India as a country has so much to offer, that you feel you are going to be running out of time. Rajasthan has palaces and hotels like Palaces. Karnataka has coffee plantations and interesting food to offer. Himachal has mountains North India has its winter. Gujrat has its history. But, have you wondered what Madhya Pradesh has? Madhya Pradesh has temples and fort that have the detailing like no other temples across India and has a terrain region like the Grand Canyon of the USA. A few structures of the temples were similar to the ones in Hampi, Karnataka. Yet so different in history. Then why is it still unexplored and the least travelled region of India? On our recent visit to Gwalior a city in Madhya Pradesh, We came across temples and structures that were so beautiful and intricate in detail, that we questioned ourselves, what made us delay our plans for the last two years? As soon we began sharing our tourist exploration on social media. Many asked, where is the place? It was quite a surprise not many knew the beauty of this side of the country. India is always known for cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Jaipur. The other cities are less explored and undiscovered by the local citizens. The food in the city was both vegetarian & non-vegetarian, with a lot of Indian food available. In street Food, the Kachori and chaats were the most popular snacks of the region.
Ever since Ott platforms have made their way into India, The content option to choose from is huge, You have American Movies, Series to choose from, You have British content to choose and you have the rise of K-Drama, Yakuza’s from Japan to choose from and you have rising options from Latin America and Europe to choose from.
When you have so much choice ,You observe the stories coming from these countries, you notice
Most of the American shows are only highlighting – Race, Identity , law, Super hero’s and supernatural power . A lot of the series are about colour people’s struggle and identity.
British series are all about the Royal family and politics. Series like Crown, Bridgeton, Peaky Blinders.
The content from Korea is all about Escaping, boundaries, Technology and Social Media, Topics which are more current and appealing.
Japan series are all about their food and the relationship with their loved ones, loneliness and storytelling.
Latin America series are all about powerful families and their secrets, Mafia and hunger to control their identity.
European series are about Murders in Scandinavian countries, Cult leader following and humanity with adaption like Man called Otto and Anxious People.
Indian content is also more dominant with the D-world, Gangster control, Corruption and Scams.
Australian series, haven’t made a mark on the platform besides their popular show like Masterchef and food shows. When it comes to fiction. They do have a lot of shows on Politics and the system. Secret City & Stateless as two interesting series.
But, yet when it comes we don’t experiment with the content we stream. We would still watch only American & British and often complain, for it’s lack of interesting stories.
Today, we have a variety of global content to choose from and we still choose the same stories, What makes us avoid experimenting, We are anyways being charged for the month and year, we wouldn’t be paying extra if we shift our content preferences to experiment.
If we don’t experiment with content, We would have makers making the same thing that has a set formula that they believe works globally. But does it work?
In the Year 2023, I read a few books on Disability characters, And all of them have been written around in the last decade They all have had a personal connection with the author and the story.
The disability ranging from intellectual to physical disabilities. Have only made it more human to have a sense of fulfilment of how fortunate they are those who haven’t gone through any of these experiences, that challenges ones existence for a small task that seem simple to the ones who are completely mobile or have all their senses functioning to the fullest.
Whether it was The housekeeper and the professor. A story about a professor who has only 80 minutes of memory in a day and he likes to associate with numbers. To Elena a story about a missing daughter and a mothers struggle to find her daughter while the mother is suffering from Parkinson’s.
To the injustice the disabled have to deal with in the “disability visibility by Alice Wong.”
To a child who suffers from autism is being curious about a dogs death and how he associates certain daily activities for his day or week to go by.
“True Biz about Deafness “in a world that can see. Through sign language one could learn to communicate with another deaf person.
“Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow “protagonist who has been physically hurt by an accident. And how he has to bring certain changes into his life.
These stories have been pushing the acceptance of what these disabilities are and why one shouldn’t take advantage and be more considerate to the ones who have to deal with so much from the ones around them.
These stories aren’t just about children, but also about Adults who have more challenges to face than the younger ones.
While these are the books! The question that comes to mind is Films and television.
What controls them & stops them from adapting these stories, that could have a wider reach and be more influential in accepting disabilities?
These books out there only have pushed the boundaries of acceptance of the existence of disabilities that we haven’t made any arrangements for.
Best Books on Disability: I have Read
Disability Visibility by Alice Wong
Elena Knows by Claudia Pinerio
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon
The President is Missing by James Patterson: one of the thrillers that I read this year written by Bill Clinton & James Patterson The Details of how the president office operates & what happens in the president office- only a Former President can and would have the authentic details. And James Patterson was one author- whose thriller was on my reading list. The Book is too descriptive and can leave one uninterested especially When you are looking for page Turner.
Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins: A thriller that has each character being described and each character’s action also described until only a few are the focus of the story. And how the writer has something to look forward to in her journey every day. A simple, yet intriguing story.
The Guestlist: by Lucy Foley A thriller that is set on an island where an important celebration is set to take place and things start going wrong. What could have happened? Who could it be? A thriller is a page-turner that will take you by surprise.
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie :
This was the first time! I read Agatha Christie. Yes! Have watched the movie The Murder on the Orient Express. And loved it! The detective Hercule Poirot was an instant hit! And Death on the Nile has been another movie that I would be watching soon! Murder of Roger Ackroyd isn’t a book that comes to your mind immediately when you mention Agatha Christie. But, it’s been voted as the 3rd World’s best Agatha Christie after And the most popular one And there were none & Murder on the orient express taking the first two place. * The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie The book has the popular Hercules Poirot solving the case. And in many ways reminded me of many mystery/ crime thrillers I have read! Are they all on the foundation of Agatha Christie? And how important are the characters? Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Coyle, Hercule Poirot, and Feluda by Satyajit Ray are some of the characters we read the author’s work for! Similar works have been done by Japanese writers like Keigo Higashino with the detective Galileo series, and Scandinavian writer Jo snob’s Harry Hole to name a few. Coming back to The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie. Some certain scenes & parts have either been entirely replicated or have quite a few similarities in a lot of thrillers that I have watched in the last couple of years… I am glad to have gone ahead and read this book which has been one of the most popular and well-written books by the author. The way it’s written! If you read the story carefully you might just be able to solve the mysterious death in no time! But, whenever you realise it’s these characters… There are enough reasons mentioned to change your mind! Why isn’t Agatha Christie adapted into more movies or more series adaptations?
My Sister The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
When the title itself gives you away what the story is… A story about how one of the sisters’ boyfriends turns up dead. Korede’s dinner is interrupted one night by a call from her sister, Ayoola, she knows what’s expected of her: bleach, rubber gloves, nerves of steel and a strong stomach. That’ll be the third boyfriend Ayoola. She should probably go to the police for the good of the menfolk of Nigeria, but she loves her sister and, as they say, family always comes first. Until that is, Ayoola starts dating the doctor with where Korede works as a nurse. Korede’s long been in love with him, and isn’t prepared to see him wind up with a knife in his back: but to save one would mean sacrificing the other…
A book is written in short chapters and very neatly gripping. Based in Nigeria and written in 2018. This story remains more than relevant today with the world becoming increasingly unstable. This book is your weekend read. And a rainy day company. It’s very different from all the thrillers that I have read in the past in terms of the style of writing & language.
Dhaka! A foreign city that I visited more than any other city in the world!
First time about 5 years ago! It was all about being curious of one of our closest neighbourhood.
And today after three visits, you realise it’s so much like India and Sri Lanka! People here are Warm, Hospitable, and Kind.
Some of the things Dhaka beats us in is the traffic, it’s faster to walk and travel than to use a public transport or vehicle.
The Mosquitoes, Gosh! No amount of fumigation, odomos repelient, Odomos scent sticks, Odomos Roll on would stop the mosquitoes from sucking your blood!
And the language barrier- Bengali! If you know the language, you would not be lost in translation!
But, if you don’t know the language.
You would struggle to get things right!
The food it’s a non-vegetarians paradise!
And a vegetarian’s walk to hell!
You would need to keep looking until you find options!
Some of the chaat items too have egg in them!
And an eggless cake is a mystery to them.
The roads are wide, but everyone has taken the sides. You can’t turn, you can’t run you are stuck.
Most of the best designer clothes are manufactured here! But, you won’t find a single store selling them. Rather you would need to just visit one store for all the original’s first copies Astorian!
A lot of African, Australian, Malaysian chains of restaurant are there!
Surprisingly Coffee is big here too! A lot of small interesting coffee shops there!
With one or two coffee roasters selling homegrown coffee that’s grown in Bangladesh!
They enjoy a lot of Music and Movies! One of the reasons Bollywood is a big craze here!
Bollywood movies don’t release as often and as much since they believe they loose money from local cultural entertainment.
And if they are Die-Hard Bollywood fans they travel to Kolkata. a 40 minute journey by Air or about 7 Hrs by road.
No! Bangladesh isn’t cheap!
In fact it’s one of the most expensive cities in the world for expats living there!
Facts about Dhaka:
The world’s least livable city.
Longest female-led government.
There are a lot of Bangladeshis who live out of the country.
Currently only the below flights go to Dhaka directly.
A K H I L N A N D A 