International Womens Day - Navya k.s

The International Women's Day celebrated on March 8th every year is one of the many things that points out the importance a woman has got.This day is not simply celebrated to focus the attention on woman,but it is a day celebrated as a victory of women from being oppressed and ill-treated to a state of freedom in which they have equal voting rights,better pay and shorter working hours.

                                                      In fact,one particular day is not enough to show respect to the women all over the world,as it is them who suffers the most but deserves the best.This day,which marks a lot of works done by women to come forward can be made special by thanking the women around us.It is 'she',a daughter,a sister,a wife,a mother,a friend who takes all the efforts to spread happiness but the one who is always abused.
                                                      

There are a lot of issues that woman face in today's world from inequality to physical and mental abuse.This is the real issue that has to be addressed rather than celebrating just the victories.The United Nations select a specific theme every year and this year it is 'Pledging For Parity'.This theme basically mean to pledge parity between men and women and to support women to achieve their ambitions.
                                                      

When we look back,the status women has got in today's world is surely one that was never expected years ago,but we should not sit back and relax,instead we should fight for more justice and help every women discover her true potential and make her who she truly is.

The Flying Dutchman-Brian Jaques(Review by Rinol Job)

The story is about an old myth,still believed by the Netherlanders,about a phantom ship that brings death and doom to anyone encountering it.
In the late 17th century there lived a captain named G. Bernad foké,an extremely talented navigator who transported goods and cargo across the Atlantic ocean.He knew all the sea routes thus the businessmen auctioned to get their goods transported by his ship.This made him filthy rich and he lived a lavish life,but his greed made him want more,myth has it that once he made a contract with a sea monster to make his ship cross the Atlantic 8-10 times per month,as a deal he should be the monster's slave .The voyage took off,and the ship flew like a bird,but it never reached the shore.Thus the ship became cursed and roamed around the ocean never to see land again.
Even though it's a myth there are many reported cases where sailors have encountered with the flying Dutchman.
The book is quiet interesting to read as a fairy tale,but more than that I prefer to read it as a history of Netherlands's sea trades and lifestyles during the 17th century.A preferred one-time read

The Incredible and sad tale of Erindra and her heartless grandmotherby Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Book Review by Richa Johnichan)

It is a melancholic and breathtaking tale penned by Columbian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It is the story of a 14 year old girl child Erindra who lives with her grandmother.

She is forced to listen to her. But accidently she knocks over a candle and sets fire to their home. As a punishment grandmother forces Erindra to sell her body to repay the damage. Later in the novel, Erindra meets Ulysses, one of her clients and he falls in love with her.They try to run away but unfortunately they get caught. 

To live with freedom Erindra asks Ulysses to kill her grandmother. He tried several times but he failed. Then at last he decides to stab her and his attempt was successful. But Erindra runs off leaving Ulysses alone with the grandmother. The story ends on a sad note.

Five Point Someone by Chetan bhagat (Book review by Rahul Johny )

Five point someone is a story about three students , who study at IIT Delhi.The college is known to be the best of all colleges and only a handful of smart heads get an opportunity to study here. The main characters of the story are Ryan , Hari and Alok who are found to be in the bottom of their class and in the bad books of all their professors.

The book gets its Title based on the scoring system at IIT. The top performers of the class would get grades somewhere around nine whereas the bottom performers gets around a five.

The story reveals their college days and all the events they went through in their college life , including the reasons for their poor scores and about their drinking habits  and behaviour as a whole.The three of them have no qualities of a typical hero  but  the author presents them in a good manner .

The convocation  speech at the end of the book gives the reader a sense of motivation and also gives a final message.

The God of Small Things by Arundhathi Roy (Book Review by Ann Ben)

 The God of Small Things is a book that revolves around the life of a family based in Ayyemenem, Kerala. The Main characters of the novel are the two-egg twins, Rahel and Esthappen also called as Estha. Ammu, the mother of Estha and Rahel was divorced and the three of them stayed in their maternal house in Ayyemenem.

The story constantly shifts between the past and the present, when Rahel had returned after ages to Ayyemenem on the notice that Estha has shown up in town. The twins finally meet after the passage of several years .They did not have any sort of contact with each other, separate by body and soul. It also portrays wonderfully the memories of their childhood.

The plot constitutes of a chain of mishappenings in their family, the major one being the death of their cousin, Sophie mol. Beneath all of their family tragedies, Ms. Roy has detailed about the local politics, social taboos and mostly the fate of all the people which laid the family irreparably shattered.

Ms. Roy also tries to convey through her novel that it is always the small things that are said out aloud and the bigger ones are kept only as thoughts deep inside and never let out.

The book is a beautiful piece of word art, sensitive and passionate which keeps the readers mind engaged from page to page, giving them a sort of enlightenment and some fresh energy.

Biography of Thomas Alva Edison (Book Review by Neema Mary Tom)

“GENIUS IS 1 PERCENT INSPIRATION AND 99 PERCENT PERSPIRATION”

Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor who has been called “The Father Of Electrical Age”.He developed many many devices that influenced life in 20th century.

Thomas Alva Edison was born on February 11, 1847, in Milan, U.S.A. Edison was very intelligent,but showed relatively self centered behavior.He performed so poorly that his mother started teaching him at home.Once Edison said that “My mother was the making of me”.Edison was very inquisitive .Edison became deaf at the age of 12.

One day Edison saved the life of a young boy who happened to be the son of the stationmaster J.U Mackenzie.Mackenzie was so grateful that he took Edison under his wings and trained him as a telegraph operator.Edison’s life went on well after that.

Edison married Mary Stilwell on December 25,1871.He moved to Menlo Park five years after his marriage,there he invented the phonograph.The phonograph was the first machine that could record someone’s sound and play it back.He also invented an incandescent lamp and he was the one who built the first commercial power station

Edison died at the age of 84 on October 18,1931.His death marked the end of an era in the progress of the civilization

Thomas Alva Edison was more responsible than any one else for creating the modern world we live today…

Anne Frank -The Diary of a young girl (Book Review by Adithyan J P

Anne Frank The Diary of a young girl tells us the gripping tale of how a young girl and her family endured the holocaust by going into hiding .Anne spent the last two years of her life living in fear that she would be found and slaughtered, but she also mentions the solace she found in the little things.

She wrote about the onslaught of mixed feelings she experienced during her adolescence. In a house of more than a dozen she often felt lonely and alienated, though she specifically points out from time to time that the one person who could always understand and see through her was her father. Her days were divided between getting home schooled and observing the power relations that existed within the household. All in all this book proves to be a great read as you delve into the mind of a teenager and discover that in spite of prevailing darkness light can still be found.