Those Were The Days - N.S. Ravi

There are some books which deliver completely out of the box, unexpected stuff once you finish reading the pages. Those were the Days by N.S. Ravi is one such book where the author attempts to address the present generation about the transitions in lifestyle that took place through the days as seen through his eyes.

The thirty chapters in the book address almost each and every aspect of life, from pencils and pens to bosses and financial institutions. These chapters are written in the form of letters to the author's kids. The way he presents his views and co relate it with the present generation needs appreciation. Many of us, the present generation may find the facts presented through the chapters odd and unbelievable. Yet, it's true. We have to accept those facts. It may sound strange, but we had those days where having a fountain pen or a land line telephone connection at home was a luxury.

The author had worked in India as well as overseas, both in public and private sector and hence the experience he has is huge. The facts presented in the book prove the same. One needs a great observation skill, memorizing power and a good command over the language so that he can sum up those observations, organize and present them in a way that keeps the readers hooked. Mr. Ravi has succeeded in this aspect and it would be unfair for him if the efforts go unappreciated.

Like any other creative piece of work, this book also has its own pros and cons. The only minus point which I felt while reading was the way the chapters were presented. Though it was in the format of letters addressing his kids, it lacked those emotional aspects which would be there in any dad-kid conversations. The book would have been the same even if the address to his son and daughter was not there. This opinion is personal and I am sure many of the readers may find this style interesting.

Hope someone from our generation also brings up such a book years later so that we can also sit back, cherish those moments and say THOSE WERE THE DAYS!!!

P.S. Highly recommended for those who like to get immersed in that feeling of nostalgia and pride of those days as you progress through the pages.

My Rating : 3.5/5

Stuck In Love - A Movie I Watched and Fell In Love with

Stuck In Love - A movie I watched and Fell in Love with

What am I doing? I am supposed to be preparing for my quiz now. Unfortunately i spent my evening watching this lovely film Stuck In Love which drove me to write about it. Till today morning, I literally had no idea there was a movie by this name or it was this damn good. I was busy with room cleaning where I went through an article written by Parshathy Jayanath who happened to be my senior at high school. She is now working for The Hindu and she had written about this movie. I read the article. Not once but thrice. I got hooked on to something. I don't know if it is because of the theme love and relationships or the story was about writers. She even wrote about buying a book that was mentioned in the movie. By the time I finish reading the article for the third time, I had made up my mind. I am going to watch this one.

It was evening seven when I was done with my work. The movie was short - just ninety six minutes long. I don't want to talk about the director's vision or the performance of the lead artists. I have not seen anyone of them before and all I can say is I just loved the Bill, Erica, Samantha and Rusty on screen. The story and screenplay just swiped me off my feet. It is about love, its complexities and human relationships. The way we people in India see relationships is far different from those in the West, but the inner feelings remain the same. At least I believe so. We have a beautiful father-son and father daughter relationship, a separated husband-wife relationship, the usual boyfriend girlfriend stuff and hook ups and one night stands.

Love in any form is the most beautiful emotion experienced by anyone of us. It's the driving force or motivation for each and everything that is taking place on this world. You can fall in love with anyone anytime and anywhere. The way you take it forward is what matters the most. With the passing of the initial excitement, egos, doubts and misunderstandings take over the mutual feelings. It's then where you are left with no other choice other to hold on or let go. None of us can go back in time and relive those moments or correct those mistakes. They were not even mistakes at that point of time. All we can do is give our loved ones a second chance. As Goutham  Vasudev Menon said in Neethane En Ponvasantham, "Sometimes a second chance is the best gift you can give to someone you love and if you love someone, a second chance is the best gift you can give yourself."

Anyways, the Borgens family is not going to leave me in the near future. I just loved this movie and to highly recommend this movie to everyone. To end this without the beautiful quote from What We Talk About When We Talk About Love would be a sin.

"I could hear my heart beating. I could hear everyone's heart. I could hear the human noise we sat there making. Not one of us moving. Not even when the room was dark."