Saturday 31 August 2013

BOOK REVIEW : THE CUCKOO's CALLING


The thought of solving crimes has always given me goosebumps, being a detective is so cool. Reading detective novels thus gives the required adrenaline rush since doing actual detective work is out of bounds for now. Since Poe and Doyle a lot of writers have tried to sail in the river of crime fiction genre but only a few of them have got through successfully. As an ardent reader of both of Poe's short stories and Sherlock Holmes my expectations from this genre have been sky high and after them only Agatha Christie has been able to quench my thirst, till now.

Yesterday I completed 'The Cuckoo's Calling' by J.K Rowling writing under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. I bought the book a week earlier, after J.K Rowling's involvement in the novel was confirmed. As a child I have been a huge fan of Harry Potter series and was eager to read this book. I have not read Rowling's other work 'The Casual Vacancy' so I will not compare Cuckoo's Calling to it.

First of all its a hard boiled detective novel, so one needs to be very thorough in order to appreciate the story, the characters and the pace of the book. The book introduces a private detective Cormoran Strike, the protagonist to the readers who is a var veteran, wounded both physically and psychologically. There has been a death of a famous supermodel, who jumps out from her balcony in the middle of a freezing night. It is believed to be suicide but the model's brother intercepts the death as a killing. This is where Strike comes in.
The investigation process's description is wonderful and sucks the reader in from the very beginning. The character development is excellent and so are their level of details. The ending is unpredictable yet effective.

One falls in love with Strike's character as the story progresses; sympathizing with him, thinking like him and even envying him sometimes. All in all its a very good read, a definite page turner and I recommend it not only to all crime fiction fans but also to normal fiction ones.

Friday 26 July 2013

KYA KAROON?
Upne dil ke sagar main khwahishon ki naav dubne se kaise bachaun?
Upne dil mei lave se bhi garam sakt par naram, kabhi na bujhne wali aag kaise jalaun?
Upne aap ko andhere ki kaal kothri chodkar rishini ke mehlon mei rehne ko kaise samjhaun?
Upni ruh ko kabhi na khatm hne wale jasbe se kaise milaun?
Aur sab kuch chodke bephikra paer ke patton ke tarah kaise lehraun?

Ab kya karoon, kaise karoon mai kya bataun?

Kabhi na bujhne wali pyas kaise bujhaun?
Matlabi duniya ke matlabi logon ki baaton se zakhmil dil par marham kaise lagaun?
Aur dukhi man par, zakhmi tan par khushi ka libaz kaise pehnaun?

Ab kya karoon, kaise karoon mai kya bataun?

Pighle aashaon par aarmanon ki baraf kaise jamaun?
Bhikhe dil ko zindagi ki mithas kaise chakhaun?
Bina kisi ki parwah kie, bine dare man mei jo aae zor zor se kaise chilaaon?

Ab kya karoon, kaise karoon mai kya bataun?

Bina kahe kisi pe apna hak kaise jataun?
Tapte suraj se sahara deti andheri raat aur apne man ki gehraiyon mai chupi hui baat ko kaise failaun?

Ab kya karoon, kaise karoon mai kya bataun?...........






Wednesday 19 June 2013

INFERNO!!


I never thought that I would be writing a review for a book and that too of a bestseller. Before I begin I want to clearly specify that this post is more of a personal take on Dan Brown's Inferno rather than a critics review. So my views are limited to me only ( of course I am expecting my views to coincide with that of other people too :P ;) ). So if anyone reading this disagrees with me its absolutely fine and he/she has each and every right to voice their views ( as long as this voicing is non violent and non offensive to both Dan brown and other people's views -_-).

This Review might contain spoilers, however I have tried to be as precise as possible.
THOU SHALL ONLY PASS if either you have read the book or don't give a damn about some spoilers before starting a book  ;)

I have never done this before, so how should i begin???? 
Hmm...
Let me begin by indicating that this is a DAN BROWN Novel!!! This guy is like the second bestselling author after GOD! (haha) So critics or people views don't matter in his case, his books will be bestselling no matter what people say. 
Now coming to this book, its a Robert Langdon thriller ( you remeber the phenomenol successes of Da Vinci's Code and Angels and Demons and not so phenomenal success of The Lost Symbol, but all of them were bestsellers). Its the fourth installment in this series and is centered in Florence, Italy. As other Robert Langdon thrillers it is full of codes, detail description of historical monuments, Langdon, in run with a attractive women and each chapter ending in a cliffhanger! The central plot revolves around Dante's classic Divine Comedy's Inferno. Now I have not read Divine Comedy but after reading Dan Brown's Inferno I can tell you guys that it is not a pre-requisite. Dan Brown has explained as much is required in reference to his book. It will  not be wrong to say that this is the darkest Dan brown has gone in his literary career. Exploring the underworld of Dante's Divine comedy through Botticelli's map of Hell is one hell of a feeling! The book takes you through a very interesting ride(more of a treasure hunt, really) and as Dante has described in his book you too will feel as if going from Inferno to purgatory to paradise while reading Dan Brown's book! The only thing I found somewhat irritating was long detailed ( and when i say long it means longer than that of Dan Brown's previous works) description of monuments.What's the internet for?? We can easily Google anything we want to know in more detail. Apart from that Dan Brown's Inferno is ONE HELL OF A READ!!
 It's a  recommended summer read.
I found a website while I was researching Dante while reading the book, it was very helpful. I am providing its link here...
And do search for all the monuments,places given in the book. It doubles your excitement!! ;)

Friday 14 June 2013


THINK OF THE TIMES

Think of the times we are alone,
With nobody there to soothe our soul
Think of the times we want to fight,
With nobody there to make it right
Out there searching for something
Getting everything, still nothing
Think of the times we want to run,
When someone’s pointing a gun, playing us for fun
These times make us cry, sucking us dry
We then ask ourselves, where is happiness? Where is laughter?
Until we realise we don’t know what we are after!
Then we turn to shadows for redemption,
Pleading them to ease our pain end our suffocation
But shadows too cheat us, deserting us in life’s park
Parting ways when it is dark
Think of the times we are alone
Darkness not light guiding us home
Consumed by darkness’s fury
With no Gods freeing us by voicing our case like a jury
Think of the times we are running straight but falling
Falling and falling with no one to lift us high answer to our calling
Think of the times we prefer dreams to reality
Where we are free to create our identity
Where no one questions our integrity and everyone respects our genuinity
These times come in handy but they do teach us a lot
Life’s a spider web in which we are caught
We have to break free ourselves
Our chains can’t be broken by anyone else






Monday 22 April 2013

LOST!!!


I wrote this poem some time ago. Its in 2 languages HINDI and ENGLISH. I wanted to make a song out of it but my band mates dropped that idea. And talking about my band, i will be uploading our first original song and its lyrics soon.
I am a lazy guy, so instead of writing the whole deal on word i am just uploading the pics of the pages of my diary in which i wrote the poem!! ;)
I am hoping that u guys will complete this poem without any difficulty(A few efforts to link the words and pics will do!!). Mind my writing tough!! :/
LOST




Monday 25 March 2013

UNKNOWN LOVE!!

http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/051/f/8/music_by_mysterious__love-d39ys5d.jpg

I had tried to write in English since the time I  penned my first poem, but for some reason or the other it couldn't work. But after writing some poems in Hindi I gave it another try and came up with this poem. I wrote this almost 3 months ago and today felt like posting it on my blog.



UNKNOWN LOVE
You make me want to live, you make me want to die
You make me want to fly high, up in the sky......
You make me want to sing, you make me want to dance
You force me to give life another chance.......
I wonder what you are!!
An unending dream or a person too far....
I think you are just an illusion!
Thus giving path to more and more confusion....

When depressed you cherish me
When happy you celebrate with me...
Without you life will lose meaning
And I will become a soul less creature without any feelings.....

Promise me you will never leave me,
That you will always be at my side
 Will accompany me through life’s journey as a never giving up guide.....

People lose things, take them for granted
On sands are their dreams mounted...
I don’t want to lose you
No matter what, will always choose you....

You complete me
This feeling will never cheat me...
It’s not your identity I seek
It’s your heart into which I want to peek..................

Saturday 23 March 2013

Reflections of The Blue Sage: Free Will- Does it Exist?

Hello, dearest reader!

Long time, huh? Anyway, the "most awaited" blog is finally here. Ha. Gear up for a debate which will twist your reasoning.

Today I was in my hostel Cafeteria during lunch. So I took 2 of my friends with me and went and sat down next to a faculty member- he's actually the Head of Department of English in my university, and a very good 'friend' of mine. With him were sitting a Professor of Physics(one of the 'coolest' people on our campus, honestly!), and also the Head of Department of Chemistry(a remarkable man who is equally a Physicist and an artist), both very knowledgeable men in their own rights!

So we started talking about academics and ways to enhance the classroom experience in the college, but soon we were on a level of intellectual debate that happens only once in a long while, even by adult standards.


The question: Does human free will exist? 

Okay now this is no longer a discussion for common mortals. First. What is human free will? It means to say, is everything in this universe- all our actions, everything that happens around us- already predetermined, and our choices mere illusions? Or does there really exist a subjectivity in which we can change the course of our fate?

Like, my friend said that it's impossible to consciously hold one's breath to commit suicide. And that if one's face is put into water, he/she can't really decide to live beyond a few minutes. In both situations, he said, human free will, even if it exists, fails. In these two cases we can't kill ourselves or live on the basis of our will.

Now imagine what an intellectual treat it would be for me to listen to the views of a theoretical Physicist on Philosophy, a Philosoper's views on Physics, and a Chemist's views on both! I really wish we could have had an Economist at the table.

Another argument which comes up is, that our choices and our abilities are limited by nature, and whatever we do, the world around us isn't really in the control of the human consciousness. Everything that happens, happens for a reason, and just the fact that you are sitting in front of your computer reading this blog post is because right from the first occurrence of this natural universe, matter and energy have interacted with each other in such a way that in the gradual sequence of events, it was simply bound to happen.

But then, how can that be? If you say that the course of history was determined at the beginning, let us analyze it under a logical light. For every occurrence that occurs, every following event has a particular probability of occurrence. And instead of that event, there are many other possibilities which can occur. So who(or what) decides exactly which one will take place? 

That is where we bring in the concept of free will. Or at least I do. 

Another argument. It came up during the discussion that the degree of determinism depends on the complexity of the system. For example, take a macroscopic system and examine it using Classical Newtonian Mechanics. Start the system with any given initial conditions that you want, and then see how the system behaves at any time t. In a simple system, not really impossible to determine. But take all the natural variables into consideration, and then see how long you can theoretically predict what will happen next. After a certain period, you won't know what to do. Natural phenomenon and probability come into play. They always do.

And furthermore, there lies a deeper question which stems from this debate... are we ruled by destiny? Does predetermined fate govern our lives and our very existence?

I can't really answer these questions, and I doubt anyone else in this world really can.



Visit my blog: A tribute to Rocky, a criticism of Christopher Nolan and more!
http://legendsonsilver.blogspot.com/



Monday 18 March 2013

Who Am I???

Here's a poem that I wrote a few days back when i was questioning my identity!!!


MAI KAUN HOON?
Zindagi ke har or par apne aap se puchta hun ki
“Mai kaun hoon”?
Doston ke beech unka yaar ya kisi ke lie uska pyar...
Ya phir ek naadan pareshan bacha
Jo zindagi ke zor ghatav mai ho kacha....
Kai chehron ke beech ek chehrahun
Logon ke beech hokar bhi alag dikhne ki chah rakhne wala hun...
Mere chehre ke peeche jo  hai,uski  khabar mujhe nahi hai
Par man kehta hai woh yahi kahin hai....
Usi ne mere jasbaton ko pakda hua hai,
Meri pehchan ko jakda hua hai...
Par mai kaun hoon?
Zindagi ke pareshaniyon se ladne wala ya unse darne wala...
Khud ki pehchan nahi mil rahi hai,
Andhere mai roshini nahi mil rahi hai....
Mai kaun hoon?
Iska jawab dhundte dhundte apne aap mai itna kho gaya hun,
Ki mano asliyat mai so gaya hun...
Jab se ye sawal man mai utha hai mano zindagi tham si gayi hai,
Sare khwab, sari aashayein mano jam se gaye hain....
Ab to man ki gehraiyon mai jana nahi chahta,
Par is sawal ka jawab jane bina chain nahhi aata....
Aakahir mai kaun hoon??


Sunday 10 March 2013

I have been very lazy lately!! Not posting regularly on this blog is against  my morals and ethics..
What??
Haha , I am  just kidding ;)
Morals ,codes, ethics, values Blah Blah Blah... Squeeze away the fun part of our lives in some way or other( my views, no offense). They do good to, not for me though. I prefer living without any rules or ethics for that matter.
So before i get heavy and philosophical I am posting my next poem here. Its about our childhood days!!
I have tried to tell about its innocence and also about how free we were back then!!


BACHPAN KE DIN
Bachpan ke din khub yaad aate hain mujhe...
Kabhi to unki yaadon mei itna kho jata hun ki upne aap pahunch jata hun wahan....
Koi pareshani nahi, koi rok tok nahi bas maze se jo man aaye wo kie ja raha hun...
Na beete hue kal ki yaadein, na aane wale kal ki chinta, nidar hoon, khoobsurat hai meri zindagi.....
 Koi bhi nayi cheez itni diljasbi ke sath dekhta hun mano use janne ke lie hi paida hua hoon.....
Maa bada laad karti hai, par data ti bhi hai, daat mei pyar nahi dekh pata hun main, rone lagta hun par hasa hi deti hai muje wo....
Khule aasman mei chidiyon ko udte dekh naachne lagta hun, udna chahta hun par ud nhi pata.....
Dosti jasbato ke sath nahi karta main, jo mere sath khele wahi mera dost hai....
Gadiyon ke chalne se leke logon ke bolne tak, kutton ke bhaukne se leke papa ke daatne tak, har ek par ek naya ehsaas deta hai......
Chote chote sawal dimaag mei ghumtein rehte hain, satate rehte hain par mai khush hun, aazad hun...
Wahi karta hun jo log na karne ko bolte hain, wahi khata hun jo maa upne haathon se khilati hai, wahi jata hun jahan papa ungli pakadkar le jate hain.....
Khub Maze aa rahe hain par bada hona chahta hun, sab kuch karna chahta hun, sab kuch dekhna chahta hun....
Ki naa jane ehsaas hota hai “maa to bada hi hoon”......
Bachpan ke khwaboon se nikal jab sachai se waakif hota hoon to bada dukh hota hai.....
Khan gaye wo din jab ye duniya meri thi?, jab sab mera kha maan lete the?....
Ab to khud duniya ka ghulam ban gaya hun, mushkilon se bhari hui hai zindagi, jasbatoon se ghira hua hoon main....
Bas yahi chahta hoon ki wo din wapas aa jaen, maa ki goud mai baithkar phir se khil uthoon main...............




.

Wednesday 6 March 2013

My First try at artwork!! ;)

I thought of making something for my blog!! My main idea was to depict my emotions and stuff I encounter everyday in my life. I drew this sketch keeping in my feelings and how I could express those on paper. I have clicked a photo of it and am posting here. Hope it brings out my spirits and notions. :)

Friday 1 March 2013

F.R.I.E.N.D.S(DOST)

We all have friends who tease us,fight with us ,laugh with us, cry with us and above all love us. I wanted to pay them respect in some way, so wrote this poem!! Love my friends, love you guys :)
                                            

DOSTI
Dost, ye shabd jabhi zabaan par aata hai
Upne sath wo kai sari yaadein lata hai......
Zindagi, zindagi nahi hai doston ke bina
Ab to har pal hai doston ke sang jeena....
Subaah ka aagaz hota hai doston ke sath
Raat to anjaam deti hai doston ki baat
Ye nahi to kya din, ka raat.....
Pyar dikhane mai karte hai bas thodi kami
Par kisi bhi kaam mei saath nahi chodte kabhi....
Koi  baat inse chupai hi nahi jati
Kabhi kabhi to sale kar dete hai muje jasbati....
Ek pal mei gussa ana dusre pal gale milna teesre pal jhagda karna aur chauthe pal manana
Kabhi khana zabardasti cheen lena to agle pal hi khilana
Museebat mai dakhelna aue khud use bahar nikalna
Kya aesi bepak cheez se kabhi roobaro hua hai zamana?.......
Bina doston ke to zindagi ek saza hai
Jeene ka jise koi jasba, jeene main jise na koi maza hai.....
Ab to bas yahi chahta hun ki dosti ki patri par meri railgadi chalti rahe
Na ruke, na mude bas chalti rahe......................