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Title: Messiah Modi? A Tale of Great Expectations

When I first came across the book, I was really intrigued by the title, Messiah Modi? The author, Tavleen Singh is one among India’s most influential political journalists and commentators. Prior to this I had not read any of her books but I came across a few of her columns. So her sudden change in writing in terms of allegiance attracted my attention and I decided to read the book. Initially a staunch supporter of Narendra Modi, Singh never hesitated to openly praise Modi, his government and policies. Interestingly, the author, in this chronicle, questions herself, if she vouched for the right person and now accuses him of acquiring the Messiah syndrome. According to Singh, this syndrome makes political leaders forget that they are in office only at the will of the people. She justifies her erstwhile support for the leader, and states at length how she fell for the idea of a humble man promising ‘parivartan’. However, the 14 chapters of the book notes down her observations of the various fanatical and unbalanced developments in the country ever since Modi’s First term. 

I also read her son, Aatish Taseer’s article for TIME magazineposted in the middle of the 2019 Lok Sabha Election, titled India’s Divider in Chief as a supplementary reading to understand the author’s cry about the Indian government’s unfair charges against Taseer whereby he was asked to prove that he had not obtained his Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card fraudulently. The author personally feels that the supporters of the PM were furious about that one critical article and a campaign immediately began on social media to declare that he was a Pakistani and a Jihadist. I went through a few comments below this book’s excerpt on Scroll where she is accused of having written this book having personal vendetta in mind. This is totally up to readers who want to judge her the way they want. But I feel she overemphasized her hatred for the Congress Party and Sonia Gandhi in particular. Had she refrained from talking about the failure of the ‘Lavasa project’ within this narrative, the idea of questioning her motives of writing this book to vent out frustration wouldn’t have come up. 

The book discusses at length the first term of the PM and the changes/blunders/development (read as you like) during this period beginning with the Lynchings, Demonetization, economic problems and Article 370 in Modi 2.0 .However when it came to the various Yojanas that benefited people, the author objectively stated down the facts with proper references. I liked her assessment of the various other political personalities of the BJP, from Amit Shah to Yogi Adityanath. The last two units however lacked substance. I was looking for a detailed analysis of the section that dealt with Article 370. She could have skipped writing a few of her interviews with anonymous sources. When it came to talking about media management and Narendra Modi’s relation with the Media, the author brilliantly puts forward a lot of her own experiences. 

“On the fateful day of 22 March 2016, Nidhi Chaphekar was assigned to operate a flight from Brussels to Newark. One of the most shocking terror attacks took place at the Brussels airport the same day, killing around thirty-two people and injuring over three hundred. Nidhi was gravely injured and her photograph became the face of the terror attack. That photo has been recently voted as the most iconic photo in Belgian history.”

Nidhi Chaphekar’s memoir truly inspired me. She went through something so traumatic, yet chose not to perceive happenings through the lenses of darkness and fear. She rather chose to accept that the world can sometimes be a dreadful place to live in but humanity surpasses terror. As her story unfolds, written in the form of a diary, she takes us back to days before the blast injured her. She recounts how she was never meant to be in the flight from Brussels to Newark but ended up being there on her own insistence. As she proceeds with her narration of the blast, I could picture her trauma, vulnerability and the pain she was in. I constantly shut the book to look at her picture in the cover. But it was really comforting to see how help came to her, reflecting kindness in humanity. I really appreciate the medical team, both in Belgium and Mumbai who dealt with Nidhi’s case involving twenty percent burns, multiple fractures, crushed bones and ruptured eardrums and I totally feel how thankful the author is and she repeatedly emphasised on their efforts in her complicated medical situation. .

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The book is divided into two parts and the first part talks about her medical treatment in Belgium.

The 2nd part of the book shows us what a fighter Nidhi is. I was really moved by her strong will and confidence in herself. A person who was never believed to be able to walk without support, managed to walk normally within months. At times, I felt like she was being too harsh on herself, setting tough targets (involving everyday tasks which wasn’t ordinary for her anymore) ahead in a recovering phase, but she proved me wrong. What I learnt from her is how we waste our time worrying about “what ifs” of a situation. We’d never know what and how much we are capable of, if we never try. Her family’s support really boosted her recovery. Even if she was surrounded by people who could help her with movement, her basic needs, Nidhi is a hero who sought to be independent and never gave up on trying. The pictures attached in the book helped me picture her journey and I am so sooo moved.

The King of the Sea is one unusual book I read and loved recently. The narrative is in the form of unstructured verses, attempting to follow a self analytic and self conscious style which makes it an unconventional book. However, if you are not a person who concentrates deeply while reading to comprehend what’s written, I wouldn’t suggest this book because the verses are dense with meaning.

The author’s way of writing reflects how he sees the world around him and the mystical heights he had attained. There’s a rhythmic correspondence of human life and nature in the whole book. More like an intense unity of all things in the universe and a bizarre vision of life where nature is blessed with a soul.

I would also like to appreciate the beauty of the cover and request you all to observe it carefully.

• ‘Victims for sale’ authored by Nish Amarnath is a book that grips its readers with mystery, thrill and suspense. The protagonist of the story is Sandy Raman who moves out to London for higher studies in her professional field. The first few pages reflect the struggle of a young and brilliant girl trying to convince her traditional parents about her decision to pursue further studies. This brings in the Sawants to the story. Simple, London-based Indians who welcomed Sandy as a paying guest in their family. Sounds like the story of most brown families, right? That’s an intended inventory of the author to focus on the conventional norms that influences decision making of most Indian girls. .

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Well, it isn’t about Sandy pursuing her studies peacefully. The story gets interesting as Sandy discovers that the family she is living with is somehow connected to a human trafficking racket. The plot is absorbing right from the initial pages and the flow of the story is pretty good. The author intelligently constructs raw and flawed characters. As the story progresses, we get references to their backgrounds too and each character has a balanced role to play.

The author being a former Londoner gives us vivid descriptions of the city, of every nook and corner and the flow of words keeps you hooked even in an ordinary scene that unfolds. However, I feel that the pace of the narrative slowed down somewhere in the middle and got a bit sluggish. The climax was also rushed compared to how elaborate the minor details of the book were. But it’s worth reading. Go for it.

Amy Beashel’s efforts to focus on relevant and sensitive themes like rape, misogyny, objectification of women, abuse (both mental and physical) and domestic violence in a work of fiction is truly praiseworthy. This important book should be read by people of all age groups to understand that perpetrators of sexual harassment, bullying and abuse can be both an adult and a teenager. When we analyze the negative characters of the book and observe the victim-perpetrator dynamics ,the complex relationship in between the characters and the various conditions that contributes to the silence of the victims we get to know that forms of abuse varies and how manipulation and coercive control affects the psychology of victims. 

The negative characters reflect the psychology of the perpetrators who are socially conditioned to be disrespectful towards women. Daniel is the stepfather of the central character Izzy, who is an intimidating and manipulative person who monitors the minute happenings in Izzy’s and her mum’s life. From their movements to social contacts and eating habits, he dictates and controls everything. With this form of control already affecting her, Izzy feels there’s no escape when Jacob (a teenager) threatens to share her nudes and exploits her vulnerability. I won’t talk more about the plot but the author’s writing style is truly beautiful. The way she gives a voice to Izzymakes the narrative very compelling. What I loved the most about the book is its climax. Speaking up against harassment, violence, rape, which is not normal and acceptable. The book also focuses on the need to sensitize the ill effects of sexualization. How the problem of sexual harassment should be approached from root level. Learning to respect and not objectifying women as sexual objects. Educational institutionstoo should contribute to bring that change and conduct sessions where people talk about skills, personality development, intelligence and deconstruct gender inequality and  genderassigned roles. Adults and parents should equally feel responsible to model a healthy, respectful and gender neutral environment. Izzy’s mother Stephanie who got used to Daniel’s coercive control somehow contributed to Izzy’s silence. The author made sure that the complex relationships she introduced,develops and transforms at the same time to provide us two contrasting images; of a silenced victim and an outspoken survivor. 

Ahalya’s Awakening.

I have a soft corner for the lesser known characters of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata and try to read as many mythological books with a contemporary touch focusing on those characters primarily. Ahalya is one such character. Ever since I’ve read about this fascinating character who suffers a symbolic immobility after her husband ,the great Rishi Gautam, curses her for adultery, I really wanted to read her story. Thanks to @kavitakane for becoming her voice and captivating us in her story.

Ahalya, the princess of Panchal, the divine beauty created by Brahma, enjoyed the privileges of a royal household. Educated alongside her twin brother Divodas, by the guru of the royal family, Rishi Vashisht, Ahalya was enjoying her calm childhood. Vashisht realized the extraordinary brilliance of the girl and her quest for knowledge but wondered whether her parents would be able to handle her curiosity. They were more enchanted by her beauty than her intelligence. Ahalya as a teenager constantly battled the norms of patriarchy, which dictated early marriage for girls, specially an attractive princess like herself who soon became Lord Indra’s interest, a man driven by lust. But Ahalya was favoured by circumstances and she got an opportunity to be educated by Rishi Gautam in his ashram. During her short stay in his ahram, she fell in love with the simplicity of the person, his ideals, and intellectual prowess. However, getting back to her palace, and the idea of displaying herself as a trophy to be won by men in her swayamvara crushed her dreams of becoming a Rishika. This event marked the first tussle in between Indra and Gautam. Gautam who unknowingly accomplished the terms of the swayamvara, became Indra’s arch enemy, who took away the woman he lusted after for so long. Gautam was apparently rewarded for refraining from physical temptations. Ahalya was looking forward to marry the man she loved who never expressed his feelings till the swayamvara.

Marriage, household and duties soon conflicted with her passion. Her conjugal life which was blissful in the initial years, soon changed colours.

Gautam’s ideas of women’s sexual desires appeared quite progressive when he imparted his regular lessons. But when it came to practicing what he preached, Gautam failed terribly. Aspiring to be a Maharishi, working on the creation of Dharmasutras, travelling across the country to build ashrams, he distanced himself from his household. After his fourth child, he did not even acknowledge the fact that as a husband he was supposed to provide emotional, physical and mental support to his wife. Kavita Kane brilliantly gives voice to Ahalya’s anguish, sexual frustration and the development of thoughts that clashed with marital vows. Indra, took advantage of Ahalya’s vulnerability, but what makes this book different is that Ahalya refuses to call herself an innocent victim, duped by Indra. She violated marital norms, but had her own reasons. Gautam who realized his imprudence after a long conversation with his wife, chose to abandon her instead of working on their marriage. Indra was cursed to have thousand vulvas in his body, but he was forgiven over time and he was still a God. It was Ahalya who stood stagnant in time, and self inflicted the curse of immobility, remaining a silent victim of social conventions.

Title : Raavnputr Meghnad

I have seen people reading and loving the Kalki trilogy by Kevin Missal. Since I haven’t read his earlier works, there is no scope of comparing Raavnputr Meghnad with his other writings. Nevertheless, I liked the book. The story of the Ramayana has a number of retellings focusing on the primary characters mostly. But a retelling from the perspectives of the lesser known characters like Meghnad, Surpanakha, Mandodari, Urmila and a few others makes the whole narrative fresh and interesting.

Kevin Missal attempts to offer an alternate perception of thevillainous character of the Ramayana. In popular culture, sourced primarily from Valmiki’s Ramayana, Meghand appearsbriefly in a skirmish where he defeats Laxman. But what shaped Meghnad as a person, how he was brought up, the people who influenced and helped shape his character, what were the circumstances which accounts for the characters’stransformation are things that Missal focuses on. A retelling is often shaped by the author’s way of attributing values to a character. Bravery, valour, devotion are often hero characteristics. But Missal’s Meghnad possesses them all despite his anti hero status. I loved how Meghnad is portrayed as an inquisitive person, trying to master the art of making astras and deadly weapons. I often wondered as a child if Kumbhkaranactually spent 6 months hibernating. But Missal’s  imagination is truly praiseworthy. Meghnad looks up to Kumbhkaran for his great scientific experiments and discoveries validating the presence of flying objects (Pushpak Vimana) in the Ramayana which otherwise appears out of nowhere with no background story in popular culture. A few versions stressed on the ownership of the Vimana only.  A touch of science and technology made the narrative quite fascinating.

The sub plots are very intelligently constructed. Suparnika’sstory specially. But I feel that’s what made Suparnika the centre of attention. The author could have focused more on Prameelaand Meghnad’s dialogues instead of Suparnika and LaxmanIMHO.  The author does justice to Prameela’s character as a benevolent human and a feminist. But a feminist’s encounter with a patriarch like Meghnad was cut short jumping to Meghnad’s transformation hastily. The way Meghnad was portrayed in the first part of the book and his sudden transformation didn’t convince me. However one can avoid the minor discrepancies in the book and enjoy the author’s ingenious construct of a neglected character of the Ramayana.

Title : You beneath your skin

Author : @damyantig

Publisher : @simonandschusterin 〰️

Damyanti Biswas’s writing and imagination of such a plot is truly admirable for a debut novel. The fundamental structure of the plot intends to expose the savagery of modern human life which is otherwise hidden under the garb of a civil society. It deals with all kinds of discrimination and atrocities faced by women irrespective of their economic backgrounds. Be it the Indo-American protagonist Anjali Morgan or the women in the slums who were subjected to brutal attacks (acid attacks, rapes and murders). The story was really gripping. Unputdownable, a page turner and all the good things it truly deserves.

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These are the sensitive things that the author has included in the construct. The character building is truly commendable with dynamic and flawed personalities and it is left to the readers to interpret their personalities; their decisions affecting others ;whether they are right, virtuous or actually corrupt and what are the factors that influences corruption especially when there are divisions in the society we live in and misogyny lurks in the background. The author worked hard for this book which reflects in her vigorous local research in Delhi to understand the working of various organisations, police hierarchy and investigating procedures, surgery procedures involved in acid attack treatment and closely observing autism in children.

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I would also take the opportunity to appreciate the author for deciding to make use of all the proceeds towards @projectwhydelhi and @stopacidattacks .

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How would have history shaped itself had Dara succeeded Shah Jahan instead of Aurangzeb? This question has been a matter of debate for a long time now and historians have differing perceptions on the hypothetical significance of such a possibility.

According to author Avik Chanda, “A benevolent, liberal and peace-loving monarch might earn the adulation of his subjects, but this wouldn’t in any way qualify him to deal with internal strife or rebellions or protect his empire from foreign attacks. With a complex and multi-faceted personality such as Dara Shukoh, the net outcome is a tug-and-pull of myriad complicated, often conflicting forces.”

This meticulously researched text observes the different phases of the ill-fated Prince’s life. It focuses on his childhood privileges, the heights of his intellectual attainment , his religious outlook, liberal views, military campaigns and strategies mostly influenced by his advisors and the bloody war of succession which ultimately seals his fate and shatters his dream to unite all faiths and work for the sake of mankind. There are many opinions regarding his religious and philosophical outlook and one such view is that he was far too civilised for his age. The author also highlights the literary developments of his age and it was interesting to note how he was deeply interested in the Hindu epics and the Vedas and got parts of the Vedas translated to Persian. However his dissenter attitude earned him the reputation of a ‘heretic’. The most important of his compositions is the Majma-al-Bahran (The Mingling of two oceans). The idea behind this composition was to unite the two great religious cultures of the empire.

I would agree with the author on the fact that a liberal benevolent prince like Dara couldn’t have possibly dealt with the imminent dangers of the empire with his intellectual prowess in a violent and turbulent environment. He failed to work on his flaws to defend his right to rule in a complex age.

Please read this text and explore the life of Dara Shukoh. I loved it.

What were you expecting from The Testaments?

Readers are complaining that the book lacks ambiguity unlike The Handmaid’s tale. But this book is meant to talk about the degeneration of Gilead as a regime. I am really very happy after reading it and it gave me that empowered feeling as if I lived with the characters and collectively worked towards the downfall of Gilead. 

When I read The Handmaid’s tale, I really wanted to know much more about Gilead. How it came to power?  How was the previous functioning government crushed? Why did the Aunts and Wives simply serve as agents of patriarchy and not speak up against Gilead? Knowing these things wasn’t possible from Offred’s compressed account.

In the Testaments we read three parallel perceptions onGilead. Prior to The Testaments we saw Gilead through the eyes of a Handmaid. Who is a Handmaid? What makes them a Handmaid? These are certain questions that are raised by Agnes, a narrator of The Testaments. Having born after years of Gilead’s foundation, Agnes isn’t aware of what life was like before this regime. She accepted the categorization, hierarchy and assigned gender roles because it seemed normal. They were conditioned that way. In the third chapter her inquisitive mind really looked for answers. What were the Handmaids punished for? Were they well-off sometime back? But these questions were always left unanswered or the Marthas and Aunts would manipulate the answers, shaming Handmaids, and blaming their past choices resulting in this fate of theirs where they are treated as breeding vessels. Agnes talks about Aunt Vidala’s constant reminder of guarding the invaluable treasure (a girl’s body), till they are married to some privileged guy like the Commander. Having this fixed idea;Agnes froze in shock when she experienced an assault. This exposes how vulnerable women were even under the strict surveillance of the Eyes and the Angels. If they chose to speak up, they were punished instead. 

Aunt Lydia’s narrative is powerful. She goes back to days when she was a working woman. The atrocities she faced after Gilead’s coming to power, the conditions put forward to her, and her transformation from a shrewd judge to a docile agent of patriarchy is wonderfully portrayed. I never expected that the powerful superintendant, who seemed to enjoy the reins of power over the subordinate women (The wives, The Econowives, The Marthas, The Handmaids), was working for a greater cause of liberating people from the clutches of the regime.

Jade’s narrative depicts an outsider’s attempt to enter Gilead, and live like one of them for some time, escape the territory and expose the horrific side of the regime to the outside world which would ultimately make the revolutionaries determined to struggle and crush Gilead’s existence. There’s a lot more to Jade’e perspective too. She gets to experience two parrarellives guided by separate polar ideologies. 

*spoiler*The narrative is fast paced and you’ll thoroughly enjoy. Once you start reading the climax, where the three narrators are connected, there’s no looking back. You smack one Aunt with Jade, almost kill another with Lydia, and flee Gilead with Agnes and Jade. It was an amazing book I thoroughly enjoyed.