the dragon tattooed, fire proof girl of Stieg Larsson

I loved 'the girl'. She is "a pale, skinny young woman who had hair as short as a fuse, and a pierced nose and eyebrows. She had a wasp tattoo about two centimeters on her neck, a tattooed loop around the bicep of her left arm, another loop around her left ankle, a Chinese symbol on her hip and a rose on her left calf. On those occasions when she had been wearing a tank top, a dragon tattoo can be seen on her left shoulder blade." Exotic. But the books are nightmarish , too chilling and inhumane. The italicized parts give you the creeps. They are bulky and I took almost 1 month to read. This is my holiday read ! No complaints , as expected these thrillers leave me numb and dumb.

who are you?

We been to the new Jayalakshmi showroom the other day. At the counter a lady with a cool bag approaches me and you know what , she seems to know a lot about me - my name, age , place , friends and esp  everything I did during my sweet 16 &17. Gross. She also mentioned my stint as Jesus Christ in one program. OMG !

Dear classmate,

You look very young and beautiful. I'm flattered that you recognized me. Sorry that I can't remember your good self. It must be the greying grey matter. Please don't take it personally. You are a doctor? Great. Give me an appointment , please.
Thank you.

The Waiting Room - Anupa Mehta

Maya's life is a series of sexual exploitations right from her childhood. The cook molests her , the husband abuses her mentally n physically and the psychoanalyst takes advantage of her. Her daughter suffers the same fate. Instead of confronting the monsters , she goes through a series of loveless affairs , spiritual quests and meets her soul mate who has a wife to claim and she dies single and unhappy. It's a real story I guess. I don't enjoy reading this book. One gets more than enough warnings about child abuse, marital misdemeanor , deranged shrinks etc. Very disturbing and sort of haunting.

Baumcartner's Bombay - Anita Desai

Set in Germany , Calcutta and  Bombay during the troubled times of World War 2 , the novel tells the pathetic story of Hugo Baumcartner , a victim of the Holocaust , a lone firangi in India . The German is too passive , unambitious and dull - a drastic change from time-honored heroes. Yet one can easily relate to his life , times and tragic end. Thanks to Desai , the Holocaust is painted in minimal colors.

An offbeat , interesting and engaging read though not very perky.

amu - Shonali Bose

Shonali Bose released the movie Amu and the novel written based on the screenplay en masse on Jan 7, 2005. She seems to be the first Indian to do so. Cool feline. The tiny book Amu details the horrible and disturbing anti-sikh riots happened in 1984 followed by the assassination of Indira Gandhi. The adopted daughter of a Hindu social activist uncovers her true identity and the massacre unravels for our benefit. No , I haven't seen the movie yet. The star attractions are Konkana Sen and Brinda Karat. Yes, the beautiful Brinda Karat , the first woman politburo member. Shonali Bose is her niece. I would love to watch the two awesome ladies perform....