Bahir

Bahir is a convoluted tale narrating the ordeal of Sawera. Sawera born in a conservative Muslim family in Pakistan and is adopted and separated from her mother by birth. The child was named Sawera as she was considered as dawn for her new family and her father moved to Saudi Arabia for better future prospect and later rest of the family joined him in his quest for prosperous future. This book is brutal and honest effort to narrate Sawera’s struggle for survival. Monisha K’s storytelling is crisp and she moves you with her poignant and persuasive retelling of plight of a migrant family. Sawera is let down by almost every people around her and always find herself in middle of a crisis. 1^st being neglected and physically abused by her mother as escape to her frustration and anger. Sawera has been brought up in an orthodox Muslim family and had to abide by tough rules and regulation. Sawera has grown up to a beautiful 17 year with sexual desires. She has always regretted her life choices 1^st being expelled from a prestigious school because of a love letter and later caught red-handed trying to sneak a male accomplice in her room. Her life takes a complete turnaround when she is married to a distant cousin in Pakistan who is heart broken and suicidal. He exploits her for his sexual needs and results in a marriage with no emotion and feelings. Sawera is left gasping for some air and belongingness and gives birth to 3 children while suffering physical and sexual abuse. She moves to Saudi to take care of her ailing mother while being pregnant and a bleeding heart. Bahir is an earnest effort by Monisha to bring the plight of a migrant lady who is sexually exploited multiple times, who is physically and mentally tormented for mere survival and existence.  It also let us mull on the difficulties and challenges a honest migrant faces just to survive with some dignity. Though Sawera’s never ending struggle and hardship makes the story emotionally exhausting yet Sawera’s positivity and hope will guide you through the story. An unputdownable and crisp story will satisfy your desire as a reader. Monisha has definitely a winner in Bahir.

https://www.amazon.in/BAHIR-MONISHA-K-GUMBER/dp/B07CHKDPK4/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2BXL8T3U9LO7M&dchild=1&keywords=bahir&qid=1590859251&s=books&sprefix=bahir%2Caps%2C439&sr=1-1

Sick of Being Healthy

Sick of being healthy is a story of a teenage girl and her insecurities and challenges she faces growing up. Protagonist Tara is brought up in an army family and is schooled in army influence. It is expected of her to be in an ideal punctual and disciplined kid. But Tara is a regular girl with her own share of problems and being overweight lies on top of the list of problems.  Monisha K’s book Sick of Being Healthy narrates the story of every other teenage girl and gives us an insight of the challenges and they all have some story to tell. Monisha has diligently about some of the biggest and less talked about teenage insecurities prevailing in Indian society. This book is humorous and has its share of serious moments. When the book talks about challenges it also provides with solution which are not only relevant but also realistic. Through Tara Kapoor Monisha touches almost all the circumstances and incidents a young girl faces either Tara facing them or her friends or her sister. Tara is overweight and an average student who is expected to perform at par with other meritorious students. She fancies a young lad but he is in relationship with her BFF. The humor in this book is subtle yet prominent and so is Tata’s personality a vibrant young girl with thought of her own. She gets obsessed in shedding some weight quick before farewell so that she can cast an aura and spell with her new curvy lean figure but fails miserably and fells sick. The story touches various aspects such as sex education, teenage crush and infatuation, depression, expectation and inferiority, cyber identity and bullying and last but not least loneliness.

The book is super easy and fun to read the language is simple and clipart and diary entries make it more interesting but the highlights are Tara’s passage for school newsletter. A good book and some valuable life lesson for growing teenagers.

A humorous read which will leave you in splits.

https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B01KA6ZIXW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_d_asin_title_o01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The Oath of The Vayuputras

Book II ended with Shiva and Kali reaching Panchavati tactfully crossing treacherous Dandak forest and they take refuge in a school. The biggest reveal of the trilogy unravels when they discover Brahspati alive and teaching students.

Book III- Shiva is elated to see Brahspati at the Naga capital of Panchavati. Brahspati narrates the truth behind explosion at mount Mandar and the ordeal related to soamras and the ill effect it causes on people. Somras is the reason of depleting river Saraswathi and the birth of Naga babies. Somras causes cell multiplication and genetic mutation that leads to deformation and outgrowth. Shiva travels to hidden city of Ujjain to meet Gopal the chief of Vasudev pandit. It is here he is made aware of the Vayuputra Council an ancient tribe left by previous Mahadev lord Rudra where they train members of the tribe as Neelkantha to oppress the evil whenever it rises. And Shiva is also made aware of his genetic linage routing to the sacred tribe and how his uncle has been training hm since childhood for this role. A war on Meluha is declared and people are urged not to intake somras. The loyalties are decided the allies changed and the battle strategies are drawn. Shiva loses a battle and postpone the attack on Meluha and leave for Pariha to seek forbidden Brahmastra to threaten the Meluhan’s for peace.  With much persuasion and convincing the vayuputra council that Shiva is the real Neelkantha they give him Pashupatiastra that destroy a specific target rather than annihilating everything. In a bid to assassinate Shiva a peace treaty is organized by Daksha which is attended by Sati in Shiva’s absence and gets assassinated in confusion.

Though the book disappointed me with its end. Immortals of Meluha and Secret of Naga built a great prologue for the Third instalment yet Tripathi some how failed to capitalized and conceptualized he end. There were few loose ends all over the 1^st two instalments and he did try and fix majority of it but doing so the charisma faded. He tried to immortalize the legend but sought scientific reason for every phenomenon and attribute nothing to supernatural possibility.

The Secret of the Nagas

The 1^st book Immortals of Meluha built an atmosphere for an epic tale. A story unravelling truth that are beyond expectation and conflicts that could have been averted. Book I ended with tribal Shiva aka Neelkanth declaring and winning war on Chandravanshi to avenge the death of his friend Brahspati. The chandravanshi princess Anandmayi explaining the legend of Neelkanth and his act of liberating Chandravansi’s from cruel and evil Suryavanshi’s. this revelation perplexed Shiva and is utterly distressed.

Book II begins with Shiva rushing to save Sati from a Naga attack where the Naga manages to escape leaving behind coins with strange engravings. Further investigation reveals the coin belongs to king Chandraketu the ruler of land of Branga. Shiva and Sati travel to Kashi to discover more of Naga people. The description of Kashi in this book is magnificent and it is here when 1^st time the reference of lord Rudra takes place. Shiva is accompanied by chief Parvateshwar who get mortally injured trying to pacify a riot, he is cured by a miracle medicine that is found only in Panchavati. As the journey of Shiva continues towards the forbidden land and forest the story intensifies and takes readers by surprise. The story revealing friends as foes and foes are true alliance and accomplice. The gripping revelation of Naga people and story from their perspective is a delight to read. I was happy sad angry all at same time. The truth ok Kali and Ganesh is surreal and outlines Amish’s craft of blending mythology and imagination with ease. Shiva travels to Panchavati under the guidance of Kali, who knows how to reach the capital through the treacherous Dandak Forest. The end of the book has a surprise that will change the course of story.

 Myths are nothing but jumbled memories of a true past. A past buried under mounds of earth and ignorance

The Immortals of Meluha

Having grown up reading and watching the likes of LOR, HP and various other series there was always a void and a temptation to read some original series written in India. Read something that is grand and builds an edifice for bigger better and mammoth of books for future. I wouldn’t compare The Immortals of Meluha with LOR or HP yet it is path breaking in numerous ways for Indian publishing industry and generations of writers to come. Amish has intelligently crafted a story blending the great Indian mythology history and his imagination to conceptualize an absolute page turner.

This is a story of a simple man becoming the destroyer of evils. The story begins at mount Kailash where Shiva resided with his tribe in peace from generations yet in near future, they have been threatened by continuous conflict with pakratis. Shiva is forced to take refuge and to migrate to Meluha for the sake of his people the Gunas. Meluha is a perfect empire created by Lord Ram. Meluha is a suryavanshi kingdom governed by the principles of lord Ram. Meluhan’s are anxiously waiting for the fulfillment of a prophecy were Neelkantha would rise and liberate them and guide them to overcome the constant conflict with chandravanshi’s and Naga’s. Shiva reaches Meluha with his gunas to find Meluha fascinating and near perfect and are administered with a dose of standard medicine. Gunas woke up with high fever and sweating but Shiva with a blue throat. Meluhan’s pronounce Shiva as Neelkantha the saviour and is taken to the capital city of Devagiri. It is here were the plot intensifies and create a platform for an elaborate towards a greater conspiracy and complexities.

Immortals of Meluha is fast paced and narrates Indian mythology in a completely unique way.

Into the Wild

Oh, how one wishes sometimes to escape from the meaning less dullness of human eloquence. From all the sublime phrases to take refuge in nature, apparently so inarticulate, or in the wordlessness of long, grinding labor, of sound sleep, of true music, or of a human understanding rendered speechless by emotion!

Like everyone else I came to know about Chris McCandless through 2007 Sean Penn Movie Into the Wild. Movie left me amazed and baffled for multiple reasons and the urge to know more about Chris (Alex Supertramp) was obvious. Research landed me to Jon Krakauer’s book of the same name- Into the wild. The major difference between the movie and book was Jon trying to draw parallel between his and Chris’s life, the book also includes some travel anecdote from few other travelers. One good thing that came out of book was establishing Chris’s character and convinced reader that he was not some stupid kid arrogantly seeking adventure in difficult places.

Now I can’t review Into the Wild without comparing it from our usual life choices. Chris is well educated from a privileged background and intellectually and morally superior than many individuals. There was occasion in college and early 20’s when I felt like leaving everything and go on a journey to discover myself and learn new things. Chris’s journey is more of self-realization discovery and learning the art of survival. Two years of his journey through picturesque America is delight to read and watch. It takes humongous courage and some foolishness to denounce all kinds of material possession in search of spiritual peace.

The Lowland

Jhumpa Lahiri is an admired writer and her work is phenomenal when emotional quotient and characterization is considered. Her book namesake perfectly captures the plight of Indian migrant and his struggle for keeping his family and values together. The Lowland is a tale of complex characters spread across three generation in the family. It is a tale of differences and their struggle of identity; Lowland is high on emotional quotient and distress in parts it is agonizing and some you sympathize with its characters. Jhumpa is a master storyteller when it comes of weaving stories out of individual characters, she poses some evident questions and social circumstances under which few characters crumble and a few thrive.

Lowland starts on a promising note of chirpy and jovial brothers who are inseparable. The pre independence and post-independence era is beautifully described from the eyes of these brothers and the story builds up with growing brothers. Their ideologies are challenged growing up and it shapes their due course of future. Subhash leaves for US for higher studies and delves in continuing his research while Udayan embraces the Naxalite movement and find soulmate in Gauri and eventually get married. Through Udayan Jhumpa narrates the communist movement and the Naxal influence in Bengal politics in 1960’s. Jhumpa’s eye for detailing is surreal and she describes the student movement and political situation realistically. By the beginning of Subhash’s 3^rd year, he comes to know about Udayan’s death. Subhash visit home to find Gauri living with his parents. How one individual alive or dead can alter the lives of others and be the reason of their emotional distress. This is a story of regret mistakes and selfishness of others. Subhash’s character is woven with absolute brilliance, his calm demeanor and persistence make his character likeable yet he suffers the most. At times I felt emotionally exhausted reading this book and felt anguish with Gauri’s character who has never been grateful to Subhash for all the sacrifices he makes and walks out of his life one day with even telling him but the trauma and emotional distress she suffers is unmatchable. In the end everyone has their share of happiness or rather peace.

Jhumpa’s story telling is subtle yet the story is slow dull at places but characters vivid.

Birthday Girl

You have almost all the books of a writer yet you don’t seem to start reading anywhere anytime soon. I have most of the book written by Haruki Murakami yet I don’t find courage to read them, merely because the hype around him and his work is surreal and unprecedented and I don’t want to get disappointed. For someone like me Birthday Girl is the best book to delve into Murakami world. This book is 42-page affair that fits in your palm with bold printed letters and takes about 30 minutes of you time.

This short story was published to celebrate Murakami’s 70^th birthday. On a rainy Tokyo night, a waitress is stuck in an old and famous Italian Restaurant working overtime instead of it being he 20^th birthday. An edifice is built around a mystique character the restaurant owner as no one is actually aware of who or what is he, an oddly different gentleman who is hard to satisfy. Due to sudden change of events waitress is to deliver dinner to the restaurant owner and the conversation takes place. The conversation between both of them is satisfying and really elating, as if you are waiting for something magical to happen. Murakami’s book has subtle nuance that makes them unique and he invest highly in his characters. There are occasions when it seems you understood but you don’t, it has to be this way-typical Murakami…

“No matter how far they go, people can never be anything but themselves”.

The Girl with All the Gifts

M R Carey

This book was published in the year 2014 in UK by orbit books and subsequently in India by Hachette. M R Carey is an established writer who has his stamp on both DC and Marvel world. The book “The Girl with All the Gifts” grew out of a short story “Iphigenia in Aulis” for US anthology and consecutively the movie screenplay with same name.

Certainly, one of the most original books that I have read in recent past. The plot Zombie is not that unique though the presentation scale and approach to Zombie infection is definitely unique. By now one must feel that we have seen the latitude and longitude of zombie culture but this book will present a different perspective. It is genius of the author to explore some of the uncharted territories and establish a niche. The premise of this novel is cleverly and genuinely plotted. This book is fast paced thriller bit dark and gore in parts odd 400 pages yet a certain page turner. The characters are complex yet lovable and reading this is visually appealing. The description is surreal and takes you into an imaginative world post a fungal infection that has wiped most of the population and both humans and zombies thrive for survival.

The book opens up in a strange classroom ever. After zombie apocalypse in England some infected have for reason unknown been turned into zombie yet have also retain their human intelligence. Melanie is definitely more gifted amongst others; she and her other classmates are strapped in chairs for the safety of teachers. Children’s are made to go through lessons and read stories so that the scientist can figure out how and what makes them different. Melanie is not aware of what she is and why she is there. She is skeptical that her classmates disappear in lab and never come back. One day all of this change as a few survived the sudden zombie ambush on secret facility. Amidst all this chaos they have to travel to another secure facility with Melanie in captivity and Melanie has to decide weather she is human of humans are her food.

Chilling and it takes hold of you till the last page.

Pan’s Labyrinth

When in 2007 I first saw a Spanish movie Pan’s Labyrinth was amazed and blown away by class screenplay and storytelling. My tryst with foreign language movie began here. So, when decade later when ace director writer #guillermodeltoro decides to pen down Pan’s Labyrinth into a book the opportunity can’t be missed. A cult classic movie conceptualized in a book is an alluring offer. Guillermo del Toro’s story telling is different and his inclination to fantasies fairies and magic is evident from his work.

Pan’s Labyrinth is a dark fantasy drama horror tale the story is dark twisted whimsical. It is dark and magical beyond imagination. The story takes place in Spain during summer of 1944 five years after Spanish Civil War. The narrative intertwines the real world with magical world centered on an overgrown abandoned labyrinth and mysterious creatures. Ofelia a 10-year-old girl with whom these creatures communicate and guide her way out of a tumultuous life. She has lost her father and her mother is sick and pregnant and they are made to travel to forest land by her step father a Spanish captain. Her stepdad captain Vidal is cruel and thinks will liberate the revolutionaries out of their miseries. The story switches between Spanish revolution and Ofelia’s mystic world were the creatures are assigned to guide her way into labyrinth and out of her miseries.

Ofelia is asked to perform some task to prove she is a worthy enough so that the faun can rescue her and her mother. The story takes dramatic turn and is gripping to core. The book is visually appealing and the effect of mystic world is not lost in transition.

The most anticipated book of the year cannot disappoint you !!!!