tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30105168762438555902024-03-11T08:53:52.600+05:30KlishmaklaverClishmaclaver- the root word- means a whole lot of chatter, but here it comes with the (K)nowledge Quotient from the grey matter!
Vibhuti Bhandarkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00145588190836915806noreply@blogger.comBlogger282125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3010516876243855590.post-77252117138119980572021-05-11T12:07:00.004+05:302021-05-11T12:07:44.387+05:30Dopehri: Book Review<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNRFtVdS0RzsoZvDAOFgnpoEo6jU0rmbzJKuw6mLBNNuNNlz3_wGu1d4QcK7Yy8mBucfTxNCiyE_aGzOpq8y6k74MdMvGMC3_-Xm8hiZJsJt1zPeVr77Rhj863TI1nTnRObTQp36oi6RCu/s2048/IMG_20210509_173047.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNRFtVdS0RzsoZvDAOFgnpoEo6jU0rmbzJKuw6mLBNNuNNlz3_wGu1d4QcK7Yy8mBucfTxNCiyE_aGzOpq8y6k74MdMvGMC3_-Xm8hiZJsJt1zPeVr77Rhj863TI1nTnRObTQp36oi6RCu/s320/IMG_20210509_173047.jpg" /></a></div><p><br /></p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Book Title: dopehri </span><div><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Publishers: HarperPerennial India (Hardcover)</span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Author's Name: Pankaj Kapur ( Translated from Hindustani by Rahul Soni) </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>About the Author: </span><span>Pankaj Kapur is a versatile, and acclaimed actor of Hindi Theatre, Film & Television with a string of awards including the National Film Award to his credit. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">In November 2019, he made his literature debut with this book </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">which he had written in 1992.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: inherit;">My Rating: 3/5 ⭐</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: inherit;">'dopehri' felt like a 90+ pages Long Short Story, not a novella. Read it in 60 minutes flat without skipping a single word. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">The author, Pankaj Kapur is an illustrious actor and I've adored his performances ever since I was hooked onto watching 'Karamchand' as a kid. Probably, this was what triggered the great expectations from this little book. W</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">e know he has an impeccable command over the Hindi language. I really wish I'd read 'dopehri' in its original avatar first, instead of this translated English version. </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #202122;">While reading the story, I could imagine the magic of the storytelling in Hindi, but the transliteration killed the joy for me. Literal translations sound so funny, like on pg. 50 <i>'...his banian stretched to </i></span><span style="color: #202122;"><i>accommodate a fifty-two-inch chest.' </i>In Hindi, that idiom would beautifully capture the jest of the moment, but in English it makes no sense!</span></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">'Dopehri' is a Hindi word which means 'afternoon'- when the sun is bearing down with all its heat. The idea of 'Winter afternoons' however evoke emotions, and that is what I expected from the book as I began to read. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Amma Bi is an elderly widow who lives alone in her deserted Lucknow haveli. Every afternoon, at precisely 3 o'clock, footsteps are heard outside but she's unable to see who it is! It terrifies her so much that she considers moving to an old-age home, but finally takes in a lodger instead, a young woman named Sabiha. Amma Bi's motherly instincts are harvested by Sabiha from Jaunpur (Amma Bi's mother's village), and Jumman- the household help is also infatuated by her. When Sabiha finds herself in trouble, Amma Bi comes to her rescue. </span></span></p><p>I would have loved the story more if the author had let it steep and flow into more details of the old- world Lucknowi lifestyle and charms. Felt like the storytelling just whizzed through, gliding over the Lucknowi Haveli only for the sake of giving Amma Bi a premise. It felt as if the mystery and spook quotient that was building up at the start was deserted mid-way and the story stepped into a terribly simplistic by-lane which was developed into the main-street by the end of the story. Is it because it's a woman's tale told by a man that it lacks the wide pallet of emotions one could have brought to the pages? </p><p>I'm sorry to say that I feel a tad bit disappointed, after having fallen in love with the title and cover design of the book, but then again this is just my opinion!</p><p><br /></p></div>Vibhuti Bhandarkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00145588190836915806noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3010516876243855590.post-3833746096556821312021-04-05T15:56:00.007+05:302021-04-05T15:58:32.613+05:30City Under Curfew and other stories: Book Review<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAs1WK8D6pWzrXEiDwOQmj-G6NPuAND-Ks1O_qD9Cuv_Z3gBXsrdtUDYcwsxJgmpAsf2GGUbmfes7ok1OmOZHkGL5eTpkfXsWbxEdziOSQrhKdv-OKHGo85CDAHhN1nevmEoheJeaJFyNO/s865/IMG_20210403_191621_600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="865" data-original-width="865" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAs1WK8D6pWzrXEiDwOQmj-G6NPuAND-Ks1O_qD9Cuv_Z3gBXsrdtUDYcwsxJgmpAsf2GGUbmfes7ok1OmOZHkGL5eTpkfXsWbxEdziOSQrhKdv-OKHGo85CDAHhN1nevmEoheJeaJFyNO/s320/IMG_20210403_191621_600.jpg" /></a></div><br />Book Title: City Under Curfew and other stories<p></p><p>Author: Fazayal Shabbir</p><p>Publishers: Leadstart Publishing</p><p>My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5</p><p>About the Author: <span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Fazayal Shabbir has followed the traditional route of mechanical engineering topped with a post graduate diploma in business management on the academic front but is unconventional in other aspects of his life. He holds a black belt in Judo and accomplishments at state level, and sports is closest to his heart.</span></p><p>Book Review:</p><p>It is an assorted collection of 12 short stories which make for quick and easy reading. I find paperbacks keep me hooked longer than ebooks do and such stories are the easiest way to bring me back into the rhythm of reading.</p><p>I could relate to the title story the most because I'm a 90s kid from Mumbai who has seen those scenes of curfew during the Hindu- Muslim riots and the cold-blooded encounters in by-lanes. I was a tad bit sad that the remaining stories that follow in the book are not based on the same topic and neither do they have anything to do with Covid-curfews. Each tale felt like a glimpse from the lives of people I felt I'd met at some point of time. </p><p>I like stories with twisted, unexpected ends and I found one or two such treats in this book. I don't want to give out spoilers by naming the title of the story.</p><p>The story of the man with six failed suicide attempts reminded me of a popular recent web series. I enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed watching the more elaborate movie version.</p><p>Simplistic storytelling, but fairly well- edited collection of tales. I wish the author all the luck with his future endeavours! </p>Vibhuti Bhandarkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00145588190836915806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3010516876243855590.post-68081891628927201732021-03-30T17:13:00.006+05:302021-04-05T15:58:13.405+05:30Written in Tears: Book Review<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi985dx270uLVBXPhXbKIXmaKrO8sE5RddHg26m7unqzA4CPvVmFSYpfvcZvJRgDuhyGktofRVLxBfgkh12gEFRgEfSHDWlLfcIGMinnlOldXqsBDCqKgUgOIsoC9gNhxe3mGYGgE9XRa1m/s1920/1617101895911.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1920" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi985dx270uLVBXPhXbKIXmaKrO8sE5RddHg26m7unqzA4CPvVmFSYpfvcZvJRgDuhyGktofRVLxBfgkh12gEFRgEfSHDWlLfcIGMinnlOldXqsBDCqKgUgOIsoC9gNhxe3mGYGgE9XRa1m/w320-h320/1617101895911.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><br /></p>Book Name: Written in Tears<p></p><p>Author Name: Arupa Patangia Kalita- Translated from the Assamese by Ranjita Biswas</p><p>About the Author & the Translator:</p><p>Arupa Patangia Kalita is the recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award for her short stories, the Bharatiya Bhasha Parishad Award, and the Katha Prize. She is adulated as one of the most outstanding voices of fiction writing in contemporary Assamese literature. Ranjita Biswas who has beautifully translated ‘Written in Tears’ is an award-winning translator herself. </p><p>Publisher: Harper Collins India</p><p>My Rating: ****/5</p><p><br /></p><p>'Written in Tears' is a collection of 8 short stories about the life in Assam, which just made me realise that one must read a lot, and reading more stories from different parts of our world is a MUST. While most of the stories have been told from the point of view of the women of Assam and showcases how they lived, their beliefs, and struggles, ' Face in the Mirror' gave me a jolt. Probably because it sounded more like the author's narrated her real life experiences in it. </p><p>' It was a Sunday. The month, April; Year; 1997. How can I forget those days?' She writes. Even I have vivid memories of my happy college days in Bombay, but at the very same time, the girls in Assam were living through days of extreme turmoil!</p><p>' It was a time when money was counted only in lakhs and the number of deaths escalated every day. The group that wanted a separate state was becoming like the bharando bird; with its two mouths, it was devouring its own body...The odour of blood pervaded the air more and more as the days passed.' This passage is so disturbing!</p><p>Every story in the book begins with all the beautiful descriptions of an Assam that I'd imagined, as we've always seen in it in pictures. 'Ayengla is a happy woman who has a loving husband, two children, paddy fields and a chang ghar with pigs and chickens. She loves the blue hills that rise high behind her home. On most days, they are covered with cotton-wool clouds and veils of mist; on sunny days, they shine like bright jewels under the sun,' However, like the title of the book suggests, these stories were perhaps really 'Written in Tears'. As the story progresses, the masked men crawl out of the dark forests like ants out of the wood work, turning the scene on it's head, to bring before our eyes the painful, gut wrenching and dark reality. The mental pictures of beautiful houses and gardens burgeoning with flowers turn to images of destructive fires burning everything down along with its people. </p><p>If these stories hadn't been translated to English, I would still be ignorant about the history of violence caused by the agitation in Assam, and the atrocities inflicted upon the women. </p><p>And yet how strong must these women be if the author includes quote like these- ' Winners never quit, quitters never win'. She has also quoted Shelley- "‘If winter comes. Can spring be far behind?’ poignantly portraying the spirit of the people of Assam. </p><p><br /></p>Vibhuti Bhandarkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00145588190836915806noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3010516876243855590.post-53029224282262392602021-03-13T16:49:00.006+05:302021-03-13T18:42:53.100+05:30Arranged Marriage - Book Review<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsXvPnaSVHISz68Q7WtTcuaKSQsIbNj-4Yzgd9Dvoe6xseETl8Rixpgd-wXxj3u1vdwGHa-xHfRJXluDIhOwtQbwcvrQHcCWr_21uMJtPS1w8pyTu771mn_jTNyjTBSbQoTQq-9plB9M0Y/s1080/1615630867474.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsXvPnaSVHISz68Q7WtTcuaKSQsIbNj-4Yzgd9Dvoe6xseETl8Rixpgd-wXxj3u1vdwGHa-xHfRJXluDIhOwtQbwcvrQHcCWr_21uMJtPS1w8pyTu771mn_jTNyjTBSbQoTQq-9plB9M0Y/s320/1615630867474.png" /></a></div><p><br /></p>Book Title: Arranged Marriage<p></p><p>Author Name: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni</p><p>Publishers: Kindle Edition</p><p>My Rating: 5/5⭐</p><p>About the Author: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni won the American Book Award for this book. She writes for children as well as adults and has written in multiple genres including historical, mythology as well as fantasy. </p><p>This is the second Indian- American author I've read as we celebrate Women's History Month for #FemmeMarchAtWomaniyat-Week #2 prompt: Literary Fiction </p><p>It's a collection of 11 short stories that capture the life of Bengali women based in Calcutta and America. As the title suggests all the stories highlight the flawed concept of the arranged marriage and the traditional patriarchal mold in which it has been shaped, stuffed and crammed as per convenience since ages. Each story is different from the next, which will go at your heart with a wrench, leaving you wondering how women suffered it in silent submission. Why did it take so much time to shake things up and wake up to feminism?</p><p>These stories are not about the downtrodden classes but of women from educated and well-off backgrounds who are also subjects no less. Each protagonist and her story is different; battling the various issues that result from marriages designed to break her wings and mute her voice. The protagonists are awakening to the disparaging difference between the Indian and Western belief systems. Though the theme may seem old-world but there are many societies in India even today where inconsiderate rituals, orthodox traditions and culture are ardently followed. It's deeply saddening to see that women themselves should champion such schools of thought. </p><p>Here's a poetic excerpt from the 'Maid-servant's story'- an internal pondering over the predicament- "Perhaps it is like this for all daughters, doomed to choose for ourselves, over and over, the men who have destroyed our mothers....I reach for her hand, she holds tightly to my fingers. We sit like this, two women caught in the repeating, circular world of shadow and memory, watching where the last fight, silky and fragile, has spilled itself just above the horizon like the <i>palloo</i> of a saffron sari."</p><p>There are some quotes that will also superbly instill the readers with hope and reflect the spirit of a modern, liberated, thinking woman- "No man was going to call me stupid and get away with it." I loved the spunk! And that's exactly how I'd like to imagine one day man and woman will learn to co-exist giving and receiving respect for the intelligent minds and equally capable beings we all are.</p><p>At the outset, reading these stories left me feeling depressed and there's a sense of foreboding and melancholy all throughout, but the author's command over the language, the descriptive style of storytelling and the power to transport the reader to that time and place makes this book a fabulous MUST READ. </p><p>I would recommend this book to all- female and male readers as well. As a writer this is the quality of work I dream and yearn to achieve. As a reader, we need more literary fiction books like this which put the spotlight on the truths of our society, and help kindle the spark of progressive thinking and hope for a brighter future for women in India. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Vibhuti Bhandarkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00145588190836915806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3010516876243855590.post-30771941131606723042021-03-08T21:02:00.004+05:302021-03-10T12:50:51.470+05:30Flipping Tables<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrK5VWHtbmF4Ov6aJW_t5gIQW6obbZF6gguEKqSajdEPB6AVdqYzPStvi57Wc1bwv7687EykK0I5KfUH4xBgrSngMwAEaoqd64zfcUqYgNdI4LYYXAiq03hu4squWariESY9_jORvf36qk/s2048/sergio-contreras-7iB1Pa_OBL4-unsplash+%25281%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrK5VWHtbmF4Ov6aJW_t5gIQW6obbZF6gguEKqSajdEPB6AVdqYzPStvi57Wc1bwv7687EykK0I5KfUH4xBgrSngMwAEaoqd64zfcUqYgNdI4LYYXAiq03hu4squWariESY9_jORvf36qk/s320/sergio-contreras-7iB1Pa_OBL4-unsplash+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>"Unbelievable! She flipped it neatly, and turned it again too, within minutes," her teenager son looked up at her in awe.</p><p>" I know son, I was watching your Ma too!" Pa chuckled and beamed a smile at her as she brought steaming chapattis and settled at the table.</p><p>"Ma, how did you do that?" </p><p>" You made it look as easy as flipping these chapattis," Pa interjected, giving her palm a loving squeeze. </p><p>"The helicopter I was flying can backflip from a hovering position because it's got semi-rigid rotor systems. After I've established a positive 'G' on the rotor blades it co-operates, letting me pull-off a clean back-flip!" She was mentally back in the cockpit as she explained, passionately.</p><p>"Mind- blowing, Ma! My friends joke that girls can't drive cars."</p><p>"Tell them, the woman of today can sail her own boat and sink your ship too if she decides to," Ma laughed.</p><p>🚁</p><p><br /></p><p> This 150 words microtale was originally written for the Terribly Tiny Tales & Instagram collaborated International Women's Day contest - #NotSoOrdiNaari Challenge on the occasion of IWD2021</p><p>" It's not a woman's job"</p><p>The only thing that's not a woman's job is entertaining comments like these. </p><p><br /></p><p>This story has been featured as the BlogAdda Tangy Tuesday pick which you can visit <a href="https://blog.blogadda.com/2021/03/09/indian-women-bloggers-tangy-picks">HERE</a> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blog.blogadda.com/2021/03/09/indian-women-bloggers-tangy-picks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="65" data-original-width="125" height="104" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu-aCGKa4zRcthy8yLl1rJ0wlsXUN6wXI8i7tQeTSwLzuHO3x8nC1greX5sYTtYPUEnArNpTyFciRIDbBb-J_jIxEIVH9TFtj_xlizeaht94VeibH-Mx5lFBJoBI3KZfRs5lI9MPKyJach/w200-h104/tangytuesday.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Vibhuti Bhandarkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00145588190836915806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3010516876243855590.post-46052398952825610652021-03-07T21:56:00.005+05:302021-03-07T21:56:59.051+05:30Interpreter of Maladies- Book Review<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF9NHt6IpUdxIWJN9gW8OFzFjsZAZqVss9PXqtsRgF_l3SXEmJDo-zHgAAxdau1V_FmyiCi-cC-AZKZs-9vAYKwkvMfdhK0eQIrPzu83BBIIGbrA3KJDVmMWu-lnpUL95frRo7RkDr34e6/s2048/IMG_20210307_095806_137.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF9NHt6IpUdxIWJN9gW8OFzFjsZAZqVss9PXqtsRgF_l3SXEmJDo-zHgAAxdau1V_FmyiCi-cC-AZKZs-9vAYKwkvMfdhK0eQIrPzu83BBIIGbrA3KJDVmMWu-lnpUL95frRo7RkDr34e6/s320/IMG_20210307_095806_137.jpg" /></a></div><p>Book Title: Interpreter of Maladies. </p><p>Author Name: Jhumpa Lahiri. </p><p>Publishers: Harper Collins India. </p><p>About the Author: Nilanjana Sudeshna "Jhumpa" Lahiri, born July 11, 1967 is an American author of Indian origin who is best known for her short stories, novels and essays in English, and, more recently, in Italian.</p><p><br /></p><p>My Rating: 5/5⭐</p><p><br /></p><p>Interpreter of Maladies is a collection of nine short stories by Jhumpa Lahirihi. This book has received great laurels like the Pulitzer Prize and the Hemingway Award for Fiction. </p><p></p><p> I'd first read her 'Namesake' when I was a teenager and ever since I've remained totally floored by her writing style. So for the first week of #FemmeMarchAtWomaniyat I decided to re-read theses stories that brought her into the literary limelight.</p><p>Her stories are women centric for sure but more than feminism, I feel the beauty of her writing is in her eye for details; her impeccable English with superb vocabulary used to describe the smallest nuances; the beautiful thought- provoking or poignant endings to the stories which stir the deepest emotions. Her women are quirky, and her words weave such vivid mental imagery that the characters stand before your eyes like you've met them somewhere before.</p><p>The story which opens the collection is my favourite, but the title story is also one of a kind. Although the stories are based on the people who hail from West Bengal, but they are contemporary stories, not entirely traditional.</p><p> Despite being born abroad, and an American national, she builds the picture of the Bengali life smoothly, subtly, and sensitively. The description of the Buri Ma- an old woman's life in 'The Real Durwan' is absolutely on point. I felt like she was walking me through those lanes and the scene. </p><p>All in all, a great Indian woman author whose works are definitely worth a read! </p><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p>Vibhuti Bhandarkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00145588190836915806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3010516876243855590.post-71984017176678769562021-02-21T00:29:00.005+05:302021-02-28T14:53:42.511+05:30The Guide: Book Review<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4h9_tHaAiqz3urGYYykLNt6VxFIT5kDcvJM3kdAdYgHMz7aiXDyzHKGoM3xQNa5chW_KGtJpgrWiE4hOr-5DKhzYVOdZPWusNKV4Xm7yLkH-UxU63qJdZ24z5v7hHRxOxh20SMUWvCLa3/s1080/1613844489749.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4h9_tHaAiqz3urGYYykLNt6VxFIT5kDcvJM3kdAdYgHMz7aiXDyzHKGoM3xQNa5chW_KGtJpgrWiE4hOr-5DKhzYVOdZPWusNKV4Xm7yLkH-UxU63qJdZ24z5v7hHRxOxh20SMUWvCLa3/s320/1613844489749.png" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Book Title: The Guide</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Author: R.K. Narayan</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Publisher: Penguin Classics</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">My Rating: *****/5</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">About The Author: <span style="background-color: white;">R. K. Narayan, </span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">(born October 10, 1906, Madras [Chennai], India—died May 13, 2001, Madras), one of the finest Indian authors of his generation writing in English. He </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">was famous for his works set in the fictional South Indian town of Malgudi.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">This is just an attempt to bring the spotlight back onto a great book by an Indian author. Not that it's forgotten, but because this beautiful book needs to be celebrated more as the years go by....</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">'The Guide' is a novel written by the illustrious author in 1958, which </span><span face="Roboto, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;">brought him the 1960 Sahitya Akademi Award for English, by the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;"> So it is pointless to even try and review such a great novel that was also adapted into the Filmfare Awardee movie of 1965 starring Dev Anand as the protagonist Raju Guide and the ever gorgeous lady Waheeda Rahman playing Rosie the danseuse. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;">The immaculate storytelling progresses in two POVs- one told in the first person by Raju Guide himself about his childhood, and how the first Railway station of Malgudi was built turning the lazy town into the hub of tourism. Told in the third person, we are drawn into the tale of </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Railway Raju a tour guide of great renown, who loses focus and is </span><a h="ID=SERP,5490.1" href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=Corrupt%20wikipedia&form=WIKIRE" style="background-color: white; border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(204, 204, 204); color: #444444; text-decoration-line: none;">corrupt</a>ed after he <span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">falls in love with a beautiful dancer- Rosie, the wife of </span><a h="ID=SERP,5491.1" href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=Archaeologist%20wikipedia&form=WIKIRE" style="background-color: white; border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(204, 204, 204); color: #444444; text-decoration-line: none;">an archaeologist</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"> Marco. While Marco is busy exploring the wall paintings in the caves around Malgudi- the fictional town in South India, there's a clandestine relationship blossoming between Rosie and Raju. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">The glamorous woman </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">quits her husband's side and drops herself like a bomb in the unassuming </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" title=". Rosie, encouraged by Raju, decides to follow her dreams and start a dancing career. In the process they become close to each other. On learning of their relationship, Marco leaves Rosie in Malgudi and goes back to Madras alone. Rosie turns up at the home of Raju and they start living together. But Raju's mother does not approve of their relationship, and leaves them. Raju becomes Rosie's stage manager and soon, with the help of Raju's">Raju's humble life. Raju supports her </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" title=". Rosie, encouraged by Raju, decides to follow her dreams and start a dancing career. In the process they become close to each other. On learning of their relationship, Marco leaves Rosie in Malgudi and goes back to Madras alone. Rosie turns up at the home of Raju and they start living together. But Raju's mother does not approve of their relationship, and leaves them. Raju becomes Rosie's stage manager and soon, with the help of Raju's">dreams and turns into a manager for her dancing career as Nalini- the captivating danseuse. Soon the couple are living a life of luxury and wealth. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" title=". Rosie, encouraged by Raju, decides to follow her dreams and start a dancing career. In the process they become close to each other. On learning of their relationship, Marco leaves Rosie in Malgudi and goes back to Madras alone. Rosie turns up at the home of Raju and they start living together. But Raju's mother does not approve of their relationship, and leaves them. Raju becomes Rosie's stage manager and soon, with the help of Raju's">What changes Raju's fortunes again throwing him behind bars, just when everything was working like a smoothly oiled machine? By the end of the story, it is enchanting to see how Railway Raju metamorphoses into a Swami by the riverside in a nearby village, and also gains a maddening crowd of followers.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" title=". Rosie, encouraged by Raju, decides to follow her dreams and start a dancing career. In the process they become close to each other. On learning of their relationship, Marco leaves Rosie in Malgudi and goes back to Madras alone. Rosie turns up at the home of Raju and they start living together. But Raju's mother does not approve of their relationship, and leaves them. Raju becomes Rosie's stage manager and soon, with the help of Raju's">Packed with drama, the storytelling smoothly takes the reader back and forth in time, through the ups and downs in their romance. I've read and re-read this book multiple times over the past two decades, and even this time around I couldn't help but feel utter pity for the disoriented Raju, and feel a twinge of disappointment with Rosie. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" title=". Rosie, encouraged by Raju, decides to follow her dreams and start a dancing career. In the process they become close to each other. On learning of their relationship, Marco leaves Rosie in Malgudi and goes back to Madras alone. Rosie turns up at the home of Raju and they start living together. But Raju's mother does not approve of their relationship, and leaves them. Raju becomes Rosie's stage manager and soon, with the help of Raju's">Spectacular, ever-green story, undoubtedly a MUST READ! </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" title=". Rosie, encouraged by Raju, decides to follow her dreams and start a dancing career. In the process they become close to each other. On learning of their relationship, Marco leaves Rosie in Malgudi and goes back to Madras alone. Rosie turns up at the home of Raju and they start living together. But Raju's mother does not approve of their relationship, and leaves them. Raju becomes Rosie's stage manager and soon, with the help of Raju's"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" title=". Rosie, encouraged by Raju, decides to follow her dreams and start a dancing career. In the process they become close to each other. On learning of their relationship, Marco leaves Rosie in Malgudi and goes back to Madras alone. Rosie turns up at the home of Raju and they start living together. But Raju's mother does not approve of their relationship, and leaves them. Raju becomes Rosie's stage manager and soon, with the help of Raju's">This book was also read for the Fiction-NonFiction</span></span><span face="Montserrat, sans-serif" style="color: #777777; font-size: 1.5rem; font-weight: bold;"> </span><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #777777;">Challenge 2021 #</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">FNFReads2021 with @VinayLeoReads for the category: </span></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">A book with a verb in the title</span></p>Vibhuti Bhandarkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00145588190836915806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3010516876243855590.post-35524932930545550802021-02-19T14:53:00.002+05:302021-02-20T23:43:48.328+05:30Love, Ladies & Siyaappa- Book Review <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxgpIcUi1HU0JQbCxTcvGiglQSTTeXDnXcuaAabHP3R4_0dO2kOnNo5csbyUfVSlLHhQxvvUJDoUpDUeae9dXXHvZNe1Qcl8BreNAJsItWj_4yjIxMXZgLZcaqZ97R5EWwJvcAzM8vcZZ5/s1920/IMG_20210218_113832_337.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1920" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxgpIcUi1HU0JQbCxTcvGiglQSTTeXDnXcuaAabHP3R4_0dO2kOnNo5csbyUfVSlLHhQxvvUJDoUpDUeae9dXXHvZNe1Qcl8BreNAJsItWj_4yjIxMXZgLZcaqZ97R5EWwJvcAzM8vcZZ5/s320/IMG_20210218_113832_337.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Book Title: Love, Ladies & Siyaappa</p><p>Author : Jiganshu Sharma</p><p>Publisher: Self-published</p><p>My rating: ⭐⭐⭐/5 </p><p>(For 18+)Mature content alert! </p><p><br /></p><p>Originally a Punjabi-Urdu word, 'Siyappa' means wailing loudly when one has fallen into trouble, but this word is largely used like some sort of a cool word. Hence I was expecting more humour from the book, going by the 'Chick-lit' like look of the book-cover. </p><p>Here is a collection of 6 short stories written by the author which are based on the North Indian culture and society, presented along with a few articles by other women. This book touches upon the different scenarios revolving around intimacy issures and physical abuse. The author has tried to question the coercions women face, and secretly suffer but are never allowed to raise a voice against. </p><p>The first story addresses the age old problem of the stereotypical MIL's obsession of having her Daughter-in- law produce an offspring on demand for the sake of the family's misplaced pride. In my opinion, those irrelevant emojis placed at the beginning of every chapter, gave an amateurish touch to good fiction.</p><p>While the second story is a typical North- Indian urban story of a school going girl who grapples with the menace of having rejected a toxic BF's sexual harassment. The author very considerately provides a glossary for the juvenile slang words used like 'on fleek', 'darking' etc. </p><p>"There were lots of similarities between Faiza and that carpet. Both of them were old and worn out. Both of them had served the family well...."</p><p>I liked the third story in the collection; of how the aged and devoted wife Faiza goes looking for her own 'Absolute Life' after she's forced to accept her husband Ashraf's second wife, his second marriage being perfectly acceptable as per their religious norms. </p><p>The book has been written to sensitise society towards 'what women want' but then women already know. The book needs a cover that men will also pick it up and read!</p><p><br /></p>Vibhuti Bhandarkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00145588190836915806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3010516876243855590.post-1740397224749234512021-02-03T13:52:00.005+05:302021-02-03T18:13:17.320+05:30On A Journey Of Life- Book Review<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW1ynQVkmLiHxaEux1kJ1LNNNurgitybVHtvd3pbnyMIXc4pvSpUL8C7G4ZWu0QZq_-9Vv4vpUCZQ3z3hrOFwfJQT7B1o2w5N-OdqMp9yuEF9-PwodoqnT9SdoF3Endw3wkR4v_ZPhWT_a/s2048/On+A+Journey+Of+Life.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW1ynQVkmLiHxaEux1kJ1LNNNurgitybVHtvd3pbnyMIXc4pvSpUL8C7G4ZWu0QZq_-9Vv4vpUCZQ3z3hrOFwfJQT7B1o2w5N-OdqMp9yuEF9-PwodoqnT9SdoF3Endw3wkR4v_ZPhWT_a/s320/On+A+Journey+Of+Life.png" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Book Title: On A Journey Of Life</span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Author: Kajal Rai & Nivedita Karmaran</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Self-Published on Amazon Kindle Pub (Ebook format)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">My Rating: *****</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>On A Journey Of Life </b>offers you two (long) short stories by two authors namely, <b>As The Miles Went By</b> written by Kajal Rai & <b>That Summer </b>written by Nivedita Karmaran.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Both the stories in the book complement each other beautifully. The commonalities between the two separate stories are that each have a female protagonist who has embarked on a journey of self-discovery, by peeking into their individual pasts. In <b>As The Miles Went By, </b> the protagonist <span style="background-color: white;">Saanchi Avasthi </span><span style="background-color: white;">reads her late mother's diary, and decides to go on a spontaneous road trip to the mountains of Uttarkashi, while in </span><b>That Summer, </b><span style="background-color: white;">a recluse yet free-spirited Rashi Anand is writing a letter to her dear old friend and revisiting her past, thus taking the readers along on the proverbial journey of her life. </span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What I loved about the book was the young voice in each of the stories that took me back to my own teenage experiences. Both the characters are so relatable and as I read I realised I had become an eager audience in these coming-of-age tales of Saanchi and Rashi. </span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">It was a veritable treat to be reading the hearty conversations and banter between Saanchi and the handsome, dimpled, </span><span style="background-color: white;">Arjun Singh- a</span><span style="background-color: white;"> math professor from Uttarkashi who lands up driving Saanchi to the town, the friendship that is sparked between the two, and </span>the descriptions of the spectacular Himalayan ranges playing hide-and-seek behind the clouds surrounding it, as the two go on a trek. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Whereas, Rashi is back at Bungalow No. 64, and is writing a letter to her dear friend Laltu, tripping back to the memory of that summer when she had <span style="background-color: white;">formed an unexpected friendship with him, </span><span style="background-color: white;">Lalit Mishra- </span><span style="background-color: white;">the maintenance man of their gated society. It was really wonderful to read how the author was able to relate the entire story in the form of letter-writing, while still maintaining the voice, pace, and interest quotient all throughout. </span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">Would Saanchi go back to the abusive, restrictive life imposed upon her by the tyrannical widower father, or will she take a chance at living life on her terms? Did</span><span style="background-color: white;"> Rashi rebel to rescue the so-called forbidden friendship, and did their relationship stand the test of time?</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">Without giving out spoilers, I will say that it </span><span style="background-color: white;">was a great journey of reading ahead to discover pragmatic endings to these bitter-sweet, and sometimes tear-jerker romance stories.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I wish both my friends- Kajal and Nivedita, great success with their debut publishing 'On A Journey Of Life' </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Please do not miss the Book Cover Design which is my creative contribution to the project. </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I look forward to receiving feedback on the same. </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><p>Submitting this Book Review as the </p><p><span style="text-align: center;">Fiction-NonFiction Challenge 2021 #FNFReads2021 with @VinayLeoReads</span></p><p><span style="text-align: center;">for the category- </span>A book by an author you have met in real life</p></span></span></div>Vibhuti Bhandarkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00145588190836915806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3010516876243855590.post-4376689488455099252021-01-26T13:51:00.002+05:302021-02-03T18:17:07.544+05:30Kafka on the Shore- Book Review<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSD7g2ExUJXxTtHbfLZGL4oxrLM30OBgo1uCR7z2i9QGAc5V9eqzHrnLsutmn3zoLKn8AUEofwzXEkJWe2gPBaPSXgNBTjJB3BKzqjBR0JNMSMkObGiBE1SfMcRHbFtAe950nX4s_pLTFY/s2048/1611644100497.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSD7g2ExUJXxTtHbfLZGL4oxrLM30OBgo1uCR7z2i9QGAc5V9eqzHrnLsutmn3zoLKn8AUEofwzXEkJWe2gPBaPSXgNBTjJB3BKzqjBR0JNMSMkObGiBE1SfMcRHbFtAe950nX4s_pLTFY/s320/1611644100497.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span>Book Title: Kafka on the Shore</span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Author: Haruki Murakami</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Translated by Philip Gabriel</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Publisher: Random House </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">(Penguin Vintage Books)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">My Rating: ****</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">About the Author: Haruki Murakami is a<span style="background-color: white;"> popular contemporary Japanese writer, who </span><span style="background-color: white;">studied drama at Waseda University in Tokyo. His writing is </span><span style="background-color: white;">heavily influenced by Western culture, particularly Western music and literature. His books have been translated into more than 50 languages and many international honours and awards have also been conferred upon him.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">I'd read that Haruki Murakami's books are easily accessible yet profoundly complex. After reading 'Kafka on the Shore', I understand what that exactly means. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">As a professionally trained commercial artist, I've learnt about 'Surrealism' as an art but I've never seen it applied to writing, in this fantastic a manner. Haruki Murakami is a magician as far as this book goes!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">The book progresses simultaneously in two parts- All the odd number chapters is in the first person narration by a 15 year old boy called Kafka Tamura who runs away from home to escape the dark fate that his father (whom he hates) has predicted about him. All the even numbered chapters tell us the story of an odd little old man called Nakata who is not so bright, but can talk to cats. The storytelling is slow paced at the beginning but undeniably gripping, and intriguing. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">I doff my proverbial hat for the way this author can build all of his characters, besides the protagonists in focus. Around 150 pages into the book, the story takes the most unexpected of turns and from thereon its a roller coaster ride with the most mind-boggling characters, that keep appearing one after the other; Johnnie Walker, an infamous cat-killer in whose dictionary, hesitate is one word you wont find; Oshima, a hemophiliac of undetermined sex who runs a private library, and owns a secluded shack at the edge of the labyrinthine forests in the mountains; ghost-like Colonel Sanders dressed in whites, neither god-nor a Buddha, who plays a key-role for Nakata's mission. Even those that make short appearances, like Mimi the Siamese cat, the boy named Crow, Hoshino in the Chunichi dragons cap, all are so interesting, entertaining and memorable.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">The reader will definitely be awed by the way the stories that are seemingly disconnected at the start, running parallel like two trains collide into a magnificently philosophical, meta-physical, explosive and stunning end. It all ties-in, in the most unimaginable way!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">I have deducted one star most reluctantly because of a very personal opinion. The extremely descriptive cat-torture and incest scenes that I couldn't get out of my head, felt very disturbing to me, and it seemed like the author bordered on promoting the immorality. Maybe, the intention and voice was lost in translation, or I've missed the point totally, but those are the only points in the story which I wished I could omit. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Overall, I am in a complete Murakami hangover! And, this book definitely makes me want to read more from this author because I want to dip into his vast knowledge of literature, philosophy and music. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">My verdict- Kafka on the shore is not meant for all readers, but if you enjoy surrealism then this is a MUST READ!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Submitting this Book Review as the </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; text-align: center;">Fiction-NonFiction Challenge 2021 #FNFReads2021 with @VinayLeoReads</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;">for the category: </span><span style="background-color: white;">A book originally published in the 2000s</span></span></p>Vibhuti Bhandarkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00145588190836915806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3010516876243855590.post-25157046883951526642021-01-07T10:44:00.011+05:302021-02-21T00:45:55.371+05:30Smörgåsbord of Musings- Book Review<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAp7QZZ3EOveDDX7pNCfRTw9XKw8Oa9UD_SXh5xz_xW30vNiQXYhpz2mC2NuesEg-PQEanu7o0Nxh2Y1zzXwaEvkenqzc-NougqdXGvBgVcsiep06ZeYTF9ccs-Jnlut3HOjUQ7AegB7cp/s2048/1609990736113.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2047" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAp7QZZ3EOveDDX7pNCfRTw9XKw8Oa9UD_SXh5xz_xW30vNiQXYhpz2mC2NuesEg-PQEanu7o0Nxh2Y1zzXwaEvkenqzc-NougqdXGvBgVcsiep06ZeYTF9ccs-Jnlut3HOjUQ7AegB7cp/w320-h320/1609990736113.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Book Title: </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Smörgåsbord of Musings</span></div></span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Author: Rathnakumar Raghunath</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Publishers: Goya Publishing</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My Rating: ****</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">About the Author: Rathnakumar Raghunath </span><span style="background-color: white;">was born in 1988, in Chennai, India. While he was more inclined towards music as a child, as he grew older, he developed a passion for languages. In school, he wrote a couple of short stories and won the Camlin Young Author award for his work, 'It Happened One Night'</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Smörgåsbord of Musings- the book with the typographical cover in pretty colors is a classic example of how simplicity can be extremely beautiful and unforgettable. The title is</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"> so intriguing! I was longing to read the author's musings ever since the day I heard another book reviewer read from the book.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">Smörgåsbord typically means a Scandinavian celebratory meal served in the buffet style. Here the author has indeed served us a sumptuous fare of the widest variety of thoughts, </span><span style="background-color: white;">poems, anecdotes and all expressed from the points of view of different people - men, women, non-binary persons, kids, teenagers, adults who are going through different experiences in life. More than </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">200 such pieces written in a contemporary voice, which has a distinct sincerity and honesty in it. </span></p><p>Each musing is like a glimpse into a life's experience that one has experienced or seen someone around us go through, and yet there's a freshness to the thought expressed about it. One can easily read through the book in no time but its all about whether you want to relish each morsel and savor it or just gulp down your meal and finish with it. <span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">Smörgåsbord of Musings should be experienced not just 'read'.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;">Every musing has a French title which has been aptly selected. Though I don't understand French, I love to learn new languages so I did Google translate the titles for better understanding. And I was enamored by how the author has tied in the emotion of the piece like a gift with the red ribbon of a silken French heading. take for eg. <i>Prendre Froid</i> on pg. 85 (which is also a beautiful homage to his idol, the French-Canadian singer Celine Dion) One must read the short contemporary verse on how 'Love can catch a cold'.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;">Among some sweet highlights of the book is a handwritten letter from the author, a poem he'd penned as a 10 year old that is accompanied by a small hand-done sketch, and a fantastic photograph included on pg. 217 called 'Squirrels in Love' by Srikaanth Srinivasan.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;">I totally agree with Rathnakumar Raghunath when he says, " The ones who believe life is better with a bit of whimsy, this book, hopefully, has a little something that resonates with everybody. lets the reader find the silver lining when needed and discover the <i>joie de vivre </i>even when times are hard'.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;">To sum it up, I enjoyed reading every word dear Rathna. This is definitely a work of art that every book lover must have, and read! Thankyou for sending me this beautiful gift.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;">I wish to assure my readers that this is not an author solicited book review. I have expressed my unbiased opinions here. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"> </span></p>Vibhuti Bhandarkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00145588190836915806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3010516876243855590.post-74235479593533501812020-12-03T17:13:00.003+05:302020-12-03T17:25:05.304+05:30Stories From the City Called Kolkata: Book Review<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAfh0zRiggKCRNbzYyWuEKocVUAp40oH4R3HBcFSJ61Geu3CHExodHyKWV5rsEKRIz-8xvy1zMPNZkxF0oc9EjU3W0htA5c2Ui9NK6bfuhNjVAPw9JQNZZqt34at4ih7xmG0fI__0zBmPU/s1732/1606992142705.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1732" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAfh0zRiggKCRNbzYyWuEKocVUAp40oH4R3HBcFSJ61Geu3CHExodHyKWV5rsEKRIz-8xvy1zMPNZkxF0oc9EjU3W0htA5c2Ui9NK6bfuhNjVAPw9JQNZZqt34at4ih7xmG0fI__0zBmPU/s320/1606992142705.jpg" /></a></div><br /> Book Title: Stories From the City Called Kolkata<p></p><p>Author: Ishita Ganguly</p><p>Publishers: Evincepub Publishing</p><p>My Rating: ***1/2</p><p>About the Author: Ishita Ganguly has worked in the corporate and
also the academic sector having double master’s
degree, MSc and MBA. But finally, her childhood
passion for writing turned her towards a profession she had never planned. She believes this profession chose
her! Till now her published work includes articles
on multiple niches, short stories, and poems. She
is the co-author of 3 popular anthologies and
winner of multiple writing contests. </p><p><br /></p><p>'Stories From the City Called Kolkata' is a collection of 10 short stories telling the realistic tales of the humble and simple middle class life in Kolkata. Beginning with the beautiful Black & White book cover, that captures the iconic look and feel of the city, every story reminded me of my personal experience of the city, and the lifestyle seen in old Bengali movies. It transported me to that world of emotions where people have learnt to take disappointment in their stride. </p><p>"The world forgets to choose the ordinary. Love is forgotten and changed all the time and especially when a better prospect is found." A quote from the story 'Sulochana's decision'.</p><p>Each story is like a peek into the lives of the 'humans of Kolkata', whether it is the frail old Rickshaw puller or Mr. Bhaduri living in a dilapidated ancestral mansion in old Bhowanipore. The stories are told at a slow pace, giving great importance to sentiments, and leaves the reader with a melancholic sort of feeling. My favourite story is 'The Jewellery Box' which has its namesake in the famous Bengali Movie- Goynaar Boksho. It has a poignantly surprising end that makes it memorable. </p><p>In my opinion, the only downside of these stories is that they made an extremely quick and easy read. It felt like I'd finished the book in no time. </p><p>A big thankyou to the author Ishita Ganguly for giving me her book for reading and reviewing but I assure my readers that my opinions of the work remain unbiased.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Vibhuti Bhandarkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00145588190836915806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3010516876243855590.post-45549634940359143822020-11-18T13:46:00.000+05:302020-11-18T13:46:40.373+05:30You Will Sail Through: A Book Review<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgTZlmVcsV5FS90wCmCz88JbpB6gxB_miOFbuaw5DpaHXRgalmo8-HD-sYKFfyEkyuBPCaechUCj5xnc_M4LFhjPs2vk8HjmDwt4cf5C3KDek9UCJ8OcBpyUOjnQbrvlSf_uj9l-dHiAlY/s867/Capture.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="809" data-original-width="867" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgTZlmVcsV5FS90wCmCz88JbpB6gxB_miOFbuaw5DpaHXRgalmo8-HD-sYKFfyEkyuBPCaechUCj5xnc_M4LFhjPs2vk8HjmDwt4cf5C3KDek9UCJ8OcBpyUOjnQbrvlSf_uj9l-dHiAlY/w200-h187/Capture.PNG" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Book Title: You Will Sail Through</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Author: Abhishek Bhargava</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Publishers: BlueRose Publishers</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">My Ratings: *** </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">About the Author: <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">Abhishek Bhargava is an MBA from Symbiosis Institute of International Business, Pune, Batch of 2015-17 and currently works with a Consulting organization based in Bengaluru, India. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">Along with an MBA, Abhishek holds a bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">Hailing from Vidisha, a town near Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. Abhishek has a knack of storytelling and writing since his school and college days where he won numerous accolades in the likes of debate competitions.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Nobody's journey of life is devoid of hardships and hurdles, but very few take lessons from experiences. Leave alone thinking of writing a book that can guide peers at sailing through smoothly. This book by a Millenial for the Millenials is in fact a treasury that we can enrich ourselves by reading. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">A non-fiction book in the garb of storytelling, Abhishek Bhargava-the author has written realistic episodic scenes which Indian readers will be able to relate to easily. Each of the seven chapters begin with a psalm from the Bible which goes to show that the problems we face today are nothing new, and have been social problems through the ages. Only, we need the solutions to the problems to be explained to us in a simplified language. This book is just that!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">The writing style is in strong resemblance to Chetan Bhagat and the storylines are also similarly young and peppy. Each story highlights a problem that Millenials struggle with thinking that we are alone in this, but are definitely not! Each story shows that there will be someone like Abhishek who can lend a hand, or offer a shoulder to cry on, provided you open up and ask for help. The author offers a 'Rationale' - how he analyses the problem posed, and then goes onto succinctly explaining 'What has to be done' to overcome that particular problem. There is also a summary at the end of each chapter which can be bookmarked for later reference, like a ready reckoner- My Learnings from Millenials so far...:D</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Touching upon important topics like 'Being Judged', Celebrating Failure' and more, my favourite is 'Let's Unfriend Emotional Turmoil'. All in all, I can say the author has made a beautiful attempt at offering the Millenial's a quick and easy map of learning the 'Art of Sailing Through' without sounding preachy at all!</span></p>Vibhuti Bhandarkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00145588190836915806noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3010516876243855590.post-20663098500491107832020-11-07T20:32:00.002+05:302020-11-07T20:33:38.566+05:30Conspiracy At Meru (Book 2) & Vengeance Of Indra (Book 3)- Vikramaditya Veergatha Series- Book Review<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXCa9AC_EQA1NmJqo9gyhVaWK2W6pP685tymKd8q6bUh06UHQWzwgya19f4TubbsXgR-H6jGQzeLm1nsbbZcfMrSs2ocRLWAknkHVePRl_h-b2NaMw36flipojeTtFGO0M6ToVQQ_Rwdp9/s2048/1604748607096.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXCa9AC_EQA1NmJqo9gyhVaWK2W6pP685tymKd8q6bUh06UHQWzwgya19f4TubbsXgR-H6jGQzeLm1nsbbZcfMrSs2ocRLWAknkHVePRl_h-b2NaMw36flipojeTtFGO0M6ToVQQ_Rwdp9/s320/1604748607096.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>The VIKRAMADITYA VEERGATHA Book Series will be complete with the release of the 4th book- The Wrath Of The Hellfires in December. The book is available for pre-order on Amazon now!<p></p><p>Book Review of Book 1- The Guardians of Halahala can be read <a href="https://klishmaklaver.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-guardians-of-halahala-book-review.html" target="_blank">HERE</a></p><p><b>Book Title: Book 2- The Conspiracy at Meru</b></p><p><b>Author: Shaturjeet Nath</b></p><p><b>Publisher: Jaico Books</b></p><p><b>My Rating: *****</b></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">VICTORY IS TEMPORARY. THE BATTLE IS ETERNAL.- The Logline of the book itself told me that Vikramaditya and his Council of Nine would have many hurdles to face as the Guardians of the Halahala. The story was getting more interesting!</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">The author has successfully created a world that was much beyond my imagination and far more layered than any Indian mytho- fantasy fiction I've ever read. I won't be exaggerating if I say that the book is worth reading for the most elaborate, and well-articulated battle scenes. The attack of the Vyalas- mythical creatures is one of the most gripping passages, the Maruts fighting back valiantly with their spine-swords, the Ashvins with their lances. Since I am a great fan of the mystical and esoteric, The Mother Oracle had become a character I looked forward to reading more about. Shanku is definitely my favourite of the NIne councellors, and </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">King Vikramaditya's unwavering love for his bed-ridden wife Vishakha is what makes him more and more lovable. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Ujjayini lies battered, its citizens are scared and morale is badly shaken by the attack of the Ahi- another fantastical creature released by Jayanta, the son of Indra. Meanwhile, the barbaric Hunas and Sakas are gathering on the horizon, while </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Shukracharya is scheming to break the unity of the invincible King Vikramaditya and his Council of Nine. As the story progresses, the council members are discovering and learning to wield their powers. Each character has been developed so beautifully and there are such fantastic highpoints which intrigue and wonder in the reader's mind. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">This is what took the story to the next level, evolving into a trilogy at first and then into a full blown 'Veergatha' - a 4 book series.</span></p><p><b>Book Title: Book 3- The Vengeance of Indra</b></p><p><b>Author: Shatrujeet Nath</b></p><p><b>Publisher: Jaico Books</b></p><p><b>My Rating: *****</b></p><p>VENGEANCE IS A CAGE, FORGIVENESS IS FREEDOM- </p><p>By the release of the third book, it had emerged as the Vikramaditya Veergatha series which soon became a National bestselling Mutho-fantasty fiction series. Since we stand at the anvil of the release of the final book 4- The Wrath of the Hellfires, I found it inevitable that I re-read Book 3 to get back into the loop of the story. And now I cannot remain calm, anymore!</p><p>Book 3 opened and immediately reminded me of my childhood fascination of King Vikramaditya and his infamous Betaal. It had to feature! The author has skillfully notched up the thrill and action quotient in this book. I find it extremely clever of the author to have developed an entirely different language that the Hunas wearing the mark of the Hriiz on their foreheads speak. The Ghoulmaster is sure to create dread in your hearts.</p><p>The author Shatrujeet Nath has also woven different Indian mythological characters into the fabric of the quest, but the storyline still remains fantastically original. Not one scene ever predictable. Not once will the reader ever be able to say that a particular character had been written from the start in a pre-cast mold. It is mind-blowing to see how the story twists and turns while the proverbial noose tightens around King Vikramaditya's neck. </p><p>As the title clearly suggests Lord Indra is at the core of the story bearing an old grudge and a devastating new weapon. Protecting the Halahala from the Asuras- a responsibility given to King Vikramaditya by Lord Shiva, is getting more and more difficult and the wily Shukracharya manages to chisel away at the unity between the Nine Council members. Vikramaditya's friendship with the giant poet warrior Kalidasa is about to crumble. Its absolutely heart-breaking to read how slowly each of the nine are beginning to drift apart. </p><p>So many questions in my mind as I eagerly wait for Book 4 now, besides the biggest question- will King Vikramaditya be successful in his mission, and meanwhile also be able to unite his Navratna together again? Will Queen Vishakha finally rise and is there going to be the quintessential happily ever after? </p><p>All in all, Vikramaditya Veergatha series is definitely a MUST READ for fans of this particular genre. If you haven't read it, you are missing out on one of the most brilliant works of our generation of Indian authors has produced in English Literature. </p>Vibhuti Bhandarkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00145588190836915806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3010516876243855590.post-9364957677593339742020-11-03T16:45:00.002+05:302020-11-03T16:48:29.465+05:30Tuesdays with Morrie- An Inspirational Non-fiction<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC9YKjV9eJI7fxKU7t92zvQSpW0kUj4KMgiuO7R5zwh-rt4Y4oaQmKzm-gSUC1IG-VwXnEHHjwuqmYgkmSaOBpka4F4Tx99HQJYWChDSAO8p0zqA9SAI6e-zb37BsfIEd3EyzUUWmnPmOI/s2048/1604397676467.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1538" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC9YKjV9eJI7fxKU7t92zvQSpW0kUj4KMgiuO7R5zwh-rt4Y4oaQmKzm-gSUC1IG-VwXnEHHjwuqmYgkmSaOBpka4F4Tx99HQJYWChDSAO8p0zqA9SAI6e-zb37BsfIEd3EyzUUWmnPmOI/s320/1604397676467.jpg" /></a></div><p></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Book Title: </b>Tuesdays With Morrie</span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Author:</b> Mitch Albom</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Publishers:</b> Hachette India</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>My Rating: *****</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>About the Author: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Mitchell David Albom</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> is an author, journalist, screenwriter, playwright, radio and television broadcaster and musician.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #181818;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #181818;">Mitch Albom the author begins visiting his aged college professor, Morrie Schwartz who is terminally ill. Every Tuesday he flies to meet the dying sociology professor and records all that the old man has to share. I am so thankful to the young man and to the old man for sharing life's greatest lessons through this memoir. This is one non-fictional book that I found greatly inspirational. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #181818;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #181818;">One would think that a dying man's memoir would be greatly melancholic and depressing. The topic of death is always scary and causes anxiety to most of us, but this book is anything but that! Morrie is a cheery professor, greatly energetic despite his failing health and so intent on proving that 'dying' doesn't mean 'useless'. Impending death has only inspired the old man into meeting with Mitch, Tuesday after Tuesday for the sole purpose of sharing some very good insights on the most important aspects of life- the part before death that we forget to live in the true sense.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #181818;"><br /></span></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #181818;">"After the funeral, my life changed. I felt as if time were suddenly precious, water going down an open drain, and I couldn't move quickly enough." Mitch Albom narrates how the death of his uncle had had a life-changing effect on him. This incident happened before the Tuesdays with Morrie began. </span></span></div><div>This did happen to me too! </div><div><br /></div></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #181818;">I was just a teenager when my mother was diagnosed as terminally ill. Even though I was aware that we were on the verge of losing mum, my father and I were in denial. I'd been recommended this book then, but my teenage mind was already so marred by the impending loss of my beloved mother, that I balked at the thought of reading an entire book on the topic. Little did I know that Tuesdays with Morrie had the power to give me a paradigm shift! Had I known that such beautiful thoughts had been shared here, I would have read it word to word. Then I'd have been more equipped to give my mother much better company, during the final year of her life. Maybe, if I'd shared Morrie's views on 'dying' with her, it would have changed her point of view too. (You should also read his views on regret!)</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #181818;"><b><i>" Dying is only one thing to be sad over, Mitch. Living unhappily is something else."</i> </b></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: inherit;">There are so many profound thoughts throughout the book like this one. </span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: inherit;">One passage resonated deeply. </span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: inherit;">" Life is a series of pulls back and forth. You want to do one thing, but you are bound to do something else. You take certain things for granted even when you know you shouldn't. A tension of opposites, like a pull on a rubber band. And most of us live somewhere in the middle."</span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: inherit;">" So which side wins?" Mitch asks.</span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: inherit;"><b>"Love wins. Love always wins."</b></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #181818;">On one of the Tuesdays while talking about the world Morrie says, <b><i>"The most important thing in life is to learn to how to give out love and let it come in."</i></b></span></span></div></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: inherit;">I fully completely agree with this one true statement. </span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: inherit;">So this is my personal takeaway from this fantastic book, which I feel is the greatest truth at the crux of it all, and also at the end of it all!</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #181818;"><br /></span></span></div><div>This post has been written as an entry for the contest organised by Solanki Booksellers, Pune.</div><div>I'd read the e-book finally in 2015 long after my mother's demise in 2003, but purchased it only recently on Mr. Solanki's recommendations from his fantabulous book shop. Gratitude!</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #181818;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #181818;"> </span></span><br /></div>Vibhuti Bhandarkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00145588190836915806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3010516876243855590.post-62588120182280268812020-11-02T14:29:00.010+05:302020-11-03T14:58:42.012+05:30Subtle Echoes: Book Review<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpLn1k2LIuKGh5w-_IkIV-iXVp310lEfPP0z1OEU4yv5CckV8f-t4mEjTqPf5HOsT2FmqamjnVoZfGDWsCrRzuYxYOq2PTCQ-7FxosXO1MhKsAqhNfS31BKjbG2rg6yVMWSdSWznCNmvcC/s1280/IMG-20201002-WA0068.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="966" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpLn1k2LIuKGh5w-_IkIV-iXVp310lEfPP0z1OEU4yv5CckV8f-t4mEjTqPf5HOsT2FmqamjnVoZfGDWsCrRzuYxYOq2PTCQ-7FxosXO1MhKsAqhNfS31BKjbG2rg6yVMWSdSWznCNmvcC/s320/IMG-20201002-WA0068.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Book Title: Subtle Echoes (Kindle Edition)</span></div></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Author/Poet: Tehmeena Salam</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Publishers: Fanatixx Publication</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">My Rating: ****</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">About the Author: Tehmeena Salam is the Co-Author in five anthologies
which hold a World Record, published by FanatiXx
Publication. She has also published her poetries in more
than 15 anthologies. The beauty of the UT Andaman and
Nicobar Islands, has seen this flower blossom through her
days. A post kidney transplant patient and survivor of
graft rejection, she is pursuing her ambition
as an MBBS student in Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Institute of Medical Sciences (ANIIMS). </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">A big thankyou to Tehmeena Salaam for giving me her book for reading and reviewing. However I assure my readers that my opinions of the work remain unbiased. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Subtle Echoes is a mixed collection of 48 pieces of poems and letters, each unique, each beautifully expressed. There are many aspects about this book that sets it apart from the books of its genre. Firstly, it's the poet's creativity of putting a poem as the back blurb which made me include the book cover along with the back for you all to read. A short poem on 'Her Fictive World' placed before the Index and 'A Letter to the Readers' welcomes you into the book, setting the right tone for a good read ahead.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">The author urges the reader in the very first letter by saying, "Flip through the pages when you feel low, when you
need someone to hear your hidden feelings, when you are bored, when you are happy, so that you bloom more." Indeed, after having read the book entirely, I will agree with the author here. This is a book worthy of being called a collectible, which you could revisit when you
need a 'pick-me-up'!</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">I loved
the range of poetry presented in the collection. There are sweet poems on
sisterhood, and there are hard-hitting pieces like " Rape~ The Unknown Blemishes. </span>Wise beyond her years, Tehmeena Salaam has written some well-structure letters addressing various topics out of which 'A Letter to my Teen Self' is my favorite.</p><p>Her poems have a beautiful musicality to it in its rhyming. And her choice of words are simplistic yet effective. Speaks volumes of her control and mastery over the language. One concluding line like that has stayed with me, hours after having finished reading, "But this time, I lost the strings to my guitar!" It brings home so many emotions like a sledge-hammer. This is the concluding line of 'The 2a.m proposal' which seems to be the favorite of many other readers like me. </p><p style="text-align: left;">Tehmeena's poems have made a deep connect with my heart and I'm sure one piece or the other will touch other readers too because she writes with such sensitivity and awareness. Having lost my own mother, one of her poem's had this concluding line which rings so true, that it moved me to tears!</p><p style="text-align: left;">"I could do nothing without you,</p><p>'A truth the heart knows, but tongue denies.'</p><p>the only downside of this book , in my opinion is it's cover. Such a beautiful collection deserves a much better face, an equally touching first impression!</p><p>Subtle Echoes is a Must Read for all poetry lovers, and I say this from the bottom of my heart. </p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p>Vibhuti Bhandarkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00145588190836915806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3010516876243855590.post-72481405997886455012020-10-27T18:16:00.011+05:302020-11-02T12:05:35.652+05:30Yakshini: Book Review<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5jeWMMsn0Bp1i-Gt7Hx74vl9Q-Hz2yGRebqd2staXxAdH5LlxxlzLDm1YJYD3is918FpBGv_49XzhOVR2RLM1_a-1iv-TK2AxHbkQ3ebzGuCJ2WlGTsCOaa5L25WsDHfYPpqLgpecNe7p/s475/Yakshini.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="306" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5jeWMMsn0Bp1i-Gt7Hx74vl9Q-Hz2yGRebqd2staXxAdH5LlxxlzLDm1YJYD3is918FpBGv_49XzhOVR2RLM1_a-1iv-TK2AxHbkQ3ebzGuCJ2WlGTsCOaa5L25WsDHfYPpqLgpecNe7p/w150-h234/Yakshini.jpg" width="150" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><b>Book Title:</b> Yakshini (Kindle Edition)<br /><b>Author:</b> Neil D'Silva<br /><b>Publishers:</b> Rupa Publications<br /><b>My Rating: *****</b><br /><b>About the Author:</b> Neil D'Silva is an author of 12 horror novels and Yakshini is yet another of his books that has been acquired for screen adaptation. He is the President of the Indian Chapter of the Horror Writers Association, and is also a TEDx Speaker. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Let me make a disclaimer before I begin to talk about this book. Even though I am in the author's circle of virtual friends and I've been a fan of his writing since his very first book, this particular book review has not been solicited by the author and neither is my impression of the book biased. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br />Like I've said many times before, I pick a book by it's cover, quite literally. It has got to be love at first sight! And then a little knowledge about the author and his style helps. Sometimes I veer towards books via recommendations by like-minded friends but I stopped reading back blurbs long ago. As soon as the book was out, I was longing to read it, and then it reappeared in this new avatar which just did it for me! Yakshini was on my mind since very long. Like in the story, any man who lays their eyes on her becomes besotted with her, I think the illustration did have a similar sort of effect on me. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br />Saying anything about this book can prove to be a spoiler because each scene is an experience. The descriptions of the scenes are so real that it feels like a movie playing out before your eyes. Even though it's a simple tale, it's gripping, it's simply gripping! Neil D'Silva's strong visualisation and flawless storytelling, makes this supernatural fantasy fiction a great Halloweeny treat. #Spooktober meets #Booktober, done right! </span></div><div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br />Beginning with the Sal tree in Meenakshi's garden who is her benevolent 'Companion' that gives her a shiny gold coin every day, the story draws you into the teenager's life in the unassuming village of Vatgaon. She <span style="text-align: left;">is no ordinary girl. Blessed with celestial attributes, she has beauty that </span><span style="text-align: left;">would rival a goddess, and possesses a unique communion with nature. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span><span style="text-align: left;">After having six daughters in a row, a couple</span><span style="text-align: left;"> expecting their seventh child, began performing a special </span><span style="text-align: left;">yajna to fulfill their desires for a male child. At that very moment, halfway to the heavens</span><span style="text-align: left;"> in a realm hidden by clouds, a Yakshini was facing a </span><span style="text-align: left;">sentence for her folly. </span><span style="text-align: left;">By a strange quirk of fate, the two distinctly different lives- the unborn child in the womb and the Yakshini became intertwined, and the result was the birth of Meenakshi. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-align: left;"> Even so, Meenakshi's family is unaware of the special qualities that the child was born with, and she lives</span><span style="text-align: left;"> an ordinary life in the village. Until, </span><span style="text-align: left;">Meenakshi comes of age, and begins to catch the eye of </span><span style="text-align: left;">lust ridden men. That’s when the </span><span style="text-align: left;">Yakshini inside her awakens. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="background-color: white;">Meenakshi’s skin increased. She woke up in a sweat. She had come down with a fever, and saw, to her great horror, actual bubbles rising on her skin as though there were some trapped liquid in there trying to boil and burst out. She screamed at the sight, a scream that deadened the howling of some faraway wolves. It was the Yakshini. She wanted to come out now. She wanted to feed. And she told her, wordlessly: ‘I smell a man.’ The moment had come. The Yakshini had fallen off the deep end. She was savage now, a predator, and Meenakshi was her vehicle.</i></span></span></div><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As the Yakshini takes control, Meenakshi finds her old world getting shred to bits, and she is catapulted into a whole new world of passion and violence. She does find a mortal saviour in her husband, but ever his life comes under threat. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There are many high points of the book, which I admire. Indian mythology, urban supernatural activity reports tie in so beautifully with this modern fiction. The research that went into crafting this story makes it a veritable treat. Laden with shades of grey, Meenakshi and Yakshini have been developed so astonishingly well that I was surprised I couldn't bring myself to think of any of them as the anti-hero. Also for a male author to write a woman centric story that revolves around the evils of rape and eve-teasing and sexual molestation. This is no less than a feat that Neil D'Silva has pulled off with amazing grace and utmost sensitivity. Just showing that a good author can work wonders even in this genre of fiction writing, and horror as a genre can be most entertaining as well. </span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="background-color: white;">It is difficult to keep a sapling from growing once the seed is sown. Once a thumb presses the seed into pliable soil, fertile with desires and ready to be impregnated, there is no way to stop it from bursting forth and sending its tiny shoot skyward. More than that, it is not naturally possible to prevent the roots from sprouting. And as the roots go deeper inside, they hold on to the soil with greater tenacity, getting nourished by it till the plant becomes a force in itself.</i></span></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The 'Aah' moment came when I realised that based on the above thought the book had been divided into parts with the various stages used as titles, and the accompanying hand-drawn illustrations add appropriate flavour to the book. This only goes to show the author's attention to detail.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What happened to the old metal trunk in the dusty attic where Meenakshi hoarded all the gold coins secretly? Who was Krita and why did he shadow the Yakshini everywhere? Who were they in relation to the Nagas? What was their story? What had been the Yakshini's folly which turned her into this demonic parasite? And the biggest question above all, what happened to beautiful Meenakshi when the Yakshini living inside her eventually became an open secret?</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The mind-blowing answers are for me to know because I have read this wonderful book, and you to find out after reading it yourself.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Looking for a happy scary read, then this book is a must not miss!</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br /></p>Vibhuti Bhandarkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00145588190836915806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3010516876243855590.post-40279549518434703452020-10-09T22:47:00.005+05:302020-11-02T14:30:30.254+05:30A Fool's Errand- Book Review<h1 style="background-color: white; color: #757575; line-height: 23.1px; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.in/Fools-Errand-Vanita-Bodke-ebook/dp/B084Q9YND1/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="353" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_HWVgTWP9d2wH-nEEDWsmFd1yJdb47ag1ld9qB8EBtHX6tj47vyGHqWxxp6djEaBZLBsSlJXWB4IWWJCCz0bz8Hg0D2vozmq-Kk62LgKIgrSmog0XIOcAKetu4a0MGuEKzerKlPtkBLUx/w141-h200/Vanita+Bodke.jpg" width="141" /></a></div> <span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px;"><b>Book Title: </b>A Fool's Errand (</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px;">Kindle Edition</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px;">)</span></h1><div><div style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23.1px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="line-height: 23.1px;">Author: </b><span style="line-height: 23.1px;">Vanita Bodke</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 23.1px;">Publisher: </span><span style="line-height: 18px;">Self Published </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23.1px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>My Rating:</b> ***</span></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 23.1px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="line-height: 23.1px;"><span>About the Author: </span></b><span>Vanita Bodke started writing when she realized she did not just prefer marching to the tune of a different drummer, but that she rather liked being that drummer herself. This is her second published novella, following Fault of 2018. Her short story "Winds of Change" was published in the Unbound e-magazine.</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Vanita lives in Navi Mumbai with her husband and son. </span></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 23.1px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 23.1px; text-align: justify;">The Fool's Errand is a 566 pages Novella that made for an easy breezy read. A long narrative for a short story, which I think the author could have easily expanded into a full length novel if she wished to, because she was onto something of a good tale. As one begins to read, one would imagine that the protagonist Revati Kadam is in a love triangle, torn between her present husband Ritwik and her ex-boyfriend Vijendra Singh who is trying to make a come-back into her life. However, the story grows from being just another love-story to a full fledged corporate battle, rife with office politics, sly moves and the proverbial trump card reveal at the end. </div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 23.1px; text-align: justify;">The story opens with - <i>'It was already half-past eight on Monday morning when I returned from my long-delayed all-girl trip to Goa....' </i>Now, reading this line after being stuck at home between a pandemic for most part of the year, this line would definitely have the effect that the author was aiming to achieve- grabbed my attention like pat!</div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 23.1px; text-align: justify;">All of the author's vast experience of the Electrical Engineering industry lends material and body to the story. The different characters that feature are portrayed sans drama and would be relatable for anybody who has been wading the corporate slurry. The no-fuss and no- drama style of story-telling may get a bit drab at times, but that might just be my personal choice influencing the opinion I want to express here, for I love such vivid descriptions appearing now and then in a story, like this paragraph here- </div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 23.1px; text-align: justify;"><i>'Indulgent lovers turned their backs to intruding passers-by. Some of them held each other's hand and brooded over the uncertainty of future, some smooched, and some would have loved to go beyond passionate smooching, but all of them unanimously chose this sea as a silent spectator to their burgeoning love.' </i></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 23.1px; text-align: justify;">And this- <i>' It was the time of peak monsoon, it was the time when the salty winds brushed past our faces with much vigour, and it was the time when the sea roared.'</i></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 23.1px; text-align: justify;">Took me back to Bandra Bandstand or Juhu Beach of 'Bombay'- just like I remember it from the '90s (No idea if the romance there still continues! :D)</div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 23.1px; text-align: justify;">For me there was an additional treat even before the story began. The author is humble and modest in giving four full pages of acknowledgment to the editor and his talents, while giving a detailed account of the entire process they went through together to bring the story into shape, ready for publishing. The author Vanita Bodke also doffs her virtual hat to him!</div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 23.1px; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 23.1px; text-align: justify;">Kindle edition of this novella is available on Amazon <a href="https://www.amazon.in/Fools-Errand-Vanita-Bodke-ebook/dp/B084Q9YND1/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8" target="_blank">HERE</a></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 23.1px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 23.1px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #141823; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">* Although, this review has been requested by the author who is a personal friend, I vouch that it is my genuine opinion on the novella. </span></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 23.1px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 23.1px; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 23.1px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 23.1px; text-align: justify;"><br /></div></div>Vibhuti Bhandarkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00145588190836915806noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3010516876243855590.post-29354005891940270242020-09-17T23:00:00.000+05:302020-09-17T23:00:33.902+05:30We all know?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifEgPT-2ae3OUm2tvJ_geHQkpZMKyUTt8wLjDH4ZrbHyXP29UCG1qrqt6a7sWgsFcECAlIGODc3kHzOzZ00jEdSTtgsuCy4DVRwZ8EKdVSzeVi04eFZX_eWjzPLnhVmw2oIAtk4IGLPD4-/s1280/119676518_3125334864202750_1132398735423264940_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifEgPT-2ae3OUm2tvJ_geHQkpZMKyUTt8wLjDH4ZrbHyXP29UCG1qrqt6a7sWgsFcECAlIGODc3kHzOzZ00jEdSTtgsuCy4DVRwZ8EKdVSzeVi04eFZX_eWjzPLnhVmw2oIAtk4IGLPD4-/s320/119676518_3125334864202750_1132398735423264940_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="margin: 0px 0px 6px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I'd be lying,<br />If I said,<br />I don't care<br /><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">About what I wear!</span></span></div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 6px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 6px;">I am honest,<br />When I say,<br />I notice your shoe,<br />Before I see you!</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 6px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 6px 0px;">What I expect,<br />Is bigger than your gift,<br />Valued in money,<br />Not your love honey!</p><p style="margin: 6px 0px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 6px 0px;">It's the truth,<br />Nobody can deny,<br />This world is materialistic,<br />Judgemental and plastic.</p><p style="margin: 6px 0px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 6px 0px;">Am I wrong,<br />In blaming society,<br />For the twisted and fake,<br />Facades that we make.</p><p style="margin: 6px 0px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 6px 0px;">Isn't it true,<br />The real self,<br />We don't ever show,<br />Nobody will know!</p><p style="margin: 6px 0px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 6px 0px;">The tongue speaks sweet,<br />But the eyes don't smile,<br />The friends we make,<br />Are for company's sake.</p><p style="margin: 6px 0px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 6px 0px;">A thousand secrets and a million lies,<br />To live one life,<br />How terribly brave,<br />To carry it all in our heart to our grave!</p></span></div>Vibhuti Bhandarkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00145588190836915806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3010516876243855590.post-31204399002101377502020-05-17T21:45:00.003+05:302020-09-17T21:23:40.610+05:30Spot of Luck?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-US">Some souls were blessed to have a higher sense of purpose in life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I simply had a heightened sense of smell. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The citrus aroma wafting in from our yard that morning, was so
strong that it worked like an instant pick-me-up. I’d rushed out through the back
door, and plonked myself down in front of my lemon tree. Sitting there in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Padmasana</i>, my humble <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gandharaj Lebu</i> appeared like the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bodhi </i>tree to me<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.</i> I listened intently to all that it had to teach me. I felt one
with my sunlight-loving citrus. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Watering the soil to keep it moist, and pruning the bush was an act
of love, never a mundane chore. Sometimes I’d be sitting so still before it,
undistracted, besotted by its yellow-green colour palette, interspersed by the
white of the fragrant blossoms. At other times, I would hum a song to it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">That day too, I could have continued sitting there for hours on end,
wet earth or not!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">If it wasn’t for </span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Granny Mori, off to Sunday
Church, dressed in black. Ever since the demise of her beloved Zoze, she’d
lived in a monochromatic colour scheme. Despite the hot and humid weather, she wore
a mantilla veil draped over her head and shoulders, tucked in place with a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dantoni </i>or comb.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Khayin assa go tu?”</i> she demanded to know my whereabouts, while she
stood at the front door, like a crow ready to fly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I yelled back, “Coming!” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">No sooner had I entered her peripheral vision, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">BaDDi divnu peTTa khavche!</i> Giving you
freedom is like handing over a stick to get myself beaten,” she bellowed like a
dragon, and with the gust of warm breath came the vilest odour, I always
dreaded to catch a whiff of.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“You’re alone at home. I don’t want any hanky-panky in my
absence, you understand?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I tried to focus on the words being hurled at me.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> “My only surviving family member? My foot! I’ll break your
bones,” she swore, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Amma’l ghalchaan!”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My head was bursting, so as
soon as she’d left I went back to my Gandharaj. The rustling of the leaves
sounded like the quaint old folk song being hummed,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">‘<span class="apple-style-span"><i><span style="background: white; color: black;">Adeus korchu vellu paulo, <o:p></o:p></span></i></span></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: black;">Ai mhojem kalliz rê fapsota…’<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: black;">And the words came to my lips, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #202122;">“The time to say farewell has come, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: black;">Oh!
My heart begins to fear…”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: black;">One of the ripened fruits dropped
down, and rolled to my feet. Too lazy to fetch a knife from the kitchen, I
looked around for a </span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #222222;">sharp rock, but
then tearing it open with my bare fingers would leave the aroma lingering in
the tips. So I dug my fingernails into the rind. Once halved, I squeezed each
half with all my might to get all the juice out. And then threw them away, over
my shoulders.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #222222;">Moments later, </span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">our neighbor had come running in, shrieking, </span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #222222;">“Oh Giena, come quick, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">men</i>! </span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Savio had called to say, Granny Mori fell,
rolled down the church steps and died on the spot, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">men!”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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Footnote: Language spoken in the story is a Goan Konkani dialect.<br />
Word Count: 500<br />
An excerpt of this story was also submitted in response to the <span class="_5afx" style="background-color: white; color: #385898; cursor: pointer; direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px;"><a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"type":104,"tn":"*N"}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/sundaywritingprompt?__eep__=6&source=feed_text&epa=HASHTAG" style="background-color: white; color: #385898; cursor: pointer; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration-line: none;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #365899; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">SundayWritingPrompt</span></a> </span>in the 'For Writers By Authors' group</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Picture Credits: Enrique Meseguer from Pixabay</span></div>
Vibhuti Bhandarkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00145588190836915806noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3010516876243855590.post-61102963074993957622020-05-12T22:32:00.002+05:302020-05-18T17:11:11.572+05:30The world of storytelling! - Kathanika Reviewed<div style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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This post comes a little late to make it a Mother's Day post but for me, storytelling and my mother are two very closely linked memories of childhood. My mother was a great storyteller. I have beautiful memories of her telling me bedtime stories, which eventually metamorphosed into her telling me real life experiences at bed time, as I grew older. </div>
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She introduced me to the world of books by subscribing to a local library when I was just a preschooler. I remember the very first book that I could actually read on my own was Thumbelina.</div>
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I have always loved to listen to stories, and my favourite pastime on those lazy afternoons of my Summer holidays was to lose myself in the fantastic world of stories.</div>
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So when my own little babies came along, I always wanted them to grow up in a similar book-loving manner. And I also wanted to see them grow into good listeners. I slowly inculcated the love for bedtime stories in them, but my only grievance was not having access to a great library around, for me to borrow new books to read out to them.</div>
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<div><div style="text-align: justify;">Thus, meeting Ms. Sherline Pimenta at their school was like seeing an angel. Enrolling in her Storytelling Club at their school came as a turn around point, especially for my younger one. It was like she opened up a pandora's box of stories for them, through Kathanika!</div><div style="text-align: justify;">(You can connect with <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Kathanika/">Kathanika</a> on Facebook )</div></div>
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What amazes me the most is that her storytelling skills are not only exquisite but her hand-picked selection of stories are extremely thought- inspiring. She trigger's the children's imagination like no other. Ms. Sherline has a way of telling stories that are always steeped in culture and tradition. And she has incredible talent for telling moral stories in the most entertaining way. Never a drab moment! Sometimes there's a folk song attached and sometimes its an exotic folk tale that puts my sons so much in awe that they are scrambling to find out more about new animals from a foreign land. </div>
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Sharing a link to one of the newest stories posted on Kathanika's YouTube channel for you all to listen in and experience what I mean. </div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/MQXZVDhW14I/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MQXZVDhW14I?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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And I am also sharing drawings by my boys, which is the result of last night's bedtime story.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2BGvWQAumzVVCVKe_tEpiIJhkBR-h-J0jlvOS7n2FnAq5OCEeXpXQ6iMGBz2P-_wkRF9LOmhei6074twy7esntr76rSn7k1uLncwo0AATAMg-BiyU18T6HrqsrFnJgGKw3AWh-51Ksmdd/s1600/Bada+Moochi+Dildar+-+Udhi.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="710" data-original-width="1078" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2BGvWQAumzVVCVKe_tEpiIJhkBR-h-J0jlvOS7n2FnAq5OCEeXpXQ6iMGBz2P-_wkRF9LOmhei6074twy7esntr76rSn7k1uLncwo0AATAMg-BiyU18T6HrqsrFnJgGKw3AWh-51Ksmdd/s320/Bada+Moochi+Dildar+-+Udhi.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Raja Bada Moochi Dildar by U. B. - 11 yo</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> They couldn't wait to get up in the morning, and start drawing how they'd imagined Raja Bada Moochi Dildar would look like. This turned out to be an excellent exercise in drawing out of memory to illustrate a story. A skill that I only acquired when I was given the task in my art college days.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sigh! Such are the wonders of technology.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Subscribing to your channel- Kathanika has solved the problem for my younger one. He was sorely missing your storytelling club.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdfO5vTMnbUUEtwqM6JFdK6w4icgq_Mx9yEvQmfdblZOP8R8vz5w3C0rrExBJIFJ46d1cXCmlJYgwe5dAyOPz5DQh4G-t8URvBPciXhPHKaBt3Tp437j_7dmdy3f7VXb1UPWpRnLlCs-T9/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="958" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdfO5vTMnbUUEtwqM6JFdK6w4icgq_Mx9yEvQmfdblZOP8R8vz5w3C0rrExBJIFJ46d1cXCmlJYgwe5dAyOPz5DQh4G-t8URvBPciXhPHKaBt3Tp437j_7dmdy3f7VXb1UPWpRnLlCs-T9/s320/Raja+Bada-Moochi++by+Saiish.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Raja Bada Moochi DIldar by S.B. - 8 Yo<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">During this extended lock-down, it would have been very difficult to get the boys into bed because of all the pent up energy. I could only lure them in only because of Kathanika. Even though they don't get sleepy by the end of the story, they giggle so much all through out that they go to bed with a smile at the end of the story. Their imagination triggered so much that they are transported to a very unique dreamland. </span></div>
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Ms. Sherline you are the best, storytelling mommy any child could have ever wished for! </div>
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A very happy mother's day to you!<br />
May Kathanika always have more glorious tales to tell....</div>
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Vibhuti Bhandarkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00145588190836915806noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3010516876243855590.post-30450121032841536672016-08-30T16:59:00.002+05:302016-08-30T17:08:22.751+05:30The Sinister Silence- Book Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-KS54aenT5_CBGnbSaWj4RfESY70_Smm5g2uNoeStgbhhj7u4O-PBpmxh5ykmotNcYacMGvjXcHhFZ8bnWL0AhXzpDOD4wnaN5dCmIwhLfhBNFlafURTEXy8dpwg7Dsst8yPqZKwxpfO9/s1600/The+Sinister+Silence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-KS54aenT5_CBGnbSaWj4RfESY70_Smm5g2uNoeStgbhhj7u4O-PBpmxh5ykmotNcYacMGvjXcHhFZ8bnWL0AhXzpDOD4wnaN5dCmIwhLfhBNFlafURTEXy8dpwg7Dsst8yPqZKwxpfO9/s320/The+Sinister+Silence.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Book Title: </b>The Sinister Silence</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="line-height: 23.1px;">Author: </b><span style="line-height: 23.1px;">Moitrayee Bhaduri</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 23.1px;">Publisher: </span><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Srishti Publishers</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>My Rating:</b> ***</span></div>
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<b style="line-height: 23.1px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">About the Author:</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is Moitrayee Bhaduri's debut as a novelist. A content specialist by profession, the author has graduated with History Honours and has completed M.A. too. Moitrayee loves animals, and singing travelling and watching Cricket are her spare time interests.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I have more than many times expressed my interest and love for book cover designs. And I have come across more than many good books purely because of the book cover design. So much against the greatly popular belief that one should not judge a book by its cover, I do!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Last month, a contest was organised in one of the Facebook groups called FWBA- For Writers by Authors and the Top 3 book cover designs were to be picked. Being a professionally qualified graphic designer for more than a decade now and an active member of the group, I was asked to pick my favourites from the 40+ entrants.And rest is history!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I picked 'The Sinister Silence' as a winner because this cover design emotes like a back blurb talks for the book. Though the individual elements used on the cover are undoubtedly <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">clichéd, one cannot deny that the treatment has rendered them indeed effective, as a whole. Where there's a blood splatter a murder mystery is inevitable and where there's mystery, aren't finger prints integral to the investigation? The subtle watermarked fingerprint on the cover creates the awe and intrigue for the 'Sinister'. The silhouette of the buildings suggest the corporate sector and that the story must start in the wee hours. Once the back blurb is read, you would now how apt the cover design is! +1 star for the great book cover design by Raja T.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #222222;">I gravitated towards the book and the author drew me in with a great Prologue. The book starts with a charmer of a man called Saahil Kerkar driving home through another of Mumbai's torrential rains on the evening of 4th of July 2014. The good </span><span style="color: #222222;">Samaritan</span><span style="color: #222222;"> that he is, he also offers a lift to his colleagues from Zarine Software. The story takes on the avatar of a murder mystery when Saahil is found in a pool of blood inside his car, in the wee hours of the next day- 5th July 2014.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">Ex-super-cop-turned-detective Mili Ray has founded a new private detective agency called Kwest and her team comprises of Advocate Gatha & an ex-army officer called Anubhav. The trio dive into the case headlong and manage to 'crack the motive' before the police officer in charge ACP Purab Trehan. As the book progresses, a string of murders are committed and they all seem to be linked to the first case. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">The treat for me in the book, were the choice of names of the various characters. The author has obviously taken some pains in selecting the names and also researched the backgrounds on it. My favourite character was the next in lead- Morena Dave. She not only has a unique name, she has some cute nicknames too like Mornie. This is yet another major score from my point of view. As a reader I appreciate the intelligence and attention to detail shown by the author. It helps us distinguish the characters one from another, and visualise them along with their physicality, their traits, etc. By the end of the book, we read about a very interesting hobby inculcated by Morena. It added flavour to the book, or must I say 'fragrance', in this case?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">Mili Ray a very keen detective has one healthy habit and a vice too to make her real as ever, in the reader's minds. Mili chomps on apples and smokes too! I would like to find out that the author has plans of expanding this character over a series of murder mystery books.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">It has been quite a while since I last read a good Indian murder mystery story. With stalwarts like Ashwin Sanghi having published a book in the same genre, and him being one of my favourite authors, Moitrayee Bhaduri's 'The SInister Silence' did have a lot to stand up against. So I must applaud this book as a good read and a great book by a debutante author.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">One of my pet peeves that I spotted in this book was direct Hindi-English translated phrases seeping into the narration. At one instance, one of the investigators comments something like, " I think he had a hand in this." A little tighter editing could have brought this book closer to being flawless, as far as Grammar is concerned.However it is indeed a relief to read a book where bombastic words have not been force-fed between some good prose. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The twists in the tales are aplenty and the plot in fact thickens during the unraveling of the mystery at the end. That's what I think will set the book apart from the rest. What I sorely did miss was the 'Sinister Silence' as the title had promised. I was really looking forward to some eerie or close to paranormal experiences woven into the storytelling. Or maybe it was wrong on my part to presume that this murder mystery would have so much hidden between its 271 pages. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Like the back blurb states, this book is indeed an edge-of-the-seat thriller that I enjoyed reading.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #141823; line-height: 18px;">* This is an author requested book review but I promise that this is a genuine book review for my blog's followers, posted at my own free will. </span><br style="line-height: 23.1px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="color: #141823; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 23.1px; text-align: justify;"></span><span style="line-height: 23.1px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #141823; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">I have read and reviewed this book as a part of my #BrunchBookChallenge for 2016. This book also checks off as Book#9 as per my own </span><span style="line-height: 23.1px; text-align: start;"><a href="http://klishmaklaver.blogspot.in/2016/01/book-readingreviewing-challenge-2016.html" style="color: #904365; text-decoration: none;">Book Reading/Reviewing Challenge 2016</a></span></span></span></div>
Vibhuti Bhandarkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00145588190836915806noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3010516876243855590.post-80271911118900611532016-08-05T17:19:00.000+05:302016-08-05T17:31:10.991+05:30The Conspiracy at Meru (VikramadityaVeergatha # 2) Curtain Raiser<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://klishmaklaver.blogspot.in/2015/12/the-guardians-of-halahala-book-review.html" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Guardians of the Halahala- Book Review</span></a></h3>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Here's the curtain raiser on the much-awaited sequel. I take the liberty of comparing this to the 'Bahubali' movie series because the euphoria and wait for the sequel has been quite equal!</span></div>
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<b style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">The Conspiracy at
Meru<i>(VikramadityaVeergatha # 2)</i></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">You can watch the </span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Book
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<span lang="EN-US"><b><i>VICTORY IS TEMPORARY. THE
BATTLE IS ETERNAL.</i></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Vikramaditya and his Council of Nine have
fought valiantly to repel the rampaging hordes from Devaloka and Patala – but
Avanti has been brought to its knees. Ujjayini lies battered its citizens are
scared and morale is badly shaken. Meanwhile, the barbaric Hunas and Sakas are
gathering on the horizon and cracks are emerging between the allied kingdoms of
Sindhuvarta.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The only silver lining is that the deadly
Halahala is safe. For now.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Bent on vengeance, Indra is already
scheming to destroy Vikramaditya, while Shukracharya has a plan that can spell
the doom for the Guardians of the Halahala. How long can the human army hold
out against the ferocity and cunning of the devas and asuras? And will
Vikramaditya’s love for his queen come in the way of his promise to
Shiva?</span></div>
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<b style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"> </b><b style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31288429-the-conspiracy-at-meru" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> * <a href="http://www.amazon.in/Vikramaditya-Veergatha-Book-Conspiracy-Meru/dp/8184958870" target="_blank">Amazon</a></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The deadly Halahala, the all-devouring poison churned from
the depths of the White Lake by the devas and asuras, was swallowed by Shiva to
save the universe from extinction.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But
was the Halahala truly destroyed?</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A small portion still remains – a weapon powerful enough to
guarantee victory to whoever possesses it. And both asuras and devas, locked in
battle for supremacy, will stop at nothing to claim it.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As the forces of Devaloka and Patala, led by Indra and
Shukracharya, plot to possess the Halahala, Shiva turns to mankind to guard it
from their murderous clutches. It is now up to SamratVikramaditya and his
Council of Nine to quell the supernatural hordes – and prevent the universe
from tumbling into chaos!</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A sweeping tale of honour and courage in the face of infinite
danger, greed and deceit, The Guardians of the Halahala is a fantastical
journey into a time of myth and legend.</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23045644-the-guardians-of-the-halahala" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> </span></span></span>* <a href="http://www.amazon.in/Vikramaditya-Trilogy-Book-Guardians-Halahala/dp/818495638X" target="_blank">Amazon</a> </span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: inherit;"><u>About the
Author</u></b></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Door-to-door salesman, copywriter, business journalist
& assistant editor at The Economic Times; Shatrujeet Nath was all this
before he took to writing fiction full-time. He debuted with The Karachi
Deception in 2013, followed by The Guardians of the Halahala and The Conspiracy
at Meru, the first two books in the VikramadityaVeergatha series. At present,
he is writing volume three of the series. Shatrujeet lives in Mumbai, but
spends much of his time in the fantasy worlds of his
stories.</span></span></div>
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<b style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/ShatrujeetNath/">Facebook</a></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> * </span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://twitter.com/shatrujeet"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Twitter</span></a></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> * </span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6575108.Shatrujeet_Nath">Goodreads</a></span></span></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">Another book by the same author on my TO READ list:</b></span></span></div>
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Vibhuti Bhandarkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00145588190836915806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3010516876243855590.post-27959699103139483462016-01-12T16:24:00.000+05:302016-01-12T16:26:01.647+05:30Collection of Chaos- Book Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlu4o8SdOneBvLo6hnZmizHpefNO0dXvVRV2NEHS3RHvRqGtQKubN4C-0fNYClSw3WHim2ppXSJKCkMkEdfKTmSEKhiOrdKdqgt-WYj5pYUUJ4EUiRuq-UJG-_jdsH43t9g0TPIgQRgjut/s1600/Collection+of+Chaos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlu4o8SdOneBvLo6hnZmizHpefNO0dXvVRV2NEHS3RHvRqGtQKubN4C-0fNYClSw3WHim2ppXSJKCkMkEdfKTmSEKhiOrdKdqgt-WYj5pYUUJ4EUiRuq-UJG-_jdsH43t9g0TPIgQRgjut/s320/Collection+of+Chaos.jpg" width="205" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b style="line-height: 20.2222px;">Book Title:</b><span style="line-height: 20.2222px;"> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20691668-collection-of-chaos">T</a></span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20691668-collection-of-chaos">he Collection of Chaos</a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><b style="line-height: 20.2222px; text-align: justify;">Author:</b><span style="line-height: 20.2222px; text-align: justify;"> Tikuli</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19.8px;">Foreword by </span><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19.8px; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/427529.Kris_Saknussemm" style="color: #333333; line-height: 19.8px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Kris Saknussemm</a></span><span style="color: #181818; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="color: black;"><span style="line-height: 20.2222px;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 20.2222px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b style="line-height: 20.2222px;">Publisher:</b><span style="line-height: 20.2222px;"><b> </b>Leaky Boot Press</span></span></span></div>
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<b style="line-height: 20.2222px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b style="line-height: 20.2222px;">My Rating:</b><span style="line-height: 20.2222px;"> ****</span></span></b></div>
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<b style="line-height: 20.2222px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 20.2222px;">Available at: </span></span></b></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Collection-Chaos-Tikuli/dp/190984909X/ref=la_B00I1S1CSC_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1403965273&sr=1-1" style="border: 0px; color: #ec8500; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Amazon.com</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.flipkart.com/collection-of-chaos/p/itmdsvf6sus8fp3n?pid=9781909849099&otracker=from-search&srno=t_5&query=collection+of+chaos&ref=417409e7-bed8-44f0-851a-d63afe2c6800" style="border: 0px; color: #ec8500; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Flipkart </span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/Collection-Chaos-Tikuli/9781909849099" style="border: 0px; color: #ec8500; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Book Depository </span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">And all major online book sellers.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b style="line-height: 20.2222px;"><b style="line-height: 20.2222px;">About the Author:</b><span style="color: #181818; font-weight: normal; line-height: 21px;">Brought up in Delhi in a family of liberal educationists Tikuli is a mother of two sons. She is also a blogger and author. Some of her short stories and poems have appeared in print and in online journals and literary magazines including Le Zaparougue, MiCROW 8, Trobadour 21, The Smoking Book (Poets Wears Prada Press, US), The Enchanting Verses Literary Review, Mnemosyne Literary Journal, Women's Web. Some of her print publications include poems in Guntur National Poetry Festival Anthology and much acclaimed Chicken Soup For The Indian Romantic Soul, Melange,and kaafiyana. Her work has also been featured on websites related to gender issues and child sexual abuse.</span></b></span></span></div>
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<b style="line-height: 20.2222px; text-align: start;"><span style="color: #181818; font-weight: normal; line-height: 21px;">She blogs at <a href="http://tikulicious.wordpress.com/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">tikulicious.wordpress.com</a>.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">This Book Review was first published at <a href="http://differenttruths.com/reviews/books/deluge-of-emotions-in-the-poems-of-tikuli/">DIFFERENT TRUTHS</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">We were all taught nursery rhymes at kindergarten and we grew up
learning poems by heart but how many of us really found expression for our
feelings in verse? Poetry is the voice of a soul. It cannot be adopted. It's
born, somewhere deep in the warm cockles of the heart. Poetry is a maze of
words, with routes going into and out of the heart.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I am glad I came across Tikuli's Collection of Chaos. And I am even
happier that this will be the first collection of poems that I've read in 2016.
I'm delighted with this book of verses because they are straight from the heart
and yet the fluent poems are made of words that have been intelligently woven
together. I have been reading Tikuli's poems and Haikus for almost a decade now
and her inimitable style of saying so much within a few lines, a handful of
words continues to enthrall me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I have somehow always related the reading of poetry with the first rains
that mark the beginning of the season- petrichor! And Tikuli also uncannily
opens the collection with a beautiful simile to describe the predominant
emotion that mingles with the petrichor, by saying, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">'The solitude<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">lingers<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">like<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">the smell of rain<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">slaking the parched earth.'<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Tikuli's collection of poems are a deluge of emotions, each separate
piece a heavier thought than before. Her words definitely come from a lifetime
of myriad experiences and jarring observations, from changing times. From the
little understanding that I have of poetic meters and such, Tikuli has ventured
to utilise very different forms of poetry, and yet maintained her voice in it.
She has given expression to a whirlwind of emotions and yet Tikuli manages to
maintain order in the usage of correctly chosen words.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">While one poem is a poignant reminder of '<b><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #252525;">The Stoning of Soraya M.-</span></i></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #252525;"> a 2008 American<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white;">Persian-language<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #252525;"> </span></span>drama
film<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #252525;">; another describes
mindless Indian rituals, and there are those poems that give us a
heart-wrenching peek into the minds and lives of woebegone, torn women. </span></span></span><i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">There's also a fresh whiff of romance now and then. My favourite being
this short verse that captures a memory so skillfully.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">At
dawn<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I
gather the scent of the night jasmine<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">And
with it<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The
scent of you<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Encased
between the white<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i>And
the vermilion</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">However while I kept sailing from one poem to the next, what I found
sorely amiss was a befitting title for each piece. Or maybe that would be a
stereotypical packaging for presenting one's gift to the world. I suppose
Tikuli prefers to leave each story told between the rhyming lines, to grow on
the reader and take on a title or maybe a moral of its own, as per the reader's
personal connect with the piece?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Took me around, two days to finish reading each of the poems, couplets,
verses and haikus. And I am a slow reader. I like to roll the words on my
tongue as I read, feel their weight, wait for it to travel down and sink in.
And that's appreciating poetry for me, much like enjoying the whiff and roll of
a good wine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">If I'm not wrong, there are around 90 pieces in the book of 124 pages.
And there is a different shade of known and unknown emotions to read about.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">In the foreword given by Kris Saknussemm, the poetess is aptly described as a 'student heart', for she really
seems to be curious and readily imbibing all the goings on around her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Quoting Kris Saknussemm- <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">"Innocence isn’t something we begin with
and then gradually lose through the<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">hardships of life experience, it’s a perspective
and a state of mind<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">we may achieve—through perseverance, humility,
and an unquenchable</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">curiosity about the world."<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">There's one more poem from the Collection of Chaos that brought a smile
to my face. There couldn’t have been truer words.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Fantasy is reality<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">reality is fantasy<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">and in between<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">there is a poet</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">on a Ferris wheel<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: inherit; font-size: large; line-height: 18px;">* This review has not been requested by the author and is a genuine book review for my blog's followers, posted at my own free will. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #141823; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">I have read and reviewed this book as a part of my #BrunchBookChallenge for 2016. This book also checks off as Book#3 as per my own </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; line-height: 23.1px; text-align: start;"><a href="http://klishmaklaver.blogspot.in/2016/01/book-readingreviewing-challenge-2016.html">Book Reading/Reviewing Challenge</a> 2016</span></div>
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Vibhuti Bhandarkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00145588190836915806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3010516876243855590.post-88807848050036875862016-01-11T14:23:00.000+05:302016-01-11T14:23:34.133+05:30Book Reading/Reviewing Challenge 2016<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">This brand new year 2016 has brought with it an increased fervour to read more and varied books/authors. I have therefore been picking up book challenges that are doing the rounds on the virtual social circuit.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5cFqqr_STcB8EcuoHH4iiQd2e2OoZ1y75F3AEBah3UWDxUbFDAHkABPpzT8ZCpqA41vmR8EteZNMlj6MHssgi-uXVbkL0ZAzXr1J7wIp8b7m0kTdZoCgxA8_TrlhoijxNxbgQYOHg02Bb/s1600/HT+Brunch+Book+Challenge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5cFqqr_STcB8EcuoHH4iiQd2e2OoZ1y75F3AEBah3UWDxUbFDAHkABPpzT8ZCpqA41vmR8EteZNMlj6MHssgi-uXVbkL0ZAzXr1J7wIp8b7m0kTdZoCgxA8_TrlhoijxNxbgQYOHg02Bb/s320/HT+Brunch+Book+Challenge.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">One of them being the <span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; line-height: 29px;"><b><a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/brunch/introducing-brunch-book-challenge-part-3-indian-writing-special/story-fosQoEUKmyXaTrHPE9LQzI.html">Brunch Book Challenge Part-3 (Indian Writing Special</a> </b></span><span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #262626; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> launched on twitter by Hindustan Times - HTBrunch. the target is to read 24 books this year. I'd read 20 in 2015, so a plus four seems extremely doable. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #262626; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #262626; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">However I came across another kind of book challenge on Facebook that specifies what kind of books to cover, and then I had this 'Aaha!' moment. That was just the thing I was looking for. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: inherit; font-size: large; line-height: 22px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: inherit; font-size: large; line-height: 22px;">I think I want to take the #BookBrunchChallenge a bit further by zeroing down on what kind of books will be included therein, ie. a list of the 24 books. Not the titles but the genre or what they mean to me. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">In the #BrunchBookChallenge I will read and review 24 books that tick off one of the following criteria each:-</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">1. Book of my most favourite genre</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">2. Book of my least favourite genre</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">3. A book of poetry</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">4. A book I've been meaning to read</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">5. A book you previously abandoned</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">6. A book I own but have never read</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">7. A book that intimidates me</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">8. A book published this year</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">9. A book recommended by an author/librarian/friend</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">10. A book I should have read when in school</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">11. A book published before I was born</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">12. A book that was banned once upon a time</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">13. A book you've already read at least once</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">14. A National Book Award winner</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">15. A book that has been adapted into a movie</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">16. A humorous book</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">17. An autobiography</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">18. A travelogue/a book based on a road trip</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">19. A book by an internationally acclaimed author</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">20. A book translated from a regional language</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">21. A book of collected short stories</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">22. A self-improvement book</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">23. A non-fiction book</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">24. A romantic bestseller</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">By the end of 2016 I hope to have checked off all of the above books, not necessarily following the same order.And I also hope to be able to review each of these books too..</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">Do please leave a suggestion in the comments, if any!</span></span></div>
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Vibhuti Bhandarkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00145588190836915806noreply@blogger.com0