Joe Speak

High veldts and deep jungles, a righteous but rogue Afrikaner, gold and diamond mines, accidental love and high octane action very well captured in the back drops of the Dark Continent . This summarizes the works of one my favourite author – Wilbur Smith. Though I use the common Library for borrowing novels, I bought a copy of “Those in Peril” – the latest novel by Wilbur Smith from an online book store. I was a little excited on the prospect of reading his new novel. I had in mind the vivid African landscapes, the hapless men pitted against fate and the hunting, soldiering, and chivalrous Afrikaner hero with some of his black and faithful side kicks. The story began on a ship. The fast paced story line from “As hungry as the sea” flashed through my mind. But as I read on and on, I realized with a sinking feeling that this was not what I expected. The story was a loosely put together one with a wealthy oil magnate’s daughter being captured by the Somalian pirates, and the head of th...

In Greek hólos means whole and grafē means writing or drawing and hence the word Holography. The holographic technique is exactly what its etymology implies – making of the whole image.  In simple words holographic technique allows the light scattered from an object to be recorded and later to be reproduced so that the image of the object is recreated at exactly the same reference relative to the recording medium. This invention was made in 1947, by a Hungarian – British Physicist Dennis Gabor, He later on went on to win the Nobel for this discovery in 1971. The invention of laser made holography a happening technology. There are different kinds of Holographic techniques. These techniques vary in the method of recording the image, and also in the later reproduction of that image. Some of the relatively popular holographic techniques are Transmission holography, Rainbow transmission holography, Denisyuk holography, Specular Holography and Lenticular Holography. Holography uses ...

And we are again on the road, this time again to Munnar, a place called Kolakkumalai – we have heard that one of the world’s highest tea plantations are here, and also the world’s highest B.O.P tea factory – hardly thirty kilometers drive from Munnar through Suryanelli. We start early from Muvattupuzha, a sleepy little town ninety kilometers west of Munnar. We have a Bajaj Avenger and a Honda Dazzler. Four young men starting on an exciting journey, as care free as it gets, not even checking whether the motorbikes are filled up, rucksack containing the Bermudas and the beach shirts to welcome the rain – the most welcome and anticipated guest that sure should give us frequent visits through out our journey. On the way we have our breakfast from a restaurant, hardly big enough to seat 10 people, and oddly but ironically named The Taj. We indulge ourselves in the selfless and homely affectations and delicacies of the proprietor. After gulping down the scalding and strong tea, we kick s...

Throttle full open in your hands, wind screaming in your ears, and the steep climbing angle defying the gravity, the overpowering yet scintillating odour of grease and engine oil, the thrust produced by the twin engines, the speeding air trying to knock you out of the seat – this is my idea of  a perfect flight. “Who do you want to be in the future?” every teacher asks this staple question to every young child, and I was no exception, I too, got this staple question directed at me and my answer was another staple stuff – Flying. Have I flown? Yes, thanks to the job that I have, it includes frequent travel all over the country. But every time the jet engine revs up, you feel claustrophobic; you are enclosed in a metal tube and is being hurled out into the stratosphere at amazing speeds. You know that you are at 20,000 feet, yet you feel like you are bound and enclosed. You feel the sweet fragrance of the perfumed interiors and the constant attention of the beautiful attendants. St...

His head was spinning violently. He could not stand on his own. The whole world was swimming before his eyes as if he was looking through a screen of smoke. He felt that his feet were playing games with him. Every tread seemed to be laborious, with the effort making him sweat. He clamped down the violent urge to throw up and swallowed down the bile that threatened to drown him. The cars that whizzed pass did not make him even blink an eye lid. He felt that he was invincible, except for the revolutions of his head, and even tried to throw some thing at a passing Amby – that was wheezing and sputtering. Later, on retrospection, he would ask to him self, “Why did I take a dig out at that Ambassador?”, it had its own fair bit of problems – like the clogged exhaust, pistons that no longer produced the, escape velocity needed to propel the massive junk of rusting metal forward, or the air horn when in operation, which it seldom did, made a sexagenarian with acute case of Tuberculosis sound...

After three months of searing heat, it has finally arrived. The most awaited guest on all of the South India , the Monsoon. The word Monsoon is derived from the Arabic word Mausam through the Portuguese word monção. The three months of summer is very harsh on the Indian subcontinent, and the current trend in climate change is doing nothing to alleviate this situation, rather than to make it much worse. Monsoon is a time for joy and of escape from the harsh rise in the mercury. It is with great anticipation that the people in South India – especially Kerala- look forward to it. Monsoon in Kerala is the period of heavy rain, of cool winds and strengthening of the greenery. The heavy rains bring life back to the earth, the rivers and the streams get healthier and stronger and the dense foliage becomes ever more robust. My idea perfect monsoon is lounging on an easy chair, on the verandah, with a cup of hot coffee and a Robert Ludlum Novel. Also it is the time to listen to the potpour...

India – the mother of all civilizations. India – the country of diversities, the potpourri of cultures, of colours, of religions, the land of mathematicians, thinkers, philosophers and the country of cricket crazy billions. It is with immense pride and a heart bursting at the seams with happiness, which I am writing this. We have waited for twenty eight years - since Kapil’s devils lifted the world cup proudly into the evening sky at Lords - and the wait has been protracted and exasperating. It took a Captain with ice cold demeanour, to bring home to the one hundred and twenty one crore, the world cup. This is a victory not only for India , but also for the great master, the master craftsman – Sachin Tendulkar. India beat Sri Lanka by six wickets with ten balls to spare. Dhoni coming out with a well timed captain’s innings, Gambhir, playing the anchor role, and the bowling and fielding earlier in the match being world class, India never gave Sri Lanka a chance to recover fr...