The Trials of Apollo Series by Rick Riordan

THE BOOK

You will get to the Tiber alive. You will start to Jive.
The former God Apollo is having a pretty rough time of it. Well, for one thing, he's called Lester.
But being an awkward mortal teenager is the least of his worries. Though he and his friends (some of them) have emerged from the Burning Maze, they still have a triumvirate to defeat, oracles to rescue, and prophecies to decipher, so that the world may be saved, and Lester can become Apollo once again.

Skill Builder by Penguin Random House India

The Skill Builder series aims to foster in children the numerical, logical, thinking and language skills that are essential for success in the twenty-first century. The books are broadly aligned to school curricula
and are available at four different levels of complexity, so you can choose the one that best suits your child’s learning stage.

Book Review: 'Kaifiyat'

“Uthh meri jaan! Mere saath hi chalna hai tujhe…” Kaifi Azmi

The book ‘Kaifiyat’ contains a luminous translation of Kaifi Azmi’s verses beautifully done by the translator Rakhshanda Jalil.
The book is a collection of Kaifi Azmi’s poems on the themes of love and women. The  book begins with a foreword by Shabana Azmi talking about his every detail of life, his mannerisms, personality as a  man and as a writer as well.

Book Review: 'The Parrot and the Merchant'

Book: ‘The Parrot and the Merchant’

Publisher: Penguin

Pages: 32 Pages

ISBN13 9780143446828

Mantra of Success

When do we fail?

Life has been called a unique combination of success and defeat. In fact, both complement each other. If a person has not tasted defeat, he will not be able to enjoy his success. Another aspect is that the bricks of a person’s success are laid on the foundations of the other person’s defeat.

Perpetual Peace

Peace is a state of balance, which also might construe that it is to strike an equation with two items. When we talk of peace of mind, it is a constant struggle between calm and the storm. As goes a saying in English ‘the calm before the storm’, where the calm and the storm are a part and parcel of one concept; that is, they share a cause and effect relationship. So how do we explain this contradiction in terms of human mind?

Sarcasm: Can you take that bit?

In conversation with anyone, we often come across situations in which we can't ignore the person whose naive comments are ceaselessly ruffling us or the brain finds itself confounded by an impetuous comment. A situation of that sort can be averted by using a pretty handy tool, although the caution is that the aftermath of an inappropriate usage or timing of that tool could prove to be bleak for the individual.

Sant Maskeen Ji: In his own words (translated from Punjabi)

Journey of life

In his own words

I was born to Mata Ram Kaur ji at S. Kartar Singh ji’s house in Banun district, tehsil ‘Lucky Marravat’ in 1934. My birth place was Banun that was a part of the state of Sirhind (Frontier) that had six districts. The rest five districts were – Hazara, Mardaan, Peshawar, Kuhaant and Dera Ismail Khan.

In my childhood I went to our village primary school. It was with God’s grace that there started emerging in me a poet. At times I uttered such phrases that my friends playing with me were so taken aback and they enjoyed listening to them.

The state of Sirhind was such where the Hindu and Muslim lived together peacefully and they were all so full of respect and love for their religion. That is why every child took it upon himself as his duty to go the gurudwara twice a day. Every child wanted to listen to Rehras Sahib being recited and chanting the Aarti loudly. The child, who did not go to the gurudwara was not taken as a good child.

I too became a part of a group of children and without fail I daily recited Japji Sahib and with much eagerness listened to recitation of Rehras Sahib and chanted Aarti. Playing, studying and observing daily Gurbani routine were the things that were a part and parcel of my childhood.

After passing out from class fourth from Khalsa primary school, I took admission in Government High School. With God’s grace I remained a topped there also, due to which I was as always made to sit in front only. I was receiving affection and encouragement from each of the teachers and the head master.

Things were sailing smoothly with love and encouragement, when something happened. The country was divided. There were four of us in the family – mother; father; sister Sujan Kaur, who was two years elder to me; me and one younger brother – younger brother had succumbed to the chicken pox two years back. I must have been around twelve years old when India’s partition happened. The announcement of the formation of Pakistan had still not been made but Suba Sirhind witnessed dacoities, fires and murders in every nook and corner.

The partition of the country had been effected on the basis of religion. Leaving Laki Maravvat was very painful. I was not attached to this place just because it was my native land, rather I had a host of other memories too associated with this place. I used to go to river Gambhila to bathe there daily. The river was known by two names – the place where it originated it was called ‘Tochi’, but at our place it was referred to as ‘Gambhila’. Further ahead this river joined the Sindh river in the Indus valley.

After bathing in the river, I used to sit by the river side and recite Gurbani. I still cherish those wonderful days. There used to be handpumps at our homes from where we could draw out water. In case we required a larger quantity of water we used to draw it out from the river and then needed an ox or the small horse to carry the load home. Hence, a large number of people went to the river to take a bath. I too went there in the morning and then after reciting Gurbani for a while there, I came back home and after having breakfast, took my bag, and then after paying obeisance at the gurudwara reached Khalsa Primary School. Bhai Pairhha Singh was the headmaster of the school, who was a very religious-minded man. His affectionate behaviour still fills me with fresh vigour and courage.

Finally I had to leave my native place. I secretly wished that we would be able to come back to my place of birth after a few days. But that was not to be. We reached Delhi after a few days and from there we were sent to Alwar in a train.

Give it a go... (poem)

Give it a GO...
Give it a go, give it a go- it might have something befitting in store for you,
Give it a go ,give it a go- there might be felicity galore for you.

Always look for a shot, not bothering about the result,
Before jumping into the arena, it is only you whom you should consult.

What shall be your Bourne , now that you have decided,
No point in beating about the bush, you should be self guided.

"What is the thing that you are up to?" This crummy world might interrogate,
But the feeling to succeed in your Endeavour is quite sufficient to motivate.
At par with hard work, there is nothing as a surrogate,
If not today, then tomorrow, your effort the species shall appreciate.
As a personality trait, you should have a sense of humor,
"It is necessary to change yourself for others" is just a rumor.
Never look up to the knavery as a means to lead to fame,
My dear friend! It always becomes a selfish and tawdry game.
Be prepared for the worst, but over uncertainties do not obsess,
For success is not a moment but a continuous and long drawn process.
Whatever you want in life, always feel encouraged to learn,
People might and will surely talk, that should never be your concern.
Each one of us wants to be esteemed, the process may be tedious and slow,
But always remember... Don't stop trying,
Just give it a Go...Give it a Go.

© Literary Jewels

'NAKED KING' : a translation

Translated by Literary Jewels

Once upon a time a king went for a hunting trip. Earlier there were rules that in front of whosoever the prey appeared only that person will chase the animal and nobody else. Coincidentally the prey appeared in front of the King’s horse and thus, the King chased the animal on his horse. The chase went on for a long distance but he could not get hold of his prey. The King had already entered the forest in pursuit of his prey. The King was thirsty as well as hungry by now. He looked around but couldn’t find anything. Then he climbed up a tree to have a good look. It was then that he spotted smoke emanating out of a hut. He went there and asked for tea. The hut occupant said that he would get tea. Then the King asked for eggs and that too were promised by the hut owner. Then the King had his stomach’s fill with eggs and tea. When King asked about the charges for the things he had, the hut owner demanded two thousand rupees. The King was at first taken aback at the huge amount asked for by the hut owner and wondered aloud if the people didn’t get tea and eggs easily here. But the other person said that they were easily available. The King then wanted to know why they were so costly then, to which the person replied that it happens rarely that a King visited that place that is why the things are so costly. The King was happy that it was because he was a king that the person had charged exorbitant prices from him. So he readily gave him the money and went away.

The hut owner then handed over that amount of two thousand to his wife. She queried from where he had got such a large amount of money. He told her, ‘I got it by committing a sort of small fraud with a King’. ‘You can commit a fraud too!’ she exclaimed. Her husband said, ‘That was nothing. I can indulge in even bigger frauds’.

Then he took a ragged, slippery cloth and got a dress stitched out of it, which he took to another king. The King asked for that dress from the person. He told him that the dress was meant to be given to some other king. The King then asked to get a new dress stitched for him. The man replied, ‘Yes definitely! Tell me what all do you want get stitched’. The King told him, ‘One coat, one kurta, a pajama and a turban’. The man demanded an amount of five thousand from the King to which the King agreed readily but posed a question, ‘What’s so special about this drees?’ The man tried to satisfy him with a prompt answer, ‘The clothes won’t be visible to crooked persons.’ Taking the money from the King he then went away.

After about a month the King sent his ministers to check upon the progress of the dress being stitched. On seeing the ministers the man seated himself near the spinning wheel and began to pretend to weave the cloth. The ministers were unable to see the cloth. How could they when there was nothing actually! They thought about themselves, ‘Are we crooked then? And because of that we cannot see the cloth.’ When they went back they informed the King that the cloth would be ready in about ten more days.

That man, the hut owner, presented himself in the King’s court and kept his hand on the shoulder as if he had hung the cloth over there. In the whole court nobody could see the cloth but embarrassed by the situation everyone present there praised the cloth. He disrobed the King and pretended to make him wear the new invisible clothes. He suggested to the King that he should take out a procession, sitting on an elephant. The King was naked when he sat atop an elephant. Too embarrassed the King himself too didn’t say anything about his nakedness. Had he said a word, he would have been proved to be a crooked in everyone’s eyes.

A farmer, who was carrying his child on his shoulders, passed by when the procession was being taken out. His son called out that the King was naked to which the farmer warned him, ‘Keep quiet you naughty boy! Why are you bent upon earning disgrace for me?’

Source:
Sant Balvir Singh ‘Viyogi’
(Delhi wale)
Village Bhagta (Bathinda)

The Writer's Words

The past stood witness to my present uncertainty while future was evasive. And it is this uncertainty of the present and the evasiveness of times to come that gives birth to poetry and poetic words. The standstill time stays put, the  moment doesn't pass, yet the day is gone. In gathering these moments the life is gone. What gives us a reason to wrap up these bits into one whole is our dreams, the reason to live. Dreams, even while staying silent, speak volumes. Give words to your dreams and they come alive!

Turning the pages of life I find some words half-baked, some half-erased, others half-written. I choose to tell those tales now. 

I too have grumbled at bitter loss, have experienced the pain of being a lost winner, my eyes have  had tear behind laughter and lips trying to hide pangs of pain. Yet I always believe one should hold on and keep trying to string the fallen beads. In the end, the story of what has been will connect to what will be, though the moorings of the past will never be snapped!