The Paths Of Glory

It is a novel by Jeffrey Archer based on the life of George Mallory, a mountaineer who vanished on Mount Everest back in 1924, and who was last seen “going strongly for the summit”. Thus this is a story where the only things uncertain about the ending are whether Mallory reached the top or not, and what happened to him.


Born in 1886, George Mallory was a brilliant student who became part of the Bloomsbury Group at Cambridge in the early twentieth century and served in the Royal Garrison Artillery during World War I. After the war, he married, and had three children. His passion was mountain climbing. Mallory once told a reporter that he wanted to climb Mt. Everest, “because it is there.” He tried two times and failed. In the book it takes us all the way from George Mallory’s childhood, living in his father’s house, to the summit of Everest.

On his third try, in 1924, thirty-seven years old, he was last seen four hundred feet from the top. His body was eventually found in 1999. It is still a mystery whether he and his climbing partner, Andrew Irvine, ever reached the summit.

Paths of Glory is an excellent historical novel. How much of the story is fact and how much is fiction no one is able to tell as no one knows whether Mallory reached the peak or not. It is fascinating, persuasive, and extremely enjoyable to read. Great entertainment!

My first painting!

Thanks to my little cousin sister who helped me to do this painting. No one would believe if I say I did it. I couldn’t believe myself when it was completed.

Some time back in office I attended a workshop on water color painting and from there I picked up an abundant interest in painting. Over the weekend this is what seems to be the outcome of it.

My little sister was overwhelmed when I told her I wanted to make a painting. She is been trying to induce the interest in me about painting since we were kids. I always showed disinterest and lazed around when she assigned me any work with the colors and brush.

So when I asked her to guide me, she was ever ready and was there at my house right in the morning with her tools and colors. She brought a trace of the painting and black cloth along with her.

She first asked me to write the sketch of it with the chalk over the cloth and outline the figure which I did obediently. When the picture was clearly brought on the cloth she asked me to paint it with the colors I liked. While doing so she made sure that I don’t do any mistakes and gave me confidence that even if there any mistakes, they can well be patched. After almost two days of effort, the painting was ready and I took it to her house a little scared about the inaccuracies in it but at the same time confident that she will oblige as it’s my first painting.
After analyzing the intricacies of it, she told me that I have not committed any blunders in it and appreciated enormously just to boast my confidence and make me further interested.

The one thing I learnt after this new experience was to be patient until the bigger picture becomes visible.

My brother once said that there are three ways of draining out your emotions--One put them in to words and express which most people do on most occasions. The second-- Put them in swaras and make music out of it (which I am trying to learn) The third— Put them on the paper in the form of figures and colors which make a painting. I tried the last one-the first time.

Dutchman's Pipe

There were record breaking 48 bramha kamala flowers that blossomed on saturday night in our garden. The fragnant flowers brought a charm to our garden.

Earlier there were 11 Ashoka trees along with two coconut, a neem, a mango and a lemon tree in our garden and somehow my mother felt that these trees were blocking the sun's rays in to the house and so we cut them off. Now there stands a big and dominant bramha kamala plant which flowers often.