How can someone be funny and serious at the same time? It is like asking me to see a respected guru in a capering clown. But, then, that is exactly what a satirist aspires to be and do. Satire seeks to make you laugh and make you think. The point of all satire is to show up the foibles of
Read moreWhen I was offered this book for review, I almost grabbed it – for two reasons. The first reason obviously was the quirky title and the ‘V versus Y’ on the cover page, which I thought was a really funny way to denote a marriage. The second was the warning sign, Caution: Marriage Ahead in the summary. I had not really
Read moreAnurag Mathur is the man who was Chetan Bhagat in the 90’s and early 00’s. After the unprecedented success of his book, The Inscrutable Americans (the book was even made into a movie), Mathur fathered several other books. The Department of Denials is one of them. I found The Department of Denials readable. It’s not massy, it’s not coherent and most importantly,
Read moreAt 95 pages I Take This Train Too is a breezy ride that will engage your eyes in beautiful colors of the caricatures that fill every page whilst your brains can’t seem to get over the fact that Cyrus Daruwala has managed to classify almost every type of traveler on the Mumbai locals in the most accurate way possible! Every page is
Read moreDo you know Jose? VJ Jose? RJ Jose? Have you heard of his podcast (along with Suresh Menon) Kaanmasti? You should. The dude has a sense of humour. And in a world full of outrages, you should find people who have a sense of humour. You need to. And keep them close. Ladies, Please! is a no-holds barred take on dating
Read moreThe Sales Room is as attached to its title as inseparably as a bee is to honey. The plot revolves around sales, sales and nothing but salesmen. These are a specific kind of people who, as the writer says, are interested in keeping their economies ticking. This is an innocent satire about a software start-up which seems to be undergoing
Read moreThe mountaineer George Mallory, when asked why he wanted to climb Mount Everest, famously replied, “Because it’s there.” Turning his rationale on its head, I say I write humour because it’s not there. If, through Been There Bungled That, I inject some into your life, I’ll be happy. – Paddy Rangappa An author armed with that philosophy is bound to
Read more‘The original draft was much darker than the current version.’ said the authoress in an interview. It had me wondering how the book would have panned out had the original draft prevailed, for the final product is anything but dark. An interesting title, a tidy book cover and a particularly appealing blurb at the back. From the outlook, Abirami M.
Read moreI am personally not an ardent fan of Short story genre as I haven’t read much of this genre. It’s not that I don’t like short stories as such but it never occurred to me to try this type of literature as I found myself more inclined and glued to the longer version of the game. So when I got
Read moreJack Patel and his partner-in-humour Brahmadesam Balasubramaniam Krishnan (Kitch) are back in Dubai to regale us with their corporate adventures. Jack is Back in Corporate Carnival – as the title suggests that it’s a sequel to Jack Patel’s Dubai Dreams. Thankfully as you read along, it doesn’t make much of a difference if you haven’t read the previous book. Jaikishan
Read moreAisle Be Damned attracts the reader with the cover and tagline. It is an intelligent blend of pun and posh-ness. The book starts with airports, covers check-in, security, boarding, flight safety, food and all the other steps in separate chapters. There is a little something for everyone – tips to strike useful conversations with attractive co-passengers, a very important section on choosing your seats wisely before boarding, a rather intimidating chapter on flight safety, hilarious anecdotes on captains and cockpits.
Read moreA north american with memories of India, returns back after decades to write a fiction based in the country of her childhood memories. Part memoir – part fiction the Jana Bibi Adventure series is back this winter with its second instalment. We get inKonversation with the creator of the vivacious fortune teller Jana Bibi and her intriguing parrot – Betsy
Read moreA chance for short fiction writers amongst our members to get published in a paperback releasing by mid 2014. The winners will also have the rare distinction of being published in the book as the Winning entries from The Tales Pensieve.
Read moreSomethings are change makers, like some people. They can be movies, conversations, books…anything. Even fiction. Yes the make belief can challenge beliefs. This book did it for me. Call me ignorant but being the avid shiva believer Varanasi has, in my mind, remained a city of temples, tourists and tantricks. The Virgins made the city real for me. It put forth on the 318 odd pages a city like any other Indian city, with real people and relatable problems. Siddharth Tripathi in his debut as a novelist presents rare maturity in Indian English writing and a cast that is as entertaining as it is enticing.
Read morePart of South Asian Challenge 2013 and Reading Challenge 2013: First Reads Vanity Bagh could be anywhere in India. Any City. Or any town even. It could be the gali you pass through everyday. It could even be the street you may have lived in. For me Vanity Bagh could have been a neighborhood in old Bhopal (my home town) – the characters,
Read morePart of Debut Indian Writers Challenge 2013, South Asian Challenge 2013 and Reading Challenge 2013: First Reads A book all the way from The United States of America. Quite literally! This one took four weeks to reach me, is published by an American publication house based in New Jersey and written by an Indian based these too. At 133 pages,
Read moreOnce a desi, always a desi – for the heart knows just one beat! We get inKonversation with the very much desi in videsh – Ankita Kapoor. The debuting author and artist talks about her first book, the trials and time pass that writing has become for her. An author published in the US of A, a story about the
Read morePart of South Asian Challenge 2013, Debut Indian Writers Challenge 2013 and Reading Challenge 2013: First Reads Magic could be so magical!! (don’t get your hopes high, this book is not a magic propagating fantasy fiction) But it is definitely about the magical stories that entwined our growing years – with a twist. The Arabian Nights – what a fabulous collection of stories it was. Fascinating, intriguing and magic
Read morePart of South Asian Challenge 2013 and Reading Challenge 2013: First Reads So, a parrot green cover – a white clock – 30 over it – and a hookah, a lipstick, a ladies handbag and sunglass among other things splashed around! With a cover like that I don’t think I had any illusions about what I was getting into when Milan Vohra,
Read moreHe is the proverbial banker-cum-writer, a breed so up and kicking in the Indian writing scenario today; but thankfully he doesn’t write books that look like bollywood films on pulp! inKonversation with the WordMaverick of February 2013 we meet the man behind the funny yet sensible Jack Patel – P. G. Bhaskar. The Dubai based private banker talks about Indian
Read morePart of Debut Indian Writers Challenge 2012 and South Asian Challenge 2012 Title: Toke Author: Jugal Mody Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers India ISBN: 978-93-5029-340-9 Pages: 214 Genre: Fiction Rating: 4 of 5 Reviewed for: INDIAreads.com This review is honoured to be on the author’s website. Three facts I bet you did not know about marijuana and getting stonned: 1. We know
Read morePart of South Asian Challenge 2012 Title: 1888 Dial India Author: Anuvab Pal Publisher: Random House India ISBN: 978-81-8400-158-7 Pages: 230 Genre: Fiction Rating: 3.5 of 5 Reviewed for: Random House India
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