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Showing posts from June, 2018

Book Review: My Father Drank My Lover and Other Stories by Ashok Banker

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A collection of stories that are edgy; stories that might make you uncomfortable but nonetheless will inspire awe in you. For My Father Drank My Lover and Other Stories the author has found inspiration from mythology to the common traits of the citizenry world over; the stories are as interesting as they are shocking. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My Father Drank My Lover and Other Stories comes from the pen of the journalist turned author Ashok Banker. He is the man behind the Ramayana series which some people would say laid the  foundation stone for the country's biggest segment of fiction right now- mythological retellings.  Coming back to the book,  My Father Drank My Lover and Other Stories has 11 stories in it. The book has been published by Pan Macmillan India where these stories have been compiled for the first time (says the back cover. Also I have not come across the stories individually

In The Supporting Role

Today was the first time I used the salon services of Urban Clap. My beautician was a woman named T Mondol. She was of 32 years, married with a daughter aged 16 and a 5 year old son. This is her story: I ran away from my home and married the boy I loved when I was in Class 9. At 16, married for a year, I gave birth to my daughter. I knew nothing much about anything. My husband was an only son. I had an elder brother and doting parents who fended for me. I don't know why I ran away but I did and this is a fact. Maybe, I am paying for my that mistake now. My husband works as a driver and he did not make much money. My father-in-law drives a rickshaw in Sonarpur. He, my father-in-law said, I should learn something. Just in case, his son abandoned me, he added. I asked my husband to give me some money so that I could learn this work in Gariahat. He refused saying that he would earn enough to sustain the three of us. My mother-in-law was also opposed to the idea of me stepping o

The Happiness Connection

Suicides by two hugely popular public figures- Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain- within three days of each other. One a fashion designer and business woman par excellence and another a famous cook, TV personality. There have been many others before them. Though I knew just a thing or two about them the news about Robin William's suicide was heartbreaking for me. I remember thinking how could someone who laughed so much and made people laugh, do that. While there is so much being written in the social media about mental health in light of these two suicides I was stuck by a particular post in part on Ariana Huffington's Instagram feed. It is a Repost of a tweet by editor Elaine Welteroth and says: ..... And in your death we are reminded once again that there is simply no correlation between happiness and success. How true is that! We have no idea about what makes us happy. It is easy to confuse happiness with material things, isn't it? Getting a Kate Spade bag any da

Book Review: My Brother's Wedding by Andaleeb Wajid

Is there a thing like pre-script? Anyway much excited to share that the author announced on Istagram that she has started the sequel to this book. The first three chapters are available on Wattpad for free. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I finished reading My Brother's Wedding by  @andaleebwajid  a few days ago. The book is a peek into what all goes behind a Muslim wedding written from the POV of the groom's youngest sister who starts an anonymous blog to describe it. What you get on all those pages though is more than just that! . Saba is the youngest sibling among three having been largely unseen and ignored by her elder brother Zohaib and taunted and traumatised by her very beautiful sister Rabia. . The blog starts as a rant about her brother's wedding but gives a sneak peek into her life, love and interests as well. She is a college goer with not much aspiration in life.