In the Sea There are Crocodiles

Fabio Geda

Book Title: In The Sea There Are Crocodiles: The Story of Enaiatollah Akbari

Author: Fabio Geda

Published: 2011 by Harvill Secker (Random House)

Find it on Amazon here

Pages: 211

My Rating: 5/5!

You know those kinds of books which you look at, think already it's going to be great, and keep them aside to be read when you're free, so that you don't just have to take any breaks in between. This is one of those books, except that I couldn't really stop myself and ended up starting it even when I wasn't having any holiday. But that doesn't matter in the least! Breaks in between or not, this book is absolutely fantastic. Please read this. If you're one of those readers who'd read the book carefully and slowly, you'll find yourself pondering over each line and most importantly, it might even affect your outlook on life.

Goodreads Blurb!

One night before putting him to bed, Enaiatollah's mother tells him three things: don't use drugs, don't use weapons, don't steal. The next day he wakes up to find she isn't there. They have fled their village in Ghazni to seek safety outside Afghanistan but his mother has decided to return home to her younger children. Ten-year-old Enaiatollah is left alone in Pakistan to fend for himself. 

In a book based on a true story, Italian novelist Fabio Geda describes Enaiatollah's remarkable five-year journey from Afghanistan to Italy where he finally managed to claim political asylum. His ordeal took him through Iran, Turkey and Greece, working on building sites in order to pay people-traffickers, and enduring the physical misery of border crossings squeezed into the false bottoms of lorries or trekking across inhospitable mountains. A series of almost implausible strokes of fortune enabled him to get to Turin, where he found help from an Italian family and met Fabio Geda.

The result of their friendship is this unique book in which Enaiatollah's engaging, moving voice is brilliantly captured by Geda's subtle storytelling. In Geda's hands, Enaiatollah's journey becomes a universal story of stoicism in the face of fear, and the search for a place where life is liveable.

<sounds interesting, right? :D >

My Thoughts!
As much as the cover is intriguing, as much as you feel curious about the title, the book's even more interesting. First, this is actually not fiction, but the story of a boy called 'Enaiatollah Akbari', who lived in Nava, Afghanistan when he's ten. In the end when he meets the book's author, Fabio Geda, he's in Italy and finished telling his story when he's about twenty one. It's been categorized as Fiction because in some parts, little fictional details  have been added (to fill in the missing pieces). But it's actually a true, wrench-your-heart-out kind of a story. The kind you wouldn't ever want to forget. 

So, at the age of ten, Enaiat is traveling outside Nava, his home with his mother, leaving his brother and sister for a while. His mother takes him to Quetta in Pakistan and makes him promise three things one night. The next day she's not there. The book then goes on to describe, in a soft narrative tone, how Enaiat managed to live in Quetta, the people he met, how he felt those first few days when he was left to fend for himself. The narrative is soft, not too descriptive, as Enaiat focuses on talking about only those things that matter in the story, nothing else. But that doesn't make the book any less engrossing. It's addictive. Even when I wasn't reading (thanks to the end-of-semester hectic schedule in my pathetic college), I found myself thinking about the story. About how, when I was getting sad over someone not talking to me just like we used to, there was Enaiat, a small boy traveling with traffickers, working on construction sites, trying to find people who'd help him. I mean, when you've seen a glimpse of another's life (and Enaiat is actually two years older to me in reality), a life that's in stark contrast to your own, you can't find much to complain about.

I mean really, when I think about it all, I see how different lives can be. While I was probably learning two-wheel bicycling, Enaiat was running around in a factory in Qom, Iran, trying to collect enough wages to travel further, while I was complaining about not having electricity in summer nights as an eleven year old, Enaiat was probably walking lost in Iran, trying to find cardboard boxes to settle into. How then, do you still feel like complaining? It was also sort of a reality check, as I absolutely had no idea how bad things are. Still are. Have I really been so ignorant, not knowing how people are living in some neighbouring countries? We read about how Enaiat goes all the way to Turin, Italy, over the course of five years, where finally, he meets good and kind people who help him, where he finally feels at home. It's euphoric at the end, but it's tragic too. The ending (which was really, the new beginning of Enaiat's life) made me cry. It would make anyone cry, not just because of how such an ordeal it was for him (and also for many others who travel as illegals), but also because we're always worrying over and crying over such dumb things.

Fabio Geda with Enaiatollah Akbari (Pic from the Sunday
Guardian website)

We have to know that most of the things we worry about don't matter. That there are people fighting for just survival. I'd recommend everyone to read this book. See how this boy at age ten, travels from Afghanistan to Pakistan to Iran to Turkey to Greece and finally, to Italy by age 15. See how brave he is, see how he looks at the world, it'll change your perspective. This is a book to be kept with you, and I'm not saying this because I'm trying to commercialize the story or anything, but because I feel everyone must be given such an example of bravery, courage, innocence and trust. I loved it. :)

Some lines from the book I saved! 

"You must always have a wish in front of your eyes and it's in trying to satisfy our wishes that we find the strength to pick ourselves up, and if you hold a wish up high, any wish, just in front of your forehead, then life will always be worth living."

"Before coming to terms with other people you have to come to terms with yourself. How can you give love if you don't love your own life?"

"... It was just strange seeing all those relaxed, calm, confident people around you when you're the only one to feel lost."

PS- A friend once recommended that I don't sit down to write a review immediately after reading the book, as it tends to get more on the emotional side. I guess this one became like that too, but I couldn't help myself. I had to write about it's awesomeness right away!

Thank you Random House publishers for this book! :)

Review: Let's Talk Money

Author Akhil Khanna

Title: Let's Talk Money; Roads to Riches Made Easy

Author: Akhil Khanna

Genre: Non-Fiction

Published: 2012 by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.

Find it at: Flipkart / Amazon

Pages: 174

My Rating: 4/5!

From the book’s cover!

Warren Buffet has two rules. Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget Rule No. 1. Let me add a Rule No. 3: Know how to apply Rule No. 1. For, neither our upbringing nor our education gives money any significant place. Money is the least discussed topic within a family. Formal education about it is absent.

The aim of this book is to help people from non-financial background to become aware of the world of money. In a simple, jargon-free language, it tries to acquaint us with this world – the various options one has of investing and the things one should bear in mind while choosing an option. We come to know of the complexities of the global investment climate we live in today and the dangers to our investments.

Remember: It is not important what one earns; true wealth is what one manages to keep.

My thoughts!

I’ve never been one to talk about money. Somehow, the thought of money takes my mind to ‘materialism’, which is something I’m not much a fan of. How can I be? You’ve seen how people go crazy pursuing materialistic things and forget all that matters, and you get bored of it. I wasn’t very keen on reading this book earlier, considering the money talks, but the content-index of the book was appealing. Also, I wondered if it's really as simple a book as it sounds, I might just get a hang of the finance related stuff that has always scared me somehow. I think I can make some amazing decisions sometimes, and the decision to go ahead and read this book is definitely one of them. 

The book is divided into ten chapters that are structured in such a manner that you learn the very basics first and then gradually read about things built up on what you've read so far. Beginning with the concepts of money demand and supply, economic and investing environment, inflation and deflation, the book then goes on to explain the different options you would want to know from an investor's viewpoint. That's the essence of the book. How do you make your money grow, that too in an environment (like India) where so many things have changed the economy recently. You would read about 'Property', 'Business and Commodities', 'Fixed Deposits and Bonds' and how you might think about investing in them. And it's not only about investing. I actually understood so many things I couldn't understand before and I know why. I was always reading about them in the papers (on the rare occasions I did that) or in some context while reading for class. 

This book, however, has been written in an elucidated and very simple language that it's not really hard to 'get' those economics and finance concepts. I am from a commerce background and since high school have been surrounded by these terms and honestly, they've baffled me many a times. That's one reason I'm going to keep this book handy because it explains almost everything you need to know about investing and the concepts, so that whenever I would have to look up a term, I could read again from the book. There's almost everything you would need to know, in little dosage, of course (174 pages!), but you easily understand and there's no need to pull out your hair out of frustration because you'd get it in the first reading. I, who's always been terrified of the name "stock market", actually considered learning more about stocks and investing in them. See? Effective. Well played Mr. Khanna, well played. 

Apart from these, the book talks about the effects of globalization and outsourcing on the world economy, gives an insight into investments from the point of view of speculators (who, by the way, seem scary to me.), explains different kinds of insurance and how "happiness" is the best investment. Finally, the last chapter, which is my favorite, is on the Global Financial Crisis 2008. God, whenever there was any reference to this crisis, I used to shrivel up, considering how, even after many classes in college, I always had trouble understanding the whole thing. From this book, however, I understood almost all of it in one go! Perhaps it was easy because I had read a bit before, even if all was not clear, but even then, I was able to read and apply it easily and I'm sure I could explain it to anyone now. :D 

It's been written very clearly, so that people from non-finance backgrounds can understand it. That's the USP of the book, I suppose. Not many people understand the cruel world of investments and money and they have to depend on specialists for safeguarding their money. If you're one of those, I would highly recommend this book to you! Also, if you're a student like me, you should still read it for clarity of concepts. It's really handy. I like it. :)

The only thing I wished could have been better was the cover. And I'm not just saying because I'm a book cover freak. I really think if I saw the book in a bookshop, maybe I wouldn't have looked twice at it. The cover has to be gorgeous. Okay, not gorgeous, but not so plain. If the publishers are planning on making more editions, I would suggest a more 'attractive' cover. Just a little bit more.

PS- The E-Book of "Lets Talk Money - Road to Riches Made Easy" was launched on Saturday, 9th February, 2013 at the World Book Fair, 2013. Here is a picture from the launch! :)

Review: The Selection

Title: The Selection (The Selection # 1)

Author: Kiera Cass

Published: April 2012 by HarperTeen

Pages: 327

Find it at: Flipkart / Amazon

My Rating: 5/5!

*Warning: May contain spoilers!*

Goodreads blurb!

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself--and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

My Thoughts!

*Swooning* and *Sighing* all through was practically the most of what I did while reading this book, which I did non-stop. Thank goodness I chose a Saturday evening and an entire Sunday for that, or else it’d have killed me to wait to read while I trudged around in classes in college. I had been quite fascinated with the beautiful cover, all the while I saw the book coming up last year, reading reviews and the like. You know how much just a little, I’m biased towards going for books by their covers. And pretty covers almost always win! ;) So I picked up The Selection yesterday for the weekend read (even though I still have tons of work for college, but then, an amazing book is a book is a book! :D ) and managed to sleep through last night and continued in the morning. For starters, I didn’t want to stop reading, or rather, it didn’t let me. It’s a light book, yet there’s something weighty about the story so that it’s not something you can discard from your mind easily. At least for me, it’s going to stay on for a while at least.

It’s a dystopian world where there are strict rules and the Nation if Iléa, with its somewhat quirky rules and governance has the population divided into castes, right from Ones through Eights, the Ones being royalty, Twos and Threes being close enough to luxury and so on, with Fives consisting of artists, Sixes having helpers, Eights being the poorest. People are classified based on their birth and they’re expected to stick to what they’re supposed to do. Mostly no one ever marries someone who’s a caste below, which is where the trouble arises for America Singer, the protagonist of this almost-fairy tale. America, a musician and singer-performer, loves Aspen, who’s a Six and by fear of having being caught and put into jail for this, the relationship is a secret. She totally wants to marry him, but gets caught up in ‘The Selection’. The Prince of Iléa, Maxon, is ready to choose a wife from the Daughters of Iléa and America is eligible. Her mom makes her fill out the form and for the final 35 candidates, she gets chosen.

Now America’s status naturally rises to a Three and with the compensation the palace is providing her family, she is no longer worried about their hard survival, almost saving up for food. Now, apart from the cover, I’m also in love with royalty and naturally inclined to like stories that talk about plush palaces, kings and queens and their lifestyles in  humorous detail, even more from the point of view of a common girl like me, which was something that happened in this book via America. Needless to say, I loved it! I was initially sceptic about the concept of the Prince looking for a wife this way, but turns out the Prince is confused too! Maxon is actually quite adorable, if I have to describe him. Or maybe I’d also use the word “cute”. He’s such a gentleman and caring and I love the chemistry between him and America.

This is where I was confused beyond repair! Who would be right for America? Maxon or Aspen? While I liked Maxon, I wished he’d stay a friend to America (like he was being) and the love interest should be Aspen, because of the simple fact that they had been together for two years and Aspen was hard working. As the story progressed, I wondered if Maxon wouldn’t be better, but then again I went back to Aspen. I’m still not sure but I think I’d be Team Aspen, as much as I love Maxon. The book was balanced, I believe. Though the main theme was romance, but it was still a dystopian world and the related themes of caste, poverty, rebel attacks on the palace, war, etc were neatly mentioned. Not a single thing went over the board and the whole book was pretty much clean (except for the occasional kiss). Even though I love details but if there had been more to this, I wouldn’t have liked it, maybe. It seemed just perfect, giving the sense of mystery and curiosity, owing to the things that were left unsaid.

These things aside, I quite enjoyed the training and the initial parts of The Selection, when the girls stayed in the palace, were put into pretty dresses and stuff. Told you, I absolutely love royalty! I love America’s character too. She’s strong, talented, loving, smart and honest. If I hadn’t been Team Aspen, maybe I’d have loved America to be the Selected One. Right now I wish it would be Marlee, but all this remains to be seen in the next books! The ending has left me wanting for the rest of the story, but I have to admit, it did end on a satisfactory note, what with it being the first in the series and thus, having a cliff-hanger-type ending. The next book, TheElite, will be out in April 2013 and I just cannot wait enough for it.

Recommended for: Young Adult readers, those looking for a nice romance story, dystopian lovers, and girls who love princess-stuff! ;)

Review: From the Eye of My Mind...

T.G.C. Prasad

Title: From the Eye of my Mind
Author: T.G.C. Prasad
Published: 2012 by Random House India
Pages: 303
Find it at: Flipkart / Amazon
My Rating: 5/5!

I had picked up this book to read a couple of days ago and managed to read about 50 pages in two days, that too in between classes, especially during the boring ones (thank you super hectic college!). I planned to read it more on Sunday, it seemed quite interesting. Now it's still Sunday and I have finished the book two hours ago! From the Eye of My Mind is one book that you don't want to stop reading, once you begin. It has that funny sense of getting a reader hooked, where you don't find anything heavy in the book, but it's just so 'pure' and sweet that you just can't stop. I have no other way of explaining it. 

Blurb from the book's cover!

I am eighteen years old and five feet six inches tall. I have big eyes, long fingers, and I am healthy because I eat my food on time. I also have a mole on my left palm. Grandma says, 'Mole on the palm is bad luck.' Eric Hoffer, an American writer, said, 'A great man's greatest good luck is to die at the right time.' I wondered what a right time to die was? I feel I have an eye in my mind and I close it when I am with strangers.

Mallika is autistic and lives in a strangely whimsical yet ordered world of her own. When her mother breaks the news to her that her beloved elder brother Ananth is going to get married, Mallika's fragile world collapses. How will she deal with a stranger in her home and life? Told in an inimitable style, From the Eye of My Mind is a charming tale of acceptance, love and a beautiful mind.

My Thoughts!

Before I begin talking about the awesomeness of this book, I'd tell you in advance that I'd be using the word 'beautiful' a lot. In this review, for this book, beautiful means, 'something that makes you feel all gooey inside, in a remarkably nice way, especially when you read about the innocent protagonist and look at the world from her eye'. Now, the book is essentially written in first person, from the point of view of Mallika, the eighteen year old protagonist who's an autistic, a special child. That's the first thing that's remarkable about this book. It easily makes you forget the world you live in and you get to 'experience' life as an autistic kid. (To read about autism on Wikipedia, click here). Mallika has a remarkable ability to remember facts and trivia, though she may not understand everything. Social interaction is something she shies away from and prefers to be 'in my mind' when she wants to. She loves routine and gets upset when anything from her routine is out of the regular way. More than all that, she's deeply loved and cared for by her family and is absolutely adorable.

I really grew fond of Mallika. Maybe it was the first person thing, like we're reading something she wrote, like a cute story, or maybe because I loved the fact that her family was so caring. I mean, I absolutely adore the way her parents and her brother and even their housekeeper Subbu and Mallika's friend Swati are so comfortable for her. It could also be because of the pure innocence and curiosity that she has. It's just so heartwarming and beautiful. I remember somewhere someone said/wrote about how children teach us a lot and special children, even more. I suppose it's true. As the book's been written as if we're inside Mallika's mind, there is almost everything that she thinks, in the precise way. It's also filled with trivia and facts and information that Mallika's talking about. I don't know. I just am very fond of her! ^_^

If we talk about the storyline, it's quite simple. There is a family of four, Ma, Pa, Ananth, Mallika. They have a housekeeper called Subbu who has helped raise the kids and is a part of the family. Mallika doesn't like strangers and prefers being only with her family and Subbu, her friend Swati and Sister Alka, her teacher at her school. When Ma tells her that Ananth is going to get married, Mallika's upset because she cannot bear the idea of having a stranger at her home. The story goes on till the time Ananth's married and a little bit after that. It's mostly about how such a development in her family can make Mallika upset and confused and out of sync. But over time and with everyone's help and efforts, she makes it through the marriage, though she hasn't yet accepted Ananth's wife completely. I think I liked almost all characters, with the minute exception of Subbu (just because of her antics, her bus at the kerb thing, and being a BBC) and Julie, Ananth's wife. She seemed fine in the beginning, but I disliked her after she started staying with them, but then kind of went 'she's okay' towards the end. 

I really liked the simplicity of it all. It's like reading Mallika's diary, which makes it deeply intriguing, because that's how Mallika is. That's why I personally am so fond of such books. They're emotional, and they give you a sense of someone else's life in such an amazing manner so that you automatically turn introspective and learn to think in a broader light. Initially you may find it exasperating, because you're not aware of a special child's way of thinking, but once you get acquainted, it's impossible to not like it. There weren't really any "quotable quotes" as such, but I liked many manyyy lines in the book, some of which I'm sharing and which would give you an idea of how Mallika thought:

"I found it very funny. When people want to eat something, they shouldn't ask for it. When people are offered something, even though they would like to have it, they refuse. Then you are supposed to ask them a few more times and persuade them to take it. In a way, it is better not to be social. Why do people invent such social customs that make life so complicated?

When I feel like eating something, I ask. When somebody offers me something which I want, I take it. I must write my own social rule book. It will be about all the simple things I could follow and all the tougher ones that I would leave for the world to follow. There will be two paths- the easy one and the hard one. Then people will have a choice. As of now, there doesn't seem to be a choice. All of us are expected to follow one rule book. My rule book will have simple rules- 'Ask for what you want' and 'Say no to what you don't want'. Won't the world be a much simpler place when you say what you mean?"

There were quite a few grammar errors in the book, which I first mistook for a misprint, but as I noticed a few more, I realized maybe it's done intentionally, what with it being written as Mallika's describing it. I'm not sure, though. 

Recommended for: Everyone: Young Adult, Teens, readers looking for a witty, emotional read and those who might just want to know more about autism. 

Thank you Random House publishers for this book!

Classic Talk # 1: A Christmas Carol

Classic Talk is a new category of posts on my blog, pertaining to 'just-a-little-something' related to the classics I'd be reading this year. (One of my reading goals is to read and re-read classics!) I didn't want to make it a review. How do you even review timeless classics? No idea! Though I definitely wanted to write something about them. It had been quite a long time since I last read a classic and I don't really know how the idea to start reading them again struck me, but I'm glad it did. The first one I read this year is A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I remember a time in school when I started reading these books, one after the other and I suppose, the books had a different kind of an impact back then. That's the case with all classics, actually. As much as some readers explore the books, look for meanings and themes, criticize some authors and favor others for their style of writing or character building or stories, even, I don't think I'm that kind of a reader. It might sound weird, but I tend to like almost every author for whatever they write. And God forbid if I ever dislike a classics author! The only exceptions are when I find what they write ridiculous, but that's also just my perception, based on my way of thinking.

Charles Dickens

Anyway, coming back to A Christmas Carol, it's kind of my favorite by Charles Dickens (till now. I'm yet to read/re-read the other books). It's a funny story, if you ask me, even funnier to have it as a favorite, but I just can't help it. Ebenezer Scrooge is a shrewd, miserly, unkind and selfish man, someone who'd never spend a dime on anything 'frivolous' (and he found a lot of things that fit that definition) or for anyone else. Damn, that man hasn't even smiled since years! He calls Christmas a "Humbug". He has just one living relative, his nephew Fred. This is a story of unbelievable transformation of someone so shrewd, into someone who's almost 'lovable', alongside celebrating the spirit of Christmas too, of course. The underlying theme is the celebration of Christmas in the true spirit, with cheer and happiness and love. The story begins with the day before Christmas when Scrooge returns to his quarters (home) and starts noticing strange things starting right from the door knocker at the entrance. He's visited by the ghost of Jacob Marley, who was his partner in business in life and who passed away a few years previously. Jacob Marley's ghost visits him to warn him about his unpleasant, unloved possible future life (and after life), if he doesn't learn to be a better man.

Jacob warns Scrooge that he'll be visited by three ghosts at night, those that'll help him understand the extent to which his present character is not good. Scrooge is ultimately 'shaken up' towards the end of the night, when the three ghosts have made their visits one after the other (I didn't quite understand the time gap :| ). The first one is the Ghost of Christmas Past, who makes Scrooge go through his desolate past, how he was as a kid, his family, the girl he loved, the place where he worked and used to make a merry Christmas! The Ghost of Christmas Present shows him the spirit and happiness 'in-the-air', every place they went, rich or poor, all had a kind word and a smile to give. He was also shaken up by seeing how his clerk, Bob Crachit, lived with his loving family, living on the meager wage he gave him. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come was the final catch! Scrooge was, by that time, on his knees, pleading forgiveness and promising to be a better person. 

As a reader, you can't help like the way the theme is projected: that even a person who seems beyond repair, can, with a dose of reality, be shaken and stirred and made to understand the power of love and kindness. That the spirit of Christmas is something so enjoyable, that it's better celebrated not just once, but throughout the year, that a kind hand and a warm smile can do you much good than any amount of money ever can. Of course I loved the inclusion of ghosts as well. I loved the writing style (even though some people call it exaggerated, I still like the way he used his words!) and I loved some of the quotable quotes from the book! I love the way this book sold like hot cakes the year it was published, and how Dickens wrote a Christmas story for years after that. I guess this is one classic I'd know a lot about! I even liked the movie! 

Have you read this book? Did you like it as much as I did? 

PS- Any views on what I can include in these Classic Talk posts? For this one I've just typed in one go!