I know that many people do not share a love for history so I will keep this short and sweet. This is something I came across during one of my searches to quench my thirst for knowledge. Ok, ok… I am faking it. I read this novel ‘The Other Boleyn Girl’, loved it so much that I went ahead and watched the movie ‘The Other Boleyn Girl’, did not really like it much but it had Eric Bana so was worth it and then I did some background research into 16^th century England, and this is what I found…

King Henry VIII married six times in his life. This is more or less how it went…

Catherine of Aragon marries Arthur, the King’s brother, but the brother dies a few months later – Catherine marries King Henry – becomes the ‘First’ Queen of England (not first as in first ever… but first as in the first wife of King Henry to become queen) – gets pregnant a total of six times – children are either stillborn or die at birth – only surviving child is a girl, Mary.

King is upset because he wants a male heir to his throne – believes his marriage is cursed – begins chasing Anne Boleyn – divorces the Queen – marries Anne Boleyn – Anne becomes the ‘Second’ Queen of England – is pregnant at least thrice – somehow her luck is just like the first queen’s – only serving child is a girl, Elizabeth – Anne is accused of witchcraft, adultery and incest – is publicly executed – buried in an unmarked grave

Next day the King is betrothed to Jane Seymour – marries her and she becomes the ‘Third’ Queen of England – gives birth to a male heir, Edward – dies a few days later of birth complications

King Henry marries Anne of Cleaves a few years later – she becomes the ‘Fourth’ Queen of England – six months later the marriage is annulled – no kids here

Few weeks later the King marries Catherine of Howard – she becomes the ‘Fifth’ Queen of England – two years of marriage, no kids – charged with treason and adultery – publicly executed – buried in an unmarked grave… Catherine was Anne Boleyn’s cousin. Guess their family connection did not bear well on their coincidental death circumstances and unmarked tombs

Finally, the King marries Catherine Parr – no children here – the King dies four years later

Besides his six marriages, technically two, because four of his marriages were actually annulled, the King had two mistresses in his life (at different times) – Bessie Blount who had a son from the King, named Henry Fitzroy and Mary Boleyn, Anne Boleyn’s sister who had a girl and a boy from the King, Catherine and Henry (however, it is not certain if these two were fathered by the King)

After the King’s death, the children in order of their claim to the throne were – Edward, Mary, Elizabeth, and Henry Fitzroy.

Edward becomes the King – the catch here is that he is just nine at the time – dies when he is fifteen

Mary becomes the Queen – dies five years later

Elizabeth becomes the Queen – and – rules England for 44 years!

For all the King’s troubles of wanting a male heir and marrying one woman after another, this is how it turns out – Elizabeth is a woman – third in line to the throne –rules for the maximum number of years (4 decades is long) – and is the daughter of Anne Boleyn who was executed for heresy. Who could have expected the events to have such a drastic twist?

We know Elizabeth today as Queen Elizabeth I and she is a legend. I wonder if this is where Shakespeare, who was very much alive during this time, and enjoyed the Queen’s favour, got his famous line ‘Much Ado about Nothing’.

I came across this while working on a write up and I couldn’t resist sharing it…

Imagine you wake up one day and open your eyes and the view takes away your breath… you are utterly convinced that either you have managed to transport yourself to some alien planet in a distant galaxy or have gone back to a bygone era, where fossils come from. For this is what you behold…

If you’re thinking I’ve made these up… well i haven’t. These photos come from the island of Socotra which is located of the African mainland in the Indian Ocean. It is geographically one of the most isolated places and is pretty inaccessible. It is very rich in biodiversity and 1/3rd of its vegetation and animals and birds cannot be found anywhere else in the world.
To say the least, this place is beautiful, striking and strangely weird. For more pictures… just Google in!

A few of the random shots from the Sun Temple in Gujarat, Oct ‘09
(click on the photo to enlarge)

My very first encounter with the Truth Book was when I first began living my real adult life. No that didn’t come at 18. Contrary to the way the world has demarcated ages into different stages of life, a life stage rarely begins at a particular age. So I thought I was an adult when I turned 16. And then at 18 I was happy to have the official label. But it was only after I turned 23 that I really felt like an adult. That was when my life was screwed up.

So I can begin by telling you how my life was flowing smooth with everything being top notch in character and then how things began to get ugly till the point where everything was as twisted as it could get and I didn’t even know where to begin unravelling. But that story would only bore you. Or worse, invite your comments. That is not the purpose of this write up. I wanted to introduce you to the Official Guide to Understanding the World, your Life, Yourself and Everything else in Between. Or in short the Truth Book. You probably have your own copy, but that hardly matters. Because each one’s is quite unique in the sense that every individual copy is indeed individualized. And the second reason why it won’t matter is because more than half of you aren’t even aware that you have your own copy. Only when your life is so screwed up that nothing else makes sense, will you dig into your mind, heart, soul, memories, feelings and so on to discover a copy of your own. So since I’ve discovered my copy I thought of sharing it with you.

1. When I first began living this adult life I thought I was a free bird. I believed that I no longer would be bound to my parents telling me what to do or commanding my actions. Of course that equation has changed. But if I thought I could do whatever I felt like according to my own free will, I was mistaken. And that was Truth No. 1 – YOU WILL ALMOST ALWAYS BE MISTAKEN.
   

    

2. ALMOST EVERYBODY ELSE WILL THINK OF YOUR PROBLEM AS A NO-BRAINER, BELIEVE THEY HAVE A SOLUTION FOR IT, OFFER IT TO YOU AND THEN MAKE YOU FEEL FOOLISH FOR NOT HAVING THOUGHT OF THE SOLUTION AND INDEED FOR HAVING FORMULATED THE PROBLEM IN THE FIRST PLACE.
   

   Ahhh… how true that rings in my head! I only have to look at my grade sheet, and as if it isn’t enough that I have scored lower than the lowliest of the lows and have to slog like an ass for the rest of my two terms if I wish to swerve clear of the mess I have already made once, that I encounter people, on a per day basis, who seem to know how to deal with my problem and better still who enlighten me, believing with immense (but surely good) faith that I haven’t already thought about it before.
   

3. GUILT AND REGRET WILL OCCUPY A MAJOR CHUNK OF YOUR FEELING SPACE
   

   So that is what is constant in my life these days.
   

    

   Why couldn’t have I studied harder?
   

   I knew this was going to happen!
   

   How could I do this?
   

   Why didn’t I devour every word of every page of every single book?
   

   I wish I could undo this and undo the time that went by
   

   I can’t do this anymore!
   

   Damn the quiz!
   

   Damn the presentation!
   

   Damn the project!
   

   Damn the exam!
   

    

4. THE GUY YOU HAVE A HUGE CRUSH ON WILL ALMOST INVARIABLY BE COMMITTED TO SOMEBODY OR WILL NOT WANT TO BE COMMITTED AT THIS POINT
   

   On the first part of the statement…
   

   The good ones are always taken!
   

    

   And on the second part…
   

   Really now! How can it be almost invariably? I think it’s just me
   

    

    

   So much for my Truth Book Revelation for now. More follow ups to come in as and when life throws any light onto the shadowy text!
   

This is the best of what I could manage to capture from my IIM Calcutta campus which saw a partial eclipse… nevertheless the delight of waking up early to see such a rare sight was totally worth it!!

With gay sex being decriminalized, a spark of astonishment and anger seems to have been ignited among the Indians. Of course in my generation and the younger folks, such a move is more accepted and even welcomed in some cases because we have in many ways adapted ourselves to a more global lifestyle where homosexuality is quite commonplace. But not all seem to agree. They say it challenges the institution of marriage, changes our concept of a family and promotes vulgarity. They ask whether the next thing we would want to do is to give acceptance to humans having sex with animals.

Since all these debates are centred on moral grounds, I beg to differ from all such voices, because no one has the right to judge someone else on moral grounds. Sex is seen normal only between two people of opposite gender. This idea is rooted in the fact that sex is primarily seen as an act of procreation. But let us not deny this, even if it is taboo to speak of, that humans have more than just that reason to have sex. And if sex is had for pleasure, then why should there be a restriction imposed on the gender of the person one can have sex with, as long as it is between two consenting adults?

Decriminalising gay sex between two consenting adults is a move that marks India as a nation is willing to accept homosexuality on some level, yet there is a wide resentment among its masses. I wonder if we as a nation could ever come to accept gay couples, gay marriages and gay families and give them the respect that is hard for them to find.

Agatha Christie never ceases to amaze me. Just when you think you’ve got the plot worked out and know who the culprit is, Christie will take you by complete surprise. This story had a very strange murder. Interesting, but strange. You’ll be hooked onto this book all along because till the end you’d have no clue as to where the story will lead to but in the end it all falls smoothly into place. Absolutely recommended to anyone looking for a light, mystery read. Overall this one gets a 4 on 5.

PS: I’ve got to complete atleast 50 books till year end but so far I’ve got to 12… Terrible score… So reading overtime now!

Beauty, they sell it cheap,

In bottled liquids and perfumed solids

Why, Everyone! Even the distasteful

Can torment you with their tantalizing and shallow appeal

Why is this feeling so horribly sweet and painful?

It tears me apart to think that I can’t even step forward… what is the point of doing so really?

I can’t get myself to tell him and I can’t exercise enough restraint

I look at myself and then at him… and I feel like I’m cruising along a wild journey while he’s on a meaningful path.

Why does love come so unbidden?

Tears don’t,

Smiles don’t

Hate doesn’t

Anger doesn’t

Pity doesn’t

Adoration doesn’t

Then why does love?

I keep thinking of the same person, revising the same conversation in my head over and over again. What is pointless is not the repetition but the fact that the conversation will never take place for real.

Why can’t I just throw away that which brings sorrow? Perhaps ‘coz it is the only grandiose feeling that I have learnt to feel.

Will he, won’t he… does he, doesn’t he… shall I, shan’t I?

Every single question brings along its counter

Why can’t the questions for once bring along with them their answers?

Why do blank questions stare at me in the face and demand judgments?

Why can’t every love-related question have a simple yes or no with no strings attached?

Why can’t the feeling of love be mutual?

Oh of those love notes

And of our love talks

Do you recall the days

When we kept our secrets under locks?

Undivided attention

That we sought from some

Sometimes getting from all

And sometimes from none.

That joy of being asked out

For the several ‘first’ dates

Accepting some in an instant

Sometimes making them wait

Those unending dressing trials

Through layers of closet searches

To disguise our ordinary faces

and look like princesses

And then driving away

With one’s heart beating wildly

While the other one stayed back

Herself, bothered mildly

Then the return back home

With an ecstasy of a kiss still stuck wet

Or sometimes to misfortune

Having lost the bet

How we’ve lived our teens

Through crushes and crushes

Calling he who stole our heart, a crush

And that what break it, also a crush

Indeed of smiles and tears

We’ve been mates, sharing our secrets of crushes

And still recalling those strokes of luck

We’ve had with crushes and crushes