The Oleander Girl - Book Review

Chitra Banerjee is one of my favorite authors. She is gifted for making the art of storytelling a magical experience. To me, this quality of her books, bring back the sweet memories of childhood where I would sit at my grandfather’s feet with a bunch of cousins and an assortment of kids from the neighborhood and the servant quarters, listening to him spinning a magical world of old Gujarati folktales. The difference is, my grandfather’s stories were mostly from the male perspective and most of Banerjee’s stories bring women to the forefront.

The Oleander Girl too is the story of a young women and her journey to find her identity. Korobi, orphaned at birth, is brought up in a traditional Bengali household by adoring overprotective grandparents. She spends seventeen years sheltered in the ancestral home 26 Tarak Prasad Roy Road which characterizes the old charms of the beautiful city of Kolkata. On the other end of the spectrum is the life style of the rich and famous portrayed by the party boy Rajat and his ex girlfriend, Sonia. It doesn’t seem like they have anything in common and you begin to wonder how these two opposite people can fall in love with each other. But the seemingly simplistic young girl Korobi, is not only beautiful but also intelligent and headstrong. It is her stubbornness to make peace with her past that propels her into a journey across the world to find her father, half of her identity, and puts herself and her loved ones in dangerous circumstances.

As relationships are plagued with uncertainties, the undercurrents of racial divide and post terrorism tensions not only create a vivid backdrop but give the story a thriller effect.  Oleander girl becomes a personal journey because of its well developed characters and the seamless flow of narrative between these characters. There is the chauffeur who speaks nothing and hears everything, the exuberant little sister Pia, the grandmother Sarojini, soon to be mother in law Mrs. Bose and even the timid Seema who displays some spirit by standing up to her husband, Mr. Mital the villain.

Families can be torn apart by secrets, young and old can make errors in judgment, betrayal is harsh and the road to true isn’t always smooth. The story captures your heart and is a definite page turner. It does all this with the grace of ballerina.

The Oleander Girl totally lives up to my expectations. You can’t help but fall in love with all the characters. I was there with Korobi every step of the way, experiencing her highs and her lows.  The path to my uncle’s house is lined with oleander plants. The leaves of these plants have an elastic quality to them so when you join two of them together and snap them they make sound. As a kid I used to play with these leaves and was always in trouble when an adult caught me because of the danger of poisoning. The toxicity of the oleander plant is aptly symbolized in the book. 

Happy Birthday, Dickens

Happy Birthday, Dickens

Audit of Cash

Audit Objective
The main objective of the audit is to assess the adequacy and effectiveness of internal controls over cash management.

Potential risks in the internal controls of cash management
1. Certain salaries are paid by cash
2. There is no authorization for cash paid out to sister unit of the head office
3. Handover of cash
4. Improper use of cash – used to disburse personal expense for housekeeping for management

Audit methodologies

• Review of policies, procedures and other relevant instructions, interviews with key personnel and review of pertinent records.

• Audit should likely cover cash transactions including handling, custodianship, and access of cash.

Potential risks to be aware of/ Actions to nullify those risk

• Commingled: When petty cash balance is mixed with the custodians personal funds.

• Surprise cash counts should be conducted to ensure that there is no fraud or theft.

• Supporting documentation: All cash disbursement must be supported by appropriate vendor invoices or receipts.

• Handover of cash: Handover of cash responsibility ensures that the funds are available for operations in the absence of the custodian.

• Segregation of duties: if there is a lack of personnel to segregate the duties then it is recommended that stronger supervisory control must be exercised.

• Access to the cash vault/safe: It would be advisable to keep a log of the times the vault is being accessed by someone else.

• Improper use of petty cash:

o Petty cash is to be used to disburse small amounts of non recurring payments only. Therefore the wages paid out in cash ought to have a separate fund set up for their disbursement in case they require immediate payments.

o The expense of a personal nature may only be allowed under the circumstances that the director or authority figure maintains a permanent residence elsewhere and only requires housekeeping services for a short while in the occasion he is visiting the head office.

General Suggestions:

We could maintain a status of audit recommendations to see what actions are being taken and then it would be more helpful to point out to the management that we have not yet received response for earlier recommendations.

It breaks my heart

It breaks my heart, yet every time there is anticipation anew and fresh. Excitement and the courage to keep watching. Its vampires the attract me in a way that I haven't felt for any other thing. Or maybe it is just everything supernatural. Is ther magic? Does the supernatural really exist. Why is that in its wake I forget everything even my beloved. And even then I know that it is better to be kept in the dark than to be educated. It is better these things are left to imagination because I can't imagine the kind of havoc my life will be in if something messed it up especially the one that I love.
I might resent them and take out long passed out grudges but I love them the thing that sets me apart from the other person is this. Why when I left the country the only thing I asked was for safety of this place i have begun to dwell in since the time of my birth. I don't know any other way of life except this and I don't want any other way of life. Maybe when I am alittle agitated I might forget this but never would i want it any different. I keep this the here on the WWW as a record of what I said. This is one place where things might remain eternally

I can't forget to live!

She has waited. Patiently. For years. She doesn't even remember how many years have gone by since the inception of those beautiful dreams. There is always something for which she had to put her self on hold. It wasn't simple. Anybody could turn bitter during this time. But her attitude to life has always remained very sweet. And then one day I found her secret. She sat in the topmost boggie of a giant wheel and had her eyes closed. The feelings of her soaring heart were clearly reflected on her beautiful face. I realized then that the only way she managed to get through all of her troubles is by living the little moments of life, when it offered it to her. Like the one she was living on the top of a giant wheel while I clicked away my fancy new camera to take a little of everything back with me.

You can't forget to live! Life will never be easy and there will never be a wholly perfect day. But this doesn't mean there won't be some wholly perfect moments. Live those and they will add up to the big day.:-)

The graduation cap

The train had a streak of sparkle along its sides like a painter in his quest for a scene ran a paintbrush through the train. The passengers were all staring at it with curiously bored eyes. There was a single question that echoed through the platform; What is this?. I wondered though how many of them really cared for the answer. Our trains are more often disfigured with all sorts of things from tobacco extracts to litter and used chewing gums. People hardly ever notice this. So today when there is for a change something pretty to look at why are people questioning it instead of simply being pleased?

Things all around were conspiring to lift my spirits today. First there was the glowing sun as soon as I woke up. It shone brighter today than any other day in the past few days. It was like a green signal from the word go. I was headed on the most profound journey. I was going to another continent , a new world, to make something of myself and to earn a crown. This one though is not adorned with fabulous and expensive jewels, it was plain and usually black. This was a crown that most people died for and the most common one that was available-the graduation cap.

Call your muse

Once I decided to start a blog, I began pondering about a topic to write on. I am an avid reader an so I browsed through the blogs of my favorite authors for inspiration. The most amazing thing about inspiration is that it can come to you from the least expected sources. Inspiration came to me very young in the form of Enid Blyton. I remember reading since I was in fourth standard. I came across a copy of Alice in Wonderland. I don't remember from where I got that book but I remember having it. I was fascinated from page one. I was in hostel at that time and had to be in bed by 8:30pm. I read that day through most of the night. Ever since that night I have loved reading. You would always find me with a book, sometimes hidden between the folds of my sweater ( It was always cold in Ooty) because I wasn't suppose to be carrying it at that time. I was often reading at the dinning table and sometimes in the washrooms at night as this was the only place there where lights at that time. Enid Blyton was my favorite author at that time. She made quiet an impression on me while I was growing up. I learned to grow into stories and fables thanks to Enid Blyton.

The other great thing about inspiration is that you can seek it and this is the one thing that defy you once you get out there and call for it. There was an episode from a famous television series about magic and witches, 'Charmed', called Muse o my ears. The episode portrays the existence of a magical characters called the muse that re there within the grand design to inspire people. They are invisible to us and each person has there own muse. People often call upon there muses without knowing it. Artistic people employ this in a more literal sense. They often form a routine or go to some object animate or inanimate for inspiration. I believe that all this does is initiate there request for inspiration. So try it out today and see for yourselves if it works. Call out for your muse.