Inferno

So I have been in Florence for the past two weeks and I am currently on a train ride to Venice. I am currently travelling with world famous Harvard professor Langdon and I am on a mission to catch a madman before he unleashes the biblical plague on mankind. How am I doing all this, when A) its a Tuesday and I am supposed to be staring at my office screen. B) I don't have money to go to Florence or Venice or anyplace outside India apart from Thailand. So how you ask? Well I am reading Dan Brown's latest book - Inferno and its damn good I say. Its very much like Da Vinci code, its about finding meaning in ancient symbols. But Da Vinci had lots of information thrown at you. I remember I had to read some pages twice just to remember stuff, Inferno is simpler, easier to follow. It still tells you a lot about Florence and the city's beautiful monuments, most whose names I cant remember. The difference between the two books is that after Da Vinci, I felt like a bloody genius, I really did. While reading inferno I feel like a well informed historian, like one of those cool people who know something about every topic. The ones who go like, "Did you know that...". I am no book reader, but a movie lover instead. But I know one thing, a well written book can take you places, where a beautifully created movie never can.

 

The art of Origami

Origami or the art of paper folding originated in China in 1st or 2nd century AD and then reached Japan in 6th century, according to this book I have started reading by Rick Beech. You have to use sheets of paper, no cutting, no glue, just paper folds to make anything ... cranes, swans, elephants, ... etc, etc. I realised while making the first most basic shape (a paper cup), that it kind of teaches you about life. You have a set of restrictions (no cutting, no glue) and you have to work around them to realise your dreams (or in my case make a butterfly). The folds of paper are used to make the paper fold into these incredible angles or take forms you cant figure out until you follow through with all the steps. They are like life experiences, it makes it easier for you to mould you life as you get wiser and are able to deal with things smoothly or as you look back on your life, you see how things fell into place. Another way of seeing it is that those odd folds or life experiences, which make no sense, are all a part of God's plan. My only problem with this interpretation is that I really dont want to find out that in the end I was meant to be a jumping frog and not a lucky crane. But some people actually like frogs more :).

I totally recommend the book, it has pictures instead of confusing diagrams and its available in the grown-up section of bookshops :) (Price: Rs 499).