Benefits Of Blogging

I had started reading books and have been blogging for about two years now. I wrote my first book Wizile and got it published as an eBook. The illustrations for this book was done by my brother, Sanjay, who has his own blog.

I was interviewed by the Lighthouse Insights on my book. Here is the interview: Blogger Studying In Standard Eight Publishes Her First eBook ‘Wizile’

I got an invitation today for the first time to write a guest post from another blog. I will be writing on my perspective on leadership and how my reading has influenced it.

So stay tuned to read more!

The Da Vinci Code

The Da Vinci Code (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Title: The Da Vinci Code

Author: Dan Brown

Main Characters: Sophie Neveu, Robert Langdon, Jaques Sauniere, Fache, Silas, The Teacher, Teabing and Remy.

Description of one of the main characters: Sophie Neveu is a French cryptographer. She is the grand daughter of the famous Jaques Sauniere of the Louvre museum. She has a fight with her grandfather 10 years back and hasn't spoke to him since then. She is very good at breaking codes.

Whom I like and why: I like Jaques Sauniere. He was a grand master in the secret society of Pagans. He is a titan in setting clue hunts. He taught his grand daughter to break different type of codes. He loved Leonardo Da Vinci and made cryptex, a box which Da Vinci used to make.

Whom I dislike and why: I dislike Remy. He serves the Church. He is one of the servants of ‘The Teacher’, a man who wants to know about the Holy Grail, whose identity is known only to the Grand master and the three other masters. He is the only person who knows 'The Teacher’s' real identity.

Setting/Theme of the Story: Robert Langdon gets a call in the middle of the night from the hotel concierge telling him that there is a visitor waiting to meet him. Langdon requests the concierge to tell the visitor to come the next day but the concierge tells him that the visitor is an important person and is already coming to his room. The door bell rings and Robert is surprised to see a judicial police. The man shows him a picture of the famous Jaques Sauniere lying down dead and asks him to immediately come to the judicial police head, Fache. Robert Langdon goes with the officer to Fache, who leads him to the dead body of Sauniere, who had positioned himself in an odd way and had drawn the pentacle symbol with his own blood before dying. There is also something written beside him.

13-3-2-21-1-1-8-5

O, Draconian devil!

Oh, lame saint

Robert Langdon immediately identifies that the way Sauniere had positioned himself was exactly like the symbol of Leonardo Da Vinci. Suddenly Sophie Neveu, a French cryptographer, comes to them telling that she has found what the number code meant. She leaves a phone message telling Rober Langdon to meet her secretly in the gents bathroom. Fache goes out of the room for sometime and finds that Langdon and Sophie are missing. Meanwhile Sophie tells Langdon that what Fache showed him wasn’t the whole of what Sauniere had written. There was 1 more line to it.

P.S., Find Mr. Langdon.

Robert tenses when he sees that line. But Sophie explains to him that it was a message left by her grandfather for her "P.S., Find, Mr. Langdon" actually meant ‘Princess Sophie, Find Mr. Langdon’, as Sauniere always used to call her ‘Princess Sophie’. Immediately Robert found that ‘O, Draconian Devil!’ and ‘Oh. Lame Saint!’ were anagrams which actually meant:

Leonardo Da Vinci

The Mona Lisa

Now, the message left by Sauniere to his grandfather was actually:

13-3-2-21-1-1-8-5

Leonardo Da Vinci

The Mona Lisa

Princess Sophie, Find Mr.Langdon

But both of them are not able to figure out what the numbers meant. To Robert Langdon, the numbers seem very familiar. He thinks hard and identifies it as the PHI (the divine propotion – 1.618). They both escape from Louvre museum and go to Sauniere’s bank where The Holy Grail was kept.

The Holy Grail was Magdalene, the wife of Jesus Christ. Jesus had handed the responsibility to carry on the church, to Magdalene, before he was crucified. But the church didn’t like it and took the responsibility themselves and never let the world know about Magdalene.

Robert and Sophie escape the police and go to Leigh Teabing’s house. Teabing, who is highly interested in the holy grail shows Sophie Magdalene in a painting of the Last supper. At last they go to Rosslyn as they find another clue given by Sauniere as a poem.

The Holy Grail neathe ancient Roslin waits

The blade and Chalice guarding O’er her gates.

Adorned in masters’ lobbing art, she lies.

She rests at last beneath the starry skies.

All these days Sophie thought that all the other members of her family were dead. But she finds her grandmother and her brother in Rosslyn. Robert also gets to understand that the Holy Grail’s identity should not be known but should only be respected and worshipped. Sophie learns that she was in the bloodline of Jesus.

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.