Is this what you want?

A friend casually made a comment on drinking (alchohol) recently,
" At this age, people drink because of peer pressure. My father lets me drink but I think that if I did so, it would because every one else is doing it"
This was right. To an extent. The social culture of the youth has made being different difficult. If you don't do the cool stuff that everyone is doing, you are ostracized and made fun of. It takes a very high level of self- assurance and confidence to be what you want to be.
Coming back to the comment, I say it is right to an extent because just because you do something with friends, doesn't mean you are falling prey to pressure forces.
Sometimes, friends are just an outlet to what you want to do. They are the catalysts t fulfill your wishes and desires, dreams and aspirations.
This argument can be extended to the Contemporary Indian Society at large. A lot of us do a lot of things just because everyone around us is doing it.
I am not being sexist here, when I give the following example:
Women in India have forever been home bound. They have found happiness in making their families happy. Then came a surge of western influences telling them that they had potential that went beyond the home making skills. And everyone was suddenly clammering to go out, get a job and fight for their rights as equals in the Patriarchial society.
Housewives I know, are annoyed that they don't go out and work. This frustration means they don't do their other duties, that as home makers, too.
Similar is the case with wearing particular type of clothes. You wear something because you know every one is wearing it and it is cool to wear it.
You blame the fate that doesn't allow you to do things that everyone is doing.
But take a break from this and ask yourself, "is that what you want to do?"
There may be women who actually want to stay at home, they know going out is not their thing, it is not what they want to do, and yet here they are complaining of lack of opportunities. Somewhere, in this rat race we have forgotten to make sure, that we do what we want to, what we like, what makes us happy. We are too busy falling prey to advertisements of universal standards of what happiness should be.
Which brings me to this, in whatever you do, make sure you do it because you want to do it. Not because every one is doing it, not because some one tells us that what you do should not or could not make you happy. Even it means going old world, going back to what is now considered out of fashion, so be it.
And, also, if what you want sometimes is what IS considered very hep and modern, doesn't mean you are not being yourself. The trick is to just ask yourself every time you take up something,
"Is this what I want ?"
Everything else doesn't matter.
You want to drink, go drink. You want to party, go party. But because you want it, and would so even if you had not been in the company you are in or the college you go to. And the reverse applies too. You want to stay at home and read a book, do that. You want to listen to Hindi classical over Tiesto, go ahead and let no one stop you. Let your wishes rule over that of others, because like Prof. Mitchell Green says,
"Your (cognitive) knowledge of you is different from others' knowledge of you. And you know yourself better than others do."
So, go live the life of your dreams. And don't let others tell you what dreams are big and which are small.  I may want to be a world famous actress, and that is a big dream. Another may want to open a small school for not more than 100 students. The former doesn't achieve it, the latter does. So, even though the dream of being an actress may seem bigger, it is really the fact the teacher is there and doing what she wants that makes all the difference.
For living the dream is what makes it large, and not the dream itself.

The Immortals of Meluha

The Immortals of Meluha,
 It is a brilliant take on the story of Lord Shiva.
It starts with Shiva, leader of the mountanious tribe - the Gunas - are invited to the greatest empire in the world - Meluha, in the region of what we know as the Indus Valley Civilization. This land is situated to the west of India, and it is the land of the Suryavanshis, or followers of the Sun.
Unknown to Shiva, he is the man chosen to save the Suryavanshis to battle the defeat the "evil" Chandravanshis. This eventually happens, by the end of the book, before which, Shiva marries the princess of Meluha, Sati and also uplifts an unjust law, called vikarma - similar to the untouchability principle followed in the traditional Hindu Society.
Even as the Suryavanshis win the war with their excellent strategy and technology, and Shiva's superior leadership, a new revelation presents itself - that the Chandravanshis were not as evil as thought, and althought they lived life in the extreme, were good people at heart. Shiva cannot handle the burden of being the taker of millions of innocent lives. He meets a Vasudev, a member of the tribe of Vishnu, who explains that it is nothing compared to the damaged that could have been caused.
The book ends with a treaty between the Swadeepans i.e. the Chandravanshis and the Suryavanshis and Shiva embarking on a journey to find the Nagas, or the snake tribe who he believes will lead him to the actual "evil", that the legend of him being the "Neelkanth" or the man with the blue throat, says - "the destroyer of evil".

My review -

The book has a fabulous story which covers up for its relatively mediocre writing style that is disappointing. Although it may have been a deliberate move to reach out the larger audience, somewhere, the story doesn't shine as it has the potential to.

That apart, the book has some wonderful philosophies on society, individuality and the perception of evil. It tackles with the many human emotions of friendship, love, lust, respect and the many principles of  duty, honour, obedience and discipline. It represents a black and white picture and explains of how both are essential to maintain harmony. 

But the most important and principle theme of the book is the establishment of the perfect society, Meluha and its brilliant governance. Amish establishes this fact only to contradict the claim in the later part of the book, thus asserting that universal truth that "perfection", "happiness", "justice" are all matters of perspective and that no social system is ideal. Freedom is as essential as discipline, and that there will always be a constant struggle strike a balance between the two.

He explains how Perception plays a major role in our lives and in calling judgements, through the the Meluhan and Swadeepan society, which starkly contrast each other and believe the other to be evil. He explains that "different" does not mean "evil", a philosophy that needs to be adapted in out daily lives too.

There are some beautiful angles in the story:
the friendship between Brahaspathi and Shiva, the romance between Shiva and Sati, the equation between Nandi and Shiva.

The characters too, are a mix of the free and fun loving tibetans - the guna tribe -, the rigid and disciplined, sometimes dull Meluhans and the outrageous, crazy and passionate Chandravanshis.

It is an enjoyable read, a fantastic story that tells you that one need not be the most proficient of writers - a powerful story alone also can make for an equally enchanting and captivating read.

My favourite quote from the book :

  "...If the entire society was conscious about its duties , nobody would need to fight for their individual rights, since everybody's rights would be automatically taken care of by someone else's duties.."

The two books promise many more twists in the quest and I look forward to reading them.