First. Forever : N.J.Yashaswi

 Just finished reading First. Forever of the very inspiring 'Dreamer, Doer, Die-hard optimist, Visionary Entrepreneur,  Mentor'; as the footprint describes,  of the founder of ICFAI. 

Though gone too soon at just 61, he has indeed created a legacy with the vast number of universities,  educational institutions and books. 

Through them he has touched many a lives. A must read. 

Also awaiting a detailed Biography on him to be released soon.

When people struggle to complete one professional course he was first rank holder in B.Com, CA and CWA both inter and final.

Pesarattu & Allam Pachadi

 

Ingredients

Whole green gram (moong dal)

Rice (optional, for crispiness)

Ginger

Green chillies

Cumin seeds

Salt

Water

Oil or ghee for cooking

🥣 Preparation Steps

Soak: Rinse and soak whole moong dal (and rice if using) for 4–6 hours or overnight.

Grind: Drain and blend with ginger, green chillies, cumin, and salt to a smooth batter. Add water as needed.

Rest: Let the batter rest for 30 minutes (optional but helps texture).

Cook: Heat a pan, pour a ladle of batter, and spread it thin like a dosa. Drizzle oil or ghee around the edges.

Flip: Cook until golden and crisp, then flip if desired.

Serve: Traditionally served with ginger chutney or upma.

Here’s a summary of how to make Ginger Chutney (Allam Pachadi), a popular South Indian condiment that pairs beautifully with idli, dosa, vada, and especially pesarattu:

🌶️ Ingredients

Fresh ginger – sliced (not finely chopped to avoid bitterness)

Onions – cubed and separated into layers

Chana dal & urad dal – for texture and aroma (can substitute with peanuts)

Dry red chillies – for heat

Tamarind – soaked or added directly

Jaggery – for sweetness

Salt – to taste

Oil – for sautéing

🍳 Preparation Steps

Soak tamarind in ¼ cup water or set aside for blending later 1.

Heat oil in a pan and fry chana dal and urad dal until golden. Add red chillies and fry until crisp 1.

Remove dal and chillies from the pan and let them cool.

In the same pan, sauté onions and ginger until onions turn pinkish-golden. Avoid browning the ginger 1.

Cool all ingredients, then blend with salt, jaggery, and tamarind until smooth 1.

Optional tempering: You can temper with mustard seeds, curry leaves, and a pinch of hing if desired.

Feedback is'nt a mirror - it's a filter

 

Agree?

Understand and know the difference between Feedback vs. Criticism

Criticism compass: Decode what you receive

Horizontal line Kind to Harsh; through middle verticle line Fair to Unfair.

Put your feedbacks into 4 Quadrants. 

• Pause
• Breathe
• Label - Name the experience 'I feel hurt', 'that felt unfair'
• Shift - from judgment to curiosity - ask 'what is this feedback really about?'
• Use - grounding self talk - "I'am safe, This is not personal. I can respond. Not react."

Responding not reacting: ACR method

A - Acknowledge - Thanks for sharing that, I hear you (Doesn't mean I accept what you say)

C- Clarify - Can you help me understand what you say? Example?

R - Respond - That's helpful to know

Open without submission, curious and constructive 

It's a framework and not a new skill. 

Knives Out

 By Nandakishore Varma

Agatha Christie wrote the whodunnits with the most intricate plots. She was never "literary" (even though her language is pretty good); she never created very complex characters; and her stories followed the same formula, with the detective finally assembling all the suspects and pulling the most unlikely one out of the hat. Very unrealistic, as her critics (despicable humans, all of them!) scoff; very enjoyable, as her countless fans (among whom the author of this post considers himself) say. (Those who badmouth Dame Agatha and her works need to be given strychnine in their soup, shot through the heart and stabbed in the back of the neck as they sit reading in their library - but that's the subject of another post.)

I watched the movie "Knives Out", directed by Rian Johnson yesterday night, and was immediately reminded of Christie. I looked it up on Google and - voila! - it seems that he is a fan, and this movie is a tribute to Dame Agatha. And what a tribute! It is intricate, fast-paced, and an extremely ingenious whodunnit; but what makes it special is its level of self-awareness. The tribute is also a spoof on the genre of the cosy British murder mystery.

Harlan Thrombey, a best-selling crime novelist, dies on the night of his 85th birthday. It's apparently a suicide, with author having cut his throat himself. However, renowned private investigator Benoit Blanc is pulled into the investigation by an "anonymous client", who suspects foul play. And in the tradition of all good whodunnits, the whole family is there so that there are no dearth of suspects! As the investigation proceeds, the police doddering about in the time-honoured whodunnit fashion and the private sleuth going about in his own eccentric way his wonders to perform, secret after secret is revealed until the murderer stands exposed.

The movie is full of caricatures of the standard tropes of mystery fiction. The money-grubbing relatives, the never-do-we'el son, the dedicated nurse, the unimaginative police officer and the eccentric detective (who is of French origin, natch!) all playing their roles to perfection. The house is a huge New England mansion with creaking staircases and secret entrances, which all faithfully play their assigned roles. The camera floats through the mysterious corridors and the editing transitions smoothly between the flashbacks and the present. We know that we are watching a great murder mystery - but at the same time, the director is telling us not to take him too seriously.

Every good whodunnit usually has something unusual in it. Here it is the strange medical condition that plagues nurse Marta (who is also the central character) - telling a lie makes her vomit! This unrealistic "disease" is used to full potential by the director to drive the tale forward.

Most whodunnits can usually be only watched once - once the cat is out of the bag, we lose interest. But I believe this movie can be watched multiple times to appreciate the beauty of its construction. Kudos the director. Well done, _mon ami_!

A Gentleman in Moscow ~ Amor Towels (40 of 25)

From 21st June 1922 to 21st June 1955 Count Alexander Rostov live in an attic room at Hotel Metropol  while Russia undergoes decades of tumultuous upheaval.

An historic fiction,  'The Gentleman in Moscow' by Amor Towels deals with the why and how of the life of this gentleman in Moscow. 

Few striking lines from the book:

"Having acknowledged that a man must master his circumstances or otherwise be mastered by them, the count thought it worth considering how one was most likely to achieve this aim when one had been sentenced to a life of confinement"

Parents responsibility "To bring a child safely into adulthood so that she could have a chance to experience a life of purpose and, God willing, contentment."

"But what of poetry? You ask. What of the written word? Well, I can assure you that it too is keeping pace.......our poetry has become an art of action. One that will speed across the continents and transmit music to the stars"

Then comes Mayakovsky's poem:

Suddenly - I

shone in all my might,

and morning range its round.

Always to shine,

to shine everywhere,

to the very depth of the last days,

to shine -

and to hell with everything else!

That is my motto -

and the sun's!

Poem and Poetry and then there is Helena's death in 1916, Nina's desire to experience everything,  friendship with Marina and Andrey and Emile, and Mikhail Fyadorovich Mindich and Katerina and love in different boxes like buttons of Anna and Sofia. 

Where we go, what we do does it matter?

"I am confused about the ending and need help figuring it out. Was Rostov just swinging by his childhood town to see his old home and pick up his gf before finally leaving the country to reunite with Sofia..."

Wanted clarity and so went through goodread reviews and this is what I understood:

Osip is the key! As the Kremlin officer who is "charged with keeping track of certain men of interest" - he is the Kremlin officer at the end who says "round up the usual suspects" - a huge nod to Casablanca and a smirk. So no one probably even looked for him or Anna! 

He did leave Russia before the revolution but came back knowing the risks. He came back, because Russia was his home. And, he made the best of it in the Metropol...what an adaptive individual! But, in the end, he wanted to go back to his old stomping grounds...where the apple trees were blooming. Who knows what happened next. I think that is up to the reader. But, I do think that if Rostov was caught he would have been happy that he was able to get his "daughter" out, that he was re-united with his love, and that he was able to breathe the fresh air of the country while looking at the apple blossoms once more. How it could it get any better than that for a man who had lived the better part of his life inside a hotel?

Bishop will never find the count because the Bishop thinks the count is all about surface aspects of wealth and fame so he would assume The Count will be in some world capital living large. The Count was all about the simple pleasures of courtesy, appreciation, shared history which is why he returned to his home.

Robert Irish Rostov getting out of Russia would be too "romantic" an ending, I think. I thought the twist of going "home" was brilliant for a character who had been entrapped for so long. The presence of the "willowy" Anna does add an element that suggests their love is likely doomed, but in such a small town, and a ruin, maybe not. I think that uncertainty is part of the beauty of the ending.

Count tricked his pursuers into thinking he went to Finland, and even before that he tested what Osip would do by showing him Casablanca. As we saw, Osip has no intention of actually going after Count.

Count did reunite with Anna in his birthplace but his house had been burned down and we saw he is quite capable of letting go. He may be settling in some remote village, Russia is enormous, they would never find him, and it's been 50 years since they got rid of aristocracy, I don't think it's at the top of Party's list of important things to do any more.

But one thing that hints he may be leaving Russia is his conversation with Anna:

“Sasha, I know you don’t want to accept the notion that Russia may be inherently inward looking, but do you think in America they are even having this conversation? Wondering if the gates of New York are about to be opened or closed?

“You sound as if you dreamed of living in America.”

“Everyone dreams of living in America.”

Now this could just be what prompted him to send Sophia to America, but the fact that Anna wants to go there and that he meets her at the end could also be foreshadowing where they're going after that. I just don't see Anna as someone leading a quiet and unassuming village life.

Could be, he visited his childhood home one last time, rendezvous with his lover in a place the authorities would never think to look for him, then left Russia to join his beloved adopted daughter . That last part is not stated, but I believe it is so. Russia was no longer the place of his heart when he reached the point of arranging his adopted daughters escape, and he would never have cast his daughter adrift in western society that he himself no longer knew. His lover also had only a shadow of her former Russian life, and would have ventured out to start anew.

‐---‐-----

*A Gentleman in Moscow*

*by Amor Towles*

_Mild Spoilers_

Who – or what – is a “gentleman”?

Well, he can be defined in two ways – one: born of aristocratic stock; two: marked out by distinguished behavior.

Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov, the protagonist of this novel, is both. And he is caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. 1922 Russia, after the Bolshevik Revolution, is not exactly a healthy place for an aristocrat to be. Deemed an enemy of the proletariat by the accident of birth, the most likely fate for such people is either a bullet to the head or a berth in Siberia.

Rostov is spared either, however, on the strength of a revolutionary poem he had written. So he is awarded a strange sentence – permanent house arrest in the Hotel Metropol in Moscow – not in his usual luxurious suite, but an attic room. He is allowed freedom only within the hotel. The Count, with unflappable equanimity, accepts his fate: he is a smart aleck, and has squirrelled away enough clandestine gold to get him through life. However, after a period, ennui starts to set in which has him questioning the meaning of life – until he meets nine-year-old Nina Kulikova.

Nina Kulikova is the daughter of a Ukrainian officer staying at the Metropol. Like the Count, she is also bored – but with a child’s inherent ingenuity, she has found a way out. Nina has the skeleton key to all the rooms of the hotel, and soon the count is following her about on her escapades. Nina gives him back his zest in life – and when she leaves, she gifts her friend with the skeleton key. Along with it, it seems that Rostov also gets the skeleton key to the hidden facets of life.

As the years roll by, Lenin gives way to Stalin. Proletarian rule becomes despotism. Russia is devastated by war. People move in and out of Alexander Ilyich’s life – the actress Anna Urbanova, his lover; his childhood friend, the fiery poet Mikhail Fyodorovich Mindich (Mishka); Osip Ivanovich Glebnikov, Chief Administrator of the Secret Police, who wants the count to tutor him in French, English, and the ways of the capitalist West; Richard Vanderville, an American aide-de-camp who wants the count to spy for him; Emile, the cook at the hotel and Andre, the maître d’ of the hotels restaurant Boyarsky, Rostov’s bosom pals; and the sinister waiter dubbed as the “bishop” by the count, who rises due to party connections to ultimately becomes the hotel manager, and Rostov’s main antagonist… during this journey (from 1922 to 1953: when Khrushchev takes over the USSR), the aristocrat becomes a humble headwaiter – and unexpectedly, the foster father to Nina’s daughter, Sofia. And as she grows up, Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov realizes that there is something more to life than just existing.

***

This novel is extremely readable. The author has a voice that is almost Wodehousian (though not as laughter inducing). Count Rostov, a specimen of the idle rich, looks upon the world with a sort of amused detachment, which the author forces us to share (the title, “A Gentleman in Moscow”, is apt in every sense). Told in such a voice, Russia’s tumultuous and many a times distressing history becomes amusing and sometimes downright hilarious. Verily, Aristotle was right – the world is indeed a comedy to those who think.

But all said and done, this is a contrived novel. We can see Amor Towles trying to be cute on every alternate page – his strain is almost physically visible. In order to keep the novel’s mood from changing, the author has also been forced to gloss over large swathes of history (the war years pass away in the blink of an eye, for example). Also, authorial intervention in the form of footnotes and direct speech inhibits the flow of the narrative frequently. This is purposefully done – it is in perfect keeping with the story’s mood – but it’s a literary device that becomes all too obvious.

The final verdict: an extremely enjoyable novel – but not great literature by any means.

(Review of Nandakishore Sir)

Working Guidelines - Values/Growth

 In 1951, Yoshida delivered the renowned "10 working guidelines" in Dentsu

1. Initiate projects on your own instead of waiting for work to be assigned
2. Take an active role in all your endeavours, not a passive role
3. Search for large and complex challenges
4. Welcome difficult assignments. Progress lies in accomplishing difficult work
5. Once you begin a task, complete it. Never give up. 
6. Lead and set an example for your fellow workers
7. Set goals for yourself to ensure a constant sense or purpose
8. Move with confidence, it gives your work force and substance
9. At all times, challenge yourself to think creatively and find new solutions
10. When confrontation is necessary, don't shy away from it. Confrontation is often necessary to achieve progress. 

Tag Values

1. Integrity: Be Fair
2. Innovation: Be Original
3. Sustainability: Go Green
4. Growth: Laser Focus
5. Accountability: Own it
6. Trust: Build it

I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf ~ Grant Snider

*I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf*

*By Grant Snider*

Courtesy: Nandakishore Sir

I have been a great fan of Grant Snider for a long time. I follow his quirky "Incidental Comics" on FB.

This book is a collection of his cartoons on reading and writing. As usual, it's full of his funny quips and cute drawings. The way he gives shape to literary metaphors through simple images is mind-blowing.

This book is recommended for reading - and re-reading - and re-re-re-re... reading (ad infinitum).

(I attach a few of his full page illustrations with this review.)

T.N. Manoharan ~ Spotlight 39 of 25

 

He was one in a million.

He taught taxation,  his clarity and grace on stage was admirable.

He co-authored Tech Phoenix—in just 75 days. His meticulousness was legendary. Every version, every discarded draft, every appendix—tracked with precision.

In a private conversation, he told that he would walk into the sunset at 70. So he did.

He was a scholar, statesman, and teacher. But above all, he was authentic.

Steering the Satyam Recovery

But then came Satyam in 2009. When India faced one of its worst corporate scandals, when trust in the profession was shaking, the government didn’t look for the loudest voice or the most connected player. They looked for the steadiest and Mano sir was called in. He calmly stabilised the company, reassured employees, and convinced banks with meticulous financial plans, orchestrating a historic rescue without seeking the spotlight.

 There is his  story we did on him for the book Flying High (also published in A Few Good Men). It captures the life and quiet legacy of an extraordinary CA. Also read the spotlight on him. 

Read the full story here:https://industrialeconomist.com/the-man-who-led-by-listening-remembering-t-n-manoharans-legacy/

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kbEQxe3g6GySdQ4iXB8u_8i81w92vAz6/view?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR7ygQFn_bSbrUxWhWTlhp_g5EDGc9sro-t5Lss1ldSCQY_WttDY1-eNtooXsQ_aem_9Sps6qJh78HixgxoVQck9A

We must justify

our existence by

touching as many

lives as possible

by sharing and

caring.

When you win, don’t take it to

the head and feel headstrong

but take it to the heart to

feel rejuvenated and humbled.

When you face setbacks,

don’t take it to the heart to

feel depressed but take it

to the head to analyse why

it occurred and prevent

recurrence. With EGO we are

gone, without it we can go on.

Salman Rushdie (Contemporary World Writers) ~ Andrew Teverson (39 of 2025)

 

Thanks to CBC and the topic of discussion being Salman Rushdie, got a copy of this book. 

The book Salman Rushdie (Contemporary World Writers) by Andrew Teverson offers a comprehensive and insightful critical study of Salman Rushdie's literary work and public persona 

Teverson explores the intellectual, biographical, literary, and cultural contexts that shape Rushdie’s fiction. The book is designed to help readers navigate the often complex and polarising debates surrounding Rushdie’s life and work. It positions Rushdie as:

• A politicised fiction writer whose narratives engage deeply with global politics.
• A controversialist, unafraid to provoke and challenge dominant ideologies.
• A novelist of extraordinary imaginative range, blending myth, history, and fantasy.
• A fearless commentator on contemporary issues, especially those concerning identity, migration, and postcolonialism.

The book includes detailed critical readings of all Rushdie’s novels up to Shalimar the Clown, including:

• Grimus
• Midnight’s Children
• The Satanic Verses
• The Moor’s Last Sigh
• The Ground Beneath Her Feet

Each chapter situates the novels within broader literary and political frameworks, offering interpretations that are both accessible and academically rigorous. This book is a guide particularly valuable for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of Rushdie’s narrative strategies and ideological engagements.

-----------

Not from book but otherwise:

Marriages and Romantic Life

Salman Rushdie has been married five times, with his first four marriages ending in divorce:

Clarissa Luard (1976–1987)

A literature officer at the Arts Council of England.

They had one son, Zafar Rushdie, born in 1979.

Though divorced, they remained close until her death in 1999.

Marianne Wiggins (1988–1993)

An American novelist.

Their marriage coincided with the publication of The Satanic Verses and the issuing of the fatwa.

Wiggins went into hiding with Rushdie, but the stress led to their separation.

Elizabeth West (1997–2004)

A British editor.

They had one son, Milan Rushdie, born in 1997.

Padma Lakshmi (2004–2007)

An Indian-American actress, model, and TV host.

Their marriage was highly publicised but ended in divorce after three years.

Rachel Eliza Griffiths (Married in 2021)

An American poet, novelist, photographer, and visual artist.

Born in 1978, she is known for her work Seeing the Body (2020), which blends poetry and photography.

Their relationship is described as a meeting of minds and muses, with Griffiths complementing Rushdie’s literary genius.

Rushdie has expressed deep affection for both sons and values his role as a father.

Salman Rushdie was in a romantic relationship with fellow Booker Prize-winning author Kiran Desai. Their relationship became public in the late 2000s and was widely covered in literary and media circles.

While the two never married, they were known to have shared a close and intellectually rich partnership. Desai, who is the daughter of acclaimed writer Anita Desai, has spoken admiringly of Rushdie’s influence on her work, and they were often seen together at literary events. Rushdie, in turn, praised Desai’s writing, including her Booker-winning novel The Inheritance of Loss.

Their relationship eventually ended, but both have continued to maintain prominent literary careers. Desai was recently in the spotlight again for her long-awaited novel The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, which has been longlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize.

Salman Rushdie has written and published over 25 books, spanning novels, short stories, essays, memoirs, and plays. Here's a breakdown of his major works by category, based on the most up-to-date bibliographic sources .

 

Novels

Grimus (1975)

Midnight’s Children (1981)

Shame (1983)

The Satanic Verses (1988)

The Moor’s Last Sigh (1995)

The Ground Beneath Her Feet (1999)

Fury (2001)

Shalimar the Clown (2005)

The Enchantress of Florence (2008)

Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights (2015)

The Golden House (2017)

Quichotte (2019)

Victory City (2023)

Short Stories / Novellas

The Prophet’s Hair (1981)

The Firebird’s Nest (1997)

Home (2017)

Children’s Books

Haroun and the Sea of Stories (1990)

Luka and the Fire of Life (2010)

Non-Fiction

The Jaguar Smile: A Nicaraguan Journey (1987)

Imaginary Homelands: Essays and Criticism 1981–1991 (1991)

Step Across This Line: Collected Non-fiction 1992–2002 (2002)

Joseph Anton: A Memoir (2012)

Languages of Truth: Essays 2003–2020 (2021)

Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder (2024)

Plays

Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children (2009)

Salman Rushdie was born on 19 June 1947 in Bombay, which is now known as Mumbai, India. He was born into a Kashmiri Muslim family, the son of Anis Ahmed Rushdie, a Cambridge-educated lawyer-turned-businessman, and Negin Bhatt, a teacher

Salman Rushdie has lived in several countries over the course of his life, reflecting both his personal journey and the global themes of his writing:

India (1947–1964)

Born on 19 June 1947 in Bombay (now Mumbai), British India, into a Kashmiri Muslim family.

He attended the Cathedral and John Connon School in South Bombay 1.

🇬🇧 United Kingdom (1964–2000)

Moved to England in 1964 to attend Rugby School in Warwickshire.

Later studied at King’s College, University of Cambridge, where he earned a degree in history.

Lived in London for many years, where he began his writing career.

After the publication of The Satanic Verses in 1988 and the subsequent fatwa, he spent nearly a decade in hiding under British government protection 1.

🇺🇸 United States (2000–Present)

Since 2000, Rushdie has lived primarily in the United States.

He has held academic positions at Emory University and New York University, where he was named Distinguished Writer in Residence at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute in 2015.

He became a U.S. citizen in 2016 .

Salman Rushdie has been at the centre of several major controversies, most notably surrounding his 1988 novel The Satanic Verses.

Publication and Backlash: The Satanic Verses was published in 1988 and quickly drew criticism from many in the Muslim world for its perceived blasphemous references to Islam and the Prophet Muhammad 1.

Fatwa Issued: In 1989, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa calling for Rushdie’s death. This led to:

Violent protests and riots in several countries.

Bans on the book in multiple nations.

Attacks on translators and publishers, including the murder of Japanese translator Hitoshi Igarashi and the stabbing of Italian translator Ettore Capriolo 1.

Rushdie in Hiding: He lived under British police protection for nearly a decade, moving between safe houses and using aliases.

Ongoing Threats: Although Iran’s government distanced itself from the fatwa in 1998, it was never officially revoked. In 2019, Iran’s Supreme Leader reaffirmed the fatwa as “solid and irrevocable” 1.

2022 Attack: Rushdie was stabbed multiple times during a public lecture in New York. He survived but sustained serious injuries, including the loss of sight in one eye 2.

Other Literary and Political Controversies

Midnight’s Children (1981): Angered Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who sued Rushdie for defamation. The case was settled out of court, and a line was removed from later editions.

Shame (1983): A political allegory that criticised Pakistan’s military and political elite, particularly Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Zia-ul-Haq. It was banned in Pakistan.

Political Commentary: Rushdie has been outspoken on issues such as religious extremism, censorship, and freedom of speech. His critiques of both Western and Islamic governments have drawn both praise and condemnation 3.

No Criminal Allegations or Legal Charges

There are no known criminal allegations or legal charges against Salman Rushdie. The controversies surrounding him are primarily ideological, religious, and political, not legal or personal in nature.

On 12 August 2022, Salman Rushdie was brutally attacked while preparing to speak at the Chautauqua Institution in New York. The assailant, Hadi Matar, a 24-year-old from New Jersey, rushed the stage and stabbed Rushdie multiple times, causing life-threatening injuries including the loss of his right eye and partial use of his left hand 

Hadi Matar was reportedly influenced by Islamic extremism and the 1989 fatwa issued by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini, which called for Rushdie’s death following the publication of The Satanic Verses

Matar pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree attempted murder and assault, but was ultimately convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison in May 2025 

Rushdie’s 2024 memoir, Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder, is a deeply personal and reflective account of the attack and its aftermath:

He recounts the 27-second assault and the surreal experience of lying in a pool of his own blood, believing he was dying.

The book explores his physical and emotional recovery, including the vital role played by his wife, Eliza Griffiths, whom he calls the “heroine” of his story.

Rushdie initially resisted writing about the incident but later saw the memoir as a way of “taking the power back” and reclaiming his narrative.

He describes Knife as both a literal and metaphorical weapon:

“It’s about a knife, but it also kind of is a knife... I don’t have any guns or knives, so this is the tool I use. And I thought I would use it to fight back.”

------------------

Philip Abraham Sir:

"Salman Rushdie,  about his creativity and playfulness with words, examples of which are 

"Salman Rushdie playfully reimagined Shakespearean titles in the style of Robert Ludlum, a popular thriller writer. He transformed Hamlet into The Elsinore Vacillation, Macbeth into The Dunsinane Reforestation, The Merchant of Venice into The Rialto Sanction, and Othello into The Kerchief Implication. These titles were noted for their Ludlum-esque formula of a definite article followed by a proper name and an abstract noun, suggesting a conspiracy or intrigue. 

Here's a more detailed breakdown: 

The Challenge:

The game involved taking classic Shakespeare plays and giving them Ludlum-style titles.

Rushdie's Responses:

Hamlet: The Elsinore Vacillation

Macbeth: The Dunsinane Reforestation

The Merchant of Venice: The Rialto Sanction

Othello: The Kerchief Implication

Ludlum's Style:

Ludlum's titles often feature a definite article ("The," "A"), a proper noun (place name, character name), and an abstract noun suggesting a plot or scheme.

Beyond the Game:

Rushdie's exercise demonstrates his familiarity with both Shakespeare and the thriller genre, highlighting his ability to play with language and literary styles.

 "Rushdie and Hitchens also played a game whereby you change one word of a famous book – rendering it more pedestrian than epic.  The examples they reeled off:

–         A Farewell to Weapons

–         Laugtherhouse Five

–         Toby Dick

–         Blueberry Finn

And so on 🙂

 He also spoke about two friends Martin Amis and Christopher Hitchens.

Harish said:

"I remembered a particular article about the downfall of Indian-English writing brought by mediocre writers like Shobha De and Rushdie. But then a brilliant defense of the writer by Kundera in a book of his made me pick up Midnight's Children, which was my second favourite novel at that time. 

While migration is the most important of his topics, I talked about two other important and recurring themes in Rushdie's work- the importance of the narrator and the power of stories. In most of his fiction, it is important to seek whose narrating voice is speaking to us to understand the narrative. For example in Victory City, the hidden narrator may be one or more scholars who re-tell the old manuscript in  today's voice and sensibilities.

Also while Rushdie extensively uses recorded and documented narratives like history, religious texts, etc., he superimposes fictional narratives in them to challenge and mock their linearity. He questions the causality assigned to history by authoritative historians and demonstrates how a subjective, fragmented and non-linear history is nearer to reality. While we believe that an aural discourse could corrupt the narratives, he points out the reason why any narrative that's set in stone and not ready to modify itself with time has more chances to get corrupted."

------

Victory City by Rushdie has been my favourite book in the last year...the epic style was superb and the setting in Vijayanagar..

For me it has always been Moors Lash Sigh

Dilbert

 Dilbert is an American comic strip and his one liners are famous. They are all classic!

*Here are few Dilbert's one liners:*

1. I say no to alcohol, it just doesn't listen. 

2. Marriage is one of the chief causes of divorce.

3. Work is fine if it doesn't take too much of your time. 

4. When everything comes your way you're in the wrong lane. 

5. The light at the end of the tunnel may be an incoming train..

6. Born free, taxed to death. 

7. Everyone has a photographic memory, some just don't have film.

8. Life is unsure; always eat your dessert first. 

9. Smile, it makes people wonder what you are thinking. 

10. If you keep your feet firmly on the ground, you'll have trouble putting on your pants. 

11. It's not hard to meet expenses, they are everywhere.

12. I love being a writer... what I can't stand is the paperwork. 

13. A printer consists of 3 main parts: the case, the jammed paper tray and the blinking red light.

14. The guy who invented the first wheel was an idiot. The guy who invented the other three was the genius.

15. The trouble with being punctual is that no one is there to appreciate it.

16. In a country of free speech, why are there phone bills? 

17. If you cannot change your mind, are you sure you have one? 

18. If you can't convince them, confuse them. 

19. It's not the fall that kills you. It's the sudden stop at the end. 

20. I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder. 

21. Hot glass looks same as cold glass - Cunino's Law of Burnt Fingers

22. The cigarette does the smoking you are just the sucker. 

23. Someday is not a day of the week

24. Whenever I find the key to success, someone changes the lock.

25. To Err is human, to forgive is not a Company policy.

26. The road to success ....is always under construction. 

27. Alcohol doesn't solve any problems, but if you think again, neither does Tea, Coffee or Milk. 

28. In order to get a Loan, you first need to prove that you don't need it.

Daphne Du Maurier ~ Margaret Forster

 

A writer I am constantly fascinated with. I believe that she was much ahead of her time.

"The people I write about in books are more real to me than the people I meet and I try and make the people that I meet be as exciting as the people in books, but they never are, so one is always aware of a feeling of anti-climax."

# Daphne du Maurier
## by Margaret Forster

I think *The Birds* was the first story by Daphne du Maurier that I read during my schooldays (in one of those Hitchcock collections) - and I immediately became a fan. Then I encountered her here and there, in various anthologies. Her stories bordered on the weird without being outright horror - however, I had her pegged as a horror writer.

Then I read *Rebecca* in my twenties, followed by *Jamaica Inn*, *The King's General* etc. and realised that this author could not be pigeonholed. She wrote adventure, romance and gothic fiction with equal verve and competence. The only thing common to her stories was atmosphere: a brooding feeling of tragedy and menace. That, and an underlying current of dark sexuality, enticing and frightening at the same time.

This biography of the author by Margaret Forster captures the essence of the writer beautifully. Born into an upper class household in an England at the turn of the last century, Daphne enjoyed a pampered childhood exposed to the arts and literature. Her father, Gerald du Maurier was a famous actor, and her mother Muriel was also an actor before she gave it up on the birth of her third child. She was the apple of her father's eye (a bit of an Electra complex there), but she also suffered because of his fierce possessiveness. Daphne discovered at a very young age that she could write - or rather, she could not survive without writing. This unstoppable creativity coupled with her bisexual tendencies (she believed that there was a "boy-in-the-box" locked up in her psyche) were the main driving force behind her literary output.

Margaret Forster traces the character arc of both Daphne the novelist and Daphne the woman perfectly. She comes across as not very likeable: a bit pampered, patriarchal, snobbish, conservative to an extent, and unfaithful. (She cheats on her husband with the husband of one of her best friends, and she has affairs with two women, also without her husband's knowledge.) But Daphne is also scrupulously honest in analysing herself and her feelings, and that is how we come to know what made this complex woman tick. She put a bit of herself into her books, and that was her catharsis.

In letters to friends, relatives and her publishers, Daphne talked at length about herself and her writing. Ms. Forster has done extensive research on her letters, and reproduces them at length. It gives a fascinating insight into the mind of an iconic writer and her output. But beware - there are HUGE spoilers!

An engrossing read for any Daphne du Maurier fan!

- Daphne du Maurier

I have just begun this biography, but loving it so far. It does talk in depth about her writing.

"What if she had lost the ability to write at all? All she had was a provisional title, Rebecca, 15,000 words in the waste-paper basket, and her notes. These read: 'very roughly the book will be about the influence of a first wife on a second... she is dead before the book opens. Little by little I want to build up the character of the first in the mind of the second... until wife 2 is haunted day and night... a tragedy is looming very close and crash! bang! something happens... it's not a ghost story." But she could not at first think what the crash and bang would be, or even the 'something' that happened."

- from Margaret Forster's biography of Daphne du Maurier

Nandakishore Varma

Warning: Major Spoilers!

Rebecca

by Daphne du Maurier

Rebecca is a classic of Gothic fiction: when one sets out to review a classic, it is always a bit dicey, as though some blasphemous act is being committed (even if the review is favourable). However, I feel that I must share my feelings about this magnificent work: so I plunge in, setting my apprehensions aside.

Rebecca is an exquisitely crafted novel: from one of the most famous opening lines in the world of fiction("Last night I dreamed we went to Manderley again")to the very end, there is hardly a word, sentence, paragraph or pause out of place. The characterisation is painstakingly done and superb. As the story moves towards its predestined semi-tragic ending, the reader is never allowed to relax or withdraw from the story even for a minute.

The Story

The novel opens on the French Riviera, where the unnamed narrator is companion to a rich American lady vacationing there. She meets and falls in love with the middle-aged widower Max de Winter there; and after a whirlwind courtship, marries him. She accompanies him to his country estate, the forbidding Manderley, where she is immediately onset by feelings of inadequacy; the whole mansion seems to be pervaded by the unseen presence of Rebecca, the first Mrs. de Winter. The forbidding housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers, adds fuel to fire by continuously insinuating that Rebecca de Winter was a real lady and the new lady of the house is a simple social upstart who can never measure up to her.

Things come to head when Mrs. Danvers cleverly manipulates Mrs. de Winter into wearing a costume at a party, which Rebecca wore on a former similar occasion: Max simply explodes, and asks her to change immediately. Subsequent to this scene, the housekeeper almost persuades the young bride to commit suicide. However, distraction arrives in the form of a shipwreck on the shore, following which Max tells his young wife the truth about Rebecca.

Rebecca, contrary to the charming exterior she presented to the world, was a cruel and manipulative woman who tortured her husband continuously with the stories of her escapades with various men. Ultimately, she tells Max one day that she is pregnant with another man's child, and that he is powerless to denounce her: he would have to raise the child as his own. Goaded beyond limit, Max shoots and kills her, then sinks her body in the sea within his boat, letting it be known that Rebecca died in a boating accident.

The sunken boat is recovered following the shipwreck, however, and holes drilled at the bottom are seen. A verdict of suicide is brought at the inquest. But a crisis is precipitated by Jack Favell, Rebecca's disreputable cousin and her lover, who claims that Rebecca could not have committed suicide because she had visited a doctor before her death and had some momentous news to impart. He, along with Max and his wife, are sure that this information is proof of her pregnancy: however, rather than submit to Jack's blackmail, Max decides to face the music.

The novel's final bombshell explodes when the doctor reveals that Rebecca indeed had momentous information; and that suicide is entirely believable, because she was suffering from cancer and would have died within a few months. The reader, along with Max and Mrs. de Winter, understand that Rebecca's provocation of Max into killing her was her final act of revenge and escape from a lingering death. The story does not have a happy ending, however: a frustrated Mrs. Danvers finally goes over the edge and torches Manderley, herself perishing in the fire.

The Analysis

Rebecca is a novel which works on many levels. It can be read as a straightforward Gothic mystery, and is none too the less satisfying for it. The secrets are sufficiently sordid, the mood satisfactorily noir and the characters morbid in their preoccupations.

However, when we start to look in depth at many of the many-layered themes in the story, Ms. du Maurier's genius as a storyteller comes to light. The fact the protagonist is never named, and the novel goes under the name of her dead antagonist is extremely significant. The whole novel, in fact, is driven by three women characters. The dead Rebecca who is beautiful, cruel, miasmic, yet strangely attractive and desirable: the current Mrs. de Winter who is pretty, sweet and extremely likeable yet uninteresting (like Disney's Snow White): and Mrs. Danvers, dark, brooding and evil like a witch. It is almost a perfect maiden-nymph-crone triad of the pagan goddess (though I doubt whether the author intended anything like it). The protagonist's lack of identity, and Rebecca's all-pervasive one, is almost painfully stressed.

From the male viewpoint, Rebecca is the perfect dream-girl who once possessed becomes the antithesis of what she represented as an unattainable ideal. Max tries to exorcise her first by killing her, but proves unsuccessful. Like a fairytale prince, it is through unselfish love for a pure maiden that he is redeemed. When he faces up to his crime, he finds deliverance at the last minute. However, Max still has suffer the final punishment - the loss of Manderley - along with which the crone-figure also disappears, allowing him to finally make a new life with his princess.

Does the novel have any flaws? IMO, the only one I found was that the story was too manipulative: the author has laid out a road-map for the reader, and carefully guides him/her along it without allowing any diversions. The revelations are placed at the correct places with clock-work precision. This is not necessarily a flaw in a mystery novel, but it does take away from the spontaneity of the story a bit.

On the first reading, enjoy Rebecca as a mystery: go into the depth of the narrative structure and craft, and the psychological undercurrents, in subsequent ones. This novel warrants careful analysis, especially if one is an aspiring writer. It will give invaluable insights into craft.

Rebecca is a 1940 American romantic psychological thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It was Hitchcock's first American project, and his first film under contract with producer David O. Selznick. The screenplay by Robert E. Sherwood and Joan Harrison, and adaptation by Philip MacDonald and Michael Hogan, were based on the 1938 novel of the same name by Daphne du Maurier.

-----

About the wreckers -

According to this essay, Daphne du Maurier's Jamaica Inn perpetuated the image of wreckers as murderous criminals who deliberately lured ships on to the rocks and looted and killed the crew and passengers.

The author says this is a gross misrepresentation.

Read and decide !

https://review.gale.com/2023/06/06/exploring-the-representation-of-coastal-wreckers/

" Using a literary text, Jamaica Inn, also meant I could explore how the representation of wreckers – in both the film and the original novel – has been received. Was it different to the expected portrayal? Did people enjoy reading about history’s rebels in this way? In 2006, Nick Rennison’s Sunday Times article attributes Jamaica Inn with bringing wreckers into the popular culture, referring to du Maurier’s text as a ‘historical novel’. This highlights a problem with the historiography of wreckers prior to the analysis contributed by historians like Cathryn Pearce and Bella Bathurst; people treated the novel as historically accurate.2 Rennisson echoes the definition of wreckers as ‘hard-hearted’, ‘luring unwary vessels on the rocks and then plundering them.’ It is unsurprising then, that du Maurier’s portrayal of wreckers is murderous and violent, with quotes such as ‘dead men tell no tales’.

Are Marriages Made In Heaven ~ Meera 38 of 2025

 

Now she is my favorite author/writer.  So much covered just like a story. Lot of depth and clarity.

"Are Marriages Made in Heaven?" by Meera is a reflective and emotionally resonant novel that explores the complexities of relationships, choices, and societal expectations surrounding marriage.

Summary:

The story centers around a group of school friends whose lives diverge and reconnect over time. As they grow older, each character grapples with the question: Is marriage truly a divine destiny, or is it shaped by our choices and circumstances?

The narrative begins with a tragic incident in college, which brings people together as frijoyful and hopef, ul celebrations of marriage.

It then delves into deeper, more challenging themes such as domestic violence, personal agency, and the societal pressures that influence marital decisions.

Through the lens of these characters, Meera examines whether love and commitment are predestined or constructed through effort and understanding.

The book is both introspective and socially aware, offering a nuanced look at how relationships evolve and how individuals confront their past and present.

The writing is described as deeply human, weaving together moments of joy, pain, and reflection in a way that resonates with readers