Sonokrom, a village in the Ghanaian hinterland, has not changed for thousands of years. Here, the men and women speak the language of the forest, drink aphrodisiacs with their palm wine and walk alongside the spirits of their ancestors. The discovery of sinister remains; possibly human, definitely ‘evil’; in a vanished man’s hut brings the modern world into the village in the form of Kayo; a young forensic pathologist convinced that scientific logic can shatter even the most inexplicable of mysteries.
But as events in the village become more and more incomprehensible, Kayo and his sidekick, Constable Garba, find that Western logic and political bureaucracy are no longer equal to the task at hand. Strange boys wandering in the forest, ghostly music in the night and a flock of birds that come from far away to fill the desolate hut with discarded feathers take the newcomers into a world where, in the unknown, they discover a higher truth that leaves scientific explanations far behind.
I first read Harry Potter nearly twenty years back when the books first came out. I remember buying a bootlegged copy (Mumbai is quite famous for these kinds of books) and remember quickly getting hooked on to the series. I read the first three books before I moved to Singapore and remember when book number 5, The Order of the Phoenix, was released, I was pregnant with GG & BB. I was ordered bed rest by my doctor around my eighth month and it was around this time, I got hold of the book. It was a heafty book and I remember thinking it will be a good companion to my week-long bed rest. I finished the book in less than two days!
Around the time BB & GG were 8-9 years old, I started selling the series to them, but faced a lot of resistance, especially when they saw the size of the books. After about a couple of years, during one holiday, I decided to bribe them at the airport. I forced them to buy the first two books of the series and told them to try and read it. If they didn’t like the series after reading the two books, I will give up trying to force them to read. GG got hooked almost immediately and finished both books by the time we were back in Singapore. BB took longer to get involved in the books. I had to compell him to read at least 50 pages each day and by the time we were back in Singapore, he was also hooked in the series, not as much as GG, but enough to fight with her to read a new book first.
GG is a true Potterhead and knows so much more about the world that J.K. Rowlings created than i could ever hope to know! She has a Potterworld account and has been sorted into Ravenclaw. She knows all the trivia and facts and corrects me on more than one occasion. She wants to go to the UK and visit the places where the books have been set, including doing the studio tour, visiting platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross station and visiting Alnwick Castle which was used to film Hogwarts in the movies.
Both GG & BB have moved on to other book series now, but I suspect that the Harry Potter series retains a special place in their hearts.
Are you a fan of Harry Potter? I would love to hear which is your favourite book in the series.
A year after her husband’s death in a sailing accident off Martha’s Vineyard, Ellen Boisvert bumps into an old friend. In this chance encounter, she discovers that her immigrant husband of almost fifteen years was not an orphan after all. Instead, his aged mother Jo is alive and residing on the family’s isolated farm in the west of Ireland.
Faced with news of her mother-in-law incarnate, the thirty-nine-year-old American prep school teacher decides to travel to Ireland to investigate the truth about her husband Fintan and why he kept his family’s existence a secret for so many years.
Between Jo’s hilltop farm and the lakeside village of Gowna, Ellen begins to uncover the mysteries of her Irish husband’s past and the cruelties and isolation of his rural childhood. Ellen also stumbles upon Fintan’s long-ago romance with a local village woman, with whom he had a daughter, Cat. Cat is now fourteen and living with her mother in London. As Ellen reconciles her troubled relationship with Fintan, she discovers a way to heal the wounds of the past.
This was a busy week for me, so much so that BB actually commented that I have been out three days this week, something that has very rarely happened in the past few years.
I went to yet another retuning mums session, for which I had some expectations before the event, but was quite disappointed after. There was a lot of talking, but no real concrete solutions given. My take was that they had to probably do something with regard to their diversity group and this was the solution they decided upon. Get in touch with some women who are looking to returning back to work and then speak with them. I did make some contacts with other women in the same situation as me, so that was a plus for that day.
I had also some work related events and meetings to attend which took up a few more days.
We are at less than a month to the O levels and I am in full nagging mode. I can’t wait till mid November when the exams finish. Also I think once the exams start, we will just move with the momentum and before we know it, it’ll be the end of the exams. I just tell BB & GG that they they should give the exams their 100%, so that they can enjoy their holidays without the stress of the results day.
It’s GG’s graduation day this week plus something else I am going to be involved in for which I am super excited about. I can’t share much about it now, but will soon. It’s something I am getting out of my comfort zone.
School started for term 4 and GG also finally finished up her prelims. We are now counting down to less than a month to go to start of their written exams for the O level exams.
This week GG will also have her graduation ceremony and BB’s happens next week. Then next week is GG’s Science practicals while BB’s practicals will take place the week after next. After that it’s full steam ahead to the exams.
I am just looking forward to the end of the exams. I am so stressed with the exams even though both have gotten a place to study for a course for the next year. But still I want them to do well.
That is pretty much our week. Actually all our days are like this and will remain the same till the end of the exams!
Memories and Such 