Living in a world where Artificial Intelligence is everywhere
Code Dependent: Living in the Shadow of AI by Madhumita Murgia dissects the ‘artificial’ of AI i.e. the artificial intelligence that’s rapidly taking over the world even as we breathe and eat and do other mundane, regular things. She traces this ‘artificial’ in a 3-D sort of way, turning inside out for her reader. For […]
36 weird Tales from the Mahabharata in Wendy Doniger’s book
In the content warning for ‘The Goddess of the River’, Vaishnavi Patel writes that Mahabharata has every terrible act ever imagined. In The Dharma of Unfaithful Wives and Faithful Jackals, Wendy Doniger lays this truth threadbare. Read this book, full of weird tales from the Mahabharata, with a sack of salt propped by your bedside […]
Where nature once sang: Loss and grief in Sheela Tomy’s Valli
Published originally in Malyalam, Valli is a climate fiction, told through the point of view various characters. It’s translated by Jayasree Kalathil, the joint winner of JCB 2020, along with S. Hareesh (Moustache). Valli and the mountains Do you remember these phrases? ‘The Mountains are calling/The mountains are calling and I must go.’ Valli is […]
Want to read climate fiction? Biopeculiar by Gigi Ganguly is the one
Although nothing is common in 22 stories of Biopeculiar by Gigi Ganguly, a speculative twist of the sub-genre of cli-fi (climate fiction), they are united by a strong undercurrent of empathy for the life around us. Life, not life. These stories carry a grain of empathy; Ganguly has embossed it into every word, every paragraph […]
Mahabharata on Red Bull. Reviewing the epic, Sons of Darkness
Sons of Darkness carries a soul that sings truly to its name. It abounds a darkness that subsumes all: deity or demon. An extensive retelling of Mahabharata, that great Hindu epic that’s been a fodder for authors every decade, Sons of Darkness is filled with characters who are either hiding something or tinkering with ethics. […]
The Goddess of River: Ganga takes the stage in Vaishnavi Patel’s second outing
The author of runaway global success Kaikeyi (a reimagination of much-maligned warrior queen from Ramayan) has chosen to tread on placid waters this time with The Goddess of River, moving her quill towards the tome set in the turbulent times of the Dwapar epoch, the one sandwiched between the idealistic Treta (when Ramayan takes place) […]
Why Vish Dhamija’s Conman Feels Like a Modern-Day Hera Pheri
Jainand Gurjar reviews The Secret Diary of a Conman by Vish Dhamija (published by Pan Macmillan India, 2024). My introduction to what a con man looks like was from the movie Phir Hera Pheri (a Hindi comedy movie directed by Neeraj Vora, starring Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty, and Paresh Rawal, among others). It showed me […]
Shabnam by Syed Mujtaba Ali: A Tale of Separation and Hope
Kaustav Das reviews Shabnam by Syed Mujtaba Ali, translated from Bengali by Nazes Afroz (published by Speaking Tiger, 2024). Who can tell the beginning and the end of this world?Ancient is this book; just the first and last pages are ruined. – Shabnam by Syed Mujtaba Ali, translated by Nazes Afroz October brings in the […]
Why Mother India by Prayaag Akbar Is the Novel We Need Right Now
Rahul Vishnoi reviews Mother India by Prayaag Akbar (Fourth Estate India, 2024). Mother India by Prayaag Akbar wouldn’t have existed in the 90s. If we all sit in a time machine and go back 30 years ago, this book would be rendered irrelevant. Multiple reasons come to mind; the most important one is that back […]
Let’s Be Best Friends Forever Review: Stories of Friendship That Warm the Heart
Jaisha Priyam reviews Let’s Be Best Friends Forever: Beautiful Stories of Friendship (published by Talking Cub, 2024). Let’s Be Best Friends Forever: Beautiful Stories of Friendship encompasses the beauty of friendship in all forms of life. It is a collection of short stories celebrating the beauty of friendship among animals, people, and giants. It captures […]
