Category: A2Z Challenge

  • Cards on the table: Poirot’s one of the finest cases

    Cards on the table: Poirot’s one of the finest cases

    Her fans hail Agatha Christie as the Queen of Crime for her gripping stories written during the golden period of detective fiction. I am a fan of her stories. The way she develops the character and sets up the stage for her detective to shine is commendable. Among all her sleuths, Poirot has caught my eyes and mind the most. Legendary David Suchet has done such a wonderful job of bringing Monsieur Poirot to life. He will get a big part of my fascination towards this small Belgian gent.

    But this doesn’t make the experience of reading the books any less enjoyable. I started reading Poirot from the first title in series, The Mysterious Affair at Styles. I was blown away with the story. This lead to the reading of subsequent Poirot books in all formats available, paperback, kindle eBooks and on Audible. And I reached to this title of “Cards on the table”

    What to expect from this?

    The reason I am talking about this book is very simple. First of all I liked the book, and secondly, the title starts with “C”, the third letter in A2Z challenge. Story of this begins with the Poirot getting invitation to a collector, Mr. Shaitana who collects a rare exhibits. He has a habit of collecting the criminals who has evaded the justice. Invitation to Poirot is of a dinner party to meet them. Guests for the party are four people who has a connection with crime solving and four others who are murderers in Shaitana’s eyes. During dinner, Shaitana taunts his suspect with comments which only concerned person will understand.

    After dinner a game of bridge is proposed and as the game progresses, Mr. Shaitana is found dead in his chair by fireplace. Four crime professionals, a Secret Serviceman, Scotland Yard Superintendent, a mystery writer and Poirot himself make their own queries to solve this brain scratching crime.

    Agatha uses all her magic to make these investigations interesting and nail-biting. But what made the experience of this story much more fascinating is the narration of this audiobook. Hugh Fraser, who plays a part of Captain Hastings in the television series with Sir David. His familiar voice took the experience one notch up and made it more interesting.

    About the book

    • Title: Cards on the table
    • Publisher: Harper Collins
    • Published: 5 October 2017
    • ISBN10: 9780008164898
    • Length : 272 Pages
    • MRP : ₹251.00

    My Rating

    Story: 4.5/5
    Narration: 4.5/5
    Production: 4/5

    Overall rating: 4.5/5

    Where to get your copy

    Should you read it?

    Pick it right away if you already haven’t. This is really a great story by Agatha Christie. and I am not fanboying about this. I haven’t liked few of her novels. But this one, you shouldn’t miss.

    This post is a part of #BlogchatterA2Z 2023. For more about my views on books, click here.

  • Byomkesh Bakshi – The Best Indian Crime Fiction

    Byomkesh Bakshi – The Best Indian Crime Fiction

    My interst in the crime fiction as a genre developed over the years of reading. I distinctly remember who introduced me to the thrill of solving the mystery. Rajit Kapoor playing Satyanveshi Byomkesh Bakshi got me hooked on this kind of stories. I used to watch this series religiously on DD National back when I was very young. Later the love for Crime Fiction developed and I discovered many more master storytellers like Sir Arther, Agatha Christie, Jeffrey Archer, Suhas Shirwalkar, Anita Nair and many more. But, Sharadindu Bandopadhyay, a Bengali writer of Byomkesh Bakshi had sadly left my mind. I wasn’t aware if his works are translated into English or not.

    When I started listening to audio books on Storytel and Audible, I suddenly remembered of him. I thought of checking if any of Byomkesh stories are available to listen to. I was happy to see not only his stories are translated but are even available in audio format!

    What to expect

    Sharadindu had written more than 30 stories but Monimala Dhar has translated only 7 of them in this book. I listened to the audio version of the book which was narrated wonderfully by Sumit Kaul. All the stories from the book are fantastic and give a full satisfaction of reading a crime fiction. However, a particular story has stuck with me. Story titled ‘The Avenger’ is translated from the original story with a title Achin Pakhi.

    When Byomkesh and his writer friend Ajit were invited to a wedding in a small town near Kolkata, they met a retired police officer who had settled down in that town. Officer narrate them a story of his last case before retiring which he could not have solve. Police had apprehended few suspects carrying a body of a dead woman on a cot. On investigating, nothing wrong was revealed and they were set free. However things took a sharp turn when the main suspect got murdered by unknown person. Police couldn’t get to the bottom of this. Now after every lead has gone cold, it’s up to Satyanveshi Byomkesh to take up a case or not to find the truth behind it.

    All the other stories from this collection are equally intriguing and interesting to listen.

    From the blurb

    Detective fiction has never lacked devoted fans. The undying popularity of Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot vouch for that fact. In the early thirties, a detective by the name of Byomkesh Bakshi made an unobtrusive entry into the world of Bengali fiction. He preferred calling himself a satyanneshi, a seeker of truth, and within days was a household name, courtesy his cerebral skills and the exciting situations he found himself in. In the tradition of Doyle and Christie, Byomkesh is accompanied on his adventures by his friend, Ajit, slightly obtuse and the perfect foil to him.

    About the book

    • Title: Byomkesh Bakshi Stories
    • Publisher: Roopa Publishing / Audible Studios
    • Published: 7 November 2018
    • ASIN: B07K6YDKQQ
    • Length : 6 hours and 26 minutes
    • MRP : ₹287.00

    My Rating

    Stories: 4/5
    Narration: 4.5/5
    Production: 5/5

    Overall Rating: 4.5/5

    Where to buy

    Should you read it?

    If you can’t read Bangla, this this is the best way to enjoy these master pieces written by Sharadindu Bandopadhyay. You will not regret it that’s my word!

    This post is a part of #BlogchatterA2Z 2023. For more about my views on books, click here.

  • Frank Notes on Life in Khushwant Style

    Frank Notes on Life in Khushwant Style

    I remembered picking up this book from a newly opened crossword. Till that date, I had only heard name and fame of Khushwant Singh, a grand old man of letters. This was the first of his books I picked up. Though cover with a photograph of this old yet confidant man enticed me to buy, the book actually landed in my over-increasing pile of TBRs.

    His work is far from a light read and just for this reason, I had left the book once only after getting in just a few pages. But I picked it up once again after some years. This time, I decided to give it a serious read and man, I was blown away! His writing is so raw and true to his believes that some people will be turned away with it.

    What to expect from this?

    When he wrote this one, he was at the age of 96. He opens the book with this topic, about being old! In the later pages, he opens up about his views on sex, love and marriages. He talks about his relationship with his wife Kaval and the rough patch in their marriage. He also writes about his worries, insecurities and much more.

    Next he moves on to the people he came across in his life, few he liked, he respected and some whom he trashed with his pen. He had trashed the religious fundoos (his word for fundamentalists) from all the religions including his own with harsh strokes of his pen. Khushwant took a strong stand against Bhindranwale for which he was on their hit list for years. He shares his views about politics, terrorism and the riots of 1984.

    Even being agnostic himself, he writes elaborately on various religious scriptures and what he finds good in them. There is a long piece on Sikh community in the book along with one on the city of Delhi. Khushwant shares his love for Urdu language and especially for Urdu poetry, where he tells us how he enjoyed translating works of great poets in English and his favorites amongst those legends.

    From the blurb

    In Absolute Khushwant, India’s grand old man of letters tells us about his life, his loves and his work. He writes on happiness, faith and honesty. And, for the first time, about his successes and failures, his strengths and weaknesses, his highs and lows. He tells us what makes him tick and the secret of his longevity; he confesses his deepest fears and what he holds dear. He writes about sex, marriage, worship and death; the people he’s admired and detested. With personal anecdotes and rare photographs, Absolute Khushwant is uncompromising, moving, and straight from the heart.

    About the book

    • Title: Absolute Khushwant
    • Publisher: India Penguin
    • Published: Feb/2019
    • ISBN: 9780143068716
    • Length : 212 Pages
    • MRP : ₹250.00

    My Rating

    Content: 3.5/5
    Cover Design: 3.5/5
    Ease of reading: 2.5/5

    Overall: 3/5

    Where to get your copy

    Should you read it?

    Does a social commentary catches your attention? If the firm views don’t bother you, you are in for a treat. Just take up the book with open heart and give it a go. Not every one will enjoy this one.

    This post is a part of #BlogchatterA2Z 2023. For more about my views on books, click here.

  • With Love; From Aditya’s book-shelf to BlogchatterA2Z

    With Love; From Aditya’s book-shelf to BlogchatterA2Z

    It’s this time of the year when a blogger starts panicking about what should one write throughout the month of April as their entries for April A2Z. Because April is just around the corner and you have no clue about what to write. If you are a part of a community, then a pressure might get more. Few of your fellow bloggers have already scheduled half of their posts. I am one of those who is panicking at the last moment. However, my favorite thing in life has come to the rescue like a best buddy. Yes, I am talking about books cause I can’t write 26 posts about coffee alone.

    Good fellows at Blogchatter; our lovely blogging community; have decided to dedicate this A2Z for “Blogging and Friendship”. And for me, books are the perfect friend who will be with you when you are alone. In fact, a book is a friend who lets you be alone even if you are surrounded by a crowd.

    My love for books is a well known fact for my close friends and family. It has gone to that level that now I don’t get anything but bookish stuff as gifts on various occasions. (I am thinking how no one has thought about the Kindle e-reader as a gifting option? 😉) So I thought it would be a great idea to talk about 26 books which I enjoyed reading during this year’s April A2Z.

    If you have also read the book, we all can talk about it in the comments. Share our notes on what we enjoyed in the book or didn’t. So, don’t forget to join me on this bookish trail for the month of April and enjoy my 26 book recommendations. and for more bookish content, click here.

  • “D” bole to – Digitization – First step towards modern maps

    “D” bole to – Digitization – First step towards modern maps

    Today, we all rely on gadgets and apps to help us through our day-to-day activities. From keeping our appointments to ordering food, we use hundreds of mobile applications and computer softwares. Widespread internet connectivity on the go has revolutionized the way we live in the twenty-first century. This digital revolution came into cartography (science and art of mapmaking) too and mapmaking saw a change by leaps and bounds. This transformation started with the basic activity of digitization.

    What does digitization mean?

    New digital platforms and softwares were designed to map maps. But to build this virtual world of online maps, the real world needed to be converted into digital form from old paper forms. This process of bringing old maps into the digital environment is called digitization. Digitization helped mapmakers to bring all the old efforts of their forefathers into the new environment. It helped to keep the body of knowledge relevant even in this new digital era.

    How to digitize?

    There are two types of digitization of the old paper world. One is to just scan it and store it online to put on the display. Other one needs more work and concentration. Do you remember using tracing papers to trace your favourite artwork or pattern to replicate it? This type of digitization is nothing but the digital tracing. Here, user imports the scanned map / image in a map making software and then traces the various elements meticulously to capture all the details. 

    When I was studying geoinformatics during my Masters degree, one lab course was about digitization. One of the very tedious task of digitizing a toposheet. It was taxing on the eyes, especially when we were digitizing contours (lines which join the same elevation of the ground) on toposheets. Pune region is especially hilly and undulating putting those contours very close to each other and we often used to start digitizing one contour and unknowingly jump to adjacent contours in between. But all in all, it was a fun exercise, if your file doesn’t corrupt during the process.

    It’s fun, when you become “pro”

    After my masters, I got a chance to see cities all over the world. I saw Melbourne and Sydney in Australia,Paris, London and Lisbon in Europe, New York and Los Angeles in the USA. No no, I didn’t travel to all these cities. I was working in a company where our team digitized building footprints from various aerial photographs of these cities. Our group of 5-6 guys working in the second shift was famous for getting any complex image processed in record times. We used to get the images to process where others would have failed. I enjoyed this task for some time and left that company for better and challenging opportunities.

    Census 2011 map of Mawal Taluka, Pune
    Digitized Mawal taluka boundaries by CDSA, Pune

    However, digitization remains one of the basic tasks of any mapmaking project which has some connection with the historical data. (Which happens almost every time). In the online interactive map shown above I have digitized some of the institution buildings in Pune and around them have created a buffer of silence zone as per the noise pollution control rules. While the static map below shows the village locations, boundaries of Mawal Taluka of Pune District digitized from census 2011 maps.

    So, hope you enjoy the hard work done by some of us in the form of navigation systems of your cars or phones. (Bas google navigation ki galti ki galiya hame mat dijiye…)

    I’m participating in #BlogchatterA2Z. You can read my other posts about maps and map-reading here.

  • Cadastral maps: backbone of land revenue system

    Cadastral maps: backbone of land revenue system

    Today, let’s build the first thing on our canvas of base-map. I think most of you might have seen something or the other form of this painting I am about to paint for you today. If you happened to be curious about the house you live in, you would have seen the architectural drawings of that particular building. In some corner of that paper inked with blue lines and grainy tint of old ammonia prints, you must have seen a miniature drawing. That’s the cadastral map. Cadastral map is the backbone of any land revenue system in the world. But let first understand what is the cadastre or cadaster in the first place.

    Cadastre! What is the big fuss about it?

    Land has been the prized possession of any rural since ancient times. It was the way to measure the greatness of the kind or the kingdom. However, there was one more important angle to getting more and more land under one’s control. It was also the source that filled the coffers of the kingdom. Taxes levied on people were always in connection with their landholdings. Earlier, it used to be in the form of the produce they grow on that land. Later it took the form of the currency. To calculate the amount to be taxed, one must know how much land that person owns. This led to the generation of land records.

    English word “Cadastre” has its roots in Greek language. It came in English via French language. Greek word katástikhon means a list or a register.

    Back in the glorious days of the Roman Empire, they created a record of state owned lands. Cadastral maps of Campania were done in 77 AD. William the conqueror has created a record book of the land which he won and annexed to his kingdom. In France, Napoleon has created the land record systems. In the Middle East, During the 18th century, land records used to get written on terracotta plates. One such plate is on display in the Ancient Orient Museum, Istanbul.

    In Indian context, Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj created his own land records system called Rayatwari and a new tax system where his people could pay the taxes in currency or produce both. In Mughal Courts, during the decline of their power, land records and revenue collection was given to the East India Company and a new era of Indian Land Records began which continues even today.

    A cadastre text written on a terracotta tablet. From the 18th century BC in Sippar, Iraq, and held by the Ancient Orient Museum, Istanbul. Photo by Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin, Copyright CC BY-SA 4.0

    Cadastral Maps: important and fascinating document

    Earlier days, the cadastral records were maintained in words describing boundaries of the property. Later, these details have been combined with a map. And thus, the cadastral maps started. Typically, a cadastral map shows the layout of various plots of the land labelled with survey numbers or plot numbers and the total area of plots. Some times, these maps also contain other features like land use, reservations and zoning. But that story is for some other time.

    Now land record departments across the globe are digitizing the cadastral maps and integrate them into Geographic Information System (GIS) or Land Management System (LMS). About these new events, we will talk in our next chapter. These new systems store all the information about the plot in particular cadastre, like owner details, area, use, builtup area if any, tax status, etc. Every cadastral parcel get these attributes attached to it. Users of these systems can access this information easily with simple searches or mouse clicks on digital cadastral maps.

    Sample Cadastral Map. Image Copyright Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping, Austrelia

    In rural areas of Maharashtra, tehsildar or talathi holds these maps and records while in urban centres of the country, City Survey Departments house cadastral maps. In other parts of India similar authorities have the responsibility of preparing, amending and publishing the cadastral maps. So, tell me in the comment section if you have seen these maps somewhere? And if you haven’t seen the cadastral map of the plot of your house, go and get your copy from these offices. 

    I’m participating in #BlogchatterA2Z. You can read my other posts about maps and map-reading here.