The Immortals of Meluha

Shiva is a man whom legend turned him into a god. God of gods.

This is Book 1 of the Shiva trilogy. It was released early this year. It is now claimed to be a #1 national bestseller and why not? I got to know about the book only recently through my sister. I was intrigued by what she told me and I did quite a bit of googling about the book. I read its reviews and visited the authors website. It talked about a modern day Shiva. I became all the more curious and decided to purchase the book.

I was captivated almost immediately from the very first chapter onwards. The author Amish Tripathi, an IIM graduate finance professional. This is his debut book and 'what a debut!!!'. He's bang on target and he's here to stay. The book is a definite page turner. The story takes you back to the era 1900 BC and the pacy adventure ride begins through Meluha (modern Indians mistakenly call the Indus Valley Civilisation), a near perfect empire ruled by Suryavanshi's. They are at peril and can only hope for one man to save them. Will Shiva-the tribal immigrant from Tibet be their hero or their saviour?

The author immerses you into the world of Meluha. As I read through the chapters I could envisage the people and places during that time. There is anger, there is love, there is sympathy and there is remorse-a range of emotions fills your heart. A very good mix of mythology, fact and fantasy. Amish has been able to merge the three essence to perfection. It is indeed a very bold attempt by Amish to bring out such a story about Shiva. The usage of everyday english makes Shiva all the more human than a god. The Hindu purists would have other opinions about the portrayal of Shiva and other characters in the book. But this is not a religious book or history the author is trying to convey. It is Shiva through Amish's eye.

I could relate one section of the book to the movie 'Matrix'. Here Shiva is the chosen one and he realizes it when he is able to see through the people and himself. The other fantasy novel that I loved is 'Lord of the rings trilogy' and this one too captured my interest. This book is by no means the same as in the content but just about the epic, the land, the empire, the hooded terrorist, the wars etc. This could be one of the reasons I loved the book.

I would recommend this book to all who like mythology and stories around it. The book is thoroughly enjoyable and he ends book 1 in a juncture that you wished book 2 was released already.

Grab a copy and indulge yourself. You won't regret it :-)

Avatar-a visual epic

The year 2154. The lush green planet Pandora is rich with an expensive mineral. Humans want to mine the land but is inhabited by the natives known as the Na'vi. They need to find a diplomatic solution. A former marine is introduced to the 'Avatar' program. Avatar is grown from a human DNA mixed with that of the natives. The program allows him to be remotely linked to the body. He has to learn their ways and have to persuade the natives to relocate. Will he be able to do it? Well find out :-)


This is one of the best cinematic experiences I have ever had. Writer/Director James Cameron is back after 12 years and he has lived up to the hype the 'Avatar' has created. He mesmerises the audiences by delivering a visual master piece. The Na'vi characters are so realistic, brought to life by actors wearing sensors while motion capture techniques turn them into those blue-skinned humanoids. They are so convincing and life like, there is no dull moment in the film. The special effects are not mundane but is needed in the narrative. The movie is so vibrant and alive that you do not feel like you are watching a CGI movie. The film immerses you into the world of Pandora and by the time the movie is over, you love it as much as the Na'vis do.

As for the story line, it is very predictable but not any less interesting. We cannot miss the obvious references to US's unlawful invasions of Iraq or Afghanistan and their insensitive treatment to indigenous races. Also the impacts of destroying nature cannot be ignored.


The 3D effect enhances the total experience. I would recommend to see it on 3D only. It is a necessity.

The biggest movie spectacle of the decade with a subtle message.
Rating: ****1/2

Paa touches your heart

Auro, the protagonist is a normal 13 year old boy except for the fact is he suffers from a rare genetic disorder, progeria, that accelerates the ageing process. He has a body of a 65 year old.

The central character Auro played by Amitabh is exemplary. He has turned his Auro avatar into one of the most lovable characters of all time. Not once do you see the grandeur of Amithabh Bachchan, the charisma. Auro does the talking and captivates your heart and mind. He makes you fall in love with Auro. His relationship with his grandma is a point to cherish. The scenes of Auro & his friends are beautifully scripted. The dialogues are witty and Auro’s one liners makes you smile. Despite the emotional tags the screenplay is not maudlin at all. While Abhishek & Vidya has done well it is worth mentioning Arundhati Nag’s portrayal of Auro’s grandmum – good performance.

The film was something beyond expectations and turned out to be a different experience. I’m just overwhelmed by this piece of work that's brought to the audience.

The music & background score by Ilaiyaraja is commendable, gels with the heart of the movie. The camera work by PC Sreeram is magnificently done.

Full marks to R Balakrishnan for his work.

Rating: ****

Google Vs Bing

Google, a buzz word among any computer savvy person in the world. There wouldn't be anyone who doesn't use the google search engine at least once a day. It has indeed revolutionised the way we can search for information in the world wide web. Google was launched back in September 1998 and ever since there has been no looking back for the company. It has become a house hold name for searching anything and everything. Google has been my homepage ever since it became famous. I, personally search something on it at least 10 times a day if not more. Google is really synonymous to web search in the technological globe.

For a product or software that's leading in the world market, a competitor is required. If not there is no scope for improvement. This is something I believe and many would share the same view point. It has been more than a decade and there has not been anything that could match Googles perfection or Googles search results. Well, I guess we have a challenger now. Microsoft has launched its new search engine BING (beta) on June 2, 2009. Their tag line 'New Decision Engine'. You can read more about the launch over here. The intentions are very clear and have already sent shock waves across Google. You can read this for more information.

I spent a few hours searching using both the tools to compare and see if there are really any differences between the two. The web results displays pretty much the same results in Google and Bing. I did find some differences . Here are a few features of BING that is not in Google. Let me start with the BING homepage.

1. The BING homepage is much better to see since it has images like a water mark and keeps changing day to day.

2. The search results per se does not vary much and really depends on what your search string is. The results page displays related searches on the left side from which the users can chose from. Gives more choices for the user unlike Google.

3. Each of the search result links has a preview section that is displayed when you hover your mouse on a tiny orange button on right of each link. This enables the user to decide whether or not the link is useful or not. This reflects its 'new Decision Engine and consumer brand' selling point of MS.

4. It is not required to scan through multiple pages while searching for images. New images are downloaded as we scroll down the page.

5. Video search results showed the most difference. A mere hovering over the video thumbnails with the mouse pointer lets you watch the preview. The left menu provides options to chose the type of video you require like screen size, length, resolution etc.

6. The user is able to set his own security settings to control the way results are displayed.

There could be other differences but these are just the ones I could find after a few hours of comparison. BING is still in its beta version and there could be teething problems. It is still too early to say if BING has any edge over Google. The toughest part to change would be the peoples perception. All of us are so used to Google and to think of a change would take some convincing to do by MS BING.

"Bing Is Not Google" Time will only tell. :-)

Lord of the King!

Five good reasons why you should watch KING KONG
1. If you are a King Kong fan.
2. If you are a Peter Jackson fan.
3. If you like adventure.
4. If you like action.
5. If you like special effects.

This king size extravaganza is a perfect package for any movie aficionados. Peter is known for his 'Lord of the rings trilogy' that rendered him Oscars. This one is just another feather in his crown that truly makes him the real 'LORD OF THE KING'. The initial build up to the scene when the protagonist arrives to the silver screen is worth mentioning. He keeps the audiences glued to the screen right from the word 'LIGHTS-CAMERA-ACTION'.
Visual effects at its prime movie, this. We've seen many special effects spectacular movies but this is surely an edge ahead of any of its kind. The monster ape not only depicts ferociousness but also his gentle side. Peter has meticulously crafted the emotional scenes between Naomi and the ape. Naomi Watts delivers a very promising performance. A sure BOX OFFICE material.

All of the above is purely my personal opinion.