A 30 Year Old Eulogy

I have now traveled 28200 million Kilometers or to be more exact I have traveled thirty times round the Sun as of today.  To the non-geeks who haven't got it yet, yes today is my 30th birthday. Happy birthday to me and thanks to all those guys who wished me the same in FB, Watsapp, calls and in my face, I love you all. Well not all of you but some :)

When I was googling for inspiration to blog about this very ordinary day, I found many quotes like dirty thirty, thirty and fabulous, 30 is the new 20, flirty thirty etc etc but the one that stood out was 'Now I am XXX'. Bless the Romans. Being thirty is just like any other day, you wake up grumpy and get on with your day and go back to bed grumpy but as this is a round figure and the conclusion of three decades on this decaying planet let me take a breather and introspect. 

First question, Is this where I imagined myself in my teens or twenties? In my teens my imagination was more about , well you know what (duh!) and in my early twenties, honestly I don't remember much. The late twenties was mostly trying to act like an adult and according to dear wife, failing every time.

Second question, What do I regard of my achievement? This is a trick question. The concept of achievement differs from person to person, someones achievement may feel like a trivial thing for me while mine may look like an impossible fete for some one else (LOL). Jokes aside, I think passing my graduation and post graduation in time with no back papers was pretty impressive with the very little effort that was invested in it. Juggling clinic, college and consultations - my three breadwinners is quite good, getting from flab to fit was awesome, all those running, biking, hiking and this blogging puts a smile on my face but my sunshine is my crazy wife and my awesome son.

Third question, Am I satisfied with my life? Hmmm. Am I? I have absolutely no idea on that question. I am happy most of the time, but pissed off to a point of depression at times. Sometimes I feel there must be more to life that the mundane chores it offer like travelling the world, then the reality hammers me in with a few bills to pay. Maybe I will comeback to that question after ten more years.

Fourth, What are my plans for the exciting times ahead?

Yes I asked that question only to reply with that meme :D

Fifth. Regrets? Life is like the game of Mario, do you regret playing it just because you fell down the sewage pipe and landed in shit? Of course not, you pick yourself up and battle on. Every fall is a lesson and the answer to that is to get up stronger and get cracking.

What a time to be alive !
I had waited 25 years to see this !!

Enough with the questions, I am happy for the last thirty years and grateful to everyone in that who made it whole. To my family and friends, I am thankful for putting up with all my bullshit and to my enemies and villains (this is my story so I am the hero and you are the villain) I thank you for being there to make my day colorful, because with out your meddling it will just be another day in 365 but you made those days that I will not forget. I look forward to more mundane life, adult responsibilities and of course more adventures ahead. 

Happy Birthday to Me !

A Tale of Neanderthals - Book Review

I am a lover of historical fiction. I devour them like an elephant in a cane field; though I haven't seen one (an elephant in a cane field) I assume it is an orgy of feeding. My arguments on my love for this genre is exhibited by the collection of Igguldens, Cornwells, Ghosh's in my library and  the fact that I always roll back to one book if this type whenever I hit the readers block. Yes there is such a thing called readers block when you want to read but you cannot. My love for this genre must have stemmed from my childhood love of all those Balarama Amarchitrakathas. Whenever I scour the secondhand stalls or the online stores my target is to get at least one book of historical fiction and many times I have came across the name Jean Auel and her Clan of the Cave Bear. 

The Book

It is definitely not a work of historical fiction but one of pre-historic fiction. The first book of the Earth's Children series was published back in 1980, adapted into a movie in 1986. The book was followed by five more books which I am yet to procure and devour. Clan of the Cave Bear (CCB) is set in prehistorical times when our precursors Cro-magnon man and the Neanderthals meet. Just like we dislike to an edge of homophobia of anything that makes us uncomfortable like race, religion and cast, the Neanderthals (called the Clan) was wary of the Cro-magnon (called the others). I find the name 'Others' used to describe the fair, blonde race of people from the snowy North too close for a coincidence to be used by GRR Martin to describe his Northern Ice Zombies. May be he too liked the CCB pretty much and decided to pay homage.

Movie poster based on the book

We follow the life of a 5 year old Cro-magnon girl named Ayala who was orphaned by an earthquake, attacked by a cave lion and finally rescued by a band of Neanderthals. Iza, the medicine woman in the Clan adopts Ayala as her daughter and the rest of the story follows Ayala's attempt to fit into the Clan despite her different origin, looks, method of thinking, abilities etc. The book is not unique in the sense of the plot or even the characters but because of the settings and how well we can relate the speculative history 25,000 years ago to the modern day. There is a male centered society with one leader, a second in command and a group trying to usurp them; there are prejudices about the unknown, the sense of oneness in the Clan, the high position enjoyed by the religious men, the orchestration of people who think different or do not follow the traditional ways, the brash youngsters, wise elders, disciplining of women by violence including rape. Apparently we haven't progressed much since the day we were hunting mammoth and grinding sticks to make fire wearing the fur of the lynx. 

The books description of the life in a cave and the survival in the forest is so splendid that you could see the bison stampeding, the ground trembling while the hunters prowl the grassland. In the end the book leaves you with a sense of awe and you wonder how brilliantly had the author created in her mind a world so strange to you but eerily familiar too. Well the answer to that question lies in those 470 pages.

The Lady who wrote it

To read list

Neanderthals according to Google

Google's Cro-magnon

                                                                       

Pssss... This is my first attempt in reviving a book, pardon the mistakes and do criticize you critical scum !

Pssss 2.... According to the knowledgeable goddess wiki, The Earths Children is being made into a TV series, rejoice !