1) I bought Maugham's 'Of Human Bondage' in 2003 after a colleague recommended it. Each year, I've read the first 30 odd pages before giving up - unputdownable is not a word you associate with "Of Human Bondage". But this time I've crossed 120 pages due partly to having nothing else to do on a long flight from Pune to Delhi, and partly to sheer dogged persistence. I have set myself a target of reaching page 250 this weekend.
2) I find myself waiting for the Limca ad on TV - the water splashing stuff. I like the chords, the photography and both the models in it.
3) My aggregator brought in the usual weekend pile of blogs and articles and this article on Fortune is the pick of the week. It makes total sense. Check out this article if you want to get better at whatever you want to get better at Fortune. Ages ago, my guitar teacher used to tell me about "intelligent practice" and I'm sure now that this is what he meant. It was generally wasted advice when he gave it to me - I was plagued by thoughts of the talent I lacked compared to some of the North-Eastern college friends who invariably played effortlessly.
But the good thing about life is its never too late for anything.
2) I find myself waiting for the Limca ad on TV - the water splashing stuff. I like the chords, the photography and both the models in it.
3) My aggregator brought in the usual weekend pile of blogs and articles and this article on Fortune is the pick of the week. It makes total sense. Check out this article if you want to get better at whatever you want to get better at Fortune. Ages ago, my guitar teacher used to tell me about "intelligent practice" and I'm sure now that this is what he meant. It was generally wasted advice when he gave it to me - I was plagued by thoughts of the talent I lacked compared to some of the North-Eastern college friends who invariably played effortlessly.
But the good thing about life is its never too late for anything.
12 comments:
1) u cant read a book where u have to set a target to flip the pages. put it down i say
2)which ones that? have u seen the new airtel ad with srk, saif and kareena.. i keep waiting for tht., majorly celluloid stuck i am :)
3)interesting read but not too sure if i agree completely.more on that later though.
Oh...you want to know what else is not unputdownable? 100 years of solitude....Man! I think I've been trying to read that book since ages! (it feels like a 100 years already.)
Now, see - about the ads. I don't have T.V. :-(
Also, why don't you photograph food? He he! Just a thought...
By the way, the Fortune article is really interesting. I've wondered about that a lot myself.
Scribble - it sounds tempting to put it down. I'm at page 210 and my allergy to Philip Carey (the main character) gets stronger. The limca ad's unmistakable - It comes on the cricket channel (I don't suppose you watch Neo sports). I have seen the voice message stuff..that's cute too.
Mukta - I have that one too. The problem is I have a battalion of older sisters and two of them have done their PhD in English literature. If you ever need to know the most ghastly books ever penned, ask me. I will ask my sisters for their favorite recommended reads, and there you have it. Talking of photographing food, there's a lovely Lebanese dish called Tabouleh...that's the only dish I've felt like photographing, but the urge to eat it was stronger so I dont have a photo of it yet.
Limca Ad? I can't seem to remember.. But if you like models and fresh ads.. then I guess you should check out Liril advertisements. Being a Liril girl in India is like being a Chanel face. More precisely, Kate Moss.
And like everything else I have my 2 cents on 'natural talent' too.. but that would just make this comment really long, so I'll pass.
Update on Of Human Bondage : I have finished 250 pages as per target. I'm determined to plod through it because this guy who recommended it to me is someone I hold very high in esteem, and he cites this book as a huge influence.So unless I'm missing something big, the stuff's lurking deep in the balance 350 pages left.
Mlle: The Limca add is not so much about the models...they're ok. The music is really catchy. Its that short typical jingle but sounds really sweet. I'll check out which channel it comes on and revert.
Here's the link for the Limca ad I referred to on AOL: http://video.aol.com/video-detail/limca-2008-ad/3562580353
It looks quite commonplace. But I somehow like the angles of the shot, the music, the singer, the models...basically everything's right.
checked out the link, i like the jingle and the fresh look, also the man.
good going with the book, let us know after you finish it if it was worth, but i seriously doubt it :)
Very cute ad indeed. Strangely I seem to have missed it on Tv.
And the model is Sushma Reddy if I'm not mistaken.
yes,it is her
You guys seem to know a thing or two about models - I learnt that someone called Sushma Reddy existed only when I searched for this ad. And the guy is Niketan something. I thought the guy looked much better than the lady in this ad. The tune gets really catchy as you hear it a second and third time.
Scribble - I'm looking to make giant strides in the book since Tue is a holiday. If nothing else, this book should build up will power!
Its a part of my trade. Have to be good at knowing people. Also just recently saw her at a social do in Mumbai, where she was cheering for her sister Sushma Reddy.. who is apparantly a Bollywood thing.
And hey something totally random, there is some show on National Geographic, I am forgetting the name, but apparantly they showed Ritu Dalmia taking a food tour of Old Delhi. Thought you might be interested. I'll tell you the exact details if I chance upon that show again.
Mlle: Ok..I havent heard of Ritu Dalmia either. But if she turns out to be a good sport and doesnt wrinkle up her nose at the lack of hygiene in Old Delhi's eateries, that should be fine.
Scribble:I'm past page 350 now, and the tempo's kind of picked. Its getting mildly coherent. Its like one of those Wodehouse characters who put it into their Will (the legal doc) that their inheritance would pass only when the inheritor crosses that critical age of 30. It looks like Maugham believes in beginning the story at page 300!
Mukta- if you're still following this, I just noticed it last night. There's the blurb on the back side of the paperback, and none other than Gabriel Garcia Marquez says "One of my favorite authors" about Maugham. Now we know, why they both seem eminently putdownable.
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