Book Title: Becoming: The Life & Musings of a Girl Poet
Author: Nadia Janice Brown
Publisher: lulu.com
Genre:Poetry
Pages: 52
Format: Paperback,eBook

I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of poems by Nadia Janice Brown. They are spiritual, inspirational and full of ‘writer’ sensibility, which I love. The tone is ‘quiet,’ making this little collection perfect for your night table, to be read before bedtime.

Brown’s pen touches upon various subjects: God, the Genesis, marriage, fear, happiness, love, inspiration, writer’s block, and the daily tribulations and insecurities of writers, just to name a few. Some poems break the general tone and are more serious, such as the one titled, “So this is Love?”

I’ve gotten used to broken things,
Even now to hear rage slice through doors
portrays a semblance of normalcy.
The brunt of your fist pelting my spine
is the only fixture in this home.
And you say this is love?
Sorry does not undo the scars
perverting my features,
will not restore fractured limbs.

Some of Brown’s lines are beautiful and vibrant, such as these ones from “England:”

…I am standing on a Manchester bridge
feeding birds with crumbs of desperation,
giving them portions of my worries.
What they don’t eat is packed away and
stored like lunch meat in the marrow of
my bones…

The author also includes several short essays among the poems, thus creating a sense of variety with her prose. Subjects such as what is your purpose in life, planning and preparing for change, living your dream, procrastination, and overcoming the author’s blues come alive under this author’s pen. If you enjoy poetry or have a friend or family member who does, I recommend you grab a copy of this uplifting collection.

Nadia Janice Brown lives in Miami, Florida where, apart from writing her own books, she helps other authors promote their work as a publicist for Author & Book Promotions at www.author-promotion.com. She’s also the author of Becoming: The Life & Musings of A Girl Poet and the award-winning book Unscrambled Eggs. Nadia can be reached through her website atwww.nadiajbrown.com

Aman Khan

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When I first saw all those millions of people lined up in rain with umbrellas at the theater for the UK premiere, I was devastated. It is ending. I thought hollowly. Hermione…I mean Emma Watson cried, J K Rowling cried and I bawled while rubbing snotty tears on my shirt sleeve. My Mom didn’t get it as usual. But even she understood enough, “this is the last part?” she asked incredulously like a child grappling with Santa Clause reality. She wanted to know. I didn’t explain. Because I was busy replaying the video. Then I went aside to compose myself and came back to IM my Potter-crazy best friend.

I didn’t read the first HP book until I saw the movie. So Daniel Radcliffe is the only Harry I know, and even though most popular books don’t usually have great movie-adaptations, it’s always nice to sit back and watch the little guys and other people in the wizard world act their parts to perfection. Having said that, Deathly Hallows-2 didn’t quite satiate the already weeping fan in me.

Sure it had all the 3D-action, great performances (I’m looking at you Alan Snape Rickman), memorable dialogues (Prof. Mc Gonagall), wonderful cinematography but I couldn’t take in the fact that important deaths were not given weight. Heck they weren’t shown at all, if you take Fred’s, Lupin’s and Tonks’. I don’t know about you, but for me Fred, the evil twin is one of the Top 5 interesting characters in whole of the HP series. Not just me, there must be millions who hated not to have found Fred die properly in the movie, his death deserved to be given at least a minute, and so do Lupin’s and Tonk’s.

Tell me guys the most powerful wizard, the menacing, murderous fascist-Voldemort, who killed hundreds without batting an eyelid, is himself killed by The Boy Who Lived and the wizards don’t even celebrate? For reasons David Yates hasn’t yet notified me, the wizard world calmly accepted that ‘Good always triumphs over evil’ and went back to their lives. What a drab bunch of idiots, I say!

Ah, well the rant ends. I can’t stay angry at someone I love for long, you see. So with the first part of Deathly Hallows laying a solid premise, part 2 was definitely entertaining in all the 3D awesomeness! Voldemort’s slow deterioration each destruction of each Horcrux, with Neville’s fight in Hogwarts and its subsequent ruin, Harry’s painful realization of Snape’s actual intentions through Pensieve, the epic duel between Harry Potter and Voldemort are all wonderfully depicted in all their magic splendor. Hermione and Ron had their much-awaited little moment to the joy of many. But the dénouement-nineteen years into the future, for me, takes the cake. The little father-son moment of Harry with his son was so perfectly done. I couldn’t help being all Leaky Couldron when the end-credits started rolling. Of course I’ll watch it again. Because that’s what Harry Potter fans do: we read, we rant, but we watch the movie again. To the Harry Potter Fans, lets look forward to Pottermore!!

Nandana S Nallapu

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Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan is a graduate of English Literature from LSR, Delhi and has worked as a journalist for many years. She writes under the pseudonym eM on the hugely popular blog, The Compulsive Confessor. Although her first book, a semi-autobiography, You Are Here might have disappointed ardent reader’s of her blog, her second book, Confessions Of A Listmaniac does not disappoint.

This is a young adult book about Layla, an ordinary 17-year-old who loves to make lists and even though journal writing is considered ‘retro’ in this day and age of the internet, she decides to give it a try and re-create the whole blog thing in a book. She has always been on the fringes of popularity and wonders what it would be like to be a part of the ‘in’ crowd, like her older brother, who she adores. Like any other typical upper middle class teenager in a cosmopolitan city with liberal parents, Layla loves hanging out with her best friend, tries out the world of online friendships, and wonders what it would be like to have a boy friend and go to all night parties. When suddenly, one day, the most popular boy in school takes a fancy to her, she finds herself thrown into the world she always longed to be a part of. A chance encounter with a cute diplomat’s son and a major fight with her best-friend make Layla question her new life.

“Was being popular all that it was cracked up to be?”

It’s a fairly simple and straight forward coming of age story. Madhavan’s writing is lucid and witty and she does a good job of delivering a simple story with style. She stands out because of this, among the new generation of Indian authors churning out books by the dozens because of what I’d like to call “The Chetan Bhagat effect.”

Any parent or adult looking to delve into what teenagers of today are like can get a glimpse through this book. It’s a perfect light, summer read when you’re too hot and bothered to take up a bulky book, and makes for a safe-bet gift for that adolescent sister or cousin’s birthday for which you have no idea what to get them.

All in all, even though it is a bit clichéd, but clichés exist for a good reason I suppose, this book leaves you satisfied, with a couple of hours, well spent. I’d give it 3 out of 5 stars.

Sadhana Chathurvedula

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“Throughout the vast shadowy world of ghosts and demons there is no figure so terrible,no figure so dreaded and abhorred, yet dight with such fearful fascination, as the vampire, who is himself neither ghost nor demon, but yet who partakes the dark natures and possesses the mysterious and terrible qualities of both” – Rev. Montague Summers.

The above reference from Twilight can be taken as an instance as to how vampires are ought to be looked upon, as creatures in beastly form but not actually the performers of beastly things! Stephenie Meyer has done a remarkable job in bringing out a new definition of vampires by adding extra fragrance to the divine scent of love by narrating out an extraordinarily ordinary love story between a human and a vampire. All a vampire quests for, throughout its scornful life, is to get the perfect human to cling upon but when Edward, the main heroic vampire figure of the Twilight Saga, discovers his personal brand of heroine, Bella, a simple girl from Phoenix, Arizona, the author comes up with, “so the lion falls in love with the lamb”!

The irrevocable relationship knitted by the female writer brings out her fanatic power of imagining such a peculiar and lovely piece of work. The Twilight saga contains The New Moon, The Eclipse and the Breaking Dawn with Twilight being the first in the series. Each part precedes with the relations of the animal hunters, the Cullen clan with other blood seeking vampires and the werewolves living disguising themselves as the commoners along with the consequences due to the intimate love story of Edward and Bella. Overall look of the series may not give a feeling of an ascetic romantic novel but the inside crusts of the books hold unexplainable lustrous pieces of a love bond between a problem seeking girl and a perfect for everything vampire, Edward -the world’s best predator.

The story actually revolves around some myths and legends prevailing in the city of Forks, that the city has been home for some friendly vampires along with their foes, werewolves, also living among the commoners, leading a normal life. The story begins with Isabella alias Bella moving to live with Charlie, Police Chief swan of Forks, after her mother Renee decides to move away with her new baseball player boyfriend, Phil. Bella gets herself registered at the towns high school, Forks High School makes friends with the new girl admirers, Eric, Mike, the always prattling girl, Jessica and the placid girl Angela. And then there were the most talkative students of Forks High School, Emmett Cullen and Rosalie Hale, Alice Cullen and Jasper Hale, making up wonderful pairs and Edward Cullen still waiting for his perfect match, the adopted and foster children of Dr. Carlisle Cullen and Esme Cullen.
They were always together and lived outside Forks. Their appearances and being distance from everyone were obvious reasons hinting at something strange about them but the event of Edward saving Bella from being crushed under a truck driven by an impassive student,Tyler brings it out to Bella as well as the readers that the Cullen’s were just not simple people but something more so mysterious yet to be discovered! Cullen’s disappearance on the bright sunny day, the legends about the cold ones told by Jacob Black, pale skinned Cullen’s sitting at the lunch tables but not eating anything, strong and fast rescue act of Edward protecting Bella, eyes that shift color, the cold touch of Edward were enough reasons to make Bella walk up-to Edward and confront him of being a Vampire! And this is the point where the sweet love story starts with many ups and downs separating the lovers but uniting them again never to be separated.

The best part about Edward is his being a vampire and his plausible yet enigmatic feelings en-capturing Bella to the allure his love. Bella has no idea how tormented his blood thirsting part can get but she trusts him irrespective of the known truth that her blood is all that can
quench his thirst. Vampires can’t have the intake of normal human food but Edward eats a slice of Pizza for the sake of curbing the curiosity of his love knowing the fact that all he tasted meant dirt to him but the dirt won the everlasting faith of Bella that she trusts her life when at the end of the novel Edward is asked by Carlisle to sip venom out of Bella’s nerves.

Here we get a hint of the degree of Edward’s love for Bella, as how hard it would have been for an animal hunter and a blood sucker, not anymore, however, to eat grass’ products and stop sucking the blood when given a viable chance to sip out every drop of blood. They both are forbidden to be in love, yet Edward stubbornly makes Bella believe that he loves her more than what she feels for him, depicting the true theme to be the first condition to be in Love!

It’s strange how someone can love someone so much but yes even if you haven’t met your perfect alias you can’t prejudice that true love doesn’t exists anymore. Absence of evidence doesn’t imply evidence of absence! True love always finds its path no matter what all difficulties life imprints in the course and no matter what tricks destiny tries playing with the souls but love finally wins over all evils. It’s quite amusing to think of a love story packing a normal human soul and a vampire but when seen through the eyes of Stephenie, it really looks plausible for such kinda story to be true, although the whole concept of vampires hasn’t been approved by the society but ignoring the mere fact of existence of vampires if we concern ourselves with the plot given by the author ,it’s quite scintillating, to see a normal love story through the glasses of the aberrant world and the theories prevailing. You love someone so much that you try protecting that person from everything,by being with her even knowing that the greatest danger to her is none other that you, yourself! Edward fears he may ever lose control of himself with Bella but it’s Bella’s faith in him and his long years of practice to control his human blood thirst that they both are simply so much in love with each other that they are, inseparable, to be precise.

You do everything to make the other one comfortable, simply because it’s this placid smile on the other one’s face that makes your day. Twilight doesn’t come touting the aspects as to how to love someone but it surely does reveal how to truly love someone, with no new tactic but being your natural self, giving your soul to the other one and being the other one’s reason to smile. And all this is what makes Twilight so special to me. I have been through many love stories, novels, articles quoting to be from real life experiences but nothing has ever struck my mind more than this agonized love story of Edward and Bella. In general, those three words, some acts of making love, planning love trips, deciphering the likes and dislikes and problems concerning home and society and the heroic end to all the above stated problems is what is usually displayed in the books claiming to be Love stories but none of them explains that love can build just with a keen look to talk but not allowed to talk, desire to be with the other one but forbidden to even think about that, want to laugh and hang out with your love but the fear of hurting that person keeps you away. All these things are what makes Twilight special for me Edward and Bella are just no simple couple but a great couple because their compassionate love just doesn’t die, given that Edward is a vampire and Bella being a Human, but it continued with not only the vampire family accepting the human but also Bella trying her level best to make her love acceptable to her family as well as the werewolves, Jacob Black and Sam, the enemies of vampires. It’s really inspiring how they both manage to create the poise after every trouble that shows up when it was least expected. But as said Love wins over all evils.

Smita Bg

Image Source: [http://www.wallpapergate.com/data/media/3432/Twilight_39160.jpg]

Hollywood celebrities parading in designer labels often find themselves competing with their trend-setter children for fashion headlines. Some of the children who have created a niche for themselves in the fashion world are given below.

Actor Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s twelve year old son Jaden Smith who earned his celebrity status with mega success of his films The Pursuit of Happyness and Karate Kid, wears the characteristic skin-tight jeans, bomber jackets and adorned vests along with his stylised mane that have been replicated across the globe. He is set to launch his own fashion label along with his modish sister Willow Smith.
The distinctive style of Willow Smith, younger sister of Jaden Smith, models dramatic rocker look with skinny studded jeans and laced sneakers. The young fashionista dares leopard-print outfits with panache. Her personal stylist Mariel Haenn who is renowned for R&B superstar Rihanna’s coiffure has given her a similar hairstyle.

Mexican actress Salma Hayek and French millionaire Francois-Henri Pinault’s daughter Valentina Paloma Pinault’s beautiful countenance resembles that of her father and inherits the playful twinkle after her mother’s eyes. The adorable little diva has a Prince song named in her honour. The toddler is seen carrying off trendy coats, vests, pants and designer dresses.

Pop sensation Gwen Stefani’s fashionable five-year old son Kingston Rossdale has an individualistic taste and sports oversized sunglasses, racerback tees, fitted jeans and knee length boots. From Mohawk to ponytail, he has popularised many hairdos. His style as a rock star is palpable through his mismatched prints.

Actors Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner’s daughter Violet Affleck daintiness is discernible through her simple yet pretty fashionable signature outfits. This style maven has an enticing collection of accessories which comprises of vibrant sunglasses to cute and funky neckpieces.

One of the World’s Best Dressed Woman is a five-year old Suri Cruise, daughter of actors Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. With a desirable wardrobe which boasts of Ray Ban glares, Burberry jackets, Armani and Cavalli’s dresses and Marc Jacobs’ bags that surpasses millions is polled as the Most Coveted Wardrobe in Hollywood. Her exquisite designer clothes are custom made from crème de la crème. This fashion arbiter has an enviable collection of shoes which includes labels like Christian Louboutin and has crossed the 130 mark. She doesn’t hide her displeasure at something she finds distasteful.

The irresistible soccer star David Beckham and style icon Victoria Beckham’s sons Cruz and Romeo Beckham make their way to the best dressed list from time to time and uplift the Brand Beckham. The charming Cruz Beckham is seen donning an assortment of clothing styles. Casual tees and shorts to the formal tuxedos. On the other hand, Romeo is frequently spotted in tailored suits in sober shades of grey and camel brown. His own range of shades for kids named RB is a reflection of his love for sunglasses.

Sensational actress Angelina Jolie and Hollywood heartthrob Brad Pitt’s kids Zahara, Maddox and Shiloh Jolie-Pitt have eclectic but individual styling. Zahara is often photographed wearing the same labels and accoutrements as her celebrity mom and carrying Valentino bags. Maddox’s taste for starched white shirts, linen trousers and bright scarves is admirable. His predilection for skull caps is signature Brad Pitt. Shiloh’s tomboyish apparels like swank tracksuits have found admirers all over the world.

Lourdes Leon, the fourteen year old daughter of superstar singer Madonna, is a head turner with her funky and bold dressing sense. She has collaborated with her mother for her fashion line Material Girl and she effortlessly carries off printed leggings, hippie headbands, leather jackets and chain jewellery.

Radhika Saraf

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Erich Wolf Segal, the creator of the 1970 New York Times best seller ‘Love Story’ was an American author, script writer and an educator. Love Story was his first most acclaimed book. This book was converted into thirty-three languages and was even made into a motion picture. It was the no.1 box office attraction and even had a sequel called ‘Oliver’s Story’. The book is about love sparks between a Harvard jock and a Radcliffe beauty. Segal suffered from Parkinson disease and died last year. His other known books are ‘The Class’ and ‘Man Woman and Child’.

The book is a work of non-fiction carrying essence of his Harvard graduation. The book is funny, touching and infused with wonder. It makes you laugh and cry as your heart goes out to its endearing protagonists Oliver Barret and Jennifer Cavilleri.

Oliver Barret IV comes from a family of stones and wood. The Barrets are extremely rich while Jenny’s father sells pastries in Cranston, Rhode Island. Oliver is on his way to a Harvard degree and a career in law while Jennifer is studying music major at Radcliffe.

The two meet in the Radcliffe library and immediately the opposites attract each other sharing a love that has the audacity to stand up to the families and society yet will end soon enough. They defy all norms and customs to be happy together when Oliver asks her to marry him. The next three years Jenny works as a teacher to support Barrets’ studies, dropping her dream to learn with a famous music teacher and flying to Paris. They now scrounge to make ends meet as the rich Barret family severed all ties with them.

Three years later Barret has made into the Law Review and has the offer from the most prestigious law firms. Now they have each others love and are nouveau riche  yet the end is teary as it rips one heart apart to see the misery of the protagonist.

I give the book 4 stars out of five. It is delightfully engrossing as it unfolds the love, fights and fears of a young couple. The storyline is carved with memorable characterizations and a delicate sense of comedy. The story is immensely appealing and will linger in your heart long after you’ve read it. It shows how young couples are vulnerable to love and when they strive for it they can change the autocratic society which does not understand love.  The book is elegantly written with its own nuances which catch the readers’ humor. The tagline shows the depth of the book which says “Love means never having to say you’re sorry”.

The book shows that love has the potential to change one and all as it changed the leading protagonists. The stuffy jock became a caring husband and the stubborn beauty gave up her dream for their love. They didn’t go for football matches or movies nor did they go for dinner. They cut themselves from friends and society obligations just for a few moments of togetherness.

The author has successfully enchanted its readers with a book which is a vortex of emotions and provides just the right anecdote to their curious and thirsty hearts.

Cherry Aggarwal

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I thought you left but you were always there,

I didn’t notice but you were the mother and the father who always cared.

You were there in the day and in the peace of the night,

I never realized but I was holding you tight.

I loved you when you called me babu and embraced,

I missed you when I couldn’t hear those lovely voices during the race.

I begged you to come back,

But you were there in the lovely smile.

I thought that there are other kids who need you more than this falling kite,

But this kite was never falling it was rising high.

It was learning to cross the wind and not to cry.

Deep inside that kite was confident,

Light was there but storm was forcing it to bend.

You were there behind that dark cloud,

And yes you were there feeling proud.

You saw your daughter and you saw your sister,

You saw the small kid but didn’t stop the breeze.

You wanted me to come up and find the keys.

You knew I would do it and never turn back,

And yes I am standing here but still there is something which I lack.

I will find it and let love fill the gap.

I will rise above and shine like the star in the sky,

I am confident but the opportunity doesn’t strike.

I see those people with a wide grin on their face,

But those masks can’t hide from these eyes and

I don’t want to be the part of the race.

May be I can survive among them and may be there is no race,

May be it seems dead from outside and inside there is a different case.

May once I work with them I’ll understand it,

But why is this heart always full of guilt.

Please help me fill the gap,

The heart is hollow and soon the hatred will eat the outer wrap.

Swinder Kaur

Image Source: [http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs13/f/2007/110/7/a/ICO__You_Were_There_by_RubyDragoness.jpg]

Beep, beep, I heard the alarm from another room. It was still 5 am.

“C’mon, get up baby, it is getting late” my mother said. I was still in my dream land. Oh I wish I could tell her about the dream sequence, which actually happened in reality, where he came near my desk, carefully pulled back a few strands of hair that fell on my face, and then stood frightened, as if I was going to kill him.

Oh that look in his eyes, that innocent looking face, and there he stood, staring at
me. He smiled, and, suddenly everything around me was shaking.

“Are you going to get up today?”

Great!

That was my mother, who woke me up!

I opened my tiny little eyes, rubbed them, yawned, spread my arms, hugged my mother, and
she kissed me back.

Still in the lovey-dovey mode, I happened to look at the clock.

“Oh damn, I am seriously late”. It was 6 and I wanted to run to school to see him again.
Panting, I got up, rushed to brush my teeth, took a shower.

It did not matter how late I was going to be, standing in front of the mirror and
admiring herself is a girl’s most important task.

I did the same for a couple of minutes, before my mother dragged me to the school bus
whose driver was incessantly honking.

“Alright, I am here, stop giving me such looks” I said to the fat driver.
We soon entered the school premises.

I ran up the floors, falling in between, to reach my classroom.

And there he was, that charming little blue eyed boy, fair like cream, brown curly hair,
cute smile, everything to die for.

“And, you did not complete your home work, why is that so?” the teacher yelled at him.
He stood there, frightened, just like he was standing in my dream. But that was not the
time to wander into my dream land again.

He was being scolded.

I felt like saving him from the trouble, like the saviour from the super hero movies.

After all, we were kids. He was just five, so was I, the teacher was supposed to be
sweet to us. She wasn’t harsh either, but I guess, I could not see him being yelled at.

We were in 2nd grade then. Every day in the morning, I used to comb my hair properly, to look neat and tidy, and adorable for him. I used to put on my green hair band, leaving a few strands of my hair on my forehead, so that every time he could come to me to tell me to tie my hair properly, or may be pull back my hair, himself.

He used to sit behind my desk. My girl pals knew that I was crazy for that blue eyed
boy. At the age of 5, I did not know what having a crush meant. For me, something used to happen whenever I used to see him, around me, most of the times.

He happened to have this very unique feature of grabbing my attention.

And this he could do, so effortlessly. Actually, I made things simpler for him for that
I liked him too.

“You know, you can never catch me, run as fast as you can.” He used to say, in our
break time. I used to run after him from corridors, to classes, to playground.

“Fine, don’t come back now” I used to say. Seeing me all tired and jumpy, he used to
come near me, and this apparently made things easier.

And then, we would walk back to our classrooms, together, panting, blushing, something
that is difficult to describe at that age.

I knew he liked me chasing him, every time he teased me. And this happened daily.
I hated the Sundays and the holidays, for there was no ‘blue eyed boy’ around me.
I used to paint a lot, with my sketch pens, and he used to borrow them, just for the sake
of starting a conversation, as if I never understood, silly boy!

“Oops!! My eraser, can u give it to me” he said, dropping his eraser mysteriously,
after taking a red sketch pen.

“But, I can’t find it.”

“See there, near your left foot.” He said, as if he dropped it with all the proper
directions and locations keeping in mind. Oh yes, why not, I was waiting for you to drop it, you jerk, I thought.
This excited me, I understood, there he was, at his best again, to talk to me.

“Pick it up yourself, you do it in every 5 minutes.” I said, thinking he would be
offended, and would run after me in our break time, yippee!

He wasn’t. He was in fact happy, for no reason. I still could not figure out, what
for, even today.

Guys are unpredictable!!

Anyways, on our annual function, our class teacher planned to make us dance on some
random folk number. She selected the students, decided their positions, and he
got the lead, and some random girl, was his partner.

C’mon, this is not possible, how can any other girl be paired opposite him, why
doesn’t he say anything? I thought.

“Noooooo…I want to be the lead dancer as well, I don’t know anything, and I just want to
be paired opposite him” I cried, on the top of my voice, in despair. Oh damn,
what had I said!

“I want to be the main dancer, not the second lead” I corrected, realising I just
uttered something, I wasn’t supposed to.

“But, you dance well, and that the main dancer doesn’t have to do anything, except
standing with that boy” she said.

Oh yeah, THAT boy, it’s all to do with him, I thought, but did not say anything.
The dance practice got over, the main event was over, and I loved him even more.
We exchanged glances, smiled, and smiled more. Days passed, months passed, and the
things did not change between us.

And I left the school, soon after.

That innocence, that patience, that receiving and transmitting the signals, but
unaware of how to interpret them, everything that we had in common is still a
cherished memory today.

“I still feel, there was something magical about it.” I said.

“It was love in its purest form.” He said, after we met again, 15 years later, on a
social networking site.

Nidhi Jain

Image Source: [http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2010/277/a/0/kids_in_love_by_shivverz-d303hkt.jpg]

The Heretic is a sequel to the famous movie The Exorcist. The film is set four years after The Exorcist. The girl is now 16 years old. She is Regan MacNiel. The genres of the movie were science fiction and horror.   The movie was a critical and commercial failure at the time of its release.

The plot of the movie is about the girl who is still recovering from exorcism. Father Lemont is sent by the church to find out the story behind Father Merrin’s death. Father Merrin was the one who  performed the exorcism. But he died performing it.
Regan visits psychiatrists. She now lives in New York with her guardian.  A fantastic scene was when Regan stood on top her house on the edge of the building looking down at Fifth Avenue.

To find out the truth as Regan has no memory of the incident. Dr. Tuskin hypnotizes the girl, to whom she is linked by a “synchronizer” – a biofeedback device used by two people to synchronize their brainwaves.  This was an interesting mix of two genres – science with religion.

When Father Lemont connects with Regan the devil takes him back to Africa where Father Merrin performed exorcism on Kokumo a boy with physic healing power. He was possessed by Pazuzu. Later it is found out that even Regan has those healing power.

Father Merrin tries to find out help and way to control the devil. Initially he gets lured by the demon but later on he relies on his faith and he finds the way out. The devil takes Regan back to her old house where there is a fight between the devil, the father and Regan but victory is tasted by Regan. In the mean time the guardian and the doctor reach the house . The guardian is set on ablaze. And she dies. After the fight is over Father and Regan leave while the doctor stays back to answer. It’s a very vague ending. The end was edited five times in the script after that this spoiled the entire movie.

The plot seems weak if compared to he Exorcist. If seen as a horror movie it would appear dull. But if seen excluding that fact then the movie is intelligent. If a debate between the religious and spiritual world is considered till date this movie seems intriguing.
The background score is also thrilling especially the loud shrill shout of pain and fear. As a quality of the Exorcists series faith on one religion is re-established.

It lacks the visual special effects seen in the twenty first century but still though a few in number can actually leave you gasping.

The cast of the movie was good. Linda Blair who played the lead role of Regan called it, “a big disappointment of my career”. The movie however was reedited and realized. The duration of the movie was reduced to one hour ten minutes and some more shots of a demon possessed girl was added.

Overall it was an attempt to do something different. The only sad part it was a sequel to thriller to which this movie couldn’t live up to.

Priyanka Gandhi

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There is a saying amongst people that, diamonds are girl’s best friend” made famous by Marilyn Monroe in her song from the movie-  Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Diamonds though a hit with the elite classes, are not affordable for the other majority of the women population and remain only a futile wish. Shoes on the other hand are something that all girls love and all girls can afford. This leads me to make a slight change in the old saying, from diamonds to shoes, yes I think, shoes are a girl’s best friend”.

Shoes a definite necessity among people has over the years evolved from its position of merely being a garment worn on the foot for protection and adornment to being one of the most sought after fashion items. Like everything else, shoes or to mean it in the varied sense, footwear has a long and interesting background. That however shall not be discussed here, what shall be discussed is the present status and demand of footwear, and also the kinds worn amongst the female gender.

Nowadays shoes are considered as an accessory of high fashion; sometimes a persons taste and style become evident from the type of shoe she is wearing. The perfect pair of shoes not only is a source of comfort to our feet but further add glamour to a person’s attire. Women’s shoes these days have a wide ranging variety, from stilettos, wedges, platforms, sandals, sports wear, boots, flats and peep toe shoes. There are sub-divisions under the different kinds of shoe types as well.

While stilettos offer the chic, stylish and classy kind of look, they are quite painful for the soles of the feet as well. Supported by just a pencil kind of heel, the shoes are unmanageable for first timers, and take some amount of time for a person to get used to it.

Peep toe shoes, can have both high and low heels, so it’s not that cumbersome a shoe when it comes to wearing it. It also offers the same classy casual kind of look.

Boots speak high fashion, wear it with jeans, summer dresses or skirts, they are fashionable in every way and are a hot favourite among girls. But like all shoes boots also have a negative aspect to it because all kinds of boots cannot be worn in warm countries because they tend to make the feet sweat and then smell. So it’s very important to buy the right material boots.

While sports shoes like converse shoes are mostly preferred by youngsters, they are cool, hassle free, comfortable to wear and walk long distances and are very common.

Platform shoes and wedge shoes, though kind of the same, but still are different when it comes to style quotient and length of the heel. While the heel in platforms shoes are uniformly spread under the whole length of the shoe, the heel in wedges are only near the heel, giving it an inclined look, much like a stiletto, but more comfortable. When one wears a wedge shoe, it immediately jazzes us one’s attire, adding brownie points in their style box, as a result catching people’s attention everywhere. Wedges also are a huge hit with the young crowd.
There are many more kinds of shoes such as sandals and flats, which are just casual and easy to walk in, and do not much fall under the title of glam shoes.

Shoes especially heels, be it low or high not only are mere accessories, but they also help to improve a person’s posture and makes one look more slim. Flats do just the opposite. Nowadays shoe prices range in high amounts according to different brands and shoe types. Shoes not just a footwear, have become a craze for girls. Passionate shoe lovers adorn their closet with different shoe types and colours, each one to go perfectly with their favourite outfit. The footwear industry is booming and growing in business with the love and appreciation of ardent shoe lovers all over the world. Not only do they keep coming up with new kinds of shoes but that we also love to accept them with let’s say “open feet”.

Madhurima Ganguly

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