Star Trek Beyond (Spoiler Alert!)

I have been a Star Trek fan ever since I laid my eyes on the Enterprise and her handsome captain, James T. Kirk, somewhere in the 80s. Truth be told, there wasn't another handsome dude on board, except for an odd crewman or two who would usually be the first one to get vaporized in an alien attack or bumped off during a trip to an alien planet. I was fascinated by the tricorder readings, the communicator, the equipment that could beam the crew from anywhere, the shield that could go up at the press of a button, the cloaking mechanism and of course, the different alien species (though they often bore a startling resemblance to humans!). Okay, enough of the nostalgia. To cut the long story short, there was no way I was going to miss out on the latest offering, the imdb ratings be damned.

So the story goes as follows. The Enterprise, on one of its 5-year missions, finds itself docked at Yorktown, a Starfleet base. A scientist is seeking help to rescue her team which has been stranded on a remote planet in a yet uncharted territory. Since the Enterprise is the only vessel which can venture there, captain Kirk agrees to help her, little knowing that someone who hates the Federation is waiting there to take control of his ship. The enemy does take control of the Enterprise but Kirk and his teammates manage to destroy her instead of letting her fall into enemy hands. In the process they find themselves stranded on the planet without any means of contacting the Starfleet.

There is not much in the plot by way of novelty, if truth be told. The storyline of someone disgruntled with the Federation hellbent on destroying it has been explored before. I wish they had taken us to a new civilization instead. A new planet perhaps, inhabited by people, who instead of bearing a striking resemblance to humans, are actually humans, but have managed to make a better life for themselves. They have succeeded where we have miserably failed. They are where we could have been, if only we had made different choices. Interesting, huh? Alas! The writers have chosen to venture into the much-charted territory, with the result that the rest of the movie just becomes a story of how Kirk and team manages to fight the odds and get back to civilization, once again.

I confess that there were times when I found myself quite unable to follow the plot - things got just too technical. I have said before that I am not too happy with the subplot of Uhura and Spock. The Spock that I seem to remember from the old series was more interested in (or fascinated by!) the strange life-forms or planets. He also didn't seem to be much of a man of action, save an occasional bit of a skirmish to save good old Jim. But here he, with good old Bones at the wheels, is shown to be rescuing Kirk as he is about to fly off the starbase. Speaking of that base, the innumerable intersecting pathways and buildings erected at a twisted angle to the space made me dizzy. I am sure I would have never been recruited by the Federation. :-) Chris Pyne does a good job of playing the slightly reckless, fearless James Kirk. But he doesn't have William Shatner's killer smile. :-( And I had eyes only for the good old doctor. Karl Urban looks so cute that I think Uhura is certifiably mad not to fall in love with him. (A confession is in order here. I watched the totally unwatchable Dredd just for Karl Urban and was hopping mad when he didn't take that mask off even once during the entire movie!). I would have happily traded places with Spock to be stranded on a remote planet with him and wouldn't have dreamed of ever getting back to mother Earth. Speaking of Spock, I am not sure exactly what he has in mind as far as the rebuilding of his race goes. Is he planning to open a harem and sire as many children as he can? I hope not. Oh, and it was very hard to watch the Enterprise go down though. I have come to love that ship and so was happy when they showed it being rebuilt (but of course!) towards the end of the movie.

I hope that the next time the writers will find it in their heart to boldly go where no one has ever gone before, as far as the plot goes.

The other day, on one of the Whatsapp groups, someone fowarded a new take on the tale of Mahabharata. The Pandavas symbolise your five senses - sight, smell, taste, touch and sound. And the Kauravas represent 100 vices that attack your senses everyday. The key point is that your senses can fight these vices if you let Krishna, who symbolizes your inner voice, ride your chariot i.e. your life. So why did Drona and Bhishm, the elders who were supposed to uphold truth and justice, join the Kaurava camp? Because they were not perfect and had their faults, just as the elders do in real life. And you may find yourself fighting them for the greater good.  Karna is desire, the brother of the senses. He is part of you but stands with the vices. He feels wronged and makes excuses for being with the vices, just as your desire does when it gets the better of you.

Very interesting, huh? I know. Pretty convincing too, I bet. But doesn't it sound too paternalistic? How can you explain what happened to Draupadi using this framework? I put the question to the group but got no answers.

Murder On The Links - Agatha Christie

I know, I know. I have been devouring Christie books as if possessed. But honestly, can you blame me for not getting enough of her contribution to the genre? I had said that it was time for another Ms. Marple adventure. I, however, again ended up with the Belgium detective with an egg-shaped head and an exquisite mustache.

The story begins when Captain Hastings runs into a very beautiful, and modern by his standards, girl in a train. Cinderella - that's what he calls her because she goes away without giving him her real name. Poirot has a mystery on his hands when Hastings joins him. Someone called Mr. Renauld has written to him from France saying that his life is in danger and he needs Poirot's help in solving the matter at hand. Poirot and Hastings start at once for Merlinville, France. But it seems that they are too late because on reaching their destination they are informed that Mr. Renauld has been murdered during the night. The examining magistrate and the Commissary of Police extend all the help to Poirot but Mr. Giraud from the Sureté isn't too keen to have Poirot on the case. Things seem simple on the face of it but Poirot figures it out that there are several perplexing issues which are vital to the solving of the case. Who left the front door ajar? Why has Mrs. Renauld's watch gained 2 hours? Why was the body left at a place where it would be soon discovered? What was the significance of the piece of lead pipe found next to it? And finally who is the perpetrator?

The best part about the book is that you can piece together several facets of the case from the crumbs that Christie leaves for the reader. You even feel confident at times that you will be able to solve it on your own. Of course, I couldn't. But when all was revealed at the end, I realized that it was entirely within my ability to reach the conclusion. Guess I have a long way to go when it comes to employing my little grey cells :-)

रक्षाबंधनाच्या दिवशी शिवाजीपार्कला काही कामानिमित्त गेले होते. उद्यान गणेश मंदिराच्या बाहेर गाड्यांची, बाईक्सची पूजा करून घ्यायला लोकांची झुंबड उडाली होती. भटजी अगदी घाईत दिसत होते. नारळ फुटत होते आणि भटजी तिथे असलेल्या एका झाड्याच्या बुंध्याशी ते नेऊन ठेवत होते. दोन बुंध्याच्याखाली मिळून जवळपास १०-१२ नारळाच्या वाट्या पडल्या होत्या. तिथे जवळच काली मंदिराच्या बाहेर चाप्याची फुलं, गजरे विकणाऱ्या बायका आणि त्यांची लहान मुलं बसली होती. पण ते नारळ त्या मुलांच्या हातात ठेवावेत असं ना त्या पूजा करून घेणाऱ्या लोकांना वाटलं ना भटजींना. किमानपक्षी प्रसाद म्हणून मंदिरात ते खोबरं वाटावं एव्हढंही जमलं नाही. अन्नाची अशी नासाडी हे लोक कशी करू शकतात असं वाटून गेलं. आणि तेही देवाच्या दाराबाहेर. शिकल्या-सवरल्या लोकांची ही गत तर मग अडाणी लोकांबद्दल बोलायलाच नको. स्वत:पुरतं तेव्हढं पहायचं, बाकी दुनिया गेली तेल लावत ही आजकालची मानसिकता झालेय. घरचं विकून समाजसेवा करा असं नाही म्हणत मी. पण जिथे जमेल तिथे हातभार लावायला काय हरकत आहे?

आणखी एक डोक्यात जाणारी गोष्ट म्हणजे जिथेतिथे नगरसेवकांनी लावलेले बोर्ड. कोणी अनेक महिने बंद असलेला जलतरण तलाव चालू केला तर कोणी केअरटेकर नसल्याने नाना-नानी पार्क मध्ये बंद झालेली चहा आणि वर्तमानपत्राची सोय पुन्हा चालू केली. अरे, पण हे तुमचं कामच आहे, नाही का? ते तुम्ही केलं, त्यात काय महान आहे? त्यासाठी हा डंका का पिटताय?

मला तर दहीहंडीच्या दिवशी तिथे जायलाही नको वाटतं. अनेक वर्षांपूर्वी पार्काच्या कडेला टाकलेले प्लास्टिकच्या प्लेटीचे ढीग आणि लोकांच्या चालायच्या मार्गात बसून जेवणारे गोविंदा पाहून डोक्यात जाम तिडीक गेली होती. ह्या राजकारणी लोकांच्या कचाट्यातून हे सण सोडवायला परमेश्वराला पुन्हा अवतार घ्यावा लागेल. आम्हाला काही ते करणं जमणार नाही. 'गोविंदा आला रे आला' हे गाणं वाजवल्याशिवाय आणि हुल्लडबाजी केल्याशिवाय आम्ही हा सण साजरा करूच शकत नाही. :-(

The Circular Staircase - Mary Roberts Rinehart

When I started reading this one, at first I thought that I was reading an account where it all began with Ms. Jane Marple. And it would have been so apt too - because I had just read about where it all ends for Hercule Poirot. The protagonist had an uncanny resemblance to Ms. Marple, or so it seemed at the beginning. A spinster who is thrust in the middle of a mystery, groping her way about in an amateurish way, only to hone her instincts later. But an appearance of a nephew and niece soon put paid to this notion of mine. Indeed, the protagonist turned out to be one Ms. Rachel Innes who rents a place, Sunnyside, with the idea of spending an entire summer there quietly. But as it always happens - man proposes, God disposes. A search on the net revealed that 'Mary Roberts Rinehart' is an American writer, and not a pseudo-name of Agatha Christie, as I had mistakenly assumed after finding this novel along with Christie's other novels somewhere on Google Drive.

Sure, there are rumors of ghosts prowling about at night in Sunnyside but Ms. Rachel doesn't pay any attention despite the fact that her trusted maid, Liddy, isn't too fond of supernatural visitors. There is some trouble in finding servants and the only butler that they are able to recruit, because he has been in the employ of the owners of the place (the Armstrongs), insists on sleeping at the lodge on the premises at night instead of in the house. That night Ms. Rachel and Liddy see someone sneaking a peek into the house. Alarmed, they make sure the place is bolted down tight but in the middle of the night they hear a crash somewhere inside and find a mysterious cuff-link along with a picture that has been dislocated from the wall in the morning. Ms. Rachel is relieved when her nephew Hasley and niece Gertrude come to stay with her - though they bring along a friend, Bailey, who is a stranger to her. But things don't improve much, in fact, they get positively worse because at night they hear someone trying to get into the house and then the sound of a revolver going off. A stranger is found dead at the foot of the staircase, Hasley and Bailey are nowhere to be seen and Gertrude isn't willing to say much. Things take a sinister turn when it is revealed that the murdered person is the son of the owners of Sunnyside. A series of events follows and shatters Ms. Rachel's remaining hopes of finding peace and solitude at Sunnyside.

You know what I most liked about this novel? Of course, there is the hint of the supernatural that grabs us by the collar right from the beginning. There is that. But even more than that, I loved the old-world charm that it brings forth in abundance. The times when people would close down their houses and head somewhere for the summer. The spacious summer places with luscious gardens and plenty of open space to trek about. An old town where everyone knows everyone else. Busy mornings spent in going to town for shopping nothing in particular and quiet, starlit nights where silence is broken only by the whistle of the train skirting the sleepy village. Lazy breakfasts, an army of servants (maids, parlor-maids, cooks, butlers, housekeepers, laundresses, drivers), people driving around in hacks and buggies and long blissful moments of blessed solitude. Does anyone live like that anymore? Can't help but wish that I was born in that era :-)

Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves

Trust me on this one - if you are looking for something to bring a smile to your lips and drive away the dark clouds of doubt, disappointment or gloom, there is no better way to do it than to reach for the nearest Wodehouse offering, possibly one containing the duo of Bertie and Jeeves.

For the record, I wasn't looking to fight any dark clouds but I had, for once, had enough of both philosophical and crime genres. No harm in checking out what Bertie and Jeeves were up to. As usual, the plot is thick with characters - each one as eccentric a specimen as God could make of a human being. So there's Aunt Dahlia, always looking for faults in and never one to shy away from pointing them to her nephew Bertie. Then there is her husband, Bertie's uncle Tom, who is sore because another collector, not to mention his arch-rival, Sir Watkyn Bassett, has managed to secure an antique statuette at bargain basement price. The household of Sir Watkyn, Totleigh Towers, is crowded with equal, if not more, number of characters. There is his daughter Madeline, who owing to a previous episode is laboring under the misunderstanding that Bertie is in head over heels in love with her. Bertie, therefore, is always in danger of finding himself walking up the aisle at a moment's notice - especially if her engagement to Gussie Fink-Nottle falls apart for any reason. Stiffy Byng, Sir Watkyn's niece, is engaged to be married to Rev. H.P. ("Stinker")  Pinker, the local curate. Bertie is forever suspicious about any suggestions made by Stiffy because they have landed him, on more occasions than one, in a tureen of soup. Stinker is after the vicarage that Sir Watkyn can bestow upon him. Then there is Roderick Spode, who has always loved Madeline but never dared to tell her this. Bertie's friend Emerald Stoker, who is the younger daughter of an American Millionaire and plans to visit Totleigh Towers for a month and Sir Watkyn's dog Bartholomew complete the cast.

If you can manage to keep the who-is-who straight, this book is a laugh-riot that is guaranteed to keep you in splits. Bertie is told that all is not well between Madeline and Gussie Fink-Nottle. Feeling the noose tightening around his neck, he hastens to Totleigh Towers, with Jeeves in tow (of course!), against his better judgement. Weighing on his mind is another thing that his Aunt Dahlia has told him - that Sir Watkyn would stoop to any level to recruit Jeeves. As if this wasn't enough, Rev. H.P. ("Stinker") Pinker informs him that Stiffy has a job in mind for him. Needless to say, owing to the prior disastrous experience of hosting him at his mansion, Sir Watkyn is not happy to see him at his doorstep and under his roof. Madeline mistakenly assumes that he has come there to check if he still has a chance to lure her away from her fiance. Roderick Spode practically threatens to break his neck if he causes Madeline any grief. And as if to make sure that Bertie's cup of woes is full to the point of overflowing, Gussie Fink-Nottle falls in love with Emerald Stoker.

If you want to know if Bertie and Jeeves emerge unscathed from this madhouse, you have to read 'Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves'. :-)

Notes to myself for future trips:

Golden Temple during Baisakhi, Hidimba Temple during Dasera
Frog Temple, Sitapur, UP (Built by Raja Buksh Singh of Oel in 1860-70, dedicated to Lord Shiva, based on Manduk Tantra)
Agumbe, Jogigundi Waterfalls, Sirimane waterfalls (38 Km), Sringeri (29 Km), ancient Jain temple (19Km)

पोलादपूरजवळ कुडपण या वाडीतून प्रतापगडवर जायला असलेल्या ट्रेकच्या वाटेवर दिसणारी भीमाची काठी
महाबलीपुरम येथील एकपाषाणी मंदिरे
उत्तराखंडमधल्या स्वर्गारोहिणी ट्रेकवर लागणारा भीमपूल
शुचीन्द्रम मंदिर, तामिळनाडू (२६ डोकी असलेली शिवप्रतिमा)
देवगडातल्या गिर्ये गावचं श्री देव रामेश्वर मंदिर