Tom Clancy

RIP Tom Clancy

While I was randomly searching what to write today, Came across this news about Tom Clancy breathing his last today. For people who do not know Tom Clancy, don't worry, I'm with you. I was just searching for trending topic in google and came across his name and his untimely death at 66.

At the age of 66, Tom Clancy is a great story teller and the author of many American best sellers dealing with cold war, military espionage and what a great credit, his best-sellers have been mostly made into blockbuster movies. I don't think there is no better accolade than an author's books being made as movies. Ironically, I haven't seen any of those movies. One of them being Patriot Games, which definitely is a well-known movie. I know it stars Harrison Ford and that's it. I was happy to confirm that it definitely stars Harrison Ford just now.

Just got curious and searched for the plot of "Patriot games" and came to know that it is a 1992 movie based on Tom Clancy's novel with the same name. His novel "The Hunt for Red October", which is a prequel to Patriot Games was also made into a movie.

I bet Harrison Ford became a super star after that because i remember seeing news in local magazines at that point, about a 50-year old Hollywood actor ruling the box office. When I now read the plot of "Patriot Games" I still see a lot of relevance to Indian movies being made today in the same lines wherein the hero is all over the world chasing and being chased by a group of villains, to say the least. So, just makes me wonder what an imagination and foresight in terms of building a story that would still be valid to make a movie after nearly 20 years.

I now understand why Patriot Games was a hit at that point and what a great way to depart Tom. One of this publications, "Command Authority" is slated for release this december. Just makes me wonder how passionate he must have been with his work. Tom, you are an icon. I bet there is going to be a movie on "Command Authority" too. This time, i will be one of the first to read it!

RIP Tom Clancy.  

IELTS - Lessons Learnt

IELTS - First Attempt:
When I first started off sometime in Feb '13 preparing for the IELTS Exam, I never thought that this would be so hard to clear. Unfortunately, I didn't understand the pass criteria for Australian PR then. I just thought that an overall band score of 7 should be enough to pass but then, when my scores came for the first time and I sent my score to my consultant, I received the shocker that I need to score 7 in each of the areas of listening , reading, writing and speaking. I had got 6.5 in reading then and probably missed band 7 by 1 or 2 questions. So, that was a miss by a whisker.

That is when I got serious about the preparation. Since the first time i missed in reading, i took mock tests concentrating in reading mainly. This time, the reading, writing and listening tests got scheduled prior to the speaking test. I felt that i did a fairly good job of all the modules. The subsequent day, i went for the speaking test. The speaking test was tough this time because the one who conducted the test was probably not impressed with what i was talking. I could see grimaces in her face. I just came out with my fingers crossed. The results came after 10 days and I had failed to make 7 in writing this time. Since i was always confident about my writing skills, i couldn't digest it. Then, i went through different blogs to find what could have gone wrong. There are two tasks in IELTS -
1. Letter Writing
2. Essay Writing

In the essay writing section, the topic was about parents leaving kids in daycare for both parents to work so, the essay needed to be talking towards or against the same. I probably got a bit caustic in the middle of the essay stating what modern-day couples are running for? Is it money and why should people chase money.

IELTS Revaluation Process:
Though I had finished the essay stating that it was all my opinion and i probably am lop-sided about my viewpoint and it is a decision that would vary from person to person, I thought something in that essay must have not gone well with the examiner but i still felt that it was my viewpoint and I shouldn't be degraded for it. So, i applied for revaluation. The revaluation process is quite notorious in case of IELTS. I had heard that it will take the same time to get the revaluation  results as writing  the test again but i didn't want to give up and so, i sent for revaluation. Simultaneously, I applied for another IELTS appearance too.

Never did i think I would make 3 IELTS attempts and almost 6 months had gone in this process. The third time I applied, I was sort of battered.

Lessons Learnt:
I was ready to take the attempt in a half-minded state. Although I had applied for revaluation, I was sure somewhere that my writing score wouldn't jump from 6 to 7. While the date for the third attempt was nearing, I told myself, give your best and more than anything go by the lessons you have learnt so far:
1. Ensure to map your answers to the correct paragraphs in the reading module - this faltered me the first time
2. Never go controversial with the writing test, keep it neutral and be nice - this faltered me the second time

IELTS - Third Attempt:
For the third attempt, I never did any preparation, i had sort of given up. My speaking module got scheduled on a saturday evening. The examiner was a lady and she was very nice to say the least. She was very encouraging and it wasn't like i was taking a test but a good discussion with regard to topics about childhood, hobbies etc.

LRW Modules:
The next day was my reading, writing and listening test. While the listening module was on, I missed certain questions. I made some calculated guesses. This is very common with the reading test. if you miss one question, your mind keeps lurking there and you tend to miss concentration in the subsequent questions. Need to be very much aware and conscious about this. I kept a sort of laggard pace with reading just maintaining the tempo. I was not too confident but ensured that i covered all questions. The last one was the writing section. This time the topic was around celebrations, if people are spending too much money on celebrations and if that is ok. I ensured that i covered both sides of celebrating lavishly and not celebrating at all and then summed up stating that it is a personal decision. I specifically ensured that i don't talk about the British royal wedding or birth. Not sure but tended to be safe. I wasn't too happy or too down about this attempt. I knew I had done what i could.

Second Attempt Revaluation Results:
Somewhere around the end of the 2 weeks' time frame of getting my results, I got the revaluation results for second attempt. My score had increased by just 0.5 points making it 6.5 in writing. So, that meant i would get a refund of the revaluation fees but i wouldn't pass. Anyway, it was something i had expected.

Overall Band 8:
The next day i got my third attempt result. This time I had scored an 8 band and cleared all the modules successfully by getting 7 in all. This time, I had top-scored in speaking. I was happy.

I never imagined that i would need 3 attempts to get a 7 in all modules of IELTS. So, better beware all aspirants.

About My Bro's Photographic Skills

Photography:
Photography is a hobby pursued by many these days that too with various models of SLRs and what not. To be frank, I do not have much knowledge in photography. In fact, I haven't taken much interest in this area for reasons I haven't tried to excavate. I definitely like to observe the lightings and shades in a photograph and try to replicate those in my drawings.
Introducing - My Brother, JG
My brother, Jayagopal a.k.a JG, is about 7 years younger to me. Probably just because of our age gap, I have always felt that my brother has treated me like an idol. Whenever I have met his friends , that too during his college days, they used to look at me in total awe or in other words, were in praise of my brother as to how he was all praise for me. Or, did i totally misinterpret?!
Ok, let me now try to link the main topic of this blog with my brother rather than meandering all around! One particular thing about my brother that has impressed me is his photographic skills. Not because he has the knack of capturing the subject really well but I think his photographs are live, bringing joy and taking me back to that particular time when it was clicked because I'm really bad at remembering good old days.

Some of his Clicks

The above pic was clicked in 1997 when we went to Kullu , Manali alongwith our parents. It was a North India trip covering Uttar Pradesh. The place was freezing cold with snow fall. We had rented the fur coat , gloves and also the shoes.

The above pic was clicked in 2003 as shown in the date of the pic. This probably was the first camera I had bought abroad. This pic was taken in the first floor of our house in Pondicherry. A series of pics were taken by him and this is one of my favorites. This is one of the cheapest coolers I have had!

The above pic of my son, TarunBalaji was taken on the midnight of 8th-9th jan 2010 after cutting cake for his birthday falling on 9th jan. The cute expression on his face is well captured here. JG, with your permission, here is a punch : JG's hands have been steady even after a couple of drinks here! ;)

The above pic was taken in Sept 2012 when i had been to visit my bro's son for the first time since he was born. This pic truly captures the coziness Rithik shares with me.

The above pic was taken in feb 2013 when Balaji had gone for a drums performance and personally I like the expression captured here. It has a certain class.

JG also captured this video in all sincerity. Till date , i have watched this video many times for both its quality and also the audience reaction he has captured. I have always admired his sincerity. It just exudes in this video.

Three cheers to your sincerity and earnestness little Bro. Great Going , wish you do great and go great guns.

JG, I hope I have written all the good things you wanted to hear. Hope you send me the dollar check soon! ;)