[Book Review] The Interpreter of Maladies

"Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri is a collection of short stories from different corners of this world. This fiction won the Pulitzer Prize of 2000.

The author has written stories on various topics. There are nine short stories. Half of the nine stories talks about romance and love while the other half talks about the anxious mind of a man who misses his family during wars, the remedy given to a girl whose disease is unknown, the faith of an boastful old lady when they found a real durwan and a man who finds his place in a foreign country with the help of an old lady. 

Truth be told this book was deeply disappointing. With this book winning the Pulitzer Prize and all, I thought it would blow my mind with its stories and style but I was wrong. The only plus point that I found in this book was that the author, Jhumpa Lahiri has done an exemplary job in providing the details of the stories. It was highly detailed focusing on the environment, characters and qualities. Unfortunately, this positive point wasn't enough to contradict the short stories which were more like excerpts. I hope her other books aren't like this but this one was definitely a crap for me. 

[Crafty Ideas] Round Flower

Round flowers are a crucial item for any type of decorations. If you are trying to make a wonderful handmade card for your best friend for this new year or if you want to decorate Christmas tree or the much awaited Christmas presents then be my guest because these flowers will glorify the beauty of anything twice.

These beautiful round flowers can be made so easily from thread, nylon cloth, needle and scissors. By following these simple measures given in the picture, you can also add beauty to your handmade work. 

From decorating dresses to curtains to making awesome show pieces these lovely ones will truly come in handy. With minimum fuss and few steps you can make them in less than 5 minutes. So lets get started shall we? 

[Book Review] To kill a Mockingbird

Harper Lee's 1960 Pulitzer prize winning fictional novel belongs to the genre Southern Gothic. The novel explores the theme of prejudices in society regarding social class and race. 

The story is seen through the eyes of a little girl named Scout. Scout lives with her brother Jem and widowed father Atticus Finch who is a well respected lawyer. When Atticus is appointed to defend a black man accused of raping a white girl, Scout and Jem discovers the ugly and misunderstood prejudices in their society. 

This anti-racist novel is a fine work done by Harper Lee. She brought in a good dose of humour while dealing with important issues like racism, rape and prejudice. There are many characters who are developed beautifully by the author that we may find ourselves being a part of them. Atticus Finch is one such character who teaches his children the precious values one must keep in mind. This is a novel which should not be missed by any reader and I really appreciate the way in which the author has explored these social issues which plague the society now and then. 

[Movie Review] How to Train Your Dragon 2

This movie is the sequel to the movie "How to train your dragon" and is interesting but not quite interesting as its prequel.

Directed by Dean DeBlois, this film includes Jay Baruchel, Kristen Wiig, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson and many other talented voices.

The movie begins by reminding viewers about the uniqueness of our hero's city. And that is "Dragons". Unlike the prequel, their city is not famous for hunting dragons but instead it's famous for dragon sports. Hiccup and Toothless in this movie looks a bit older. Toothless looks nearly the same but Hiccup has got some sprouting beard and looks much taller. 

This movie has brought in a new character which is sure to surprise us. Hiccup-Toothless team is sure to keep you entertained throughout the film. The movie is not as interesting as the first one but it is worth a watch.

[Movie Review] Interstellar

From the director Christopher Nolan comes another science fiction movie "Interstellar". The movie stars Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Mackenzie Foy, John Lithgow, Timothee Chalamet and many others.

"Interstellar" tells the story of a man and his mission to find another place to thrive when our planet is at the verge of destruction. Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) finds himself destined to undertake a voyage along with astrophysicists and scientists to search a better place for mankind leaving his family far behind. 

The first half of the movie focuses mostly on his family. In the later half the movie grips more of science than of fiction and this can be a little irritating for the not-so-science-lovers. It will be a bit dry due to its complex science facts but the movie with its beautiful scenes is sure to make you cry. Christopher Nolan's magic has spilled a bit too much in "Interstellar" and the film is almost three hours long. The movie with its amazing actors keeps the viewers glued and as of whole it's not that bad either but it's definitely not Nolan's best. 

[Book Review] The Count of Monte Cristo

'The Count of Monte Cristo' is written by Alexandre Dumas. This book is written so beautifully that it left me starstruck reading it. Lowell Bair translated this book written by Alexandre Dumas in his native language of French. She translated and abridged it wonderfully.

Edmond Dantes is the protagonist of this story. This young man had everything. He had a loving father, a good job, a beautiful fiancee, a kind ship owner and a promise of marriage. On the day of his marriage, he is falsely accused of a crime and this turns his world upside-down. He loses everything except his faith in God. He waits and hopes. Finally, his faith is answered by the almighty. After being imprisoned for years, he escapes. He finds knowledge, treasure worth millions and the title of 'The Count of Monte Cristo'. With this he takes revenge on those who were jealous of his promising young life and those who betrayed him. 

The story tells us that money, position and power won't be enough to live in this world of deep catastrophe and troubled times. We need something more than that. We need love, hope, justice and above all, an infinite faith in the all-knowing God. 

This book is fast paced to grab the attention of readers. The story unfolds beautifully reminding us of the graceful manner in which Edmond took his revenge. This book is amazing and is a must read for everyone. This is a classic which one must not miss.

[Book Review] Five Point Someone

"Five Point Someone" by Chetan Bhagat is a fictional novel which is all about what one must not do it in IIT, the college known for its brilliant students. 

The book is centered on the lives of three students who become best pals for life. They soon realise that the IIT they dreamed wasn't what they found. It was just studies, studies and more studies. So they decide to enjoy their college life in a filmy way starting with drinking beer, romancing with their professor's daughter to stealing exam question papers. Throughout their college life they seem to be enjoying but life has other plans for these youngsters and they realise at the end of the year that they could have been better than 'five pointers'. 

The box office hit movie '3 Idiots' is based on this novel. This is Chetan Bhagat's first book that I read and I must say that I am impressed. His writing style is quite simple so if you are a beginner, reading novels then you must definitely grab this but if you are a bookworm, then I doubt this will entertain you. This book is nowhere near my top ten or anything but not entirely crap either. 

[Book Review] Like the flowing river

Well.. This book is an autobiography of Paulo Coelho. The various experiences in his life are printed in short paragraphs not exceeding two pages at the most. Some of them are great while others are okay. After all its his 'experiences', not everything is going to be excellent. 

I really liked 'the day at the mill', 'story of the pencil' ,'my funeral' and 'the funny thing about human beings'. These four of his experiences made me think again.

This is entirely different from 'Alchemist' mainly because 'Like the flowing river' is an autobiography which has been written by Paulo Coelho in Portuguese and translated to us by Margaret Jull Costa. This book gives author's personal reflections on everything from music to archery. This is not only an interesting catch but also a book that will help you to know more about the author's life. 

[Movie Review] Divergent

"Divergent" is a dystopian movie based on the author Veronica Roth's book by the same name. Each of the scenes in this movie is entirely from the book and thus, it is highly similar to the book regarding everything.

The movie stars Shailene Woodley, Theo James and Ansel Elgorth in lead roles. 'Divergent' is a movie about choices. The film starts off with a detailed narration of their world from Beatrice Prior (Shailene Woodley). On coming to the age, each teenager is free to choose a faction out of the five factions available - Abnegation, Candor, Erudite, Amity and Dauntless. Beatrice aka Tris is intrigued by the lifestyle of dauntless faction and she becomes a part of it on the choosing ceremony. Soon she is making new friends, getting weird tattoos, romancing with her trainer, Four(Theo James), learning secrets about factions and fighting to save her family, friends and creating a new space for the divergents.

The differences I found between the movie and the book is that the movie focuses on the story rather than on Tris - Four relation (which makes the book quite annoying). The second difference is that the movie is quite fast paced unlike the book and finally, its lot better than book thanks to the actors.

'Divergent' is greatly popular among teenagers all because of Veronica Roth's book but honestly speaking I wasn't much into the book. As of whole, 'Divergent' movie is definitely not a must watch but if you are looking for a dystopian movie spiced up with a bit of romance, courageous acts and fighting then this movie is all yours.

London Dairy

Yesterday, when I went shopping in a super market called Green... I think it was 'Green' or was it 'Greens'.. Anyway, I was wheeling the trolley around when my eyes fell on these.
 

 

These little babies were chilling in the mini refrigerator with "London Dairy" stuck on its top and I pointed it out to my dad and said "Can I have those?". He said, "We'll get those at last or else they might melt". And after minutes of waiting, I was finally standing in front of it deciding which one to grab. 

As I was standing there wondering, a guy "excused me" and took one big packet of this ice cream and hurried off quickly. Okay.. I couldn't stand there for hours deciding on flavours, so I grabbed two small ones(I still can't believe I took two packets of same flavour) of this and dumped in our trolley.

Finally when I got home, I was desperate to try it. After lunch, I took them out of the fridge and gave one to my brother and started opening the "premium ice cream".. (That's what it said on the packet).. On opening, I found these weird spoons.

I was expecting something more like scoop spoons but this was it. I slowly peeled off the paper layer and there it was.. More like 'payasam' than ice cream. At last, I tasted London Dairy. It was not mind blowing but it was OK. Maybe the flavour I chose was bad. Anyway, it was an interesting experience and by the way, I really liked the packet ;)
 

[Movie Review] Edge of Tomorrow

"Edge of tomorrow" is one of the best movies that I saw till-date. Being an 'alien invasion' kind of movie, I tried avoiding it but after watching this movie I confess that I was indeed a fool for avoiding it. From the name you won't even know what the film is about and because of it this amazing film lost many of its would-be viewers. This film is based on a Japanese novel "All you need is Kill" by Hiroshi Sakurazaka.

Staring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt in lead roles, the film has got a strong female character. 'Edge of tomorrow' mainly focuses on three genres- action, time travel and alien invasion. The movie gives more space to the development of the characters instead of the usual wreckage caused by the aliens and this indeed is a better change. 

The movie starts of with Mr Cage (Tom Cruise) broadcasting his soldiers' new defence system for the country's protection. Soon after his communication, he ends up being one of such soldiers but fails having had neither training nor experience. Step by step, he realizes his mistakes and decides to amend it by literally going back. He seeks the help of Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt) who is the only person who can get him out of his confusion circle and back on track to save the rest of mankind. 

This is indeed a movie which you should not miss out by any chance. 'Edge of Tomorrow' having got its gloomy title couldn't get the expected box office but it has managed to earn massive support and fans from all over the world. For the satisfaction of everybody they decided to add a tagline (Live. Die. Repeat.) which pretty much sums up everything about this movie. Be sure to check this one out! 

Handmade Earrings

Everyone loves earrings for sure. I mean everyone..even the boys. It has become a trend of their new lifestyle, but for girls, it has been going on for centuries I guess.

Recently I came across earrings like those (on top), which look quite simple yet beautiful. If you buy these from shops, they are most likely to cost around 10 to 15 rupees. The interesting thing I found from my cousin's is that now the materials used for making these are available in shops. This only means one thing.. You can create your own designs :)

Even though the earrings look quite hard to make, the steps for making these lovely ones are really simple. With right tools and little patience you can also make them. The "earring making" set mainly contains a long needle like tool which is used for rolling the strips of paper, a super glue for sticking those metal hooks with the paper strips, a fevicol, different kinds of hooks and finally extra items like small beads and stickers for added beauty. The set costs 100 rupees (a bit expensive) but we can make around ten to fifteen pairs.

One usually finds these crafty items and ideas when we are bored to that level, which we cannot express through words. I too found this during my gap year before joining the college. I must say this is an excellent way to kill time and make something useful for yourself or your friends whom you often remember after leaving your school years behind.

And so I decided to try my hands on these and this is what I ended up with. The only thing I didn't like was that the set contained very lousy strips of colours and because of this I couldn't get the exact colour as my dress but still it is better than nothing.

                                                        

                                                                                                           

 

                                        

 

 

[Book Review] The Fault In Our Stars

Much has been said about 'The Fault in our Stars' these past few months. After being made into a movie, this book has become the star for some reason. Probably the actors Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgorth and Nat Wolff must have made this book a hit but I didn't want to stick to this probability so I decided to read it. I didn't buy the book as such because I was scared that this might end up like the rest of Young Adult Romance but after reading this piece by John Green I was angry at myself for not having bought this one. Having no kindle at my hand (More of a I-love-the-feel-of-book-in-my-hand person), I read this in the most bizarre way. I read it on my smartphone. I actually thought I will end up only reading the first chapter but I was wrong. I began turning page after page desperate to finish it...

The Fault in our Stars by John Green belongs to the genre Fiction and Romance. This is John Green's most widely recognized book and it is known for its strong characters and emotive story.

The story is about three individuals whose lives intertwine at a Support group run by local church. Being in her teen years and a cancer survivor, Hazel Grace finds these groups unbearably boring but on meeting Augustus Waters her life takes a complete U turn. From reading books to having chats that used to be small, Augustus has become a huge part of her life. 

This book is bound to make you shed a few tears. The character's personalities are very well developed by the author. Hazel Grace is a character to fall for when she projects her view of her small life throughout the book. While Augustus is a unique guy with his quirky 'metaphors' (you will know what I mean once you read that book) and their friend Issac is a neutral secondary character being their mutual friend. Sympathy has been a great part of the book. Often we end up sympathising the characters which is the result of strong characters capable of attracting and engrossing us into the story. The best part of this book that I loved is the visit to Amsterdam. The beauty of Amsterdam is vividly and picturesquely written giving importance to tiny details. The simple every day style suits this book well (After all it's the story of an ordinary girl). I really liked this one and this is the first of John Green's book that I have read. Partly I am sad that I can't add this book to my bookshelf (Does buying a book which I have already read sound like a crime?) but my other half is happy that when I buy this book I will finally get the movie-cover edition *laughs in an evil manner*
Don't make my fault and grab your copy of 'The Fault in our Stars' today and thanks for reading the post...

 

[Book Review] Digital Fortress

Interested in coding and decoding?
Want some thriller and suspense to add ?... Then grab Digital Fortress by Dan Brown because it will surely keep you at the edge of your seat throughout the book. Belonging to the genre Science Fiction and Techno-Thriller, this book explores the theme of Government surveillance of people's private information.

Lead cryptographer Susan Fletcher didn't realize she was headed for a deep trouble when she got a call in the morning from commander Strathmore nor did she realize the danger NSA was facing from unknown sources. One thing led to another and Susan found herself trying to save her company and also her loved ones..

Susan Fletcher is a strong feminine character...she is bold, intelligent, smart and beautiful. Digital Fortress revolves around mainly three characters--Susan (NSA's Head Cryptographer), Commander Strathmore (NSA Deputy Director of Operations) and David Becker (A Professor of Modern Languages and the fiancé of Susan Fletcher). Digital Fortress is multiple third person narrative and the story is quite fast paced as you will be in the thick of its mystery and storyline within few page.

Dan Brown has always entertained readers through his mysterious way of storytelling and digital fortress was no less. Real page turner and highly gripping. This book is an assortment of mystery, action, adventure, romance and ever changing digital lifestyle. A huge thumbs up to Dan Brown.

[Book Review] The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari

The Monk who sold his Ferrari by Robin Sharma is an inspirational book belonging to the genre self-help.
This book is entirely a conversation between two friends.... Julian Mantle lawyer turned preacher shares his experience of wisdom from sages to his friend John. John opens up his heart to ask those questions which have often turned  up in our own mind and quizzed us without getting answers.

This book is a must read for every human being. Robin Sharma has explained the virtues of life through memorable fables and simple language for everyone's understanding. From developing a better self to enjoying the journey of life rather than the destination, this book tells us the 'power of now'. Robin Sharma has tried to answer the questions of our short life quite wisely.
This book has provided many practical means to apply so as to improve our concentration, positive thoughts and sharpen our mind.

Julian Mantle and John are characters with which we can relate our own life to. They have their own share of problems just like everyone of us. The experiences that Julian Mantle shared with John had a profound impact on him and I will give you my word that this book will not disappoint you, if you look beyond the story line and into the messages it conveys through beautiful tales and fables.
As I said earlier, this book is for everyone and it will benefit everyone. It is worth the catch. Hope eachone of you likes it.......