My tryst with "Indian Summers"

Seems apt for the season, but this one is actually a book review of "Indian Summers" by John Wright. Before I get to the book, let me cover why I wanted to pick this one and how i picked this one up as that is also a good tale. I remember reading somewhere many years back that  during his coaching days John Wright was of the opinion that Anil Kumble would make a very good captain. Its another matter that Kumble eventually took over the reins and did pretty well and justified the observation of former coach who had watched him from close quarters. Also I heard from somewhere about this book which is basically made of stuff from a diary Wright kept during his coaching days so I was very intrigued to know what went on behind the scenes during a huge transformation period when India went from being an also ran team to a force to be reckoned with in turn leading to creation of a strong vibrant team, fan following and a huge cricket market that is there today.

But the search for this book turned out to be an arduous challenge in itself as most stores didn't seem to stock it, I had tried at small bookstore in Navi Mumbai ( where I was based then) where the owner was friendly and used to be give discounts, but no luck with this one. Tried  Crossword and Landmark bookstore, again no luck. I had started buying off flipkart by then and any book I wanted was there waiting with a generous discount but this one proved elusive. I wasn't daunted put a request to notify me when it becomes available and then forgot all about it. After a few months in a new city I happened to take part and win a quiz competition at my workplace and got Odeyssey bookstore voucher and the first thing I went and checked was this book. Again no luck, the guy was friendly and offered to write it down, he even recognized John Wright as our old coach and promised to talk to someone and get back to me. He never did, still I checked a couple of times but it was leading nowhere and after several futile online purchase searches I slowly forgot all about the book.

This IPL V season started and while discussing cricket with friends the usual who was the best captain ( the usual Dhoni Vs Ganguly) debate started and interesting this time during IPL there was a chance for face-off of several men who had led India and who wanted to lead India. While debating this I again wished if I had access to that book of Mr.John Wright where I hoped he would have shed some light on what really went on and how did Indian team team transform itself was it because of an aggressive skipper who managed to give it back to 'them' ( By backing his mates, giving more chances to people as some believe or by coming late for tosses, whirling shirt from Lord's balcony as some others believe). During one of those chats with Vaidya about cricket and captaincy a couple of weeks back I mentioned that I was looking for this elusive book for a long time. "Try flipkart" was the reply, I was pretty exasperated and wanted to start a lengthy drivel on my search for this book when tht was accompanied by a Flipkart link to the book which claimed it was indeed available. After quickly erasing all that i was typing I typed a quick thank you and promptly placed an order. But the order snagged somehow, towards the end the page went blank and order status was incomplete. Only then I noticed the book was priced at Rs.84 ... surely something was wrong, not again! But then I decided I will try again and ordered another book along with this and this time it went through. Vaidya did warn there must be some error somewhere as no one sells a hardcover for Rs.84 and they might ask for money during delivery. So called up my mom and explained this and told her to give me a call when book comes in case they ask for extra money. The book took some time to arrive and strangely nothing extra was charged. When I got home next weekend, this fantastic hardcover edition with a cover price of 18 Pounds was mine for just Rs.84. Surely there is some cricketing God somewhere!

Now onto the book, it was a pretty breezy read Mr.Wright sure has a good sense of humor and his whole India 'experience' thats what it actually is about is narrated pretty warmly. You cant help smiling when you read through many incidents which would bizarre/unbelievable for those unacquainted with India or Indian cricket. But Wright soaks it all up, learns how things move and slowly but surely changes the course towards something positive. He claims he was not all that soft as media believed and he did give players an earful and had picked up fights with high and mighty in the system but still its hard to shake off the image of the genial Kiwi quietly working behind the scenes and getting things done. However the book doesn't contain anything controversial and Wright is quite measured in his criticism. He is aware of the enormous responsibilities entrusted to him, the expectations from a nation of billion plus with very little sporting success. He is frustrated with the way things work and how an ineffective system is preventing a nation with so much talent from reaching its full potential.

Wright takes through all the major events during his term as coach and for an Indian cricket fan it is guided tour ( Like Directors commentary in Movie DVDs where lot of behind the scenes stuff is revealed) of  Team India's major campaigns which resulted in a lot of wins we are proud of. But Wright steers away from all controversial topics and takes care not to put up names or reveal who did what and instead subtly hints at lot of things. Some of things I liked was his narration of how he landed up in India to take up this job with no contract and not even an Indian visa! Lot of hilarious incidents like culture of players sitting in chairs and sipping tea during nets and munching sandwiches in gym while opposition players sweat it out! Concept of different team managers for every tour and getting people who had no clue as managers and how the concept of having selectors from a  Zonal system is turning the whole thing into a farce is well captured.
How he changed that culture with rudimentary support equipment and not much support from board is a story to read. There are lot of info that most people don't know like how Laxman was almost on verge of dropping out of the famous Kolkata test of 2001 because of a fitness issue and he also does cover the incident that became a 'hot potato' - Dravid declaring with Sachin batting on 194! The way he lost his cool and almost manhandled Sehwag ( just like every Indian fan would have) when he threw his wicket with a reckless shot, the book is replete with many such moments. But the relationship with Ganguly and other major players isn't covered in detail, Wright does point out quite a few things though. I thought he managed to strike a right balance between covering various issues while keeping lid on certain private behind the scenes stuff. Even though he doesn't give out much he leaves enough hints for a careful reader which is why I really liked this book.

Like my post - the book is also more on the overall experience and not just the cricket , the frustration and anguish and the talent and hope that is India for him. How it all comes together to make a great journey made a good reading experience as well. Highly recommended for fans of Indian cricket   

2011 - List of books

2011 has been the worst year of blogging for me as I somehow couldn't sit down and write on anything that mattered to me, I had taken to twitter at the start of the year and found it tough to go beyond 140 characters after that!

To make amends thought I will atleast try to salvage something out of 2011, a year I managed to spend a lot of time reading. So thought of listing down books I read; I had a very lofty goal at start of the year - 25 books something couple of my friends warned me I will not reach.

So let me see how I fared, here goes my list

1.Temple Goers - Aatish Taseer

2.Have Space Suit , Will Travel - Robert Heinlein

3.Once Upon a Time in Scandinavistan - Zac O'Yeah

4.Smoke & Mirrors by Neil Gainman - Brilliant collection of bizarre short stories

5.Chinese Whiskers - Pallavi Aiyar

6.Arthur C Clarke's The Collected Stories - (Still not finished) this is a huge collection of his short stories right from 1930s to 90s. Its been a fantastic read, I usually read 2-3 stories once in a while. As I write about it I feel guilty of having neglected the book for last 4 months. But more on that later in the list

7.India After Gandhi by Ramchandra Guha - A must read to get an idea of how our nation evolved after independence ( good read atleast till 80s )

8.Room - Emma Donoghue

9. A Concise Chinese English Dictionary for Lovers - Xialou Gou : Story of a Chinese girl who goes to England to learn the language learning much more about the strange land and an unusual love story. One big diff was the way story is narrated, its from the perspective of this girl and the English in the book is her English - Badly formed sentences, wrong words etc! and it gradually improves as her language and understanding of culture improves ...

10.The Artist of Disappearance - Anita Desai

11.Transforming India - Atanu Dey

12.Chinaman by Shehan Karunatilaka - Thanks Vaidya for the recco, delightful read!

13.Blaft Anthology of Tamil Pulp Fiction ( still reading this, slowly one story at a time)

14.Batman : The Killing Joke - Alan Moore (ofcourse- just had to get this :)

15.The Hotel At the End of the World - Parismita Singh

16.Wide Angle - Anil Kumble ( its a photo album/coffee table book)

17. The Eight Guest and other Muzzafar Jang mysteries - Madhulika Liddle

18. Ambani and Sons - Hamish McDonald ( had to get this after 3 years of working for Ambani! )

19. The Secret of Nagas - Amish

20. Tea time for Traditionally Built - Alexander McCall Smit ( yet another book from the delightful No:1 Ladies detective agency series! )

Then towards the end of the year I got lost in the world of Westeros and other continents created by George RR Martin, easily the best stuff in world of fantasy. Guess the Songs of Fire and Ice series deserves a separate post, but this is what i covered last year

21. Book One : Game of Thrones

22. Book Two : A Clash of Kings

23. Book Three : A Storm of Swords

24. Book Four : A Feast for Crows

25. Salt - A World History by Mark Kurlansky

25 incidentally was my target at start of the year and until i started on George RR Martin's heavy tomes, I was well set to go past that number. And as you could probably notice there are 3-4 books in various stages of completion in that 25 ;)

Hoping I will touch 25 books in 2012 as well :)

Fair Meter :: Meter Fare

Hailing an auto-rickshaw in Chennai is a rare event for me, I usually travel by car to places nearby and work, use buses/train to get to places a bit far away. Last sunday it so happened that I had to go somewhere in between and was short of time so had to hail one. Chennai is notorious for its meter-less autos and so fare needs to be fixed through a negotiation process before trip begins. The initial quote depends on lots of factors from your appearence, confidence with which you ask about the destination, language used ( to judge if you are an outsider). After the mandatory haggling we agreed on a mutually acceptable rate and started the journey. But the driver that day was in mood to talk and talk he did throughout the journey. It all started with my casual remark about the exorbitant fares charged and lack of proper meter system. He made it clear that he doesn't really like doing this rate negotiation etc and is actually hurt by the usual talk that Auto drivers are out to cheat/fleece people and the talk of them being an ill-mannered, rash, reckless lot. That set tone for the conversation throughout the trip.

I asked why not have a meter, what is preventing all of you from using one and going with standard rates as people clearly avoid autos as much as they can. Does he really get adequate business? "We are also normal people who want to earn an honest living, we also have kids going to school and a wife to answer to, vegetables,provisons, rent for house,auto etc" he started. Majority of Auto drivers in Chennai take Autos on rent and need to cover petrol/bribes to cops and any damages to vehicles at the end of day whatever is left after all this is what they take home. "No one wants to fleece as such but situations have forced them" he added and mentioned the fear of his wife's potential scoldings when he goes home in the night with days earnings as one of the reasons for aggressively asking higher rates! I asked him if he agrees that by installing a meter with proper defined fare, the amount of business he does will go up and he will earn more?

He agreed to that saying that is what most of his ilk want but he laid the blame squarely on Government's shoulder. According to him the current meter rates were fixed last decade or even before when petrol prices were still in 30s. When they pay 70 plus now for the same litre of petrol how can they be expected to make any money by plying at old rates he asks. Then he was quick to point out people are not to blame, and that he understands the frustation and anger of middle class against Auto drivers. "No one gets money easily everyone has to work hard to make ends meet, we definitely understand that and even though we try to get more but not at cost of angering customers". He also felt that "Customer should pay willing with open heart if they curse you while giving then that money will not help you or stay with you". That''s quite a thin line indeed they are treading on, given the amount money they ask at first!

He maintained that its a misconception that its easy money for Auto drivers and they are altogether an unscrupulous lot. He started on 'being honest' vs 'being practical' thing and added that lot of people including himself when they start off try to be honest and not overcharge. But then at the end of the day the money earned is simply not enough. His thought process was simple, he felt he had to earn slightly more than an unskilled labourer and if that cannot be achieved there is no point continuing. For a man who rued not being educated enough - he is ensuring his children are educated properly and is counting on them to bail him out once they grow up - his usage of English words amazed me. Maybe it because of living in a city,he used words like "System", "Supply-Demand" and a couple of other English words. I suggested that he could probably look at changing the line of work or something. He admitted that given the way petrol prices are going up he might have no other choice but to shift to something else but he has been doing this job for a long time hence the reluctance to move. It was a different experience talking to people we stereotype as a unscrupulous cheats out to fleece us and to hear their side of the story.

I then moved to another trend in Chennai transport which has always piqued my interest - something called Share-Auto. This is something which evolved and became a very efficient alternate mode of transport in Chennai and I'm told in several other places in TN where the autos dont 'run on meter'. Share-Auto as the name implies is a vehice usually a rickety Piaggio/Bajaj on much bigger capacity where lot of people who pay anything between ( Rs.5 to 15 based on distance/route) share the ride. In Chennai- esp in the route I travel to work, these rickety vehicles have been replaced by sleek Tata Magic which provides very comfortable seats and feels very safe to travel in.

So I asked our man on his views on Share-Autos and what do Auto drivers feel about it. He admitted that they(Auto drivers) are to 'blame' for this and that most of the current share auto drivers are all former auto drivers who sold their vehicles and upgraded to this because of the earning potential. They easily make 3-4 times what he makes in a day he says. According to him no one really expected this to click, initially when these vehicles were availble those who purchased them had hoped to use them for passenger transport to longer distances just like autos. But somehow this model evolved without official permission, since the people driving it/owning it were not able to make ends meet they started taking in more passengers ( multiple sets of paying passengers), this was done surreptiously. They were always under threat from any policemen who notices it and it was a risky business but was profitable as more people saw this as a means to earn support for making this legal grew. But the biggest support for this according to our man came from the vehicle manufacturers, he is sure that they had 'invested' quite a bit of money to get the licenses cleared and create this market segment. And it has really taken off and filled the huge gap in public transport for the middle class and lower middle class. Esp frequent commuters - office going folks and students, for them this has become a very good way to travel where they need to wait for long time for a crowded bus, instead travel more comfortably and quickly at a slightly higher rate than bus but at 1/4th or 1/5th of auto-rickshaw.

I returned back to why things are like this for Auto drivers, why cant they pressurise their union to get Govt to increase the fares if that's what is needed to ensure proper adherence to meters. Apparently Govt has issued too many licences for autos but now they don't want so many Autos on streets and hence they are in no mood to make the system work. Maybe it is true, but somehow that didn't quite make sense to me. Chennai sure has a decent public transport system. But having lived for a while in Mumbai where Buses,trains, autos/cabs co-exist I still feel we need Autos charging affordable/standard rates are must.

While on Autos and meter fare, came across this really neat crowd-sourcing site - MeterPodu Aim of the site is to help in providing average/acceptable meter fares for a given journey ( if u specify a from and to destination in a city) by voluntary data update by people.Brilliant initiative, really essential for a city like Chennai - more power to the guys behind this! Hope it picks up and some standard evolves despite apathy of those in power ...

yet Annather rant!

This recent uprising against corruption is a very interesting phenomenon.There are both positives and negatives from the movement, its good that middle class in India is able to unite and protest against what is clearly a callous government, it is also sad that they are doing this only in this forum and not during the time it really matters like during elections.

I personally disagree with this method of holding gun to government/Parliament and threatening that fulfill whatever I tell you or else …

How different is this from Naxals or terrorists ? Why do we shun them while we welcome this? If you see in Kashmir Valley there is a considerable anti-India feeling among large sections of society as shown by recent stone throwing incidents. So if tomorrow say Geelani decides to hold a fast unto death unless separate nation is created and 4000 people hold peaceful candle march in Srinagar will media also play along and Parliament pass the resolution?

This drafting resolutions/bills and giving instant deadlines is what makes me keep my distance from this, holding marches and asking Govt to properly consider alternatives would have been the right way, but it is not dramatic enough and perhaps the Govt also may not have paid heed too!

Another thing I can’t understand is how do they expect to create a super efficient lokpal which will monitor corruption in higher and lower levels of bureaucracy?

If it’s a super body which monitors corruption at higher level – like scams etc then can understand, but if it has to monitor corruption at district/ town level then u need a mammoth force and the amount of money to be spent would be huge and if u create such a huge body then u would also have a task of appointing several thousands of ‘honest’ people to run the body. According to this article the cost of such a lokpal would be counter productive to progress of nation.

Is this practical? Do we really think it will happen this way?

This is not to say Anna is bad or that he is a naive man getting manipulated by a set of shrewd people as some critics seem to point out. He has done us all a favor by bringing these topics into limelight and encouraging debates and giving hope that something would transpire from all this. Last Saturday thanks to Anna's efforts everywhere people were following Parliament debate live on TV! There was a lot of interest in social media on the debates and country as a whole seemed clued in this time on a key issue instead of apathy usually displayed by middle class.

He has ensured that middle class who do not bother with the nation and policies etc get united and question what is happening which is very commendable. I would like this movement or whatever it is to play the role of a proper Opposition and question the wasteful policies and mismanagement done by Govt which would bring benefit rather than oppose corruption through some super power body.

It would be interesting to see if the millions who sported the badges, walked on streets, gave missed calls, sent self righteous smses and put up facebook updates etc would actually walk the talk and shun corruption going forward.

Tomorrow if they get stopped by traffic cop for some violation will they pay the actual amount or will they give Rs50 to the guy to let them off? If they are purchasing property will these anti-corruption messiahs pay the full amount in white and not quote a reduced price to evade duty/tax? Even if it sets them back by a lac or so?

Which brings me to why we are doing the above mentioned acts? Is it because there are set of 'bad' people who take bribes and need to be weeded out or because of illogical rules and lax regulation that corruption is able to thrive? Should we not look at why things are like this instead of just jumping up one fine day to say stop all corruption?

A rather harsh, but perhaps correct view would be that the whole country is running because of corruption …. If im buying a property/vehicle, I might need to get a couple of approvals which could take time normally but the agent collects 2-3K from me and hands to these guys and without wasting my time I get all the papers signed.

If we stop this from happening, how will it affect me? If I decide not to bribe, the govt officer probably has no incentive to attend to me quickly I might have to spend a day waiting for his approvals in his office which means loss of productivity for me and no gain for him too – loss loss finally! This is not to say that corruption needs to continue, but just to emphasize the point that 'Lokpal' is not the one shot cure for all evils plaguing the country and will not transform us dramatically as most people seem to believe. Maybe what we need is more transparency and methods to make the current system work effectively rather than another policeman, but that is a much tougher route to take though.

the Aftermath

The defence of the 'Crown' was half hearted, more than knowledge of conditions our past reputation and self belief were to be the main weapons ... but once the leader of bowling attack limped out in the first session, things started going downhill. After two heavy defeats suddenly our talismanic leader was under attack, in the third test he responded with a couple of gutsy knocks. I noticed a tweet at the end of the test saying "finally India's captain showed up but sadly the rest of the team didnt" as we hurtled towards yet another heavy defeat.

More than defeat, the way we folded with minimal fight has led to a lot of talk. Perhaps some of the criticism is justified, we have done poorly no denying that, but the expectations were very high. Lot of the hype was created by media of course, but when a team is ranked no:1 in the world you do expect them to win more often than not. But again we all knew England was no pushover, beating Australia home and away is a feat unmatched in last few decades and add home advantage plus players peaking at right time. It made all the difference compared to India's unsettled lineup which was hampered by players not adapting , untimely injuries(we need to remember tht we played first two tests with just 3 bowlers) and sheer bad luck. Curiously some time back people were questioning the whole world no:1 thing saying the system was not proper. But suddenly in this series the whole world seems to think the ranking is all that matters and India is pilloried for doing injustice to world no:1 billing!

This is not a post aimed at criticizing Indian team nor justifying their capitulation. There are enough number of articles/people doing that. What captured my interest was the reaction of public to this, people of facebook, twitter, friends I keep in touch, colleagues in office and any random conversation I happen to hear in office cafeteria or while travelling to work.

Everyone is disgusted with the team and some swear not to follow cricket anymore, but quickly check the score at start of Indian batting to see if Viru might return with a bang! Everyone is clear on what is wrong, in fact a few days back I heard a lot of conversations questioning Dhoni's leadership ability and whether he merits a place in test team. This is a man who had never lost a test series before this tour and has the best track record for an Indian skipper and only one in a long time who seemed to be handling captaincy without letting it affect his batting. I dont think I need to waste any time pointing out his numerous successes but just how fickle is public memory! Just 3 months back when Dhoni smashed a six to seal the world cup people were cheering wildly, sporting "Bleed Blue" buttons and proclaiming from rooptops that we are champions and this is the best Indian team ever. But the moment they lose some matches people turn their back and start attacking the same guys. Again I'm not saying winning World cup means they dont need to win anything henceforth. But such drastic reactions are totaly unwarranted, media seems to be playing an active role in this with extremely critical articles in which reporters get very judgmental and sometimes seem to be worse than your average cricket fan. Also the opinions carried of former cricketers also fuel the fire with every 'expert' condemning team, so cant really blame the man on the street who thinks Dhoni lacks 'dynamism' as captain and needs to be replaced! Everyone has quick fix solutions and their own diagnosis of the problem. Funny thing is most of the problems noticed were there in the team for a long time now, with these very problems we became world no:1!

Its really strange, as a nation we go through life with zero accountability from all authorities and we hardly seem to care about the corruption, bad roads, poor administration and what not, but somehow demand total accountability from cricketers!

Movies I love : Mononoke Hime ( Princess Mononoke)

For a long time I have been wanting to write something about Hayao Miyazaki's wonderful Anime movies. But the fear of not being able to do justice to the material used to keep me from writing , but nevertheless here is an attempt - however lame it is, had to be done !

Mononoke Hime /Princess Mononoke (Japan 1997) , Dir : Hayao Miyazaki

This is a tale set in ancient Japan where forests still loomed large and was populated with large hordes of animals and birds. With forest spirits and animal Gods still dwelling there was a harmony between men and beasts. However industrial era was coming and with it men were getting stronger and bolder and were expanding like never before, destroying forests, setting up forges and factories and making metal. Thus setting up a conflict with forest and its dwellers.

The story begins with young prince Astaka of an eastern tribe who spots a strange foul creature moving through forest about to attack his village settlement . He bravely pursues the creature which turns out to be a demon-Boar God filled with wrath and hatred towards human race . He somehow manages to subdue the creature but his arm gets infected through contact with demon-God. He is told that to save himself from fully getting infected he has to travel west from where this demon God came and find out what drove the Boar God into becoming a demon filled with hatred and wrath and find a way to life the curse.

As Ashtaka travels across the kingdom on his steed ( a mountain elk ) he comes across wars and injustice / bandits and finds that his cursed arm can make him kill people effortlessly when they cross paths with him. As travels further he saves a few men from drowning , they are part a settlement on the verge of forest. This settlement is led by brave Lady Eboshi who has a troop of female warriors/bodygaurds , she has reclaimed some part of forest land had driven away lot of animals. She represents industrialization , equipped with ever improving technology her folk have set up a metal forge where they make weapons and tools but their biggest secret tool is gun. With help of lighter and more efficient guns , Lady Eboshi and her band of followers are now able to expand even further and claim more lands and achieve much more prosperity than they could ever dream of , but she has lot of rivals to contend with human and animal. Leading the attack on Eboshi and her men is Wolf Godess from across the river along with her two sons and an adopted daughter (a human girl) - San -who is Mononoke Hime to the villagers. San leads the wolves on multiple futile attacks on the human settlement as tensions keep mounting between humans and the animals.

But what sets Miyazaki's tale apart from all other representations of human-nature conflict is the way he sets up the confrontations by showing us the true nature of all participants , no one is entirely wrong/evil , they all have reasons for doing what they are doing. Lady Eboshi even though she is leading the drive against nature is not shown to be someone who is purely evil. She works for upliftment of women , to give them the status they deserve in society . In Lady Eboshi's township women work in the factory and have upper hand over men and they worship her and are willing to lay down their life for her. She also rehabilitates people cast away by society like lepers , by giving them shelter and work and helping them integrate and be part of the movement. This is what sets this story apart from similar stories in this genre like James Cameron's recent movie Avatar which had evil , greedy humans plundering a planet . Here all characters have sufficient motivations to do what they have to and no one is purely evil.

Ashtaka lands up in the middle of this conflict , but quickly realizes what is going on and tries in vain to stop the both parties. As Lady Eboshi and men from Emperor's army decide to team up to behead the Deer God , the ruler of the forest - a life giver - in order to completely end the era of forest Gods and start the era of men and machines , on the other side wild boars decide to fight the humans to death to prevent any further damage to forest . Now Ashtaka must team up with San (Mononoke Hime) and her wolf tribe to try and save the Deer God to maintain the delicate balance that exists between nature and its inhabitants.

Like most Miyazki movies the visuals (most of it hand-drawn) are enthralling , the colours , landscape and the sheer imagination take it to a whole new level . This is an epic movie , with sweeping landscapes , lush green forests with brilliantly imagined forest spirits , the battles between rampaging animals and humans is very well captured. This movie takes forward the constant pacifist theme in most Miyzaki movies along with message for living harmoniously with nature , this is truly one of the best efforts from the legendary animator.

Books I read - Nov/Dec

Just happened to read these two books which tread on the same territory - Afterlife . They almost validate Prof Dumbledore's line from Harry Potter-6 "To the well organised mind , death is but the next great adventure"

"The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold

Had heard a lot about this a while back and wanted to pick this up and read ... there was even a movie recently based on this book ... that reminded me to get this one . But the theme somehow put me off after buying the book and took a lot of effort to finally get started. However once I started it was a pretty neat read especially because of unique plot device - narration by a dead central character. This is story of Susie Salmon, a young girl who gets gruesomely raped and murdered in her neighborhood and her body is disposed off where no one can find her. The story is narrated by her spirit watching over her parents , school friends , neighbors and also her killer over a period of time . Susie Salmon watches her family/friends slowly come to grips with reality that their missing daughter/friend may never come back again . As Susie watches from above the once picture perfect family struggles to recover from the loss and move in different directions affecting each others lives and bonds of family get stretched. Its about relationships and coping with loss and its also about love and its power to heal wounds. Everyone affected by this loss deals with it in their own way , but in someway or other they heal and get back.

Young Susie is not sad or bitter but hopeful and optimistic and eager to know how people are doing and progressing in life and wishes they all move on , even though she herself will never be able to experience things people down below are experiencing. Inspite of a little surprising and a tad romantic ending this was a nice read. A significant departure from the kind of books I usually read , but this was worth it !

"Her Fearful Symmetry" by Audrey Niffenegger

I picked this one up as I had simply loved this author's previous book "The Time Traveller's Wife" which was a great read as was a about a character which took on the concept of time. Here once again Niffenegger is on similar territory as concept of life and death is re-examined/challenged this time.

Valentine and Julia Poole are 20 year old symmetric twins , they are identical and are in fact mirror images of each other .They suddenly inherit a big house in England overlooking Highland Cemetery from their recently deceased Aunt Elspeth who is buried in the same cemetery. But the condition for twins getting the house is that they should live for 1 year in the house and their mother (Aunt Elspeth's identical twin sister) and their father should not set foot in the house. As twins move from US to Britain , they enter a world of mysteries and dark secrets.They also meet a few eccentric neighbors including the enigmatic Robert who is working on his thesis on Highland cemetery and also happens to be their late Aunt's young lover. As one twin falls for Robert against the wishes of the other , cracks start appearing between the 'perfect' symmetric twins . In addition to all this Elspeth manages to return as ghost to her house and makes contact with her nieces . There is a delightful subplot involving another neighbor - Martin , who sets crossword puzzles for newspaper but whose life itself is a puzzle as he suffers from OCD and cannot leave his house and hence struggles to get in touch with world outside the house where the love of his life resides . Meanwhile Elspeth's ghost also goes through the same problem as she is bound to the house where the twins nows reside while she desires to move on and get close to Robert , who was the love of her life .Overall it seems a good place to lose one's mind and thats exactly what happens . What unravels is a shocking tale of love turning into obsession and degenerating into madness as the boundaries between life and death blur. The Highland Cemetery provides a great setting for this nice ghost story and it is described very well and almost feels like a character in the plot !