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10 needles in 10 haystacks!
Apr 23, 2009 08:29 PM 57474 Views

I don't think I will ever be able to justify all my favourites when I am only writing about ten-best!!.. Its harder than finding needle in a haystack I suppose - but I have never tried the latter, so I can't really use that, can?


As you have figured out, I don't really care about what I can and can't and that attribution to my lousy careless character is thanks to two of my gazillions of favourite authors who deserve a mention here.....


10. Oscar Wilde and 9. Ayn Ra.nd. Oscar Wilde is a completely nuts author , whose brain , I think was nothing but wits. He could laugh at anything that was alive, and kill anything with his wit. The only equally witty person I have read or known of is Bernard Shaw. P.G Woodehouse does come close to him, but hasn't impressed me so much.


Knowing that oscar lived in a boring era in history where everything was boringly victorian - how hard must it have been for him even to write things of such a nature. His life was mired by strange actions on his behalf but that doesn't affect my love of his works and for that matter of his person. - ' Two prisoners look through the same bars, one sees mud, other sees the stars!' those lines amongst his many others tell a lot about his philosophy and attitude of life. Loved his plays - Importance of being earnest, and lady windermere's fan - more than The picture of Dorian Gray.


Ayn Ra.nd was a person who believed in her beliefs, and believed it very firmly to bring it out in her writings. Russian by birth, freedom lover by soul and a proper american according to some! Her books Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged have influenced many , and has caused some lunatics to blame her for the current credit crunch crises..


I am not going to go there, what I loved about her characters was they were way too idealistic - but atleast they had a purpose. They were thought upon for ages and they were created to represent an idea, a virtue. Ayn, believed in living a life based on her own ideals and that's what she promoted. Being true to yourself is the greatest good you will ever do - and that is what I learnt from her books.


08. Osho Rajneesh and 07. Mahatma Gandhi


Two weird choices to be said at the same time. First things first, I understand many who know osho's life history will raise their brows at how such a controversial person deserves a name here. I tend to read people not because I judge them, but because I want to get something out of them - be it magic, be it inspiration, be it sorrow, be it happiness, be it an undescribable experience... whatever.


Osho happened to be this person who was very very very well-read, a professor of philosophy at young age, and psychology perhaps. He knew what to say and what to write and how to influence. I was influenced by not what he preached or tried to , but by his ability to derieve pleasures from ordinary things in life - simple poems, haikus, short stories and anecdotes. His way of influence is perhaps the best way/use of penmanship or oratory I have come across so far. He talks directly to you, and in a simple way and you will not always agree with what he suggests or says, but you will get this feel of the way he says thngs and writes them, simple and subtle yet strong and influential.


Strong and influential is how I will describe my favourite most heroes of all time @ Gandhiji. One book wonder- is at times more than enough to change your life. A weak-framed barrister, who decides to stop tolerating injustice at one corner of africa, becomes the most influential inspirer to millions. I used to mock his policies that I used to study as a student, and used to laugh at him and how stupid people revered him so much! How could a whole nation call such a small man their father? I used to call him the bald Gandhi , who had no idea as to how his non-violent policies were the reason people considered India so weak during its early years - this was according to my ideas before I saw the film Gandhi..


Afterthat, I read ' My experiments wih truth', and I learnt, - how hard it is to even fight for your own rights in a perfectly perfect area in a town in India, and how this small child had become such a strong force through simple things and strong beliefs. He clearly mentions his grief at the communal riots and why religion should be secondary to humanitarianism. 'To forgive your enemy is like putting a hot bucket of boiling water over his head, which will last for ever! ' ' Non-violence is a virtue only the strong can conceive and practice' is something that not every superficial mind will understand but a philosophy that this whole world requires at this stage.


He was the person, who simply wasn't afraid. Wasn't afraid to hurt himself or others for what was right, wasn't afraid to go ahead and get beaten by laathis, wasn't afraid to break law for a just cause. He looked like a weak man, he was perhaps the strongest personality of his era. You can't but fall in love with his autobiography and his writings. He is an all time favourite of mine - others might change in the next twenty years!!


06, Mario Puzo! - After non-violence comes violence!!!


Author of God-father, amongst other books. One of the many books that were very influential in my yesteryears!! (yes I am very very old!) I loved his style, mostly because it was different, yet wise in the shrewd sort of way. Mario puzo's characters were all mafia people, who taught you the small things in life and how they mattered. How you should care for your family, how little things are really important in life.


It was not the power or the money that the corleone family had that impressed me the most, it was how one vito corleone, rose in the crime underworld, yet looked after his family and taught them some really practical lessons. His another book - the last sicilian was more about the loss of passion against common sense and the practical tip in life to always keep one's eyes open - even when sleeping in the grave!


05. Charles Dickens.


There was a strong competition for this spot. Yet Charles dickens happens to be the person I seem to have been influenced by most, again more because of the innocence of his characters and his own innocence in turn, rather than anything else. Be it oliver or david copperfield or even the seemingly evil uriah heep. His story telling is uncomparable, I enjoyed it more than shakespeare's plays or agatha christie's mysteries.


His stories still tinkle the same memories with a smile , and I never tire of re-reading a charles dickens book.I guess when the authors are so good as he, you can know the story by-heart all along, yet just re-read to re-experience the pleasure you obtained when you read the book first..... - I think this will apply to any book that you find your favourite depending on how it influenced you, and how its author (more importantly!) connected directly to your heart/brain!


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