The World around me

So Harry Potter lives....J.K. Rowling has been compared to Shakespeare for making the generation of today's kids go back to reading even with the advent of technology. I have read that many people went straight to the last page when they got hold of their copy of the book to see if Harry lives or not, and here I must admit that on Sunday I went online just to know his fate too!

The past few days the news has all been the huge floods in the United Kingdom and the equally bad heatwaves in the rest of Europe! It seems really weird to me that the same continent is experiencing such vagaries of nature. Of course, you can argue saying that the UK is not really in continental Europe, but that's really not the point! The point here is that we are not acting as responsible citizens of the world. All of us contribute to Global warning and I feel that all these unusual activity is Mother Nature's way of telling us to pull up our socks and start doing something! I have also decided to do my small part for this. I am going to do with the three Rs - Reduce, Recycle and Reuse! I plan to reduce taking plastic bags from shops, recycle things that can be recycled and what can't be used by us will be donated so that someone else can make use of it.

India has her first woman president! Ms. Prathibha Patil was sworn in as President of the largest republic of the world this week! For a country which is always mentioned in the feminine tense and who was one of the first countries to democratically elect a woman Prime Minister, this is a long overdue event! Ms. Patil will be filling in some really big shoes of Dr. Kalam, the erstwhile and well-loved President so my sincere hope is that she continues his good work and helps the country grow and prosper!

Here is a picture of the Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST, formerly Victoria Terminus or VT Station to us Mumbaikars) at night all lit up for you to enjoy!

Harry Potter Mania

Tomorrow is the day when the final book of the Harry Potter series called 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' will be released (0701 here in Singapore) and us muggles will finally get to know what really happens?

So this is the perfect time for me to post my views on the latest Harry Potter movie, 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" I read this book nearly four years ago and this book has some meaning for me. I was nearly nine months pregnant with my twins when sometime in August 2003, my gynaecologist put me on an extended bed rest of about 10 days after which I had to go back to work and hand over my duties to the person replacing me and get back to another bout of bedrest before delivery and the start of my maternity leave. Since this bed rest was an enforced one (which meant I had to put up my legs for most of the day, except for some walking around every hour or so to get the circulation in my legs moving), I was pretty worried what I would do the whole day. So just before I went on the bed rest, I got the latest Harry Potter from the library (which I had reserved and just got), thinking it would be good for the next ten days. I should have known better, I finished it in less than two days and spent the next eight days just watching TV!

So on to the movie...the movie was definitely scarier and darker than the previous ones. It is still full of magic and spells, and it was also much better directed and written, with computer animation and special effects that are awesome. I loved the part where Harry, Hermoine, Ron and Neville zoom across the Thames on their broomsticks. Also the ending was awesome for it's special effects. The part where Ron's older twin brothers light up the school before deciding to leave altogether was also fantastic. The tricks that they played added to the lightness and balanced the overall darkness of the movie. The much anticpated kiss between Ron and Cho was also a bit of an anti-climax (atleast to me) and I thought there seemed more than met the eye between Harry and Luna Lovegood. There were also a lot of scenes which showed Harry as a young boy in his first year at Hogwarts and so it was nice to see the sweet and innocent Harry of then versus the more darker and angrier Harry of now.

Here is a link, if you want to see the trailer.

So see ya all you muggles and I just hope I get hold of a copy of the book soon so that I know how it all ends!

The World around me...

This post was written by me on Monday morning when I was reading the daily news, but with things the way they were, somehow it didn't get uploaded. So here goes...

A new day, a new week. I know that I have been very lax at posting, so here is a big SORRY from me!

I am just catching up on the news - I usually read Mumbai Mid-Day and Samachar. There is this piece of news on Midday, which I found very strange. You can read this article here.

Basically it says in the event of a plane being highjacked on Indian soil, a new Home Ministry rule says only Indian passengers will be evacuated; govt won't negotiate for release of foreigners.

I find that I don't really like this ruling as it assumes that an Indian life is more valuable than a foreign one; and when we Indians go and live and work abroad and face such laws, rules in our adopted country we cry foul and raise anti-discriminatory laws! Also shouldn't the government know that in today's world, with more and more families being mobile, there are many cases where the parent/s and children may have different nationalities and passports and in such a situation, would a parent (who will most probably be an Indian national) allow himself/herself to be evacuated and let their child/ren (who would more likely be a foreigner) stay in the plane?

And in such a situation what would the government do? Would they force the Indian parent to forcibly leave the plane and in the process break up a family? To all those in power, who shout from rooftops about the 'Bharatiya Sanskriti'(Indian Culture), is this what is all about!

The world has gone mad?

Another week has gone by without me making a single post. This was not what I had bargained for when I decided to start blogging. I know that other than a few family members no one is really interested in what I write. Is this the reason that I am not as profilic as I want to be?

The past two days have been all about the random and absolutely senseless shooting at the Virginia Tech University. I really don't know what to say. Is life so cheap that someone who is angry with the world and perhaps himself just decides to do away with the lives of his fellow students and teachers? Being so far away we can do a bit of head-shaking and comment on it, but what about all those parents, children, relatives of all those killed? It is not just about the 33 people killed, it is about 33 families destroyed. Not only of those people killed, but also of Cho's own family. I really wonder what his parents must be going through now and I really feel for them. This is the time for the USA to wake up and see reality. There should be strict rules about gun control in the country and the time has come to really implement it. When educational institutes and centers for learning become potential mine-fields where the chances of something like this happening are high, then what is the message that is being sent out? If not in a school, people can't feel safe, then where else?

One of mine and DH's long term plans with regard to the Princess and the Pilot was about their higher studies and further education. We started saving for them from the time they were born - if I remember correctly I opened savings accounts for them when they were about a month old. We want to save enough money that we can finance their education in any field that they want to study in (be it medicine, airplane pilot etc), and in whichever institute in any country that they get admission to. But with the world like this, I am so tempted to get my babies close to me and not let them out of my sight ever. But that will not happen. I had made a promise to myself that I will never be a clinging mom and will always let them do what they want! God help me!!