Book Review: After Kurukshetra by Mahasweta Devi

Title: After Kurukshetra
Author: Mahasweta Devi (translated by Anjum Katyal)

Publisher: Seagull Books
Pages: 49
Price: 120
Genre: Fiction / Mythology / Women's studies
Rating: 8/10

Format: Paperback

‘After Kurukshetra’ is a collection of three short stories, originally written in Bengali by Mahasweta Devi and translated by Anjum Katyal. All of 49 pages, though a short read yet this book attempts to explore the impact of the epic war on common women. When we talk about Mahabharata, the narrative is usually about the men and women of the Kuru clan and people directly related to them; but this book actually makes us sit up and acknowledge what it meant to the common folk. Was it really a war for justice? Was this inevitable? Did this war justify the deaths of so many people, many of whom couldn’t even choose whether they wanted a war or not.

These stories are the offshoots of the main story of Mahabharata. They are born out of the author’s imagination. All the three stories are about women. Each story has ordinary women standing up to the royalty for what they think is fair and justified. All these women have been wronged in the hands of the royal folks. They felt used by them for their own greed and selfishness, in one way or another.

The first story is about five ordinary women, also widowed in the war, who have been brought into the palace to keep the pregnant and widowed Uttara (Abhimanyu’s wife) company. The story depicts the contrast in which women of royalty and common women are expected to deal with the loss of their husbands. Common womenfolk have more freedom, they will remarry and have children because that’s what nature expects of them; while royal widows will live a life of rules and regulations, there life will be spent in shadows, inside the corners of the women quarters.

These women are not of the rajavritta, women of royalty, nor are they servants or attendants. These women are from the families of the hundreds of foot soldiers – padatiks – from various other little kingdoms. They had been slaughtered every day, in their thousands, their function being to protect the chariot – mounted heroes. They were issued no armour. So they died in large numbers.

The women make no bones about questioning the need for war. When the head dasi (servant) of the royal women quarters call the war a ‘disaster’, they argue:

 ‘Disaster? What disaster? Huh, old woman? Was this some natural calamity? So many great kings join in a war between brothers. Some chose one side, some cross over to the other. It wasn’t just brother slaughtering brother. We know of quarrels – jealousies – rivalries too. But such a war for just a throne? This, a holy war?! A righteous war?! Just call it a war of greed!’

The war meant nothing to the common folks but there wasn’t a way to get away from the war. They had no choice. If they were called, they had to go.

‘This was not our dharmayuddha. Brother kills brother, uncle kills nephew, shishya kills guru. It may be your idea of dharma, it’s not ours.

It implores us to reflect on what true victory is. Was it truly a victory for Yudhishthir? The war sacrificed so many people and cost so much in terms of people and matter. The dead included farmers and traders. Their pyres burnt for several days, from which arose a sickening stench. The city was covered in gloom because of so many deaths. Who was happy? Even Pandavas lost all their children. None was left except Uttara’s unborn child.

Subhadra can’t hold back her tears. Slapping her forehead she laments, the sons are dead, their fathers are alive. Daughters-in-law have lost their husbands, while their mothers-in-law are still married.

 “So many hundreds of widows! So many homes in which mothers have lost their sons!

The second story is about Kunti. After the war, Dhritarashtra, Gandhari and Kunti retreated into the forest. Karna’s death intensified Kunti’s guilt of abandonment. It gnawed at her during her last days and made her restless.   

What irony! What irony! Not one of the five Pandavas is sired by Pandu! Yet they are Pandavas. And Karna? A carpenter’s (sic) son.

While she mourned how she always failed her firstborn, a Nishadin (tribal woman) accosted her in the forest to remind about her gravest sin which she never acknowledged. She accused Kunti of abetting the deaths of a Nishadin and her five sons for her selfish interests; and that it was typical of the royalty to think nothing of the lives of common folks.

You couldn’t even remember this sin. Causing six innocent forest tribals to be burnt to death to serve your own interests. That was not even a crime in your book.

This story touches upon the conflict between the people from the royalty and common folks (specifically the tribals, in this case); what was the attitude of the kings towards ordinary people and how they only looked at them as means to their ends. The people from royalty certainly considered themselves as superior and therefore thought nothing of the sacrifice.

The third story is about a woman called Souvali, a vaishya (trader) woman, who was brought in the palace to serve Dhritarashtra while Gandhari was pregnant. She bore a son called Yuyutsu (or Souvalya). She was never accorded the respect and dignity fit for the mother of a king’s son and her son was also always considered and treated like a ‘dasiputra’ (son of a servant). And yet he was the one who did the final rites of his father Dhritarashtra as his only surviving son.

Never went near him, never called him ‘father’, and today I did the tarpan for him.

In this story also, a common woman of vaishya (trader) community, Souvali, was embittered by the injustice meted out to her and her son. She felt used and never acknowledged. She thought her son was foolish to behave like the men of royalty inspite of being the son of a common woman. She herself is not disillusioned to follow the rituals expected of the royalty.

She thinks to herself, if you must learn, learn from your mother. I was nothing but a dasi in the royal household but here, amongst the common people, I’m a free woman.

Though quite a thin book, it sparks a lot of thoughts. For a book that has to offer interesting facets of the war, the editing was a dampener. I have already written a lot about the stories. I do think that reading the original would make a bigger impact, so if you know Bengali, please read the original.  

Undoubtedly, it is a must-read for Mahabharata enthusiasts.

Check out my compilation of Books on Mahabharata here.  

Text in italics have been quoted from the book. 
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Book Review: The Newlyweds by Nell Freudenberger

Title: The Newlyweds

Author: Nell Freudenberger

Publisher: Penguin

Pages: 335
Price: Rs 399

Genre: Fiction / Contemporary

Rating: 7/10

Format: Paperback

From the Back Cover:

Amina met George online. Within months she has left her home in Bangladesh and is living in George’s house in the American suburbs. Theirs is a very twenty-first-century union, forged from afar yet echoing the traditions of the arranged marriage.

But as Amina struggles to find her place in America, it becomes clear that neither she nor George have been entirely honest with each other. Both have brought to the marriage a secret - a vital, hidden part of themselves – which will reveal who they are and whether their future is together or an ocean apart.

My thoughts:

The first reason to read this book was its cover page. I loved it. The title appealed to me too; however, the book is not about ‘newlyweds’ in the strict sense of the word. The story has been narrated by Amina Mazid of the time when she considers herself a newlywed. She clarifies that usually a couple would be considered newlywed till their first anniversary, which is the time they need to settle down in their new life. But in her case, until the time her parents join her in America she would not be truly settled.

Her parents’ only child, Amina wants to get away from her circumstances. Hailing from Bangladesh, her childhood and growing up years were difficult. She even had to drop out of school because the money was scarce. George, who is from America, embodies her chance to escape from the bleak future she foresees for herself in Bangladesh.   

Both Amina and George find their own reasons to believe that they would complement each other in marriage, but when they actually begin their journey, there are a few surprises in store. The book surely reflects the reality of an arranged marriage well. People keep their best foot forward; and when they actually start living together, the reality of how a person is a mix of several things - not all good, not all bad – dawns.

I am in conflict about the story. There is nothing spectacular about it and yet there are a few above average real moments. t is not very clear why George would want to marry someone from a dramatically different background, different upbringing, values and beliefs. Moreover, irrespective of the fact that it is about newlyweds, this is certainly not a romance novel. But, give it a shot.

Here are a few lines quoted from the book:

 “..wasn’t that what it was like for all newlyweds? ……. It felt strange until one day it didn’t.”

“It wasn’t that George was old but that he felt sorry for himself that drove her crazy. If her father was Thunder, then George was Smoke – and how could you argue with someone who began to disappear as soon as you opened your mouth?”

“What a strange thing, she thought, to find out one day that you had built your whole life on a mistake, and the next to discover that this fact would allow you to have your dearest wish.”

Image source: GoodReads

Book Review: Partitions by Amit Majmudar

Title: Partitions

Author: Amit Majmudar

Publisher: Oneworld Publications

Pages: 216
Price: Rs 350

Genre: Fiction / Historical fiction / India

Rating: 9/10

Format: Paperback

From the Back Cover:

July 1947. India is torn in two. Violence erupts on both sides of the new border and waves of refugees flee the carnage and chaos.

Fighting to board the last train to Delhi, six-year-old Hindu twins Shankar and Keshav are torn from their mother and must begin a terrifying trek to find her again. A young Sikh girl, Simran Kaur, having escaped the honourable death planned for her by her father, dreams of a spiritual sanctuary at the temple of Amritsar. And Ibrahim Masud, a timid doctor driven from his home, treats all those he finds along the way as he struggles towards the new state of Pakistan.

This is the story of their journeys across a ravaged land, of the acts of compassion and cruelty that shape their new lives and their new nations.

My thoughts:

The first time I came across ‘Partitions’ by Amit Majmudar was while I was reading about ‘the Ice-Candy Man’ by Bapsi Sidhwa; and after having read both the books, now I know why the parallels had been drawn. Both the books are set against the partition of India in 1947. Both the books follow the changing circumstances of a set of characters before and after the partitions. What also connect these books are their unusual yet relatively neutral narrators. The former has been narrated by a spirit; while ‘the Ice-Candy Man’ has been narrated by a young Parsi girl.

‘Partitions’ is a fictional account of the plight of common people who were affected during that period in history which is often remembered for the extent of violence and uprooting of millions of people. The story has been narrated by the spirit of the twin children’s father, Dr. Roshan Jaitly. Although he died a few years ago, Dr Jaitly’s spirit still watches over his children because as a dead person he has the ability to foresee their future. In the beginning, the three stories run parallely taking the readers through the turn of events which eventually lead the characters to each other. These characters from different religious groups unwittingly come to each other’s succor, flouting prevalent suspicions for people from other religion. And therefore, irrespective of the painful circumstances, this story is surprisingly more uplifting than depressing.

The author has a beautiful, poetic style of writing. His prose is fresh and captivating. In a very well-handled back and forth between past-present-future and parallel stories of the four characters, he narrates a story that shows how humanity and empathy triumph over mindless hatred. Without having any personal connection with the partitions, it is commendable how he has been able to achieve a narrative that is so soulful.

This book will appeal to most readers of fiction, and more so to those who are interested in reading about what people went through during partitions.  

Here are a few lines quoted from the book:

“Some killing must be done. It is a form of communication, the only kind that can cross the partitions between this country and its neighbor, between this world and the next. Their enemies must hear the deaths, and know rest.”

“She pauses there, filling with admiration and adoration. The imitation-love a kind-hearted stranger is capable of feeling for a beautiful child. Not love.”

“How little we knew each other, though for centuries our homes had shared walls. How little we will learn, now that all we share is a border.”

 “I can almost always get a clear read on people. Each mind swims in its skull before me like a fish in a glass bowl. But with Aisha right now…… I can’t see clearly how she feels about Simran. The water is murky, the glass frosted.”

“It’s such a miraculous device, a voice. I never knew how miraculous when I had one.”

Image source: GoodReads

Book Review: Looking For Alaska by John Green

Title: Looking For Alaska

Author: John Green

Publisher: HarperCollins India

Pages: 272
Price: Rs 299

Genre: Fiction / Young Adult / Contemporary

Rating: 7/10

Format: Paperback

About the book [from the GoodReads page]

Before. Miles "Pudge" Halter's whole existence has been one big nonevent, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave the "Great Perhaps" (François Rabelais, poet) even more. Then he heads off to the sometimes crazy, possibly unstable, and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed-up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young, who is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart.

After. Nothing is ever the same.

My thoughts:

Once I read the brilliant ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ by John Green, I was eager to pick up another book by the author. Someone suggested ‘Looking for Alaska’ and I jumped at the chance. Though this book is not in the league of ‘The Fault in Our Stars’, it is certainly a good read. I started, finished and reviewed this book in a single day, despite my limited reading hours. That itself tells a lot about it.

Miles Halter’s life has been ordinary and uneventful until he moves from Florida to Alabama to join Culver Creek Boarding School. There he makes friends with the brainy and brawny Chip Martin [called ‘Colonel’ by everyone, who is his roommate], the witty Takumi, and the unpredictable Alaska Young [‘the hottest girl in all of human history’, as Miles puts it]. From that time onwards, Miles' life is a maze of attending classes, studying, playing pranks, smoking cigarettes, drinking booze; while also falling in love with Alaska.

Each one of them has a talent. Miles likes to learn the last lines of famous people. Colonel is good at memorizing things, especially about countries, their capitals, population, etc. Takumi is a rapper, while Alaska just likes being an enigma. She is moody, without feeling the need to explain herself. Alaska claims to be in love with his boyfriend Jake, but she is often flirty with Miles.

The book is in 2 parts – Before and After [of an event]. The story begins at ‘One Hundred and Thirty Six Days Before’ and ends at ‘One Hundred and Thirty Six Days After’, and everything is in-between - excitement, curiosity, love, friendship, trust, guilt, love, loss.

Well, in short, the book was emotional, funny and sometimes also philosophical. It will appeal to you if you like Young Adults genre – the vulnerabilities, the innocence, the mischief and the beauty of young love.

Here are a few of my favourite lines quoted from the book:

“I’d never been religious. But he told us that religion is important whether or not we believed in one, in the same way that historical events are important whether or not you personally lived through them.”

 “You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking about how you'll escape it one day, and how awesome it will be, and imagining that future keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to escape the present.” 

 “I wanted so badly to lie down next to her on the couch, to wrap my arms around her and sleep. Not fuck, like in those movies. Not even have sex. Just sleep together in the most innocent sense of the phrase. But I lacked the courage and she had a boyfriend and I was gawky and she was gorgeous and I was hopelessly boring and she was endlessly fascinating. So I walked back to my room and collapsed on the bottom bunk, thinking that if people were rain, I was drizzle and she was hurricane.” 

Image source: Flipkart

Book Review: The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult

Title: The Storyteller

Author: Jodi Picoult

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton [Hachette India]

Pages: 480 

Price: Rs 695

Genre: Fiction / Historical Fiction 

Rating: 8/10

Format: Paperback

About the Book [from the blurb]

Sage Singer has a past that makes her want to hide from the world. Sleeping by day and working in a bakery by night, she kneads her emotion into the beautiful bread she bakes.

But when she strikes up an unlikely friendship with Josef Weber, a quiet man old enough to be her grandfather, and respected pillar of the community, she feels that finally, she may have found someone she can open up to.

Until Josef tells her the evil secret he's kept for sixty years.

Caught between Josef's search for redemption and her shattered illusions, Sage turns to her family history and her own life for answers. As she uncovers the truth from the darkest horrors of war, she must follow a twisting trail between betrayal and forgiveness, love and revenge. And ask herself the most difficult question she has ever faced - can murder ever be justice? Or mercy?

My thoughts:

To begin with, it is a big book, which deals with the subject of forgiveness woven around the Holocaust. Though I have only read [and loved] ‘My Sister’s Keeper’ by Jodi Picoult, yet I feel with this book she has attempted a major feat. Writing historical fiction cannot be easy. There are many things to consider – the factual correctness, the characterizations, the story graph, keeping the readers glued; in no way it could be a small feat.

On the face of it, Sage is the main protagonist of this book. A recluse by nature, she is drawn inside her shell by the ghosts of her past. A baking job ensures she works through nights. In her self-pity mode, she is also involved with a married man because she feels she does not deserve better, and this could be her only chance at love. Sage is part of a group therapy class, where she befriends a nonagenarian Josef Weber. A respected figure of town, Sage feels that in Josef she has found a friend who understands her.

But things take a surprising turn when all Josef confides in her about his role in the Holocaust and asks her to help him end his life. Since Sage is a Jew, Josef believes that it will be his redemption from the several crimes he committed during Holocaust as a Nazi SS guard.

Sage also has a paternal grandmother Minka who is a Holocaust survivor. Minka’s story, in fact, is the central part of this book. While Josef gives an account of his role in the Holocaust [perpetrator’s perspective], Minka’s story offers a victim’s experience through those terrible times. This book delves into the psyche of the perpetrator; what made them do what they did, how so many men went about systematically killing fellowmen. The nature of crime is so inhuman that sometimes it feels that it really never happened, but there are survivors to tell the disturbing stories of those horrifying times. Minka’s story will unsettle you, even move you to tears for the sheer helplessness of the situation.

Once you read Minka’s story, Sage’s character feels frivolous. I felt Sage was too caught up in self-pity. Sage eventually finds love in Leo, the Deputy Chief of Human Rights and Special Prosecutions, who she teams up with to bring Josef Weber to book; but that looks very convenient for a happy ending.

There is a third story that runs almost parallely with Sage’s and Minka’s stories. It is an allegorical story created by Minka - of Ania, her baker father and a monster [a bloodsucking upiory] - which in a way is a reflection of her own life.

There are portions which may drag for a bit but trust me, your patience will pay off. It took me a couple of pages to warm up to the story, [and though I am not 100% happy with the ending] yet the book was certainly worth reading. I will recommend it to others too.

Here are a few lines quoted from the book:

“That’s the paradox of loss: How can something that’s gone weigh us down so much?”

“He listened so carefully that it made me forget that outside there were guards abusing prisoners and people being gassed to death and men pulling their bodies from the shower rooms to stack like wood in the crematoria. When I was reading my own work, I got lost in the story, and I could have been anywhere….”

“Sometimes all it takes to become human again is someone who can see you that way, no matter how you present on the surface.”

“If you lived through it, you already know there are no words that will ever come close to describing it.

And if you didn’t, you will never understand.”

Review Book courtesy: Hachette India

Image source: GoodReads

Book Review: Wise Enough To Be Foolish by Gauri Jayaram

Title: Wise Enough To Be Foolish

Author: Gauri Jayaram

Publisher: Jaico Books

Pages: 216  

Price: Rs 225

Genre: Fiction / Contemporary Fiction

Rating: 7/10

Format: Paperback

‘Wise Enough To Be Foolish’ is a ‘fictionalized memoir’ of its author Gauri Jayaram. Frankly speaking, almost always the first books are drawn from the author’s life experiences but this word ‘fictionalized memoir’ is a new one for me, and I am not complaining. She has altered a few details here and there to protect identities and make the story more interesting.

The tone of the story is personal, as if the author is narrating to you the 28 years of her life, making you privy to her secrets, thoughts and experiences. Her openness and honesty are refreshing for an autobiographical work that does not aspire to be sensational. She talks about her failures as well as her successes with equal ease and acceptance. She tells you about her many failed relationships and relationships that failed her.

Gauri takes us through her life right from the time she was born [in fact even before]. She tells us how her parents got married when her mother hadn’t even completed her degree. This line really tickled me: “a well-settled Punjabi boy from the armed forces (fauj) in hand was better than a degree in the bush.” From being an aimless teenager to a goal-oriented youth, from an insecure child to a confident young woman; Gauri’s life has several inspiring, coming-of-age moments.

Her story may not be overtly extraordinary but there are many things which will resonate with you if you are an Indian girl from middle class background. Gauri is a victim of ‘the Middle Child Syndrome’. Being the middle child among three siblings, she always craves for unconditional love from her parents. Aimless about her life in her teens, she finds inspiration to turn it around at the right time. Living on her own in Mumbai and Bangalore for higher education and career, combined with the exposure that big cities and travelling offers, helps her grow into a confident woman of the world. Sports always played an important role in her life and continues to do so. But there were too many relationships which did not work [I got confused after a while]. Gauri mentions at some point the alternative title for the book was ‘finding love’ [if I am not wrong] because eventually at the centre of everything was her unfulfilled need for unconditional love and acceptance, where she does not need to be anyone else but herself.

All these years, Gauri lets her heart decide the course of her life and not head. For the multi-faceted woman that she is now, she certainly achieved what she sought out for, with a bit of luck and faith in herself. I was thrilled how eventually everything fell into place and she found a perfect partner.

It was a light-hearted read. There are enough twists and turns which keeps the story going at a good pace, and the fact that it is autobiographical makes it more fascinating. I really liked the way she has added updates about people where she writes about them because in an autobiographical account, the reader wants to know what those people are doing now. It is unusual that she decides to do it at that point because it is usually done at the end of the book. But I liked it this way because the character is more relevant at that point. The author has also discussed social issues every now and then, which was relevant to the story like female infanticide, preference of boy child, stigma related to divorce, inter caste / religion marriage, child abuse, etc.

Moreover, the cover page is charming and perfect for the story. The title is also interesting and captures the essence of the story well.

So, the fact of the matter is it may not be a literary masterpiece but there are enough reasons to read it, if you like contemporary women fiction.

Here are a few lines quoted from the book:

 “But no day is like any other, no people are alike, and no lesson the same.”

 “And as time goes by, I’m becoming a bit like him, and he is becoming like me. It is a crazy type of love. Yet it is like a candle – that gives warmth and lasts longer..”

Note: Text in italics has been quoted from the book.

Review Book courtesy: Jaico Books

Image source: Jaico Books

Book Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Title: The Fault In Our Stars

Author: John Green

Publisher: Penguin

Pages: 316  

Price: Rs 399

Genre: Fiction / Young Adult / Contemporary

Rating: 10/10

Format: Paperback

I had already read such rave reviews about this book on the internet and from friends that the moment I opened the book, I knew something special was going to begin. And it sure did. Reading ‘the Fault in our Stars’ was an emotionally moving experience. It is an extraordinary book and restores my faith in fiction. I am not going to forget it for a long time.

16 - year old Hazel Grace Lancaster’s and 17-year old Augustus Waters’ stars cross for the first time at the Cancer Support Group. Hazel thinks Augustus is hot, while Hazel reminds him of Natalie Portman from ‘V for Vendetta’. He invites her to watch the movie together, she tells him about her favourite book ‘An Imperial Affliction’ by Peter Von Houten, and so begins this beautiful story of love. ‘An Imperial Affliction’, a fictitious book, almost becomes a character in their story with the kind of significance it eventually has.

Their love is magical. When they converse, you feel as if they are complementing their thoughts, as if they are always on the same page and as if soul mates exist. Their conversations are sometimes philosophical, sometimes frothy, sometimes intellectual, but all times in perfect sync with each other. The terrible truth is that you know both of them have very limited time. You don’t want it to end but perhaps the beauty and preciousness of all great love stories is that they are so short.

It is hard not to feel for both sets of parents [extremely likable and loving] who see this young love blooming, although happy that their son / daughter got a chance at love and yet knowing well that someone is going to hurt.

Till 240 pages, I read it at a breakneck speed but after that I intentionally slowed down. I did not want it to end. But it had to, and let me also assure you, it is one of the most satisfying, not necessarily happy, endings I have read.

Be assured that you will be deeply, emotionally invested in this book. When Hazel and Augustus will fall in love, you will have happy tears for the mushy, teenaged, young love, and you will cry buckets when life will take its toll. At least I did. I haven’t cried like this since a long time while reading a book. But this remarkable book is just not a tear-fest, it has humour, playfulness and mush in good measure too, which you would find heart-warming. One tip I want to give you is that start this book only when you have enough time to finish it. If you don’t, you would not feel your heart in anything else. Trust me.

A few of my favourite lines from the book:

“What a slut time is. She screws everybody.” 

“Some people don't understand the promises they're making when they make them," I said.
"Right, of course. But you keep the promise anyway. That's what love is. Love is keeping the promise anyway.” 

“You gave me a forever within the numbered days, and I'm grateful.” 

“Grief does not change you, Hazel. It reveals you.”

Read more quotes here.

And if you have not understood in so many words, READ IT.

Review Book courtesy: Penguin India

Image source: GoodReads

Book Review: Compass Box Killer by Piyush Jha

Title: Compass Box Killer [An Inspector Virkar Crime Thriller # 1]

Author: Piyush Jha

Publisher: Rupa Publications

Pages: 234  

Price: Rs 195

Genre: Fiction / Crime / Thriller 

Rating: 6/10

Format: Paperback

About the Book [from the blurb]

‘Akurle is just the first to die,

To find out who is next, find me first.’

One muggy afternoon, a senior police officer is found murdered at his desk. When Inspector Virkar from the Crime Branch arrives at the scene, he finds a cryptic note that spills out of a student’s compass box. Then begins a series of killings and in each, a telltale compass box reveals more clues.

Accompanied by the attractive, ambitious TV reporter, Raashi Hunerwal, Virkar has to race against time to catch the Compass Box Killer before the bodies pile up. As the investigation shuttles from Mumbai to Khandala to Belgaum, Virkar is taken deep into a labyrinth of backroom deals that lead to shocking revelations about the ruthless killer’s motives.

Slick plot twists and high-adrenaline action mark the first of the Inspector Virkar Crime Thrillers—part of the Mumbaistan series. Tough, daring and relentless in his pursuit of justice, Inspector Virkar is a policeman one wishes every city had.

My thoughts:

Honestly speaking, till first couple of pages, the setting felt straight out of some popular 70s film – the busy police chowki, the chaiwala, even Inspector Virkar’s entry is very filmy [and it includes a Dance Bar and rescuing an underage girl], the glamorous female journalist, et al.

Inspector Virkar is entrusted with the responsibility of handling the curious case of a dead police officer. This leads him to a series of Compass boxes which give him clues about the killer’s subsequent targets. The only problem is finding the person and protecting him before the killer gets to him. There are no apparent connections between the targeted individuals, and thus, forms a maze of people and places in a sort of ‘Catch-me-if-you-can’ scenario.

Inspector Virkar has been handpicked for Crime Branch because he has the acumen and inclination. He is quick-witted and courageous. Though he seems to be a serious sort of person but he has the amusing habit of throwing in situational one-liners in colloquial language.

The book is an out-and-out page turner. There is no moment to pause and think about, you are just on a chase along with Inspector Virkar. It is a neat thriller, keeps you glued till the end. The book is certainly Bollywood-material with liberal doses of twists and turns and in the absence of a more suitable word, masala. Suspense, mystery, romance, betrayal, skeletons in the closets, drama and so much more are packed into this taut thriller.

This book is something which you would want to finish in one sitting - while travelling or during Sunday afternoons. Its strong points are plot and pace. Its weak point for me was too much of it, and I generally felt it lacked depth. But that is usually the case with most crime thrillers.

If fast-paced crime thrillers are your thing, you will like it.

Review Book courtesy: All About Books Global

Image source: Rupa Publications

Book Review: The Case of the Deadly Butter Chicken by Tarquin Hall

Title: The Case of the Deadly Butter Chicken [A Vish Puri Mystery]

Author: Tarquin Hall

Publisher: Arrow Books [Random House India]

Pages: 368

Price: Rs 350

Genre: Fiction / Crime / Thriller / Mystery / Literary Fiction

Rating: 8/10

Format: Paperback

From the Publisher’s website:

Vish Puri is as fond of butter chicken as the next Punjabi. And when there's plenty on offer at the Delhi Durbar hotel where he's attending an India Premier League cricket match dinner, he's the first to tuck in.

Irfan Khan, father of Pakistani star cricketer Kamran Khan, can't resist either. But the creamy dish proves his undoing. After a few mouthfuls, he collapses on the floor, dead. Clearly this isn't a case of Delhi Belly. But who amongst the Bollywood stars, politicians, bureaucrats and industrialists poisoned Khan is a mystery. And with the capital's police chief proving as incompetent as ever, it falls to Most Private Investigators to find out the truth.

Puri is soon able to link Khan to a bald bookie called Full Moon and all the clues point to the involvement of a gambling syndicate that controls the illegal X billion dollars betting industry. The answers seem to lie in Surat, the diamond cutting and polishing capital of the world (where Puri's chief undercover operative Tubelight meets his match) and across the border in Pakistan, Puri's nemesis, the one country where he has sworn never to set foot. Or do they?

A certain determined, grey-haired lady with a unique insight into the murder believes that the portly detective is barking up 'a wrong tree.' Is Mummy-ji right?Is there more to the murder than meets the eye? And why, to make life even more complicated for Vish Puri, has someone tried to steal the longest moustache in the world - from right under the nose of its owner? Literally.

My thoughts:

I had read about Vish Puri series by Tarquin Hall earlier but I never really paid attention to the fact that he was a British writer and journalist [read more about the author here]. Now that I have taken the plunge and read the third book in the series [though my first one], let me tell you what a feat the author has achieved in writing an essentially Indian book; with a desi, unconventional detective figure, who is in his early 50s. This book wonderfully captures the eccentricities of people from Delhi and the way Indians converse in English peppered with Hindi words. On one hand it makes the book really cute and warm, and on another it captures the cultural essence of Delhi perfectly. I must say, the author has done a commendable job.

At the centre of this well-written, suitably-paced, engaging book, is the death of a celebrity Pakistani cricketer’s father in the middle of an after-match Dinner, while he was in the company of film stars, industrialists and politicians. As chance would have it, this happens in front of ‘India’s Most Private Investigator’ Vish Puri. Just when he was itching to investigate the mystery, the case falls into his lap. I don’t want to dwell too much into the story but, trust me; there is enough to hold your attention. The story has shrewd politicians, sauve industrialists, underworld connections, blood diamonds, cricket, betting, while also connecting with the disturbing times during Partition.

Vish Puri’s Mummy ji [mother] takes it upon herself to investigate the murder in her own way. She believes that the answer lay in her experience during India’s Partition.

Also running parallely is another case about moustache theft of Satya Pal Bhalla, who holds the record of the longest moustache; and later of Gopal Ragi, the second-in-line for the title. The murder case has nothing to do with this case, but this one keeps us amused.

In short, this book offers so much more than just a murder mystery. As rightly summarized by the author himself in one of his interviews; “the idea is that you get to learn about India as well as read a good mystery. And there’s a healthy dose of humour as well.”

I highly recommend this to anyone interested in a good literary fiction.    

The author's first two books in the Vish Puri series are [which straightaway go to my Wish List]:

The Case of the Missing Servant

The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing

By the way, Vish Puri has a charming website too. Check it out here.

Here's also an author interview about this book, which was quite informative..

Review Book courtesy: Random House India

Image source: Random House India