THE KITE RUNNER

Recently, I came through a very amazing story of two boys by Khaled Hosseini. He is an immigrant Afghani writer. He started his writing career with this heart touching book. Khaled Hosseini is recognized as one of the bestselling author of all times. His books, the kite runner, a thousand splendid suns and the mountain echoed, has been published in over seventy countries.

This is an unforgettable and heartbreaking story about two boys, Amir and Hassan and the unlikely friendship between them too. Amir was the son of a wealthy businessman and Hassan was his servant, but they were more like friends. Amir's mother died in childbirth. Hassan lives with his father in the same house. Like them Amir and Hassan's father were also friends when they were young.

The boys played endlessly as their fathers did. The only discrimination between them was that Amir was a Pashtun, one of an ethnic majority in Afghanistan and Hassan was a Hazara, who had suffered discrimination and persecution for generations. The story twirls around the two boys and the unequal friendship they share.

Before the fall of Afghanistan monarchy, there were good days in Afghanistan. Amir and Hassan played together. Amir read Hassan books under their favorite pomegranate tree. They fly kites together. Amir's father love both the boys. He buy both the boys the same things, despite of Amir's annoyance.

Amir's father was rather critical of him considering him weak and lacking in courage. Amir finds a fatherly figure in Rahim Khan, his father's closet friend, who understands him and supports his interest in writing. Hassan is a successful kite runner for Amir, he knows where the kite will land without watching it.

Here the heart breaking part come in the novel, when there held a kite running tiurnament in Kabul. This is my favorite scene as I imagined the beautiful kites of different colors flying over the blue sky. The view of kites would be like sky lanterns on a dark sky. The ritual of kite running, the shredding of blood from hands, I leave this conversation for you to read. 

The day of kite tournament, something bad happened to Hassan that shatters both their lives. Amir witnessed what happened to Hassan but he had no courage to save his friend and after many years he regret that. The one thing that Amir couldn't grant was redemption. Assef act in the whole story as villain, he hated Hassan because he was a Hazara and what happened to Hassan that day was done by Assef.

Amir wins the kite tournament that day and earns his father's praise but he lost his friend, who was always there for him and who defended him when Assef threatened them and later Assef took revenge on Hassan. Hassan ran after the last cut kite, saying Amir: "For you, a thousand times over." After finding the kite he had an encounter with Assef, who took his revenge.

Amir witnessed every thing but because of his cowardice act he didn't tell anyone about that incident and his guilt prevent him from interacting with Hassan. Amir believes that his life would be much easier without Hassan so, he made Hassan and his father leave by putting a false act. 

Soon the soviet union military intervention made many Afghan's to escape Pakistan and United States. Both Amir and his father migrate to Pakistan and then to America. During their stay in California Amir studied his writing skills, while his father worked at a gas station.

In California Amir meet his fellow refugee Soraya Taheri and her family. They fall in love and get married. Amir and Soraya were happy with their marriage, but to their sorrow they found that they cannot have children. Amir's father was diagnosed with terminal cancer and after months of treatment he died. 

Here a turning point comes in the novel when Rahim Khan called Amir one day. He was ill and he wanted Amir to visit him in Peshawar. Later he told Amir that Hassan and his wife had died. The main reason to call Amir was that' Rahim Khan wanted Amir to rescue Hassan's son, who was in an orphanage.

The rescue of Hassan lead him once again to the roads of his country, Afghanistan. The streets of Kabul reminds Amir of the old days when he and Hassan run after each other, fly kites and the pomegranate tree, under its shelter Amir told stories to Hassan and Hassan had told Amir that one day he will be a greater writer.

I really wanted to write more about Sohrab, Hassan's son but I wanted you all to read it by yourself. Don't think of this book as an old fashioned one because the story really caught you when you started reading it and I truly believed that Khaled Hosseini is one the best story tellers who beautifully portrays what he and other Afghan's had faced. 

The story too has a beautiful ending but endings portrays different pictures in every one's mind. Some found it happy and some sad. If you really wanted to find what happens in the end do add this amazing novel in your reading list.

I found it recently that a movie is made in 2007, covering the story of Amir and Hassan also add that in your watching list. I don't know how it would be because books are always better that movies. Here is a picture from the movie "THE KITE RUNNER." 

Stay tuned for the next review..... 

FORTY RULES OF LOVE

On the seeker's path, wise men and fools are one.
In His love, brothers and strangers are one.
Go on! Drink the wine of the Beloved!
In that faith, Muslims and pagans are one.

A book that changes your ideas, thoughts and your way of thinking is the best book. Forty rules of love is like that kind of book to me. It changes my piece of thoughts about Sufism and the whirling dervishes. It is my most favorite of all reads, it is a book that I can read a thousand times and every time I learn something new from this amazing book.

The book, Forty rules of love is written by Elif Shafak she is an amazing Turkish writer. She is one of the most acknowledged authors and feminist of Turkey. Forty rules of love is her most amazing piece of work as it is one of the bestsellers.  In the forty rules of love, Elif Shafak has woven a wonderful tale of love and spirituality.

The story depicts two worlds, one the modern world and other shows thirteen century. The story starts with an unhappily married Jewish housewife Ella Rubinstein's life. She was living in Northampton, Massachusetts. She has to be grateful for a long stable marriage, three teenage children and a comfortable life in a pleasant home but something was missing in Ella's life. 

Talking a new challenge she started working as a reader at a literary agency. Her first assignment was to read a novel "Sweet Blasphemy" by a mysterious Scottish author, Aziz Z. Zahara. The sweet blasphemy is the second narrative of this novel and it was about a wandering dervish Shams of Tabriz. Shams was a mystic Sufi who was in search of a companion to whom he may deliver his knowledge to.

The thirteen century depicts the most beautiful part of this novel, a mystical era of Sufism. The two most important figures of thirteen century, Shams of Tabriz and Jalal-uddin-Rumi. The mystic era was enlightened by the most famous Islamic scholar and poet Jalal-uddin-Rumi who was called by his admirers as Maulana Rumi. He has thousands of disciples and admirers from all over the region and beyond, and was regarded as the beacon to all Muslims.

In 1244, Rumi met Shams, a wandering dervish with unconventional ways and heretical proclamations. Their encounter alter both their lives. As it marked the beginning of solid, unique friendship that Sufis in the centuries linked to the meeting of two oceans. After meeting Shams Rumi was transformed into a committed mystic, passionate poet, advocate of love and originator of the ecstatic dance of the whirling dervishes which is called 'sama'.

In the age of deeply embeded bigotries and clashes, Rumi stood for a universal spirituality, opening his door for to the people of all backgrounds Rumi stood for an inner oriented jihad where the aim was to struggle against our own ego, nafs. There were many people at that time who opposed him, they didn't open their hearts to love. The powerful bond between Shams and Rumi became the target of humor, slander and attack.

Three years after they met they separated but the story didn't end here but I this there is no end to this story even after many years have passed the spirits of Shams and Rumi are still alive today, whirling among us somewhere.... The novel of Aziz . Zahara goes round the story of Shams and Rumi as how Shams met Rumi, how they become friends, how Rumi starts to change and how people start to hate Shams including Rumi's family.

While Sweet Blasphemy changes Ella's life completely. She becomes acquainted to Aziz after she became highly affected by Sweet Blasphemy. The story of Sweet Blasphemy and bond between Shams and Rumi was very captive for Ella. She started connected to Aziz via emails. Over the course of few emails she finds out that she was ready to give up her life, her husband and children for the guy over the other end of email.

I like this novel because of Shams of Tabriz, his forty rules of love and the time he spent with Rumi. Shams had a strong belief in God. He had the urge to find the God in the most unlikely places. And that's what inspires me, that's what connect me to God. Shams character in this novel changed my perspective on life and my relation with God. And more specifically every other rule by Shams was life changing to me.

I really wanted to write some of my favorite rules from forty rules of love.

"How we see God is a direct reflection of how we see ourselves. If God brings to mind mostly fear and blame, it means there is too much fear and blame welled inside us. If we see God as full of love and compassion, so are we."

"Whatever happens in your life, no matter how troubling things might seem, do not enter the neighborhood of despair. Even when all doors remain closed, God will open up a new path only for you. Be thankful! It is easy to be thankful when all is well."

This is one of my most favorite of the forty rules:

"It's easy to love a perfect God, unblemished and infallible that He is. What is far more difficult is to love fellow human beings with all their imperfections and defects. Remember, one can only knew what one is capable of loving. There is no wisdom without love. Unless we learn to love God's creation, we can neither truly love nor truly know God." 

This book gives me a message too and that message is: "Never judge the way other people connect to God."  Because we never know who prays in the best way to God and who is beloved in the eyes of God.

" Every true love and friendship is a story of unexpected transformation. If we are the same person before and after we loved, that means we haven't loved enough."

ABOUT MY BLOG

                                                    

                                                      ABOUT MY BLOG          

                                                               
Um... What to write about my blog? There is so much to write but words have always been a problem to me, what to write and what not to? But today I really wanted to share my part of story why I am starting a blog? What inspires me? So lets start I know I can easily bore anyone with my boring story but I will try not to make it too boring. 

Being a medical student it is difficult for me to reads as many books as I wanted to read as i already had such a healthy and wealthy sum of medical books to read. I really wanted to setup a goal to read at least a book in a week but sometimes it's really very difficult. Now I'm going to give myself a challenge to at least finish a book within a month. Hope to except my own challenge.

There were several reasons for me to start a book blog first I am an ultimate bookworm since my school times. And secondly I wanted to escape from reality. Sometimes we all wanted to escape from our all day long usual activities, all our worries and problems and to me books have always been a source to escape from this world. They lead me into a different world, a world with no worries no hardships. I truly believe in the saying:

 "A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, the man who never reads lives only one."

 Books are always been a source of joy to me. And I'm the most indulged kind of reader, when I started reading I just completely lost myself in a book. I imagine to be a part of the story and it is really good to be a part of a fictional story, to visit places you never visited to imagine something you have never seen before. Some people might think of me as a lunatic but I think that's how every bookworm is.

The second question was, what inspires me to start a blog there were many book bloggers who inspired me mainly from instagram platform and other bloggers too. I haven't read so many books but as I told earlier from now on I'm setting up a goal to read as many books as I can and accepting my own challenge to complete them on time. I believe in the saying by Mark Twain:

 "Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life." 

Lastly, I wanted you tell you something. When I was in my school I donated many poetry books to my school library as I am interested in poetry and I do write them as well. In my school we have a library period once in a week and once my library teacher asked us a question: "Are books good friends or humans?" and we all answered humans, I too answered humans but at that time we were kids we don't know the politics of world, we haven't seen double faces of our society but now if someone asked me the same question I will definitely say books are always been best friends to me, at least books don't deceive you. They are always with you like a true companion and like a true friend. 

I don't know if someone thinks the same way but up till now my answer to this question has changed because books gives me an escape from reality, even if it's for a few minutes. I think I just wrote enough to easily bore a person and now it's time to say goodbye but I'm leaving you the same question my teacher asked  many years ago and my answer to that question has changed. What do you think: "Are books really good friends or human?" Stay connected with me because I will be posting some good book reviews asap InShaaAllah. Goodbye!