A Review of A Prisoner of Birth By Jeffrey Archer

I am a big fan of Jeffrey Archer. Of all his books, Kane and Abel was mind blowing. I still remember being inspired by the intelligence and street-smarts of the two characters. I wanted to be that when I grew up - a corporate hot-shot. Even his short story collection has been pretty amazing.

His new book - A Prisoner of Birth was especially enticing to read as my friend told me that it has elements of another favourite book of mine - The Count of Monte Cristo. Imagine the remix - Jeff taking off on the Count.

The book starts off very well with a crime and a subsequent trial scene that is fast paced and keeps you guessing. The characters are many but well established and their true nature comes up clearly against this background. You sympathise with the hero (Danny Cartwright) and his wife and clearly begin to dislike the villains.

It is after this that the turn of events become a bit unreal. The plot slows down and doesn't pick up too much. There are some events which conveniently happen and are not quite believable. It is here that The Count of Monte Cristo scores over A Prisoner of Birth by keeping the events simple but fast-paced. Also, The Count (Edmond Dantes) is a swash-buckling yet suave figure, completely transformed from what he was earlier. Danny Cartwright seems to have retained elements of his old self that keep him from becoming an avenging angel. Of course, the former has stuff like hidden treasures and duels with swords. That is the stuff that really sells right!!

On a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being highest), I would rate it at 3.5. Overall, an entertaining read and worth the money. It is fun to delve into the characters and trying to figure how each of the villains is going to get his due. So grab your copy and settle down to a cozy read. Have fun.

A Drive To Remember

5.39 a.m.
He rang the bell just before 5.40 a.m. As usual, she was not ready. He thought "Why are women always late? Even if they are almost on time, they manage to do something that would make them at least one minute late."

He said "Can we go? I'll take your bag."
She said " Sure. You step out and I'll lock up."

They took the lift down is silence. It was too early for even light chitchat. She was leaving for Chennai and he was to drop her at Bangalore Cantonment station. The arrival time of the train was 6.08 am and he was sure they would make it with barely three minutes to spare. She was pretty cool though and only looking forward to her trip outta town.

5.45 a.m.
He put on a CD of Tamil songs and she asked him to turn the volume down. They belted up and he took off, pretty fast, as the minor tremors in his stomach weren't letting him relax.

She said "Oh babes, I forgot to take my headphones (for the mobile). How will I listen to music? Shit, it's going to be boring.
He said "Take my iPod".
She said "No point. I won't be able to charge it."
He said "Then take my headphones. I'll go later to your place and pick up yours to use."
She said "Yeah, anyway you have to water the plants"

5.52 a.m.
She smiled as she saw him make a face. Suddenly, her smile froze as she realised she couldn't find her phone in the bag.

She said "Oh hell, I left my phone behind".

He hit the brakes immediately and said "Do you need it? I'll pick it up and keep taking messages."
She said "That won't work. How will I co-ordinate with the cabbie? And Priya and Prachi will find it difficult to hook up."
He was prepared to argue but then realised she was right. He turned the car around and said "You are an idiot. How can you leave your phone behind?"

He thought she would say something but she was quiet and he regretted his words, knowing she was feeling tense and bad and irritated at the same time. He cursed himself thinking when would he ever learn?

5.55 a.m.
He parked the car outside her building and yelled as he jumped out "Turn the car around".

He literally ran inside, ignoring the security guards who must have been thinking he was crazy.
He took the lift up and rushed into her flat. He found her mobile on her bed and paused for a second wondering if he had the time to use the loo.

He thought "Ah chuck it, it will take 30 seconds, might as well get it over with."

As he was locking the door on his way out, he realised the lift was called to another floor.

"Oh hell, five flights down, what a pain!!!" He rushed down and jumped in the car, handing over the mobile.
She said "Didn't you get the charger?"
He said "Nope, forgot" not wanting to tell her he was busy taking a piss

6.00 a.m.
No talking, only intensive driving and occasional cursing of the condition of the road, the government for not repairing it and other drivers driving peacefully

6.04 a.m.
She sighed "Well it doesn't look like we are about to make it".
He said with a tight smile "After all my 'Gone in 60 seconds driving'? I shouldn't have stopped to use the loo yaar".
She said "Aha, that's why you took so long"
He said "Pleeeaase. I was really fast. Going up and down I mean, not the loo".

6.08 a.m.
He was pretty sure that when they took the turn to the station, they would see the train pulling out. He sighed thinking it would be a pain to make alternate arrangements.

As they turned, she cried out excitedly "Look, I think it's just pulling in."
He quickly turned in to the parking lot and squinted his eyes at the train reading out "Baan...galore Chen..nai. Wow. Lets go,baby".

They jumped out and grabbed the bags and ran. He debated whether he should stop for a platform ticket but then decided the fine of Rs 100 was worth it if she made the train. As they stepped in, they realised her coach was just off the entrance. She climbed in and walked off inside with the luggage.
He stood outside catching his breath thinking it was a bloody pain to rush like this so early in the morning. Just then he looked up and she was back standing at the door, mouthing the words 'my hero' teasingly. She then smiled, breathtakingly and he thought "Well, it was definitely worth the ride".

Your chance to contribute and make a difference

If you read my earlier blog about running the Sunfeast Marathon, you will see that it was something which I always wanted to do. Luckily, I got a chance to do it and had an awesome time doing it. When I completed, I was on a high. Social work, NGOish stuff is something that all of us would have wanted to do at sometime. Now my sister Sudha is giving me and all of us a chance to do something that will make a difference.

She is doing a project as part of her advanced course at Landmark Education. My friends and colleagues have heard me talk about the work Landmark does and that I recommend it highly. However, this is not about Landmark but about the project she is doing which is with Akshara Foundation.

By it's own definition, Akshara Foundation "is a Bangalore-based Public Charitable Trust with the mission to ensure that every child is in school and learning well". It was established in 2000. It has illustrious members on the Board who have provided valuable insight and direction and already made a mark with the work they are doing. What I like about the programmes they run is that it is very practical or to quote "designed to be low cost, scalable, replicable and sustainable" Also, somewhere some kid will get a chance at a better life because he or she could get a better education.

The project Sudha is doing comes under "Library Programme". Akshara Foundation has a network of libraries in schools and communities. What they plan to achieve with the libraries is inculcate a reading habit among children. This means that the learning and language skills learnt by them do not fade away but is enhanced every time they visit the library. An important point here is that an Akshara-appointed librarian is always available on site for children. All the librarians have recently been trained to conduct language-based exercises and puzzles to expand children’s vocabulary.

Coming to our part in this, Sudha intends to do a book collection drive with the aim of collecting 200 children's books by June 20th. You are welcome to donate children's books in English, Hindi, Kannada, Urdu, Telugu or Tamil. These will be given to Akshara who will place them in various school libraries under their scheme. The action plan is
- once you collect the books for donation, mail her at sudhamathew@hotmail.com or me at pravinmathew@hotmail.com and we will make arrangements to pick it up
- forward this link to all the people you can think of who want to and will help
- follow up with them and urge them to contribute to a good cause

Libraries are not only about books. They are hubs of learning. The Library Programme is going to be expanded in a major way in the academic year, 2007-2008. Akshara Foundation will partner with the Government of Karnataka to establish 400 libraries in government primary schools in Bangalore where every child from the 2nd to the 7th standard will participate. These libraries will serve the learning needs of all the 1410 government primary schools in Bangalore Urban District. Akshara plans to make each of its 400 libraries a complete world of learning with books, computers, CDs, games and innovative activities.

It needn't stop here for you. Akshara has donor programmes where you can monetarily sponsor a pre-school or a library. They also have a volunteer program which will give you a hands-on experience with the work they do. For more details do check out their website at http://aksharafoundation.org/ It is a real eye-opener.