The Kite Runner

"The Kite Runner" is the first English novel written by an author from Afghanistan. It is the first novel by author Khaled Hosseini. It was voted the 2006's reading group book of the year. It was also the third best seller for 2005 in United States.

The protagonist of the story is Amir, a Pashtun boy from Wazir Akbar Khan district in Kabul, who hails from a rich family. He is haunted by the guilt of betraying his childhood friend Hassan, the son of his father's Hazara servant. This is the story of Amir's friendship with Hassan and how he atones for sins he had commited in childhood. The story is set against the backdrop of riotous events that rocked the nation of Afghanistan. It stated in 1973, when Daoud Khan staged a coup to overthrow Zahir Shah and established a republican government. It was the time of soviet invasion, the mass exodus of refugees to Pakistan and the United States, and the Taliban regime.

The story brings to notice the precarious condition of Afghanistan, i.e. established people losing everything, people getting severe punishments(even tortured to death) for petty crimes (some times the crime may not be a crime in true sense).

On reading some parts of the story, you feel such intense pain as though someone has heated an iron rod red hot and pierced it into you skin. But there are parts where you feel light and happy. For example when Amir and Hassan participate in the annual kite flying competition and, when they sit under the pomegranate tree near the Kabul river and Amir reads out to Hassan.

Overall an excellent work of fiction.

Cheers,

LIFE as we see from the eyes of Lucas Scott

Have you even wondered how long it takes to change your life? The measure of time is enough to be life altering. Is it 2 years like high school, or 7 months like my BT job, or yours life can change in a month or a week or a single day. We are always in a hurry to grow up, to go places, to get ahead, or when you’re young, one hour can change everything.

There are moments in our lives when we find ourselves in crossroads, afraid, confused. Without a roadmap. The choices we make in those moments can define the rest of our days.

Of course one faced with the unknown. Most of us prefer to turn around and go back. But once in a while people push on to something better, something found just beyond the pain of going it alone. And just beyond the bravery and courage it takes to let someone in. Or to give someone a second chance.

Something beyond the quiet persistance of a dream.

Because it is only when you’re tested, that you truly discover who you are. And it is when you’re tested you discover who you can be. The person you want to be does exist, somewhere on the other side of hard work, or faith, belief. Can be a hard ache and fear what lies ahead.

Sometimes pain becomes such a huge part of your life that you expect it to always be there because you can’t remember a time in your life when it wasn’t. Then one day you feel something else, some thing that feels wrong, something so unfamiliar. Than in that moment you realize you’re happy.

Happiness comes in many forms. In the company of good friends, in the feeling you get when you make some one else’s dream come true, when the promise of hope renewed. It’s ok to let your self be happy because you never know how fleeting that happiness might be.

POINTS :
a) 7 months is a long time and I realized how much I have changed since I have left kgp. Nocturnal activities are down to zero. I have become lazier , chubby and most importantly boring. IT world sucks man !!!!!!!!!
b) Its very true that happiness comes in many forms. For an IT professional like me it come in the form of friday night and the following weekend.