“The Aunt Who Wouldn’t Die” by Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay

“The aunt who wouldn’t die” by Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, as the name suggests is about an aunt, or pishima in Bengali, who everyone thinks is dead, but for one member of the household, the new daughter-in-law, Somlata, to whom the aunt comes to every now and then as a ghost, and tries to scare her.
But what does she actually wants?
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This book is like a light, fluffy conundrum of a lot of things all at once, the difficulties of living in a joint family, the struggles of widows and the bahus of the house, the romance of a newly married couple and the ghost of an old aunt reluctant to part away with her belongings, a perfect mix that catches the essence of an Indian household in its true sense.
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Reading the book reminded me of the books that I used to read as a kid, small pocketbook versions, with big fonts and folklore that leaves you with a mushy feeling of having read something wholesome. Although the story is simple and the narration devoid of any hullabaloo of fancy prose, the tale itself brings a warmth to the reader’s heart, like soaking in the sun on a winter afternoon.
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A light yet poignant tale of women from three different generations of a family, trying to maintain the household and uplift it, amidst societal ‘laws’, in their own capacities.
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Thank you @bee.books for this beautiful book, in exchange for an honest opinion.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Genre: translated, indian-literature, bengali-literature, culture, mystery

“Once Upon a Curfew” by Srishti Chaudhary

Set against the backdrop of 1970s Delhi, an era of Rajesh Khanna’s movies, the cold cozy winters of Delhi and a time when a wave of nationalism ran through the society, “Once Upon a Curfew” takes us through the life of our young protagonist, Indira Narayan, who wants to convert her grandma’s old flat into a library for women, one where she has left behind hundreds of books, collected over all her years of living there.
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Indira’s family thinks it is a suitable idea since it will keep her occupied until she marries her fiance, Rajat, who is studying in London for two more years.
But when she meets Rana, a young lawyer full of life and humor, and the Emergency declared in India, the world that she once thought was perfect for her, will turn upside down. What kind of life will she choose now?
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A refreshing take on the era surrounding the Emergency when the times were filled with political tension and yet Delhi was booming with life, it’s movies, it’s winters and it’s love for Bollywood movies, the plot digresses significantly from how the story first started.
The romance brewing between two young souls, against the backdrop of a library, does sound promising but the narration dragged a bit when the courtship of Indira was developing, and the book could have done better with fewer dialogues.
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Would have loved if the story moved in one direction and not scatter abruptly into subplots so much.
But with a strong plot-line, a very pleasant premise, lovable characters, an old school love story blossoming in a library and a peek into the yesteryear’s struggle of people during the Emergency, this book has all the elements for a cozy mushy read.
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🍂Rating: ⭐⭐⭐.5/5
🍂 Genre: fiction, indian-literature, historical-fiction, romance

“What Mina Did” by Geeta Menon

“What Mina Did” by Geeta Menon is a story about twenty-two year Mina, who moved to the US, to start a new life with her husband, after her mother’s death, to run away from her past demons and leave behind some twisted secrets.
Will she ever find peace? Or will she succumb to her internal conflicts?
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What started as an interesting plot, slowly lost track, and divulged into a confusing and unenthusiastic.
The relationship between Mina and her mother is portrayed very beautifully and piques one’s interest. But some of the portions of the book, which tries to paint a picture of how Indian society works turns out to be an enforcement of the already existing stereotyping which are so much more than a mere generalisation.
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The first few chapters of the book are worth reading but the latter part of the book failed to garner any kind of engrossment.
Overall, a book that promised a lot, but the diversion from the actual plot made the narration monotonous.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐/5
Genre: fiction, indian-literature

 

“Snakes in the Meadows” by Ayaz Kohli

It is 1987 in the hilly village of Pathri Aali, Jammu, and Kashmir, two young lovers, Aslam and Ashwar dream of marriage and good things in life. But things never work out the way you think. Amidst unrest in the valley, Aslam leaves the village and Ashwar is bound to marry another man.
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How their lives take different turns and how the people of Pathri Aali are in a constant state of misery, both by the Army and the mujahideen, “Snakes in the meadows is a saga of the onset of militancy and the resilience of pir panjal.
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The author has penned each word beautifully describing the allure of Jammu and Kashmir and the way story proceeds, the atrocities that the villagers are subjected to and how each characters life advances, makes the book unputdownable.
The various subplots and shift in narratives do make the plot a bit confusing and I felt some of the subplots could be avoided for the sake of making the narrative more cohesive.
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All in all, a riveting and engaging read, filled with a lot of emotions and heart-rending stories of the perseverance of the people of Pir Panjal.
Rating :⭐⭐⭐.5/5
Genre: fiction, indian-literature

“Oxygen Manifesto: A Battle for the Environment” by Atulya Misra

🌱 Oxygen Manifesto is a fictional interpretation of a world where the environmental problems that our Mother Earth is facing as of today, are solved by bringing out positive changes around the community by a jealous and honest IAS officer, Ravi, with the help of Thatha, a man determined to plant trees in any corner he can.
🌱 The book primarily focuses on establishing a new polity based on conservation of habitats, both for humans and animals and to have decentralised governance, one where each community is responsible for its own administration.
🌱 While the manifesto highlights the problems that our environment faces today, I found the solutions advocated lacked depth and it is very hard to see how the points of the manifesto are going to solve the very big problem of ‘environment degradation’. Somewhere the narration also lies flat and only comes off as a series of bullet points that attempt to touch the topic from the surface.
🌱 The idea that communities as a whole can restructure themselves, evolve and work towards making a better future, sounds promising but as is with any society the first point is having awareness and the will to change, and how often do we see that in people? Yes, it is a good attempt at bringing forth awareness for the multitude of issues that mar the land, the air, and the sea, but without the will to change does a manifesto help much?
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Anyhow, credits to the author for attempting to talk about a topic that demands utmost attention now, more than ever.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐/5
Genre: fiction, indian-Literature
Reading Difficulty: ⭐⭐/5

“Small Days and Nights” by Tishani Doshi

“We raise our heads to the sky as if the sea was a window and we were climbing out of it.”
– Tisha Doshani, Small Days and Nights.
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Having had a normal childhood, born to parents of Italian and Indian descent, Grace finds herself in a small coastal village of Paramankeni, running away from her failed marriage and having found her sister, Lucia who was born with Down’s syndrome and was kept a secret from her all these years.
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Escaping the restless and highly active social life in States, grace decides to move into her mother’s house, with Lucy, the village housekeeper Mallika and little dogs to surround the house.
A story that looks so simple on the surface, turns complicated as one unveils the layers of a life of a single woman living alone without any men in a village in India, by the sea.
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Grace’s days are filled with taking care of her sister, feeding the dogs, taking them to the beach and in the process trying to find her lost self, and make meaning of a life she has spent in Madras, Italy, the States, Kodaikanal and now Pondicherry.
But the nights are full of fear and anxiety, for the endless glares and attention a house being lived by a single woman attracts, of someone breaking in, of someone marring the beauty of the life they are trying to build here.
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The prose is absolutely lyrical full of metaphors and analogies, that warms the heart and can be cherished long after one is done reading.
The beautiful description of the sea and the sand, and the nights and the days, and you can almost feel yourself walking on the beach or strolling on the streets of Italy suckling on a gelato.
The writing reminded me of Subhangi Swarup’s portrayal of all the alluring landscapes.
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An absolutely marvellous account of a story of survival, or finding one’s lost self, making peace with the misgivings of a family, of mistrust and finding trust, unveiling secrets and accepting them.
But above all, it is a tale of the one’s self-discovery amongst all the chaos, loneliness, heartbreaks and confusion.
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A sad yet thought-provoking novel full of life and the various emotions of ecstasy it has to offer.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5/5
Genre: contemporary, fiction, indian-literature
Reading Difficulty: ⭐⭐⭐.5/5

“The Gollancz Book of South Asian Science Fiction” by Hachette India

“The Gollancz Book of South Asian Science Fiction” by Hachette India is a collection of contemporary sci-fi stories, focusing on themes such as dystopia, climate change, space travel, the arrival of aliens and man’s quest to find sustainable ways to live.
These are some tales from the masterful minds of some of the most inventive minds, and barring a few pieces here and there, all of the narratives were exhilarating and thrilling.
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The book being first of its kind of a selection of historical sci-fi and new age dystopia from the South Asian subcontinent to appear in the twenty-first century, did hold a lot of potentials and it was able to live up to the hype albeit by simple yet effective narratives that one can enjoy and be left with something to ponder on at the same time.
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Some of the anecdotes didn’t work for me, because of their long, tedious and unnecessary description, but the others more than made up for the experience, especially in the latter half of the book.
I absolutely loved the last one, a hypothetical future where a group of young scientists is trying to find a way to combat climate change by coming up with ideas such as sustainable colonies and to seek a way to communicate with the forest even though the web of life has reached a point of destruction.
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Read it with an open mind and overlook the minute nitty gritty and I am sure you are in for a culmination of laughter, wonder, amuse and intrigue.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Genre: sci-fi, south-asian-lit, short-stories, future
Reading Difficulty: ⭐⭐⭐/5

“The Essence of Delhi ” by Aleph Book Company

“The Essence of Delhi” encapsulates the spirit of the city Delhi, in all its complexities, tragedies, and charm.
12 stories that aim to capture the glories of the riches and the miseries of the poor, the history that is lost, and the potential that the future holds.
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From Malvika Singh’s introduction to the history of the city, Khushwant Singh’s description of the nitty gritty’s of life of a Delhite, William Dalrymple’s depiction of the metropolis as the city of Djinns, to Ruskin Bond’s portrayal of the life in Punjabi household headed by a matriarch, each story unfolds with such interlude, one cannot help but marvel at how simple things can be a cause of great joy.
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These authors need no introduction and even before picking up the book, I was sure I am in for a good time and I am glad the book didn’t disappoint me at any point.
One can take their time reading each story and allow it to be taken in in all its essence, a flavor of the city composed of a myriad of emotions, its grandeur, its distress and hardships, the culinary delights that the city offers and the spirit that the people exhibit even with all the chaos.
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A city that rises from its ruins and coexists with a glimpse of the past and a promise of the future.
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Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Genre: non-fiction, short-stories, indian-literature, indian-author

“Engineering a Life” by Krishan K. Bedi

“Engineering a life” by Krishna K. Bedi is a memoir that takes you through the protagonists journey of trying to build a life in the United States of America, having left his small village in Punjab at a very young age, landing in New York with only 300$ in his pocket but a will to study engineering in the land of opportunities.

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As we progress through the voyage that constitutes the struggles of a young Krishna trying to travel to America, a bewildered and confused man working odd jobs to make money all the while juggling studies to maintain good grades, we find an older Krishna torn between his promise of returning back to his homeland or staying in a country that made all his dreams come true.

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The book is written in a simple and easy to understand manner but the narration falls flat even though the premise of the book being so promising. I wish there was more depth to the anecdotes shared and at times they were told in a manner that fails to evoke any emotion while reading them.
Some of the situations that are portrayed as ‘adventures’ came off as callow and juvenile and I didn’t find them as inspiring as I expected.

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It is definitely a good attempt at describing ups and downs in one’s life but I found it hard to be inspired by.
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Rating: ⭐⭐⭐/5
Genre:#nonfiction, #memoir, #biography
Reading difficulty: ⭐⭐/5

“In a Violent Land ” by Aleph Book Company

“In a violent land” bring forth essays and stories, panning the length of our vast country of India, a collection of some of the best fiction and non-fiction stories that have been written on the violence that infiltrate all sections of the Indian society.
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As you go through each recital, you hear the cries of the Babri Masjid incident, the pangs of the Gujrat riots, experience first hand the brutality shown in the name of casteism, the atrocities meted out in the Naxalite bound regions of North East India, or the sadism exhibited in the garb of social status.
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In a country which inhabitants populace of such varied characteristics, divided by religion, caste, gender, language, class or geography, clashes are bound to happen and more so in a place where politics thrive on the differences between people.
Such are these tales that reminds you of the catastrophic past that has scarred the land for centuries now and acts as a constant reminder of the folly of not being tolerant of each other’s differences, even in this time and age.
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Stories featured comes from writers like
Khushwant Singh, Mahasweta Devi, Udayan Ghosh, Anna Bhau Sathe, Manoj Mitta, Harvinder Singh Phoolka, Salam Bin Razzaq, Suketu Mehta, Vijaydan Detha, Sonia Faleiro, Barkha Dutt, Shahnaz Bashir, and Sanjoy Hazarika.
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So one cannot doubt how beautifully woven each narrative is, in it’s all entirety.
Some stories are more impactful than others but there is no doubt that every single one of them is equally alluring.
Pick this one for a pretty hardcover coupled with powerful and compelling tales that blotch the history of our glorious nation.
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Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Genre: essay, short-stories, politics, IndianLiterature, cultural