Vigil Aunties-Richa S. Mukherjee

Book: Vigil Aunties
Author: Richa S. Mukherjee
Publisher: Black Ink

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

What if you find out your parent was a part of a secret society and could be responsible for a missing person?

Secrets, saris, humour and drama! This is one vigil you don’t want to miss. Sixteen-year-old Philadelphia aka Philly Waghmare’s carefully curated life revolves around the SAT. The most exciting thing that happens in the crumbling old society she calls home is the weekly meet-up between her mother, Varsha, and her motley group of society aunties. Nothing really changes here—except one day when everything does! A shocking incident leads Philly to trail Tarun Adhikari, the hotshot father of her best friend, Naina. During this quest, her world turns turtle as she not only discovers that her sweet, sanskari mother is the head of a secret society of women, but that this group might be responsible for the disappearance of a rogue named Ratan Tamancha, whom the police is looking for. A game of cats, mice and wits commences as Bharatendu Bandopadhyay, a most unusual investigator, shows up asking questions. Is this secret society of harmless aunties responsible for taking a life? Will Philly be able to prevent her mother from going to jail? Will this be the end of the road for the vigil-aunties?

Richa’s books always have a freshness in them that compel you to turn the pages and Vigil Aunties is no different. The story is told in a linear narrative that explores the lives of the people living in an age-old society. The storytelling is extremely engaging and the manner in which the author approaches topics such as ageism, social lens of single people living in apartments etc., keeps you looking for more as you move forward in the story. What I loved about the book primarily was the plot that keeps you guessing whether it is a crime thriller or a family drama or something in between, and with each chapter you try and figure out what is going to happen. Another signature in Richa’s writing is the not-so-subtle humour that made me fall of the sofa atleast twice while reading the book. One aspect that Richa captures prominently in the book are the family dynamics that we have seen in our families as well and that plays a crucial role in the narrative. She has also painted the society as an extended family, which again was an interesting take, specially when we are moving towards isolations in our living units. The writing in the book is excellent and the language is easy to understand (apart from a few places for which the search engine had to be called in). The story flows smoothly and keeps you turning the pages as you are hungry to know what is happening in this seemingly-sleepy society. Richa also sheds light on child abuse, though subtly, and I was pleasantly surprised at her incorporating the same seamlessly in the plot.

The investigation part of the book was a journey in itself, and I think I might have found my favourite couple in Bharat-Tiwari with their quirky discussions. The way Richa has written that part was quite fun to read and the desi-touch in the investigation was cherry atop the cake. I wish I could write more about it without spoilers, but I can’t, so I won’t.

The climax of the book deserves its own space in this review. With everything that had happened, I had anticipated an ending that made logical sense, but then I forgot I was reading a RSM and when the reveal happens, you are astounded with what is revealed. The ending of the book is something that I didn’t imagine, and this has raised the bar for quite a lot of books now!

Coming to the soul of the book-its characters. With names like Philadelphia Waghmare, Laddoo, Lassi, Tun Tun the Cement Mixer and of course, Bharatendu Bandopadhyay, the characters of the book have been crafted with surgical precision. I specially loved the way Varsha’s character had been penned, with the laddoo-making parent on one end of the spectrum and a vigilante on the other. Her ability to think on her feet, especially after the incident with Ratan Tamancha was quite well written. Another character I loved was that of Bharatendu and his love for all things food. When an investigative officer starts cooking turai in the middle of a discussion, you can’t do much but laugh till your stomach starts hurting. The other members of the secret society had been also given due attention and their individuality and unique characteristics stand out, even when they are a part of a group.

Phew! Long review, right? But one aspect of the book that equally deserves mentioning is the manner in which dialogues have been written. There are specific moments in the book that just cannot be defined in any manner. If you can repurpose “strike when the iron is hot” to “strike when the laddoos are hot”, then everything in the book is fair game, I would say.

If you like reading a book that makes you feel good from the inside and want to enjoy the entire experience, do pick up Vigil Aunties. The aunties peeped in and took away 2 binoculars and 1 cement mixer (5 stars) from me.

Grab a copy of the book on Amazon India or your nearest bookstore!

The Final Farewell-Minakshi Dewan

Book: The Final Farewell
Author: Minakshi Dewan
Publisher: HarperCollins India

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

Do you think that our understanding of the Last Rites and Rituals is limited?

What are the beliefs associated with death in India? How do final rites and rituals reveal the misogyny and caste-based discrimination that plague the country? Who are the people involved in managing the deceased and laying them to rest? What are the economic and environmental costs of saying that final goodbye? Powerful and enlightening, The Final Farewell offers a glimpse into a world that is misunderstood and feared. With compassion and sensitivity, Minakshi Dewan explores the many ways in which some of the country's major faiths treat the dead: this includes avoidance of human remains, believed by some to be spiritual pollutants; the worship of bodies at the pyre; professional mourners hired to wail loudly for the dead; and musicians devoted to celebrating life at funerals. Based on thorough research, keen observation, personal interviews, The Final Farewell is a reminder to honour those who came before, and to work towards a better world to leave behind.

Death usually has negative connotations in our minds, and not a lot is known about the last rites and rituals of the various faiths that exist today. Most of what we know has been passed through families or seen on screen. A country where people of all faiths co-exist, this context becomes even more important. Minakshi’s book is a wonderful attempt to bring together the understanding of how death is treated across religious and social lines. While we see death as a part of life, there are various aspects attached to it which go unnoticed and unheard, especially the people who are a part of the entire process. The book starts off with a brief about how each religion looks at death, what the scriptures say and the concept of why the last rites and rituals are important. Minakshi then moves on to the gender and social aspect of funerals, and how the gender and caste of a person impact their role in the entire process. She also explores the financial aspect of death including the costs as well as the industry that has started to grow around it. The author also explores the contemporary aspect of funerals, specially during the pandemic, and how it became a choice between adapting to the times versus the age-old practices and how it impacted the people in the chain-the mortuary workers, the people in the crematoriums, burial grounds and the Dakhmas.

What I really liked about the book was it brevity, yet the information in the book is enough to pique your interest and make you research more about the topics Minakshi explores. The concepts have been broken down into small chapters that focus on a specific topic which help you focus and keep you attention to what she is conveying. Since death and funeral is a topic that is sensitive, I liked that Minakshi has not left out emotions while writing and you feel the emotions she felt while researching about the book. Another good aspect of the book is that it is not a treatise on how things are done, and neither it is a book that just takes the processes from the scriptures and reproduces it. It is a methodically written book that explores multiple aspects of death and the author has used a socio-economic lens to present the current status of this industry from a third-person perspective. She not only presents what the scriptures say, but also the environmental aspect of the customs and how people have come up with unique ideas to balance the age-old customs with minimal impact to the environment. Another thing that I liked in the book was that Minakshi has included the funerals during the Covid-19 period as a part that explores how the customs had to be modified keeping in mind the regulations, and how we saw citizens rising to the challenge by volunteering and providing respect to the dead. The chapter on Varanasi was one that I really liked because there were aspects that I had no idea, and especially the one on the Holi was an eye opener. While I knew a bit about Rudaalis, the other gendered aspects of funerals and the performative aspects were something that I discovered through this book.

This is a book that one should read not because it talks about death and funerals, but because it is a birds eye view on an integral part of life that people usually ignore until it comes calling. It will not just help you understand death, but some aspects of human life and psychology as well. The book scores a 4.88/5 for me.

Get a copy of the book on Amazon India or your nearest bookstore!

A Heart Divided-Anjuli Rajprasad

Book: A Heart Divided
Author: Anjuli Rajprasad
Publisher: Om Books International

What happens when you move to a new country and your life turns upside down?

Neeti is a driven and self-made woman who finds purpose and fulfilment in her work in Mumbai. When she marries Mihir, the love of her life who plans to pursue a PhD in the US, she is confronted with the biggest dilemma: should she listen to her heart or her head? The heart wins and Neeti moves to the US, leaving her career, family, and friends behind to be with Mihir. But her real challenge begins when she finds herself on a dependent visa, with no work life to speak of. Anjuli Rajprasad’s lucid prose narrates this tale of a twenty-first-century woman dealing with the stigma of being ‘dependent’ on a spouse and discovering her identity beyond a professional one.

Anjuli’s book is a wonderful story of how resilience and grit can help you sustain, even in the harshest of conditions. The book explores how the immigration policies can impact the morale and the life of the toughest of people. The storytelling in the book is engaging and keeps you turning the pages as Neeti faces the obstacles in her lives and overcomes them. What I liked about the book was that it explores the theme of immigration and its impact on the spouses, specially when it comes to choosing their own lives and careers. The idea of weaving this into a romantic story is quite interesting. The book is quite well researched and while reading, you realise that the author has actually spent time focusing on the core idea of the story, and that is of the immigration. The book moves at a comfortable pace and there are no points where the book gets boring or too slow. The importance of independence has been stressed quite enough and the value of choice has been explored really well.

The character of Neeti has been sketched in detail. The author has developed the arc of her character and due time has been given to set the tone of her character. The part in Mumbai is sufficiently detailed for us to understand the importance of independence for her. As the story progresses, you realise how her story is affected by the circumstances around her. Another aspect of the character I liked was that she has created a variety of other characters that support the story to the hilt as well as highlight the core thought of the book.

Overall, this is a good story that explores the intricacies of immigration through the eyes of love. The book scores a 4.63/5 for me.

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

Kashmir (The Partition Trilogy # 3)-Manreet Sodhi Someshwar

Book: Kashmir (The Partition Trilogy-Book 3)
Author: Manreet Sodhi Someshwar
Publisher: HarperCollins India

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

What were the key events that shaped our history immediately after the Partition in 1947?

Maharaja Hari Singh rules Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Princely State expected to accede to Pakistan during the partition in 1947. But Hari Singh dreams of a Switzerland-like status for his Himalayan kingdom. Meanwhile, popular leader Sheikh Abdullah rallies for freedom and the Poonchis in western Jammu revolt, telegramming Jinnah for help; soon, fearsome kabailis are carving a swath of savagery and destruction through the kingdom towards Srinagar. In the Valley, tourists flee in the face of the tribal invasion. When Durga Mehra's husband is murdered by the kabailis, she seeks refuge in a camp where another desperate inmate, Zooni, is also awaiting passage to Srinagar. As rations become scarce, newly widowed Kashmira worries how she'll feed her children, but her houseboat guest, intrepid American journalist Margot Parr, is unfazed. She realizes she has the scoop of a lifetime on her hands. The rattled Maharaja signs the accession to India, pleading for immediate help. Pandit Nehru and Sardar Patel dispatch the Indian Army to defend the Valley, and Akbar Khan of the Pakistan Army races to aid the kabailis. Barely two months into independence, the two new nations are pitched into battle. The first Indo-Pak war begins, upending the subcontinent forever. Kashmir is the thrilling conclusion to The Partition Trilogy that began with Lahore and continued with Hyderabad.

Setting the story in Kashmir, Manreet presents a detailed version of events that take place here, through the eyes of prominent political figures as well as common folks. While the first book was focused primarily on the events preceding the partition, and the second on the events while the partition was taking place, Kashmir sheds light on the emotions and how Kashmir was affected by the partition. The author has explored the impact of the unrest through various aspects such as tourism and livelihood. The details of the first Indo-Pak war and its impact on the life and the viewpoint of the local residents has been captured quite in detail. What I liked about the book is that while Manreet shows the emotions and the reactions of the local populace, she has included the character of a foreign journalist which adds a third-person perspective to the narrative. Another aspect of the book that stands out is the focus on minute details and how the multiple threads come together at the end to tie the story in a bow. As in the previous books, the blend of historical facts and fictional story was quite balanced and there are events which give you an aha moment as you come across a fact that you have heard before. The part about the transit camp for women has been very well written and the focus on the human aspect of history is very well portrayed. Talking about the pace of the book, the initial part of the book is a bot slow as it sets the tone of the events that are to take place, but as it moves forward, the pace increases but stays comfortable enough to enable the reader to grasp the storyline. Another thing that stood out for me was the focus on Pashmina and how that becomes an important part in the story.

The characters in the story are crucial to the storyline that Manreet has built. While the historical characters maintain their detailing in this book as well, what stood out for me was the manner in which Zooni’s character was shaped right from the first page to the very last. The character arc has been well-planned and at no point do you feel that the same is not aligned with the story. Kashmira’s character is another one that I liked in the manner it was built into the storyline.

Overall, Kashmir is a fitting closure for The Partition Trilogy which started from the events in Lahore to Hyderabad, culminating in Kashmir. While the timeline might seem small (February 1947 to September 1948) across the three books, they cover one of the key events in the history of the subcontinent and Manreet captures the key events in an engaging manner. The book scores a 4.88/5 for me.

Get a copy of the book from your nearest bookstore or on Amazon India.

You can read my reviews of the previous books in the series as well:

 

Pilgrims of Reflection-Adrija Chatterjee

Book: Pilgrims of Reflection
Author: Adrija Chatterjee
Publisher: Half Baked Beans

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

Do you think short stories can capture human emotions?

These SEVEN short stories spanning across sixteen protagonists collectively navigate through individual evolution of ordinary lives when pulled into out of the box circumstances. While Meera and Naveen try to find their real selves across their peculiar past, in another Jeewan is shaken up when a mysterious woman turns up in his shabby life and book stall. One of the stories revisit the year 2020 to grasp how the pandemic shaped and transformed relationships and our take on class division in society, we otherwise would never think about. Through each of the stories the characters merge towards versions of their existence they never knew could exist.

The stories in the book capture various human emotions nicely. Each of the story deals with a different emotion and the author has plotted the stories in detail. Spanning across class and locations, the stories explore the idea of relationships, time and how things change when times change. I liked how the stories take the characters through a journey which helps them discover their own lives and how they impact the lives of others. What didn’t work for me in the stories was first and foremost the font size and printing, because the paperback version of the book has a typeset that makes it quite hard to read. Secondly, the storytelling is a bit confused and the premise of the stories becomes difficult to follow and understand. The stories require a round of fresh editing to clear out the fluff and improve the readability of the stories. The emotional appeal of the stories is engaging and the writing is promising.

Overall, this is a good collection that can be improved. The book scores a 3.25/5 for me.

Get a copy of the book on Amazon India.

Mrityunjay (Maha-Asura Series 1)-Parakh Om Bhatt | Raj Javiya

Book: Mrityunjay (Maha-Asura Series 1)
Author: Parakh Om Bhatt | Raj Javiya
Publisher: Penguin India

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

What if you were told that you hold the key to unlocking an ancient mystery?

PRESENT DAY, BHARAT: Renowned archaeologist Sudhir Arya dies mysteriously the night before Diwali. His grandson, Vivaan, comes to his hometown to perform the last rites. Here, he gets a phone call that sets him off on a puzzling journey as he discovers thousand-year-old secrets and shocking facts about his identity. 1026 CE, PRABHAS KSHETRA: Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi has attacked the first jyotirlinga of Lord Mahadev: Somnath. Did he seek the temple’s treasures? Or was he looking for a Puranic heirloom of Sanatan Dharma, the mystery of which has been buried under layers of time? 470 CE, ARAB LAND: Yogi Matsyendranath awakens the kundalini energy of his army through the ritual of Aatma Jaagran as it takes on terrifying, evil entities tasked with protecting the greatest mystery of the Kaliyuga. SATYUGA, ARYAVARTA: Through yagnas, bloody sacrifices and mantras prohibited in the Vedas, Devi Anishtatri, the goddess of malevolence, is invoked. She appears in her most ferocious form and grants a boon so potent it could change the fate of the universe. What is the link between Aryavarta, Arab Land and Prabhas Kshetra? What is the vicious boon that threatens to change the fate of the cosmos? The ultimate battle of Kaliyuga is about to begin.

The authors have wonderfully woven mythology, history and geography to weave this storyline. While the book is primarily fictional, based on mythology, the authors have also added in equal parts of thrill and intrigue that keep you hooked to the book. The elements in the book have been very well researched and the idea to incorporate the stories across the ages into this seamlessly has been executed very well. The authors have also incorporated various historical elements into the narrative that give it a very relatable feel while you read the book. Coming to the storyline, the story moves across 4 timelines to set the premise as well as introduce the characters and the motives behind their actions. The transitions have been clearly defined, which helps the reader keep pace with the events and also understand the relationships that the authors want you to keep in mind. What I loved about the book was that even till the last page, the surprises do not end and you are presented with revelations right till the point where the book ends. There are several surprise elements in the book that make you marvel at the storytelling skills of the authors. While the book is based on the Hindu Mythology, the authors have translated the Sanskrit shlokas which can help the global audience understand the book as well. Another aspect of the book that stood out for me was how the authors took each element of the mythology and created a detailed storyline around it. Be it Anant Sheshnaag or Lord Krishna, due respect and time has been given to include them in the narrative. The climax of this book was extremely interesting and if this is just the beginning, then I am more than ready for the next books in the series to see how the authors unravel the identities of the remaining characters.

Coming to the development of the characters, I truly loved how Parakh and Raj developed the character of Faiza, Vivaan and Riya. Another character that deserves a mention is that of Wasim. The layering that the authors did for his character and the way the unveiling happens with a red herring in the middle was quite wonderful. While I want to talk more about Wasim’s character, but to write more would be giving out spoilers, but that is one aspect of the book that will astound you. Shukracharya as a part of the story has been well written into the plot, and I am sure he would be playing even more important role in the further books.

Overall, the book is a definite recommendation for anyone who loves to read mytho-fiction. The book scores a 5/5 for me.

Get a copy of the book on Amazon India or your nearest bookstore.