Decrypting the code

Just finished reading the Da Vinci Code. Could reading get any better?? A shear masterpiece and deserves everybit of the accolade and approbation that it has achieved. History and fiction are such delicately interwoven that it leaves one craving for more. The only other novel which falls somewhere in the same league is Exodus by Leon Uris. Code maintains a good pace throughout with intriguing twists and turns. Ahh, who does not love controversies!!

What fascinates the most however, is the claim that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalane who even bore a child to him. Her womb being refered to as the Holy Grail which also questions the ageold belief that the grail was the cup that Jesus drank from ( as shown in the much celebrated painting, The Last Supper by Da Vinci) while he dined with his apostles. Another contentious claim is that Jesus though a powerful and influencial leader was nonetheless a mortal, a fact as the book purports deliberately hidden by the Church for centuries to retain its own legitimacy as the sole means to the Divine. It also questions the legitimacy of the Bible itself, calling it a book written by the victors and thus obviously biased against the vanquished. It was written during the foutth century by a committee of theologists and clergies commissioned by king Constantine of Rome. A few gospels were deliberately ommitted, especially the ones that revealed Jesus as a mortal, against the Church's claims on his divinity. The hidden symbology in Vinci's paintings and references to the Sacred Faminine kept me glued.

There is a mention of secret socities, of encrypted codes, a plethora of symbols and subterfuges althrough, that make it an exhilerating read. Go grab one!!

The Patton pattern

I just finished watching the movie Patton followed by a bit of googling looking for some trivia. I was pretty intrigued by the speech the general makes at the beginning of the movie. I will reproduce the opening lines here," Now, I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country". Pretty strong and ironic!
The googling revealed that the speech in the movie is a very close rendition of the actual speech delivered by the general to his soldiers in the third US army. Except for the fact that it is less profane than the original. His biographer noted, "His toughness, his profanity, his bluster and braggadocio were appurtenances he assumed in order to inspire soldiers and, incidentally, himself. He cultivated the ferocious face because he believed that only he-men, as he often said, stimulated men to fight. Like Indian war paint, the hideous masks of primitive people, the rebel yell, the shout of paratroopers leaping from their planes, the fierce countenance helped men in battle disguise and overcome their fear of death."
Patton the leader, has evinced contaradictory opinions for his eccentricity and an impulsive nature which as the movie shows jeopardises the lives of his subordinates. He is an egoist. On the brighter side, he commands respect as a soldier and is a good orator. He has a passion for history and is a good war strategist.
Good performances although there are only two major characters in the movie. I thought the movie also reveals the contrasting styles the two men carried. One the charismatic, more radical and impulsive kind, the other a more conventional type. This is brought out aptly in a scene where General Bradley (played by Karl Malden) remarks, " The difference betwwen me and you (Patton) is that i am General because i am trained to be one, and you because you love it".
In the end, I would say that the movie deserves the appreciation it earned and also the tally of Academy awards. Ohh god! Its high time that Bollywood gives a better shot than Tango Charlie which also to my misery i happened to see a few days back.

On the other side of the line....

We all have heard of proprietorship, of boundaries and trespassing. In todays world it could be a tricky business and fairly dangerous too. I got a chance to transcend one of those recently. As it turns out, I am no mercenary who crossed the LOC but someone who was made a teacher for an hour from being a student all his life.

It all started with this email that I recieved a few days back. The science teacher in our campus KV (who apparently has a bio background) was not very comfortable with topics on physics. So she requested one Shyama mam (who i happen to know through some vague connections) to see if someone from IIT would want to volunteer for the same, which I appreciate for reasons of honesty and goodness of intentions on her part. With me trying innovative ways to kill time, i could not let go the opportunity.

I was on time or rather before time (now thats a surprise for ppl who know me!!) for my class. I was supposed to be teaching "Nuclear Fission and Fusion" to class X children. I had done the googling and also made some notes from the text book.Anyway, I entered the class and suddenly sensed this air of mischief pervading the 50 minds sitting before me. What designs they had, my mind could not fathom. Anyway, i began with this little speech that i had prepared on the way: "Hah..well! I have been to numerous classes but this is the first one i am standing on the other side of the line....". Some heads droop, some turn at the back. "Ah well! I would want it to be a very infomal session and i am sure with little cooperation from ur side...". More heads turn and droop and the noise level suddenly rises in a crescendo. Ahh,did i say something wrong or anyways forget the speech. So i began with the chapter. The rest of it i guess was a pretty good experience. I did pretty well to sustain their interest for an hour and in fact exceeded my own expectations as a teacher.

In retrospection, I feel it was an humbling experience. It brought me the perspective of the other side of the line. A realisation that it is no mean job to be a good teacher and a degree of respect for the profession. On the funny side, i got to observe the entire bunch from the mugoos who read the chapter in advance to impress the teacher to the naughty ones who have such a perfect sense of timing and anticipation in carrying out their mischiefs. Then there were those who would occassionally peep at you hiding behind someone's back and then evade your searching glances lest you ask them a question. Aint it common to all generations!!

I probably will take a couple of more classes to wind up the chapter and the problems. I just hope they turn out to be as good and refreshing as the last one.

The new kid on the blog

Here is the starter cum dessert. Sorry no maincourse today. Just the..
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