Curtain - Agatha Christie (Spoiler Alert!)

I didn't like this book at all. And I have never felt this way, to the best of my knowledge, for any of Christie's books. It's not because Poirot dies in the end. It was pretty evident that he will when I started reading because the title clearly mentions that this is Poirot's last case. Since he isn't the type to idly sit twiddling his thumbs it stands to reason that it is his last case simply because he is dead after it is solved.

No, I didn't like this one because the plot seemed simply unbelievable, fantastic even. 5 people get killed (in 5 different incidents) because a person who takes pleasure in other peoples' miseries drives someone close to the victim to commit murder in each case. There isn't anything common between the cases except for the malignant presence of this Mr. X, as Poirot refers to him. We aren't told how Poirot was able to figure out the hand of this Mr. X in each of the tragedies, especially when he wasn't part of any of the investigations. But he knows Mr. X's identity. Why then does he wait for so long to kill Mr. X? Simply because he is against taking a human life? But then he also knows that it would be very difficult to lay the blame at X's doorstep should there be a murder at Styles. So letting the law take its due course to serve justice was out of the question. If murder was the only way to stop Mr. X Poirot's action does not make any sense. I also felt that Christie did a grave injustice to Arthur Hastings by showing him incapable of figuring out who could possibly have been X's intended victims, when it would be plain even for the laziest of armchair readers that Mrs. Luttrell and Mrs. Franklin fit the bill.

And I couldn't help but laugh out aloud when Poirot advises Hastings to get in touch with Elizabeth Cole. Hindi movies end this way when every single human being gets locked in holy matrimony. I wouldn't have batted an eyelid if Ms. Marple had suggested it. But Poirot? Speaking of Ms. Marple, I realized just now that the last three books that I read all featured Poirot. It's time I paid Ms. Marple a visit. I admire Poirot but somehow find her dearer than him. 

As I waited to get into the auditorium to watch yet another play, I listened to Annu Kapoor on FM 92.7 as he played songs and narrated a few anecdotes from the Golden Era of Hindi cinema. Here are three of them:

18. When Nasir Hussain decided to make the movie Teesri Manzil, Vijay Anand was given the responsibility of directing it. His first choice for the lead was his brother Dev Anand and for the music director it was S. D. Burman. But Dev was busy with Guide those Days. So it was decided to cast Shammi Kapoor instead. Burmanda wasn't keeping well so the hunt was on for the music director. Nasir Hussain thought of Pancham aka R.D. Burman. Since Shammi Kapoor was known to possess a keen sense of music and get involved closely with the music of his movies, Nasir told him about his idea. But Shammi wasn't in favor because during those days his movies' music was composed mostly by either the duo Shankar-Jaikishan or O.P. Nayyar. What can only be seen as a sign of the healthy competition that was the norm of that era, Jaikishan himself told Shammi to give Pancham a chance. Even writer Sachin Bhowmik suggested the same along with Nasir Hussain. Finally, Shammi agreed to listen to the tunes that Pancham had composed.

The words of any of the songs were yet to be written but the very first tune that Pancham played before Shammi was for the song Diwana Muzsa Nahi Iss Ambar Ke Neeche. No sooner did he sing the tune for the first line, Shammi hummed the rest of the tune and told Pancham that it is from a Nepali folk song. Then he asked Pancham to play his original composition. Pancham was taken aback, he came out of the room and started smoking. He told Nasir that he wouldn't be able to work with Shammi because the guy obviously knew a lot about music. Nasir told him to relax and play one of his own compositions. The next tune that Shammi listened to was for, and I am not sure if I remember it right, the song O Haseena Julfowali. He loved it and then for the next one hour listened to the tunes for the rest of the songs. Pancham bagged the movie and the rest, as they say, is history.

19. The second anecdote is of the famous actress, late Nargis Dutt. She was in London and went for shopping in one of the famous stores there. When she paid her bill she realized that she has forgotten to buy a pair of stockings. She went back, got them and thinking that she has already paid for them proceeded to the exit with her purchases. At the gates she was stopped because of the stockings for which she had not paid. The manager was called and he in turn called the police. NargisJi was so rattled by this whole experience that by mistake she agreed to have committed shoplifting. She was asked to come to the court the next day to pay the fine.

NargisJi knew that if the British media got wind of this incident, it will soon be all over the newspapers in India. So she called the then High Commissioner K Natwar.  K Natwar Singh (in fact Annu Kapoor acknowledged that he had read about this incident in one of Mr. Singh's books) and requested him to do something to stop British media from getting to know about this. He in turn called a high-ranking British officer who told him that since NargisJi had confessed to shoplifting nothing could be done. Then he asked for her passport. When he looked at the name on the passport, he was surprised to see the name 'Fatima' instead of Nargis. Then he said that the whole affair could be hushed from the media if NargisJi went to the court as an ordinary Indian woman Fatima keeping her face covered with a pair of sunglasses. NargisJi did exactly that, paid her fine and the media, British or Indian, never learned about this.

20. A listener asked Annu Kapoor who had sung the words 'Yahoo' in the famous Shammi Kapoor song from Junglee. Was it Rafi or was it Shammi Kapoor? Annu kapoor said that it was neither of them but writer-director Prayag Raaj.

The Way Of The Bow - Paulo Coelho

If you ask me what the book is all about, I would be at a loss for words. There isn't a story in the accepted sense of the word. But the book is about a great archer named Tetsuya and what he tells about the bow, the string, the arrows, the target and the archer. But beyond that, I believe it is a story about humans, their lives, their struggles, ambitions, goals, minds, frustrations and triaumphs. It is not a manual of how to live happily forever. But it has great insights which probably all of us know in our heart of hearts but which have been obscured by the tensions, struggles and chaos of everyday life. Here's what I have managed to collect from this book:

What is a master? I would say that he is not someone who teaches something, but someone who inspires the student to do his best to discover a knowledge he already has in his soul.

Join with those who are as flexible as the wood of your bow and who understand the signs along the way. They are people who do not hesitate to change direction when they encounter some insuperable barrier, or when they see a better opportunity. They have the qualities of water: flowing around rocks, adapting to the course of the river, sometimes forming into a lake until the hollow fills to overflowing, and they can continue on their way, because water never forgets that the sea is its destiny and that sooner or later it must be reached.

If you never take a risk, you will never know what changes you need to make.

A leaf does not cease to be a leaf merely because a storm tore it from the tree.

Use your bad moments to discover what makes you tremble. Use your good moments to find your road to inner peace.

I need to remain focused and calm, to do the work I chose to do with love, and never to cling to the present moment, because death is still very close, the abyss is there beside me, and I am walking along the edge.

Here are two more anecdotes from the Golden Era as told by Annu Kapoor on 92.7 yesterday:

16. Balraj Sahni wanted to become a writer like his elder brother, the famous author Bhishm Sahni. He had started writing stories and they were getting published in the then most well-known magazine of Hindi literature - Hans. In fact, he was one of the few authors whose stories were never turned down by them. Then he got an offer to work for BBC in London. The pay was good, work was satisfying and of course, there was prestige associated with it. So he took the offer and worked in London for 4 years. During that time he didn't write much. At the end of four years he came back to India and thought of picking up where he had left off as far as writing goes. Unfortunately, the very first story that he sent to the magazine after returning to India was rejected by Hans. Balraj Sahni was devastated. He was so stung by that rejection that he made up his mind never to write again. That's how he turned to the Hindi film industry.

17. The second anecdote that I managed to listen to concerned the quintessential Mom of Hindi cinema - Nirupa Roy. I was surprised to hear that she was not Bengali, as her name would suggest, but came from a Gujarati family. Her maiden name was Kanta Chauhan. She hailed from a small village of Gujarat and came to Mumbai following her marriage with one Kamal Balsara, who was a rationing inspector. After marriage her name changed to Kokila Balsara. Her husband was very fond of acting and used to make it a point to go whenever auditions were conducted for movie roles. But he never managed to land any role under one of the big banners of the day. He took his wife along with him for auditions being conducted for a Gujarati movie called Raanak Devi. He wasn't selected but his wife was offered a role without any audition. Though she had full support of her husband, there was an uproar in the community as at that time it was believed that people from good families would never work in the film industry. In fact, that was the reason she was given the screen name of Nirupa Roy. Obviously her father was dead against the idea and warned her that should she work in the movie industry she would be forever banned from entering his house. But she completed her assignment and the movie was released in due course of time. The furor in the community died down soon after that. But her father remained true to his word and never saw her again as long as he lived.

The Last Cherry Blossom - Kathleen Burkinshaw

Hiroshima: Memoirs Of A Survivor - Sachi Komura Rummel

Almighty - Dan Zak

Ignored Heroes Of World War II: The Manhattan Project Workers Of Oak Ridge, Tennessee - Richard Cook

My Journey At The Nuclear Brink - William Perry

Notes to self for future trips:

http://www.loksatta.com/lokbhramanti-news/most-famous-lord-shiva-temples-of-maharashtra-1278046/

And if I ever find myself at Tadoba Tiger sanctuary, I need to check out http://svasararesorts.com for accommodation.

Places for monsoon trekking and picnics