December : To Be Reads

Hi ! After a very long time, I am back into blogging. This time about the books I am going to read for December. I have a reading challenge for this year and I am happy I am proceed well to complete the challenge.



l have 6 more beautiful books to read. Most of my picks have winter as the theme. The list is as follows.
1. Harry Potter and the Half - Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
2. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S.Lewis
3. Dsh and Lily ' s book of dares by Cohn and Levithan
4. Liverpool Lovesong by Anne Baker
5. The Kindly One - Sandman series #9 by Neil Gaiman
6. SAVOUR THE MOMENT by Nora Roberts

The Half blood prince book is my birthday gift from my husband. So lovely of him. ♡♥♡♥♡♡♡



Please follow me on goodreads through this link.

In The Woods

Today I was digitally sketching a cute illustration from 1000 words book for kids. I just love fhe book and my mom treasures that book for me. Even my brother is found of that book that if we go through all of the pages each time. This weekend project was from that book and the picture is here. Done with Samsung N800 and its stylus. SNOTE is the app. I maintain a sketch book for my illustration projects.

Draw Something!

I am glued to an app called Draw something 2 these days. The app is a boon to an artist like to interact with various artist around the world. With the record playback option I learn a lot of techniques from great artist in that community. A strong path for artists to improve and expose the art in digital form. Few of my works for my blog readers and friends.. Find me at draw something 2 and lets draw something..

10 Interesting Facts : Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone (Book)

I am re reading the Harry Potter series this year and wanted to post few interesting things that are still stuck in my mind about the book.

The points may be weird/useless yet my mind is filled with them right now.

1. Harry's wand was made with Phoenix's feather core like that of Voldemort and of holly.
2. Three headed dog which guards the stone is Fluffy.
3. Harry read about Nicholas Flamel first  Chocolate Frog while on train to Hogwarts.
4.  Professor McGonagall is specialized in transfiguration
5. Neville Longbottom's mother sent him a remembrall
6. Professor Snape took Potions
7. Hermione Granger came from a muggle family.
8. Flinch cat 's name was Mrs.Norris
9. The mirror which helped Harry see his parents is called The Mirror of Erised
10. Ron's rat is called Scabbers.

 

Ambipur Indiblogger.in Blogger Meet - Chennai

Yeah. Last Wednesday as usual, I woke up to my tablet checking Facebook, twitter and mails. My eyes were caught with the invitation for this Blogger's meet in Chennai. I've been waiting for such a opportunity to attend a community meet for bloggers. I wanted to know how these bundle of unknown stranger gel together. I wanted exposure to know the intensity of growth of blogger community. I ceased that chance. I asked my hubby to be with me for that event since this is my first blogger's meet. I don't want to end up standing alone in a corner. He is always sweet and assured he will give company.

The meet was arranged in Hyatt Regency Hotel, Chennai. It was on Sunday, around noon, we rode to the renovated building which comprises of a shopping mall and the hotel. There were four gates and we entered the four gate to the hotel after trying out all the gate ;) The parking lot was spacious but the sun was punishing us. Damn hot day. After parking our bike, we witnesses how the hotel kitchen had the eggs cleaned at the sideways. There were 30 to 40 grates of eggs. The chef was cleaning them with water busting out of a garden hose pipe. We just smiled to ourselves puzzled if that was the correct method to clean eggs in larger quantities.

As we reached the ground floor , we were directed towards a hall where Indiblogger - Ambipur banners were placed. We grabbed two water bottles and went to the lobby since the event was to start by 1.30PM. The lobby was highly sophisticated with heavy cushioned furniture which had a restaurant and drinks bar. The lobby was lit by the natural sunlight let in by glass roof top. From the lobby one can see all the floors. The floor were decorated. Some decors were weird. But I like the ambience. 

Soon around 12.45 PM to 1 PM, bloggers started pouring into the lobby. To our surprise, people started mingling with each other so quickly. Myself and my hubby got introduced to a fellow blogger called Vaasi who is also an IT guy. At around 1.15 PM, we were asked to assemble int he conference room where we were all provided with lemon/orange juices. We all were asked to register ourselves with our Indiblogger registered email id . As we entered the conference room in a queue ( there were around 200 bloggers), a huge screen flashed who just entered into the room after they got registered. Thus was fun.  

After registration, we sat in the first row. We were given with Wifi access code so that we can tweet with hashtag #Ambipurfreshnhappy about the best road trip till the end of the meet. The best tweet was to get Samsung Galaxy S4. The event started with few funny activities followed by 60 sec of fame for 30 random bloggers. I got a chance to talk about my self and my blog. Nishok also joined to express how important the blog is to me. Thanks to him. Hugs to Nish!

The introduction was followed by a talk/presentation given by an Ambipur Marketing person who gave us an insight about the company and the products. The talk was not boring. It was over in 15 minutes. Lunch time came. We were informed that a surprise was waiting in the the lunch hall covered with curtains. And the best tweet about the surprise element 's expereience will again win Galaxy S4.

Food was awesome. Conversations, intros, spoon hitting the plate sounds filled the hall for the next one hour. I gulped a serving of vegetable pulav and roasted potatoes with basil and dill.  I had a generous serving of mango ice cream. I loved the dessert. Since I was wrist sprain, my hubby helped me get my food to my plates. After the lunch, I and Nishok went inside the curtains with blindfolded. We were made to sit inside a white sedan car. Gush of cold air hit our face with the pleasant aroma of Ambipur car freshener. It made our mind relaxed in minutes. After few seconds we opened our eyes to see rotten food, shoes around us inside the car. I was impressed. I have allergy towards strong fragrances which didn't happen with this car freshener.

I wrote a lot of tweets on this experience but in vain. Priyadharsini a fellow blogger won the S4 for her tweet. Good luck girl.

After lunch, we had group activity. The groups were divided with respect to the flavour of the car fragrance each one got. I was in Lavender Comfort group. Each team was asked to enact a promo for Ambipur Car freshening fragrance. Each team was provided with a theme too. Though the concept our team build was 'ok not very good' type, we enjoyed the session as a team. All the teams enacted their skits it was very comic!

At the end of the group activity, bloggers showcased the causes which would help other who are in need. I am interested in two of the causes. One was 'Dark is beautiful' and the other one was beach cleaning activity by Chennai trekking club.

I was happy and pleased about all the causes and their step to get it to the bloggers. Blog is powerful medium through which good messages can be spread to the whole world. 


The meet ended with group photograph and high tea. I must admit it was really a change from a monotonous life in the weekdays with the freakin computer's hiting keys without any social life.
I was on top of the cloud we people told me that they have read my blogs. 

It was fun to be the part of the meet. I really got exposed to so many bloggers and blogs.
 I promise myself to keep attending such meetings!!!

I not only got my car pleasant smelling after this meet but also got few friends, followers and mentions.

Will try to post more pictures ..

Musical Treat : Sunday with SPB

Last Sunday was a magical one. Myself with my family listened to the legend SPB singing rare Illayaraja numbers. The concert name " Naanum Raajavum" meaning "Myself and Raaja" held at Kamarajar Arangam in Chennai.


The hall was jam packed. Listeners poured  in a chaotic manner. Seats were given to so many people. Lots of confusion and arguments were going on which made first few minutes a really tensed duration. Later the SPB music relaxed every one's mind. The orchestra "Gopal Sapthaswarangal" did a very good job. Each one in the troupe was very talented.

SPB's voice were crystal clear and mesmerizing. He also shared his experiences and musical details plus his learning in between each numbers.

I was very happy for my mom and dad because they were very relaxed and enjoying the pleasant music. Actually my parents are rarely found relaxed and without work. They love music.  My brother was helping my uncle know the movie name for each song. Hope my brother also enjoyed it as I did.

Nishok's first concert ever. He was not comfortable. He said he spend nice time with me after ages. Totally a jolly family outing with such a musical treat.

I am listing out the songs he sang and I am downloading all the songs. The songs were rare and the numbers had more job involved for each one in the orchestra than the singer. The amount of effort they had put in was clearly evident.

Songs which I loved were Sundari (Thalapathy), Kaatu Kuyilu (Thalapathy) , Vizhiyille (100 vathu Naal)

List of songs:

1. Mahaganapathim
2. Akkarai Cheemai 
3. Nee padhi Naan Paathi
4. Mounama Geetham (SPB's first song in the concert)
5. Poonthalir Aada
6. Paatu Thalaivan
7. Pon Maalai Paneer Thoorum
8. Oh.. Vasantha Raaja
9. Kanmaniye kadhal enbathu 
10. Hey Roja 
11. Kodai kaala kaatre
12. Roja onnundru mutham ketkum neram
13. Meendum Meendum vaa - Vikram
14. Andhi Varum Neram
15. Kanne Kalai mane
16. Kadhal Kavithai padithidum
17. Rojavai Thaalatum Thendral
18. Sundari Kannal Oru Sedhi
19. Isai Thodanguthama
20. Vizhiyile (100th naal)
21. Adhi kaalai neram
22. Kaatukuyil
23. Minminuku kannil oru minnal
24. Thoongatha vizhigal rendu
25. Poongathave

Book Review : Dan Brown's Inferno

  

   Dan Brown's fourth novel in Robert Langdon Series is finally out. I had preordered the book in flipkart.com which rendered a very good service in getting the book on my hands on the day of the book release.

I m very proud to say that Inferno is my first book which I ordered before the book was actually out. I was proud showing off this book in my hand during  break time and lunch hours in office cafe. 

I wanted to complete this book at least within a week so that I can give first hand review.  I got the book on 15th of May and completed on 19th of May 2013. In addition, this book completed my goal of reading fifteen books by this year with pride.

OK more into Inferno. Whatte an immense hard work! Fantastic research on the histories. Visual tours to Florence, Venice and Istanbul.  The book had a gripping plot which made me stick to the book till the last word in the last page. It can serve as an research material. But the story is more or less the same as that of Angels and Demons. Threat to earth, genius and brave lady lead, more or less a day's story similar to Angels and Demons. 

This book cultivates the idea of reading the classic novel Inferno by Dante. This book talks a lot about Dante's Inferno and also in and out of Florence.

Few pages made me doze off! But I promise this is a must read in Robert Langdon series. No doubt this will be a made a movie! I love Robert Langdon series. Expecting a different plot in this series with Robert Langdon as Lead.

Characters I just loved in this book : Robert Langdon, Sienna Brooks, Martha ( the pregnant lady) , Sinskey and Bruder!

Book Review : Brida

 

 

Brida by Paulo Coelho is written in 1990. The main character and the tile are the same.It is about a girl who wants to learn magic. So she approaches the Magus in the forest who was abandoned by most people for seducing a girl once. The moment  he saw Brida he realises  that she is his Soul mate. He teaches Brida to overcome her fear and exposes her with two tradition to learn magic. They are "Tradition of Moon" and " Tradition of Sun ". He also gets to know that she possess some kind of gift and tells her she was destined to learn magic through "Tradition of Moon".

Brida then finds Wicca who is a tarot reader from a book seller. Wicca is the one who teaches magic through "Tradition of Sun". Tradition of Moon is learning magic from his soul mate i.e.  the male  transfers all the knowledge to her and  together they get transformed as magician. Something like that. Tradition of Sun is getting taught of magic with the help of a teacher.

Brida takes lesson from both of them and eventually realises the Magus to be her soul mate after seeing the point of light on his left shoulder. This is how one can know their Soul mate. Earlier she thought her boyfriend to be her soul mate. At last she overcomes her fear and goes in search of her gift and finally becomes a witch.

My Thoughts:
Paulo has taught the life lessons in an unusual way. He has taken magic, witchcraft as a medium. The book is full of traditions and rituals. The beginning of the book plus the end were  very boring and I felt those parts to be vague.

I loved the way Wicca inculcated the lessons in Brida. The three steps or tests Brida qualifies to get initiated as witch is really a good part of the book. The Magus character is warm and felt Brida's boyfriend lacked depth.

Few of the quotes in the books were very good. They are..

• Only warriors choose how they will die, but the woman had given her life for love, and perhaps, for her, love was a strange form of war. (Referring to Loni - Talbo being her  husband)
• Whenever you want to find out about something, plunge straight in. (Brida's father to Brida)
• Nothing in the world is ever completely wrong. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.(Brida's father to Brida)

This is a serious read with good language and a lot of witch/ Magi traditions and
rituals. The Magus refers to Magician.

So I rate this book..
★★★★☆

Book Review : Until the end of time by Danielle Steel

After a very long time, I am into my blog, writing a post on a book I recently got hooked to. This year , I should say is the year of book reading for me. The month of January was filled with books and book reading. Feburary and March were dedicated to my family. During these month, I was off from office, took care of m health, spent lots of quality time with my mom, dad, brother and with my sweet hubby. I cooked him tasty, tummy filling recipes which I learnt from my mom and from different sources. But even in those months, I pushed myself to read some books.

Last week I grabbed the book "Until the end of time" by Danielle Steel from the local library. Though I read a lots of books , I love Danielle Steel books. Her books are always light reads and full of love and make me lose my mind from the daily routines. I have read many of her books like Big Girl, One day at a time, Happy birthday, to mention a few. I just love Big Girl which had the main character resembling me throughout the book.

This book "Until the end of time" was a good light read with story of a couples in two different births. The book has 2 parts. The story of the first part was very depressing so I thought of throwing the book aways completed the part one. Because the love, the couple shared was very impressing and touched my heart. But their love story ended bluntly and was a total tragedy. I didnt touch this book for 2 days after I completing the Part 1 of the book. I loved the Jenny Arden character. Her attitude and style were fantastic. When they move to Wyoming, the way Jenny adapts to the new place, new people was inspiring. The end was tragic though.

The part 2 of the book was full of inspiration and love. Thank God I took this book again to read the part 2 with a thought of completing one solid book. Lilibet was an amish girl who had a passion for reading books and writing. Her passion was inherited from her mother. But her Amish community was very conservative and followed so many rules and restrictions. They never allowed English people to be a part of their community. (Similar to our kaatu vaasi s / tribal people). With all odds on her way along with the support of the dairy owner Joe Lattimer, Lilibet Peterson managed to publish her book and find her love of life in an Englishman Robert who was running a publishing house. . I like the characters of Lilibet, Robert, Willy, Henryk and Joe. Lilibet was so cute, charming, inspiring and full of energy throughout. Joe was a very supportive character. 

The story of the second part was more appealing than the first one. I would love this book very much if they were two different stories without the connection between the two couples  in different birth to stress on the book's title "Until the end of time"! Else the book was a good read.

This book is ultimately full of love and love only until the end of time.

 

I would rate it  ★★★☆☆