Helen | My Journey So Far….

Helen Keller is an inspiration, not only for those who are deaf and blind but to all of us who have eyes and ears, but still can not see or feel the beauty around us.

“The Story Of My Life”, is the autobiography of Helen Keller, depicting her struggles and their overcoming. This book is about her early life, mostly of first 22 years of her life.

Helen Keller, was 19 months old, when due to a severe illness, she lost her eyes and hearing abilities. Later, she also becomes mute. Her autobiography “The Story Of My Life”, shows her daily conflicts in very descriptive manners, specially the way she explored everything around her. Mainly her difficulties in making herself understood to others, like her parents and housemaids. Surprisingly even after all of these difficulties of her life, she became to be a great writer and inspiration to the whole world.

If any person can have the credits to making Helen Keller, the way she is known to everyone today, this credit should go to her Teacher and mentor, Miss Anne Sullivan. In her autobiography Helen has written about how her world was dull and without any hope, till she met her teacher, Anne Sullivan, who brought light and love to Helen’s world. She made her independent enough to live with dignity and not a self pitying physically challenged person.

What makes it happen?

It’s language, learning and books; and lots of patience from her teacher. Anne Sullivan was herself suffering from an eye infection which later took her eye sight completely. She tried to teach Helen by writing letters on her hand, for each word. Specifically the first word that Helen learnt – Water, was the life changing event for her. The way it was written in the book, it makes the whole scene come alive. It was the most beautiful experience what Helen went through when she learned that everything in this world has a name, a word assigned to it.

Helen also wrote about her relationship with her teacher, Anne Sullivan, and her friendship with Oliver Wendell Holmes. This book also had few of the letters shared with her. She also wrote about her first devastating experience of finding out that the first story that she has written is actually already written by someone else, much before her. She clarifies her stand by saying that everything that she has learnt is actually being told by someone or, she has read from others books. So she may have read the story in her childhood but she now has no memory of it.

Her autobiography is turned into many inspiring films too. two of them, which stands out are “The Miracle Worker” and “Black”. See my review of both here.

It’s a good read whenever you want to get inspired and feel positive about your life and life’s blessings.

How to deal with a Cheating Husband, When You are Pregnant — Watermelon

(Watermelon: Book Review)

When I pointed out in my last posts that I have enough of seriousness and now I wanted to read some fun stuff, I never knew that I would encounter this. I picked out Watermelon by Marian Keyes and started the story with so much anticipation of reading some trashy romantic or just a silly novel. As soon as I finished my first page, I realized I have made a wrong decision.

You know why?

Because Watermelon by Marian Keyes is story of a woman named Claire whose moronic husband is a cheater. Worst of all, he cheated on her when she was pregnant with his child. The husband “James”, first of all, he is an idiot, just because, who cheats on a beautiful woman who is soon going to be mother of his child, and that too, cheat with a neighbor. Ironically Claire refers that other woman as “big cow” everywhere in the story, I would have just called her a buffalo, a big ugly but useless kind of buffalo living in neighborhood.

James is cheating on his pregnant wife with a woman living in neighbor, all of Claire friends are aware of this affair, but none of them are friend enough to warn her on time. So that stupid fellow James declare his extra marital affair to Claire same day she delivers her beautiful girl child. She is now lying in a hospital bed all alone with a crying baby and no father in picture. She was not ready to be a single mother. She was not at all expecting it, not from James, her husband. Thought of living alone, coming back to an empty house and above all raising a kid all on her own, makes her more miserable than she ever was.

This was all in the very first pages of book. Now, you could have guessed how I wanted to put down the book and go to look for something which I can actually laugh about or enjoy in a comical way.

Not so soon. :O

I was in for a surprise. It was not at all gloomy or dark, sad or a pathetic story. It was not even about women enlightenment or some inspirational tale. Watermelon is a simple story told so beautifully and ease like your everyday emotion. You don’t feel pressured down into some deep emotional pit by going through a perfect marriage gone wrong kind of pity, but it is written like a day to day conversation which Claire have with herself and the weird but interesting kind of people around her. (By people around her I meant to say her unusual family 😛 )

After James deserted her on the same day her child is born, she move back to her parents house, which is already occupied by her two beautiful sisters, Ana and Helen. Her parents are quite conservative but her sisters are rebellious in nature which make this whole process of Claire coming to cope with her sorrows, much more intriguing. Then comes Adam, a perfectly chiseled boy (oops man, as per Claire) in Claire’s life, who she just falls in love with in their very first meeting. To top it, she thought that Adam is actually Helen’s boyfriend. To do or not to do is the game that plays thereafter.

Story took another turn too when her stupid, moronic, idiotic husband comes back and she falls for his lies. Well, for some time though. 😦

I completed the story with satisfaction of reading something good, not extraordinarily beautiful, but still a good and nice read. Now, next in line is Templar Legacy.

Till then, if you know any trashy novel that you can refer to me, I am all up for it. Till then, Templar Legacy. 🙂