Holcroft covenant - Robert Ludlum

The Holcroft Covenant is a thriller novel written by Robert Ludlum. The story revolves around a man named Noel Holcroft, who discovers that his father, a high-ranking Nazi official, has left him a mysterious legacy. In order to claim the inheritance, Noel must fulfill a covenant, which involves using the money to compensate the victims of the Holocaust.

However, Noel soon discovers that he is not the only one searching for the inheritance. A group of former Nazis, known as the "Fourth Reich," are also seeking the money to fund their resurgence. With the help of a woman named Helden von Tiebolt, Noel must race against time to fulfill the covenant and prevent the Fourth Reich from carrying out their plans.

The novel is filled with suspense, action, and intrigue, and explores themes of guilt, redemption, and the legacy of the Holocaust. Personally it felt like a marathon I am running during the time I read the book. Usual to the Robert Ludlum theme, the protogonist is always on the run and have someone always following him. An enjoyable ride if you love fast paced story line and Robert Ludlum. 

ಅರಮನೆ ಗುಡ್ಡದ ಕರಾಳ ರಾತ್ರಿಗಳು - ಗಿರಿಮನೆ ಶಾಮರಾವ್

I cant be sure if this is one of the worst books I've read. The story is an adventurous expedition by a set of 2 newly wed couples to one of the treacherous mountains in western ghats. They set out from Bangalore and check in to a hotel in Sakleshpur. Without even having a destination in mind, they dare to go see a hill top. From there, they see another hill top which appears to be close by and they decide to hike on that hill top. On the way, they cross a stream and lose valuable goodies like torch. After spending enormous time hiking, they realise the hill top is nowhere nearby and decide to return.

Now they lose track and lose the sight of the stream as they realise it all looks the same deep in the forest. They encounter some wild animals. They take shelter under a cave during the night and next day, find some jackfruits and mushrooms to eat. They are still unable to retrace and their phones dont work. Their folks from Bangalore are trying to contact them but in vein. 

Then they come across a temple and reside for the night. It rains on and off. One of them hold a gun. They want to kill some wild animals so they can eat them. In this attempt, they get attacked by a pack of wild dogs and one of the persons seem missing. They assume that the dogs ate him. There is no evidence of dogs eating the man but still they assume he is dead. His wife is in fits. She goes out frantically looking for him. The rest of them assume she is also dead. Then arrives the rescue team from the land. They give the 2 food and go out to look for 2 missing people. They realise that both are not dead and by chance of God survived the attacks. 

Review - My opinion is personal and should not bias the reader of this review. Its a very laborious book with repetition of same text for almost 50%. The author seems to cling to some sentences and keep them repeating almost of the pages. The thought process and perspectives of the characters seem to be same and repeat without progression. Still I finished the book to know what would happen to them. The story could be told in a short essay and if adopted for a film, it be over in 20 minutes but its a 180+ pages book. The author intends to educate the dangers of mountains to a non mountaineer. But that intent is lost. I could not imagine why someone wants to dare the nature without a single ounce of knowledge about mountains. 

Pregnant King - Devdutt Pattanaik

Its a book about a king accidentally become the mother of a child. Written by Devdutt Pattanaik, its a tale of maternal adoration and love by a male species as opposed to a woman. It a beautiful tale of a king and his 3 wives trying to conceive a prince for which the king's grand father is awaiting to go live on vaana prasta. The pitrus are waiting to be reborn but there is no conception of the child. When the king decides to call 2 siddhis - Yaja and Upajaya who perform extravagant ritual to create a potion meant to be given to the queens, the king accidentally drinks it. He eventually becomes pregnant and gives birth to happy healthy boy. The 9 months of pregnancy and the child birth is kept secret. 

When the child is born, the only wish of the king is to be called mother by his child. The child refuses. The longing of the king continues till his breath. He keeps wondering "What sounds sweetest, being called Mother or being called Father"

He tries to seek answers from all possible avenues. He is entangled in this dilemma and desperate to find answers. He speaks to Arjuna to whom the king believes Bhishma narrated the story of a man who became a man and then a woman. Arjuna brushes off the query saying he does not remember any such story being told to him. 

The king also bears another child through his second wife. So he wonders "I am not sure that I am a man…I have created life outside me as men do. But I have also created life inside me, as women do. What does that make me? Will a body such as mine fetter or free me?"

The king who is supposed to be the upholder of dharma and embodiment of manhood is in deep confusion whether he is a man or a woman. 

The book is a good narration of king's wild mind and how he sees the world with a definite distinction between man and woman and at the same time he being a man and woman in himself. There are references to Shiva and Shakti both having different forms and how king relates to Illeswar - The patron God of Vallabhi who is God on full moon days and Goddess on new moon days.  

Leap of Faith - Danielle Steel

Not a  great story line and not a great set of characters. The whole thing would've been over in a 20 min clip on a web series. Lol. But definitely I could read the book head to toe without hassle. That is because you dont need to remember anything from the book. Wherever you start or end, you can almost certainly predict what would happen in next few pages. It was a good experience when I read this book during my son's bed time story time and he read his own books without troubling me. 

The story is about a 11 year girl who gets orphaned when her parents and brother die in a terrible accident. She is moved from France to America to live with her great aunt. Aunt treats her badly but there is a very close friend with whom she finds happy times in her distress. She is left with a huge inheritance by her father. She is suddenly millionaire rich. She goes back to Chateau in France where she lived with parents. She meets a very amicable friend who marries her and she becomes mother of his children within a short time. The story from here becomes very predictable and even with the most open ended mind, one prejudices over her stupidity. 

Back in my college days, Danielle Steel's books were entertaining. This book may be looked like the worst of Steel. 

Murder in the vicarage - Agatha Christie

Life has been busy for the last few months. I wanted to read something thats not mind boggling and a simple thriller. This book was the first in a shelf in an abandoned library. So I picked up to amuse myself in a subtle way. 

About 20 years ago, I used to read a lot of Agatha Christie novels. Thats something that helped me with getting along with reading. The general theme is to find the murderer. So, it used to be thrilling. 

The plot is about an extra martial affair and a murder associated with it. There is an old lady character called Miss Marple - is over intrigued with general business of everyone in the village. She proves to be resourceful in solving the murder mystery. 

Most beautiful thing about the book is narration. Its like watching a movie fathom itself. Also there are no crazy twists and turns which you will have to remember. Good book to keep you entertained for a bus/train journey.  

 ಓಂ ಶ್ರೀ ಪರಮಾತ್ಮನೇ ನಮಃ

ಅಧ್ಯಾಯ ೯

ಶ್ಲೋಕ ೪

"ಮಯಾ ತತಮಿದಂ ಸರ್ವಂ ಜಗದವ್ಯಕ್ತಮೂರ್ತಿನಾ ।

ಮತ್ ಸ್ಥಾನಿ ಸರ್ವಭೂತಾನಿ ನಚಾಹಂ ತೇಷ್ವವಸ್ಥಿತಃ" ॥೪॥

ಅರ್ಥ

ಮಯಾ- ನನ್ನಿಂದ; ತತಂ-  ವ್ಯಾಪ್ತವಾಗಿದೆ; ಇದಂ- ಈ; ಸರ್ವಂ- ಎಲ್ಲ; ಜಗತ್- ವಿಶ್ವ ಅಭಿವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಯು; ಅವ್ಯಕ್ತ ಮೂರ್ತಿನಾ- ಅವ್ಯಕ್ತ ರೂಪದಿಂದ; ಮತ್ ಸ್ಥಾನಿ- ನನ್ನಲ್ಲಿ; ಸರ್ವ ಭೂತಾನಿ- ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಜೀವಿಗಳು; ನ- ಇಲ್ಲ; ಚ- ಕೂಡ; ಅಹಂ- ನಾನು; ತೇಷು- ಅವುಗಳಲ್ಲಿ; ಅವಸ್ಥಿತಃ- ನೆಲೆಸಿದ್ದೇನೆ.

ಅನುವಾದ

"ನನ್ನ ಅವ್ಯಕ್ತ ಸ್ವರೂಪದಲ್ಲಿ ನಾನು ಇಡೀ ವಿಶ್ವವನ್ನು ವ್ಯಾಪಿಸಿದ್ದೇನೆ. ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಜೀವಿಗಳೂ ನನ್ನಲ್ಲಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ನಾನು ಅವರಲ್ಲಿ ಇಲ್ಲ"

(ಈ ಎಲ್ಲ ಜಗತ್ತು ಮೈದೋರದ ನನ್ನಿಂದ ತುಂಬಿದೆ.ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಇರುವವೆಲ್ಲ ನನ್ನಲ್ಲಿ ನೆಲೆಸಿವೆ. ನಾನು ಅವುಗಳ ನೆರವಿನಲ್ಲಿಲ್ಲ)

ಭಾಷ್ಯ

ಕೃಷ್ಣ ಹೇಳುತ್ತಾನೆ - “ನಾನು ಇಡೀ ಜಗತ್ತಿನಲ್ಲಿ ತುಂಬಿರುವ ಅವ್ಯಕ್ತಮೂರ್ತಿ” ಎಂದು. ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಬಳಸಿರುವ ಅವ್ಯಕ್ತಮೂರ್ತಿ ಎನ್ನುವ ಪದದಲ್ಲಿ ಅವ್ಯಕ್ತ ಮತ್ತು ಮೂರ್ತಿ ಎನ್ನುವುದು ಪರಸ್ಪರ ವಿರುದ್ಧ ಪದಗಳು. ಅವ್ಯಕ್ತ ಎಂದರೆ ಕಾಣದ್ದು, ಆಕಾರವಿಲ್ಲದ್ದು. ಮೂರ್ತಿ ಎಂದರೆ ಆಕೃತಿ ಮತ್ತು ರೂಪ. ಭಗವಂತ ಆಕಾಶದಂತೆ ಎಲ್ಲೆಡೆ ವ್ಯಾಪಿಸಿರುವ ಅವ್ಯಕ್ತ ಆದರೆ ಆತ ಜ್ಞಾನಾನಂದಮಯನಾಗಿ ಎಲ್ಲರೊಳಗೆ ತುಂಬಿರುವ ಮೂರ್ತಿ. ಒಂದೊಂದು ವಸ್ತುವಿನಲ್ಲೂ ಒಂದೊಂದು ರೂಪದಲ್ಲಿ ತುಂಬಿರುವ ಅನಂತ ರೂಪಗಳುಳ್ಳವ ಆ ಭಗವಂತ. ಕೃಷ್ಣ ಹೇಳುತ್ತಾನೆ “ಪ್ರತಿಯೊಂದು ವಸ್ತುವಿಗೂ ನಾನು ಆಧಾರ, ಈ ಇಡೀ ಪ್ರಪಂಚ ನನ್ನನ್ನು ಅವಲಂಬಿಸಿಕೊಂಡಿದೆ. ಆದರೆ ನಾನು ನಿರಾಲಂಬನಾಗಿ ಎಲ್ಲೆಡೆ ತುಂಬಿದ್ದೇನೆ”. ಎಂದು.

ಭಾಷ್ಯ ಕೃಪೆ

||ದಿ|| ಶ್ರೀ ಬನ್ನಂಜೆ ಗೋವಿಂದಾಚಾರ್ಯರು

Translation

"This  entire  universe  is  pervaded  by  Me,  in  an  unmanifest  form.  All  beings  abide  in  Me,  but I do not abide in them"

Commentary

This  entire  universe  —  composed  of  both  sentient  and  insentient  beings,  is  pervaded  by  Me — the  inner  controller  whose  essential  nature  is  unmanifest.  The  meaning  is  that  all  this universe  is  pervaded  by  Krishna  the  Principal  (śeṣi)  so  that  He  may  sustain  and  manage  it. This  [doctrine  of]  universal  pervasion  by  an  inner  controller,  who  is  invisible  to  all  beings, is  taught  in  the  Antaryāmi- Brāhmaṇa. So  also  Krishna’s  primacy  over  everything  is  taught.

Commentary by Shree Rāmānujāchārya

Super Deluxe

This is a multi starrer Tamil/Malayalam movie. I watched the Malayalam version based on a review by a friend. According to the IMDB, its a super hit movie with rating more 4 out of 5. I am wondering a few questions on my head. Please let me know if you know the answers

1. Why Veambu should think that she murdered her ex-lover when he died a natural death? Cheating on her husband is a different crime and murder should be a different crime for Vaembu. Why Mugil also even once didn't think that they are different?

2. Police playing villain is not accepted. That too when he tries to make Veambu agree to sleep with him. Why Mr.Mughil, though being an ordinary man limited by heroic conception, not even once rebel the idea or resist/fight the cop?

3. When Soori finds out his mother is a porn star, why would he want to kill her? Aren't porn stars human? Isn't there an empathetic angel to that as those for Shilpa?

4. When the boys break the TV,  Soori runs after his mother to kill her but injures himself and is put in hospital. Now, being a Good mother, Leela begs the doctor to operate on him. Would she not know the hospital needs to be paid before any procedure can start?

5. The friends of Soori are only worried about restoring the broken TVs. They never think of their friend in hospital?

6. Arputhan will not question God whether he is the only and the only person to be saved in Tsunami by God? Would he not imagine there can be many other people who might've survived tsunami just like him?

7. Shilpa(I mostly looked forward to this role played by Vijay Sethupathi, but only to be disappointed) being a trans woman do not know how the world will treat her if she allies with her son? She expects to be treated like a normal even after she declares she has consummated the cop and she thinks of him as her husband. What logic is this? In one place, she wants to be treated fairly, in the other place, she wants to disclose she has relationship with cop?

8. Coming to cop, why is the cop such an asshole? 

9. Who is the alien and what she wants to do with the movie? 

I could not relate to any of the characters. Finally it gave me a headache.

Well, when I read other reviews, they speak about the direction, screenplay, music, cinematography, acting all to be in excellent levels which would last an ever lasting impression on the viewers. But for me, it led to more questions. 

The one and only thing I liked about the movie is Shilpa's son who does not know to call his father as mother or father but still wants her to be with him. 

Ponniyin Selvan

Today I put down this massive and magnificent art of eminence by Kalki Krishnamurthy. Its massive because it comes in 2000+ pages in 4 volumes. Each page is a sheer joy of witnessing the grandeur of Chozha kingdom. 

Vallavarayan Vandiyatheevan walks in the lanes and palaces of Thanjavur, Kanchi, Kadamboor, Kodumbalur, Madurai, strolls in the forests of western and southern Karnataka underneath the Kaveri river, rows in the Indian ocean between Rameswaram and Ilankai, fight wars, truces, take part in secret conspiracies, scandalises affirmations from kings, corners death threats, with luck escapes from precarious people and situations, laments the loss of a friend, craves for Kundavai yet, survives the trust placed on him. - Is he the Hero? No. 

Arulmozhivarman or Ponniyin Selvan is the hero. He is believed to be saved by mother Kaveri herself when he was placed in the river and thats how he gets the name Ponniyin Selva. He is in Ilankai(Srilanka) waging war and is only 19. He is the second son of the most handsome king of Chola dynasty - Sundara Chola. His siblings are Aditya Karikalan and Kunduvai. Kunduvai is a lady protagonist sharing much of the spot light along with Vandiyatheevan. 

The plot is eventful with many twists but the storyline is predictable though there are great many people involved. All conspires to one war and that war has to be waged. 

The summary of the plot and the family tree and whos who is well reported in the wikipedia. 

I lived through the eyes of Vandiyatheevan all along with his vulnerabilities, love, sheepishness, shallowness, trickery, maturity and his hope for seeing good things. The books took me through those lanes and palaces that he walked by in a visual experience. I read the english version translated by Pavithra Srinivasan though I so much wanted to read the original script written in Tamil by Kalki (due to my illiteracy in Tamil).  

Thought for today

Live one task at a time

Live one thought at a time

Live one day at a time

There are parallel universes, Live one life at a time  

iCon - Steve Jobs: The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business

 This is an unauthorized biography of the greatest - Steve Jobs. i in the title of the book specified in small is a representation of many apple products. It also has a "I am con" kind of representation. This book is about the second innings of Steve Jobs at Apple once he was thrown out by the board of directors in 1985. 

PC: https://www.gottabemobile.com/iphone-6-iphone-5s-designs-reportedly-jobs-influenced/

Steve Jobs, born in San Francisco was adopted by Paul Jobs - a mechanic in American coast guard and his wife Clara Jobs. Jobs family moved to Mountain View California where Steve met many friends having curiosity in electronics. He enrolled in to Reed college in Oregon but soon dropped out and took interest in calligraphy. He started working at Atari Inc. where he worked on circuit boards for games. He took help from his long time friend Steve Wozniak and submitted boards that shook Atari's product owners. With Wozniak on his side, Jobs persuaded him to demo the partially built Apple 1 computer at HomeBrew computer club. This proved to be a life changing event for Jobs and Wozniak. The Apple Inc. as its known today was first conceptualized in Job's garage. The first investor Mike Markkula who was a retired Intel product marketing manager quoted saying he is investing not in the idea of Apple but in the incredible man behind it ie Steve Jobs. 

Steve Jobs took the role of CEO of Apple and was very successful at it. He was even the youngest to make it to the Forbes list of richest people in USA. He brought in the chief marketing manager Scully from Pepsico to Apple in 1983 as CEO. Jobs released ads for the Macintosh in 1984 stating the machine is something that no one ever has imagined to exist. This was largely seen as marketing hype and Macintosh did not receive the response Jobs was expecting. There were differences between Scully and Jobs. Macintosh failed to outperform IBMs personal computer. Jobs controlled the Macintosh division and the CEO Scully controlled the Apple 2 division and these two divisions worked like 2 different companies though Apple 2 generated the most of the revenue. In 1985 Jan, during the annual meeting, Apple 2 was not mentioned at all and this brought more bitterness among the early employees of Apple 2. Most of them left. Scully planned to reorganize the Apple board of directors in response to which Jobs also developed a plan to eliminate Scully. But Jobs plan was leaked and he later resigned from Apple. 

Jobs in 1985 founded NeXT Inc. which sold workstations for education use. He also founded Pixar- a computer animation studio which later produced movies like Toy Story and Incredibles etc. 

In 1996, when Apple announced it would buy NeXT for 427 million dollars. With this Jobs became the interim chief executive. Much of the NeXT products found their way in to Apple technologies. Under the guidance of Jobs, Apple increased sales significantly with the introduction of iMac and other new products. Jobs introduced iPod, iTunes and iTunes Store. In 2007, Apple entered the Phone business with the introduction of iPhone. 

The book is a narration of how Jobs built back the Apple empire and launched breakthrough products like iPod and iPhone. He has been criticized for his salesman and persuasion skills all through and at the same time he is perceived as a jerk more and less of a genius when it comes to technology.