Silent House is an odd new novel. It was originally written by the Nobel Prize winning novelist Orhan Pamuk in 1983, but has only now been translated into English. You can see the themes that Pamuk would tackle in later works — the deep fracture within Turkish ideas of nationalism and the country’s difficult search for its own route to modernity. In Silent House, these ideas are examined through five narrators — Fatma, the grandmother; Recep, her servant; Faruk and Meitin, two of Fatma’s grandchildren; and Hassan, a young student, who happens to be Recep’s nephew.

The novel is set in 1980, over the period of a week, in Cennethisar which is a village-turned-resort town, a short distance from Istanbul. A little after the events detailed in the book, the Turkish military launched a coup, ending the violence taking place between the Communist and Nationalist factions within the country. This violence sits just behind the action of the novel, like the pressure of a thunderstorm just over the horizon, adding an extra frisson to the interactions among the characters. In essence, though, the questions and drives are internal to the character-narrators. Each section is a snapshot into a headspace, a point of view; each carefully etched out, distinct, and so well drawn that a reader can move easily from one to the other, despite the transition from one generation to another, higher classes to servant quarters.

Hovering above these five narrators is one last figure, probably the most important: Selahattin Bey. We discover his story largely through Fatma, his wife. He is a character whom Indians will relate to easily. Born at the end of the nineteenth century, he is part of a social elite that is Westernized and politically engaged. He desperately wants his country to be respected by the Europeans, but once he is sent into exile by the political establishment, he is reduced to vague ideas of dragging the East forcibly towards modernity. He fixates on the ideas of scientific methodology and, attendant to that, of atheism.

As a doctor, he harangues his patients about the non-existence of God, until none of them come to him. He has a grand project of creating an encyclopedia, translating all of the greatest scientific advances of Europe into Turkish. This grand project goes uncompleted, much like the failed dreams of his son. His grandchildren, too, seem fated for failure: the drunken, divorced Faruk and the shallow Metin, who dreams of nouveau riche achievements made in America. The intellectual dreams of Selahattin Bey are sterile, based on ideas imported from abroad — he even registers his name as Darvinoglu, meaning the descendant of Darwin — and stained by the sale of his wife’s jewellery and sex with his maidservant. His descendants are equally divided and sterile. Only his grand-daughter, Nilgun — barely represented — and Hasan, the son of one of Selahattin Bey’s children by the maidservant and full of incoherent rage, are undivided. One pays the cost and the other does not even realise there is one.

Silent House is a complex, brooding novel, full of the strains of a country unsure of where it is going; driven to ideas of European progress, even — or maybe especially — if the ideas are only half-understood. Here, ignorance adds a wild, mutated energy to the dreams from a different land. (Agencies)

Games : Doom 3

Doom 3 has been shaking up audiences for well over six years now, doing quite well for id Software since its release on Xbox and PC.  But since that time, we’ve heard very little movement on the franchise, even though Doom 4 is in the work and set to release, well, someday.  To please fans in the meantime, Bethesda and id have teamed up again to bring Doom 3 back to the forefront in a new special BFG Edition, packing a huge amount of extras and a fairly good high-definition treatment.  Though not every aspect of the gameplay is as fundamental as what you'd find in more current shooters, this is still well worth a look.

The game takes place in 2142, when the Union Aerospace Corporation (UAC for short) is running the basics through its research facility on Mars.  As a space marine sent in to check up on things, you’re on the hunt for some missing scientists, wondering what’s up.  But in the midst of your investigation, a strange demonic force overtakes the place, and you’re soon scurrying for every weapon you can get your hands on, just for the sake of surviving.  Yep, classic Doom.

Though the gameplay seems ancient in spots, id Software did a commendable job making it work in BFG Edition.  You’ll hunt down every weapon you can get your hands on, check every nook and cranny for monsters that could pop out of the woodwork, and thank the team for including the benefit of a temporary flashlight, so you’re not completely wandering around in the dark when the growling kicks in.

Where id really did most of their work is in the visuals.  Doom 3: BFG Edition boasts a stunning high-definition transfer that offers the best of both worlds – a cool 3D effect for those with the TV’s to support it, and a silky smooth 60 frames per second frame rate for everyone else.  The monsters look incredibly vicious to this very day, and watching them jump towards you is truly frightening.  The levels themselves can be a bit monotonous, and sometimes you can fall into a trap with an open floor grate, but overall, this is a good transfer of a classic game.  It definitely holds up to today's contemporary standards – even though you can’t skip the cut scenes before each stage.

The audio hasn’t changed much, but Doom 3 packs a decent amount of dialogue, along with ambient effects that will send chills down your spine and the occasional blood-pumping music.  Not much needed to change here.

Along with the full Doom 3 game, BFG Edition also packs a few extras.  The original Doom and Doom 2 are included, and well represented considering that the games are even older than 99 percent of shooters these days.  Resurrection of Evil is also thrown in, along with a new Lost Mission story angle, one that all fans will definitely want to check out.  Multiplayer is available, and though not as in-depth or well-tracked as, say, Call of Duty, it’s still well worth a try. 

While Doom 3: BFG Edition won’t make us forget that we still want Doom 4 now more than ever, it’s a great little package for those who want to relive the glory days of shooters, while soaking in the contemporary visual and online touches that we’ve come to see in today's products.

Game Rating: 8.5

Beauty Tips : Tips to get rid of black underarms

1. Try rubbing lemon slices on your armpits. Lemon can dry out your skin, so you will need to moisturize afterwards with vitamin E oil or your favorite lotion at bedtime.

2. Mix a paste using 1 tsp of lime juice, 1 tsp of cucumber juice and a pinch of turmeric powder. Leave on armpits for 20 minutes then rinse.

3. Mix a paste of 1 tsp gram flour, 1 tsp sandalwood powder, 1 tsp lime, 1 tsp milk and a pinch of turmeric powder. Leave on skin for 20 minutes then rinse with cold water.

4. Mix a paste of 1 Tbsp gram flour, 1 tsp yogurt (curds) and 1 tsp milk. Leave on skin for 20 minutes then wash off.

5. Mix a paste of sandalwood powder and rose water and apply to underarms. When it dries, rinse off.

6. Use a good underarm whitening cream. If you prefer the fastest results, this is the way to go.

7. Apple cider vinegar can help whiten the underarms. Wash and dry your underarms and apply apple cider vinegar. Do not rinse off. Repeat for a number of weeks.