Destination Infinity's Blog, page 48

My Short Fiction eBook is *Free* for 3 Days on Amazon Kindle (13 – 15 Feb)

Video Trailer for the e-book:

My eBook, ‘Short Stories with a Twist’ is free to buy on Amazon Kindle for three days from 13th Feb. – 15th Feb., 2016. I request you all to download the book now and read it using free Kindle apps available for Computer, Tablet or Mobile, when you get time.

I made a video trailer for this eBook which is embedded above. Actually, this was an attempt at humor that backfired. Still, since the video trailer is unique and different, so I have made it public. See it before I take it down

Since these are short stories, you can read each story quickly. I hope people among you who don’t read short fiction will also consider reading a few stories. Some are fun, some are serious, some are heart-warming. Different emotions are packed into one short book!

Please don’t forget to give your frank feedback either in the comments here or on Amazon. It will help me write better in the future.

Thanking you,

Rajesh K

Destination Infinity

A Good Book Trailer: The Sialkot Saga (Ashwin Sanghi)

What a nice book trailer made by Westland books! This trailer is for Ashwin Sanghi’s next book – The Sialkot Saga. I liked Ashwin Sanghi’s previous book – The Krishna Key, but didn’t form such a good impression about the book he co-authored after that with James Patterson. 

I like the amount of research this author puts into each of his novels. The historical info he managed to garner in The Krishna Key made me think how much of all that is true! Frankly, I liked the research more than the story in that book, although the story in the first half of that book was indeed suspenseful and thrilling. The amount of research that went into Chanakya’s Chant was also impressive.

That’s why I am looking forward to Ashwin Sanghi’s next book. BTW, this author has also written a non-fiction book, which was also good!

Here is where you can find more information and a preview/excerpt of Ashwin Sanghi’s The Sialkot Saga book, releasing in April 2016. And don’t forget to see the book trailer embedded above – it’s been nicely done. Almost comparable to the excellent trailer for Skion of Ishkvasu, released earlier

I think Westland books should make films. If not, at least short films. What say guys?

Bangalore Natkal (பெங்களூர் நாட்கள்) Movie Review

Bangalore Natkal (பெங்களூர் நாட்கள்) is the Tamil remake of Malayalam Super Hit movie Bangalore Days. It stars Arya, Bobby Simha, Sri Divya, Rana Daggubati, Parvathi, Laxmi Rai and Samantha. The movie is directed by Bhaskar. 

Movie Review: The first half is comedy, which is OK. But the second half surprised me with the emotional intensity. This movie offers an interesting emotional journey – don’t miss.

The first half, leading up to the actual conflict in the second half, is OK with some humor and light screenplay. But it’s during the second half that the theme of the story plays out in a dramatic fashion. I should say the movie makers have handled this part quite well.

Most of us accept that relationships are complex. That too in these modern days. This movie shows that complexity and the emotional struggles people go through, in a (somewhat) believable storyline. Youngsters might be able to better relate to this story, than other stories where hero fights an entire town to eliminate a corrupt politician, and their likes.

This movie does a relatively good job at exposing characters and their motivations, but I feel there is more scope for realism in Indian cinema. I mean, why do the lead characters not do anything considered ‘bad’ when in reality there are no characters that are 100% ‘good’? All of us are made up of multiple levels of goodness and badness and directors/script writers should be bolder in character portrayal, I feel.

There were probably too many songs, especially during the first half. But during the second half, even the songs blend into the emotional rhythm of the situation and amplify the effect. There was a brief period in the second half when I felt the movie was dragging, but it was not long enough to complain. But the movie could have been shorter.

Altogether, this movie offers a good emotional journey. Don’t miss

Destination Infinity

PS: If you take your bike to this movie, be careful while coming back. You’ll be inspired to race on the city roads, and like me, if you are not used to rash driving, you might expose yourself to ‘incidents’! I just missed a couple of them – but the ride back was thrilling nevertheless

Pics @ Chennai Egmore Railway Station

Sometimes we miss the extraordinary sights in the locations we visit frequently. One such location is the second major railway station of Chennai: Egmore/எழும்பூர் Railway Station. This gem of a structure with a high dome was constructed by the British and was initially opened to the public in 1908. 

Although the Chennai Central is the main rail terminus and junction for the city, a considerable number of trains, especially to South/Central Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Hyderabad and even Mumbai start from here. This station has two entrances – one from the Gandhi Irwin Road and another from the Poonamalle High Road side, constructed recently. The Beach – Tambaram Electric Trains runs through this station and stops here.

Recently, when I came back from Thirukkadaiyur/Poompuhar/Mayiladuthurai, I stopped to wonder at the excellent building housing the railway station and decided to click a few pics in the night, before going to the nearby bike parking. Here they are:

 

 

 

 

Destination Infinity

Photo credit: By Destination8infinity (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

Irudhi Suttru Tamil Movie Review: Good, but Predictable

*Irudhi Suttru* (இறுதி சுற்று) Tamil Movie Reivew: Good & inspiring, but predictable. The makers could’ve included a few surprises and unexpected twists.  You can see it once. The lead characters are memorable & kickass – you’ll want to see it again for their acting

Irudhi Suttru is a Tamil movie released today – Fri, Jan. 29, 2016 (also released in Hindi as Saala Khadoos) that not only breaks stereotypes, but also tells a little truth – for a change. Good to see Tamil cinema taking interesting steps into uncharted territory – I also saw a trailer for the first Tamil zombie movie starring Jayam Ravi!

Madhavan is as usual, awesome. His action and the efforts he has put for bringing his character alive, is excellent. When you see him, you know he is THE COACH and he MEANS BUSINESS. Is it only me, or do others also think Ritika Singh resembles younger Ranjitha? Irrespective, she is the STAR of this movie. What an action – she is appropriate for the role even when she overacts! The music is also good.

I like the fact that the movie makers have chosen to say what’s actually (partially at least) happening in Indian sports scene. They have shown no reservation about portrayal of characters (somewhat) truthfully.

One issue with this movie is its predictability. I wish the movie had broken stereotypes in this department as well. Not only this movie, but in all sports movies protagonist always wins in the end! Fortunately, I didn’t write the screenplay – I would’ve ensured the protagonist loses just because it’s unexpected

Creating an Impact for the Visually Challenged in India: IAB

Journey of IAB – A 10 minute Movie:

Indian Association for the Blind (IAB) is an organization based out of Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India that works to educate, train and rehabilitate visually impaired persons. I met their representatives at the recently concluded Chennai Pongal Book Fair 2016 and was impressed with the books and articles they had in display to help blind people read. They gave me a CD containing the above embedded video – I think all of us should see it.

IAB is located in a village called Sundarrajan patti on the outskirts of Madurai. It was created under the leadership of the great visionary Shri S. M. A. Jinnah in 1985. Since inception, it seems IAB has educated and rehabilitated more than 6000 visually challenged students.

“Public is overestimating the problems of the blind people and underestimating their potential.” – S. M. A. Jinnah.

IAB has a state-of-the-art Computerized Braille Press in their campus that produces printed materials accessible in the Braille format. Some books made available by their press include,

Thirukkural
Wings of Fire – Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
Tamil to English dictionary
Puthiya Thalaimurai – A popular Tamil magazine for the youth
Vizhichaval – A monthly magazine in braille run by and for the visually challenged

They had displayed some of their books and materials at the book fair,

“Blind people should prove themselves; they must work hard to become a regular citizen to the maximum possible extant.” – S. M. A. Jinnah. 

Following the above vision of their founder, IAB has made available the following facilities at their campus:

Skill training initiatives:

Braille Press
Voice Recording Library
Computer Literacy
Music Orchestra
Book binding

Access to education services:

Higher secondary school
Integrated education from Class 1 to Post Graduation
Braille Library
Tutorial center for distance education
Lending library

IAB has assisted and enabled visually impaired people to work both on campus and in mainstream institutions like schools/colleges, banks, telephone operators, call centers/BPO, etc.

Employment opportunities at their campus include,

Tata IAB Call Center
Deflashing unit in collaboration with Hi Tech Arai Pvt. Ltd, Madurai
Light Engineering unit that makes fold-able canes for the visually challenged

IAB has won many awards since their inception, including the National Award for the Best Institution – 2007 from the Honorable President of Government of India, Ms. Prathiba Patil.

You should read the inspiring story of Shri. S. M. A. Jinnah, the founder of IAB, who lost both his parents when he was very young, and then lost his eye sight due to a road accident. He not only ensured to complete his school education rising from a hopeless situation, but also completed his college degree in flying colors, rising above even non-impaired students!

For further information, visit the IAB website.

Destination Infinity

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

View from the Lighthouse @ Chennai Marina Beach

Climbing the Lighthouse @ Marina Beach will give you one of the best viewpoints for the city of Chennai. You can see the ocean, you can see the sand, you can see the roads, you can see the buildings. What more do you want? I know this lighthouse has been opened to public from Nov. 2013, that too after 22 years. But due to sheer laziness, I went there only in Jan, 2016. Hmm…

Did you know that this is the fourth lighthouse built in the city of Chennai/Madras? The first one was built on Fort Museum campus during 1796. The second lighthouse was built inside the Madras High Court campus and was in use for 50 years. The third lighthouse was constructed over the largest dome of the Madras High Court and that was used until 1977, when the existing and the fourth lighthouse came into being.

I was surprised to find an elevator that carries us directly from the ground floor to the viewing gallery on the 9th floor, which is the only floor of the 11 floors open to public. Yoohooo!! No need to climb any steps

Most Cherished Books of Readers @ The Hindu Lit for Life 2016

The Hindu Lit for Life is an annual literature festival organized by The Hindu group of publications in Chennai, India. During this year’s (2016) event, they had kept a slate and a chalk where readers could go and vote (mention) their most cherished book (If I kept one book, it would be….). Below are some books opted by various readers – both fiction and non-fiction, and in no particular order. This list contains only English books.

The Illicit Happiness of Other People – Manu Joseph.
The Graveyard book – Neil Gaiman.
India 2020 – A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.
I Dreamed of Africa – Kuki Gallmann.
The Famished Road – Ben Okri.
The Comedy of Errors – William Shakespeare.
Brida – Paulo Coelho.
Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier.
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen.
The Origins of Political Order – Francis Fukuyama.
One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel García Márquez.
Love in the Time of Cholera – Gabriel García Márquez.
How Green Was My Valley – Richard Llewellyn.
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea – Jules Verne.
The Razor’s Edge – W. Somerset Maugham.
The Shiva Trilogy – Amish Tripathi.

The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini.
The Outsiders – S. E. Hinton.
Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn.
The Book Thief – Markus Zusak.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull – Richard Bach.

To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee.
Lust for Life – Irving Stone.

I guess that’s a good list to find inspiration for new reads. Enjoy

Destination Infinity

The Hindu (Literary) Prize 2016 Goes to… Easterine Kire

The Hindu (Literary) Prize 2016 was announced on the second day of the Hindu Lit for Life event. And it went to Easterine Kire for her book When the River Sleeps.

Short Excerpt: It’s a novel set in Nagaland, North Eastern India, where the author takes the reader on the journey of the protagonist to find the river of his dreams that will give him untold power. But he must first overcome spirits, sorceresses, demons and even armed men in his path!

The organizers had shortlisted 6 books from over 60 submissions. Three authors of those six books, including the winner, were present at the awards ceremony today. Here are the other shortlisted authors who read a few lines from their books:

Siddharth Chowdary, for his book The Patna Manual of Style: Stories

Janice Pariat, for her book Seahorse

The other shortlisted authors (who couldn’t make it to the event), and their books, were:

Flood of Fire – Amitav Ghosh
Sleeping on Jupiter – Anuradha Roy
Odysseus Abroad – Amit Chaudhuri

Here is the prize winner Easterine Kire signing books for readers just after the awards ceremony,

Destination Infinity

Bajrangi Bhaijaan (Movie Review)

Bajrangi Bhaijaan is a 2015 Bollywood movie featuring Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Harshaali Malhotra and Nawaazuddin Siddiqui. This movie has been directed by Kabir Khan and produced by Salman Khan himself.

Movie review in one line: Good, but melodramatic. 

The story: Munni, a 6-year old Pakistani girl who lost her speech, comes to Delhi for treatment with her mother. She gets lost in India while her mother returns to Pakistan. The relationship between the two countries deteriorates and it becomes impossible to get VISA for travel.

Salman Khan finds Munni and takes her home. After repeated attempts to find where her house is, they finally find out she is from Pakistan. Salman Khan decides to cross the border into Pakistan (illegally) and restore her to her parents. Will he be able to do it?

Review: The movie has a solid premise and a good story. I just wished it was not over-melodramatic, especially in the end. Until then, the movie did seem somewhat realistic, and I should appreciate the makers for that attempt.

It’s difficult to believe Salman Khan as a young, innocent, immature, honest… but he somehow makes the character click. Kareena’s role, though short, has been done well by her. Nawaazuddin was good, as usual. The little girl, Munni, captures all hearts even with her voice-less acting.

I liked the movie more because it did not insult any faith (unlike Pk) to make its point. It just shows the plus and minus points of both countries, both religions, etc. Pk on the other hand, wanted to attack one religion in the name of comedy and even that was done in a poor taste. I appreciate Salman Khan, Director and Script Writer who have chosen to be sensitive, unlike Aamir Khan and his Pk team.

The music, especially the sad overarching tune, enhances the emotion. The camera has been handled deftly, and so was the costume selection. Technically, they’ve got many things right in this movie. The melodrama is what I found silly, but knowing it’s Bollywood, it’s still OK.

Good movie. Do watch.

Destination Infinity