Welcome ...

I promised I will return only when I have something merrier to write (refer to last line of my previous post) and here I am. Presenting in Confessions – my first guest blogger :-). Find below his writing preceded by a brief introduction of the author.



Name: Akshay D. Trasi
Known as: The Ulterior Motivator
I Call: Thrash Can
Profession: Sr. Software Engineer, Hexaware Technologies Ltd
Related to Me: Hexaware Colleague, Project Mate and Friend
Favourite One Liner: “I have a question … ”
Current Obsession: Motivating People
Striking Feature: Sense of Humour

Trasi Speaks …

Pain has been worrying us at work about how she’s got the writer’s block and has nothing to update her blog with. Initially we thought it was a gimmick to spread general awareness about the existence of her blog; but you can’t blame us. Having worked at Hexaware for the last four years, we tend to take everything with a twist, and not at face value.

Then one day, about two weeks ago, I thought it was about time somebody gave her a good workaround to her problem. As a naturally thoughtful individual, I suggested she invite guest writers to contribute to her blog, and that she pay them a nominal sum of Rs. 500 per contribution. The first suggestion stuck and not surprisingly, the second one didn’t.

Anyway, I was not aware that this would come back to haunt me. Pain liked this idea, but evidently has a poor social network, and she just had to invite (read: threaten) me to write for her – the first person she saw. I don’t like being very creative, and most definitely not when I have a looming deadline. I thought I was clear enough when I told her that I didn’t like deadlines, but today she stomped to my work desk. As things stand, this is my first guest blog for Pain.

Pain, I hope you’re happy! Because of you, I had to be creative! Also, you can credit the writer’s fee directly into my bank account. Thank you.

- Akshay Trasi

(Few people are blessed to have their naggings answered to so promptly. Yes Thrash Can I nagged! But see the end result; the world gets a glimpse of your sense of humour which I have always admired. So I will be back to your desk stomping in a few days when I will again be in need of some fuel to keep the interest of my readers ignited. Oh and one small thing which I would also tell you personally when we meet tomorrow - "Thank You :-)")

Questions Which Only My Friend Can Answer For Me …

I read David Copperfield for the very first time when I was in 8th grade. And did so not because of some recommendation. I read it because it was a Charles Dickens'. And I liked it. I was told that David Copperfield was a precious and priceless piece of literature cause you interpret it differently with every read, depending on whether you are in adolescence, teenage, youth or senile. True enough, David Copperfield was an altogether different experience when I revisited it in the 1st Year of Engineering.

Friendship, I am given to believe, is the same. In every phase of life your friends and the bond you share with them varies. Like David Copperfield. But I am not sure if that is true. Isn't friendship just one simple thing – an assurance that you will never be alone? It is not about the different stages of my life and the friendships I have had or about Charles Dickens or David Copperfield or loneliness that I wish to write. It is just a few questions that have been haunting me for sometime that I want to pen down.

I distanced my self from every single person who questioned my friend's integrity. Every finger that was pointed towards him was like an accusation to me. It pissed me. Why is it that the same friend think it was alright to humiliate me in front of an audience? Why is it that I stayed up all night yesterday worrying after a nightmare if all is well with him, but did not have enough courage to call, least he is busy or sleeping and I would disturb? Why is it that he has not asked me since ages what is it that I am painting of late? Why is it that 2 days and he does not even have a moment to spare and ask me if I am alright? What happened to my friendship?

I had kept it safe and taken good care of it. Don’t know when and how, I lost my copy of David Copperfield somewhere.

Sorry, but no matter how hard I am trying, there is no post that I am able to make in a happy note. A reader, who has not known me, will take me to be a pessimist. For my own good, I believe and hope that is untrue :-). I will make no posts until I have something positive and good happening, which I would want to document. And right now I am in no position to predict when that will be. So may be some time before I make another post.

Not a Review … Just my View.

Book : Interpreter Of Maladies.
Collection of short stories based on Bengal and the second generation of Indians living in Boston. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2000.

Author : Jhumpa Lahiri
Expect the article to be biased cause of two reasons;
1] Being a Bengali I think I can, what it is called, relate to the plots.
2] I love both the pace as well as the simplicity in Ms. Lahiri’s story telling, although some might reject her as having a monotonous pitch that is spread across all her writings. A contemporary young writer (picture below - She looks beautiful !)

Pre Read Notions :
Have waited for a long time to read this collection of nine short stories. 8 years! Partly because I could never lay my hands on a copy, and secondly, did not try too hard to lay my hands on one. From the title I expected it too be an assortment of separate anecdotes, all revolving around some malady or the other – a book that is a strict no no if you are already brooding. Finally mission accomplished courtesy Antara. She got a copy from the roadside library.

While Reading : (Story - View)
1] A Temporary Matter - First Imression of the book; a good impression!
2] When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine - Loved it
3] Interpreter of Maladies - Not bad
4] A Real Durwan - A saddening account. Nevertheless good
5] Sexy - Nice
6] Mrs. Sen’s - Marvellous. The character was so much like Ma’s
7] This Blessed House - Alright
8] The treatment of Bibi Haldar - Strictly Okay
9] The Third and Final Continent - Perfect Ending to an overall good experience.

After Read Recommendation :
Do not know if all will like it as much as I did but definitely worth a read. Reject it, everybody is entitled to their opinions, but only after you have read it. Recommend it very very highly.