Hues of soul

  Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine  Gail Honeyman Eleanor, a thirty year old finance clerk in Glasgow, finds herself socially misfit.  "It seemed , no Eleanor shaped social hole for her to slot into." She holds onto life with a routine of lunch time 'Daily Telegraph' crossword, evening  tv and books and vodka boosted weekends She struggles to solve the puzzle of herself. Eleanor carries  some grandiose ideas instilled in her by her mummy. Such ideas which are expressed in the form  of her formal interactions  even during casual settings add to her social awkwardness. But her witty social observations make the book a stimulating read.  Socially isolated, unable to shuffle away the engulfing lonliness and enui, she tries to flush out her traumatic past  with vodka. But, the "thoughts of past would not be drowned- like ugly, bloated corpses, they continued to float to the surface, in all their pale, gas-filled ugliness." She belie...

Mother Mary Comes To Me Arundhati Roy  Penguin  'Mother Mary Comes To Me' is a memorial grove Arundhati Roy built for her mother, Mary Roy. The epitaph on it says, " In these pages, my mother, my gangster shall live. She was my shelter and my storm." Mrs. Mary Roy was a warrior for the cause of women. She successfully challenged the Travancore Christian Succession Act which left daughters no right on their father's  property. She was a go-getter who built a reputed school out of a barren hill ( a 'mottakkunnu'). She was a bold woman who  never forgave ill-treatment, be it her own mother on the other side. But shouting at her children in front of others, making them  leave the car or the house according to her mood, punishing them for the slightest perceived incompetence, Mrs Roy was a difficult mother, if not an abusive one. During her frequent bouts of asthma attacks, she used to tell her little girl that if she was dead, she would end up in t...

The Thorn Birds Colleen McCullough A Thorn bird is a mythical  bird that sings only once in its life, a song that is the most melodious on earth. From birth, the bird searches for a thorn bush, and upon finding it,  impales itself on the longest thorn, and dies singing a song that is better than that of any other living thing. It gives its life  for one superlative song. Just as in the myth the theme of the book is that the most beautiful things in life come with a price of painful sacrifice. Meggie Cleary of Drogheda,  knew it was going to be extremely painful to love Cardinal Ralph de Bricassart, but loved him accepting the pain of love. The cardinal chose divinity over Meggie and carried the pain of forbidden  love throughout his life.  Except for little Meggie, there was not a single truly likeable character in the book. Somehow the men couldn't make an impact, even cardinal Ralph de Bricassart or Dane O'Neil with their exceptional beauty a...

Anhedonia   Why don't fresh blooms or colours of the morning  make me jovial as before? Is it because of  the darkness of the world  or the darkness within me? Why doesn't the breeze  soothe me as he used to? Is it because of the vexatious  trail  he has to traverse? Or is it that my wounds are so deep and grave? Why does laughter  stay elusive to me? Fatigue or just aging? Or is it because of  the incessant glimpses of  the big bad world around,  that haunt me all the time? Preetha Raj

The Journal   I had  always succeeded  to cut and keep aside  the coiling tendrils of the creepers of sorrow  that come my way... The cast away, unattended  mass in the attic of my mind starts to fume and smoulder and the darkness engulfs me .. The surrounding darkness  gets thicker as days crawl by There is not even a silver streak anywhere in the horizon.. I curl up in the darkest corner of the deepest abyss in my mind.. Drained of the slightest strength  to move or even to open the eyes.. It was never like this in the past.. A breeze, a drizzle, a fresh bloom, song of a quail,  the first rays of the Sun Even a friendly phone call used to brighten me up  pulling me into the light  up from the darkness .. As profound sorrow engulfs me I hear a feeble murmur from within.. I strain with all the bones in my ears.. and guess I hear what it says . "Do not look for light outside.. It is hidden in the ashes, somewhere deep wit...

New Year Resolution  How to make life simple  as far as possible.?  That's the thought  storming my mind  this new year morning.. Not to think too much about things? Not to get involved too deeply  into the matters that are  beyond my righful space? Look inward and focus on myself? Ohh God! Even thinking about simplicity  is so much complicated! So, this new year morning,  I adorn my old overthinking self  and plan to unclutter my poor brain  slowly, gradually, as the year progresses.. Preetha Raj