let’s talk books

I finished the book the very moment I got my hands on it, in a single sitting.

I think that justifies how gripping the book is. I must appreciate the skilled construction of the storyline and the characters.

I loved how the author portrayed what a victim goes through. Specially focusing on cyber crime which is a very serious issue. Tashi’s character felt so real. The way she dealt with the whole situation is commendable. I kept wondering the whole time if her closest friend was the criminal, but the climax was unanticipated. I mean, one cannot even imagine how easily our data can be accessed by a random person. Above all, I would recommend this book to teenagers,to understand the implications of sharing everything online.

Congratulations on the success of WHAT DID TASHI DO? Keep writing and shining. @anangsha_

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Reshma’s memoir is heart wrenching. It angers me to the core that women are targeted to be punished for their ‘misbehaviour’ as per the guidelines of male chauvinism.

I’ve read a lot of accounts on abuse. Be it mental or physical. I’m tired of reading reports on rape, acid attacks, domestic violence, dowry killing, infanticide and a long list of injustices. Most of the time, we tend to accept these horrific things as day to day happenings. Unfortunately, crime rates aren’t declining in our country and crime is as mundane as drinking tea.

Reshma is a ray of hope. She’s an inspiration not only to survivors like herself but for all of us. Her struggle to rise against her perpetrators, the unjust system, medical and legal challenges and most importantly gathering courage to kill her inner demons and accepting her tarnished image, makes her a beautiful person inside out. Just after I finished reading the book, I watched a TEDx speech, delivered by another acid attack survivor, Laxmi Agarwal. I loved how she began her talk, “He threw acid on my face,not on my dreams.” We are made to believe that physical beauty is above everything while determining a woman’s worth. This makes the idea of survival very hard. A victim loses all hope and finds no purpose of living thereafter.

I’m sure I can never understand what a victim goes through, but Reshma showed me how she accepted herself and decided to initiate a mass mental transformation to change perceptions towards survivors. It’s hard, but we can make it a lot easier for them. I am so happy for Reshma that she found her guiding angels Ria and Tania, who gave her a platform through #makelovenotscars to speak against the open sale of acid which was a huge success.

I also want to appreciate the author for such a beautiful creation. The way she begins Reshma’s story, the chronology, the minute emotional detailing, and the narration of the attack. I was hurt. Deeply touched and my heart wept and still weeps for Reshma. She doesn’t need our sympathy now, all she asks for is acceptance. To be treated as normally as anyone else. To look at beauty with a new lens.

More power to you,girl. You are BRAVE @beingreshma 🌸

Perumal Murugan’s stories mostly reflects the rural Indian society and having an ancestral village, I am aware of what a village life is like. Traditions, ways of living, narrow ideas, superstitious influences, customs. Murugan’s description of these little things makes his stories deep and interesting.

Kali and Ponna, the central characters are much like my two distant relatives. Married and childless. A childless couple in a village is not something ordinary. Unfortunately most of the villagers remain aloof of modern day advancements in the field of medicine.IVF IUF are things they never heard of. The constant taunts from neighbours, relatives and the whole village makes it difficult for them to consider themselves normal. Their worth is based on their fertility.

The way Murugan describes the small details in the lives of Kali and Ponna is amazing. The various phases of their married life and how they dealt with their hopelessness is beautifully written.

Their last resort was to attend the chariot festival in a temple .The festival has its own significance. Read to find what it is.

“It’s About Bloody Time. Period”

Publisher: @harpercollinsin

Author : @emmabarnett .

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I would like to thank Emma for creating this masterpiece, attempting to normalise something as normal and natural as Periods. Women are always expected to remain silent over this ‘scary’, ‘dirty’, ‘weird’ topic. The sanitary pads we wear asks us to do the same. ‘Whisper’ and act normal despite all we go through. .

Why is Period not seen as a natural female bodily function? Why are taboos associated with Period?

Well, we can’t get rid of the period shame propagated mythically over ages in a day. But it’s time that we, women, stand to make it loud and clear that we are no longer ashamed of our periods. We BLEED and we BLEED RED. .

I urge you all to read this wonderful book. It’s divided into various well-researched sections. There are things the author talks about that are often ignored or taken for granted. Period pain for instance. I came across the fancy word ‘Dysmenorrhea’ for the first time, meaning painful periods. Most women experience painful periods and they never consider a diagnosis of the problem. This leads to serious complications affecting women’s health. How can we consider diagnosing the problem when we are so ashamed to say it out loud to our bosses while asking for a leave. I myself accept that years back in school the leave reasons were never periods. Common alibis included colds, stomach aches, and n number of deaths of my already dead maternal grandparents.(sorry Koka Aita) .

Barnett talks about the impact of culture in internalizing period negativites and taboos in men and women. I was shocked while I read a section dealing with Ritualised shaming of women across different cultures and religions. Women are expected to go through a cleansing ceremony post periods not only in Assam but conservative Jews perform ‘mikveh’ too. Both the rituals have striking similarities. .

Barnett also focuses on period poverty and how leading economies continue taxing period products. She talks about how world leaders need to talk about periods more often and never again tax women for being women. I am also happy and satisfied that the author focused on period related issues of our country. The Sabarimala temple issue for instance. She also talks about the various NGOs working in India to fight period poverty, to make it possible for every girl child to not miss on education because of periods. Let’s join hands and raise our voices against period discrimination and try to normalise what’s supposed to be normal.

Thank you @harpercollinsin for giving me an opportunity to read and share my insight on this beautiful retelling of Jane Austen’s classic ‘Pride and Prejudice’. I always expect a retelling to have a fresh perspective on what its concept is based on. Marriage, class, family, friendship, sisterhood, education , manners,culture and patriarchy portrayed by Austen in her 19th century classic is relatable across different cultures even in the present era.

When I chose to read ‘Unmarriageable’, I tried to picture how the author must have imagined a desi portrayal and characterization of all the attributes and characters of the classic and she did a brilliant job in it. I tried comparing the plot to Gurinder Chadda directed ‘Bride and Prejudice’, which released in 2003. Both being a desi retelling, has things in common. Be it strong headed Lalita of the movie or 30+ unmarried working woman Alysba Binat(Elizabeth Bennet) of Unmarriageable. •

The author created a beautiful plot. The Binat family with their five daughters Jena, Alysba, Qitty, Mari and Lady are still in my head. Yes, the names of the characters are much like the originals. Most of us (desis) can talk hours on how the institution of marriage began hundreds of years ago and there’s little or no evolution in its conceptual design . It still determines the worth of a girl and also her family who is expected to get rid of her at an ‘appropriate’ age. Mrs Binat is an ultimate example of a woman conditioned by patriarchy, a typical middle class woman hoping to elevate the statuses of her daughters by getting them suitable spouses. Class distinctions and hierarchies are mostly similar on the other side of the border.

It is however interesting that one can still find similarities in ideas of marriage while comparing 19th century England to 21st century Pakistan.

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Two working women in the Binat family representing unconventional choices, one religious sister sticking to blind dictates and normative behaviour, one of the ‘fat’ sisters struggling with body image issues and one with loose morals and standards. The Binat sisters are a quirky package.

I am happy to have finished this witty and humorous book.

I’m considering Sarah Knight’s advice on gifting this book to every Judgy McJudgerson around me. But let’s be real. There’ll be thousands of McJudgersons who’ll know all that’s good for you, will let you know how you are not doing good enough, being mean, being unkind, not smiling enough, not wearing conventional clothes, dyed your hair the wrong colour and a long list of dos and donts forever ready. Sorry Sarah , can’t afford so many copies 😅

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I enjoyed every bit of this book. Thanks to @hachette_india for sending this my way. Prior to this book, I read only one self help book, because of reasons i stated in one of my posts. But I’m enjoying this genre. Glad to have had the luck of picking the right books.

Such a refreshing read.

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“You do you “. The book is divided into four sections and trust me it’s so damn relatable. Living an unconventional life is actually not easy, especially when we can’t deal with non-acceptance and under constant threat of being judged in the society we live in. But this book will definitely help you understand that you can’t please everyone around you. I personally loved the part where Sarah talks about “selflessness: the mother of all myths”. There’s seriously nothing wrong in being selfish if your self interests doesn’t harm anyone.

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How many of you relate to having geniuses around you who comments on your life choices even when they have nothing to do with it and don’t have to live our lifestyle choices? 🙄

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Get this book not because you need to validate your quirky self but to laugh at conventional notions. ‘You do you’. Eat all you want, dance in the rain, dye your hair blue green purple, sing all the wrong lyrics, make wrong choices, learn from those failures, choose unconventional career options, raise kids or don’t, be a night owl or a morning person. Be you. You do you.

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Author: Zara Raheem

Publisher: Harper Collins

How many clocks are ticking faster and louder than usual in your life if you are a South Asian woman?

The marriage clock? The biological clock?

Thankfully, my parents married in their late 20s after completing their higher studies, which wasn’t arranged. I consider myself lucky to have the support of my Mum and Dad, and not having to prove my worth in terms of adhering to Indian marital norms.

But this isn’t the case for all. ‘The Marriage Clock’ focuses on deep issues like generation gap, conflicting ideas, traditional thought processes of the older generation South Asians, affecting women today and the struggle to deal with such collective dictations. Zara Raheem makes it very easy for us and these deep issues are presented to us beautifully through ‘Leila Abid’, the protagonist. She makes the narrative easy, fast paced and fun.

Leila is 26, lives in America with her traditional parents . It was on her 26th birthday that the marriage bomb was dropped on her. Can you imagine looking for a partner with a deadline? Leila had to. .

Being a sucker for Bollywood romances, Leila’s ideas of love and marriage were Bollywood like. She didn’t want to compromise on the long list of things she expected from her partner. There’s nothing wrong in believing in the theory that the universe conspires for two lovers to bump into one another, but how could you wait for the universe to do that when you have a marriage clock ticking LOUD, reminding two ‘important’ things , ‘Age’ and ‘Worth’. 🤬

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I highly recommend this book. You’ll enjoy every bit of it. It’s really funny and deep at the same time. I couldn’t hold my laughter when I read the part where Leila was speed dating and met so many weirdos.😅

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“A Gandhian Affair” by Sanjay Suri.

Publisher: Harper Collins.

Being a 90s kid, I grew up watching Bollywood movies. I still remember how I accompanied my parents as a toddler (earliest memory) to watch Raja Hindustani. My first ever Bollywood encounter in a theater. However, it was only in my late teens, that I started analysing the films with a critical lens on and tried observing the complicated web of things associated with it. I am happy to have read this wonderful piece of research by Mr. Suri, giving us an idea of Bollywood film making, from the late 1940s to present times and what were the ideas that were injected into popular imagination via films.

The title gives us an idea of what the book is about. The author being a brilliant researcher, observed a pattern of Gandhian influence on Bollywood. The author tried to argue how the idea of Gandhi as a man who gave up wealth and sex and took the path of non violence, formed the basis of character building for the heroes of Bollywood. There are numerous examples that the author presents throughout the text that help us understand the pattern that was adopted. The hero is poor, guided by morals, turns away from sex, sacrifices wealth even if he has access to some, contributes it to the greater good of the society. The author takes us back to movies like Mother India, Shree 420. The conflicting ideas of Gandhian and Nehruvian socialism also find way of representation, through various plots. I noted down the names of so many films that the author refers to while he talks about socialist representations.

Gandhi’s influence never faded into oblivion with the start of a new decade. The author talks about the 70s and the entry of the ‘Angry young man’ who sticks to Gandhian principles but never chooses foolishness over non-violence. Here enters violence in Bollywood. The 90s marks the liberalized Manmohanic heroes and we see the ideas of wealth and sex rapidly changes with the beginning of economic liberalization and liberalization of Bollywood too.

Loved it ❤️

‘An American marriage’ by Tayari Jones.

Three first person narratives to describe a story of wrongful incarceration and its consequences in the lives of an Afro-American couple Roy and Celestial. We also have ‘Andre’ in the love triangle.

I am out of words to praise the author’s way of presenting a beautiful story with flawed characters. You just can’t take sides. Be it Roy’s story of how he suffers after his wrongful conviction, his relationship at stake for the next uncertain 12 years in prison or Celestial’s way of dealing with situations that affected their marriage.

The story is honest, straight and kept simple. I wept along with Roy and Celestial while I read the letters they exchanged during Roy’s prison term.

Those letters were personal but somehow reflected the complexities of contemporary Afro-American culture. I really loved the ending of the story. Not a typical happily ever after love story. But I loved how all the major characters learnt endurance and accepted that relationships can be very intricate and not always simple. .

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What’s your favourite book of 2019? .

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I am so grateful for the review copy to @harpercollinsin . All hearts to squad 312. This was my first book by the fantastic Kristoff-Kaufman duo and I regret discovering them so late. ‘Aurora Rising’ is actually one of my best reads of 2019. Absorbing, funny, witty and thought-provoking, it was damn entertaining. I read it for 20 long days, deliberately going slow to process what’s written.

I normally am out of my comfort zone while reading a sci-fi but the way the story and the characters were built is worth applauding. I just loved exploring the creative thought processes of the authors. The space, technology, aliens, time-travelling, these are things that we think about, but seeing them connected in a story and giving voice to amazing characters, makes this book a gem. When we talk about the characters, I would like to stress on the fact that all of them had their own peculiarities, but it was really entertaining to see them come together and fight against all odds. Their confrontations were so damn fascinating, packed with action scenes, hilarious delivery of sarcasm and humour, that you just can’t stop laughing. I had a great time while reading Scarlett’s POV. I had a great laugh, at the beginning of chapter 13, reading the pros and cons of romance from her perspective.

However, the only thing that made it difficult for me was the presence of too many characters. All of them were major characters of the squad and one cannot ignore or sideline it as an insignificant subplot. So 7 first person narratives at times felt a bit sluggish.

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But we can overlook the length (470 pages) because you’ll really love the nature of the characters. You might not like them all, like I personally didn’t connect much to characters like CAT and Zila, but that’s again an intended inventory of the authors. There’s plurality in their nature and there are diverse characters belonging to different races. Focusing on a plural representation of race in a science fiction must have been tough. But the duo depicted it well in a space setting. .

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