Mister God, This Is Anna - Fynn

Religious/spiritual ambiguity is an eternal pain. It's like Humpty Dumpty sitting on the wall. Fall is inevitable. To which side is the question. 

Knock....knock....

This motivational book is sprinkled with pearls, collected by Fynn from Anna's brainbox. A handful of them are thought provoking, clarifies some uncertainties, a few are ambiguous and the rest needs a second reading.


Anna is an 8 year old girl. She knows everything about God, the Universe and the art of living. She loves God and everyone n everything with her whole being. She prays to God to help her ask real questions. Anna's Mister God is not a superman who hasn't shaved for about six months, with whiskers n crown nor he useful or usable. 'He is the author of all things, the creator of all things, omnipotent, omniscient and the kingpin-the center. Yet he waits outside n knocks to come in. That makes Mister God a sweetie and us very important. Fancy Mister God taking second place! Ain't that something!'

Yeah, fancy Mister God waiting outside to get in...

Luka and The Fire of Life - Salman Rushdie

Once upon a time, I started reading Rushdie's Midnight Children and got stuck in page 4. Long long time ago, I tried to get a copy of his Satanic Verses but failed. So, this is my first Rushdie book. And Oh! I'm stupefied n delighted.

This fantastic fantasy has been written as a b'day gift for his second son. And this is a sort of  sequel to Haroun and the Sea of Stories which was a gift to his first son. Perfect.

Luka Khalifa lives in the city of Kahani in Alifbay with his father, the Shah of Blah, mother Soraya, brother Haroun, pets- Bear the dog n Dog the bear. The book depicts his adventures in the Magical World created by his father , to steal The Fire of Life, in order to save his father from eternal sleep. Lyrical, rich with word-play, the quest is funny, thrilling and very much chichi n mod. 

Relish.

Train to Pakistan - Kushwant Singh

Set in a small village in Punjab, this grim n gripping historical tale illustrates the aftermath of partition, communal riots, massacres, exodus n plight of refugees. Was it this easy to round up and dump a herd of people to Pakistan? Was it this easy to murder n parcel out a trainload of people to India? Gross.

A must read for the proud patriots who celebrate the freedom struggle saga of India.

The Color Purple - Alice Walker

A very painful and touching saga novel. It tells the sad n pathetic story of an African American woman, Celie. The novel is in epistolary form - a collection of 90 letters, most of them addressed to God. The theme is incest, mental n physical abuse, racism, sexism, religion, homosexuality and women empowerment. The 90th letter addressed to God, stars, trees, sky, people n everything puts a happy end to the heartrending story. Some relief. The language is extremely crude n raw, so  are the characters.

Did you see what I saw? Black/colored/purple, fat/skinny/svelte, the womenfolk support each other n stick together throughout the novel. It's so very important, so wonderful.

'epic'

Epic? You mean 'epic'? Yes, that's the new word of the kalari. Awesome. Hey, awesome is past.  I'm so relieved about 'awesome'. But epic? Perhaps we should do some dictionary digging.
Here we go-

1. epic

   ˈɛpɪk/

   noun

   1. 1.

      a long poem, typically one derived from ancient oral tradition, narrating the deeds and adventures of heroic or legendary figures or the past history of a nation.

      synonyms:

      heroic poem, long poem, long story;

      • 
        
   2. 2.

      informal

      an exceptionally long and arduous task or activity.

      "the business of getting hospital treatment soon became an epic"

   adjective

   1. 1.

      relating to or characteristic of an epic or epics.

      "our national epic poem Beowulf"

      synonyms:

      heroic, long, grand, monumental, vast, Homeric, Miltonian;
   2. 2.

      heroic or grand in scale or character.

      "his epic journey around the world"

      synonyms:

      ambitious, heroic, grand, arduous, extraordinary, Herculean;

Yes. Epic the adjective. This is what you call - word power. Pretty impressive. The usage is the only concern.

" He has re-test in all the subjects. E-p-i-c.''