Cover Her Face by P. D. James

Cover Her Face by P.D. James

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

2 Stars.
I came across P D James on some forum and picked this book up after reading two Agatha Christie mysteries. Compared to them, this book is a bit boring. The suspense was maintained till the end but I couldn’t really appreciate the detective in the book. I couldn’t get the hang of his way of working. May be I should read more of her books to connect with the Inspector Dalgleish.

This is P D James’s debut novel. Sally Jupp is a young housemaid who is found murdered in her room. The detective tries to solve the case by inquiring other members of the household. One thing I would like to mention here is, the method of solving the case consists only of interviews from people. All those flashy aspects of Sherlock Holmes’s or Agatha Christie’s stories like coffee stains, cigarette ash, a queer hobby of the murderer etc., are absent in this one which is the main reason I felt it was quite boring.

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Bridget Jones’s diary

Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Thoroughly enjoyed the book. The troubles of Bridget as a 30-year old single working woman are well documented. This book is very different from those I generally read but I did enjoy the subtle humor.

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Birthday song

Oh why is it so quiet
Where is the bursting of crackers
It’s my day today
Why isn’t the world bending
And singing wishes aloud
Why aren’t there any meteor showers
Why no giant waves
Or thunders and lightning
Hey, I am born today
Quite a few years ago
Why is it like every other day –
The sun rose in the east
The birds went about their business
The street dogs are barking
The world is going on as usual
And maybe I should too
It’s just another day, after all!

Enlightenment

O Girl, what are you looking for?

I look for means to live

What makes you live?

Food.

Let there be food.

*
O Girl, what are you looking for?

I look for happiness

What makes you happy?

Life.

Let there be life.

*
O Girl, what are you looking for?

I look for ways to prevent death

What prevents death?

Immortality.

What gives immortality?

You.

Let there be you.

*
O Girl, what are you looking for

I look for life after death

What gives life after death?

You

What is you?

*
O Girl, what are you looking for?

I look for the voice that speaks to me

What is the voice that speaks to you?

The voice that keeps me alive.

What is the voice that keeps you alive?

The voice that gave me food.

What is the voice that gave you food?

*
O Girl, what are you looking for?

Nothing.

What is nothing?

Anything that is not itself.

Let there be anything.

(Inspired from Arya Stark – Game of thrones SE0603)

#Respect thy authority

#Self-respect

Free Basics, Facebook’s new ploy

When the devious social media giant started campaigning for the 1 billion Indians without Internet access, the Facebook activists immediately took to it. Pledging their support, these naive users, many of them there for just uploading pictures and counting the likes, began to feel that they are contributing to some big cause by signing a petition. Little did they know they were digging their own pit – of high cost web services on mobile. Free Basics is a new name for the infamous internet.org which could not attract supporters. Free Basics is a clever choice of name to recruit innocent Facebook users towards signing a petition supporting it. This programme is anything but free basics. It is Facebook’s partnership with Reliance mobile to provide select sites for free i.e., without data charges. This, facebook argues, would help many users without access to internet get services from the internet for free. What it actually does is attract new users to Reliance mobile. The access to the select sites is also not all free. For example, if I wanted to use Facebook on my phone with a Reliance GSM connection, I would just get the status messages on Free Basics. I will have to pay normal data charges to see pictures, which Fb is actually used for. All the other sites offered under free basics are also just trial versions of actual sites which anyone can freely and completely access with a WiFi/nominal data plan.

So, whose interests does Free Basics serve? Facebook and reliance have huge advantage if this is approved by TRAI. They can demand money from the sites they promote through their package. The users does not get any advantages like reduced data price etc, instead they would end up paying more for viewing those sites not covered under this package. We may understand this as a bait to attract users towards reliance connection. Facebook has monopoly over the traffic through this package and can manipulate it to serve its own interests. It can also sell the data to advertising companies, and worse, governments!

Facebook activism is a serious threat not only to those involving in it but also to the real time activists whose efforts are diluted at the click of a button. Facebook is never meant to be a political platform. I’d advise all those engaging in fb activism to ignore complex stuff like TRAI, petition etc and carry on with their regular selfie business.

A Step Ahead

Yesterday I was able to solve a good number of clues and filled in the puzzle to near completion. I was so proud of myself that I captured the crossword on my camera. I will update the pic soon.

This friendly puzzle is by Buzzer and I think the good dose of coffee I had in the morning might have contributed a bit. It was during the same time an year ago I set out on this mission of solving ‘The Hindu’ crosswords. I regret having left it midway frustrated at the lack of progress. But today I realized how wonderfully rewarding it is to solve on a clue on my own. I hope to keep at it this time and push myself through the steep slope of learning this cryptic craft.

Here is the link to the solved puzzle:

http://thehinducrosswordcorner.blogspot.in/2015/03/no-11347-friday-20-mar-2015-buzzer.html

2014 Blog Progress Report

Hey guys! This is a progress card of my blog for 2014. While I still feel I could have done more, can’t deny that this report made me happy and motivated to write in 2015. 🙂

Thank you for the hits, views and comments. Each of them counts.

Have a splendid year!

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 560 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it would take about 9 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Word by Word

Cryptic crossword, as I find it, is more about understanding the clues than just filling the meanings/synonyms. However, understanding the clues is not always easy. It is not tough either. We have to spot some keywords in the clue, which guide us towards the answer. This can only be gained by experience and familiarity. Drawing on my experience of solving crosswords in my native language (Telugu), I plan to take the English ones word by word.
Today, honestly, I filled only 4 words. But I learned many, like: Fajitas (pron. Fahitas) – a Tex-Mex dish usually served as taco or tortilla.
Orpheus – A legendary musician, poet in ancient Greek myth. His music is said to charm even stones.

Tip of the day: The clues with ‘return’, ‘come back’, ‘turn back’, ‘get back’ indicate that the original word being hinted is reversed in the answer.

 

Knocking the Cryptic Doors

Until recent days, I enjoyed doing the Quick crosswords on Guardian, though I never completely solved one. I have always sought out word games to pass my idle time but cryptic crossword solving never appeared as something I can attempt. But, this year’s subscription to The Hindu seems to have a purpose: introducing me to the Cryptic world.

One late January morning, I glanced at the Hindu crossword and thought, “There must be people who can solve this puzzle. Will I ever be able to do that?”. Luckily, that day’s puzzle was relatively easier to those I tried earlier. I was able to fill in few squares, which left me happy and curious. I struggled for the whole day and more words revealed themselves. I was satisfied and made this my routine for next few days, the reward being entry into a world of hidden clues and word hunt. Boy, I love it! Thus my journey across and down the white squares in a black maze, began. Tun ta daaan

What Kept Me Off?

~ A conversation with myself

– Well, numerous things. It has been a long gap indeed. These days, I have been spending 12 hours a day at office.

–Considering the free time I have in there, this doesn’t sound like a valid reason for not writing.

– Oh, then it must be the books. I have been reading quite a lot. Voraciously, you say.

–I remember having read nothing, for about a month after finishing Anna Karenina late this January.

– Alright, alright. I do not want to play the infidel husband caught on the act. I’ll blurt it out – Indiscipline.

–Yes, I am lacking in this vital component of life. Name it laziness, or fear, or the wait for an idea to plant itself in my brain, it all boils down to just one thing – Indiscipline. An attribute I hate myself to be tagged with. But yes, I have to acknowledge the fact.

– I know I should practice. I know about the famous 10,000 hours rule. But it just feels safe to worry about my writing than to make a consistent effort at honing the skill. When I start writing, all my weaknesses jeer at me in their wicked voices. I detest the piece that is taking form. I feel like my pen is never going to reproduce the perfect image that I already have in mind. Sometimes, I seem to be at loss of words. The right ones, I mean. I plainly see all the defects in my writing – the poor choice of words or the incoherent paragraphs. It would never pass my critical eye.

–There’ll be more papers in the trash can than on the desk, for every writer; even the best. One shouldn’t be shameful about it. Procrastinating is synonymous to giving up when it comes to making an effort. I should understand that in conquering those jeering voices lies success; in satisfying the critic within me lies happiness. Stephen King had numerous rejection slips pinned to his wall, before his writings were accepted for print. Many of his wonderful books wouldn’t have seen light, had he cringed at the first rejection he faced. The classic Abraham Lincoln’s example applies to writing too. Only consistent effort paves the way to expertise, or success. I should realize this and stop inventing lame excuses for not writing. So, this time, there will not be any vain promises of posts everyday. Rather, it would be proper if I stop calling myself an aspiring writer till I have produced some hundred pieces of prose.

So, what kept me off? Indiscipline it is.