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Time travel marvel and dc style!

Time and tide wait for none
Everyone is trying to catch up with time
You would think money is precious but as you grow older you will realise that time is the most precious thing ever!

After all the philosophy let’s get little light!

Now the discussion is related to time travel only in movies and not in comics which is a huge topic!

It all started when in one of the original Superman movies starring Chris, Louis lane dies and Superman gets so distraught that he rotates in the opposite direction of Earth’s rotation and does it so fast that earth also rotates backwards literally turning the clock back and saving Lane!

Then you have so the justice league animation where one of the supervillain goes back in time and starts changing things!
At one point he even makes the batman disappear! Batman and Green Lantern learn a lot about their future when they go into the future but as decided they keep it to themselves so that it will not hamper the timeline in any way!

So one thing is clear that if you change the time or past then it will affect or impact your future!

Another DC movie was the flashpoint paradox which was a time reversal, a theme common in flash stories since he can move so fast he can stop time and also reverse it! In the movie, it is Bruce’s father Thomas Wayne who is a Batman like vigilante!
This is further elaborated in the dc series called the flash and here the flash mentions how going back in time changes things! So therefore it implies that if you change certain vital events in the past then you alter the future!
Also you tend to create an alternate timeline which may change the future as the flash finds out much to his dismay!
In flash going back and forth he also creates time remnants which are flash left in a particular time period! Getting confusing? That’s the idea!

Finally the centre piece is the time travel described in the AVENGERS END GAME! and in Avengers animated series! In the animation version, Cap America is able to change one thing and that was making Sure Bucky doesn’t die and we all know how that ended up! (The winter Soldier catastrophe!)

So in the movie, as Dr Bruce Explains, if you go back to past then it actually becomes your future and the present becomes your past! So it’s important that you don’t change anything major! You don’t try to contact your past selves so that they cannot change their future or create an alternate timeline! Phew!
Add to it you have Tony Stark explaining how instead of you passing through time, time passes through you as shown in the movie with ant man becoming old and young!

Finally when they do go Back in time and get the infinity stones, it is imperative that they return the important stones back to the time so that the timeline remain intact!

Captain America though does go back in time and as advised by Iron Man in Avengers Ultron movie, gets a full life and grows old and content!

So that’s a short synopsis of time travel marvel and Dc style!

Of course actual time travel may need quantum mechanics and what not! For now it’s only a dream!

Understand then that not everyone can be Captain America and get a second chance at making amends!
So treat time with the respect it deserves and hopefully one day time will be yours!

Avengers end game

This is not a review
Just a summary of the events leading to the end game!
No spoilers!
Just a refresher for those who are not big comic nerds and for others it is like a recap of the story till now and what you can expect!

A culmination of more than ten years of a single storyline is no mere feat indeed and never has a movie series done this before!

Let’s see how the characters have developed over the years till the previous installation of Avengers infinity war starting of course by captain America and Iron Man but keeping the best for the last!

Thanos!
The huge supervillain who was given lots of end credit appearances and later on made a full blown entrance with the Guardians of the Galaxy! Everytime he enters a scene, the audience literally shivered!
He can single handedly defeat the whole avengers and how! What happened with just a snap of his fingers we all know!
His quest for infinity stones and the eventual destruction of universe makes the final central storyline! His two daughters fight with themselves and with their conscience and choose a side!

The guardians of galaxy
There were two movies with the first one being a racy entertainment! You would think Quil would be the star and for the first two movies he was until the last Avenger and then we have Rocket Racoon taking the centre stage! Groot comes and goes!

Black Panther
The surprise hit! So black panther takes over his father’s Kingdom and leads Wakanda once again by giving support to the avengers!

Ant man
Develops as a super hero in the first film and due the consequences of the second one he somehow survives the infinity catastrophe and becomes one of the keys in the end game! (This much you know even from the trailor so no surprise there!)

Black widow and hawk-eye
There’s something special about these two who have no special powers!
Though black widow aka Nat was introduced in iron man 2, it was in the original avengers where both their characters grew into a formidable force! In the subsequent avenger movie (the age of Ultron) they became more serious with family (hawk-eye) and friends (hulk and Nat may have had something going on!). Nat was seen also in cap America second part and the third and the last Avenger while hawk was visibly absent in the last one! Both of them come back in this one to play very important role!

Hulk
Hulk should have been called sulk! Starting from the first Avenger he was expected to smash and he did in the first two avengers! But his last three appearances were more low key and that was the plan all along! He just survives the Avenger infinity war and becomes both calm and dependable in the end!

Spiderman
With a mix of costume given by iron man, Spiderman becomes more iron spider with incredible New powers and his growth from the first homecoming to his guest appearance in the civil war to his final act, he has been consistent and his growth is a special treat to watch!

Thor
Three movies in avengers storyline! Develops from the god of thunder to an Avenger! He teams up with hulk in rangrok which was one the best Thor movies with an awesome soundtrack! And finally teams up with the unlikeliest of the friends! In the serious movie the two big guns that is hulk and Thor actually provide the much needed comic relief and how!

Supporting stars guests!
Captain Marvel! You gotta see the movie to know that she rocks!
Doctor strange! You know the future and there is a reason for your every decision!
Wanda or scarlet witch! She had grown stronger in each movie! Nuff said!

Captain America!
Starting with the first Avenger movie which was just a base he followed it up with the winter Soldier and in this juncture there is a scene in the elevator which you must see again! Then the third installment of cap was civil war which was almost an Avenger movie! The first Avenger is fit as a fiddle and looks so young even after ten years of this series! Like all Avenger movies, here also he gets one of the chief roles and in one scene reminiscent of the popular animation he says AVENGERS ASSEMBLE! That was literally the top adrenaline surge moment in the movie!

Iron man
It all started with him and his brain! Three amazing stand alone movies and his special appearance in Spiderman and cap America makes him the chief Avenger! Just like the first Avenger movie he forms the final in the finale!

The infinity stones- a recap of where and when you came across them
You have five stones
The first one is the tessaract in the first Avenger
The second one was in Asgard mentioned in the second Thor movie
Then we have the stone described in the guardians of galaxy which Quil takes and tries to sell!
Then we have the stone given to Doctor Strange in his stand alone movie which was also awesome by the way!
Finally the soul stone which demands a soul! Always!!

So don’t forget to refresh these scenes from the previous movies!
first Avenger war scene!
The cap America escalator and meeting Howard Stark scene!
Guardians of galaxy star lord intro scene!
Thor dark world scene with Thor’s mother!
See the infinity war again just to be lucid!

So you have your heroes and villians and stones and characters sorted out then you can go ahead and watch this three hour emotional action packed roller coaster ride!

Have fun but don’t forget to take your tissues just in case! And rest assured, the future is bright!

Aspirin vs Morphine

Morphine is one of the most powerful pain killers ever!
In fact in heart failure or attacks, the drug of choice to alleviate the pain is Morphine!

It gives immense pain relief which is unparalleled to any of the common pain killers!

Aspirin is also a pain killer! But (this reminds me of a toon wherein the character tells a girl to not to say anything after but! Since it will never ever be good! But, but is important here! But don’t worry! It will be good eventually!); the pain killing ability of Aspirin can’t ever get close to Morphine! In fact even in doses which is hundred times that of norm (of course no one will give that though!), the efficiency of Aspirin can’t ever be as good as morphine!

So you would think that when it comes to heart attack, Morphine is the nectar! Or in other words, a life saver! But (a good but!) as far as heart problems and attack is concerned, it is Aspirin which is the vital drug and life saver! In fact the humble Aspirin has saved hundred times more life than Morphine!

How you would ask!?

Well, the answer is Multitasking!

Though as a pain killer Aspirin is weak, it has another function also which makes its an invaluable tool in the armament against heart diseases! It is a very effective anti platelet drug! Effectively it means that it keeps the blood in fluid form and avoids the production of clot! Blood clot is one of the common cause of block and complications both in the heart and the brain! Imagine that this was a side effect of Aspirin which the modern medicine made use of effectively!

What about morphine you would ask?

Well, Morphine is the king of only one act and nothing else and has no effect on the platelets!

All this talk about Morphine and Aspirin was my way of making a valid point!

The point is that we must not compare! Whether it comes to person or situation!

Maybe that person is rich and famous but he may turn out to be Morphine while another not so rich and popular bloke is just Aspirin for now who has yet to show his or her prowess!

Aspirin may not have MORPHed! into a great pain killer but over some time it ASPIRed (!) Into an awesome anti platelet drug!

So after completing 40 glorious years in this amazing World and sorrounded by awesome family and friends, I am grateful to one and all!

I have always tried to be Aspirin in that if you cannot be best in one thing, you can still learn and be good in many other things! The day you start learning is the day you stop living!

And another important thing which I learnt from Aspirin is Multitasking! You can never be the best in anything forever! One slip and you can be replaced! You are always replaceable!

But (another good one!), If you multi task then you would be good at many things and you will enjoy life!

Even while workout (which is very important esp after 40!), I never stick only to running, I always alternate between running, skating, cycling, badminton or swimming! It keeps the variety on and keeps me hooked!

Even job wise, I have always wanted to multitask, so you not only work! You can also cook, draw, sing, play an instrument or even dance! (Which I do! Or at least try to do!!).

Remember that at the end of it all, life is not just a 9-5 job (which as a surgeon it is not anyway but that’s not the point here!); But life is to live life as it is meant to be!

To have fun, take care of you parents!, Love you kids and spouse!, Respect and keep in touch with your friends!, do your job properly and come home to the joy that’s life!

In other words don’t be naughty after forty!!

Thanks a million for all your wishes! It really made my day!

From Dongri to Dubai by Hussain Zaidi

Book review

Non fiction with I am assuming some creative liabilities!

Rating 3.5/5

Disclaimer- This is a review of only the book and the opinions of the author! None of what follows is my personal view! I am a normal family man and I don’t have any opinion which I want to state here!

So if there was a definitive encyclopaedia about Mumbai underworld then this is it!

Every page of this spicy page turner and every chapter can be made into a movie and many have been done too!

So almost every Don from Haji Mastan to Vardarajan Mudaliar to Karim Lala to the Byculla company and finally the chota Rajan and Shakeel! But the lead Star is the one Don who is still reigning the top mantle; and that’s Dawood Ibrahim!

Every major incident has been dramatised to the last detail and thus every chapter brings more spice to the story!

Starting from Mastan and Mudaliar, Hussain stars and dissects the meteoritic rise of Dawood in spite of being the son of a religious and pious constable!

Every encounter including the first one by Afaaque Baagwan of the gangster Manya Surve which was shown in the movie Shootout at Wadala has been described with such fine detail!

In fact even the famous movie shootout at Lokhandwala has been described!

Not to mention the killing of big wigs by d company like shah and Gulshan

The extortion, killing, rape, smuggling and finally the communal bombing has been described to minute details!

In an almost idolizing manner Hussain describes the exploits of many Dons with the mammoth share reserved for Dawood!

The controversial bollywood and political connection is the icing on the cake!

In a manner of description this really feels like describing a company! Where previously only Muslims were members of the D Company, Khaled (Dawood’s right hand!) Opened the doors to Hindus! Very secular indeed!!
Then the culmination in Mumbai bombings (which has been described better in his book and subsequent movie Black Friday!). The chief reason why the whole bombing happened was because the rioters dared to gut the office of Tiger Memon!

The Pakistan connection, the ISI connection, the Dubai connections and the intelligence connections! Every aspect has been given adequate space!
Finally the turf war between Dawood’s deputies like chota Rajan and Chota Shakeel! Then Abu Saleem!
Then the beautiful but dumb actresses who fall for the bad guys!
Then you have the multiple Sholay connections which you must read to understand!
At the end of it all though it’s always the big fishes who escape while the smaller ones do all the work and get caught! It’s the same story everywhere!
Some attempt at humanizing Dawood is obvious but then it doesn’t really work!

Many famous movies have been made by using this and characters from this book ! Memorable ones include Deewar, D, Company, once upon a time in Mumbai, the shoot out series and black Friday to name a few!

So if you want to read the inspiration behind those movies and even sacred games (incidentally Vikram Chandra gives a foreward!); Then you must surely give this one a go!

There is so much information that it’s difficult to pen it in a short review! And many of the pages though real, they feel like fiction! As they say truth is stranger than fiction! The book will definitely prove that right!

Once again a disclaimer that this is only Hussain Zaidi’s opinion and not mine!

Enjoy!

Missionary position by Christopher Hitchens

Book review

Non fiction

Rating 4/5

No spoilers

Of the innumerable books on Mother Teresa there may be only a few which are against the tide and wave.

Since I want to sound politically and otherwise correct let me just start by a discalimer that the work is just a reproduction of the view of the author and not my own.

So it starts by dissection of Mother’s charity work then her Noble prize then her act of forgiveness! And the tongue in cheek humour of naming the book after a known sexual position hardly seems to be a coincidence!

It is a real change of the scenario where the whole narrative is one banter after another about demystifying every single feature of the Mother and her work.

Christopher has already worked on a documentary called Hell’s Angels and you can guess the tone of that one so his disdain to the Mother is not a secret!

Christopher even has lots to say about Mother and her forgiveness! How it’s actually something more!

Her association with the dirty money and people who have sinned has also been touched upon and how!

But at the end of it all since Christopher is a well known figure in the literary world it is evident that less words are enough to convey the required information! So it’s just around 100 pages!

At this juncture it is prudent to read another book by Dr Aroup Chatterji called Mother Teresa the untold story which is like the complete movie to the preview which is this book so you might want to check that out if you want to get the detailed analysis of each and every dissection so to speak!

All in all a different read and perspective!

Controversy bomb just exploded!

My India…. Ideas for the future by A P J Abdul Kalam

Book review

Non fiction so no spoilers

Rating 4/5 (not 5/5 since that would come out biased!)

Firstly I am a big fan of Dr Abdul Kalam and any review of his book or achievements will bound to be biased!

Not that it matters since he is one of the few universally loved and admired personality in the whole country and the world!

By choice I steer clear of non fiction and such self help books but when it’s Kalam you cannot control yourself!

Imagine that his whole life all he has done is work teach and inspire and even on the fateful day of his Demise he just delivered a lecture in Shillong, collapsed and passed away. No Huss no fuss! His simple life has been an inspiration to many!

So this is a collection of summaries of his speeches delivered at various places all over the country and world!

Some talk about great personality like Tata to Gandhi to Ramanujam while many others tell about common folks doing amazing work over coming hurdles on the way and finding success!

Every once in a while you have a poem or a snippet about this great personality and every speech summary ends with a positive note!

Some give a glimpse of his childhood while some his time at the Madras institute of technology (there is a story on how and who started it too!). Some of the summaries are of his time when he was instrumental in developing Agni missiles and nuclear testing!

All in all a book to pep you up and ignite your mental fire!
Here is one man whose only agenda is to work for the betterment of the country and the future! And just for that you can just give it a go!….

My first tryst with this word Jaggernaut was when a character was named thus and though he was the most powerful character in the X Men series; his only weakness was his mind!

Later on I got to know that this word in english which literally means a huge, powerful, and overwhelming force was based on the most famous temple of Jagannath or Krishna in the temple town of Puri!

One look at this mammoth temple standing so tall will make you realise why it’s named like this! The intricate and very typical step architecture of Oriya artisans is so beautiful to see!

First things first though…
We started from the city of Bhuvaneswar which itself is named after the temple of Lingaraj where the statue of hari hara came SwayamBHU….!
This temple is apparently more ancient and taller than even the Jagannath temple!
The old building and architecture is so divine and beautiful so say the least!

Then we moved on to the famous temple of Konark! It’s another Mammoth structure originally made like a temple with 24 wheels depicting the 24 hours of a day! It has 7 wheels and three statues of the Sun god in three different poses! Morning awake!, Noon with a covering and night bent face down!
Each idol depicts a story or some teaching! You even have a dragon made 800 years back!
The main temple inside is collapsed though and the guide did mention rather sadly as to how long the structure would bear the onslaught of time.

The drive between Puri and Konark is a traveller’s delight! Add to if you have pristine beaches and lots of places to have fun or pray depending on your mood or candour!

Though we were struck by the constant red coloured spit; the guide mentioned that the situation is much better now after the Swach Bharat initiative by Modi Dada! ( That’s what they call our PM!). Many initiatives like the no paper entry, strict ban on littering and spitting has made some difference according to the guide.

Then a quick visit to some more temples and it was off to Jagannath temple!
The biggest disappointment was that we had to walk a long way just to visit the entrance of the temple! This is real sad since it’s the old who really like to visit temples like this. We did see some free senior citizen drop vehicles later on though. Then again no vehicle can take you all the way to see the main deity! Here the biggest problem which are the Pandas trouble you as soon as you enter the temple! But since the crowd was so much we decided to take one anyway and it was a wise decision! He got us some short ways and we got the darshan in leisure! He charged only around 100 INR! Though later we understood that he would get his cut by the puja and the offering which is a big scheme going on in the temple!
With this amount of rush and popularity the temple management is highly insufficient and this is why you have so many greedy brokers.
Of course any of these hurdles are easily ignored once you get into the marvelous trance of the huge temple complex and the old idols!
Then the scam about the Prasad or bhog is better left unmentioned since it’s better to dwell on the positives!

We did try some of the local cuisines and were mighty impressed with gur or Jaggery Rosogulla and Chenna poda!

Odisha is a cultural rich place with very friendly pan spitting people! Of course there is scope of improvement and hopefully sometime in future we would not have to deal with a middle man to do anything!

Until next time then!!….

Pandemic by Robin Cook

Book review

Genre Medical Thriller

Rating 4/5

Mild spoilers without any major reveal which would upset the serious reader!!

This one is special because it’s the first novel I finished this year! And it’s just the second day of the year!

Last year I finished close to 50 fiction and non-fiction novels and this looks like a good start!

Just some months back I had read Charlatans by Robin Cook and here we are with another book all ready to roll! This itself deserves accolades since I have been struggling with writing a novel for three years now and Robin at his age is churning out novels like a paper mill churns out books!!

So in this one the famous Jack Stapleton returns which is needed because the chief protagonist of his last three novels had not met with a to be continued fate!(thats mild spoiler only for the previous novels like Nano or Charlatans!)

With his trademark style of getting into everyone’s nerves and skin, Jack is an irritating but apparently talented forensic pathologist and the protagonist of many of Robin Cook’s novels in the past. The story in most of these would usually by excessive killing and a surprise negative character which more often than not turns out to be a woman!

In the present time which is this book, there are lots of grey areas and it’s anyone’s guess what the ending is! ( No spoiler here also!)

This is the day and age of Murakami or Black mirror or even closer to home like the movie Andhadhun! The ambiguous nature of ending! You don’t get the answers raised in the book! You don’t get to know what happens in the end! Since there is no end! Apparently they have really taken Pink Floyd catch phrase to heart! Which one you say!?; The show must go on!!…..

CRISPR/CAS….. This is the catch phrase of this book though! You will get this very often in the book so get ready for it!

So what to expect in this one!…

The over-enthusiastic, sarcastic, brash forensic pathologist Jack who by a wierd coincidence gets some juicy cases for autopsy!! ( Read apparent index case of an apparent outbreak!).

The amount of free time this guy has to snoop around like a detective like the hardy boys! No one cares so much in this day and age buddy! Get a life!

The subtle references to autism and vaccine and the two viewpoints! (Minor spoiler!)

The fact that cycling is good! (Only chief point Robin and I agree on!!)

The final showdown which is eerily similar to many of Jack Stapleton’s showdowns in most of his novels!

Only difference is the ambiguous nature of the ending! Though the family finally stuck together!

All in all a great attempt by Robin Cook so much so that I could not rest until I completed this one!!

And yeah the book is about a pandemic! Didn’t you get that already!!!??

Skating away……

Variety is the spice of life and even while working out this is a good adage! I follow this in most things in my life and most importantly during work out! So one night I would run, the next day I would play badminton, weekends and summer is for swimming and the next day I would cycle! Many days though I do my favourite work out which is roller skates! Now if that widened your pupil then rest assured I will blog about that only since there are better players in the other work outs I mentioned above!

It all started with the fact that we (my brother and me) were young and restless! (could not resist adding that!). So one fine day when we were playing in the colony ground we saw our neighbour girl flying on the ground! Of course we later realized that it was just some wheels over shoes or skates!

At first look though we were hooked (on the skates people and not the girl!). So we started our annual campaign to pester dad to buy us a pair of Roller Skates and since it did not come cheap we reached a compromise that we would be sharing one pair!

It was very convenient that our birthdays were only one month apart (different years of course!); so this essentially meant to the delight of my parents that one gift for both will do!

So anyway we finally got our very own pair of skates and we were literally flying (before we strapped on the skates of course since after that we were just falling!). We took turns to hold one another but it was not as easy as we had seen the girl do earlier! Then the little brother of that girl who was incidentally my friend came on the ground with just one skate and we could see that he was able to skate quite well!

We followed suit and soon we were each strapped to one skate and doing things similar to skating! Very soon in days we were quite good in single skates and I was ready to move up to two! My brother very soon lost interest in skating altogether when one fine day he decided that this was for girls and that was that!

So to my delight I got myself a pair (of skates of course!) and soon after some practice I could ride well enough and how!

My love for skating continued even when dad got transferred to a place called Missamari (most Indians would not even know such a place exists!) and even though there was not many options of places to skate (since it was a small army cantonment); I used to make do with whatever tar road I could find! So much so that I used to ride in my bike to my school ten kilometres’ away so that we could skate in our school basketball court!

Then came 9th class and reality and life and my roller skates went into the dingy and dusty corner of the attic. Then came the academics and being the self proclaimed nerd I had no time at all for any sports let alone skates. But I guess that desire to skate was always there.

So after close to thirty years my daughter decided to learn skates and I was just excited to buy her a pair and this time she did not have to ask me more than once!

While in the shop selecting her colour I chanced upon skates for adults and the way I was looking at that set made my wife to cajole me into buying it for myself! She added that you both can learn together! There is no age to start following your passion right?!

The first problem was that I used to ride Quad Skates which are easier and you do not fall much from while the skates now are the Inline ones which are more difficult initially! The shop advisor urged me to go for this only since apparently it was the in thing (that of course from the guy who is basically selling footballs to teenagers!).

The first fitting and trial was of course done inside and within the corridor and of course it met with a disaster and I promptly fell on the ground which thankfully was carpeted!

Witnessing this my daughter promptly announced that she does not want to skate since she does not want to fall! I of course told her that it is the only way to learn! The more you fall, the more you learn and get better!

In any case I decided to practice when she was not witnessing my baby skate steps and in around a month I did get better and the childhood muscle memory helped of course!

Then when she saw me skate and enjoy she joined the bandwagon and now she skates regularly in her school while I do the same in my apartment in the night (do not want anyone to see me fall!)

The two most important things in skating is that you must know how to turn and other is how to stop (which essentially is an extension of sudden turn!). Once you master this then you can do decent skating and enjoy it!

I have had my fair share of falling down and thankfully they have been just superficial wounds though my pride had some deep cuts!

Since at my age it is better not to fall I have started taking some precautions and these may help anyone above thirty years who is interested in skating as a workout and not as a sport!

If you do listen to music then make sure your ear is open to receive ambient noise; you can either use the bone conduction earphones or the soundbar or no music is also a good choice! (you can check out my previous blog on Music gear for more details!)

The ground anatomy must be ingrained in your memory and you must watch out for brittle ground or small stones which are very dangerous especially when you are turning.

If you feel you are falling then you just bend forward and try to sit (this nifty suggestion is my daughter Kashika’s contribution!)

After some point in life just like skates you must understand that it is the length and not the speed which is important!! So initially I used to concentrate on riding fast while now I just maintain a good nominal speed and time my workout which is the final aim anyway!

Never skate in Rain or after rain since like Bon Jovi says, “It is slippery when wet!”

Finally you must get a trainer if you have not done skating before and wear adequate protection like the helmet and knee/elbow guards.

For now whenever I skate or put on my skate I always feel that it may be the last time I am putting on this pair and so I try to ride as it is my final ride! Slow and steady covering around 5 KM in under 30 minutes and maintaining that speed!

I am not implying that this is the way to skate but this is the way I enjoy and you can too! Since after all it’s not the destination but the journey which is pleasant many times!

So get your gear, strap your helmets and skate away!!

The lost Chef by Captian R G Bamboat

A thoroughly thrilling ride which you can think of as an amalgamation of Castaway, Papillon and Pirates of Caribbean! Throw in some good culinary skills and you have a sumptuous meal!

It is the author’s first novel which is nice since everything feels fresh!

The author himself claimed that the first pages may be boring but I felt that even those were easy to read and very fast paced!

The attention to detail (he has drawn two maps of Islands!!) was something to write home about!

The author brings his experiences and culinary skills in a first person adventure of epic proportions!

Pick it up and enjoy the tasty treat!!