Kane chronicles - A series for non-Egyptians

In this post I will briefly write what Kane Chronicles of Rick Riordan is about and then I will list all the books in the series followed by a some lines of summary on each book. Then I will dedicate each post to one .
So here it goes....

This series is about two teenage siblings namely Carter and Sadie. Who share the lineage of two powerful magician families in Egypt. Yup, based on the Egyptian myths. So, surely if you have the blood of two powerful magician families you would surely attract monsters, magic and....gods. So what are the adventures that Carter and Sadie go through? What are the problems they face? You will all know in the following books.

• First in the series is the Red Pyramid.

In this book Carter is travelling the world with his dad who is a "well owned lecturer on Egyptian mythology" and Sadie is living with her grandparents. They meet each other only twice a year. They both realize they have to stick together because they sort of (let's just say a cologne) wear a permanent, non-removable for life cologne which does not attract chicks but only trouble.

• The second one is the Throne of Fire.            

In this book Carter and Sadie's cologne is stronger now and they are hosting gods with much more experience. Yup, those all powerful entities which control the universe with their powers, but with Egyptian style. Interestingly, we get to see walking mummies in this one! But first things first, they both have five days to save the world from a giant snake, Apophis, who is the lord of chaos. Do they hire a snake charmer from India? Highly unlikely and disappointing for Indians, but it is still worth a read!!

• The last but not the least book in the series is the Serpent's Shadow.          

                     

In this one the giant snake, the lord of chaos is about to destroy the world and sadly there are still no snake charmers in the book. Carter and Sadie get to know a very effective way of beating the snake and sending it so deep into the Du'at (sort of like the Egyptian prison and storage place) that he will not be coming back for centuries! Effective right? But highly dangerous, how will they succeed, or will they even succeed or not? Everything in the book folks. 

I still think snake charmers would be effective!
 (a bit too much right? Sorry)                                            

Next one coming on Sunday, 2nd November 2014!

Diwali - the festival of lights, triumph and a holiday

Sorry to be late, I was busy with the festivities of Diwali.
I have a feeling that this can be my worst post ever but still, here goes nothing....
India is a rich cultural diversity with a plethora of festivals for every citizen inhabiting.
The one which catches everyones eyes are Holi and Diwali (personal perspective). Let's make this a current event post and gossip about Diwali.
Being an idiot and not having much intellectual depth in my writing (AND living in a free country) I can say that Diwali is a festival heard in all the four corners of India but there is a high possibility that not every human in the populous has a homogeneous reason to celebrate it. For a businessman it may mean doubled sales. For a school student it may mean a holiday from the hectic and boring school and extreme fun the whole day (the definition of 'fun' is flexible is the teenage world). But one thing which every category knows but still does not show is what Diwali is all about. It marks the return date of Lord Rama from a fourteen year of exile. Everybody knows that right? Everyone must be tired of hearing that. The same boring yada-yada in the books is now in this not-so-great blog, it's getting too much right? But still, read on. Diwali is about triumph, about victory of 'good' over 'evil' where Ravan is neatly portrayed as evil and Ram as good and the victory was achieved when Rama killed Ravan and returned to his kingdom. Whoosh! Too much great values is a bunch of words stringed to together. So now here I am asking, what did we do? Couldn't we handle the greatness in one story and in one day? So we decided to complicate things more. (I am extremely sorry for inserting the dark side of diwali in this, but this is important) why did we start bursting obscene amounts of fireworks? Thereby increasing the air pollution and the garbage accumulation. As if there was a dearth of asthma patients. We enjoy bursting those loud as Zeus crackers but making it difficult for other animals. Is it actually so difficult to stick to the real rituals? Just light a candle or a 'diya', wear good clothes and invite people in the housevto brag about the furniture and have fun the rest of the day!
Look folks, I apologize to go all teacher-o-saurus on you, it just felt important. It's a free country, nobody can force you, they can only ask you to look back to decide to yourself what you really want Diwali to be like, and if it really is that way. The rest is up to us and the future will only broadcast what we decide.

By the way, belated happy diwali!!

P.S the foreigners should really visit India at this time, it really is very colourful, you will actually enjoy all the lights, it will be 24 hours of light in this day, as if the sun never set!

The word mingler's nightmare - Writer's Block

I am not having an idea for the blog! Which can never get more frustrating. This is the nightmare every writer gets, the writers block. When something you love to do is being restricted by your own brain is the most deceitful thing and the biggest form of betrayal. For a professional writer it's worse, his bread depends on it, he gets crazy and irrational ideas that he will never get any idea for the rest of his life and then he'll die knowing that he failed his readers by not giving them another piece to read. The writer will welcome any idea in his mind, no matter how improbable, how stupid, even if evil (which they usually get). The idea is welcomed because there is a desperate need of one.

When you don't get an idea, you will try numerous methods to get one, and you just think you have a tube attached in your ear with a machine on the other end which will flood your brains with mind blowing fiction! But there isn't one so comes the uninvited frustration, agony and anxiousness to fill the gap. When one is having a writers block it can become anything from gorillas in steroids to being a burrito of sadness, from being a Himalayan monk to being in periods (don't ask how I know that). So it can be wise if you leave them to their own devices. But if you are close enough to them then you may give them comfort, be a shoulder to think on. This can be applicable to to full time writers who can't just get any ideas for their book, because just admit it word-minglers, your bread depends on it and that is enough reason to get frustrated.

All the above secretive (probably false, too) things I told you are done is private, in public it is a more "social" reactions. They are walking down the road having a hot dog in one hand and coffee in the other while their friend takes leverage of their deep thinking and gulps down the sausage and drinks the coffee while the owner either does not care or didn't notice. The silver lining is that the possessions would have ended at the trash uneaten and not drunken so it was good that they managed to have been treated by the acids of any Homosapien.

After all the suffering and cursing, God decides to show his appreciation that you survived all these times. He sends one gift, an angel, a guardian, which you know will be cherished by you for all time because that one gift will be loved by you in no time and forever after, because it will come in the form which every inhabitant of this precious rock knows as an inspiration, mine was Anna, my best friend.

So this is the phenomenon of being in a Writer's block. It is actually not a fearsome condition as I have described it. It can be normal for some people but to some, not. Writer's block can even be overcome easily, the most known way is finding an inspiration, or you can just utter out loud and you may come across an idea worth sharing. So guys, this is the dark side of being a writer,  don't be discouraged by this one, this one is lousy, you already know the positives so look up to them, every coin has two sides folks. You can't avoid that.        

The Polar express - Revisiting the characters

When ever you think you have seen one mind blowing movie with characters worth individual attention, write a review on them! After the preview on the movie, I have decided that there are some characters in it worth having there own paragraph, hell they deserve their won movie, but since I can't do the latter please bear with this character sketch. Since I couldn't quite catch their names so I'll be using self made names. You are free to choose what to read, it can be long.


THE DOUBTER

This is the protagonist of this joyous and believable movie. A doubter, who has trouble believing in Santa. I would not blame him, he must have waited whole night hidden to catch the glimpse of the old man but didn't see him. He must have seen his parents put the presents under the tree when he hoped Santa would come in the night. He must not have a chimney (I'm kidding, he had one). The point here is, a child's mind is a fragile thing, when it withers and crushes under the pressure of fact like a flower due to disbelief in certain things one wanted so much to be true it is almost impossible to make it live again, notice the word 'almost'. This blogger may be irregular and uncustomary in his job folks, but he does know what crushed belief feels like. He's been there. So, to be back on track for the review, a train comes in front of his house in the night of an another dis-believable day. A the boy just being a boy, is curious what a freaking train is doing in front of his house, a conductor comes out of the train and explains that the train is going to the north pole to meet Santa. He just has to take the step, have faith and get in. He is first discombobulated to board it or not but he does get in, because how much ever he not believes in Santa he still wants to, he will do anything to help him restore his faith. A two way ticket magically appears in his pocket, he get's hot chocolate as refreshments served on aprons who can magically become tables without the need of a base. He even reaches north pole, see elves, accidentally goes into the grand bag of holding the presents but what really can heal him is seeing Santa with his own eyes. Do you realize how deep his wound was? After having all these experiences he is still having trouble believing!
He get's to see Santa, but first he had to really believe that he exists, which is ironical because he was told that "seeing is believing" and here he had to believe to see (see the previous review). The voice actor for this one is Tom Hanks.

THE LONELY GUY

This boy right in the picture might just be the biggest metaphor on the phrase "Christmas is for everyone", and to exercise the right to add, especially for the lonely ones. Just like every time, the train makes a stop at this boys' house, he too is uncertain to get on the train. Christmas just didn't work for him, until he decided to take the step and board the train. The whole journey he sits separately from all the other kids, like in the other coach separate. He does not think they are lower than him or something, he is just shy. But The Girl who believes (next paragraph) is just so nice to him. If someone can save you hot chocolate then that person is just the ultimate kind person you can have. This boy needed some friends ASAP and the doubter and the girl completed that for him. He lives in a home detached from the main town, with not much friends. He doesn't get to play in the snow with kids his age, make a snowman with them, play snow fight with them, because he doesn't have any. This kid is the perfect example and a message that Christmas can not be spent alone, Christmas is about sharing, sharing happiness, goofing around with your friends, sharing your expectations of presents. No one knew one train could change a man this much. No one knew a few metal containers on wheels could bring someone so much happiness and new hope.

THE GIRL WHO BELIEVES

Even though everyone in the train believes that Santa exists, this girl is the only wise one. That I think, can be wrong. This girl in the picture is the most kind and empathetic person in this world filled with hypocrisy and lies. This girl just understands what's it like to be lonely, and she surely knows how to get acquainted with anybody. She knows how to have fun, and make people have fun with her. She is the balance between the childish belief in Santa and being real for the world. She is the counter weight for the Doubter and the lonely guy, as there are not so Christmas-y thoughts in both the boys minds, she tries her best to lift the atmosphere up. She is greatly successful in it. She has the most unforgettable Christmas when she gets to have a drop in a bag full of presents for the whole world. Get's to see the workshop for making gifts and then get to see Santa, she still does not forget her friends, she knows how to share the happiness. The voice actor  for the girls is Nona Gaye and she has done an amazing job of it.

THE CONDUCTOR


The first thing that comes to mind when you see him talk is that he is a trained conductor, he takes his job seriously and makes it a bit too obvious. He has practiced reciting what the train is called and where is it going. He is one expeditious guy who is wants everything to be well timed as well, of course it's Christmas, it's his job to make sure that every child gets to see Santa which is probably more important than seeing a blue moon.
The conductor may be putting child repellent cologne on him but he loves children, it's just that it bugs him if someone messes with his schedule, which children do a lot. He is like a coconut, he is very harsh with children if they mess up because he thinks it's his ultimate responsibility to keep the children safe and do his job to make their Christmas the most unforgettable one ever. He is even strict when it comes to punching tickets, in his perspective if the ultimate privilege of boarding the train is not being confirmed by the conductor you are not deemed fit to sit in the coach, but apparently you are allowed to sit in the engine if the engine masters decided to change the light bulb. You didn't expect him to throw a child off the train if he/she does not have the ticket? He even punches ticket in the most professional manner ever so make sure you don't fall for him when he punches your ticket.

                                                                 *THE END*

P.S. These are not the only great characters of the movie, There is, of course, Santa, the great bearded grandpa with the gifts, and there is one guy who calls himself the king of North Pole, amazing character, it is a bit hard to not look out for these characters because they play a significant role in the movie, but still, make sure you understand the movie and make your Christmas more enjoyable! I didn't write about Santa because then it would be too long, my sincere apologies

The polar express - Christmas more believable and magical

How many kids believe in Santa? Well, everyone. There is something magical in the excitement you get when you wait for that red dressed grandpa with a long snowy beard in the night in the night of the twenty forth. To leave cookies and milk for him so that he can feel great full that someone cares, and can apparently give you the present you wanted. It's not just exciting for the kid, most cases it's joyous for the parent to know that their kid is hiding flashlights under the bed so that he can see the great guy with gifts. It's something indescribable when you get the gift under the tree, see the cookies and the milk finished and have the desired gift from Santa after trying to not go in the naughty list the whole year.
It's even more heart filling when you get to know there is a train who will get you to the north pole so you can see that great snowy bearded man and see him fly the great SLEIGH! Sounds interesting for the believers (those who believe, not the Justin "douche" bieber fans, so make sure you read it correctly). What about the doubters, who don't believe? For them Christmas is just another holiday, a day to open wrapped belongings your relatives bought you. A day to just roam around, maybe go to the mall and have some "fun".
The movie revolves around these two themes, a boy who is a doubter and other kids who believe. He has trouble believing that Santa exists, but the hope is still there. That small beacon of hope would have disappeared if not for that night. The boy laying awake in his bed, waiting for the jingle and genuine 'ho-ho-ho' from the ceiling. Even when he knows he'll not hear it. Instead he hears something unusual, something even a mind in it's wildest dreams would not imagine (well, maybe. That's how the movie is there). A train parked in front of the house ready to take any kid to the north pole to meet Santa, The Polar Express. The Polar express runs on the late night of Christmas Eve going door to door to pick children that it can reach early morning to the north pole to give the immense joy to children by seeing the famous guy and even get the chance to have the first gift of Christmas! (just like any lucky draw, only this one was real). The train is parked up in front of the doubter's house to pick him up. It is chance to restore his belief. He is confused as the train never came to him before but he decided to board eventually. A train ticket appeared in his pocket which is punched by an expeditious man with a talent of punching tickets with a message (it is Christmas after all).
Since going from US of A to north pole in a train cannot be an easy task, they face some peculiar difficulties which can only be faced by a train in the north pole and nothing else. They surpass those and reach the great destination every kid in the world has ever dreamt of. Everybody know what the writer is saying. But how can meeting the Santa Claus can be such an easy task? The boy has trouble seeing main attraction which is minutes away from flying of. He uses an advise which he thought didn't make sense before-"to believe"  lo-and-behold he gets to see the man he was trying so hard to believe in.
In the end a very great irony (personal opinion) is revealed. That is it was said that 'seeing is believing' but to see Santa the boy had to believe to see. This author can be wrong.

A bit to obvious huh?