The Oath of the Vayuputras by Amish Tripathi

                              The book 'The Oath Of The Vayuputras' is a work of fiction. It is the third and final installment of the Shiva Trilogy. Not many books(fiction) can sap your thoughts and have a long-lasting impact on a person's psyche even after it is read, but this book is a rarity. The incredibly talented author Amish has surpassed my expectations and woven a story laced with mythology and ancient history with such ingenuity, that leaves the reader mesmerized. To begin with, the story discussed the moral and ethical codes to run the society and the kingdoms in ancient times which were versatile and are relevant even today's society. The details with which certain ancient techniques are discussed are exemplary and sustains once interests in the book. I must confess, I wasn't too impressed with the second book of the series but is pleasantly surprised with 'The Oath Of The Vayuputras'. The in-depth explanation regarding the geographical locations of different kingdoms is heartening and demonstrates the efforts of the author to bring readers on the same page. 

“The distance between Evil and Good is a vast expanse in which many can exist without being either.” 

                              The story starts where it was left off in the second book, Shiva reached Panchvati with his entourage successfully despite the attempts on his life and met the Meluhan scientist and his friend Brahaspati who was believed to be assassinated by Nagas. As the story progresses, Brahaspati revealed the obsession of the Meluha state towards Somras despite its harmful side-effects on different states, ecology, and humanity. The Shiva realized that the elixir which was one of the magnificent inventions of its time has slowly become truly evil, and thus the necessity to stop its production for the larger good. Meanwhile, the deadly attack on Shiva was the handiwork of Daksha, the ruler of Meluha and Dilipa, Ayodhya ruler who combined their strength under the leadership of sage Brighu. As Shiva forged an alliance to take out the elixir, he was supported by Vasudevs, Vaishali, Panchvati, Lothal and finally Vayuputras of Pariha who provided him Pashupatiastra. As the final showdown between the two armies became inevitable, Daksha hired assassins from Egypt to eliminate Shiva by enticing him with the peace conference, however, Sati had to attend the conference due to an unforeseen turn of events and was assassinated despite her valiant struggle. Eventually, the wrath of Shiva destroyed Devagiri along with its many inhabitants while Kartik helped in rescuing scientists who could create Somras whenever needed in the future. 

                           Although the story weaved by the author touches history and mythology intricately, yet it is necessary to remember that it is a work of fiction and shouldn't get swayed by emotions. The story is loaded with numerous twists and turns and brings a satisfactory conclusion to the Shiva's journey giving us a narrative that the Gods of today were mere mortal men whose deeds transformed them into extraordinary humans with god-like traits. It is a thoroughly entertaining and refreshingly good book to read.

Dancing Muhammad's And Bano's Of China

               Dancing is forbidden in Islam and so is eating during the holy month of Ramzan(Ramadan), but in China, the individual choice to profess religion is increasingly being trampled by the authoritative regime. The Chinese authorities tirade against religious minorities isn't new, in the 1950s, the Tibetan annexation and subsequent execution of unarmed Buddhist civilians by PLA in the name of unification of Tibet with China have laid the foundation for future transgress on minority rights which only increased with time. The silence of the world community towards the unleashing of violence by the Chinese government further emboldened China. The world became a mute spectator of Chinese excesses towards its civilians is it 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre where more than 10000 pro-democracy students were butchered by PLA or recent crackdown on civilian protest in Hongkong. The world leaders who shamelessly supported and bargained with China for economical benefits is equally accountable for the crimes committed by the Chinese government.

                   The current obsession of the Chinese regime to target the majority Uighur population in Xinjiang province which is largely Muslim (Turkic Uyghurs) and the methods employed to 'civilize' or 're-educate' only finds parallel with 'Gulags' or 'concentration camps' established by Soviets or Nazis. The 90% Han Chinese ethnic majority distrust the ethnic and religious minorities and the one-party rule ensures the ethnic cleansing or subjugation through violent means. China suspicious of the ethnic Muslim community has suppressed the language and faith of its Muslim citizens. These minorities were purged of their mother tongues, forced to eat pork and renounce outward displays of Islam. To make matters worse, unprecedented measures are taken by authorities to re-educate or civilize Muslims by establishing detention camps. 

                    These camps were only recently acknowledged by Chinese which was earlier denied. It is difficult to put a number of people detained in these camps established in Xinjiang, but the State Department estimates it could be between 800,000 and 2 million Muslims that are detained since 2017. After initially denying the existence of the re-education camps, Beijing is now defending them as necessary to combat Islamist extremism and terrorism and termed them as re-education camps to civilize Muslims. Increasing assertive Han nationalism, 2009 riots in Xinjiang between Han ethnic majority and Uighur minorities and subsequent terrorist attacks by Uighurs on Chinese majority and importance of Xinjiang’s western location for launching President Xi Jinping's ambitious trillion-dollar Belt and Road global infrastructure project prompted the Chinese government to crack down on Muslim minority that inhabits the region. 

                   China's aggressive territorial claims and disputes with all its neighboring countries, refusal to accept the judgment of an international tribunal in The Hague (favoring the Philippines) and continuous South Chinese Sea island grab and militarization gives testimony to its scant respect for rule of law. The Chinese insatiable hunger for land and resources is astonishingly condemnable. The world leaders on their part, till now were inclined to appease China for multiple reasons while American addiction to rile Russian attempts to establish its cold war era prestige gives opportunity and space to China to throttle voices at home or abroad without any criticism. 

                                             Mosques locked out by Chinese authorities 

                  The massive human rights abuses carried out by the Chinese government against minorities finally received worldwide attention when the United Nations said it had credible evidence that over one million ethnic Uighur and other Muslims in China were being held against their will, and without trial in camps. What is strange and horribly upsetting is even when 22 European countries signed a letter recently to the United Nations Human Rights Council criticizing Chinese policies, there were 37 states, including Pakistan and other Muslim countries who came to the rescue of China and jointly signed a letter to the president of the Council praising China’s “contribution to the international human rights cause.” As long as the world doesn't unite and see beyond their selfish interests and raise their voice condemning the mistreatment of ethnic and religious minorities by China, and in this case, Uyghur Muslims, the Muhammad's and Bano's till then with have to continue to dance to Chinese tunes.

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Video - Youtube

Smilla's Sense of Snow

The movie is a murder mystery and the plot is an enigma slowly unfolding itself. There are different shades of people in the movie, some portrayed beautifully while others were not fully explained and left much to be desired. The protagonist Smilla (Julia Ormond) did justice to her character and successfully discerned different emotions. At times the movie seems to have lost its plot and went wayward but soon recaptured the plot and viewers' attention. This movie, I must admit without any extraordinary script, consumes you, maybe because of its perfect direction, thus keeps you hitched for a fairly decent time period. Even though the last 30 minutes were forgetful, yet the film has built up so much momentum that somehow this movie works.

Smilla who was nursing a grudge since childhood towards society had developed a special bond with a young boy. The death of boy due to accident (fall from the roof) as declared officially was confronted by Smilla who had reasons to believe that the boy was murdered. The circumstances and Smilla's resolve to unearth the truth behind the unfortunate death of the child makes this movie worth a watch. Julia Ormond and (murky charter role played by) Gabriel Byrne were impressive and despite certain flaws in story, this movie is definitely a one time watch.

Movie - Pretty Woman

   I am sure most of my readers have already watched and admired Pretty Woman and don't need my views, but there's something magical about it that made me pen it. This movie makes you fall in love from the first frame itself, its honesty, lucid execution is admirable. Writing about the two wonderful actors Julia Roberts, who enchants you with her eyes and through her infectious smile and Richard Gere, the handsome hunk of the '90s is a perfect recipe for Romantic drama. This movie, however, is more than Romance, it soaks up your negativity, the hollowness of heart and rekindles the desire to be hopeful, the desire to be kind. It makes you believe good often happens miracles do happen.

This movie is a sweet reminder to believe in good and be good, an antidote for an unpredictable world. The story can be summarized as a millionaire hires a prostitute while on a business trip for one night but decides to encash her beauty for improving his public appearance, but in the end, he couldn't stop himself from falling in love with her. A perfect evening watch with or without your partner, a must-watch for Romantic-Comedy genre fans.

Movie - Cold Pursuit (Review)

                Cold Pursuit drew my attention because of Liam Neeson, his awe-inspiring performance in many action flicks, made me admire his movies. But, this was one of the most disappointing, distasteful movie, a complete waste of time for Liam fans like me. I fail to understand if it was a revenge drama or child custody drama of a narcotics lord who's surrounded by gay bodyguards or gang war based where gangsters play with ice or something else as there were few more plots interwoven making it truly bizarre. After 15 minutes, one can only wonder, how a trailer can entice you into wasting your precious time and money on watching dog-shit. 

  It was stupid and arrogant for makers to make such a movie and expect people to watch it. To begin with, it was a revenge drama the only problem was without a script and poor execution. I have always enjoyed Liam Neesom, but this movie is two hours of torture and would not divulge anything more about plot, performance, etc. My advice is, one should avoid this movie.