• The enigma of the Half-Blood Prince: Part 3

    This is the third part of my monologue on Severus Snape, continuing from https://ashwinkumar19892021.wordpress.com/2017/07/01/the-enigma-of-the-half-blood-prince-part-2/, and starting from https://ashwinkumar19892021.wordpress.com/2017/06/28/the-enigma-of-the-half-blood-prince-part-1/. Snape was an expert Potions Master, and excellent in Defence against the Dark Arts as well. However, he was not an ideal teacher. He was very openly biased towards his own house (Slytherin) and generally gave the Gryffindors a…

  • The enigma of the Half-Blood Prince: Part 2

    Please read Part 1 here https://ashwinkumar19892021.wordpress.com/2017/06/28/the-enigma-of-the-half-blood-prince-part-1/, to get a better understanding of my monologue about Severus Snape. So, Snape was a thoroughly complicated character; in my opinion the best character in the series – not according to the moral compass, but in the way he was structured and built up right till the grand surprise…

  • The enigma of the Half-Blood Prince: Part 1

    Firstly, let us take a moment to celebrate 20 years since the first copy of “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” was released in the UK. To call it just a “series of fantasy books” would be a collossal understatement. Joanne Rowling took us to a new world; full of love and hatred, good and…

  • Striving for more peace and less hate

    Since the last few years the world has turned around “Nationalism” and “right wing” are buzz words that sound Far and wide; left, right and centre; in and out Such that nobody is left in any doubt Outside the circle of family and friends, there lies a complete chaos Cries for peace are drowned out…

  • Pakistan snatch incredible victory from jaws of defeat

    England, Bangladesh and India had booked their respective places in the semifinals of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017. The last league game between Sri Lanka and Pakistan yesterday at Cardiff (Wales) was to decide who would play England in the first semifinal tomorrow (again at Cardiff). It was a virtual quarterfinal, as the winners would…

  • In stunning turnaround, Bangladesh knock New Zealand out

    The ICC Champions Trophy 2017 (a mini World Cup), surprisingly held in England (given that the previous such tournament was also held there); had almost threatened to turn into a damp squib – with two matches being washed out due to rain, and terror attacks in London amidst poor security for the players. Then, two…

  • Sachin – A Billion Dreams: Cricket lovers’ delight!

    Yesterday night my father and I had the treat of watching “Sachin – A Billion Dreams” (English) at INOX in R-City Mall, Ghatkopar. My dad had booked the 9 30 pm show (First Day Third Show) in the ‘Insignia’ screen – the business class for movies, since English was available in Insignia only; in the first…

  • My experiences as an Aspie: Part Four

    After a while, I am back! To refresh you all, here are the first 3 parts: https://ashwinkumar1989.in/2017/05/09/my-experiences-as-an-aspie-part-one/  , https://ashwinkumar1989.in/2017/05/10/my-experiences-as-an-aspie-part-two/ and https://ashwinkumar1989.in/2017/05/12/my-experiences-as-an-aspie-part-three/ . I was lucky that my mom had a counsellor friend who had her own clinic near my home. By the way, it was obvious that my counselling in Chennai was not very effective; and I had…

  • My first visit to Pandharpur – Part 2

    For those of you who have not yet read Part 1, here is the link: https://ashwinkumar19892021.wordpress.com/2017/05/21/my-first-visit-to-pandharpur-part-1/ . I had darshan at the Vitthal Temple, but could not see the main deity due to the crowd. I then came to my hotel room and slept for 4 hours, as I was tired after walking in the dry heat…

  • My first visit to Pandharpur – Part 1

    My primary purpose of this trip was to explore the Kurduvadi – Pandharpur line (secondary purpose being darshan at the famous Vitthal Temple). I could not get reservation in the direct train to Pandharpur(51027 CSTM-PVR fast passenger) because of the weekend rush, so I instead chose to book a ticket to KWV for Saturday May…