Manjil Pratim Saikia

Random Walks: Trip to Venice, Italy

Posted by Manjil Pratim Saikia | Feb 15, 2015 | Travel Blog |

Dear Readers, It is with great pleasure that we announce to you that one of our regular contributors, Mr. Manjil P. Saikia will henceforth be writing a travel column for us. He is currently a Diploma student at The Abdus Salam ICTP, Trieste (Italy). We hope that our readers will love this column and enjoy the opportunity of reliving the experience of travel through our author’s senses. Please continue to show your support for us through your “Likes” and in case you want to share your views, please feel free to use our “Comments” section. Thank you. I...

Book Review: Be Careful What You Wish For

Posted by Manjil Pratim Saikia | Apr 29, 2014 | Book Review |

The latest volume in the mammoth Clifton chronicles by Jeffery Archer was launched in India recently, and I was lucky to read it within 3 days of launch. The book, like all other Archer novels was unputdownable. The story revolves around the second generation Cliftons now, and slowly focus shifts from Harry Clifton to his son, Sebastian Clifton and his life, first as a teenager and then as a young man trying to make his mark in the world. The book is set mostly in England, and is an account of only 8 years (1957-1964), yet it contains many...

Book Review: The Last Lecture: Lessons in Living

Posted by Manjil Pratim Saikia | Dec 17, 2013 | Book Review |

Every now and then you come across a story that has to be shared, that is so extraordinary that you feel the emotions of the protagonist as the story goes along. One such story is that of Prof. Randy Pausch, now deceased due to pancreatic cancer. Prof. Pausch was a distinguished man of science; he was a professor of computer science and a consultant to various companies like Google, Disney, etc. His was a charming and dynamic personality that enthralled everyone who met. Unfortunately he was diagnosed with a serious disease and given a few months to live. Instead...

Book Review: The Company of Women

Posted by Manjil Pratim Saikia | Oct 15, 2013 | Book Review |

Mohan Kumar is a very rich person who has a single vice- women. He is crazy about them and is willing to spend lavishly to get their company. It started when he was in the United States attending college and then took a new turn after he divorced his wife and felt lonely without a women in his life, more specifically without someone to share his bed with him. This is in essence the story of the book that is the subject of the review, ‘The Company of Women’ by one of India’s most well-known and widely read authors,...

Book Review: Inferno

Posted by Manjil Pratim Saikia | Jul 24, 2013 | Book Review |

Inferno is Dan Brown’s latest offering in the thriller/adventure genre. This is the fourth novel featuring the famous Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon as he tries to save his life as well as the world. If you are expecting the Da Vinci type fireworks, then you will be hugely disappointed. The book is good, but it is far from great. The reader will be tested in many places with a narrative that seems quite opposite to gripping. There are long instances of just historical ramblings which anyone with an interest can get from an encyclopaedia. But still, Brown does create...