Shashi Tharoor’s Riot: A Novel – Much Agitprop About Nothing
My current opinion of Shashi Tharoor, that of him being more of a dilettante than a dignitary, is, of course, solely a lament of his once-astute gifts of polemic and storytelling, which were found in spades in his single notable work of metaphysical fiction-cum-roman a clef, The Great Indian Novel. The topical resonance of that […]
My Story by Kamala Das
As a student of literature or as a feminist, it is hard to escape the influence of Kamala Das aka Madhavikutty aka Kamala Surayya. A pioneer among Indian poets who wrote in English, her extensive literary oeuvre also encompassed short stories, novels, essays, and a memoir. She wrote unabashedly about taboo topics of the time, […]
Temporary People by Deepak Unnikrishnan
Deepak Unnikrishnan’s Temporary People is like a journal with a different pressed flower on every page, each distinctly fragrant and unique, yet still cohesive with the theme of the novel. Divided into three parts (or books) titled Limbs, Tongue, Flesh, and Veed, Temporary People is an anthology of distended stories, of different people all of […]
Gopalla Gramam by Ki. Rajanarayanan
Rich in traditions, natural beauty, and purity, life in the villages of India is rustic and fulfilling. Ki. Rajanarayanan’s Gopalla Gramam transports the reader to the serenity of life in his village, complete with a beautifully vivid description of the surrounding greenery and the people that make up the village. Ki. Rajanarayanan is a pioneer […]
Ruskin Bond’s Rusty Goes To London
Any Indian bibliophile, who has spent his or her childhood and youth in the company of, say, Oliver Twist being led by the artful Dodger to Fagin’s lair or been held in the thrall of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson on their trail to discover the truth hidden in the fog of yet another mystery, […]
Prisoner of Yakutsk by Shreyas Bhave
Everybody loves a good conspiracy theory; removed as they are from our mundane lives. They are our cheap thrills and guilty pleasures. Prisoner of Yakutsk by Shreyas Bhave is another such book that belongs to the genre of thriller/conspiracy theory texts. The subtitle of the book, “The Subhash Chandra Bose Mystery: Final Chapter” tells us […]
Pops: A children’s book by Balaji Venkataramanan
Balaji Venkataramanan’s Pops has the most unassuming cover which disguises the humorous portrayal of a very real and very common story today; divorce. When I first started reading the book, I found its narration to be tedious, having become habituated to reading books written for adults. But as I delved into it further, I was […]
Stories That Shaped a New Nation
Transcending linguistic borders, advocating social reforms and providing entertainment: here is what New India’s bookshelf looked like Among the many memories of childhood, the most cherished are perhaps the stories we hear and read; in picture books, at bedtime with your grandparents, under the blanket with a flashlight, hidden between school textbooks. Depending on […]
Going Places: Exploring India in Books
We love books (duh!). They take us to new places, or at least give us fresh eyes to view the places we have been to. For, let us us face it, though we all might love the idea of travel, travelling as much as we want to is not always possible because life, family, work. […]
Filmi Keeda: Chapter One
Purple Pencil Project, in collaboration with Red Sparrow kickstarted their events series, Filmi Keeda, that aims to bring the discussion around book and films, our two finest forms of storytelling, on one table. The first Chapter, held mid-March, saw a screening of Lootera, directed by Vikramaditya Motwane, followed by a discussion on its adaptation from […]
