Mumbai and Life

You know how at times you get so accustomed to your surroundings that you forget how wonderful and amazing it is to be there? Yeah well, I am sorry to acknowledge that between assignments, and more assignments, I forgot that I live in Mumbai now! And not just anywhere, but Bandra west, near Mannat, the Mannat! The all famous Mehboob studio is just down the hill, again something which I had failed to remember.

Now, I am not a fan of any particular person, but I would be lying if I say that seeing Shahrukh Khan will be nothing. It’s a huge deal but not something likely to happen, although who knows what may happen in the future.

My First Recital

Now, I think I should tell you that even though I have heard a little classical music, I was never able to differentiate between the various classical genres, not that I can now but am just saying, don’t consider this post as to something that will increase your knowledge or give any know how on how to critique or even be able to pretend to know just a little about classical music.

So anyway, like the name suggests this is about a recital, a music concert, my first one ever! Well, firstly, if you haven’t heard about Dhanashree Pandit-Rai, don’t worry; neither had I till a couple of days ago. She, yes Dhanashree is female, doesn’t have a Wikipedia page dedicated to her, so that won’t be of much help here, but obviously Google will. Still, let me give you a brief idea of who we are talking about. Rai is a Thumri performer and has received many awards for her work, even recorded a few fusion albums.

Ship of Theseus

A movie that disillusions you but still leaves you feeling like something wasn’t altogether right about it either was what the Ship of Theseus did to me.

After exiting the movie theatre I was still wondering about the events that had left me moved and the questions that it had raised but more importantly I was amazed by everyone else’s excitement or maybe it was their indifference towards it that left me a little overwhelmed.

Shoes of the Dead Book Review

Before I started this book, I checked up a little about the author, Kota Neelima and her previous works. Amongst articles and abstract paintings done by her, she also has 2 books published under her name. Death of a Moneylender and Riverstones. Both these books have one thing in common, the sense of true and unabridged reality.

Before I start my review, as always, here’s the book cover summary to give you a better idea of what this particular book is all about.

Crushed by successive crop failures and the burden of debt, Sudhakar Bhadra kills himself. The powerful district committee of Mityala routinely dismisses the suicide and refuses compensation to his widow. Gangiri, his brother, makes it his life’s mission to bring justice to the dead by influencing the committee to validate similar farmer suicides.

Keyur Kashinath of the Democratic Party - first-time Member of Parliament from Mityala, and son of Vaishnav Kashinath, the party’s general secretary - is the heir to his father’s power in Delhi politics. He faces his first crisis every suicide in his constituency certified by the committee as debt-related is a blot on the party’s image, and his competence.

The brilliant farmer battles his inheritance of despair, the arrogant politician fights for the power he has received as legacy. Their two worlds collide in a conflict that pushes both to the limits of morality from where there is no turning back. At stake is the truth about ‘inherited’ democratic power. And at the end, there can only be one winner.

 Passionate and startlingly insightful, Shoes of the Dead is a chilling parable of modern-day India.

Tantra Book Review

Before I got the mail from Bloagadda about tantra being the book up for review, all I knew about it was that there was quite the buzz being created around it. For a newbie writer and his first book, a little promotion is crucial but even then, an animated version of the story is going a little over the top, don’t you think?

I know judging a book by its cover (literally) isn’t right, but sometimes one just gets the feeling of how a certain book will turn out to be and that’s what I feel happened here. My expectations from this book were really low, which as it turns out was a Good thing.