My Top 10 Books: What are yours?

I got a request from one of my publishers to list the top 10 books I have read. Well I thought that would be easy... but it wasn't at all. No it wasn't. The list I made went up to 25, finally I got it down to  ten forcefully. So here they are...  Any comments would be welcome. Your favourite top 10 is as important!

Remember they are in no particular order whatsoever... and are restricted to one book per author

1. The Da Vinci Code. Dan Brown. Here is one book I read fourteen years too late! But when I did, I was stunned. It rather inspired my own writing interest also. Dan Brown has his own lovers and haters! But I  certainly belong to the former. The plot of the story itself was marvellous. How the author managed to create a real life thriller based in Paris and London while exploring numerous aspects of religious history was just awesome. And it was an extreme page turner. Dan Brown's writing style ensures that the reader is always interested in knowing as to what is actually coming up in subsequent page. The Knights Templar aspect, the way we view history, the facts that were apparently hidden, their extrapolation to certain happenings in the real life....the way the entire story was woven was fantastic! Hats off. Angels and Demons, and the Lost Symbol are very close runners up for this author

2. If Tomorrow Comes. Sidney Sheldon. Sidney Sheldon? Are you serious? . This book is a masterpiece of sorts. Sidney Sheldon surely would have spent a few years researching for this one. The ridiculously difficult con plots in this story could not have been a masterchild of one individual's thoughts alone. The chess sequence on the ship, the diamond sequence In England and the museum sequence in Madrid are by far the best con stories I have ever read.

3. And then there were none. Agatha Christie. Suspense right till the end. Ten people in an island. Only ten. And yet each one is murdered one by one, The suspense when it comes to the last two people in the island can race anyone heart to very fast speeds. Too Good.

4. Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less. Jeffery Archer. Jeffery Archer has written many classics that include some of my all time favourites Kane and Abel and Shall we tell the the President? . But not a penny more, not a penny Less makes the cut. The way the initial con occurs and the way that four people retrieve their hard earned money.... worth the read...twice or thrice over.

5. Animal Farm. George Orwell. A small book. But too much substance packed in it. Anybody thinking that it is a fairy tale, please take a walk. Intense book that examines Dictatorship, Socialism, Capitalism and Communism. Fantastic.

6. The Ninja. Eric Van Lustbader. Very slow paced book... but the story and the narration are too good.

7. The Gemini Contenders. Robert Ludlum. Robert Ludlum, better known for his Bourne Series wrote this masterpiece in his earlier days. A book that spans two generations. Thrilling.

8. The GodFather. Mario Puzo. Not often you come across a book loved by so many people. More than the story itself, the narration and the scene description are supreme.

9. Asuras. Anand Neelakantan. Read this. The way Ramayana is written is the opposing direction where Ravan is described as the hero. At first, I thought it would be just fun... but many aspects described here had left me thinking for days....

.

10. The Broken Ear. Herge. Each an every Tintin adventure has been written with utmost care. The Story, the humor, the message, the plot, the super characters. It was difficult for me to write the name of one book here, as each and every one is fantastic!

Of course I can't rate my own books here! Liked by friends and critics alike. The Science Redemption Fifth Dimension, The Subconscious, The Creation Conundrum and Been There Before. My favourite among them? The One that I have withdrawn from the market for reworks... The Fifth Dimension

What are your top 10 Books?

The Glacier Express Trip: A good experience (but overrated?)

The Glacier Express and I

I was always fascinated with the Glacier Express. I remember my cousin showing me the photos of his experience aboard the Glacier express in the late 1990s. In this Swiss trip in late April 2022, I decided to travel the Glacier express myself!

How did I book the tickets?

Online. I booked the tickets at the only official site you can do so. www.glacierexpress.ch. However, when I did try making the payment, it kept declining the Credit card. This was a little frustrating experience. I later learnt that this was a software glitch. I decided to call the number provided and book the tickets on a telephone call (usually I hate doing so, but I was desperate). Well, the tickets were mailed to me and I was ready to go.

How much was it priced?

I decided to travel first class. The train has three classes, the Excellence class, the First class and the second class. I had booked the travel from Chur to Brig. The ticket, the reservation (which is charged separately) and the meal costed me CHF 222. (approximately the same in Euros at that time). The same experience can be booked at roughly 60% of the price in second class and 150% in excellence class.

From where does it travel?

Each day, depending on the season, a number of trains travel from East to West (St Moritz to Zermatt) and vice versa. Depending on your time availability and location where you are based you may chose any of them.

Which is the best sector to travel?

Difficult for me to say; the people who have travelled the entire train often say that the St Moritz to Chur segment is very beautiful, but most of the websites concentrate on the Chur to Brig section; I decided to try the latter.

How did I travel?

I was based in Zurich. I took a train from Zurich Hauptbahnhof to Chur. I gave myself an hour and a half to roam around Chur, a dainty town at the foothills of the Alps. I took the train at 1105 from Chur. I travelled upto Brig, where I reached at 1540. I roamed an hour in Brig, then back to Zurich via Bern.

The total travel time from room in Zurich to back was 12 hours. (730 am to 730 pm)

The train per se.

Awesome ambience. The first class seats were at 2x1 configuration,. In the second class, it is 2x2 and in the Excellence class, it is 1x1. The upholstery was great. The seat was comfortable. It had a plug-in ear phone set, on which information was conveyed periodically, which I felt was very useful and fun. The staff were extremely polite. To top it all the master chef on that day was a Tamilian, and he was happy to speak to me in his (our) mother tongue! The windows were huge and the sites that could be seen were amazing all around!

Possibly the only two things I didn't like was that there are no solo experience seats. By default, if you travel alone, you need to sit opposite a total stranger, who shares the lunch table with you. The person who travelled with me was a friendly Dutch nationa,l and I did have some pleasant conversations, but the privacy was lacking.

The Sun can particularly be strong and there are no shades in the compartment. So Sunglasses need to be on for quite a while.

The food.

I liked it. I had ordered for the meat, fearing that I may be served beef or pork (both of which I don't relish for various reasons) but Chicken was served and it was delicious . I may be biased as it was a Tamil style preparation and spices were optimum. The dessert of chocolate cake was awesome 

The sights.

Well, well. Really good. The train passed the Rhone Valley gorge; also called as the Grand Canyon of Switzerland. Awesome experience. I was lucky that I was seated in the correct side to appreciate its beauty to the maximum. 

The second part of the trip, the train climbs steeply upto the Oberalppass, right upto the glacier of the river Rhone; and boy was that scene beautiful. We weren't allowed to get down at Oberalppass, which I felt was a bit of an anticlimax, but the scenes were too good. 

I have decided not to go into detail of every sight seen on the train, as that would be better read on information websites. But overall the the trip itself was too picturesque!

Will I recommend it?

Yes, of course. Its great for a one time experience and we should do it atleast once in our lives. But to be very frank, unlike Jungfrau, Titlis, Grindelwald and Bern, maybe it lacks the mojo factor to travel in it twice!

Mind Your Language : TV series. Review

Description in a line: Comedy you would know by heart.

When did I see this? I was eleven years old when I first saw this series, in the days when it was available on Video Cassettes for rent to be seen on a VCR. Hilarious.

I had seen it at least five times till I was eighteen or so. Then occasionally I used to see the clips on social media and had a short laugh.

Where is it? Now the entire series is available on OTT (Sony Liv in India)

And when I did see it, boy o boy, did I remember each dialogue by heart or what?

Introduction

For those who don't know this series yet, let me give a brief introduction. This show is based in London in the 1980s. The settings involve an Evening School, of which Miss (not Mrs, she hates being called Mrs😀) Courtney, is the principal. The show involves the English class for Foreigners. Mr Brown, the young class teacher teaches ten students in Season 1 and twelve in Season 2. The students do the best to learn English from the teacher, but have a tough time at it as they do it: English being a complicated language as it is. What follows is a hilarious series of episodes as Mr Brown tries to imbibe the principles of English in them.

Characters

Miss Courtney: The principal, a spinster, staunch feminist, zero diplomacy and a strict ol' lady. 

Mr Brown. The young energetic, patient, English teacher who is revered by all the students. He has an amazing knack of falling into trouble with Miss Courtney.

Mr Ranjeet, a Sikh man working at the London Underground, with utmost respect in his language and amazing hatred for Pakistanis

Mr Ali Nadeem, a Pakistani salesman, good at heart, but hates Sikhs!

Miss Danielle, a French national, the beauty of the class, who flirts away with all the men, especially with Mr Brown.

Miss Su Lee, a Chinese national, who will at a drop of the hat criticise capitalist ideologies and preach Chairman Mao's teachings in Communism.

Miss Jamila, an Indian, who knows almost zero English, but picks up slowly but steadily. Her cliche is that she is always seen knitting a sweater

Miss Anna, a strict German house maid, who is always shown to be stern and strict; equally hated and loved by the same people.

Mr Maximilliano, a Greek sailor, who always prefixes all words with a vowel with a 'H', Hokay?

Mr Giovanni, an Italian Chef, who loves women, especially Danielle! His characteristic are the words Okee Kokee! (I admit I use it a lot myself thanks to Giovanni)

Mr Juan Cervantez, a Spanish national, who knows almost no English in Season one and always begs for pardon, Por Favor!

Mr Taro, an ardent Japanese photographer, who always roams around with a camera and bows before every time he starts a conversation

Mr Sidney, the deaf Janitor, who specialises in the Cockney dialect

Mrs Gladys, the canteen lady, who always has a smile on her face.

The later seasons sees a beautiful Swede, Ingrid and a Hungarian, Zoltan, who only add to the hilarious confusion.

Plot: Every episode has its own little hilarious plot, so sit back and laugh and laugh.

Who is the best actor? Everyone! That makes this show an absolute success!

My favourite episode. I like almost all of them, but my favourites include the ones in which the class gets locked in the weekend, and one in which a Russian sailor joins them for a bit.

Would I like to see it again? But of course!!

Ratings

Acting *****

Humor *****

Suspense *

Music ****

Value for time *****

In short: A must see!