Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Invictus



A very inspiring movie based on John Carlin's book 'Playing the enemy'. It was just a co-incidence that i watched this movie on Nelson Mandela's 92nd birthday.

Directed by Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman plays the role of Nelson Mandela and Matt Damon as Francois Pienaar, the captain of South African Springboks rugby team.

Nelson Mandela, soon after being elected as the President, marking the end of apartheid, tries to unite the country taking rugby as the vehicle to change, joining hands with the Captain of its team.

South Africa finally wins the 1995 World cup against the mighty New Zealand.

The movie ends with the words of the poem that kept his spirits up while he was imprisoned "I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul".

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Cultural History of India











The illustrated Cultural History of India edited by A.L.Basham is quite interesting, unlike political, economic history which is rather boring. This has covered almost the entire culture India has witnessed (in art, architecture,philosophy, religion, music and literature) since the Indus civilization till the Nationalist Movement and Modern Literature. Everything in a concised form. What a great way to explore our own culture!

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

2 states



Finished reading this book. Though one can feel cultural shock in differentiating north with the south, the story is interesting and a happy ending.

Though it has a common topic of today, Chetan Bhagat has beautifully portrayed it. After i finished reading, i was curious to see how Ananya looks. So here is their photo.


Chetan Bhagat and wife Anusha

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Mahashweta




This is the third book i read by Sudha Murty, the other two being 'Wise and Otherwise' and 'Dollar Bahu'. I have started loving her works.

'Mahashweta' is yet another wonderful novel by Sudha Murty. Its about a beautiful girl Anupama who just after marriage suffers from Leukoderma, how things change with that, and how she struggles almost single handedly without anybody's support.

The title is related to Anupama in way that she plays the role of Mahashweta in a college drama, which is the love story of Mahashweta, who is an extremely beautiful princess,the daughter of King of Gandhara who fell in love with Pundarika,the handome son of a rishi.In the same way Dr. Anand fell in love at first sight with Anupama after watching her performance in that drama.

The novel is so heart touching, which tries to portray various aspects of society. It infact has influenced many lives. The author herself illustrates one at the end.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

A story teller's world



This is the first time i read R.K.Narayanan's work. I loved it so much. One can sit and finish the book at a stretch. It seems like its the feeling of each one of us. Wanting to read more of his. Can you suggest me few...