hWat is dyslexia?

The English language has a lot of problems inherent in it and that is what makes it so cute. However, it causes a lot of problems for those who learn it as a second language. Isn't amazing that some of the learning problems is seen only in those who learn English and still we think they are school problems or the children's problems? In a world like ours where even sickness is seen as a potential market, there is more chance for a child to be learned dyslexic. If the diagnosis is a farce, the treatment that follows is a comedy of errors. Instead of letting the children find our what they are strong in, they are made aware of their weaknesses using snake oil therapies. Some children are proud of their problems since it guarantees them some initial attention. Some other see a potential excuse for not doing the homework. Some day the school gets fed up of them and leaves them to swim or sink, mostly sink.

Story Writing

Model Story with the letters in names

 As a practice exercise it is a great idea to take up writing stories with some constricting rules. Trying to write a story with each paragraph starting with each of the letters in a long word or even with the letters in your name is a good way of making your creative juices flow. Here is an example. The author's name is obvious.

Silence prevailed in the courtroom as the judge was about to pronounce the most important part of his verdict. Is the woman to be hanged or confined forever or let go free?

Really speaking, I didn’t care much about it. The court had a long session that day and I was in a hurry to go home.

Everywhere around me, I could hear subtle whispers and heavy sighs. Even the fans which usually made a droning noise were rather quiet today.

Every day, in the courtroom, someone is let go or kept in or even sent to the gallows. Witnessing all this for years had made me kind of insensitive. I was feeling hungry and I could already smell the hot meal in my kitchen a full thirty miles away. Lalitha wouldn’t have eaten but the kids couldn’t have waited.

Killing is not uncommon these days. When the state does it, it is called a war; when the public does it, it is called riot and when it is in the name of justice, it is even considered a good thing.

Usually, women don’t get hanged much these days. Their children or other encumbrances come to their rescue. This woman’s son had never come to the court to plead for her.

Many times I had pondered over the effect of punishments. It is one thing when you cane a child, but it is a totally different issue when an adult is sent to the gallows.

And then I heard it. Even the judge had a hard time pronouncing it. The woman was to be hanged till death. She didn’t scream or even weep. She only expressed her desire to see her son once before she was hanged.

Recalling the heinous nature of her crime,  I had no doubt that she deserved it. But two years later, when fresh evidence of her innocence came to light and the real murderer was arrested, I felt really bad. I didn’t go to the court for two days. But then I resumed my work. To err is human, to forgive is not exactly just divine…it is God himself.

Writing Movie Reviews

Movie is typically a modern-day art form and it encompasses most of the other art forms, like music, literature, fine arts, theatre and dance.

Movie reviews of all sorts are available on the net and take a look at them. Great movies have been reviewed by great movie critics and such reviews are also available.

Writing a movie review is very much like a writing a book review. There are some differences in the aspects.

Steps: Read whatever is available about the movie or the movie makers and his crew before you see the movie. See the movie at least twice and take down notes regarding the different aspects like:

Introduction: Name of the movie, director, production company and the main actors

First paragraph

1. Theme 
2. Plot and the script
3. Characters
4. Dialogues

Second paragraph

1. Cinematography
2. Lyrics
3. Music
4. Dance

Third  paragraph

1. Technical Details: Sets, location, costumes, lighting, sound recording make-up, side effects and stunt scenes

Concluding paragraph

1. Popularity and critical acclaim

Sandpiper

Ahdaf Soueif was born in Cairo and educated in Egypt and England. She studied for a PhD in linguistics at the University of Lancaster. Her debut novel, In the Eye of the Sun (1993), set in Egypt and England, recounts the maturing of Asya, a beautiful Egyptian who, by her own admission, "feels more comfortable with art than with life." Her second novel The Map of Love (1999) was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, has been translated into 21 languages and sold over a million copies.  She has also published two works of short stories, Aisha (1983) and Sandpiper(1996) - a selection from which was combined in the collection I Think Of You in 2007, and Stories Of Ourselves in 2010.

Soueif writes primarily in English,  but her Arabic-speaking readers say they can hear the Arabic through the English. 

 She was married to Ian Hamilton, a famous English literary critic.

She lives in London and Cairo.

The short story Sandpiper by Ahdaf Soueif reads more like a poem than a short story. The basic elements air, water, fire and earth interplay with one another in this story highlighting the events that happen in the life of the main character. There are very few specifics; even the names of the main character are not mentioned. The place names are mentioned very rarely which gives this story a certain universality and timelessness.The story is told from the first person point of view of the central character, Lucy's mother and Um Sabir's daughter-in-law. This is a typical example of feminist writing.
There is no intriguing plot in the story and the conflicts are mainly internal. Marital discord due to cultural differences can be cited as the theme of the story.
The narrator, Lucy's mother, herself a writer, takes us into her first short utterance itself. It is a simple sentence which sounds like part of a private casual conversation and it sets the mood of the story.

                                      Outside, there is a path.

The rest of the story is about how she is unable to find her own path to happiness. She had met her husband, an Egyptian, in her own country. After a long courtship of four years, they got married and every year she has been six months in her husband's place at Alexandria near Cairo, Egypt.

"...:twelve years ago, I met him. Eight years ago, I married him. Six years ago, I gave birth to his child."
This cold objectivity is also heard when she talks about her motherhood.

As the story opens we see her at the beach near her husband's home in Alexandria. She is describing how she used to spend her time at the beach. Her description tells us a lot about how she loves to see the basic elements interacting with one another. They are very gentle to each other. They chase, cajole, fondle, unite, get into each other's being. This even forms a cycle. She is very passionate about everything in her life. She takes an interest in everything around her. The stranger the subject of her interest, the stronger her involvement. She is hungry for more and more varied experiences.

On the other hand her in-laws are very protective of her like they are generally of the women folk. It has been spelled out to her at the Cairo airport that women are considered second sex in Egypt. Coming from a more liberal land like Europe, it mattered much to her though she managed to adapt herself  to that.
After her first child was born, he husband became less passionate about her. He would have tried to harmonize her with his culture for long and then gave it up when he got really frustrated. She would have lavished all his love and time on her child, ignoring him. From the way she talks about how expectant she was when she was expecting this sound only natural. The part where she talks about how she played with her child even when it was still inside tells us that certain things are universal and do not pertain to any single culture.