Ekta | wisdomekta

  And the verdict of today’s book review is that- I can say with obvious assurance that this book is a beautiful read showcasing the power of choices and their determining outcome on succeeding moments in life. This dream-like novel held a message that we are never fully stuck in life and that we all possess the ultimate power within us to rewrite our lives at any moment. "The Midnight Library" renders the story of Nora Seed who is an unhappy, depressed, and desperate woman estranged from her family and friends. Nora has just lost her job, and her cat is dead. Believing she has no reason to go on, she writes a farewell note and takes an overdose of antidepressants. But instead of waking up in heaven, hell, or eternal nothingness, she finds herself in a library filled with books that offer her a possibility to see and experience an infinite number of alternate new lives. We are often hooked between our choices and what life and people offer us. But in the struggle of dwindlin...

  If unexamined life was not worth living, was the unlived life worth examining? Heading into this year, I finished the recent read called “When Breath becomes Air” by Paul Kalanithi. In my notion, the overview of the book is eloquently straightforward i.e. make life as meaningful as you can in the time you have. Be grateful . As the author said, “ you could either study meaning or could experience it ”. And fortunately, while breathing, I am on the quest of studying & learning and experiencing & learning. This book shows up in the first part i.e. learning from exploring others' experiences. When Breath Becomes Air is about the author, Paul Kalanithi, a 36 years old neurosurgeon, and his painful combat with cancer. In the first section of the memoir, the storyline is fairly peaceful and happy. It is all about Paul’s early life and his time in college. He highlighted a few of the more memorable moments in his life whether that was about his time in college, or about his time...

  Time to be Grateful W ith a garland of lengthy to-do lists and candies of raw planning and lofty prospects as you shift your calendar appearance … I welcome you dear New Year, Twenty Twenty-Two. But before you embrace me in your valiant journey, let me pay due regard to the year 2021. The earlier 365 days are a standing saga of duty, panics, and surprises. And survival in extraordinary times is attributed to all.   The list of gratitude and applause is long and I feel sanctified to have lived those days in full health…surrounded by people who truly love and care for me. This 1st post of the year is repaying my due regards and acknowledgment to the family & friends...near and far, to Mother Nature, to the community at large, to the books read, to my colleagues at work, to the readers of my blog… to the foolish arguments which brought in smartness, to the silly mistakes which oversaw enormous experiences, etc. In brief, I am thankful for the sky above and to the bot...

Being Me Good morning!! Yet another Saturday AM blog. Today is the day of introspection, reflection, and contemplation. I am grateful to almighty for each and every blessing that has been showered on me and on my family.  Today is also the day of completing one year of committing to active blogging and publishing the post every Saturday. I have tete-a-tete received so many comments and compliments for being a consistent writer and blogger with promising blessings that I am doing a good job. It certainly feels good. Thank you so much for your fortunate words, impelling comments, and thrilling compliments. I recollect the exact moment when my fussy mind and vibrant soul required “ something ” more to do and I contacted my Professor to involve me in anything creative and productive. I pleaded with her to provide me with anything to do.  This does not imply that I do not have a life or have lesser things to do. I am a full-time mother, a full-time homemaker, a full-time HR profess...

  1984- George Orwell (Pic from Internet) 1984 is the novel that questioned my mind and stance on the common sense of society and its working. It was a hard read for me, but more importantly, it felt like a must-read if one wished to feel a slap-of-truth-be-told-on-face... literally!! Published on 8 June 1949 this dystopian social-science fiction novel and the cautionary tale is the last published book of George Orwell. Orwell effectively scours the themes of mass media control, government surveillance, totalitarianism, and how a dictator can alter and affect history, thoughts, and lives in such a way that no one can circumvent it. The story revolves around the life of Winston Smith, a low-ranking member of 'the Party', who is baffled by the omnipresent eyes of the party, and its ominous ruler ‘Big Brother'. Smith belongs to the ‘Outer Party’, and his job is to rewrite history in the ‘Ministry of Truth’, bringing it in line with prevailing political thinking. However, W...

  After many years of dwelling a life-in-guilty, I uncovered that all the guilt in my world was nothing but an outcome of over-exaggeration and over-thinking!! If you had asked me five years back about my " priority list " … it looked something like this- My old equation= Family (including friends) + Work + Chores + Other (including self-care) I was always tough on myself and the self-deprecating feelings like " I'm not doing enough for my kids/ partner/ parent /friends/job. What is wrong with me? " used to constantly nag me. I was full of self-doubts. I was the biggest critique of myself. The notions of self-gratitude were equivalent to selfishness in my life’s dictionary. After loads of ( bitter ) experiences, I found that this guilt trip is not personal to me. Most of us are suffering or have suffered from guilt at some point in life. The beginning of this infamous jaunt probably lies in our socialization. Across societies, we have been socialized for thousa...

Trilogy- The Passage In these encouraging times when the swarm of invisible deadly Covid virus finally seems to be going out from the globe, I read this science-thriller-fiction trilogy recommended by my younger brother. The chronological order of this voluminous vampire-virus trilogy is: 1st book- The Passage (2010), 2nd book- The Twelve (2012), and 3rd book- The City of Mirrors (2016). Melding apocalyptic fiction with straight-up horror, these books swoop over in time…i.e. from the near-future, when a classified team of government scientists experiments to formulate a medicine that will render forever immunity to 1,000 years in the far-future when a leftover human is striving to exist and circumvent the " virals " that have annihilated most of the world population. It is an epic and gripping tale of the catastrophe and survival story of Amy, the lead character. This trilogy has all the masala from vivid characters across centuries, shocking scenery, emotions, the spill o...