Monday, 20 October 2014
GOD IS A GAMER :: BOOK REVIEW
Although I would agree on usage of fair bit of technical jargon of the finance world, but the author has tried his best to give lucid explanations of the financial terms. The best part of the book is undoubtedly the epilogue. After you read the final chapter, you find yourself accepting the predicament of the situation somewhat unsatisfactorily. You yearn for more answers and a better ending. That is what exactly the epilogue provides. “Is revenge a crime?”- The author completely justifies this tagline and even presents an opinion, albeit hidden in the plot. The epilogue will make you sit upright, bring on an expression on your face which would depict that you are slowly but enjoyably digesting every bit of the maverick plot and make you mutter a gamut of expletives in awe.
If at all one has to find the chinks in the armour then it would be a not-so-capturing blurb and a relatively easy narration. Even though the easy narration helps at times, but more often than not you wish to be more challenged in terms of capturing language.
Book Details-
Saturday, 18 October 2014
The winter is coming- Two Conflicting Tales
Sanchit Wadhwa|10|Doon International School, Derhadun
“The winter is coming” thought Sanchit
Wadhwa, the 10-year old kid who was the scion to the Wadhwa group of companies.
Known as Sunny among his friends, he looked at the distant tree rife with brown
leaves clutching to the tendrils draped with gloom. The thought of visiting his
home cast a pall over his usual idyllic demeanor. Kids of his age eagerly await the
whole year for the winter break but Sunny would feel unsettled by the idea of
going home, or what others called his home. Little Sunny has been in the boarding
school since when he was just 5 and a half years old. At his home, he remembers
going to sleep every night against the backdrop of his mother’s suppressed
shrieks and his father’s violent outbursts. He was too small then to
understand, but now he does. The love out of which he was born had fizzed out.
On one such tumultuous night, he
gathered enough courage to venture into his parents’ bedroom. Little did he
know that it would kill the innocence he had as a five and a half year old boy. In
there, he found his mother sobbing on the bed, in a torn designer gown with a
bleeding lower lip and dishevelled hair. That is the last memory he has of his
mother and his so-called home. Every year he dreads going back to that haunted
place where he is treated as royalty. He would rather stay in the empty hostel
than go to that hollow, cold home of his. But for that he needs to be a
16-year old.
“The winter is coming” he sighed and
went back to bed.
Dhananjay Kate|12|Gun Factory, somewhere in Haryana
“The winter is coming” thought
Dhananjay Kate, the 12-year old kid who did a man’s work in a gun factory along
the borders of Haryana. Known as Dhanno to his masters, he looked at the
distant tree rife with brown leaves clutching to the tendrils and his eyes lit
up. He gets a month off, every December, when he goes to his family residing at
a small village in eastern Uttar Pradesh. He remembers how distraught his
mother was when he decided to accompany his uncle to work in the factory to
support his family. With his father losing the battle against TB when he was 5,
Dhanno had long given up on his dream of education and had made peace with
himself. He had come to the gun factory when he was 7 and had started working
as the chaiwallah’s apprentice. Now he
had a “job” in the gun factory and earned ten times of what he did. The best
part of going home in December was that he got to celebrate the birthdays of
his two younger sisters. He planned to buy bangles for both of them this year from
the nearby mela with the bonus he got
in Holi.
Just when a tear, signifying his
sweet nostalgia, trickles down his smiling face, a firm hand pats his back and the man yells, “aye kid, I don’t pay you to count the number of trees outside. Get back
to work”. “Yes sir” says Dhanno and gets back to the machinery.
“The winter is finally coming” he says
to himself in a low voice with the widest possible grin on his face blotted
with charcoal.
Monday, 1 September 2014
Book Review: Private India
This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!
Book Review: Private India
In Mumbai, the festive season of
Navratri sees seemingly unconnected women killed by a psychopath. Detective Santosh
Wagh, the head of Private India, and his team (ex-CID Nisha, tech expert Hari and forensic expert
Mubeen) find themselves in the middle of all this, trying to nab the miscreant
before he completes the series of murders on the ninth and final day of
Navratri.
The Prologue of the novel mentions
about the 7/11 attacks on Mumbai for which Indian Mujahideen, a terrorist
outfit based in India, was the prime suspect. The novel goes on to depict another such planning to avenge the
missions foiled by Private India. In the first part, the novel slowly submerges into the
killing of the women and ultimately conjoins the two plots at the end. Alongside Santosh and his team the novel
brings in several supporting characters like the famous Jack Morgan (ex-marine
and the boss at Private Agency) Rupesh Desai (Assistant Commissioner of Police
and erstwhile a very good friend of Santosh), Munna (the dominating gang-lord
of Mumbai) and Nimboo baba (the self-styled godman).
The novel commences with the murder
of Dr. Jaiyen at a hotel which employs Private India as their ‘advisor’, which
effectively brings in the protagonist to the middle of all the mess that follows.
Next to be killed is a journalist, Bhavna Choksi. Soon the killer starts killing high-profile
women (the Chief Justice of Mumbai high court, a politician and a singing
sensation) and the pressure mounts up on the investigating team of Private
India. The notorious killer leaves behind different props with every murder and
it is only after the fifth murder that Santosh is able to crack what exactly
the props mean. There are tortuous twists and turns which leaves you with more
than one theories to solve the murder until you arrive at the climax.
Highs-
The best part of the book was the
ability of the author to make you visualize the scenes he’s describing. The author describes the fine details of the
scenes which breathes life into the story. You find yourself trying to make
connections as new information is methodically unveiled. The reference to the
Hindu Goddes Durga has been aptly done throughout the book, be it about her
nine avatars or about the yellow cotton scarf and the thugee tribe.
Small stuff like the quirky
introduction of the characters, quiescent enough not to affect the seriousness
but still managing to squeeze out a giggle, makes this novel very likeable- “Mubeen was Private India’s full time medical
examiner. Time of death, cause of death, manner of death- death was his
speciality”. There is a fair amount of terse one-liners used in the novel
which makes you appreciate the intelligence and adroitness of their usage by
the writer. “absence of evidence is not
evidence of absence”
The first person speech used for
the killer is a masterstroke. Not only it enhances the enigma of the killer but
it also augments the depressing mania surrounding him.
Lows-
There are a few grammatical and
spelling errors which is not at all expected from such a reputed publication. Apart
from that the second part of the novel seems to lose a bit of pace. There is an
intricate weaving of the plots which sometimes leaves the reader wanting a bit
of simplicity because some of the plots seem unnecessary. The book has two
climaxes and it should have been avoided as the second climax leaves you
wanting more and seems insufficient.
Overall verdict-
The author reveals just enough to
keep you at the edge of your seat. From the very description of the first
murder, the author successfully develops an intrigue in the reader’s mind. The book
is a very good read and I finished it within a day of receiving it. My overall
rating would be 4/5.
Details -
Title : Private India
Author : Ashwin Sanghi & James Patterson
Publishers : Arrow Books
Genre : Fiction ( Crime Thriller)
ISBN 9780099586395
Title : Private India
Author : Ashwin Sanghi & James Patterson
Publishers : Arrow Books
Genre : Fiction ( Crime Thriller)
ISBN 9780099586395
Thursday, 31 July 2014
A trip to Leh and Ladakh
This post is a part of Skyscanner travel wizard activity at BlogAdda.com
A trip to Leh and Ladakh
Different people have different preferences
for trip vacations. Some like the hustle-bustle of the crowded yet renowned
cities like Paris and New York, some prefer the pleasant bucolic scenes and
some opt for archaic places of historical importance. But my calling has always
been the nature, specially the ice-caped mountains!! So, when I got the
much-needed respite from my jam-packed schedule, I decided to make a quick trip
to the scenically stunning Leh and Ladakh.
But owing to my sudden decision, I
had no time to plan a week’s trip. That’s when a friend of mine suggested
Skyscanner. Saying that Skyscanner’s Travel Wizard is good would be an
understatement; it is simply the best!
The first step was to book tickets for the family of four. Skyscanner
not only made the bookings hassle-free but I even got a great deal saving around 29,000 bucks on the return journey.
After the flight tickets were
booked, the staying arrangements were to be done. I had to look no further than
Skyscanner for that. It just took me few minutes to shortlist three hotels of
my choice and after some more deliberations, I booked Hotel Yasmin for a week.
Lastly I had to look for
transportation once we reach there and Skyscanner seemed just the perfect
option for that too. My planning was done and dusted with in under an hour and
all thanks to Skyscanner!
Trip to the Roof of the world
The commencement
Having already seen the heaven of India(read Kashmir), I had a very high benchmark for a scenery which would
impress me beyond imagination. But little did I know that this trip to Leh
would inflate those benchmarks to unattainable standards. Even before landing
at Leh’s airport I had already finished half of my camera’s memory on the
pictures I couldn’t resist clicking from the plane’s window. The eagle’s eye
view of Leh was breath-taking. Overall it’s a very small town whose main source
of income is tourism. The main tourism season starts around April and continues
till late October before the snow sets in. On the journey from airport to the
hotel in the cab hired through Skyscanner, I witnessed a number of Buddhist
temples with typical prayer bells.
 |
| BUDDHIST PRAYER BELL |
 |
| PRAYER BELL |
Day 1(local sight-seeing):
After resting for half a day and acclimatizing
to the high altitude discomfort, we were raring to out and explore Leh. On the
first day we went local sight-seeing. Chiefly, we went to some of the most
renowned monasteries in and around Leh. We started with the Hemis monastery,
then visited the Thiksey monastery and finally to the yamaluru monastery. While
Hemis was the biggest and most elaborated, Yamaluru and Thiksey were humble yet
artistic. The monasteries gave a sneak peak to the lives that the monks lead.
 |
| HEMIS MONASTERY |
 |
| THIKSEY MONASTERY |
Day 2(Pang-gong Lake):
The next day saw us on a day’s trip
to the famous Pang-gong lake. The lake is situated at a height of about 14,500
feet above sea level and is land-locked. To reach the lake one has to go
through the Changla pass which is at about 17688 ft. high from the mean sea
level. The snow covered mountains and the tortuous roads which, I must say,
have been nicely maintained by the Border Roads Organization provided
scintillating views.
 |
| CHANGLA PASS |
 |
| CHANGLA PASS |
Upon reaching the
Pang gong lake we were amused to see the serene blue expanse of water with a
flock of seagulls flying over it. The lake seemed an exact and precise
reflection of the sky. It looked like the sky and the lake were one only to be separated
by the brown mountains
 |
| THE PANG-GONG LAKE |
Day 3&4(Nubra
valley):
The third day’s
places to visit were Nubra valley and Diskit village. I had booked a hotel at
the Diskit village for a night’s stay through an agent of the same hotel that I
booked through Skyscanner. The route to Nubra valley goes through the highest
motorable road in the world- the Khardung-La pass which is at about 18380 ft.
above the mean sea level. I even came across the story of origin of Maggi at
the pass! The Diskit village of Nubra valley was a welcome change since it was
at about 10,000 feet as compared to 13000 ft. altitude of Leh. I was amused to
see the ubiquitious greenery after witnessing only snow-clad and dusty
mountains till then. One of the main features of Diskit village is the sand
dunes. I even rode on the double humped Bactrian camels. It was great fun!! You
can even visit the Mahakali Mandir, which is situated at a steep height, and
the giant Buddha Statue on the way.
 |
| THE CAMEL RIDE |
 |
| THE MAGGI STORY |
Day 5(Shanti
stupa, Sangam, Magnetic Hill):
Our fifth day
started with a visit to yet another monastery followed by a visit to the ‘3
Idiots’ school or the Druk White Lotus school. The school was very tourist
friendly and gave us a peek of its innovative methods of construction of school
buildings. We were also escorted to the famous point where ‘Chatur’ was given
the “shock of his life”!
From there on we
went to the Shanti Stupa. Set at 14,000 feet , one can witness breathtaking
picteresque panorama of the entire horizon. It would be disparaging to describe
it view through a mere photograph.
Our next stop was
‘sangam’. It’s the meeting point of two rivers, namely, Indus and Zanskar.
Zanskar flows into the indus river and the distinction is widely discernible.
You can even enjoy rafting here.
Next on cards was
the mysterious Magnetic Hill. It is said that due to magnetic interference the
hill is able to pull cars uphill. Though we witnessed it first hand, the guide
rightfully informed us about this being an opotical illusion. However it was an
uncanny experience of thrill when the car started moving on its own towards the
steeper slope. On the way of our return to the hotel, we also went to the Leh
palace and the military museum.
 |
| MAGNETIC HILL |
 |
| SANGAM |
 |
| SHANTI STUPA |
 |
| DRUK WHITE LOTUS SCHOOL |
Day 6(local
marketing):
Its good come back
with some physical manifestation of the beautiful memories of the places one
has visited. Thus on the last day of the stay we decided to hit the markets. We
went to the ‘Tibetan Gol market’, which is quite famous there and bought some
mementoes. On the last day we went to a restaurant to have our food and I must
say, it was delicious.
Day 7 –
The return journey
was again facilitated by Skyscanner. I had booked a cab through SkyScanner and
it dropped us to the airport.
Here’s the rough
invoice of the journey-
1. Flight tickets- 40,000INR( I save a great deal of money due to Skyscanner)
2. Transportation+accomodation+food- 43,000 INR
3. Personal expenses- 13,000 INR
And I managed to save
4,000 INR!!!! Thank you Skyscanner.
Everyone who has
visited Leh and Ladakh would agree that the journey was enthralling yet enchanting at the same time and I’m no
different. However, it would not have been possible to plan such a wonderful
trip in such a short time period had Skyscanner not come to my rescue. Not only
the service was good, but the range of facilities provided was colossal. It’s a
complete one-stop solution to all the travel problems.
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