Manan: A review

Manan is the debut novel of Mohit Parikh, my senior from MNIT. Published by HarperCollins the book captures the predicaments and dilemmas of a teenager attaining puberty. Written in a beautiful way, this book can be the story of any teenager from a middle class family who grew up in a town in '90s. It evokes happy memories of an age when the internet was still knocking on our doorsteps, when kids used to watch WWF (now WWE, but do they still watch it??) and played Mario on their TV sets.

We all were kids once whose noses leaked, shirts got untucked and the post office in pants was always open, ready to take in letters.  

Manan, a topper of class (the first ranker) day dreams as often as others, something I didn't know then that toppers did. He dreams of a giant evil eye, imagines a Version II and Version III of himself competing against each other. Mohit is reminding us of what we used to be, rebuilds a dream world which is long forgotten but will always be there, a part of us. 

There are Tenthies and Ninethies, there is The Missing Mail by R.K. Narayan, there is Geotropism, there is Poshamba bhai Poshamba, there are PT Sirs and Skit Ma'ams.  And there is Hriya, the girl whose name you used to write in your text book, whose name you murmured every time you needed luck to be on your side, whose initials you wrote with your own in a heart shape you drew out in the mud. 

But Manan is more than that. I suspect that Manan is the story of Mohit Parikh himself. Knowing him from my college days, it seems that Mohit is telling his own story, a bright and intelligent kid who relates everything in the world around to what he has read in his Science Text book. Manan is a thin and lanky fellow who feels insecure about his physical appearance but is a heavyweight when it comes to studies and extra curricular activities like debating. Is it a co-incidence that Mohit Parikh has used flow charts in the book to explain his thoughts, when one knows that he excelled at Digital Electronics, Microcontrollers and Computer Architecture (subjects taught by Rakesh Bairathi. You'll understand  what I am saying if you are from MNIT)? Or that many characters in the book share their names from actual people who were students at MPS, the school Mohit hails from. 

"And I am going to be what I want to be, nobody else will decide it for me. Neither you, Mummy, nor you, Papa. "

Mohit Parikh quit a lucrative job which used to pay a handsome salary to be what he wants to be. Because he indeed, is the Pride of Jaipur :). 

Read Manan if you were a teenager in '90s and especially if you are from Jaipur. You won't be disappointed.  

Real Satisfaction

comes only when you create something...

I keep coming back here once in a blue moon. The charm of blogosphere has faded off probably. Most of my friends who used to write are now busy with their lives doing more important things like making money and getting married. Or they just got bored of this place. 

As you can see the links on the right of this post, many blogs were updated months back. Some of them I used to circulate around. Not any more. 

Wise people often say that the key to happiness is to not to look for it. Then how am I going to find it, pray tell me. They also often advise to travel, meet new people and search for new experiences. Aren't the above mentioned things supposed to make one feel happy. There's an inherent contradiction in what they preach.You realise that you have grown too old when you post lines like these. 

 

I am reading this book called Manan, written by Mohit Parikh, a senior of mine from MNIT. Will post the reviews here soon. Not that anybody is going to read this page anyway :). 

I miss Lucknow, and MNIT.  

1. I often laugh at people who think highly of people who graduated from IIMs or from any B-school for that matter.
2. Apparently marketers have this pressing need of being everywhere, trying to be omnipresent, telling the world that about every cool thing they have ever done. I find it extremely irritating.
3. Recent realization: When one is sad, one becomes insensitive to others' feelings; often one starts behaving like a jerk.
4. People just love Roger Federer. Many people hate Sachin Tendulkar, or think that he is overrated. I am yet to meet people who feel that way about Federer. He is such a gentleman. Him being "Greatest of All Time" might be debatable, that people want him always to win is not. (Yes, Nadal has his share of fans, but the number is minuscule when compared to that of Federer).
5. Trying to be happy can be tiring. Pretense takes effort.
6. I often dream about building a city where every occupation of people would be related to sports. It will have multiple stadia, coaching facilities, academies, medicine, all dedicated to different disciplines of sports. India will produce great olympians from this city. Soon there will be 4-5 such cities in India. People from all over the world will send their children to these cities to become world class athletes.
7. Why aren't we taught more literature and history in our schools? (Yes, I know the answer. It's just a rhetoric).
8. I read the books "Timeless Steel: Rahul Dravid" and "Sachin Tendulkar: The Man Cricket Loved Back". I realized that I want to be like Rahul Dravid in my life. Sachin Tendulkar is all (and only) about Cricket. Rahul Dravid is about Life.
9. I am absolutely disgusted by people who take advantage of others' innocence and use it to their own benefit. Brokers and salesmen top the list.
10. Why do people make such a big deal about drinking and smoking? I find most of them to be hypocrites. (I was one of them once)
11. Gifts are meaningless. Showing concern and care is important.
12. I am trying to read a book titled "Idea of India" by Sunil Khilnani. It takes effort to understand the depth of his writing. One of the most difficult books  I have laid my hands on. ( after Tata McGraw Hill book of Mathematics for IIT-JEE). Or maybe I am just a lousy reader.
13. How are people able to tolerate The Times of India?
14. Even though I don't believe in God, I find Hinduism to be the coolest religion around.
15. US is a strange country. It's all about money, prosperity and growth. But are they happy? I mean, is an average American happier than some other country's people. (No, I am not comparing it with India)

Identity Crisis

The other day I was having this conversation with a friend of mine. She told me that she identifies herself with the city she comes from. She is extremely fond of it and anything said against it would offend her to no end. Many Muslims identify themselves with their religion, many Hindus with their castes, most notably Brahmins and Rajputs.
This got me thinking. I am not proud of where I come from. I don't identify myself with any of the following things.
1. Being from Jaipur, Rajasthan or India.
2. Studying from St. Anselm's, MNIT, or IIM Lucknow.
3. Being an engineer (former) or a Management student. (I am still confused about either of them).
4. Employed at Samsung or Emerson.
5. Working at Noida or Mumbai (Thane actually )
6. Being a Kayastha (Shrivastava) or a Hindu.
7. Son of a doctor and an engineer.

I am not passionate about any of the above mentioned stuff and am proud of none. I don't belong anywhere.

I have a family, friends and some people I am extremely fond of, some of whom have influenced my life a lot, in a number of ways. I have learned from them, love them, admire them, respect them and look up to them.

These people make me. Probably that is my only identity.

Never quite understood why helpers in malls , high class shops and restaurants try to speak in English even when the customers start conversing with them in Hindi. They sometimes make absolutely no sense, garbling up words and pronouncing words in a way that make you cringe for the English that you learned in school.
It also makes customers who don't understand English look like fools. Shouldn't it be changed?

It's been a year since I graduated, and one of the worst and least productive ones that I have had. Moments of happiness have been few and far between. Mostly disappointments, total lack of activity,  and a complete lack of ambition have filled this year. There is a huge void that has been created after leaving Lucknow, a void that cannot be filled. I wish I could go back in time.
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There is too much hate and negativity surrounding AAP and Arvind Kejriwal. I was in Delhi for a day where I interacted with few people asking them about Kejriwal and they were all praises for him. Now he didn't do anything extraordinary in his 49 days but government offices actually started functioning, the police officers stopped taking bribes and there was an atmosphere of hope. My father's (who is a government official Rajasthan)  department was instructed by the MLAs to pull up its socks because the government wanted to look good in the eyes of public and avoid the fate of Sheila Dikshit. Is this not a welcome change?  Too many people have been complaining about the unconstitutional means adopted by AAP. I wonder how many of them ever went to the polling booths in their life time.
There are some pressing questions that need to be confronted. Suddenly BJP is the new saviour of India. How easily the people forget the corrupt practices of these leaders. It would do a great deal of good if people started using their brains and questioning everything, every fact that is thrown at them.
Same people who used to lament the degrading quality of Times Of India and India TV are now posting links and Youtube videos that condemn AAP. I am tired of this hypocrisy.

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Quora has been a discovery. It's a great site to learn a lot of good stuff. I realized that I feel extremely happy when some people 'upvote' my answer on Quora. More so, when a lot of time was spent researching for the answer and the 'upvote' comes from a person you respect on Quora because of his/her great answers.