Love is always new.....

Quick Notes on Priya Kumar's 'Thinking Aloud'

2013-04-28T19:07:00.000+05:30

Author : Priya Kumar

Publisher : Embassy Books

Rating : 3 / 5

The book is a collection of original quotes on the subjects that matter in life - thoughts on winning, happiness, courage, love, hope, self-worth, humour, attitude and more. Each quote is an insight that makes you think and believe that there is more to life. It's a short intake of inspirational and motivation quotes which can pump you up during the times you are feeling low.

It belongs to the category of self help books and as in most cases, the main purpose of such books are written with the aim of boosting self confidence for a person and providing confidence to take the harder way over the wrong way. They also are instrumental in driving through tough or complicated situations and provide an effective way out.

The book is neatly divided into various short chapters starting with a prologue and then quotes pertaining to every subject matter. It is meant to be inspire people and should be judged within those boundaries. With its boost-up content and beautiful layout, this is an excellent choice for gift as well and meant for quick reading over a cup of coffee.

Book Review - 124 : The Homing Pigeons

2013-04-27T19:49:00.000+05:30

Author : Sid Bihari

Publisher : Srishti

Not all love stories are perfect, but then neither are people.

The book encapsulates the above quote completely and build the premise around it. For obvious reasons, the title of the book give away the ending of the novel which is almost a crime to do in a literary fiction. Still, there is an utmost sincerity attached to the narrative that even though my mind wandered around abundant logical loopholes and grossly over written lines, i was hooked by the characters and their tribulations.

In the middle of recession, Aditya meets a woman in the bar and his life changes instantly by the lure of a profession he never thought he would get into in his dreams. Radhika, a young widow and ex-lover of Aditya marries off her stepdaughter, little she knows her newly found freedom will never be the same she had envisoned ever.

The author decides to tell the story from the point of view of two narrators - Aditya and Radhika, with alternating chapters devoted to each of them. This unique narrative device does help in creating two flesh and blood characters and follow their lives over three decades. But what it also does is create flabby chapters with repetitions of the same thoughts or a plot point told from both characters point of view. This in turn, make the book long, and require some deft editing. It also meant that there are multiple plot points inserted which has little to do with the story and should have been cut it out in the first place (Aditya's friend turning to his own profession, for instance)

However, the expressions and emotions are something which we can all relate to and even though their problems are not out of this world, it is the simplicity with which things unfold keeps you hooked. It drive home the point that relationships can never be perfect since the drivers of those relationships are not perfect themselves and striving for that elusiveness will only take you away.

I am going with 3/5 for Sid Bihari's debut novel, 'The Homing Pigeons'. It is well crafted story which employs unique narrative device to tell the tale of its two characters. You just wished it to be lot shorter to have more impact as a reader. And yes, this is a mark departure for a publishing house towards quality writing who was once known to dish you mass fiction writers and books one after the another. Give it a chance, you won't be entirely disappointed.

[This book review is done on request of Srishti Publishers & Distributors]

Book Review - 123 : Salvation of a Saint

2013-04-26T18:10:00.000+05:30

Author : Keigo Higashino

Publisher : Hachette (In India)

Translated by : Alexander O. Smith

There’s an extramarital affair followed by a dead body. Suave ladies’ man, Yoshitaka Mashiba, is found dead with a cup of spilled coffee next to him with traces of poison in it. His distraught mistress finds his body in his upmarket Tokyo home. Nothing suggests a forced entry and he was alone at the time of death. Was this a suicide or the perfect crime?

The mistress has a perfect alibi so the most logical suspect and the one person with a motive is Yoshitaka’s mysterious and beautiful wife Ayane. But she was visiting her parents in Hokkaido, hundreds of miles away from Tokyo. So she's out. Or is she? Things turn interesting when Kusangi, the prime detective on the case is seen falling for Ayane and develops a soft corner. Their interaction forms a key aspect in solving the crime as the detective have to overcome his personal bias towards the prospective killer.

Enter Manabu Yukawa, a physics professor who has an uncanny knack for solving crimes – Yukawa (very) slowly closes off all possible avenues of investigation before uncovering the startling truth. Helping them this time is feisty detective Utsumi who is not shy of having put her foot down with Kusangi. Conversations and conflicts between them becomes interesting and refreshingly provides a fresh female point of view on the investigation.

Those who loved author's last outing as a novelist are bound to find a similar kind of sustenance and should be excited with yet another perfect crime wrapped with grilling investigation sessions and mental games. In the end, it is not whodunit murder mystery but how the murderer has accomplished the crime which builds the core part of the narrative. It is always difficult to follow up a landmark book and this case is no exception.

Inherently Sherlock Holmes in its structure and style, the book is fast paced and requires complete attention. Obviously as a reader, you need to get acquired by Japanese names and come over every character's obsession with tea and coffee. The characters complement each other and bounce off ideas in order to reach the right conclusion about how the murder is committed and for the most part, becomes the talking point of conversation. The final conclusion do feel forced and certain loose threads does not culminate well but you are ready to take that on the chin for most of the cases. However, if you have not read is previous works, this one should be really adored.

I am going with 3.5/5 for Keigo Higashino 'Salvation of a Saint'. It is not as perfect as author's last novel, 'The Devotion of suspect X' but judging on an individual basis, it is yet another watertight, perfect crime thriller which will keep you hooked till the end. though you wish it was a little shorter and had more meat.

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

Book Review - 122 : Hunger Games

2013-04-19T14:49:00.000+05:30

Author : Suzanne Collins

Publisher : Scholastic

Confessions First. I watched the movie - Hunger Games (released March last year) before i went in reading this fantastic trilogy by Suzanne Collins. Even though i enjoyed the movie thoroughly, keeping my straight line thought of 'books-being-better-than-film-adaptation', i went in to read all three books in the past few months.

Hunger Games is written in the voice of 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in the post-apocalyptic nation of Panem, where the countries of North America once existed. The Capitol, a highly advanced metropolis, exercises political control over the rest of the nation. The Hunger Games are an annual event in which one boy and one girl aged 12–18 from each of the twelve districts surrounding the Capitol are selected by lottery to compete in a televised battle to the death. She volunteers for the 74th annual Hunger Games in place of her younger sister, Primrose. The male tribute chosen from District 12 is Peeta Mellark, a former schoolmate of Katniss who once gave her bread from his family's bakery when her family was starving.

Collins, who got inspiration to build up the trilogy by channel surfing of various reality shows on TV knows a thing or too about pacing and building up tension through the written word. Things move at such hectic speed that you need to take breaks to absorb all the drama and the action. This is not to take away the credit from the fact that there are some solid characters who reveal in this gory game of sweat, blood and character. It does portray that hypnotic level of violence but you enjoy it even though it is not real. And that's where the true victory of the book lies.

I am going with 4/5 for Suzanne Collins, Hunger Games. It is a video-game prototype book which reveal its card one by one, keeping you on tenterhooks all the time. If you haven't read it yet, you are definitely missing something in life. Go for it!

Old Notes on 'Electric Feather - The Tranquebar book of Erotic Stories'

2013-04-16T14:30:00.000+05:30

Editor : Ruchir Joshi

Publisher : Tranquebar Press

Rating : 3.5 / 5

The editor of the anthology gives the readers the background of the book in the preface, which has the curious title “Repairing Brindaban”. When he asked his select group of authors to send unpublished, original writing 'about and around the erotic and the sexual', predictably not all jumped at his proposal. Some stayed mum, some showed disdain and some thought it was beneath them to write ‘porn’. But some young, promising and upcoming authors responded with their fare which found their way into the Contents.

Samit Basu’s The Wedding Night is nothing but unadulterated sex amidst games on the night of a wedding. Sheba Karim's gentle story of a girl down on vacation, and infatuated by her aunt was subtly nuanced and written with the kind of restraint that makes writing effective. Niven Govindan's story about a pair of gay lovers in Amsterdam, who are bound to each by a painful bond of hurting and pleasure makes for fascinating reading.

Tishani Doshi and Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan, both surprise us with non-confessional stories about inexperience. In Madhavan’s story, a 27-year old man loses his virginity, courtesy of a colleague. In Doshi’s, a matronly woman in her first relationship pleasures herself on a train, text messaging her married lover through the night.

On the other hand, couple of stories completely baffled me and made me question their presence in the anthology. The one by Abeer Hoque is straight out of some research paper on sexology and is utterly distracting by the insertion of those irritating footnotes. Same with Rana Dasgupta's 'Swimming Pool' which may appear to be a bold editorial choice but failed to made an impression despite an edgy premise.

There is a nice mix of what i call as highbrow erotica for the literary snobs and titillating, drooling stuff for the young teenagers and arguably, that is the best marketing way to sell more books. There is something for everyone here. Read when your sex hormones are in over drive, guilty pleasure at its best.

Notes on Kulpreet Yadav's 'India Unlimited - Stories from a Nation caught between Hype and Hope'

2013-04-14T10:47:00.000+05:30

Author : Kulpreet Yadav

Publisher : LiFi Publications

Rating : 3 / 5

India has become a phenomenon in the contemporary world. It is capturing everyone’s attention from businessmen to Hollywood stars in the West - intriguing them and challenging their notions of what India represents. But how real is the Indian story on the ground? 'India Unlimited' is an attempt to bare the lives of the Indian people and their surroundings that define an ambivalent India trapped between Hype And Hope.

The stories are set In villages, towns and Metro cities of a country under overhaul. It is an attempt to depict pain, pleasures and prejudices of everyday Indians as they adjust to the change that fate has thrust upon them. Inspired by real life incidents, this collection slides through various themes like appalling lives of street children, new perceptions of love or hate or sex, rampant organized crime, urban disorder, corrupt politicians, Influence of western values, depraved spiritual and Yoga Gurus et. al.

Just like most short stories collections published these days, this one has its own hits and misses, but most of the stories make a mark in dealing with the central theme of portraying the gap between what Indians expect in terms of money, respect and their individual professions. It helps that quite a few of the stories have been previously published in International Journals and online magazines, and to be honest are the best bits in the book.

The stories are told in lucid, easy manner without an hint of sounding preachy which is crucial for such a work because to be honest you don't want another lesson on how one should behave or feel in a developing country like India. The author maintains sensitivity in all his stories and that's the best part of the book. However, this comes at a cost of some stories being bland and a little boring to read. In few of the stories i found focused too much on similar feelings for sex and intimation which became repetitive as the book progressed.

The stories are situated across different strata of society and that's what makes this collection a little unique and does give a feeling of cohesion. Do read if you are a fan of short stories and looking for some quick bursts of self introspection.

Notes on 'Shades of Sin : Behind the Mask'

2013-04-13T21:11:00.001+05:30

Author : Multiple

Publisher : APK Publishers

Rating : 3/5

Divided into three sections - Light Grey, Dark Grey and Black, 'Shades of Sin' consists of 25 short stories weaved around the vices like greed, lust, ego, pride, anger and jealousy. The stories encompass a gamut of writing styles and settings, contributed by 6 authors from diverse backgrounds. Even though the stories straddle a wide spectrum, there is a unifying feeling about the central theme.

'Burn' by Aanandita Chawla (AC) and 'A Woman's touch' by Vivek Banerjee (VB) brings a surprise by their spooky endings though you may see the end of the latter one coming from a mile. 'Shouting Out Loud' by Upneet Grover (UG) and 'The Blue Shoes' by Saksham Agrawal (SA) are slice of life stories which we all can relate to. 'The Butterfly effect' by UG does have an interesting narrative but the climax is a tad disappointing. 'An Illicit thought' by Sreelatha Chakravarty is arguably the best story in the anthology with emotions fluctuating from lust to jealousy and finally, culminating in an ending which very few of us can claim to guess second hand.

'For the Love of God' by UG make interesting comments about the life of a Colonel but is too short to have a strong impact. 'The Bet' by VB is standard ghost story with a predictable climax but does portray some decent atmospherics to set up the narrative. 'The Yellow Top' by VB does bring out the dark side of company politics and an unhealthy competition between colleagues even though laced with filmy tones. 'The Leap of faith' by UG takes leaf from the Mohammed Amir/ Asif no-ball spot fixing incident and builds own version of the same which keeps you guessing till the end. 'Dhaba' by SA effectively brings illuminates the vagaries of society by illuminating the irony of haves and have-nots struggling to make a living. 'Tamale's Temptation' by VB is a moralistic tale of a loyal government servant only to fall for the temptations in life and makes a point about all of us who have decided to take the easy way over the hard choices sometimes we have to make. 'Standing Tall' by UG, again a slice of life portrays the emotions of a person through everyday actions on road. 'Three lives' by AC narrates complex relationships between three people and even though it is well narrated, it has have been there, read that feeling to it. 'Ping by VB brings the facet of online chats and how it diffuses complexity in the larger scheme of relationships.

'The city never sleeps' by VB is edgy thriller story about a prostitute in Kolkata who has a secret behind her inner mode. 'Versions of Reality' by Vrinda Baliga portrays the thin line between reality and illusion and how relationships mirror that. 'A reason to Smile' by SA portrays the dark side of human nature behind that innocent smile. 'Virtual Love' by VB borders around the thin line between sexual perversion and an unhealthy obsession towards porn. 'The Slight of While by UG deals with an interesting premise with narrative alternating between reality and dreams.

The limitation of the anthology is that it makes excessive use of Peripeteia and Anagnorisis to tell the stories so that by the time you have read a few initial ones, you almost start putting a feeling of disbelief to the characters. Because you know their actions and feelings will not exactly be the same by the climax as expected as the authors are quite keen on having that surprise ending to tell their tales. This in turn, brings a predictability factor which may be avoided if you read the book in different sittings.

You will experience a variety of feelings while reading this book. A few will leave you disgusted and tempted, others will keep you engaged and hooked. But most of the unpredictable ones will leave you satisfied as a reader. There are very few writers these days who want to try something different and make a genuine difference by their writing. This is one such initiative. Go for it!

Book Review - 121 : Tantra

2013-04-11T13:20:00.000+05:30

Author : Adi

Publisher : Apeejay Satya

Anu is a leather wearing, no-nonsense professional guardian with a reputation for killing the most dangerous vampires in New York City. But when her enemies murder the one person she truly cared about, all she wants is vengeance. The only clue points to New Delhi, so Anu puts in for a job transfer.

In India, she finds more than she expected. For one thing, her fellow operatives have made a truce with the vampires. For another, it’s way too hot to wear leather. At first, it seems Anu’s biggest challenge will be evading the nice boys her aunt wants her to marry. But when children start disappearing, she discovers forces older and darker than anything she’s faced before. All of Delhi is in danger, especially the sexy stranger who sets Anu’s pulse racing. To prepare for the coming battle, Anu must overcome her personal demons and put aside years of training. This time, her most powerful weapon will come from her mind, not her weapons belt.

The book falls under multiple categories - mystical fiction, vampires, supernatural stuff and a super-heroine. And there lies the biggest flaw of the book. It tries to grapple with so many sub-plots in one go that either the characters/situations remain under cooked or have very little significance to the narrative. Delhi seems to have picked as the city to pan out this story, but clearly this could have been any city. No place seems familiar and a passing reference of West (or central or North) Delhi makes fleeting appearances. The author place the story in Delhi but very few of us can claim to know of the city by the cafes and restaurants these characters interact and do all the action.

There is very little background given for Anu's vampire abilities and even though this may not have been necessary...with supposedly the first book in the series, it was crucial to build a relationship of your central protagonist with the readers. The author drowns the narrative by introducing so many tantric and spiritual stuff, you feel like an atheist sitting in a pravachan and don't know how to get out of it. Coming with a tacky cover design, the story starts briskly but takes too many detours to reach its ultimate destination.

It is not that books is a trash. There is some fun in the conversations of Anu and Amit, a fellow vampire. With dry and witty humour, these conversations keep you engrossed for a while. There is abundant research done for the mystical stuff but somehow it never becomes sum of its parts. The author takes a right step in the direction by going in an unknown territory as far as Indian fiction is concerned but botch it up by inundating the readers with too much of information in one go.

I am going with 2.5/5 for Adi's 'Tantra'. It introduces a strong and interesting central character but concentrates more on the action than treatment of these characters. This book silently reminded me why i have always hated the 'Twilight Series' so much. Much ado about nothing. Read it at your own risk!

PS: The author mentions the website on the book and is lazy enough not to make one, instead directing towards the Facebook page of the book.

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

Book Review - 120 : One Last Time

2013-04-10T12:53:00.000+05:30

Author : Shubham Arora

Publisher : Paper Clip Books

Ishaan and Tithi grow up together in Ambala, meet again in Delhi and fall in love. They get into a long distance relationship because Ishaan has to move to New York for his studies. One fine day, Ishaan gets a phone call from Tithi who is about to be married and he sets off to meet her on a flight. From there on, the narrative alternates between past and the present and takes us through their love life from their childhood till date.

In between, there is a cricketer angle thrown in. A cricket match rambles on for a good 10 pages which does nothing to add to the story. In fact, there are many detours which does not contribute much to the main naarative. And there lies the biggest problem of the book. It is just a collection of scenes pieced together with little thinking behind how to unfold drama in these scenes. In the end, it just read so familiar and borderline boring.

The book is ultimately saved by some sort of chemistry between the lead pair. There in genuine sincerity in the frustration and anxiety portrayed for the long distance relationship and author does make a pertinent point how young couple find it exceedingly difficult to handle the LDR and the physical non-proximity. But Alas, you can't say the same about other things. A nicely done cover page, however, aptly describes the story and captures the various time zones the narrative incorporates.

I am going with 2/5 for Shubham Arora's second novel, 'One Last Time'. If you are fan of mass-fiction romantic books, go for it. Otherwise it will be met out with a lot of disappointment because it has very little to offer new in terms of action or treatment.

Book Review - 119 : Behind The Silicon Mask

2013-04-09T11:26:00.000+05:30

Author : Eshwar Sundaresan

Publisher : Westland

A techie community of around two hundred Indians stationed in Milwaukee suddenly finds itself under a siege. On a fateful Friday, a cyclonic snowstorm Super Susan is breaking winter records outside their windows. And beyond, somewhere in the inky darkness, a serial killer who targets immigrants is on the loose. An indiscreet TV journalist inadvertently has already informed him that almost the entire community resides within a three- block radius in downtown Milwaukee.

Two young techies belonging to the community - Partho Sen and Varun Belthangady are particularly under threat. Unaware of this fact, they carry on as usual. Varun must deliver a crucial software application for his Fortune-500 client before the weekend ends. Meanwhile, Partho must confront his inner demons to save the most important relationships in his life.

They must deal with these urgent needs, even as they deal with their rapacious corporate employer, an overambitious boss, unpredictable events unfolding in the living rooms and bedrooms of their colleagues and the effects of the most potent cocktail in the world. There is one man who can save them yet from the serial killer - Detective Farley of the Milwaukee Police Department. But will the serial killer prove too clever even for him?

The author touches upon certain points in the IT industry deftly - How a corporate deadline is so important that it may overlook a hidden danger to its employees? The author also touches upon how the power of public relations is able to make a company or an individual; what one sees is not always what the reality is. How employees at times push themselves too much in their jobs keeping their personal lives at stake? How IT employees deal with long distance relationships in the onsite-offshore model and how their libidos play funny games with them?

Good thing is that these points are subtly introduced and resolved, and this not-in-your-face treatment works wonderfully for the book. There are moments of loud thinking and deep introspection (a-lizard-in-the-room sequence) which add layers to both the book and the characters. It has took author almost 10 years to write the book and you can feel the umpteen number of twists and turns thrown in to keep the readers engrossed and hooked. The narrative works on a terrific pace and with around 10-15 main characters, it becomes an interesting account of keeping a tab on all of them.

What does not work for the book is over-mention of the IT language with details of production testing and bug-fixing thrown in like routine stuff. People who are not familiar with this kind of jargon will find it tough to sift through the pages as it will become difficult to comprehend the urgency and be aware of a critical situation. Also, it would not have hurt to kept the number of characters to a minimum, including couple of sub-plots of romantic relationships.

I am going with 3/5 for Eshwar's 'Behind the Silicon Mask'. It is a well researched fast pace thriller which will hook you from the beginning till its abstract ending. Read it, you will be pleasantly surprised with its tone and refreshing take on IT Industry.

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

Old Notes on Saumya Bhattacharya's 'Dad's the Word : The Perils and Pleasures of Fatherhood'

2013-04-04T21:45:00.000+05:30

Author : Soumya Bhattacharya

Publisher : Westland

Rating : 2.5 / 5

“You don’t know suffering until you have children. You don’t know joy. You don’t know boredom, you don’t know — period,” says Philip Roth in The Anatomy Lesson. Soumya Bhattacharya’s book, Dad’s The Word: The Perils And Pleasures Of Fatherhood, not only quotes Roth but is rooted in the belief that becoming a father changes you forever.

Dad’s The Word does not profess to be a book on parenting, a treatise about fathering or any sort of go-to guide. It is simply a languorous unravelling of Bhattacharya’s most intensely private thoughts, fears and observations about being a father and more specifically, an entirely personal recounting of being his daughter’s father.

The author is not shy of self-exploration with his daughter as co-traveller, student and teacher on this great journey. How do you explain money and financial matters (why we dont live in a bigger house with more things) to a child who is growing up in the countrys financial capital? How do you ban television-viewing when there isnt a great outdoors for your child to explore? Is it ok to give your nine-year-old an occasional sip of beer and wine? How do you explain the death of a pet? How do you justify your refusal to quit smoking?

The book is easy to read. It reflects on the whole parenting issues without making a heavy production out of it. It answers questions, leaves behind more questions and is prepared to face whatever situation that arrives in parenting. Therefore in one way parenting makes one bold, daring and responsible. To be able to think on their feet and to be able to answer convincingly, questions that are difficult to answer and learn to even evade the uncomfortable ones.

The problem with the book is that pontificates a little too much, inundated with too much information about English writers and their classic works, in turn making the prose turgid. He also does not delve at all among the most important facet of Parenting - Sibling rivalry. No fatherhood can be complete without dealing with this important and exclusive theme. Read it for some of the insightful portions as the book is cut from his weekly columns. But as the writer says, "Anyone could have written this book". In the hindsight, after reading the book, may be yes!

Quick Notes on 'Alchemy - The Tranquebar Book of Erotic Stories 2'

2013-04-01T21:16:00.000+05:30

Editor : Sheeba Karim

Publisher : Tranquebar Press

Rating : 3/5

The editor builds on a basic premise. So many elements of ourselves come together in the act of sex: skin and bodily fluids, desire, fear, greed, joy, stigma, pride, affection, guilt, often in the hopes of creating something more beautiful, our personal elixirs of life, however temporary, however permanent. In Alchemy, Tranquebar's second anthology of erotic short stories, editor Sheba Karim has brought together thirteen diverse works about the pains and pleasures of sex. The stories traverse through various continents, cultures, cities, genres, sexual orientation and milieu, taking the reader on an intimate journey through the complexities of sex, lust, and desire as the characters search for a cure for the alchemy of love.

Stories here does provide novelty and innovative ideas (including a futuristic tale of a four gendered orgy). Sexual passion, in its subtle forms, though play a central role while narrating these stories. Like many short story collections dealing with erotica, there are low and high points. This one is no different though i must quickly add that the high points are really strong and does invoke an emotion of passion.

The book starts with an unapologetic account of a postmodern man's attraction to his maid and ends with a libido-fill husband (whose wife had a recent miscarriage) encounter with a call girl who desperately wants to see Taj Mahal next year. There is a poignant tale of a boy's sexual awakening in a cinema bathroom and a lyrical meditation of a mysterious woman's carnal lessons to an imprisoned monk. My personal favourite, however remain the story about a male who is trapped in the body of a female and finds sexual solace in an abusive relationship with a college drop-out and budding politician. It has raw energy and touches an indescribable emotion about such people.

I particularly found couple of stories dealing with foreigners or Indian people in foreign location overly complex and turgid. They do not particularly hold my interest but it seems a little rude to the writers/publisher who have gone out of their way to bring out an erotica yet again to warm up your senses. Do give it a chance but with a caveat of not liking every story you read here.

Book Review - 118 : A Free Man

2013-03-31T19:36:00.000+05:30

[This book review has been done in association with Random House India and India Book Store]

Author : Aman Sethi

Publisher : Vintage Books / Random House India

Rating : 5 / 5

‘A Free Man’ by Aman Sethi is humorous yet disturbing work of non-fiction. The main subject of this remarkable work of reportage is Mohammed Ashraf, a 40-year-old safediwallah (painter) and construction worker. Sethi, a journalist with The Hindu, first encounters Ashraf while working on a story about various ‘types’ of construction workers (namely mistrys, beldars, karigars, mazdoor, rickshaw-pullers, plumbers). Subsequently, when he needed personnel for a research project he’d taken up on “the life of the labourer”, he goes back to Ashraf.

Over a period of time, he forms a bond with Ashraf and his labourer friends — the crazy Lalloo, the muscular Rehaan, the dying Satish, Kaka - the tea seller, and many others. He smokes with them, drinks with them, gets stoned with them, and becomes more involved in the lives of his subjects than a journalist might be expected to during a project.

Ashraf has made a living as a butcher and tailor; he’s sold lemons and lottery tickets, but in another life he could well have been a philosopher. His musings offer deep insights into the struggle and, poignantly, the solitude of poverty. Trapped by his almost complete lack of power, he’s obsessed with exercising the little power he does have.

About 90% of India’s working population belongs to the unorganised sector, and people like Ashraf would figure close to the bottom of this level. Indeed, the labourer class exists in the consciousness of the country’s elite more as statistic and subject of policy debates, than as living people with names and even lives. The achievement of Sethi’s book is to extract a person from that statistic and paint his life in all its moving humanness.

The most poignant passage in the book appears after Sethi has extracted from Ashraf what he had wanted right from Day 1 — the ‘timeline’ of his life. By then, in five years, Ashraf is now in a TB hospital, weakened by the disease, exhausted by the treatment.

The labourer tells the journalist, “That’s it, Aman bhai. Now you know everything about me — sab kuch. Like a government form: name, date of birth, mother’s name, place of residence, everything. Our faces are pasted in your notebook, our voices are locked in your recorder — me, Lalloo, Rehaan, Kaka, JP Pagal, everyone. Now you know everything. What will we talk about if we ever meet again?”

It is moments like these in the book which are so rich of irony and tragedy that your heart will go out to these characters. It conveys truth of the nation but unfortunately, common people like you and me can do little to improve the situation. The one who can i.e. government and the bureaucrats do little to ameliorate the current condition of the lowest strata and as a result, they are stuck and suck in the vicious circle of poverty. This piece of narrative non-fiction abundantly illustrates the sickening gap between the rich and the poor. A must read!

[The review first appeared on the Bookish - The IndiaBook Store blog. You can read the whole review here]

Book Review - 117 : From the eye of my mind

2013-03-30T09:33:00.000+05:30

[The following book review has been done in association with Random House India and India Book Store]

Author : TGC Prasad

Publisher : Ebury Press / Random House India

Mallika, an eighteen year old, is a very intelligent but autistic girl, who remembers everything a person tells or she reads in books or the Internet including the trivia. She stores all the collected information in folders and sub-folders in her computer. She organizes the information with proper cross-reference and dates. She can memorize things in menu cards and remember details in the telephone directories. Mallika also likes solving puzzles. She attends class in a special-school where her friend Swati, another special girl gives her company.

Mallika lives in a strangely whimsical yet ordered world of her own. When her mother breaks the news to her that her beloved elder brother Ananth is going to get married, her fragile world collapses. How will she deal with a stranger in her home and life? The author displays great research in getting into the mind of Mallika – narrating her insecurities, her instincts, her fears and her genuine confusion at the helm of things. There are few really touching scenes – like the one in which she boards a bus in order to get away from the mess of being in the company of a stranger (Ananth’s fiancée) and finds herself saved by a nun. Or the one in which she finally accepts the new member in her family.

The book makes a pertinent point about how autistic people need social acceptance and a right to lead a life of dignity; if handled with care, love and patience. Where it falters slightly is the final act – where it goes well in establishing the world of Mallika but the climax is just too simplistic and it appears that the author did not wanted to take the difficult path to end this interesting story. The whole point of accepting a child with special ability by sacrificing your own financial and emotional security is plain rubbish and could have been dealt with more maturity.

Length has always been a problem with Prasad’s books and this one is no exception. There are just too many self-referencing and quizzical portions which are fine to start with in an order to explain the world from Mallika’s point of view but when it keeps on going on an infinite loop, it is distracting and adds very little to the flow of the story in totality.

Told in an inimitable style, it is a tale of acceptance, love and indeed, a beautiful mind. I am going with 3/5 for TGC Prasad's second fiction novel. Read it because it has been well researched and told. You just wish it was a lot shorter and had a more bolder and meaningful ending.

[The review first appeared on the Bookish - The IndiaBook Store blog. You can read the whole review here]

Notes on 'Love, Peace and Happiness : What more can you want?'

2013-03-19T21:30:00.000+05:30

Author : Rituraj Verma

Publisher : Jufic Books / Lead start Publishing

Rating : 3 / 5

Gently wafting through 9 short stories in the book will make you feel like the real potential of these stories has been squandered off in order to be experimental by providing alternate endings on the author website. Inherently, 'Chicken Soup for the Soul' in spirit each story centres on the life of an urban middle class character caught in a set of circumstances beyond his or her control. The stories are about common people and their circumstances are some thing which we all have come across in our daily lives.

'A high like heaven' is about a young couple taking a leisure tip to the hills, only to find themselves entangled in mystery and myths of a wild flower. The husband becomes obsessed with the flower, suitably instigated by the tour guide only to teach a lesson of life at the end of the quest.

'The Practitioner of Austerity', arguably the best of the lot skilfully displays the vagaries of life. It emphasis the importance of living for yourself first and then look out to help others. Only once you remove the obstacles from your own life and achieve a modicum of satisfaction, you can look forward in contributing a semblance of happiness around your loved ones.

'The Intimacy of Space' sets up an interesting 'Big Boss' like premise with multiple characters introduced as participants along with a couple who are in a live-in relationship and are at crossroads how to take it to the next step. The build up to the climax is even but the ending is abrupt making you wonder what the fuss was all about in the first place.

'The Night of the affair' is about a one night stand waiting to be explored and turned into a full blown romance. Sincerely written, it has undertones of erotica and emotional chaos which make the characters full flesh and blood human beings waiting to be heard. The ending may surprise a few people, but it does remain in sync with the central theme of the book.

'The Soul Mate Theorist' start will make you feel like being thrown in a philosophy class with your hands tied down and the main point of contention gets buried under preachy chatter between two friends. Lines here are over-stressed and dialogues heavily over written. Could have done with much better editing and execution. Another case where the excitement of having an alternate ending has taken its toll on the story execution.

'The pursuit of perfection', the last story in the book wraps up the collection explaining why author decided to wrote this collection in the first place. It displays the emotional turmoil of the protagonist in his life and brings a nice round up to the book.

The book tries to make some bones about the heavy duty stuff of love, peace and internal happiness but the tone is mostly surface level and do get preachy at times. There are multiple portions which are trite and forced in. I also could not found even one alternate ending appealing on the author website which in turn completely defeats the purpose for these experimental reads. But if you are looking for some deep voice reparations by reading short stories, give it a chance. You will not be entirely disappointed.

PS: Read the way the stories end in the book, but if you don't agree with the ending, find some new endings or write one of your own.

Notes on 'Lost Libido and other Gulp Stories'

2013-03-16T20:28:00.002+05:30

[This post first appeared on the website Zapondo]

Author : Salil Desai

Publisher : Fingerprint

Rating : 3.5/5

‘Lost Libido and Other Gulp fiction’ wades through multiple short stories voicing the lives of several thousand people across the country, living the urban region. It is easy to relate to most stories since they are slice of life stories but single-mindedly sets out to dwell on the darker side of humans. It captures these very moments in the literary equivalent of a mouthful of flavor to be savored and easily consumed i.e gulp fiction.

You can read the whole review here.

Notes on 'Urban Shots - The Love Collection'

2013-03-02T12:25:00.000+05:30

Rating : 3.5 / 5

Publisher : Grey Oak / Westland
Edited by : Sneh Thakur

With 31 stories contributed by 27 authors, Urban Shots - The Love Collection is an interesting anthology of short stories that traverse's the magnitude of love and will make you smile once in a while as you read on since there’s a lot you’ll be able to relate to- not because you've been in similar situations but because love is cuts across all barriers of location, culture, language and gender!

Ira Trivedi’s 'In Love With A Stranger' talks about a bride’s conflicting emotions on her wedding day. Lipi Mehta’s 'Twisted' on the other hand tells us how love is equally strong among gay lovers. 'A Good Day' by Richa. S. Chatterjee is the tale of a young married couple whose feelings for each other are rekindled after a rather devastating experience. '32 B' by Varsha Suman had an undertone of lust and was an entertaining read. 'Pause, Rewind, Play' by Shoma Narayanan question the acceptance of homosexuality in India.

My personal favourite, however is 'Sahana or Shamim', written by Sangeeta Bandyopadhay and translated by Arunava Sinha. It takes an unusual fetish and turn it on its head by roping in a love story across a suffocated marriage. Along with this, 'The Jhalmuri Seller' by Bhabani Shankar Kar and 'Sleepless in Night' by Mona Ramavat create genuine pathos and a credibility that is hard to ignore. Some of the dispappointing ones, though comes from the senior writers - 'Coffee?' and 'Rishta' by Ahmed Faiyaz are predictable and you can guess the climax from the word go.

Overall, the anthology has most of the areas covered as far as emotion of love is concerned. Read it on a day when your romantic hormones are in an over drive and you are bound to enjoy it even more. You will like it, just don't keep your expectations too high.

Notes on 'Urban Shots - Crossroads'

2013-02-18T11:19:00.000+05:30

Edited by : Ahmed Faiyaz

Publisher : Grey Oak / Westland

Rating: 2.5/5

Urban Shots – Crossroads, is a collection of 30 urban stories by 26 authors. Edited by Ahmed Faiyaz, it delves into the commotion, conflict and upheaval in the lives of interesting and colourful characters in urban India. The book boldly reveals the good, the bad and the ugly that exist in our society. Though it’s a work of fiction, the stories expose the realistic world of urban lives and talk about different aspects like relationships, love, depression, friendship, infidelity and longing.

All of the characters and situations used in the stories are almost extracts out of the everyday. The circumstances are real so that you tend to live the story rather than just read it. A matter of shame however is how a majority of the tales start out beautifully; build up to a point of thrilling engagement but fall flat towards the end.The style is heavily cinema inspired and immaturely believes that heavy descriptions and an incessant use of adjectives somehow translates to a better, more poignant read.

Premanand’s Yoga Class by Paritosh Uttam is about a mild mannered doctor whose love for yoga makes him infamous on TV and the writer also takes a dig at the mob psychology and yellow journalism. The Pink Slip is a succinct tale of a project manager, whose job is to fire programmers from work during recession, is faced with a similar predicament. Plummet by Avani Rajesh and Pranav Mukul is a terrifyingly beautiful mix of innocence, boldness and naivety. Song of the Summer Bird by Anita Satyajit is the tale of a delightful little 8-year old whose love for books leads her on to explore new territories. Mind Games by Manisha Dhingra has a terrific twist in the end and is difficult to second guess. Jump Didi by Sharath Komarraju has a social cause hidden which requires immediate introspection.

Overall, there are very few stories that will leave you inspired, most of them are dull and drab and leaves you with a feeling of disappointment.

Book Review - 116 : Chanakya's New Manifesto

2013-02-15T19:52:00.000+05:30

Author : Pavan K. Varma

Publisher : Aleph Book Company

Former diplomat-turned writer, poet and now budding politician Pavan Kumar Varma adds to existing repertoire with his formidable collection of India volumes like "Ghalib: The Man, The Times", "Krishna: The Playful Divine", "The Great Indian Middle Class", "Being Indian: The Truth About Why the 21st Century Will be India's", "Becoming Indian: The Unfinished Revolution and Culture and Identity" and "When Loss is Gain". Varma's new book, "Chanakya's New Manifesto: To Resolve Crisis Within India", is a journey through the ideological terrain of modern India striving to streamline governance, hone the democratic apparatus to make it more inclusive, purge corruption and instal foolproof security - key areas that continue to throw up fresh challenges 66 years after Independence.

The book is a reflection on ideas of change that the writer says is meant for youngsters - aged between 15 and 35 - to draw them into the functioning of the country and join the refrain against rot. The narrative is in the voice of one of the greatest thinkers and teachers in Indian history - Chanakya - as his response to the various crises that beset modern India.What would Chanakya do if confronted with the various crises that beset contemporary India? Using this question as the starting point for his new book, writer has drawn up a practical and detailed plan, modelled on the Arthashashtra, to bring about reform and change in five key areas that require urgent attention governance, democracy, corruption, security, and the building of an inclusive society.

Whether it is laying the foundation for an independent and effective Lokpal, or decriminalizing politics and successfully weeding out the corrupt, the solutions he proposes are substantive, well within the constitutional framework, and can make all the difference between intent and action. Varma’s Chanakya prescribes setting up of a five-member Governance Appraisal Panel (GAP) which will independently evaluate the performance of the government and submit annual report to the President of India. According to the suggestion in the book, the GAP should comprise a leading economist or a corporate sector personality, a distinguished journalist, a respected former bureaucrat, an academic of eminence in the field of governance, and a retired chief justice of India or a retired Supreme Court judge. And they should be picked up by a selection panel comprising Prime Minister of India, the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, and the Chief Justice of India.

I am going with 3/5 for Pavan K. Varma 'Chanakya's New Manifesto'. It is gripping for the most part and does well in collating together the pointers to each of the five foundations of India. As far as the politics and economy is concerned, it doesn't tell you very much that you don't know already. Read it for a comprehensive quick recap of what is so wrong with India and effective measures how it can be improved in the future.

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

Special 26 & the no-heroine clause

2013-02-12T19:31:00.000+05:30

I absolutely loved Neeraj Pandey's debut movie - 'A Wednesday' and it remains one of my most favourite movies of last decade. And i hate to acknowledge, i did went in to see 'Special 26' this week with bit of expectations and even though i loved major portion of it, certain bits left me terribly disappointed.

Everybody walks in the movie. Brisk walk. Slow walk. Walk with smug. Walk with style. Walk when anxious. Walk when excited. There is so much walking in the movie that you tend to forget at times that there are certain absolute gem of nuances quietly seeped in the screenplay. My most favourite scene of the movie, however, remains the action sequence for the introduction of Manoj Vajpayee in a rechristened 1980's CP. Watch the subtle things of art design - 'Only Vimal' Logo, those old number plates on the auto or even the blue line buses, those cleaner passages without hawkers and many more.

What ultimately ruined a fairly good movie was the romantic track of Akshay Kumar with Kajal which does nothing but give some cheap reason of redemption to the central protagonist. Not to forget, it slows down the narrative and sucks energy out of otherwise fairly brisk proceedings. May be time has come for Bollywood to say a no-heroine (or no-hero, if the script demands ala Kahaani) clause to their films. Putting a romantic character just for the sake of it is so frigging irritating. May be that's why we will never be able to match up to the Hollywood potential. At least, in terms of script vision.

Notes on 'Urban Shots - Bright Lights'

2013-02-08T09:21:00.000+05:30

Edited by : Paritosh Uttam

Rating : 2.5/5

Urban Shots Bright Lights, a collection of 29 urban tales by 21 writers is a collection of short stories edited by Paritosh Uttam, author of Dreams in Prussian Blue and editor of the first Urban Shots collection. This anthology contains stories contributed by various authors and captures the numerous hues of life in modern urban India, alive with a cacophony of sounds, kaleidoscopic colours, dizzying heights, blinding lights and a fast paced life.

'Amul' By Arvind Chandrasekhar is a beautifully narrated first person account of a terminally ill girl.The sensitivity with which the innocence of a class five student is captured and subtly combined with the harsh reality she is facing is wonderfully reflected in the writing. Alabama to Wyoming, by Paritosh Uttam mocks Indians' USA obsession, as well as our presumed right to cheat Americans of their money, all in the backdrop of a visit to the Taj. The Wall by Saurabh Katiyal is an evocatively written description of ennui that strikes a young corporate executive and is most heart warming. The Raincoat by Rashmi Shah is a sensitive narration of mother and daughter relationship to make the ends meet. The Bengal Tigress by Malathi Jaikumar is based on subtle emancipation of women similar to her previous works. Mr. Koshi's Daily Routine by John Mathew is a touching and plaintive portrait of a sad, bitter man forced to conform and compromise all his life because of the demands of family and expectations.

The Weeping Girl by Kunal Dhablia and Jo Diktha hain, Woh Bikta hain by Sneh Thakur are predictable and you can see their climax from a mile. It's All Good by Ahmed Faiyaz does nothing to redeem his writing ability, being a silly little morality tale on spending beyond your limit set in a sales dept in an organization. In fact, apart from Mr.Perierra which tricks you into a sentimental hole, remaining 2 other stories by him (Across the seas & Good Morning Nikhil) raises questions the process of putting in below average stories in order to allow one author to give family tributes. Even Ready, Jet Set Go! seems to be borne out of popularity of other mass market fiction writers rather than contributing any genuine pathos.

There are few gems in the book, rest of them fails to match up to that high. As is the case with most anthologies, some stories were better than others. This will differ for each person, of course, based on personal taste. However, all the stories maintain similar writing styles, being informal even when talking about serious issues. The brightest thing about the book is the front cover which brings around the central theme effectively.

Notes on 'Down the Road'

2013-02-06T19:37:00.000+05:30

Editors : Ahmed Faiyaz and Rohini Kejriwal

Rating : 2.5/5

The book is divided into four sections with 28 stories by 16 authors, which brings to a personal reservation - Why only 16 authors and 28 stories when 9 stories from 1 author (some of them below average) has clearly been squeezed in the anthology. Surely a publishing house wanting to give opportunities to young writers should have taken care of this. On top of this, one short story - 'Between friends' from Urban Shots has been repeated in this anthology and two short stories has been put in as a novel extract purely as a marketing gimmick. The two essays in the end are poorly researched, catering to the 'nepotism' masses instead of really getting into the details of social repercussion of the college romance in fiction books or cinema.

The individual authors have explored many different facets of campus life including elections, politics, ragging, teachers, passions, lessons, crushes, and placements. Most stories end up adopting gimmicks or by surrendering to clichés, boldly presuming that by adding college lingo, the characters would become representative of campus life. They merely touch upon themes which works well in short story format, but ultimately leaves you hanging with amateurish finish off style.

Some of the stories, however make a strong impression. Bellow Yellow by Chinmayi Bali has a dark, yet tender detailing about the well being of a student. The cafe with No Name by Sneh Thakur explores a heart warming relationship between its owner and one of the students from the college. An Accidental Start by Kunal Dhabalia bring alive a layered, beautiful relationship between student and teacher. Stranger in Strange Places by Abhijit Bhaduri could have been longer, but the makes an impact with its freshness during the stay. Rishi & Me by Ira Trivdei throws in a dark emotional punch while Sororicide by Paritosh Uttam once again shows the versatility of the writer.

Overall, you will feel disappointed with most of the stories and will give you a feel of been there, read that. Read if you are looking for a light read or desperately want to take that nostalgia trip down the memory lane.

Book Review - 115 : The Krishna Key

2013-02-05T18:44:00.000+05:30

Author : Ashwin Sanghi

Publisher : Westland

Forty-five-year old professor Ravi Mohan Saini, who teaches the history of mythology at St. Stephen's College, is the unlikely sleuth who scouts on the trail of a "poor" little rich boy Taraak who believes he is Kalki. In Sanghi's theology tale, Kalki is a serial killer who embarks on his bloody journey with the murder of Anil Varshney, a young symbolist in Rajasthan. Varshney is Saini's oldest friend. And his murder at the beginning of the narrative - a la "The Da Vinci Code" - becomes the spur in Saini's life, turning him into a sort of Robert Langdon, the star of Dan Brown's cult classic - looking for clues to the gruesome death.

He must breathlessly dash from the submerged remains of Dwarka and the mysterious lingam of Somnath to the icy heights of Mount Kailash, in a quest to discover the cryptic location of Krishna’s most prized possession. From the sand-washed ruins of Kalibangan to a Vrindavan temple destroyed by Aurangzeb, Saini must also delve into antiquity to prevent a gross miscarriage of justice.

The pace of the novel is brisk and the cross over between the fact and the fiction is engrossing all through the narrative. Problem is, it goes on for too long. The real motive of the heist is buried under clatter of over-exacting details, over simplified descriptions and religious jargons that seems to progress ad nausea. It had to be much shorter and less flabby to have better impact on the readers. The characters change loyalties at the drop of hat in turn hurting the genuineness of these characters.

The Bollywood-style flashbacks to the fabled stories of the Mahabharata at the beginning of every chapter are an unnecessary break to the story, which barely seems to flow at a steady pace in the first place. I understand that this is a story about Krishna and there are certain chapters where the similarities are obvious in terms of actions and characteristics, but still such kind of spoon feeding about the retelling of Mahabharata from the point of view of Krishna is quite unnecessary in a thriller genre novel. In the end, it just adds to the length of the book and something with which author could have done without.

I am going with 2.5/5 for Ashwin Sanghi's 'The Krishna Key'. It is a major let down by one of the promising authors of recent time. It is an exercise in excess which ultimately turns out to be just a mixture of fact and fiction without achieving much in terms of plot and working as a strong thriller. Read it only for some interesting religious connotations.

Book Review - 114 : RIP

2013-02-03T20:14:00.000+05:30

Author : Mukul Deva

Publisher : Westland

R.I.P. The Resurgent Indian Patriots. Self appointed guardians of a nation seething with anger at the endless scams and scandals rocking its very foundation. Vigilantes who vow to stop corrupt politicians and colluding civil servants. Even if it means killing them. Colonel Krishna Athawale and his team of Special Forces officers rally to protect the country from the enemy within. They call themselves the K-Team. Team is a self appointed guardian of nation and is fed up of current political structure, corruption and scenario of the country. They want Jan Lokpal bill to be passed and a lot of other demands which they keep in front of GOI and want them act on them immediately. And no one is safe from their deadly intent which is illustrated by three murders committed in three days with prior hints given about the targets.

Hellbent on stopping the K-team is Raghav Bhagat, rogue para commando, gun for hire and Krishna’s bête noir. Caught in the crossfire is Vinod Bedi, Special Director CBI. Reena Bhagat, a glamorous news anchor, embittered by her husband’s betrayal. And two young boys, Sachin and Azaan, torn apart by the loss of a parent. Playing across various plot lines and back stories, the narrative unfolds briskly and gives you various high points which stays with you.

The reason for the whole insurgency is something with which we can all relate to - corruption portrayed by the wily politicians and the influence of such douche bags on the Indian society and economy. The author cleverly mixes the fact and the fiction with almost all the characters pulled out directly from the Indian army and political milieu with names changed, of course. You are always second guessing who is who in the middle of some strong ideas and action against the wrong doers.

The personal turmoil the people involved in defense might face has been portrayed very delicately. The acute qualities they develop, the amazing sensory abilities they possess is just aptly described. The angst of losing a beloved, the anxiety of a bad relationship, the joy of finding new love, the blind trust shared between the team, the connection between true friends, the stress even kids go through is all excellently rendered by the author.

But the narrative slows down when the writer concentrates too much on brewing romance between the two lead protagonists which takes away from the fast pace of the thriller. There is also a lack of closure on lot of the characters in the climax and epilogue seems poorly etched out with specific details about the K-Team deliberately edited out in the hope of a sequel to the book.

So, that's 3.5/5 for Mukul Deva's 'R.I.P'. Barring a few sentimental detours, it is a hard hitting thriller which is fast paced and keep you turning pages as you go along. It is a crime thriller with comes with a solid ideology with it. Worth your time and money!

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

Notes on 'Mumbai Noir'

2013-02-02T20:00:00.000+05:30

Editor : Altaf Tyrewala

Publisher : Harper Collins (India)

Rating : 3.5/5

There has been a steady spate of Mumbai-centric books in the past few years prominent of them being 'The Maximum City', 'Sacred Games' and 'Shantaram'. Edited by Altaf Tyrewala, the stories in this new anthology choose to walk the dark, seedy and twisted by lanes of Mumbai that are generally obscured by the bright lights and upright skyscrapers.

In his introduction to the book, Tyrewala writes that “What inoculates the stories in this collection from the hyperbole of ‘maximum city’... are the restraints set by the noir genre, which stipulates, among other things, anunflinching gaze at the underbelly, withoutrecourse to sentimentality or forced denouements”.

Tyrewala’s claim is not entirely true: There is sentimentality in the book, in the use of ‘Mumbai characters’ like corrupt cops, tough-talking detectives, hijras and dance bar girls, and there are forced denouements as well, when a terrorist’s wife meets a victim, or a depressed housewife snaps. But what is true is that this is an unflinching gaze at Mumbai that makes you, sometimes, flinch. The themes are predictable: drugs, sex, prostitution, eunuch-cop nexuses, confused sexuality and the casualness of brutality and crime.

There are two stories about hijras in the collection dealt with the same milieu, albeit from divergent perspectives. Two stories also feature dance bars and two stories deal with persecuted Muslim characters. The scenes conjured are vivid enough though and sure to provoke many a moment of déjà vu for those familiar with the city. Like in Jerry Pinto’s ‘They’, a story of the habits and politics of a neighbourhood gym that are uncovered when a gym trainer is murdered. Or Paromita Vohra’s ‘The Romantic Customer’, a first-person narrative of young love and betrayal, set in the ubiquitous cyber café. Tyrewala’s ‘The Watchman’, about a building watchman waiting for an impending death, captures a sense of the irrational fear that can sometimes swamp us in a city where death is ever-present. And then there’s the horror of the home, like in Namita Devidayal’s ‘The Egg’, a satirical tale on what happens with the discovery of a single egg in a ‘vegetarians-only’ building.

At Leopold Cafe by Kalpish Ratna comes as a disappointment from the credible duo and the narrative seems to be straight out of their another book, Quarantine Papers. Ratan-Ramratan story will be difficult to understand for the readers who have not read their earlier work.

There is variety here but that makes the literary quality somewhat erratic. The anthology does, however, succeed in reflecting the dark side of Mumbai with a great deal of authenticity. Don't read with too many expectations, specially if you have read Delhi Noir before.