4 Books

Books. I survived in Engineering on Books and Movies. Every book is a different world. Every story is lake of emotions. I read biographies, autobiographies, Premchand, Sarat chand Chattopaddhyay in school days. Some interesting books were part of school syllabus and now I am a student of Hindi Literature many are in my syllabus. NCERTs are more then just syllabus-books. Contain thoughts and knowledge of different scholars, they are my favourite; Especially Geography, Civics, Polity, History and Maths NCERTs. 

Here is my list of 'Four Books'

1. Maila Aanchal: 'Anchalik Upanyas' (regional novel) by Phanishwar Nath Renu reveals condition of Indian villages in 1940s, when politics was on peak, 'Bharat Chhodo Andolan' started and after that India got freedom. The politics, people, corruption and society; 'Maila Anchal' is account of each and everything. 

'Godan' by Premchand is another pioneer 'Anchalik Upanyas'. I loved that too.

2. Gulzar's Poetry Books: Instead of choosing one book, adding all here. Because we can't choose a single poem as 'Best Poem', neither particular book. Gulzar is my favourite, will always remain. 

3. Paulo Coelho's 'Veronica Decided to Die': A slow novel with few characters and story with philosophy. I guess people rarely put it in their favourite list as 'The Alchemist' and 'The Zaheer' are much famous and sold out. I liked both but 'Veronica...... ' is favourite.

4. India's Struggle for Independence by Bipin Chandra and Others: An account of Freedom Struggle, favourite of Civil Service Aspirants. I liked it coz of the way its written. Most realistic book I ever read.

Other books I loved includes Gandhi's Autobiography ( My experiments with truth ), Rediscovery of India by Meghnad Desai, Nehru's letters, Gunahon ke Devta by Dharmveer Bharti, Javed Akhtar's Gazal Collections (Lava, Tarkash), Munavvar Rana's poems, Vishnu Prabhakar's biography of Bhagat Singh, Ramchandra Guha's India after Gandhi, Karan Bajaj's novels, Aha! Zindagi Magazine and many more....

सज़ा – The Punishment

यह किस्सा ईरान का है. खुसरो प्रथम के नाम से ईरान का शासक बनने से बहुत पहले खुसरो एक गुरुकुल में रहता था और उसके गुरु उसे समस्त शास्त्र और विद्या में पारंगत करने के लिए प्रतिबद्ध थे.

एक दिन खुसरो के गुरु ने अकारण ही उसे कठोर शारीरिक दंड दे दिया. कई वर्ष बाद जब खुसरो राजगद्दी पर बैठा तो उसने सबसे पहले अपने गुरु को महल में बुलवाया और पूछा कि उन्होंने सालों पहले किस अपराध के लिए उसे कठोर दंड दिया था.

“आपने मुझे अकारण ही कठोर दंड क्यों दिया? आप भलीभांति जानते थे कि मैंने कोई भी गलती या अपराध नहीं किया था”.

“जब मैंने तुम्हारी बुद्धिमता देखी तब में यह जान गया कि एक-न-एक दिन तुम अपने पिता के साम्राज्य के उत्तराधिकारी अवश्य बनोगे,” गुरु ने कहा.

“तब मैंने यह निश्चय किया कि तुम्हें इस बात का ज्ञान होना चाहिए कि किसी व्यक्ति के साथ किया गया अन्याय उसके हृदय को आजीवन मथता रहता है. मैं आशा करता हूं कि तुम किसी भी व्यक्ति को बिना किसी कारण के कभी प्रताड़ित नहीं करोगे.”

* * * * *

When he was young, Cosroes (later on Cosroes I) had a master who managed to make him an outstanding student in all the subjects he learned.
One afternoon, for no apparent reason, the master punished him very severely.

Years later, Cosroes succeeded to the throne. One of the first measures he took was to send for his childhood master and demand an explanation for the injustice he had committed.

“Why did you punish me? You know I did not deserve it”

“When I saw your intelligence, I realized right away that you would inherit your father’s throne,” answered the master.

“And so I decided to show you how injustice is capable of marking a man for the rest of his life. I hope that you will never chastise anyone without reason.”

पाइलो कोएलो के ब्लॉग से – From the blog of Paulo Coelho

Coelho on Critics

In the past I have received emails from readers who have felt personally insulted when they have read a bad review about one of my books. Firstly, I thank you for your solidarity. Secondly: don’t take the critics too seriously! Just ask: “if you can do better, why don’t you write a book?”

After 20 years of writing, I have come to some conclusions which have helped me a lot in my books. In “The Zahir”, the main character knows already, even before his book is published, what critics are going to say.

It is not up to me to criticize the critics – I am a writer. When I meet one of them (and I meet them very often) they are normally embarrassed. They try to be nice, as if I was insulted. They are normally surprised with my reaction ( “I don’t take your comments as a personal offense”).

Why am I writing this? Because I am convinced that most of you may feel hurt when someone criticizes your work. As I said before, don’t take critics too seriously. Don’t give them the importance they don’t have. They are trying to make a living, and that’s all.

If I did not manage to convince you, please read the comments below:

Do what you feel in your heart to be right, for you’ll be criticized anyway. ~ Anna Eleanor Roosevelt

Critics should find meaningful work ~ John Grisham

To escape criticism “” do nothing, say nothing, be nothing. ~ Elbert Hubbard

It isn’t what they say about you, it’s what they whisper. ~ Errol Flynn

If criticism had any power to harm, the skunk would be extinct by now. ~ Fred Allen

Don’t be afraid of opposition. Remember, a kite rises against, not with, the wind. ~ Hamilton Mabie

There is no defense against criticism except obscurity. ~ Joseph Addison

I have always been very fond of them (drama critics) . . . I think it is so frightfully clever of them to go night after night to the theatre and know so little about it. ~ Noel Coward

All the world’s a stage, and all the clergymen critics. ~ Gregory Nunn

A fly, Sir, may sting a stately horse and make him wince; but one is but an insect, and the other is a horse still. ~ Samuel Johnson

Critics don’t buy records. They get ‘em free. ~ Nat King Cole

Critics search for ages for the wrong word, which, to give them credit, they eventually find. ~ Peter Ustinov

I don’t like to write like God. It is only because you never do it, though, that the critics think you can’t do it ~ Ernest Hemingway (Nobel Prize of Literature)

Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how it’s done, they’ve seen it done every day, but they’re unable to do it themselves.

Source: http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2010/10/10/character-of-the-week-the-critic/ )