Transition of Thoughts

Weaving thoughts into words

Month: February 2013

Guest Post: Movie Review of ‘The Chinese Cat’

Source: http://imgc.allpostersimages.com/images/P-473-488-90/40/4025/MQOWF00Z/posters/the-chinese-cat-1944.jpg

I love old movies and I also love Netflix streaming. Thankfully, I can have the best of both worlds as Netflix continues to offer up more and more classic films for me to stream to my laptop or game console. One of my favorite classic comedy/mystery series is called Charlie Chan.

The main character in the Charlie Chan movie series is an Asian-American detective from Hawaii played by Sidney Toler. He is like Sherlock Holmes and can solve even the most difficult cases. In the film, ‘The Chinese Cat’, he teams up with his ‘number three son’ ‘Tommy’ (Benson Fong) and the African-American taxi driver ‘Birmingham Brown’ (Mantan Moreland) to solve a six month old murder case and two other mysterious deaths.

As the three travel through a funhouse they uncover the sinister plot behind the murders and solve a jewellery heist along the way. Full of humor and action, this flick and the others in the series are well worth watching.

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Mind vs Heart – Who will win the battle?

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She was dressed in a simple pink salwar with matching accessories to boot. Her face was devoid of any make up which made her look natural. Her eyes seemed to be searching for someone really important. And as she went on, her natural smile transformed into a sexy pout. Her hair was neither curly nor straightened; somewhere in between. She was different. She didn’t believe in using chemicals to make herself look good.

Seeing her, my mind and heart started running in circles. And thus began their conversation –

Heart – “Who is she? How is she here? Whatever it is, she looks stunning. She’s like a dream come true.”

Mind – “Get a grip dude. She must be having a strong reason to be on a train like this. Maybe, she is waiting for her husband.”

Heart – “Husband? Are you crazy? She’s so young and beautiful. She must be anything but married.”

Mind – “Look at her. She’s so simple. Do you think she is your type? You are crazy about all the rich and fancy females at work. She is anything but the ones you keep running after.”

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In conversation with Sami Ahmad: Author of “Red Jihad”

Sami A Khan

Sami Ahmad Khan read Literature at Hindu College and Rajdhani College, University of Delhi. He then completed his master’s in English at Jawaharlal Nehru University. Sami was awarded a Fulbright grant at The University of Iowa, USA, in 2011. He has engaged in film production, teaching, theatre and writing. His short stories, plays and articles have been published in magazines and academic journals. His political thriller Red Jihad won the Muse India Young Writer (Runner-Up) Award at the Hyderabad Literary Festival 2013 and “Excellence in Youth Fiction Writing” at the National Debut Youth Fiction Awards at the Young Writers Meet during Delhi World Book Fair 2013.

Currently, Sami is a Doctoral Candidate at JNU, where he is working on Science Fiction and Techno-culture Studies. He is now working on a sequel to Red Jihad.

So we have him here for a tete – a – tete –

Aseem: What is one most important thing / things you have taken back from your days at the Hindu college and JNU?
Sami: Think for yourself, stick to your guns and have an opinion about anything and everything. It’s surprisingly liberating – DU/JNU style!

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Writing to me is… Passion. Habit. Obsession.

Source: http://www.aacc.edu/creativewriting/image/writing-2.jpg

If one writes to put thoughts into words, another writes so that emotions can be given a platform. If one writes to make people aware in the society, another writes to bring a smile on someone’s face. Whatever be the reason, writing has the potential of bringing change and making people sit up and take notice of things they may have not heard of at an earlier point in time. It has the capability of changing people’s lives for the good or the bad in a matter of minutes.

So what does writing mean to me? If I come to think of it, writing defines my life in five different ways –

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Valentines Week – Where love becomes a joke!

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Many regard love as the ultimate feeling of bliss. The optimist in us thinks that love is something which can make ones world go round, keep one happy all the time and help one feel good about himself or herself. On the other hand there’s also the pessimist who thinks that love is a pain where your partner is always present to use you till the hilt. Happy? According to them, one feels tortured and troubled in love all the time. Whatever be the case, love has the one quality to change your life in the matter of days or weeks. But is it supposed to be celebrated only for a few days of the week? Some people surely think so.

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Book Review – Red Jihad: Battle for South Asia

red-jihad-battle-for-south-asia

“Red Jihad” is Sami Ahmad Khan’s first attempt at writing a novel. He has engaged in film production, teaching, theater and writing. His short stories, plays and articles have been published in magazines and academic journals. Does his first novel work? Let’s check it out.

The blurb goes like this –

2014: Pakistan has transitioned into a full – fledged democracy and is reconciling with India. However, there are forces working against this fragile peace. A Pakistani jihadi leader, Yasser Basheer, travels to the Red Corridor and enlists the support of an Indian naxalite commander, Agyaat. Their plan: to unleash Pralay, India’s experimental intercontinental ballistic missile, on the subcontinent.

As the missile changes course en route, it hits Pakistan and causes collateral damage. In response, Pakistan unleashes war on India. As the web of politics, deceit and treachery deepens, it turns out that there are larger interests at stake and bigger players involved in this combat. The battle for South Asia turns murkier as an Indo – Pak war threatens to embroil many other countries in the end game.

Have India and Pakistan sparked off the mother of all wars? A gripping thriller, Red Jihad explores probably the most feared nexus – between the jihadis and the Naxals.

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Why do some people love to play politics all the time?

office_politics_with_oliver_james

Working in teams is an integral part of ones professional as well as personal life. And in a team obviously there are a wide variety of individuals from different walks of life and strata of society. Some of them are dominating / overbearing while others like to play it low. Some try to take charge of the group almost immediately while others love to stay away from the limelight and follow the bandwagon. Everyone almost always has a different opinion and viewpoint on things. And that’s what is necessary to discuss different points and take a team forward.

But then some people love to play politics all the time. Whether its back-biting or trying to impress the important ones, whether its trying to take the credit for a job done by the entire team or not doing some work just because one feels its not important, some people love to have all the fun! But, why so? Are these guys jobless? Don’t they have anything useful to do? Why do they love to do this all the time?

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