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Tuesday Text – Labyrinth Review

Image November 11, 2014 jcisnowjs 1 Comment

Labyrinth review by Jyoti Singh — Labyrinth by Kate Mosse

Finally!!! Finally I finished ‘Labyrinth’, not the actual labyrinth but a novel ‘Labyrinth’ by Kate Mosse; again not model Kate Moss but author ‘Kate Mosse’.

Why it was a big deal? Well, to finish a really long novel, which is actually 500+ pages, and almost feel like 5000+ pages; it indeed is a big deal.

‘Labyrinth’ is the famous mystery novel which ‘Kate Mosse’ has written. This novel has received many awards like Best Read of the Year by British Book Awards. This novel seems heavily influenced by the popularity gained by Dan Brown‘s Holy Grail chase in his novel ‘The Da Vinci Code‘.

This book also quest for the pursuit of Holy Grail and use two different time periods set in France, to figure out answer to this centuries long question of, ‘What is Holy Grail?”

‘Labyrinth’ revolves around two of it’s female protagonist, Alice and Alais. Now, what intrigued me more is not only the main character, or shall I say Hero of the story, are two females, but, the villains too are two female characters belonging to two different periods.

Let me simplify it a bit for you. Alice, our present day protagonist, is working as a volunteer at an archeological site, when she accidentally discover a hidden cave and two skeletons. She unearth a century long secret, which she soon start to unravel with every death threatening obstacle on her way.

Alais, the girl from 13^th century time period, is daughter of a prominent man of Carcassonne. In times of turmoil, she came to understand that her father is protector of a secret, and nor it’s her turn to help her father in keeping the secret safe. Her sister Oriane, who hated her free spirit, is sleeping with Alais husband, Guilhem.

Everyone n this story is after the Holy Grail, which can be deciphered with the help of three books. One out of these three books is with Alais, which his father has given her. Alais sacrifice her whole life to protect this book from her very own sister, Oriane. While our present day savior, Alice, has no knowledge of books until she met Audric, but she does got an accidental chance to see the ring of Labyrinth symbol, which can be used to summon Holy Grail. Marie-Cecile is present day vamp, who is after Alice and secrets of Grail.

It is later revealed that Alais is actually ancestor of Alice, and in this story people can live for more than 800 years, without being recognized. Story keeps on fluctuating between past and present, making you more and more confuse. One of the major problem with this novel is, that it is too long, with so many characters that you loose track of them and has to read back to identify their purpose. Characters are not well defined, and still they took so much of time to come across. It’s only near the end that is some fog gets cleared, and you actually can relate them to each other.

This is the major drawback of the novel. Also, there is no great mystery. I am not going to ruin it for you. But, seriously there is no actual mystery and you feel like cheated at the end of read. Language is also a major complication, as sometimes french is used, without any translation. As author is convinced that all her readers know French well enough to understand her book.

I should not compare it to Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, but still I can not resist; with Robert Langdon, you were solving puzzles and moving ahead in the story, this was making you connect with each page of book; while with Alice/Alais, you are confused, you have only one puzzle and you have to read 500 pages to reach there. You don’t even know what you are looking for. Are you looking for a connection between two Alices? Or, are you looking for Holy Grail? Or, this is just a period drama and story about heretics?

I am disappointed. 😦

The Holy Grail(revmorgan.wordpress.com)
Jesus Gets Married, Again(godfatherpolitics.com)
The Templar Legacy |Book Review(jcisnowjs.wordpress.com)
My take on Inferno – book by Dan Brown(jcisnowjs.wordpress.com)

Food

Mouthwatering Monday – Hash Browns

Image November 10, 2014 jcisnowjs 2 Comments

Hash Browns by Jyoti Singh — Hash Browns

Yummy yummy Hash Browns. Never knew my kids would love it so much that it will be finished before I even get the chance to taste. 😛

I saw this FoodMad recipe and fell in love instantly, a it’s the easiest and yummiest way to make Hash Browns.

Wanna know why? see the recipe…

Ingredients–

2 Potatoes
1 cup shredded Cheese (original recipe uses 4 cups, but I am not a cheese lover)
2 Onions diced

Method –

Shred Potatoes and wash them thoroughly with cold water.
Let them dry for few minutes and then mix them with cheese and diced onions in a bowl.
Mix them properly.
Grease muffin tin and put this mixture in tiny bowls.
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Bake for 40 minutes, it will be brown on the sides.
Time to take them out, flip them and serve.

It can be served alone or with Omelet. You can use spring onions for garnishing. It tastes heavenly and kids would love it. Double whammy!!!

Enjoy!!!

P.S. My cooking is experimental. You will find many similar and different recipes, but the idea is to explore your food and do experiments with it. Enjoy Cooking Experiments and Experiences 🙂

Random

Please bring me some trash; I want to Clean

Image November 7, 2014 jcisnowjs 4 Comments

Clean India Campaign was started by Prime Minister Of India, Mr. Narendra Modi, on 2nd October, birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Since then several people have taken part in this cleanliness drive, specially our very own Politicians.

‘Clean India‘ or ‘Swachh Bharat‘ campaign has done what none other have done so far. It has brought down our very own high class politicians to the streets with broom in their hands.

But, wait for it….. Where is the camera guy? Oh, there. Okay. Click Click. Pictures done.

Where is my dear Neta Ji now? Back to his luxury car, running towards his 5 acre mansion’s newly renovated bathroom, to take a shower. You must be quite dirty, right? 😛

Everything is a photo op opportunity for Politicians, in these media savvy times, but height is when you create a problem, just so that you can show your problem solving skills in front of media.

This is what Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyay did yesterday. He with the ex AAP party member Shazia Ilmi, went for Clean India Mission, with a broom in hands, to clean the road outside of India Islamic Culture Center (IICC), in Delhi. But you need some trash first to clean, right?

So at that particular spot, which was already shiny clean, few IICC workers dumped trash, so that a perfect Photo Shoot set can be ready. Wow!!

Atleast they cleaned it afterward. 😐

Satish Upadhyay is not the only one; many celebrities and common people are endorsing this Clean India Mission, which is something I am very proud of. But, there are two underlying points to it.

One – you don’t need a camera, when you are cleaning. I never post my pic of cleaning my home, because I look ridiculous doing it. Broom and me we just don’t look good together, anymore. Seriously, if you want to clean, even if you want to clean streets, and you want to motivate others, why not just post before and after pictures of the spot; not yours. What I am seeing right now is, bunch of you guys smiling with a broom, when trash is lying everywhere around you.

Two – if it’s real trash, how can it put smile to your face? I have to close my eyes, ears, nose, everything, when I go near a dumpster. How can you smile? I bet that was not real trash. It didn’t even look like trash. It more or less looked like some fallen leaves of autumn season, in which my kids (and me too), love to jump and play. 😉

You don’t have to pick a broom; this is job of sweepers, let them do it. What your job is, not to create trash. I am not saying that if it’s dirty, don’t clean it; or call a worker/sweeper to clean it. If you can do it, then do it. But,are you going to do it daily? No, right? Why not endorse something which you can do daily and actually help in cleaning India.

So try to clean the area where you are, that means your home and office, not street with media by your side. In the closed premises of your home, where no cameraman is; pick a broom and clean.

Most importantly, do not create litter. Next time, when you are tempt to throw a wrapper out of your car; lookout for a dustbin, not street. Want to spit? Use dustbin. Want to pee? No, not on the wall. Never on public property. Use a bathroom. Please.

Just try to clean your habits, Indian streets will clean on their own.

Thank You.

Kids and Me, Photographs

Thursday Treat – Crocheted Robinhood Mask

Image November 6, 2014 jcisnowjs 3 Comments

Crocheted Robinhood Mask by Jyoti Singh — Crocheted Robinhood Mask

Do you know that Robin‘s last name was Locksley?
Do you know that initial price on Robin’s head was 100 gold pieces?
Do you know that band of fellow outlaws was called ‘Merry Men‘?
Do you know that Robinhood was outlawed for the first time, for poaching a deer?

Enough facts about Robinhood. Just enjoy the mask, like my kids did on this Halloween. 😎

Life

Wednesday Words – Let Them Suffocate In Closet

Image November 5, 2014 jcisnowjs Leave a comment

Recently I came across a news where a wife filmed his husband in homosexual acts, which lead to arrest of the guy, as under section 377 in India, homosexuality is a criminal act. Why this caught my attention, is because in this case both parties, husband as well as wife, both are victims and still both are at fault too.

The couple married a year back but recently they started living together. That is when wife came to suspect his hubby’s lack of interest in her. So, after failing to take him to see a doctor and resolve marital issues; she decided to install hidden cameras in her home. Which lead to wife confirming her doubts of marrying a gay man.

To bring someone to the extent that they have to install hidden cameras and arrange proofs of infidelity, it is sad.

Wife is a victim in this case, because she married someone thinking him to be the person who will love her, and only her, throughout his life. She wanted a straight guy, loving husband; instead she got a man who can not even confide in her and tell her in simple words – “I am Gay”. What could have been great if he could have had the courage to speak out these words, before he got married to a female.

Maybe if he could have come clean with his wife earlier, he could have been free. Free to commit this so called criminal act of homosexuality, within the safety of his home, without any peeping security cameras hidden in a corner. He could be doing this crime, without ever being caught.

But, is it that easy? No. I don’t think so. In a society where homosexuality is treated as a taboo and a crime by everyone around you, including family and friends; it is hard to live peacefully. It could be that his parents forced him into a marriage thinking that marrying a girl will turn him somehow to a straight guy. As if it’s a disease, and with a right combination of antibodies, it can be treated.

It could also be that being a coward, he said nothing to his parents and thought by marrying a girl, their question regarding his personal life, will stop. So, he decided, that marriage is easier than answering your parents worried questions. Great!! what about wife? Oh, women are always submissive, she will quiet down after some time.

It’s not like that they come from uneducated background. Both parties are working in high reputed firms; are independent; and educated. Maybe that’s why, wife decided to not lay low and get her life ruined. She did wrong, by invading the privacy of her husband and filming him, but what option was left for her.

She did tried to convince parents from both sides, that something is wrong. But, as happen normally, she was asked to be quiet and compromise for a happy married life. What would you have done?

I seriously feel pity for the husband. His only fault, that I see, is ruining a girl’s life by marrying her in false pretenses. Ironically, he is condemned and arrested for his Love towards another man, and not for his infidelity. 😦