Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog! :)

Marley & Me

Superb book! :) So hilarious and heart warming! :) I sound like the NewYork Times giving a book review, dont I? ;-)

But it is - a wonderful book!! A definite read for dog lovers! And if you didnt know this about me, I LOVE dogs! :)

John Grogan's account of his Labrador Retriever, Marley (named after the famous Bob Marley) is a wonderful tribute to dogs all over the world. Marley is so comical, that he seems like a character taken out of a Disney animation movie... And I can definitely relate to Grogan's experiences because I have gone through the same experiences at home with my dogs (well, Marley is like an extreme, yet...).

Marley is slightly mentally unstable, never listens to any command, and worst of all, is probably the only dog in the world to be kicked out of Obedience School :) The book recounts all the funny, and touching moments in Marley's life and it is absolutely wonderful!

This book is important to me because I found some answers I've always being looking for... I have always being reserved and ashamed to admitting to anyone else about how deeply I felt for my dogs... I love my dogs more than about 99% of the humans that I know... They come in my priority list right after my family... But to be honest, I've always felt weak about telling someone exactly how I felt... I feel honestly bad about caring for an animal more than for a human being... Yet, through this book, I saw that most dog lovers go through the same ordeal...

After reading the book, I feel less ashamed about it and less defensive... How many people in the world do you know who would love you so endlessly and so selflessly? Less than a hand full, most definitely! Everyday of your life, you hear people telling you - "why cant you be like this?, why cant you be like that?"... and I go through trying to answer this - "you've become fat, why dont you do some exercises?", the truth of the matter is, dogs dont care about that... If you love them, they will love you right back guaranteed... Whether you are black or white, tall or short, stupid or not, fat or thin, the way they come running to you when you get home is NEVER gonna change (and if they dont, its a sure sign that he/she is sick)... So I'm gonna pat myself on the back and say "It's ok" :)

A Triumph of Mankind

Mahatma Gandhi

The gentlest (spelling?) of souls... The saviour of millions... The humblest of men... I, LOVED his autobiography! :)

In his autobiography "My experiments with truth", Gandhi travels through his life from the time he got married (when he is 14) to some years prior to his death. Although he is proclaimed by many to be a saint, he is nothing but a man to me... A great man! I find it easier to love a man than a saint. Simply because ordinary men make the same mistakes that we do, they go through the same rough patches and makes us see that if they were capable of doing something wonderful, maybe - just maybe - we also have the same capacity, because we are made of the same things. And Gandhi's autobiography is a testament to that: He speaks of his many failures, even after he became a mahatma, and his triumphs over these!

His modesty is so earth shattering... He describes in detail about his experiments with having a proper diet. Yet, at the end he makes sure that the reader knows that just because it worked for him, it does not say that it will work out for everyone... We must all experiment and found out... Sound so much like what Buddha said huh?

Mahatma Gandhi is a perfect example of having faith... His faith in his God, his religion, is his rock of gibraltar.. When everything around him crumbles down, his faith remains unshattered and this is what he clings to and it has never let him down... I believe that faith is something we lack tremendously in modern days... Be it faith in your religion, faith in a loved one, faith in your own heart! We dont have answers to "what to do you believe in?", "what do have faith in?".... The answers that we give are as vague as our faith... To love, to believe, to trust without any doubt must be such a wonderful feeling! Is it our fault that we are unable to experience such beauty of the soul? I think that it is... We are so damaged by the society today... Maybe it is a religion that lies to us, maybe it is a lover who betrays us, whatever it is, it makes us defensive, disabling us of pure love, pure faith and taking our innocence away from us... Mahatma Gandhi - for me - portrays a human being who lived in times like those and overcame it... example PERFECTO!!

Have you ever felt so lonely and so desperate that you want someone to come and rescue you? The value of people like Bapu is prominent here... He was the guiding light for people who didnt have anyone to turn to... The most important of these would be the Untouchables of India, and then maybe the Coolies of South Africa... The feeling of utter misery that we may sometimes feel in our lives is a constant for people like this... People like Lord Buddha, Jesus and Gandhi are god's gift to those who are discriminated socially, it is their rope to a better life!

You should all read this book... It is soul energizing, yet humble... That is how I will always see Mahatma Gandhi!

Why Oz?

I never explained why I named my blog site "In the wonderful land of oz".... Well, it was just after reading the book that I realized although it is a fantasy story meant for children, it has collected fans from all walks of life because its hidden meaning taps the heart of anyone...

In the land of oz, you realize yourself; you understand yourself; you discover yourself... The scarecrow finds that he is actually intelligent, the tinman finds out that he does indeed have a heart and the lion finds that he is the bravest of them all...

I would like to make this site Oz for me... Where I give voice (more like publish) to my inner thoughts... Trying to clarify and sort out all the thoughts that stumble in this brain of mine.. and try to find myself... Yes, you are right, I still dont know who exactly I am... And my target would be to accept all, the good, the bad and even the ugly...

So there you are... in this internet age, I am Dorothy walking through the wonderful land of Oz :)

Being a Woman : Curse or Blessing?

Its such a blessing to be able to give birth to a child!... I am sure there are those out there who wont probably agree with me... But I think that its the most beautiful thing in the whole wide world :)

Yet, most women give their trust and loyalty and most of all their hearts completely... And this is such a misfortune! OR is it? Would it actually be our strength as well? Maybe you are left with nothing in the end, but at least you've experienced life to the fullest! Maybe it is our blessing as well :)