THE ARCHER EFFECT

"When a book comes out I wonder if one person will buy it. It's agony. Of course it's stupid, but it's agony" This beautiful quote by the legend of fiction, Jeffrey Archer depicts his conviction and dedication to generate emotions in us through his ink.

My first book of Jeffrey Archer was 
"The Prodigal Daughter" and that is where my love affair started with his work. Each word, each sentence, so poignant and like a breath of fresh air, keeping the reader captivated with the book. The journey of a woman against all odds, her forbidden love and her never-ending passion to climb the ladder and achieve her dreams instilled a desire in me to achieve at least a quarter of what Florentyna Rosnovski achieved, This is the power of his books and so I had to go back in time to read the fabulous story of Kane and Abel and come back to the
 present to reread Florentyna's voyage through life.

 Thus the odyssey began with his paperbacks. Be it the rise of Charlie Trumper from a vegetable barrow, the world of journalism and politics in The Fourth Estate, Stock Fraud in Not a Penny More, Not a Penny less, the Russian smuggling in A Matter of Honour or his very own personal collection of The Prison Diaries - which are just a few of his great works - each book gives a beautiful insight into different aspects of humanity, some good and some disturbing.

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Of course, the latest fixation which has taken the world by storm is the Clifton Chronicles. The journey of Harry Clifton in “Only Time will Tell” left us waiting impatiently for “The Sins of The Father” to live through Harry's life and ended it spectacularly in a cliff-hanger, as some of his books, in “Best Kept Secret”.

I had the privilege and honour of meeting this legendary author during one of his book-signings in India and let me tell you, the feeling is as extraordinary as it can be. 

To sum up the author himself, I would like to again put one of his quotes - “But I certainly made mistakes, for which I regret, I think most human beings in their lifetime make mistakes, mine ended up in two years prison - two very remarkable years from which I learnt a lot." - portraying his intimate connection to humanity and his humbling nature.

One can only hope that his relationship with the ink never ends as his stories are powerful and reach out to you in so many different ways.

IF ever you get to read this blog Sir, I would just like to thank you for taking us through some intense and personal journeys in your life as well as your characters.

Quoting Cicero “A room without books is like a body without a soul.” - And for me and a lot of other people, this room is packed with books written by renowned, unforgettable men like Jeffrey Archer.

Greenday

OK...Greenday..literally when you say the word...a list of songs run through your mind...Boulevard of Broken dreams, 21 Guns, Wake me up when September ends and so on ...

This is a band which is mostly known for portraying causes through their songs,...and beautifully done,,,

When you look at them, you think ..ok this is another punk rock band who will scream...but when you hear their songs...damn! its a blast!

Their songs emote intensity, loneliness,strength,loss,life...everything what we go through...but there are very few bands whose songs makes you wanna think, getup and do whats Right and this is one of them.

Greenday consists of lead vocalist and guitarist and lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong,  and backing vocalist Mike Dirn and drummer Tre Cool.

On September 21, 2004, Greenday released their HIT HIT Album, American Idiot, which was based on quote "the state of the United States at that point in time. It speaks of a nation controlled by the new, biased media, and how the singer is not part of a "Redneck Agenda" discontent with how things are going. It was released during the 2004 presidential campaign, where George W. Bush was re-elected."

The title was an all out guns blazing denial to their government, followed by Wake me up when September ends which started out as a dedication to Billie Joe Armstrong's father who died that year. Then the song went on to be dedicated to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, also to the WTC victims.

The album caused a lot of stir and roused a lot of sleeping humans and forced them to take a look at their leader.

To summarize American idiot  , who else i would quote other than the creator himself.

Billie Joe Armstrong "It's about the confusion of where we're at right now. My education was punk rock - what the Dead Kennedy's said, what Operation Ivy said. It was attacking America, but it was American at the same time."

Then came the next bomb from them...21st Century breakdown released in 2009

If American Idiot was a mountain high standard set by the band, this album soared to the sky.

21 Guns...was like an anthem for sooo many of us,,The song as quoted by Billie " It brings up 21st Century Breakdown in a lot of ways, and the 21 gun-salute for someone that's fallen, but done in an arena rock 'n' roll sort of way."

American Idiot was for the government, 21 Guns for the war soldiers and the other power track East Jesus Nowhere targeted the never-ending hypocrisy of religion ,

I can go on and on about their tracks as each song is dedicated to the intense and critical and hard facts or feelings faced by the world.Yes they've had few songs which makes you turn down the volume, or lyrics which sometimes dint make sense..but that's just music .

Politics, War, Love, Peace, Faith, Religion ...This band has gone and questioned them all which no other band would dare to do it in such a raw manner which directly hits you and wakes you up.

To summarize the band...

Sheryl Crow had quoted ",The bands that wrote the big, heroic rock songs - I really wanted to make a record like that. "

And this is one of them...

Just One One Tree Hill

OK All those who read the title probably don't understand it...but for all you OTH fans..there is just one One Tree Hill.




Here is a series..not just about boys and girls hooking up in high school...its a series  on Life and you can totally relate to every damn character in the series.Lucas, Nathan, Hayley,Brooke, Payton, Mouth, Skills, Rachel, Bevan, Jimmy..on n on the list goes.

Mark Schwahn created a wonderful old school series in the time where vampires, doctors and witches were starting to begin a rage.
I started watching this after i got done with high school, college and got a good ol job and still can relate to what they feel.Why?
Coz the feelings u feel, the idea you believe at the age when your growing up, stick with you throughout.

More than the dialogues of the characters, the thoughts which are spoken by them, their quotes during the scenes is what touches you the most.

One of my fav ones:
At this moment, there are 6 billion, 4 hundred, 71 million, 8 hundred, 18 thousand, 6 hundred, 71 people in the world. Some are running scared.. some are coming home. Some tell lies to make it through the day.. others are just now facing the truth. Some are evil men at war with good, and some are good.. struggling with evil. 6 billion people in the world, 6 billion souls -- and sometimes...all you need is 1."

taught me, you don't have to go searching the world for someone to make you feel special or you don't need 10 odd people making you feel worse....

How come I only realize what I want when I don’t have it any more?” by Brooke makes you appreciate the good things you have and stop whining about the ones you don't

Wouldn’t you rather take a chance than always wonder what could have been?” by  Peyton makes you wanna get up fro your sorry ass and do something Rather than blaming life for it


I think everybody feels that way sometimes… like people don't see them for who they really are. ~Lucas Scott...is what tells me to not really care much about what people think of you as a person..as long as you know yourself thoroughly...good and bad/...

We all want to be loved…to be happy. So why aren’t we? Because we’ve become experts at sabotaging our own happiness." by Dan ....this tells us to stop worrying always about the what ifs and the future and start actually living life to the fullest.


Is it any wonder that this series has run soo long and become so popular?

One Tree Hill is not just about 2 brothers or 2 best friends and 1 guy or a villainous father turned good, its about all of it.
It take you through turns of love, loss, despair, happiness, success, failure, death, new life, even to the extent of seeing your dead loved ones in your dreams..which  otherwise would sound lame, but somehow its just right here.


Thank you Mark for making this wonderful and more importantly realistic series which does not make you wanna escape into another world to relate to it...but deal with the issue you are facing in your real world.

Grabbing one of Lucas' famous quotes:

Who knows where life will take you, the road is long and in the end the journey is the destination......

The Real World Zodiacs

OK So  I'm a huuuuge believer of the zodiac signs and follow them almost to the T.

Being an true blue Aquarian myself, i agree to all the zodiac descriptions that we are the less emotional, more practical loners out there in the world, who have a great social circle but still prefer spending time with themselves.

I always try to associate the people around me with their signs...and what i feel mostly matches with the description of their sign

for e.g. a Libran is a romantic, emotional and smart person with few close lifetime friends

Gemini do have that twin personality so famous..

A Leo craves for passion and wants to be known.

A Virgo is an all rounder, calm and collected and doesn't disclose his emotions

Scorpio s are a bit shrewd and want to be loved by all .They are very intense people.Almost like Leos, they are driven by passion..

Aries are enthusiastic outgoing fun people who believe in living life for the moment.they never think twice and are often sure of their choices.]

Pisces- don't like to be alone, they are always a bit dependent ...they swing on a pendulum and often moody..too happy too sad

Taurus..take a lot of tension ..very very mood swingy...though they don't show a thing....
They are firm on their opinion and wont change for the world...worry a lot about the future

Cancer- emotional babies..the smallest thing hurts them.....they need reassurance that we are there for them.

Sagittarius - easy going people,,,want to have a good time in life,,,think too much about people's opinions on them,,,show the world they are confident but pretty much insecure about themselves...blunt speakers

Capricorn - high flyer's, ambitious and successful, career oriented, give a damn as to what people think of them and are comfortable with themselves..always a shoulder to cry on and give sound advice..

So these are my personal views which somewhat match what the signs say...

Put in your views about any1 u know whose zodiac matches their nature: )