Vanished - Book Review

“Vanished” by Danielle Steel, one of the most popular authors in the world, is a suspense story. The story takes place in late 1930s. Vanished by Danielle Steel

Marielle, a young girl of 18, meets a wealthy young man Charles, during her Grand Europe tour with her parents, and elopes with him. They get married and become proud parents of a little boy, and hoped to lead a happy and wonderful life. But destiny had something else in store for them, and they get separated due to extreme circumstances.

Later, at twenty-four, Marielle meets Malcolm, a wealthy business man in New York, who was forty-nine and was not interested in knowing the darker side of her past, in spite of her repeated attempts to tell him. He was admired by all and married Marielle to beget children to inherit his abundance of wealth. For him, Marielle was an attractive, dignified and undemanding wife. As he wished, she gave birth to a cute little boy, and they were very happy in their own way. Being a faithful and devoted wife, she felt grateful to him for having given her so much and he asked for so little.

One day when Malcolm was on a foreign trip, Marielle took their son Teddy to the park, where she happened to meet her ex husband, who was not married again, and still loved her, and she realized she too still had the same love and passion for him. He wanted her to return to him, but she turned down his offer being a wife to someone else.

The next day at home, to everyone’s surprise, Teddy was missing from his room mysteriously. The main part of the story is about the child’s disappearance, and his parent’s struggle to find him, which takes more than 3/4th of the story. Steel has woven this story with many fascinating turns and twists, which moves at a fast pace, capturing your attention till the end.

You can find elements of love, guilt, desires, suspense, true love of mother etc. in this novel. Besides, you will also know what is life in a house surrounded by police and court proceedings in “Vanished” which has a twisting end. Like many of Steel’s novels, I enjoyed reading this too.

My Trip to Palani

Palani Murugan Temple is located on top of the Palani Hills in Tamil Nadu, South India. The idol of Palani Andavar is said to have been made of Navapashanam ( a combination of Veeram, Pooram, Rasam, Jathilingam, Kandagam, Gauri Pasanam, Vellai Pasanam, Mridharsingh, Silasat) , by a siddhar called Bhogar. H e is considered as one of the 18 siddhars born in the world. We left home at 7 a.m planning a long journey, and our first destination was Palani. We had booked an accommodation in a budget hotel, Soundarya, after reading many reviews by Tripadvisor travellers. It was just okay for a day. AC was a great relief and it was closer to the Palani Murugan temple. Food was also available. We reached there and had our lunch. After taking some rest we proceeded towards the temple. We had reached the gate where tickets for winch are booked We wanted to travel in the rope car, but that was in another gate which is quite far, said the autorikshaw drive...

Visit to Sri Sai Old Age Home

Recently I was invited by my neighbours to attend a birthday party of their grandson. I was eager to attend it since it was an unusual type of birthday celebration. It was not celebrated at home in a conventional way, but the celebration was with the inmates of an old age home - Sri Sai Old Age Home Orphanage, Magadi Main Road, Sunkadakatte, Bangalore. It was an overwhelming experience for everyone. As we stepped in we saw two aged women walking in the veranda. Seeing our unfamiliar faces they paused and stared at us. Their eyes looked tired and empty, and greeted us with a faint smile. Sri Sai Old Age Home Orphanage is located in Magadi Main Road, Sunkadakatte, Bangalore. serving the elderly senior citizens and destitutes. It was started by late K.L. Ravi Kumar, who was in scrap business, 17 years ago and since his death 5 years ago, his sons Pradeep Kumar and Sashi Kumar continue this noble work. These young brothers spend their whol...

Visit to Swananda Loka - Bala Ganapathi Temple in Hoyasala style

I had an opportunity to visit Swananda Loka, an upcoming Ganapathi Temple in Hoyasala style of architecture, housed in the Swananda Ashrama complex located in the Agara village in Tataguni, 3 km off Kanakapura Road. Swananda Loka is believed to be the heavenly abode of Lord Ganesha. The 9-acre temple complex area with lush green gardens is a feast to the eyes and mind. The piolet project was completed successfully and the model called Ganapathi Panchayathana is open to visitors. Around the main shrine, the temple would have 4 shrines for the 4 Yuga Ganapathis and idols of 32 manifestations of Lord Ganapathi. In this Swanandashrama complex, there is also a temple for Lord Subramanya and another one for Devi. In this Devi temple, Goddess is sitting on the snake. A goshala is also there where cows are taken care of. The Ashram also promotes education of rural children and organizes socio cultural events. I was blessed to a...

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