wild From lost to found on the pacific crest trail
Title : wild From lost to found on the pacific crest trail
Author : Cheryl Strayed
Publisher : Knopf
Genere: Biography/Adventure/Soul searching
Pages:311
Price: $25.95
“It had only to do with how it felt to be in the wild.With what it was like to walk for miles for no reason other than to witness the accumulation of the trees and meadows ,mountains and deserts,streams and rocks,rivers and grasses,sunrises and sunsets.The experience was powerful and fundamental.It seemed to me that it had always felt like this to be a human in the wild,and as long as the wild existed it would always feel this way”
Hiking is an invigorating activity which people undertake for a multitude of reasons.For some it is a getaway,for some photography and love for nature while for some it is workout and the ecstasy from hard labour. Personally I have been hiking on and off to get away from the comforts of life and to be in the wild.But there are people like Cheryl who set out on a trail to find themselves , to get rid of the past in order to make a new beginning.Still whatever be the purpose the 3 month journey of Cheryl pursuing the Pacific Crest Trail(PCT) was equally preposterous and inspiring.
Ideally on such long trails people trek in groups but going solo and that too without much prior experience of trekking somewhat tells you desperate Cheryl was.Things were not good in her life and her past was quite gloomy too.She lost her mother of cancer,parted with her siblings , broke up her marriage , was under drug abuse for a short period of time and on the top of all these got herself pregnant. However among all these things the loss of her mother was profound and throughout the trail she speaks of her mother.She desperately needed to get away from her dark past and so she packed her bag.“There,I’d walk and think about my entire life.I’d find my strength again,far from everything that had made my life ridiculous.”
There are few things about Cheryl’s venture that makes this book an exciting read.Her under preparedness for the trip makes it quite different from other trekking stories. Not only was she new to the world of navigation her knowledge of the trail was confined to one book which was a Bible for her.She was the only woman on the trail and owing to her solo attempt she had a very heavy backpack.To add to her woes her shoes were not proper and was running low on cash.In the beginning of the trip she was unsure and the heavy snowing made her change mind but eventually she felt that she had to traverse the path and so did it.
Cheryl read a good number of books on the trail and the books are mentioned in the glossary. While many people postponed their hiking plans to next year owing to the heavy snow,she did not give up though at time she was marked by trepidation.She had to take a detour to avoid the snowy patch but eventually she stayed on her way.A lot of times in the first month of the trail she talks of her mother,reminiscing of the past where she had a happy life with her mom.I liked the idea when she mentions about her not shedding tears and also how she wanted to be a writer. It really felt good to read this book for it clearly is a sign of her dream coming true.
On a trail 1100 miles long one needs something more than courage to go on.For some it may be a dream but for Cheryl it was redemption.Not only did she had the encounters with the bears,rattlesnakes and other wild animals but also she witnessed the beauty of the wild.Hot,humid,wet,chilly weather that she witnessed was quite in contrast to the multitude of people she met on her trek.The last chapter when she reaches the Bridge of the Gods is enchanting and pretty much sums up the book. Read this astounding tale of courage and be inspired.
Rating: 4.0/5
Learnings from a social enterprise
Of what use is it talking about the ‘Bhagavat Gita’ if we cannot even part with our ‘plastic toys’ easily? Of what use is it talking about ‘oneness’ if we cannot take an honest look into our living and working environments and see if the poorest man on the street will feel welcome and comfortable walking into these spaces?
What do you want to become when you grow up? The answers were:Dishwashers,chefs(primarily as it signifies food security,nurses,teachers to a hilarious answer by a kid who wants to become a MCC.
Situated at 20kms from a prosperous city , on the banks of the river Subernrekha is a 4 room school. A Banyan tree,a hand pump and surrounded by water and green fields , the place is quite isolated from the rest of the world.On the first look the place looks so appealing,peaceful and ideal for education.It even prompted me to rent a place and stay for a few days in the serene environment and impart some meaningful education to the kids.Like any other government school in Jharkhand, it too had a kitchen for mid day meal ,few classrooms,toilets,2 teachers and 80 odd students.I was lucky enough to stay at the school until mid day meal and having it with the kids was a revelation.
At the outset it is important to mention that 80% of children in India study in government schools.The government has gone a long way in providing the infrastructure and channelizing the free primary education under RTE.But has it been able to deliver quality education to kids? As a matter of fact, according to the latest ASER report the quality has come down a lot. For an urban kid the daily routine comprises of going to school, with a good choice of food,clean school uniform,comfortable classrooms and plenty of educational facilities with the primary focus on quality education.For our rural counterparts it is mostly the free meal.On a socio economic level,the primary concern for people living in villages is food and shelter.Education does not come on the agenda at all,forget the concept of meaningful education.Working and profiling kids in few schools brought out some shocking figures.The minimum number of siblings each kid had was 4 and the numbers were as high as 8.There were hardly any unmarried girls who were of the age 20.The families could not afford a newspaper and almost all of them were unaware of the government schemes and importance of education.
In an adult literacy orientation session I came across a lady exceptional in her thinking ability. In the gurukul schools run by our enterprise we have had our share of bright kids.Even in sports especially football,girls have made their mark at a tender age. My point is that with our majority studying in Government schools , it is high time government and people like us start playing their part in improving the quality of education.If India has to become a happy place for all this is the time otherwise it will be too late.
I had my reasons of quitting a corporate job for a social enterprise. In the long term I plan to open a football cum learning academy for rural kids.In my 9 months in this sector the belief of doing the same has increased manifold. I will be heading for a MBA next month and am happy to have some exposure to the rural segment. It not only gives a different perspective to what I have done till now but also a path to something I always wanted to do.Village management is a difficult process and requires a lot of expertise to deal with people.I have seen a lot of entrepreneurship opportunities in the rural sector and I guess this is the right time to target this segment both at a personal level and from a corporate’s perspective.Generating livelihood opportunities, good education,safe drinking water,renewable resource utilization and health and sanitation are few areas which have a lot of scope.
From an engineering background,I was expected to do a lot of analysis and number stuff. I have had the opportunity of working with UNICEF and World Bank. I have helped a lot in planning and budgeting an entire project and the experience is priceless.Amidst all this I have found time to interact with teachers,train them a bit and help them in their lesson planning.I have contributed my bit is teaching rural kids and motivating them towards pursuing higher education.
Being a twenty someone you must be busy building your careers,some of you must be working day in and day out.All I have to say is keep your eyes open for there is a good business idea lying in there. Find some time from your busy schedule to bring out a change.There is dearth of professional like you in this field and any intervention by you will make you a change maker.
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
Title : Memoirs of a Geisha
Author : Arthur Golden
Publisher : Vintage Books
Genere:Culture/True story/Memoir
Pages:493
Price:INR 273 on www.flipkart.com
Now a major motion picture.
“If you keep your destiny in mind,every moment in life becomes an opportunity for moving closer to it.”
This is one of the many books I have happened to read in various train journeys. April has been a month of roaming around India and I had this book as friend in all these trips.Why do you read a book? There can be many answers to this question probably one of the reason will be that without them we would have never known about historical events and multitude of cultures. There are many aspects worth mentioning of this book and let me start with the Geisha culture in Japan which thrived abundantly in the second World War era.Geishas were the glamorous female entertainers in Tea houses in Japan who entertained their clients by dancing,singing and playing music.Though on paper it may seem trivial and hardly a art form , on reading the book we completely understand not only the hardships that one has to undergo to become a geisha but also the intricate details of the art form.One is carried to a journey from beautiful girls,pompous kimonos,laughter , music to darker side of the profession and the despair and sacrifice of a young woman.I appreciate this book mainly for bringing out a tradition of the Japanese.
One of the most interesting and often overlooked part is to understand how an author came up with the book. Arthur happened to visit one of the tea houses at Kyoto in 1936 where he saw a Geisha perform.The experience had left a deep mark on him and 50 years later when he happened to meet Sayuri,our protagonist he wrote her extraordinary memoir.Born in a small village of Japan in a Fisherman’s house,sold at a very young age to a Geisha house,the enormous effort to become a geisha and ending up in New York is something Sayuri would have never envisaged of but this is how destiny plays in mysterious ways.The author has really empathized with Sayuri and therefore is able to bring out the emotions so immaculately.It is also a tale of hope, of fighting out a way in adversity and of accepting what life has to offer.But the most important take away from the book is professionalism.To quote a line from the book,“We don’t become geisha because we want our lives to be happy;we become geisha because we have no choice.”
The author has made use of imageries all through out the book and the ones where Sayuri describes events and things as a child are really enticing.Some people live a very hard life and some a dark life. For Sayuri it was a life of struggle physically,emotionally and professionally. The most difficult thing in life is do something which one does not want and then sometimes it so happens that one is left with no choice whatsoever. When Sayuri saw a geisha for the first time in a beautiful kimono she was awestruck and wanted to become one.She did become a successful one but in the journey she had the conflict of profession and that of heart.There are lots of twists and tales in this tale,plenty of eroticism,imagination and play of destiny.Do read this beautiful tale which will seal your faith in destiny.
“Since the day I’d left Yorido,I’d done nothing but worry that every turn of life’s wheel would bring yet another obstacle into my path;and of course,it was the worrying and the struggle that had always made life so vividly real to me.”
Rating:4.0/5
Contemporary Nomad
“Here as we sit in this beautiful and peaceful spot,in the shadow of the mighty Himalayas,with the forest around us putting on a new mantle of spring,with every current of wind bringing with it the sweet smell of flowers,and with the air throbbing with the joyful songs of great multitude of birds,we can forget for a spell,the strains and stresses of our world, and savour the world of the jungle folk.” —— Jim Corbett,Jungle Love.
How does it feel to return to a place after a long time to find nothing has changed? To find that one nut from the door still missing,white paint on brown background with names scribbled,the same old makeshift pencil stands with a different user ,pencil writings on the wall speaking of internal struggles,the Tata motors logo still firmly stuck to the door and so on.But above all these is a feeling of being there,looking from one end of the corridor to the other,the clothes,the shoes,the dustbins and of stretching your arms and looking up at the stars, wondering of a life the place had to offer.When you have played so much football at a place you can easily picture the undulations in the field even in your sleep but nothing could be more gratifying than stepping on the holy place itself. When I passed out of college I dictated terms to the juniors and it was amazing to find myself on the other side with a junior putting fundaes on shooting the ball.2 days is a small time to re live your life at college but i did it with football,Andhra mess,GRT,Gurnath,campus cafe,department all with some high spirits.I had left an unfinished business at college and probably it was destined to happen this way.I have a strong faith in destiny and this one thing was something I had always wanted to do and so it was bound to happen,I ran the Road race track in 48 minutes and in the end promised myself to do the same whenever I return to college again.
410,Ganga Hostel
15 days,16 nights(9 on train).If you join Ranchi-Delhi-Kathgodam-Corbett-Nanital-VrindavanGurgaon-Banglore-Chennai-Ranchi it makes a huge circle on the map.Take a 40 hour train ride in a sleeper coach in summer just to meet a friend, I promise you will understand the meaning of friendship.Run a half marathon in the heat your definition of heat will change. Celebrate one b day at least with a set of new people(I celebrated it with sadhus at Vrindavan) and you will start valuing your life even more.Visit your Alma mater just for no reason and you will start finding joy in small things.Just pack your bags and step into the next train and you will become a contemporary nomad.Sometimes hunger,heat,lack of sleep,friends,smoke and above all train journeys is what one needs to understand what living is all about.
On the rails
For an athlete there is a unique sole-soul connection which only he can understand. It is amazing that how a battered shoe sole can instil a confidence in a runner. It is somewhat like that lucky pen you used to write your exams with and no new pen could have taken its place.I love my shoes and have been in love with many other football shoes at college and so I decided to run one last half marathon in the old pair.Preparing for the Corbett Half Marathon was a real tough task not much due to the summer but more due to the weekend travels for B-school interviews.But then from here life is going to be tough and I know I will have to find time to run.Running is a liberating activity probably one of the many means to connect with the soul,it is something which one can take up as a life long activity and the best part is that one is least dependent on others for this fun .Running in a National Park is something one dreams of and a lucky few get the opportunity to actually run.When you start the run you are surrounded by tall trees but somehow mentally at the end you stand taller than the trees.With Elephant dung on the road,dead leaves scattered all around, birds chirping,small streams passing and an endless road one could ask no more from life.Compared to the Mumbai Half marathon , this was a difficult track with a continuous elevated surfaces to run on throughout the race and added to the the climb was the temperature and fatigue of reaching this place.I really felt happy to complete this race for it was a total test of endurance.Every km you run to prepare for the marathon tests your mental ability and then you come and find yourself in a totally new and a difficult track you learn more about yourself , you understand that you have it in you.The Corbett Half marathon will always remain in my mind whenever I come across a difficult situation in life.
On the road again
Family,friends,passion and a career is all that one must look out of life. It will often be a balancing act among these choices and it is of paramount importance to get the right mix.It is of paramount importance to pursue happiness and not procrastinate it.Your idea of happiness may differ from my idea but one must see it as a river which has different course and name but the same destination.Let money be no bar in your journey because happiness lies within and you have to find it. I have found the Wilderness very appealing and have looked at the passing mountains with a childhood charm.Pack your bags and go into the wild for it is where the life lies.Thoreau once said,“In wildness is the preservation of the world.”
Life in points
- Done with all but one interview of FMS scheduled late in April.
- Running the Corbett half marathon on Saturday.
- Will be celebrating my B day on Monday with college friends at Gurgaon.
- Football will be played in Ganga qudrangle at IIT-M soon.
- A Banglore trip on cards.
- Working in social segment is great.
- Shoes are worn out and that makes me very satisfied.
- Running in summer heat is challenging.
- Will be sitting on the foot-board of Rajdhani express in half an hour from now enjoying the sunset.
The Razor’s Edge by W.Somerset Maugham
Title : The Razor’s Edge
Author : W.Somerset Maugham
Publisher : Pocket Books
Genere:Soul searching/Nirvana/Spiritual adventure
Pages:296
Price:INR 200
“He had a way that always amused me of being with you one moment and without explanation gone the next.It was so abrupt;it was almost as if he had faded into the air.”
Wandering in the streets of Kolkata I laid my hands on this book and call it serendipity, I found another book in harmony to my perceptions,the belief that ultimate satisfaction can only be found in the life of the spirit, selflessness and renunciation.This is my first novel by the author though I have read many short stories by him and I have,”On human Bondage” resting on my shelf and will read it soon.The language and narrative is simple but there is a charm in Maugham’s writing, probably the ability to vividly describe the setting,characters and present the content both mysteriously and profoundly.Written as a first person narrative this is one book for the soul searchers.
We live in a society where success is clubbed with money,education and high standards of living. I am not against these ideals nor does this book preach so.We come across success stories daily and at one point of time even try to script a success story of our own.The author has tried to write a story of a man who by social measures is ordinary,of no social consequence. Larry our protagonist is in his early twenties and has just returned from a war after two years.He is introduced to the author by Elliot(I will introduce him in a greater detail) and then over a course of 10 years he has many chance meetings with Larry.
The author had know Elliot Templeton for over 15 years and as far as this novel goes Elliot plays an important role in linking the characters.A remarkable man with lots of contacts and impeccable knowledge of material things like works of art, furniture, decorative, hotels , wine and so on.He was what in contemporary settings we associate with a middle man.Helpful,obliging,hospitable and generous were some characteristic traits he used to his advantage to secure his means.Many people called him a snob and ridiculed him and still associated with him.The sporadic meetings of the author with Elliot is an important part in writing of this book.
As a young man we hardly think of faith and rarely does the question,”Faith vs fame?” bog us.For Larry life was great,he was in love with Isabel a very attractive lady,was offered to work in a big company and had the comforts of America.If he would have chosen this path he would definitely be what the society perceives as being successful.Instead he takes a different course of action to seek happiness.There is a strong contrast between him and Isabel, though both loved each other Isabel could not part with the comforts of her life while Larry tried to cut off from material world.They separated and took different courses of life.While Larry took to lot of reading,travelling and hard labor she chose to marry a rich husband and high societal living.
The book has many varied characters interesting in their own way and consequential to the plot as well. To name a few were Kosti,Ellie,Frau Becker,Suzzane and Sophie.Larry recognized a lot of reading as a method of liberation and when tired he resorted to hard labor in a coal mine in farms and as mechanic.He traveled and went to India where he got enlightened. When he returned back he had a sense of charm and quiet which made him fun to converse with.He could control his temptations and at the same time meet people without being attached to them.The book also in a chapter discusses Hinduism and Nirvana.His quest for happiness did not end in attaining the knowledge of the supreme but eventually in serving and he took a very different path for it.
Overall a very different book which has two movie adaptations too.I would definitely urge you to read it once if not the content then at least for the delivery and the literary value.
“It seemed to me that a chance was offered to me and I must take it there and then or it would never be offered me again.I made up my mind quickly.I decided not to go back to the ship.I’d left nothing there but a few things in a grip.I walked slowly back to the native quarter and looked about for a hotel.I found one after a while and took a room.I had the clothes I stood up in,some loose cash,my passport and my letter of credit;I felt so free,I laughed out loud.”
Rathing: 4.5/5
