Lisbeth Salander 0.4

                                                                    

2013 was the year when I completed the three books by Stieg Larsson which later on became popular as the Millennium series. The books followed the tale of Lisbeth  Salander. The Girl in the Spider's Web is set against a larger literary canvas. Some characters are new and the old characters are explored and examined in a closer manner.  The fourth installment is indeed a bold attempt by the author - David Lagercrantz to create a story without tampering have with the original tale. This is a sequel which does not spoil the beauty of the the millennium trilogy.  

The story is essentially the tale of some individuals who are trapped in a lonely world. The main representatives being Blomqvist - a journalist who is leading a lonely life enduring many setbacks in his writing career. He is in the lookout for something fresh and new. His superior is Berger who doesn't have any qualms of sharing physical space with get lawfully wedded husband and Blomqvist. The main protagonist, Salander is caught up in the act of romancing the machines and keeping a protective eye on the lives of people whom she care about. The police officer Bublanski is always seeking spiritual solace from his Rabbi. 

The fourth installment pitches Salander against her twin sister Camila and she takes care of August - the child prodigy. The sinking publishing house Millennium in a way represents the old school publishing style and Salander with her super-hacking skills represents the new age technology driven style of publishing. 

I enjoyed reading this title both on my iPad mini, iPhone and Kindle paper white. I was enchanted with the voice of Simon and Vance and downloaded the audiobook. I am sure that listening to the audio version would help me to understand the story and the place names in a better way. I would rate the printed book as 3 out of 5 and I hope that the re-reading of the book using the audio version will be a better experience. 

The protean nature of Twitter in the context of the Chennai floods...

Dedicated to Dr K. Elango - My inspiration and guiding light. (Sir, You are always there in my mind even if we haven’t seen and met for a long time. I would like to make a special mention of the collaborative work which we did when you were leading the training team in Loyola, Chennai. It was about Disaster Management and the ESL tasks that we can create from it. The blog below is one way or the other is inspired by that article which got published in The Hindu)

The city of Chennai is something that is close to my heart. A city that has immensely contributed to my development as a person and as a teacher. It was shocking to see the familiar roads and streets inundated with water. It was as if the whole city was getting a thorough natural cleansing. The city as I know it was on the brink of a collapse. The government system failed and for a few days there were no official announcements. There was an eerie official silence and Chennaites were clueless about the future. Like the many pictures that were circulated online of people trapped on the rooftops of their own houses, the only thing that they could do was wait.

Living a life away from all this scenario made me make use of the only social window that I love - Twitter. I was constantly following up the updates which appeared under the hashtag #chennaifloods. As I was monitoring the Twitter timeline, I could notice the protean nature of the tweets.

In the first stage, there was utter confusion as the tweets were showing the pictures of mass destruction and the screenshots of weather forecast which warned of greater damage and destruction. There was panic all around and people were trying to reach out to their loved ones. I could sense a feeling of virtual camaraderie shaping up and it extended beyond the affected zone. The closure of the airport and the suspension of the train services got a special mention in the tweets. There were many instances of photoshopped images misinforming the public about escaped crocodiles from the park.

In the second stage, the tweetrati was busy offering help and relief materials. By this time, even the government agencies woke up to the grim reality of the flood. The mobile companies offered free talktime and data packages to assist the flood victims. There was an uproar regarding the way Amma devotees were forcibly sticking Amma posters on the relief materials. There were co-ordinated attempts from different corners of the world to lend a helping hand to the victims. Twitter timeline was filled with posters like - Save Chennai,Pray for Chennai. Since Chennai is regarded as the home of South Indian cinema, there were many stars who chipped in with their contributions and help.

The third stage, Twitter was alive with instructions and advices for a post-flood situation. It included ways to stop the spread of epidemics and issues regarding personal hygiene and sanitation. It was interesting to see how the timeline was alive with suggestions on how to take care of the cars and electronic devices that were submerged in the water.

It is unequivocal that it is easy to comment upon a situation from a far away place. I will never know the true hardships that my friends and well wishers had for a time window of two weeks. I hope they are all safe and sound.

God bless them all...

Spectre - A 5 point review

The world is sceptical about Bond movies. They say that the Bond played by Daniel Craig is too old. They complain about the story line. There is also this issue about exhausting Ian Fleming's collection of Bond tales. Nothing of the above deterred me from watching this 24th Bond movie and here are my impressions about the movie: 

1) The movie can be termed as a tetralogy. The fourth in the series which began with

    Casino Royale followed by Quantum of Solace and Sky Fall. 

2) For a die-hard Bond fan, the movie offers momentary trips down the memory lane.

    The music and the gadgets never fails to hold the attention and the fascination. 

3)  The personal and the other side of agent 007 is revealed in this movie or the first time the viewer is shown the living quarters of Bond and you will be astonished to see it as cluttered and unorganized. The conversation between Money Penny. The movie also reveals how lonely Bond is.

     James Bond: [over the phone] Who was that?

     Moneypenny: He's just a friend.

     James Bond: At this hour of the night?

     Moneypenny: It's called life, James. You should try it some time.

4) Bond movies are famous for their one-liners. The one which will stay with us long after we     leave the theater is - You're a kite dancing in a hurricane Mr.Bond. 

5) The villians in the Bond movies sometimes overshadow the titular hero himself. Most of          the times these villians are well crafted and are endowed with an one-liner like this one          in Spectre - Blofeld: [to Bond] Cuckoo! 

Now waiting for the 25th......