BookMarks #124: The Beekeeper of Aleppo

Title: The Beekeeper of Aleppo

Author: Christy Lefteri

Genre: Fiction, Historical

Published: 2019

BookMarks

The Beekeeper of Aleppo is the tale of a Syrian family and its harrowing journey to escape the war and reaching asylum in the UK. The story goes back and forth. Each chapter divided into two parts separated by a bridging word. The first part deals with the stay in England, interactions with other asylum seekers and the process of getting an asylum. The second half of each chapter narrates the origins, the journey of escape filled with own hardships. The book also deals with mental battles fought by the protagonists as they create their own illusions to escape the harsh reality around them.

Some of the lines which stood out.

• Inside the person you know, there is a person you do not know.
• Keep me alive as long as is good for me, and when death is better for me, take me.
• People are not like bees. We do not work together, we have no real sense of a greater good
• Sometimes we create such powerful illusions, so that we do not get lost in the darkness.

Overall, quite an engaging read. It’s a sad tale but also one which provides a faint glimmer of hope at every step. Just enough to help them overcome the hardships. It’s the hope which sustains them despite the uncertainties all round them. After all hope is a beautiful thing.

Previously on BookMarks: Robinson Crusoe 

Road To Los Angeles: Episode 3

The Olympics are still over 3 years away. And most of the Olympics sports & stars have receded back in the collective national memory. But some of us continue to trudge on.

Here is some of the goings on in the India Olympic sports scene in the past few months.

India submitted its application for hosting the 2036 Olympics. The way things are shaping up, there is a decent chance of it actually happening. Ironically it was a non-sporting event (the Coldplay concert) at the same venue which has boosted the chances!

Hockey

• India easily won the Women’s Asian Champions Trophy held in Rajgir, Bihar.
• The Hockey India League is back although marred by timing issues. However, good to see both the men’s & women’s editions run in parallel. The international exposure should help the game.

Cricket - The Men’s T20 team continues its blistering performance with convincing series wins away in South Africa and at home in India. On the other hand, the Women’s team had a comfortable home series win against the West Indies after a bad outing in Australia.

Tennis -  Is 15-year old Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi the next Indian Tennis star? The superb run to reach the semi-finals at Mumbai Open does bode good signs for the youngster! However, it is still very early days.

Boxing - Nishant Dev turned pro. Well, not really a surprise, given that the sport itself faces uncertainty with still no clarity on whether it will be part of the Los Angeles roster!

Off-the-field

• The Khel Ratna Awards had some unnecessary controversy. What should have been a celebration of sporting achievements left a bad taste for all. Although, in the end they did sort it out a bit.
• The wrestlers are off the mat again missing international ranking events, as the uncertainty in the Federation itself continues.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles has been struck by major wildfires with large loss of life and damage to property. This has resulted in some whispers about the preparations of the city for hosting the Games.

So that was it for the 3rd Episode in the Road To LA. Till next time.

Links: Road To LA: Episode 2 

BookMarks #123: Robinson Crusoe

Title: Robinson Crusoe

Author: Daniel Defoe

Genre: Fiction

Published: 1719

BookMarks

Robinson Crusoe – it is one of the most familiar tales in the English language, the story of a man who gets ship-wrecked and stranded on a remote island alone, how he manages to build his own little world there and then finally after a two decade long near-incarceration is able to return to his home. This is the abridged version on the story that I was familiar with (In fact it is considered to be amongst the first novels in English). But the actual book goes into deeper details of his life on the island and follows it up with more adventures across the world, till finally Crusoe in his seventies decided to settle down at home.

While I was familiar with the story, reading the full version in detail left a different impression. While I understand the times were different at the time of publication (early 18th century), still the sheer amount of bigotry, slave trade, human trafficking, racism, religious supremacy which features in the book is simply unbelievable by modern standards. There is no equality, natives are described as savages and barbaric (of course the cannibalism doesn’t help). But it’s not just restricted to them – there is hardly a good word in general for anyone who is not English or Christian – whether the Spaniards, Mongols, Chinese, Russians – no one is spared. Everyone else’s customs are against God. Conversion is a recurring theme in the book. Crusoe even goes on to destroy the idols and places of worship of others!

No wonder, what we read as kids is a very mild version which just puts in the adventure part and removes the rest.

And then there is the spelling – shewed (for showed), hallooed (for calling out), and more. Even the words have entirely different meanings to the modern usage.

A couple of lines which stood out:

• to-day we love what to-morrow we hate; to-day we seek what to-morrow we shun; to-day we desire what to-morrow we fear; nay, even tremble at the apprehensions of.
• attempting to teach others is sometimes the best way of teaching ourselves.

Reading this version gave a totally different impression of what was a simple familiar story!

Previously on BookMarks: The Fine Art of Small Talk 

BookMarks #122: The Fine Art of Small Talk

Title: The Fine Art of Small Talk

Author: Debra Fine

Genre: Non-fiction, Self-help

Published: 1997

BookMarks

A book targeting the introverts, who find it difficult to make and continue conversations in informal settings. Some of the techniques suggested to be a good conversationalist are:

• Express empathy
• Greet people warmly, make eye contact and smile
• Be first to say hello
• Use the person's name and correctly
• Show an interest in others
• Dig deeper
• Be a good listener and an active one
• Stop being an adviser
• Find connections to continue the conversation
• Don't kill conversation
• Don't just question

And most importantly Practice, in effect Fake it till it becomes a second nature.

While the tips are there some of the content is repetitive. Some of the opening lines suggested can border on the rude. And the author makes the assumption that the other person is also mutually interested in a conversation!

Overall, an okayish read. The nook can be much shorter and feels more like a dragged out Ted Talk kind of presentation. 

Previously on BookMarks: Train To Pakistan