My Musings

( Based on a small excerpt from Khalid Hosseni’s “ The Kite Runner ” ) I used to be a very happy man, Leading a life, the best I can. Blessed with a smart and beautiful wife; What more can I ask, than a perfect life. We didn’t have all the riches on earth, But content that we had more than our worth. People used to say that they envy me, For I used to be cheerful and always in glee. But to change, the things were bound; And it’s then, “THE MAGIC CUP” I found. “I am a mysterious oyster” it said, “Will produce a pearl, if a tear is fed”. I never knew to be sad and sorrow, Was wondering “A tear? Where do I borrow?” I then started looking for the gloom, Unaware that it was to be my doom. I looked around if someone would care,  A few tears, if they can spare So that the cup’s veracity I could test, To know how I can use it Best. All my attempts were but in vain;   I looked around and found no pain.  To resist; too good a temptation the cup was, I was ready to do any...

Author: Aurthur Golden Tone of book? - upbeat Time/era of story - 1930's-1950's Romance/Romance Problems Yes Inside culture (main char) - Japanese Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Outside culture (society) - Japanese Woman's story? Yes (Courtesy: Allreaders) Speaking frankly, I bought this book because of the catchy cover. They say in America ‘Don’t judge a book by the cover’. But that is exactly what I did. I felt when the cover looks so exotic; the book must be worth a try and Lo! I landed up with one of the best books I will ever read in my life. Memoirs of a Geisha, Is more of an autobiography of a small girl Chiyu, who by fate has been sold to Gion (more of a prostitute house) along with her sister and then begins her turbulent journey to become one of the most cherished Geisha of all times - Nitta Sayuri San. The book is very intelligently written and once started you wouldn’t rest it till you finish the last page. O...

It was torn apart, By the vehement and intrepid wind, Though Unwilling, it had to depart From its family and its rind. It was atlast going to rest After the hard and long toil. It had risen form earth's crest And now it was going back to the soil. It swirled and it swayed Whenever the wind gave it a jerk, "I want to descend in peace" it prayed, But the wind made it go berserk. Those sultry summers and serene spring, It had begun to recall; The joy those happy moments bring It thought, would lighten its fall. It thanked God, for having made it a leaf, For those jolly days and life on a tree, Though it was short and brief; For having bound it then and now let it free. With this prayer it landed to be crumpled by some feet, some hooves or some toe And then the pieces to be blown away and humbled Surely, the wind has proved to be its greatest foe.

This is an artwork by Mark Parisi. It is funny and very witty:) The other side of the wall P.S: MURPHY'S LAW FOR HUMPTY DUMPTY Murphy's law for Humpty Dumpty states that  " Everytime Humpty Dumpty sits on a wall, Humpty Dumpty must have a great fall "    :)

“ We can never get enough of the magical world and we can never get over the pottermania.” Right! For all who are done with the harry potter series and shelved the books, time to dust them off and read the books again. Time to get your basics right. For we are about to enter the magical world of potters, this time fast forwarded to 2020. People have come, people have gone but their nature remains the same. There are death eaters present even now about 20 years after the greatest dark wizard ever Lord Voldemort was defeated and killed. Some of these death eaters are into hiding, some others are trying to get along and the rest continue to trouble muggles and the weak. The order of the phoenix still continues to thrive to keep the bad wizards at bay and establish peace. But something is wrong with the minister of magic. He is planning to go open to the muggle world. To let all the non magical folks know about the existence of the clandestine magical world. The death eaters are ...

Author: Alistair Maclean Tone of story : suspenseful (sophisticated fear) Time/era of story: 1930's-1950's War Thriller: Yes Armed Forces:   Special Forces Specific to - WW II Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book (courtesy: All read) Easily one of the best books by Alistair Maclean and by far, one of the best World War II novels. I will try to summarize the plot without giving out much. During world war II, the axis powers have control over the small Island Navarone. This Island hosts the most powerful guns, guns to which many ships of the Royal navy have fallen prey. On the Island Crete, there are about 2000 British soldiers who need to be evacuated and to accomplish this task the allied forces have to pass through Navarone. All possible means of entering Navarone to destroy the guns have been tried and failed miserably. However, there is one route to enter Navarone which neither the allied forces nor the axis powers would term as possible means to enter ...

  This post has been selected as a ' Spicy Saturday Picks ' by  BlogAdda ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6th June 2010, Sunday 06:03 A.M I don’t know how I landed here. But I have been here for sometime now.I have gained great experiences, seen great struggles. David has fallen and I have fought Goliath with the help of Lord Voldemort. In return, he wanted me to help him find Shaktimaan. He was feeling very insecure in London, so he wanted to kill, defeat and take Tamraj Kilvish’s place. I Bargained for an autograph from Harry potter ( I actually wanted Emma Watson to sign. But :( ,some other day, Harry for now). He agrees and he has invited me to his father’s grave in part four of the HARRY POTTER series. Voldemort has regained his body and he is about to duel with Harry. Me: Hey Voldy *po...

The below picture is an artwork by Steve Nease. I just could not  resist the temptation of sharing it with you all and here it is.

Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear) Time/era of story: - 1980's-1999 Spying/Terrorism Thriller   -Yes Cloak & Dagger Plotlets: - stopping a saboteur/spy - preventing bomb/biohazard/disaster Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book (Courtesy: All reading) John Preston, A senior officer at the MI5 of the British Intelligence system is constantly tossed around to various section by the Deputy head of the MI5 who is nothing but a political animal who wants to secure his position and keep away anyone who is faithful to the current chief of MI5.But as luck would have it, John Preston keeps running into instances which point to a plot to destabilize the British political machinery and disrupt its relationships with USA. There are people out there, bad people who plan to break the fourth protocol; which if broken would lead to severe damage to property, resources and a great loss of lives. And then there are people who hold the strings and make other...

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