Miss Clueless

End of the month today, here are the books I read. 1. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante 2. The Story of a New Name by Elena Ferrante 3. Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante 4. The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante 5. Oneness vs. the 1% by Vandana Shiva, Kartikey Shiva Yes, I read the Neapolitan novels, all four books by Elena Ferrante. Lina and Elena gave me company, the whole month, my head was full of what Lina did, what Elena said, etc, etc.  1. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante "I feel no nostalgia for our childhood: it was full of violence." The first novel follows the intense, complicated friendship between Elena Greco and Lila Cerullo as they grow up in a poor neighbourhood in postwar Naples. Amid violence, poverty, and rigid social expectations, the girls push each other intellectually and emotionally, shaping one another’s ambitions even as their paths begin to diverge. The novel explores how identity is formed through rivalry, admirat...

I remember the first book I ever bought and owned. It was when I was in high school. I had read other books before; I remember the Harry Potter books, not sure from whom or where I borrowed them, but somehow I got my hands on them, and I was hooked. Now that I think of it, it must be the Harry Potter books that got me interested in reading. The first book I bought was a thin little paperback, with an old man and a fish skeleton on the front. The Old Man and the Sea.  I didn’t know anything about Hemingway back then, just that he was well known. I remember my school English teacher saying it was a good book, giving an approving nod. Or at least I think so, it's so long ago. The Old Man and the Sea is about an old fisherman named Santiago who hasn’t caught a fish in weeks, but he refuses to give up. One day, he heads out far into the ocean and hooks a giant marlin, beginning an intense, days-long battle between him and the fish. It’s just him, the sea, and his determination. He...

October, the month of Diwali and Ningol Chakouba. Not particularly enjoyable for me this year. The night of Diwali, I found myself curled up in bed, hands clutching my head as if that would stop the terrible headache I was having. All the noise, not to mention the obvious pollution, made me mad. Abemma, one of our dogs, had a terrible, terrible time. And why do Manipuris celebrate Diwali? Because the king of Manipur was influenced by a Hindu preacher, converting Meities to Hindus. Well, I reject that. The same week was Ningol Chakouba, initially cancelled (for reasons I won't get into here), but later we celebrated anyway. All that and other things happened, and I also read some good books in October. Here they are: 1. The Source of Self-Regard by Toni Morrison 2. Mother Mary Comes To Me by Arundhati Roy 3. Enduring Loss—Stories from the Kuki-Naga Conflict in Manipur 4. The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy 5. A Life of One's Own by Joanna Biggs 6. Welcome to the Hy...

Wake up, wake up, Children of the Land! You hear and hear, yet turn a deaf ear. You see and see, yet close your eyes. You know, you know, but pretend not to know. Wake up, wake up, Children of the Land! The world has seen the light of science. Has your time not come? Are you still chasing ghosts of old history? Have you forgotten? Do you not remember? Who are you? Where do you come from? To which place do you belong? Who are you to ignore the past that shaped you? Is your behaviour still human nature? Wake up, wake up, Children of the Land! There will be rain. There will be flood. Does fear still dwell in your heart? A tiger does not spare a deer. Have you forgotten? Do you not wish to write a new history? Do you not wish to be brave? Be wary, even as you sleep, Your own blood has turned cold. Like seeks like, and power pairs with power. That history, written by the mighty, Do you wish to let it rule again? Do you not wish to end it? Do you not wish to become Our fath...

How I yearn for personal space and time alone! Long stretches of time alone to do nothing else but think, read, be creative and create. At the moment, that's not happening. But I have been reading as much as I can within the time I have. And I am grateful for what I have, and I know my time will come. I read some pretty good books in September. In order of my liking, starting with the one I like most, here they are: Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison (What a complete gem of a book!!🫶🏻) Circe by Madeline Miller The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison A Mercy by Toni Morrison Rosa Parks by Kristen Susieka The Cassandra Complex by Holly Smale Amazing Grace Adams by Fran Littlewood Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison:  That feeling when you finish a book, think you've just read one of the best books ever, and know this is not the only time you'll read that book. Yup! I got that with Song of Solomon. I guess I have a thing for magical realism. But it's not just that. This book surprise...

 "When we are young, we think ourselves the first to have each feeling in the world." Not me. When I was young, it never occurred to me to think that way, or I don't remember now. But I can imagine how it can be true for others. By the way, this is a line from Circe by Madeline Miller, not the opening line. I've been reading books that are just there, available to me. But amid that, I felt like reading Circe, remembering a friend's recommendation from some time ago or maybe because I saw it mentioned in some Reddit thread.  Now I'm not well-versed in Greek mythology. It seems Circe is a side character in The Odyssey, which I have not read. But I very much prefer this retelling of the life of goddess Circe as the heroine of her own epic. I could relate to a few things here, learned a few things, or got reminded of things I was forgetting. I just love this kind of book. And no, I'm not going to write a review. Just some lines and my thoughts. "...in a s...

There was a time when we had seven to nine cats in our home. Now we have just three. All males. Yumleima, our last female cat, passed away on Aug 10th.  Rex, the rottweiler, is also gone. So unexpectedly. August is also the month we cut down all our bamboo. New things are coming up. Our home used to be surrounded by bamboo on two, almost three, sides. Most of it was cleared. But for a long time, we had a small bamboo grove in one corner. Now it's also gone. No more bamboo shades. Hotter now. Sad. I like having plants, trees, and bamboo around the house. Lots of them. Anyway, I read/listened to these books in August. Five are books I got from an Instagram bookstore giveaway. One is an audiobook. The No‑Show by Beth O’Leary Genre: Romance Three very different women discover they’ve all been ghosted by the same man and uncover unexpected emotional truths.  I liked the twist towards the end. Fun read. The Roughest Draft by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund‑Broka  Genre...