Reviews & Musings

Introduction  Living with Chronic Illness is like being in for a new surprise every day. Despite following all that you have been advised, your body might choose to respond differently to the same factors daily. Bringing together such experiences of day-to-day life is Shruti Buddhavarapu’s book ‘The Weight of a Cherry Blossom‘.  About the Book  If you took a map and pinned each city I’ve lived in, I’d exist somewhere in the tautness of the string attaching one point to the other.    ISBN: 978-93-5333-699-8  Category: Non-Fiction  Imprint : Rupa Publications  Year: 2019  If a life is lived across many homes—from balmy Chennai to muggy Mumbai, the crackling expansiveness of Delhi to the breathtaking splendour of Vancouver in spring—where do you truly belong? If you are constantly on the move, is home just what Customs can clear? And how do you find love, in the middle of it all, when you do not or cannot stay in one city long enough? Funny, ...

  Genre: Nonfiction / Biography/ Memoirs ISBN: 978-9390356355 Price: INR 695/- Publisher : Rupa Publications India  Year of Publishing: 2021  Book Blurb  The Presidential Years gives a fascinating account of how one of the country's most respected veteran politicians reshaped the functioning of Rashtrapati Bhavan and responded to tumultuous events as the country's first citizen, leaving behind a legacy that will be hard to match. Pranab Mukherjee became President of India after having spent several decades in politics, and there was great speculation over how he would approach his new bipartisan role after having been associated with a political party for so many years of his life.  By the time he had served his term, Mukherjee had won the respect and admiration of people from across the political spectrum, including those who were his rivals when he was a political figure. He had the occasion to work with two prime ministers, belonging to two parties who were ...

Image Source: Amazon.in About the Book  Who Wants to Marry a Mamma’s Boy and Other Stories is an engaging collection of short stories by columnist and award-winning writer Manjula Pal. She strings together the emotional journeys of a diverse set of women at different stages in their life. The realism in her stories is unmistakable: whether it is a teenager facing the dilemma over right and wrong but eventually succumbing to social pressure, or the dilemma of an ambitious woman caught between a demanding career and an even more demanding boyfriend, or the socio-cultural dynamics that affect relationships, or how guilt can make or break a person. Manjula takes a deep dive into several unexplored areas of life and reaffirms that happiness is all about striking a balance between commitment and compromise. 

Image Source: Amazon.in About the Book ‘We were an ordinary family, with conventional lives. We were mostly happy, but always cautious of too much happiness. We were hardly religious, just pious enough to keep us on the straight and narrow. We bickered a little but would never have thought to be estranged. We feared illness and anticipated eventual death, but we expected life to follow a certain path, a particular schedule. Until...’ 

Source: Goodreads.com Blurb 1998. Twenty-two-year-old Mina is moving to the US from Bangalore to begin a new life with her husband. Then there’s a horrific murder and her life is turned upside down. Mina’s best friend Neelu helps her out of the abyss. Mina gradually leaves her past behind and settles into a new life in the US. Years later, she is forced to return to India and is confronted by the demons from her past. In her fragile mental state, she is unable to support Neelu in her time of need. Their friendship hits rock bottom. Mina goes back to the US and faces further hurdles, this time on the work front. She tries to make amends with Neelu, but their friendship ends with Neelu accusing Mina of something unimaginable related to the murder. Something, that deep down, Mina knows is true... Will Mina redeem herself? Will the people she loves forgive her for what she did? Alternating between flashbacks and the present day, What Mina Did explores how one...

Source: Goodreads.com Kashmir, a place that has been called heaven on earth, has been bleeding since decades now and sadly there is not much respite to its plight. While my heart goes out to all the Kashmiris who have faced the brutalities time and again, my mind is throbbing with questions as I try to delve deeper and understand the what, how and why. Written by Ashok Dhar, who was born and brought up in Kashmir, this book promises to be give you a first hand insight into the Kashmir issue.   *-*-* Stories of the trauma and betrayal faced by Kashmiris have been told, the events retraced and analysis offered. And yet, one of the most long-standing disputes in India’s post-Independence history remains unsettled. If it were up to Lal Ded, a Sufi poet, she would offer the most difficult solution so far—to look within. Kashmir As I See It, a personal journey interspersed with geopolitical analysis, is not only about the state but also about the voice that yearns to be...

:About the Book: What the world knows about Sanjay duty is only half-truths. best-selling author, film producer and renowned journalist Ram Kamal Mukherjee unravels the enigma and stigma surrounding Sanju Baba. There can be no last word on Sanjay Dutt. Ever. Even as he walks a free man after more than three decades of prison terms and controversies, Dutt remains a classic case study in all that defines the ‘star’ system in Hollywood industry known for its deep-rooted sense of entitlement. However, there is one question that dominates: who is the real Sanjay duty?  Is he a man who has been ‘wronged by the media’, as his friend and filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani wants everyone to believe? Is he a son who could never recover from his mother’s death? Is he a son whose father political leanings made him an easy target? Or is he a myth, created by a consortium of film journalists, industry insiders, political fiends and adversaries? Delving deep into both the man and his circums...

Image Source: Amazon.in   “Don't you wish you could take a single childhood memory and blow it up into a bubble and live inside it forever?” ― Sarah Addison Allen This was my first thought the moment I finished reading the book. How often do we wish to take a time travelling machine and go back in time, only to bask in the sweet memories of childhood? And how often does a book manage to be that machine for you? Yes! You guessed it right, this book was my ticket to childhood, to the time when we would go to Nani's house and stay there till the schools reopened. A time when all the cousins gathered and did nothing but play the whole day. Everything that was anybody's favourite was cooked in the house and games were just that, games. Life could never have been better.

Having lost his father at an early age, Amit grows up in great hardship. Amit, his mother, and Supriya, his sister—who struggles with a disabling affliction that confines her to bed—still manage to live a happy life even as they nurture a collective dream: to see Amit become a doctor. Growing up in the comforting familiarity of Jabalpur, Amit fulfills this dream but life continues to place roadblocks to happiness. Amit’s wife, Nikita, suffers from schizophrenia and he is faced with the challenge of bringing up his children in an atmosphere of familial discord and distrust. Amit faces all these challenges, and yet, never turns away from any of the ties that bind him. Eternal Bonds brings to you the poignant story of a family that respects and nurtures the bonds of relationships in the face of severe emotional challenges. It is not everyday that you come across a book that moves you to tears and leaves you grappling with a plethora of emotions for days after having f...

About the Book: In December of 1961, twenty-year-old Krishna Bedi landed at a port in New York armed with only 300 dollar in his pocket and a resolve to study engineering in the United States. What transpired then is a story of one man's perseverance and determination to create the life he had always dreamed for himself as a little boy in India—a place where his options seemed anything but limitless.  Krishna K. Bedi’s memoirs reflect the hardships and the triumphs on his path to fulfilling his dream of becoming an engineer and returning home to India as a successful man. A lesson in attitude, survival, perseverance and grit, Bedi brilliantly narrates the story of the immigrant experience, his close-knit relationships and enmeshing cultures—a story that not only affirms the American dream, but also resonates with millions.

Introduction ISBN:978-9353332686 Genre:  Fiction / Mythology Publishers: Rupa Publications Price: Rs. 295/- (I got the book for review from the publisher)

Introduction Source: Amazon.in ISBN:978-9353332501 Genre:  Fiction Publishers: Rupa Publications Price: Rs. 299/- (I got the book for review from the publisher)

Introduction Image (C) Privy Trifles ISBN:978-9353332648 Genre:  Fiction Publishers: Rupa Publications Price: Rs. 295/- (I got the book for review from the publisher)

Introduction Source: Goodreads.com ISBN:978-93-5304-142-7 Genre:  Non-Fiction Publishers: Rupa Publications Price: Rs. 295/- (I got the book for review from the publisher)

Introduction Copyright (C) Privy Trifles ISBN:978-93-5304-365-0 Genre:  Fiction Publishers: Rupa Publications Price: Rs. 295/- (I got the book for review from the publisher)

Introduction Source: Goodreads.com ISBN:978-93-5304-714-6 Genre:  Fiction Publishers: Rupa Publications Price: Rs. 250/- (I got the book for review from the publisher)

Introduction Source: Goodreads.com ISBN:978-93-5304-154-0 Genre:  Non-Fiction/ Politics  Publishers: Rupa Publications Price: Rs. 299/- (I got the book for review from the publisher)

Introduction Source: Amazon.in ISBN :    978-9386-2287-03 Genre:  Fiction / Anthologies Publishers: Rupa Publications Price:  Rs. 299/-  ( I got the book for review from the  publisher )

Introduction Source: Goodreads.com ISBN :    978-812-9148-66-7 Genre:  Fiction/ Romance Publishers: Rupa Publishing Price:  Rs. 295/-  ( I got the book for review from the  publisher )

Introduction Source: Amazon.in ISBN :    978-812-915-1506 Genre:  Fiction Publishers: Rupa Publishers Price:  Rs. 295/-  ( I got the book for review from the  publisher )