swimming

I love swimming. These days I am going for it and have found that I enjoy it a lot. I have finally added the fourth stroke : the butterfly stroke to my list. Now, I can say that I know all the four strokes. How well? Its another question altogether . No but seriously, I think that I can swim freestyle and breaststroke pretty well. In backstroke, there is just this direction problem else it is fine and butterfly..well the less said the better

I dont know there is something in the water. I just get happy when I am in the pool. I have the smile on my face which often freaks people out cuz they think that I am a freak. I have this urge to do better, to swim better, faster. I forget all my cares and am in the present. Its just very sooting. I am thoroughly enjoying it. Hope to continue it for long.

Mansfield park – Jane Austen

I read this book on a whole night journey to home and then back. The book is written by Jane Austen and has the general setting which all he books have. A family with marriageable daughters, then courtship, some scandals and lastly a happy ending. I started reading Austen with Pride and Prejudice and loved it at once. It was witty, funny and romantic and feel good. Then I read Emma, which was again feel good and more about the individual emma. Then came Sense and Sensibility and now Mansfield Park.

At the centre of the story is the character called Fanny Price who has been brought from a poor family to rich one so as the help the former. There she is however treated as an outsider by all but his cousin Edmund. His kindness finds a way for love in her heart, which is unrequited till last. In between, there are lots of ups and downs, hook ups , breakups and elopements. All in all, an interesting novel.

The best thing that I like about Jane Austen’s writing is the simplicity of the world which she creates and endears almost every character to the reader. They live for the moment the book is being read. Personally, I am transported to an altogether different world of British etiquettes and mannerisms and the hunt for a wealthy groom, the understated romances and estates etc. Fanny, here is a highly principled, shy, timid, physically weak girl who grows up during the course of the novel and as it turns out, in fact, is the only person who is strong enough to refuse an inviting marriage proposal even when his daunting uncle urges her to. She finally succeeds in finding her love id her another victory. As such, I am not very fond of the character of Fanny Price per se but the story that has been woven was able to bind me. I enjoyed the book as I have always enjoyed Austen’s writings. Looking forward to read the remaining two: Northanger Abbey and Persuasion.