ramadocblog

Avengers….. infinity war!!

A culmination of close to 18 Marvel movies this one is one of the most awaited movie ever till we get to see the final installment that is!!!

So we have three Iron Man movies each good as it’s own though as always the first was the best!…then we saw Iron Man take the lead in the first Avenger movie then take the team forward in the second Avenger movie only to break up the Avengers in the third almost Avenger movie though it was titled Captain America!….he also introduced everyone’s kid favourite Spider-Man in this and mentored him in Spiderman Home coming……
finally in this Avenger he tries to get his act and the team together but……

Captain America was introduced with much gusto in the first solo movie though his later outings have been much better and he Does better with a team support….. In the last movie he loses his shield and in this one he gets a Wakanda shield but that was not enough I guess…!!…

Hulk loses his mind and body and then both and gets in a hulk buster as Bruce Banner!….seemed awesome but did not leave much steam!…. Liked him better in the thor Rangarok!….I guess he has to get his act together in the next one or else….

Thor looks better each time he appears in a Marvel movie!!….. Loved him in the last outing of Thor Rangarok especially the Alien song sound track courtesy Led Zeppelin (my fav!!)…. Hope you get your hammer and act together soon….

Somehow too much importance has been given to the Guardians of the Galaxy team though I loved the first part so much!…that Rocket Racoon is a laugh riot!….and you will like the rest of the world will blame the star Lord for…..!!

And the femme fatale Nat!….. You are the wonder woman of Avengers!…. If only Marvel realized it earlier!!….

After that amazing outing called the Black Panther this one is an extension of Wakanda tech support!….truly awesome I must say!!….

Dr Strange also manages to get a lot of screen time probably borrowed from Hawkeye or Ant Man!!…. how could they miss that in sight or Vision!!??….spoiler spoiler!!!..

Finally we have the biggest and the strongest villian in the universe!…enter the Thanos!…..awe inspiring!….he is bad and he is very good is being bad!!!….

Stan lee with his cameo as in all his movies!…. All this because of this dude!… Thanks a ton for the fun Stan!!…

And the climax?…!!!…. The biggest cliffhanger after Why Katappa killed Bahubali!!…..the wait for the final Avenger is going to be long and agonizing!…..

Watch it folks….as soon as possible!!
Avengers go or assessble!!…..

Paul Kalanithi….. When breath becomes air….

All doctors who have not yet read this just drop everything and read this stat…..All others also do the same….
This is a beautiful and sad book about the trials of a promising neurosurgeon whose life was cut short and young when he was diagnosed with lung cancer….. No spoilers here people, he doesn’t survive but his trials from being a medical student to a promising surgeon to someone who cannot even lift his head has been depicted with such simplicity and truth….

Every page was filled with struggle both the authors and even the reader since turning every page was filled with sadness and despair…..

Reading this I understood what’s the true meaning of a patient. When we tell them to remove all clothes and wear the hospital dress….It’s a metaphor of removing all your ego and doubt and leave only the true nakedness covered by a skimpy dress……

Even the best of the doctors or anyone else else for that matter can get the big C and that can topple your equations and planning…… Remember that when you spend running behind that buck and leaving your near and dear alone…..We fail to see that monster called time which would be slowly chasing you and catching you unawares…….

Reminded me of a joke… This is the best place to mention that believe me…

Most of the conferences we see cardiologists and other diet concious doctors eating healthy food but we see many oncologists devouring all those junk food full of fat!…
One someone asked this to the oncologist to which he replied with a twinkle” son, it’s better to die of a cardiac disease!”….

The patala prophecy by C Doyle….

Read an author called Doyle and you would expect another detective story with a twist but this is not even close to your thought!…at the offset it can be called as an amalgamation of Ashwin Sanghi’s puranas based story with the fantasy approach of Amish Tripathi!….

The story doesn’t idle much and starts off into the fantasy with the word go or om in this context!!…

All those who have already read the author’s quest series of Alexander and Mahabharat will find themselves in familiar territory though I still don’t get the cliffhanger in that series…. Just when I thought we could finally get to know what happened to the characters in that series he goes ahead and introduces another different one without any connection to the former!…

In any case it’s a breeze flowing though the pages special if you are on a sojourn to Banaras and the fight is a long one!….

To make famous characters come alive and get interpreted in different way is quite thrilling indeed!…. Our very own harry Potter meets LOTR!!…. The description of some of the characters do bring out a vivid imagination and the author must be praised for it…. So you have saptharishi and Mahabharat and pretas and nagas and what not!… It’s a veritable soup of puranic Lore!…

In most novels though like this one there’s the Neo but rare are the ones who give more power and material to Trinity!… Spoiler hidden!!!

Some nice familiar stories thrown in for good measure do perk you up though…. His inspiration is apparently Subha Villas whose Ramayana series is really good…. And of course the best part of the book is the entry of the other Indra!…… Read on to find out more!!

Then again when it started itself I had a feeling that this was not a one off and there will be a continuation later on…. This is not a big spoiler but lately with many books going on for continuation it feels like I had the appetizer but didn’t get the meal!!…

So I leave it to your best judgement to either read now and wait or wait and read together!!

Varanasi…..

Amidst the narrow roads (if you can call a small piece of tar that!!) And crazy traffic and even crazier people are these old old temples and ghats!….one minute the ghat is empty and the next minute it’s full!….

To drive in Varanasi you need to have the advanced commando course done, you need to finish the Al Qaeda suicide course!, You need to hurl abuses in chaste hindi as fast and possible and most important you should NOT have a valid vehicle or driving licence!….helmet is decoration and seat belts are just useless accessories!!….fill fuel only when the vehicle stops or else ignore the fuel indicator (it probably doesn’t work anyway!!)……our car (apparently one of the well maintained taxi!!) Came with Cellophane tapes attached to the side mirrors and the bonnet!!…..you can just about see the car body in between the dents!!…..once inside just ignore the voices coming from the car (maybe even from that dude who has been kidnapped and kept in the dicky or even your conscience telling you to RETURN!!)….But like our driver said in between the pan chewing and spitting in pan hindi (this doesn’t mean all over Hindi!…but a type of language or vocal sound which comes Outta your mouth when you are eating betel nut and pan and trying to speak Hindi without spit!!!)……so he had mentioned that you will get used to the sound and ignore it eventually!!…. Which is of course what happened!!….

The hot hot weather can be weathered only by drinking the thandai in those small earthern pots!!… Ignore the fact that they haven’t washed anything including vessels or even their hands!…some had remarked that it’s the only way to get a special taste in the drink and the food!..

Then the sweets and Kachoris and the samosas which make a mountain of snacks in every nook and corner!….while every other corner will have the disinterested Gol Guppa or Pani Puri wala!!(since he knows that anyway no one can say no to Puchka!!)….the free flowing dust from the roadside apparently adds a special flavour to these street snacks which is difficult to replicate anywhere else!!

Then the whole world is like our own home ideology is so deep rooted here that everyone feels and behaves like that only!…so you can spit anywhere and you can pee everywhere!!…..all while walking, talking or even eating!!!….

Then the grand looking sarees which appear real and maybe fake or many which look fake but turn out to be real!!…its your luck!…the while we were moving towards the Ganga Ghat I was surprised to see a big board stating that WE HAVE CHIKAN HERE!!….. Just when I thought that it’s a mis spelt chicken (but then so close to the temple is controversial!!) Which is when I found out that it’s a special type of embroidery work which is famous in UP…..it’s of course many times costly than its namesake!!….but beautiful to look at nevertheless….

Now don’t get me wrong (first try to get me right!)….but if things are like this then it’s difficult for old people and kids and tourists to properly enjoy the sanctity of one of the oldest cities in the country…..

Then I saw the assi ghat….this is the example of cleanliness and that change can happen even here…..

No one of course can even explain the surreal experience of watching the Ganga arrthi!…the Arthi starts with a group song, then a collective invocation, then puja with flowers, incense sticks, Dhoop and finally maha Mangala Arthi in all the four directions!….it’s chereographed so well and so well performed that you can just look in awe!……

At the end of it all I was happy that we went as a family and our parents had a nice time…..

All in all Varanasi is an experience which must be done at least once in your lifetime and probably when you are young…..

Until we meet again….in Banaras….

Undelivered letters….by J Alchem….

There was this old serial called AFSANE….. It was one of the most engaging serials ever!… The premise was that a postman’s undelivered letters get delivered after 20 years!…. Each episode was dedicated to one letter!…. Most of them were tragedies though one was a laugh riot!….

Here the author gets on a similar premise and gets deep into the story line of three letters which gets delivered!…. Each story has been told with sufficient mystery, tragedy and of course with an emotional rollercoaster ride!….. Though of course the heart pines for more!…..

You can finish this novella in less than an hour and believe me that will be worth it….

In the ages of Twitter Facebook and whatsapp this is a nice reminiscence of the bygone times indeed….. Thank God for the small mercies that an undelivered email will be handled as soon

as possible!!…

Jefferey deaver…… The cutting edge…

The problem with books written by Jeff D (not Archer!!) Is that you need full attention to detail!…. The speed is painstakingly slow and the start is very very frigid!…. But just like Fred Forsyth’s the devil’s alternative (that novel had the most boring start ever but the way it ended is probably why I feel it’s the best Fred book ever!… Even better than the day of the jackal!!)…. So coming to this!…. Cutting edge was really cutting edge!.…from diamonds to geo thermal mining to Mexican drug lords where all the stories are so different you get a shocker in the end and it doesn’t even end there and you get a bigger shocker in the final end and you get the biggest shocker at the real final and ultimate end!!…. No more revelations folks!…. Just make sure that when you feel the story has ended do not lessen your guard!!….

Its of course a marvel how Jeff D creates a complex mixture of characters and finally loops them into a cycle which goes around and comes around!….

Though you are introduced to the antagonist (s!!!) In the beginning itself you can never guess who it was or why he did it!!….

All in all a fine ride with lots of literature and knowledge about diamond thrown around for good measure!…. The mention of cryptic crossword puzzles rekindled my old passion of solving them so big thanks for that! (Apparently it also helps keep your mind sharp!…. Just like a diamond!!)…

Of course it’s a series introduced by the bone collector (the movie starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie…. Everyone knows that!…. If you haven’t heard of this movie then stop reading this right now!…. There is no hope for your!!) And now I think it’s book number 14 (not counting when he made a special appearance in Katherine dance series….)… And yes Mr James p and your Alex Cross may wanna take notes on how a paraplegic wheelchaired detective is still better than your hale and hearty crybaby!….

Read on folks!….as a series or even in isolation since it really doesn’t matter….as they say Diamonds are forever (who said that?…. Not the James bond movie you dodo but the tagline!!…. Read it do find out!!)…..

Time to read!! (Couldn’t resist giving that spoiler!!)……

Conspirator by R V Raman…..

What a ride!… In the present times Indian novelist such as Ravi Subramanian and R V Raman have managed to catch the present trend of the market and capitalised on an intriguing story line!!…

So while Ashwin Sanghi’s private Delhi had an honest and upright journalist being the centre of attention, here the centre stage is taken over by the media…..

Though the story is fiction I am sure the the materials presented in the story reek of truth if nothing else……

False news and paid news are the words you will read here though we have already been bombarded by them over and over again without realising the truth!

The illicit relationship between media and politics is an open secret!…. It was amazing the way Raman explained how a single news can be presented in two opposite ways!…

How if you are willing to pay your news and views and your policies will be supplimented with ‘expert’ analysis or regular print and digital marketing….

And the final and the most recent craze…. Social media news!… I have long stopped believing anything which is seen or read on FB WhatsApp or Twitter!…. And that’s the truth!….how bots and agencies can create false news and silently fade into oblivion only to strike again with another trash so to speak!….

Starting with a double homicide in COORG to a whole lot of scams all over, Raman spins an intricate web and his financial background aids him well!….

At the end of it all its all money and share market and digital coding….. Things which everyone likes to have as their standard diet!…

It’s a complete Indian work by a complete Indian author with three great best sellers already down the list!…. So those who like to read stuff can grab this without much ado while those who can’t be caught dead reading an Indian book can read it in secret!…..

FB, whatsapp, Twitter, photo morphing, share and SEBI, steganography (!!!), News anchor, news editor and media owners!… Yup…. Covered them all!!….

But as the author ended this melancholically; no one cares…. Everyone forgets the scams….. Everyone just want the entertaining news and not the truth…..cause apparently truth is a myth!!….

Baghi 2!…

So took a leave cause twas my birthday and went with the missus on a Monday morning show!!….lots of romance there!..in the movie that is!!.

When I was in Secunderabad, all my friends knew that I was a big fan of Jackie Shroff! (Then I of course realized that I may be his only fan in the country so I quietly and maturely dropped th act!!)….so when his lil kiddo dances and fights like a dream it’s natural that my opinion gets biased!!

When we see other heroes do superhuman and unbelievable stunts you know that it’s not real but when it’s the Tiger doing them you know that it’s because he might do it in the real sense!…

So baghi first part (not the original Sallu baghi!!….I hate Salman!…so will not even talk or write about him!!)…..was just fight from the first scene and the whole movie!..

Thankfully though here the first half is crisp with awesome twist and turns of the script and for a while I thought I was watching Savdhaan India movie version!!…

Only when the pretty flower drops from the terrace (spoiler alert!!) Does the film gets into the action mode!…

The last half hour or so along with the climax is Tiger flying all around and if it was anyone else you would nod your head in misbelief!!….but what the tiger can do This Tiger does and then some!…

As far as acting goes if you really are going to watch a movie starring Tiger and Disha and directed by Kabir Khan and you are expecting a Newton then you must come to terms with reality as soon as possible before you lose your mind!!..

Then film is for the youth and no one else and the fact that I liked it doesn’t make me or you one though!!….

And yes I liked the army jeep scene….if anyone has any problem to that you can contact me in http://www.idontcare.org!!

Chill…don’t make Maggi!…be baghi!!!

Imagine traveling in a plane and it getting hijacked and the hijackers only demand is that you need to read the Clifton chronicles!!… Then and only then should you attempt to read it!!… Unless of course you have read the earlier six books and waiting for a closure then u are a prisoner with a life sentence and no appeal!!…

The master of short stories (his book To cut a long story short was the only one which I have liked though I have read them all…) should have ended this charade long back instead of dragging it like the screenplay of a never ending soap….. It felt like he was cutting (or building!!) a short story long!!…
His only other work worth mentioning would have been the prisoner’s diary which was tolerable cause it was true…..
If this was a lame attempt to include world events in the storyline then Ken Follet would be rolling and laughing!!…
The novel should have been titled lady Virginia chronicles (though she’s Neither a lady nor a… you get my drift!!??)…. And in spite of her venomous nature she was not given a closure or maybe Jeff forgot her during his episodic dementia!! (Spoiler alert!!… Though it really doesn’t matter… Believe me!!)
Jeff of late has also become extremely obsessed with death….. With the amount of deaths happening you would think it’s an abridged script of game of thrones!!….
In summary read it to get the closure but don’t expect more since so many questions have been left unanswered…
The light at the end of the tunnel was very fickle indeed……

Pralay….

You know that nagging feeling you get when you know that with so many stories and sub plots going around there will not be space for conclusion!….and then your biggest fear is realized….. Those three words which can put shiver to anyone’s spine or make you pale like never before!…

No those words are not I Love you!….this is much more personal and makes more noise and reaches the dark spaces of your brain and heart!!… didn’t you get it??….

The words are…..TO BE CONTINUED!…..

So that’s the the big surprise in the book and once that’s done with you can happily either read this one now or wait for the final book and read together!…the same with Amish Tripathi and his Rama series but rest assured it is not as frustrating as waiting for Jeff Archers Clifton Chronicles series!!..

So Taking off where the first one started, this one’s ups the ante to more Gore and more revelations and more killing!!….to spend three hundred pages to just reach where the first book was already there is quite an ardent task indeed!…..but once you get the flow you are hooked even though it may seem silly!!…it’s like you want the Game of Thrones to come soon and then you can’t wait for it to end!….

Frankly though the author has taken a leaf Outta Ashwin Sanghi’s books and made it of a different time altogether!….it’s cool that we have so much material to work with!…our history is a virtual goldmine for authors like Dan Brown and co!…

So read at your leisure and get the parallels to the things which you already know; be it some mantra or some ritual or some Avatar!….Vineet has the story filled to the brim with these and then some!..

Good effort and frankly a good refresher for me!….go for it!….the simple language with some interspersed sanskrit and Hindi words will flow like butter and you can finish this one in a couple of hours like me!!….