Born Into Brothels: Photographs by the Children of Calcutta by Zana Briski

This is my thinking chair.

It is an old kitchen chair given to me by one of my sisters .

It was originally black with the paint faded and worn around the edges.

I saw a documentary called BORN INTO BROTHELS.




I was inspired by bountiful colors from the film and its companion book.
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The color scheme reminds me of the unwavering hope of so many of the children being raised in desperate circumstances.

Like a lotus flower blooming in the mud.

So, I painted my chair to symbolize hope.
To bloom from where I have been planted.

The seat cover is my first crochet project. It is pulled together from bits and scraps of yarn I had found laying about in the bottom of craft bins; reminds me of how I pull bits and scraps of information and emotions together when I write.

So there it is...
my thinking chair.
Inspired by the beuty of Zana Briski and the children of INdia.

And now I am going to sit here and think my thoughts.
And while I am thinking today, I dwell upon the wonder of a photographer who came to India. She came to India to photograph the women of the brothels, and fulfilled a need for the children of these women.
Here program is called Kids with Cameras.
The documentary about this work won the Academy Award in 2005.
Learn more by visiting the links below.
RESOURCES:
zana briski
Kids with Cameras

Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry

Books are like friends.

You need to meet new friends during the proper time in your life.

Sometimes you are ready to greet a new friend and sometimes not.

The growth of a friendship depends on where you are in your life's journey.

The events in your life dictate whom you can relate to...

your circumstances often determine which people will "gel" with you.

You may have a wonderful book just waiting to make your acquaintance, but the timing is not right.

Read a book over and over, but there are only certain moments in your life when the book will "gel" and develop a relationship with your mind.


FAMILY MATTERS is a companion that spans the life journey from youth to old age. This story is ready to greet teenagers, young adults, middle aged and elderly alike.

This wonderful journey through the life of an extended Parsi family in Bombay during the mid 1990's is guaranteed to be a companion that will serve the reader well during many moments in one's life.

Rohinton Mistry has the talent of creating a bridge between cultures, drawing one into the intimate lives of a family that is just like all families... yet, offering the reader an opportunity to visit and breathe in the distinct heritage of this Indian family.

There are no great saints or sinners in this story.

The very core of this tale is the need for empathy... not to be confused with sympathy.
When we sympathize for another, we feel sorry for the individual, but remain separate. With empathy... we enter the person's very being. We feel what that individual is feeling and in doing so attain a step closer to enlightment.

Here is the backbone of this story in the author's words as told by the boisterous shop owner Mr. Kapur:

“Everyone underestimates their own life. Funny thing is, in the end, all our stories—your life, my life, old Husain’s life, they’re the same. In fact, no matter where you go in the world, there is only one important story: of youth, and loss, and yearning for redemption. So we tell the same story, over and over. Just the details are different” (p. 197).

The bottom line?

This novel is well worth your time. You may want to own two copies. One to keep and revisit, and another to pass on to your loved ones... because this is a book well worth sharing.

Loretta Kelly

Read more about Family Matters & author, Rohonton Mistry here:


Random House Books Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry

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LIFE OF PI by Yann Martel

Life of Pi

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Sometimes a reader is graced with what I like to call:
The right book at the right time.
LIFE OF PI is that book.
If you are in the appetite for a plot driven tale of survival you will find that here.
And if you hunger for a spiritual journey revealing the inner workings of human nature... that's also available at this banquet of fiction.
I read a few reviews of LIFE OF PI... and I am thinking that some of the reviewers did not read the whole book.
Truly.
What a shame.
I love books like this one.
You are taken on a journey, you enter the world of the author, and putting the book down is difficult because you do not want to leave that world.
And the best is yet to come...
I found this to be one of those books that changed me.
His words resonated in my soul.
In a few sentences, Martel gave voice to things I sensed in my life, but could not place into words.
When we read for something beyond mere entertainment...
isn't that what we hunger for?
A chance to see life from a new point of view.
To feel renewed.
A book that will follow you after you have finished it.
A book that MUST stay with you on your bookshelf.
LIFE OF PI is my silent friend now, on a shelf of honor in my book collection.
A new friend who will be there with me on this life's journey...
ready to speak to my heart any time I lift it from the shelf, open the pages, and invite the author to speak to me, yet again.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Yann Martel
Here is an excellent resource about the birth of this novel written by Yann Martel (and just fascinating in general to any writer about the process of preparing oneself to create a work of fiction). If you plan on reading LIFE OF PI, read the author's notes AFTER completing the book:
http://www.powells.com/fromtheauthor/martel.html