A collection of short stories make for interesting reading. I find that it helps when I am stuck in a reading rut, and want to break the shackles. Panorama: A Collection of Short Stories, written by Shilpi Chaklanobis offered such a chance. I had seen the cover of the book earlier, shared by one of my friends on social media,
Read moreIf you have been reading me regularly you possibly, by now, know my love for short stories. Here I am back to yet another short stories collection. Here I go through how each of the 9 stories in this book worked/ didn’t for me: WEEDS: This one is extremely pale. There is no concrete story.It gives a feel that it is
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The most beautiful and purest of relationships that humans indulge in all through their lives is Friendship. The most unconditional one too. While it is extremely beautiful in real, books romanticise it even more. Stories bring out the multiple layers that this heartfelt relationship brings along and allows the reader experience many friendships from the comforts of his couch. On
Read moreI have said it so many times that I love reading short stories. It just feels like an opportunity to read 10-15 stories in the same book. I feel it is a reader’s heaven!! That is why I never leave the opportunity of reviewing Short stories. A Walk With A Call Girl – Simple sweet tale. Perfect Feel good kind of a
Read moreI absolutely love reading a collection of short stories. This book, That Woman You See by Sujata Parashar has all nine dedicated to women. I just had to pick this one up for the mix it provides. Ganga: She who is pure – This describes the girls of the night. How a girl full of love gets into the flesh
Read moreThere are some books that, when writing about, leave one kind of wordless. They might be extremely good, hardly giving a need to write about them; or extremely bad, making it impossible to find something to admire. The third kind would be those books that tick the right boxes in the right amount, leaving me mesmerized. A collection of stories,
Read moreHave you been reading? Reading women writers? May you read, read more and read more women writers. If you ask why, I believe that women have been adding more sensitivity to writing in India. I have been brought up on a staple of books written by women in Bangla, and they are all amazingly touching and close to reality. Women
Read moreAfter last year’s success with Kamadeva – The god of Desire, Anuja Chandramouli returns with this striking work on Shakti – The divine feminine. We all know about Shakti – She is the Mother Goddess, Mahamaya the enchantress, the supreme consciousness, the pure source from which all creation emerges and to whom all must eventually return. As Ushas, the enchanting goddess
Read moreThere is something about Short stories. You get done with them fast. Also if it is a collection of short stories then, you can relish many more stories (10 in this one) in one, which is like extra icing and chico chips on the cake for a reader. I like the fact that at the start of every story a brief
Read more‘A backbreaking misadventure in the Himalayas’, this line coupled with one look at the book cover was enough to entice me towards it. And I quickly flipped it around to see if its blurb held any material to justify my interest. And it did. There is something about travel writers that I don’t find in anybody else. They pique my
Read moreAfter the colonial rule became the destiny for the people of India – India was known to the outside world, particularly to the western world as a country of snake charmers, fakirs, tigers and of course – Nawababs and Rajas for a long time. It was the country where extreme poverty and extreme wealth had a peaceful coexistence for centuries.
Read moreModelled on self-help/ mentorship books, Jiyo Dil Se is written by Harish M. Bhatia, CEO of 94.3 MyFM, and draws inspirations from his life and professional journey. Picking on the central theme of living your life to your heart’s fill, the book quotes examples liberally from the lives of celebrities to further emphasize on the theme. One cannot help but
Read moreIf you’ve followed some of the Zen Garden articles (in Forbes India) by Subroto Bagchi, a rather fine business person and a good storyteller, you would know what to expect from the book. You’re getting something a little better than that, by the way, in this compilation of his articles. Is there something new in the articles? No. Is there
Read moreRokda – How Baniyas Do Business is a delightful little book about the Baniya community in India. A compilation of the business stories of five luminary businessmen from the Baniya community, Rokda manages to enthrall and keep the reader hooked till the end. Capturing the life stories of Rohit Bansal (Snapdeal), V. K. Bansal (Kota’s famous Bansal Classes), R. K. Somany
Read moreA collection of stories may not be as respected as a novel, but no one can deny that short stories have their own charm. If you ask me it is heartening to read so many stories in one volume. That is the reason why short stories collection never goes out of vogue. The Patna Manual of Style is indeed a
Read moreMy love for Ruskin Bond‘s writing started when I was in the Sixth grade. The lack of a good library and a shortage of books would drive me to devour my English textbook every year, even before the school started, heck, even before my Dad would cover it up in those Brown laminated covers to protect it from a year-long
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 moreWe get inKonversation with the lady who writes some very interesting stories that are thought provoking as well as sexy. Debuting with gorgeous stories, thought proving story lines and an eye catching cover is Zaarra Khader, author of The Forbidden One. Read on: Congratulations on the stupendous debut Zaarra. That’s an unconventional idea. What triggered The Forbidden One? Thank you…
Read moreWhen I started reading this book I thought at worst, Ramulamma would be an Indian derivative of Agatha Christie’s somewhat underwhelming Ms. Marple – a shadow of her legendary Poirot. However, as I got further into the book, I realized that getting an Indian Ms. Marple might have actually been a good bargain. Quite frankly, I did not quite understand
Read moreThis interview is a dream come true for me. No really! I have said this before, The Pregnant King was a turning point in my realization as a reader and this man made it possible. He opened up a whole new genre for me and honestly there has been no looking back. His articles and books are my one-point reference
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 Books have strange relationships with the readers. I like to call it something akin to eating. We try out a lot of dishes before we know, yes, this is what I like. On the same principles readers read (try out) different genres and books before they can put a finger on some genre/s and say,
Read morePart of South Asian Challenge 2012 Title: Poor Little Rich Slum Authors: Rashmi Bansal, Deepak Gandhi, Dee Gandhi (Photographer) Publisher: Westland ISBN: 978-93-8162-618-4 Genre: Non-Fiction Pages: 187 Rating: 4.5 of 5 The book cover with blue colored low roofed, sandwiched shacks sprawled all over its front and back, against a background of white with a blue airplane taking off over
Read moreEach day of my childhood had begun listening to my father read out of his Ramayana, Mahabharata or Bhagvatam. Each day had begun with pulling the pillows over the ears to block out the words, that debuted sounding as gibberish but eventually with passing years started making sense, atleast to the story lover in me. Amidst the magic, myths and magnanimity,
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