Dramatic Skies

It is monsoon time here in India. So, I thought about posting some of the pictures of skies that I have taken over the years.

The Great Gatsby : A Review

Rating: 3.7 out of 5





Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald








 In this review I'm not going to comment on the writing style, the plot or the characters. You must be thinking-- THEN CALL IT A REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!      

Well I'm just going to talk about how this book appealed to me, because the rest has been over-analyzed and written and re-written about.

Gatsby is a lover. He is just that. He dedicates his entire life to the one he loved. All his actions, all his achievements and all the troubles he undertakes are just for his love. So that he could look at her and tell her about his love for her. His character really compels one to believe in love. I think that the title “The Great Gatsby” is fully justified in the context of Gatsby as a lover. He might be a criminal, a fugitive and a liar to the world but he is also the ideal lover. His ways might be questionable but his love is rock solid.

Rest of the people are not so special. Daisy is the cold, calculative,selfish woman for whom only the materialistic gains matter. Tom is the egomaniac who is a chauvinist and believes that all he does is fair. Nick is naive and gullible narrator who is more of a prop than a character in the story. However, his loyalty in friendship towards Gatsby is one of the important relationships in the story.    

Furthermore, like all classics, this one too takes time in grasping one's attention. The first fifty or so pages are solely dedicated to Nick and why he moves. And also there is some useless detailing but as the story progresses it captures one's attention so much so that one tries to read it in one go.

So, read it for Gatsby, just Gatsby..... 

Inferno: A Review

 Rating: 3.39 out of 5


 Author: Dan Brown










Inferno is the latest installment in the Robert Langdon series. I was really impressed with Angels and Demons but after that The Da Vinci code and The Lost Symbol were disappointing. Hence I did not have high hopes from this one. And I wasn't surprised. Although, it is better than The Lost Symbol but not as good as Angels and Demons. 

The plot is based in Italy and Turkey. The premise deals with Dante Alighieri's historical work The Divine Comedy. The protagonists have to decipher the clues using the said work of Dante to save the world. The writing style is well sluggish. In some of my past reviews I have complained of authors not having researched the premise well but In this case Brown has over-researched the locations and facts, so much so that the story loses its pace and one ends up flipping pages at some points. 

 The story begins when Robert wakes up in a hospital in Florence but he has no memory of how and why he is there. His doctor, Sienna Brooks, helps him solve the mystery and why everyone is out for his blood. Sienna Brooks is the super genius girl who had a difficult childhood and does not want anybody to know about her and her genius. Robert Langdon is confused about a lot of things. He, even while running for is life, does not fail to point out certain facts about the said locations in the story which personally I found extremely annoying. I mean if I have the international military running after me I wouldn't care about the Hercules or Michelangelo!!!! Bertrand Zobrist is the genius-gone-mad of the story. He is the mind behind the chaos. He is more of a prop than a character in the story because he does not play much of an active role in the story. It's his creation that has everyone worried. Elizabeth Sinskey, WHO chief who can't bear children (this fact has been emphasized a lot in the story for no clear reason), was warned by Zobrist before all this began and is now after Langdon (later in the story her stand becomes clear). There are many other characters in the story but more than characters they are just props who act as they are told. 

The story is like a roller coaster. Initially there is a lot of excitement, a lot of energy but as it progresses all that is lost and one ends up with a disappointing ending. There are some twists and turns in the story but the writing style combined with the overdose of scenic descriptions and facts just makes for a lousy read. The plot had a lot of potential but sadly does not amount to something special. 

Hence, it's a decent read but you have been warned.

Best Kept Secret: A Review

 Rating: 3.35 out of 5

Author: Jeffrey Archer





Best Kept Secret' is the third book in the Clifton chronicles. The story begins with the death of Sir Walter Barrington and voting at the house of lords to decide the heir of the Barrington empire. The story's focus shifts from Giles to Harry-Emma the to Giles and his wife then comes Alex Fletcher Vs Clifton/Barrington at last giving way to Sebastian. the story can hold one's attention for the major part but there are sections which one may skip without missing out on anything major.

 The plot of the story is almost same to the last two books of this series. There is too much detailing which could be edited better. The main characters are the same for the major part of the story. Giles is the naive, dumb (in my opinion), gullible heir of the Barrington empire who needs people telling him what to do at every step of the way. Emma is a smart, intelligent woman who adores her husband. She cares for her brother and looks after him. She also finds her father's child Jessica and adopts her. Harry's character this time takes the backstage and is seen on the sidelines of the story. The only part where the spotlight focuses on Harry is during his tour of the US. In fact, I felt this part to be unnecessary as it does not aid the story. Sebastian is the child of Emma and Harry. He is intelligent and street smart. He is at the exploring stage of his teen years. His lack respect for the rules of the school and a little naive attitude lands him in grave of trouble.    

The writing style is simple but a little slow. Also there is just too much unnecessary detailing which could be edited out. Furthermore, the author fails to create suspense as most of the situations are predictable and one can easily know the end. But how the problem reaches its solution is the readable part.

 The story is interesting but lacks the AHA factor. It will not cause you to jump out of your seat or trigger any such strong emotional/physical response but its more like a comic strip where ever comic aids the next and the story keeps progressing.

5 People I would Love to Connect With

Recently I heard about the "WeChat with Anyone, Anywhere!" contest and it got me thinking about the people (living, dead or fictional) with whom I would like to connect. So here is my list:



1. Willy Wonka: The greatest chocolatier to have ever lived and the book which got me hooked to reading. It would be my honor to talk with him. His wit and imagination boggled my mind and I just wish he was real.





2. Oprah Winfrey: She is a women of substance, some who is self-made, who fought against the odds and succeeded. She is my role model and I want to become the personality she is. She not only inspires and helps people but she gives them hope. She can move masses and win elections by just a few words. Hence to be able to connect with her and learn from her would be the greatest gift of all times.



3. Albert Einstein: The man who single-handedly changed the way people perceived physics. His theory of general and special relativity is the reason that we have space travel and GPS today. His Nobel prize winning paper on the photoelectric effect is the reason we have CRT screens and TVs today. I can think of innumerable questions to ask him about our world.  


4. The Mayans: I would ask them about their infamous calendar and what it actually meant. But a translator may be required !!!!








5.Tom Cruise: He is my favorite celebrity of all time.












6. Margaret Mitchell: Gone with the wind is one of my all time favorite novels. And I would love to ask a lot many questions to it's author.

The Increasing Gender Polarity

These days when I open the newspaper all I see are advertisements which claim to make a girl look like a princess. With a pink background and pretty tiaras, little toddlers dressed in puffy pink dresses with big smiles on their faces. And small boys, with gelled hairs and black sunglasses, posing with attitude suitable for a 35-year old.

And if I look around myself all I see is gender stereotypes being reinforced everywhere. With parents choosing blue and pink for their son and daughter, pink buses for girls, pink compartments in the metro just for women etc. etc........ All this makes me go WHAT THE HELL PEOPLE????

I for one am not a fan of the color pink, but I don't judge those who are. However, I do not like those who force it on others especially children. I mean, would a girl be any less a girl if she likes say red or black or any of those colors. Children have impressionable minds and the “smart” advertising people are exploiting them by conforming them to such stereotypes. Children today demand the princess themed parties, faux tiaras, princess themed bedrooms and parents today in a bid to give everything their child wants are complying with such demands without thinking of the long-term effects of such stuff. I read the article Gender Issues in Media and I strongly agree with the writer.

Moreover, such practices are so wide-spread and deep-rooted that many a time’s people do not even realize when they accept them as "normal". In the above said article the writer suggests some ways to curb this menace and I highly recommend them.

Kidney Stones: Modern Technology to the Rescue

A kidney stone is an aggregation of certain materials -phosphorus, calcium, and oxalate- which gets accumulated in the kidney or the urinary system. Kidney stones are one of the most common ailments affecting people today. A list of factors can contribute to the formation of kidney stones such as weight, environmental factors, and cystic kidney diseases, which are disorders that cause fluid-filled sacs to form on the kidneys etc. They can also be hereditary. Moreover, they are incurable as it is a tendency of the body to form them.  

In my family, kidney stones have plagued every generation, from my great-grandfathers to my grandfather to my father and me. Also, my mother and her father had kidney stones too. In their time, the only way to treat kidney stones was to perform an operation on the kidney. The doctors would cut open the kidney and take the stone out. This was a very risky not to mention expensive procedure and was only used when the stone reached a certain size. Also there was a high risk of infection and other post-op complications. But today, thanks to modern technology and advancements in healthcare, a lot of new and safe options have come up to treat kidney stones.  Some of them are:

•Shock wave lithotripsy. A machine called a lithotripter is used to crush the kidney stone. The procedure is performed by an urologist on an outpatient basis and anesthesia is used. In shock wave lithotripsy, the person lies on a table or, less commonly, in a tub of water above the lithotripter. The lithotripter generates shock waves that pass through the person’s body to break the kidney stone into smaller pieces to pass more readily through the urinary tract.

•Ureteroscopy. An ureteroscope—a long, tube like instrument with an eyepiece—is used to find and retrieve the stone with a small basket or to break the stone up with laser energy. The procedure is performed by a urologist in a hospital with anesthesia. The urologist inserts the ureteroscope into the person’s urethra and slides the scope through the bladder and into the ureter. The urologist removes the stone or, if the stone is large, uses a flexible fiber attached to a laser generator to break the stone into smaller pieces that can pass out of the body in the urine. The person usually goes home the same day.

There are more procedures too like Percutaneous nephrolithotomy but the above two are the comparatively used more. You can find more information about the above at National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NKUDIC). Moreover, not only are these procedures less expensive and less invasive they also reduce the chances of post op complications considerably.
Hence we can see how with the use of modern technology and advance techniques people's lives have been touched and changed for the better.

#this article is written as an entry to ApolloTouchingLives