In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.

- Buddha

Revealed: Siachen, tonight on Discovery at 9pm

For more information, check http://www.discoverychannel.co.in/revealed-siachen/

Supernatural- The Devil In The Details

I remember a scene from one of the James Bond flicks - the villain asks one of his minions, a software engineer (named Gupta!) if the system is ready. Gupta says that it is. The villain then asks him if any changes will be needed to which Gupta (very naively!) replies in the negative, and dies regretting it. I guess Rowena wasn't a big fan of 007. If she were, she would never have told Lucifer that she was the only one capable of opening The Cage. I predicted he will break her neck,a moment before he actually did. But I am rather skeptical that the witch can be killed so easily.

I am glad that Sam said No to Lucifer and mad (as hell!) that Castiel didn't. I guess I heaved a sigh of relief a moment too soon when Lucifer disappeared in a whiff of smoke. Of course, I should have suspected that there must be some twist in this tale because they wouldn't have dragged Lucifer from the depths of hell if he were not meant to play a major role in the story. I just wasn't ready to see him possessing my favorite angel.

As if this were not enough, the Darkness is alive and kicking and eating up people's souls. With her and Lucifer both running amok, I am tempted to say God Help Us All - except that God has gone MIA.

Guess the Winchesters are in for the roughest ride of their lives :-( Good Luck, guys!

Trouble In Mind - Jeffery Deaver

This one will remind you of Jeffrey Archer's 'A Twist In The Tale' for sure. 12 stories of whodunits where the story turns on its head towards its end, well, most of the times. My reactions were similar to what it was for Archer's book. I was surprised at the first twist in the first story and then I started looking out for ways the author could have tricked his readers. Sometimes I succeeded in guessing it and sometimes fell flat on my face. But I enjoyed every moment of it :-)

My personal favorites - Fast, Game, Bump, A Textbook Case, The Competitors, The Weapon

And the ones that I didn't much enjoy - The Obit, Forever, The Therapist, Reconciliation, Paradice, The Plot

I was particularly annoyed by The Obit - this must be the worst Lincoln Rhyme story written, ever, I hope - and Forever - this one lived upto its name and seemed to drag on forever. :-(

Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn (Spoiler Alert!)

This novel is a must-read, sort of those 101 guides - if your husband is having an affair and you want to teach him a lesson or you want to protect yourself from your psycho wife. Since I do not fall into either category, it ended up giving me a very bad case of splitting headache which refused to go away even after turning the last page. :-(

As far as the plot goes, we have a couple - Nick and Amy. As is the norm in these novels, Amy is very pretty and Nick is handsome in a roguish way. They lose their jobs in New York and move back to his native town, supposedly to take care of his dying mother. There is Go (for Margo!), Nick's sister who is helping him run the bar purchased with Amy's money (Ouch!). And then there are Amy's parents, the psychologists and authors of the successful book series 'Amazing Amy'. Then one fine day, Amy disappears. The house is a mess - suggesting she might have been kidnapped. And yet, there is no ransom note. So the needle of suspicion points to Nick, he being the husband. Innocent till proven guilty? No chance. It is upto him to prove that he didn't do it - unless the Gone Girl (or her body!) is found.

The author has done a very good job of making the reader suspect that Nick is the culprit - so much so that the reader starts wondering if Nick is innocent after all. Amy's schemes appear clever but they are so elaborate that at many points during the narrative I paused and wondered aka Dean Winchester from Supernatural - Seriously? Of course, I also couldn't stomach the fact that in the end Nick cannot bring Amy to justice. :-( The book jacket mentioned that there are talks to turn this novel into a motion picture. I am curious to see who are cast as Nick and Amy but don't think I will shell out any money to go watch it in the theaters.

I have had enough of Amy and her scheming ways.

Happy Republic Day India!

I would have been surprised if I hadn't woken up to the cacophony of patriotic songs from old Hindi movies being blared from multiple loudspeakers today morning. But 70 years down the lane my compatriots don't seem to have lost their penchant for this. All the usual suspects have been played as I write this - ऐ मेरे वतन के लोगो, कर चले हम फिदा, वंदे मातरम (from movie आनंद मठ), मेरा रंग दे बसंती चोला (this one seems to have multiple versions), है प्रीत जहा की रीत सदा, संदेसे आते है and मेरे देश की धरती. दुल्हन चली and जहा डाल डाल पर सोनेकी चिडिया are yet to make an appearance but I am confident that they will, sooner rather than later. :-)

Well, all is not well in the Republic of India - we are fighting in the name of language, caste, creed, religion and seem to be discovering more and more differences over which we can kill each other. The farmers are committing suicide. The environment is being destroyed. Women are facing discrimination and violence. More laws are being broken than followed. Every year I wonder how this country - of different cultures, languages, castes and religions - is being held together and every year I fear that we will eventually fall apart.

But we haven't, at least, till now. There is news - never front page (encouraging news rarely makes it there, today's journalism being what it is!) - of people going beyond these differences to help each other out, of honest people returning valuable things to their rightful owners, of people doing what they can to protect the environment, of people losing their lives while trying to save others' and of people doing their bit to make sure that this country gets better every day.

We can follow their lead without having to go out of our way or causing a great inconvenience to ourselves. We simply have to decide to do one thing from here on. It could be to follow traffic rules - not to start driving till the signal turns green (no matter how much others honk!) and not to start crossing the road on foot if the pedestrian walking sign is off. It could be to donate to a good charity working on a cause dear to our heart - amount does not matter, desire does. It could be to save water - saying no when the server brings water as soon as we are seated in the restaurants (if you don't intend to drink it) or refills it later. To not forward hateful messages on whatsapp or any other social media. None of these are really difficult, are they? And certainly more effective than playing the same patriotic songs every year (and polluting the environment in the process!).

We have to remember that our Constitution gave us rights but we also have responsibilities. Oh, and in case you are wondering, my resolution for this year is to fill up the form for organ donation. :-)

I happened to watch a scene from the movie 'Legion' yesterday. God has lost all faith in humanity and sends an army of angels to destroy it. And yet there is one angel who stands shoulder to shoulder with humans to defend them. When the protagonist, Jeep, asks him how he managed to keep his faith, the angel replies that it is because of people like him that he knows that there is hope yet for humanity. It is worth fighting for.

Let's give that angel more reasons to fight for us now, shall we? :-)

पानीसे तस्वीर कहा बनती है, ख्वाबोंसे तकदीर कहा बनती है
किसीभी रिश्तेको सच्चे दिलसे निभाओ, ये जिंदगी फिर वापस कहा मिलती है
कौन किससे चाहकर दूर होता है, हर कोई अपने हालातोंसे मजबूर होता है
हम तो बस इतना जानते है, हर रिश्ता 'मोती' और हर दोस्त 'कोहिनूर' होता है

- Who else can it be but the Great Gulzar :-)