[Book Review] The Palace of Illusions

As an Indian, I grew up hearing the story of Mahabharata from different lips but just like each one of you I wasn't interested in hearing the complete story in my childhood. As a result of this, I ended up with snippets and sometimes a tale or two of this great epic written by Vyasa, the omniscient sage. When I grew up I wanted to read Mahabharata again but I was never able to bring myself to it. Finally, three weeks ago, when I was scrolling through the books section of Flipkart did I felt satisfied. I found the book 'The Palace of Illusions' by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni.

A historical fictional book, 'The Palace of Illusions' is a recreated version of Mahabharata with its mythological characters. The peculiarity of this book is that the story of the Mahabharata is narrated by Panchaali, the wife of the five Pandava brothers. Her fiery birth and lonely childhood makes her an independent lady who creates an everlasting bond with her brother and a complicated friendship with Krishna, her best friend. When Panchaali marries the Pandava brothers, her destiny unfolds to reveal dark secrets and she creates a torturing blot on humankind which was beyond reversible.

Author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni has done an excellent job in bringing out Panchaali's view of the epic. When the most prominent female character in this book narrates the story, we understand the role of females who are often underestimated in these epics because of the warrior male counterparts. The story of Mahabharata unfolds in different layers through conversations, stories and dreams. This is one of the interesting thing about this book. Melancholy is a huge element of this book coupled with remorse, despair and sympathy. The story of Panchaali takes us on a ride through the mountains with its many ups and downs but her story teaches us the noble values which we must keep in our life. For those who have not read (or knows nothing about) Mahabharata, you may find this book a bit lost. This is a mythological story and it may deal with lot of mystical and illogical ideas which are actually allusions to life's problems and solutions with its real meanings hidden deeper in its tales and conversations. This book is a treat for all those who are unwilling to read the epic itself which may take some (long) time to finish.
 

IFTTT- where things connect

Never in my life had I thought that I would write this post but I have to tell you guys the power of IFTTT (IF This Than That). I began my blog a few months ago but I recently thought why don't I spread it through social media. When I searched my blogger settings, the thought melted away as soon as it came. I couldn't find a single button or way to do it. I was irritated and that's when my brother introduced me to this lovely site.

IFTTT is the perfect place to connect your sites. It's user-friendly and most importantly it's completely free. So use...use everybody!! Use till you are completely sick of it!

How to use IFTTT :

1. Make an account on IFTTT by providing a user name, mail id and password.
2. Click on the "channels" to select your desired channel from where you want to connect. (For example: if I want to make my posts in Facebook appear automatically in Twitter then I need to take the Facebook channel and search for the recipe with Twitter in it)
3. Click "add recipe".
4. Select your desired "recipe" and add in the username and password of the channels you want to connect in.
5. Give in the details like what you want to appear, where and when.
6. That's it. You are done.

The most interesting thing I noted is that it is like a sentence...(If this happens then this should happen). An action triggers a reaction.

It can connect almost everything which it can automatically do. There are lots of channels including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Blogger, Tumblr. IFTTT is so simple and hassle free that I am sure anybody would love it. I definitely loved it. Hope you like it too...

[Book Review] 2 States

"2 States" landed into my reading list purely because of one of my sweet friend. I am not a Chetan Bhagat fan or anything but I decided to try it as it was her own book and hence I was free to return it anytime. This is his second book that I have read and for me, this one was far better than 'Five Point Someone'. This has some more content and is good if you want to know why marriages in India are so complicated. 

Romantic novel with a tinge of comedy is what I would say of "2 States". Punjabi born Krish Malhotra finds Ananya Swaminathan, an irresistible Tamilian girl at his college of remarkably brilliant students aka nerds. When these two are all ready to get married having got the best jobs, they face an important and equally hard task of uniting their parents from two different states. From Delhi to Chennai, the love story of these two takes a long and tiring journey to unite as one. 

This one also had the usual Chetan Bhagat spices and the writing was simple. It felt like the usual and casual dialogues which reign in our society and this casualness was interesting to read. There were slight lack of logicality like why do Punjabis need to talk in English when they are attending family marriages without any foreign parties. But they are insignificant I admit. The best thing about this book is that it made me smile and sometimes even laugh through its situational comedy and for that I would like to thank Chetan Bhagat.