Origin - Dan Brown

Rating – 4/5

One line for the book: A suspense thriller, which proves how technology can be a double-edged weapon.

About the book: A great computer scientist finds answers to the two most important questions:

• Where do we come from?
• Where are we going?

However, because of a disaster, the discovery is not revealed. The book is about finding answers to these questions in the absence of the scientist (and who is behind stopping the scientist to reveal this information). 

What I love about the book: The attention to detail on art, literature, scientific theories, history, technology, etc. Dan Brown is undoubtedly knowledgeable on a variety of fields.

What I did not like about the book: 

• The climax leaves more questions than answers. 
• The book only talks about the human race. What about plants and other animals?

What I learned from the book:

• Where we come from, and where we are heading (although, contrary to what the book says, I think the prediction may not happen completely for another 100 years).
• Technology is a double-edged weapon.
• Art has a language on its own. 

P.S: I was warned that Dan Brown books are gory and hence, may be disturbing. But I did not find the book that disturbing (in terms of the level of detail given to the violence).

What Goes Around Comes Around

Savithri earns a living as a housekeeper. Her husband, Anand, is a construction worker. They live with her aged parents, father-in-law, and her two school-going children, aged 8 and 10. They save every penny to educate their children and look after the elders in the family.

One day, Anand comes back from work, feeling dismayed. The construction work has been paused for at least two months, owing to the lockdown. Savithri, too, has been asked to stay at home by her employer, Nisha.

Savithri and Anand are anxious about feeding the family. They have been waiting for the month-end to buy some essential groceries for the house. They put a bold face upfront. While they are using this time to spend time with family, the anxiety never goes away.

Finally, it’s the end of the month. Savithri, who has never taken debt in her life, is toying with the idea of asking Nisha for help. She has been working there for seven years, and thinks that Nisha will understand her situation.

She calls up Nisha, but as soon as Nisha answers the call, she just inquires about Nisha’s family and well-being, and hangs up the call. She is unable to bring herself to ask for monetary help.

Nisha is sipping coffee with her husband, Rishi. She tells her husband that Savithri called her in the morning.

‘Is she asking for money?’ Rishi asked immediately.

Rishi, who works has a store manager in a supermarket, is strict with all his workers.  He knows the pulse of a worker, and his motto is that servants and workers must be shown their place; otherwise, they may encash our soft corner for them.

Nisha, who works as a manager in a software company, is strict with her team members, too. However, she is empathetic with her colleagues.

She has not answered Rishi.

‘Nisha, why does your heart melt so easily? Don’t you know how these servants are…’

‘She did not ask for money or any kind of help. She just called up inquiring about us.’

Rishi is confused. He does not think that such a thing is possible.

‘However, I suspect that she wanted to ask for help, but hesitated’, says Nisha.

‘There you go – she deliberately did that, and you begin to melt…’

‘Look, Rishi, I still want to help Savithri.

‘Reason 1: She has been working with us for seven years. She has been loyal and hard-working. She has never bunked work.

‘Reason 2: She works only for us and in a school, which is closed now. I am sure her husband cannot work now either. How do you think she’ll feed her family of seven?

‘Reason 3: We are fortunate enough that we need not worry about our basic needs.

‘Reason 4: Think of it as charity. Instead of dropping this amount in a hundi – I am not sure where that money lands, anyways – I am planning to give this away to someone in need. At least I know that 100 percent of the money is in the right hands.

Rishi is speechless. He feels ashamed that it has not struck him how loyal Savithri has been, and this gesture will only gain more loyalty.

Savithri’s phone beeps, indicating a new message. It’s from Google Pay. She has received her full pay although she has worked for only half the days. Also, there’s a message, stating that she’ll receive her next month’s pay as well at the end of next month.

Savithri has tears of joy and gratitude. She heads to an ATM, saying a hundred thanks to Nisha.

Lock down is revoked now. It’s business as usual. Rishi’s attitude towards the workers in his supermarket has changed now, and he notices a change in their attitude towards him too for the better.

Celebrating a Birthday During the Lock Down

My seven-year-old was teary-eyed when she learned that she would be celebrating her birthday just with her maternal grandparents and sister this time – no friends, no parents, no going out to party – thanks to the lock down. She felt better when Mom assured her that after returning from her vacation, she would have a birthday bash the way she wanted.

Finally, the day arrived.

Mom and dad arranged for the party with all the energy they had. Sister and her hubby chimed in. My uncle, too, took out a few minutes from his busy schedule to show up at the right moment, like always. My husband and I, along with a few other close ones, joined via a video call to witness the hungama.

It was heartening to see how much time, effort, and creativity each of them put in to make the little one’s day special. Since there were no gift/cake shops open, everything had to be home-made – the cake, the pudding, the gifts (a greeting card and a bracelet done by my nine-year-old for her sister). 

All in all, it was quite an event, bigger than expected, proved by the broad smiles and excitement shown by the children. Blessed to be part of this family.

Confessions of a Mother

It’s been 20 days since the kids and in-laws have left for a trip. How do I feel?

For the past few years, I wondered if I would ever get a day without having to look at the clock, if I would ever be left alone at home at least for a day, or if I could skip cooking, cleaning, etc.

Finally, that period has came. I feel serenity, joy, and peace of mind in not having to attend to the daily chores. True that I still cook food, clean the house, etc., but I am not obliged to! The point is, I can choose not to! Or I can do it whenever I please.

You can call this mere laziness. The thing is – I still do all these things – on time! The mere thought that I need not do it right away gives me the energy to do it right away.

Read that again.

I still do all the work on time. But, since there’s no obligation for me to do the household chores, I do them with more energy.

And, anyways, cooking food for just me and my husband is like a cake walk – it’s like asking a 5^th grader to answer the question paper of a 1^st grader. I just need 30 minutes to 1 hour to wrap up all my household work – even without the maid.

I know I should be missing my kids now. But I am still unpardonably happy that they are away. You can call me a bad mother, but I feel all mothers deserve a breather like this. I feel blessed that I have one. I feel happier than I would be if I were on a vacation with my close friends because I also have a lot of time to focus on my office work, career, health, and fitness.

Are you guys with me?

A Reflection on Classic Literature

Reading classics is like falling in love.

The first couple of chapters are strange and hard to follow. After you get a hang of the writing style, you inch towards understanding the literature better. When you are not reading the book, you recollect some of the words, and are amazed at how well they were written. It is hard to say when exactly you have begun liking the book, and what exactly you like about the book.

By the time you finish the book, you are left with a peaceful and pleasant feeling. The characters in the book leave a mark in you – most of them are strong and influential.

Blessed are the souls who read classics. I wish I could meet the people behind these books.

P.S: I am currently reading Anna Karenina, written by Leo Tolstoy. It’s an 800-page book, and I am still in page 70. And, I am wondering when exactly I have fallen in love with the book. Now, I can’t think of anything other than the book.

Why Farewells are Hard

There’s so much going on at the moment. I feel as if there’s a clock inside me constantly ticking ‘Oh my God! Oh my God!’ So, I have resorted to penning it down.

Almost everyone in the team knows about my relocation now. But, they have been behaving as if they don’t (because they have been asked to). In a way, this is good – I won’t feel as emotional and nostalgic if they don’t mention anything about the move.

Will I ever find a team as awesome as this one? I am fortunate to work with people who offer sincere advice like a sibling, go out of the way to drop me home on a rainy day, worry about me if I leave office mid-day, hold a door open for me when I sprain my hands, off load my work, and help me before I even realize that I need help. More than anything, these are people who respect me and love me for what I am (including my craziness).

To top it all, Natasha has become as protective as a mother sending her child to a boarding school. It makes me want to hug her.

Leaving this office will be as hard as leaving college. I still remember the day we ate our dinner in silence on the last day of our college. I hope I move on and get busy with my work to overcome this nostalgic feeling.

New Year Resolutions - 2019

A part of my brain is in my pen (now, the keyboard); so, unless I pen down some things, they will not sink in.  

So, here comes my list of new year resolutions:

• Spend more time with kids: My target is at least 30 minutes each day.
• Read/watch work-related content: My target is at least 1 hour per week. And, this means that I’ll have to sacrifice a part of my time reading my all-time favorite classics to reading/watching something useful for my career.
• Improve communication: There’s more to effective communication than just speaking fluently - it is communicating the right thing to the right people at the right time. And, I aim at mastering this skill.
• Stick to my diet and work out: All 12 months of the year – no excuses.
• Learn swimming: Waiting for summer to begin.
• Plan for two vacations: One with the entire family and the other with just my better-half.

Let me look back at them towards the end of the year. Till then, wish me good luck!