Les Miserables

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, an Epic tale of social injustice, politics, heroism and love, is setup in the early 19th(1800s) century French backdrop.The commercial success of this novel is etched in history that could be best explained by an anecdote. while on his vacation during the publishing of this novel, Hugo telegraphed the publishers a single "?" to know the outcome and for that the publishers replied with a single "!"

I read the abridged English translation by Norman Denny original version being in French. The protagonist of the story Jean Valjean steals a loaf of bread in his early years and then spends many years trying to escape his reputation as a criminal.Though he is a changed man and rises socially, he is not allowed to forget his past by the sadistic policemen Javert who is determined to expose him. Jean Valjean thus runs from city to city with his adopted daughter Cosette escaping the clutches of Javert and the vile designs of the villian Thenardier.Many characters chip in and add their part making it more interesting and gripping.

The narration is simply superb with vivid descriptions and the love between Cosette and Marius is best described. For something similar to the "Annalum Nokkinal avalum nokkinal" scene here goes the excerpt
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"Thus for the first year Marius saw them(Cosette and her father) almost daily in the same place at the same time. He liked the look of the Man but took no interest in the girl.
.....
For some six months he did not setfoot in the alleyway.Then one day he went back and there was the same couple,seated on the same bench. But as he drew near them he was struck by a change. The man was the same , but the girl was not. What he now saw was a tall and beautiful creature,soft chestnut hair flecked with gold, a forehead of marble, cheeks like rose petals, a pale sensitive skin, an exquisite mouth.
....
She was no longer a schoolgirl in a plush hat and woollen dress.She acquired taste as well as beauty and now dressed with simple, unpretentious elegance.
...
Marius went by their bench. the girl looked up at him and their eyes met. What message was to be read in her eyes? Marius could not have said. nothing and yet everything. A spark had passed between them.

What he had encountered was not the frank innocent gaze of a child.There comes a day when every girl has this look in her eyes, and woe to him who encounters it! She looked steadily at him with a soft pensive glance that caused him to tremble from head to foot.Marius was in the first violent and entranced throes of a grand passion. A single look had done it."
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The beauty of Cosette is best described from this excerpt
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"One day when Cosette was in the garden she heard old Toussaint say:'Has monsieur noticed how pretty Mademoiselle is growing?' She did not hear her father's reply, but Toussiant's words filled her with amazement. She ran up to her bedroom and looked hard at herself in the glass.

She uttered a cry,delighted by what she saw. She was beautiful as well as pretty.Her figure had filled out, her skin was finer and there was a new splendour in her blue eyes.
....
In less than a month she was not merely one of the prettiest women in Paris, which is saying a great deal,but one of the best dressed, which is saying even more."
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I found the following lines pretty amusing and quite true too!!
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"Cosette for her part,was giving away nothing.without knowing precisely what was happening to her,she knew that something had happened to her and it must be kept secret.

There is a law applying to those youthful years of agitation and turmoil, those frantic struggles of first love against first impediments: it is that the girl never falls into any trap and the young man falls into all of them."
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Compared to the vulgar description of the intimate relationship that most modern writers are ept at, Victor Hugo has handled that scene with a single sentence, but the meanings' conveyed(such are the powers of the contemporary writer!!!)
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"The day after the wedding is one of solitude. We respect the privacy of the newly-weds and perhaps their late arising."
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Les Miserables is a good book to savour and read...

On a hat-trick run

Wanting to find solace in some classics, after my previous read of Fountainhead, I took up "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D Salinger. I knew I made a big mistake this time.

The first person narration of Holden Claufield, expressing his teenage angst on anything and everything could get you nothing but headache. The whole story is about the 3-4 days of the so-called-vacation that Holden takes(doing whatever he likes) when he is expelled from school, before packing home. The ways of Holden(a poor role model) and his illogical and flimsy decisions taken throughout, and his disrespect for elders(Including his parents) doesn't resemble anything close to that of an average matured, teenage guys of today. Combining this with all the bad habits(highly deplorable for his age) that Holden has, there is no take away from this book. The first person narrative makes it even more gloomier and depressing.

It is no wonder, that it is one of the controversial and most censured books of the 50's to 80's. Somehow this book became popular, though I could not attribute anything to speak of. Anyone in his right sense of mind wouldn't want to find himself synonymous with the despicable character of Holden Claufield.

Hats off to my school and college syllabus framers for making me to study Shakespeare, O Henry, Dickens etc and not this book which is still being taught in High schools, esp in English speaking countries!!! Any takers on whether it is going to be a Hat-Trick read of boring books?? This is one feat, that I surely don't want to achieve.

Learning to Say "No"

I am Mr.Nobody to be a critic of Ayn Rand's "The FountainHead", but what follows is just a rant that crossed my mind when I started reading it, which eventually lead me to return back without finishing it.

The character of Howard Roark (Protagonist) (the guy who never bends, just for the sake of "what-would-the-society-tell") is obnoxious. In real life, this protagonist would end up only as a failure(From the society's perspective, but in his mind, he would continue to be a winner, what is the use of this puffed up EGO, I don't understand).

Next irritating character is Dominique Francon, characterized as an intellectual sure-shot head-turner, who marries almost all the characters in the novel except for Toohey(because he is old??) and Guy Francon(because he is her father, Ayn Rand could have tried that too, that's revolutionary isn't??) just to punish her, because she lives in a society where people doesn't recognize true-raw-creativity(good reason eh?? This shit is much worser than I-came-late-cos-of-cycle-tyre-puncture reason I used to give in school). I don't understand her ideology-crap of marrying Keating, simultaneously having a relationship with Howard Roark and also planning for the downfall of Howard by destroying his reputation. (Psssst!! She eventually marries Howard Roark!!! after divorcing Keating and marrying Gail Wynand and then divorcing... I remember only these people names) Ayn Rand describes Dominique as "the woman for a man like Howard Roark." (Good, that she doesn't describe her as the woman for every Man)

As I could not take this **** any longer I gave back the book at the library deciding not to venture out any further, into any of her works. obviously, it is not for ME!!! Now started reading J.D.Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye" which better not dwell along the same lines.

Jesus lived in India

The following content is just a gist of the book that i read and it may or may not inflict my opinion,

This book by Holger kersten could be considered as an addendum to the issues dealt with in Da Vinci Code and the only difference being the fact that India is pulled into the vortex of the issue.The book is about the early life of Jesus Christ and His days after crucifixion.

The book starts of with Nicolai Notovitch, a Russian historian 's startling discovery of manuscripts in the buddist monastery of Hemis which details the stay of Issa during the early First century.He found the characteristics of Issa strikingly similar to Jesus Christ.Then the author takes us through the research that many has undertaken about the early life of Jesus Christ(ie before the Baptism at the age of 30) There is a lead which unveils a possibility that Jesus Christ could have reached India through the Silk route and settled in Kashmir in the Ladakh region where he came to know about the buddhist preachings.

The Author then shows the striking resemblence of some the preachings across the religions by quoting them from the Bible, Buddhist scriptures, and from puranas.Indeed some stories are similar.It seems that the world religions are more interconnected than we had thought.Later the author evaluates the new Testament primarily the works of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John for any clues about Jesus Christ's early life.

Next he moves back to the time of abraham who is said to have lived in haran. This haran could well be the one in Kashmir and he gives striking resemblence of the etymological names specified in the old testament in Exodus and the places in the present day Kashmir.Then comes the interesting episode of Moses who liberates the people from Egypt and takes them across the River Jordon to the Promised land by God. This land could be Kashmir because in Exodus the place where moses tomb lies is specified and those 5 reference landmarks could be found in Hasbal, a town near srinagar, even more he takes us to a tomb in that town which dates back before the christian era and the tomb is set in the east-west direction customary of the jews.

Another instance is when soloman sents his navy to tarshish and the soldiers brings back gold, tukki, etc. This tukki refers to the peacock feathers and the hebrew language did not have a word for peacock hence it uses the word "tokei" as used in Tamil itself, easily proving the fact that soloman's soldiers reached the western coastal line of India well before the christian era.

The Ten Lost Tribes of Israel is the most sought of mystery in History and some of their DNA traces could be found in the people of Kashmir, and in the north-western frontier region illustrating the fact that the Ten Tribes of Israel had migrated to as far as Kashmir in the pre-christian era itself.The book then takes us through the places where the shroud of Turin had been and the author explains why the shroud of Turin is real and not hoax.

Nearing the end, the author explains how Jesus Christ survived the Crucifixion and his journey to Kashmir with many proofs in literature(even in Koran!!!) and also by understanding the etymological meanings of places.By understanding the meanings of place, the author found the tomb of Mother Mary in a town near Taxila.Next he uncovered the Tomb of Jesus Christ in rozabal, khanyar quater of srinagar who the author claims to have died at the age of 80.The author is still trying to open that tomb to unveil the truth to the world with facts, but the tension prevailing in the region keeps him on the hold.

Based on this book and another, a hollywood film is brewing with the title Aquarian Gospel and it is expected to hit the theatres in 2009.

visit http://www.tombofjesus.com/2007/home.html for Photos and more information

Treasure

Clive Cussler books got my attention after i saw his filmed masterpiece Sahara starring Matthew Maconaughey and Penelope Cruz. Treasure is a novel which weaves around the Lost books housed in the Library of Alexandria which were burned down by Theodosius in 390AD.Clive Cussler tries to converge two or three independent plots at the same focal point which irritates some times.The same goes with Sahara.

Dirk Pitt, the james bond's alter-ego of Clive Cussler stories is sometimes overhyped.The Author could have shared the intelligence of diagonocise with other characters too.The plot is thick at the start where Julius Venator, a roman statesman of 390's relocates a part of the invaluable books of Alexandria Library along with the Alexander's coffin (before the library is burned by theodosius) to an unknown location in the planet.Dirk Pitt and an archaeological team stubbles upon a clue which leads them to the treasure 1600 years later.

Also looms behind is a conspiracy by capasperre brothers to unseat the government of egypt and mexico by hijacking the cruise containing the presidents.COuld Dirk save the presidents and also dig up the treasure before it is too late? Read the book to know the climax.

Tippoo Sultaun: A tale of mysore wars

Daria Daulat Bagh(Sea of Wealth), the place craved for attention at first sight and thus i started the journey backwards by turning the pages of history.Daria Daulat Bagh is the leisure palace of Tipu Sultan in seringapatnam.The silhoutte of the ruined fort of seringapatnam has a story which not many have penned with authenticity.

Tippoo Sultaun : A Tale of Mysore Wars by Meadows Taylor, unearthed some of the untold events in history.The book is written from the perspective of two persons Kasim Ali alias Meer Sahib and Herbert Compton.The former being a soldier among Tipu's Army who raised in rank and later jumped to the British side.The latter is a British soldier who was a POW and released after the storming of seringapatnam.

This Book is more a Love story between Kasim and Ameena & Herbert and Amy than anything about Tipu.The Book written way back in 1800's is simply marvellous in the way it was written.But it leaves a black shadow on the character of Tipo portrayed as an Tyrant and arrogant which we have not heard in India.Perhaps this could be a ploy by the colonial masters to reduce the majesty of Tipu or could they be right?. Who knows what was true!!! only the ruins of seringapatnam could tell.

The events are woven around the citiy of Coimbatoor, R.Bhowanee, R.Barauti, Seringam, Trittinopoly, Balapoor, Nundidoorg, Bangalore, Mysore,etc. The author had made reference to pillaging the temple of srirangam in 1798 by Tipu's army.I dont think this ever happened, because being a resident of trichy i have never heard of any story like this.But a rumour remains here that a tunnel between trichy rockfort and seringapatnam exists and Tipu had been in trichy for some time.Tipu could have been here to defeat the british but not to plunder is what i believe.

The Devil's Alternative

This book by Frederick Forsyth would be loved by people who like plots involving political background strewn with scandals and spies.The novel is neatly brought out from the three countries perspective(USA,Russia,Britan)With the land on either side filled up with spies deep inside the government and the satellites accessing each and every move of the soviets, the Russians have to come up to the Table for talks on reducing arms if they need the help from America for its forthcoming famine due to crop failure.The side track which emulsifies into the main part near the middle is the rising of the Ukrainians for freedom.When the Dublin treaty was about to be signed, a new twist awaits the readers and the American president faces two options both of them would lead to death of men and the situation is called the devil's alternative.Now the British spy Adam Munro comes to the forefront and clears the things out.

But The story doesn't deserve a so simple and predictive end.As already said this would entertain readers who love treading on the two 'isms' (capitalism & communalism)on a large scale not a person whose heart lies in legendary heros in historical backgrounds.After crossing Tolkien's Rowling's & Dan Brown's i am now sampling uncommon authors with one of their works, so that i could settle in for an author's full collection once i like his/her plot and narration

Sampling includes,

Stephan King's Shawshank Redemption(Nice one to read,Film - IMDB rating 9.2)
Michael Crichton's Timeline(starting looks cool,yet to cross 460 pages)

The Silmarillion

This is the prelude to the Lord of the Rings Trivia though posted posthumously by J.R.R Tolkien's son christopher Tolkien. This a must read for the people who wishes to know more about the environment and history of the LOTR in which it is set. The story starts of with Iluvatar the supreme god creating the world of Ea from a symphony and void. The Ainurs (Components of the symphony who are the gods of the world) or Valar descend into Ea to chisel out the world to perfection. As usual we have Melkor the evil Ainur planning with his devisive ways to corrupt the first children of Iluvatar - Elves. What ensues further is the war of the Ainurs with Morgoth alias melkor and chaining him up in the tomb of Mandos in the First age.

The Elves themselves are of three clans headed by Ingwe of vanyar, Finwe of Nolder and Elwe and Olwe of Sindar.Thus we enter into the second age with the elves living in Valinor, the blessed realm of valars. But Melkor gets released and by this time we have Feanor a master craftsman, son of Finwe, creating the three silmarils, the jewel blessed with the light of Trees created by Yavanna (Valar) which is abducted by Morgoth.From here on the story concentrates wholly on the line of Finwe's sons(Feanor,Fingolfin,Finarfin) and to some extent on the line of Elwe (Thingol). Most of the anecdotes in LOTR are described in detail, eg-Beren and Luthien's affair, Ring of Barahir(given to Barahir by Finrod Felagund), Castle of Thangorodrim.

After many deaths in Nolder's line in the hands of Morgoth's host, Earendil the half elven sets on a voyage to seek the help of valar themselves. The valar ambushes Morgoth's Followers and the infamous Lieutinent of Morgoth,ie.Sauron who sheds off all evil after the battle fearing the Valar.Morgoth is pushed into the void for all ages permanently never to come back.Most of the Nolder return back to Valinor, but some of them remained back. eg gil-galad son of Fingon, Celebrimbor Grandson of Feanor & maker of the Ring, Galadriel daughter of Finarfin, Cirdan the Shipwright who even in LOTR takes Elves to Valinor and Elrond - son of Earendil. The infamous Battle of Fingolfin with Morgoth and Fingon with Gothmog are depicted greatly.


The Sons of Earendil are Elrond and Elros. Elrond chose to be an elf while Elros represented men. He was known as the Tar-minyatur from whom the race of the Numenor starts.After 2000 years The heart of the numenoreans is blackened for the need of immortality and Sauron uses this as his high time to put an end to Numenorean race.The Might of the Numenoreans could be figured out when sauron surrended to Ar-Pharazon, king of numenor though sauron wielded the ring at that time. Though Sauron's cunning devices kills Numenoreans, Elendil and his sons Isildur and Anarion survive and comes to Middle-Earth to start the age of men in Middle-Earth.The rest could all be found in LOTR. Many questions of ambiguity in LOTR (like where & why Elves are going to the west in ships) would have it answered in THE SILMARILLION.

Ouch! i forgot to tell the destiny of the silmarils. one of the silmarils would be recovered from Morgoth's crown by beren and luthien and put up in the sky, but the other two would be put up in fire and Water of Ea.

The Saga behind Middle Earth - Lord of The Rings Trivia

Three weeks is too small a time to read the Lord of the Rings Trilogy that too on the walks of life of an Software Engineer during his free times, if not for the Knack in narration of J.R.R Tolkien or for the Grandeur of the characters. The trilogy includes,

* The Fellowship of the Ring
* The Two Towers
* The Return of the King

Though the films got 8.7, 8,6 & 8.8 respectively in imdb.com and bagged many oscars, they are in no way as expressive as the books.That too reading a book after watching the film made out of it would not give good impression of the book normally, but here is a book with a difference. Though i have seen these films a number of times, the book gripped me throughout.It is pity the book of such calibre was written way back in late 1940's and it became famous only after the filming of it. It is a shame that i stayed out the hullabulla of the Lord of the Rings release in 2001 to 2003 and saw the films all at a time one fine morning after the aura settled down.It is no doubt here is where the heart of Historical fiction lovers reside.It is a epic by itself set-up in a different timeline, different world, different species, different languages and what not.

For people who have seen Lord Of the Rings, it is just a part of the happenings in the end of the Third age and start of the Fourth Age.Not many knew that sauron the evil-incarnate actually was a servant of Morgoth, the evil valar(Valar=God in middle-earth) in the first age.It was morgoth who brought orcs into being and he had an army of Balrogs(The shadowy fiery creature which Gandalf encountered in the first part at the Mines of Moria) and during his time(Gothmog being the leader of balrogs) complete evil resided. The shaping of Middle-earth is a separate story by itself.The story of the first age, second age and other folklore of middle-earth are included in the various books like,

* Silmarillion
* The Book of Lost Tales I & II
* The Shaping of The Middle Earth
* The Hobbits
and many more to add

Truly the majesticity of Aragorn is derived by giving brief accompilishments of his 39 ancestors before him. The Story of Elendil the tall, Isildur Elendil reaches the pinnacle at the Battle of The Last Alliance of Elves and Men. Be it the High Elven Lords from Rivendell, or the Dunadians from the north, Tolkien has picturequely portrayed their history in the Appendix. The Rise to throne by Aragorn alias King Elessar of Gondor & Arnor marks the realm of Numenoreans of the west after a long time in history and the flame of the Anduril the sword that is reforged continued to flash against all evil.

In my Opinion, This is by far the best epic i have ever read, from Illiad to mahabharata, and by far the best novel in its category above the infamous Harry Potter.I couldnot take away the characters of my mind and because of that i bought a Lord of the Rings DVD rightaway as a memento of this great saga that i read.

Easylib - Kick-starting a new relationship

Last weekend i became a member of Easylib.com, a private lending library in Koramangala - Bangalore. Thanks to my sister through whom i came to know of this. Though i was a voracious reader during my school days, i couldn't maintain the consistency through my life.To ensure a steady flow of books, i enrolled myself with easylib.The nearest landmark is Maharaja Hotel. from there take the road opposite to it and then take the first left. Here is where you end up in front of the library.

They charge a refundable deposit of 500 and a membership fee of 100. If you want your book to be delivered at your doorstep just pay them a debit amount of 100 more and they would take Rs 10 from that debit amount every time a book is delivered to you. Its just that easy and hence the name.it is open from 10 - 2 and 4 - 8 except on wednesdays.It is a nice hangout for book lovers who likes to have a nice rapport with the latest releases and the best ones in the literature world. What appeals more is your monthly premium (ie 10% of book cost) is waived off if your accumulated premium costs crosses 100. :)

visit easylib @ www.easylib.com

The HP way

This book was handed over to all the new recruits when we joined HP. This is written by David Packard, one of the founding fathers of the Company. The HP way is a set of ideologies which was framed by the founding fathers as early as 1957 when no other company had even thought of it.hp way considers both the employees and customers as equally important and one of the speeches given by Bill Hewlett in 1960 to a set of new joiners states exactly that.

The book starts of with David Packard recounting his childhood days and his friendship with Bill Hewlett during their college days at stanford.The group consisting of Bill, Dave, Ed porter and barney registered for the class by fred terman which eventually turned out to be a turning point in life. After the college days Packard joined GE for a short stint while Hewlett did his masters in MIT and both started their company officially in 1939 in a small garage in Palo Alto.This garage now has become a historical monument and is called as the birthplace of the silicon valley.


HP initially concentrated on oscillators, High frequency counters, video/audio parts and microwave products. The HP desktop calculator marked the beginning of the digital era and later it plunged into the computer industry. Some of the path breaking HP's invention at that time includes the usage of caesium for accurate measurement of time pulses,LED's, very High frequency counters, etc.Since this book is written way back in 1995 not much information about computer development is given.


When the company grew the founding fathers came up with many management styles which have become the benchmark of many companies these days. Some of them like sharing the profit with the employees, Management by walking around, Management by objective are a path-ahead in the 1950s. HP's Open door policy resonates even today as even the Managers or VP sits in open cubicles without any door like every other employee in HP.It is said that the Legacy, the founding fathers left behind is not just the 100 billion dollar company but the HP way.

It happened in India

One thing that strikes you is this person's inspiration to setup Big Bazaar, Bangalore central and other establishments are not after looking into walmart but after paying a visit to the infamous saravana stores in Ranganathan street,T-nagar, chennai. This Book by Kishore Biyani along with Dipayan Bhaisya takes one into the life of Kishore Biyani, the Rajah of Retail. Though the excerpts by different people who are part of the retail conglomerate are filled up with praise for Kishore which normally irritates you the rest written by him are the ones which pulls you into the vortex.

He recounts how from being an ordinary cloth seller he evolved to such heights. though he was from Mumbai his initial stunt was in calcutta where he setup his first pantaloon store. Later he moved on to mumbai and other cities. Later he went on to setup the Big Bazaar hypermarket customized to Indian style. His attempt to attract the tier-2 people of India (middle-class) was an instant success added to the lucrative offers his retail gives.No Big Bazaar remains the same, because it is customized to the regional taste. His foresight in procuring large enough real estates for building his malls are seen when he setup the 1.4 lakh sq ft Big Bazaar in Noida(The largest in india). He made some bold stunts in bollywood too by producing Na Tum Jaano Na Hum & Chura Liyaa Hai Tumne. His future group is aiming at various prospective areas where they could step into, to channelize the people's spending into their stores. Central is an idea born out of here.

Certain brands like John miller,Scullers, and Indigo nation are owned by them and by obtaining legal rights they are the dealers for puma, mark & Spencers in india. Just a three day offer(sabse saste din) in Big Bazaar during this year attracted people to spend 125 Cr in this shop.His separate unit for churning out new creative ideas lies in the Joseph chemmanur hall, Indira nagar Bangalore. These designers look into people's activities and behavior to understand more about people's need and tapping them. so next time if someone stares at you near indira nagar it could be one among them :)

he palns to own 30 million lakh sq ft of shopping paradise by 2011 with an annual turnover of 30,000 Cr. with the giants like walmart and Reliance stepping into retail business only time would tell whether he achieves his goal.

The Alchemist

This book by Paulo Coelho is for those who are in pursuance of a goal in life but getting held up in the middle and for those who feel contented with the present state of affairs.Though it has a illogical happenings near the climax like the boy talking with the wind, sun etc the story line keeps you hooked till you reach the end. I read the whole book within a night.

--Spoiler starts here--

Santiago being a shepherd is content with his life until he comes across a gypsy lady who interprets his dream and from then on our boy undertakes an task of unearthing a treasure near the pyramids of Egypt who is helped by the king of salem initially.on his way he meets the englishman and then the Alchemist who guides him to his dreams.The story is written excellently by paulo coelho.

--Spoiler ends here--

Apart from the above lying story the author makes us to understand the way of life and some lines are sure to have an effect on one

"Every search begins with beginner's luck. And every search ends with the victor's being severely tested."

"If you start out by promising what you don't even have yet, you'll lose your desire to work toward getting it."

"There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure."

"The darkest hour of the night came just before dawn."

looking through the pensieve

Happy Birthday Harry Potter!!!! i saved up my blog on you for this special occasion. "To buy or not to Buy" was the dilemma which i had for the "Deathly Hallows", the last book in the Harry Potter sequel. Harry Potter series is the best book that gripped the hearts of the people of this era. It is hard to come across such treasure in ones lifetime with the last being TINTIN. Saying all these i pre-ordered this book for just 633 @ indiaplaza.in while the book on the stands was about to cost 975.

Though i ordered this book i went to my native for the weekend and got the book in my hands only on monday morning. It was followed by a two sleepless nights and atlast i finished reading the climax of the gripping story which encompassed 7 books across 10 years. I have no words to explain my experience with it. Never had i read any story so very engrossed all through the night and sometimes dodging my mom's call to sleep and sometimes leaving the studies behind in 12th standard :)

It all started like this. i never knew what it is some 10 years back. it was my good pal Bharathi who handed over the philosophers stone book. it made me feel as though its all realistic and i started living in the potter's world from that day on.Then i got the chamber of secrets game on my PC which thrilled me to read the second book. From then on there is no stopping me, i jumped straight to the Goblet of fire which as per to me is the best of all classics. Then i read Askaban courtesied from Bharathi again. similarly i laid hands on the 5th and 6th book during my college days.

Atlast when the final book was released i made up my mind to buy the book on the day of release itself.The deathly Hallows ended on a happy note.Truely J.K rowling made a difference in the literary arena which created an impact on many including me. With the 7 years of Harry's school days over now i wish that he had not passed the O.W.Ls at all so that there could have been two or more books on him :) Really i miss Harry and the Hogwarts. Ending this post with a hope that Rowling continues to write such magical adventures.

Opal Mehta - fully algorithmic

not more than 3 minutes have passed since i finished reading the book "how opal mehta got kissed got wild and got a life". since some part of it sounds familiar in my life i wanted to make a note of it here before it gets erased from my mind by tomorrow morning. how many of my school mates would have believed that praveen would transform himself into a "take life easy" guy from being the ever studying class topper in school. surely the part of the plans that Opal does to transform is what i dont like in the story. how could i forget the day when my geography sir(Mr.Solomon) whom i regard as the best teacher that i have come across forgot his best pupil(i.e me got 98 in the geography paper that noone in the history of our school has ever obtained) but remembered the all-rounder in the school during the alumni meet. it was this incident that made me to consider marks as just yet another part of life and not on what the whole life depends upon.
The other place where the story strikes chord is in the science scholarship award. Balaji Viswanathan, Heronimous Pandian, Navanetha krishnan were the Best outgoing students in the college level. Yogaesh, Balamurugan, Senthil kumaran were the BOS for the computer science dept in the last three years.Though i had an eye on this prestigious award from the day Balaji viswanathan got it and it was me who did not even apply for the award due to one very good reason.