youtube videos. ? I was saddened and felt she might almost forget to use her imagination according to her will and then create stories.I used to console myself saying,she is only 2.5 years old and with growing years her preferences will(must) change.

It was then, I got the Colgate Magical Stories hamper.I was excited that I can somehow make my girl involve in this activity.As soon as I sat with her to cut out the pieces,she asked me to throw them away.She said,”Amma,no no,this is not nice“.Should I tell you,my heart sank!!Yet,I went ahead and cut them all,thinking somehow I can make her participate.Seeing me cut out pictures of  starfish, whale, puffer fish,octopus etc which she was very fond off,she came running to me and then slowly began to show some interest in the stuff.And voila,I started my storytelling episodes and she also contributed,saying “Pufferfishes comes to us with puff puff “.I was on cloud nine,totally happy.

Thank you, Colgate, for making me remind of my childhood and helping my little one show some interest towards stories from her amma 🙂

 

*ammama – grandma
*amma- mom

A Tale of Growth!!

“Growth”,a very special term in a parent’s dictionary, especially if they are new to nuisances of parenthood.I am one such parent who has the faintest idea about what to expect next in the life ?! Right from the day my girl was born, I always wanted to make sure she grows into a strong girl,immune to common diseases and always be active,to the extent that I become tired of answering her queries 🙂

I was happy that “N” used to have her food without much trouble.As long as she is full,she was happy and playing.Then the terrible-twos came by and my girl, “N” has become this stubborn lady who simply shouts “NO” to every kind of food we try to feed her with.I tried everything from rice-dal mixes to vegetable soups to fruit juices to milk to fish.I had exhausted every item in my list trying to feed her.Adding woes of being a working mother,I literally cried trying to make her eat anything at all.!! The lack of proper and nutritious food she became much more prone to common diseases like cold and fever which made our evening plans rather easier.Instead of going to a park to play,we started frequenting the medical clinics.And those medicines have made her appetite fly away into the clouds.

Sigh!

Not having any idea about what to do the next ,I on a whim bought Horlicks Growth +.I knew she would definitely say a big “NO” ,thus I gave a small spoonful of the same.You guessed it right,”N” spat it all out! Being a mother,your kid teaches you everything about being patient.I tried to give her a spoonful of the same next day.And after a couple of days, she came in and asked for a spoonful of “black Horlicks”,in her cute little voice when I forgot about the same.She finally liked it.Slowly I tried to mix it up with milk and was able to feed her the same somehow!![No words to explain the process here].Anyways,the trick worked.Mama happy,Baby happy.She even named it as “Black Horlicks”.Kids,I tell you!! Though I was apprehensive to give my girl anything which might sound artificial,I was more than happy that I could find something that can eventually make a way to her tummy and supplement her with the lost nutrients.I have seen that my girl has visibly become less tired and irritated.She now gets enthusiastically involved in various activities at her playschool.She learns,understands and try out new things at home as well.She also sleeps well and grown back to my old happy child 🙂

I already knew that steady and proper growth at the right time is a very crucial to the overall development of a child.A good plate of healthy and nutritious food in the early days of childhood helps kids grow into the later stage of life without any major lifestyle / health issues.But the most overwhelming task is in making kids eat the nutritious food which aid in their growth.The least we can do is to provide supplements as in the form of health drinks to the kids who refuse to eat a morsel of food in any other way.

And Horlicks Growth + is very much recommended product,right from my experience!

Cheers :)

At 3,I believed happiness was everywhere and in everybody.

At 5,I believed happiness was to see everything this world just by climbing up my dad’s shoulders!

At 6,happiness was when I got to eat my favourite biscuits as snacks .

At 8,happiness was when I won the first district level competition for a painting contest.

At 11, I was on cloud nine, when my parents bought me that cute birthday dress after repeated requests from months before :).

At 13, Oh my evergreen pick hero bicycle!!

At 15,Happiness was all wrapped up in that proud feeling of topping my school.

At 18, The excitement to be able to become an Engineer that too in a Govt college,without burning a hole in my parents emergency funds.

At 19, Finding my way out of innocence of childhood,trying out adventures with friends,late night talks,hostel pranks,cultural,dances 🙂 Sweet!

At 20, It has to be the look returned by the boy I had a huge crush upon,well that made me happy 😀

At 21,Securing that first job,happiness was redefined when I saw tears in my amma’s eyes!

At 22,I’m sure it was the first salary I earned 😀 and the independence it bought.

At 25,earning a decent salary and being able to help my dad built our home and I realised money do bring happiness.

At 26, Getting married to “The One, R”

At 26,blush blush…First Kiss,how can I miss that ;).Damn,more than being happy,I was nervous!!

At 29, Holding my little girl before anyone else could have :D,that is the most happiest I have ever felt.I do certainly believe, this cannot be topped off with..:D

At 30,Being here..I know,I can go home to see my girl who will be waiting.I know,I have my mom and dad to take care of me no matter the age.I know,I have a superb hubs waiting for my return.I know,I have a better job that most of the people.The realisation,has made me more humble and happy.So,yes,This moment makes me happy

In response to the IndiSpire Edition 108 : What does happiness mean to you? Do you go looking for happiness?

MJ-The Legend

Michael Joseph Jackson!

MJ

Now,back to my story!

I never had an inclination towards music,even though my parents are avid lovers of songs and my dad is quite a good singer himself.I,on the other hand, had a kind of aversion to music.Though there are some film songs which I like,and some keertanams that I often listen to.I absolutely hated those album songs,the ear splitting rock music or the english songs.I only knew a handful artists like Britney Spears ,Celine Dion(thanks to Titanic) and then MJ.Without even listening to any of his masterpieces,I chose to dislike and ignore him.

Now,my husband is totally a divergent of me.He is a music junkie who has gone so far to get the latest of gadgets for listening to music with all its clarity and loudness.He was “flabbergasted and disgusted” to know that I have not heard his favourite musician of all time.Now,he had taken up the pledge to make me understand what I was missing in my life :P.He started driving me crazy by repeatedly playing MJ songs.All my pleas fell to his deaf ear,he never listens to me but only to MJ.At first,I was forced to listen to the legend.Then slowly  his magic worked out.At some point of time,I started to like those beats,the lyrics,the song,the mood he created and then after some days,I started to hum those songs and occasionally tap my legs.You see,I wanted to show my hubs,I still disliked him.But later on,I started to miss his energetic songs :),it was then I truly understood what I had been missing in my life,”Music”

I have this weird habit of reading up everything about anything that I am hooked up before I actually start using it.Say,if I am about to read a book,I devour  all about the author and even read the reviews of the book that I am about to read before even reading the book. :D.Before I had a chance to watch an MJ performance,I started reading all about him.I read about his start of career,his vocals,his family,his  illness,his changes,the allegations against him and mostly everything.But what I felt was that,none of this denies the very fact that he is indeed the “King of Pop”

I still remember the awe,I was in when I watched his stage performance “Michael Jackson “Billie Jean” 30th Anniversary Madison Square Garden NY” in youtube for the first time.It was unbelievable!!!.From the moment he enters the stage he conquers them.OMG…I have never seen another person do that.Only he can up his performance.Never once can we feel a drop in his energy!.He is simply Fantastico!!

Music is what had made him “King of POP”.It is the music he created,that resonated with the people around him.Its his soul rendering music which have made all of us give away a piece of our hearts.Every single syllable out of his throat,shakes you,feels for you, eventually drifting you to another world.And his subtle ways of hinting against the various problems and atrocities in this world ,through his songs.His songs are all different but every single one of them has that stamp of MJ,that Navigates us to a whole new world.

Oh,I was again floored by the knowledge that all his dance moves are his own creations just like his music.And he defined the dance moves.They are always new, different,Peppy and mind boggling.And the most amazing thing,it still remains so.Always peppy!! I don’t think,there is anyone this planet who would not have tried or at least heard his famous MoonWalk?

Or his gravity defying stunt! Or his robot dance..Uff!! He is always full of energy doing the thing he loves the most.Thats passion.Thats dedication.And when we do something which we love,I think we will never be tired.Ahem!!

And boy,talk about the deep Impact he has created and still creating,on the people of this world!.It is something very difficult to achieve.His “Thriller” released in 1983  is still the best selling album in the world.That is like 33 years and counting!!!.

Now he is what a true performer is,One who has the capability to touch and change lives through music.One who is original.One who is a visionary.One who is truly is a legend.

You will always be missed MJ.

 

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

 

Images Courtesy : MJ FB Page Photo stream