Shakespeare

1. Lovers and madmen have such seething brains,
Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend
More than cool reason ever comprehends.


~ Theseus, A Midsummer Night's Dream.


2. Love is merely a madness, and I tell you, deserves as well a dark house and a whip as madmen do; and the reason why they are not so punished and cured is that the lunacy is so ordinary that the whippers are in love too.


~ Rosalind, As You Like It.


3. Alas, that love, so gentle in his view
Should be so tyrannous and rough in proof.


~ Benvolio, Romeo and Juliet.


4. Men have died from time to time and worms have eaten them, but not for love.


~ Rosalind, As You Like It.


Shakespeare sure had some right notions about love.

30 Day Book Challenge: Day 2

A Book that you have read more than 3 times

The Great Indian Novel by Shashi Tharoor: Since I wrote my Dissertation for the MA on it, it has to be the book I have read the most number of times. ;) I think this is an awesome book! Tharoor has rewritten the Mahabharata, the Indian Movement of Independence and the contemporary political scenario and drawn amazing parallels between the three. It takes serious amount of genius to be able to do that well. If you are interested in mythology, history and literature, you'll love it for it's style. If you aren't but you have a good knowledge of politics, you'll love it too, for it's humour. :)

My copy of the Great Indian Novel. Special memories (not necessarily good ones :P) related with this one. Have still kept the post-its intact on it. :P [Also, because this was gifted to me by Mungi. ;)]

I seriously recommend throwing yourself into this world, where Dhritrashtra is actually Nehru (or is it the other way round? :P), Pandu is Subhash Chandra Bose, Bhismapitama is Gandhiji and Indira Gandhi is equivalent to a 100 Kauravas. Here's my favourite example of why people should read this book. Written for Gandhiji after his first Satyagraha movement for the peasants of Champaran:

Groupies with rupees and large solar topis,
bakers and fakers and enema-takers,
journalists who promoted his cause with their pen,
these were among his favourite men!

Pride

"Sar kisi se firoh nahi hota; haif bande hue, khuda naa hue."

- The Story Teller's Tale by Omair Ahmed.

Favourite Quotations

"In the midst of a winter, I finally learnt that there was in me an invincible summer."
"I'd rather live my life as if there is a God and die to find out there isn't than live my life as if there isn't and die to find out there is."
~ Albert Camus

"Each time liberty is in question, we are concerned, be we white, black, or yellow; and each time freedom is under siege, no matter where, I will engage myself completely." ~ Frantz Fanon.

"I've always been suspicious of collective truths."
"A critic should describe, and not prescribe" ~ Eugene Ionesco

"I prefer the absurdity of writing to the absurdity of not writing." ~ Wislawa Szymborska

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that when one part of your life starts going okay, the other falls spectacularly to pieces."
"Thank you, Daniel, that is very good to know. But if staying here means working within 10 yards of you, I'd rather have a job wiping Saddam Hussain's arse." ~ Bridget Jones's Diary.

"It's really hard to walk in single women's shoes. That's why, you sometimes need really special shoes."
"But the most exciting, challenging and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself. And if you can find someone to love the you you love, well, that's just fabulous." ~ Sex and the City

"I solemnly swear that I'm upto no good." ~ George Weasly, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

"Those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it."
"Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on the earth should that mean it's not real?" ~ Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

"Guys can fake it?!! Unbelievable! The one thing that's ours!"
"Is it me? Is it like I have a beacon that only dogs and men with severe emotional problems can hear?"
~ Monica, F.R.I.E.N.D.S.


"I still want to be me when I wake up one fine morning and have breakfast at Tiffany's." - Holly Golightly, Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Gift Wrapping Paper Quotes

My room looks like a bomb-site. The parcel that I had shipped from England has arrived and I'm in the middle of the process of keeping everything away. Needless to say, I HAVE to write this post now coz I'm surrounded by things that have to be put away. :P

But, the good thing about clearing your cupboards to make space for more books is that sometimes you come upon a really really prized thing that you had kept away and re-discovered after a long time, making you very very happy! :)

This thing for me is my favourite gift wrapping paper. Yes yes, I am a soppy old fool, don't bother about me. But, I do keep all the gift wrapping papers that I get from close friends and I will preserve them for years until one day, when I won't have any place to keep them I'll have to cry my heart out to throw them out. Anyway, this particular gift wrapping paper was given to me by my cousin, Bik on Rakshabandhan last year. Now, Bik always asks me what gift I want for Rakshabandhan AND for my birthday and he always gets me just that. And, every year, I ask for books. :P So, it has been a tradition with us for last several years that we both go to Crossword and he gives me a thousand bucks. And I spend it all on books! :D But, last year, I just gave him the title of the book I wanted since none of us had time to do that trip together. So, he got it gift-wrapped in Crossword itself. And Crossword has lovely gift-wrapping paper! It is plain paper with lots of different book-quotes written on it. :D Here are the quotes:

• Books had instant replay long before televised sports. ~ Bern Williams
• Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures. ~ Jessamyn West
• You can never be too thin, too rich or have too many books. ~ Carter Burden
• I love being a writer. What I can't stand is the paperwork. ~ Peter de Vries
• Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it is too dark to read. ~ Groucho Mark
• The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who doesn't read them. ~ Mark Twain
• I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book. ~ Groucho Mark
• Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life. ~ Mark Twain
• There is no spectacle that is as terrifying as the sight of a guest in your house whom you catch staring at your books. ~ Roger Rosenblatt
• People say that life is the thing but I prefer reading. ~ Logan Pearsall Smith
• A good novel tells us the truth about it's hero but a bad novel tells us the truth about it's author. ~ G. K. Chesterton