Review: A Tangled Web- Jammu and Kashmir

In India everyone and their neighbor claim to be an expert on Jammu & Kashmir. No Indian state is as debated as this state. And yes for obvious reasons. It is a state that has been in conflict since Independence. A state that while trying to create its own identity by moving on from the past is also finding it difficult to shake off its past. And it is definitely a conundrum hard to get out of. What gets worse is the judgment people have already passed on it. There is no middle ground. Due to which J&K continues being a tinderbox waiting to explode at any slight provocation. Sad but true.

A Tangled Web is an excellent resource for people who would want to read myriad perspectives about the state. It is not just that but the articles and pieces gives the reader an excellent insight into the conflicting views on the history of the state, its problems and examines the various political, social, cultural and economic issues at play there.

The book tries to bring in as many voices as it possibly can.  All these collected essays from eminent writers as well as voices of people who have suffered the brunt of violence in the state. So one can read well written articles by Parvaiz Bukhari, Suhasini Haidar, Jagmohan, Meghnad Desai, Nitasha Kaul, Sonia Jabbar and more…

It is indeed sad that the place which is probably one of the most beautiful places in the world and the most strategically located too is in a perpetual state of conflict. But yet this year has been good for the state and let’s hopes ensuing years follow the same pattern too. Karan Singh writes the foreword for the book and starts off the book with the right note and tenor. Ira Pande has edited the book.

This book is an important contribution to the various literature available on Jammu and Kashmir, do read it if history and current events interest you

Review: Noon

I recently read Aatish Taseer’s latest book called Noon. Let me be upfront and honest here and say that I haven’t read his previous works (yes I know you just went hawww!). 

After having heard a lot of good things about his books I was sure this would be a great read too. Well it just barely made it to my list of good books to read. That’s the review in a nutshell.

So Noon started off rather well but just mid way through the book I was left wondering what was it that the book set out to say in the first place? But then in the end it got better, but just slight. The book though written in the fiction genre is inspired heavily from some incidents from author’s own life.

The book is stark at some places and at places it is saddening too.  The protagonist of the book Rehan Tabassum  is brought up by single handedly by his lawyer mum and his grandmother. As he grows up with questions in his mind about his father he discovers that his dad is a big man across the border. He goes to spend some time with his father and his extended family.

Rehan comes across as an extremely astute and sensitive human being. But then Rehan’s story is very disjointed, jumping from one place to another and you can see Rehan is a very confused person who is oddly looking at everything from an outsider’s perspective, totally disconnected.

That is exactly my problem with the book. If Rehan was trying to make a point about his life, or the changes around him in India or Pakistan, I as a reader definitely missed the point.

So all in all if someone gifts this book to you do read it, if not you can skip.

Review : The Lovers

Reviewed by: Ananth

John Connolly is an exemplary writer and I am a fan boy. Period. There is no one who writes with a blend of the supernatural intertwined into regular sleuthing crime fiction and what ends up as the sum of all the parts is a tour de force - an utterly intriguing and outlandish tale that is at once believable and strangely charming. Charming, some might say, is far from the right adjective to use for the eeriness that inhabits John's world but rest assured there is something irresistible about the Bird that always leaves you wanting more - for me, that in itself is more than enough credentials to establish something as charming.

Lovers is the seventh in the Charlie Parker series where Charlie 'Bird' Parker, for a change, is servicing himself rather than one of his clients. Following Unquiet which left Charlie being stripped of his PI license, the Lovers see Charlie delve deep to unravel the mysterious circumstances under which his father killed two teenagers before taking his own life. Sparked by the Collector's (one of my favourite staple feature of this series) comments, Charlie digs deep to make sense of these events that have haunted him his entire life. Amidst this personal turmoil a series of murders are waiting to be linked to his investigations and it is not before long that all events blend into one promising a chilling finale.

The underlying bleakness that seems to pervade Charlie's life is more than present here with Charlie confronting the horrific truths of his parentage. As the pieces fall together and facts fall into place it is almost as if Charlie is the only kind of person who can deal with the kind of curve balls that life has to throw. He seems to have this phenomenal appetite for catastrophes and destructiveness which he seems to handle in an All-In-A-Days-Work style. With an array of characters each in their own way furthering Charlie's quest, the Lovers is a book that is a sad yet poignant and fulfilling read. (Not to mention the fact that it might make you go double check that the doors have indeed been locked!)

What has always pleased me and still does is the way John's characters play on your mind - they are so well etched and fit so snugly into the plot, it is almost unbelievable. You are left journeying with Charlie and it is a horrific journey indeed yet there seems to be the driving hand of destiny that seems to propel him further. John's research is top notch and this complements the super natural theme very well making for a very credible account (the Costa Rican parasitoid wasp whose host is the spider Plesiometa argyra forms an actual basis for introducing the bizarre). Charlie seems to inhabit a parallel world where anything is possible and he is forced to confront the strangest of adversaries - in this world the dead still manage to make their presence felt and shadows that lurk have their own agendas.

While people starting out with John would do well to get to read the series in order, Lovers is still a stand alone piece of work though the prime movers that impel Charlie are buried in his past. Though open to interpretation, the para normal aspects of John's work take stronger root here - I would think that as excellent timing given that we have had six novels where this world was being dabbled with. Though disquieting and full of despair, John always manages to triumphantly weave hope and beauty into the otherwise starkly dark world of Charlie - that  is what keeps me coming back for more since I just cannot resist knowing what is new with Charlie and his world.

(Ananth is a software engineer from Chennai who loves reading but loves even more the dissecting that follows the read.)

Review: 7 Secrets of Vishnu

Reviewed by: Baisali Chatterjee Dutt

When you are asked to review a book by one of your favourite authors, and that too, on a subject that you have been passionate about ever since you have been a little kid, then the task at hand can only be a pleasant one. Well, that is exactly what reviewing Devdutt Pattanaik’s “7 Secrets of Vishnu” was for me. I have been an avid mythology buff ever since I can remember and the passion has only intensified with time.

I have been reading Devdutt Pattanaik’s work for quite a while now. Not just me, in fact, but my eight-year-old son as well, who is a fan of Pattanaik’s “Adventures in Devlok” series.

The Hindu trinity, as we all know, comprises of Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver and Shiva the Destroyer. The symbols and rituals connected to Each One are markedly different. And why not? It stands to reason as They represent different levels of consciousness. They do not look like Each Other, nor do They behave similarly and They perform different duties. Pattanaik’s “7 Secrets of Vishnu” attempts to help the reader decipher the symbology and unlock the secrets behind the stories and rituals associated with Lord Vishnu.

Through the stories of Vishnu, complex Hindu ideologies and philosophies have been communicated in an easy to read manner. Issues that we have always wondered about have been addressed beautifully by the author. Like, for example, why are the Devas and Asuras, both the offspring of Brahma, always at war? The saga of the never-ending battles between the Devas and the Asuras bring to light the emotional turmoil faced by both; the Devas also represent insecurity while the Asuras embody ambition and thus the constant state of unrest.

The book takes us through the various avatars assumed by Him on Earth. Divided into seven chapters, each one helps us in understanding key concepts and in delving into the mysteries of the Divine. I learnt so many new things from each of these chapters, which is always very exciting. For example, I learnt about Alakshmi, the Sister of Lakshmi who accompanies her Sister wherever She goes and She represents strife. The entire passage about how Lakshmi arose from amrit and Alakshmi from halahala – brilliant! Also the gem about how Shukracharya, guru to the Asuras, lost an eye when Vishnu descended to Earth as Vamana, the Brahmin dwarf, was a new story for me to imbibe and marvel over. The absolute crowning jewel for me was how Pattanaik beautifully explained that Luv-Kush’s victory over their father showed that dharma rests with Sita and not Ayodhya! Brilliant! As one who has always been furious over the treatment meted out to Sita in the epic, this one statement was a fist-pumping hurrah! moment. Yes, it has been explained time and again that Ram put his kingly duties above his personal needs, but that only serves to make him the Perfect King, not the Perfect Man.

The photographs of ancient artwork and temple sculptures help bring the book alive, especially with their little bubbles of explanation. Colour photography would have been greatly appreciated, of course, but that’s nitpicking. An index would also have been of great use, and I strongly suggest the publishers think of adding one in the next edition.

All in all, a great read and one I would urge all mythology buffs to immediately indulge in!

(This book is reviewed by Baisali Chatterjee Dutt. Baisali blogs at http://mammamiameamamma@blogspot.com )

Review: The Best of Quest

Quest was born in 1954, a magazine that was published out of Bombay (now Mumbai) with Nissim Ezekiel at its helm. After successfully publishing it for two decades the magazine collapsed during the Emergency period.

An intellectual magazine for the discerning reader with articles contributed by the best names that light up newspapers, magazines, academic journals and even television screens today. The common link between them? They all made their mark with a piece in Quest.

The Best of Quest brings to the reader the best of stories, essays and poems published in the magazine. Hence making the book a treasure trove of well written, well argued articles. It gives the reader insights into the political and social history of independent India.

Some of the articles in the book, in all honesty, were difficult for me to fathom or read through. But some were exceptionally brilliant. The book is edited by Lafeq Futehally, who worked as the Literary Editor with the Quest for over twenty years. Achal Prabhala who is a writer and researcher in Bangalore. Arshia Sattar who works with classical Indian Literature and teaches at various institutions across the country.

So you have eminent writers such as Nirad Chaudhuri, P.Lal. Jyotirmoy Datta, Khushwant Singh, Dilip Chitre, Ashis Nandy and others who have contributed towards the magazine. Poetry contributed by Dom Moraes, Kamala Das, Nissim Ezekiel. Mukul Sharma makes this section extremely interesting.

The pieces are well selected and show the kind of enrichment in terms of knowledge and thoughts the magazine brought to its readers. You know when you read through the book the editors have worked with a passion to make this book worth a collectible for every reader.

Do pick this book up to get a better understanding of the country we live in by the writers who are the very best in the industry today. The book is a fitting tribute to a man who headed the magazine.

Magazine Review: BBC Knowledge India

This particular review of BBC Knowledge’s long overdue. I should have reviewed it much sooner, in fact as soon as I read it. I am not much of a magazine person except for the weekly news magazines but whatever issues I read I found the magazine an enjoyable read.

So here goes. I had got two magazines for review one was the May/June issue which covered– Does god exist?And the other was Jan/Feb issue with “So you want to be a spy “as the cover story. The cover stories were good and interesting to read. The picture and print quality of the magazine was at par with other international magazines.

This bi-monthly magazine encompasses 3 main topics - science, history and nature. Besides these topics the magazine is also divided into sections like updates, round-ups, comment & analysis, insights, world news in context, Q&A, reviews, etc.

I personally found the content in-depth, well researched and written in simple and easy to read language.

It is worth a read or rather a long term subscription! Go ahead-enjoy!

Thinkfest: The hits and the misses

We were following up on all the news creators at the recently concluded Thinkfest in Goa. As expected Siddhartha Mukherjee, VS Naipaul, Mohammed Hanif, Thomas Friedman, Hari Kunzru sessions have come in for much praise. Here are a few links that will give you a better insight into who said what:

http://www.firstpost.com/living/siddharth-mukherjee-on-steve-jobs-his-death-was-a-failure-of-imagination-2-123433.html

http://www.firstpost.com/living/what-writing-can-do-that-nothing-else-can-124116.html

http://www.firstpost.com/blogs/living-blogs/what-ails-america-tom-friedmans-diagnosis-of-a-superpower-in-crisis-124139.html

Also making news at Thinkfest were Arvind Kejriwal, Shashi Tharoor ,Omar Abdullah and Shehrbano Taseer. From Bollywood we had Abhay Deol and Aamir Khan who were the news makers at the event.

Here's the FB page that will give you all the information you were looking for!
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Think-Fest/232058883502002

Until next year then....