The Freebooters

The Freebooters written by Elleston Trevor is an unlikely story of a British army unit embattled in an imaginary country in a violent zone inside Africa with orders not to fight but only to retaliate. The force gets impatient, with one soldier letting loose his machine gun killing 15 of the locals. The locals meanwhile continue to harass the soldiers and in fact they get annoyed when the force constructs a barbed wire outside their perimeter in order to keep the locals away. The locals do manage to kill a few British soldiers and that too in a most brutal way. A few of them mutiny, walk across 250 miles of enemy territory with a truck and machine guns and all, but the truck breaks down and, so they are forced to leg it out to the missionary. Along the route they encounter the tribes and kill many of them. Once they arrive at the missionary it is still not over, and they have to fight hard to stave off the locals. Again when they arrive at the missionary, its head, a lady says, she does not approve of any killings, its bad. So they have a predicament, but they are lives to be saved as well. Its a brave story with varied characters and the writer has kept the interest intact. Goodreads review 5/5 

Black Wind

Black Wind is a thriller from Clive Cussler alongwith his son Dirk Cussler. During the world war II, a Japanese submarine carrying some deadly biological warfare was sunk by US boats. 40 years later, a North Korean businessman masquerading as a South Korean tries to get hold of those biological canisters in order to wreak havoc on the US. His logic - US forces are occupying the DMZ between North and South Korea and therefore preventing a re-unification between the two Koreas on North Korean terms. Enter Dirk Pitt Jr. and his sister Summer, both agents with NUMA, (National Underwater & Marine Agency), they stumble upon this rapacious plot of the North Korean to let loose biological warfare over the American air and soil during the G-20 summit. One thing leads to another, there is a lot of chase all over the place from Phillipines to Japan to South Korea and back to San Deigo. Dirk and Summer's father Dirk Pitt Sr. is also involved in the plot. Nice racy thriller a bit technical with all the nautical adventures but Clive Cussler has managed to keep the narrative flowing smoothly. Rating 4/5 

11.24 kms Aarey

11.24 kms in Aarey Forest, Mumbai. Took the regular unit no. 16 and the Aarey Guest House and also added the Diary road today. Weather in Aarey was absolutely humid with not a hint of breeze whatsoever. Aarey Forest is such a beautiful place, an oasis in the bustling city of Mumbai, a paradise of sorts. Don't understand government apathy in destroying such a beautiful natural eco system which is virtually the lungs of Mumbai. Especially when there are alternative sites for construction of the metro car shed government insistence on destroying aarey forest is nothing short of arrogance and cruelty. Cruelty it is to the thousands of birds, insects etc. residing in this beautiful forest. Every time you go to Aarey Forest you feel so refreshed, it is the pure oxygen which is the hallmark of this place. I suspect there is corruption and greed in commercially exploiting this pristine piece of nature.  

Dallas Buyers Club

Dallas Buyers Club is a 2013 American movie based on a real life story of Ron Woodruff who is diagnosed with AIDS but does not get the medicines because FDA has not approved of them. These are early days of the AIDS treatment and the research is still picking up on what is the best medicine for AIDS. Mathew McConaughey has brilliantly played the lead role of Ron, for which he won the Best Acting Oscar. Jennifer Garner as the supportive doctor has also played a superb role. The more I see of Jennifer Garner acting, the more I feel that she is developing in a fine actor in the mould of Meryl Streep. So Ron does not get the AZT because they are still on trial, but he goes to Mexico and gets dDc and peptide T, which is a protein from a local doctor there whose licence has been squashed. He brings a bootful load of medicines masquerading as a padre who requires them for his cancer treatment. Meanwhile he starts selling the medicines to fellow AIDS patients who are similarly denied the AZT treatment and forms the Dallas Buyers Club. His activity prompts other cities to form similar clubs like Florida Buyers Club which is mentioned in the movie. Ron gets into business with a transgender and sets about charging $400 as membership fee for the Dallas Buyers Club. But FDA confiscates his supplies and then IRS sets about investigating his activities. Meanwhile Jenifer is forced to resign from her post because she is seen as supporting the Club activities.

I liked the way this difficult subject was treated in the film. In India we don't see these kind of autobiographical movies which are even slightly controversial. We have sports and politics bio pics which are far away from truth and which are more like goody goody movies with a lot of song and dance. 

Babel

Babel is  a 2006 film starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett among others. It is set in four different countries Morocco Mexico, United States and Japan and the movie moves from one setting to another. Brad Pitt and his wife Cate are on a holiday to Morocco, leaving their two kids behind with their Mexican nanny in the US. They are emotionally distraught from having lost their third kid and so their marriage is on a strain. While in the bus, Cate is accidentally shot by a stray shot from one goatherd up in the mountains. The goatherd and his brother were given the gun by their uncle who gave it to them for protecting the herd from wolves. So Brad struggles with his bleeding wife and some emotionally disturbed co-passengers who think it is a terrorist attack and want to leave as soon as possible. Cate is taken to the village of the bus tour guide where there is no hospital but a local veterinary doctor sews up her wound. Meanwhile the nanny in the US has to go to Mexico for her son's wedding but the parents are not back, so she decides to take the kids with her to Mexico, a risky job but they manage to cross the border safely. Out in Japan, a deaf girl Rinko Kakuchi is shown as a rebellious kid and has unnatural sexual drive. She is recovering from the suicide of her mother so uses sexuality as a balm to calm her. She does not succeed any time. Her father Koji Yakusho is equally emotional disturbed and he has given away the gun as a memento to the goatherd's uncle. When the Japanese detective asks him about his wife's death, he says that he shot herself with a rifle, not jumping from the balcony. The connection between these stories slowly comes to the fore. There is one strand which connects all these stories. Absolutely powerful movie directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. The music by Gustavo Santaolalla is simply breath taking. I watched this movie on Amazon Prime Video, unfortunately the movie did not have any sub-titles, which is a major drawback. The acting by the cast is absolutely good. There are so many languages used in the movie - Moroccan, Spanish, English, Japanese, Sign language but there were no sub-titles. The movie is mostly shot on actual locations which is breath taking. Adriana Barazza as the nanny has done a superb role. The Moroccan part of the actors were also extremely good and lifelike. 

City of Ghosts

City of Ghosts is a 2017 documentary about a group of underground citizen journalists "Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently" (RBSS). RBSS came into being after ISIS took control of Raqqa a town in Syria. Most of the footages are the actual real footages of the crimes being committed in that place. The actors are also the real ones who are behind the RBSS. It is a moving account of the atrocities being committed by the extremist group in that town. Many of the RBSS members' own family members were shot dead by militants in Raqqa. RBSS members in Raqqa used to send footages to their friends in other countries who then used to post it on social media. The ISIS had completely cut off all contact for Raqqa with the outside world including destroying roof top satellites.

Raqqa is a beautiful town and people were leading normal lives but the arrival of ISIS in 2014 changed all that. This is a beautiful documentary and the RBSS were also awarded the International Press Freedom Award in 2015 for their brave efforts.

And the latest news is that Raqqa has been freed from the hands of the militants as per this news report

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-ignominious-end-of-the-isis-caliphate

Dark Fire

Dark Fire is a historical fiction novel written by C.J. Sansom. The mystery story is set during the reign of King Henry VIII in the 16th century. Brother Mathew Shardlake is a hunchbacked lawyer and he has been called upon to rescue a friend's young niece who is wrongly accused of murder of her cousin. The girl gets an unexpected reprieve assisted through the offices of Duke Thomas Cromwell who wants a favour from Shardlake in return for granting a two week reprieve for the girl. The Duke wants him to investigate something called Greek Fire which is some kind of chemical to be used for creating havoc and destruction amongst people. Cromwell wants it desperately in order to resuscitate his own position with the King. One after another people who have worked on the Greek Fire start getting killed mysteriously. Shardlake has to follow that lead and also keep working on the investigation into Elizabeth's case. Luck falls his way on the girl's case, when he espies a locked out well in the household of Elizabeth's family. She is an orphan staying with her uncle, grandmother and cousins. Meanwhile he gets track of the diabolical plot surrounding the Greek Fire or the Dark Fire as it is commonly known. Sansom uses language that is known to have been used in those times. He keeps the suspense alive through an engaging and fast developing plot. This is my second book of C.J. Sansom, first one being Revelation. Rating 4/5