Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Well.. first things first - Ignore the tags! Whatever they may say, this is NOT a book review. I will

never be big enough to write a review for any Harry Potter book. The entire series is a huge part of my life and indeed, it is something so huge that I can conveniently interchange 'life' and 'Harry Potter world'.

There is a friend in London and all I have spoken to him in weeks is about the play in the Palace Theatre and how I just need to see it. There was a puja (ritual) that we hold at our place every year; my dad wanted to have it today and I made him shift to the next week. I could barely sleep the last night - with so much excitement for the new book. Indeed, at a point, my mother actually shouted on me for being over obsessed with the book and forgetting everything for it. I just said her one thing - A life is well lived when we have a lot of dreams and we fulfill them. Otherwise, we are just breathing. To me, Harry Potter was that dream.

Despite all the above, I had a wonderful day!

This was the first book that I have obsessed over and got the first book from the bookstore. I was a fan even when the seventh book released but I was in school then. I had my dad buy it but I only read it when I came home from school. Hence, I loved today even more.

If I have to define my day in a checklist -

• Bug your friend in London with Harry Potter trivia - ✅Check

• Insanely wait for the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - ✅Check

• Cancel everything in the world for a week when the book was releasing - ✅Check

• Not sleeping waiting for the book to release - ✅Check

• Waiting outside the bookstore even before the books or the owner arrives - ✅Check

• Get the bookstore people to start quickly for me to buy the book - ✅Check

• Fuss with the bookstore people over not handling the Harry Potter books with enough consideration - ✅Check

• Buy the first book the bookstore sold - ✅Check

• Read the entire book - ✅Check

• Reread important scenes with Snape - ✅Check

• Fall in love with the magic all over again - ✅Check

Current status - waiting for Harry Potter Go App and to somehow disapparate to London to see the play

Coming to the story... I got a call in the evening from another Potterhead. He asked me one single sentence - As a reader, how did you like the book? (ofcourse, I loved it as a bigtime Potterhead :P) That is also the perspective I am going to put here.

SPOILER ALERT : I have tried to not include any spoiler but sorry if there is anything :S

The book looks really big but it is not. This is the only disappointment I have felt. The book is actually longer than any book and it looks pretty thick.. However, it is just 330 pages of text. Also, since the entire thing is a screenplay script, therefore, all dialogues! Thus, the actual story is even small. The story starts a little slow and with the scene where we left it - at the Kings Cross when Albus begins his first year at Hogwarts. Before you know it, Albus is going to start his fourth year. However, it is then, the things begin happening. And it is also when, you can not even think of putting the book down... not even for a second.

Being a screenplay, the book is divided into 2 parts and each part has 2 acts... 4 acts in total. Each act has couple of scenes. Initially, it is a little difficult to read a Harry Potter story like this but once you are in it... you are in it till the end!!

This is NOT a spin off!! The story has MOST OF THE HARRY POTTER SERIES CHARACTERS. The book begins with Albus being unsure - what if he lands in Slytherin? Actually, he just feels that he is not at all like Harry - the boy who lived and now Albus is stuck with being Harry's kid. Someone, both the father and son, dont reach out to each other. Albus feels that Harry always is the Chosen One. And then, Albus takes it to himself to correct what he thinks his father does wrong.

During the journey, we see some back-stories - Draco, James-Lily, Ron-Hermione, and more. We see Professor McGonacall, Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape - Do NOT get your hopes up. Yes, he is alive when he appears. No, he is STILL actually dead. I can't reveal more. The scene with Severus is really beautiful, though. Snape's reaction and all he does is amazing. However, let me tell you, dont get attached. We got some deaths that are equal in magnitude if not less, to the Prince's Tale.

The antagonist is weak. I mean, the suspense was already building and then the antagonist was revealed pretty early. Also, the antagonist did not stand up to the suspense built around it (wont reveal gender). The strong points were - we have lots of things from book 1, book 3, book 4 and book 5. Also, I love Scorpius. Albus and Scorpius are ultimate examples of - it is our choices that show us who we truly are, not our abilities ;)

I have not stopped beaming since I read the book. Indeed, I read Severus's part twice. My friend, also asked me that should this be made to a movie - this was something I was thinking about while reading. There is floo network, walking the wall at Kings Cross, apparation, transformation... I am not sure how all of this would fit in a Broadway... So, my first answer was YES! Most Certainly! And then... I realized.. We dont have Alan with us anymore and no way I am having anyone else play Snape. So, no, this can not be made into a movie.

If you check facebook or other social networking sites, there are so many people all over the planet reading this book and going crazy with joy. I have always been amazed at how some ink and paper has stirred the heart of millions and united them all. There have been pre-launch events and fans coming all together to celebrate a book. Jo, Happy Birthday.. and look, how words are so powerful to change everything!! Thank You for the eighth book. I strongly recommend all to read it.

If you still have not bought it... then buy it HERE. 

Happy Birthday Jo!

Happy Birthday Harry.

This one is truly for you Alan... We have lost Snape thrice now.

The Monk who sold his Ferrari : Book Review

There is a beautiful line in the veteran actor Rajesh Khanna starrer movie Anand - 'Its very simple to be happy but very difficult to be simple'.

Even before having read the book, I was really wanting to write an entry with the same topic, but now

having read the book, I just think I have couple more points and I could really write this article right now.

Firstly, lets talk a little about the book. Honestly, who am I to talk about the international bestseller, that has moved people all over the world?

It’s a very simple and short story which just teaches us two things - 'common sense is not all that common' and 'walk your talk'. These are mainly the two things that the society is really lacking at this moment and if any human being just followed these principles, maybe not to the extent as in the book or as the sages of Sivana, but life is definitely bound to improve.

Also there was another thing that I really liked in the book - The real things that make our lives worth living are no amount of money or wealth. Yes, I agree with the author that if you work hard enough, the material things are few rewards that you earn and there is nothing wrong with that. But imagine having millions and eating just bread, like Julian described. Or having to live each day thinking of the lost daughter. These are some pains that you can say are harsh but the one who bears can only know.

Like I said its easy to 'talk the talk' but very difficult to 'walk the talk'…

Often, people don’t themselves follow what they preach and there can be nothing worse than this. How can you ask someone else to be honest if you are yourself lying to them?

You see, there are several books and even more people saying the same things over and over again… its just that people are so busy in their lives that it is true, there is not a single minute when a person halts and ponders over where he is headed to. Instead, one thinks that the minute would be wasted and make him behind in the race.

Yes, right from the time a child is born he is made the part of a race - who is the cutest baby? Who has the best name? who starts the education first? Who comes first? And goes knows to what… If you are reading this, please take a precious moment of your time and effort and just let me know that where exactly is the race headed towards? - who dies first?

People have just stopped seeing life as the gift it is. I am no sage and therefore I wont ask you to do yoga or vigrously exercise or even be a vegan. What I truly believe is that even meat is created by God… and once he blessed you to be a part of his exquisite creation, you really ought to cherish everything there is offered. If in any sense you are eluded of some pleasures the world offers, your life is not fully lived.

I do agree that there are hundreds or even more things that the Lord created and how can one ever cherish each one of them. Well this is where the book comes in. The book clearly states that life without achievement is live not lived well. Therefore, set your goals. Have some dreams and if you dare dream, you also have the power within to unleash the dream into reality. Harness that power!

Someone really close once quoted to me - "A miserable soul can only make others miserable"… Well yes, I am one of those persons who really get tensed quickly. I am always having something or the other to bother me and usually it keeps me on my toes till it is done. But this is one thing I have learned. No matter how hard the situation is or how tensed you are… whenever you talk to others, share some light thoughts. Talk to people to relax yourself. If you talk to people and talk about your worries, you just get more worried. Instead, if you have a bad day, take out a few minutes and a find a person who can spend his/her few minutes. Talk to the person, share some jokes or relive some good memories. Share a story or ask him/her to do so.

There is nothing better relaxing to a human mind like this. Not only talking to a friend and laughing, freshens up your mind and mood, but in a way you just strengthened your bond with a person.

Imagine, with the amount of worries we have, if you apply this with different people every time, how many good friends will we have?

Coming back to the sentence I quoted from the movie… a person can be happy for any number of reasons. You bought a chocolate, your could be happy. From buying a Rs. 5 chocolate to buying a crore Rs. Flat, anything can make you happy. But now you have to decide what is the happiness that lasts forever…

On the other hand, if we live a content and peaceful life, we are bound to stay happy for most of the part. Being content is not being un-ambitious. I mean not being greedy. Its mainly greed that forces a man to take part in the race we have been discussing… greed for money… greed to be at the top… great to be famous… or simply greed to outlive the other. Whatever it might be, but greed is definitely a strong link to the major negative thoughts prevailing in the world. Once you open your mind to one, the others will all be welcomed.

About the book, it was a good book… and rather a book that everyone must read and reread in the different stages of their lives. It has a hidden wisdom for all the ages and all the kinds of people of the society. There are very few, or maybe even less such books that you must definitely have in your library, for once you have read them, they act as your guide whenever you think you need a little motivation or you need a friend.

However, the book must have done great overseas, but being an Indian, there were bits that were presented too dramatically but are not all that dramatic. I enjoyed it and I am moved but I am not all that thrilled as it was I heard about the book.

Nonetheless, I cant ever end without saying that I felt really great when they wrote all the good about India and its rich culture. I felt really proud. Also, I couldn’t help but wonder what if it wasn’t a tale… atleast not all of it. What if Robin was Julian or he knew Julian? I mean a book is an amazing way to live upto your promise to Yogi Raman. Who knows? If you do, please let me know… for if there is Sivana, I would really want to visit there atleast once in my lifetime.

Till then…

Happy Reading...

The Lucky One : Movie Review

It's officially official now - Movies based on Books are really BAD!

I just saw the movie adaptation of the book I mentioned - The Lucky One. I don’t know if I mentioned it or not, the book was good but it was definitely not to the mark with the other Nicholas Sparks books. Its not that I didn’t enjoy the book but I cant deny that it wasn’t a match to the rest of the Nicholas Sparks books…

And then when I started watching the movie, it wasn’t adhering to the book right from the first scene. As in the main crux of the movie is same as that of the book - Logan is traumatized after coming from Iraq. He has a photo of a girl that has kept him alive. He sets out to find the girl and thank her. He works in the Kennel, both of them fall in love with each other. Keith, Ben's father is a constant source of trouble… and then Ben falls into the creek and Keith dies while Logan survives.

But as in apart from these 5 lines, I doubt there is anything common in the two.

Right from the first scene of the movie, where Logan finds the photo NOT in a desert in Kuwait, but after his

troops has swapped a building. While Logan goes to pick up a shiny thing which as soon as he sees is the photograph, a bomb blows off right where he had been and all the people, but him, die.

The poor traumatized baby returns to his sister finding the war to have made him unfit to stay with people. He finally recalls Victor's words that he must go and thank the girl of the photograph. By the way, Victor is killed in a tank after having said these words by some sort of attack and not in a lake. Poor chap, didn’t even get to marry in the movie!

Well, Logan does that. He reaches Hampton without any encounter with Keith on the way. Logan enquires about Beth and is led to the kennel directly. He walks up and its Beth who assumes that he needs a job.

The worst part of the movie was - Beth. No offense, but the actress hasn’t done any justice to the role. Beth was a person who was made serious because of her mistakes and responsibilities, otherwise, eventhough she was a person of little words, but had a very open heart. She wanted to enjoy every bit of life.

However in the movie, Beth was this little miserable person who didn’t even let others speak. She was not at all in flow and made others loose their flow as well.

Zack didn’t do a very nice with Logan either. However he got better as the story progressed. Beth got worse.

Especially what was with the director? Beth going and confronting Keith… if Beth's character was so chivalric, why would Ben ever freak out in the climax? And Ben… I just cant say enough. Ben was supposed to be that silent kid who is burdened with the expectations of his father and tired of doing what others want him to do. Rather, the movie-Ben is very happy helping his dad and enjoys with Keith more than he enjoys with Logan. The worst of all - where Zeus? I mean yes there is a dog trailing Logan everywhere but apart from that, there is no more to Zeus. Whereas, in the book, you would just fall in love with Zeus!

Having written what all I disliked, there are two things that I really loved about the movie which were not there in the movie.

Firstly, I liked to see Judge Clayton. I mean in the book there was Judge Clayton, in bits; but he was such a part that was most liked to get edited while making the movie. Rather there was more Judge Clayton than in the book. Especially in the last scene, when Keith dies, I really was overwhelmed to see Judge Clayton there. It kind of added more roots to the movie.

The other thing that I totally loved was the boat. There wasn’t so much told about Beth's parents. As in again it was the kind of thing that would get edit. But showing the boat and how Logan worked the boat - it was all wonderful.

Back to the things I hated - the intense scenes between Logan and Beth - HELLO!! I appreciate how they didn’t show the two falling in love the very instance and how it made sense for Keith to intervene constantly than trying to scare the guy off but there was a very important thing that the two didn’t want to show Ben that they were dating and so making out broadly in the house was LAME!

Lastly, not the least, I imagined Nana to be somewhat as she was portrayed, just a little more healthy. Nana was exactly the Godmother to Beth and at the same time she was wise to judge about Logan and also childish enough. I simply loved Nana both in the book as well in the movie.

Reading the review, I find that I have just written everything in small points. I guess throughout the movie, I was just taking notes mentally as to what I felt or what each scene reflected to me. Maybe this happens when you see a movie after you have read the book it is based on.

However, I wont imagine how bad it would be to not read the book. I would have ended up hating the story if I just seen the movie. Books definitely provide the director within us to  let our imagination fly high and decide the small, finer details ourselves. Most of the times these details are already presented to us in the movie by the director and in accordance to the director's point of view. Thereby it is very much possible that if we don’t like the director's perspective, we are bound to not enjoy the movie.

A book, however, is different. Like a read recently, reading a book is like being in discussion with the author. You learn his/her perspective and there is a simple attempt to show the reader the author's world. But it is to the reader how exactly do we take it.

I guess, I am headed off onto a total different direction in the article now. So let me just conclude with - if you havent seen the movie, and havent read the novel (important prerequisite), do see it. Its not a classic Romeo-Juliet, but it is a nice and decent love story.

'Knowledge' is food to soul

Some of you might have noticed (or would have known) that I read; as in read novels. To be honest, yes I am very much pro-reading and I do enjoying reading. All of it, makes me a real fan of reading. Nonetheless, the lazy I am, trust me I hardly spend time reading. I would waste time watching a movie over and over again but taking out time to read, phew! That's a hard one!
Well, part of me enjoys reading so much that it is very difficult to let down a book once it has me interested. Unfortunately, that part is very small. And so only a very small reason for me not being a regular reader is that I feel the need to finish a book as soon as it gets interesting and this hampers all my daily tasks and routines. Also, when a book end, the same little part inside me, it develops a strong hunger for more which would lead from a book to another and so on. But like I said, that part is small enough and majorly I am plainly lazy.

Dan Brown's all new Inferno

Remember: Only when you acknowledge a problem, can you solve it. If you keep denying it, you will never solve it. Thank God, I am not lazy to not recognize mine ;)

Anyways, so there is this book 'Inferno' by Dan Brown; the latest in the Robert Langdon series. Dan Brown is definitely my all time favorite author and no doubt, like every other book of his, Inferno has me gripped up real tight. Now the problem I face is a conflict between my laziness and my respect for the fantastic work. Every time I start reading the book, somewhere or the other I have to slow down or get a break. Then after the break whenever I start, out of respect, it so happens that no matter what I have to read from the beginning. After a few days again I meet some break. And so has this vicious cycle got me tangled in it. I have like read the beginning so well that I could even visualize the hospital, Dr. Marconi and the dress Sienna changes into. But it also kills me not knowing the end. Of course, I am an ending person. I just love to know the end. Its kind of reassuring that there is a 'happily-ever-after' :P.

 Today, I had nothing to do really and so I wasted the entire day. Towards the later part of the evening I thought to finish the book but then I had to again read from the beginning. So far, I have read like a good 270 pages of the book, 50 being the only new additions today but reading the book made me realize a lot of things.

SPOILER ALERT

There was a scene where the trusted contact of the provost turns out to be Mr. Ferris. And right from where Dan's introduced the man with rashes all over his skin, I just couldn’t get to leave guard of this character. When it was finally revealed, I nearly jumped in my bed starling my roommate and another friend in the room. Later, while the two of them played some typical hindi Bollywood songs and danced to the tunes, I found it harder to concentrate on the song than I ever had. It was like there was something about the book that had stopped my brains from registering the audio input. Like sound did fall on my ears but it didn’t get registered in the brain. I found no difficulty whatsoever in reading and it was then when I realized that knowingly or don’t know how, but reading has become a very important part of the person I am.
It got me thinking about what all changes I have felt since I have read; this post is the result.

Reading not only makes me a better listener, but like Richard Castle, of the tv series Castle, says that there is always a story. Reading makes you find that story. It gives your brain a good exercise. And like I said in the heading itself - "Knowledge is food to the soul". Not only you become clear with your thoughts and expressions, you start seeing the world differently. Reading gives you a whole new perspective. And well, there is always, it makes you better at the language. You get good with getting the meaning of the words as you read or what they call 'contextual vocabulary'. Moreover, if nothing, just read enough, you will definitely improve some vocabulary if not much.
Trust me, reading is an addiction. If you start once, it takes like the first 30 - 50 pages (depending on the size of the book) for the plot to unfold and once it does, and you get even slightly interested, trust me, you are just into a new world with people whom you didn’t know a couple of minutes earlier but now you can easily predict their actions.

Reading Inferno, I found myself laughing to all the witty humor, scared when Langdon makes allies with Ferris, skeptical with Sienna and moreover amused with what all the author can give you in just so few pages. Not only to Dan Brown, but this is a salute to all the authors who in a few pages, have captured a story that not only takes us to places we have never been to but also introduce people who teach us some of the very important lessons life has to offers; books show us things we would have never seen in real life, they tell the stories forbidden to be even whispered and all along have the power to involve us emotionally into itself while making it all very interesting.
I mean just WOW!!! Hats off guys and gals (authors)!! I totally salute thee…

There was a time when I didn’t read. When I look back to those days today, I get scared for what if I would be remained so adamant on not reading. The very thought is deplorable.

Okie, so I guess I have mostly said whatever that I desired and now there are like a little over 100 pages of the book still calling out to me and I wish to finish it today itself or else I would have to start all over ;)

But before I sign off, trust me guys, reading is very boring if you start today and it looks a waste of time if you just sit reading word by word. It takes a little time to get a hang of it but once you do, you are totally going to love it. Give it all the effort it takes but start reading. This is one free thing that just requires your time but gives a lot back!