Man Booker Prize 2012 Shortlist

Another year and another Man Booker Prize is here! The shortlist was announced on 11 September. Here are the nominees:

~ 'Bring up the Bodies' by Hilary Mantel
~ 'Narcopolis' by Jeet Thayil
~ 'Swimming Home' by Deborah Levy
~ 'The Garden of Evening Mists' by Tan Twan Eng
~ 'The Lighthouse' by Alison Moore
~ 'Umbrella' by Will Self

The winner would be announced on 16 October, 2012.

Want to have a look at previous news about Man Booker Prize, click here

That One Moment

Since times immemorial, man has divided time into three entities, namely past, present and future. But have we ever racked our brains in trying to define present? Amongst these three states of convenience probably the toughest to define is ‘present’. Past and future can be very conveniently bound in few words of description. Present has the shortest duration. It is just a fleeting moment. ‘Time goes by my friend, we stand put’. It is an age-old principle of a happy life put forward by the philosophers that we must live in the present. Now what of us who want to spend a lifetime in that one fleeting moment?

Robert Browning, the famous English poet and a confirmed optimist, wrote:

Act, act in the living present

Let the dead past bury its dead.

Trick lies in making the most of the living present. Even in spiritual terms, present has been given the utmost importance. If our aim is realization of God, the time is now. All the basic spiritual keywords of every religion like ‘Om’; ‘Waheguru’ etc. are uttered in just one breath, that is, the present. Herein lays the essence of the ultimate realization. Also this fact gives boost to the special position that present holds. Therefore, we can say, that the journey to the ‘Brahm’ is of a moment. It might sound easy but on the contrary, it is the most difficult thing.

Delving deep into the past and travelling too far away into the future is a very casual experience that we all do in our daily life. Capturing the fleeting moment is a Herculean task to do. A striking balance of mind, full concentration, rapt attention and a clear-cut focus is what is needed for this one moment journey of a lifetime.

God is not to be found somewhere in the forests. He is not an external entity. He is inside all of us. He is everywhere, in every speck, in every nook and corner. This is because he is not a physical being. He is a spirit, a power, a feeling, a sense of faith, a sense of our firm belief. He is there when we believe in Him. So all it takes a true heart and a moment to seek his blessings and to have Him within our reach.