The White Castle by Orhan Pamuk (Tr. to Tamil by G. Kuppuswamy)
We live on a planet of over 7 billion people, spread across geographies. We are all told this; somewhere out there, there are seven people who look exactly like you. This is a popular notion. In folklore, a doppelganger is considered as a paranormal entity, or a harbinger of misfortunes. Meeting one is considered an omen. […]
Miss Laila Armed and Dangerous by Manu Joseph
When I picked up Manu Joseph’s Miss Laila Armed and Dangerous, I had no idea that I was about to become an Alice hurtling down the rabbit hole. A scathing take on not just the ruling government but also the hypocrisy of the liberal left, Joseph spares no one in his thriller novel. Laced with […]
Shala by Milind Bokil
“Those were the best days of my life . . .” Whenever Bryan Adams strums his guitar to this song, chances are we think of those innocent times of our lives – our school days. And in particular, it is high school (roughly Grades 9 to 12) that holds a special place in our hearts, […]
Jasmine Days by Benyamin
I once had a conversation with my friend, of a different and politically opposing faith. When push came to shove, if the two of us were in a riot, what would we do? Would we find it easy to stand up for our values or cower in the face of violence, and join the respective […]
Booked: Literary Events for April 2019
It’s a new month, a new week, a new financial year and with it, come a new line-up of literary events across India that we think you will enjoy. Event Name: Deciphering Poetry What’s it about: A poetry reading and gathering, a one of its kind initiative in northern Mumbai. Location: Vasai Fort (Fort Bassein), […]
The Moor’s Last Sigh by Salman Rushdie
Bombay Penned And Painted On An Epic Canvas Twenty years ago, I discovered, in my knee-high boyhood, that Bombay, as we had always known it by name, was going to be called Mumbai. It was a decision that I did not mind at the time; perhaps innocence and naïveté of that age do not allow for […]
Swami and Friends by RK Narayan
One of my most cherished memories of childhood is when we used to have our school exams. Everybody, I think, can relate to the nervously hurried and harried revisions that preceded them and the jumbled-up feeling of confusion and anxiety that we all felt as those fateful days came close. And I can also say […]
Indian historical fiction: Must-read novels
“Fiction is the lie which tells the truth” History has always held an inexplicable sway over the reader. The far off time and setting, the characters, the lifestyle, the language, the event in itself or a combination of these factors, and above everything, the persistent sense of mystery, it exerts a pull in so many […]
Twilight in Delhi by Ahmed Ali
Bringing back a slice of the past Twilight in Delhi is the story of Delhi, of a particular moment in the long history of this city that has risen and fallen, only to rise again. This is a novel of the city as we have never known it, an ode to its ways and style […]
Adapted: Ruskin Bond’s Susanna’s Seven Husbands
To Vishal Bhardwaj’s 7 Khoon Maaf The Oxford Dictionary defines a femme fatale as a ‘very beautiful woman that men find sexually attractive but who brings them trouble or unhappiness’. Unfortunately, in 7 Khoon Maaf, Vishal Bhardwaj is not quite able to grasp that meaning as clearly as he should ideally. Instead of a femme […]
