Book Review - Tolstoy's Anna Karenina

“Women, they say, sometimes love their man for his vices”. Tolstoy brings to the fore some of the heart breaking cruelties of life. There is only so much that a man can do, after which he has to wait and hope for the lady of his life to fall in love with him. This exasperating truth is experienced so very brutally by Karenin and Levin, both of whom can easily be called gems of human beings.
Anna, while she remains torn in two – one side asking her to do the “right” thing and the other asking her to succumb to the new attraction, comes out as a mortally wounded woman. Confused and absolutely unsure of her life, her persona and esteem for herself reduces by the day after her liaison starts, and she emerges as a mere dwarf, compared to the awe inspiring beauty that she was before it.
Levin is a simple and straight forward man, one with no false pretensions. He has a philosophical bent of mind, but one who is happy on the whole, and cherishes the little joys that his life has to offer. He, as against some of the other landlords and highly placed men in Russia, is a philanthrope and even in the eyes of his workers, does not come across as a person wanting to make merry from the last penny that could be squeezed out of their pockets.
What is most striking, though is that he belongs to a rare species of people who can appreciate true love. In the space of the few hours between Kitty’s acceptance of his proposal, and their decision to get engaged the next morning, he realizes along with his countless readers that life is not just worth living, but is a joy in itself. His attitude during the period suggests that he has suddenly come to realize that all those villagers, peasants and countless other Russians have been placed around him so that he could love them and that they could love him. If this character is autobiographical of Tolstoy, then Tolstoy was not only a great writer, but also a truly beautiful person.

Teri Yaad Aayi

Its funny what ten years can do to you.. It can make things that seemed so freaking huge look like a tiny little happy incident!
I was about 15 years old, and was staying in a joint family – a small place housing 6 folks. I had known this girl, the daughter of some family friends, for the last 5 years or so. We used to go around playing little games … I could easily call her a childhood friend. She had just returned after a 3 year stint in the US, during which time there was absolutely no communication. I met her once, and spoke to her one or two more times that week, and then, she called me up. Here is the transcript ;-) . Keep in mind that there were 5 other people around listening to what I was saying…
P: Its been a long time ..
Me: Yup
P: U know.. uve changed.. u look like a nice young man now
M: haha.. u bet.. and uve changed more than me
P: I dint forget about you all along..
M: hmmm…
P: I thought about you quite a bit
V: Yeah.. 10th standard is tough.. (Wanted my family to think that Im talking about studies!)
P: haha Family around kya?
V: Yup
P: I liked you always.. but now, I think I like you even more
V: yeah.. there are good classes in the City area
P: I have your photo with me.. I keep it with me
V: yeah.. Chemistry is the toughest .. there is a class called Kulkarni’s. He is very good.

Just Then, my dad tells me to put the phone down. Right now!

As it turned out, an elder cousin, a freaking pest had put a parallel line on speaker phone, and my dad, overheard the last tit bit when he was passing by. All hell broke loose, and I was reprimanded for bad behavior. Well, P’s family was informed about this I guess, as she simply disappeared from the scene after that.