Folktales, Myths and Legends from the Deccan-Nithin Kushalappa

Book: Folktales, Myths and Legends from the Deccan
Author: Nithin Kushalappa
Publisher: Rupa Publications

I was provided a media copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Have you heard the folktales of the Deccan?

Across the rugged terrain of the vast Deccan, stories have endured for centuries on the strength of a vibrant oral storytelling tradition. The Deccan—that encompasses the sprawling plateau, fertile coastal plains, undulating hills and dense forest belts—is where heroic ballads, sung epics, possession rituals and other immersive traditions have flourished through the generations. Nitin Kushalappa gathers ten powerful narratives and offers a rare glimpse into a region that’s home to dozens of languages and dialects—as varied as the stories born of them. Here, local heroes are worshipped as deities, warriors are immortalized and goddesses walk the earth in human form. From the dry plains of Bayaluseeme comes the tale of Junjappa, the herdsman-hero, who rises from death and becomes a folk deity. In the mist-laden mountains of Kodagu unfolds the legend of warrior-sorcerer Kalyat Ponnappa, who masters magic to defend his people. Koti and Chennaya, the divine twins from the coastal lands of Tulunād, reshape the destiny of their clan. From the forests of Chhattisgarh comes the haunting ballad of Lorik and Chandaini—a tale of forbidden love. The myth of twelve abandoned children explains the origins of entire communities in ancient Kerala. Beyond these, Folktales, Myths and Legends from the Deccan also offers other fictional retellings that move across linguistic and cultural borders. The lone non-fiction ethnographic narrative in the collection explores the ancient tradition of seven mother-goddesses, long feared and revered by Deccan’s people. Meticulously researched and written with deep sensitivity, Kushalappa transforms the region’s oral histories into lyrical stories that reveal a landscape as brutal as it is magical.

Nithin’s book is a nice peek into the folktales of the area that is geographically quite vast, as well as it a melting pot of various cultures. The author has selected some interesting stories that span the region, and are wonderfully retold. The book opens with a detailed Author’s note which explains the region, various sub-regions that make up the Deccan and how each of them are connected. The author also wonderfully explains the difference between the terms-Folktales, Myths and Legends-to help the reader grasp the concept of the book. He also provides a short context of the stories in the author’s note. The 10 stories that Nithin has picked up for the book are quite interesting, and the storytelling done by Nithin is equally engaging. You are drawn into the story and the visual descriptions help you visualize the scenes as they happen. Each story is prefaced with a short summary of the local beliefs and what is to come into the book later, which helps set the tone perfectly.

While the book does keep you engaged, I did feel that the number of stories and the length of the stories were a tad bit too less. Covering a vast region, I think that all the sub-regions could have been better covered by segmenting the book as per the sub-regions and adding a few more stories from each region. I also did feel that a certain aspect of emotion was missing in the storytelling and the book feels more like an academic treatise rather than a retelling of regional folktales.

Overall, the book is a good collection that can be recommended to a reader looking to explore the region. The book scores a 4.50/5 for me.

Get a copy of the book on Amazon India or a bookstore near you.

he Great Indian Medico Masala-Dr. Kumar Nirbhay

Book: The Great Indian Medico Masala
Author: Dr. Kumar Nirbhay
Publisher: Rupa Publications

I was provided a media copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Have you wondered what goes into the mind of a doctor during his daily practice?

In The Great Indian Medico Masala, a collection of stories inspired by real-life incidents, the protagonist, Dr Arun, discovers that life in a hospital is anything but routine. His days are packed with encounters so hilarious, heart-warming, and medically bizarre that even your stress might need ‘ventilator support’. Within these pages, ward rounds morph into stand-up acts, ‘miracle cures’ arrive inside green coconuts, patients gleefully defy medical logic, and families create more complications than laboratory reports ever could. Meet the octogenarian flying officer who gets a high ‘flirting’ with his doctor, the mysterious midweek-only virus, and the infamous ‘chakkarometre’, an invention designed to measure dizziness with precision.

The Great Indian Medico Masala is a book that captures some interesting moments that a doctor can encounter as they practice medicine. Told from the eyes of a fictional doctor, Dr. Arun, the book starts off from the first year of medical school, and brings in instances that he faces right till some time into the practice. The book explores how sometimes it is not just medical education that is import, but also your wit and the understanding of the local customs. Set in a government hospital, the author also hilariously brings in the lengths to which people go to to skip work and pretend that they are sick. While there are funny incidents, there are also a few stories which are a commentary on how the elder members of the family are treated, and specially when there are government jobs at play, how the feelings and emotions of the family members change. Dr. Nirbhay has not spared the administration as well, and there are interesting stories around hospital administration, office bearers and the VIP culture in the government hospitals.

Overall, Dr. Nirbhay’s stories are wonderfully told and capture your attention. I loved the fact that the stories have been kept short but they are just long enough to convey the message that the author wanted to send across. His own witticisms are sprinkled throughout the book and they add a wonderful masala to the tales. The book is a definite recommendation for anyone looking to pick up a book to read after a long day at work and unwind. The book scores a 4.69/5 for me.

Grab a copy of the book from a bookstore near you or on Amazon India.

Eternally Single, Rosa Alvarez-Neerja Pawar

Book: Eternally Single, Rosa Alvarez
Author: Neerja Pawar
Publisher: The Bombay Circle Press

What if two sides of your world collided and left behind a mess?

Rosa Álvarez leads two lives. One is deceptively normal. A respectable physiotherapist living in Los Angeles: the city of fish tacos and famous bigwigs. She works hard at her job, loves living the single life, and has a trip home to Mexico at the very top of her priority list. The other is her mother’s worst nightmare. For one, the first is a lie. She does love her job, but its uniqueness would put any good chick flick to shame. She hasn’t been on a date in five years, at least, not any good ones. And she will do anything to avoid a trip to her sleepy hometown. But when a notorious man from her past shows up in LA, Rosa’s secret life starts unravelling. There’s also the matter of the really annoying actor (who just so happens to be annoyingly good-looking) she keeps bumping into whom she cannot seem to shake off. As her lies pile up, will Rosa be able to keep her two worlds separate? Or will her mother’s flying chancla find her first?

There are some books that leave you warm and fuzzy. Neerja’s book was one such book. Her writing is quite captivating and keeps you excited into the life that Rosa is leading in LA. The idea of someone having to hide what they do was something drew me into the book as I picked up in the bookstore, piquing my curiosity about what the fuss in the book is all about. Right from the first page, you are treated to this character which is equal parts confident and confused about her life. I liked how the author shows her relations with different people that are a part of her life, and how she is cordial and connected with each of them, be it her coworker, or the barista in the café, yet her being single was something that stands out. The entire arc of how she meets Samuel Jackson (not the Avenger) was quite fun to read. This was another thing I loved in Neerja’s writing that she has hidden these quips throughout the book and then there are callbacks to these. Coming back to the writing, there are moments when Rosa and Sam converse on which seem that they are reading each other’s minds, and I honestly loved how that section of the book is written.

The climax of the book is equally well written, and the entire chaos that reigns before the calm was quite fun to read and the entire arc of self-discovery was nicely closed. The book is a definite recommendation for anyone who loves to read a short and well-rounded romance. Overall, the book scores a 4.75/5 for me.

Grab a copy of the book on Amazon India or a bookstore near you.

Whispers of the Buried Past (Book 4 of Haveli Series)-Harshali Singh

Book: Whispers of the Buried Past (Book 4 of Haveli Series)
Author: Harshali Singh
Publisher: Readomania

I was provided a media copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Do you believe that our past life can influence our present?

In the heart of Old Delhi stands Anwar—the Haveli with a hundred doors—its walls heavy with secrets, its air thick with loss and longing. During its renovation, a buried body surfaces—and with it, the nightmares begin. Dheeraj, the reluctant heir to the Haveli’s fading glory, finds himself haunted by a ghost that speaks his forgotten name. Each whisper draws him closer to the truth: a curse that never ended. It merely waited for him. To silence the dead and reclaim his life, he must confront the blood-soaked secrets of his lineage, his father’s past sins and atone for the wrongs that destroyed generations before him. But every step towards redemption draws him deeper into madness. With a reclusive medium and her fierce daughter Naina as his only allies, Dheeraj races through the Haveli’s endless doors—each one leading to vengeance, forbidden love, and a past that refuses to die. Will Dheeraj rewrite his family’s fate or become its final sacrifice?

In Book 4 of the Haveli series, the author tells us the story of the fourth child of the Sharma family, and the only son, Dheeraj. The book explores how Dheeraj is haunted by nightmares and haunted by a ghost that speaks of a name long in the past. Harshali’s writing is engaging and you are drawn into the world of Anwar and its residents almost immediately. The book opens with a peek into the past, however the perpetrators are not immediately shown to you, and thus begins the journey of a soul in search for peace. What I loved about the book was that it keeps you on-the-edge with the ghostly appearances, and at the same time the hauntings are not over the top. The author manages to keep the focus of the story on the reincarnations and the repentance for the past deeds, rather than make the book about the hauntings itself. The apparitions are very well placed, and everytime the ghost appears, a chill does run down the readers spine. Another aspect that I liked was the part that author reveals the reincarnations and the appearances slowly so the mystery elements remain in place as to what really happened in the Haveli all those years ago. The climax is very well written. The visuals are quite powerful and you can easily visualize the events as they unfold, right till the very end. The way Harshali closes the story was a nice touch to the idea of circle that she puts in the book.

Coming to the characters, Dheeraj’s character is very well written. The only male child in a family of daughters, he is stuck with the expectations of the family, and does not get the chance to pursue his dreams. His angst and frustrations are very well captured in the book and the way his character arc develops was quite fun to read, specially post the climax of the book where he starts having doubts on his abilities. Coming to Naina, I loved the feisty character that the author introduces in the book. the balance in her actions, equal parts vulnerable and fiery, she adds a wonderful favour to the storytelling. Her ability to cuss ghosts was something I truly liked, and I think I would love to see more of her in the coming books. Arun’s character, honestly, was a surprise and I did not expect to see two sides of him in the same book.

Overall, the book is a wonderfully penned story that will keep you hooked, give you goosebumps, and maybe encourage you to look closely at your dreams. The book scores a 5/5 for me.

 Grab a copy of the book at a bookstore near you or on Amazon India.

Romance in My Coffee-Multiple Authors

Book: Romance in My Coffee
Author: Multiple Authors
Publisher: HarperCollins India

Do you like reading romance in a short story format?

Inviting you to sip your coffee with the flavour of ROMANCE. A lonely teenager hides from their classmates during prom. A girl has a crush she's embarrassed to admit to. A boy recalls the story of sharing a berth on a train. Every story is a love story, and there's a love story for everyone. This book contains ten voices, each inimitable and captivating, to create a formidable collection of stories that speaks to our one deep desire: to be loved. The In My Coffee anthology series will feature short stories on a variety of themes from romance to science fiction to humour to fantasy and much else. Each one perfect to mix in your coffee!

Romance in My Coffee is a collection of 10 stories that explore various facets of love and romance. Through these stories, the authors present stories of love that is contemporary but has a hint of the old-school romance as well. The compilation is carefully selected, and Aparna has done a good job collating these stories into a collection that would give you a warm and fuzzy feeling as you read it. Out of the 10 stories, there were 4 stories that stood out for me. Under the Devil's Tree by Riddhi Dastidar was a wonderful YA story that explores queer love, and I loved how she builds up to the climax. The character development was quite nice, and even though it is a short story, Annie and Zee have been written in a way that keeps you hooked to the story. Accidentally Enemies by Andaleeb Wajid was the second story that stood out for me for its portrayal of love. Areesha and Ahad’s story from bickering friends, to a love story none of them cared to admit was something I really loved reading. The next story that worked for me was @ The Party by Jerry Pinto. I loved his perspective on a non-binary romance, and how he shows the character development of @. The last story that did work for me was Michael Pandiya by Meera Ganpathi for the friends-to-lovers trope and how she treats it in the book.

While there are good things about the book, the other sections of the book did not work for me honestly. There is a section which was just a one-page description of a photograph, followed by the said photograph. This as a part of an anthology on romance is something I did not expect, and puts a break to an overall good reading experience. Another one-pager story also forms a part of the anthology, which again did not work for me.

Overall, an anthology with a mixed bag of stories that scores a 4.48/5 for me.

Stories featured in the Anthology:

1. Under the Devil's Tree: Riddhi Dastidar
2. Discord: Nisha Susan
3. Accidentally Enemies: Andaleeb Wajid
4. I'll Wait: Anurag Banerjee
5. At the party: Jerry Pinto
6. Such a Tease: K Vaishali
7. Just the Two of Us: Aravind Jayan
8. The Friends: Suniti Namjoshi
9. Sitting on the Porch, Watching the Trains: Gankhu Sumnyan
10. Michael Pandiya: Meera Ganpathi

Psycho Path-Prerna Wadhawan

Book: Psycho Path
Author: Prerna Wadhawan
Publisher: Self Published

I was provided an Advanced Reader’s Copy (ARC) of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Do you think that Psychopaths are born or made?

The first time Niya Kapoor sits across from Robin Hood, he asks her to say it. Say what she's spent her whole career arguing. That psychopaths aren't broken. That they're evolved. That his brain is wired differently and it isn't his fault. The court wants an answer. Robin Hood is a serial killer with a teenage following and a lawyer who wants him declared a victim of his own biology. Niya is the expert. Her research is the precedent. If she confirms what she's always believed, he walks free. She tells herself she's studying him. He seems to think it's the other way around. He knows things about her. Things she thought were buried. Outside the prison walls, two teenage boys are destroying each other, one camera, one betrayal, one audience at a time. She tells herself she's in control. He lets her believe it. The psycho-path isn't a person. It's a direction.

Prerna’s debut book is a wonderful example of how to write a thriller that keeps you so intrigued that you keep turning the pages. The storytelling is slow and deliberate, and the author keeps you guessing who is the one behind the mask of Robin Hood until the very last page. As you navigate the human psyche with Niya serving as a guide, Prerna also veers you towards the craze of social media, and how the idea of social acceptance through “reach” can affect not just a person, but almost an entire generation of teenagers. The cat-and-mouse game that Niya and Robin play throughout the book is calculated, gripping and disturbing, all blended into one. The question of moral compass, and whether biology is responsible for some people being more criminally inclined than the others is an important one, and the book puts it wonderfully. The writing in the book is quite gripping and while some scenes might disturb a reader, the visual writing helps you see some of the scenes as they occur. The storytelling is slow and deliberate, and there are points where you stop and think about if we have really become so hungry about 15 seconds of fame that numbers are all that what matters to us. While the book does score on a lot of fronts, there are few places where I think that the story did veer off for a bit. Kabir and Niya’s story, for example, was one aspect where I think a lot of the questions reside, and a bit more about them could have added context to the actions of Niya a lot. Similarly, I felt that we see Robin Hood through the eyes of all the other characters, but I would have connected a bit more had we seen some more from his perspective. The climax, however, very well written and I was impressed how there are threads which might lead to sequels. The post courtroom sequence brings together a lot of threads, but also lets enough questions open for the reader to request a sequel.

Coming to the characters, Prerna’s development of the characters in the book is one of its strengths. Starting from Tejas and Shubh, the entire arc of friends to enemies is something that is very effectively penned. You see two teenagers, hyped up on social media numbers trying to outdo each other. Prerna has captured this pulse very nicely and a lot of it is about the camera angles, direction and edits, which is a mirror that we need to see realistically. The transition of people and situations to  “Content” is something that becomes a backbone of this book. The female characters in the book-Arunima, Deepali and Niya- are wonderfully sketched, and I liked how the author provides agency to all the three, but in different aspects. Each of them is equally important at different stages of the book. Sher’s character is someone I started developing sympathy for, atleast for some time, until the last part of the book where things start coming to light, and I think that is the best compliment I can give the author.

Overall, Psycho Path is a book that explores how Psycho Paths are made, maybe they are biologically wired, or maybe the society makes them what they are. Read the book to find out more! The book scores a 4.94/5 for me.

Grab a copy of the book on Amazon India today! It is available on Kindle Unlimited as well!

Mahagauri-Nitya Neelakantan

Book: Mahagauri
Author: Nitya Neelakantan
Publisher: Rupa Publications

I was provided a media copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

How would you react if you were to be transported to a different realm suddenly?

The brilliant Gauri Vishwanath is a senior scientist at a top defence lab in Bengaluru. A recurring violent dream sees her transformed into a fierce warrior, wielding weapons and spilling blood on the battlefield. One night, the dream turns into a horrific reality when a freak lab accident transports her to the ancient kingdom of Saptapuri. Saptapuri is under siege—Moishan, the buffalo-demon, and his formidable army of demons are marching towards the kingdom to seize the precious Ajna Chakra. According to legend, the purple jewel, forged from the fire of Shiva’s Third Eye, grants immortality and power to whoever possesses it. Saptapuri’s only hope lies in an age-old prophecy that speaks of one of Goddess Durga’s avatars descending from another world to save them from Moishan. To Gauri’s astonishment, the prophecy points to her. Torn between disbelief and destiny, Gauri must embrace her overnight transformation into Mahagauri, the fierce warrior avatar of Durga. As Saptapuri burns, she must choose between clinging to the modern world she knows or unleashing her power as the divine force destined to change the fate of a seven-hundred-year-old kingdom. Gauri’s journey from an ordinary woman of science to becoming the indomitable Mahagauri makes her confront her own courage and the unyielding power within. Epic in scale, rich in mythology, and driven by a heroine who is at once vulnerable and unstoppable, Mahagauri is a spellbinding saga of the eternal battle between light and darkness.

Mahagauri is a story that explores how sometimes we just need the right nudge and the moment to discover the power that lives inside us. Nitya’s storytelling is gripping and keeps you hooked to the story of Gauri and how she deals with the sudden in her life where everyone feels that she is the one to save an entire kingdom. The plot of the book keeps you engaged through skirmishes in the alternate timeline and there are times where you almost agree with Gauri that she might not be the saviour that they are looking for. I loved the moments where you see the unleashing of Gauri’s powers. Another aspect of the book that I loved was how Nitya shows that while saving the world’s may be one’s destiny, it cannot be fulfilled until everyone comes together, specially in the climax scene. I loved how the plot created a wonderful pairing of Shankar and Gauri. Their interactions across the book were wonderful to read, and added a nice arc to the entire story. The book also has these minute details that make a lot of sense in hindsight, and I loved how there are clues are spread across the book, keeping you intrigued. The climax scene is wonderfully written, and specially after the faceoff with Moishan, Gauri’s actions are nicely penned which show how time can change a person, and help them take decisions which they might not have taken otherwise.

Coming to the characters, I loved the way Gauri’s character arc develops over the course of the book. You start with this scientist who is a bit awkward, and is suddenly thrown into a mix of things she barely understands, to a warrior who faces a demon army. The entire transformation is the foundation of the book, and Nitya pens this in a wonderful fashion. Another character who I really liked was that of Shankar. His role in the entire story is subtle yet powerful, specially how he manages people and reads them to manage the situation at hand. His chemistry with Gauri is something I truly enjoyed reading. Anandmayi was one character in the book I am in awe of, and she was a wonderful character that Nitya has penned.

Overall, Mahagauri is a book that explores the idea of self-discovery, and that sometimes destiny might have plans that might change your life forever. The book scores a 4.63/5 for me.

Grab a copy of the book on Amazon India or a bookstore near you!