Book Challenge-Help Needed!

I was blog-hopping and came across this one. http://exlibrisbb.blogspot.com/search/label/orbis%20terrarum%20challenge
Orbis Terrarum is a reading challenge. Apparently there are many reading challenges going around but this was my first encounter with one. To take up this challenge, you have to read 9 different books by 9 authors from 9 different countries in 9 months. The challenge has already started since April 1st and ends in December. I want to sign up but I'm having trouble thinking of the 9 different authors. I can think of a few off the top of my head but I'd love it if whoever reads this sent in their suggestions. I don't think I'll have problems finding Indian and American authors, even British. But it'd be great if you could suggest authors from some other countries. Time is running out......

Sister of my Heart

I recently finished reading "Sister of my Heart" by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. I must admit, I was skeptical when I picked the book up from the library because I associated the author with "The Mistress of Spices", which was made into a movie which was criticized as much for the story as for Aishwarya Rai's insipid acting. But was I mistaken!
I took to the book from page one. It is about two girls, cousins who grow up in the same house and are very close to each other. It is about an old respected Calcutta household and the hardships and challenges the family faces over a period of time. It is about the girls' journey through childhood and adolescence to womanhood, marriage and motherhood with many a twist along the way.
I could vividly imagine the Chatterjee's house, the girls Sudha and Anju, the driver Singhji, Anju's apartment in the US and every other detail, so well has Ms.CBD portrayed everything.
She drew me in into the lives of the characters and I couldn't wait to find out what happened next! So I finished the book in about 2 days...reading when I had even a minute. The tea is boiling? Let me read one page here. Dinner getting ready? I can catch up on a few pages there. And at the end of the day, after everyone goes to bed, I have the luxury of curling up on the couch with the book for a few uninterrupted minutes of reading before I too succumb to sleep...though not because of the book.
As is my habit, I imagine this book being made into a Hindi movie and start thinking which actress will play whom? I haven't been able to decide...Maybe someone else who's read the book can suggest something? I was thinking of Kirron Kher as Nalini, or maybe even Gouri. (Though this exercise worked pretty well for "The Hindi Bindi Club" by Monica Pradhan which I thoroughly enjoyed. I have worked out all (almost all) the characters in that book if ever it is made into a movie. But more on that some other time!)
So, all in all, I loved "Sister of My Heart". Now I am waiting for "Palace of Illusions" by the same author.

Mortality

How often do we see or hear something profound in a very mundane, commonplace surrounding? I did, last evening.
I was at the store doing my routine shopping. As I stood in line at the checkout counter, there was one guy ahead of me. I usually don't eavesdrop or stare at people but somehow I couldn't avoid overhearing the conversation he was having with the cashier. It went something like this.

Cashier: So, how're you doing? (Usual greeting that most cashiers/checkout clerks have for all customers. They don't really expect anything more that "Fine, thank you".)
Man: I'm okay. I'm going to get a wheelchair soon. So I'll be better.
Cashier: Wheelchair? Did you hurt your legs or something?
Man: Well, I have a degenerative spine disease so I'm going to need a wheelchair pretty soon.
Cashier: But you are walking around now. Won't being in a wheelchair tie you down? You won't be free to move around much.
Man: Well, it's ok. I don't have much to live anyway.
Cashier: Huh? (Shocked look)
Man: Yeah, I just have about 6 months to a year to live at the most.
Cashier: I'm so sorry to hear that.
Man: That's okay, you know. Considering everything, it's ok. I'm fine with it.

And he walked out with his purchase. I stood there stunned! It's not every day that we meet someone who's dying and yet is so matter-of-fact about it. It was very hard for me to imagine that this guy who seemed healthy enough outwardly was going to die soon and he knew it! I didn't know what to think. Should I be grateful that I and my family are healthy, should I pray for this guy so that he didn't have to die an untimely painful death? I did both but still...

Out Of Style?

It was a friend's birthday and I went shopping for a gift for her. I know she likes stationery so I headed to the nearest bookstore to get her some beautiful writing paper with matching envelopes. I hadn't bought letter paper in a long time but I was sure I would find something new, something dazzling to present my friend with. After all, it had been ages since the days when I used to write long, detailed letters to my friends and family when I was away at the hostel. With all the new advances in technology who knows what newfangled writing paper was available in the stores now?
Back in those days, I used to buy letter pads (that's what we used to call them) with bright cartoon motifs or faded floral designs or those interesting things called Onion Skin sheets, which were so thin that you could not write on both sides of the paper. So it felt like you wrote a lot more because you filled up more sheets!! Oh it was so much fun, putting pen to paper, watch the words take shape, taking care to put my best handwriting out there! I also used to love experimenting with different colored inks. My favorites were purple and pink, but I've also written in turquoise blue, red, green and brown inks apart from the staid old black and royal blue! It was quite a ritual; writing the letter, sealing it, posting it and then waiting for the reply impatiently. And when the reply came...it was all worth it!
So imagine my surprise when I went to the Stationery section of the bookstore which happens to be one of the leading ones here in the USA and couldn't find any letter pads! There were lots of "note-cards"; apparently these days even if you have to write someone just a note, you write it on a card! Hmm! There were numerous diaries, journals, notebooks with lovely leather, cloth and handmade paper covers. But no letter-paper. Unless you count the plain ruled ones, the kind of which we used back in college for our study notes. I thought maybe I was looking in the wrong place so I walked up to the sales associate and asked her where I could find writing paper. She seemed to be taken aback (maybe I'm wrong,maybe she was just thinking "When was this person born?"), then thought for a moment and said they didn't have any. "We do have note-cards", she added helpfully.
Call me old-fashioned but I really couldn't believe it. Has letter-writing really become extinct? I'm all for the new ways of communication. I e-mail friends and family regularly, and keep in touch using other means of modern electronics, but I never thought writing in the true sense of the term could ever become rare. So rare that stationery stores don't stock letter-paper anymore? I don't know if this is only here in the US or is it the case in India too? I hope not, because the next time I visit India I'm planning to bring back reams of letter paper!!

Nostalgia

I was thinking about some TV show this morning (not American Idol!) and out of the blue I flashed back to that wonderful serial called "Udaan" which aired way back when I was in school!!
Compared to today's "Saas-bahu" nonsense that has proliferated everywhere on Indian(Hindi) television, those early days of Doordarshan were so simple and meaningful. If you are my age and were around when the "serials" just started on our TVs, you will remember "Buniyaad", "Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi", "Rajani", "Idhar Udhar", and of course the "Dadaji" of them all, "Hum Log"! Ohh.....they were sooo goood...Maybe by today's standards they'd seem too slow, boring, not "spicy" enough, but they were good, salt-of-the-earth, very Indian serials...
And "Udaan" was one of the best! I loved it from the very first episode which, surprisingly, I remember quite clearly. It has a little girl (later Kavita Chaudhary who played the lead character) who is feeling neglected and sad because everyone is celebrating her baby brother's birth/naming ceremony with great pomp just because he is the male heir. At the end of the day, someone, I think her father, played by Vikram Gokhale, tells her that just because she's a girl, she shouldn't feel inferior and let anyone tell her she couldn't do something.. He tells her to set her limits high and take flight...hence "Udaan"...(Getting goosebumps while writing this!!) It had me hooked from day one.
Kavita Chaudhary, was a revelation!! Everyone knew her as the sparking-white saree-clad know-it-all housewife, "Lalitaji" from the Surf Detergent ads which made her look at least 30-35 years old. And here she was in "Udaan", wearing salwar-kameezes, even jeans, and of course, her police uniform, finally looking her real age...
Shekhar Kapoor had a cameo as her love-interest later...but somehow I don't remember much of that part..The part that remains with me is her gruelling training to become a police officer and the wonderful relationship she shares with her father.
I wish I could find one, just one, such pearl in the muddy, swirling cesspool of today's so-called drama serials!!

American Idol

When I first came to the USA, I had never even heard of this show called "American Idol". Later, I learnt that it was this singing competition which was also a popularity show since the audience voted for the contestants. (Meanwhile, there was the Indian version "Indian Idol" that was grabbing viewers and spawning multiple look-a-likes on almost every channel on Indian Television. I came to know of them on my next visit to India)
Anyway, so hubby and I started watching the show only last year when we followed it from maybe 6 or 7 contestants to the top 1. After one episode, we were hooked. Yes, it's hugely hyped and occasionally a contestant keeps going on due to looks/glamor and not genuine talent but even then, we kind of got attached to the young people there. We were rooting for one talented girl, Melinda Doolittle, last year and got the shock of our lives when she was eliminated at 3rd place. That was proof enough that it not just talent that mattered on this particular stage. Anyway, the winner, Jordin Sparks was good too...so...
This year, we started at the very beginning, right from the auditions held in various towns/cities across USA where thousand of aspiring singers/musicians came to try their luck. Then slowly, they came down to 24, then 12 and now it's that time when one person gets eliminated every week. We decided that this year, we would vote for our favorites too. No point liking someone if we cannot show them our support in the one way that matters.
One of my favorites was Ramiele Malubay, the pint-sized Filipino girl with the mature, powerful voice. She (sob, sob) was voted off last week. But I was still OK because it was kind of justified. The really strong contenders were still there...Michael Johns(my fave!!), David Cook (my other fave!), David Archuleta(Everyone's fave!) and others..
Last night, which was the elimination episode, we mistook the time of telecast and switched to the channel right after the show concluded!!! We were devastated!! We missed it!! I ran to the computer and logged on to see who was gone...and was SHOCKED!! Michael Johns!!??? The velvet-voiced, good-looker(understatement!) with hordes of girls screaming after his every performance? How could it be? This Australian singer had it all. Great voice, great looks, stage presence, fan following... How could he not get enough votes??
I still feel a pang whenever I think of him. But at least it's not guilt, because I did vote for him.

Kite Runner- the movie

Finally the DVD of "The Kite Runner", based on Khaled Hosseini's book was released last week and I lapped it up that very day.
From past experiences I know that usually any movie based on a book is nowhere as interesting, fascinating, wonderful as the book itself. However, some time back, I'd gone to my library to borrow the 2nd book by Mr.Hosseini, "A Thousand Splendid Suns". The lady at the counter commented that it was a good book and asked me if I had seen the Kite Runner movie (it had already been released in the theatres). When I expressed my doubts of seeing the movie since I didn't want the wonder of the book to be mauled by the movie, she said, "This is one movie where you won't be disappointed. They have stayed so true to the book."
After seeing the movie, I couldn't agree more. Usually, when I read a book, the mental images that I form are so detailed and vivid that the movie picturisation is a big let-down. (This was the worst in the 5th Harry Potter episode. The book was the most interesting one (out of the 1st 5) but the movie was the most dissatisfactory).
But in the Kite Runner, the scenes were almost exactly as I had imagined in my mind. Especially, Rahim Khan's apartment in Pakistan, the room where Amir meets Sohrab for the first time....just to name a few...
The actors were all fantastic! From the kids (Hassan was especially cute!) to the adults everyone was so believable!
The movie is almost entirely in the local Afghani language (I think it is Pashtun, I'm not sure) and I had fun trying to find familiar words. I was surprised to find so many common words between Urdu and . eg. Khatarnak, aulad, bachcha, sharm, rafeek, azeez, and so many more...
All in all, I think this was the first movie that was adapted so well from a book.

"It's My Life"...or is it?

Neeta was a 55-year-old woman who was content with life and all that it had given her. She and her husband had raised good kids who were happily married and settled in their own families. One day, without warning, Neeta's husband died, leaving her alone. But she coped. She lived alone in the apartment, with occasional visits from her children and grandchildren. Her friends, family and neighbors admired her courage and steadfastness in living alone and managing the day-to-day hassles herself.
However, everyone was shocked when she suddenly announced her wish to get married. She had found a friend, someone who was under similar circumstances and who also felt the need for companionship. To the further consternation of her family, she went ahead and got married to her friend!
That was it! The very neighbors and friends who admired her will and strength as a widow, now derided her and made snide remarks. "What was the need to get married at this age?" etc. etc. Her own daughters refused to acknowledge the marriage and blamed her for causing them shame and ridicule in their in-laws' home. They stopped visiting her entirely.

This is a true story and it made me think deeply about the lady and her decision. According to me, once she had done all her duties as a wife and parent, what she did with her life was nobody's business. Not even her daughters'. They had no right to emotionally blackmail her saying what she did caused them unhappiness.
So often, we hear of parents opposing their children's decision to marry. What's the line the young ones offer then? "It's My Life!" Well, doesn't the same hold true for Neeta? Just because she's old, does it mean she has no right to affection and companionship? Would her children have been able to live with her till the very end, keeping her company, taking care of her in sickness? If not, then what right do they have to stop her from finding someone who will?
There were also arguments that she had given up the goodwill of her children for a man who may not be there very long (on account of his age). Well, no one knows when someone's going to die, right? And even if they didn't get to spend a lot many years together, wasn't it worth it to spend the last few days with a person you love and who loves you?
I would love to hear every one's opinion on this. Please tell me what you would do if something like this happened to you.