Book review: It's your move, wordfreak!

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It's your move, wordfreak!
by Falguni Kothari

From the blurb
"Wordfreak and Worddiva hit it off right from their first online Scrabble game. Playing game after game every night leads to fun and flirty chats and a cerebral attraction so potent that it sizzles the broadband connection between them. The Scrabble-crazy duo cultivate their perfect relationship a virtual one. A bond where the past doesn t matter and neither do their names. A bond forged by cheesy words and raucous laughs.

But this simple and uncomplicated equation is shaken when Alisha Menon, parental-divorce survivor and successful divorce lawyer meets Aryan Save-the-Planet Chawla on a blind date. As reality intrudes on their online idyll, the rules of the game change forever. Soon, the two realise that some words cannot be taken lightly.

Can the real Wordfreak and Worddiva spell love in capital letters or is the game of life a deal-breaker for them?"

I applied to the Blogadda book reviews program to review THIS book , because, come on! A blooming romance over scrabble? Aren't you curious to know how the author pulls THAT off? To my disappointment, the book starts off with the aforementioned blind-date between the protagonists.. I was looking forward to sparks flying over scrabble and I had imagined a whole other premise for the book because the cover reads that way (don't you think so?),but alas, it didn't turn out to be so. Anyhoo, the copy that I got had the pages mixed up and I didn't get to read the first few chapters after their initial "awkward" encounter, but I could follow the story. The first half of the book concentrates on how the realtionship between Alisha and Aryan builds up, with both of them meeting the other's families which include Aryan's bro like, but uncle Sameer, called uncle sam, a chilled out fellow, his paternal grandmother, who knows Aryan even better than himself, Alisha's firm, but kind inside headmistress mum Savitri, and their mentor Madhuri Tandon, or MT as they refer to her. This part is pleasant.. the usual elements of a chick-lit thrown in with hints to a deep dark secret side of Aryan..
The second half deals with how Aryan and Alisha's relationship falls apart when a situation occurs and the unraveling of Aryan's secret. I'm not going to spoil it for you, but I felt the build up to be too much for what it actually turned out to be. In the end, as with all chick-lit, all is right.

I know what I said may not have sounded very positive, but that's only because I expected a bit much from this book. The writing is neat, not many frills and not like the run-of-the-mill new Indian books either (and thank god for THAT), and over all It's your move, wordfreak! makes for a pleasant summer read! I'd give it two stars on five.

Clap your hands, say yeah.

Thanks to Blogadda, I came across an interview with a blogger, who wrote in one of his posts that the best thing about his blog, is his archive. It resonated a lot with me. Not that I am very proud of what I wrote earlier but my blog marks my transformation over the years.. I wouldn't have known the difference at the time, but looking at what I'd written earlier, it becomes so evident.

In a couple of months, I'm going to be in my THIRD year of engineering. It is a huge, HUGE thing for me. Having gone through indifferent/hate phases with my decision of taking this course up, and all the troubles that I've had to face, I can only say that it has made me who I am right now. I realize I ought to be very thankful for that fact. However much I have ignored this, or maybe I did know it all along every single thing that one experiences only  add and enrich the person you are.

A couple of years ago.. I was cynical, socially awkward, naive (in a certain way) and sort of disillusioned about the world and who I was. If you expected me to write that all that has changed now you'd be wrong. I am still cynical. But now, I have realized that this negativity is just a hindrance. I am still socially awkward. I can't talk to people all that much. But now, I have realized that I'll never if I could have had an interesting conversation with someone if I never try, I'll never know for sure if I am a nuisance to someone if I don't speak. My definition of a 'friend' and what I look for in people, is also, I must admit highly unrealistic. I still don't know who I am. Not really. But I know that I will figure it out eventually. I have an idea of the kind of person that I want to be, and that's enough.

But the biggest change that in me that one can see visibly is in the music I listen to. I was a music snob. I used to think that only certain kinds of music were acceptable and that all the others were trash. Over time, I have some to shed those notions and realized that music, is music, is music. I used to be derisive of people and songs that belonged to genres I had a contempt for, but now I jut accept the fact that what appeals to people, appeals to them. Just because I don't like a certain type of music does not, at all mean that it's not good. I am unable to word this in even a slightly eloquent way, but this, this is a big revolution for me. I am SO greatful for all the wonderful artists that made me realize this, and the other wonderful artists that I could discover because of this.

In a week's time I get a shortlived, but well deserved break from college. Here's hoping that I'd use that time constructively, and blog more. As always, DON'T PANIC!

P.S. All the hitchhiker's out there, attend Towel Day. I'm so excited about it! For those of you who don't believe that someone could POSSIBLY wear a towel and roam around all day, well, you just have to wait and watch.

Those random moments which make you stop, bring the wheels whirring in your brain to a grinding halt, and really think. And feel. Those, are what make life worth living.

Fade Into You- Mazzy Star http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxGrPHt44ds

Perfect song for this weather.

I can't find the inspiration to blog anymore. Maybe it's because I'm denying my self the time to introspect. I really can't face that right now.

I hope I come back with something better next time.

-- --

All the Hyderabadis: fest alert!

My very own sadistic college is coming up with a (gasp) LITERARY fest! Actually, it's by the oratory club of the college that I had talked about in an earlier post ( I had to delete it for er, reasons, later on), and of which I am currently, the general secretary. So the fest is called Odyssey and we have a host of speaking, writing as well as informal events:

• J.A.M.
• Debate
• Extempore
• Group Discussion
• Cliff Hanger
• Dead End
• Reflect Thyself
• Tech-talk
• What do you see?
• Spell Bee
• Mr and Ms Odyssey

More details can be found at http://odyssey2012.co.cc/

DO try to come! :)

Nostalgia #1

I find that most of the time, I live in the past, because you know, everything seems better in retrospect.

So, I am going to start a series "Nostalgia", and post about the things that make me nostalgic. Anyone who's reading this is welcome to join this too. Leave your post links in the comments and I shall link back to them.

The first things that I'm going to talk about are......... VIDEO GAMES!

I got my first video game console when I was 6 years old. It was a hand-me-down from some much older cousins of mine, but I loved it! I used to play endless hours of games with a neighbour, who was almost ten years older than I was. Now that I think about it, it seems funny to imagine two such creatures playing Mario together! I also have fond memories of getting almost getting electrocuted when one day, I couldn't wait to play video games and I washed my hands after eating lunch and somehow put my finger in the switchboard hole without wiping my hands! ( I was 6, and the wiring was bad. I still have the scar)

And then there was "The Gun" which was an epic accessory (then), used to shoot ducks, and bandits in some cowboy themed game, the name of which

I do not seem to re-collect. It was almost like a status symbol

*In awe*

"You have a gun?!"

*Other person, smugly*

"Yes, I do. Wanna play Duck Hunt?"

*In 7 year old video game heaven*

-Bomber Man!

-Kung Fu!

Mario, Contra, Adventure Island, Olympics, Circus, Urban Champion, Kung-fu, Popeye, Ice-climber are just some of the games that come to my mind when I think about that glorious time. We had those casettes, which claimed to have 999999 in 1 but had the same 10 or 20 games all over again!

Mario, of course, is everybody's all time favourite. Trying to make it to the eighth world without resorting to the cheats, trying to gain as many lives as possible, and oh, the happiness when you discovered a "secret" in the game, like the 1 up you get in the first level!

Contra! Two epic fighters with guns, and cool moves battling Ireallydon'trememberwhat, but it was ultra-cool. I especially loved the waterfall level .

Adventure Island was the first ever game I played. My Dad taught me, but then he forgot how to play it himself a few months later, and I remember teaching him and feeling very proud of my self. I love the music of this game!

Olympics was one more favourite of ours. I could always only go till the skeet shooting thing. 100m dash, Hurdles, Long Jump, Triple Jump, Javelin Throw (in which I always made the world record :D), and the ever dreadful Archery.

Urban Champion was fun+funny. it had two guys battling it out on a street, the aim being to force the other down a gutter, with the chance that flower pots can be thrown at your head by old ladies peeking out of windows! I can't go on about all the games, but boy, they were all AWESOME!

Summer vacations were spent at a cousin's place where everyone used to fight for turns to play, and of course, me being the second youngest, I had to be content with just watching. But I never got bored really. Till date, I can watch people play games without being bored (except the one's on phones or small devices where I cannot really follow the game.)

Recently, at the same cousins place (she's 24 now) we found an old console THAT STILL WORKED! Although it didn't have Mario or Contra it had plenty of other games which we played to our hearts content, we called it our "retro-video game session" One of the most memorable times in this year, for me. ( See the first image. Taken in 2012! =] )

So, that was my #1 of the Nostalgia series. What's yours?

Nevermind.

Dear Blog,

Today, I woke up and played temple run  for two hours.

Today, I finally saw who/what ShinChan is.

Today, I saw a documentary about a family of monkeys named Rani, Isha, and Diya.

Today, I ate bread with cheese, and chilli powder. And garam masala.

Today, I listened to two lectures about the economy and regularization.

Today, I took more medicines than I probably needed to.

Dear blog,

tomorrow I have a Math external.

Help.