In May 2015, Tharoor won the Oxford Union Debate, on “Britain Owes Reparations to her Former Colonies”, with a clear-cut argument. Once the speech went viral, he wrote this book which is an extension of the economic and cultural damage India saw over the 200 years it was under British rule. The British dismantled the structure of the subcontinent which was always, as the historian … Continue reading Review: An Era Of Darkness by Shashi Tharoor
I do not normally read horror, but Stephen King makes me enjoy it! Who would have ever thought the funny and comic performers – clowns could scare the shit out of you! Stephen King would. It was suspenseful, there was a sense of dread with some truly scary scenes. King is very good at describing how children would think and make us feel their fears. It … Continue reading Review: It by Stephen King
I picked this up thinking this will be Gautam Buddha’s story, but no it’s not! It is parallel to Buddha’s story but not the same. It talks about the same three stages of Hindu life – student, householder, and recluse. Inspirational and spiritual. But this book is not just about the story but more about Hermann Hesse’s use of language. It is about how he … Continue reading Review: Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
One has to agree, hard times need strong beer! Life’s guilty pleasures usually thrive during hard economic times. Though we may abandon new dresses or fancy dinners, we do tend to turn to smoking and drinking — to help ease our pain. Beer consumption, unlike other categories of alcoholic beverages, apparently increases with unemployment, as noticed by Economists David Blake and Angelika Nied in 1997. So basically, one … Continue reading Hard Times Need Strong Beer
Picking up a Hindi literary classic, after so long was a challenge! Mainly because I have lost the flow of reading Hindi. But, I enjoyed it. Premchand built my sympathy towards those villagers, at the mercy of just about everyone, from the oppressive zamindari system to the moneylenders, the corrupt bureaucracy, the equally corrupt guardians of religion, to their own inability to break free of the … Continue reading Review: गोदान by Munshi Premchand
Indian classical dancing and ghungroos go hand-in-hand. They accentuate the rhythmic aspects of the dance and allow complex footwork to be heard by the audience. A mistress to the art of dance, ghungroos are kept with a high maintenance (some keep it wrapped in silk) and make the dance all the more beautiful. But unlike the treatment to a mistress, a dancer worships these little … Continue reading Ghungroos – Mistress To The Indian Classical Dances
Mistress is the story of the bored Indian housewife, Radha, who is excited by the thrill of the young American man, Chris, who arrives to interview her Uncle about his Kathakali dancing career, and the two have an affair. Mistress’ is also about what it means to be an artist and how an artist can find peace without losing the fire that adds the edge to … Continue reading Review: Mistress by Anita Nair
Kafka on the Shore is a paradox. It follows no rules, it doesn’t adhere to reason, and applicability is not an issue. So many emotions are present, you can’t seem to figure out which one is most important. Murakami can talk about fate one minute, then drop it and talk about imperfection the next. Basically, the plot of the book is like a paradox, which … Continue reading Review: Kafka On The Shore by Haruki Murakami
“Has anyone ever been able to prevent the dead from talking to one another?” – Rabisankar Bal, Dozakhnama (Translated by Arunava Sinha) Dozakhnama – Conversations in Hell between two legends – Saadat Hassan Manto and Mirza Ghalib. This book has a very ‘old is gold’ touch, which is what is depicted in this picture. Golden earrings with a gold nib dip pen! This book is … Continue reading Dozakhnama – Golden Conversations
The Sellout is a fun novel full of humor and many moments of bitter irony. The tone is angry, full of frustration and seething with sarcasm, but it is also repetitive to a fault. I honestly don’t know how to review a satire on an issue that I have not really faced! The writing had power and authority, no doubt on that, and the narrative convinced … Continue reading Review: The Sellout by Paul Beatty
The Bora Booktique 