The Mahabharata Quest, The Alexander Secret by Christopher C Doyle

The Mahabharata Quest: The Alexander Secret by Christopher C. Doyle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The author, who started his career in the corporate world as a top notch business executive running businesses across the country, also has a passion for writing science fiction. His books have a peculiar blend of science with ancient historic events that evolve into a gripping page turner with sequels.

Storyline:

Vijay Singh, a prolific, intelligent US returned MIT student, is part of an Indo-American Task Force, that has been formed to explore the dangerous mission of a secret society called The Order, which has its origin in India thousands of years ago. He one day is suddenly visited by his ex-girlfriend Alice, a student of Archaeology and expert in Hellenistic (Greek) history. She narrowly escapes a murder hunt by some unknown professional killers after having discovered an ancient cube and artifacts, during the excavation of the tomb of Queen Olympias, in Greece, connected to her son Alexander’s, expedition to the East, to conquer the world. Coincidently, Vijay’s fiancée, Radha and her Indian Intelligence Bureau friend Imran, accidentally discover a secret, illegal genetic testing facility in New Delhi. This lab is later found to be controlled by the same secret members of the Order, involved in testing the effects of a dangerous bacteria and retrovirus on innocent people to make a drug that can cure all diseases and proclaim Immortality to humanity. Through this drug the Order wants to control the entire humanity, wiping off powerful Governments, across the world. The twist of the tale is that this particular bacteria and virus were found in the ‘mummy’ of Alexander centuries ago, who is said to have been infected after his consumption of a mysterious liquid in an ancient cave near the banks of Indus. This liquid is interpreted as the sweet nectar ‘amrita’, also called as secret of Eastern Gods, mentioned as that obtained through “Sagarmanthan” or “Churn of the Ocean” in the verses of ancient Indian epic Mahabharata. It is said to imbibe immortality to anyone who consumes it. But, unfortunately, Alexander could not benefit from this ‘amrit’ since he hasn’t consumed the right potion containing the retrovirus mixture. The members of the Order, kidnap Radha and force Vijay, an expert in solving riddles and clues, to follow a tedious path in present day Afghanistan and Kazakhstan, leading to several ancient caves containing this Amrit and the right mixture of the bacteria and retrovirus. Finally they gain access to the same and escape with the original samples of Amrit to test for viability, leaving Vijay and his team mates in the dark. To be continued in the next sequel.

Pros: A hair-raising thriller churned with scientific facts behind the great fairy tale of SagarManthan, mentioned in the Indian epic Mahabharata. The linkage of the tale to Alexander’s motive to conquer the rest of the world after defeating Darius of Persia, is really fabulous. The author must be appreciated for his extensive research on the facts behind this great secret. The description of the human genome and the various permutations and combinations of how genetic structure could have been re-engineered thousands of years ago with the help of such bacteria and retroviruses, leaves the reader awe-struck. In fact there all chances that the reader forgets about the fiction behind the story and would have been compelled to accept the logic explained as the real fact and not as a myth. The stark realities of how science was used by our ancestors when there were no considerable equipment related to finding microscopic organisms, have been strikingly elicited. A must read book by mythological fiction lovers. Bet that they shall remember the story for a long long period in their lives.

Cons: The excessive usage of medical jargon on genetics, could be difficult to understand to many non-biology students. Though there is a perfect sync between the story of Alexander’s conquest of the Eastern world and greatest Indian mythological fantasy story of Sagarmanthan mentioned in Mahabharata, there should have been some more emphasis on the Indian side. The story should have been completed in this book itself for better effects.

My rating is 4 out of 5


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JOY (A HOLLYWOOD DRAMA)

Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Edgar Ramirez, Bradley Cooper and Diane Ladd. Directed by David O Russell and Produced by John Davis, Megan Ellison, Jonathan Gordon, Screenplay by David O Russell and Music by West Dylan Thordson / David Campbell.







Storyline:

A simple story of Joy Mangano ( Jennifer Lawrence), a young divorced lady who had been subject to failures in her career, marriage and family. Joy, daughter of a foundry owner Rudy is an enterprising girl right from her childhood, trying to invent and innovate right from her childhood times. She always wanted to invent something on her own and patent the product on her name. Her first failure starts with her marriage to Tony (Edgar Ramirez) who is a failed singer. Next she fails in her career due to the disturbances at her home with divorced parents. She gets bogged down with her tired and burdened life when one day she gets an idea to invent a highly absorbent, self-wringing mop for a regular woman in an American household. She somehow ropes in investment for her product from her dad’s (Robert De Niro) new fiancé Trudy after making an entry to the country’s best home selling television show QVC., run by Niel (Bradley Cooper). Unfortunately, here again she fails as she will have to sell her mortgaged house for not having registered a proper patent right to her product and falls into a huge debt trap. Here’s where she decides to take life head on and transforms into a highly determined woman who will not accept defeat, henceforth. She studies the Patent law and visits her manufacturer to know the nitty gritties of where it actually went wrong. There she discovers that she has been cheated and threatens the manufacturer with law suites, for his false claims and cheating. She not only gets back her lost money but also emerges as a confident, successful businesswoman to establish her own business empire later. The story ends with Niel waiting for Joy’s appointment outside her plush office, which happens to be the reverse of how Joy waited for Niel outside his cabin years ago to sell her mop.

Pros: A clean motivational story of a middle class woman in today’s society who faces the burden of continous challenges and failures in her day to day life. It’s a movie that everybody should watch and learn from the determination of Joy to excel in life without accepting defeat. A compelling mindset driven by constant innovative thought process despite the hardships of a disturbed life which ultimately forces success to embrace anybody unconditionally. Excellent screenplay by the Director and stunning performance by Jennifer. Every modern woman can clearly reflect herself in this character of Joy and one gets to imbibe the inspiration that is generated from this simply powerful character. I appreciate the guts of the Producer for having picked up a story like this in today’s Hollywood scenario where high quality graphics driven action thrillers are ruling the box office collections. Sure this movie will be nominated and win atleast one or two Oscar awards.

Cons: Joy’s lone meeting with her manufacturer in his town and getting back her money with interest by openly threatening him with fraudulent activities, seemed to be little out of the groove to me, in this crime filled world. I don’t think he would have budged so easily for a simple threat from a lone woman in his town, without harming her. Moreover, his consent on a simple white paper doesn’t hold good in the court of law, if at all he contests it at a later stage. Joy’s continued friendship with his divorced husband Tony again, seems to be adverse, even after her runaway success.

My rating is 4.25 out of 5

LAUGHTER IN PARADISE (A 1951 BRITISH COMEDY MOVIE)

Directed and Produced by Mario Jampi, Music by Stanley Black, Cinematography by William Mc Leod.
Starring : Alastair Sim, Fay Compton, George Cole, Guy Middleton.
A 1951 British classic comedy movie which marks the introducing role of Audrey Hepburn as a cigarette girl who later matures to receive many Oscar awards in her later life a star heroine.

Storyline:

A wealthy practical joker called Henry Russell leaves a ‘Will’ to his four cousins Deniston (Alastair Sim), Agnes (Fay Compton), Herbert (George Cole) and Simon (Guy Middleton).
The will mentions that the law abiding, fictitious writer, Deniston has to commit a crime and stay in jail for 28 days, the arrogant Agnes needs to work as a maid servant for 30 days, the timid and good natured banking clerk, Herbert, has to surprise the bank manager with a toy pistol and the playboy Simon has to marry the first single woman whom he speaks to after hearing the will. The story unfolds into a hilarious episode where all the four try and achieve their respective assignments which are quite opposite to their natures, for the sake of the fortune of 50,000 pounds, to be inherited after completion of their respective tasks.
In the process of doing so, Deniston had to break the marriage with his fiancé, a constable in Police department and the arrogant, snobby Agnes finds a new kind nature inside her by helping her master’s daughter to get married to her lover. George Cole becomes the Manager of the bank he is working in after accidentally foiling a bank robbery, and Simon gets cheated in marriage to his butler’s niece. Eventually, the movie ends with a loud and hearty laughter from everyone on screen, when the final page of the Will is read out to mention that there is no such money to be given to anyone and it happens to be another practical joke from Henry.

Pros: A classic comedy of the yesteryears wherein the beauty of script and screenplay coordinated to the best output to produce a clean and healthy entertainment for the viewers. Utmost care has been taken on the makeups and outfits of the actors to result in a classy outlook. The best of the action has come from Alastair Sim who stands out among the rest in giving one of his best comic performance. A truly hilarious movie even todate, that can be watched again and again. Kudos to the cinematographer and Director for bringing the best of the talents out of the actors and actresses.

Cons: As per Simon’s task in the Will, he needs to marry the first single woman he comes across after hearing the Will. He happens to talk to Frieda (Audrey Hepburn), the cigarette girl in the bar first, but marries Beatrice, whom Simon meets later on the road. I feel that this is the technical mistake the Director missed.

My rating is 4 out of 5

Some Day The Stars Will Fall by Mark Hoffman

Some Day the Stars Will Fall: Is evil born or is it made? by Mark Hoffmann
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

A narration of the emotions of an imaginary living great grandson of Adolf Hitler, under the name of Adam Holloway. A very plain and simple
book which portrays the emotions of a young confused boy, who cannot disclose his real identity to the world in fear of being he and his family being hated for being the great grandson of Adolf Hitler, for the rest of his life

Storyline:

Adolf Hitler, during his final days before his death, is said to have a mistress called Eva Braun, through whom he has a son, smuggled out of Germany to Australia secretly through the hospital nurse. While doing so he hands over a small bracelet as a sovereign to be passed on to his future generations, commemorating the legacy of the most hated man in the world’s history, directly responsible for more than 6 million deaths. The family name was changed to Holloway from Hitler to conceal the identity of the living descendants. The present story is of Adam Holloway, the third generation direct descendant of Adolf Hitler, who move on to his grandmother’s home in Sydney, after the death of his father Robert Holloway. Adam was never comfortable in his new home due to the racial discrimination being a major problem in his locality due to some Middle Eastern immigrant settlers. He loses his grandmother Margaret, in one of such attacks on his house by the immigrants, when his blood boils to show his real Hitlerian traits in taking revenge. But he refrains himself from any violent acts, just to hide his real identity, which might torture him even more later. His only friend is his Muslim neighbor, Aymen, from Afghanistan, who later becomes a family friend and loses his life to protect Adam, in a major inter-racial tussle between Australian youth and Middle Eastern youth. Adam, at this juncture is put to lot of mental pressure when he starts wondering how his blood, laden with aggressiveness, violent temper, rebellious nature and cruelty, will be able to cope up with the present day situations, without anyone knowing about his noble genealogy, linked to Adolf Hitler. The best part is that this secret is kept and passed on to the male progeny, without the spouses ever come to know about it. The book ends with Adam left wondering whether evil is really born or made. He also keeps wondering as to who he is, either Adam Holloway or the son of the son of the son of the legendary Adolf Hilter !

Pros: Surprised to read that even such a cruel man like Adolf Hitler, wanted to have his own family and progeny to carry on his legacy. The inter racial disturbances of Australia have been well brought out through this book. The author very carefully valued the ideas and emotions of both the locals and settlers without hurting the sentiments of any religion. He could well relate this problem to Hitler’s reason to drive away Jews from Germany, for the same reasons Australians now want Middle Eastern and Asian immigrants out of Australia. He placed Hitler’s progeny in that place to understand as to how Hitler could have acted in the same situation decades ago, in his country. Makes the reader feel that If Hitler was wrong then, then even Australia is wrong now. Superb !

Cons: The author sometimes hinted that the Australian government supports their countrymen and not very liberal in its policies when it comes to mitigating the racial disturbances of the country. The story seemed to have ended suddenly without much of a reasonable climax and how Adam could have tackled his problem.

My rating is 3 out of 5

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