Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri.

A book to read, a movie to catch and a soundtrack that will bring you to tears from Nitin Sawhney...maybe? Not really...I've just got through some and I suggest sticking to Nitin's older albums.

Ever wondered where your name came from? My name was chosen by my sister, she was studying in Indonesia and was influenced by the turbulent political surrounding of her 'mental' confines. She was an Islamic Politic Science Major and was a scholar. It must have been very lonely for her there. But the women in the family have always been proud of their achievements and sometimes being good at what you do, can be 'deafening'. Our Parents believed that any sort of education away from home made us whole and worldly. The fact that we had scholarships were also a boon for there was 12 more from where that came from. I was the 12th.

Abdul Hadi is a derivative Arabic name combining two words, meaning servant of the guide.In Islam, the Guide is an appellation of God, descriptive of one of His ninety-nine attributes. I am humbled by this and have always considered how my name have shaped my life?

If there is a place that you must visit it is India. I found the experience, well it was difficult to explain in the beginning but I would say PROFOUND. The contradictions, the sadness, the poverty, the exuberance, the social segregation, the western, the eastern all culminates in this ongoing battle between history and the present. India is like the illegitimate son that has made good and wants more but due to its rather fragmented upbringing, it is destructive in its own naivete.

It is eager and hungry - always ready to 'consume'. Among all this, it is filled with wondrous architecture of civilisations that once flourished in this rather desolate terrain - one that was so structured, it baffles you as to why it is so cacophonous now irrespective of whether you're standing waiting for a cab in Delhi or for a cup of chai in Mumbai. You have to see it to believe it.