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.

Ransom by Danielle Steel (Book Review by Christy Sebastian)

    If someone out there is interested in reading a suspense, thriller book I would suggest you to grab Danielle Steel’s Ransom. The story is about four people. In the course of their lives they all get intertwined in a case.

Peter Morgan who had been in the California prison for four years is finally set  free. In the same prison Carl Waters a convicted murderer is also set free.
In San Francisco police detective Ted Lee who’s been working for twenty-nine years, is tired of his marriage life he no longer loves his wife Shirely.  Widow Fernanda Barnes who doesn’t know what to do with her life. She lost her husband and all she know that he had left her and kids in a big debt trap.

The lives of these four people gets intertwined  when Peter Morgan’s boss Philip ask him to kidnapp Fernanda’s young son Sam. Peter also seeks help from Carl. During this time Ted enters into the life of Fernanda and her kids and helps them from this dreadful situation. The story goes on when kidnappers asks for huge ransom which Fernanda is not able to provide. From here the story begins as a mother Fernanda have to face all the hurdles in front of her to save her kid.

Danielle Steel has brought a courageous piece of work  into this book. A book worth reading.!!  

The Bhudda in the Attic-Julie Otsuki(review by Chaitanya Sivanandh)

The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka centers around the story of Japanese immigrants in America who came in search of better lives.They were a group of young ladies who dreamt of a new life with their unknown husbands in America.They knew well that if they stayed back at their homeland,they would end up in the fields like their mothers.

They were totally ignorant of the new land and when they reached there,to their misfortune,their expectations did not meet reality.Their yet to be husbands had no resemblance with the persons in the photographs as those photographs were 20 years old.The chapter First night is a devasting account of physical consummation. Although they dreamt of a new life,their condition was no better in the unknown land.They had backbreaking works in the fields.Some of them worked as cooks in their labor camps,some as dishwashers,some as sharecroppers etc.,

In the chapter Babies,different conditions under which they gave birth are vividly described.They brought up their children how the natives did and they were more comfortable in the foreign land than their parents.And on one fine day,order came for the Japanese to be interned and they were forced to leave their households back in America.

An interesting thing to be noted is that in the final chapter,the collective voice of the Japanese changes to the American."The Japanese have disappeared from our town.Their houses are boarded uo and empty now."A few days after their disappearance,people even forgot about their existence.They came there,lived there,gained nothing and disappeared.

First person plural narrative is the point of narration employed in the novel.Recurring usage of same phrases through throughout the entire chapter is a stylistic technique the author has  adopted which is annoying at times.The narrative style is highly poetic.It can be said without doubt that Otsuka has succeeded in giving a haunting and heartbreaking account of Japanese women

The Edge of Desire-Tuhin Sinha(review by Princy John)

The Edge of Desire is the work of  Tuhin Sinha . He is an Indian author.
 He had written many novels ,like the rest of them this is also an awesome work by him.

The story revolves around a woman named Shruthy Ranjan. Like every other girl from our country she was also expected to get married her at twenties.  She was married to an IAS officer whose deputation was in Kashmir .  There he was given many duties where had to overcome many jeopardises .
 When  she was leading a happy family , she had been forced to become a victim of a local politician - Salim Yadav who had raped her brutally . She became his victim as a result of his vengeance to her husband who had inferred in his illegal activities .

But to her fate Salim Yadav proved himself to be innocent in the eyes of justice by making up fake proofs .Back then at her college days she had an affair with a guy , who had cheated on her .  Salim also made use of this issue and proved her to be a prostitute .

In this scenario,  she was depressed by the turn over of incidents in her life .

As an angel, famous political party leader Sharad Malyiva entered to her life . He boosted her with support and convinced her that she can avenge the rapists by winning elections.
 Ultimately she won the elections. She succeeded her political career amd became the deputy assistant of Sharad Malyvia .But on the other hand ,her relationship with her husband was breaking aa more stories about Shruthy and Sharadh were cooked up.

But still she remained to be single, after her divorce .
 Later as the story ends she is put in jail for a fake case about terrorist , where she was acclaimed to  be guilty. But she was happy that she saved millions of lives from terrorist attack.

In short its a story about woman betterment and  empowerment.
 This is one of my favourite books .
 I would suggest this as a must read book.

Veronica decides to die-Paulo Coelho(review by Princy John)

"Veronika decides to die" is an inspirational novel which has been meticulously written down by Paulo Coelho .This novel feeds the mind of an inquisitive reader with the realisation that every second of existence is a choice we all make between living and dying .
             The protagonist of the novel,Veronika decides to commit suicide ,though she possessed beauty,wealth,boy friends and all other leisures that a typical young lady crave for.  She thought of the myriad ways of committing  suicide and finally switched on to taking an overdose of sleeping pills,only to wake up some time later in a mental hospital named Villete.
               Dr Igor ,the in charge of the hospital convince Veronika that her heart is now irreparably damaged and she has only few days to live her life. Veronika ,who is now admitted in the hospital started cracking a friendship with the inmates of this hospital who doesn't at all seem mad. Zedka was among the first and her ideas about life aroused a spark of surprise in Veronika.Zedka  believes that anyone who  lives in their own world is mad. Like schizoprenics, psychopaths,maniacs.  People who are different from others seems mad.
            
              Veronika had given up many of her desires so that her parents would continue to love her as they had when she was a child,even though she knew that real love changes and grows with time and discovers new ways of expressing itself. She failed to decipher the meaning of her own life and lost interest to live.   But  the very idea that those were to be her last days made her think over the topic "is life worth to live". Moreover the encounter with friends like Zedka  and Eduard was moulding her bit by bit .Eduard  never spoke to anyone as he was acting as a schizophrenic in order to escape from the hardship of reality.

         Dr Igor, who was watching the whole drama in silence was happy about their eloping. Because it was his idea to cook up a story that Veronika 's heart was irreparably damage .Dr. Igor knew that both Veronika and Eduard are perfectly normal except for their lack of interest towards life and fear of taking challenges.

MAYYAZHIPPUZHAYUDE THEERANGALIL by M.Mukhundan (Book Review by Sajna NS)

MAYYAZHIPPUZHAYUDE THEERANGALIL
     

           "Mayyazhippuzhayude Theerangalil" [ On The Banks Of Mayyazhi] is a Malayalam novel by M.Mukhundhan.It is a classic novel describes the political and social background of Mahe [Mayyazhi] the former French colony, in the past ,in a mystical way.It was a story of an age, a story of love,independence and rebellion. The writer charts the mythology and legends of this region,existing in the period between colonization and democracy


                Dasan is the central character in this novel.Dasan is a person who is influenced by a political ideology.He appeared as a strong communist worker.His whole endeavor was to send back the foreigners to their mother land France. In between dasan fall in love with the niece of his school master. Mukhundhan could portray some real lives through this novel.Mayyazhippuzha itself is treated as the character in this novel.the novel stressed on the life styles of each and every people resided over Mayyazhi. The writer defines them 'mayyazhiyude makkal'. The life of people in Mayyazhi during pre independence period is described in this novel.Many foreigners used to live in mayyazhi during those days. Mayyazhi people had a very close relationship between them.They both lived in a co-operative manner.But when Dasan and his ideologies attained its highest growth,he and his followers tried to vanish the French people from Mayyazhi. Thus the life of the people at Mayyazhi became rebellious. As a result, Dasan was forced to go through many difficulties.

                    The novel has  a plenty of heart throbbing characters.Kurambiyamma, Kunjakkan, Lesley sayipp, Kunjichirutha, Girija , Pappan,  Achu, writer, Kausuamma were some of them. The interesting fact is 'Velliyaamkallu' which is located in the lap f the ocean , where the souls of the departed who became dragonflies  and traversed the sea to that distant island of souls. The main sensitive fact for the readers was that Dasan was not able to marry Chandrika .After all it seems to be a tragic end. 

The American Champa Tree (Book Review By Sandra Roy)

 THE ARMENIAN CHAMPA TREE

"THE ARMENIAN CHAMPA TREE" is written by Mahasweta Devi, an Indian social activist and writer . She is belonging to a literary family. Her father was a well known poet and novelist.Her mother was also a writer and a social worker. 

          This is a sensitive and attractive story especially for young readers,for whom over the years Mahasweta Devi has written extensively.She used her considerable experience of verbal history and grass root realities to create stories  which educates future adults about an India very few of them would otherwise know of.

                          This is the story of a ten year old young Buno tribal boy named Mato. He is a pain to his mother. because he doesn't do any useful things that Buno boys are meant to do. And he spend all his time simply daydreaming.He is completely dedicated to his pet baby goat , Arjun. At that time their place was facing huge famine. Then their comes a saint . Actually he was not a real saint. since the people are very orthodox and superstitious,he tried to cheat them.He demanded that  Mato's goat should be sacrificed to the goddess Kali,to get rain .And he prescribes a date  for sacrificing .It should be done before the prescribed date otherwise they will be punished with flood. Hearing this Mato runs away with Arjun in a desperate bid to reach the refuge of the Armenian church. They  were followed by the whole village . Mato and his goat wrestle to fence the arrest and reach safety. The villagers didn't  get them.The prescribed date has already passed. No flood came and the villagers understood the saint was cheating them.

                      This is a short and simple story tat can be read in one hour.Te writer follows a simple language that can be easily understood. We will be definitely tempted to read Mahasweta's other books ,if we read her Champa Tree.This is such an interesting novella. Through this story Mahasweta Devi unmasks the system in which religion  utilizes superstition for its own needs.

The American Champa Tree by Mahasweta Devi (Book Review by Alina Celine Lancy

The story speaks of a group of primitive tribes leading  confined lives according to ancient beliefs and practices.Their main source of livelihood is farming and livestock.The whole tribal area was famine striken and the tribals suffered from severe poverty.Many of the tribals turn into dacoits inorder to fulfill their basic needs.The central characters in this story are Mato,a young and innocent Buno tribal boy and his goat named Arjun.Things remain quite normal until a wicked sanyasi predicts the commencing of a destructive flood in the region.The flood would be more like adding fuel to fire as the Buno tribal clan was doomed completely by the famines.The wicked sanyasi ensures that the place could be saved if Arjun would be sacrificed to Goddess Kali.Then the whole story shifts its focus onto how Mato saves his pet from being fed to the Kali.Inspite of being chased and threatened ,Mato escaped with Arjun to the other side of the river.He seeks for help from a priest who lived a beautiful place where sweet smelling and light yellow shaded champa flowers bloomed in all glory.The tribals fail to make sacrifice ,but no floods occur.The wicked sanyasi is beat severely and driven away from their land by the tribals.Mato and Arjun returns back to their village to lead a more happier and peaceful life.

As you like it-William shakespeare(Review by Rinol job)

As you like it is basically a cliché love story..well it's also a story of hatred between brothers.The story begins with Duke senior,in banishment living in a forest named Arden with his well-wishers,they engage themselves by hunting and gathering fruits.
His brother Duke Frederick was plagued by guilt and suspense especially towards his niece,Rosalind.She wasn't banished,because she was Celia's,only daughter of Frederick,childhood playmate.The story then paces forward when Rosalind accidently meets Orlando,the son of Frederick's arch rival.Later it depicts how Rosalind falls in love with him,and she too gets banished from the kingdom at the same time Orlando too had to flee from there in order to evade from getting himself murdered.Rosalind and Celia rents a house and live there disguised,in order to find her father and Orlando.Later when she meets him,she doubts his love for her,so decides to find out if he does now.The story then revolves around them while more characters drop-in in later,adding more colours to the story.
This story is one of Shakespeare's classics.I would recommend all fantasy-ardent readers to read this drama once,I guarantee

 a feel-good book..