Fountainhead - a late realization

For me, the joy in reading a good book or watching an excellent movie is ephemeral and transient. A really good book (like Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (ZAMM), Lila, Death of Vishnu, Fury, Catcher in the Rye) leaves me with a few lines/ideas to think about, but ask me about the story or the names of the characters, and I will have NO idea few weeks after I finish the book. They are the lesser details for me - names, events, sometimes even plot. But chances are, I will remember the names and characters in Fountainhead for a while!

Clearly defined, yet leaving enough space for the reader to extrapolate, imagine, and understand on their own. Re-reading important sections of a book is not something I have done before. ZAMM goes down as the only book I have read twice. But after finishing Fountainhead, there were a few sections I wanted to re-visit - Ellsworth Toohey's talk to Peter Keating when he insults him for his lack of originality; Henry Cameron's parting words to Howard Roark; Howard Roark's conversation about second-handers in the cruise with Gail Wynand; Howard Roark's testimony in court in the end; but the line that made me pause, ponder, and smile, was - "Why should any living creature exist in pain? By what conceivable right can anyone demand that a human being exist for anything but his own joy?"

I don't agree with everything that the author claims - I believe there is some 'virtue' in socialism; capitalism is not the panacea that she claims it is (in hindsight, has not proven to be the cure-all that the author perceived it to be in the 40's). There is some happiness in giving - the gumption that YOU receive in making life better for someone else, purely for your own selfish reasons, YOUR gumption.

Spoiler (dont read further if you haven't read the book yet and plan to): Roark blowing the Cortlandt project up - that was drastic. If it was his (or the author's) means to an end, where he could present his reasoning and thoughts to a larger audience in the court and try to get them to see the light, it might be justified. But could he have made his point without blowing up money spent (albeit, not well spent) - maybe..

But yes, goes right up there, among the best books I have ever read. I ask myself - how much of a Howard Roark can I dare to be? This is a great book to read in your college days, before you start your career, most people read it then. I didn't, am glad I finally caught up to it..

Rang De Basanti

They should make more Indian movies like this! No bullshit, no convoluted happy ending, somewhat idealistic, maybe impractical in parts, but gets the message across. "Swades of this year", said some online reviews. I was deeply affected by Swades too last year. Some would choose to dismiss it as idealistic, but whats wrong in being idealistic? Swades hit the spot for those who dared to 'go with their heart', the rest dismissed it as 'idealistic and impractical'.

Everytime I hear the song, "Yeh jo des hai tera" from Swades, it brings a stinging feeling of guilt (the use of shehnai to produce the desired effect, a stroke of genius by the music director, A.R. Rahman). Rang De Basanti had several good songs, but the rendering of "Luka Chupee" was beautiful - rarely do I concentrate on the lyrics in a song (the tune is supreme for me), but this song had it all down.

Won't delve into the plot and such, but every youngster in India should watch this movie..and yes, I feel terrible saying so, sitting in the US!

Will jump off a bridge to break the monotony!

Snooze starts: 6:30am
Wake up: good day - 7:06am (snooze 4 times), lazy day - 7:15am (5 snoozes), Friday - 7:24am (6 snoozes)
Bkfst: cereals, soy milk, fruit
Into work: between 8:30-9am
Lunch: 12:30 - soup & salad
Gym: 6:45pm
Dinner: 6" veggie patty sub - Subway on 10th Street & 5th Ave, Bklyn
Back home: 9pm
Aah my 'free time' - can be spent hanging out, watching tv, reading, surfing, sometimes working, ironing (yes, of course :)), chatting
12 - EOD (End-of-Day)

And like this it goes, EOD to EOD...and then EOW! One wkend to the next..pressure to do something - coz you know they are gonna ask you on Monday in the elevator and at the water cooler! Am not the most convincing liar abt 'this friend's birthday party, which went crazy'. This, that, and the other...and then Sunday evening arrives! Just as I wonder why am I doing this..a paycheck arrives! And then life makes sense...for a day..

Thank God Americans take more vacations than any other country in the world (a 'fact' I just made up, go with the flow..) - that's the respite from everything we do, our vindication, a chance to break the monotony, do crazy cool stuff..like bungee jumping from a bridge (see, I wanted to impress upon you that I tried bungee jumping in Whistler, Canada recently. And I just didn't want to throw it out there, its all in the journey..walk you through my daily humdrum and then finally, arrive at the bungee jumping! No, I dont have any serious mental issues yet where I want to jump off a bridge *without* a rope around me :))

Look fwd to my next vacation..