A Journey on Bare Feet – Dalip Kaur Tiwana

A journey on bare feet is the story of writer Dalip Kaur Tiwana’s life. An autobiographical work, providing an interesting insight into the lesser known world of Punjabi women in the late 20th century. The work starts with a narration of the author’s childhood in her family home, where she lived in a big joint...

Corona Diaries #1

      As we entered the new decade, everyone was full of hope and unmatched excitement. The ‘20s’ it would be called. Hadn’t we all secretly thought to ourselves how we’ll be recounting our adventures of the 20s just like our parents did, referring to their retro style of the 60s and their favorite actors from...

Saawan ki Deewali

Kal patjhad ki thandi hawaayein na thi,Na thi wo baazaro mein raunak.Magar kal aankh khuli toh Deewali thi. Deep hazaaro jale,iss kalyug ke kaale baadalo ke tale.Ye saawan ki Deewali thi,Dange-fasaado ne paali thi. Ise wo Deewali na samjhein,jo acchhai ki jeet ka jashn manati hai.Ye wo paavan Deewali nahi,Ye toh insaano ko Raavan banati...

The Courtesan, the Mahatma and the Italian Brahmin – Manu S Pillai | 5 stars

‘The Courtesan, the Mahatma and the Italian Brahmin’ is a collection of short essays from Indian history. Many might consider reading history a rather tedious task. But young Manu S Pillai’s writing is a breath of fresh air, and he succeeds rather smartly, in engaging his reader. In fact, this book is in a way,...

The Way Things Were – Aatish Taseer | 5 Stars

“This is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you’re not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong”. – F. Scott Fitzgerald As I finished reading this book, and at so many points while reading it, this is the quote that came to my mind, again...

Nine Lives – William Dalrymple | 5 Stars

New to the genre of travel writing, I am definitely rating William Dalrymple well (4/5 for Age of Kali and 5/5 for this one), because I think his style and content have struck the right chords with a newbie. Dalrymple’s subtle humour definitely plays a major role when it comes to his narration. More evident...

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness – Arundhati Roy | 2.5 Stars

"Maybe that's what life is, or ends up being most of the time: a rehearsal for a performance that never eventually materializes." When I first started reading this book, I thought it was the story of Anjum, the eunuch. But then it suddenly became the story of somebody else, and then somebody else, and then...

The Great Indian Novel – Shashi Tharoor | 4 Stars

When I started reading this book, a few pages into it, I was telling a colleague that I’m ‘relishing’ it. I really was. Being an Indian, and having heard the story of the Mahabharata over and over again, it was both exciting and intriguing at the same time, to read about those characters in the...

What The Body Remembers – Shauna Singh Baldwin | 2.5 Stars

2.5 stars Roop and Satya live in undivided India, in the region of Punjab which now belongs to Pakistan. Roop, who should have been born as a daughter to Satya, is instead born to be her saukan – second wife to her husband, Sardarji, because she cannot bear him children. This is a story of...

Why I am a Hindu – Shashi Tharoor | 4 Stars

To begin with, 'Why I am a Hindu', without a question mark, is quite an interesting title. At first, I wondered why Dr. Tharoor did not add a question mark to the title that begins with an interrogative word. But of course, there was a catch there! Halfway through the book, the title made complete...