Variety is the spice of life

When i was a school kid, i remember my dad, taking me to watch Republic day parade in Marina. He used to be very enthused about the military parade that they show on TV, for that would be the only program for the whole day which would be telecasted Live. Except for knowing about new missiles and their replicas, it never felt much exciting, but for the fly past. The fighter jets and those magnificent flying machines never fails to impress and becoming a pilot would be the dream job for many school going kids. When the jets began their practice fly pasts since last week, for the air show in chennai, it was quite exciting to say the least. Having been at a touching distance of old airport in Bangalore, the noise of airplanes, especially the air force fighter jets are nothing new for me. But looking at those stunts from the terrace of our house was quite something. We decided to visit our relatives place, who stay very close to the beach to have a clear view of the whole show. But much to

A lady who belongs to an elite family of bureaucrats, who have made their career in Foreign office department, follows in her father's footsteps and finds herself promoted as the Deputy head of Indian embassy in UK, much to the surprise of her own relatives and chagrin of her colleagues. She finds both support and animosity in equal measure at her new place. She meets a charming guy who takes her out for fancy dinner and is found to be the chef of her favorite restaurant. She falls for him and the next day when she meets him at an embassy party, he begins to blackmail her with videos of their intimate moments. She is torn apart between duty for her country, bad name for her family that will eventually screw up her dad's career as well in the ministry and fear of getting caught. She obliges to the threats made and ends up getting two of her colleagues killed and several other spy members exposed in foreign land. Some how she gains some perspective when all of water goes over hea

 At times i wonder, how certain english movies makes us so involved while watching only to realize the wafer thin plot and so many logical loop holes as after thought, long after the movie is over. I used to think, it was because of the performances of the actors who make it look so genuine and sincere. Many  a times i watch those movies without any sound for late night is usually my movie watching time and i wouldn't want to disturb anyone. That became a practice and even though i watch movies over weekend during day time, i still forget to switch the sound on and just go by subtitles . Even with such reduced option to create an impact, some movies leave you spell bound throughout. Many of Tom Hanks movies are like that for me and he is my most favorite actor. Some how even without any dialogue, he can convey the scene's emotions. Someone who looks good even when he cries and genuinely warm when he laughs and when that guy looks serious, you know situation is grim!! I personal

One thing that always fascinates in novels by Jeffrey Archer is, how he treats or introduces his lead characters. They are given equal space and almost similar introductions. How they respond to such situations clearly tells the viewers who is the protagonist and who is the villain. In fact, for most of the first half of the novel, both will be right in their own terms and when they do cross swords with each other, from then on its a clear course on who will win in the end. There would always be a mid second half sequence where the hero will falter badly and the villain will be triumphant. The end climax will involve some nail biting situations where the villain will loose in a quirky way or by some rebellious act from one of his own that paves the way for heroic comeback by the lead character. Be it Matter of Honour, Kane & Abel, Prodigal daughter (the second half), Fourth estate, Honour amongst theives and in multiple times across the whole book of First amongst equals, you can s

Just like how you need something sweet or sour to save your tastebuds after a really bad meal, i started reading Jeffrey archer to make up for some bit of sanity that got permanently wiped off after reading "Extinction". That author is not to be blamed though. He gave enough and more clues but when you are on a deathly spiral, before you realize, you are already stuck between rock, hard place, with several layers of muck. Archer has been my maanaseega english teacher who taught me about an utopian world where people always knew what to say, how to say and how best to say. Initially i was so smitten by his works that i sometimes used to quote his quips as jokes but sadly none of the recipients picked it or i was that bad in presenting them (which sounds more plausible). When i started reading "Shall we tell the president" which was my most favorite thriller novel ever and remains so till date by a long margin unless someone suggests a better book, i was surprised to

I am fond of genres that deal with doomsday weapon and how the good guys race up to thwart the attempts by villain group. While the ending is always positive with good triumphing over bad, despite knowing the ending, its the kind of weapon, how it is developed, its back story or historical significance, how it impacted any past event or geography, such trivia makes this genre interesting, with a liberal mix of fact and fiction. When you have relatable or recognizable events thrown in the mix, it makes it all the more interesting, trying to decode which is real and which is not. With this backdrop i started with this book. My initial target was "Origin" by the same author which had decent reviews but ended up with this one. One of the person who had reviewed about this had wondered out "thought they had stopped writing these kind of books". You see the problem with written statements as against oral being, the modulation with which they are conveyed. You dont get the