One good reason why 'A' is better than 'B' (*books)

It wasn’t intentional, but it so happened that I read couple of Kids’ fictions back to back. First one was John Grisham’s ‘Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer’, followed by Keith Gray’s ‘Ostrich Boys’. I found the latter to be more interesting and gripping than the former. It was a surprise that the work of a famous author like John Grisham didn’t impress me as much as the work of a lesser known author Keith Gray.

Consider two situations:

A. your friend went for an adventurous trip and he narrates you his adventures.

B. your friend’s friend went for an adventurous trip and your friend narrates his friend’s adventures to you.

Which one would you prefer to hear?

Stories written in first person fascinates its readers a lot compared to stories written in third person. If there are only few characters in the story and apart from the main character, other characters can be detailed well using first person technique then always go for first person approach. Especially when the targeted readers are kids,an approach that will help them see the world through a kid’s eyes will be far better than an approach that will force them to listen to an old man’s chatter.

PS : It will be difficult for an author to narrate stories of ‘larger than life’ characters in first person without making the character sound like a narcissist. First person technique will also fail when there are hundreds of characters in the story.

Book Review : ' Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer '

John Grisham is one the finest story tellers in modern literary world. He makes his readers turn pages over pages without letting them keep their books down. Grisham has mastered himself in writing legal stories. He has written more than 20 novels and he continues to mesmerize his readers with the incredible details of American law.

‘Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer’, the novel is an attempt by Grisham to reach young readers. The novel was published in 2010, followed by a sequel in 2011- ‘Theodore Boone: The Abduction’.

Hardly anyone has ever written legal thrillers for children. ‘Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer’ is one of its kinds. The story revolves around the main character, Theodore Boon, who is a 13 year old kid and who fancies to become either a criminal lawyer or a judge someday. Theo’s parents are lawyers and that tells why he wants to become a lawyer, rather than a cop or a surgeon. The story is about a murder trial and how Theo, with his knowledge of law, helps to bust the real murderer. Grisham keeps the story simple and comprehensible for his young readers.

Though Grisham’s attempt to reach young readers is applaudable, he needs to improve his storytelling ability by leaps and bounds especially when his readers are of the age group 8 to 12.

How many kids do really enjoy reading legal thrillers? For kids who enjoy reading Harry Potter books, legal thrillers are plain and boring. When there are hardly any elements of surprise in the story, the novel turns out be another textbook on law and judiciary system. Grisham needs to put more elements of surprise in his story. If he really wants to make a mark on his young reader’s mind, then he will have to venture more and start thinking like a 12 year old. He will have to come up with a solution where he keeps the legal nitty-gritty intact, along with adventures which will keep his young readers thrilled till the end.

Since Grisham has already published a sequel and looks to come up with more Theo’s stories, it is better to start with ‘Kid Lawyer’ and hope the series gets better as it unfolds.

Twin Earth...

You would have heard of the 'Big Bang Theory'!!

During the Big Bang, apart from the Sun and the Earth (our Earth -OE), a Twin Earth (TE) planet was formed. TE revolves around the Sun just like OE. The only difference is, it revolves on the opposite side of the elliptical path, around 6 months ahead of us. TE has same set of stars like OE, that are similarly positioned. From the theories of astrology and astronomy, OE and TE are ditto in every aspect.

Even there is a person named 'Harry Potter', who wrote a similar article 6 months ago.

Can you explain how can he write the preceding sentence in his article 6 months ago, when the person in OE is writing it now?

Confusing !!!


PS : Why we didn’t find TE yet? Because they didn’t find us yet.. :)

Does goal justifies the means !!

Did anyone stop you from voting? Did anyone stop you from fighting elections?

'I voted (or chose not to vote) during last elections. It is my Government. Stop blackmailing ‘MY’ Government!!!'

• I believe 'fast unto death' is a weapon to blackmail Government and by calling it 'Satyagrah', they are demeaning the spirit of non-violence.

• Indian Prime Minister rightly mentioned in his statement in Lok Sabha: 'The Government wishes to stress that the issue before the nation is not whether a Lok Pal Bill is necessary or desirable. All of us in this House are agreed that a Lok Pal Bill must be passed as early as possible. The question is, who drafts the law and who makes the law?' source

• Instead of asking Government officials to take leave for 8 days, ask them to stop taking bribe.

• Instead of asking common man to come out on streets and protest against corruption (in favour of Lokpal), ask them to stop giving bribe in their day today life.

• Most of the youngsters who are out there on streets are there because of a ‘sense of participating in a struggle’ not because they truly understand the cause. I call them ‘Rang De Basanti’ Generation. They will break under pressure and run from these morals when the chips are down.
Consider this scenario - you got admission in a reputed school in US. With a month to go, you apply for passport. Now the policeman who comes for background check asks for money. Will you give him the money and try to get the passport as early as possible? Or Will you fight against corruption, though it might put your future in jeopardy? Think before you answer!!

• One more thing which I observed…
You support the movement when you see Anna Hazare , Kiran Bedi and some well-known social activists participating in the movement. But once you see Baba Ramdev getting into same movement, you get a bit sceptical. Does that mean your faith on the path you chose depends on the people you follow?

• A weak argument, but still just want to show your two face.
It’s the same prime minister about whom you used to send e-mails a year ago, telling how proud you are of your PM and his qualifications. And look at you today!! You are not sparing a single chance in slinging mud at him.

* A friend rightly said,'It is what media feeds in to the minds of people...some people agree with it and blindly follow the direction of media...'

Palmistry

A friend told me about this long back. Today I am going to let out that secret.
I know, lots of you will get disappointed after knowing this. But remember ‘Lines doesn’t mean anything, it’s YOU who have to realize your dreams’

Palm – Mystery - Unleashed

If you are a guy, have a look at your right palm (for girls it is left). Just below the little finger (between the little finger and the big horizontal line), you will be able to see some small lines. Count the number of lines. Do you know what does it signifies?

Naah!! You are wrong. It doesn’t tell you the number of kids that you are going to have.
It tells you a lot more serious stuff.

It tells you the number of times you are going to fall in love. (One of them obviously being your marriage)

Now how to know the timing?

The space between the little finger and the big horizontal line is considered as 60 years. (0 to 60)
Just check when these little lines come in those 60 years.

Sorry. I know I hurt you a lot.

Please feel free to enlighten me with your knowledge of palmistry.

PS : There is a ‘not so’ dark line going towards your index finger. That is called vidya-rekha. (line of education). If it is going towards the gap between middle finger and index finger, then that means your education is going into a pothole. (like mine :D )

PS PS: Above article is written in a lighter vein. Since the author of this article has lost all his humorsense, he might sound cynical.

PS PS PS : I have let out the secret because I don't believe in it anymore. Now its your headache.. Phew !!! :D
PS PS PS PS: I have got a love-line near 60 yrs as well. I am really excited about that :D

Objective Questions....

We all have written so many objective exams.
Consider a situation where each question has four options –A, B, C, and D respectively.
The examiner has set all ‘A’s as correct answer.
………..
You will solve the first Question correctly and tick ‘A’
You will solve the second question correctly and tick ‘A’
You will solve the third question correctly and think a lot before ticking ‘A’ …
By the time you reach the fourth question, you will start questioning your logic. Even if you would have found the correct answer, you will hesitate before ticking ‘A’.

Why so?
I guess mathematical ‘Probability’ comes into picture here. Probability of getting all As (or Bs, or Cs or Ds) in first 5 question is far less than probability of getting 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 - As in those 5 questions.

PS : Even the little toddler studying in Std. 2 will hesitate to tick the 5th questions' answer as 'A'.
So that raises one doubt : Are we, by birth,tuned to calculate probabilty without even knowing what it is?
Think about it :)

PS PS :

Adding one more case:

Consider there are 10 questions in an exam?
If the correct answer for first 9 questions is ‘A’ and the correct answer for 10th question is ‘B’, then what will happen?
After ticking first 9 answers as ‘A’, you will think a lot before ticking ‘B’ for the 10th question.
What is the logic in this case?

Blame Narad - 2

One fine day, Narad Maharishee told his father, ‘Papa.. You work a lot and you need to take some rest’.
Brahmdev (Brahma) who was busy inventing some new species looked up, ‘hmm… Now what? You already screwed up my message for the earthlings. Now what do you want?’ (Flashback)
Narad Munee replied,’ I am sorry Papa. It was a mistake. I won’t repeat it. …..’

A moment of silence passed between dear God and his beloved son.

Narad continued, ‘I was saying, you need to take some rest. You work a lot. You should take a break and go out on a vacation.. Bahmas or some other place...’
Brahma thought about it, ’But…What about my work? Who will take care of it? You know I can’t trust anyone with my work’
‘I will look after your office when you are gone. I promise I won’t screw it this time’
Brahma started thinking about it. He knew something or the other will go wrong if he handovers the office to his son. Then he thought to himself, ’What the heck!! I can revert back whatever he does.. He is right… I need a break.’
‘Okay son… I will take a break. You manage this office in my absence. In case you need any help just ask Uncle Vishnu or Uncle Mahesh. And one thing… Do not touch any of my tools !!’
‘Okay I won’t. I promise’.
After finishing his pending work Brahmdev went on a long vacation. He handed over office keys to his beloved son Narad.

First couple of days went fine. Narad kept his promise. He didn’t touch any of his dads’ tool. But soon Narad started getting bored. He thought he will have a look at his fathers’ upcoming assignments. He opened the file which said ‘New Assignments’.
There were two new assignments:
1. Creat a fruit.
2. Create a bird.
Narad looked at it as an opportunity to impress and help his dad. So he started off with the work. He spent couple of weeks in coming up with the design. It took him almost a month to finish both the assignments.

By the time Narad finished his work, Brahmdev returned from his vacation.He was glad to see that everything was still in order.
He said to Narad, ‘So what did you do in my absence?’
‘Dad.. I couldn’t keep my promise. I went through your upcoming assignments file. I thought those assignments were pretty easy, so I finished it’
Brahmdev got curious, ‘What did you do?’
‘The fruit and the bird assignment… Look …over there.. I created them and placed them all over the earth’
Brahmdev had a close look at his sons’ work.
Narad, with an innocent smile and with the expectation of getting praised by his father asked, ‘Papa… I hope you are impressed with my work!!’
Brahmdev didn’t say a word. He went near the door and opened it… then he looked at Narad, ‘Please…Never ever enter this office again!!’
‘But what did I do Dad!! I tried to help you’
Brahmdev got angry, ‘I told you to not to touch any of the tools. You disobeyed me. And look what you have done now… You created a fruit with its seed growing outside the fruit… and you created a bird which is neither a bird nor a mammal. Enough of it… Please leave this office now!!!’

………….
Dear readers,
It’s a mythical story presented in a modern way.
Even though you know the fruit and the creature, you wouldn’t have known its creator until now.
Thanks to Narad Maharashee, we have a uniquie fruit called Cashew and a unique creature called Bat.
……………

Blame Narad - 1

Brahma is the ‘Creator’ and he is the one who defines 'how we should live' rules.

One fine morning, Mr. Brahma told Narad Munni to go and tell Bhumiwasi (people from earth) to take bath 3 times a day and eat once a day. Like always Mr. Narad screwed it up and delivered wrong message. He told us to, ‘Eat 3 times a day and take bath once’.

Now we all know whom to blame for our bad looks and overweight !!