u/jhinuk-seas

finished it just last night.

i read a lot about people reading murakami, and it only ever sparked my intrigue to read from him myself. and oh, kafka on the shore is a real trip. i'm not too educated on murakami to speak in general, but i'm so glad i trusted the process.

what i liked the most about this reading experience is how active it all had to be. every page is up for interpretation. murakami hands you all these abstract concepts & scenes at first and just labels them as "metaphors", and he eventually does unfurl the meanings of the same in due context. but the real beauty occurs in the mind of the reader as you excavate through the pages. i liked exploring the philosophy of the writing, i loved the humor.

norwegian wood is next, because that's what i found in front of the bookstore the other day. i always thought sputnik sweetheart was going to be my first though. but i've no major complaints, onto reading more!

মনে মনে ভেবেছিলাম, কলেজ স্কোয়ারের ওদিক থেকে যাওয়ার সময় যদি একটু সুন্দর জোরে বৃষ্টি হয়, তাহলে কিন্তু বেশ হয় ফ্রেমটা... বেশ হলো।

erom morshum er nostalgia, while living in it. :)

+ prothom baar vande bharat chorchi, finally hehe.

tokhon brishti porchilo jodio. but jai bolo, vibe toh ache boss.

nijer text nijer e funny laglo. lmao.

picked this up to read last evening, like any other routine reading session- which ended up lasting around 6 hours and the whole book turned over, no complaints whatsoever.

the book is such a wave of crests and troughs. at every crest you're aware of the incoming fall, but at every trough you're unsure if you're going to make the climb up. you're conditioned to think the people you feel so dearly about could be the victim of the next episode. but the book is built on optimism, hope. there's a line where laila thinks to herself that she never could've believed the human body was capable of withstanding such torture, this viciously, this regularly, and keep functioning.

all the characters in the book have a sense of purpose, if the last purpose is nuked over, you have them a new one. it was tiring for me how they kept fighting. i couldn't spare a minute of recollection while reading since the beginning of part-iii, because the images forming in my head of the lives of mariam and laila were scathing enough. years and years there and i was continuously tossing the couple hours i spent in that part.

by the last part of the book, you're so worn out- the chapters feel like a fever dream. at the turn of every new leaf, you browse to the end of the next page to catch clues of another impending disaster. but it does work itself out somehow, even in kabul. the book doesn't at all reassure you that this life they're re-building wouldn't be catastrophised in the near or not future, but it still doesn't kill the optimist. at every crest, they try to climb up even further, to see an even more beautiful view.

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besh koyekta ticket bookmark hishebe use kori. beshir bhaag gulo purse e jome thake, tarpor eventually dustbin. apnader bus er ticket gulor ki fate hoye?

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akdom prothom school e bhorti hoi jokhon, mumma bus e kore niye jeto aar asto, tokhon prottek din er 4te ticket er collection rakha hoto- akta cake er tin box e kore. mone ache, kintu shei tin er box ta hariye gache somehow.

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akhon bus er abar daily passenger, about one hour er commute each way. aage bus er ticket gulo peye pocket ba purse e bhore rakhtam. akhon notun (acquired) habit wrist watch e tuck kore rakhar. bus er duration obdhi thake tarpor bari jete jete haath theke pore jaye.

weekends go away like a gust of wind. college awaits tomorrow. seeking solace in the minutes of night in between.

days at the morisaki bookshop - satoshi yagisawa

i ordered this book online from a site suggested by my college prof, the copy i received was not an original. so i sulked a bit and then started reading it the next day.

this novel is a pretty short one, less than 150 pages. once i was a couple of chapters in, i made a realisation and a resolution that this is going to be a comfort book, i should savour it. i had been then getting in and out of sad times in my actual life. it rained this afternoon, and i finally felt courageous (dramatic) enough to read till the last pages.

i started feeling a little teary by the 11th chapter, let out a little sob when i finally rested the book. all so much for a story as simple as life really. the most remarkable thing i found about this book was it's imagery. as you read the scenes play out in your head with no struggle of your own. i have watched little anime, so that's how i imagined all of the story to be. there is no climax or crazy plot twist, yet it's engaging. comforting. even when the characters are struggling, you have that feeling that this too shall pass.

the book follows takako, in her mid-twenties after a breakup with a stupid boy, she has to leave her job and she finds herself landed at the morisaki bookshop owned by her uncle. takako's life has just gone through a jerk and she's lost when the book starts out, and it really is about her finding her footing again along with the other characters in the novel. the book despite it's brief length, does justice at giving each of it's characters their story. all while being a very easy read.

i'd suggest anyone and everyone to give this a read really, if you haven't already. great pick for beginners. 4 stars. because 4 is my lucky number, hehe.

i really don't want to put up a tl;dr here.

thanks for reading :)

not many sunsets quite like this one.

aajke lunch e chilo mutton biriyani. jor er mukhe kicchui khacchi na dekhe, mumma'r last resort. biriyani ta 10/10 e chilo and sather lemon soda ta 11/10.

sketching er grammar e onek koti crimes korechi. out of proportion onek kicchui. followed a tutorial the best i could.. :)

last week duphur er roddur, bikel er brishti te roj college jawa asha korte giye thanda lagiyechi. ice cream o kheyechilam, sheta irrelevant of course. tai ei weekend er saradin baire thaka is converted to being puro puri bed ridden.

1. akar akdom practice nei kintu last year mumma'r kache bayna kore akta 50 shades er oil pastels er kit kinechilam. aajke otar e shubho udbodhon sharlam.

2. close up?

3. current read. bhalo lagche porte.

4. thanda lagle soup khete aram lage, tai eitai amar shei choice of soup. kellogg's er chocos fills in gorom milk.

*TL;DR: down with cold, bed ridden weekend is being spent drawing and reading. favourite soup in last slide.

apni ki korchen? :)

this is jadavpur university, saltlake campus. over this weekend. shomoye tokhon 1am, technically sunday, oi aar ki saturday night. :)

ei bochorer shuru'r dikei decide korechilam je tram ta eibaar chortei hocche. finally, aaj ke, 24th may'26, i was on my first ever tram ride!

here's me keeping a journal of how it all went on:

i was out with some dada i know, strolling around the inner streets of ballygunge in 2tor gorom because our classes just ended. generally aktu hete beriyei bari'r dike jai. but today i had plans, tram e chorar e, but with somebody else. kintu amar monei hocchilo i've jinxed this meetup, and yes, the person i was originally supposed to go out with was not doing well and so couldn't make it.

while on the stroll, i casually mentioned this to dada. and suddenly we were on our way to the gariahat tram depot. amader location theke depot obdhi originally hete 14mins dekhacchilo, we took around 20, karon amra dujonei maps dekhte jani na.

i have to say, depot'r shobai, was so, so nice. we felt comfortable announcing everywhere that it was the first time for the both of us in tram. we were there early enough to catch the 2:20pm er tram to esplanade, which ended up leaving around 3. the conductor kaku was so kind. amar ice cream ta shesh hoyeche and tokhon e tram ta just charbe, ami niche namchi dekhe conductor kaku jiggesh korlo "ki holo jabena??"

-"aschi aschi 1min!"

same kotha ta okhaner aar akta kaku o jiggesh korlo.

tarpor amar haath dhute lagbe bujhe, conductor kaku amaye oder tap dekhiye dilo, and he waited saying "tumi asho, ashlei charbo shob ready!". ato wholesome puro byepar ta. uf.

amar perception chilo je trams are khub e slow, tai i imagined rickshaw'r moton speed. but we reached gariahat theke esplanade in 30mins, with 7 taka'r ticket per person. south theke kokhon rafi ahmed kidwai, theke lenin sarani, theke dharmatala chole elam ter o payini. in fact north er chena congestion dekhe mone porlo je chobi e tola hoyeni amader! kicchu toh keepsakes rakha uchit bolun. "first" bole kotha.

(ami jibone star wars dekhini btw)

maash er prothom din. shokale uthei gym jawa'r siddhanto ta solidify holo. shei bujhe ready hoye, bag niye berolam. ebare gym pouchatei dekhi baire boro kore tala dewa. phone kore jante parlam je notice dewa hoyechilo bondho thakbe, ami koyek din jai ni tai jani na.

gym er pashei akta shundor badhano pukur ache, morning walk korar perfect jayga. okhaner akta gachh tola te aage ak din boshechilam.. tai aajke bhablam okhanei boshe aktu shomoye katano jak. byas tarpor "shei" playlist ta lagiye, boshe boshe, mone monei holo aajker workout ta. ami argue kortei pari je aaj ke ak dhoroner chest day e chilo... haha. apologies for the lame joke.

gaan shunte shunte prothome aktu scenery ta ke observe korlam, tarpor aktu people watching, kintu best amar ei darth vader kei laglo. er kicchu khon porei dekhi o kothaye akta upore uthe, uno reverse kore, amake observe korche. besh experience.

ei chilo amar din er prothomer diker ak ghonta.

and apni, have a good day ahead! :)