Naga's Ruminations and Reviews

I think this book is highly underrated and some parts/moments of it could only be understood by someone with highly evolved consciousness. I am surprised at the explanation of what soul's desires mean and what it means to be in a state of complete peace with oneself. Aaron is a flutist who walks through life without goal wanting to explore and not be tied to something. His friend and mentor, Lilly is in the same boat but unlike Aaron who is clueless as to how to deal with his lost soul, Lilly has some pretty convincing solutions. Aaron, a married man for over a decade walks away from his wife and four children because married life isn't cutting him any more interest. And he was in a constant battle with his wife for who is the superior between the two. So he makes a journey through London, Milan and Florence making aquaintances, having flings with some exceptional women. All through, he couldn't feel to let himself loose or share himself with another without restraint. He ...

John wick(2014) Rating: 3/5[a liberal reviewer] I watched a trailer for John Wick-3 on Youtube and it said the best trilogy ever to be made. With interest piqued, I asked a couple of friends who watched it how it was. While one of them said it is a binge for action movie lovers the other hated the thin plot line. Well, i wanted to assess for myself how it felt and so here is my review.. John Wick is a legend of a sort in the crime underworld.He is touted as "a nightmare to boogeymen". Someone who is sent out to take care of such menaces as an assassin. He has killed three people only with a pencil. He has a reputation for never failing on a mission. We can see him in action through the movie as he goes killing his victims while looking them in the eye - savoring each drop of fear he is taking in. He is more effective wielding a weapon like gun or a knife than bare hand combat. They almost take him down twice. But his long time partner whom the villain engages to kill Joh...

Maharshi film Starring Mahesh babu and allari Naresh Watching 'Maharshi' movie in theater. While a blockbuster like Baahubali grossed a total of around 5 crores on day 1, Maharshi went on to earn 6 crores. The team and the technicians celebrated the victory richly under media glory. I am wondering if the viewer interest for the first day was fueled by much hype and little substance. The hall is more than half empty and by the time of intermission, the feeling is when will the slow roasting end. This film should be tagged unde r 'fantastic than fantasy'. It is hard to believe this to be reality. A little into the story.. Rishi Kumar is born with a premonition that he is going to become the CEO to a company with footprint in over 70 countries around the world. While his father Prakash Raj leads a modest life as a clerk, his son Mahesh Babu, quite detached from him on financial and intellectual level, lives with the same attitude as when he becomes a CEO at a ...

What we do to others, we do to ourself. Or what we do to ourself, we inevitably and inadvertently do to others. Like someone who adulates a person when he is successful and demeans, criticizes when not - will do the same to himself. He is bound to suffer from a nagging feeling that he is not good enough with whatever he has done in life and this could lead to some nasty depression, terrible sense of inferiority. Change of thinking, perspective is necessary to lead a peaceful life. I always think success or failure are direct products of Krishna(god)'s judgement and one's own karma..plus karmic necessity. Imagine a society torn with strife and threatened with violence of war, what would be the thing of highest importance to those people? They live in a perpetual state of fear and anxiety if they will live to see a tomorrow and be able to have their dear ones near. Their definition of success is different and hence is their definition of failure. If someone fails, it is not a...

The Manchurian Candidate by    Richard Condon Finished reading The Manchurian Candidate book - took me almost a week. I started reading it on a flight with nothing to choose from and no idea of what the story line/genre is. It has turned out to be a shocker. I have been following the election news cycle in the US very intently of late and its amazing that the story revolves around various aspects of the life of a man whose mother is consumed with passion for political power and step father is a putty in her hands. He is also an amazing actor in the political arena - a very notorious senator whose brand is anti-democracy, pro-autocracy and divisive on many levels similar to current prevalent atmosphere. His enemies fear him and his friends revere him in awe - for he holds their reputation and lives in his head smeared with dirty secrets. A man is brainwashed/trained to become the perfect assassin. Someone who can take orders and implement them to the T. He can kill and for...

Immortals of Meluha - Amish Tripathi - Review by Naga For the content that has actually been fit into the story, this is an agonizingly long read. The concept is novel with characters pulled from the Indian religious mythologies of Lord Ram and Lord Shiva but the characterizations fall short in matching expectations. For example, the narrative is supposed to belong to the times when human lived in tribes, were ruled by kings  and sort of had a not very modern life style. But the main characters, especially Shiva who is a barbarian confounds  medical experts talking science, uses slang as seen in modern India.  Few concepts have cavities very deep to make for unfixable teeth. Children are taken into government protection at birth and are classified into 4 castes based on qualifications at age of 15(is this Harry Potter? Are the castes four houses in Hogwarts?) - the presumption being all children brought up the same and hence given the same conditions for growth...

Your life begins far back before your birth, before your mother's impregnation, further back in your past life's end. That end is the beginning of this life. They can be divided into two categories: one consists of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. They believe in only one life. The other category consists of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. They believe in the theory of reincarnation. One is born again and again, eternally—unless one becomes enlightened, and then the wheel stops. Wherever we make permanent relationships, strife is bound to be, for the mind is most impermanent and relationships very permanent. But I think there is no possibility for people to understand each other  except through meditation, because meditation gives you the qualities of silence, awareness, a patient listening, a capacity to put yourself in the other's position. Two persons living together in love should make it a point that their relationship is continuously growing, bringing more f...