A Story In A Story

Swiss trip over. Now what? Before I boarded the flight to Swiss I bought this book “The Kite Runner” @ Helsinki airport with an idea to complete it before I land in Zürich. I went through the first few chapters in flight and that’s it. I never a turned a page beyond the bookmark and really got lost in the beauty of Swiss and not to mention in the usual crazy stuff. But after coming back to Helsinki I find lot of time for self since Vivek and Mani had gone back to India on vacation. Like my first apartment this one is also a studio apartment. So I started reading “The Kite Runner” the way I like to read books, getting cozy in the bed, with a night lamp on one side and something to munch on while I read. Hail the haldiram and other chat items. For movies, books etc etc I prefer to be a minimalist when it comes to review. I think it wont bring justice to the book or movies when I say its “GOOD” or “BAD” because many a times I ended up with “BAD” from others for something I felt “GOOD” and vice versa. I have almost completed the book but still one story in the story lingers in my mind.

It starts and continue this way.

The Kite Runner follows the story of Amir, the privileged son of a wealthy businessman in Kabul, and Hassan, the son of Amir’s father’s servant. As children in the relatively stable Afghanistan of the early 1970s, the boys are inseparable. They spend idyllic days running kites and telling stories of mystical places and powerful warriors. Since Hassan can’t read and write it was Amir who reads the story for Hassan. One day Amir started telling his own story and pretending to Hassan as if he is reading it from the book. After Amir finishes the story Hassan tells Amir that it was the best story he has ever read to him. Amir realizes his talent and writes a story the same night.

Now in a nutshell the story what Amir wrote that night…

“Once there was poor man who lived in a village. Though poor, he was contended with what ever he had and was happy. One day an angel appeared before him and gave him a magic bowl. Angel said the poor man for every drop of tear that goes into the bowl; it will turn into a pearl. The poor man was never happy as before and stared to feel sad for everything from then on, so that he can cry into the bowl and get a pearl. Finally after sometime he was standing crying in a mountain of pearls with his wife stabbed in her chest and blood dripping on the pearls”

Next day Amir reads the story to Hassan. Hassan was really impressed and praise Amir for his talent. But after a pause Hassan tell Amir that he has something to ask about the story. Amir asks Hassan to shoot what it was. After little bit of hesitation Hassan ask Amir “If it’s a pearl for a tear then why that poor man decided to get sad and that too to an extent where he has to kill his wife? Wouldn’t an onion more than sufficient?”

Amir was baffled by this (me too as I dint even thought this was coming) and then the story continues.

Many a times the problem isn’t the real problem. The problem is we fail to think of a solution out of the box. Now got to go.. Rest in Next!

BTW i know this book has been made into a movie and already out in the screens. But it was my wish to read the book after seeing the trailer of the movie when i saw “Sweeny Tod”. As usual have the movie downloaded but just waiting for myself to finish the couple of pages left over before i shall go to theater. Yes i feel worth watching it there or you can say my way of showing respect to something good.