Mantaras and Misdemeanours

Vanessa Walker went to the home of the Dalai Lama to explore her religion through the eyes of its people. She wasn't there looking for love, let alone a husband, and she certainly didn't plan on having a relationship with a disrobed Tibetan monk and becoming pregnant.. But karma quite often works in strange ways ...Nestled in the foothills of the Indian Himalayas, McLeod Ganj is a place of quiet beauty and surprising violence. It is a place where a government consults an ancient oracle. McLeod Ganj is also a place where monks wear the latest Nike trainers, where the Dalai Lama's brother struggles with his own inner demons.I found this book to be funny, and poignant, Mantras and Misdemeanors is a wonderful book, I enjoyed it so much. I loved the way her relationship with Choying developed and grew into love.It is Vanessa's story of a journey, a journey of the heart, and also into the heart of Buddhism. And for that I say "thoo jaychay"

"Will Randall thought teaching in an inner London comprehensive was a difficult job. But that was nothing compared to his next assignment: saving a slum school in the Indian city of Poona.

Learning as much as he is teaching, Will finds that his life is transformed by his remarkable class of orphans: Dulabesh, the head-standing joker who lost his parents on a crowded railway platform; Prakash, who learnt self-sufficiency the hard way by scavenging in skips, the nutty yet charming Tanushri, fan of the singer ‘Maradona’. When the slum barons threaten to level the school, Will hits upon the idea of a fund-raising play to save it: the 24,000-verse Indian epic the Ramayana, ever so slightly condensed…"

This was a such a great book, I really enjoyed it. So heartwarming. If only there were more "Will Randall's in this world.......

A Life Less Ordinary

This book was a gift from my beautiful friend Anjali.

This was a truly amazing book by a first time author. "Baby" was abandoned by her mother at the tender age of four. At 12 her father married her off to an abusive man, she became a mother for the first time at 13. The story tells of her struggle to bring up three children, make ends meet and try to keep out of the way of her husbands fists. He would beat her for any or sometimes no reason at all. Even attending "Puja's" she was not safe from him. He would drag her out by her hair, and brutally beat her. The response from the other ladies would be"she must have done something bad to warrant such a beating."

Finally, at the age of 25, she has left her husband and is trying to make a better life for herself and her children. At first it is hard as she is still working for employers who are very harsh and demanding.

Finally, she lands a job with a retired academic. For the first time she is treated with kindness and respect. He tells her she is like one of the family. One day he discovers her browsing through his books. He discovers her love of books, also writing. He gives her a notebook and pen and encourages her to write "her story"

Please read this book and you will realize just what an amazing story this is. This is one lady who refused to give up.