Trials and Tribulations by Fire

An idle day at work means a lot of things to me. Today it means catching up on movies. Ok, don't gawk, I am allowed to watch movies in the office. Well, not like officially, but yeah, I can access all these sites which invite you, rather comple you to indulge your senses. I gave in and watched a movie called 'Silver Linings Playbook.'   Cast includes the ooh so sexy Bradley Cooper (how can somebody be so delicious!) and the quite hot Jennifer Lawrence. Well, to top it all, there is the baap , Robert Di Niro, well, as the daddy, Sr. Pat Solitano.  Now, Bradley, nee Jr. Pat has Bipolar disorder. Don't know what that is? c'mon, Google it. So, our sexy looking Pat (Bradley) gets out of a loony bin (a mental institution) and stays with his parents. Why did he end up there? He tried to kill his wife's lover when he found them making out in the shower! So silly and so slippery! Anyway, Pat begins a new life but Nikki (his ex-wife) keeps marauding his mem...

At first glance, the name of the book strikes a chord. If you have heard of Kirk Douglas, you would recall the name instantly. Else, 'My Stroke of Luck ~ Alphabet to Author' would be just another book. I have never been a fan of books that talk about pain, sorrows, and trauma. This book by Vijay Santhanam, at first, sounded like one. At some level it is. But, there is also this element of courage, which makes the reader sit up and empathize with Vijay. The book is strewn with anecdotes from Vijay's life. Delving into personal details is not something I am too comfortable with. But in Vijay's book, I could see that the details were necessary to build context.   For a less practiced reader, the book may not be unputdownable. You may have to take breaks. I read the book within a few hours. I had several reasons. I wanted to know what Vijay did and how we went about doing it. Vijay warns the reader that he is not attempting to write a medical journal on str...