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Showing posts from September, 2017

The Island by Victoria Hislop - Part I

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I have come across a book, ‘stumbled upon’ rather, or more aptly- 'the book happened’- ‘the book found me’, which makes me feel the tumultuous tsunami of emotions of the people who lived ages ago. These are the unaccounted tales, stories too overwhelming and sad to pass it on to generations as legends. Only time bears a testimony to the struggles, the tears, the fears, and the lives lost. At the core of the book is a disease- long feared, long prejudiced; its sufferers ostracized to the likes of rapid animals, outcast from society as ‘the unclean one’- leprosy. The Book Blurb- ‘When she travels to Crete to unravel the mystery of her mother’s childhood, Alexis Fielding finds herself drawn to the tiny island of Spinalonga, once Greece’s main leper colony. Sophia Fielding has steadfastly refused to discuss her past, but by reawakening long-dormant memories in those familiar with local history, Alexis uncovers a powerful story of four proud generations linked by a trage
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Queeristan by Parmesh Sahani

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  Queeristan (Amazon Link) Thanks to Audible Free Trial I listened to this amazing non-fiction on LGBTQ inclusion in Indian workplaces. Author Parmesh Sahani identifies as gay Indian, working closely with Godrej higher management and employees for years to create an inclusive workplace, both legally and in spirit. This book is a result of those years of experience, research, collaboration with individuals from difference spectrum of the society and organizations who has successfully transitioned into a queer friendly one.   Indian history is inclusive. From the Khajuraho temple architectures, to Konark to the Rig Veda, there is existing proofs even 2000 years ago of Indian inclusiveness of queer. It’s the draconian British law that criminalised it, which was scraped in 2009, came into effect once again following a sad judgement in 2013 and eventually was scraped off for good in 2018. I am in awe of the lawyers who fought this legal battle- colleagues and partners – Arundhati Katju
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Empress Ki : A story of an epic scale

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Empress Ki Poster (behance.net) Empress Ki is the most elaborate, gripping, and thrilling series I have watched this year. And at 51 episodes , it is the longest Korean drama series I have ever watched. Even though the number seems daunting and too much, it’s worth it all. If you like period dramas, you won’t want to give this one a miss. It was in 2016 that I first read about Empress Ki, the historical drama that had garnered much praise and accolades from the audience and critics alike. Most Korean dramas are just 16 or 20 episodes long. So 51 seemed never-ending to me then. It wasn’t until 2017 that I decided to at least try the first episode. And I was hooked. But owing to the various circumstances I didn’t continue watching it. It was just last month that I remembered this epic story and watched it to completion within just a few days. Believe it or not, midway through it, I was almost literally pulling my hair out, in anticipation of what would happen next. I wou
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“The Fall” [2006] – A Tribute to the Power of Stories

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   I welcome Arun Kumar of Passion For Movies whose reviews have an identity of their own and shows his undulated love for movies. I thank him for finding time and agreeing to do a guest post in Magic Moments. It's a huge privilege. So here's a guest post by him on one of his favorite movies.   “The Fall” [2006] – A Tribute to the Power of Stories   Sometimes, you make an emotional bond with a film and dissect or interpret its vision in different ways, while a fellow movie-lover would pan it by using the most loathful words. Tarsem Singh’s visually exuberant movie, “The Fall” (2006) falls into that category. Many critics deemed it as a self-indulgent, vanity project; or as a preposterously intolerable, childish story. Does Tarsem have abundant directorial ego that drove the likes of Jodorowsky, Lynch or Gilliam, who all persistently came up with outlandishly inventive visuals? I would say yes. As a movie-lover, this so-called ‘directorial ego’ has always fa
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The Baztan Trilogy

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The first movie 'The Invisible Guardian' begins with the killings of several teenage girls and elaborate staging of their bodies by the river in the damp valley of Elizondo. Amaia Salazar, our protagonist, returns there, her hometown, as the Chief Investigator for the case. She heads the homicide department. The serial killings seem aimed at young girls who don't uphold the traditional norms and have begun exploring their sexuality. Through the case, Amaia grapples with her own demons, her relationship issues and traumatic memories of abuse from her past. We get to know that her mother had abused her, being seemingly senile herself, and was then admitted to a facility. The setting of the damp valley where it rains all hours of the day, the cloudy scenery, the fog covered thick forest maintain a sinister vibe throughout the movie. It is an apt backdrop for a crime thriller, with supernatural undertones. The mythical beast  basajaun , the big hairy beast of the forest, seems
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Odisha's Handicrafts: A Picture Post

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Papier Mache: Best Waste Paper & Cloth Recycle Product (Pinterest) Sandart in Puri Beach (WikiCommons) Intricate Stone Carvings in Konark (WikiCommons) PattaChitra- Palm Leaf etchings (WikiCommons) Coir Crafts (odialive.com) Applique works in Pipili, Odisha (Flickr) Silver Filigree from Silver City Cuttack (indiamart.com) Ikat- Handloom- Craft- Sarees (strandofsilk.com) Terracotta (odishasuntimes.com) Terracotta Elephants (communityodia.com) I am participating in the #AToZChallenge with #BlogchatterA2Z and I am sharing posts themed around Art for this entire month of April. Share and connect with me on social media. Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram  ************************************************************* If you like to read Magic Moments and the posts here, subscribe to the monthly newsletter below. Would love to have a dialogue, feedback and suggestions. Subscribe to our mailing list
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E[x]ploring Odia Literature Through 'Punyatoya'

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Odia is my mother tongue but I had never really focussed on Odia novels, given that I love reading. Of late I realised that I should explore the culture and language of my native land, and see for myself whether it suits my reading sensibilities. I read “Jagyaseni” by Pratibha Ray a few years back, over a span of several months. It is a retelling of Mahabharata from Draupadi’s perspective, which brings about her inner turmoils, confusions, decisions, desires and dreams, really well. It was the first Odia novel I ever read. Three days back, I completed reading my second novel in Odia, coincidentally it is by the same author. “Punyatoya” - literally it means the river, or ‘as pure as the river’. It is also the name of a revered river in Indian mythology. The book has been translated into Hindi with the same title, with the tagline “the story of a village girl Meghi”. Other translated versions are in Marathi and Malayalam. The story follows a young girl named Barsha,
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Reading Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

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Reading ‘Norwegian Wood’ by Haruki Murakami is a very revealing experience. I encounter my own thoughts, views, and somewhere somehow suppressed opinions, wishes and teenage dreams. The growth and the development in Naoko and Watanabe’s relation is very memorable, has a nostalgic essence to it. Naoko is Kizuki’s girlfriend, who is Watanabe’s best friend. They are just acquaintances, at first, meeting up in double dates, but with Kizuki’s suicide, they are devastated and broken with only each other to care for as an integral part of their adolescence vanished along with Kizuki. They grow close with time, as years pass by, taking long walks in the meadow, through the streets of Tokyo, riding together in the metro, and discussing everything under the sun except Kizuki’s sudden death. On Naoko’s birthday when Watanabe mentions him, she snaps, crying violently. She leaves the town without notice. The story turns sad and melancholic at this point as Watanabe misses Naoko terribly, w
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A Gathering Of Friends By Ruskin Bond

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a gathering of friends is a collection of 21 short stories. The twenty-one stories in the book are the greatest pieces of fiction written by Ruskin Bond. Chosen by the author himself, from a body of work built over fifty years (starting with his award winning first novel, ‘The Room on the Roof’, and ending with ‘Tales of Fosterganj’), this collection includes well-known masterpieces like ‘The Night Train at Deoli’, ‘The Woman on Platform 8’, ‘Rusty Plays Holi’, ‘Angry River’, ‘The Blue Umbrella’, ‘The Eyes Have It’, ‘Most Beautiful’, ‘Panther’s Moon’, as well as newer stories like ‘An Evening at the Savoy with H.H’ and ‘Dinner with Foster’. Taken together, the stories in A Gathering of Friends show why Ruskin Bond has long been regarded as one of the pillars of Indian Literature. Timeless tales Ruskin Bond's stories have the essence of the hills, the trains through the deodars, uninhibited exploration of childhood and other vagaries of life. They have suc
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