Chanakya's Chant - Ashwin Sanghi

The front cover boasts of Shashi Tharoor's praise about the book - ''A delighlightfully interesting and gripping read.''  Allow me to disagree.

The novel is composed of 20 chapters. 10 of them retells the life of Chanakya and the rest reviews the modern political guru Gangasagar Mishra. Though violent n crafty, Chanakya chants with a mission - to unite Bharat under one supreme king Chandragupta Maurya and he succeeds. Mishra's aim is to secure supreme power at any cost and he too attains it through his prodigy Chandini Gupta. I prefer Chanakya. 

I'm a sucker for spiced up historical  and mythological characters n novels. Howbeit, if you have viewed the TV serial Chanakya and watched politrix movies, better avoid this novel, it has nothing new to offer.

Hey, who is your favorite  manipulator? Mine is Krishna ◕‿↼

The Walled City - Esther David

Patroness of Ahmedabadi Jews

Esther David the authoress, artist, sculptor, art critic, columnist, historian and Sahitya Akademi Award winner is the supreme living authority on the history and culture of the Bene Israel Jews of Ahmadabad. As you know the biblical heroine Queen Esther of Persia saves Jewish people from genocide and she personifies beauty, wisdom and valor. Esther David of Ahmedabad lives n stands up to her name. Amen.

The Walled City is Esther's first book and my first Esther book. Also my first Jewish novel without the grim n chilling shadows of the holocaust. Good. The story details the life, customs n conflicts of the secluded Jewish community in Ahmedabad esp that of the womenfolk. It's an emotional n touching tale, a bit depressing. 

Let the walls crumble n the doors open.....

Magic Seeds - Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul

Long time ago, I tried Naipaul's The enigma Of Arrival  but did not reach anywhere. I was hoping better luck with this book - currently the last of his looong literary career. Magic Seeds is a sequel to Half A Life. I was not aware of that. That's fine. You won't miss anything. The novel is not an easy or pleasant read. Of course I can relate to Willie Chandran the drifter, who floats through many a countries, his acute passivity towards life n people and the way he lets events unfold around him perfunctorily. I liked Willie's guerrilla life in India and his monologues but the conclusion of the novel dodged my thick skull.

Naipaul writes 2 novels to remind us that there are no magic seeds to wipe out our troubles ! That's so uncool !! The brute.

The Quilt and other Stories - Ismat Chughtai

 

Ismat Chughtai is a prominent female figure in Urdu Literature. She is the first muslim woman in India to secure both B.A and B.Ed. degrees. She is better known for her controversial short stories. She fights 4 years in Lahore court in 1944 and wins the case against obscenity, lesbianism  and blasphemy arraigned on her short story- The Quilt. Feminist? I don't think so. Her female characters celebrate womanhood to the tilt. That's all.

A tribute to Ismat Chughtai

The Shah Affair

Ismat Apa Ke Naam is a Hindi play directed by Naseeruddin Shah starring Shah, his wife Ratna Pathak Shah and their daughter Heeba Shah. It's one act one-man show. Each actor enacts one story. Of course, the 3 the stories are that of Ismat Chughtai ! It's been a huge success in India n abroad. Pity Begum Chughtai is not around to enjoy the show.

The Quilt and other Stories

 

First of my Penguin Evergreens. Wonder why Penguin cover designs are so drab n dull. Evergreens are a wee bit better than the normal editions. Any ways... There are 10 short stories including the much disputed The Quilt.  I find Gainda most endearing followed by The Homemaker and Touch-Me-Not. The women in all the stories are quite feminine, strong, heady and passionate. Kudos to Ismat Chughtai. Cheers to Penguin Evergreens. And thanks to M.Asaduddin for translating the stories from Urdu to English.                                                                                                                                                                          

A strange and sublime Address and nine stories - Amit Chaudhari

Amit Chaudhari

A living Bengali writer. Famous and successful at that. I mean, I've read and liked a few Bengali writers like Tagore, Ashapoorna Devi, Ray....... but long after their demise. What do you do with puraskars n praises when you get it posthumously? So, Amit Chaudhari. He was born in Calcutta, brought up in Bombay and did college studies in UK. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and bagged Sahitya Akademi Award and Rabindra Puraskar and......many more important awards n accolades. Yeah, big shot he is. Wait... he can sing too. He is a renowned classical singer n composer. Apani mahana Amit bhai !

The book

   A strange and sublime address  is his first novella, an excellent autobiographical piece and he pockets Betty Trask Award and Commonwealth Writer's Prize for the best first book in 1991. Bravo ! The story is the account of Bombayite Sandeep's holiday visits to Calcutta. It takes you back to all those heavenly days spend in your mother's house during summer holidays ! Nostalgia. Euphoria. That's it. Rest of the nine stories sketches Calcutta of 90's in myriad colors. Actually the book should be renamed as 'Calcutta Tales'. Thanks to Picador omnibus, I enjoyed reading the stories and is eager to read the rest of the 2 novels. ♡

The expatriates celebrate their national festival

ഒന്നാം  ഓണം 

രണ്ടാം  ഓണം

മൂന്നാം  ഓണം

Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer

In Greek mythology, Artemis is the Goddess of the Hunt, Forest and the Hills and the Moon. Fowl means any kind of edible bird. Then, who is Artemis Fowl? A 12 year old child prodigy from Ireland, filthy rich, tech savvy, brainy , a devious criminal. Unlike Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, Master Fowl has no magic but is impossibly gutsy and doughty. He operates on his own with his bodyguard- Butler ! I like that. 

This is the first book of the series. The book is categorized as young-adult fantasy novel. But I find it too simple for teens. Junior has read all the books. He says the first is the simplest, rest are truly criminally good. So be it. Let the misadventures continue.....