False Ceilings - A Book Review

It is rather intriguing when a book opens with one of its main characters musing over an ‘If Else’ statement, which is the first thing every software programmer learns and then going on to say that the statement is nothing but a reflection of life.

Amit Sharma, the author of False Ceilings is a software engineer, as is the character introduced to us in the first chapter. And so we assume that the book will be just like a software program; logical, straightforward, linear.

False Ceilings is anything but that.

False Ceilings is a Family saga that takes us back and forth between generations all bound together by blood but equally separated by their petty jealousies and insecurities. At the heart of the story is a secret, guarded almost superstitiously and passed along from generation to generation that both holds together and destroys the family.

The book begins in the current period, moves briefly to an imagined future almost 50 years from the present day and then suddenly without warning transports us to the Dalhousie of pre independent India. The narration is not chronological, the story twists and turns between various time zones and locations. As you get to know one character better and sit back comfortably to discover more about him or her, Amit pulls you through a time warp and takes you to an altogether different age and location, to yet another character and story.

He alternates his focus between the myriad characters, revealing a little about them then very cunningly changing tracks, leaving his readers waiting, wondering and yearning for more. Each character has his own story, each story seemingly independent in itself and yet all of them intertwined.

For me, there are two things that stand out about the book. One is the non - linear narrative that the author very skillfully employs and the other is his stark exploration of the human psyche.

We are almost lulled into believing that the book is all about the secret. But as it progresses you can’t help but wonder if the secret is simply a ruse. The underlying theme of the book is human relationships and their complexities. Very subtly, Amit digs deep into the human psyche to unearth and explore deep rooted emotions, fears and half-forgotten memories of the past that define each one of the characters and makes them what they are.

I suppose the reason why most new authors do not attempt a Family Saga is because it is never an easy genre to write. Chronicling the lives of so many people over generations is a complex task. So it is with False Ceilings. As the book progresses and more and more characters are introduced, you might get distracted wanting to know how it all ends. However, you get the feeling that this is precisely what the author wants, to confuse us before skillfully weaving together the various stories till everything comes together like a perfectly solved jigsaw puzzle.

The writing style varies between being almost nonchalant to philosophical. The prose is simple, direct and flows lucidly. There may not always be a symphony of exquisite words here but then there are no jarring notes either.

False Ceilings is a very intense book. It makes you realize that life itself is nothing but a weird combination of circumstances, missed chances, grabbed opportunities and those almost anguished thoughts of ‘What If ?’

Not very different perhaps from an If Else Statement!

Book Review - The Thugs and a Courtesan

I very rarely accept books for review, but when I was asked to review “The Thugs and a Courtesan” by Mukta Singh Zocchi, I agreed because of two reasons. I loved the name of the book and second, the plot seemed very intriguing to me. 

The book is set in the India of the 1800s and talks of thugs and caravan of traders and courtesans with the Freedom struggle as a backdrop. With my love for stories set in British India, There was no way I was going to let go of a possibility of reading this Historic Fiction.

The best thing about this book is the storyline. Most writers stick to the beaten path of love stories or stories about the corporate life in their debut book but this is where Mukta has dared to be different. Her book talks about thugs, that group of people about whom I have read often in many of the historic tales set in British India, but never as main protagonists in a book.This small but very fascinating section of the society was a very integral part of British India and they played their own small but important role in the freedom struggle. Stories about them have always fascinated me.

Based on the lives of travelling Caravan of traders (or thugs!) who meander over dusty roads and through winding tracks, the book is a tale of bravery and petty schemes, of love and deceit and ambitions and duty.

 It’s mainly about the tumulus relationship between Firangia and Chanda Bai – One a thug and the other a warrior fighting for the Independence of her country. But there are many other subplots weaving their way in and out of the main story. Some related to the main plot some totally independent but doing their own bit by adding spice to the storyline. For me it was a sheer delight to re live that era through the various characters and stories.

As far as I am concerned, the book has all the material to make it a best seller – but sadly what it lacked was a good writing style. The subject chosen is fantastic but I wish it was treated in a better fashion. The story tends to meander and goes off track at times. The sub plots on their own make for interesting stories but I do wish they were woven in the book in a more creative and subtle manner. Sometimes the hordes of characters seems too cluttering and confusing.
It is obvious that the author is making an effort write in a proper and literary manner. There are a whole lot of books where the language is totally colloquial and flippant and I am no fan of that writing style. The Thug and courtesan however, goes to the other extreme and in the process of trying too hard to be proper, the writing style seems too verbose and stilted.

The video of the book can be seen here. 

Book Review - Sorting Out Sid

Sorting out Sid is Yashodhara Lal’s second book. The first one, “Just Married, Please excuse” is a hilarious take on the life of a newly married couple. In her own words the book is rather autobiographical.

Sorting out Sid on the other hand, talks about the trials and tribulations of the protagonist Sid aka Siddharth Agarwal in the corporate world as well as in his personal life.

Sid is your regular guy with regular problems. Ok, not so regular because his biggest grievance is that his desk is too close to the loo so he is wary of shaking anyone’s hand if they come to his desk straight from there !

Sid’s usual reaction to the complexities in his life is to go into the denial mode, half hoping his problems will go away on their own. He tends to wander into his own thoughts; half listening to what others are saying and this almost always lands him into foot in the mouth situations. To these idiosyncrasies, add a steadily crumbling marriage, possessive parents, an obnoxious boss fond of cracking Bathroom jokes, and an HR head showing a little more than professional interest in him and you have “Sorting Out Sid”.

Sid also has a different garb for the different roles he plays in his life – The Obedient Son, The eager beaver of an employee, the socialite and the always-acting-goofy Friend. The real Sid gets a little lost in all this.

The only place he can be himself is with Brownie – Someone (or is it something!) he can have intimate conversations with over endless bottles of beer because in his own words “You know why I love you so much, Brownie … You are such a good listener. You don’t judge. You don’t preach”.

Sorting out the Book!

Despite the complexities in Sid’s life, the story is simple and uncomplicated and the characters well etched out. There is no hotchpotch of parallel stories or numerous characters. All the characters, big or small play their own significant role – even the obscure maid Sid’s soon to be ex-wife hires does her own bit to make the plot funny.

What actually made this book such a delightful read for me was the way Yashodhara Lal has treated the story. Her strength as a story teller lies in the fact that she manages to convert even the most mundane everyday life incidents into humorous tales. The story line is actually serious. We are talking about breakdown in relationships and work politics – But Yashodhara tells these sordid details with such wit and humor that you will end up laughing out loud and commiserating with Sid at the same time.

Another thing that stands out about the book is that it has been written from Sid’s point of view. This is perhaps the first time I have seen a woman writer write a book from the perspective of the male protagonist. And I must say she does it with great panache and aplomb.

There is a whole lot of conversational tone and Hinglish used in the book – which works wonderfully with some readers but then not so well with some.

The sort of reader that I am, I usually go for the language. Exposition and wordplay is usually the first thing I will look for in a book, and if the book doesn’t have that then the plot better be racy and full of intrigue. Sorting Out Sid offers you neither. There are no elaborate descriptions and the plot is actually rather mundane – Just a sequence of events that happen in Sid’s life. And frankly in between the plot tends to drag just a wee bit.

But Yashodhara Lal wins you over with the quirky dialogues and the situations laced with droll humor. The book is peppered with absolutely hilarious monologues that Sid has with himself.

The language is simple but flows very smoothly. There is no symphony of words here but then there are no jarring notes either.

Yashodhara Lal knows the pulse of her readers well. This is the sort of book that young India will relate to. For aren’t we all a bit like Sid - bumbling through the stresses of modern life and in the process still trying to Sort ourselves out!

Sorting Out Sid is a fun and breezy read. A book you can enjoy with a cup of coffee or a beer – while you sit comfortably ensconced in your bean bag. It will make a perfect antidote for a bad work day!

A New Home for Old Friends !

The fact that I am a bookworm is known to all. Books are my solace, my refuge, something I always turn to when I am feeling down. A book is pure happiness, is as essential as the air I breathe! 

I think books should seriously be considered as stress relievers. They are also much more effective than medicines. I believe one dose of PG Wodehouse or Ruskin bond along with your antibiotics will help you recover from your cold or stomach upset that much faster! Works for me at least! 

For me reading is a religion. And I honestly treat my books like minor Gods. I am not averse to sharing things usually but I am very very hesitant about sharing my books and god help you if you give me back my book with even a scratch on it.

I also want my books to be accessible to me at all times. I rather fancy them as dear friends whom I can walk up to and have a pleasant conversation with at any time of the day. My time with my books is very precious to me. I like to sit quietly, leafing through them, re reading my favorite chapters and passages afresh. 

Till now all my books were scattered around the house. Some on tables, some in shelves, some locked inside the cupboards. I was not happy. I wanted all my books together, in one place. 

So I decided to indulge in a few good book shelves. After searching high and low through the city for many months, I found two fabulous book shelves in Amar Colony Antique Market. These gems were hiding behind a few tables and antique chairs and it seemed as if they were just waiting for me to spot them! I fell in love with them as soon as I saw them! 

Last weekend I spent a very pleasant day arranging my books in them and then proud as a peacock I put up a few pictures of the bookshelves on Facebook.

And then Suranga Date of the Strewn Ashes and Gappa fame saw them and penned this lovely poem about them on the spot. 

इतनी सारी सहेलियांकोई साइज़ शून्य

कोई टुनटुन जैसी,

कोई बाहरसे एकदम कड़क ,

और कोई इतनी मुलायम

कि दुसरे कि सहारे सिवा

खड़ी न रह सके.।

शीला आयी ,

बोली , "मुझे वोट दो, घर दिलाऊंगी "…

केजरीवाल आये

बोले "मुझे वोट दो, जगह दे दूंगा ,

लेकिन इलेक्ट्रिसिटी बिल आपका "…।

कोई हर्षभरा वर्धन आया ,

बोला " मुझे वोट दो,

मई प्याजके गहने फुकट दूंगा। …

फिर एक रुचिरा आयी

और बोली,

चलो मेरी बहना,

नया घर लाया है,

आराम से लेटो ,

कुछ वोट बीट नहीं चाहिए ,

लेकिन मेरी याद आयेगी

तो बाजूवाले झरोके से मुझे देखते रहना

और पूरी कि पूरी सहेलियां

नए घर कि तरफ भाग कर निकल पड़ी।

I particularly like the first para. The books are so well described. 

Thank you Suranga ! And I hope my books will be happy in their new home !

B is for Bookworms !

I am not really too fond of worms. Icky crawly things I tell you. The only worms I love are book worms for the simple reason that I am one. 

A book worm is not just someone who loves to pick up an occasional book at times. It’s not that easy to get entry into the prestigious ranks of Bookworms. Being a bookworm is hard! A bookworm eats sleeps and breathes books and reaches the abysmal depths of depression if she should happen to find herself without one! We Bookworms are tormented souls. If we are forced to keep our book down to attend to the unnecessary tasks of eating sleeping or working, our mind remain in turmoil as we wonder what will happen next in the book.

Bookworms are ingenious when it comes to reading. We have the ability to read anywhere. I have read while waiting in queues and while standing in buses being jostled by a 100 odd commuters. I have read books hidden under a blanket with the help of a torch when it was well past my bed time. I have read in the loo when my family thought I was in bed asleep. I have read as I waited for a surgery to happen and I have managed to block out post op pain with the help of a book. I even wanted to carry a book with me in the OT and read but the surgeon squashed that idea by putting me under a general anesthetic!

For a true bookworm books takes precedence over everything. My Nephew, who is just 8 sat through his Birthday Lunch with his nose buried in the book that we had just gifted him for his birthday. Now that is a true bookwork I tell you ! As children my brother I never fought over games but we fought about who will get to read the issue of Readers Digest or Target magazine first.

I remember Gerald Durrell’s my family and Other Animals was one book I simply couldn’t put down. I even took it to school and read it in my economics class hidden under the text book. I can’t tell you much about the Theory of Demand and Supply but I can tell you all you want to know about Gerald Durrell’s adventures In Corfu !

Bookworms become oblivious to everything else while they read. The characters in the book become real to us. We identify with them, live the life they are leading. Everything else is unreal. We get a reality shock when we finish a good book and finally emerge out to realize that a world actually exists beyond the book.

And no bookworm true to his name would never ever prefer a movie over a book. Although movies are a visual experience I feel books are better because when you read a book, unlike a movie you don’t have to stick to the images shown to you. You can bring the characters and situations alive by using your own imagination!

No activity of ours is complete without a book. For us a comfortable couch has no meaning unless we have a book to curl up with. The aroma of steaming coffee is lost on us unless we have a book to read as sip it. We never venture out on a journey without a few books to read. A book is a perfect companion. You can never be alone as long as you have a book with you. 

Books are my solace, my refuge, something I always turn to when I am feeling down. A book is pure happiness, something as essential as the air I breathe! 

Book Review - Peep Peep Don't Sleep

I haven’t reviewed a book for a long time so when I got an offer to review Ajay Jain’s book I jumped at the opportunity. Which self respecting travel Junkie would say to no to reviewing a travelogue ! 

Well not exactly a travelogue. You can’t really call "Peep Peep Don’t Sleep" a travelogue per se. It’s a very interesting book by Ajay Jain that is basically a compilation of amusing road signs that Ajay clicked during his travels. As most of us know, Ajay Jain is a full time writer, professional blogger and photographer. He is also founder of the fabulous travel café Kunzum. 

Ajay travelled by road for over 10,000 kms, mostly in the mountains and most of the road signs he clicked and compiled into this book have been put up by the BRO(Border Roads Organization).

While travelling through the mountains, the journey is never boring because the scenic beauty around us is always enthralling be it the rugged mountains of Ladakh or the lush greenery of Himachal. 

But what make the journey even more interesting are the road signs by BRO. You cant really miss the road signs put up by them if you have travelled in areas adjoining the Pakistan, China or Nepal border. I can vouch for the fact that the BRO road signs are a sight worth looking out for !

The BRO men don’t believe in putting up just simple boring road signs. Instead their road signs are witty and quirky. I like to think that the BRO men are a creative lot who are stuck high in the mountains and the only way they get to unleash their creativity is through the road signs they put up.Their road signs combine humour, caution, wisdom and philosophy all in to one !

Ajay’s collection is vast and fascinating.Here are a few samples from the book.

It seems the BRO authorities are actually wagging a finger of admonishment signs such as 

  

or something like 

 The BRO also tries to be witty with signs such as [Go Slow on my curves] and [darling I like you but no so fast]. 

The English may be funny at times but they do manage to get the point across!

They also get philosophical and give you advice on how to live your life well.

They are also quite proud of their achievements and rightly so.And they show it through such road signs:

A lot of people don’t pay attention to things like road signs while they travel. They concentrate on the scenery, click a few photographs of the nature around them and zoom off to the next destination. 

That is what makes Ajay's book so different. He looks at travel from a vastly different angle and perspective, and manages to capture something most of us would have missed.
This book is a must buy for all the quirky travellers out there !

(All images have been taken from the website Peep Peep Dont Sleep.

Just Married - Please Excuse - Book Review !

What happens when a MBA fresh out of B school falls in love with her senior at work and they decide to tumble into the land of holy matrimony after just three months of courting – mayhem and loads of fun ! This is what Just Married Please excuse is all about!

Written By Yashodhara Lal who blogs at Y on earth Not ! Just Married Please excuse is a roller coaster ride of a young couple into marriage and then parenthood. The main characters are Y – the modern, willful and slightly strong headed girl from Delhi who falls in love with the much older Vijay from small town Jaipur. The book covers their journey right from their first date – where they drive 5 hours one way to “feed the ducks” to marriage and then on to the birth of their first child. It’s not only a tale of two couples from diverse backgrounds falling in love but also of the changing life styles in urban India and how a young marriage survives the changing times and two demanding careers!

There is no riveting storyline here, nothing to keep you on tenterhooks.This book is just a series of anecdotes from the couple's life.A lot of married people are going to read this book and shrug their shoulders and say something like "been here done that!"

However, what saves this book from being mundane and boring is Yashodhara’s extremely witty style of writing. She writes with a lot of honesty and candor and has the ability to find humor everywhere – She may not have found the incidents so funny in real life but she does make us laugh with the way she relates them in her book.

Another interesting thing about the book are the people who in a movie would be called “character Actors”. This includes the parents and the assortment of household help the couple hires. Most of them are quirky and add an interesting edge to the whole storyline. My favorite is Kajal; the maid Y gets from Delhi to look after the baby. Kajal loves the baby to death but gives us many moments of mirth thanks to her bumbling ways and her attitude towards the Jamai Babu (Vijay) of the house!

This is a very good first book by Yashodhara and I look forward to more tales from the Y and V household !

This book review is part of the Harper Collins/Indiblogger Book Review Program 

Book Review: Hilawi by Ritu Lalit

Ritu Lalit is a blogger par excellence and blogs at PhoenixRitu. If you havent read her blog, I suggest you go over and do it right now!

When you have been reading a person for a long time, you set a certain expectations. You expect the person to stick to a certain genre, employ a certain writing style. Usually even writers play safe and stick to the style and genre they feel most comfortable in. It takes immense gumption and I must say a certain amount of dare to venture out of the comfort zone and enter into a hitherto unknown territory. Most writers don’t do it. But then if there is one person I can expect to go off the beaten track, it is Ritu Lalit.

With Hilawi she ventures into a genre of fantasy and suspense, and she doesn’t just hesitatingly tiptoe into this arena, she does it with her characteristic panache and aplomb! In Hilawi, Ritu takes mythology, fantasy and ancient folklore and intertwines it with the present day to bring us an enthralling tale of intrigue and suspense.

Hilawi is the story of Yaduvir and Gargi  – twins who with one phone call find themselves jolted out of their hitherto uneventful lives and thrown head front into the world of myths, half-forgotten legends and  magic chants as they try to unravel the mystery behind Hilawi.

In my opinion, Fantasy is the one of the most difficult genre to write in. Most writers have taken mythological tales and simply rewritten them in the modern format with a little bit of spice and fiction thrown in. Ritu on the other hand, takes the ancient legend of sagar manthan and weaves an entirely new tale around it that is set in the modern times. Only a writer with a fertile imagination and a certain amount of ingenuity can manage to do that.

The writing style is simple but crisp, with strong clear characterization, and a plot that twists and turns and changes within the blink of an eye. This book is a roller coaster ride, your heart is always your mouth but you enjoy every moment of it. It’s extremely fast paced and you feel you will miss something even if you as much as skip a sentence by mistake. Ritu skillfully keeps her readers spellbound and totally enthralled till the very end.

This book is definitely worth a read !                   

Book Review:The Mad Tibetan - Stories from then and Now By Deepti Naval

I have been a great fan of Deepti Naval since her Miss Chamko days (Anybody who has seen chashme baddoor will know what I am talking about!). In my opinion, she is one the finest actors we have. It was at the Jaipur Literary Festival that I realized that she was an equally good writer. We attended a session in which she read out a chapter from her book “The Mad Tibetan – Stories from Now and Then” and I was instantly hooked. Apart from the fact that the storyline was captivating it was her very emotive and expressive reading that kept us riveted to our seats. Obviously I simply had to buy the book after that !

Deepti Naval is a recluse and guards her privacy fiercely. Unlike most of the celebrities at the festival, she shied away from being photographed and hardly interacted with people. Some of her reclusiveness and search for solitude is reflected in her stories. So is her love for nature and her very perceptive understanding of life.“The Mad Tibetan – Stories from Now and Then” is a superb collection of short stories that covers almost all aspects of human nature and relationships. Her choice of characters is unusual – loners, madmen, recluses, failures. Deepti nonchalantly accepts all quirks and peculiarities as a part of life as she digs deep into the human psyche to unearth and explore deep rooted emotions, feelings and insecurities. I have rarely seen such profound, accurate and stunning portrayal of human complexities. 

The stories cover a wide range of topics right from a tale of two young girls and their trauma as they face the ridicule of the whole town because they have to get their heads shaved, to and old piano tuner and his despair as he battles loneliness and poverty in his twilight years. 

A story that I really liked was “D”. Deepti recounts meeting an old friend whom she recognizes but whose name she is unable to remember. Her anguish at not being able to put a name to that face is almost palpable. The most riveting story is Thulli, where Deepti recounts her sojourn into Falkland road of Bombay in search of prostitutes so that she can study them for her role in a movie. It’s excellently written and moves you beyond words. But my favourite story is the Mad Tibetan - Perhaps because as someone who likes her solitude and also likes to travel I could relate to her desire to live in Ladakh that too in the winter when the landscape is desolate but very peaceful.

Deepti’s writing style is very distinct. I am tempted to describe it as austere and intense at the same time. Her very striking and poignant characterization as well as expressive descriptions of situation and place paint images that are astoundingly vivid and realistic and leave you with a very strong almost visual impact. 


Read "The Mad Tibetan" if you are fond of Deepti as an actor, read it even if your are not .. This book is not to be missed if you have a passion for words ! 

Deepti reading out from her book at the Jaipur Literary Festival

Book Review - Tea for Two and a piece of cake

Author-Preeti Shenoy

Publishers-Ebury Press (Random House India)

Tea for two and a piece of cake is Preeti Shenoy’s third book. Her first book "34 bubblegum and candies" is a compilation of some of her blog posts and her second book, "Life is what you make it"  explores the lesser known topic of a mental disorder and how a young girl conquers it. You can read my review about it here.

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading her first two books, but to be really honest I was a little skeptical about reading Tea for two and a piece of cake. It is a love story, albeit one with a twist.Now, I am not one for love stories, however unusual they might be.I think there is already a deluge of books in the market that talk about love and relationships.

But once again Preeti has managed to surprise me. And How! Usually authors tend to follow the same pattern of thoughts and plot for all their books and this is where Preeti stands apart from the rest.

Tea for two and a piece of cake is refreshingly different from not only her earlier works but also from the other books in the market. As she had done  with  "Life is what you make it", Preeti dares to go off the beaten track once again, this time to explore the different facets of relationships, be it love or friendship.

Simply yet eloquently narrated,the story flows smoothly but at a very fast pace. Its a gripping tale and you really don't want to put the book down till you reach the end.
But what really sets this book apart is the way Preeti has handled and described the intense emotional journey of the protagonists. As you read on, you realize the fragility and complexity of human relationships and that sometimes relationships just don’t fall into the norms and regulations prescribed by our society- and it really doesn't matter that they don’t!

Tea for two is not your regular love story about Love lost and found. This is a very bold and unconventional book; a book that explores the fabric of human relationships and forces you to question your very beliefs and perceptions about them.

Definitely worth a Read ! 

Snippets from the Jaipur Literature Festival

There are very few things as mesmerizing as listening to Gulzar recite his poetry. We sat there entranced, as he weaved magic with his vivid imagination and his play of words. It is an experience to cherish, to marvel at and to relive again and again.

Gulzar speaks and the world listens enthralled !

On the day the Gulzar and Javed Akhtar poetry session was held it was so crowded that we couldn’t find a good place to sit even though we went really early. Not willing to sit right at the back, we sat on the dew wet grass right in front of the dais and the people sitting on chairs passed us newspapers to sit on so we wouldnt catch a cold!

Javed Akhtar writes amazing poetry but frowned through most the session rarely deigning to smile at us lesser beings. He is a very powerful orator though, and once he gets going with the poetry he simply enthralls you.
Gulzar on the other hand is so very warm hearted and friendly and soft spoken, all you want to do is sit quietly by his side and listen to him recite his poems.

As a translator, I know how extremely difficult it is to translate poetry especially if it is written by Gulzar. I am sure Pawan Varma tried to do his best but at times his translation of Gulzar”s poetry left a lot to be desired! I suppose however hard one might try, some essence of Gulzar”s poetry will get lost in the translation.

Vinod Mehta is nothing if witty repartee. He spoke with his trademark candor sparing no one including the stalwarts of Indian Journalism and our political leaders. If he needed publicity for his book “Lucknow Boy” he doesn’t have to worry. Almost everyone who attended his sessions is going to buy it now just to read the juicy bits in it!



Tarun Tejpal talks to Vinod Mehta

 After listening to Chetan Bhagat, Amish Tripathi, Ashwin Sanghvi and the likes expound on the art of marketing a book, I distinctly got the impression that writing books is now more of a commercial venture than a literary one. Whatever happened to writing simply for the love of it?  


Amish Tripathi, Amrita Tripathi and Ashwin Sanghvi discus the art of  marketing a book

 Shashi Tharoor is God. I don’t care what his political ideology is; as far as literature is concerned he is God. And while we are at it, he is also one of the most debonair and intellectual men I have ever met.
 


Shashi Tharoor and Anupam Kher in conversation

If there is someone who can combine literature, mythology with modern economics and still make enough sense to keep you hooked to your seat throughout the session, it is Gurucharan Das.
 


Ira Pandey and Gurucharan Das

 I for the life of me don’t understand why I haven't read Michael Ondaatje or Jamaica Kincaid till now. I attended two sessions where they read out from their books and I am now totally hooked. Books by them ordered and delivered thanks to flipkart !



Jamaica Kincaid



Michael Ondaatje

 Honestly, the organizers should have planned the sessions better. There were sessions in the same time slots that all had fantastic speakers and I was torn between choosing which session to attend. Then there would be time slots where nothing of interest would be happening anywhere. The time I had to choose between Kunal Basu, Sir Tom Stoppard and Ben Okri I almost died!

Deepti Naval is so very graceful and exquisite. I have been a great fan of her since her Miss Chamko days but never knew she could write, and write well!




Deepti Naval reads out from her book "The Mad Tibetan"

 Inspite of reaching really early for the Oprah session, we could find no place to even stand, forget sitting. Finally we perched on a low wall and managed to get a good view of her sideways. None of were very interested in Oprah but we sort of got caught in the excitement and there was some sort of childish fun in balancing on a wall and clicking photos of her!

In the end, I did find her rather interesting. Perhaps because I really didn’t go with much expectations. But she was a lot more genuine than her host who was all artificiality and syrupy sweet – enough to give one diabetes.

 

Not a bad snap, considering it was taken balanced precariously on a railing !

I think weekdays at the festival were the most peaceful. This is when we literature lovers had the place to ourselves. Over the weekend a surge of crowd descended on Diggi palace like hoard of locusts. Most of their knowledge of literature was limited to the fact that the movie 3 idiots is based on a book by a now supposedly famous author or of reading the numerous chic lits doing the rounds these days.

 

Baithak - One of the places the sessions were held. I loved it for its cane chairs and the blosters

 I really don’t understand what these fashionistas were doing at a literature festival. There was this sudden onslaught of tight short dresses, red pouting lips and high heels as well as designer bags. They were as out of place in a literature festival as an old lady would be in a bar. Most of them spent all their time swooning over the aged but still admittedly quite dashing Kabir Bedi and the likes of him.

 I could have killed the kitty party type ladies who sat through one of the Shashi Tharoor sessions without listening to a word of what was being said.Most of them were busy gossiping, busy tweeting or on FB. And we stood there on aching feet straining our ears to catch what was being said and dying for a seat.

But thanks to these self-same crowds I have now mastered the art of wriggling my way through people to find a place right in the front. I am now capable of vehemently defending a seat that I am saving for a friend and also of fighting tooth and nail to grab a seat as if my life depends on it. I have also learnt that when you need to peep over heads to see the speakers being 5 ft 9 inches is a definite advantage.

Weirdest comment award goes Girish Karnad when he said "I don't think India views a playwright as a necessity .... TV and traffic killed theatre in India"
Eh ? excuse me !

  Jaipur was exceedingly cold. As a snooty delhiite I thought Jaipur would be pleasantly warm. I was so wrong. We shivered through most of the sessions and the one thing that saved us from freezing into blocks of ice was this …
  

Kulhad Chai at Diggi Palace





Book Review: Conversations by Rajeev Nanda

Author:Rajeev Nanda
Publisher:LeadStart Publishing


How many of us have conversations with ourselves or with people close to us – not mundane conversations about day to day things but thought provoking conversations that force you to introspect and analyze your whole thought process.

The book “Conversations” is all about that. “Conversations” is an amalgam of stories and poems –all of them exploring human emotions, attitudes and perceptions. And almost all of them challenging our belief systems and forcing us to think out of the Box. The stories are all conversations between ordinary individuals – a soldier who is posted on the border who suddenly questions the logic of war, College friends who decide to form a “truth club”, a couple who is forced to rethink their values and attitudes about commitment and the meaning of marriage, an old lady on her death bed who gives a thirty something lessons on how to live life passionately – each of these stories make you think and question your attitude towards life.

The author Rajeev Nanda is an IT professional but writing has always been his first love. You would not expect a Technical Geek to come up with such a profound and thought provoking book but Rajeev does surprise us here. As he explains in the introduction to the book, two near death experiences left a great impact on him. The first was when the bus he was travelling in collided with another bus. Although his bus hung precariously from the bridge, He and his co-passengers were saved. The other bus however fell down the bridge and there were no survivors – except for a little baby clutched in his dead mother’s arms. In another incident in terror torn Punjab of the 80s, the bus he had just got down from was blown to pieces by a bomb in it. In his own words, These incidents as well as the writings of Arsitotle, Ayn Rand ,Amrita Pritam and Nietzshe made Rajeev “think about life and what we do with our time on this planet. “

This book is frankly not for people looking for something “light” to read while travelling. This is a very intense and serious book. At a time when chic lits and books about friendships, quest for love and college life are the most in demand, Rajeev has indeed been very brave to attempt this book. For me this book was a very refreshing read from the usual genre of today.

However I do have some complaints regarding this book. The stories could have been crisper and sharper. The author tends to ramble on for great lengths especially when he is describing characters and situations. The reader tends to lose interest in the middle and become exasperated by the long winded and sometimes boring descriptions. The book is philosophical and stories interspersed with words of wisdom but somewhere in these dissections of life and its perceptions, the art of storytelling has been lost. The stories might make you think, but I am afraid to say they lack the zing that makes a good story.


All in all, however Conversations is definitely worth a read.

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

Book Review - Adrift - A Junket Junkie in Europe

Author: Puneetinder Kaur Sidhu
Publishers: Leadstart Publishing
Price:150/-

As most of you know, I am an incurable travel addict. I have to go on a trip at least once every 3-4 months or I am left feeling extremely dissatisfied and restless with my life. I am also a sucker for travelogues so when Blog Adda had "Adrift – A Junket Junkie in Europe" up for review I grabbed it in a flash!

"Adrift – A Junket Junkie in Europe" is written by Puneetinder, a thirty something travel enthusiast who spent a very happy summer traveling through Europe. As someone who has just spend a month travelling across UK and Canada, I was very keen to read what a fellow travel enthusiast had written!

Personally, the reason this book apealed to me was because my and Puneetinder’s views on travel are very similar. Like her I am perpetually afflicted with the travel itch, the never ending desire to explore, experience and relish whatever the world has to offer us both in terms of travel destinations and culinary delights. Like her, I also treat travel as an escape from the mundane and sometimes unpleasant realities of life. It is a “soothing balm and the light at the end of the tether” as Puneetinder rightly points out. Like me Puneetinder also believes in letting her heart rule her mind as far as travel goes and believes more in unchartered random travels that characterize a true travel gypsy rather than following a fixed boring itinerary.

One fine day, Puneetinder decides that she is not too satisfied by the way life is turning out. Naturally she chooses travel to escape her problems! She had an unutilized air ticket to London which she promptly puts to good use. Before she sets out, she lays down a few cardinal rules of travel such as “I shall avoid all tour operators” (something I whole heartedly agree to!); and other equally important dictates’ such as avoiding all summer romances on the way,avoiding consumption of fast food and seeing too many places in a day!

While in London, her aunt in Germany offers her indefinite stay at her house provided Puneetinder cooks Indian meals for the family! Puneetinder promptly takes up the offer and hence begins her travels across Europe as she hops from one country to the next, staying with various cousins and friends scattered across the continent. 

In true sense of adventure, she shuns journeys by air or rail and instead uses “Mitfahrzentrale “a car pooling service that enables her to travel across Europe in a much more cost effective manner. Among other countries, she covers Sweden, Hungary France and Austria where she falls head over heels in love with Vienna.

The style of writing is very simple yet the descriptions make you feel as if you are actually seeing the places through her eyes. Her joy as she savors the different cultures, cuisines and places is almost palpable. The book is rather a delightful amalgam of anecdotes and interesting descriptions of the places she has been to. She shows us the “Asli Europe” as Shahrukh khan says in DDLJ. Puneetinder has a wry sense of humor and a very happy go lucky attitude - two things that always make a good traveler , and the two things that make this book such a pleasure to read.

I do have one complaint regarding this book. The book doesn’t have a normal Index but a few lines explaining what each chapter contains. While some people might appreciate this, I don’t really like the idea much! It was like knowing the end of a movie before you even begin to watch it! I like to keep the expectancy alive as I read a book.

However this book is a delightful read for anyone who has even the slight love for travel running in their veins!

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

Bombay Duck is a Fish - Book Review

Author - Kanika Dhillon

Publishers - Westland Publishers

"Bombay Duck is a Fish" is Kanika Dhillon’s debut novel. Kanika is a scriptwriter at Shahrukh Khan’s Red Chilly Entertainment so perhaps it is not surprising that she has chosen Bollywood as the setting of her novel.

The book traces the journey of Neki Brar who leaves her Amritsar home for Bombay with dreams of becoming a Film-Maker. Neki is an MBA and is on the brink of a spectacular career in the corporate world, but she throws it all away to follow her Bollywood dream.

Once in Mumbai, she lands a job as an assistant director to one of Industry’s most famous directors. There is no typical bollywood struggle for livelihood here, Neki lands her job pretty easily. Rather Neki struggles in a different way as she faces cut throat competition, deceit and back stabbing at her job from day one.Bombay Duck is a fish is an insider’s tale about the real Bollywood that the world doesn’t get to see – The struggle, the despair and the heart break behind the smiles and the deceit, debauchery and the ugliness behind the glamour.

Infact Kanika uses the topic of the book “Bombay Duck is a Fish” as a sort of metaphor for the world of Bollywood. In the book Neki actually thinks that Bombay duck is a duck and not a fish as she later discovers. Similarly through her journey in Bollywood, she learns the stark and often sad reality behind the facade of Bollywood.

The book is written in a very interesting manner. Most of the narration is in the form of Neki’s entries in her diary (she calls her diary Nano) or through her letters to her mother back home in Amritsar. The entries in her diary talk of her love for an upcoming actor, the ego clashes and even the humiliation she faces at work and her own ruthless ambition to succeed at all costs. The letters to her mother, on the other hand paint a very rosy and often untrue picture of the kind of life she actually wishes to live in Mumbai.

Sayings and phrases from Herman Hesse’s book Siddhartha also run through the book. Siddhartha was Neki's father’s favorite book and Neki could never understand why he liked it so much. Now as she struggles to find a foothold in her own life, she sort of understands why her father uses the book as the philosophy of his life. She learns to look at life as different shades of grey rather than being always black or white.

"Bombay Dick is a Fish", is a gripping tale of ruthless ambition, betrayal and dreams gone awry.I rather expected the book to end in the different way betrayal that it actually did.After all we are used to Bollywood films where things always turns out well in end. But perhaps that is what Kanika has been trying to tell us all along – That in Bollywood dreams don’t always come true !

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

Meeting Bond Saheb !

I have been a bad girl! I promised to do a Blog Marathon this month, wrote faithfully for 11 days and then promptly disappeared! My sincere apologies but I was really and truly hard pressed for time and didn’t want to write half hearted posts just for the heck of writing. It’s more important to write posts worth reading rather than just mindless blabber is it not! Any how now that I have apologized (and hope to be forgiven :) ) let me tell me you what I have been up to. I went to the Penguin Spring Fever Festival on Sunday and Met Ruskin Bond! If you have been reading me for a while you will know that for me Ruskin Bond equals God. I don’t think a greater fan ever lived than me! I have all his books and have read each one of them countless times. The kind of life I would love to lead is the kind of life he is leading right now; tucked away among the mountains, doing what he loves to do best– Writing.
So when I found out that Penguin India was organizing a conversation between Vishal Bhardwaj and Ruskin Bond on the last day of their spring fever fest I knew I simply had to be there! I badgered the poor lady at Penguin for invites till she finally sent me a few. I then badgered my friend M to accompany me. She was not too keen to dislodge herself from in front of her TV on a Sunday but I got my way by bribing her with dinner at the American Diner after the show.
The program was at habitat center, a place that I really love for its architecture and ambiance. We reached there around 5 pm and started browsing the books Penguin had displayed. I was looking around idly when I spotted a man standing in a corner, talking to someone. Suddenly with a jolt I realized that it was Ruskin Bond. I was so excited that I could only pull at my friends sleeve and point excitedly in his direction. M asked me why don’t I go and talk to him. But I didn’t want to barge in a private conversation so I just stood where I was. I am really weird that way. Someone else would have run to meet her idol and here I was standing and gaping but too shy to go and talk to him. M was well aware of my obsession with Ruskin Bond so she literally dragged me to him. By that time he had already started walking away. I was about to turn away disappointed when M ran after him shouting Mr. Bond Mr. Bond. He turned around and smiled and M literally pushed me forward. He signed a few books for me and I finally got a chance to talk with my idol. There was still an hour for the program to begin and there were very few people about so we could chat undisturbed. He is such a sweet and gentle soul! So quiet and unassuming! This was my second interaction with Ruskin Bond and once again I was left enchanted. M who hadn’t met him before is now totally under his spell! Finally he went back inside and I walked back in a trance.
Vishal Bhardwaj and Ruskin Bond walked in around 7 to a rousing applause and strains of what else but the Daaaarling song! The conversation between them was moderated by Mahmood Farooqui the Co-Writer of Peepli live. They mostly spoke about adapting stories from movies as two of Vishal’s movies are based on stories by Ruskin Bond (Blue Umbrella and off course Saat Khoon Maaf).The original story Susanna’s Seven Husbands by Ruskin Bond is actually a light hearted short story. Once Vishal Bhardwaj decided to make a movie out of it Bond Saheb (As he referred to Ruskin Bond!) had to re write it into a novella form. Finally Vishal made it into something as dark and sinister as Saat Khoon Maaf. I feel the original story is much more interesting (But then I am more of a reader and a movie buff!)
Ruskin Bond also spoke about creative writing for a bit and I hung on to each word!
After the program we watched a bit of the Quawalli organized by Penguin and then went to the American Diner where to show our happiness for a evening well spent we downed 3 tequilas one after the other. So on Sunday night, if you saw a two supposedly dignified young ladies sitting in a corner of American Diner downing tequilas and talking giddily you know who they were!!

Leaving you with a few snaps we clicked that day from our mobiles (not very good quality I am afraid!)