Catcher in the Rye

One of the more interesting books I have read in quite some time. Interesting to an extent of completely disliking it yet contemplating about it.To write about Holden Caulfield , the main character in this book,needs an inspiration i.e., he is such a uniquely troubled young man whose character can't be conjured up in the head ,he can't be entirely fictional.J.D Salinger ,mentioned ,in one of his interviews , that Catcher in the Rye , that Holden holds resemblance to his adolescent years.

As I flipped through the first two pages , I noticed that the book was dedicated to his mother, for what the reason was, I wouldn't be justified to comment on,but i find it wicked to have dedicated a book about a slightly depressed adolescent who ,as you read on, shares very little relations with his own mother.On the contrary,he could have been symbolically dedicating all the fame and popularity this book bought him,to his mother.

The psychological battles of the main character is rather depressing. The aspects to his sexual exploration, perception of adult behavior,impulsive spending and suicidal thoughts is intriguing.For someone to understand the character's thought process, I frankly believe you should have been an adolescent ,living in America,around the 1950's.Else there's very little to relate to for me.

Ceratin qualities of the main character left me with a bad impression . The author speaks of the main character's struggle to accept adult behavior and the eventual wearing out of child like qualities within us,as we grow older.The main character has very strong biased opinions of adults. He labels most of them as 'phony' meaning to imply their pretentious, superficial attitude. One thing that I noticed,the main character's behavior towards certain character was bordering on pretentious and he was being a hypocrite in many situations as well. As an adolescent ,his maturity levels seem below par. But that's a critical aspect to include in the overall character analysis of Holden.

The language used,the style of writing,in my opinion is very dry,over-colloquial and rather monotonic to an extent that you can guess Holden's next usage of words.The use of "too hot" was very hard to understand initially ,but only after repetitive usage of the same words in the same context made me understand it.The usage of other words such as "Phony", "that killed me","flit" were in something,I wouldn't enjoy reading.The language can get very annoying after half the book,I wouldn't be surprised if you stopped reading further.The inappropriate usage of over-emphasis was evident. Holden would mention some opinion ,..probably " I really hated it.Really". This patterns of over-emphasis was misplaced in context. The reader needs over-emphasis when only in doubt !

The main essence of the book is Holden's conversation with Pheobe,his kid sister whom he adores.

"Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around - nobody big, I mean - except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be." ~J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Chapter 22, spoken by the character Holden Caulfield".

Holden wants to save the innocence of little kids.He wants to catch them when they start going off the cliff,as they lose their innocence as they enter adulthood.He wants to guide them to become young adults without losing their cherished innocence.

Overall, an ordinary book with a different yet true moral.

" Every act of rebellion expresses a nostalgia for innocence and an appeal to the essence of being. ". -Albert Camus.

Ambitious Ants

All the ants have scurried away,

leaving the unstable mud anthill to crumble.

The other older ants are slowly turning grey,

From grey to black,non poisonous and feeble.

Crimson red ants bursting with colorless blood,

Driven by pure prejudiced hunger.

to carry heavier loads,more food ,till they collapse under the burden,

Their ambition ,now,more fiercer.

The grey ants peculiarly fat,dumb and happy,

Oblivious to the scurrying soldiers.

Waiting to be submerged under the fall,to be perished entirely,

Paving way for the red running dots to disperse.

A solitary ant suddenly stops scurrying,

to WAIT

for,they say,patience will conquer all worrying.

Spoken word poetry

I was very inspired by this . It seems mediocre and spoken poetry is an old concept. But there is some sort of revival in it. I 'm trying my hand at it. For all the theater and poetry buffs-this is worth a watch !

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/sarah_kay_if_i_should_have_a_daughter.html

High Himalayan Heavens :Part eight

Day 16 and 17 -

Last entry in my journal, the last two days of our amazing journey. We woke up late ,pampered ourselves for the last time at the hot springs. Vivek and I walked down Kalath and crossed an unstable bridge to the other side of the river bed,and discovered a natural hot spring,it was a rarity to watch the hot water bubbles. Our bus to Delhi was at 5pm. We bought the last set of purchases,with shawls being exchanged,jams being bought,2 kg of apples ,we were settled in the bus at 530pm. The bus didn't start till about 6pm. We bid our final goodbye to Hari bhai, Shabu,Neelu,Negi and Amit rana,and of course,Pobu,velu and Tarle who were ending their vacation for another week. The bus journey was tolerable , but he stopped often to fill up the remaining seats.

Reached Delhi at 6am. After a great deal of debate on what to do, we took two AC rooms in Karol Bagh for the day. After freshening up,we planned the course of the day. Even though all of us (largely vivek) wanted to go to Ram leela maidan and support Anna Hazare break his fast,we decided otherwise. We left for Chandni chowk at 10am,in Metro! :) Very convenient. First stop, Paranthewala. Inspite of the shabby and unclean lanes,the food was exceptional! We had rounds of all the different types of paratas offered there. Satiated , we went to Red fort. It was noon, and the heat was getting to us. Vidya and Vivek ,complained about the heat and were horrible lethargic. We had some enthusiasm for a while,before all of us followed suit and very lackadaisical . Red fort was magnificent ,and had so many patriotic stories to tell us, but we were zapped of energy. Vivek,in the meantime, made calls to Raghav at Bangalore,to find out directions to a place called Karims , supposedly the best chicken in the city. We meandered through the by-lanes of Jama Majid and it opened up to the Sunday Muslim market. All of us were just tired and needed food. We found out way to Karims,it was right opposite to one of the gates of Jama Masjid . It was closed on the occasion of Ramzan. We had lunch at the neighboring restaurant called Al-Jawahar. The non vegetarians couldn't stop exclaiming about their mutton and chicken. We ,vegetarians ,had lost their appetites long before we even entered the place. We took the metro back to the room at Karol Bagh. Bairy and PV went to the UPSC guy's house to collect PV's US-returned suitcase. Vidya,Viek and I lost our way from the Jhandewalan station to the hotel. Booked a taxi for 6pm , PV's flight was at 8:30pm and ours at 8:55pm. With ample time in our hands, we finished our security clearance and were watching the runway from the food court of Delhi Airport. On the way down the steps,in the airport, I managed to slip and twist my ankle. Perfect timing! Landed at Bangalore airport at 11:30am. My ankle was swollen. Bairy, Vivek and I were reminiscing about the past two weeks. I might not have done justice to what conspired on the trip entirely. Sadly,it was the end of one of the best journey of my life.

High Himalayan Heavens :Part seven

Day 14 and 15 -

We were perky tourists for today. Woke up late to a heavy breakfast and set out for Manali town. On the way to Manali town ,7km away from Kalath,we saw the remnants of the flash flood that struck here a few days ago,a smashed door of a Tata sumo .It was said that due to landslide on one end of the road,the tata sumo maneuvered closer to the riverside end of road (Manali to Kalath has river Beas flowing along the town),unfortunately,sudden flash floods swallowed the entire sumo into the river. The markets were closed for the day as a rally to save a waterfall (a Dam as to be built some where around) was taking place. We ambled around the town like awe-struck tourists. Climbed up a small hill,to the Hadimba Mata temple. Vivek instantly recognized the temple,from a scene in the movie Roja,where the heroine comes to this temple after her marriage. It was a nice place,but commercialized by tourists. Lots of commercial avenues near the temple,where one can take pictures with a pearly white ,fluffy,cute hare or even with a mountain goat. We walked down towards town in search of food,a good Chinese restaurant. We had lunch at CHOPSTICKS, a neat Chinese restaurant in the heart of the town. The non-veg folks had a finger licking time with their chicken . In Vivek's words, they had so much chicken that day , that the head chef would have had to kill all the chicken in his supplies and probably would have taken a gun,walked out of the restaurant ,hunting down more. We were fat,bloated,over stuffed and more than satisfied with the food. We shopped for a long time, buying sweaters,ponchos,shawls,hemp chappals(which was a huge hit, Velu bought 8 pairs !!),apple Jam and anything that seemed inviting. Gannu got lost in the market,and Tarle like a concerned father in search of him,PV and Vivek had a hilarious time,pulling Tarle's leg. We reached our rooms at Kalath , just in time for dinner and more rummy followed. Amit Rana gave us herbal tea,almost four cups of it,but obviously none of us got remotely high on it.

We started out to Solang Valley at 9am. It was going to be an adventure filled day! First stop was ATV (All Terrain Vehicles), they were massive huge monsters. The Father-son team,cheekily stole the one man ATV (where one can manually control the gears) .We were stuck with 2 man ATV , taking turns riding it. It was fun,nonetheless. Next up,paragliding !We took a cable car to the cliff . My heart was racing,I was excited,my first time,but I was scared as well. Velu was a pro at it,a pilot by profession and done a paragliding course for 3 months. I was predominantly sacred as we got closer to the cliff, I insisted on going last. But,the next thing I know,he had strapped me up. The instructor and I had to run a little while before the wind thrusts up the para-glide, I was petrified that I forgot to run after sometime,he managed to run the rest of the way,and we were in the air! I was frightened for the initial 30seconds,tightly gripping onto the ropes connected to the para-glide,then I calmed down a little. It was just exhilarating, I felt like a free bird flying in the sky. It was so peaceful and I felt like an eagle soaring at these high altitudes. Those 7-minutes was a new found freedom . I had a pleasant landing (unlike a few others who landed on dung!). Next up,was all boring horse ride, It was such a drag! Vidya and I couldn't wait to get off our horses! It was painful in every sense,physically strenuous on the back,a cocky horseman, frequently hurting the animals. I felt responsible for each time the horse was whacked by the horseman. Our adventures for the day was over. We returned to our rooms at 8 pm. We had bottles of GODFATHER and vodka(largely finished by me) to accompany us through the night,and of course the other. We had a good time,and mostly played rummy and had interesting conversations. Went up to the terrace to continue making noise.The neighbors even came out to complain. We retreated downstairs,and fell asleep.

High Himalayan Heavens :Part six

Day 12 and 13-

We started our journey to Manali . We got a tempo this time,comfortable journey. Our driver was adept in driving but was cranky . Our playlist for the journey,was Gannu and Pobs memory card,and the driver was fed up with it, after a point, he removed the card reader from the car stereo and refused to play any music :P We noticed a change in landscape as compared to the onward journey, there were lesser number of snow peaks,most of the snow seemed to have melted entirely in just a span of 7 days. We drove all through the day and halted at an stunning place for the night. The open valley surrounded by Barren hills and white canvas tents pitched in the open land, the tent was a luxury ,with a bed in it,heavy warm blankets,a table,chair and even a small toilet with a commode. Pampered! It seemed like middle of nowhere ! The boys enjoyed their night ,the details left unsaid,only three words to sum it. Shiva trance music. It was a wonderful night, the strong cold winds bellowing at our tents and the canvas flapping,even a slight drizzle in the night. A phenomenal place to have spent the night. We continued our journey.What perplexed all of us was Baralacha La, we passed by it and there wasn't as much snow as earlier,in fact,it was reduced by a percentage of 50%. Unbelievable! The weather had gotten clearer . Nearing Rohtang Pass,a huge Lorry got stuck in the muck and another lorry from the other side also got stuck,blocking the entire width of the road . We were flabbergasted by an army truck who made his way , cleared enough traffic for himself to move,unconcerned about us civilians stuck in the gridlock. When he asked our driver to make space,our driver stood up to him and refused to. With a commendable effort from Amit rana and all the civilians,they pushed the lorry into motion. We cheered and moved ahead,just to get stuck in another vehicle hold up,but our driver was smart enough to avoid the further confusion and we made our way down to Kalath. Heavy rains as we descended and visibility dropped because of the thick white fog. We reached Kalath at 7pm, the boys purged themselves in the hot springs. We had a fulfilling dinner and plopped on the beds !.

High Himalayan Heavens :Part five

Day 10 and 11 -

We woke up lazily at 11 am and brunched. Relaxed day saturated with Rummy. We decided to play rummy for money and PV was the only one who payed up! Loafed around Leh that night . Ordered Stok Kangari tee shirts,almost 15 of them for the following day. It was beautiful embroided tee shirt. Nothing unusual till the night. Then came “GODFATHER” . Had a party that night,with good food,and shabu and the crew entertaining us to Manali dances and folk songs. Vivek and Poba were indulging in the local brew,called GODFATHER beer. Tarle and Bairy , on a different but similar high :). We had a blast that night ! After dinner,we were playing rummy when Vivek, Bairy and Poba entertained us all night. For every PJ they cracked, we laughed like hyenas though the night. Killer fun! With blunders from the inebriated men, it was ultimate fun. The cream of the cake that night was when Vivek mistook some Iranian woman for Vidya and scared the living hell out of her. Vivek hurriedly murmured apologies and stumbled his way to the room. Hilarious! All of us had the last laugh .

All of were given a choice to either raft in Zansksar valley or go to the famous Pangong lake. Bairy,Vidya ,Poops and I chose the latter. We started at a brisk 6am as it takes six hours to reach the lake. The journey and roads were spectacular. We passed through Chang La. Finally reached Pangong Lake at noon, it was breathtaking. All of us were just stoic as stones, to be standing in front of such an exquisite lake was a blessing. It was overwhelming! As the clouds danced above the lake,it made interesting patterns and changes in colour which was magical. We walked around the 134km stretch ,which extends into China on the other side. To geographically see brackish water at 14,000ft was mind boggling and Truly mesmerizing !We had a quick lunch there, stopped at Rancho (from 3 idiots fame) school and finally reached Leh town at 5 pm. Velu and Pobu cooked us a delicious meal of Bisibele Bath and the non vegetarian s could not stop relishing the chicken biriyani ! Evidently Velu's wife would definitely be blessed ;):P .