तिनका हू तो क्या हुआ, वजूद है मेराभी
उड उड कर हवा का रुख तो बताता हू
(Source: bestshayari.in)
उड उड कर हवा का रुख तो बताता हू
(Source: bestshayari.in)
Saturday, July 21, 2018
Yudhisthira: The Unfallen Pandava - Mallar Chatterjee
Besides being a huge fan of any novels about ancient secrets, I love books by Indian authors that interpret Indian mythology in a new way e.g. offerings by Amish Tripathy and Krishna Udayasankar. As far as the epic Maharbharata goes, Bheem and Arjun have cornered major portion of Pandava's fame. The eldest sibling, Yudhisthira, though portrayed as the epitome of virtue and justice, has never been able to shake off the stigma of being the one to wager, and lose, his wife in a game of dice. That single act has eclipsed his whole character.
So when I saw this book on the library aisle I wondered about what new interpretation the author has managed to give to the tale of Mahabharata in general, and to this much-maligned Pandava in particular. Alas! I was in for a mighty disappointment! This thick book simply narrates the old story, with a few stray sub-stories that you probably would have missed during your childhood days. No new interpretation whatsoever. Why the author felt the need to retell the old story, which almost every Indian knows by heart, I cannot fathom. In my humble opinion, the book also fails to adequately address the range of emotions that Yudhisthira must have felt, his struggles and conflicts, his dilemmas and doubts, his wins and failures. It simply doesn't tale his side of the story fully.
I rarely fail to finish any book. But I stopped reading this one even before I reached the halfway mark. If I have to read the epic itself, there are far better sources. :-(
So when I saw this book on the library aisle I wondered about what new interpretation the author has managed to give to the tale of Mahabharata in general, and to this much-maligned Pandava in particular. Alas! I was in for a mighty disappointment! This thick book simply narrates the old story, with a few stray sub-stories that you probably would have missed during your childhood days. No new interpretation whatsoever. Why the author felt the need to retell the old story, which almost every Indian knows by heart, I cannot fathom. In my humble opinion, the book also fails to adequately address the range of emotions that Yudhisthira must have felt, his struggles and conflicts, his dilemmas and doubts, his wins and failures. It simply doesn't tale his side of the story fully.
I rarely fail to finish any book. But I stopped reading this one even before I reached the halfway mark. If I have to read the epic itself, there are far better sources. :-(
BBC's Podcasts
If you are in search of a good crime-related podcast, I would highly recommend ywo - BBC's Body On The Moor and Death In Ice Valley. If you are looking for some narrative on The Middle East, do check out their podcast - Our Man In The Middle East. And if you are a history buff, go ahead and download their Witness and The History Hour podcasts.
As you can see, when it comes to podcasts, I rarely need to go beyond BBC :-)
As you can see, when it comes to podcasts, I rarely need to go beyond BBC :-)
Keepers Of The Kalchakra & The Sialkot Saga - Ashwin Sanghi
As mentioned before on this blog, I found myself getting rather tired of the plots, characters and stories woven by Western authors. So I turned to the Indian ones - specifically to Ashwin Sanghi. I had seen his books many times in the library but had never reached for one. I decided to give them a try and checked out 'Keepers Of The Kalchakra'.
To be sure, it has been more than a month since I read the book so my recollection of the details is more than a bit hazy. I remember, though, that the plot was extremely interesting. The book, however, seemed very long-winded. Parts of it were too theoretical for my taste. Towards the end, I found myself checking out how many pages are left. As far as the characters go, I must confess that it felt strange to get used to characters with Indian names. How I wish the author hadn't mentioned that the protagonist Vijay has flecks of dandruff in his hair. Every time Vijay was mentioned I kept seeing dandruff in his head :-( I was almost afraid sooner or later I will come across product placement of Head & Shoulders! The Russian scientist drove me nuts with his incessant 'Do you know about' questions. Anyone following world politics even for a bit would laugh at the possibility of an agent of RAW being included with agents of CIA and Russia's FSB in any task force. But this is a book by an Indian author so it's his world and his characters. That said, why must Russian agents be portrayed with only the interests of Mother Russia in mind, the rest of the world be damned? And why can't the RAW agent be shown consumed by the same zeal? I am tired of the stereotypes. Of course, if the Indian agent were depicted that way, he would probably die chanting 'Vande Mataram', sacrificing his life for his country, at the end of the book - as depicted in countless Indian movies of a certain era. :-) Anyways, the end of the book didn't justify the length of the path that it took to get there, in my humble opinion. But it was good enough for me to want to sample another of the author's offerings.
Hence The Sialkot Saga. There is an element of an ancient powerful secret in here as well. But it is so wafer thin that it gets buried under layers of the plot and its unnecessary twists and turns - only to surface towards the very end of the book, when you are almost sure that the author has forgotten about it. If the book were about the events that took place in India during her partition and post independence, it would have served its purpose of being a good summary for anyone interested in these events. But this isn't a book about history. It's a novel where India's past was supposed to be used as a backdrop. And yet, that backdrop has expanded in size to consume the whole of the narrative. Why the author felt the need to insert the protagonists, Arvind Bagadia and Arbaz Shaikh, in most of these major events, is simply beyond me. A crisper narrative would have achieved the same objective. The plot of brothers getting separated early in life only to be revealed as siblings towards the end has gone beyond being threadbare. :-( I didn't check if the ancient secret mentioned has any basis in history or is merely the product of the author's imagination. But I might just do that one of these rainy days.
The length of both of these books has, however, frustrated me enough not to go for any of the author's books so soon. True, I would like to read The Rozabal Line, Chanakya's Chant and The Krishna Key. Ancient secrets, real or imaginary, have always fascinated me. But alas, the library doesn't have any of the 3 books. :-( And I am not in the mood for reading Private Delhi. Well, currently at least.
To be sure, it has been more than a month since I read the book so my recollection of the details is more than a bit hazy. I remember, though, that the plot was extremely interesting. The book, however, seemed very long-winded. Parts of it were too theoretical for my taste. Towards the end, I found myself checking out how many pages are left. As far as the characters go, I must confess that it felt strange to get used to characters with Indian names. How I wish the author hadn't mentioned that the protagonist Vijay has flecks of dandruff in his hair. Every time Vijay was mentioned I kept seeing dandruff in his head :-( I was almost afraid sooner or later I will come across product placement of Head & Shoulders! The Russian scientist drove me nuts with his incessant 'Do you know about' questions. Anyone following world politics even for a bit would laugh at the possibility of an agent of RAW being included with agents of CIA and Russia's FSB in any task force. But this is a book by an Indian author so it's his world and his characters. That said, why must Russian agents be portrayed with only the interests of Mother Russia in mind, the rest of the world be damned? And why can't the RAW agent be shown consumed by the same zeal? I am tired of the stereotypes. Of course, if the Indian agent were depicted that way, he would probably die chanting 'Vande Mataram', sacrificing his life for his country, at the end of the book - as depicted in countless Indian movies of a certain era. :-) Anyways, the end of the book didn't justify the length of the path that it took to get there, in my humble opinion. But it was good enough for me to want to sample another of the author's offerings.
Hence The Sialkot Saga. There is an element of an ancient powerful secret in here as well. But it is so wafer thin that it gets buried under layers of the plot and its unnecessary twists and turns - only to surface towards the very end of the book, when you are almost sure that the author has forgotten about it. If the book were about the events that took place in India during her partition and post independence, it would have served its purpose of being a good summary for anyone interested in these events. But this isn't a book about history. It's a novel where India's past was supposed to be used as a backdrop. And yet, that backdrop has expanded in size to consume the whole of the narrative. Why the author felt the need to insert the protagonists, Arvind Bagadia and Arbaz Shaikh, in most of these major events, is simply beyond me. A crisper narrative would have achieved the same objective. The plot of brothers getting separated early in life only to be revealed as siblings towards the end has gone beyond being threadbare. :-( I didn't check if the ancient secret mentioned has any basis in history or is merely the product of the author's imagination. But I might just do that one of these rainy days.
The length of both of these books has, however, frustrated me enough not to go for any of the author's books so soon. True, I would like to read The Rozabal Line, Chanakya's Chant and The Krishna Key. Ancient secrets, real or imaginary, have always fascinated me. But alas, the library doesn't have any of the 3 books. :-( And I am not in the mood for reading Private Delhi. Well, currently at least.
Supernatural, Season 13, Season Finale
I know it has been a long time since the Season Finale for the 13th season was aired. But since I had posted on almost every episode of this season, it felt kind of weird not to write about the Finale.
During the earlier seasons of the series, I used to worry over which of the main characters are going to die as soon as the show wound down towards the Finale. But since then many of them have died and come back again, all in one piece. Well, all except for Crowley. But then we all know why he ain't coming back. So he seems to be the exception to the governing rule that whatever is lost comes back - in the next season :-) My BP remains rock solid during the Finale these days.
The Billion Dollar question this time around was whether we will see the last of Lucifer. And whether he will stay dead. The first question was answered loud and clear as soon as Dean made a deal with Michael. I almost groaned at that. This guy seems hell-bent on making all the wrong choices. I am sure Dan Brown wouldn't have written 'Angels And Demons' in the universe that this Michael has come from. There seems to be virtually no difference between the two - except maybe for the wings. But Dean has always been the pig-headed one. Still, to be fair, with Jack's powers gone, there wasn't much left on the choice platter. I wish Rowena was around to use some spell or hex to make sure that Michael kept up his side of the bargain.
My second question can only be answered by the next season. But I am pretty sure that Lucifer will show up at the Winchesters' doorstep - sooner rather than later. Not sure how well Jack is going to take his human status. Maybe it will help him understand humans better. Maybe he will turn bitter at the turn of events. But with Lucifer gone, Sam, Castiel and Mary will have plenty of opportunity to mold Jack in a better person. This will also give Jack a chance to exorcise his demons and come to terms with his lineage.
It would be interesting to see how Sam, Castiel and Mary get Dean back. Looking forward to Season 14!
During the earlier seasons of the series, I used to worry over which of the main characters are going to die as soon as the show wound down towards the Finale. But since then many of them have died and come back again, all in one piece. Well, all except for Crowley. But then we all know why he ain't coming back. So he seems to be the exception to the governing rule that whatever is lost comes back - in the next season :-) My BP remains rock solid during the Finale these days.
The Billion Dollar question this time around was whether we will see the last of Lucifer. And whether he will stay dead. The first question was answered loud and clear as soon as Dean made a deal with Michael. I almost groaned at that. This guy seems hell-bent on making all the wrong choices. I am sure Dan Brown wouldn't have written 'Angels And Demons' in the universe that this Michael has come from. There seems to be virtually no difference between the two - except maybe for the wings. But Dean has always been the pig-headed one. Still, to be fair, with Jack's powers gone, there wasn't much left on the choice platter. I wish Rowena was around to use some spell or hex to make sure that Michael kept up his side of the bargain.
My second question can only be answered by the next season. But I am pretty sure that Lucifer will show up at the Winchesters' doorstep - sooner rather than later. Not sure how well Jack is going to take his human status. Maybe it will help him understand humans better. Maybe he will turn bitter at the turn of events. But with Lucifer gone, Sam, Castiel and Mary will have plenty of opportunity to mold Jack in a better person. This will also give Jack a chance to exorcise his demons and come to terms with his lineage.
It would be interesting to see how Sam, Castiel and Mary get Dean back. Looking forward to Season 14!
Monday, July 16, 2018
Albert J. Bernstein. Dinosaur Brains: Dealing with All Those Impossible People at Work
Mike Clark. Pragmatic Project Automation
Surviving Object-Oriented Projects: A Manager’s Guide. Alistair Cockburn
Brad J. Cox and Andrex J. Novobilski. Object-Oriented Programming, An Evolutionary Approach.
Michael Holt. Math Puzzles and Games
Ivar Jacobson. Object-Oriented Software Engineering: A Use-Case Driven Approach
Brian W. Kernighan and Rob Pike. The Practice of Programming.
Jim McCarthy. Dynamics of Software Development
Edward Yourdon. When good-enough software is best.
The Practice of Programming - Kernighan and Pike
Leadership Is Half The Story - Marc Hurwitz
It's Our Ship - D. Michael Abrashoff
Mike Clark. Pragmatic Project Automation
Surviving Object-Oriented Projects: A Manager’s Guide. Alistair Cockburn
Brad J. Cox and Andrex J. Novobilski. Object-Oriented Programming, An Evolutionary Approach.
Michael Holt. Math Puzzles and Games
Ivar Jacobson. Object-Oriented Software Engineering: A Use-Case Driven Approach
Brian W. Kernighan and Rob Pike. The Practice of Programming.
Jim McCarthy. Dynamics of Software Development
Edward Yourdon. When good-enough software is best.
The Practice of Programming - Kernighan and Pike
Leadership Is Half The Story - Marc Hurwitz
It's Our Ship - D. Michael Abrashoff
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