Ponniyin Selvan
I have wanted to read Ponniyin Selvan for a long time now, but never got a chance. I started reading it on my trip to London and I fell in love - with the book, with Vallavarayan Vanthiadevan - the central character around which the story revolves. I told S~ if I had met VV before I met you, your chances would have been very slim ;-)
A true master piece - war-romance-politics-travel-kings-queens-spies-soldiers-plots-all packed in one.
I was wondering why no one made a movie out of this. But may be it is because no one can give life to those words. The movie can never be comparable to the book.
I need to finish the entire series- been reading like mad - I am heading to the car now - and Ponniyin Selvan, here I come :-) ¶ 8:18 PM 5 comments
I just put a kutti tick mark next to "Visit Europe" - something i have been having in my mind for a long time now. Apart from the hundered and one to-do items i list down and maintain in my diary, I also maintain a short list of TO-DOs in my mind - and one of those just got realized. Actually it was "Visit Europe before marriage" since that did not happen, I conveniently modified it to "Visit Europe".
It has been just couple of weeks and I will probably be here for a week more - I havn't seen much, but from what I have seen, it is a beautiful place. Especially the lane opposite to buckingham palace - i dont have words to describe. If S~ was here, I would just pack one picnic basket and go and sit in one of those lanes and spend all of my sunday there. And, I just noticed, the lamp posts in that lane have a crown!!!!
London is full of statues. I was just wondering, even we could make all those statues we have out in chennai a tourist attraction. London bridge was magnificent and beautiful - an architectural master piece! The place surrounding Big Ben is amazing. I had also been to Madame Tussauds - It was OK, just OK. They have something called a thriller ride (forgot the actual name) where live serial killers perform - It was not scary at all. I was just conscious trying hard not to touch any of those guys.
Saw Da Vinci Code...nothing like watching a movie in six degrees in the satyam complex. Yet to find a theater better than the ones at satyam.
Two other weekends went off in the guest house understading Spring,JSF, weblogic security framework blah blah blah - How did I ever land up in this software industry. I have one more TO-DO in my mental TO-DO list - "Do something non-IT in life". Wonder when the time would come for me to put my kutti tick mark next to it.
I also have few other random observations - All houses have garden and the garden actually has flowers. In chennai, how much ever care you take, water the roses - you will hardly see one rose bloom and we are like there is a rose in my garden. Here, the people dont even seem to water the plants regularly, but the garden is full of roses - you name the color and they have a rose in that color.
All houses have a name and the front door is of glass. I actually like the glass door idea. I have the picture of "my home" which has undergone lot of changes over the years. And after this London visit, "my home" has a glass door with a nice glass painting on it. I actually have made note of a house, which I will photograph before I come back. My SIL does all this glass painting - may be she can do that door piece for me - Now that is thinking too much into future.
And most importantly, dont houses over here have fans? or is only my guest house like this? It is very hot here right now, and the owner says, It is hot for 10 days in a year and we can have AC for that - YOu are from India and you shoudn't be complaining. Well I said, True, but we have fans/AC in india!!!!
