Animalia Indica

Animalia Indica is a collection of animal stories from Indian literature, compiled by Sumana Roy. These are some of the finest animal stories from Indian literature, with stories translated from various regional languages and some in English. The stories are by Rudyard Kipling, Premchand, Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Ruskin Bond, to name a few Indian literary giants.

This collection includes stories such as mongoose and snake, the one with crocodile and monkey which we enjoyed as children and which are just as entertaining to read as an adult. After the first familiar story of mongoose and snake the next tale is by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay about a bull called Mahesh and this story comes across as a tragic shock after the fun story of mongoose and snake. Each of the stories in this collection features a gamut of animals as protagonists ranging from the humble bullocks, to snakes, tiger, hyenas, goats, bulbuls, elephant and crows.  My favorite story was The Last Tiger by Ruskin Bond, which talks about the effects of deforestation, but still ends in hope and makes you feel good. The other story that touched me was about a pregnant herd animal called Putali who gets separated from her herd and goes into labor alone during a stormy rainy evening. These stories touch a chord inside you, showing you the vulnerability of being an animal. They also remind you that as a human you are guilty of hurting these animals on so many levels.

Lastly I have to mention that the introduction is superb and the notes in the end are a nice touch because it always helps to know a little more about the story, the authors and the translators. As Sumana Roy reminds us in the introduction – these stories remind us the joy of being human – for the pleasure of reading these stories is a uniquely human delight.

The Music Room – Book Review

How do I begin to describe this memoir by Namita Devidayal? It is one of the most beautiful books I have read this year. There are some books that you want to race through because you can’t wait to know ‘what will happen next’ and then there are some books that you read slowly, savoring every word because it is not the destination but the journey that is important and beautiful. The Music Room, debut by Namita Devidayal is one such beautiful journey, meandering through her memories and an ode to her music teacher Dhondutai Kulkarni.

Any god given gift demands a complete sacrifice and full dedication, and only when you have paid your dues and given it all, does the gift give you back fulfillment and satisfaction. This memoir opened up the world of music that was almost forgotten to me. Like Namita I started learning music at a young age too, but unlike Ms.Devidayal; for me, life and education got in the way of a proper musical education.

Spanning from Kolhapur to Borivli via the seamy neighborhood of Kennedy Bridge in Bombay, this memoir is tender and soulful with the character descriptions of innocent Dhondutai, her willful father Ganpatrao, her Ayi who wants to just live with her children and protect her daughter, the description of strong and charismatic Kesarbai, and the interactions between the women be it; Dhondutai, Namita and Ayi; or Dhondutai and Kesarbai. The description of the hypocrisy of those times, when on one hand music was considered gift from god, but practitioners of this craft were dependent on the generosity of the patrons. This hypocrisy is more apparent in the description of the treatment of women singers who needed a beneficiary but still tried to keep their music and singing pure by singing for the gods. Interwoven between all these stories are the descriptions of various beautiful ragas, thumris, and tanas.

With prose like ‘Ayi and I Shared a unique bond, that which can exist only between a child and an old person, for both prefer to live life in a two-dimensional cartoon strip, which has no tolerance for the practical world’ , Ms.Devidayal weaves a memoir of companionship between women of different ages, of mentorship between teachers and students and friendship which spans over decades.

This is a must read not only for Indian classical music lovers but for anyone who knows the value of art and the high price it extracts for its love.

 

Erotic stories for Punjabi widows

 

This is a lively, thought-provoking East meets West story, by Balli Kaur Jaswal. It starts with the twenty-something Nikki who comes from a traditional Sikh household but is somewhat of a rebel and does what she wants to do while still loving her traditional parents and sister. After her father’s death, Nikki takes up extra job to teach what she thinks of as ‘creative writing’ course for the women at the local Gurudwara. She gets lot of local women who join the course for basic English writing not short stories. What these women really want is an outlet for their stories and some time out of their daily humdrum life, and Nikki’s class provides them a cover to share their fantasy stories.

This story is all about the impressions….the impressions that we form in our minds when we see someone for the first time. You hear someone talk in their regional language in a big group abroad and you immediately think ‘oh look, so desi!’, you see a girl dressed in what you think is in an unacceptable way and think ‘look at her, so loose!”. We never think beyond our own perceptions and we are all guilty of this including myself.  In our hypocrisy we automatically assume a middle-aged woman, whether in a widows garb of white saree or marries is devoid of any carnal desires.

Just the title says ‘erotic stories…’ does not mean this is a porn novel and that’s what this story is about…makes you look beyond the obvious perceptions. It shows that where there is comfort in living within your community when abroad, that same comfort can bring prickly judgement.  The story revolves around Nikki – trying to find her place in the traditional PUnjabi household in UK and a group of Punjabi windows – all of them having well developed characters throughout the story. The chemistry between the widows is a hoot to read.

Overall the book is very well written, has some great character development and conveys important messages without being overly preachy.

 

Between the shades of gray – Ruta Sepetys

I heard about Ruta Sepetys through bookstagram recently. I looked her up on Goodreads and requested ‘Between the shades of gray’ from the library; and I am very happy that I decided to get this book.

Between the shades of gray starts with a sudden deportation of Lina and her family from their home in Lithuania in 1941. It tells a story of the systematic deportations of the citizens of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia conducted by Soviet Union at the height of World War II to annex these regions. The story moves on through the stages of initial outrage at their deportation, then hope that they will be sent back home soon, then denial and eventual acceptance of their fate. It follows the story of Lina – a 15 year old girl, her younger brother and their mother through their year and half journey from Kaunas, Lithuania to Trofimovsk, North Pole; and their experiences as they are held slaves and forced to work on beet farms and in sub-human conditions.

In my opinion, Lina’s mother Elena is the real hero in this book. Her character is kind but brave and strong. I always think that in extreme conditions some people prove their humanity by showing strength of character and some people fall apart and let go of their humanity by becoming petty and mean. Elena’s character belongs to the first group; she is shown as human by obviously always thinking of her children first, but never by being petty and mean. The other characters in the story are well-thought out, though some I think are a bit formulaic, but I think this little flaw can be allowed in a story so well-written.

Everyone knows about the horrors of the Holocaust, but how many of us really know about the horrors inflicted by Stalin or Mussolini on their citizens. I certainly didn’t know about these deportations of the citizens of Baltic states during the WWII and I am glad to know this part of history.

I look forward to reading more of Ruta Sepetys in the near future!

About book stores and their stories…

Book stores have always held a special place in my heart, and the charm of tiny book stores run by independent small business owners is undeniable. When I was in middle school, my first library was this little place operated by an old man and was located next to the busy train station. As per the library rules, you were allowed to check out only one book at a time, and if you wanted to check out another one, then the cost was 50 paise. The library was far enough from my house that my visit was usually accompanied by an adult, and since my parents never put any restrictions on reading, I was allowed to check out 2-3 books at a time. As I grew older, the library became too small for me, and I closed out my membership in that library. That tiny one room library doesn’t exist anymore, except in the minds of young impressionable patrons like myself who cannot forget their first library.

On my last visit to India, I was visiting the town where I did my high school from, and I remembered there stood a small bookstore, around 18-20 years ago. On a whim I thought of checking out if this bookstore still existed…and imagine my happiness when I saw it still standing there; books spilling from the store and on the sidewalk.  I entered the place with reverence in my heart that is reserved only for the temple of books. There was something for everyone in that store; from trashy romance novels to religious texts, from Bollywood magazines to biographies, from textbook on Economics to Chicken Soup for Soul, and from a book about Satyajit Ray to the latest thriller by Stephen King to the Archie comics. All arranged haphazardly on shelves which could barely hold them, irrespective of their categories and authors. As my eyes roamed through the shelves, alighting on titles I recognized and others that looked interesting, the chaos of the books on shelves, soothed something in me that I didn’t know was ruffled. These shelves trying to hold on to the books which tell a million stories unheard, show you the places unseen and the characters you didn’t know who were missing from your life till date. I brought about 5 books from that store, a Rishi Kapoor biography, a Devdutt Patnaik book, a Shashi Tharoor and two vintage Chacha Chaudhary comic books ; and paid way too much for those comics; but it was like paying to get a slice of childhood back.

A walk through the pristine aisles of Barnes and Noble or a Crossword bookstore while can provide me with a book when needed, doesn’t ignite a reverence in me like those shelves spilling on the sidewalk. Though rather than buying new books through a commercial bookstore, I would rather walk through the aisles of the public library, which even though is in no shape or size like my first library, it is at least a temple for the stories.

Those Pricey Thakur Girls – Book review

Those Pricey Thakur Girls, by Anuja Chauhan revolves around the drama in the lives of Justice LN Thakur, his wife Mamta and their daughters, residing in New Delhi.

LN and his wife have named their daughters alphabetically from A to E. They have married off the first two daughters, the third one has eloped (much to their shame and chagrin) and are trying to figure out how to arrange for finances for the wedding of their 4th and 5th daughters. The story mainly centers on the love life of Debjani with a handsome journalist and the circumstances and factors leading to their relationship. Inter-woven between Debjani’s and Dylan’s story are the stories of Ajni – who is childless and is trying to understand her marriage, Binodini – who wants her share of her father’s estate to fund into her husband’s business, Chandu – whom nobody is allowed to talk to as she eloped with an Estonian and the fifth daughter Eshwari – who is a 16 yr old sensible teenager with interest in good looking boys!

While the Debjani and her journalist are the semi-protagonists of this story, the readers are given enough meat about the other characters in the story to keep it from getting one dimensional. The development of other characters – even the ones with minor roles like Satish or the kids Bonu and Monu is well developed and well written. My favorite characters were the mother and the youngest Thakur daughter Eshwari, there was something so endearing about Mamta’s character; like doesn’t matter how unpleasant your daughters sometimes get, you correct them and still take care of them because they are your own kids. Eshwari’s character is a typical 16 year old who likes sports and boys, but is still the kid of the family. The romance in the story is toe curling and sexy, even though the central characters were not as endearing.

This was my second book by Anuja Chauhan with the first one being Baaz. While Baaz did not impress me at all, I still decided to go ahead and read Those Pricey Thakur Girls; and I am glad I read it! TPTG was a super fun and quick read. Yes, it is melodramatic and it reads like how a commercial masala hindi movie would read if it were a book, but it has a good story and is well written.

From the two books that I have read, it seems like Anuja Chauhan has a formula for her central characters – the hero is handsome, dashing, young and brave and is a ladies’ man; the heroine is plucky, out spoken, beautiful and the two fall in love with each other at the first sight! It might be formulaic but it is fun to read non-fussy stories that make you feel good and help you relax. Do give this story a read if you get a chance.

Three Dark Crowns-Kendare Blake

Three dark queens

are born in a glen,

sweet little triplets

will never be friends

Three dark sisters

all fair to be seen ,

two to devour

and one to be Queen

So begins Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake. It is a dark read, set in a mythical island of Fennbirn where the only way to become a queen, is by killing the other two sisters of a set of triplets. Each of the triplets is born with a gift- either power over the five elements, or over the nature or a poisoner who can stomach all kinds of poison; and only the strongest of the three will become the queen.

The Three Dark Crowns has a very intriguing concept of royalty and crown, where instead of the first born being a natural heir to the throne, the triplets are all an equal heir to the crown, you just have to be willing to kill the other two sisters in a fair game. I have been on a look out for a good series for a long while now and I think I have found it in this series by Kendare Blake.

Her writing flows easily, but grips you in the story almost immediately from the first chapter. I don’t care much for lot of flowery descriptions of the surroundings, but almost nothing about the people in the book, it is the character development is very important and Kendare achieves that superbly. All the characters from the suitors Billy and Pietyr, the foster families of Arrons, Milones and Westwood to the queens, Mirabella, Arsinoe and Katharine, is written about beautifully. A small scene involving Sara Westwood was so well written that you could gauge her character in couple of paragraphs.

I will recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy genre and wants to read something unconventional. I cannot wait to read the next one in the series: One Dark Throne.

Zinda hoon yaar….

When I first heard the song “Zinda Hoon Yaar” by Amit Trivedi from the movie Lootera, I thought what a fatalistic song. The lyrics of the song are: Mujhe chod do mere haal pe, Zinda hoon yaar….Kaafi hai. Translation: leave me alone in whatever state I am… I am alive and that’s enough. I don’t like fatalistic songs and this song made me think…oh what a loser that all he wants to do is live his life the way it is.

But there was something about it that made me go back to it again and again; the background score, the singer, or something else. The beauty of a poem is you can interpret it any which way it pleases you sometimes you interpret it in five different ways depending on your mood. In my current state of mind (running around sorting out my personal and professional life) when I heard this song, I absolutely agreed with the song. The song tells you “leave me alone, I am alive and that should be enough…” When everyone is running in the rat race trying to prove themselves to some corporation, trying to get a higher paying job, a higher figure salary, better benefits; all to improve their quality of life. The life which they are too busy worrying and working for and which they have no time to live! Each of us, including myself is a corporate rat; scurrying around…trying to finish that one last task at the expense of our health and life, living from one weekend to next. Every Friday is the same phrase, “thank god it’s Friday today” and every Monday are the same droll faces with an expression on their face saying “please take me far far away!” I sometimes wonder if everyone collectively hates their job or Monday blues are contagious.

The last line of the song is “kuch mangna baaki nahi, jitna mila…kaafi hai…” translation: I don’t need to ask for anything more, whatever I have received is enough. My life is a constant struggle between needs and wants, and I am sure most of our life is wanting more- I need more clothes, more shoes, more money, more status even more knowledge and more love! For once, I wish I could say I am happy with what I have, and don’t want more.

I wish I could follow this song and say- I am alive and kicking and that’s more than enough!

Canadian Rockies

Lately a lot of people have been asking me details about my itinerary from my Canadian Rockies trip from last year. So I decided to put together a blog post about my trip, even though I am a full year late; at this time last year, I was almost finishing my trip!

I did the Canadian Rockies with my parents and then we went ahead for the Alaska Cruise from Seattle. The idea for the trip began when my cousins from India did this trip with an Indian tour operator. I was initially skeptical about doing a tour with an Indian operator, but when I realized the tour would be done by a Canadian local I was happily got on board with the idea. It was a relief not to worry about lunch and dinner ideas for my parents, and the tour was a really good one! I would recommend it to anyone who wants to do this trip with Indian parents.

Firstly, Indian passport holders need a Canadian tourist visa. It is a fairly easy process, but the website for the visa process is user unfriendly, so be prepared for some irritations in the initial process when you are uploading your documents. But once you get everything submitted, it only took about 15-20 days to get the visa. Then came booking the tickets, and let me tell you Boston to Calgary isn’t cheap to fly, but it is worth it!

So we started our journey from Calgary where we spent half a day and then drove to the town of Banff. On the first day in Banff we saw the Johnston Canyon Lower Falls, the beautiful Lake Morraine and then Lake Louise. We hiked up to the lower falls in the Johnston Canyons and it was about an hour or so hike. It was an absolutely beautiful walk, and I took about a zillion pictures there. From there we went to Lake Morraine, which I had no idea was so blue and so beautiful! The melting glaciers from the surrounding peaks feed into the lake, and as the streams moves through the rocks on the peaks it collects the minerals which eventually give the lake a deep turquoise color in sunlight. After that we walked around the perimeter of the Lake Louise, which was a bit more crowded because of the Fairmont Chateau Hotel. On the second day, we took the gondola up the Sulfur mountain. The view would have been spectacular but for the relentless rain that day! Later in the day as the rain abated we did a cruise along the Minnewanka Lake, which was peaceful and beautiful.

Next day we left for the Columbia Icefields while viewing the spectacular scenery on the way. We spent about 4-5 hours there; we went up the Athabasca glacier and clicked silly pictures, and then did the glacier skywalk across the valley. The view while walking on the skywalk was beautiful and scary at the same time! We spent the night in Jasper where we saw the sun not set until 11 pm…it was surreal! We spent the next day touring the lakes around Jasper; Maligne lake, Pine Lake, Pyramid Lake. Even though it was mid June the weather was quite chilly in Jasper, so do carry a jacket and scarf with you. Later in the afternoon my mom and I spent the day walking around the Jasper downtown. It was a perfect day spent with family.

The next day we left for Whistler with a pit stop in Kamloops for the night. Whistler is a beautiful, quaint ski town, and a stroll through its village on a late summer night, is a wonderful experience. The next day we did the peak to peak gondola between Whistler and Blackcomb mountains and the view was unbelievable from high up there!

The next morning we left for Vancouver where we spent 2 nights in Vancouver downtown. I am partial to coastal towns and Vancouver completely charmed me! We did ride of sea plane over the ocean and a 4D show called Flyover Canada near the harbor in Vancouver. The next day we took the ferry over to Victoria to see the famous Butchart Gardens. These show gardens are spectacular and just a day strolling through them isn’t enough to do complete justice to these gardens. On the final day we did the city tour of Vancouver and toured the Capilano suspension bridge.

These are just few spots in a beautiful country…it is full of random beautiful lakes and sceneries. Sometimes instead of clicking away pictures, it is better to appreciate the beauty with your eyes and mind so that you can remember it in your heart.

 

Norse Mythology: Neil Gaiman

I have to admit, it was the cover that attracted me first to this book; second was the name-Norse Mythology and finally Neil Gaiman as the author convinced me that I should read it! And I am glad I did! I don’t know much about Norse Mythology at all, but I have definitely heard of Asgard and of Thor and his legendary hammer.

Before I started reading it, I was expecting the book to flow like the usual fictional novel in a linear pattern; but now that I have finished it, I agree that the small short stories was a better way to go. The book starts by introducing the usual players, then goes on to describe the beginnings, how Thor got his hammer and then the other stories which display the slyness of Loki, the stubbornness of Thor, and general the fickle nature of gods, ending with the end of the world.

As the book is written in short stories you can take breaks while reading but the book in general is pretty unstoppable once you start reading it. What I found very fascinating was even in the times when gods walked the earth, the characteristics of good and evil, weakness and strength, compassion and greed are timeless. Even the gods are not above these traits, and are not above death and mortality-even though they do tend to come back from the dead sometimes.

I love books on mythology because they make me think that maybe these ancient times did exist, who is to deny or accept that claim. Just as maybe Mahabharata existed in ancient old worlds, so did Norse gods. Maybe over time people have not forgotten their deeds, but because they seem so much larger than human lives, people have conveniently decided that this must be all mythology and legends; but who is to say that the legends did not exist years and years ago?