http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/justju/index.php Copyright 2012, Jehangir Jehangir en-US SPHPBLOG 0.5.1 http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/justju/index.php?entry=entry120108-160906 Destiny Disrupted

Tamim Ansary



Who am I ?
Where do I come from? (read this book)
Where am I going?

2. The Little Prince, and Wind, Sand & Stars

Antoine De Saint- Exupery





The forerunner to Coelho with a turn of phrase more magical than Rushdie. Saint-Exupery was the real deal - a true-blue adventurer amongst poseurs.

3. Fallen Giants

Maurice Isserman and Stewart Weaver



Vittorio Sella's photographs and its all-encompassing sweep place this book higher than Viesturs' K2 and Krakauer's Into Thin Air.

I have been addicted to the printed word all my life. Even these days when I am the busiest I have ever been at work, I manage to read two or even three books a week.

My reading style is slightly bizzare. Typically, I speed read every new book in a single marathon reading session which may last throughout an entire day and night. If I like that particular book, I then re-read it over the course of the week, slowly taking it in like the boa in the Little Prince. Often I shall read it again if an incident over the years triggers the memory of that book.

Funnily enough, two exceptions to this rule are the first and third books on the list above - due as much to the quality as to the sweep of these books. Destiny Disrupted and Fallen Giants are to be savoured a chapter at a time. The Little Prince, on the other hand, is a short but timeless fable with an almost sufi sensibility.

I envy you the reading joy you are about to experience.


]]> http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/justju/index.php?entry=entry120108-160906 Jehangir Sun, 08 Jan 2012 16:09:06 GMT http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/justju/comments.php?y=12&m=01&entry=entry120108-160906 http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/justju/index.php?entry=entry111218-044718 Rule of Three in the bird life of Kashmir. True to the rule, three species of kingfishers are commonly observed in Kashmir - the pied, common and white-throated kingfishers.



One of life's little joys is sitting on the banks of the Jehlum and watching a family of Pied kingfishers fly past in perfect formation - think of a fly-by of minutiarised Sukhoi fighter-jets on parade.



The White-throated kingfisher lends a dash of colour to the bleak winterscape, while the Common kingfisher is, well, common.



]]> http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/justju/index.php?entry=entry111218-044718 Jehangir Sun, 18 Dec 2011 04:47:18 GMT http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/justju/comments.php?y=11&m=12&entry=entry111218-044718