What to read after Harry Potter 7

You may have finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by now. In the next few weeks, you might even pick up Book One and read the series again. And you might undoubtedly be waiting for the remaining two films in the franchise. But the fact remains that the series is over. There remains the possibility that J K Rowling will find the idea of writing yet another one too hard to resist, but that's leaving things to chance and anyway that will take time. What can you read now that there's that empty void waiting to be filled?
Fortunately there are several books to be read in the fantasy genre for young adults, and all of them excellent. You can of course, choose to go back to the Naughtiest Girl series by Enid Blyton, but something tells me you won't. So here goes:

Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit. J R R Tolkien's masterpiece spawned countless inspirations, J K Rowlings' among one of them. The ultimate quest tale, it charts the travails of Frodo Baggins and his friends as they strive to destroy the evil One Ring. Set in Middle Earth, just before the age of man, it's a rich world of Hobbits, Dwarves, Elves, Wizards and Ents. I read it (after an unsuccessful attempt) during my impressionable college years and the world has never been the same since. And if you haven't been living in Middle Earth yourself, you would have probably heard of the films by now.

Chronicles of Narnia (7 parts). Written from 1950 onwards, Narnia was a world created by Tolkien's fellow Inkling C S Lewis. You can enter this world of magic through a wardrobe, but only if you're in the right house. Started off as the adventures of 4 siblings Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy. The books chronicle the classic good vs evil struggle, ending in The Last Battle. You might have seen the film that was released last year. I've read only the first two books so far, but everyone who's read the series swears by it.

Earthsea Quartet by Ursula K Le Guin. Wizards are called Mages in Earthsea and the first in this four-book series, A Wizard of Earthsea tells Duny's tale. Duny, discovered to have magical powers is sent to a school for wizards (sounds familiar?) where his arrogance leads to the unleashing of a shadow upon the world. The books plot his progress from repentance to Archmage, marriage and beyond.

His Dark Materials trilogy. Written by Philip Pullman, it charts the adventures of Lyra and Will, two 12-year-olds through various parellel universes. No wands here, only magical gadgets - an instrument that can answer any question (The Golden Compass) and a knife that can cut out doorways to a parallel universe (The Subtle Knife). The Amber Spyglass concludes the trilogy, which was originally inspired by John Milton's Paradise Lost. Controversial on account of being anti-church, it's an awesome tale. Sort of like a Rolling Stones alternative to the Beatlesque Harry Potter! There's a film coming out this December as well.

The Borrible Trilogy by Michael Di Larrabeiti. I haven't read it but it's recommended by Jayaprakash, a walking encyclopaedia of fantasy/sci-fi literature and writer. He e-mails me,

Borribles are runaway children who...live together in the parts of cities - London in these books - where no one else lives, steal what they need to live from us and are virtually immortal, unless they are caught and their ears cropped, in which case they become mortal children again. These books are full of fellowship, adventure and fun, but also pain, darkness and dirt. They are strongly anti-authoritarian and altogether brilliant.

In fact, Jayaprakash also recommends two standalone books for young adults. Coraline by Neil Gaiman and Grimbold's Other World by Nicholas Stuart Grey. All three recommendations sound very appealing and here's another one for you - wizard-detective Harry Dresden's adventures in the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher.

Enough in that list for many a long summer one would think. You can now safely consign the Potter books to the back row of your library!

A slightly different version of this post was posted here.

A hazardous existence

"When I get up in the morning, I find my bed's full of dark small carbon particles, the balcony is full of particles, and it is so difficult to breathe. In the morning we want fresh air, there is nothing like fresh...", says Anil Misra, resident of Sukhdev Vihar, a collection of DDA apartments in South-East Delhi. Misra and his fellow residents have gathered on the terrace of one of the apartments. He gestures to the squat red building, just 28 metres away, from which a chimney is throwing up black smoke. The building houses a Common Bio-Medical Waste Treatment Facility, that 'treats' all the discarded waste from hospitals, nursing homes and dispensaries in Delhi.

Cutting corners

These wastes consist of removed body organs, blood-soaked bandages, surgical gloves, needles, instruments - a mix of organic, plastic and even radioactive matter. Needless to say, this stuff is dangerous. Exposure to waste could lead to infectious diseases, even AIDS if there's contact with infected blood. If plastic parts are burnt, they would release dioxins that are cancerous. And there's always the chance of catching something less menacing. Of course, these risks could be considerably reduced if wastes are treated as per prescribed norms. This essentially means 90 percent of medical waste has to be autoclaved - a process that includes heating waste in a pressurised device to achieve sterilization. Somewhat like 'cooking' wastes in a huge pressure cooker! There's reason to believe though, that best practices are NOT being followed at the Synergy Waste Treatment plan in Sukhdev Vihar. Ravi Agarwal of Toxics Link, a Delhi-based privately funded agency that specializes in toxic waste says, "black smoke means there will be unburnt material coming out...it leads one to think that there is mismanagement on the facility." There's plenty of black smoke out there and it seems clear the company is cutting corners.

A government slip-up?

But even if Synergy Waste was doing a professional job of treating waste, should the plant have been allowed to come up at all in the first place? According to central government guidelines, such plants need to be 'located at a place reasonably far away from residential areas'. This plant though, was set up just 28 metres from the boundary wall of the DDA flats in Sukhdev Vihar. On the other side of the facility lies Haji colony, a densely populated locality. A third side is bounded by Ghaffar Manzil. "We thought it was going to be a godown of sorts, we only realised what it was when the chimney was erected", says Shahid Hasan a resident of the corner flat that is closest to the plant. Air Commodore Mehra, another resident echoes, "28 metres or 30 metres from our boundary is certainly not reasonable.we would like this to be shut down or shifted to another place." The colony hasn't spared any efforts - they've petitioned the Delhi govt, the State Pollution Control Board and the matter currently rests with the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Tejendra Khanna. There's also the matter of a precedent in this case - a similar plant was shut down earlier this year in Kota, Rajasthan.

Where do the wastes go?

Residents of Sukhdev Vihar say medical wastes should be disposed-off in hospital incinerators, like they used to before. Bigger hospitals may do that efficiently, but who will police the smaller nursing homes and clinics? How many times has one seen wastes strewn about in street corners? Agarwal says centralised waste treatment plants are the best bet - not only are they cost-efficient, they're also safer.But only if, (and it's a big IF) they're not bang in the middle of residential neighbourhoods.

This was a report I filed as part of my daily job; it can be found here.

Roger & Rafael: a burgeoning rivalry

Just when I was thinking it would be better to watch Aisam Qureshi (because he volleys on grass) than all those baseline bashers with titles, Nadal and Federer served up a treat at the final. The first five-setter at a Wimbledon final since 2001 when Goran Ivanisevic beat Patrick Rafter was everything a Grand Slam final should be - fast, furious and unbelievably close.

In the end, like tradition demands it at the home of tennis, the usurper had to be content with second place. Federer bawled like a baby after putting away Championship Point and promptly added on a white blazer and white pants. (The wrong way round, according to a few reports)! Who said Wimbledon doesn't make you do quirky things"! And when Federer congratulated Nadal for having made it to a 2nd final in a row, he managed not to sound condescending.

Though Federer reminded us that he had the touch even at the net, it was Nadal who was the revelation. He showed that he could out-volley the champion and unfurl incredible passing shots on grass. The intensity of play did not drop even in the final set. Five-setters tend to be tiring for the viewer as well, especially when the two players are sluggish after giving it their all. But this wasn't so because the points were short. Thankfully, we were spared tedious rallies with both players unafraid to rush towards the net. A brief summary for those who missed the match:

First set 7-6 to Federer. Nadal saves 4 set points in the tie-break, but Federer smashes a back hand volley to end the matter. Absolutely loved the angles Nadal was getting in, he must have rubber wrists!

Second set 6-4 to Nadal. Federer snuffs out two break points with three aces cool as you plesae to make it three games all. But at 4-5, serving to stay in the set, Nadal rushes forward to break him. A wrinkle of two appears on Federer's forehead.

Third set 7-6 to Federer. Unbelievable intensity. Am checking The Guardian's website commentary on the match, while watching the battle on TV. They quote Jimmy Connors on BBC, "if either player drops their level by as much as two percent, they will be totally overrun". Federer quickly ratchets up a lead in the tie-breaker and duly closes the third set out.

Fourth set 6-2 to Nadal. Hold on! Quick as a flash, Nadal snatches a break in the first game of the fourth set and before you realize it, breaks Federer again to go up 3-love. Federer intensely irritated, says 'shit' within range of the umpire's microphone. The marginal calls continue to go Nadal's way, is Hawkeye conspiring against the Champion" Alan Wilkins says something like this on commentary, "Nadal is like Joe Frasier was against Mohammed Ali, he keeps coming at Federer."

Fifth set 6-2 to Federer and with it the match! Both players are moving very well. Federer continues to rely on his serve to bail him out and Nadal is still whipping out passing shots that are hard to comprehend; Nadal also continues to come to the net. Vijay Amritraj in mock-discovery mode, "he likes to volley!" But Federer has begun to lift his levels. He breaks Nadal, his game getting tougher and tougher to match as he rides the momentum. Championship Point is upon us before we know it, and Federer ends it with a smash. Whatta match!

This piece was originally posted here.

MBA degrees for Page 3 gals?

Time magazine's cover story on media mogul Rupert Murdoch's bid for the Wall Street Journal reveals his own viewpoint on what a journalist should be like. Murdoch, in the report,

"...has always said that craving respectability is the beginning of the end for a journalist. 'Journalists should think of themselves as outside the Establishment, and owners can't be too worried about what they're told at their country clubs,' says the man who influences Prime Ministers and Presidents and still poses as a scrappy outsider."

Here's an admission - respectability is what I'm after. I chase after it, turning a blind eye to the need to break stories or what I believe will be half-baked stories. I'm not prolific enough, for fear of filing a report that 'compromises' me. Murdoch's words jolted me, because I realise now that I've often confused respectability for credibility. Credibility is what you get when you're constantly on the field - respectability has nothing to do with it. Just like a journalist needs to have a healthy disregard for all that's fed to him, so must he be wary of being too timid in going after those who've stepped over the line. Do those words resonate in you?

Not that I'm endorsing Murdoch - his reputation for editorial interference precedes him. But perhaps we've been guilty of demonizing him too. Read the entire cover. Before I sign-off, another mischievous quote from him,

'..Murdoch wouldn't be Murdoch if he didn't love sticking it to sanctimonious J-school toffs. "When the Journal gets its Page 3 girls," he jokes late one night, "we'll make sure they have M.B.A.s"...'