Gyaan and Geisha

Happy New Year?

Not really. It's a new year, alright. Not all that happy though. Hoping a bad start leads to a better end.

Anyhow, it's good to be back after a year. I think this has become more of an annual ritual for me now which, to say the least, is extremely disappointing. And since even this post is rushed, I will only say the things I absolutely want to.

A dear friend gifted a copy of 'Memoirs of a Geisha' to me for my 26th birthday (yes, that happened :/) and needless to say, I am thankful to him for more than one reason. Firstly, it took away the most tedious task of choosing what to read, which is what takes (wastes?) most of my time. I ABSOLUTELY cannot make up my mind about what I want to read. End result? Piles of unread dusty books. Since that was taken care of, all I needed to do was be diligent enough to find time to read it. And I did! In less than a week! You see, that's the thing about a good book, you just cannot keep it down till you're done. But the tragedy is that once you're nearing the end, this irrational fear of your life losing meaning once the book is finished floods your mind with so much intensity, it's hard to explain. And hence the last 50 pages of this book were rationed by me very carefully, so that I could delay seeing the end of it for as long as possible.

And now secondly, because the book is such a wonderfully written, beautiful beautiful book! Safe to say, it was the best book to have reignited my voracious reading habit. Not only did the book transport me to another time, another place, the narrative is so honest, it teaches you so much about life and more!

And hence this post. Just sharing my favorite quotes and thoughts from the book. :)

"This is why dreams can be such a dangerous thing: they smolder on like a fire does, and sometimes consume us completely."

"Grief is most peculiar thing: we're so helpless in the face of it. It's like a window that will simply open of its own accord. The room grows cold, and we can do nothing but shiver. But it opens a little less each time, and a little less; and one day we wonder what has become of it."

"We human beings have a remarkable way of growing accustomed to things."

"A woman living in a grand house may pride herself on all her lovely things; but the moment she hears the crackle of fire she decides very quickly which are the few she values the most."

"Nothing is bleaker than the future, except perhaps the past."

"Sometimes we get through adversity only by imagining what the world might be like if our dreams should ever come true."

"I don't think any of us can speak frankly about pain until we are no longer enduring it."

"Sometimes,' he sighed, 'I think the things I remember are more real than the things I see."

On that note, Happy New Year! :)