Life Inspires

Woven around the turbulent Punjab of the 1980s and London and Mumbai of 1990s, The Opium Toffee, in spirit, is a love story. Shabnam Singh, a supermodel from India, chances upon the boyfriend of her teenage years, Ajit, in London, begging in the streets. What is most surprising about this encounter is not just Ajit’s decline, but that he had gone missing almost a decade earlier from Chandigarh, and was presumed dead. During the process of rehabilitating Ajit, Shabnam unravels the story of their past, in the process bringing to light tragic events involving violence, drug abuse, oppressive patriarchy, and malevolent politicking. The author’s keen eye for details makes the fields of rural Punjab, the schools and houses of Chandigarh, and the opulence of luxury London hotels come alive in vibrant colors. After living through a realistic portrayal of the pastel-hued world of young romance juxtaposed against times that were getting more and more unpredictable with each passing day, throu...

The Moonsmith Gulzar: orbiting the celebrated words by Shailja Chandra My rating: 5 of 5 stars I have always been fascinated by how accessible Gulzar's poetry seems to be and yet there are layers and layers to unravel before you can begin to understand it. Shailja Chandra's "The Moonsmith Gulzar" inspired me to initiate my own inquiry as a scholar of poetry. The "simplicity" of language in Gulzar's nazms can be very deceptive. And one needs either years of focused study or a mentor to structure one's research. And just like Chandra looks at Gulzar as a mentor to decrypt the mysteries of the Cosmos, I look up to Chandra as my mentor to start my own inquiry into Gulzar's poetry. The word "Moonsmith" would literally mean someone who creates new entities from the Moon. Or it may mean someone who shapes the Moon. So who is it? Who motivates the Moon to change its shape? That is the "Moonsmith". That is the Sun. That is Gulzar. ...

Title: Shimmer Spring: prose and poetry Edited by Kiriti Sengupta ISBN: 9788194853848 Price: INR 2500/- | USD 31.99 Page: 124 Published by Hawakal Publishers (New Delhi | Calcutta) in November 2020 Reviewed by Vibha Malhotra (Review first published on Kitaab.org ) Hope, the entity we desperately try to hold on to in these unusual times of loss and repatriation, is light, some would say. And yet, the light also reveals the desolation and destruction. What is light then? Is it the beacon, or is it the whistleblower? In this context, Shimmer Spring , published by Hawakal Publishers (New Delhi & Calcutta), is an extraordinary collection, embracing both the temperaments of light. This hardbound volume—presented by recognized poet and editor Kiriti Sengupta, designed by Bitan Chakraborty, and embellished with vivid and fluid paintings by Pintu Biswas—is as enticing to the mind as it is to the eyes. In his introduction to Shimmer Spring , Sengupta states, “ light is a com...

When I heard there's a new Harry Potter book out, I couldn't believe it. JK Rowling had made it pretty clear that there won't be another book ever. But who's complaining ? There can never be enough Harry Potter books. So what if Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a script instead of a novel? So what if all the characters are two decades older? So what if many of our beloved characters don't get to play a part in it? It is still Harry Potter, and it is still magical.     The st ory start s almost two decades after the great battle at Hogwarts and follows the escapades of Harry and Ginny's younger son Albus Severus Potter and Draco's son Scorpius Malfo y . Bogged down by the weight of carrying two huge names and of being Harry Potter's son , Al bus reluctantly boards the Hogwarts Ex press . On the train he runs into Scorpi us and the two boys instantly hi t it off in ways that their fathers couldn't through th e seven books . At Hogwa rt...

There's Something About You is Yashodhara Lal's third book after Just Married, Please Excuse and Sorting Out Sid , and what we can definitely say about the author is that it is very difficult to typecast her work. In each book she's tried something new. While the first book is inspired by her own experiences of her marriage, the second book sets out on a different tangent altogether - Sorting Out Sid is told from the point of view of a male character and is essentially his coming-of-age story. This third book is again something she has never attempted before - it is a story of a woman in her late twenties with familiar concerns such as career, marriage, a negative body image, and such. Though There's Something About You is positioned as a romance novel, the male lead does not even make an entry for the first 9 chapters. And I find this very interesting because the author is able to draw us in so well that we almost don't miss the hero.  In the very first ch...

Even though the book is categorized under short stories, it has a very strong central narrative that runs through these short stories and connects each to another. All tales in the book pivot around the narrator's crumbling life in the backdrop of the seemingly inevitable disintegration of the entire realm of existence. The drunk narrative sucks the reader into its hallucinatory vortex and relentlessly makes one confront the very real questions one would rather avoid. The imagery used is powerful, disturbing, and beautiful at the same time.  The themes that the stories and the central narrative touches are at the core of many problems plaguing the world today. Without being didactic or preachy, the author effectively makes the readers stop in their paths and wonder about where the world is coming from and where it is headed. Even though the book is a serious work and deals with serious topics, the author's matter-of-fact vocal tone is refreshing and provides a much-need...