Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - A relationship Unfathomable

The relationship between a father and his son is a special one. Every father is the kind of friend who will protect you no matter how much your life is messed up. He will help you, pick you up and guide you through the never ending void every son falls into. No matter what, a father will be there for his son, even after his death. A son on the other hand will always say "I hate my father!" to the world, but will cherish the memories they had together. When a son is afraid of the dark, the father will come with a flash light to guide him. If the son is afraid of heights, he will climb the mountains to show him there's nothing to be afraid of. A father and son relationship is the most unfathomable ever.

Oskar, a nine year old kid lost his father in the tragedy of  9/11, his father was one of the victims of the twin towers tragedy. The extremely loud bang took out his incredibly close father. Oskar was already the kind of child who would rather stay at home and reflect upon life rather than do skateboarding outside (He was a smart kid I tell you). When the catastrophe happened, he was in school completely oblivious that his own world is going to be turned upside down. They were left early from school and he reached home finding six messages on the answering machine, all from his father. Moving on, he completely cut himself off from the world. The only ones left with him were his grandmother and mother, but he didn't make any effort to confide in them much. He regularly went in his secret closet in which he kept on listening to the messages his father left and drown in his own guilt of being too scared.

One day, as he is as he was listening to the recordings on loop, he decides to go in his father's cupboard. Everything there was untouched, neither by him or his mother after the accident, since it harboured too many painful memories. He was trying to get a box from the top shelf and accidentally he breaks a vase. Inside, he finds a key in a small envelop with the name "Black" written on it. He creates a plan to find and meet all the people with names as written in the envelop in the entire State.  Convinced that his father left him a message, he goes in an ambitious journey to find the lock the key fits, so that he can unlock the last message ever of his dead father. In this journey, he revisits his worst fears conceived after the tragedy and learns to overcome them, for his father. He meets new people, hears their awe inspiring, shocking, heart warming stories and discovers that everyone he met had lost something, and not only to the 9/11 tragedy, but to life.

So, will Oskar find the lock to the key? What exactly is the message left by his father? Or even if there is a message? Is the key really meant for Oskar in the first place? Most importantly, will Oskar give up? This movie has uniquely blended a horrific incident with the beautiful relationship of a father and son. This tale tells you about a strong bond between two human beings  related by blood, how it is never broken but one will go to great lengths just to get to relive it again. This movie tells you that no matter how many tall buildings have fallen over, you should never give up because there is always a key to unlock and wash away the sadness inside of you. A movie must watch from me.

1965 Indo-Pak War Exhibition - An account of tragedies and winnings

"War is not meaningless, it is just unnecessary"

War has been going on since the dawn of time. Wether it is humans fighting each other for their survival or the universe battling itself for its own existence, war has been going on and it will go on. To go on a much lesser level than the Cosmos, one of the one of the many wars fought by the Republic of India after its independence was the 1965 India-Pakistan War over the State of Kashmir.

It is believed that is this tragedy's wheels were set in motion during the time of April when Pakistani troops decided to infiltrate Kashmir and launch a full scale insurgency battle so that the state of Kashmir is torn apart from India. India retaliated with full force to this by sending its forces to Kashmir to send off the Pakistani insurgency troops. It was soon converted into a full scale war which reported thousands of deaths and the biggest tank battle since World War 2! One can only imagine the sheer number of the pile of tanks, money, and human lives lost in this tragedy.

September 2015 marks the Golden Jubilee of this war and an Exhibition "Shauryanjali" was set up on India Gate to honour the of the might of the armed forces, and many valiant soldiers who sacrificed their lives to save their mother land. This Exhibition is one account of the tragedies and winnings of a country and from personal experience I believe that they did a great job of communicating with the masses. There was a wide array of the Tanks, and Air Crafts on display which were used in the war. People were mesmerized by the collection and the sheer aura of all the heavy guns and artillery. All Of three armed forces had their fair share of time for showing their own cards up their sleeves but there were mainly two events which were an absolute hit. First, they had set up a stage for a wide range of performances to be shown. There were many more performances by Army, Air Force and even school children. Secondly, the Indian Army had recreated an indoor battlefield just beside the exhibition which became an instant hit and everyone was more than excited to see the realistic set up.

All in all, it was a great experience for me and surely for anyone who ever visited it. This Exhibition has been enlightening, fruitful and very much fun. Even though it was supposed to be for five days but because of the large public response, it was extended two more days. So a request to all the Delhiiets, today is the last day and hence the last chance for you all to see the glimpse of our valiant soldiers who were martyrs in one of the biggest war of India. Please do attend it, the entry is free, yet the experience is priceless. 

















Author's Note : I do not take credit for these pictures, The Armed Forces, and the original photographers of these photos do. But I do take credit for the quote above.

Secret Life Of Walter Mitty - The Quintessence of Life

Have you ever thought of travelling the world? Of finding yourself? Have you ever travelled and felt the breeze of the earth calling to you, and take you away to wonderland? Ever thought of travelling to see the majestic, magical, intriguing wonders of Life? To enjoy the dust flying around, to see a flower blossom. To travel, not for a bunch of photos for social media or to show off in front of your friends, but to travel because sometimes getting lost on the roads let's you find a way to your soul.

Walter Mitty is an average, 9 to 5 office worker with a monotonous daily schedule with little time for himself. He manages the negatives for the magazine called LIFE. Ironically, he has no life. He is the kind of guy who cannot even fill the "Been There, Done That" section of a dating profile. He goes to office everyday, processes negatives and that's it. The only escape from reality is his imagination about what he would do if a catastrophe strikes, if he had the guts that is. Unfortunately, as it only happens in his head, he is the only one amazed by it. He imagines everything from saving a dog from a burning building to flirting with his crush after scaling The Himalayas. One day, as he is going to LIFE he finds a surprise waiting for him there. The magazine is going online and they need to cut down on the employees. Everyone knows that because of digitalization no one requires processing negatives anymore, putting his job in jeopardy.

Even after the shocking news he goes to the basement where all the negatives are processed and gets to work. That's the day his life became a negative to a colourful photograph. He receives the last reel of negatives from one of the most renowned photographers for LIFE, Sean O'Connell. He sends some beautiful pictures and a wallet for Walter because it's his birthday. Among the reels is photograph no. 25, apparently the most life defining picture Sean has ever taken. The board receives a telegram, and the contents of it say that photograph no. 25 is "The Quintessence of Life" and should be put on as the cover photo of the last issue. Everyone is asking about 25 but as it turns out, it is not with the other reels of negatives. Which spells big trouble for the magazine, especially Walter.

In an attempt to get the most important photo for the magazine he embarks on a journey to find the rarely seen Sean O'Connell in the hope he still has the photo with him. He processes the remaining photos to find some clues and unfortunately most of them does not make any sense to him. But he gets one picture, the name of the ship which Sean travelled in, a ship of Greenland. During the journey, a lot of unexpected happens. From a nine to five worker he becomes an adventurer. His imagination and reality merge into one and he finally does the things he was visualizing about. He finds what he is capable of, and finds his life during the journey.

So, will he meet Sean O'Connell? Even if he meets him, does Sean still has "The Quintessence Of Life"? What are the hardships Walter faces on the way? What all is he willing to do, for one tiny little negative? Will he ever get to see the most lively photo clicked by the amazing photographers? Everything will be answered if the movie is given the time to be watched and understood carefully.

Dil Dhadkne Do - my first take on a Bollywood film

Have you ever been forced to take a decision due to the pressure of your parents? Take up the subjects they want you to? Or worse,  join the family business you certainly don't have the skills to handle? Have you ever let go of the love of your life only to have him waltz in again and make you question your feelings for him?

Kamal Mehra is a self made businessman who built up a company with years of hard work. Which is now known as AYKA. But it has gone bankrupt now. To save the company they have to minimise their assets such as their own planes. Sadly for the son of the family, Kabir owns one of the planes and he is reluctant to let it go. To save the day for our dejected son, Neelam Mehra, the mother has stepped in. With the will to antagonize her husband, she sells her shares of the company to buy a plane for her son. On the other hand, Ayesha Mehra is a daughter of the family and also a self reliant woman with lots of ambition. She has created an online travel portal named ''Musafir.com''. Even though her company is doing great she still hasn't got the approval of her father every girl yearns for. Instead her father is trying to force Kabir into the family business. He has no management skills for the company unlike Ayesha. He has a passion for flying planes but is being handed over a multi-million dollar enterprise he has no idea how to handle.

The Mehra's decide to go on a cruise as a wedding anniversary celebration of Kamal and Neelam Mehra. Kamal has invited many potential investor geese in the hope of getting golden eggs out of them for his company, making it a somewhat cleverly camouflaged business trip. Even though Kamal is desperate for funding he does not want the money to exit the family circle. So he devises a plan keep it in.

During all those supposed partying on the cruise, Kabir is having his own type of fun. He encounters a girl named Farah when she was performing on the stage and he somewhat knows that she is the one. He manages to fix a date with her and as they get to know each other, they know that they are in love. They are having a great time getting to know each other

Let's get back to, Ayesha. She is married to a narcissistic and dominating guy who is innocently names Manav. He is the kind of guy who thinks the girls should stay home and cook and should not work.  Even after the obstacle of marriage Ayesha does not let it tamper with her independence and stands tall with the support of her brother. But the worst is yet to come. Ayesha is not invited on the cruise as their daughter but rather as the wife, which basically means she is not their daughter anymore. On the cruise, she finds out that her boyfriend Sunny has come back from USA. They had a history together before Ayesha's (supporting) father decides to send him abroad for better studies. Now he's back and she still does not know if she's over him or not!

There are other love birds flying around the salty sea too but should only be revealed if you watch the whole movie. Finally, this whole movie is narrated by a dog. Don't let it discourage you since he's a wise dog, and is present to witness every important moment of the film. The dog's name is Pluto Mehra. You surely will love him as he is the most sane being in the family. Now for the real questions. Will Ayesha get back with her boyfriend? Do Kabir and Farah have a future together? Will Kamal Mehra succeed in his quest to save the company? How does the dog know everything? Who knows? Certainly not you, because you've not seen the movie.

 

The book Thief - A Death Defining Book

Everyone is familiar with death, but no one welcomes it. For some reason, we all dread the phenomenon of rotting away and forgotten by people of our own, even though rotting away helps in the betterment of our environment. Even if some people do not dread it, they don't particularly welcome it either. Even after being the most common and inevitable phenomenon ever in the human history, we as humans have always tried to avoid it. But for one particular girl, death has avoided her. As narrated by death itself, you'll know how he revolves around the girl.

Leisel Meminger is a Jew. May not be surprising now, but in the reign of Hitler it was a crime unless you looked like a true Aryan, blonde with blue eyes. Which just proves how lucky she was. Very lucky. It was as if she was born to evade death.

Leisel Meminger's mother had an arrangement for Leisel and her brother to live a life, not guaranteed if happy or not. She was being given to the Hubermann's, foster parents living on Himmel Street, Molching. As she is going in a train to Molching, still adjusting to fact that she would be separated from her mother. Travelling nonetheless, it was as if she had a visit from a friend, but it did not come to take her. Her brother had died while sleeping on the train, beside her. It was as if she could feel Death scoop her brother and take him away, her first interaction with her new friend. The train stops at Munich for track repairs and the family with two guards come down to discuss what to do with Werner. They go to the Gravediggers to give him a proper burial. It was snowing heavily and the ground was frozen but the Gravedigger and the apprentice manage to dig the ground up. While that was happening, her eyes fell on the book which the apprentice had put down, The Gravedigger's Handbook. She was unnaturally attracted towards, even though she didn't know how to read or write. She picked up the book anyway, and that's how our Book Thief's journey started, books changing her life forever.

When Leisel saw the Hubermann's receiving her at her house, she had no idea that her life would change more drastically in a few years than she ever could imagine. Hans Hubermann was the friendly father, he was the one who read to her most of the nights, helped her wash the bed sheets whenever she had nightmares. He was so amazing that he even helped her complete her ambition, to read and write herself. He became the father Leisel sorely wanted. Rosa on the other hand, became a disciplinarian, always trying to discipline her and bend to her ways. No one actually knows her true colours until she just has to rip apart the cold hard wall she had enclosed her heart in.

Through the course of acquainting and adjusting to her life she got two friends. Max, a Jew on the run and Rudy, the best friend. Both the friendships were poles apart from each other but they both were very special to her. To put in context, if she stole fruits and books with Rudy all those activities rushing with adrenaline, she sat there calmly with Max in the basement of her house, in a serene manner, watching him read and write. Max was always like a brother to her, she obviously dreaded that her family is hiding a Jew in their basement, but she loved his company. Rudy was, the best friend. Nothing more, she spent most her time with him. They were out there, stealing food with their gang. Their personal thing they developed was stealing books from the house of the mayor of Munich, just living across Himmel Street. That automatically became their own thing, only shared between them two.

Just with the exception of the occasional bomb blast which required the neighbors to go into an approved bunker safe for shelter, all was well. But suddenly, a gust of wind blew and crashed her castle of life. The wind was blown by death. This time, death was much more cruel, he turned her back on her.

So here is Leisel Meminger, the one who continued to amuse death and steal books. A Jew in Nazi Germany, her tale of survival. Evading the most dreaded phenomenon in all of human history every single time. Now, you just have to pick up the book and explore the rest of her.

This, is just a summary of a great and revolutionalising book, it only highlights the major events of the book. So people, I hope I put up a decent review after such a long time.

Angels and Demons-Race against time for relegion

Angels and Demons features a Harvard symbology professor who gets in a race to save a religion from crumbling down.

Robert Langdon is living his life peacefully, teaching symbology at Harvard, breaking co-ed's hearts, living in his small comfortable apartment filled with various symbols and artifacts in history. In short all is awesome. Until one day he gets a call and a fax from a well renowned company CERN. The director Maximilian Kohler is a guy of authority who can operate his kingdom from a wheelchair. He encounters a certain situation which requires the special eyes and brains of a symbologist, naturally he selected a well known professor of Harvard.

Langdon is flown to the headquarters of CERN located in Switzerland where he has the chance to walk on the same soil noble prize laureate's have walked on (He even plays catch with one!). He has been lead to a personal laboratory of Leonardo Vetra, a well known physicist and a priest, where he has been found murdered. Where Langdon's expertise comes in is that Leonardo has been branded by the ambigram of Illuminati and one of his eyes has been gouged out. Surprisingly, there was no police on the premise as there was a murder in one of the world's well known scientific organization, Maximilian Kohler gave the theory that he did not wish to involve the police as it would bring bad publicity to CERN, and would create fear around the company (Yes, only a select few people know about Vetra and Maximilian is a good man).

Illuminati was a top secret and the most influential brotherhood ever to walk the earth. But was said to be dissolved in the 1700's. A three hundred year old top secret organization to have come back surely stroke a spur of fear across hearts.

The daughter of the physicist who is a marine biologist, Vittoria Vetra, came to CERN as soon  as she heard the devastating news. It was said that Vittoria and her father were working on a mission which is to be kept in absolute secrecy. As she lands, Maximilian pressurizes her to tell him about the secret project as it may be the cause of Leonardo's death. What comes to light is that the father-daughter duo was making anti matter, which is highly explosive if it comes in contact with any matter, and could power whole cities for days. So of course it was for the good of humanity.

As it happens, someone steals it. Presumably it's the brotherhood for obvious and fairly imprinted reasons. Robert Langdon works his mind and comes to know that the Brotherhood is finally going to avenge it's nemesis, the Church. He guesses that the anti matter bomb is in the Vatican and no one knows about it. Now, the symbologist and the marine biologist go on a quest against time to save a religion who gave us Jesus (Jesus Christ, that's heart racing!). The fact that they are selecting the new Pope makes it all the more crucial for the bomb to be stopped.

As they both are racing against time, there is an executioner in the Vatican who is going to first terrorize the Church by trying to kill the four most preferred Cardinals for Pope in the most terrible and painful way. As it is known by all, the brotherhood did not worship Jesus or any god's sanctioned by the Church but worshiped Science. In those times, for science there were four main elements who made the earth, namely Earth, Fire, Water and Air. To strike some fear in the hearts of the Church the executioner killed all those four Cardinals by those elements. How all of this unfolds and how many survive from this deadly explosive is only known by reading the book.      

F.R.I.E.N.D.S - keeping up with the definition

Hey readers, my apologies for being inactive, you missed me right? right? Anyway, the reason for me being inactive are the dreaded exams and a vacation to hills. Anyway, I am back into action and I hope to give you some decent reviews. This review is going to be about one of the most sensational shows ever aired in the nineties! F.R.I.E.N.D.S

Friends is a daily soap which was first aired in September 22, 1994. The fact that it went on for ten whole years proves that it was one of the most sensational show of all time.
This show is about six best friends, three women and three men, namely Joey Tribbiani, Ross Geller, Chandler Muriel Bing, Pheobe Buffay, Monica Geller, and Rachel Green. They live in the same apartment complex in New York. Honestly, their friendship will make super glue blush. They stick by each other no matter what. The best thing, they had no romance between them which never created an awkward situation for the rest of them. This show tells the public about the ideal friendship. They all pulled each others legs at every opportunity they got but never left the others back, never allowing the faith and trust to simmer down.

Now a little about the characters :
Joey, this one was a total womanizer. He practically reeled women in with his amazingly good looks and personality. He has a passion for acting and tries his best to pursue it. Even though he has been selected in numerous acting shows, eventually he was removed for reason or another. He lives in an apartment owned by his best friend, Chandler. Even though those six are close, the both are closer. Not in that way of course, they are best buds. Period. Chandler also pays for every expense of Joey along with his own, from food to acting classes, everything. Take it as an example of their friendship.

Now how can the two buds be separated right?
Chandler is an exceptionally sarcastic man, not because he wants to be liked but because he has a tragic history. His parents were separated when he was young and he started using sarcasm as a defense mechanism, so he replies with a sarcastic comment (let's be kind) ninety percent of the time. Now this seems pretty miserable, but believe me he is not the depressing type. He enjoys his life with Joey, does stupid shit and live life. Not at all miserable.

Now coming to the women, Pheobe is like the feminine version of Chandler, only that she does not have a bud like Joey. Although she has a downright miserable history with her parents she manages to get through that heartbreaking faith and move on. Her hobbies are singing and playing. Even though she plays guitar just above average she compensates with second rate lyrics of the song. She sings pretty well but likes to make an unintentional fool of herself with sarcastic remarks. The best part, she does not mind. She is totally the weird person who acts all different on public places and is pretty stupid at first talk, but she may be the greatest person to hangout with when you get to know her.

Even though it was so difficult to pick out only three characters to write about, but they are pretty exceptional in their own light. This show is one the most longest running shows in T.V. history and, of course, the most adaptable. This show will delicately thrown light on true friendship all mixed with funny and romance romance (yes, there is a little). If you like the review, you will fall for the show. It may be great for binge watching for its long list of episodes and ten seasons. Needless to say, a must watch.