Happy Birthday and Other Stories - As I turned 30


It was a different piece of cake this year. When one turns 30, there is a lot of life contemplation and well Happy Birthday, as a book only proves to be a perfect gift.
“Years have passed; years will pass;
the difference being,
today we are together,
tomorrow our memories will be together.

Rightly said, every birthday calls for such wishes and life stories, and this book is full of such life instances but with a difference. Every story carries a myriad of human relations, feelings, expectations and realities. With her book, Meghna has subtly highlighted the truth real and blatant which generally hides behind every shining life of each one of us.

Elderly people dealing with the changes that they see through their children is a theme across a few stories. As is changing relationships with time. Whether a friend who is pregnant and cannot afford it or a father who is also a father-in-law or may 2 adults who want to be together but can’t, every narrative is real – even though harsh. It is not something we wish to read but yes, it is something that exists, which is real and we know it.

“A dedicated friend undertakes one last labor of love for a childless woman. Nadia- married into money- finds herself facing uncomfortable truths about her comfortably numb marriage. A Mumbai slum girl dreams of speaking words valuable enough to be translated into English. A retired civil servant of modest means struggles to support his snooty foreign-returned daughter”

There are not many twists or exciting plots. And there are not even too many dialogues. However, there are waves of thoughts and which hardly come out in real life. All the characters have to live with them, we are living with them.

The small scene’s from someone’s life, need for companionship, strange relationships and other sensitive issues have been simple, yet beautifully narrated by the author. Anyone who reads will surely be able to connect to some story or the other and won’t be able to comprehend certain narrative I am sure. The author will not disappoint you.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shades of reading

Image
“Sometimes it gets difficult to get there, to reach till the end while there are some who have no problems in abandoning a book halfway through” I couldn’t agree more when Seema Goswami quoted this somewhere. Like her, I also belong to the    “I’ve started so I’ll finish” group of readers taking every book I read as a journey that I have to complete from the start till the end. Like the seven colors of the rainbow, every book adds more shades to my life and to my words. Of late, someone suggested me to read Fifty Shades of Grey, By E L James. The book had its own fan following and the buzz I could hear from everywhere. I thought it could be interesting and I wanted to know what all the hype was about. So I started reading it. The plot seemed intriguing and I was happy that I will have a comfortable journey till the end. Classified as erotic fiction, the book was written by British author, with characters Christian Grey, Anastasia Steele is written in three parts and was pu...
Read more

Lucknow – A city that makes you Grow!

Image
Life in Lucknow to me seems like a grand event all the time, attended by almost every important person of my personal life and career. There are celebrated authors, inspiring writers, and other famous artists. I fail to understand when people of my age say – What’s there in Lucknow – it’s a slow city.  It was earlier known as Awadh,  a city famous for its ‘tehzeeb’,  it has often been referred to as the “City of Pehle Aap. However,  in these modern times, “Pehle Aap” has almost lost its meaning and ‘Pehle Mai’ or ‘Pehle Hum’ appears to make more sense. To me, it seems like a movie where every second there is some action, some drama, lot of audiences, the crew, the stars dazzling the location. It is no less than a huge dreamlike set for me. Reporters from the media and flashbulbs go pop every second. Living anywhere in India, I feel one can instantly recognize if a person belongs to Lucknow or its surrounding culture since we use plural words such as ‘...
Read more

Life is a Celebration

Do I agree with the above statement? Is my life a celebration? Will I like it to be one? Well, the choice is entirely mine. When I was given this life I was asked to enjoy myself but somewhere along the line I enjoyed, I became too serious about ‘living’ life and this seriousness now is not letting me live my life. I have forgotten what celebration is all about. Let me start with my basics, how do I feel about myself? Am I happy with my lifestyle? Am I progressing along the lines that I desire ?! do I have a valid reason to celebrate life? Do I feel unhappy, unfulfilled, powerless, or lonely? Whatever be the situation, it's enough, some pages of few books that I conversed with told me this - YOU MUST REMEMBER THAT YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE BY CHANGING THE CHOICES YOU MAKE IN LIFE. The moment you make up your life as a celebration, new choices will appear in front of you, which will help you manifest your new reality. Finally, it is your choice whether you want to make your life j...
Read more