Saturday, August 31, 2013

My Review of 'And the Mountains Echoed'



After enjoying The Kite Runner, I put my hands on another of Khaled Hosseini’s books: ‘And the Mountains Echoed’, and as with his previous book, I read through this lovely book in around a week.

This time Khaled Hosseini has crafted a story about brothers and sisters, siblings and cousins, parents and children, and even a caretaker and his boss. The story has been narrated in the first person, and the perspective keeps changing, which provides the story with the pace and also fills in the mild gaps which are created. Talking about love, and care and the bond between loved ones is a common trait in Khaled Hosseini’s books as can be visible from this book and his other books as well.

As in The Kite Runner, there is the presence of nostalgia about Afghanistan, and how the calm and serene place became clogged with destruction, gunfights, and war; how families lost their loved ones- consumed by war and greed likewise.

A large time span, various characters later, and after traipsing across continents as well, the story ends on a slightly high note with the uniting of brother and sister, who were separated at a very young age.

The book is an exquisite write and would indulge you into its depths with the language, imagery and the evolution of emotions. On the whole, the book is very attractive and presents itself as a good read.

You can read more reviews about the book here and here.

You can purchase this book, which released in May this year from Amazon and Flipkart at around Rs. 400.

You can read my Review of Kite Runner here.

Victory

The routine never ceases to change, nor do the long hours. Having my evening permeated with classes has a different feel in itself, and after going through it for more than a year, I have to confess about the disorientated feeling I go through in the absence of classes. Well there are some problems of these long hours of disconnection from the world and logging completely into books and I did feel mildly exposed to one of them just today.

A happy moment,
Lost in those long hours,
The moment going absent,
This is what we do not wish for.

So today I discovered, after a quarter of a day had passed that I and 3 of my friends had been selected for the next round in a competition (Regional Finals) by British Council, Debating Matters. Now I did feel elated and excited and shocked as well (to some extent ‘cause maybe I didn’t have high hopes for it).

So, completely worked up, ecstatic and eager to share this new happiness with my friends and family, I reach home to discover that everything’s leaked already. The cat is out of the bag, and it’s been 6 hours (6 whole hours!) since that happened.

So with content and joy in one corner of my heart, with a strange forlorn feeling in another part of my heart, and a newly discovered nervousness as well, I sit down to write this post. And as I continue past this line, the happiness gets back to me and it destroys the rest of the stray feelings which hold parts of my heart and brain hostage.

Never goes a feeling undone,
Be it happiness or grief,
The true value is shadowed
Eventually, But its stay is never brief.

The value felt for eternity,
The heart continues basking,
In the warmth and glow,
We spread the radiance, and continue smiling.

PS: Feeling wonderful after this miracle, yet there is the nervousness  about facing the next round at a higher level. Would like to profusely thank my principal, Tanya Ma’am and Nabila Miss, for giving us a chance at this competition, and for helping us out and having belief in us, and Krishna Chopra, Vrushali Sukhi, and Saahil Dhar for being the most co-operative and friendly teammates.

Thursday, August 29, 2013

My Review of 'Madras Cafe'



Madras Café is film made by Shoojit Sircar involving the plot about Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination. The film has been portrayed as a flashback being narrated by Major Vikram Singh (John Abraham) in a church. John Abraham has played the role of a RAW agent in the film, and he is successful to a large extent.

The story starts off with John Abraham waking up in bed after a nightmare, with sweat trickling down his face, and a full grown beard. The flashback soon begins with the rise of the LTF and a brief background about the worsening condition in Sri Lanka. The enemy force under ‘Anna Bhaskaran’ who somewhat represents the leader of the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam), Velupillia Prabhakaran.

Robin Dutt, one of the front faces of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) calls on Major Vikram Singh, who has to go to the epicenter of these events- Jaffna. On the way to the place, the young officer meets Jaya Sahni (played by Nargis Fakhri) who is a press correspondent. Her part comes into play several times in the film, and it can be said that she has done a good job in whatever she has done.

The film progresses with several hitches and backfiring plots, till a point where Ruby Singh, the wife of the Major, is killed. This is the turning point of the film, and then begins all of the fast-paced action.

Going under the direct command of Siddharth Basu (Robin Dutt), John Abraham plunges knee deep into the scenario and starts wading through all that happened with him in the past (a blown arms deal, and other plans which have backfired). Blasting past his senior in Sri Lanka, John soon exposes him with a tape of an intercepted conversation and various transfers and photographs. The flashback ends after the assassination of ex-President Rajiv Gandhi during a rally in South India.

On the whole, the film is adrenaline pumping and rushes at a fast pace, especially in the second half. The absence of songs has been a good idea, as the background music by Shantanu Moitra does extremely well. The script is good as well, and dialogues in Tamil have been displayed on the screen in form of Hindi subtitles.

I did feel at some point that John Abraham should have had a more aggressive approach and a more muscular body which would have been characteristic of an agent in enemy territory. But this small point gets easily misplaced in the thick plot and fast action of the film.

If you are a fanatic for fast paced flicks involving spies and old plots, then this is a must watch for you.

PS: I did hear that this film is being made Tax-free.


For more reviews on this film please visit Rediff.com and Deccan Chronicle

Jai Shree Krishna


So very young, yet so mature,
Loved by all is his heart, so pure,
Mischievous kid, who we call Lord.

Jai Shree Krishna! What we say about this young God is too less, He was mischievous, and loving, and caring, and a whole lot of other adjectives which we could use. May He reside happily forever in our hearts…

Here is one message I read in passing on Facebook. Enjoy humming this song, and welcome the oldest Thalaiva!!

Gopiyo ko thoda round ghumake,
Krishna ke jaise murali bajake,
Dahi main thodi mishri milake,
Aa jao saare mood banake…
All the Krishna fans

THALAIVA!!

We don’t miss the chance…

THALAIVA!!

MURLI DANCE MURLI DANCE
MURLI DANCE MURLI DANCE

Jai Shree Krishna!! 

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Silent Killer



Fearless in singularity,
With skill to anticipate the hapless enemy’s movement,
Serene yet stirring.


Written for 3-Word Wednesday