Harry Potter:The opening after the close

As I finished reading the last installment of J.K Rowlings phenomenal series, I confess that I type this with a heavy heart. That for five long years of my life, ever since i was coerced into picking up "The philosophers Stone"(a move I will never regret),I believe I have been part of something that was truly magical.

As one registers their surprise about the"pottermania" that has gripped the world, those who have read the series as closely as I have, will hardly be bemused by the frenzy associated with the book.The reason for this is very simple.J.K Rowling , takes us so easily beyond the story and introduces us to qualities and scenarios that are bare fact for so many of us. The brave harry potter, the faithful ronald weasley, the brilliant hermione granger , the timid-turned-brave neville longbottom , the wierd luna lovegood, the true love thats ginny weasley,the prankster Weasley twins, the loving mother Molly weasley,"the best friend and family" sirius black, "that horrible teacher" Severus Snape, the undefeatable Albus Dumbledore, the feared tom marvolo riddle aka lord voldemort.

I could go on and on. Every single person in this world can see a part of themselves in each of the characters ever introduced in the 7-book series.This is the reason for the frenzy. "And this is magic at its deepest and most impenetrable."

Haven't we been in wormtail-like situations, submitting to evil and embrace the wrong in the fear of the right? Haven't we been afraid of the dark like neville longbottom had once been? Havent people thought of us as "wierd" just as people thought of luna lovegood? Dont we swear upon our friendships like Ron and Hermione? Havent we been betrayed by those who we thought dear just like wormtail betrayed james sirius and lupin? Havent dementors not descended upon us making us incapable of being happy? Or can we really ignore the patronus that brings us out of despair and provides us with the will to live?Havent we craved to experience love the way harry wished all his life? Havent we always slept peacefully every night knowing that you have your hagrid with you for life, and as long as he's there like a rock , you have nothing to worry about?

And again JKR highlights that change is the only constant. "the only one He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named ever feared" albus dumbledore was an arrogant brat at 17 with dreams of conquering the world and later learns responsibility.

Like real life , she highlights that life is not a bed of roses and is fraught with difficult choices.By claiming that each one of us have within us the good and the bad, and what will make us different is the part that we choose to act upon.

She stresses on the fact that no matter who we are as people , how we look , it is not our abilities that determine who we truly are, but it is our choices.

She reiterates, time and again, that love , loyalty and friendship are the only way forward.Evil forces are divisive and that the bond of trust is the only force that can destroy evil. That evil will eventually never triumph. That we need not be a harry potter to be a hero but as ordinary as colin creevey who died fighting lord voldemort. That we should recognize our true talents and gifts that have been given to us and exploit it like fred and george weasley did. That death is not the end , not something that we must fear and death should be welcomed smiling , the way fred weasley and sirius black did.That when people die , they never leave us "Not as long as those who remain are loyal to them". That the words sorry,thank you and i love you can have a profound effect everytime they are uttered ("Dudley surprised us there eh?)

And when we battle sadness, grief and despair, we infact are battling dementors and we destroy them by focusing on the happy thoughts which is our own special patronus.

If God exists , dementors exist, patronuses exist, magic exists.

These emotions , which we human beings feel just as strongly as the wizards and witches conjured by JKR did, they really have no scientific explanations. And there are people who laugh at us for being overtly obsessed with the harry potter series and with an uncle-vernon-muggle like authority claim "there is no such thing as magic".

Open your eyes. Its everywhere.

Its an AbhiAsh world

A conundrum if there ever was one.
What drives people in our country insane is a celebrity.
The rise of a celebrity, the fall of a celebrity, the affairs of a celebrity, all are celebrated with equal pomp and reverance.
Abhiash, a phenomenon that has gripped the nation, has recieved intense spotlight with all forms of media hyping and glorifying the marriage of India's biggest celebrities.This merely shows that our mediamen have an eye for spice.For the last few days , its been abhiash this and abhiash that, abhiash went here , abhiash went there, abhiash drank water together, the big b went with abhiash for dinner. Soon i can expect a news report that reads thus:

Abhishek Sneezes: Call for nationwide Bandh

The nation was gripped by frenzy today when abhishek reportedly sneezed while giving an interview on star tv.People took to the streets and halted traffic and well wishers carried out processions all wishing and hoping that abhishek's sneeze is nothing more than a sneeze and not a deadly viral infection. While some believe that this is a symptom of an oncoming cold, doctors from across the nation believe that this could be the symptoms of the very rare disease "swine flu" caused by the bacteria Legionella pneumophila which dwells in an atmosphere of excessive adulation. This reportedly causes people to start sneezing once , twice , thrice and eventually die. This press release by doctors at AIIMS further added fuel to the fire and the bachchan household was bombarded with letters of concern. It was also reported that a huge consignment of medicines were delivered to 'Jalsa' reportedly free of cost. "We cannot charge the bachchans for this. It is an honour to deliver these medicines to them even though they are so expensive." said the doctors .The bachchans are incidentally worth hundreds of crores.

Police meanwhile have arrested two of the people involved in that fateful interview. They claimed that the two accused had applied perfume which abhishek was allergic to. The third accomplice, in this case, the interviewer himself , was lynched by a furious mob outside the TV station at Bandra.

People however took solace in the fact that aishwarya rai-bachchan is by his side and taking care of him. Conspiracy theorists however dismiss aishwarya's presence by his side as a mere publicity gimmick.

Jaya Bachchan, the heroine of the yester years called on the public to remain calm. The prime minister went on air yesterday offering his wishes to abhishek for a speedy recovery and also asked people to remain at home the following day to express their show of support to the budding actor.

Reuters