Navaratri 2012 : Clicks from my visits to Golus

1000s of years of epics, 100s of years old Bommai(dolls), Music, Songs, Sundals, Costumes, Traditions, Kolams, Lamps, Decorations, Chit-chats, Gifts, Prayers, Invitations, Visits = One Name = Navaratri Golu

The Girl In Blue

1st edition (UK) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Title : The Girl In Blue

Author : P. G. Wodehouse

Main characters: G.G.F. West (Jerry West), Mrs.Clayborne, Homer Pyle, Willoughby Scrope, Crispin, Duane Stottlemayer, Jane Hunnicut, Vera Upshaw, Chippendale and Dame Flora.

Description of one of the main characters: Crispin is  Willoughby Scrope’s brother. He is kind, honest and is fond of animals. He has a rest house in England away from the city. He takes in paying guests. He is Jerry’s uncle.

Whom I like and why : I like Jerry West because he is truthful and ready to help. He helps his uncle Bill (Willoughby Scrope) find the miniature painting ‘THE GIRL IN BLUE’. Jerry West is a very good cartoonist. Jerry’s full name is Gerald Godfrey Francis West (G.G.F.West). He signs his cartoons as Jerry.
Whom I dislike and Why: I dislike Vera Upshaw. She cries for everything. She always tries to get Jerry into trouble. She is an irritating character.

Setting/Theme of the story: Jerry West goes in search of the miniature picture of this uncle’s Willoughby Scrope’s great great great Aunt, 'The Girl In Blue'. He falls in love with a girl called Jane Hunnicut. With her help he finds the miniature picture and hands it over to his uncle Willoughby Scrope. In return Jerry gets 1000 pounds from Willoughby. Jane and Jerry marry.

Part I enjoyed the most : I enjoyed the part when Jerry finds the 'Girl In Blue' in Duane Stottlemayer's room.

Hatchet

First edition cover (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Title: Hatchet

Author: Gary Paulsen

Main Characters: Brian, the pilot.

Description of one of the main characters: Brain is a city boy. He is not used to being alone. He is not used to living rough. He changes when he starts living on his own in the forest trying to survive with only hatchet. He is 13 years old.

Setting/theme of the story: A city boy named Brain goes in a plane with a pilot. He is the only passenger in the plane. His plane crashes and the pilot dies in a heart attack. He learns to survive alone by making fire, catching fishes, building a home in the forest. After his 53^rd day alone in the forest, he makes a hole in the plane which had crashed and takes out the survival bag from it. The same day he sees a plane land and come his rescue. But by then, he learns to live alone and save his life.

Part I enjoyed the most: I enjoyed the part when Brian makes fire by recalling how early men made fire.

Many Waters

Sandy and Dennys on the cover of Many Waters (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Title: Many Waters

Author: Madeline L’Engle

Main Characters: Sandy Murray, Dennys Murray, Grandfather Lamech, Noah Japheth, Shem, Ham, Oholibamah, Yalith, Mahlah, Annah, Elisheba, Matred, Tiglah, Eblis, Ugeil, Higgaion, Ariel, Adnarel, El, Alarid.

Description of one of the main characters:

Japheth is the son of Noah and Matred. He is the grandson of Grandfather Lamech. He meets the Murray twins first. His wife’s name is Oholibamah. Shem and Ham are his brothers. Yalith is his sister. He helps Sandy find Dennys.

Whom I like and why: I like Yalith as she is a brave girl. She is a kind girl. She goes off with Ariel, a Seraphim, when she gets to know that there is going to be “many waters” which is going to destroy the world.

Whom I dislike and why: I dislike Tiglah as she is wicked. She hates Sandy and Dennys. When Dennys accidently came into Tiglah’s house in a unicorn, she threw him out.

Setting/theme of the story: Sandy and Dennys Murray, the Murray twins go into their mother’s lab, without reading the sign – EXPERIMENT IN PROGRESS. PLEASE KEEP OUT – on the door, to take the bottle of Cocoa. They try to work on their dad’s time travel experiment and when the computer asks them where they want to go, they think it’s just like a toy and reply:

SOME PLACE WARM AND SPARSELY POPULATED. LOW HUMIDITY.

Suddenly, there is an explosion and the twins land in a desert. They meet a man named Japeth and his mammoth, Higgaion. Sandy and Dennys go to Grandfather Lamech’s house in the unicorns with Japeth. But Denny’s unicorn vanishes and Japheth goes in search of Dennys. Later Dennys is found lying almost dead in Noah’s tent. When Japeth who goes back, giving up searching for Dennys for that day, to Noah’s tent, he finds Dennys there. The ladies in the house – Yalith, Matred, Oholibamah, Annah and Elibisha – take care of Dennys. Dennys recoves and meets Sandy in grandfather Lamech house. Then, suddenly, Grandfather Lamech dies. El, the God, tells Noah to build and ark as there are going to be “many waters” soon. Dennys and Sandy find out that the Noah they know is the same Noah who comes in the story of Noah’s ark which was taught to them in the Sunday school. They  knew the story very well. Flood is going to come and Sandy and Dennys have to escape before it comes as they cannot got on Noah’s Ark. It wasn’t that way in the story. They realise that they had come back on time. With the help of Alarid they take a quantum leap to their own time. They are back in their mother’s lab. The Murray twins have had an adventure.

Part I enjoyed the most: I enjoyed the part when Sandy and Dennys meet Japeth and the mammoth Higgaigon. Japheth doesn’t believe the they are 2 people as there is nothing called ‘twins’ during his time.

Murder On The Orient Express

Murder on the Orient Express (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Title: Murder On The Orient Express

Author: Agatha Christie

Main Characters: Hercule Poirot, M.Bouc, Dr.Constantine, Wagon Lit Conductor, Hector MacQueen, the Valet (Edward Henry Masterman), Mrs. Hubbard, Greta Ohlsson (the Swedish Lady), Princess Dragomiroff, Count and Countess Andrenyi, Colonel Arbuthnot, Mr.Hardman, Antonio Foscarelli, Mary Defenham, Schmidt, M.Rachett(Cassetti).

Description of one of the characters: M.Rachett, alias Cassetti, is the man who murdered Daisy Armstrong, the child of Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong. He is murdered on the Orient Express. He is a wicked man. He had kidnapped and killed many children before. He escaped from America and went to Europe and became a traveller. He changed his name from Cassetti to Rachett.

Whom I like and why: I like Hercule Poirot. He is a Belgian detective. He is so smart and shrewd. He makes right guesses because he has experience. He arrives at two possible solutions for the case of the murder on the Orient Express.

Whom I dislike and why: I dislike no one in the story. All of them are very good characters except Cassetti who too left kidnapping and became a traveller.

Setting/theme of the story: Hercule Poirot travels in the Orient Express with the other passengers. A man named M.Rachett, a passenger, comes to M.Poirot for help. M.Rachett asks M.Poirot to guard his life and also offers a huge amount but M.Poirot declines the offer. That night Rachett is murdered. M.Poirot takes up the case and starts investigating. He finds evidences, interviews passengers and at last arrives at two solutions. M.Bouc and Dr. Constantine, who act as judges decide to tell the Yugo Slavan police officers, the first solution.

Part I enjoyed the most: I enjoyed the part when Poirot starts finding out, by guessing, that everybody in the Orient Express are related to the Armstrong family. In the book, Hercule Poirot says-

“If you confront anyone who has lied with the truth, they usually admit it – often out of sheer surprise. It is only necessary to guess right to produce your effect.”

39 Clues – Book one: The Maze Of Bones

The 39 Clues (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Title: The Maze Of Bones

Author: Rick Riordan

Main Characters: Amy, Dan, Grace, Nellie, McIntyre, Aunt Beatrice, Ian, Natalie, Alistair Oh, Jonah Wizard and The Holts.

Description of one of the Main Characters: Jonah Wizard is one in the Cahill family. He is a television star. But he has no brains. He is very rich. He is wicked. He tries to get information from Dan and Amy. He is stupid. His father always talks about the television programmes in which Jonah had come.

Whom I like and why: I like Dan very much. He is very quick in mental maths. He is very brave. Dan is intelligent. Without Dan’s courage and reasoning, Amy would have never accepted the quest. Amy is Dan’s sister.

Whom I dislike and why: I dislike Ian Kabra. He is very wicked. He has a younger sister named Natalie who is equally cunning. He always considers Amy and Dan as poor and mocks at them. He is smart. He and his sister were the first to accept Grace’s quest.

Setting/Theme of the story: Grace Cahill is about to die. She changes her will and gives it to William McIntyre, her lawyer. She dies. Amy and Dan Cahill are the grand children of Grace Cahill. Aunt Beatrice, Amy’s and Dan’s guardian takes them to the Cahill mansion. In the Cahill mansion, McIntyre reads Grace’s will. The Cahill family is very big. So, Grace had given them all a million dollars. She had also spoken ,in a recording played by McIntyre, about the Cahill family as one of the most powerful in human history. She had planned an open contest for any Cahill member to accept the challenge of finding 39 clues which will lead them to find a treasure which will make them the most powerful human being. But there was a condition. Anyone who chooses to accept the challenge will not inherit anything but the first clue to the treasure. The one million dollars of theirs will be burned. Amy and Dan accept the challenge. The first clue Amy and Dan get is:

Resolution:

The fine print to guess,

Seek out Richards________

Amy finds out from Grace’s library that 'Richards________ 'refers to Benjamin Franklin as Benjamin Franklin always disguised his real name. Amy and Dan take Nellie, a girl of age 19, to travel to Paris where Benjamin Franklin lived. They go to the maze of bones, and find a magic box to complete. In between the Holts, the Kabras, Jonah Wizard and Alistair Oh try to kill Amy and Dan. But Amy and Dan escape. They go to a church and find a underground room, where Benjamin Franklin lived. Thy find a clue to the second clue, which is:

As though charge this,

So I charge thee.

Use thy skills the

truth to free.

They find a song etched on the walls and take a copy of it. They find the initials W.A.M under the song. Amy recognizes the initials 'W.A.M' as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. They get ready to go to Vienna, Austria where Mozart lived to search for the second clue.

Part I enjoyed the most: I enjoyed the part when Amy and Dan escape from Natalie and Ian Kabra who try to snatch the clue to the second clue from them.

The Happy Prince

1st edition (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

the Happy Prince (Photo credit: s o b e r)

There was a statue of the Happy Prince in the middle of the city. A swallow came to rest under the prince’s feet. A tear drop fell from the Happy Prince’s eyes and drenched the swallow. The Happy Prince was crying! The swallow asked the Happy Prince what he was crying over. The Happy Prince told the swallow whatever he saw from the top and asked the swallow to take the gold and the gems from his statue and give it to the poor. Winter came and the swallow died of hunger and cold. The mayor saw that the Prince's ornaments were taken away and ordered that the statue to be melted. He wanted there to be a statue of himself. So, the mayor’s servants melted the statue, but the heart of the Prince would not melt. So, they threw the dead swallow ,which was found at the feet of the Prince, and the heart away. 

When God asked his angels to bring the most precious things in the world, his angels got him the swallow and the heart of the Happy Prince.

Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian

Cover via Amazon

Title: Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian

Author: Rick Riordan

Main Characters: Percy, Annabeth, Thalia, Grover, Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Nico, Tyson, Luke, Kornos, Beckendorf, Silena, Chiron, Clarisse, Ares, Athena, Hera, Hermes, Rachel, Apollo and Sally.

Description of one of the Main Characters: Nico is the son of Hades. He had a sister named Bianca who went inside a troll and couldn’t come back out. Nico was not allowed to be in camp Half–Blood ( the place where demigods get training to become heroes) because he is the son of Hades, the Lord of the Dead. Nico convinces his father to fight Kornos and few other Titans for saving Olympus and other Gods.

Whom I like and Why: I like Tyson. He is a Cyclope and the big-brother of Percy. He is also a son of Poseidon. He is very brave. He loves Percy so much that he kills a Titan(Oceanus) for him and to save Olympus. He leads the other Cyclopes in the war between the Titans and Gods. As a reward, Zeus appoints him as general in the armies of Olympus.

Whom I dislike and Why: I dislike Kornos. He is one of the greatest Titans. He was once shattered into numerous pieces by the Gods. But he regained power and took Luke's body. He is wicked and cruel. He escaped the magic of tartarus, a really dangerous pit. He attacks New York City hoping he could capture Olympus. But he is once again shattered into numerous pieces by Percy and Annabeth. Maybe, he can never rejoin again.

Setting/Theme of the Story: Percy and Rachel spend the holiday together but suddenly Beckendorf arrives and calls Percy to help him blast ‘PRINCESS ANDROMEDA’, the ship of the Titan Lord Kornos. Percy and Beckendorf blast the ship but unfortunately Beckenford dies when the ship blasts. Percy goes back to camp Half-Blood and tells everybody the sad news. Then Annabeth, Percy, Chiron and other campers go to New York to save Olympus. At last Percy fights Kornos, the Titan Lord and defeats him. The Gods regain power and reward the brave heroes of Olympus.
Part I enjoyed the most: I enjoyed the part when Titan Kronos gets shattered into pieces by his own weapon.

The Young King by Oscar Wilde

The young king is to be crowned tomorrow. He goes to sleep in the royal bed. He gets  three strange dreams. He first dreams that many weavers sit and weave all night long cursing the loom and toaiushhe young king. When the young king asks them what they are weaving for all night, in the dream, they reply that they are weaving the young king’s coronation dress. The young king wakes up with a cry and then sleeps again. This time he gets a dream that a lady is asking more and more workers go inside the mines and bring diamond. When the young king asks one of the workers, in his dream, what they are going inside for, he replies that they are going to take the diamonds for the king’s crown. Once again the young king wakes up with a cry and falls asleep again. This time he gets a dream that many workers go in a wooden boat searching for something in the middle of the night. He asks one of them where they were going in the middle of the night and he answers that they were searching for pearls to fit in the young king’s sword. The king wakes up. This time he sees that it is dawn. While he gets ready to wear his clothes for the coronation he sees that they looked like the clothes that came in his dream and refuses to wear it. Instead he wears a shepherd’s cloth. When he is about to take his sword, he sees the pearl in it and refuses to have that also. Instead he picks up a shepherd’s stick. When the young king goes to accept the crown, he sees the diamonds in the crown and refuses to wear it on his head. Instead he wear's a shepherd's headband. All the others mock at the young king but the king goes straight to the God for his morning prayers and after praying, when he comes out, the shepherd’s clothes look brighter than the gold, the shepherd’s headband looks rich than diamonds and the shepherd’s stick looks like a shinning sword. All the people look at him with awe and respect.

The Alchemist

The Alchemist (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: The Alchemist (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Title: The Alchemist

Author: Paulo Coelho

Main characters: Santiago, the Alchemist, Fatima, Urim, Thummim, Melchizedek – the king of Salem and the English men.

Description of one of the Main characters: Santiago is a sixteen year boy who wants to follow his dream. He has many adventures while trying to follow his dream. At last he meets the alchemist who explains to Santiago about Santiago's dream and shows him where the treasure which came in his dream can be found. Santiago finds his treasure and becomes rich. He goes back to Spain, his home.

Whom I like and why: I like the Alchemist as he teaches Santiago to fight, to talk to nature and also helps him to follow his dream.

Whim I dislike and why: I dislike Urim and Thummim as they sometimes drove Santiago into danger.

Setting/theme of the story: A young boy named Santiago tries to follow his dream and while doing that he has many adventures. He meets the ALchemist who helps him follow his dream. He goes from Spain to Egypt and there, learns the treasure he was seeking was back in Spain. So he goes there again and finds the treasure. He becomes rich and lives happily. 

Part I enjoyed the most: I enjoyed the part when Santiago escapes from thieves who try to steal Urim and Thummim.

Gladiator – Street Fighter

Title: Gladiator – Street Fighter

Author: Simon Scarrow

Main Characters: Marcus, Decimus, Pompeius, Gaius Julius Caesar, Portia, Brixus, Ferax, Milo, Bibilious and Festus.

Description of one of the main characters: Marcus is a eleven year old boy. He is the bodyguard of Portia. He earns Gaius Julius Caesar’s, his master’s, respect by saving the life of Portia and Caesar himself. He spies on Milo and his street gangs for Caesar as Milo is Caesar’s sworn enemy. At last, when he saves Caesar from his death, planned carefully by Decimus and Bibilious, Marcus earns his freedom from slavery as a reward. He sets about finding his mother, Amaratis(Livia).

Whom I like and why: I like Gaius Julius Caesar as he is very fair and not very cruel to his loyal servants. He gives them proper rewards. He does things for the welfare of the people. He is Portia’s uncle.

Whom I dislike and why: I dislike Decimus because he is very cunning. He tries to kill Julius Caesar by giving poison. But Marcus finds that it contains poison and pushes it out of Caesar’s hand in time.

Setting/theme of the story: As Marcus becomes the slave of Caesar and is the bodyguard of Portia, he comes to Caesar’s house in Rome. He is trained by Festus, a soldier in Caesar’s army. Marcus learns to fight with all kinds of weapons quickly. He saves Portia’s life when two kidnappers from Milo’s street gangs try to kidnap her. As Caesar’s spy, he goes to the pit – where Milo and his street gangs live – and works as a house slave in Milo’s house. He hears all the secrets spoken by Milo and Bibilius and tells them to Caesar. He saves Caesar’s life when Decimus tries to give Caesar poison. Later Bibilious challenges Caesar to call a fight, with one of their gladiators versus Marcus, if he dares. So Marcus is sent into the arena and he meets his old enemy Ferax as his opponent again. This time he kills the celt and earns Caesar even more glory from the people. So, Caesar gives him freedom from his slavery as  reward for being loyal and serving him. Marcus sets bout finding his mother, Amaratis(Livia).

Part I enjoyed the most: I enjoyed the part where the street gangs of the pit fight with the street gangs of Rome.

Gladiator – Fight for Freedom

Title : Gladiator – Fight for Freedom

Author: Simom Scarrow.

Main characters: Marcus, Titus, Amaratis (Livia), Decimus, Pompeius, Spartacus, Gaius Julius Caesar, Portia, Porcino, Brixus, Phyrus, Pelleneus, Spiro, Taurus, Amatus and Ferax.

Description of one of the main characters: Titus is a centurian working for Rome under Pompeius, the Great. He pretends to be the father of Marcus. He borrows a lot of money from Decimus that he couldn’t return it. So Titus is killed by Decimus’s men, and Marcus and his mother, Livia, are taken as slaves. Titus is a kind and fair man. He was centurion of the 17^th century. He fought on Rome’s side and during the slave’s revolt. He once saved Pompeius’s life.

Whom I like and why: I like Phyrus. He is strong and bulky. When Phyrus was a little boy he was sold to an Athenian woman as a household slave. He is originally from Rhodes, not Athens. Phyrus is kind and soft. He hates Ferax as Ferax is a bully. Phyrus likes Marcus and Pelleneus very much.

Whom I dislike and why: I dislike Ferax as he is a bully. Ferax is a huge celt. He is strong. He is the sworn enemy of Marcus. He gets defeated, in front of Gaius Julius Caesar and Caesar’s family, by Marcus. After that he is teased by the class by calling him ‘mouse bait’(he is nicknamed 'mouse bait' as he is spared from death by Marcus).

Setting/theme of the story: A eleven year old boy, named Marcus stays with his father, Titus a centurian who faought under Pompeius in the slave revolt, in a farm. Titus borrows too much money from Decimus, so Decimus's men kill Titus and take Marcus and his mother Livia as slaves. Marcus escapes and his mother gets caught. He travels from Dyrrhacium to Brundicium in a ship named Fairwind. While travelling, a lanista named Porcino buys him as a slave for a hundred and fifty denarii. Marcus is taken to a gladiator school and is trained to be a gadiator. He gets a celt enemy named Ferax. Amatus trains Marcus very well. One day when Gaius Julius Caesar comes with his family to look at the Gladiator school, Ferax and Marcus are in a deadly fight. One of the Caesar’s family members sees it and wants it as a special programme. During the fight in the arena, Marcus defats Ferax. Caesar orders Marcus to fight with wolves. Marcus fights with wolves and while trying to kill them, Caesar’s niece, Portia, falls into the arena. Marcus saves her by killing the wolves. So, Julius Caesar decides to make Marcus as Portia’s body guard. While travelling from the Gladiator’s school to Rome, Brixus, one of the slaves who had escaped from Porcino’s house met Marcus. Brixus had always been Marcus’s favorite. Marcus knew that Brixus had fought in the slave revolt supporting the slaves. While they meet Brixus tells Marcus that Marcus is Spartacus’s son and not Titus’s son. Though Marcus didn't want to believe the news, he knows whatever Brixus said was true. Marcus was born a slave and is a slave.

Part I enjoyed the most: I enjoyed the part when Marcus fights all the men on the Fairwind single handedly to get a loaf of bread.