Book Review - Karna - The Unsung Hero of the Mahabharata

There’s considerably less written about the the dark and brooding tragic hero of Mahabharata. Leadstart’s latest title, written by Umesh Kotru and Ashutosh Zutshi, focuses on Karna’s life after being abandoned by his biological mother Kunti.

The book starts on an interesting note, tracing Karna’s early life after being adopted by a charioteer and his wife. His early realization that he is different from other kids (Karna was born with natural gold armour and earrings) makes him aloof and a loner. He shows impeccable fighting skills as a kid which compels his adoptive father to take him to guru Dronacharya who trained Kaurava and Pandava princes. There he faces the ridicule and frustration of being a schedule cast, not fit to learn the skills reserved for the high borns. After a long spell of depression, Karna starts learning on his own and soon becomes a fighter of high caliber.

Karna’s fortune turns around after meeting Duryodhan, the eldest Kaurava prince and they form a strong bond of friendship. While Karna is made the king of Anga Desh, he still doesn't get the respect he deserves. Being mocked by Pandavas and rejected by Draupadi, he swears to be on Duryodhan’s side and fight for him.

Karna is the most complex character of Mahabharata. He has high values but sides with Duryodhana who is on the wrong side of the dharma. He understands what’s wrong and right but is bound by duty and honour. Even after finding the truth about his lineage, he doesn't leave Duryodhana to join his real brothers. This complexity makes the book worth reading. 

While the story pans out nicely in the beginning, it shifts it's focus from Karna somewhere in the middle. The problem here is writing which lacks a certain flow. Scenes are repeated and the language isn’t casual or conversational, making it a heavy and at times tedious read. I would've loved to read more about his life as a king, husband, and father. I've also read folklores about the relationship between Karna and Draupadi, that they secretly and silently loved each other. The scenario would've added an interesting angle to the book.

Karna - The Unsung Hero of the Mahabharata is a decent read but not highly recommended.

Book Review - Cannery Row

The best part of taking part in a #TCBCChallenge (you can know more about it here) is that you don't know which book they'll throw at you. This most of the time results in you finding out about a new book, author or genre. The March challenge for me was Cannery Row by John Steinbeck, deemed as a modern classic by Penguin. This is my first Steinbeck and now I am interested in reading more of his books. 

The novel is set during the great depression in Monterey, California. It revolves around the lives of people living in Cannery Row, a street lined with sardine canneries. There's a bunch of eccentric characters in the book. Lee Chong - the shrewd grocery shop owner, Doc - a marine biologist who is afraid of getting his head wet, Dora with her flaming orange hair who owns the Bear Flag restaurant and runs a whorehouse. Mack, who is a leader and mentor of the homeless, family-less, and jobless men in Cannery Row who live in Palace Flophouse.

They're standing low on the financial ladder but they survive. There's hopelessness all around but like life that too passes. There're no ambitions but life's still good for Mack and his group. They're not the most honest of chaps and do cause a little trouble here and there, but they almost always mean well. Like Doc says, “Look at them. There are your true philosophers. I think that Mack and the boys know everything that has ever happened in the world and possibly everything that will happen. I think they survive in this particular world better than other people. In a time when people tear themselves to pieces with ambition and nervousness and covetousness, they are relaxed. All of our so-called successful men are sick men, with bad stomachs, and bad souls, but Mack and the boys are healthy and curiously clean. They can do what they want. They can satisfy their appetites without calling them something else.”

And then there's Doc, who is generous, kind, and smartest man in Cannery Row. There's a certain wisdom in what he says and does. Whoever knows him is indebted to him and wants to do something nice for him. That's something which brings the whole town together. Steinbeck has summed up his character in these words, “It has always seemed strange to me...The things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling, are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest, are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first they love the produce of the second.” 

Their life makes you smile, laugh and get upset over a bunch of lost frogs. It'll make you call a few friends over and throw a party, not party for a reason but part because you want to. 

Book Review - HiFi in Bollywood

In one of my previous reviews I had said that the only thing better than watching films is reading about them, getting the inside stories and finding about what went into the making of that spectacular piece of art. While there are many such books, there are very few fictions using Bollywood as their backdrop. HiFi in Bollywood is one of those few.

Rayhan, a 20 something from Mumbai dreams of directing films but succumbs to his dad's will and ends up studying finance in the USA. Desperate to get out of an arranged marriage and pursuit his ambition, he comes back to Mumbai. But Rayhan Arora is not an angry youth who'd go the indie way, his dreams involve blockbusters, superstars and song sequences. A quick phone call and few lies lands him the job of an assistant to a superstar director.  He encounters a strew of characters in this journey - his pld maid's love struck daughter, a local goon, homosexual director and an ego-ridden filmstar. After a few filmy twists and turns Rayhan manages to prove the eternal Hindi film dialogue true, 'sab theek ho jayega'. 

HiFi in Bollywood is Rishi Vohra's second book - he has also written Once Upon The Tracks Of Mumbai - and has more realistic end. The writing while not mature, has a natural flow. He knows Bandra well and weaves the little quirks of the suburb in his story.

The book is a light read but does come with its flaws, The biggest one is that as a reader I couldn't make and emotional connect with the characters. The book only scratches the surface of the Hindi Film Industry, referred to as HiFi by the insiders. The idea of Bollywood here is based on a few cliches and stereotypes which disappoints a bit.

Book: HiFi In Bollywood

Author: Rishi Vohra

Publisher: Jaico

Price: Rs 299

Pages: 247

Book Review - Korma, Kheer and Kismet by Pamela Timms

Food has been a favourite topic for writers and bloggers lately. There are reasons for it; it’s easy to connect with food, everyone has a food memory to share and it’s something that people can never get enough of. Food writing is now not limited to just blogs, there are regular newspaper columns and books with people writing about their favourite food memory, their cooking preferences, their kitchen essentials etc. etc. More and more bloggers/food journalists are publishing their books. The question is, is the content good enough to deserve it’s own book? My opinion would be no, not in all cases. Especially not when there are random memories which do not add anything to my reading experience.

Thankfully, Pamela Timms’ Korma, Kheer and Kismet doesn’t fall in that category. Pamela, a food blogger writes a column in Mint Lounge and the book is about her street food experiences in Old Delhi. It starts with a ghee laden, spicy mutton korma at Ashok and Ashok - the description of the food leaves you hungry and ends with the mysterious daulat ki chat - I faintly remember eating its Lucknowi version makkhan malai as a kid. The book is studded with recipes which is a bonus.

Every street food shop, dish comes with a back story or a memory which is fascinating. The best two chapters are the ones about mutton korma and daulat ki chat because of all the mystery surrounding these two legendary dishes of Delhi. The chapters with food and its history make for a more interesting read. Rest of it sounds like a day in the life of a regular small town Indian. Whether it’s celebrating Diwali in a joint family or buying vegetables from a market instead of a mall. A younger, mall loving urban generation will definitely find these stories exotic.

Old Delhi has always made for a charming premise for a book, be it food or history. Authors have always loved describing the old city’s dusty roads, crowd and chaos. So does Pamela when she visits the street side shops to try her favourite food. But she bumps into a cart, avoids kids running after a kite, almost steps into a puddle a little too much making it a tedious read at times. And one element that’s missing is humour. While there are glimpses of it she never goes all out to make you chuckle. I understand that it’s not the genre she is looking for but we can all do with good food and good laugh.

Ignore the few repetitions and Korma, Kheer And Kismet is a good, light read. Especially for the food lovers.

#ReadABook - The Dalai Lama's Cat by David Michie

Around two years ago I signed up for a book review program with a well known website. As a part of this program I would sign up to review books every time they had a new one out, receive it in the next couple of days if selected, read the book and post a 500 word review within 7 days. While it sounded exciting to get new books in exchange for just a blog post (and I reviewed quite a few books), I found my interest dwindling. I am not a speed reader. I take my own sweet time between travel to and from work to finish a book. So, I stopped. The main reason was spending time and energy reading below average books while I have a whole wishlist of brilliant books to read. 

So I decided to continue writing about books, but the ones that I love and would recommend to fellow readers. The first book of the series is The Dalai Lama's Cat written by David Michie.

Book Review - Marry Go Round

Marriages in India are no less than a circus, the bride and groom being the clown of this circus. Sadiqa Peerbhoy's Marry Go Round revolves around this circus. The story is set in Hyderabad where Sartaj, a desperate, orthodox Muslim mother wants to get her son Riyaz (who is working in America) hitched to a nice Indian girl. The son on the other hand is in a live-in relationship with an American girl and at the same time, thanks to his dark skin, enjoys the attention of all the white girls. 

The melodramatic Sartaj fakes a heart attack and calls Riyaz to India to blackmail him into getting married to a girl of her choice. Riyaz comes home and gets caught in the web of looking at girls. While he is juggling from one tea party to another his girlfriend follows him to India making his life messier.

There are some very good cultural references in the writing and the author has described the Nawabi way of living in a funny manner. There are nosy and selfish relatives who get on your nerves but apart from a couple of stereotypes the book is not entirely funny. 

As a reader I couldn't connect to any character especially when they entered and exited the story abruptly. Riyaz's dwindling mind doesn't make him a favourite. Sartaj who is hellbent on getting a daughter-in-law of her choice and is extremely orthodox, suddenly melts which is unbelievable if you know Indian mothers well. The only thing that's constant is Riyaz's father's nonchalance. After a lot of hiding, running around, melodrama and chest beatings the end is a bit surprising and I must add, little immature.

Marry Go Round is a decent light read but if you are looking for a laugh riot I woudn't recommend it.
Book: Marry Go Round
Author: Sadiqa Peerbhoy
Publisher: Leadstart Corp.
Price: Rs 145
Pages: 223

Book Review - Arjuna

Of all the epics that India's rich literary heritage boasts of, Mahabharata is one book which has fascinated filmmakers and authors time and again. There have been innumerable interpretations of this war saga. B R Chopra's Mahabharata,  Shyam Benegal's Kalyug, Nitish Bharadwaj's Gita Rahasya, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar's Rashmirathi, Ajay Singh Supahiya's animation short Arjun have been some of the fine examples. There have been some forgettable ones too like Ekta Kapoor's Kahaani Hamaaray Mahaabhaarat Ki, Prakash Jha's Rajneeti and the recent TV series being telecast on Star TV.

Anuja Rajamouli's Arjuna borderlines on being forgettable. Her story focuses on Arjuna, the third Pandav brother and master archer, his journey, achievements as well as failures. The book borrows heavily from the original Mahagrantha (as it should) and folklores.

Despite being focused on Arjuna's story the book doesn't devote more than two pages to the most significant part of his life which is Geeta Upadesh. Before the war of Mahabharata when Arjuna's courage dwindled seeing his family on the opposite side, Krishna gave him the lesson of life and dharma showing Arjuna his omnipresent form. The author chooses to ignore writing about the effect of that incident on Arjuna's life and character.

Since the story of Mahabharata is so complex it requires a fluidity but Anuja jumps from one incident to another which makes it a difficult read. The language too is a bit heavy which gives it a feel of a translated version rather than a story being told from a different perspective. there are some major proofreading mishaps which I will not delve into. 

However, despite its flaws the book has some very interesting tales to weave the story together. Do not pick Arjuna expecting it to be a different take on Mahabharata, it is a translation of the book and that too a pretty average one.

Book: Arjuna
Author: Anuja Rajamouli
Publisher: Leadstart Corp.
Price: Rs 250
Pages: 368

Book Review - When God Was A Rabbit

 

Two weeks ago I went for a book sale where books were being sold by kilo. These were mostly second hand books. Since all the fiction books were stacked randomly I had to go through each book to pick what I wanted. While going through the books I chanced upon some very interesting titles which I had not heard of. One of them was When God Was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman. I read the little summary on the back of the cover and picked it up with other 20 books.

First published in 2011, When God Was a Rabbit is narrated by Eleanor Maud (Elly) who grows up in Essex with her brother Joe and parents who are constantly planning to move out of the village. Eventually the family moves to Cornwall. As Elly grows up in her new home new characters are introduced in the story, all of them bring their own quirks. The story begins in England in 1960-70s and moves on to the post 9/11 New York.

When God Was a Rabbit has all the elements that make childhood. Forever lasting friendships, imaginations, secrets and confusions. At times the events are heartbreaking and at times they give hope to the story in the most beautiful way. Elly's defiance makes her a loner, she asks questions hence is looked upon strangely by her peers. But she finds an eternal friend in strange but intriguing Jenny Penny who lives with her mother and dreams of a hidden world. Even before they set out to find the world of their dreams Elly has to move away with her family. Uprooted and angry slowly Elly and Joe find their way around the new home and new life. Years later Elly reconnects with Jenny Penny under circumstances she could never have imagined.

Despite the elements like sexual abuse, homosexuality and even 9/11 the narration never turns melodramatic. Sarah Winman keeps the humour in her writing intact. Her characters react to situations in a way that make them seem more real. Winman picks up a lot of Historical references and blends them in her story like John Lennon's murder or the attack on The World Trade Centre. She also paints a fine picture of that era through her descriptions.

When God Was a Rabbit is not an innocent tale of childhood, it's mature and has shades of grim but the story still stays believable.

Book: When God Was a Rabbit
Author: Sarah Winman
Publisher: Headline Publishing Group
Price: Paperback - $10.99, Kindle - $2.82 on Amazon
Pages: 325

Book Review - The Oath Of The Vayuputras (Shiva Trilogy)

Shiva remembered Lord Manu's words. 'Good and Evil are two sides of the same coin.' 

The Neelkanth's eyes widened. The key question isn't 'What is Evil?' 

The key question is: 'When does Good become Evil? When does the coin flip?'

The third and final edition of Amish's Shiva Trilogy, The Oath Of The Vayuputras is out and while few of us think that he has gone overboard with all the promotions, the book is selling like a hot property. Does the author and his most ambitious work worthy of all adulation? Well, I am about to tell you just that. Those who haven't read a single book of the trilogy please stop reading cause there are few spoilers.

Two years ago when I finished The Immortals of Meluha and The Secret Of The Nagas back to back I didn't know that I will be waiting for the third one so impatiently. The concept was simple, Shiva as a real human being in the real world. A tribal who is an exceptional fighter, loves to dance, sing and smokes chillam with his friend. He abuses too.

Fate takes Shiva to Meluha, a perfect city in search of its Neelkanth. The Meluhans live for hundreds and hundreds of years thanks to the world's greatest invention, the Somras. Somras' existence is under constant threat by Chandravanshis and Nagas who have planned attacks on Mount Mandar, the place where Somras is created. To rescue them from the vile chandravanshis and terrorist Nagas, the Meluhans turn to their Neelkanth, their Shiva. But does something that brings the greatest good can be the cause of the biggest evil too? Good and evil are two sides of the same coin and while there's good there's evil too. But it is only a matter of time when the coin completely flips and evil takes over the good. That is when the good needs to be destroyed, that is when Shiva - the destroyer, the Neelkanth steps in. The trilogy is Shiva's journey from being a tribal leader to the Mahadev, the Superhuman.


What is beautiful about Amish's writing is that he has woven a Mythological tale into a believable story. He introduces Nagas as monsters who can fight like Ninjas and are the enemies of humanity. But in reality they are just normal humans born with deformities; a pair of extra hands and nose like elephant. The Nagas are the babies born to the Meluhans who were abandoned because of their deformed bodies. But are they really evil? There's more than meets the eyes. Is Shiva being fooled by the Meluhans? Or are the Chandravanshis and Nagas taking him for a ride? Or is it just the powerful people who are letting the evil rise for their own good? I can't answer all these questions for you cause these very curiosities make the story work. All I can say is that the research that has been put in to write this trilogy is worth all the applause.


Book: The Oath Of The Vayuputras
Author: Amish
Publisher: Westland Ltd.
Price: Rs 350
Pages: 565

Book Review: Once upon the tracks of Mumbai

There are films inspired by or based on a book and then there are books which take a lot of their masala from Bollywood. Once Upon The Tracks of Mumbai by Rishi Vohra takes a lot of inspiration from masala Hindi movies. An autistic hero like SRK's Rizwan Khan in My Name is Khan who has enormous body strength like Salman Khan in any of his movie, turns into a superhero like Hritik Roshan's Krrish.

The book is a first person narration by Babloo who in his own words is autistic and suffers from split personality disorder. Technically speaking he suffers from Asperger Syndrome "that is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction, alongside restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests". Babloo, elder of the two brothers is neglected by his family and while he dreams of achieving something big his parents are busy finding him a job as an office boy. The only thing that keeps Babloo sane is thinking about Vandana, a head strong independent girl who stays in the same colony. 

Babloo is fascinated by Vandana's simplicity and beauty and secretly loves her while Vandana is busy dreaming of her own independent life in the USA. Trouble brews when Vandana is engaged to Babloo's self centered chauvinistic younger brother Raghu. In order to break free from the burden of losing her independence Vandana gets involved with Sikander, the local cable guy whose sole aim is to sleep with as many women as he can. 

Oblivious from all the going-ons around him, Babloo is busy finding his purpose in life when he suddenly finds himself in the spotlight. In an attempt to save a woman from goons Babloo is made into a super hero 'Railman'...because the woman was saved near the railway tracks. He walks on Mumbai's railway tracks dressed as a superhero in the night and moonlights as a peon in his father's office in the morning. While media and the people support the Railman police hates him and wants him behind bars. Babloo's tryst as the superhero ends soon and he gets caught by the police. The court trial leads him to the mental asylum where he finally finds some people who he can relate to. From here, the story took an unrealistic turn for me. Babloo's parents' sudden change of heart, Vandana's realization that she loves Babloo, Babloo finding a job and settling down with Vandana...all happens in the last 4-5 pages of the book.

Happily ever afters are good but only when they happen under realistic circumstances. However, despite not agreeing with the end I like the fact that Rishi Vohra has command over the language and has used the most important element of Mumbai, it's railway tracks, to weave the story. Once Upon The Tracks Of Mumbai is a decent read if not a must read.

Book: Once Upon The Tracks Of Mumbai
Author: Rishi Vohra
Publisher: Jaico Books
Price: Rs 175
Pages: 266

Jaane Bhi (mat) Do Yaaro

A month and a half before the 1983s cult classic was re-released by PVR, I laid my hands over Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, the book written by Jai Arjun Singh. And, as I've said before the only thing as interesting as watching movies is to read about them. So, I bought the book to read about what went behind making this classic and I found out that Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro is a labour of love, passion and a lot of madness.

As I was reading the book the re-release was announced and it only made sense that I watch it, again but this time on a bigger screen. And I am writing this post just after watching the film, the madness, the satire and the message which is still as relevant as it was back then. This post is not a review. It's about my experiences with the film clubbed with a little trivia from Jai Arjun Singh's book. I would like to thank him for writing it and taking me closer to the film I've loved and lived.

I don't exactly remember how old I was when I first watched Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, around 10-11 maybe. Not too old to understand the darkness of it but old enough to understand that there was something more behind that laughter and insanity. Growing up watching my dad's plays (he is a theatre actor and director in Gorakhpur) helped in a way to develop that kind of understanding. I remember when I watched the last scene I asked my dad if Sudhir and Vinod died. His explanation was that it's just metaphorical, to explain in one scene that "phansta common man he hai." I wasn't too convinced and was taken aback by the sinister hand movement of slitting throat. It was a direct, in your face statement telling us that this is the reality. The laughter and comedy is just a mask. Dad wanted an ending inspired by this for a play he was directing called  'Wey Hi'. As I remember the play, he managed to do that pretty well.

Then came a time when the film was watched multiple times and some of the dialogues became a part of our conversations. We still say "shant gadadhari Bheem shant" when someone is worked up or "CIA, humko bahar tak chod aiye" when we are seeing each other off. "Adharmi, paapi, bhrashtachari, durachari, bol sorry!" is our favourite line to abuse. According to Satish Kaushik who wrote the dialogues, the most loved Mahabharat scene was the easiest to write. A trip to a road-side comic vendor was all it took for them to figure out a befitting scene to conclude the madness.

Surprisingly, Kundan Shah didn't imagine the final product the way we see it now. A lot of scenes that were close to his heart were mercilessly chopped off. Reason was that it needed to be shorter than 2 hours 25 minutes to reduce the taxation. A little known fact that Anupam Kher too was a part of the film took me by surprise when I read the book. He played a mad Disco Killer and was envied by everyone for bagging the craziest role. But the whole footage was chopped off to shorten the length of the film. Sadly, there's no record of Anupam Kher's first ever film since the footage was lost. Imagine if we had that character in the movie it could've beaten Crime Master Gogo in creating that genre of villains. There are more such scenes which were edited out much to Kundan Shah and Ranjit Kapoor's (co writer) grief.

A couple of scenes were inspired from Kundan Shah's real life experiences one of them was the whole satire built around 'gutter'. In today's time of Aquaguard and Kent Water Purifier we might not understand the irony behind the dialogue, "America mein gutter ka pani alag aur peene ka pani alag" but it was and still is the reality for many people who still get drinking water as bad as the water in their sewers.

Kundan Shah is honest in accepting that Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro could've been much better but with the limitations they had it's hard to do even now what he and his team did back then. Their were a lot of patchworks to hide the continuity disasters and shooting mishaps. And still we know that a better movie in this genre has not been made again.

The madness is only enhanced by the brilliant actors who despite thinking that whatever was happening was insane kept playing along. While shooting 'Albert Pinto' scene Naseeruddin Shah thought that two people standing in the same room and talking over phone with each other was plain stupid but he still enacted the scene with full conviction. Every actor added his/her two bits in the character and made it his own. Om Puri's exaggerated Punjabi accent, dead DeMello's changing expressions according to what's happening in the scene, Pankaj Kapoor's dead pan and sinister Tarneja and to top it all Naseeruddin Shah and Ravi Vaswani's innocence and buffoonery was par excellence.

A film like Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro can not be made again and that is why we go and watch it in theatres 30 years after it was first released; cheering, clapping and mouthing the dialogues along the scenes, "aisi sati ki jai ho...jai ho!"

The Bankster - Book Review

It's very complex to write a novel with one main plot woven with many sub plots. Because of this very complexity there are chances of the writer going completely wrong. Despite a strong main story the novel can crumble if the sub plots are not in sync with the main one. Somehow, this is the case with Ravi Subramanian's The Bankster which looks good in the beginning but gets too confusing trying to include or rather comment on too many issues.

Greater Boston Global Bank is a well known bank with high level of trust and ambitious employees. But the bank's reputation is threatened  when a series of murders happen. A couple of employees are killed to hide a secret that could threaten the whole world. Karan Panjabi, a banker turned journalist steps in to investigate these murders and finds out that the scam is bigger than they thought.

The story begins with the trading of blood diamond in Angola and soon drifts away to banking in Mumbai. Nothing much happens even after 1/3rd of the book is over and the author tends to get too descriptive about things as small as functioning of an iPad. These unnecessary descriptions slow the pace of the story. Jumping in and out of the main plot also causes distraction and stops the flow. Too many characters and not even a single well defined one is another reason why the book fails to impress. In an attempt to tell too many stories the writer forgets that connecting the readers to characters is also an aspect of writing. A couple of key characters remain neglected and you cringe when they turn out to be really important in the end.

There is an effort to squeeze in issues like illegal trading of blood diamond, corruption in banking, money laundering, nuclear power and arms dealing. Out of all the author does maximum justice to banking since it's his home turf.

The end is treated like those investigative TV series where the whole case is solved sitting in a room and talking on the phone. As far as the suspense is concerned it's there and have been protected well and you really want to know what happens in the end only if too many stories don't hinder the flow.

The Bankster is a mish-mash of many issues. I think it's too early to call Ravi Subramanian 'John Grisham of banking'.

Book: The Bankster

Author: Ravi Subramanian

Publisher: Rupa

Price: Rs 250

Pages: 358

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

JFK - Book Review

According to me the biggest challenge for an investigative novelist is to keep the readers' curiosity going while sticking to the plot. 

Jhangir Kerawala's JFK starts on an interesting note with back to back murders happening on the streets of Kolkata. Two people are shot dead with the same gun but are completely unrelated to each other; Ram Prasad Yadav, an old man from UP and Manish, an honest man with a loving family and a fulfilling job. Manish's best friend Jatin gets involved in the investigation to find out the truth behind these murders. What he comes across is shocking and inhuman.

While the story in interesting it's the writing that goes haywire and loses its grip. Their are one too many twists like a Bollywood film or you can say a typical Abbas-Mastan genre. The writer tries to put in too many shocks but fails a couple of times. He begins a subplot and ends it abruptly without taking it to its proper conclusion.

The good part is the honesty of the story and the characterization. Neither there's any glitter or gloss thrown in to create a make-belief world nor the writer tries to play on the rural and poor India too much. The problem is that he tries to comment on a lot of issues and ends up making JFK a mish-mash of Hindi movies+western crime thrillers. Given that JFK is Jhangir Kerawala's debut book I hope that the next one will be better than this.

Book: JFK
Author: Jhangir Kerawala
Publisher: Westland BooksPrice: Pages: 225

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

Love, Peace & Happiness: Book Review

Before starting this review I want to thank Blogadda for inspiring me to start writing book reviews. I was sold on the idea of getting free books to read and review them on my blog. Initially it was a bit of a challenge to finish the book in 7 days (one has to finish the book and post the review within 7 days) but after the first two I got used to it. Within a span of 7 months I have reviewed 4 books for Blogadda and will continue doing so.

Coming back to the review, I received a comment on my latest review of The Krishna Key. It was posted by the Author of Love, Peace & Happiness, Rituraj Verma who liked my blog and wanted me to review his creation. Quite flattered I was more than happy to do it.

Love, Peace & Happiness: What more can you want? is a compilation of 9 short stories by Rituraj Verma. The special touch to these stories comes in the form of alternate endings on the web. Every story has two or more endings on the website. While it could be tedious to go on the web every time you finish the story it is a great idea nevertheless. And, if you don't agree with those endings either post your own and they'll feature in the next print. Great way of keeping the readers engaged, isn't it?

The stories mostly revolve around the young/middle aged urbanites, their lives, struggles, dilemmas and relationships. The same characters keep moving in and out of all the stories. Writing keeps you engaged but at times is slow and drags a bit.

My personal favourites are

A high, like heaven; Story of Ashish and Sneha who are on a vacation to celebrate their first wedding anniversary. While Sneha is upset with Ashish's indifference, he is not sure if he loves Sneha and if marriage is such a good idea.

The soul mate theorist; Story of a middle aged divorcee who could not decide whether to commit to a prostitute or not.

The pursuit of perfection; A married man obsessed with the flawless beauty of an actress which drives him crazy and on the verge of killing.

These stories have a slight darker edge to them and I liked the bright as well as dark endings. If not the best among what is available, Love, Peace & Happiness is a good coffee table book and is worth a try for its novel idea.

Book: Love, Peace & Happiness: What more can you want?
Author: Rituraj Verma
Publisher: Jufic Books
Price: Rs 145
Pages: 223

The Krishna Key: Book Review

The challenge of reviewing a thriller book is to not give out the plot and still let readers know that you enjoyed it to the core. The Krishna Key is one of those books that put you through that challenge which I bravely accept.

Last month I picked up Ashwin Sanghi's Chanakya's Chants and was quite impressed by his writing style. I was keen on reading more from this author when Blogadda came out with his new book to review.

The Krishna Key starts as a thriller and murder mystery and progresses towards a more philosophical end. A young guy who grows up to believe that he is Vishnu's 10th Avatar aka Kalki Avatar commits murders in order to find Krishna's hidden secret. Does that secret exist? Does the Krishna key lead to a hidden treasure? A treasure that has the power to create or to destroy? The answers are there in the book; drawing a thin line between truth and fiction, History and mythology.

Sanghi also delves into a lot of philosophies that question what God is? Is he a super power or an energy that just changes form? The same questions trouble Archaeologist Varshney and his Historian friend Saini who along with his student Priya goes on a quest to find answers. To get to the secret he has to beat the cruel murderer Tarak Vakil and escape the sharp cop Radhika Singh.

At times the book might get a little overwhelming with the mentions of Vedas, Upnishads, shlokas and ancient mathematics. This leads to re-reading the same para a couple of times. But at the same time its fascinating to know the amount of research that has been put into the writing of this book.

The plot is multi-layered and the pace takes its natural course as you keep reading it. The Krishna Key is definitely worthy of your shelf space and is a good answer to Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code.

Book: The Krishna Key
Author: Ashwin Sanghi
Publisher: Westland
Price: Rs 250
Pages: 464

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

Kitnay Aadmi Thay: Book Review

The only thing as good as watching films is reading about them.

I let loose the movie buff in me when I registered to review Kitnay Aadmi Thay on Blogadda. The 'completely useless Bollywood trivia' as the tagline says, is written by Diptakirti Chaudhury who is a salesman when he is not watching, talking or writing about films.

The book starts with a chapter focused on the opening credits right from the 70s and 80s era to the current trends. Only a keen viewing and deep research can result into a wonderful chapter like this. Rest of the book unfolds like a movie plot with chapters like '10 movies to have not been made', '11 Legendary confrontations' etc. Apart from being a list the chapters also contain some known and unknown trivia. You tend to smirk when there's a mention of your favourite film/scene in a list. I couldn't stop either when the 'football with sharbat-e-jannat glasses' scene from Andaz Apna Apna appeared in 'Beyond the boundary - 10 sports'.

There are some lists surprise you at the very end. The 'Baap of all lists' talks about all the filmy fathers and gives a one line mention to the baap of them all in the end, 'rishtey mein to hum tumhare baap hote hain...'. Even a non Amitabh Bachchan fan can feel the aura of the man and the power he has over the film-goers. Or Comissioner De Mello popping up in 'Christian Brothers'.

The 'Killer Kaun' quiz excites you and you curse yourself for not getting the answers right.

The humour stays intact and sometimes will have you in splits. Of course I do not agree with all the lists and would like to have my own additions but then the author agrees that "the book is incomplete... I can assure you its more fun this way". I had fun picking out some errors though like Sanjana and Kareena Kapoor are not cousins but aunt and neice (can give myself a little pat on the back).

But like a true blue Hindi picture 'all's well that ends well' and the book ends on a fantastic note (you have to read it to know what I am talking about).

The End I Samaapt I Khatm

Book: Kitnay Aadmi Thay
Author: Diptakirti Choudhury
Publisher: Westland
Price: Rs 275
Pages: 301

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

The Devotion of Suspect X: Book Review

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I am not a fan of crime thrillers and since I've read Dan Brown's novels I've become wary of picking one randomly. So when Blogadda announced their this week's book for review, it took me a while before signing up for it. 

The Devotion of Suspect X is a crime mystery written by the award winning author Keigo Higashino who is also the President of Mystery Writers of Japan. 

The crisp whodunit plot is like a game of Chess where two masterminds; a mathematician extraordinaire and a physicist cum unofficial detective play their moves and constantly keep outdoing each other. The writer gives clues throughout the story but its only in the end that the reader is able to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

Yasuko lives a modest life with her daughter Misato in a Tokyo suburb and works in a lunch shop. She has completely let go off her past life as a nightclub hostess in order to escape her blackmailing ex husband Togashi. But her comfortable life is shattered when Togashi turns up in her apartment and ends up dead. Yasuko's neighbour Ishigami who is a mathematical genius comes to her rescue and out of his admiration for her helps her in covering up the crime. He uses is logical brain to mislead the police and asks the mother daughter to keep following his instructions.

He creates a perfect trap to deceive detective Kusanagi who is investigating the case. The hiccup in Ishigami's plan comes in the form of an old classmate and brilliant physicist Yukawa who also is a friend of the detective. Yukawa starts his personal investigation trying to solve the problem that Ishigami's mathematician mind has created.

Why does Ishigami who is devoid of all the emotions has such a devotion towards Yasuko that he goes to the extent of risking his own life? Why does he create a scenario where all the paths lead to Yasuko suspecting her of the murder? And above all, what is more difficult; to create an unsolvable problem or to solve it? The story got me asking many such questions and the answers to all of them lie in the last few pages.

The Devotion of Suspect X is a great one sitting read and did keep me interested till I flipped the last page.

Book : The Devotion Of Suspect X
Author: Keigo Higashino 
Publisher: Hachette India
Price: 350/-

Pages: 374

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Urban Shots: Book Review

They say that don't judge a book by its cover but you might hesitate to pick Urban Shots going by the cover. A pretty girl in red with sleepy eyes posing for the cover definitely repels me. The book landed in my hands courtesy blogadda.com when I registered for their book review program (well, who doesn't like free books?). I am generally a slow reader but the challenge was to finish the book and review it within 7 days. So my journeys from home to work and vice versa were dedicated to Urban Shots: a collection of 31 love stories by 27 authors.

Written by amateur writers and bloggers the book gives a feeling of reading a blog. All the stories talk about love and its meaning in the urban life. The stories thankfully are not tear soaked tales (except few) of boy meets girl. They are more mature here and don't always have a happy ending.

The first two stories 'Written In the Stars' by R. Chandrasekhar and 'Rishta' by Ahmed Faiyaz didn't give me any hint of love in the urban life. Rather, they focused more on the small town sensibilities.

I am not a fan of regular love stories per say so Kailash Srinivasan's a little off beat 'High Time' humored me especially because of its South Indian stereotypes. It is about a Tamil mother looking for a suitable match for her son, her bickerings, excitement of seeing the girl and inhibitions after finding out that the girl is no miss goody two shoes. '32 B' by Varsha Suman had an undertone of lust and was an entertaining read.

'Pause,Rewind,Play' by Shoma Narayanan and 'Twisted' by Lipi Mehta focus on Gay love, both in a way question the acceptance of homosexuality in India.

'Beyond reasonable Doubts' written by Sneh Thakur (who is also the editor of this book) is a mature take on extra marital affair and a couple drifting apart. Most urban couple who lead a busy life can relate to the story. The last one from the collection 'Sleepless By Night' is about a man dealing with his girlfriend's death. written by Mona Ramavat, this story is a good pick to sum up the book.

Rest of the stories didn't excite me much. The flimsy editing in few of them does disrupt your flow. If not  a great read it is a decent coffee table book and you can pick it up if you are sucker for love and wouldn't mind an occasional light reading.

Book : Urban Shots – The Love Collection
Editor : Sneh Thakur
Publisher: Grey Oak/ Westland
Price: 199/-
Pages: 226

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

Bombay Duck is a Fish: Book Review

My recent liking for Indian authors took me to the 'Indian Fiction' section in Crossword. I picked up the book 'Bombay Duck is a Fish' by Kanika Dhillon hoping to read some crazy stories about the city I've lived in and experienced since past 7 years.

To wrap up the plot in few words, its the story of an aspiring filmmaker Neki Brar who comes to Mumbai; "the city of dreams" and lands a job as an assistant to a famous choreographer turned director (no prizes for guessing who she is). Despite of finding the right kick to start her career she keeps running into troubles. The book is about all that Bollywood is infamous for; bloated egos, sleaze, wicked co-workers etc. And a not-so-subtle mention of Shahrukh Khan whom she (the thin line between the author and the character is smudged here) obviously idolizes.

When we first meet our heroine Neki she is sitting on her terrace, wine bottle in hand. While contemplating suicide she flicks the pages of her diary where she has documented all the accidents of her life. As we continue we find out that our aspirant director left a lucrative job to follow her dreams but the problem here is that I didn't understand her motivation. She looks star struck from the very first day and is already kissing (or rather being kissed by) the hot supporting actor Ranbeer Khanna within the first week of her job.

As per her diary she is hated by her co-workers because of the yellow shoes that she wore on the day of her interview. Now, I know that film industry is full of shallow people but I have yet to meet people who'll judge you from your shoes, that too good shoes.

She has moved to Mumbai for the love of it but makes a fuss when a colleague (who also has a crush on her) takes her on a tour. Her life in Mumbai revolves between the studio, Ranbeer Khanna's van and Ranbeer Khanna's house, resulting in pregnancy and attempted suicide. In short, Neki looks shallow to me and never for a single moment gains my sympathy.

The film industry that Kanika has created in the book is a tale that parents tell their children to scare them off from the unimaginable path. If you are an aspirant filmmaker, film writer or actor don't let your folks lay hand on this one. However, in this hell hole where everyone is ready to bite the only people with a heart of gold are either the extras or Shahrukh Khan and the super successful director.

'Bombay Duck is a Fish' indeed but a sukkha bombil with not enough meat.

Book: Bombay Duck Is A Fish
Author: Kanika Dhillon
Publisher: Westland
Price: 195/-
Pages: 317