No Limits: Book Review

Michael Phelps it not an unknown name for anyone who follows sports. With 8 Gold medals in just one Olympics at Beijing, he became one of the most celebrated sports professionals in the history of Olympics.

No Limits is a book about Phelp's mental and physical journey from being a kid diagnosed with ADHD to stealing every winning moment at the Beijing Olympics. For people, who watched the 2012 Olympics at London, I am sure you guys would be thinking that this book would have been worth the wait to have captured everything until those greatest moments in London, especially the one where the FINA President declares Phelps as the greatest swimmer ever. Nevertheless, this book still does a lot of justice to Phelps' road to success. 

The book is divided into 8 chapters. Each chapter talks about a particular race and also weaves in Phelps' childhood, conversations with his coach and family, Athens 2004 Olympics and the Olympic Trials. For hardcore swimming fans, this book is captivating yet feels like a pool overdose. Swimmers will definitely relate to every number mentioned in the book, especially the details about how much a hundredth of a second matters, timing the turns and the splits. The book also introduces us to Phelps' interactions with some of the world's greatest swimmers like Mark Spitz, Ryan Lochte and Ian Thorpe.

There is a large part of the book, separated out in every chapter, that talks about Phelps' family and the support they gave him all through his journey. His sisters, who almost made the Olympic team but had to stay out due to health issues, had a huge impact on his decision to take up swimming. Being diagnosed with ADHD, Phelps was a rebellious kid and had to focus his energies in one direction. In his early years, Phelps' mom along with his coach, mentor and friend Bob Bowman took special interest in shaping his career.

The book also takes readers into an area that is not known to outsiders - about Phelps consuming more than 8000 cal per day, his foot size at 14 and his practice session that is an average of 11000 meters every day. Phelps also talks in detail about United States Swimming, the rigorous Olympic trials, and drug tests. 

The one important learning from this book is Goal Setting and sticking to the plan; also leaving out everything that would cause hindrance to achieving those goals (even if it was family). And these were not goals for the next Championships in 3 months but for the next US Olympic Trials. Once the goal was set and committed, aspects like  courage, determination, confidence, and the will to succeed would fall in place.

Michael Phelps gives a lot of lessons for anybody who is interested in chasing excellence. Perhaps the most important lesson from the book in his own words is this: "Nothing is impossible, you have to dream big dreams - the bigger, the better."

Kumki

Kumki, the latest movie by Prabu Solomon is a ridiculously stupid movie. I am writing this at the beginning to save some time for readers who do not want to continue.

The name Kumki actually refers to a type of elephant that is used to drive away wild elephants from troubling villagers in mountainous districts. These elephants are specifically trained by the forest department or other factions to keep people safe from wild elephant attacks.

Anyway, the Kumki that released last Friday is a nonsensical love story under the pretext of an elephant. A mahout brings his unconditioned elephant to protect a village and ends up being there because he falls in love with a girl there. Total rubbish.

Before any further abuse, I would like to credit the director for having chosen an amazing shooting location. The mountains, fields, waterfalls and the forest was a treat for the eye. Photography and Cinematography take top honors.

Music was literally a pain in the ass. There is a song pretty much every five minutes and that kills the interest for anyone who wants to watch the movie. The background score is amazing and I think the music director should have stopped right there.

Vikram Prabhu - I am sorry. This movie will not do any charm for you. You have to write this movie off and hope for another director to give you a break. And also hope that the new director has not seen this movie. Or even better, fund your next movie. Other than showing off brawn here and there, Vikram has not done anything worth mentioning.

Lakshmi Menon - the female lead has no scope as well.

The only person who saves this movie right from the beginning till the end is Thambi Ramaiyya. His dialogues, expressions, and sense of humor made me sit through the movie. If not for him, this movie wouldn't have crossed the weekend.

The elephant came of use only during the last 10 minutes of the movie. Until then it seemed like a complete waste of time. And Vikram Prabhu's dialogue in the end where he says to the elephant "Everyone thought you were mad but actually I was the one who was mad" is the only dialogue that made the presence of the elephant in the whole movie worthwhile.

Overall: Kumki is a big headache and not worth even a pirated VCD