International Authors' Day Blog Hop

Hello there!

Just like last year this time too I am back with International Author's Blog Hop on my blog.

I remember being introduced to reading at the age of 4. But if asked to name the first ever novel I read it would be 20000 leagues under the sea. I was 11 years old then and was the only student in my whole class who picked up a novel when we were taken to the library and asked to pick a book. Rest of the class made do with comics and such lighter reads. The teacher was both impressed and unsure if I would be able to read the whole novel. She asked me to write a summary on the story and I did manage to do that too. I still remember the whole story and also the applause I had received after presenting my summary to the whole class. Perhaps that was the moment when I fell in love with books, a bit more than what I had felt till before.

After that there was no looking back. The thicker the book the more it seemed attractive to me. I would be the only student who would look forward to the library period and had a huge list ready before hand of what I wanted to read next. Enid Blyton series and then gradually moving onto classics written by some very famous authors like H G Wells, Shakespeare to books like Little Women, Sherlock Holmes series etc.

Thinking about books that was the time when I actually fell in love with Rebecca too! (The novel !) Our science teacher had gone on leave for few weeks leaving us free periods in her absence. The teacher who was her replacement couldn't teach us science. And to ensure a whole class of 50 kids sat quietly for almost 40 minutes for a huge task for her every day. So she started narrating to us the story of Rebecca, a book she had just started reading. She ensured she narrated it in bits and pieces leaving us asking for more till she came the next day. Not only was the whole class glued to her story sitting quietly throughout the whole time but she also introduced me to something that I was going to cherish all my life.

Till date Rebecca continues to be my favourite read for multiple reasons. I have re-read it so many times but I am still as mesmerized by it as much as I was when I read it the first time. And that is the magic of a wonderfully written book!

Do you have any such favourites that you keep going back to seeking for comfort? Would love to hear your stories.

Also as a part of this Blog Hop I am hosting a giveaway. Do participate and win some wonderful books!

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This event is hosted by b00k r3vi3ws.

Movie Review: If by Tathagata Ghosh – A Tender Portrait of Love, Loss, and Possibility

If , a 26-minute short film by acclaimed Bengali filmmaker Tathagata Ghosh, is a sensitive, evocative piece of storytelling that lingers long after the credits roll. Set against the everyday rhythm of life in Kolkata, the film delicately unpacks the story of a lesbian couple torn apart by the weight of societal expectations and dares to imagine a different future, one where a mother's love might just change everything. What struck me first was the film’s raw, grounded realism. The characters feel like people we know, middle-class families navigating a complex world with quiet resilience. The world of If is filled with silences, glances, and stills, rather than heavy dialogue. Ghosh masterfully uses these moments to speak volumes, allowing viewers to sit with discomfort, interpret the unspoken, and feel deeply.

Book Review: The Story of Eve: Selected Poems by Zehra Nigah

Few voices in Urdu poetry have carried the weight of history, resistance, and deep personal introspection quite like Zehra Nigah. One of the first women to break into the traditionally male-dominated world of Urdu poetry, Nigah’s work stands as a testament to the power of words to illuminate, question, and challenge. The Story of Eve: Selected Poems, translated by Rakshanda Jalil, brings together some of her most powerful nazms and ghazals, showcasing both her literary elegance and her unflinching gaze at the human condition, particularly through the lens of gender, social injustice, and political turmoil.

The Urban Gaze : Reimagining the Village in Contemporary Indian Cinema

Indian cinema has long been fascinated with the village. From the earthy, socialist realism of Do Bigha Zamin (1953) to the melodramatic lament of Mother India (1957), the village once stood as both heartland and hinterland — a space of moral clarity, rustic struggle, and often unyielding fate. But as the urban middle class began to dominate cinematic production and consumption, the depiction of the village increasingly came to reflect an urban gaze, that is, a perspective shaped by distance, nostalgia, condescension, or even outright fantasy. In recent years, this urban gaze has taken on new shades, evident in the way mainstream and indie filmmakers alike have re-engaged with rural India. While some have tried to explore the village as a site of resistance, authenticity, or even horror, others continue to reproduce sanitized or exaggerated versions of village life that serve urban sensibilities more than rural realities.

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