The Difficulty of Being Good - Gurcharan Das

NonFiction

Read it

Gurcharan Das was an author that was mentioned in a book I read recently on Punjab. Since I like following rabbit holes and building context, I thought I would try him out when I saw this book. Das takes us through the concept of being "Good"  and fulfilling one's Dharma and contrasts that with the definitions of "Good" and "Dharma" in the Mahabarata.

If you've ever read the Mahabarata, you know that both Good and Dharma are relative terms. It's all subjective and arguments can be made for any direction. It's maddeningly twisted. Trying to apply the Mahabarata to real life is a similar exercise. If you cannot define in exact paramaters what "Good" and "Dharma" are, then comparing or applying them to real life is a mind melting exercise. 

I would call this more of an analysis of "Good" and "Dharma" are in the Mahabarata. And Das explores every small twisted alley in depth. Even he still accepts the nonsolidity of the concepts by the end of the book. It's a good book to read if you want to dive into ethics and Indian literature and societal ethos. The minute you try to apply concrete values to any of it, you will feel like bashing your head on the concrete. 

While it was a bit long and drawn out, I'm not sorry I read it. Even if I was ready to be done with the relativism 3/4 through the book. 

Read it.

~Becky~

Goat Days - Benyamin

Fiction

Read it

This was a recommendation from I can't remember where. Well well worth the money and read. 

Goat Days follows a Muslim Keralite, Najeeb, in his journey to the middle east to raise money for his family and the chaos that ensued from there. He finds himself without contacts when he lands and is picked up by an "Arbab" or boss, who wasn't actually supposed to pick him up, but takes advantage of ignorance. Najeeb finds himself in the midst of a desert on a goat farm. His life is quickly subsumed into taking care of goats. Feeding, watering, herding, etc. His horror at the hygiene of his fellow worker and the Arbab fade as he too becomes one with the goats. He eventually attempts and escape and almost dies as they trek through the desert. Najeeb submits himself to the police and spends some time in jail. His Arbab does come to claim him one day, but is not able to as he doesn't have proper papers and Najeeb is sent back home.

This book was a very interesting book (said to be based on a true story) on the plight of some Malayalis who travel to the middle east to work and earn money for families back home. As with any other vulnerable population, there are plenty who are subjected to exploitation of every sort. It's painful to watch Najeeb struggle because he comes across as so child like. His innocence is never completely dissolved and he never really grasps how he came to be in the situation he found himself it. Rasising money to support a wife and child he hasn't met cause him to go into debt just to get to the middle east. Of course the channels he goes through are slightly suspect so there's a trust about what will be waiting for him on the other end. 

Beyond Malayalis who go to the middle east for work, it makes you considere the difficulties of other economically vulnerable populations who are just trying to make it but get exploited at every turn. As in Goat Days, some never make it back and die in places they will never be found.

Read it.

~Becky~

The Female Gaze - Dr. Shoma A Chatterji

Nonfiction

Read it

As I've mentioned with previous reviews, India has it's own brand of feminism. It ranges from apologist to ineffective firebrand to practical suggestions. Unfotunately, India is still a land where feminism is pared down to a need for security and personal agency. Equality is still a far flung dream for many Indian women. 

This collection of essays has highlighted areas in both home and the outside world where women struggle on many fronts. The essays aren't really a call to action, but they do point out the unvarnished truth of how many women live. It's a tragically frustrating subject to read about, and then undertand how many lives are affected negatively because of tradition and a stranglehold patriarchal society.

To be blunt, essays aren't going to change India. It's a behemouth of a country with issues as long as the day. Undoing the structures that resulted in the current day situation is a concept that I struggle to understand the feasibility of.  But I do believe that continuing to talk about it and make women aware that they are being repressed and that they deserve safety and personal agency is absolutely the only way to keep moving forward. Unfortunately, feminism beyond information is still too scattered in India to be effective.

There's nothing earth shattering in these essays. If you read on this topic and India then nothing said here will surprise you. It will depress you but read it anyways. Look at the ways in your own life (if you are a woman) that you have accepted some of the behaviors that repress you. If you are a man, question some of the assumptions that you've been raised with about your gender role and the role of women in society.

Read it.

~Becky~

The Tibetan Book of Death - W.Y. Egans - Wentz

Non-Fiction

Read it

I find learning about culture exhilerating, especially those that seem super exotic from my own. I've been meaning to read this for quite some time. I knew the title wouldn't exactly be similar to what's in the book, but a book about Book of the Dead is pretty interesting to contemplate. I'm not sure what I expected, but it wasn't what it was. That being said, it was a fascinating and well worth the time read.

When I first started it, the initial chapter/introduction are intimidating. Like Advanced Level college intimidating. I wasn't sure I would be able to get through it. I decided to stick it out and I'm glad I did. The book walks through a ritual that Tibetans follow upon and after death. What cultures think happens after death is usually interesting, this was no exception. It was compiled with the help of Tibetans for translation.

Tibetan Buddhism is a pretty esoteric religion. I've been through the college level intro into what is Buddhism, but like anything else, the more you dig the more you find. The author and translator have helpfully added many many footnotes that I relied upon to help my understanding. The idea of  "Bardo" or the plane one finds oneself after death was especially interesting to contemplate, as were the different things that can happen according to Buddhism and how strong the person's belief was. 

I'll definitely say this was not something everyone might enjoy reading. But if you would like to Geek out and understand what Tibetan Buddhists think of what happens after death, this will definitely be a good one for you.

Read it.

~Becky~

The Death of Mr. Love : Indra Sinha

Fiction

Read it

This was another book that landed high on quite a few read lists, so I decided to give it a try. The book is written in a parallel to the famous Nanavati case in Bombay. It starts out with an idylic childhood in the hills outside of Pune. The story follows the main character, his relationship with the main female character (It's a very strange one indeed) and ties into the Nanvati case at the end.

I wouldn't call it a suspense, because the tension builds very very slowly, but that's what it is. The author has done a very masterful job of storytelling and winding many different threads into a different version of a well known tale. The writing is a bit eccentric, but well done. 

The book does drag in a few places, and it's a long one, but it's worth the effort. 

Read it!

~Becky~

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari - Robin Sharma

Non-Fiction

Read if you Like Self Help

I'm not a big fan of self help books. Some of course can be helpful, but overall, I find them a waste of time. This book came to me as a gift from some colleagues for my birthday. The gesture was very touching as I didn't know them that well and it was kind of them to think of me.

Robin Sharma goes about telling a story about how a sucessful lawyer learns how to slow down and enjoy his life. He uses the format of story telling with someone else as the main character to impart ideas. Not a new idea, but ok if done right. I personally didn't care for the tone of the book. I felt led on to ideas that could have just been simply laid out. The advice was also just vague enough to make me wonder why there needed to be a book about this. That's about all I have to say about this book. If you like self help books this is one that's high on everyone's reading list so maybe it'll be right for you. I didn't care for it.

~Becky~

Caste Matters - Suraj Yengde

NonFiction

Meh

Caste isn't something that I can ever access aside from second hand knowlege. However, I still think it's important to educate ones self about, and this book seemed to fit the bill to build my knowlege further. Both the term and concept of "Dalit" was explored.

As I've mentioned previously, when an author is close to a subject and has an emotional tie to it, writing objectively becomes incredibly difficult. This book was a prime example of this theory. A self identified Dalit, the author definitely has strong feelings, and understandably so. The subject of reservation and special privilege/lack of it is a time worn argument in India. Some scream that "low caste" people have too many support systems, others agitate beause they have too few.

I was shocked (although I'm not sure quite why) to find out that becoming very sucessful in life is looked own upon, even though it may elevate someone to a more comfortable lifestyle. I have seen this in different societies where less fortunate people resent those who have somehow removed themselves from a difficult situation. This was also surprising for me because coming from the US, the prejudice was more economically based, rather socially. Even if you come from the poorest background, once you have money no one cares. Caste is very much more complicated than that. 

I could not figure out how and where Brahminism fit in with castism, aside from propigating the discrimination, but perhaps that's simply my ignorance. It was an interesting read, but overall I felt quite biased. Disappointing but not surprising. This book is worth a read because the only qualified people to talk about something like castism are those who have experienced it, especially not on the dominant side of the spectrum. 

Read It.

~Becky~

The Valley of Masks - Tarun Tejpal

Fiction

Read it!

I enjoyed The Story of My Assassins very much, so when I found another novel by Tarun Tejpal, I thought I should give it a try. I was not disappointed. One of the beautiful things that Tejpal is able to do is spin fantasies. He does it so beautifully that you don't even consider the improbability of what he's saying after a while. It's fantastic.

The Valley of Masks is about a breakaway religious cult who value equality above all. They all look the same, they all have a function. The further you get into this novel, the more social commentaries you see. Religious fervousness, community identiy, us versus them, personal identity, what society holds as ideals, Tarjun Tejpal marches out one by one in a subtle but unignorable way. 

I personally would call this not a horror novel....but something similar. By the end of the book, what was meant to be noble and good has morphed into something  absolutely horrific, that if the narrator is correct, will result in his death rather than a separation from.  The first person narration/memories only enhance the horror because you know that the narrator knows what's coming. What makes it even more disturbing to me is that I know people who hold the same ideals, albeit not to that degree, about relationships and the ideal of identity/ability equating to value. 

I won't narrate the whole story line because that would rob you of the beauty of unwinding the story that Tejpal has so artfully spun, line by line. Definitely worth the read.

~Becky~

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine - Gail Honeyman

Fiction

-Meh-

I kept coming across this book on Pinterest as recommended, so when I found it in the bookstore (used and cheap!) I was rather excited. 

The novel introduces us to Eleanor Oliphant (surprise surprise) and quickly establishes that she's a quirky, weird, middle aged lady.  It's quite tropey. We follow her through her life as she faces disappointments, her past, and forming positive relationships.

This book definitely doesn't shy away from mental health issues. Eleanor has been abused and neglected and has walls a mile thick. She drinks too much, doesn't have a social life to speak of, and misses social cues. She makes an unlikely friend, Raymond, with an equally different co-worker. We're never quite sure if they have a mild romantic interest in each other or if they're just so thrilled to have found a support and a friend that it gets confusing. 

What I liked most about the novel is that Eleanor is relateable for me. While my circumstances may not be exactly the same as hers, I can understand her reactions to many things, and her hesitation to see the value in herself or trusting other people. I also know how much it can help to have a "Raymond", either as a romantic partner or just as an amazing friend. 

Unfortunately, the book was overall disappointing for me. There were so many issues for Eleanor I felt like the author went through and played Psychology Dilbert bingo and didn't fully address any of them. There was so much more that could have been done with this story. I'm not critisicing because neat endings are rare, but this ending just kind of happened. There was no resolution to anything, besides a very anticlimactic "I won't talk to my mom anymore because she's an abusive asshole" moment. The rest we wonder if Eleanor will sort out or not, especially the suicide episode she went through. The reader is left feeling that as long as Eleanor continues to put one foot in front of the other and continue trying, she'll be fine. This is charming, and often times the case in real life, but I needed a little more hope than that for a charachter I was rooting for and related to. 

Not a bad book, but keep your expectations reasonable.

~Becky~

Punjab - Amandeep Sandhu

Non-Fiction

Verdict: Read It

I have a rather long-standing fascination with Punjab - many aspects of it. So when I saw this rather large nonfiction book in Book Worm, it very much piqued my interest. I did think twice, becaue as I said, it's not a quick read, but that never bothered me. 

Punjab is written an an almost autobiographical style, with the author obviously a Punjabi or a foreign returned Punjabi - I can't remember at the moment, mixed in with a bit of historical and current events mixed in for education purposes.  One of the things that made this interesting is that there's currently (although it's been going on for quite some time) an issue in Delhi about Farmers. I don't know much about it, so I'm going to refrain from commenting here. Since this book covered agriculture in Punjab, it was easy to tie it to some of the current events happening, which I always appreciate.

You can obviously tell that the author has strong emotional ties to his homeland. He approaches the subjects he raises in a passionate and personal manner. He also is quite comprehensive in his coverage. 

While I did appreciate the comprehensiveness of the book, I found it scattered in many places and needing a bit of organization and flow. The author hopscotches from one topic to another. It's obvious that they're connected, but the lack of a flowing narrative bothered me quite a bit.  I also think that certain subjects that are very near and dear to an author are difficult to write bout well. As a writer, I have found myself struggling to remove emotion and passion and write in an informative or logical way. I hesistate to critisize the author for this, but I think there was room for improvement.

For me, Punjab is a very complicated piece of the Indian puzzle and learning more about it helps me learn about India as a whole. If you have an interest as well, I would suggest that this is not the best place to start. It is, however, a good book to read for someone who already has some context on Punjab and build their understanding. It's definitely not a charicature of Punjab like portrayed in the movies. While that's always fun to observe, it's not real and learning about the real Punjab is much more rich. 

Read it!

~Becky~

The Phoenix Project - Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, and George Spafford

Non Fiction

Read It

This book was recommended to me by my ex husband, who also happens to be my boss, and the founder of the company we both worked for - a tech start up in Bangalore. I was a little unsure if I should read it as he told me that it was an IT book and I'm almost completely non technical. I'm also not a big self help/management lessons book kind of person. If they're good, sure, I'll give it a shot, but not something I look out for. 

The book opens to a company in chaos with many bad habits and indisciplines. The author takes us through his learnings over the course of time as he is shoved into a high pressure position and project with very little support and very high stakes. 

As I work to transition a 100 person company to a 200 person company, there are always lessons to be learned. While I won't spell them all out, this book provided many important lessons that I will definitely remember and am trying to implement before it leads to bigger problems. 

Business lessons are always fascinating to me - I think more so than personal lessons - because businesses are very complex organizations and there are endless factors to whether they suceed or fail. Coming into the opportunity that I did later in life, I'm very invested the the business continuing to thrive and grow, so that I can continue to thrive and grow with it. 

I'd recommend this book to anyone in the IT industry with even the least bit of interest in managment or growing a business. Overall a good read to contemplate and digest in bits as you consider how to implement some of these things in your own business. It's not a quick read, and whether the "lesson teacher" was real or not, he was obnoxious and patrionizing. People should not be shamed due to not knowing something as long as they are willing to learn. 

~Becky~

So All is Peace - Vandhana Singh-Lal

Fiction

Read it!

This would be the first book I have read from Vandana Singh-Lal. Contrary to popular form, I didn't pick this up on recommendation or because of the cover, although I do like the cover. I went to Writer's Cafe (Kalyan Nagar, Bangalore) with my kids just to explore. They also sell books, so I thought I will support small business. Their books, though used, are definitely not cheap. But all for a good cause, right?

Anyhow, the novel opens with twins going to Paris with their father. There are the usual twin tropes, though very mild at this stage in the book. As we move into the next chapter, we find the twins in isolation in their house, having literally almost starved themselves to death. They are discovered by a little boy who has inadvertently set some trash on fire with Diwali fireworks and goes to the door to warn them. What follows is a mix of police, press, and backstory into how our protagonistas reached this point, though only one of them is the narrator.

The book is a very beautifully spun narrative. I did not find myself bored, though the plot lagged at places. There was just enough forshadowing used that it wasn't ridiculous nor absent and the reader discovers (I felt) just what the author intended at exactly the moment she intended. This is not an easy task and it's done very well. The authoress touches on many social issues and comparisons in society. The twins have lost their family and while dramatically different from each other, are very closely connected and only have each other for most of the novel. The author also goes into how sensationalist the media can be and how people change once something goes public. In this case, it's the apartment society's attitude towards the twins. It's disgusting sentiment, but anyone reading the book who is Indian or has any idea about India can relate. I won't give away the twist at the end of the book, but it's brilliant. I definitely did not see it coming. 

The book does overdo the twin angle in the end. I also was left at the end of the book wondering what exactly the whole point of the starvation was. The author does briefly explain it, but I wasn't satisfied. Perhaps that was the point, there was no point to the starvation - it was just a thought exercise that went way out of control. As I mentioned, some of the book is a little slow, but if you slow down yourself to contemplate the issue the author is commenting on, it makes sense to think through a little slower. I would have also liked to have seen a little more character development of both the twins. The reporter is obsessed with at least one of them, but I can't figure out why. A big ado is made about how they are alike and different, but aside from vague references to who is smarter and who is born first, not much is done here. Again, perhaps intentional. 

Overall, an excellent read and one that kept me engaged.

Read it!

~Becky~

The Loneliness of Hira Barua - Aruna Patangia Kalita

Fiction

Read it!

I have a weakness for short stories. This was a compilation of such short stories that was recommended to me from a few different places. Also a Sahitya Akademi Award winner. Ahem. 

I believe that books from different places come with inherent unique tones based on the exprience of the broad population. The smaller and more niche the population, the more these characteristics will stand out. I've discussed a book I read from Manipur (excellent read by the way!) and without planning it, I've ended up with a book of Assamese stories. Well. That certainly was a shocker in a delightful way. 

It was quite difficult for me to fully understand and appreciate the background that went into developing these stories. I have never lived anywhere with political insurgents, nor any of the other atrocities that went into developing the mindset in some of these stories. They are honest, if nothing else. The truth of the situation is laid bare. Not always explicitly, but subtly and well explained. 

This isn't a light Sunday afternoon read. It's one that must be thought through and appreciated. The final story is about a person - Hira Barua - who is the book's namesake. It's a longer story and makes you truly think about people who have no one else who are left behind in life. 

It's not your average everyday book of happy ending stories. But well worth the read!

~Becky~

Quit Like a Woman - Holly Whitaker

Non-Fiction

Read it!

I had read recommendations about this book from a few places (hello pinterest!) but picked this one up as the subject matter is very personal for me. 

This is an autobiographical type book from Holly Whitaker. She takes us slowly (and sometimes multiple times) through her journey and struggle with Alcohol dependence.  She takes on the patriarchal use of alcohol, how media affects our judgment on seeing alcohol as normal, and the good and bad bits about AA. I found many of the authoress's ideas to be phenominally simple, yet very important. Kind of like obvious things that you should ideally be able to see easily, but don't until someone points them out.

I never thought of Alcohol as a tool of the patriarchy - or a tool of the capitalist market too. Holly makes a point that after a certain point, it made sense to market heavily to women because that's where the market growth was possible. I couldn't agree more. As women, we've also been sold the fallacy that in order to suceed, we need to play like the boys. Cuss, drink whiskey, and not have feelings. Now....there's nothing wrong with any of those things (except maybe the feelings thing - psychopath!) but not only do they not need to be attributed to men, women don't need them to be sucessful, nor do they need to be men in order to get places. 

Holly Whitaker also takes people through the fallacy that AA is the only way to stop drinking. I didn't have much exposure to AA before now - although I was taught this is the holy grail of detox as well - and it's refreshing to hear that there are other options. As an atheist, bringing god into the mix as necessary to get rid of a drinking problem horrified me. She also went into depth about the feelings that people have when they're not sure they drink too much and how they use different metrics to either decide they are fine or lable themselves as alcoholics.

The uses of such lables also was an interesting thought exercise for me. I'm not a big fan of lables, especially those that are closely tied with people's identity.

As I mentioned early, Holly tends to repeat points. It's a common thing as I understand when an author is discussing something close to their heart. It does get a bit tedious though.  With all the hullabaloo about AA not being the answer and Holly hinting that quitting was simple....she provided very little insight into this.  To be honest this was expected from my end, but you can't take away the main point of hope for people then not offer an alternative.

I've had a long and complicated history with alcohol as well. Perhaps not so rough as Holly's, but long and complicated none the less. I still have to make a decision every once in a while not to drink. Of all the complicated relationships I've ever been in, this one is by far the most difficult to deal with and I appreciated the thought and encouragment that the author put into this book. I hope many more people read it, especially the ones who need to read it most.  I'd encourage you to read it, even if you don't have (or suspect you have) a drinking problem. It will help you re-evaluate your relationship with alcohol and the motivations and factors that can go into drinking.

~Becky~

A Plate of White Marble - Bani Basu

Fiction

Read it

This is the first book that I've ready by Bani Basi. In a change of pace, this was a book I ordered because it was recommended, rather than just picking it up because it had a pretty cover. Progress. 

The story covers the life of Bandana. She is a newly made widow with a young son. The first half of the story or so covers Bandana's life after her husband dies. She is still in her inlaws house and slowly backed into a very restrictive corner of shoulds and should nots. However weak, Bandana is a bit of an odd rebel. So much so that I very much felt like cheering her on. 

The second half of the book is Bandana's life after her uncle takes her out of her inlaws house. He urges her to be independent, get a job, let go of old superstitions, etc. Bandana does try her best and makes small leaps, In the end, she crumbles to pressure from her son and inlaws. It's ridiculousy disapointing, but also ridiculously realistic. You can't hate Bandana for her weakness because she truly tries, but there's a limit to what one can do.

The treatment of widows in a conservative society in India is not a new subject. It's rather horrifying on the whole. The beauty of A Plate of White Marble is that Bani Basu does a brilliant job of highlighting a situation that isn't horrific on the surface, but is still resulting in the slow death of someone the family is proported to love. Her heroine also is relateable. She's not perfect and doesn't magically throw off the chains of tradition and superstition all of a sudden one day - she takes small steps where she can. The authoress also brilliantly highlights how sometimes behaviors are so conditioned that women don't have to be held back - they do it themselves because they have been taught that's right. 

I guess I should mention that this isn't a feminism book, even though I felt the small steps that Bandana takes are important ones - and would be even more so if she continued taking those steps and taught her children the same. What was valuable to her generation isn't even recognized in her son's generation and finding a balance is difficult for her.

The novel does drag in places, and like many Bengali works, has a tendancy to be rather morose. I kept waiting for a few shoes to drop and things to turn really tragic. But the beauty of Bengali writing of this type is that tragedy happens quietly. A few small incidents at a time.

It's worth reading. Take it slow and absorb the ethos.

~Becky~

India's Bravehearts - Lt Gen Satish Dua

NonFiction

Read it

I'm not usually a fan of military novels or biographies. To be quite honest, I can't remember why I picked this book up. However, not sorry I did.

At least for the course of this memoire, Lt Gen Satish Dua came across as a man with a glass of whiskey and some fond stories to tell. It didn't come across as cramming the military down readers throats, which is one reason I thoroughly enjoyed it. I found his insights interesting after going through some very tough situations. I've seen the movie Uri and he describes what it was like to react to such a situation, as well as tactical necessities to answer it. 

It's a light and pleasant read. I'll never be a fan of military books, but this one is a good read.

Read it!

~Becky~

Mr. Iyer Goes to War - Ryan Lobo

Fiction

Read it!

This is the first book I've ready by Ryan Lobo. I definitely am looking forward to reading further ones.

This novel is about a South Indian Brahmin who has been sent to Banares to die. It's never clear why nor what's wrong with him - aside that perhaps his family didn't want to care for him anymore. Until the end of the novel, he never seems sick, aside from age related aches and pains. Mr. Iyer goes on a few grand adventures throughout the novel with his friend and faithful sidekick Bencho. I particularly liked Bencho's character and read it as Bhenchod every single time. I'm not sure if that was the author's intent, but it was amusing. Why Mr. Iyer and Bencho go on adventures isn't really clearly explained either. Either he  actually believes he is Bheem out to vanquish Bakasura, or he has dementia. It's not really made clear. The interesting thing about Mr. Iyer is that he seems perfectly lucid and well spoken, except for this one thing. Draw your own conclusions. Iyer and Bencho have run ins with many folks through this religious lense of vanquishing evil, and have the crazy luck that only the genious or insane can boast. It's truly amusing watching Iyer go to war and get through every situation he faces.

Lobo does a brilliant job of pacing and raising the intensity as the book progresses. He also made Mr. Iyer a character you want to cheer for. He's cranky, old, judgy, and annoying. But you like him. Even after you find out that he was an alcoholic and crazy. The book indulges in a wild Philosophical run at the end and in his fevered state, Iyer explains to his love interest that all of the relationships he has now, he has had in many past lives. He finally seems at peace with himself. The characters around him enrich the story. I especially like the landlord character. He's a charicature of landlords of this type, but so well executed it's brilliant.

Another great part of this book is the Banares culture that is going on in the background, juxtaposed by a stereotyped South Indian Brahmin. Who becomes good friends with a low caste cremator and general scamster. It's a whirlwind to read adn take in all the details. 

Read it!

~Becky~

The Unseeing Idol of Light - K.R. Meera

 Fiction

Verdict: Read it for the ending

Finally, a novel in which I have heard of the authoress before! I wrote a blog on Hangwoman before and it is a masterpiece. This novel is quite a different story. I won't say it's bad, but it's definitely a different flavor.

The protagonist of Meera's story is a blind man named Prakash. He's accepted his condition and developed his senses so much that people forget he's blind and that he's more capable at "seeing" than people who actually have vision. He is searching for his wife that disappeared long ago but still lives on as a specter in his mind. His best friend acts as his sidekick in his searches and Prakash has another relationship that he flirts with as he looks. They do find a woman who fits the wife's description, unfortunately, her mental state is not one that allows her to deny or confirm she was his wife. Different people decided that she was or wasn't Deepthi. Her father wants it to be her so badly that he denies reality to insist she is. But Prakash knows it isn't his wife and doesn't let anyone talk him into accepting it just to soothe his need.

The ending isn't all that satisfying in a way that everything is neatly tied up. Prakash ends up searching for the woman in his new relationship. You do eventually find out where Deepthi has been all these years. I won't say it's satisfying, but it does make sense. 

I found the persistant references to blindness, being blind, and being able to use other senses a bit overdone. I'm guessing the authoress either did a lot of research or knew someone who was blind and was attempting to make the reader understand.

KR Meera is an author to be reckoned with. She absolutely knows how to pull her audience in and create a scene. 

Read it!

~Becky~

Lattitudes of Longing - Shubhangi Swarup

 Fiction

Read it

This is the first novel I've ready by Shubhangi Swarup. If we're being honest, which we indeed are, This was another one of those books that I picked up because the cover is beautifully done. 

Lattitudes of Longing is a series of stories that have characters that are interconnected. There's not too much focus on this, but one story blends into the next this way. It's very artfully done. The authoress takes us across India, from Islands in the south that are very tropical, to the mountains in the north, to the plains. Through a variety of customs, cultures, and feelings. 

It took me a while to understand this book. I certainly didn't when I was reading it. While reading it, I got the feeling that I was watching these stories from a distance. There's no intensity, no surprises, no reality. It's all very fuzzy around the edges, just like a dream. I don't mean that as a criticism, it's simply the feeling that I got while reading it. It's actually a hard book to describe well - so just go read it.

~Becky~

These Our Bodies, Possessed by Light - Dharini Bhaskar

Fiction

Verdict: Read it

This was also the first book I've ready by Dharini Bhaskar. It's also another oohhh pretty cover type books. I didn't really have any expectations when I picked it up. 

Dharini Bhaskar takes us through a family saga, juxtaposing relationships, marriage, and failed marriages between Deeya, the main character, her mother, and her grandmother. The patterns that repeat are visible and beg a question I often ask myself - are relationships hereditary because of the baggage we carry. While I still haven't reached a solid answer myself, it's always fun to find novels that pose the same question because I always have something else to think about. There's poetry woven in throughout the chapters which I enjoyed. 

There's not really a huge plot arc in this book. It's more of a journey through life and how relationships continue to affect people long after the events happen. With that, it is slow going sometimes, but if you stop to consider what the author is trying to get you to think about, it's actually quite interesting if you're interested in this type of thing.

Read it.

~Becky~

No Trespassing - Brinda Narayan

Fiction

Verdict: Meh

This is the first book I've ready by Brinda Narayan.  The book follows the upward shooting trajectory of a middle class family aiming to fit in with the hoi polloi of Bangalore. They move into a weird, super exclusive, gated community. They never quite fit in and eventually start noticing weird neurological symptoms in their children. Vedika, the main character, brings this up in the community and is quickly hushed as no one wants to admit anything is wrong with their children. Vedika's son dies in mysterious circumstances and she sets out to untangle why. She ends up on a wild chase far into the past, including her own parents and weird clowns. The novel winds up with a disappointing reveal that the neurological symptoms were caused by lead and it was actually a bizarre plot from a tragic incident happening in Vedika's childhood far away.  

While there are breadcrumbs dropped through the book about the past, it seems like a stretch when the author finally reveals, with great relish, the revenge plot. Vedika's main characteristic is neurosis and the rest of the characters fall flat as well. I believe the dynamics between Vedika and her husband are meant to make them seem relateable, but they just end up being irritating because they are so common place. Death of a child makes couple fight, the husband always believes his wife is reading more into everything than she should, we don't have much to connect over anymore because he works so much. It's trope city. 

There's also a weird obsession about social status, being middle class, and how glamourous and dangerous climbing the social ladder can be. The author insists upon obsessively comparing middle class upbringing with being rich. At the end of the novel, I couldn't help but have this super weird feeling that the ultimate point of the novel was a moral lesson about not reaching above your grasp....which again is an overused concept and disappointing.

It's a decently written novel and to be honest, I didn't see the revenge plot coming. Unfortunately, this is ruined by generic writing and a heavy reliance on too many tropes. Read it if you need a time pass for a Saturday afternoon and can deal with what I mentioned.

~Becky~

Imaginary Homelands - Salman Rushdie

 NonFiction

Verdict: Read it

No readers, we are not done fangirling about Salman Rushdie.  I suspect I will never be done with that.  This book was picked up merely because Rushdie's name was on the cover. It turned out to be a bit different than I expected, but that's one of the joys (or risks, depends on perspective) of how I buy books. Imaginary Homelands is a collection of essays/book reviews that Salman Rushdie has written about other books. It was both difficult and fantastic at the same time. But then again readers, what else is to be expected of Salmon Rushdie?

Exploring into Rushdie's mind is always a fun adventure, and this was a different trip than going through one of his novels. We get to see not only what I am sure is a partial reading list from Rushdie, we also get to see what impresses him and what doesn't; the forces and authors who shaped him as an author. This is an exciting exercise for me, especially when the author is one I admire and is intelligent.

That being said, not all of the essays are easy to read (surprise surprise!) and some are boring. This actually made me mildly amused as it gives us a glimpse into Rushdie as a person. If you know anything about Rushdie, he is unapologetic about his opinions, even when they aren't popular and he sometimes comes off as extremely arrogant. This shines through in his writing of the essays as well.

I think my favorite essay in this collection has to do with Umberto Eco and Focault's Pendulum. Rushdie slaughtered it, saying it was over objectified and unnecessarily boring and odd. This was one book that my ex husband always glorified as being one of the pinnacles of intelligence if you could read and understand. We will of course not discuss his intellectual snobbery nor love of unnecessarily complicated things here. I of course had to try to tackle it. Yes readers, I am one of those. I also, of course, got bored out of my gourd and just figured I was punching way above my weight limit and just wasn't that smart. Reading what Salman Rushdie said put a huge smile on my face. 

My second favorite essay(s) was the response at the end of the book to criticism and backlash to Satanic Verses. Satanic Verses was my intro to Rushdie (and what a hell of an introduction!) and I have a special place in my heart for that novel. I've since read it 3 times and am still finding things to understand about it. Reading about Rushdie's purpose and mindset reading has helped me understand the novel further, which I definitely appreciate. I'm now inclined to read it again. 

Rushdie challenges people's views of many things and while it may be a frustrating endeavour to read him and understand all his intelligence and subtext, for a serious reader, these are good things rather than bad. Understanding the amazing writer's influences can help us become better writers ourselves and have better context to the world as readers.

Read it!

~Becky~

Own It - Aparna Jain

NonFiction

Verdict: Meh

Feminism takes on many flavors, often depending on where in the world it's being defined. India of course has it's own brand of feminism. It's quite different than what I am used to coming from the US.

Aparna Jain has met and talked with many women on women's issues, from home makers to high flyers in the corporate world. What she's taken away from these conversations is what's in this book.

I admired Aparna Jain's ability to admit that women do have extra struggle here for simple things. She does not just get up on a soap box and scream that things must change either. The goal of the book, from my humble interpretation, is to help women identify these blockers and help to get around them by giving practical advice. The conversations she has and the stories that are shared are no doubt interesting, and I think most women would find comfort in discovering that many are in the same boat. 

Unfortunately, Jain's approach, practical as it is, once again places the burden on women to take care of the problem. There was a particularly catty discussion on women flirting in the workplace where someone mentioned a "Lakshman Rekha" that women should not cross. I'm not sure if Jain used this to highlight the disgustingly patriarchal attitudes that women are still capable of displaying, but it was disappointing to say the least to see in her book. What was even more distressing was that there was no other commentary after that. That bomb was left to sit, unaddressed.

Aparnaa Jain has raised the issue of women empowerment and equality in Indian society. Unfortunately, she sits to the sidelines and acts as an impartial thought provoker rather than adding her own voice. As a woman in India, this is disappointing and and empowers gender discrimination. If women are not willing to stand for each other and insist on change, then change will not happen. Simply opening the conversation and presenting it as an issue that people themselves need to weigh in on is doing an injustice to how deeply entrenched and disturbing this inequality is. I admire that she raised the issue and did her homework talking to various people, but the rest was underwhelming.

~Becky~

In the Name of Honor - Mukhtar Mai

 NonFiction

Verdict: Read It

I had hear of Mukhtar Mai before in name, but not in situation. I tend to like biographies/self biographies, so I picked this up.

The story is horrifying heard from her point of view. It also underlines a huge mindset and atrocity bomb that India and Pakistan continue to foster with an almost loving persistence. Class and gender wars are not a thing of the past unfortunately. 

Mukhtar Mai is gang raped as a "punishment" for her younger brother flirting with a powerful family's sister. In reality, it's an attempted land grab due to the inability of a rich powerful family to see "lower class" people hold land. It's heartbreaking and incredibly not that uncommon. 

What is uncommon however, is Mukhtar Mai's response to it. After taking time to process her trauma, she decided that she would stand for what she thought was right and say no. She takes us through the process of dealing with corrupt police and courts and in the end, still not getting justice. Again, incredibly common. Still bound and determined to rise, Mukhtar Mai opens a school with funds that came in from concerned parties. 

If you understand anything about Class and Gender wars in India and Pakistan, you understand how remarkable Mukhtar Mai's response is. It's unheard of, and it's phenomenal. She is an inspiration to many women, myself included, and has done her part to make the world one she wants to live in.

Mukhtar Mai isn't educated. She isn't a great story teller or writer and it's obvious that he words are filtered through writers. She circles back around often and jumps time lines telling her story, but with all she's suffered and achieved, she's entitled to tell her story however she wishes to.

Please read this book. It will give you a new perspective on feminism and basic human rights. It will inspire you that a woman discarded the typical reaction to a humiliation of this type (suicide in her part of the world) and rose far above that to help others and be a light. The only way to combat these type of horrifying incidents is to continue to promote awareness of it being unacceptable and punishable in society. The only way to deal with police taking advantage of uneducated, shamed women in an immoral manner is to keep bringing these instances to light and seeing through the punishments. The only way to deal with courts taking soft line stances on Class, Gender, and Economic wars are to shine a huge spotlight on them and continue pressuring the courts as well to step into the 21st century and stop pandering. The only way to ensure that women are not continuing to be trapped in darkness and illiteracy is to make education for girls a priority and a valued thing. Mukhtar Mai has led the way in however she could.

Read it!

~Becky~

The Ground Beneath Her Feet - Salman Rushdie

Fiction

Verdict: Read it

Yes, yes, I have a thing for Salman Rushdie. Or rather Salman Rushdie's books. He seems like rather a prick but I forgive him on account of genius. 

This was a novel that I got from the library, didn't get around to reading, and had to regretfully return. Fortunately on my last trip to the bookstore, I found a copy. Now when Salman Rushdie gets to writing, the man gets to writing. This isn't a short novel, and I'll admit, it drags a bit as Rushdie weaves his magic and gets around slowly to his point.

The novel is about a love triangle between the narrator and two famous singers, who he happens to have grown up. Rushdie takes his time going into the backgrounds of the characters and families. Vina Aspara, the central focus of the novel, and she's got a complicated background. The story slowly wanders through their growing up, becoming famous, and ending in tragic and mysterious circumstances.

Underneath it all, it's a love story, even though it's a super unconventional one. Vina also is a hell of a heroine, though she's also a super unconventional one. The story does wander off into weird territory at the end.  As with all Rushdie works, there are things going on underneath what he's saying. In this instance, I can't figure out what he is saying in this one, but that's not surprising.

What I can say is that Rushdie's interpretation of a love story and a heroine make it worth reading.  Plus, it's Salman Rushdie. It's worth reading.

Read it!

~Becky~

Delhi: A Soliloquy - M. Mukundan

Fiction

Verdict: Read it

Delhi is a novel that I pickup up for a few reasons. The cover art is very nice, which always gets me. I also do not like Delhi as a city. It's one of the few places I've ever felt unsafe, even when accompanied by my partner. It's a reputation the city has earned with good reason. Yet people live breathe and move through their lives there because that's where they live for a multitude of reasons.

M. Mukundan brings us through the live on a Malayali man named Sahadevan. He has come fresh off the train to try to "Make his way" in the big city and earn for his family. He is supported by other Malayalis who live in Delhi and have chosen to make it their home. The author doesn't focus too much on Sahadevan in the beginning; he brings the audience into a wider focus of everything going on around him. As with many lives, Sahadevan has people fade in and out of his everyday life due to a variety of reasons. We see this happen through the novel, as well as his own personality changes as he ages. In general he is a responsible soul (though one is clear he would rather not be) and this care extends to anyone he comes across. He simply feels obliged to help. As a result, his own life goes on the back burner until he is too old to change some of his choices, such as his own marriage. 

Mukundan does a wonderful job of capturing the small things about being from Kerala in a northern city without beating it to death nor suggesting the audience wouldn't understand any of it thus overexplaining. He simply points out that a South Indian moving to a northern city and making a living as an outsider can be difficult. Which it definitely is, but people do and life moves on. 

Mukundan has also set his story in a time that was tumultuous for India, not to mention Delhi. . Some of the characters that he has brilliantly woven into the story as side characters help illustrate some of the horrific things that have happened. The story opens with accounts of 2 wars and how it affects the mentality of the citizens His friend's son gets forced sterilized in a Sanjay Gandhi sterilization camp initiative. One Sikh landlord and his wife and elder daughter are murdered when the reprisals came for Indira Gandhi's murder happened. The mindset just never seems to improve - Delhi is a city with a grinding, brutal past. Yet people move on and survive.

It's a dark novel to read, but history is history. As I knew before I started, this novel has just reinforced what I thought of Delhi before. I don't particularly ever want to even visit there again. I can't imagine living there.

Read it!

~Becky~

Boys from Good Families - Usha K.R.

Fiction

Verdict: Meh

I have not read anything previous by Usha K.R. It's been so long since I've been to the bookstore that I honestly can't remember if this was a recommendation or simply had a nice cover. Who knows.

Boys from Good Families follows a privileged young man through his life, first in a house with servants somewhere in a village in Karnataka, then on to the US, then eventually back to that same house after his parents die and the house needs to be dealt with. 

There are so many themes in this book that I have read before that I almost felt that I HAD read this book before. But I know I haven't. The son who goes away to the US to find himself or make money, the love story about falling for one of the servants and how that's completely unacceptable, having property that you don't particularly want in a country you don't want to live in but it's still yours and your responsibility to take care of. Siblings who also want and feel they have a right to share in said property. Marriage that ends in disaster because the person they married to turns out to have no ambition, care, nor morals. I could go on. The themes in this book definitely aren't ground breaking ones. It's simply but well written. 

I didn't not enjoy reading this novel, but I certainly struggled to find anything unique about it that I did enjoy. The characters and experiences need more depth and less stereotyping. 

Not a bad novel, but nothing groundbreaking.

~Becky~

The Slim Punjabi - Harmeet

Non-Fiction

Read it for a deeper look into Punjab

I was expecting this to be a story. It wasn't. The author has woven together recipes with history, dance, folk lore, and festivals to give the reader a peak into Punjabi culture. I greatly enjoy Punjabi movies and culture, so this was delightful. I even found things I didn't expect to not have known - like some dance forms and even history. 

I guess my favorite part was the love stories that the author included. There are a few and they are of the Romeo and Juliet variety of romantic tragedy. I feel that stories of this type reflect a great deal on culture and history, so reading these was very interesting for me. The recipes, to be quite honest didn't interest me that much as finding any recipe is just a matter of consulting the google gods, but they gave a mental refresher after the weightier material. 

Read it if you're interested in Punjabi culture overall or just looking to broaden your horizons. 

~Becky~

Avasthe - U.R. Ananthamurthy

Fiction

Verdict: Difficult but worth reading

This is not the first book by Ananthamurthy that I've read. Being a very pro-Kannada writer person, the book shop assistant always suggests Kannada writers as well. 

Ananthamurthy opens the novel with an older man suffering from paralysis due to a stroke contemplating his life and how he reached his current state. He takes stock of his life through conversations, memories, and contemplation. A boy from very unprivaleged background makes something of himself. Not all of the phases of his life are clear. But he does make it very clear whom the influences on his life and they are an interesting cast of characters indeed. 

The main character marries for duty and suprisingly, Ananthamurthy makes a very clear point on how this is detrimental to his health after the stroke as he actually can't stand his wife. In fact it's the first time I've read an Indian author who isn't apologetic and stubbornly caught on the value of duty over happiness. Ananthamurthy also brings back a previous love interest late in the story and creates a connection even though the main character is older and has obvious health problems. 

He also takes on police brutality as a result of the main character's hot temper and association with a known anarchist. It's an interesting take. 

Ananthamurthy has done a masterful job of making his main character accessible. He's not perfect and has a wicked temper, but people can relate to him easily.   You can relate to his anger as a youth, and his longing for healthier times and his stock taking once he gets older. 

As with every variety of Indian writer, Kannada writers have their own flavor that sometimes takes a while to appreciate. But well worth it. 

Read it.

~Becky~

Truck De India - Rajat Ubhaykar

Nonfiction

Verdict: Read it!

India continually breaks into small sub-populations for many varied reasons. Nothing gives me more joy than to dig into a small subculture that i'd never considered before. Rajat Ubhaykar brings truck drivers to the forefront with the tales from his time hitch hiking in trucks across India.

India is a huge country, and without a doubt, trucks and the trucking industry plays a major role in transporting goods. Yet the people who chose to drive trucks are often looked down upon (as are many blue collar jobs) and vilified. Rajat's project is heartwarming, informative, and incredibly brave. It's definitely something I would otherwise never have access to.

Perhaps the author simply doesn't mention either unscrupulous drivers or simply ignores negative behaviors, but most of the people he interacts with seem stunningly average and Rajat does a fantatsic job of making the audience connect with the characters. He even formed relationships with people that lasted long past his project. 

Rajat also does a fantastic job of weaving in history and context about the trucking industry to give the readers further insight. He covers different difficulties that truck drivers face (robbery, police looting, government taxes, middlemen problems, and addiction). It certainly isn't an easy job and more respect and protection should go to the men willing to do such difficult jobs. But labor is cheap and unrespected in India. 

The book is an easy one to read and it will definitely open your eyes to this subculture.  

Read It!

~Becky~

Lunatic in my Head - Anjum Hassan

 Fiction

Verdict: Read it if you want to put the effort

If you have read my blog, you know that when I buy books, I rarely look at the back for a description. I pick up books more on what's on the cover. Accordingly, I had no idea what this one was about. It's like the book lottery, maybe you'll end up reading something you are familiar with, maybe not.

In this case, it was something unfamiliar. I've been planning to visit the north east for a very long time now. Unfortunately life, and then COVID have gotten in the way so far. Urg blurg. Anyhow, I'll get there eventually. What I was wandering around to is that the Northeast of India isn't something I'm overly familiar with.

Hassan's story follows 3 characters. Their lives are loosely connected, though they can't see it themselves, and eventually intertwine. All of the characters give the reader the feeling that they are waiting for change to come along - a very common theme in many small town books. One is a middle aged teacher unsure of a non-traditional relationship, another a small child who wishes to escape her nontraditional but mundane family, the last a restless young man trying to escape small towns and small minds. After much timepass wandering  around, they slowly do. 

Hassan perfectly captures the longing to break out of the average, tedious, small town routine. She also does a masterful job of  capturing the class, tribe, and caste undercurrents that drive a society that hosts the junction of different cultures. Her focus on Khasis was especially interesting for me. I never would have thought that there was an anti-immigrant feel to a town like Shillong, one that stretches generations and covers anyone non Khasi. 

To be quite frank, it's not the fastest moving, nor most action packed book. But what you can get from this novel if you're patient is worth the pace. I found interesting as well (and this continues to astound me across many experiences) is that small towns remain the same. Had the cultural markers been English, this could have been the town I grew up in. I constantly enjoy weighing people being different due to culture, yet always being the same because they're people and most of the human experience is the same. 

Read It.

~Becky~

One Hell of a Lover - Unni R

 Fiction

Verdict: Read it

As per the usual, this is the first exposure I've had to Unni R. He's a Malayali writer. 

Unni is hailed as a visionary writer. Specifically that he addresses machismo in society and skewers it through his writing. Although to be honest, had the translator's note not mentioned that, I never would have caught it. 

Unni's stories are interesting to read, but take a while to adjust to in terms of style. They wander slowly through different aspects of society. His stories are so wild and fantastical that one struggles to keep up sometimes. 

Read them because Unni's perspective is different. It will give you insight into some of more obscure aspects of Kerala.

~Becky~ 

The Assassin's Song - M.G. Vassanji

Fiction

Verdict: Read it!

M.G. Vassanji is also a new author for me. This novel, internets, is why I pick up books by new authors. Once in a while you find something amazing.

It took me a little while to get into this book. It opens up and shares it's secrets slowly. But the further in you get, the more you must think - especially if you have ever had family expectations or religious doubts. 

Karsan, the protagonist, grows up in a small Gujarati village. His father is a revered holy figure from a small sufi shrine. Karsan is expected to fill his shoes one day and grows up with this expectation on his shoulders. As happens with many children, Karsan grows up and begins to resent the expectations on him. He overcomes his family's reluctance and goes away to the US to study. Granted, it happens through pure chance and good luck, but sometimes small incidents like this can massively change a life trajectory. 

As his mind opens and he is exposed to many different experiences and knowledge than his village, Karsan decides that he is going to turn his back on filling his father's shoes. As expected, this brings about a rather large rift in the family. Karsan never sees either of his parents alive again, and his relationship with his brother, who becomes a Muslim and is chased by the police for circumstances that are never verified. Karsan is able to shuck off the expectations of family and community, but sometimes decisions come with unseen and unavoidable consequences. 

Woven in with this story, is the story of the pir in which their dargah is built for. Stories, lore, and myth surround the pir and follow Karsan through his life and bring him comfort even after he has decided that he won't follow his father's path. Such is the case for many who turn their back on religion and tradition. Many still find comfort from the songs, lore, and community.

So many themes, so much thinking. Definitely a must read.

~Becky~

The Immigrant - Manju Kapur

Fiction

Verdict: Read it

This is the first piece I've ready by Manju Kapur. It was definitely an interesting start.

The story opens with 2 different families - Nina's and Ananda's. Both are well into their 30's and unmarried. Through chance, they end up getting an arranged marriage. Ananda is a dentist who has emigrated to Canada and is constantly looking to remove anything from himself that reminds him he is Indian. Nina is a school teacher. After a lengthy, mail driven courtship they get married and Nina follows Ananda to Canada. The remainder of the novel follows Ananda and Nina as they adjust to each other, the new situation, and life.

I found this novel both familiar and interesting for a few reasons. The familiar: Nina's story is one I've read quite a few other times. A simple, traditional girl leaves her home to be with her husband. She is enamored with the idea of life in the West but has no idea what that means and she ends up lonely and unfulfilled sitting at home. It's tragic and tired, even if it's a common experience. It just made me incredibly sad. 

The interesting: The book addresses some interesting subjects. 1. Ananda suffers from premature ejaculation. This is spelled out and explored in a way that I have never seen in an Indian novel. The author went into male mindset on this too, which was very brave of her. He goes alone to see a therapist about it and over comes the problem, but from then on is obsessed with counting and timing to the point where their lovemaking becomes about his counting and not a connection. The couple is unable to have children. Again, the author delves into the typical mindset of masculinity and how it shouldn't be his problem. Both Ananda and Nina end have affairs that are fun but ultimately unfulfilling. The novel ends with Nina leaving Ananda. The spotlight on arranged marriage and the lack of intimacy that has resulted is very startling.  It's a great example of how you can't just throw 2 people together and expect them to be moving the same direction and truly invest in each other and intimacy. The author also addresses clinging to traditional mindset versus trying to distance as far as possible from that mindset. 

I found the characters relatable and the writing well done. It's not a sunshiny book, and I ended up thinking a lot about the subjects the author included. I felt all of them were good ones to get out in the open. 

Read it!

~Becky~

Firaq Gorakhpuri - The Poet of Pain and Ecstasy: Ajai Mansingh

Non-Fiction

Verdict: Maybe if you have an interest in poets or Urdu

I bought this books because 1: the cover is pretty, and 2: because I thought it was poetry and I'm trying to expand my understanding of poetry. It turned out not to be poetry per say, but a biography. 

The author is a relative of Firaq Gorkahpuri, and he makes it very clear from the beginning that he wishes to clear up misconceptions of the poet. Some of this he does, some of this he reinforces, so it's a little odd. 

Overall, the man behind the poetry struck me as a simple man. Fussy, flawed and normal as any other man. I was particularly unimpressed with his obsession with how he was fooled into marrying a sub-optimal woman in his words. 

It was interesting, as most biographies are, to watch the progress of someone's life and to understand how they ended up how they did. In spite of this not being a poetry book, there's quite a bit of poetry in this book to illustrate the poets mindset. I very, very much liked his poetry. I found myself spending way too much time translating in my head. I wasn't particularly impressed with the translations given, but that may just be a result of my not understanding Hindi/Urdu as well as I wish. 

The book was quite a bit longer than it needed to be, and often circled back to the same content.

Read it if you enjoy Urdu poetry or want to understand about Firaq Gorakhpuri.

~Becky~

The Village - Nikita Lalwani

Fiction

Verdict: Read it!

I haven't read anything by Nikita Lalwani before this, and I loved my introduction to her writing. The Village is about a film crew that comes from the UK (specifically from the BBC) to film a documentary for a series about an open door prison. All the convicts have murdered someone, but have the right to go out and work, so long as they return by evening. 

It's an interesting concept and Nikita Lalwani does a brilliant job of it. Her main character is a woman fighting for professional acceptance and respect, yet is the only one portrayed from the film crew with any humanity. They live in simple conditions with the prisoners. Even being Indian, she is never able to make a connection as people are suspicious of her. The main character makes connections with some of the people, only to have them spoiled later as the film crew manufactures or exploits situations in order to get more "feels" from the shoot. It is rather astonishing how far they can depersonalize the inmates to sell a film.

The main character leaves before the film is done as she can't live with the accusation that she never cared. The whole novel has a very surreal feeling. 

Read it.

~Becky~

Butter Chicken in Ludhiana Travels in Small town India - Pankaj Mishra

Non-Fiction

Read it

I haven't read anything previously by Pankaj Mishra - though he's quite the known and celebrated author. The title caught my eye - as did the stereotyped pictures of India on the cover - because I have an obsession with Punjab lately. 

Mishra's book walks the reader through some of his travels in India - mostly the northern half. The author's biting wit and commentary were quite amusing. India is, at the best of times, chock full of situations that are nothing more or less than ludicrous. Anyone who has spent anytime at all in India realizes this. I especially enjoyed that Mishra's destinations weren't big places. The heart of India isn't in it's big cities and tourist destinations. His skewering of small dirty hotels was especially entertaining. He also touches on some of the backward and bigoted thinking that persists to date in the minds of people who either have not been taught to think bigger and better or simply don't want to. These conversations when overheard can be quite shocking if you are not expecting them. 

It's a bit of a paradox when people travel here. You can't see the real India without moving off the beaten path, but its a hard situation to put yourself in. Anyone coming to India would be too overwhelmed (even the beaten path has been known to overcome the heartiest people) and anyone in India is too busy actually living their life and having a job to wander around in small dusty, backward places. But this is how travelers find themselves and learn about the wider condition. Trains in particular - Sleeper class if you are the sturdiest of the sturdy - are one of the best places I've ever found to observe humanity and exactly who Indians are. 

Mishra's humor moves the reader through mundane and often ridiculous scenarios. It also poses a challenge to readers like me to search out (more than I already have!) places and situations that stretch me and help me further understand the country I choose to live in. 

Read it.

~Becky~

Desert Flower - Waris Dirie

Waris Dirie

Non-Fiction

It's been a long time since I read a good autobiography and Waris Dirie didn't disappoint.

The story opens with her in her childhood and what prompted her to run away from her family in Somalia - an arranged marriage - and her journey after that to become an international fashion model. If nothing else, it's a fantastic story of dreams and impossible circumstances. 

Waris Dirie comes from a very poor nomadic family in Somalia. She is a middle child and had a very close connection with nature. She addresses poverty, nomadic culture, female genital mutilation, toxic relationships, and being a dependent immigrant in a straightforward, humble tone.

Her story is both extraordinary and inspiring. It will inspire you to do better from whatever background you have.

Read it.

~Becky

Women Dreaming - Salma

Read it

Fiction

Women dreaming is quite an interesting read. It's been a long time since I have read an author who is so blunt (without romance or lament) about the condition of women - in this case Muslim Women in India. It's a novel, so fiction, but I could relate to the characters so well, I felt like this could be the case in any Muslim home in India.

Salma's characters aren't stereotypical. Her main character leaves her husband after he takes a second wife. Her sister in law was rejected and sent home from a marriage after her husband was not able to have sex thus she was rejected as being barren (he most likely was gay). Her mother is lost in an angry sad world where she needs to cry and shout about everything. Her husband is so angry that she stood up for herself, he takes it upon himself to make the rest of her life hell by separating her from her children. 

All of this takes place in a village. It could be any village - the small mindedness and judgmental nature are universal. The author also takes pains to demonstrate how self righteous, religious people (in this case a man) are much more interested in controlling and limiting women rather than in the actual religion. It's a refreshing honesty. Salma's main character isn't a heroine. She falls into a pit of despair and dissociation. Yet you can't help admiring her for making her own decision and living her own life in spite of so many obstacles. And you feel sorry for her because even after she does, she's not able to find happiness or even peace. The children can't decide who to support or put up with because both houses become toxic. The author also takes pains to point out how shackling one generation of women makes it's way down other generations as well. Women themselves encourage these limitations because they don't know or can't imagine any other way.

It's a sad novel, but a reality for many women and helped me appreciate exactly how my separation could have gone. I hope those who need inspiration to get out of intolerable situations read it and take hope from the main character and see the importance of finding happiness after life changes and things don't work out how you hoped or expected.

Read it.

~Becky~

The Seeds of War - Ashok K Banker

Fiction

Read it

I've read many different flavors of both the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, some good, some inane. This is another reincarnation of a part of the Mahabharata and one I found very interesting. While this is only a section of the author's rendering of the Mahabharata, I found some of his explanations and story telling skills very good for understanding the underlying thought and logic for some of the familiar stories. 

In general, I'm a fan of multi-generational stories, and this one stretched for a few.  I found the plot pacing to be rather sporadic - in some places the author takes pains to over explain and give too many details and in other places, he races past things. I'm not sure if this was due to the size of the project he was trying to cover or if he wanted to connect stories. Either way, it was a bit awkward to read from that perspective. 

I'm not sure I would sit through the rest of the series if this is any indication of how it would go, but I did enjoy learning new things about old stories.

Read it!

~Becky~

The Reluctant Fundamentalist - Mohsin Hamid

 Fiction

Read it

I'm not exactly sure why this was an international bestseller. It has a very American flavor of obsession with terrorists. But I suppose that is just a matter of style.  

The story opens with a Pakistani man sharing a meal with a very obviously white person. He shares his background and establishes a relationship, all the while reassuring his dining companion that he's paranoid that that no one is dangerous. Living in this part of the world, it's amusing to me that the author chose Pakistan as the home of his main character. I'm guessing it's because the author is Pakistani.  I view Lahore as a normal city, the same as any other. Of course there may be problems with terrorism, just like anywhere else. Ahem. Moving on.

The author takes us through his life and his relationship struggles, none of which made it clear to me why that should result in terrorism. At the end, you never really get answers. He implies that people are chasing them and that it's nothing to worry about. So many questions, no answers. Are we simply supposed to connect the dots? This doesn't seem to look good for the author. Especially when I suspect his motivation for writing this wasn't to encourage people to see terrorism behind every corner. 

This book left me puzzled on many accounts. It's a good time pass, it helps the audience relate the main character. Aside from that, I'm not sure how it relates to fundamentalism, terrorism, or what conclusions the author is asking the audience to draw. 

Read it for a good time pass, but don't encourage the fetishism of terrorism that the west embraces.

~Becky~

The Mad Tibetan - Deepti Naval

Fiction

Read it

Deepti Naval has put together a beautiful collection of short stories. I had actually read this before and forgotten. She manages to combine the wistfulness of the Himalayas with personal touches that everyone can relate to. 

It's not a long or complicated read, but it's a great one to snuggle up with and pass an afternoon contemplating just running away and living in a small cabin in the Himalayas. 

Read it.

~Becky~

The Disappearance of Sally Sequeira - Bhaskar Chattopakdhyay

Fiction

Meh

I liked the cover, so I picked this book up. It's a suspense novel. 

The good: The author chose a nice setting - a small village in south Goa is romantic.

The Bad: The style copies Sherlock and Watson to an embarrassing degree. While the author tries to create suspense, the foreshadowing is poorly done and has no reflection on the final, inexplicable plot twist that happens at the end.

The novel is an overall good time pass, but nothing special. 

~Becky~

Everyone Loves a Good Drought - P. Sainath

Non-Fiction

Read It

Sorry for the long absence, I have been in the middle of a house-shifting and had a small surgery. It's been a long, stressful month and I'm ready to just run away to Bermuda permanently. I haven't had tons of time to read, but I have finished quite a few books recently. 

This is another one of those books that starts out with "I wasn't expecting it to be this....but I liked it anyways." I was expecting this to be stories, but they turned out to be articles. 

In the US, the poverty in India is seen as a caricature and is often stared at with morbid fascination and used to make people feel better about themselves. If they're aware of anything about India at all that is. 

Unfortunately, the tribal people of India are marginalized to a degree that is horrifying. Most people cannot fathom the actual level of poverty and government oversight and social disregard for people whom have no resources.  

As I mentioned, one of the reasons that the very poor here are disenfranchised, is that the very laws put into place to protect them are mostly ignored and or utilized to further take advantage of helpless people. The author has traveled to some of the poorest districts and investigates some of the reasons why certain marginalized populations will probably never come out of their current situation. India, due to size, population, and chaos level, takes an extraordinary amount of time to change. 

It's a depressing book once you realize that all of the factors mentioned in the book will probably never change, and even the worthwhile, good initiatives by government or NGO's probably will not change anything. That being said, being aware of the human condition of different people is crucial. 

It's not easy to read or understand, but read it anyhow.

~Becky~