Bartimaeus- the world's most notorious djinni

Book just read -

Golem's eye. The second book in the Bartimaeus trilogy.

Books in hand -

Adventures of Sally by PGW

Emily's Quest by LM Montgomery

Mostly Harmless by Doug Adams.

3 dull boring research papers ( to be honest 1 dull one. the others have been very useful and understandable. I am very happy when I find a journal paper that doesnt OHT (overhead transmit) . A couple of them have been a delight to read. Maano ya na maano :-D

Coming back to the Bartimaeus trilogy, the first book in the series was Amulet of Samarkhand. This is the story of an orphaned boy called Nathaniel who wants to be a famous magician. The story is set in London which is ruled by Magicians. ( The muggles here are called the commoners. thank god for a decent name. This we are used to, as every news channel keeps talking about aam aadmi and common man.. pray tell me who is an uncommon man!!)
Anyway he summons up a djinn called Bartimaeus who has been around for quite a long time. The djinn is a delightful character. He is witty, very vain, very practical, has a very condescending opinion of humans. His thoughts have been put as footnotes and they are the ones to watch out for. The story gets more engaging in the second book, Golem's eye. Looking forward to reading the third part.

You can check out the excerpts at their site. Its a book worth reading. Infact I found it more fascinating than the Harry Potters.

Goodnight :-)

Water goes to Oscar

Have you seen the movie? This is when I joined John Abraham's fanclub. Lisa was gorgeous as ever and Seema Biswas brilliant. But what stayed in the mind after the movie was the girl who played the role of Chuhiya. Cute, chubby chubby and a moving perfomance. Im happy that this movie goes to Oscar but afsos from Canada. What is India's nomination this time ?



Saw a good review of Dor on rediff. Would love to see the movie. Ayesha Takia was very refreshing in Socha Na Tha, Shreyas was mind blowing in Iqbal and Nagesh Kukunoor 's movies are always a delight :-) Will it be released in Chennai! Im watching out :-)

Comments

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I also reiterate my Disclaimer stated in my first post which says

The views put up here are entirely my own and I hope they dont hurt nebody. And if they are disagreeable to nebody, they are entitled to their own opinions.

I write the blog because I enjoy it and my readers are mainly my friends who do know what I mean or I dont mean by something or others who have come to know me. And criticism from them has been always taken with pleasure and my misconceptions cleared too. I have not put it up at any publicity site either. So I dont consider it an obligation for everyone to read and suffer my ramblings.
In short, decent debates are always welcome but please dont be nasty :-D

Miffed and hmphh-ing

1. My cycle is missing :-| I had not seen it for the past 3 weeks and when I checked today it was not there. The security people have been nice to me and they are my last hope. Its only a cycle but it was the first thing I bought with my fellowship and was quite attached to it. sob sob.
2. Dosai in mess. Believe me I hate them by now. And instead of fruit salad, they served cut and mashed bananas. Yewww. The mess servers think they are as clean as a baby and so shuffle and massage the food stuff and serve it to us. Tomorrow's breakfast is also repulsive. They call it uttapam but looks more like the things they feed an elephant. Fat and raw at core.
   
3. To leave physics or not to is the dilemma and the first tentative step away has to be taken by tomorrow evening. I dread talking to my advisor about it. But whats gotta be done gotta be done. I wish I could see my future. I will even be very grateful if there is somebody out there who knows who I am and what I want and makes the decisions for me. I no longer know myself what to do :-D

On the bright side, Im reading a nice sweet novel by LM Montgomery called Emily Climbs. Its the second part of the Emily series and very cute. It has a third part too. I think its called Emily's Quest. Plus my friend has bought the second part of Amulet Of Samarkhand so more of Bartimeus awaiting me :-D Thats a djinni with an attitude haan!!
Plus weekend is not far away :-) These days I even love the food I cook :-D Homemade food is the mantra. Once upon a time I used to hate eating and wished for nutrition capsules.
Thats why people say watch what you ask for.

I have lost all hope now :-D

I happened to overhear a conversation in the canteen today. (Actually I overheard only the first part of the conversation. I turned towards them and actively listened to the rest of it. :-D ) Was pretty shocked, surprised and amused in turns. Ill try to sketch the picture for you here (atleast the gist)

( 3 guys, all of them btechs, maybe in 2nd/3rd year were discussing)

A: Arre yaar tu kaisi ladki se shaadi karega?

B: arre use ghar ka kaam aana chahiye, zyada ladkon ke saath na mili ho, khaana theek se banaaye.

C: Haan yaar hamaare yahan to 4th std mein hi ladkiyaan chaaye banaa leti hain. zyada se zyada ladkiyan 10th 12th tak padhti hain

B: arre 10th 12th tak padhi ho to ye sab seekhne ka time kahaan milega.

A; u know meri mausi doctor hain par sab kaam tareeke se karti hain, har cheez banaa deti hain.

B: ye sab maa baap par bhi depend karta hai na. jaisa sikhate hain wahi to hoga. maine kayi gharon mein ye bhi dekha hai k ladke badhiya khaana bana lete hain.

A; u know ladkiyon ko padhao to wo guys ka advantage cut ho jaata hai..

Believe me Im not bluffing. We were stunned. Pin drop silence in our table. This was just too good to miss :-D Im sure these creatures will also demand dowries. Wo ladkon waala advantage jo mil gaya hai unhe!! I hope that atleast by the time they graduate, they get rid of their medieval ideas.

Why did I lose hope? Well I thought today's educated men wouldnt mind dealing with a person like me. I have failed the criteria of 10th std education. I can cook sparing a few accidents (I will not starve) but not perfectly. But then I have a hope that this species is in minority. I hope to god that Im right :-D

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I saw Munich

And I liked it. Before watching the movie, I had reservations about it. LIke I said, I could not read more than 100 pages of O Jerusalem because I was biased against it. This time I was determined that Ill sit through the full movie whatever be the case. And I liked it. I felt it had a balanced view. When one looks at the issue from either side, one feels both the parties are justified. The jews had to have a home right! And the palestinians have been robbed of their home too! There is a scene where a palestinian fidayeen says to the israeli assasin "my father did not gas your father". So true!! They are paying for someone else' crimes. The movie was from Israel's point of view but it still had glimpses of the other party's stand. Showed the human side of the "terrorists" too. Its a Steven Spielberg movie and Im told he is a Jew. Im impressed :-)

History and women

I heard a very good talk today by Urvashi Butalia, a feminist historian. She talked about how history marginalises women's concerns. The talk was not on women in history but history from a woman's perspective. She specifically focussed on the history of partition. She highlighted how women were the principal victims by narrating 3 stories, and yet their (women's) plight does not find mention in the history records. This mainly depends on who writes history right! As its often said, history is written by the victorious. She raised this issue that history is much more than leaders and wars. It is also made by the people living that age. So looking into the lives which lived the trauma of partition would give us a richer history.

I used to feel this when I used to read Glimpses of world history. 200 years of a nation's history are summed up in 4 pages with major events highlighted. They say 'people lived through the worst, barbarous dynasties for over 100 years and then the regime changed'. Thats it. 100 years of hardship summed up in one line! Maybe thats why we have arts and culture so that the future generations have something other than wars, plagues and conspiracies to remember us by. This also gives us hope. We can always say "This too shall pass" ( I forget where I heard this. )

Anyway, it was a very clear, coherent talk. I liked it immensely. I admired her clear thinking. I think thats what separates the experts from the others in every field. The discussion which followed was the icing on the cake. A guy asked her what is feminism for her. She said that its the right to live her life on her own terms, the right to choose whats good for her and since it should apply to everyone, its actually humanism but humanists generally ignore the women :-D

Of books and movies

I got to see two classic movies on Sony Pix- Guess Who's Coming to Dinner & Lawrence of Arabia. Sydney Poitier had awesome presence in the first one (Kya Style hai! ) and the other one had real good dialogues. Its 3 hrs 45 mins long though.

Somebody recommended The Constant Gardener to me. Waiting to see the movie. Movie in campus this week is Munich. I checked it out on ImDB and I think Ill give it a try.

Im reading Orwell's 1984 in spells. Its difficult to read it in one go as it can get very depressing. All throughout one gets the feeling that there is no hope. I have ditched reading Glimpses of World History :-( I had reached till the era when Mughals came into picture. Someday when Im free Ill finish this. I have an allergy these days to detective, thrillers themes in books so much that I cant even read Agatha Christies. Im told Georgette Heyer writes good detective novels but I am staying away from them. She otherwise writes romances with the heroes being garbed in lavender satin breeches and pink coats and red shoes. I used to be a big fan of hers once upon a time :-D I think I have grown old. Really!

This comic strip is so apt sometimes !!

9/11 and satyagraha

Much has been said about 9/11. Year after year the world over, this day is mourned. Because 5000 people died. Yes they didnt deserve to die. What happened should never have happened. But then as a consequence, millions elsewhere have died. Well life seems to be much cheaper everywhere else. I mourn 9/11 for the millions dead. In The Hindu, there were some really good articles on this occasion.

9/11: five years later - A reflective article on the pros and cons of 9/11.

The other 9/11 - This one pointed out the other significances of 9/11 - Gandhiji's Satyagraha, Swami Vivekananda's address in Chicago..

Hands off Lebanon - "It has to be realised that wars are not a deterrent to terrorism..."
A good article on the current state of affairs in that country.

No wonder I love The Hindu. :-)

Dont dance so fast

(One of the email fwds I received - a poem written by a teenager suffering from Cancer. Its beautiful na!)

Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask How are you?
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?
You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time
To call and say,"Hi"
You'd better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift....
Thrown away.
Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.

*****
sighhh I seem to take my life much slower as it is....

psst I thought Ill reduce the frequency of my posts. Will it work! mmm....
By the way this blogspot enters its 3rd year in action this September :-)

Why me?

Arthur Ashe was a tennis legend who later died of AIDS.
I read this about him on wikipedia :

During his battle with AIDS, from the world over, he received letters from his fans, one of which conveyed: "Why does God have to select you for such a bad disease"?

To this Arthur Ashe replied: The world over -- 50,000,000 children start playing tennis, 5,000,000 learn to play tennis, 500,000 learn professional tennis, 50,000 come to the circuit, 5000 reach the grand slam, 50 reach Wimbledon, 4 to semi final, 2 to the finals, When I was holding a cup I never asked GOD "Why me?". And today in pain I should not be asking GOD "Why me?"

Steve McCurry's gallery

Check out Steve McCurry's gallery for more colourful pics of India.
But I also remember Circuit's dialogue in Munnabhai MBBS where he says to the foreign photographers that " tumhe India mein bhooke nange hi dekhne ko milte hain! Taj ki tasveer nikaalo na!! " Applies to this too :)

I want to see Lage Raho Munnabhai, Ahista Ahista and Jillunu Oru Kaadhal (Tamil), the last one more so cos of ARR's music. It rocks. New york Nagaram (sung by ARR himself), Munbe Va, Kummi Adi are my favourite tracks. Try listening to them :-) I too dont understand most of the words but I love the music :-)

He he Jillunu Oru Kaadhal according to me translates to "One Chilled love" :-D
One girl had translated Poovellaam Un Vaasam as "Flower all your smell" :-D

It was only an an 'opeless fancy

I was reading George Orwell's 1984. I found these few lines there

It was only an 'opeless fancy,
It passed like an Ipril dye,
But a look an' a word an' the dreams they stirred,
They 'ave stolen my 'eart awye!

They sye that time 'eals all things,
They sye you can always forget;
But the smiles an' the tears across the years
They twist my 'eartstrings yet!

The first Miss India

Were women in those days more beautiful or is it the magic of a B/W pic that she looks this gorgeous. The story of this beauty queen, Esther Abraham alias Pramila was on rediff today.

Im bowled over.

I say a little prayer for you

I watched My best friend's wedding for the nth time. Julia Roberts rocks, doesnt she!! I have liked every movie of hers that I have seen. I love the character of George in this movie. And I find this song very romantic for the way it was sung for her towards the end of the movie and for this Im ready to watch the whole movie yet another time :-D

The moment I wake up
Before I put on my makeup
I say a little prayer for you
While combing my hair, now,
And wondering what dress to wear, now,
I say a little prayer for you

Forever, forever, you'll stay in my heart
and I will love you
Forever, forever, we never will part
Oh, how I'll love you
Together, together, that's how it must be
To live without you
Would only be heartbreak for me.

I run for the bus, dear,
While riding I think of us, dear,
I say a little prayer for you.
At work I just take time
And all through my coffee break-time,
I say a little prayer for you.

Forever, forever, you'll stay in my heart
and I will love you
Forever, forever we never will part
Oh, how I'll love you
Together, together, that's how it must be
To live without you
Would only be heartbreak for me.

My darling believe me,
For me there is no one
But you.

On the book front, I read Thomas Hardy's A Pair of Blue Eyes. I was introduced to TH by my pa who used to read a lot in the earlier days. My first book by him was Return of the native. Since then, I have read The mayor of casterbridge, The woodlanders, Far from the madding crowd, and Jude the Obscure. There is always a betrayal in his novels and the story is always set in rural England. But there is a hopeful ending always as much as I remember. In this novel though, the lady with the blue eyes dies leaving behind three men who loved her in their own way and yet couldnt give her happiness.

Saw hazaaron khwahishein aisi

Saw the movie on youtube. Its painful watching movies there especially with the slow downloads. But I persevered. Movie was great. Why does Shiny Ahuja always play the role of a doomed lover! Unfortunately, one movie clip on youtube was defective. This was the portion where Shiny gets stuck in Bihar. One moment Kaykay is shot by the police and in the next scene Shiny is also on the hospital bed with him. The intermediate scenes were missing. This was the main part and I didnt get to see it :-( Chitrangada was gorgeous. Didnt she remind you very strongly of Smita Patil!!

I was engaged in a spat on the blog two days back. Unfortunately. I try not to hurt anyone's sentiments here.

week of hell...........

"ceasefire does not happen overnight.

it's not like you wake up one morning and the birds are singing and the sun is shining and you go to work like nothing ever happened.
.
.
there are cluster bombs everywhere. they dropped cluster bombs on us... there are so many that didn't explode... they are so so dangerous.
.
.
."

On Beirut Update.

Moral education needed ?

Now that Im at the crossroads Im in a grave dilemma as to the route I should take. Should I continue in research, take up a job, take up a teaching job or just settle down and watch sitcoms ? Take the easy route or fight my way? I wish I could see my future :-)

Yesterday I attended a placement talk by a company called Education Initiatives Ltd. They do what everyone has been offering as an alternate solution to reservation. They work towards improving primary education, and making learning an easier task with the stress being on understanding rather than cramming. They work with elite schools, rural schools and also the tribal schools. The group has been founded by a bunch of IIT, IIM alumni who have left lucrative jobs to "make a difference". They are doing a great job. Its profit + community service, but being a fledgling company, the incentives they offer is very meagre. Its a nice job and I think it will be more satisfying than teaching in a college to a set of bored students. But then, a person like me with hazaaron khwahishein needs a lot of money. Harsh, selfish but true.
Anyway something happened there. Audience was generally bored. One girl asked them whether they work towards imparting moral education. She said its needed cos its very lacking in todays world. True but I dont know in what context she asked this. Moral education can mean a lot of things starting from not being rude to others to not being immoral (:-P) Well the entire audience laughed at her question (!!??!!)
And after the group finished, before they said thank you, the audience clapped. True this is done when the speech is too long or boring, but would they have clapped like this for some fat-packet-company!! Never.
As we were going out, I overheard a guy saying " I will as well join Tata Chemicals instead of sitting in this s***" (Language!!!)
Yes mister, it makes no sense to join a 10k sal company when you can easily earn 70k pm but please dont call them bad names. Respect them if not for their work then for their courage in taking up a difficult task. They are doing something which you dont want to dirty your hands in. Mind you, these are the same who protested against reservation and said government should improve primary education. When you see all this, dont you think moral education is necessary??

By chance, I heard about two other good samaritan organisations yesterday - Parivartan which helps people fight against corruption and has been started by an ex IITian and SRS which lends loans to rural women and empowers them, started by a NRI settled now in India. Great Job right!!
It requires lots of courage and conviction to leave one's secure niche and jump into troubled waters.
Hats off :-)

( Somehow these days I have been losing my calm pretty often :-| Many many deep breaths required. )

he he

National Geographic

Isn't this beautiful !! I found this on the National Geographic's picture of the day section.
These pics reminded me of an intensely romantic novel called The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller in which the lead guy was a Nat Geo photographer who visits Madison County for a photo shoot. This guy, Richard Kincaid is in his 40s. He by chance meets a lady, Francesca in her 30s. She is married and has kids. Everyone is away for some reason and she is alone at home. They both fall in love with each other over the weekend but she stays back at home finally for her husband and kids. This novel is very moving and has to be read once in your lifetime. Apparently there was a movie adaptation of this. I would love to watch it sometime.
You can see the Madison County bridges here.

These many posts by me mean I am not working. I am never consistent. Thats one thing I would like to change about myself :-(