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Book Review: Goodbye, Perfct by Sara Barnard

Have you come across a book that made you think that you resemble a certain character in a book to a great extent? Or in parts the story reads like something familiar? Something you have lived through. Goodbye, Perfect could be that one book for us all. ************************************************ Sara Barnard's book *Goodbye, Perfect* is a contemporary Young Adult novel set in a small town in England . The story is framed around an incident that takes place on a Saturday morning when it is discovered that a high achieving 15 year old school girl Bonnie has run away with her music teacher. Her  best friend Eden knows nothing about it but no one believes her (after all she is THE BEST FRIEND) and she is left dealing with its repercussions and questioning her friendship and judgement about how she sees things, people and relationships. The characters here are complex like all of us. There are layers and nuances uncovering the people who exist under the cover of  these two ord

Lessons from the dance class

My daughter goes to learn Kathak. I wasn't very enthusiastic about the classes at the beginning. No, don't get me wrong. I am all for arts. I love dance and music myself and I always have wanted that my children should learn to do something amazing with their bodies and I think dance makes for a great starting point. Neither am I one of the few who would scoff at the cultural heritage of the country or someone who preferred the western ways more. I am a mother of two, aged 9 and 2 and when she announced she wanted to learn kathak, I just did not have it in me to take her for a weekly class, some 5 kms away from my house. My reluctance also arose from the fact that previous such endeavours (I started her on Bharatnatyam when she was 4/5). The weekly class had become a thorn in my side. She would not want to go to that class which was happening almost next door. She would cry and cry till the time I threw my hands in despair and gave up. It must have been some 8 classes spre

Growing up

Growing up was supposed to be fun. It was supposed to be the escape from all the miseries in life- school, studies, teachers, homework, rules. ...It was to be the end of the pain of the misery of teenage years of heartbreak. Growing up was supposed to liberate me. It was supposed to give me wings. It was supposed to bring happiness in wake and achievements and conquests of all kinds. While growing up I hardly knew that this was a non-stop process. That there are certain things about which you do all the growing up in a night and there are others which keep hassling you over long days and endless nights. While growing up I had not even realised that it will bring along its own pains. Its own horror shows like none other. Irreparable damages. Bitter words with lasting impacts.Massive losses. Yes. Massive losses. Losses that leave you shaken. Losses of a different nature. Losses that don't make sense and losses that shatter the sense this world made (if ever that is). Losin

It's a daughter thing

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An SMS in the morning tells me this week is being celebrated as Daughter Week. First of all the sweet message: Daughters are the most precious of our treasures, the dearest possessions of our homes and the objects of our most watchful love. Being a daughter did not really do a lot for my understanding as having one did. If Gods would not have had their way, I would have been blessed with two and would have been much better off. Having a daughter is a grace. They fill your days with their warmth. They snuggle up to you even when you are not at your cuddly best and even the most loving husbands would not want to hug you. Just open your arms to the daughter and she will tumble in to them, if you are lucky enough you might even get a few wet and sloppy kisses. My daughter, when she is flooded with love for me, creeps from behind and puts her arms around my neck or my legs whatever is easily accessible to her and there is no other thing in the world to compare it with. Being a daugh