I was getting sick of The Potter paranoia that spreads like an arsonists intentions every time there's a release on the corner... be it the Books or the movies. It doesn't help if a few of of your very close and very intelligent rationalist friends are sucked into the typhoons generated by the masses who find absolutely anything that is off the limits of reality worthy of worship. This time though there was a smug satisfaction..... after all even the tag line to the movie said 'It all ends"......(..ha ha..finally!!!!! I thought to myself.)
I know I risk being assassinated by few of my own kins, have invited more hatred than the evil dark lord....The one who shall be named in the same breath as my name by the maniacs I know, but before you really plot to kill me people here's the catch. It all takes a twist......read further.
I had read the first three potter books with unmatched interest and even till date i could only utter praise for the author for being able to create a parallel magical world. You could call it the printed match to the much acclaimed and awarded Avatar by Cameron or maybe as the chorus of the Potter fans would sing ....its incredible and unparalleled literature.
then why this aversion...hmmm....
there are quite a few logical and absolutely ridiculous explanations to the same...and the story goes back to when i was a grade four student:
i fist heard about these delightful books from a teacher close to the release of the fourth book...Harry potter and the goblet of fire . It was 1997 when the first book was published and the fact that i had missed something that by the sound of it seemed so larger than life was a little irritating. I dwell ed in books, there was an appetite for all classic Enid Blyton mysteries and Ruskin bond and quite a lot of the others. Its a boon here in India for the parents if the child has a strong inclination towards reading, this talent is exploited to shove the child into studies without any resistance. so it was predictable that all my birthday gifts were Encyclopedias that I devoured out of the habit of reading everything that could be spelt.
So I thought that it might just be easy to convince my dad to make a gift out of the first four books in the series. I was obviously wrong, My dad nodded to the demands at once but when he discovered the books were about some magical mumbo jumbo, he scoffed at the taste of the general people and remarked that he would rather spend that amount on a Britannica.Of course he had his way.
i have looked up to my dad since i was four, so even though we had a conflicting opinion i agreed nodding at his observation and then started looking for the other sources to have my way(Oops!!...did I tell u I have been a rebel !!!!)
the next book appeared somewhere in 2003 and in this gap of three years I had begged, borrowed and exchanged my way to reading the first three and well I had even lapped up the first two movies (thanks to our school trips to the movies) . Obviously it had started growing on me and it wasn't long before i fund myself bonkers about the franchise. then my life took a serious turn(Dramatic!!!!)......
i was a seventh class student with plummeting marks ( well from sixth itself)..... I had to work my way out of this Mire . so for the next one year, in class eighth I started reading my text books with half the enthusiasm but still purely out of academic pursuit. I missed the fourth movie, I missed the fifth book,and I realized I was alive and kicking and my parents were certainly delighted that I had topped in my class if not all the sections.what my father and i would define as depth with poetry, started reading Paulo Coelho and then never looked back.
well once I did...again an interesting story .....
In ninth one of my Potter Pumpkin classmate brought her fifth book along and i was tempted to read it , but so was her secret crush(not that much of a secret though)... who also happened to be a friend. she left us to fight with the book being the bone of contention and when i was successful in snatching it out of his hand i realized I was letting a petty book take control of my self. i immediately offered it back and vowed never tio let it carry me away like the other lesser divine beings. I am my father's daughter.
Lets take a leap and come back to the present. one of my very dear friends wanted to avenge me for my taunts and the polite but offensive anti potter comments. she realized that she could do that by infesting my bloodline with a potter fan,so she lent my sister the first book. As if the whole potter chatter on networking sites was any less, my own home was now ringing with potter praise.(what could be worse?)....the worse was yet to come. my sister vowed to attain the whole series(she generally has her way).when she brought the second book...Harry Potter and the Chamber of secrets, I remembered how it was my favourite out of the ones I had read. so when she slept with the book under her pillow I sneaked it out and flipped through my favourite parts, skimming through the treasure, recollecting faint ly the exact phrases before my eyes. Soon enough I found myself controlling my bladder imperatives to complete the book in two hours flat.
Thats when i realized that i still had a soft spot for The boy who lived and how I whole heartedly supported the good over the evil plot.
When you grow up, become so cynical and rational and stop believing in magic. these little reminders from childhood linger and you live in sanity. i understand why my generation still ardently adores potter, He gave us something to believe in, something to hold on to. An escape to Hogwarts when the real world took toll on us.
He made visit my childhood dreams and fantasies, the little girl who had never lived enough.....
I might not be as devoted as to go and catch the last part instantaneously but I admit, I might just gift my own children the whole series. and help my sister add to her library:)
I know I risk being assassinated by few of my own kins, have invited more hatred than the evil dark lord....The one who shall be named in the same breath as my name by the maniacs I know, but before you really plot to kill me people here's the catch. It all takes a twist......read further.
I had read the first three potter books with unmatched interest and even till date i could only utter praise for the author for being able to create a parallel magical world. You could call it the printed match to the much acclaimed and awarded Avatar by Cameron or maybe as the chorus of the Potter fans would sing ....its incredible and unparalleled literature.
then why this aversion...hmmm....
there are quite a few logical and absolutely ridiculous explanations to the same...and the story goes back to when i was a grade four student:
i fist heard about these delightful books from a teacher close to the release of the fourth book...Harry potter and the goblet of fire . It was 1997 when the first book was published and the fact that i had missed something that by the sound of it seemed so larger than life was a little irritating. I dwell ed in books, there was an appetite for all classic Enid Blyton mysteries and Ruskin bond and quite a lot of the others. Its a boon here in India for the parents if the child has a strong inclination towards reading, this talent is exploited to shove the child into studies without any resistance. so it was predictable that all my birthday gifts were Encyclopedias that I devoured out of the habit of reading everything that could be spelt.
So I thought that it might just be easy to convince my dad to make a gift out of the first four books in the series. I was obviously wrong, My dad nodded to the demands at once but when he discovered the books were about some magical mumbo jumbo, he scoffed at the taste of the general people and remarked that he would rather spend that amount on a Britannica.Of course he had his way.
i have looked up to my dad since i was four, so even though we had a conflicting opinion i agreed nodding at his observation and then started looking for the other sources to have my way(Oops!!...did I tell u I have been a rebel !!!!)
the next book appeared somewhere in 2003 and in this gap of three years I had begged, borrowed and exchanged my way to reading the first three and well I had even lapped up the first two movies (thanks to our school trips to the movies) . Obviously it had started growing on me and it wasn't long before i fund myself bonkers about the franchise. then my life took a serious turn(Dramatic!!!!)......
i was a seventh class student with plummeting marks ( well from sixth itself)..... I had to work my way out of this Mire . so for the next one year, in class eighth I started reading my text books with half the enthusiasm but still purely out of academic pursuit. I missed the fourth movie, I missed the fifth book,and I realized I was alive and kicking and my parents were certainly delighted that I had topped in my class if not all the sections.what my father and i would define as depth with poetry, started reading Paulo Coelho and then never looked back.
well once I did...again an interesting story .....
In ninth one of my Potter Pumpkin classmate brought her fifth book along and i was tempted to read it , but so was her secret crush(not that much of a secret though)... who also happened to be a friend. she left us to fight with the book being the bone of contention and when i was successful in snatching it out of his hand i realized I was letting a petty book take control of my self. i immediately offered it back and vowed never tio let it carry me away like the other lesser divine beings. I am my father's daughter.
Lets take a leap and come back to the present. one of my very dear friends wanted to avenge me for my taunts and the polite but offensive anti potter comments. she realized that she could do that by infesting my bloodline with a potter fan,so she lent my sister the first book. As if the whole potter chatter on networking sites was any less, my own home was now ringing with potter praise.(what could be worse?)....the worse was yet to come. my sister vowed to attain the whole series(she generally has her way).when she brought the second book...Harry Potter and the Chamber of secrets, I remembered how it was my favourite out of the ones I had read. so when she slept with the book under her pillow I sneaked it out and flipped through my favourite parts, skimming through the treasure, recollecting faint ly the exact phrases before my eyes. Soon enough I found myself controlling my bladder imperatives to complete the book in two hours flat.
Thats when i realized that i still had a soft spot for The boy who lived and how I whole heartedly supported the good over the evil plot.
When you grow up, become so cynical and rational and stop believing in magic. these little reminders from childhood linger and you live in sanity. i understand why my generation still ardently adores potter, He gave us something to believe in, something to hold on to. An escape to Hogwarts when the real world took toll on us.
He made visit my childhood dreams and fantasies, the little girl who had never lived enough.....
I might not be as devoted as to go and catch the last part instantaneously but I admit, I might just gift my own children the whole series. and help my sister add to her library:)
I would have torn you a new one myself if it hadn't ended on such a note :P hahaha, do remember though, no comparing Harry Potter with Avatar :X Avatar is mindless and predictable crap :\
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