Klishmaklaver

  Book Title: dopehri  Publishers: HarperPerennial India (Hardcover) Author's Name: Pankaj Kapur ( Translated from Hindustani by Rahul Soni)  About the Author:  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.  In November 2019, he made his literature debut with this book  which he had written in 1992. My Rating: 3/5 ⭐ 'dopehri' felt like a 90+ pages Long Short Story, not a novella. Read it in 60 minutes flat without skipping a single word.  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 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.  While re...

Book Title: City Under Curfew and other stories Author: Fazayal Shabbir Publishers: Leadstart Publishing My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 About the Author:  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. Book Review: 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. 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 ...

  Book Name: Written in Tears Author Name:  Arupa Patangia Kalita- Translated from the Assamese by Ranjita Biswas About the Author & the Translator: 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.  Publisher: Harper Collins India My Rating:  ****/5 '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 ...

  Book Title: Arranged Marriage Author Name: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni Publishers: Kindle Edition My Rating: 5/5⭐ 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.  This is the second Indian- American author I've read as we celebrate Women's History Month for #FemmeMarchAtWomaniyat-Week #2 prompt: Literary Fiction  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 shak...

  "Unbelievable! She flipped it neatly, and turned it again too, within minutes," her teenager son looked up at her in awe. " 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. "Ma, how did you do that?"  " You made it look as easy as flipping these chapattis," Pa interjected, giving her palm a loving squeeze.  "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. "Mind- blowing, Ma!  My friends joke that  girls can't drive cars." "Tell them, the woman of today can sail her own boat and sink your ship too if she decides to," Ma laughed. 🚁  This 150 words microtale was origin...

 Book Title: Stories From the City Called Kolkata Author: Ishita Ganguly Publishers: Evincepub Publishing My Rating: ***1/2 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.  '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 wo...

Some souls were blessed to have a higher sense of purpose in life. I simply had a heightened sense of smell. 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 Padmasana , my humble Gandharaj Lebu appeared like the Bodhi tree to me . I listened intently to all that it had to teach me. I felt one with my sunlight-loving citrus. 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. That day too, I could have continued sitting there for hours on end, wet earth or not! If it wasn’t for Granny Mori, off to Sunday Church, dressed in black. Ever since the demise ...

The Independence Day of 2015 gave me more than one reason to celebrate! On 15th August 2015 after a good gap of 24 months my work was published once again. This time my story was picked up for an E-mag named UNBOUND- compiled and edited by Neil D'Silva (author of Maya's New Husband fame) and Varun Vithaldas Prabhu (serial Authorpreneur). Happy to also share that the logo/symbol design of UNBOUND was designed by me. :D  Here's the  Smashwords link for the first issue of  the UnBound E-Magazine where you can read numerous other fantastic short stories and poetry written on the theme- FREEDOM. https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/569765 FREE DOWNLOAD  ****************************************************************************** Rati arched her left eyebrow and brought both her palms up, gracefully bending her slender fingers, demonstrating the Sanjukta Hasta Mudra that was being taught. The light tapping on the tabla travelled to their ...

Book Title: When I See Your Face Author: Devika Fernando Publisher: Kindle Edition My Rating: **** About the Author: Devika Fernando is a widely published   romance novel author and prolific writer from Sri Lanka. Having lived and completed her education in Germany, she  now works as a self-employed German web content writer and also as  a translator, based in Sri Lanka.  While reading this book I must say I felt like that child who receives the choicest confectionery and never wants it to end. Its undoubtedly sweet all over but sends a myriad delicious feelings racing through your heart. Simple yet interesting storytelling with the appropriate use of good words makes it a smooth read.  Roughly 17 months of marriage and at least twice as many bruises later, Cathy takes courage and makes an overnight exit to a remote village. She dreams of reclaiming her life and plans to start a cake business with some help from old ...

This post has been published by me as a part of Blog-a-Ton 55 ; the fifty-fifth edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. In association with ​Rashmi Kumar , the author of Hooked, Lined and Single and Jyoti Arora , the author of Lemon Girl .   'THE CITY OF BUNARUS. Surveyed by James Aubert- 1822.', said the lithograph adorning the central wall of the small foyer. He stood there patiently studying the map, for there was nothing else to keep him occupied or entertained while he waited to be ushered into Colonel Henry White's office. Though the entire Crawford Market building was lit up by electricity, the waiting room was a dimly lit space with only a single dome-shaped light bulb that came on, at sun-down. There was nothing English about it; furnished with frugal wooden chairs along the western wall as seating arrangements, a small wooden table and another chair arranged against the central wall. Ideally, an office clerk sho...