Category: reading

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Baramulla Bomber

Baramulla Bomber
Author: Clark Prasad
Publisher: Niyogi Books
Number of Pages: 315
Price: Rs 395
When I first read about Baramulla Bomber
I was intrigued. One, because I’ve read some great trilogies over the recent
years (this too is Eka, part I of a
Trilogy) and two, because the concept of the book sounded very interesting.
It is an ambitious novel to say the
least, spread across multiple countries – Sweden, Norway, the USA and closer
home Pakistan, China and India.
It is peppered with characters as
diverse as ever – a Kashmiri cricket player, a Swedish intelligence agent, a
Pakistani scientist, an Indian Defence Minister and many many more.
It has international relations, politics,
border skirmishes, religion and even some cricket thrown in for good measure. 

What more could one ask for?

The plot:
A blast is heard in Kashmir’s Shaksgam
valley that flattens out an entire area.
A dying Swedish agent leaves a coded message
before he succumbs to mysterious injuries.
A mountaineering team disappears without
a trace.

Indian agencies suspect a secret weapon was
tested in the valley. Pakistani sources insist it was a mining accident while
others say it was an earthquake.
If it was a weapon what kind was it? If Pakistan is readying
to use it how can it be stopped? Was it the same that killed the Swedish spy? Those
are the questions that are bothering India’s Defence Minister Agastya Rathore.
But Pakistan is not his only worry, China is readying for an offensive at India’s
borders too.
And amongst all this is Mansur – a simple Kashmiri man who
dreams of being a part of the National Cricket team without ever really
believing it possible.
The review:
The novel is pacey and you do find yourself turning the pages
eagerly enough. And here’s a warning – This is not a book you can read with the kids running around or the TV blaring. So if you really want to enjoy it look out for a quiet corner.

My problem with the book is it’s climax. The buildup is exciting but the climax is a bit of a letdown.
Perhaps due to the nature of the weapon, it doesn’t leave as huge an impact as promised
by the beginning. I found myself saying “Is that it?”

Also, although there are a number of characters, the books loses
out for lack of a single, charismatic all impacting hero and on the other side there
is no single truly malicious, malevolent villain.  That’s purely a personal view –  that’s how I like a book to be.. specially a thriller.

Then there are some unanswered question?

What were those UFOs?
What’s the story of Agastya’s wife?
Are the members of the mountaineering team dead or alive?
When the guardians meet – if the meeting was such a huge
secret – how come an outsider was near the site?
Of course there are Part 2 and 3 in the offing. I’m hoping I’ll
get my answers then.

This review is part of Blogadda’s Book Review Programme.
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Battle for Bittora by Anuja Chauhan

Battle For Bittora traces the journey of 25 year old ‘kitaanu’ animator Jinni aka Sarojini Pande. From her peaceful office existence Jinni is transported to the dusty mofussil town of Bittora by her very bossy ex MP grandmother, to contest elections. What’s worse, her main opponent is the handsome ex-royal Zain Altaf Khan.. a childhood buddy/crush/sweetheart. The stage is set for some amazing electoral action with a bit of romance thrown in.

Anuja Chahan borrows her characters heavily from the current Indian political milieu which makes it an even better read. Her parties are called Pragati (which has a dynasty leading it) and IJP (with its Hindutva agenda), the state is Pavit Pradesh and there’s even a filmstar Salmon Khan who drops in for campaigning! Her hilariously stereotypical characters and the quaint brand of English had me laughing out loud at places.

The book offers a closeup view of life in a North Indian town and Chauhan does it like she’d lived there not merely researched for the book. Laced with wit and enough twists and turns the book is a great read.

It might not be a second Zoya Factor but it does hold it’s own. Wonder why someone doesn’t take it up and make a film instead of rehashing painful ones like Himmatwala?

Red Chillies has bought the rights to Zoya Factor. Wish they’d hurry up and make the film. In the meanwhile Flipkart delivered Anuja’s third book today – Those Pricey Thakur Girls. Looking forward to it.        

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Men on My Mind – Book Review

Men on my Mind

By Radha Thomas
Price: 195/-
 
I love
debut novels. They’re special. They have to be. After all they’ve remained in
the author’s mind long enough and persistently enough to egg her/him to get
down to writing them, right? Of course there have been times when I’ve got stuck
with really bad apples – incorrect English, the hugest turn off, or amateur
writing.. but the risk is worth taking.
 

That was
what made me want to read this one and I’m glad I did.
 

‘Men on my
Mind’ is nothing if not true to its name. The book traces the adventures of an
Indian girl who grows up with… well …. men on her mind since the tender age of 7. From
a dreamy pre-teen inspired by M&Bs struggling with her first crush, she grows
into a self assured woman gamely trying out all kinds of men for size. She makes her way
from Mumbai to Panchagani, Delhi and New York with bits of New Zealand, Fiji
and China thrown in for good measure. On she soldiers, always with a BFF by her
side for where’s the fun if you don’t have a girl friend to share stories of your sexapades
with?
 

She juggles more than one relationship at a time and takes on one night
stands without a scruple. As she says.. ‘What’s the bloody problem anyway?
Conscience-shmonscience.’ There really are plenty of men around and ‘I’ve never been
able to turn down handsome and rich men’, is her candid confession.
 

However, ‘The
One’ remains elusive. The perfect hunk has a squeaky voice, the perfect boyfreind’s
a pathetic kisser, the urbane older man turns out to be a lech, the dapper
gentleman has a pigsty of a home, the sexy biker’s an anger maniac, the soulful
pianist ends up two-timing her,… sigh! Students,
lawyers, violin players, prospective Nobel laureates,
photographers, restaurateurs, bar tenders, she tries them all only to
discover that it really isn’t easy to find the man of her dreams.

The book is
a hilarious take on men and relationships. Here’s a heroine who turns the
male-female stereotype on its head. She treats her encounters with men with the flamboyance and casualness generally attributed to men in their dealings with
women. Oh she wants true love but she’s fine occupying herself while The One comes
along.

The book certainly is a pacey, well written read peppered with hilarious situations and diversely interesting characters.
 

However, my problem with it is that there are just too many men. Towards the
end it gets a bit tiresome and the end itself is a tiny bit of a letdown. I
spotted a few editing errors too. Also, there were some sequences that didn’t
seem to go anywhere (like the plain
Jane episode). Of course since I read there’s a trilogy in the offing, we can
hope it will come together and maybe the end is not ‘The End’.

Other than
that ‘Men on my mind’ delivers all what it promises. It’s gutsy, sexy, provocative
and very very funny. If you’re looking for something light and fun, this is the
book to pick up.

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com.
Participate now to get free books.

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A book and some memories

I generally avoid buying books randomly. I look for a recommendation or a review before I pick one. The odd time I’ve bought an ‘interesting looking’ book I’ve got a terribly raw deal. However, this time during my trip to Dehradun I made an exception.

I came across this really quaint little bookshop inside a Barista. Lovely concept, isn’t it — Coffee and books? There was no way I wasn’t buying both and I chanced upon Saeed Mirza’s ‘Ammi – Letter to a democratic mother’.

For once, I’m glad I didn’t wait for a review.

It’s not a conventional book at all. If you’re looking for a storyline, or dramatic highs and lows you will be disappointed. If you’re looking for an autobiographical journey, arranged in neat chronological order you won’t find it either. The book seems like a compilation of pages from the author’s diary which takes the form of letters to his mother. He talks about his parents, their love story, his childhood, his journey to film making and his disillusionment with the system. The book delves a bit into history, breaks off to tell favourite stories on Mulla Nasruddin, then turns into a travelogue as Mirza takes to the road with wife Jennifer. The best part is a short film script that he incorporates at the end.

It’s meant to be read and savoured in bits, very very interesting bits.

I have to confess that there’s another reason why I bought the book. For one, Saeed Mirza’s a celebrity I like and admire. I’d been too young to understand/admire his films but I certainly loved Nukkad. Besides, he was a celebrity I once interviewed. Strange, it might sound, but each person I’ve interviewed or even met, during my working days, remains special to me. I keep a soft corner for them unless they’re someone really nasty or opinionated (like Shobhaa Dey, Gosh was she patronising!).

I met Saeed Mirza in Bhopal and interviewed him back in the 90s. He was staying with a friend when I first went to meet him. A colleague, an aspiring actor, tagged along hoping he’d push his case. Withing a few minutes of being there he realised he’d wanted to meet Aziz Mirza, not Saeed Mirza, and he immediately wanted to leave.

As it turned out the interview was a long winding one. The restless colleague kept making furious eyes at me to end it while I was in no mood to do so… it was way too interesting. He came away hugely irritated while I couldn’t conceal my amusement. I ragged him for a long long time after that. Mirza talked of writing a book then. “It will be a critique on me,” he’d said. I’m not sure it was this one.

The next time I met him he was staying at a hotel. I had an evening appointment and he welcomed me to his room with a glass of alcohol in his hands, certainly not a setting to put me at ease. I was grateful for the presence of my photographer friend. However, once he started talking I forgot to be uncomfortable and stayed on till nightfall. Quite a raconteur, he is.

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Classic Remix

Look up Elizabeth – It’s makeover time

Now I know what cricketers mean when they say they’re ‘out of form’. Strange it is.. to not have the drive to do what you love and enjoy the most… for me it’s reading, blogging, exercising. No thrill in any of those these days. But more on that later.

What has brought me back here was an article I found in today’s papers. You can read it here…
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/fifty-shades-of-grey-effect-classics-get-raunchy-makeover/975710/

Apparently classics like ‘Pride and Prejudice’, ‘Jane Eyre’ and ‘Wuthering Heights’ are set to get a “steamy makeover”. Blasphemy or what??? Oh well once upon a time I did find them a bit restrained and staid. However, that’s part of the old world charm of the books, isn’t it?

An Elizabeth who finds Mr Darcy ‘hot’…. is not the Elizabeth I know.

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