'How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!

The world forgetting, by the world forgot.

Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!

Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd;

Labour and rest, that equal periods keep;

"Obedient slumbers that can wake and weep;"

Desires compos'd, affections ever ev'n,

Tears that delight, and sighs that waft to Heav'n.'

-Alexander Pope

I'm feeling lucky!

It happened in January this year. I was going back to Delhi. I had decided on taking the seven o' clock bus, but my mother somehow persuaded me to take the eight o' clock one instead. Getting up so early would be inconvenient, she claimed. Whatever,I thought. So,at eight thirty, I was sitting comfortably in the bus, looking out the window in the outskirts of Agra, when I saw the seven o' clock bus lying overturned on the highway. It had met with an accident and the windows were all shattered.
 
I could only thank my stars as I sat there contemplating the consequences had I gone forward with my earlier decision. 'Luck' was on my side.
 
Or was it?
Was it simply a case of cause-effect? A cosmic game of probabilities and alternate universes? I mean,it was all in my hands,wasn't it? I could have taken the bus and it could have not met with any accident or the bus I was on could have been the one lying overturned: who knows? who can predict the occurrence of events?
What is luck, then?

What is it that makes people change their names: spelling them with a twist to obtain that magical numeral, wear bracelets/rings or adorn themselves with only a select range of colors? And they claim it to work! Our very own MSD is obsessed with 'lucky' number seven- and hasn't he guided us to the number one spot in world cricket? But you'd say that it was because our squad was genuinely talented and that the most formidable men down under had decided to retire. But,would that be a matter of luck too?

As I see it, luck is basically the child of probability, a series of events occur or don't occur and things are in your favor. But then, can you 'invoke' luck? I assume not. It's only a matter of belief I guess. Present day philosophers would tell you that if you 'believe' and wish for something in the right way, the universe will conspire for it to happen. Hm. Your subconscious is a magnet, they claim. Methinks it may be correct after all, 'cause I've experienced it. If you think about something with all your might and program your subconscious for it, I'm sure unconsciously you'd start taking the steps for your wish to materialize..
('be careful what you wish for,'cuz you just might get it all' )

In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, we read about a potion called 'liquid luck'. It was claimed that anybody drinking that potion would succeed in whatever he attempted. Harry gives the vial to Ron who has his first quidditch match that day and surely enough, they're victorious.
After the match, Hermione confronts Harry for having used unfair means. Which, it turns out, he had not! He'd replaced the contents of the vial with something trivial! The only thing Ron lacked was self-confidence, and the 'potion' gave him just that.

Fortune favors the brave,doesn't it?

The Hangover

Yeah, that right, I'm hungover. But no wine or vodka..I'm hungover a
book, books, to be precise.
The series in question is the Millenium Trilogy by Steig Larrson. I
know I've been going on and on about it for quite some time now, but
that's the way it is. I was glued
to it since the last three weeks or so and have been thinking about it
ever since I managed to finish it. Yes, it was the subject matter, yes, it
was the writing style
too..but more than anything, it was that girl.

The trilogy revolves around crime against women in Sweden(pretty drab
you'd think).
In the first book, The Girl with the dragon tattoo, the author
introduces us to a murder mystery. A young girl, Harriet
Vanger, belonging to a very rich family, goes missing
under extraordinary circumstances and no trace of her is ever found.In
comes Michael Blomkvist, journalist, owner of the independent magazine
Millenium, to investigate
the long forgotten case. Why would he give a shit? Because he's been
bribed by Harriet's uncle to give one last try to find the truth about
his beloved niece. In
return, he'd get damaging evidence against his
arch-enemy, Wennerstrom. The stage is set for a crime thriller, except
for that girl.
Lisbeth Salander is a skinny punkster with numerous tattoos and
piercings. She works for Milton Security. She doesn't speak
much, borders on unsocial. But her brains!
She'll shock you with her abilities. She had been locked up in an
asylum for years though. Predictably enough, she joins forces with Blomkvist and together they
uncover the crime(s). But what they discover will knock you out. This is
one of those books you'll
have trouble keeping away.
In the second book, The girl who played with fire, you discover Lisbeth
Salander: the girl, the woman. This is where her story begins, and it's
not an enviable one.
But she is one of those who answers fire with fire:no evil ever goes
unpunished. It will be hard to fathom how this tiny stick-thin girl
fights with bulky men, even
brutally injures them. But as they say, all fights are fought in the
mind. But in the middle of the book comes the shocker: Lisbeth Salander
is wanted as a suspect in
three murders.
As the drama unfolds, you get a glimpse of Lisbeth's grim childhood, or
rather the lack of it. However, this woman does not need no pity, she's
already calculated revenge.

The third book, The girl who kicked the hornet's nest starts where the
second one left us. The battle for Lisbeth Salander starts.Micheal
Blomkvist gets together with
her miniscule, but loyal group of friends and establishes 'Knights of
the Idiotic Table' to get Salander out of the mess she's gotten
into. In order to prove Salander's
innocence, one of Sweden's best-kept secret has to be revealed and the
'Knights' face resistance from all corners. But in a brilliantly
thought out way, justice is
finally achieved. The legal battle is one of the best I've ever
read: sharp and effective.

Larrson's style of writing is commendable. It is a book for our
generation:the protagonists sport macbooks and hackers play an
important role. The relationships
described are not your usual 'happily-ever-after' types, but are very
real and presnt-day. None of the characters in his books is perfect, but
they all have the will and
the courage to confront injustice. Especially, that girl.
A must read for fans of good, intelligent literature.