Literature adventure....

Hiiii  dearest blog...its been 2 years .My goodness such a long time.I feel quite happy to come back.

Apart this great reunion,i have in the recent few read 2 books of unsurpassed ingenuity.The first one i read was the Good Earth and other one,The White Tiger.Believe me if say they are 2 novels each at either end of the spectrum.

The Good Earth by Pearl s buck is a heart warming,beautiful story of a Chinese family, their triumphs and tribulations.It is deep rooted in the chinese culture and you are in awe with the level of suffering,patience,courage and determination that people can posses.
My sympathies and adoration are divided though.To the main character,Wang lung,i feel a deep loathing for he is self centred and weak.on other hand,the woman is a strong character and she is the epitome of endurance.Yet,i feel that has been her weakness as well.All through the story,one feels sorry for this lady who gives it everything but gets no love or respect.But the question is did she ever expect it?
The book leaves a imprint on your mind and imagination .It tugs at you heart and is not surprising because it speaks the tale of human emotions.


The second book "The white tiger" by Aravind Adiga is savage ,satirical and keeps you guessing.The story is simple but the presentation is awesome. The whole book is a first person narrative written as a letter .....sorry an email to the prime minister of china.On the background,there is a real India.A brilliant portrayal of the realities of Indian lives.The main character a driver, commits  murder to steal money ,sets a business and becomes a wealthy entrpreneur.You  hate his morals buts somehow you smile.He has pulled it through.He is real and thats why the story is a hit.

Hats off to both the authors.
I begin yet another literature adventure with Tagore!Will write again soon!!!

I have decided to start a new section to my blog.....well I call it" hear my friends say" One of my friends malini recently posted on FB.. Sleep must come To the sinners eye Oh they need their rest too For sins are,after all,pretty hard to do.. I liked it..

Well..I have recently developed a new taste......the art of cooking.Being a wife and a mum,I do cook routinely.eventhough I have been cooking for almost 2 years now,the joy of it all have been sweeping through only for a short while....and then I thought where to share my interests other than with my dearest blog...

I recently learnt a recipe from one of the cookery show I had watched...here goes..



Srilankan chicken masala

Ingredients

Chicken leg- 4 pieces
Onion-2
Tomatoes -2
Capsicum -2
Ginger -1 1/2 teaspoon
Garlic. -1 1/2 teaspoon
red chillies -5 or more as you wish
Tomato sauce- 1 table spoon
Soya sauce - 1 table spoon
Salt



Preparation

1.heat 2 table spoon oil in a cooking vessel in medium heat

2. Add ginger and garlic

3. Add the red chillies and sauté for less than a min.

4. Then add the onions and fry for a min

5. Add the tomatoes and capsicum to the onions.

6. Sauté it for 5 min or until it becomes cooked.

7. Add both the sauces and stir well

8. Add the chicken,thoroughly stir

9. Close the vessel and cook .

10. Once done,serve with chappatis or rice.




Thats it!please bear with me if there are any mistakes or even blunders!!till next time,adios....

Agatha Christie

Phew....its been a long time!! Life has been so hectic that I just realised the last time I wrote on the blog was an year ago.Well, the reason i am back is because I finished reading "the endless night" by agatha christie.The book was good but definitely not her best.I decided to pen down my thoughts and feelings as I felt a desire to bring to letter about a writer whom I have cradled within since my teens.I should say ,I grew up admiring her.This writeup in not to compare,criticise or even flatter.Its a humble tribute to an author who build plots around me that still continues to fascinate.


Agatha Christie,an english author known as the "queen of crime" has written 80 crime novels and short story collections,20 plays and 6 other novels which have sold over a billion copies and have been translated into many foreign languages.Her play,mousetrap is the longest running play till )date in history.

I have often wondered why her books are so addictive.In her novels there are no fast cars,no clever gadgets or any dramatic sequences.Crimes are not solved by muscle but rather by the trickiness of mind.Characters have identities of their own and her descriptions are so impeccable that I cannot but believe.Most of her stories are set in the early 20s and hence,there is a difference in the way the people talk ,behave and interact.It takes me to another era which is as realistic as ours .however,alive the characters and backgrounds may be,the stories are written with a flavour of fantasy and that makes it predictable.The simplicity and subtle ness in her writing is what attracts me most.She makes me read till the last page without much fuss and frenzy.

The one downside in her stories is the repetitiveness of her plots .Yet i feelthat is perfectly normal as crimes happen mostly for the same reasons as in real life too.I have heard few of my friends say that Agatha is meant for teens and not for adults. I believe that is quite false.It is true that many of us still like to hum nursery rhymes,watch Tom and jerry cartoons..and I bet there are people who reads Archie's and boban&molly.Well,take our dear Harry potter.He is liked by children,middled aged and the elderly with the same passion.A story does not exit only in the pages of a book or in the mind of the author but also in the imagination of the reader.So,I am of the opinion that agatha goes beyond intangible boundaries of age.

But I have to confess that the love and adoration for this queen is not due to literary accolades.She was there in my childhood and teens telling me stories,intriguing me and colouring my world with twists ,turns and ends.She made my heart anticipate,mind wonder and body still as I turned the leaves of her thoughts.

She is a wonderful author with amazing skills.Even today she is a part of my life doing the little bit she can to awe and surprise me the next corner.Someday i would have read all her books and that day seems not so far.When I do reach end,I will have a few more thoughts to share.So for now,cheers.

The last king of scotland...A movie review

Last couple of days for me has been simply movies...i watched action ,drama,horror  and animation....but nothing tugged at the strings like "The last king of Scotland".The movie chains you to your seat,the reason not being action ,glamour or style but for a story  it tells, that is shockingly so real.Dr.Nicholas Garrigan (James Macvoy),a young physician from Scotland decides to put his earned skills to better use and thus makes his way to Uganda,Africa.At this time,Uganda were cheering in Idi Ameen(Forest Whittaker),their new leader,a military general who had overthrown the govt.Uganda was hopeful of a better future.In a turn of events,Nicholas comes in acquaintance with Idi Ameen and he becomes the leaders personal physician.There was the calm before the storm.Nicholas finds himself in depth of violence,hatred,bloodshed with no escape.As the movie dawns to a close one keeps hoping that he escapes and lives to tell a tale of how destructive it can become if power is entrusted to wrong hands.The best part of the movie is the depiction of Idi Ameen's character and the helpless situation that Nicholas finds himself in.All through the movie,you come face to face with a nation that is forever in search for salvation.Kudos to the movie for such in depth  and sensitive portrayl of  a saga that left the world speechless.

Come out and Play!!!!!!!!!

Hiiiii... am back with a bang .Well , nothing less expected especially with the CWG fire still raging on. Yes ...CWG is a story of controversies ,efforts ,misgivings, mixed feelings and above all, it was an Indian dream. No, my friends i am not a sports freak. Except for the rare enthusiasm that bubbles at cricket when India wins, i am sports illiterate.

I heard for the first time about CWG in Delhi only when the pedestrian bridge in the games site fell, making such a noise that the entire world woke up to the fact that, a third world country is hosting this world sporting event. The next few days were bloody...disgusting tales of dirty rooms, filthy bathrooms, stagnant pools, corruption, great players pulling out and the verbal battles were told in every news, dailies and conferences. Delhi which was unknown to the world few days ago became the next "SIN CITY".

The Politicians and the organizers started to hurry burry having to come under direct world fire. Well there was no way out, the games will have to be a success or else they will be hunted. At the end India's last minute culture fixed it all up and Delhi was set to take the games in. India stunned the world with a spectacular opening ceremony, continued the success achieving milestones and records in events and bid goodbye with befitting , colourful cultural finale. The story doesn't end here it still continues with several fraud deals ,scams and corruption coming to surface.

I watched the entire drama in my tele reacting with anger, contempt, happiness ,reproach and pride as any Indian would .I must congratulate and criticize the games at the same time. India was given this task in 1993 and yet it was finished only in the last minute. Large sums of money was wasted due to inadequate planning ,policies, management and time contained efforts. We have to revise our concept of time management and make it priority number one. Organizers have to become accountable for their works. The law should punish those who looted the games , otherwise the same saga shall repeat.

Another sorry sight was the plight of the illiterate workers who had to sleep in the streets to get the work done. They don't know what CWG is about …..who cares about sports when one has to worry about his three square meals a day. Our govt should tackle problems at their roots .Give good food ,shelter and wages to the workers. Educate them about the games, the way it has to be done, the hygiene standards that are to be set and finally about the revenue and employment that will be generated at the end of the day. Only an efficient workforce can do an efficient work. We are capable of doing great things as a nation .We love the Indian monsoon weddings which is seasoned to run late all the time but when staging an international event we have to be professional.

Inspite of all this road blocks, the feast of success belongs to us. To the world it might have been imperfect but to me it was a success. The games have brought world class metros, bus services, stadiums, sports arenas ,buildings, money and jobs to our country. During the games, we have for the first time won medals in the field of athletics, swimming and gymnastics. We have hauled awards in wrestling, shooting ,archery and boxing. The women's 4*100 m relay and saina's badminton final are unforgettable moments .On the last day ,we stood second with a gold tally of 38 .

I do believe, this is a going to be a very special games because for the first time a country that is ridden with cricket fever is singing a different tune. We should encourage sports in our little ones, give facilities and training and bless them to become heroes of tomorrow. Another positive streak i see is the presence of women who have managed to set records in these games. The feel and the spirit is becoming more stronger within the fairer half. But if the winning streak has to continue, we must be ready to consider sports with the same passion, respect and dignity as other professions at the level of an individual and not merely as a pastime or exercise.

Personally, i am overjoyed. My neighbours surely had a tough time hearing me scream at every Indian win. The pride is stronger when you are far away from your country. We are becoming global but still there are many lessons to be learnt from others as well as from our mistakes. For now, let’s cheer with a smile!!!!

Death ...a legal punishment????

hiii there...it has been a long time!!!hmmm....today i am here to write on a matter that was or is i believe still a controversial subject and i hope to pick your brain on this.Knowledge grows with sharing.Well..the question is should death be a  punishment for crime under the law?do we have the right to take away life even if itz for a serious crime?This is definetely not a religious moral science class on life....so please dont run away.I feel compelled to write on this issue in the light of the execution  of Teresa Louis.She , a middle aged lady from Virginia,US was executed  a day ago by lethal injection.She was charged for conspiring and murdering her husband and stepson.She got 2 men to do the job for her and they have been jailed too.She was assessed by a psychiatrist and her IQ is 72 which is just 2 points above the legal minimum for being termed as low IQ to be convicted.Her last words were"i am sorry".We all do mistakes,small and big.Some can be forgiven and others cannot be.Well, i do agree that crimes ought to be punished and justice have to be delivered.But i dont see how taking a life can serve justice.The person dies remorseful or not without a chance to reform or realize the horrifc nature of his act.I believe that people are not born criminals but they become due to circumstances,selfish desires or living style.The ones that have personality or psychotic disorders need to be treated and reformed.There is evidence both for and against that criminals can be reformed.But the idea is that when a person is sentenced to death ,it is important to give them a chance to change to a better person .This subject deserve more discussion and dialogue as it is a matter of life and death.Sentencing a person to death being lawful is an irony in itself!!!! what bell does it ring for you????

IQ