Book Review - THE RED PYRAMID - by Rick Riordan

     The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan is the first book in the Kane chronicles series. The language used in the book is quite similar to Franklin W. Dixon’s ‘Hardy Boys’ series and Jeff Kinney’s ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ series. The two protagonists, Carter and Sadie Kane are shown to talk in an informal, friendly way with the reader. The book is basically a transcript of an audio recording made by the two. The books starts off with a bang. It starts with these words - “We only have a few hours, so listen carefully.” This urges the reader to read on.

 There were some really funny lines in the book, but halfway through it, the author used the same pattern, which wasn’t all that humorous. At the end of the book, I felt as if I were a close friend of Carter and Sadie. They did, in a way, talk to the reader. But once the book ended, I didn’t feel happy and satisfied, as I would have felt on completing any other novel. Instead I felt sad. Literally. At the end of the book, Carter and Sadie suddenly stopped talking after saying “This is Carter and Sadie Kane signing off. Come to Brooklyn. We’ll be waiting.” Even though they were imaginary, I was filled with sorrow.

One thing that makes this book stand out are adjectives. The descriptions of some things are really great. This makes it easier for us to imagine those things. But some descriptions were so abstract, vivid and unimaginable, it made imagining those things all the more difficult. The way of speech of Carter and Sadie is different and well executed. Carter is an African American boy who is a well behaved and obedient person, and his way of speech is the same, while Sadie has a kind of, well, what do you say, ‘cool’ attitude.

The book also shows family bondage and brother-sister relationship. Most of the book is on Egyptian mythology and magic, and I’m sure the author must have done a lot of research. This book has influenced me so much that even I have started doubting whether magic really doesn’t exist. The type of writing in this book can be used by young writers who have just started to write. They can start writing personal experiences the way the author has written (just the way I’ve written-scroll down). I would give 8 out 10 points to this book and congratulations to Rick Riordan on writing such a wonderful book.

-         Manas Trivedi

Review - SHIV SAGAR Restaurant, Aundh, Pune

           Shiv Sagar is a vegetarian restaurant located in Aundh, Pune in Maharashtra, India. It is one of the best restaurants for the middle class in Pune, where you can find dishes ranging from the traditional Dal Tadka to Paneer Butter Masala to Manchurian to Mexican Pasta Sizzlers. No other place having such a large cuisine.

          First, we will have a look at the details of the place. Then I will introduce you to some of the best and famous dishes of the restaurant.

          The restaurant has two storeys, the ground floor which is non A/C, and the first floor which is an A/C hall. The first floor has cloth covers on the tables and chairs, preferred by those dining in premium hotels, while the ground floor has normal chairs, tables and fans. The difference between the two is that the ground floor has a normal temperature, while the first floor has a cold temperature. It just means that food becomes cold within a few minutes in the A/C hall, while on the ground floor, it doesn’t. So, first recommendation, dining on the ground floor is better.
 

          Tables can be reserved on phone. Tables are available for two, four and six people, but for more people, the staff can join two or more tables, so that they can have a great party. The time taken to serve the food after placing the order varies from ten to fifteen minutes during normal hours and half an hour during peak hours. It also depends upon the type of dish you order.
 

          The cleanliness is fine. There is a wash basin, and after eating food, a finger bowl is provided. The tableware is neat. Till date only once in my 250+ visits have I encountered the problem of some material being present in my plate and glass.
 

          Now let’s have a look at the cuisine.
 

          The Pav Bhaji is breathtakingly incredible. It is probably the best Pav Bhaji you could ever have in this world. You have to try it before it’s too late. Though it is a bit expensive, it is a must-eat. I hereby declare it as the best dish of this place.
 

          Chole Bhature – the bhature part is fantastic (and oily), but the chole part, not so much. The chole are, well, I never was able to understand their flavour. I’d recommend Shiv Sagar to possibly make them a bit softer, so that it would be more enjoyable. The bhatura part is shockingly amazing. It is almost bewildering. Biting into one feels like walking through heaven, or more accurately, eating heaven. Believe me. You can order exclusively the bhatura part, without the chole.
 

          Manchurian and all the types of Paneer served here are satisfying. If you have the money, you can buy a nice sizzler. It will result in people coughing around you, due to the hot vapours coming out of it. But it has a taste of its own.
 

          Now for the South Indian part. The masala dosa is remarkable. There have to be better restaurants that make better dosas, but till date, of all dosas I've eaten, the Shiv Sagar dosa is the best. The original masala dosa with the red chatni is crisp and less oily, while the rava masala dosa is oily and crispier, and the one suggested by me.
 

           The Utthapam and Idli are okay. The Medu Vada is nice and crisp. Along with all these South Indian dishes, Sambhar and coconut chatni is served. Both are nice and add to the flavour.
 

          As for the dessert, if you visit Shiv Sagar in winter or spring, order Strawberry with Cream. Big pieces of real strawberry are topped with cream. Dig into one, and you’d never want it to end. I’d call it a khatta-meetha combination. But along with the brilliant taste comes a higher than normal price tag. You can also try the strawberry milkshake. It comes in a big glass, again with real strawberry pieces.
 

          This was all about the Shiv Sagar restaurant. On the whole, the place is excellent for moderate price high quality food. I would give the restaurant four and a half out of five stars and I wish all the best to Shiv Sagar to continue its future endeavours.
 

-         Manas Trivedi

 

Shiv Sagar Vegetarian Restaurant

Masala Dosa with Red Chatni - Shiv Sagar

Utthapam - Shiv Sagar

Strawberry With Cream - Shiv Sagar

Review - LENOVO IDEAPAD S210 TOUCH

          The Lenovo ideapad s210 is an 11.6" touchscreen notebook. It is economically priced at ₹ 32,500. It has a slim design, one key recovery and an accutype keyboard. Dolby advanced audio is present, and so speakers give a clear sound. It has the label of Energy Star and has an Intel core i3, using fourth generation processors.

          The accutype keyboard keys have an inward slope, for the best typing experience. Also, if the keyboard is removed, and if something is to be typed, there appears a touchscreen keyboard on the screen, as in tablets and smartphones.

          There is an HDMI output, for easy connections to television and other similar appliances. There are 2 USB connection ports and a card reader. The one key recovery button allows to recover from viruses. The notebook also has an HD webcam, for conferences and video chat.

          These are some of the positive things present. But while working on it, I faced some major difficulties.

          Even when the screen brightness is set to level 1, the 36Wh battery gets discharged within 2 to 3 hours. Notebooks are generally used throughout the day by professionals. So I would recommend Lenovo to increase the battery life to 6 to 8 hours in future models.

          Also, there is no CD driver in the notebook. Probably while Lenovo was developing the notebook, it excluded the driver from it, just to give a slim design. Work can be done by using USBs, but sometimes the only thing you need is a good CD driver. That must be present in all PCs.

          And last, but not the least, it doesn’t have any in-built microphone. I am a user of Skype. And I have the experience of working on laptops with microphone. In those kinds of laptops, you could simply turn on Skype and talk to the person on the other side, without any equipment like headphone.  But in the notebook, there is only a headphone portal. So, while on Skype, only one person, who is wearing the headphones with a mic, could be heard by the person whom he/she is talking to on Skype. Hence, family talks are impossible. Example, my family is talking to another. My brother is wearing the headphones. I yell “Hey! What’s up you guys?” Won’t be heard by the other family, you see? You can use a better, sensitive mic, but it is always better if there is an in-built microphone present in PCs.

         So, I have stated the positive and negative things about the notebook. I won’t recommend it to people using laptops while travelling, without the charger. If you are not travelling with the notebook, and keep it plugged in for most of the time, and don’t mind headphones, I’d say for you the notebook is great. I hope Lenovo increases the battery life and adds the in-built microphone and the CD driver, in future models of the notebook. I would give three out of five stars for it. And I hope better notebooks in the future.

­­­-  Manas Trivedi