~~[Mini Book Review]: Futility ~~

Happened to watch Titanic over the weekend (no, not the first time!). I always have felt that a movie or a book gives you different experiences when read at different times in your life! This definitely proved as one such example. The first time I had watched the movie in theater and without subtitles, I was a teenager.  Yes, I was sad for the disaster, I had cried and I was moved by the aftermath and the tragedy. I still am.  However, the depth of the characters, the dialogues of each character, the agony that each might have gone through hit me hard only this time.

Like the trend nowadays, I immediately went to Wiki to read further and thanks to Wiki, a bit of reading led me to a book “The Wreck of the Titan: Or, Futility” written by Morgan Robertson having strange eerie similarities to the sinking of Titanic. The book was published in 1898 – Titanic sailed and sank in 1912. The book features an unsinkable ship of similar specifications as that of Titanic. This fictional ship also has lesser lifeboats than the ship’s capacity, just like Titanic! The supposedly unsinkable ship “Titan” sinks in North Atlantic on a cold April night after hitting an iceberg – yes, just how “Titanic” did.

Too many of these spooky parallels – made me pick the book. I was expecting a detailed read of the sinking, however, was quite surprised that the actual sinking and the aftermath of the shipwreck was not discussed at length at all. The book takes us through the uncertainty of John Rowland’s life, one of the 13 survivors of the shipwreck, who keeps encountering situations which are too difficult to get out of. At a point, when he is too desperate, though he being an atheist, he looks up to the sky for help from whoever is up above there. Its about this man who somehow manages to moves forward as life directs him to without the possibility to even have any clear view of his own.

And oh, he is strong too, he slays a polar bear on the iceberg single handedly!  Though I couldn’t fathom what a polar bear was doing on that lonely iceberg in the mid of a vast ocean, it did give an impression that it probably was a very huge iceberg.  The one in the movie doesn’t seem too large or vast.

As a reader, you keep hoping that John’s clear conscience through these endless situations doesn’t prove futile in the end – and well, there’s a happy ending too :)

Definitely recommend the book – for the similarities and for the story too

~~ Mommy Memoirs # 11 ~~

So, its been a while!! Day before yesterday, after the usual story telling routine in the night, I asked my daughter to tell me about anything interesting that happened through the course of her day. She shrugged and changed the subject to something else. So I prodded her more which just made her give me subtle hints about how her best friend had a princess pencil box and how it was all prettily pink. I understood that it was time for me to change the subject from a request of another pencil box (she already has 7). I began telling her about how sharing information is very important and how, I, as a child, a teen, a young adult shared everything about my day with my immediate family.

She said, “Like what, Amma? “

So, I took an example of a day where I would return from college and this is how it’d go in the first few hours after my return…

Me (entering the house) – “Ammaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa”
Amma – “In the kitchen”

I quickly would wash my hands, feet, face, change my clothes – Run to the kitchen, receive a cup of steaming hot coffee and something to munch along, comfortably sit somewhere and begin –  

Me – “You know, I was late, last one to enter the class today”

Amma – “Oh, you should iron your clothes a day early or on Sundays”

Me – “Yeah, I know, lets see, then, today,  you know, first period, blah blah blah, second period, blah blah blah, library, blah blah blah”

Amma – “Hmmmm…”

Me – “Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, you know, lunch time, blah blah, notes, blah blah blah, reference section, blah blah blah, LAB, blah blah blah, workshop,blah blah blah”

Amma – “Hmmmmmm….”

Well! You get the drift, don’t you? I should also add (I didn’t tell this part to my daughter) that in school and college, I was a certified nerd (I am definitely not one now), so nothing much happened in these classroom periods except for me furiously taking notes and grasping every word that the teacher or the lecturer or the professor uttered. So Amma actually would get to know during my ramblings about 8085 and 8086 microprocessors and that the antenna that we owned long back and soooooooo used to love to fiddle with for proper reception on TV is called an “Yagi-Uda” antenna etc etc. She would patiently “hmmm” and add her day’s events too in between..There’d be some interesting bits of gossip here and there too!

By the time, I finished yapping about the last period of the day, my brother would return from college, he would lazily complete washing his hands, feet, face, changing clothes and all that blah, come to kitchen, get his cup of steaming hot coffee – and I would go –

Me – “Hey, how was your day?”

He   

Me – “What? “

He – “It was fine”

He  

Me – “Oh, hmm, You know, I was late today, last one to enter the class”
and the entire saga repeats..

Yes, I know. 

And well, if dad was not at home during these 2 detailed conversations, then there would be a third sharing session too where if I miss something, my brother would sarcastically prompt me to add that information  After all why should only he and Amma suffer  

I miss those days and if you think I have stopped it already, no, I do this drama even today. But its a “matured” toned down version of yapping. Moreover, by the time I reach home, everyone is already home and so I don’t have to repeat the same chatter multiple times (or rather Amma doesn’t have to hear the same saga multiple times a day, though she still has to bear it on a weekly basis, when I convey it to my brother).

My daughter stared at me  through this whole revelation and probably felt proud that she is like her cool-uncle-who-shrugs-and-says-fine-and-no-more-explanation-is-to-be-sought-or-offered  

She – “Amma, why couldn’t you wait until everyone was home? Poor Amama, listened about your day 3 times!”

Me –   

I gave her some silly explanation of how I used to be so excited to share my day with my family and so I couldn’t wait until everyone was home and I gently prodded her again to tell me about her day.

She    – “I don’t remember much about today, but Amma, I will tell you about tomorrow, I definitely will”

She then reluctantly asked me

She – “Amma?”

Me -“Hmmm”

She – “So, tell me about your day?”

Me – “Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww”

She –  “What did you do today during your first period in office?”

Me  

And before I could think of what I could answer she laughed out loud  and  added –

She – “Aiyooooooooooooooo Ammma, I totally forgot, for you, all periods are computer periods, isn’t it? Tell me about your computer period, Amma? Isn’t it boring to have a whole day of computer periods, Amma?”

Me –       

~~[Contest Second Round] : Ringing Waves ~~

So, I made it to the second round of the contest. You can read the first round story here. The challenge in the second round was to write on a theme - Forget/Forgive or Recluse and timelines were given of about a week. Of course an art form to be associated along with the contest entry.  Go on read, wish me luck and most definitely let me know your thoughts!!

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Removed from here for my book

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