Dreams

I have dreams, not one but many
Possibilities, probabilities are stuffed in this mind
Temporary, sheer joy and ecstasy
Are the gifts of dreams of my kind
A path to escape reality's cruelty
A harsh, cold slap in the face
The healing of stabs and open wounds
Are what these dreams of mine do
And as my books lay open in front of me,
I stare at nothing, not a thought given to lessons
Absentmindedly, a smile creeps on my lips
As I emptily flip through pages
Many people do frown on me
For believing in my dreams openly
Is it a sin to dream and hope anymore?
To kill rays of happiness and crush them to dust?
Despite what people talk and say
Despite what people do to me
They won't succeed in murdering my dreams
For my dreams are strong and with me, they'll stay.

A Review on Tape by Steven Camden

A week and a half back, I'd visited Dubai for certain reasons. I know you're thinking 'What? Before your boards?!' No trust me, I did study there. So my mum and I were in the airport, loafing around in the duty free section before we had to board our flight to Bangalore. Those of you who know me well enough must've guessed that I hit the book store first.

So there I was, browsing through books in a tiny bookshop. I was a bit disappointed when nothing really came to my interest. But a blue and yellow book on the 'New Arrivals' shelf caught my eye. Instantly, I walked towards it, as if hypnotized. The title of the book was Tape. No, not the sticky tape, silly. The old recording ones.

There was a short and crisp summary inside the book which was enough for me to decide that I had to get this book no matter what. I walked over to the opposite store where my mum was buying chocolates and candies for my kid cousin. I pleaded till she gave me the money reluctantly to go buy the bloody book.

Content, I buried my nose in it right after I brought the book. I couldn't read through the flight cause I needed to sleep if I didn't want to suffer minor jet lag. But I did finish it in a matter of hours after reaching my humble abode.

Tape, written by Steven Camden, is an enchanting and enrapturing story about the life of Ameliah and Ryan, two teenagers living two decades apart.

Ryan, a boy who just lost his mother, is trying to cope up with his life moving way too fast because of his father's new marriage. To add to the drama, he has to deal with his step brother who taunts him to no end and a best friend who constantly keeps embarrassing him. The only occurrence  that brightens up his life is an Irish girl, Eve, who moved to his town for the summer.

Ameliah, a quiet introvert, moves in with her Nan after the successive deaths of both her parents. She moves in to find her mother's old room, filled with relics and possessions of a past life. She finds an old boombox and a boxes full of tapes. Setting a goal to finish listening to all the tapes in summer, the tapes become her lullaby in the night. Until one day, she finds a tape, a tape that could lead to the unraveling of her parents' past.

Though they don't know each other, yet the two of them are connected by a link of love for dear ones and hopes for better understandings of the universe.

Gentle, humourous and filled with simplicity and  love, this book is sure to make you smile and possibly cry at times.

An amazing and hypnotizing read.