MellowDrama

तबस्सुम कैसी हो? हम सब यहाँ बिकुल ठीक हैं।आशा है की तुम भी सही सलामत होंगी। आज मैं ये चिट्ठी इसलिए लिख रहि हूँ की तुम्हे बता सकूं की मैं अक्सर तुम्हारे बारे मैं सोचती हूँ। सोचती हूँ अब तुम क्या करती होगी, काम पे जाती हो अब भी? कोई मना तो नहीं करता? सास बच्चे संभाल लेती है तुम्हारे पीछे से? वो तो अब बड़े भी हो गए होंगे न? स्कूल जाते होंगे? मुझे अब कोलकाता मैं रहते हुए ६-७ साल हो गए  हैं। जब चंडीगढ़ से निकले थे तो उम्मीद न थी की इतना समय इस परायी नगरी में निकल जाएगा। नेत्रा को याद करती हो कभी? वो इस साल १२ की हो गयी है। उसे तो तुम्हारी याद नहीं लेकिन आज भी जब वो ज़िद्द करती है की मैं उसे खाना खिला दूँ और मैं बहुत थक गयी होती हूँ, तो झट से तुम्हारी याद आ जाती है। तुम होती तो मुझे चाय का कप पकड़ा कर उसे प्यार से फुसला के ले जाती और खुद ही खिला देती। कहती, "मेरे पास आओ नेत्रा, माँ को रहने दो। आओ मैंने तुम्हारे लिए कुछ स्पेशल रखा है।" कितने सारे अंग्रेजी के नए नए शब्द सीख गयीं थी न तुम. कुछ तो तुम्हारे ख़ास बन गए थे। जैसे बॉय, गर्ल, र...

When I Was You by Minka Kent is a thriller which I found an easy read and highly recommend if you are scared of the gory stuff but still like to be surprised in the realms of suspense. It is a bit predictable though the bits which are unpredictable are pretty good. I read this one soon after finishing Luanne Rice's Last Day  which was hardly as much a thriller as a story about secrets, sisters and sisterhood. So getting back to When I Was You. Well the book is told via two perspectives Niall and Brienne. Brienne is a victim of a mugging and now lives scared and traumatised. She suffers from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)- a mental health condition which is triggered by a traumatic event. Its symptoms include severe anxiety, flashbacks and nightmares among other things. She lives in a huge house that once belonged to her grandparents but since her attack, rents out a portion to Niall who is an oncologist and a very caring, considerate man. But of course, things are ha...

I had been advanced a copy of Luanne Rice's thriller Last Day by NetGalley and let me thank them, the author and the publisher at the outset. Last Day is set in Connecticut and is a story of four women who have grown up together. Though touted as a thriller, I found it hard to see it as one purely. Rather Last Day is an emotional journey about friendship and sisterhood. Beth Woodward is found dead in her bedroom. Her head has been smashed and she has been strangulated with her lace panties. The killer had put the air conditioning at the highest to ensure that the body decay is slowed down and maybe had violated Beth before extinguishing the flame of her life. Beth was six months pregnant. A painting that hung in her bedroom is gone. Beth was discovered by her sister Kate who is a pilot and who raised an alarm after she had failed to get any response from her sister, who was going through a difficult pregnancy, for three days. Beth was home alone as her husband had on...

Generally age is counted according to the number of years that you have been on this planet. But then  how do you know what your age is when the role that you are accounting for is a not as old as you? The simple answer would be to say that it would be equal to the number of years you have been in the role.  So, this is one of the most important lessons that I have learnt as a decade old mum. My daughter Netra, more commonly referred to as BhindiSood on social media, was born in 2007. Ah! your eyebrows go up. She bluffs, you think, to keep up with the theme. Dear reader but that is not the case. I might be being generous with myself when I m saying that I am a decade old mummy but I am not really bluffing. I did not (and maybe even now) know how to be a mother to a child who I was desperate to get but knew nothing about raising her for all the unaccounted years in between. But then fear not, this isn't either a self pitying sort of a post nor I intend for it ...

The Swap by journalist Shuma Raha is a story that is based on the trend of swinging or what is commonly known as wife-swapping. The story is set in Delhi. Priya is a journalist who is married to Akash for six years but now the once-in-love couple have grown apart, maybe distant as well. There is a lack of intimacy and as happens  after years of togetherness, things have become boring for both of them. During a dinner party at their house, a guest called Tarun Paul tells everyone gathered there about the very happening thing in Delhi social circles- the swinging parties. Going by the keen interest that almost everyone at the dinner party had shown on the topic, Tarun extends to them all an invite for the next one which was being organised by their friends. Though reluctant, Priya gives in and goes with Akash to the party. Things which should have gotten better after the swap, become even worse and Priya finds Akash distancing himself further from her. Priya though has a extrama...

What a beautiful beautiful book is this Portrait of an Artist: Claude Monet! Lucy Brownridge's words bring the life of this French painter alive in an unparalleled way, educating and inspiring the littlest of readers. Claude Monet was the painter whose painting gave the name "Impressionism" to a style of painting which left heroics and heroes behind and focussed more on nature. This book brings into focus Monet's life and his evolution as a painter. Accompanying Lucy Brownridge's text, illustrations by Caroline Bonne Muller give us the glimpses of Monet's life and to add further to a reader's delight, the book also showcases various works of this master artist which are, I think, a great point to start your child's (or your own) education in art. The text and illustrations also go beautifully hand in hand telling us and inspiring along with it to keep at something that we really really want to do. Monet's story and its characters- Eugene Bou...

 The Devil's Apprentice is the first book in The Great Devil War Trilogy. Written by Kenneth B. Andersen, the book has been translated from the Danish into various languages and came out in 2018.   The book is apt for readers in middle grade, but honestly who cares, this is such a fabulous book that age can not stop you from thoroughly enjoying this fiery ride. This book tells the story of Philip, a 13 year old boy, who finds himself Hell because of a case of mistaken identity. Philip is a good boy, make that a very good boy, who never even lies, who finds himself face to face with who else, but the Prince of Darkness. Satan or Lucifer on the other hand, is withering and needs to put his replacement in place and now has this very good boy on his hands. The road looks difficult for the two main characters of our book who will have to go. Philip repeatedly fails at every task meted out to him and Lucifer sees no way in which to evoke the evil that lies buried deep within Ph...