wishing everybody a happy new year

Italo Calvino _ the invisible cities

Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino was a book that confused me from beginning to end, and yet I am glad I read it. Calvino was trying to do something creatively strange, and I think I missed it, but the strangeness was a bit rewarding in the end. All that said, I am struggling to say something coherent about the book.I may as well confess straight off, ‘Pffft.’ The sound of a narrative soaring way above one’s head.:)
That dread question “What’s it about?”

And that has a bit of truth to it. It’s about all cities, really, and I often felt as though it was about all times as well – or at least a great many. The book is a series of word-sketches of cities, framed within conversations between Kublai Khan and Marco Polo about the state of the Khan’s empire and about cities in a more general sense. It’s about imagination, reality, perceptions.nvisible Cities is a collection of very short stories between one and three pages long. These stories are about strange cities around the world. Some are cities with the ground in the sky, some are cities of strange people or religions.  We find in these conversations that Marco Polo is the one telling the aging Kublai Khan about these outrageous cities. And by the end, we find that Marco Polo’s many cities seem to merge together. Was he really describing just one city? Is he describing cities at all?

The body of each chapter contains a series of short sketches, related by Marco Polo, each describing a ‘city.’ Each city description is categorised by the variety of city (Thin Cities, Cities & the Dead, Cities & the Sky etc.) The categories are dispersed randomly through each of the nine chapters, and the examples within each category are numbered.

Calvino, then, in describing (possibly) one city in so many different ways, brings that city to life in many different ways. Yet, my ear strained to get the meanings out of this book. If it is the ear that commands the story, my ears failed me. But I sense a deep purpose and philosophical meaning behind it all.

are we urban !!!!

we are urban...

The picture depicts a birds nest on the table inside the house. which brings the sense of high density of the urban area. where animals or birds , everybody has to make adjustment among themselves to survive. unlike in rural area where everybody has freedom of space.

are we civilized

THE BOUNDARY NAMED "relegion"
this picture has been taken  on the way to Mata Vaishno Devi temple in Jammu.
here we can see how people are sleeping in open without any fear.
so its obvious that relegion had a very strong part to make the community space,
and to bring people to a platform from where we all get civilized.

Julius caesar

writer- William Shakespeare

This blog has given me a chance to once again read my tenth standard book.".Julius Caesar".

Caesar’s life is captured in prose . We can read the  depth of knowledge and insight into the complex nature of Caesar’s story.The  scholastic work proves useful, as it brings fresh insight into understanding the life and character of this great Roman leader.It is shown the military leadership Caesar undertook and how it can influence our understanding of leadership in those days, as different from ours. Julius Caesar is presented in the context of human relationships he devised and others that shaped his life.The story also narrates cultural, religious and military landscape of the Roman republic in light of Caesar’s journey through life. Marius, Sulla, Pompey, Cicero are shown as partners in progress or dishonor. Sevilia and Cleopatra are accorded the plausible position Caesar gave them. The book contains 155 pages of well constructed account of a roman hero. It is written in well separated chapter properly linked and facilitated with ease of reading. The story of Julius Caesar is an interesting adventure of a bold man whose life is comparable to that of other great people like Alexandra, the Great. “I came, I saw, I conquered” those are his words; they clearly confirm his strength of character and charisma. He lived true to his dream, dedicated to the he wished and vehement in the pursuit of the same. In his pursuit of honor, the influence of his mother cannot be forgotten. He lost his father when he was only sixteen but his mother took him through the painfull lesson of life.

while reading the story i could clearly imagine the kind of spaces it would hav been in real life. The place rome is so well narated by the writer that one feels its presence. the way writer has explained the roman architecture like the pillars , statues and huge public places like the one in collosium, we can actualy understand how it would hav been in those days.

T.O.S Submission

After making one of my senior's thesis model on howrah bridge i realy wanted to visit hte placeand luckily i was in Kolkata for about two weeks this time. It was a huge escape from desert like situation of North Indian summer, a place where I have been living for nearly two years,now excluding of course a few months that I lived in hostel..Iwas fortunate to have escaped Delhi for a short while during my vacations to visit my old friends in kolkata, and i just wished my stay in Kolkata was longer than two weeks. Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal widely known as the City of Joy and true to its name, it is full of life and zest and bustles with activity throughout the year.

This time i was fortunate to take my camera and reach out different places in Kolkata and now in this blog i will pen down some of my memories along with some snaps.

Day 1- The first cantilever suspension bridge of its type, the Howrah Bridge is an extraordinary feat in modern engineering.This landmark bridge joins the twin cities of Howrah and Kolkata. Howrahbridge is one of three bridges on the river Hooghly and it is the most famous symbol of not only Calcutta or West Bengal but the entire India. The best way to enjoy its stately beauty is to view it from the middle of the river where photography is strictly prohibited. The ferries running from below Howrah Station are a more convenient way to cross the river and give a good view of the bridge.

Day2- Victoria Memorial is a fascinating piece of architecture with Italian style of statue designs and Mughal styled domes – a curious blend of differing cultures. The structure is built with special white Makrana marbles and the dome of the building is made of bronze. The memorial eventually got converted to a museum. The museum features some of the classical Western and Indian paintings, ancient lithographs, Mughal miniatures, rare manuscripts, coins, sculpture and several other valuable collections. The architect being  Terry Farrell.

My next visit was Eden garden which is  in the heart of Kolkataand just a few steps away from Victoria memorial, it is one of the foremost tourist attractions. Eden garden is basically a cricket stadium, where people have witnessed several historic international cricket matches. The stadium is very commodious and can seat about 1, 20,000 persons. After that we walked down the dharmatalla market to visit the Indian Museum, established in 1814, this was the first such museum in Asia. Among its famous collection is the urn that held the ashes of the Buddha (though this is generally not on display), an Ashoka pillar (the three-lion symbol from which became the official emblem of the Republic of India) and numerous rare antiques.

Day-3..i was staying at my aunts house in baguiati near airport. We left early in the morning to visit the Dakshineswar Kali Temple which is a famous temple located on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River. The site comprises of the nine-spired main temple with rooms along the boundary walls, built in the traditional 'Navaratna' style of Bengal architecture. The entire temple reverberates with spiritual vibrations – particularly during special pooja times. This temple gained special prominence after the spiritual giant Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa chose this as his abode

From the temple we took a twenty minutes ride by the ferry to croos the river and visit Belur math. The architecture of Belur Math combines the features of a church, a temple and a mosque - to promote the spirit of religious unity. Its sprawling prayer hall with a statue of Ramakrishna provides an overwhelming sight. The Belur math is a serene place ideally suited for spiritual seekers and those embarking on an inward journey.

Day-4-Birla Planetarium, One of the oldest Planetariums in India. The only planetarium in the country whose dome houses a collection of projectors and optical equipment expensively imported from East Germany. It is the largest planetarium in South-East Asia and the second largest in the world. Daily shows in English, Hindi and Bengali. We took a fourty minute cab ride to Science City which is on the eastern metropolitan bypass. The Science City is newest addition to Kolkata's long list of tourist attractions. This architectural showpiece has more than just its external showcase of form. A showcase of scientific applications, this is the first and the only institution of its kind in India. The different sections of the complex include the Space odyssey, Dynamotion, Life Science Corners, Science Park, Toy Train & Ropeway, the Dinosaurs Complex and others. The main attraction of Science City is the Space Theatre - a circular auditorium with a dome-shaped ceiling which, from the interior, looks like an inverted bowl. Another major attraction is the musical fountain, where coloured jets of water dance to the sound of music.

I think i hav to end my blog here bcause my  stay in Kolkata was so long that i can keep on writing endless pages. I would tell all the blog readers to please visit Kolkata, atleast once