Category: Books

  • Jet City Woman

    Ankush Saikia

    The name of the book, inspired by the Queensryche song, would suggest a female protagonist. In a sense there is one, but the narrator is a young student from Shillong, who arrives in Delhi in the second half of the 90s. While the story revolves around the eternal theme of love and longing, the uniqueness that’s brought in through the ethnicity of the narrator and the inherent simplicity in which the tale is told, makes it an interesting read.

    Delhi almost seems like a character in the book, and the influence of Shillong on the life and attitudes of the narrator and his friends is also evident. The timeframe the story is set in, allows the dot com boom and bust, and the beginning of the BPO era to serve as backdrops. The subtle way in which the author points out the diversity among people in the North East, and their perspective on the way the rest of the nation deals with them, is also praiseworthy.

    While the story primarily deals with the narrator’s relationship with Naina – a girl with a mysterious past, it also portrays two diverse personalities. The narrator is a small town boy, trying to make sense of life in a large city, and amidst the parties and the night drives, is grappling with the larger questions of his life ahead, still anchored to his hometown and the way of life there. The girl he is strangely attracted to – Naina, who refuses to divulge details of her past, wants to cut away from it, and moves ahead with a speed that leaves people close to her perplexed and lost.

    Like I mentioned, the book has a simplicity that appeals immensely, the joys and apprehensions of the narrator is something that is easy to relate to. Laced with occasional humour and Floyd lyrics, this book is worth a read.

  • First Proof 2: The Penguin Book of New Writing

    The second edition of Penguin’s annual anthology, this one has poetry in addition to fiction and non-fiction.
    There are 11 works of non fiction, though some of them, I thought, would have made more sense in the fiction set!! My favourite would have to be Arunava Sinha’s “Apna Desh, Apna Blog”, the evolution of a blog and the blogger, more so because I could easily identify with it. His wit is evident not just from the piece, but also in the ‘Notes on contributors’. Dilip D’Souza’s “Night in the city”, ‘an ordinary Bombay story’ is also a good read, that reflects not just contemporary society, but also its sense of law and justice.

    “Roy’s quest”, by Samrat Choudhury is a cute read about a schoolboy’s crush. “Family”, by Salman Haidar and “Delhi’s last conquerors”, by Ranjana Sengupta give us great glimpses of history.

    A dozen works of fiction, and picking a favourite in this section is more difficult. So we’ll go in the order of appearance. “Karim”, by Anushka Ravishankar is an excellent take on organised religion, and its effects on daily lives, as seen from a child’s perspective. “An Indian Porn director’s speech to his hesitant leading lady”, by Altaf Tyrewala is bizarrely hilarious. “Luck” by Dhruba Hazarika is also an interesting read about a pigeon called Luck and the changes it brings about in its owner’s life. “Stupid”, by Sonia Faleiro is another good read with a neat pragmatic/cynical/sad ending.

    If I had to choose a favourite, it would be C.Sriram’s “A matter of faith”, which deals with the mystery of existence, and how we adapt it in accordance with our own needs. “Mrs. Anand”, by Manreet Sodhi Someshwar is a touching piece that captures the different roles that a woman plays in a family and society, the losses she quietly accepts, and the brief moments of understanding from another person that allows her to give in to her grief and shed a few tears. The last work of fiction is from Kanishk Tharoor (yep, not a very common surname 🙂 ), its interesting in a unique way.

    You’ll have to look elsewhere for the poetry review, because that’s something I’ve never been able to relate to.

  • Tin Fish

    Sudeep Chakravarti

    Set in the 1970s in a boarding school in Rajasthan, ‘Tin Fish’ is the story of four friends and their ‘wonder years’. ‘Tin Fish’, named after the canned fish that was a regular in the narrator’s tuck box, and which brought with the comfort and familiarity of home and family.
    Narrated by Brandy, short for Barun Ray, this is the story of his days at Mayo, spent with his best friends – Fish, Porridge and PT Shoe, each of whom bring to Mayo, their own baggage, even before they can understand the word.
    The book seems (at least) partially autobiographical as the author is able to easily get into the mind of a child and then his transition into teenage – the whirlwind of emotions, the discoveries, the first crush, the pain of loss and most importantly the understanding that nothing lasts forever.
    Each character is well etched, with its own own idiosyncrasies, and relationship with other characters. From the obsession with ‘gora chicks’ and Zeenie Baby to Mick Jagger and the plans to form the ‘Get Lost on the Ganga and All That’ band, the book is about coming to terms – not just with a world outside the confines of the fishbowl that is the ‘Mayo world’ – the outside world with Emergency, a urine drinking prime minister etc but also their own world – one which shows them that joy, sadness, love, hatred, despair, anger, pity etc all go hand in hand. Witty, wistful and poignant, its a book about the loss of innocence.
    And then there’s the slang, that would go something like “its a cool breeze book, read it ya”. 🙂

  • From the corner of his eye

    Dean Koontz

    That Dean Koontz is an amazing writer of supernatural stories is a known fact. What makes this book special is the mix of several themes that work in superb harmony – a psychotic killer, quantum physics and faith. I’ve always wondered about parallel universes and in this book, the author has tried to put a structure to it through the theories of Thomas Vanadium and the abilities of Bartholomew, Angel and Mary.
    Koontz uses Enoch Cain’s obsessed journey to find Bartholomew as a background to highlight the connection between human beings’ lives, a sort of ‘Butterfly effect’ among people’s destinies. Each character is built perfectly with specific roles to play in this journey, and they all fall into place magnificently, like a jigsaw puzzle.
    There is an underlying theme of hope that runs through this book, and Koontz does a great job of balancing it with the pure evil that is Enoch Cain.
    The pace never slackens, and while I like all the author’s works (that I have read so far), this one just went beyond the regular gripping thriller category.

  • Kerala Kerala, Quite Contrary

    This is an anthology of 26 works, edited by Shinie Antony, who also contributes a few as author, interviewer and chronicler. The title, IMHO, is a bit misleading since the works themselves, while touching upon various aspects of life in the state or offering perspectives on its history, culture or working as travelogues, do not attempt to bring out the contrary nature, in whatever form that’s meant. Different individuals’ point of view, does that make a collection ‘contrary’? I’m not so sure. To be fair, a couple of works do attempt to show the contrary nature of the state and its residents, but that’s in isolation, and anyway are not enough in number to justify the title.
    Having said that, there are quite a few which I immensely liked. Will mention those (in the order in which they appear in the book)
    Odd Morning by Susan Visvanathan. I’ve always been a fan of her work after I read ‘Something Barely Remembered’. There’s something that’s wistful and haunting about the way she writes, and this piece follows that style.
    William Dalrymple’s “The Strange Sisters of Mannarkad” is quite enlightening, and has a fascinating theme of religion and legend.
    Anita Nair’s “Orhan Pamuk, Nair and I” is a wonderful short story that explores the psyche of Kerala’s writers and critics.
    “The Argumentative Malayali” by D.Vijayamohan perhaps best justifies the book’s title, as it captures Kerala’s unique stance on global and national issues. As a malayali, I’d say that his observation and insights are spot on. Anti-communist? Probably, but I can’t blame him. For me, its one of the best works in the book.
    S S Lal’s “A medicine that cannot be prescribed” is the kind of short story I love. The perfect mix of food for thought and a mild twist in the tale, that makes a perfect ending.
    “Sitrep Seventies” by Hormis Tharakan is perhaps the strongest contender for the best work in the book. While I was mildly puzzled by the way the piece started, the way it swept across centuries and the lifestream nature of the work grew on me, and its amazing insights on law and human nature just raised it to a whole new level.
    Shreekumar Varma’s “Fort Lines” is a story anyone who has lived in the state, or visited on a ‘wrong day’ can absolutely identify with. I wish the kind of cosmic justice that appeared in the work happened in real life too!!
    “No Sex Please, We have cable” by Suresh Menon ended up as my favourite work. The humour is amazing, and I could easily identify the way a place changes or remains the same depending on what you’re looking for.
    Nimz Dean, all of 13 years old is the youngest contributor at “The Gift”, and the 2 page work definitely shows promise. 🙂
    Shashi Tharoor uses all of his skills to make a passionate case for Kerala and investments in the state in “Building Brand Kerala”. A well written piece but having lived there most of my life, and having worked there for some and having seen enough hartals in the recent past , I am not convinced.
    “Happy” by Omana (as told to Shinie Antony) is amazing food for thought material, and is a fine ending to the book.

    So that’s about 11 out of 26, which are really good works, and a few others could work for you depending on your interests. 🙂