The Glass PalaceSet in 19th century Burma, the storybegins with its kingdom disintegrating,and tells us how it affects the fate ofthe people. At this time, an Indian boy,Rajkumar, falls in love with Dolly, apalace attendant. Unfortunately, theroyal family is being forced to leave theglass palace by British invaders at the

same time. Eventually, Rajkumar builds an empirein the teak forest of Burma. But even after severalyears, he is unable to forget Dolly. So, he sets ona journey in search of her.

Sea Of PoppiesThe novel was shortlisted for theMan Booker Prize (2008) and wasawarded the Crossword Book Prizeand the India Plaza Golden QuillAward. Part of the Ibis trilogy, it is

based on a bunch of sailors, convictsand coolies who are sailing down the river

Hooghly on their way to Mauritius. Duringthe journey, they bond and become ship

brothers, even as they dream of theirnew lives built on remote islands –

where they are being taken. TNN

■ MAN VS. WILD, DISCOVERY, 3.00 PM:Bear Grylls shows how to survivethe Alps, Europe's greatest moun-tain range, where thousands be-come stranded. He parachutes in

1791: Britain's Observer newspaper was firstpublished.

1812: Peter Gaillard patented the power mower.

1843: Manila paper (made from sails,canvas and rope) were patented inMassachusetts.

1910: R Venkatraman, eighthPresident of India was born.

1919: IK Gujral, 12th Prime Ministerof India, was born.

1945: The US Senate approved American par-ticipation in the United Nations.

1971: The UN Security Council called an emer-gency session to consider the deteriorating sit-uation between India and Pakistan; The IndianNavy attacked the Pakistan Navy and Karachi.

1982: China adopted its constitution.

1998: The Unity Module, the second module of the International Space Station,

was launched.

2014: The United Nations warned thatthe world was on course for the warmest

year since records began.

and demonstrates special survivaltechniques.

■ EXTREME FISHING WITH ROBSONGREEN, SONY BBC EARTH HD, 5.00 PM:Actor and angler Robson Greentravels to some of the hottest fish-ing spots in the world, in an attemptto reel in some truly monstrous fish-es.

■ YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED, DISCOV-ERY SCIENCE, 7.00 PM: Experts ex-plain the science behind unique in-ventions that include a vacuumcleaner used as a didgeridoo and amechanised super suit.

■ THE INCREDIBLES, STAR MOVIES, 3.38PM: Forced to adopt a civilian iden-tity and stuck in a white-collar job,Mr Incredible itches to get back intoaction. When he is lured into a trapby the evil Syndrome, his family con-trives to save him.

■ JOURNEY 2: THE MYSTERIOUS IS-LAND, SONY PIX SD, 4.55 PM: WhenAlexander discovers a mysteriousisland, he sends a coded signal to hisgrandson Sean. After Sean and his

MOVIES ON TVTELEVISION

THISDAY THAT

YEAR

MUST DOMUST SEEDECEMBER04, 2019

stepfather, Hank, travel to the island,they discover that it is sinking.

■ THE SWAN PRINCESS: A ROYALMYZTERY, &FLIX, 7.25 PM: Upon wit-nessing an enigmatic marksmeared everywhere in the king-dom, Odette and her friends de-cide to uncover the mystery be-hind the mark.

Guess the book from thequote

1. “God save us from peoplewho mean well.”

2. “The gods grow jealous oftoo much contentment any-where, and they show their dis-pleasure all of a sudden.”

3. “Man needs difficulties inlife because they are neces-sary to enjoy success.”

4. “We may not have sewage,drinking water, and Olympicgold medals, but we do havedemocracy.”

5. “Rains are an act of God inIndia. And God as we know is alaw unto himself.”

BOOKS 03Books! Books! Books! There is no end to knowledge.All you need to do is flip through the pages to getthat extra dose of infotainment. So simply read on...

ANSWERS1. Vikram Seth’s ‘A Suitable Boy’ 2. R K Narayan’s ‘Malgudi Days’ 3. A P J Abdul Kalam’s ‘You Are Born ToBlossom’ 4. Aravind Adiga’s ‘The White Tiger’ 5. Kiran Nagarkar’s Ravan & Eddie

MALAYALAM POET AKKITHAM WINS 2019 JNANPITH AWARD

Celebrated Malayalam poetAkkitham Achuthan Nam-boothiri, popularly known as

Akkitham, has won the Jnanpith Award2019.

Congratulating the poet, KeralaGovernor Arif Mohammed Khan tweet-ed, “My heartiest congratulations topoet Shri Akkitham Achuthan Nam-boothiri on being honoured with Jnan-pith Award, the nation’s highest liter-ary award. It’s also a great honour forMalayalam literature, especially poet-ry.”

He is the sixth literary personalityfrom Kerala to achieve the honour. Oth-

er luminaries from Keralawho have bagged this pres-tigious prize are GShankara Kurup, ThakaziShivashankara Pillai, SKPottakad, MT VasudevanNair and ONV Kurup.

Akkitham, 93, startedgaining attention from theearly 1950s for his modernistpoems, first of which,‘Khandakavya’, was pub-lished in 1952. Akkitham has publishedas many as 45 books comprising poet-ry, anthologies, plays and short stories.

He has also translated the ‘Srimad

Bhagavatam’, as ‘Sree Ma-habhagavatham’. It hasaround 14,613 verses. His oth-er notable poetry anthologiesinclude, ‘Balidarsanam’ (theVision of Bali), ‘Arangettam’,‘Nimisha Kshetram’, ‘IdinjuPolinja Lokam’, ‘Am-ritaghatika’, and ‘Kalikkot-tilil’.

The poet has been in-volved in social reform activ-

ities through his association with Yo-gakshema Sabha, and has strived tobring in reforms in the lives of the Nam-boothiri Brahmins of Kerala. ANI

MUST READS Here are some must-read works byAmitav Ghosh, the best selling authorand winner of multiple awards, includingthe Sahitya Akademi Award and Jnanpith

The Circle of ReasonGhosh’s debut novel written in 1986was about Alu, an orphan, and hisjourney spanning many years, andcontinents. Alu’s foster father enlistshim as a soldier. But an unfortunatesituation forces Alu to run away fromhis village. He travels from Calcutta to Goaand hops on a fishing trawler that illegally shipsimmigrants to Africa, all the while being chased bya police officer. The book won The Prix Médicis, aFrench literary award.

The CalcuttaChromosomeThis Arthur C Clarke Awardwinning-novel tells the storyof L Murugan, a scientist, inpursuit of something calledthe ‘Calcutta Chromosome’,while trying to solve themystery behind amalaria that afflictedmany people in 1898in Calcutta. The storystarts from thefuture and dates backto the Victorian Era.

The Shadow LinesThe Sahitya Akademi Award-win-ning novel is set againstthe backdrop of histori-cal events in India (theSwadeshi Movement,World War II, Partitionof India and the commu-

nal riots of 1963-64 in Dhaka andCalcutta). Split into two parts — ‘GoingAway’ and ‘Coming Home’ — the novelfollows the life of a young boy growingup in Calcutta, who is educated inDelhi and then moves to London.

First ever Marvelcomic sells forrecord $1.26m

at auction

A rare copy of the first Marvelcomic book has sold for a record$1.26 million at an auction. Ac-cording to

Heritage Auctions,a Dallas-based auc-tioneer, the near-pristine MarvelComics No 1 from1939, was pur-chased by a buyerwishing to remainanonymous.

The issue fea-tures the first ap-pearances of char-acters such as theHuman Torch, Ka-Zar, Angel and theSub-Mariner.

Ed Jaster, sen-ior vice presidentat Heritage, calledit “a historic copyof a historic com-ic book”.

The comicbook was first pur-chased at a news-stand by a Union-town, Pennsylva-nia, mail carrierwho made a prac-tice of buying thefirst issue of comic books and maga-zines. Since then the issue has changedowners, a handful of times.

The previous record-holder for aMarvel Comics book was a 1962 issuefeaturing the first appearance of Spi-der-Man, which sold for $1.1m in 2011.

A handful of other comic bookshave topped the $1m price tag. In2014, a ‘Superman’ comic (publishedby DC Comics) was purchased for$3.2m on eBay

THE INDEPENDENT

The issue fea-tures the firstappearances ofcharacters suchas the HumanTorch, Ka-Zar,Angel and theSub-Mariner

Raindrops were falling on the ground,Thud…Thud, Oh! now this sound was profoundIn every one’s heart and mind it was,As the rain continued without any pauseShhh…shhh the wind howled its way,Ceasing never as it makes the trees rockand swayThe cold chill shivered and crept throughour feet,And made us look forward for the incoming ofthe cold icy sheet.The sun, our beloved, seemed to be upsetwith us,As it shows no signs to give its radiant heatand make us blush,Pray! pray! That’s what our elders sayTo bring some heat! Oh some radiant heatAnd fulfil our vitamin D’s needThen suddenly the animals gathered allaround,And the atmosphere was filled with theirprofuse sounds!The rain drops thud stopped as theirs grewAnd eyes awaited for the sky to turn blueBut then something phenomenal was seenWithin the clouds! Oh yes, somewherebetweenA colourful curve so pretty, lively and brightOh! what a picturesque sightWhat is it? Were the whispers that floatedaroundSomething so colourful and is just not having any bound‘It’s the blessing of the god’ the elders sayThe children cried, “please make it stay”And then joy and glee filled them allAs they looked at this captivating universe’s call“Let’s call it a rainbow” said someoneOh yes that would doAnd that’s how it got its nameRainbow, oh! RainbowAnd through its beauty, it got its fame!

ANUSHKA AGARWAL, class XI, The Shri RamSchool Aravali, Gurgaon, Haryana

Akkitham haspublished 45

books, includ-ing poetry,

anthologies,plays, short

stories

Lyra’s YA adventuresT

he line between fantasy and re-ality is blurry in the world ofPhilip Pullman. Which, hethinks, is how it should be. TheBritish author’s latest book,

‘The Secret Commonwealth’, is set in aworld of mystery, magic, witches anddaemons – as well as untrustworthy politi-cians, manipulative charmers and fakenews. “If you’re interested in the world,the world is bound to affect what youwrite,” Pullman says.

‘The Secret Commonwealth’ bringsback the indomitable Lyra, whom mil-lions of readers have followed in four pre-vious books from infancy through an ad-venture-filled adolescence – and now into

t r o u b l e d

young adulthood. In the latest book,Lyra’s studies at Oxford University areinterrupted by a personal crisis and a jour-ney in search of mysterious Central Asianroses for their dangerous powers. It’s arollicking adventure with a philosophi-

cal undertow, set in a fantastical uni-verse. But it’s also shadowed by thespecter of current events.

Like his heroine, Pullman is trou-bled by the world around him. A chatwith the 72-year-old author in-evitably turns to Brexit, as manyconversations in Britain do thesedays. Pullman thinks Britain’s de-cision to leave the European Unionis a big mistake. He considers ex-

Prime Minister David Cameron a“complacent fool” for calling the 2016

referendum on the country’s EU mem-bership.

Like many people looking at the stateof politics on both sides of the Atlantic,he worries about “the decay of truth, the

idea that nothing is real, nothing is true,life is a tissue of improba-ble lies spun over noth-ingness. You can say any-thing, and if you say itwith enough effrontery,you can get away with it,”Pullman said in an in-terview.

Questions abouttruth, lies and the limitsof knowledge ripplethrough ‘The SecretCommonwealth. ‘HisDark Materials’ intro-

duced the world to Lyra, an imagi-native, unmanageable child being raisedby scholars of Oxford’s Jordan College.In Pullman’s most striking act of imagi-nation, every human has an inseparableanimal soul mate known as a daemon(pronounced demon).

Like its predecessors, ‘The SecretCommonwealth’ brims with perilous tripsto far-flung locales, including Geneva,Prague and Istanbul. But there is also anew, adult, sense of unease. Lyra is nolonger a child but a troubled young adultwho finds herself estranged from her dae-mon Pantalaimon – effectively at war withherself.

“If we are estranged temporarily orpermanently from part of ourselves, it’sa terrible situation to be in,” Pullman said.This emotion is also one many that peo-ple will recognise – especially the oneswho have had a rocky transition from ado-lescence into adulthood. AP

If you allow this idea to develop that it doesn’t reallymatter what you say because no one will believe it

anyway, we are on very shaky ground. We see this very clearly inDonald Trump and in Boris Johnson. And that’s a very dan-gerous state of affairs...

If we are estranged temporarily orpermanently from part of ourselves,it’s a terrible situation to be in, saysPullman for his latest book ‘TheSecret Commonwealth’

STUDENT’S CORNER

A still from the film‘The Golden Compass’based on Pullman’strilogy ‘His DarkMaterials’