Year 2014

Yay.. I finished the Book Challenge that I ot myself into this year. Read 20 or more books but the below list shows the 20 of them i made a list of just for this post. :) My last book in this challenge was "Cart Before the Horse" and it was a nice read. Lot of great moments in the book and I loved the "Happily ever after" ending. :)

I am so excited about this month as its December!!!! Can't believe days are flying and we are already ready to welcome 2015.!!! I am looking forward to a wonderful year that would teach me lot of things I'm sure. 2014 has been great and bitter at times. Which year goes by only with happiness, tell me. The bitter situations obviously teach us lot more than the happier ones. I have definitely become a better and stronger person this year and hoping the new year brings in lot of love and happiness and give me strength to face the bitter ones.

I have also just put few pics of my year 2014. Its a bit too early for me to be writing this post since its just 8th of December, but who cares? :)

Book Challenge List

1 - The Choice
2 - A Convenient Bridegroom
3 - Craving Beauty
4 - First Family
5 - And the Mountains Echoed
6 - The Bankerupt
7 - The Next Always
8 - A place called Here
9 - Lolita
10- The Cuckoo's Calling
11- The Fault in our stars
12 - The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight
13 - Silence
14 - Double Dare
15 - Promise You Won't Tell?
16 - Harvard Hottie
17 - Half Girlfriend.
18 - A Million Little Pieces
19 - My Friend Leonard
20 - Cart Before the Horse

Few pictures from this year, Will add more later. 

Diwali at work

Jumping time

My Friend Leonard

I finished reading "My Friend Leonard" by James Frey. This is the continuation to "A Million Little Pieces". I have to say this book was a lot more than i expected. It seemed very true and I could relate to few situations as well. I somehow knew that we were gonna lose Leonard at the end of this book. But did not want to lose him at all just like James. God.. I really liked Leonard and had tears at the end.

I do look forward to reading more of James Frey books. I don't mind if what he writes is true or not. I just don't care as long as i like what I'm reading. Now I'm googling to check if movie is made out of these two books. If there's anyone with these details, Please let me know 'cos really want to watch James Frey's life in Rehab and out of it.

I am so close to finishing my book challenge for this year, I had 20 books for this year and I'm at 19 right now. I have picked "Cart Before The Horse" by Bernadette Marie to be my 20th book for the year. I don't know what made me pick this up. Maybe just the pretty cover page. Anyways, I plan to read "Looking for Alaska" by John Green. This guy is presently my friend Nisha's fav author. :)

A Million Little Pieces

I was walking around Malleshwaram 8th cross with my mum and saw a book sale going on. So obviously I had to go in and pick up few. My mum started looking around for recipe and kids books for my niece and I was looking for Fiction/Non Fiction ones. I just looked at the book "A Million Little Pieces" by James Frey and something about it made me buy it even without reading a bit at the back of the book. Maybe it was the cover. I picked it up along with few more and came home.

Its about James Frey and how he beats his addiction to Alcohol, Crack and lot of things. I was shocked the entire time. Took me three days to read it and all three days i was shocked to know that someone could go through all this and survive. Oh my god. I felt so bad for everything he had to come across but the same time felt angry that someone could choose to live with any kind of addiction even while knowing well enough how bad it is for you. In this book, It presses on the subject that nothing can beat your determination, Not any addiction, nobody. The part where James talks about how no program and therapy can get him out of it other than himself was just amazing. He knew very well what he got himself into. Later he knew very well how to get out as well. But the in between part where he got into lot of trouble and woke up injured very badly was sad to read about.

Just after i was done with this one, I looked up for his second book "My Friend Leonard" and saw that its the continuation. So obviously i am gonna read it next. But there were few things I came across while reading about James Frey today and should say i am a bit angry. I read that it was proved that lot of things in the book "A Million Little Pieces" were fabricated and even Oprah interviewed him regarding this. This kinda makes me angry at the author if its true.

Anyways this is not going to stop me from reading his other books. Lets see how it goes.

Game of Doors

When one door closes, Another opens. This is what I've heard for the past so many years. Is it really how it happens in life? I mean there are instances where this has happened to me. But not all the time. Or am i not able to recognize the new door being opened? If so, how can we do it? Its obvious that when one door closes, We are shattered, angry and lose hope in everything. So if the concept of new door being opened is true, shouldn't we be able to realize the door being opened just so we can start feeling better.

Also we have no idea what exactly the new door brings us right? We might not really want that and would like to have something else. Shouldn't we get what's required? I'm still thinking a lot on this. Obviously i won't have all the answers.

As an example, lets imagine that our career falls horribly apart and same time you fall in love with someone. So its true that a door closed and a door opened. After few days, your relationship goes bad and find a great job. So you see what I'm trying to talk about here? Its crazy. Are we programmed by God in such a way that we just can't have everything fall into right place and stay that way? I mean doesn't He want us happy? Or He wants to see us happy for a short time and give them something bad to handle. Hmm.. This is not nice at all.

But i also know that we cannot learn the true value of happiness unless we know what sorrow is.

OK. I'm back to my thinking mode and will write more if possible.

Flash Mob @ Oracle

For the first time in Oracle Technology Park, We performed Flash Mob to let the employees know about the Shreya Goshal concert on November 1st 2014. We are so excited about it. 

Here is the video.

Sad thing

Its been so long since I wrote something when I've been hurt. That doesn't mean past months were filled with just happiness. I mean, come on, Is there anyone who has only happiness and nothing else everyday? I really doubt there is.

Last week there were few differences with few of my work friends. I call them friends 'cos they actually became friends to me from being just "Colleagues". I have very few friends actually. Other than the ones i spend all my weekends with, I used to have like three or four friends at workplace. The ones with whom you start getting close and start sharing lot of things, work and life. But last week something really small happened and it kinda changed the whole concept of work friends with me. Its not that we had a huge fight and stuff. But there were tears and sad part of it was the tears was just from me. I was most sad of all 'cos in the past 4 to 5 years, I had hardly got close to anyone at work. Something changed here and i became friends with people here. Just few of them. So when things went bad last week, I couldn't take it. Not because i was hurt by them. I was more hurt 'cos I was better 4 years back, when i didn't get close to workmates and kept it cordial. I let myself get close. So it was kinda my fault to have been hurt by them.

All I've been trying to do now is to go back to how i was 4 years back. As it was good for me.

On a happy note, There was a flash Mob at Oracle and it was awesome. :) Its on YouTube for the ones interested to watch.

Half Girlfriend

Its been such a hectic week. Oh god. Can't believe its already Friday. But am i glad that it is? Oh yea..!! I'm just going to spend the next two days sleeping and reading. Will try to go see my niece and nephew. Its been long time i spent time with them. When we had long weekend, my niece traveled to Mangalore with her parents and I spent whole four days in shopping. Yes. It was high time that i bought clothes. So took mum along and did some serious shopping as we didn't travel out of Bangalore.

Other than that there are quite a few things going on in my life right now. Whole morning is spent with me cooking and cleaning the house. Then my cab arrives and I'm at office. Spending around four hours everyday at work in dance practice as we are planning a flash mob at office. Its like letting the employees know that Shreya Goshal is going to perform for Oracle on November 1st. So yea. Lot of preparations going on for that. We are so excited about it.

I also read "Half Girlfriend" and really liked it. Not because this story was so realistic to me, also because Chetan Bhagat continues to hold the interest of many Indian readers. The whole book was good and i read it at one go. Felt it was a bit short though. I liked it a lot.

One of my colleague who wasn't a close friend of mine has been traveling with me in the cab and we have been talking a lot about movies, life, books, meditation and things like that. He is really nice and he's actually Praveen's good friend. I started talking to him recently. He has got this huge collection of great movies and has been suggesting good ones for me to watch. So last weekend, I watched "Dallas Buyers Club" and I can't believe that Matthew McConaughey was this awesome. God. I completely loved his and Jared Leto's character and acting in this movie. I'm going to watch all Jared Leto's movies. :)

Just remembered that i have finished reading 17 books out of my 20 Books challenge for this year. :) Yay.!!!!