BOOK RELEASE

Hi,

This is  the invitation to the book release scheduled at 5.00 pm on  08 th feb 2011 at press club Trivandrum
'Chayumbole Uchaveyile' collection of poems by K.G.Suresh and 'Suyodhanam' on mythology by P.C Anilkumar published by DRAKSHA BOOKS  will be released on this day by Dr. Sukumar Azhikode and received by V. Madhusoodhanan Nair  and Soorya  Krishnamoorthy on this day.inaugural speech delivered by Dr. Sukumar Azhikode will be the highlight of the event
all are welcome please pass this on to your friends and family.

Thank you,
DRAKSHA BOOKS

'Dhobi Ghat' slowly grows on you...

Unfolding against the city’s bustling geography, these stories reveal an intimate and sometimes unpleasant portrait of Mumbai. The issue of class difference rears its ugly head as Shia and Munna become friends. Lack of privacy is another key theme, as is the migrant experience.

Director Kiran Rao makes some interesting points, but there are a few things that just don’t work. The overuse of coincidence, for one. In a city bursting at the seams, the characters in this film seem to be running into each other just about everywhere. Also, Munna is a dhobi, who works nights as a rat-catcher; at one point it’s even insinuated that he’s sleeping with a housewife possibly for cash. Is there any job this guy doesn’t do? And yet he’s available on call to provide tourist-guide services to Shai.

Arun’s obsession with Yasmin is another tricky area. His curiosity about her life may be understandable given that he appears to have no life of his own, but the reaction to his ultimate discovery about her appears contrived.

To be honest, Arun is the only character in the film that strikes me as awkward. He’s saddled with clunky dialogue, and played uncomfortably by Aamir Khan, who surprisingly comes off as too conscious. Monica Dogra as Shai takes some getting used to, but finds her feet along the way. It’s Kriti Malhotra as Yasmin who strikes the perfect note, and whose haunting influence can be felt long after the film is over. Prateik Babbar as Munna oozes charisma and confidence, and your heart goes out to his character in the end when reality puts a break on his dreams.

Beautifully shot and aided by an evocative background score, 'Dhobi Ghat' is occasionally indulgent and moves at a glacial pace. Yet Rao creates some endearing characters, and embraces Mumbai despite its dichotomies. The result is a film that slowly grows on you.

LR  SHAJI

EDITOR

READING 'SERIOUS MEN'...

Just finished reading 'Serious Men' by Manu Joseph.

Totally irreverent ; dripping savage satire ; belittling everything world has placed on a pedestal, the story unfolds thru' the contrasting lives of Ayyan Mani, a dalit secretary and his brahmin director Aravind Acharya of a research institute and tells you how fatefully connected they are in thoughts and deeds!

The story has an appealing flavour of the triumph of 'sidelined' over 'high and mighty' and at times reminds you of a Man Booker winning 'The White Tiger' by Aravind Adiga..!

Nevertheless, 'Serious Men' has a master plot with unusual insight into human psyche..  A must read, I must say..!  Thankyou Manu Joseph..!

LR SHAJI
EDITOR

Could Sreesanth have made a difference...

'I am so Heart broken..but It's lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believed in myself,' medium pacer S. Sresanth's tweeted when he found that his name did not figure in the list of 15 players for the cricket World Cup starting in the sub-continent next month.
May be it is right for Sreesanth to feel aggrieved at not being selected for the showpiece event, especially when you consider the fact that he has not at all done badly in the recently concluded Test series in South Africa.
There is no doubt that Zaheer and Praveen are the first and automatic choices in the medium pace category. But it would not have been a controversial decision to pick Sreesanth in the 15-man squad instead of either of the other two particularly when you consider the placid sub-continental tracks where the World Cup is set to unfold.
Of course, Munaf's performance in the second one day international in the ongoing series in South Africa may have given him the edge. But he is not a wicket-taking or attacking bowler as Sreesanth whom India can use upfront. And he has proved over and again that he is another pedestrian customer with nothing surprising in his repertoire of deliveries. 
But there are plenty of chances that Sreesanth may play in the World Cup as all the four medium pacers are injury-prone. It will not be surprising if Sree plays in this tournament presuming that India move ahead from the preliminary round.
We believe Sreesanth could have done equally well or better than the two bowlers who have been given the nod by the selectors.

LR  SHAJI

Iran bans Paulo Coelho’s books

Brazilian author Paulo Coelho Monday denounced in a message posted in his blog that all his books have been banned in Iran."Unfortunately I was informed today that the ministry of culture and 'Islamic Guidance' in Iran has banned all of your books, even the unauthorised versions published by other publishers," Coelho's editor in Iran, Arash Hejazi, told the author Sunday in a message that Coelho posted to his own blog - http://paulocoelhoblog.com/.
Hejazi wrote, "My friends have been told that no book that has Paulo Coelho's name on it will be authorised to be published in Iran anymore."
Coelho, who wrote "The Alchemist" and "The Pilgrimage", among other bestsellers, noted that his books have been published in Iran since 1998, and that he has sold more than six million copies in that country, "under different governments".
"An arbitrary decision, after 12 years of publication in the country, can only be a misunderstanding," Coelho said. "I hope this misunderstanding will be solved during this week."
Hejazi advised Coelho to make his books "freely available on internet in Persian".
"I just answered Arash, and we will have the books for free download" on the internet, the author said.
In recent years, Brazil has strongly campaigned internationally against the sanctions sought by Western powers against Iran, over Tehran's disputed nuclear programme.
"I strongly count on the Brazilian government to support me, my books, for the sake of all the values we cherish," Coelho said.
Brazil's new Culture Minister Ana de Hollanda, a writer herself, condemned the ban, saying she would work with Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota to coordinate a response.
"From the point of view of culture," de Hollanda said Monday, "I can only say that censorship is always deplorable."

LR SHAJI
EDITOR

Black Jan 14 for Sabarimla pilgrims

 It was another black January 14 for Sabarimala pilgrims with last night's stampede tragedy being the third in the history of the hill shrine.
The first tragedy shook the shrine on January 14, 1952, when it was gutted in a fire caused by explosion of fireworks leaving 66 Ayyappa pilgrims dead. The present shrine was rebuilt in place of the older one. In 1998, 52 pilgrims died following a stampede at Pampa, which also occurred on January 14 after `Makara Jyothi' darshan
As had happened yesterday, there was huge rush on that day also and most of the victims were from Andhra Pradesh. Last night's stampede that claimed 104 lives at Vandiperiyar is the third major mishap connected with Sabarimala temple. Lakhs of pilgrims converge at the holy shrine to watch the 'Makara Jyothi', a bright flame that flickers three times on a remote hillside of Ponnambalamedu, every year and the number of devotees keeps growing each pilgrimage season.
After the 1998 tragedy, the government had been taking great care and scientific planning for crowd management.
As a result of this, the pilgrimage season had been largely incident-free since then. The current pilgrim season had gone on smoothly till its final phase but for the shocking tragedy that happened last night





LR SHAJI
EDITOR

No One Killed Jessica

On April 29, 1999 a shot was fired from a .22 bore pistol whose loud reverberations lasted over a decade. The shot that killed a vivacious, aspiring model Jessica Lall was fired in the presence of more than 100 'socialites' present at a party in New Delhi. Yet, accused Manu Sharma walked free in 2006 prompting a newspaper headline that read "No One Killed Jessica".
In the ensuing decade, Venod Sharma, father of the accused and a high profile congress leader, paid millions of rupees to silence witnesses. It was not until the Tehelka Magazine did a sting investigation and Star News aired the footage that justice was finally served.
"No One Killed Jessica" faithfully follows the case to emerge a winner.
Almost everyone knows the story. Yet, the film makes some interesting departures to keep the momentum going.
 Vidya Balan soars with the unglamorous, distraught and hunchbacked portrayal of Jessica's sister.
Director Raj Kumar Gupta makes direct comment on the society we live in, its voyeuristic tendencies and the judiciary's disregard for justice. Everyone knows the extent of corruption and rot in the system as symptomised by the acquittal of Manu Sharma, but the question as always is who would bell the cat if the police and judiciary do not.
Gupta's film on a true incident bodes well for Bollywood, which is normally not too keen on reality, and the concept of justice itself. .
LR SHAJI
EDITOR

ABOUT AADUJEEVITHAM AND SOME MORE...

'Adujeevitham' a malayalam novel,   by Benyamin haunts you for life! very rarely does it happen in a reader's life span .Where you stumble on a jewel of an art work that sweeps you off your feet and shatters you to the core!And that too in a positive way..The story telling is amazing, while it is stark and stripped naked with raw life of a shepherd in the middle of no where, the story throbs with such beauty and vibrancy of life that it almost takes your breath away! It is a' life is beautiful 'saga amidst the worst imanginable hardships... wow ! what a way of story telling .A piece of work,a work of art in malayalam at par with the best in the world!Thank you Benyamin..
LR SHAJI
EDITOR

DRAMA STAGED BY DRAKSHA

WHAT AN IRONY

Dr. Binayak sen, the messiah of marginalised society is convicted and put behind bars, is it for being a philanthropist and for opting to dedicated his life to work in rural India instead of being a 'money minting'' talking nostalgia' NRI doctor in a western country?? one wonders..!!While the 'Rajas' of this world who loot public exchequer  walk scot free with the joined support of Judiciary ,
Executive and fourthestate combined! This is a defining moment in the history of Indian democracy when as a citizen of this country you should  hang your face down in absolute shame!! Where are  we heading to? What's happened to our so called value system and the fundamental rights of democracy?Is not it time to wake up and protest against all these undoings instead of being a  mute spectator to the drama debates and pseudo journalism that is on display out there??
It hurts to watch a generation old and young being decapacitated and being the' couch potatoes' slumped in to their sofas in front of TVchannels watching these real time incidents just like another episode of a reality show in progress!Wish a mass movement is in the making some where to topple this situation and am dying to be a tiny pebble in it!
LR SHAJI
EDITOR

NEW BOOKS....

THE BEGINNING...

DRAKSHA BOOKS  is in to promoting talent in arts and literature, help aspiring writers have a forum to publish their work,be it in drama, poetry, mytholigical thoughts, politics, or pure fiction .We have already published three books in totally diverse as a compilation of plays as in' kodimarathile pakshikal' by N. Vijayakumar ,collection of poems'chayumbol uchaveyile'by K.J .Suresh and mythological thoughts based on mahabharatha 'suyodhanam' byP.C. Anilkumar so far.  We have ten books lined up for publishing in 2011 in topics as varied as political history of kerala to every thing you want to know about the industrial atmosphere in kerala , collections of short stories and poetry by budding writers.DRAKSHA envisages to create a forum for marginalised art forms and the artists to interact with kindred souls. We can discuss anything under the sun about man and mankind.We will back regularly with thoughts on different topicsYour views and comments on the toipic are highly valued and we look forward to your response and guidance on each step we take  as we go on .Lets meet and debate regularly!

LR  SHAJI
EDITOR