Happy Diwali 2019!

*'Diwali is no longer exciting for us adults. It is only for children!’*

Whenever I hear this clichéd utterance from someone, I smile. Diwali is not exciting?! You either gotta’ be kidding me or you are, respected sir/madam, a blatant liar. Like the forbidden tinge of excitement one feels when one hears the name of a long-last crush, all of us feel at least a hint of excitement every time we even hear the name of this festival. From fireworks to delicious snacks, new clothes to visits from friends and relatives, people of every age group have something to look forward to in Diwali. This is a festival that means fun for all the age groups.

Not just that, even for people across economic and social barriers, this is a festival that means grandeur. Even the economically least privileged person in the society ensures to provide well for one’s family and oneself on this auspicious day. Thus, this is a festival that everyone looks forward to. 

For the whole of this week, I have been wishing everyone I come across to have a great festival – cab drivers, security guards at malls and departmental stores, parking lot attendants, sales people at showrooms, neighbors, colleagues and even strangers. Whenever I utter ‘Happy Diwali’, I could see a glint in their eyes and a genuine smile across their face! Yes. They ALL love this festival and they all want to celebrate it big. 

What makes every festival an occasion to rejoice and remember is the simple act of sharing - sharing the special food, sharing the moments, sharing the good vibes and, above all, sharing the blessings. Festivals are occasions for spreading the love within us around and filling us with the light around. 

On this Diwali, the most vibrant festival of Lights, wishing you and your family members abundance of good health, absolute peace, unbound happiness, ever-lasting love and every good thing that you can ever wish for! 

Happy Diwali 2019!

Brief Review - Fifty Things that Made the Modern Economy, Tim Harford

So many books have been written about all the great inventions that make our lives as comfortable as they are today. In fact, we take for granted most of them - inventions that help us travel to any part of the globe within hours, to communicate with people in any part of the world at the touch of a button, to process/store food without having to run behind it everyday, ability to change the landscape around us at will, to state a few. This book speaks about many such inventions too, but with a difference.

Without making a tale out of each of the inventions and delving into what led their inventors to their 'eureka' moment, this book defines the inventions and the social-economic impact that these had on the world around them. Crisp, clear and a pleasure to read.

Book Review - Mystical Tales for a Magical Life, Shubha Vilas

If only I could give a negative rating to this book!

Nope. Not for the contents, but for the misleading title and the writing quality. This was the same author who had given a lovable book on Shri Hanuman and hence I bought this book with a lot of expectations.

But the tales are all neither unheard nor vedic. These are but little tales found all along the Mahabharatha. Except for one or two, the rest are all tales that we Indians know like the back of our hands. Neither are they Vedic in terms of sources.

Glaring spelling mistakes all along are a pain too. The author's attempt at sharing the wisdom, which are little better than platitudes make reading a pain. So are the 'lessons' at the end of every story, which almost recount the story in brief and try to state the obvious out of it. The cursive font makes for the eyesoreness and nothing else.

Overall, if you have already read the basic versions of the Mahabharatha or a fan of Indian epics, you can safely skip this book. There is nothing new or even refreshing here.