The Return of "The Bear"

New girl in town, Elaine ‘Ellie’ Harrison can’t believe her astounding luck! Senior class president cum star QB cum all-around-nice-guy, A.Will Wagner shows more than just a passing interest in her. A bit surprising; considering the fact that he’s hotter than hell and is dating the stunningly pretty cheer-leader, Jennifer Gold. Little does Ellie know that when Will says, “I feel we have met before in a different lifetime”, it’s more than just a cheesy line!!!


Unlikely as it seems, the “Legend of Camelot” still lives on! Odd parallels between their current lives and the Arthurian Legend make cynical Ellie accept the fact that the long-dead King Arthur had been reincarnated as Will Wagner.As if that wasn’t freaky enough, Ellie appears to be ‘Elaine of Astolat’, born-again!!!


Avalon High seems to be teeming with historical characters and startling coincidences. As the dark forces rise once again to crush King Arthur, Ellie finds herself plunged headlong into devious plots and fatal situations.A fantastic blend of medieval magic and contemporary teen-angst, the book is packed with chilling surprises.


It manages to provide a spanking-new look at the life and times of one of the most discussed kings of history……Arthur Pendragon.

Northern Lights / The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, Book 1)

A small, vivacious 11-year Lyra Belacqua is a resident of Jordan College, Oxford. But it is an Oxford set in a universe parallel to our own. It is a different world, where a certain kind of magic works and where the unexplainable is nothing out of the ordinary.

It is a universe where every human being is accompanied by his dæmon…an embodiment of the individual’s soul. An animal form, it constantly shape-shifts (in the case of a child) which best represents the person’s current frame of mind.

Lyra, with her beloved dæmon Pantalaimon, is the quintessential wild-child. She believes that her parents were killed in an airship crash. Consequently she is reared by the scholars and residents of Jordan College. Her life is a mad whirl of inconsistent formal studies…running amok on the vast limitless grounds of Oxford, unearthing it’s hidden secrets…picking fights with the collegiates and the rough and hardy townspeople, called Gyptians. The one man she respects and fears in equal measures is her uncle, the powerful and saturnine Lord Asriel.

Her unending curiosity leads her to overhear a conversation between Lord Asriel and the resident scholars that will soon tumble her into a whirlpool of adventure, chaos and destruction. When her close friend, Roger the kitchen-boy goes missing (believed to be captured by a fiendish group called the Gobblers) Lyra vows to find him.

On the eve of her departure she is given a strange instrument.....an Alethiometer. A rare and painfully-intricate device, it turns out to be much more than just an ordinary compass. It is infact a truth-measurer and goes on to be a strong and worthy aid to a child on a seemingly impossible mission.

Her subsequent findings reveal that her search will end in the bleak and bitingly-cold North. Along the treacherous journey she encounters unique and multi-faceted characters….the deceptively charming Mrs.Coulter, the Gyptian chief, John Faa….wise and caring Farder Coram, the wise and eternally young witch Serafina Pekkala and the magnificent armored bear, Iorek Byrnison.

But the true pièce de résistance is the unique concept of DUST..... and it’s sinister and intriguing connection with theological concepts. When brilliant minds settle down to unravel nature’s mysteries, put their own twisted interpretations to religious doctrines and meddle with destiny……chaos reigns and supreme.

This is the first in a trilogy (HIS DARK MATERIALS) and it is a must-read for all who have savoured the mystical world’s of Narnia, Middle-Earth and Hogwarts.

THE PROPHET ~~~ Khalil Gibran

In an strange and mysterious land, a prophet is about to embark on a journey back to his homeland. He lacks material possessions....and yet, he wants to off er a token of his appreciation to the people who have housed him and provided him with love and affection.

So the gift he gives is valuable, simple insights into life, love, work, joy, sorrow and numerous other factors that we encounter in every-day life.

And thus begins Khalil Gibran's most appreciated work....The book is neatly divided into miniature chapters devoted to different subjects. The preacher does his desired job. Through charming comparisons, lucid words and a deep sense of understanding.........he delves into the minds of men and provides a way to deal with life and all it's little foibles.

While one reading is definately not enough...the one's that stayed in mind and made a bit of sense to my heathen soul are listed below:

ON MARRIAGE:

".....but let there be spaces in your togetherness

Love one another but make not a bond of love"

~~~

ON CHILDREN:

"You may give them your love but not your thoughts.

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you."

~~~

ON WORK:

"You have been told also life is darkness,

and in your weariness you echo what was said by the weary.

And I say that life is indeed darkness

save when there is urge,

And all urge is blind

save when there is knowledge.

And all knowledge is vain

save when there is work,

And all work is empty

save when there is love

And when you work with love

you bind yourself to yourself,

and to one another,

and to God"

~~~

ON REASON AND PASSION:

"Your reason and your passion are

the rudder and the sails of your seafaring soul.

If either your sails or your rudder

be broken, you can but toss and drift,

or else be held at a standstill in mid-seas.

For reason, ruling alone,

is a force confining;

and passion, unattended,

is a flame that burns in it's own destruction.

Therefore let your soul exalt your reason

to the height of passion;

that it may sing;

And let it direct your passion with reason,

that your passion may live through its own

daily resurrection,

and like the phoenix rise above its own ashes."

~~~

ON RELIGION

"Your daily life is your temple

and your religion.

Whenever you enter into it

take with you your all."

~~~

ON JOY AND SORROW

"Your joy is your sorrow unmasked"

~~~

And so on and so forth........the little book is quite inspirational. And even if you do belong to the cynical brigade that scoffs at all things remotely spiritual, have a peek anyways. You come away feeling a little lighter and more at peace with all the chaos around you!

Undead And Unwed

And no, that is not a reference to my current status of singleton!! This was my first-read of the New Year and the most unexpected genre for me.....Paranormal Romance.

Normally, I shy away from anything remotely horrifying……blood and gore, severed body-parts, departure/return/makeover of the zombies/mummies/werewolves, calls from "inside-the house" and other such similar hair-raising and teeth-chattering stuff.

However, if you still have that reluctant fascination with the "nether-worlds" and need to snap out of the heebie-jeebies, then this is the way to go!!!

"Undead and Unwed", the first installment of a long-running series by Mary Janice Davidson is a hilarious parody of the oh-so-dark, Vampire World. And heading the proceedings is one of the whackiest characters to grace the horror marquee in a long time.

Meet Elizabeth ‘Betsy’ Taylor, a six-feet tall, blonde ex-model and fashionista extraordinaire. She has just been sacked from her dead-end job and that too on her birthday. Since things are definitely going downhill, the day is made complete by Betsy getting hit by a car , smashing into a tree, fracturing essential body-parts and promptly dropping dead........

But rather than stay dead and go off to the great big Neimen-Marcus in the sky, she rises from her coffin and discovers that an unfortunate mugging incident in the past has turned her into a vampire. And not your ordinary garden-variety one either, but a super-amped Vampire Queen who can sashay easily into churches and withstand holy water, crosses and broad daylight. Armed with stupendous strength, magnified hearing, a remarkable sense of smell and all the other attractions that go with the (unwanted) job, Betsy soon realises that she will be a reluctant crusader for oppressed and subjugated vampires.

Dealing with a whole new lifestyle in your after-life is hard enough. But coupled with wise-cracking wannabe-sidekicks..... a nasty, sweaty centuries-old villain and a super-smooth, sinister yet easy-on-the eye romantic interest, Betsy soon realizes that "Rest-In-Peace" is really just.....A BIG FAT LIE!!

Smashing vampire myths left, right and center....."The Queen of The Undead" is vain, immature and not exactly the smartest cookie in the jar. But what she does possess is a smart-mouth, spunky attitude, witticisms galore, and the quintessential heart-of-gold.

A fun, leave-your-brains behind kind of book, this is an ideal read to drive away the winter-blues!!

HAPPY 2008!!!

Now is the accepted time to make your
regular annual good resolutions.

Next week you can begin paving hell
with them as usual.

~Anonymous

New Beginnings.....New Hopes.....New Dreams. The New Year has crept in and along with comes the annual rigmarole of making New Year Resolutions. Every face I see, is bursting with good intentions (coupled with the occasional hangover ofcourse!!) and fervent hopes to get it right, this time around.

So out comes a lovingly drawn out list of things to-do, things not-to-do and things that should not be approached even with a ten-foot barge pole!! We solemnly swear to be better human beings, non-nagging spouses, understanding offsprings and motivated workers.

We chalk out jogging schedules, spruce up our diet plans, enroll for the smartest offer that the local gym provides and promise to burn in exercise purgatory till we can touch our toes and make more twists than a pretzel!!

And this is just the tip of the iceberg.....come first of January, unbeknownst to us.....most of us are aiming for sainthood!!

As the first week rolls by, the cynics have a heart laugh….the weak have caved and shed their mantles of a righteous living!!! It’s inevitable.....make resolutions.....try your level-best to stick to them.....and then break them in one splendid shot!

We can’t do anything about it.....that’s the way we are (bless our ever-optimistic souls!). I say go on…make those resolutions and believe in staying true to them. If not for anything else, atleast to start off the New Year on a bright, affirmative note.

Tomorrow is afterall.....another day!

The Last Sunset of 2007.........................

New Year's eve is like every other night;
there is no pause in the march of the universe,
no breathless moment of silence among created things that the passage
of
another twelve months may be noted
and yet no man has quite the same thoughts this evening that come with
the
coming of darkness on other nights.

~ Anonymous

Lookin' Forward To The New Year.....

2007 Writers in Residence

A fantastic slideshow encasing notable writers in their preferred settings!

Writer's in Residence

Benazir Bhutto's Assassination

• Benazir Bhutto assassinated in Pakistan


• Analysis: Bhutto's death shakes Pakistan


• Benazir Bhutto: Lived in the eye of Pakistan Storm


• Making a Martyr of Bhutto


• Who is beyond the attack on Bhutto?


• World Reaction to Bhutto's Death


• Benazir Bhutto (1953-2007)

O Holy Night.....

A beautiful picture....overdue but still, a perfect moment nevertheless.....