A pocket full of rye

I have been intrigued by mystery stories for a long time. Though I haven't read much in this genre so far, I have watched quite a few movies and was thrilled. When I heard about Agatha Christie in a movie (Taare Zameen Par, to be precise), I decided to borrow one of her mystery novels from the library. "A pocket full of rye" is a page turner and keeps you guessing until the story ends in a twist.

The head of the family Mr.Rex Fortesque is poisoned by one among the members of his family. The inspector Mr.Neele who handles the investigation unravels the motive and identifies the killer using a nursery rhyme. As I turned the pages, I was guessing who could be the killer and my guesses kept changing. In the end, all my guesses were wrong. A short and crisp storyline and a well connected plot has made this novel a pretty interesting read. I hope to read more of her novels in the coming months.

Not a final frontier

My contribution to 3WW

A chase of a lifetime
peeking away from daily treasures
one step at a time, you walk
the giant hops twice as fast

with great effort, you catch some
only to find bigger monsters
staring right at you from a distance
tangled by the ever alluring race

taking bigger and wider strides
you reach to master those creatures,
unrealized that you've transformed
to a tamed, timid slave at the end

conquer or to be conquered
money not the final frontier
understand the loss before gain
life meant to be superior

A scary adventure

My contribution to 3WW

Dark and eerie,
60 minutes to midnight
elders snoozing
after a long tiring day

remote buttons stressed
quick hops through TV channels
wide awake siblings
the apartment's active souls

a sudden pause of the thumb
the title of the movie allures
so begins a scary horror flick
the background score threatens

hands go numb,
heart pounds maximum,
midnight draws close,
characters come alive

fearful to watch anymore
breathing tends to shallow
switching off the TV
scarier nightmares to follow

My brother and I used to watch horror movies in the night when the rest of the family sleeps. I rarely watched the whole movie. Somewhere in the middle, I used to get so scary that I couldn't watch it anymore!

A goner

My contribution to 3 word Wednesday - rest, sidewalk, twice

A long, clean sidewalk
tall trees on one side
rushing traffic on the other

concrete benches at few steps
providing the needed rest
for tired, worn out legs

An ideal seat for a chit-chat
munching peanuts, sipping tea
cool wind, taking away my hat

outcome of Diwali shopping
heavy bags on either side,
strolled along the stretch twice

here comes Metro rail
with its fiery speed
this experience goes peril

My favorite hang-out stretch in MG Road, Bangalore has been demolished due to the construction of Metro rail tracks. The shopping experience is no longer the same!

Unveiling India : A woman's journey

Anees Jung, the author has traveled across India, visited different cities and villages to analyze the lives and struggles of women from different backgrounds and the issues that loom large in front of them. Right from birth till the last breath, a woman faces problems and turmoils from her own family and the society. The author narrates her experiences in meeting women from Hyderabad, Varanasi, Kanyakumari, Mumbai and also many villages.

Irrespective of caste or religion, there have been barriers put forth in front of women from centuries which many are trying to break free from today. Be it the act of female foeticide, gender discrimination when it comes to education or work by their own parents, childhood marriage and a veiled day-to-day routine, these issues are rooted in many remote parts of the country. With no education or financial support and their struggles to lead a normal life, women feel stuck with these issues and couldn't find a way out of them. The one shocking verse of an ancient poem I came across in this book made me feel so angry - "Feed a woman less, for she is not going to fetch you anything. She is a burden for whom you need to spend on her marriage and dowry". From an outsider perspective, people might say that such days are long gone and women are treated better in the current Indian society. But there is a bigger entity called rural India where such practices still prevail but is not addressed or discussed, something which is taken as given. Some of the experiences mentioned in the book portray a clear picture of exploitation, prejudices and discrimination, escapism by blaming on the culture and traditions, rules set forth by some unknown saints which people blindly follow and restrict the women of this nation.

When every woman of this country lives her dream, only then we could claim we are independent.