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The coalition years…by Pranab Mukherjee

This was in quick succession!…I had just finished the dramatic decade by him which was like a decade but not much drama!!…

This one follows that book with no change either in the narrative or in the outcome!…no secrets revealed, no controversy stated and being neutral is the in thing apparently!!!…

The book almost follows a set pattern of reprinting the diary of anyone who has penned down what he or she did that day!… sometimes you may get some deviations but that’s rare and not important!….At this rate the next book may even look into his dietary schedule!!

Lots of jobs have been done by Pranab Da as defence minister and then the finance minister and it has been tabled in kind in the book…..it goes without saying that those were jobs well done but that’s something expected from someone of the stature of Pranab Mukherjee…it’s like the Pilot announcing the he or she will be cruising at some speed and landing soon!…. and we in the plane are thinking, “whatever works buddy!… Just do your job and land the plane without crashing!!”

I guess after more than six decades of working and being with a single party and being the faithful worker it goes without saying that some recognition was due….in fact this is late… But then in our country it’s always better late than never…

The most interesting part of the book however (according to me of course!) Was the discussion involving GST, MNRGEA, the Lokpal Bill, ADHAR and the nuclear testing and NPT…..just to get the gist of these important events you can read the whole book!…

Of course it ends with his becoming the President and I am guessing since he is relatively free now, another book may be inthe pipeline!….and I fervently hope that it will not just be another Dear Diary of sorts…

The fight with Mam di was not even a Mole Hill!…..started with not even a bang and ended just as silently!….. barking canines analogy holds good here!….

A better book was the accidental prime minister!…if you have not read it then don’t read it yet!…. finish this first and then you can read that one to get the real picture!!…

What a coalition it was!….

Pranab Mukherjee….the dramatic decade….

This semi autobiography and semi biography of Indira Gandhi can be summarised as a silent ode to Indira…

Beginning from the pre independent era, touching up his birth, couple of snippets about his father, then a good build up to the formation of Bangladesh and then the actual heart of the matter which is the Indira Gandhi years!.

I must say though that the description and formation of Bangladesh has been dealt with a semi neutral mindset and the book is a must read till then!…

The moment the focus shifts to Indira the narrative is almost devotional and partial to the T!…..Even to the extent that he has penned down three chapters sugar coating the need for Emergency!….
At the end of which I guess even Pranab Da realized his folly and concluded that it was unnecessary!….

Then again the book written by Margaret Alva had similar thoughts about Indira and Sanjay Gandhi and Emergency but it was more honest in appeal and more away from putting the sheep clothing over the wolf!…

Of course like many biographies, this one too has lots of self moments and point of view which would of course be antagonistic to the other’s viewpoint or in many cases the truth!….

The justification of political manipulations is something very consistent even to seasoned politicians!….
So while the opposition and ruling party alternate in the assembly, the general public suffers!!….the same old story!!….

At the end of it I fail to understand how someone so intelligent or strong can just give in to nepotism and the Raj!….
Also I fail to understand how Rajya Sabha which is an important body is having people who have lost faith of the people!
Is the membership to this prime body not by merit!??…. Only appeasement works as even concurred by Margaret!…

This attempt is a safe venture steering clear of any of the misdeeds of either Emergency or Indira or Sanjay!…don’t expect any great revelations or scoops!…..read it to get a overview and move on…..

Expectating more fireworks in his next book!!…..

The Golden Keel by Desmond Bagley……

This nagging feeling which comes whenever you read a book which is about a hidden treasure is that whether they would get it in the end!…. Almost all treasure search or heist would always end up in going kaput or most of the contenders dying or losing the treasure or the treasure being a dud!….. What essentially I mean is that most of these treasure hunt stories usually end in heartbreak!….

Spoiler alert!…. This is one of them!… Which one you read to find it though!.. But for a change there’s some salvation….you do get some rewards in the end!…

The whole treatment though reminds me of those classic war stories written by Alister MacLean !….. The build up to story then the planning then the execution then the maintenance of suspence!… In fact when they reached the treasure I was assuming the the novel would end!… Was pleasantly surprised to see that it was only halfway there!….

The story is apparently inspired by a true event and also the chief protagonist is based on the author’s real life…. The building up of characters was too good and the final twists in the last chapter was the icing on the mystery cake!…..throw in some War stories with Germans and Italians for good measure!!….. And you have an engaging read!…….

It’s a pretty old novel though so read it for nostalgia or the golden oldies if you catch my drift!…..

So what’s a golden keel you ponder!??… Well it’s something to prevent you from sinking in troubled waters!!….. That’s the most I can mention without revealing the plot!!…

Let the treasure hunt begin!….

City of joy by Dominique Lapierrre…..

A little slow to finish with small print and close to 550 pages!….in normal print am sure it would have crossed a thousand!.…

This is an old novel written way back in the year 1985 originally in French…. Then translated in english….. Everyone of course will remember the movie starring Patrick Swayze…..

I am guessing that most would have read this one long back!… Think of this as a revision review then!

Coming to the book and the city of Joy….Calcutta….I sometimes feel Calcutta of the poor and downtrodden doesn’t change for ages even though the condition described in the novel has drastically changed with I guess newer problems and stories……the poor though will remain poor while the rich may get more richer!!… No one cares about what happens to the middle class though!…

The glorification of Indian poverty is a fertile ground for foreign garden of sorts!… With all the advancements and education we still are slumdog millionaires!!….it takes time folks…. Such an admixture of language culture and religion in such huge numbers makes it a mammoth task!… Please be patient!!

Don’t get me wrong; the way the situation in slums is presented by the author with vivid description is just mind boggling!….it’s akin to watching the toilet leak and clogging scene in the trailer of the movie Sanju!….true and bare!….

To put that in multiple stories and weave it into the day to day life in the slum is just amazing….. In fact the positivity in this was the response this novel generated around the world!…so much so that close to two million dollars have been given as donation just for the rehabilitation of the poor in India alone!….

In fact so many stories and narratives go parallel to each other so much so that each character story could have been made into a separate novel in itself!…. Thus this work is like an amalgamation of a myriad of stories interlocked in the setting of the city of joy…. The joy mostly remains in your thoughts and dreams only though…..

The description of Leper colonies and their treatment reminded me of our community medicine tour to a similar colony though this time the conditions were much much better….. another disease described was TB…. Both these are now well addressed though still a challange….

Baby steps is the only way considering the size of our population!!……
But in all this cesspool of poverty and drains you have such kind hearted people who are trying their best to make a difference!…. It doesn’t matter how rich or poor you are, all it takes is an effort however small and it will definitely make a huge difference…..

If freedom at midnight was a joint effort and an epic, this one is pure Dominique and another epic!….. If you have ever been to Kolkata you will immediately connect with the novel while for everyone else it’s an eye opener of sorts…..

Kudos to the author for having managed such a big feat and making a difference…..

The author himself has added that the situation is much much better now which was quite positive…..

So amidst the clogged drains, the diseases, the rickshaw pullers who literally are pulling their life, the poor but kind neighbours and many many more characters who are at the nadir of poverty and life, the author and live still gives them hope, happiness and healers…. In that order…..

Hopefully one day this will actually become the city of joy….. In any case when nothing else remains…. Hope does….

What say big brother!!?…..

Avengers….. infinity war!!

A culmination of close to 18 Marvel movies this one is one of the most awaited movie ever till we get to see the final installment that is!!!

So we have three Iron Man movies each good as it’s own though as always the first was the best!…then we saw Iron Man take the lead in the first Avenger movie then take the team forward in the second Avenger movie only to break up the Avengers in the third almost Avenger movie though it was titled Captain America!….he also introduced everyone’s kid favourite Spider-Man in this and mentored him in Spiderman Home coming……
finally in this Avenger he tries to get his act and the team together but……

Captain America was introduced with much gusto in the first solo movie though his later outings have been much better and he Does better with a team support….. In the last movie he loses his shield and in this one he gets a Wakanda shield but that was not enough I guess…!!…

Hulk loses his mind and body and then both and gets in a hulk buster as Bruce Banner!….seemed awesome but did not leave much steam!…. Liked him better in the thor Rangarok!….I guess he has to get his act together in the next one or else….

Thor looks better each time he appears in a Marvel movie!!….. Loved him in the last outing of Thor Rangarok especially the Alien song sound track courtesy Led Zeppelin (my fav!!)…. Hope you get your hammer and act together soon….

Somehow too much importance has been given to the Guardians of the Galaxy team though I loved the first part so much!…that Rocket Racoon is a laugh riot!….and you will like the rest of the world will blame the star Lord for…..!!

And the femme fatale Nat!….. You are the wonder woman of Avengers!…. If only Marvel realized it earlier!!….

After that amazing outing called the Black Panther this one is an extension of Wakanda tech support!….truly awesome I must say!!….

Dr Strange also manages to get a lot of screen time probably borrowed from Hawkeye or Ant Man!!…. how could they miss that in sight or Vision!!??….spoiler spoiler!!!..

Finally we have the biggest and the strongest villian in the universe!…enter the Thanos!…..awe inspiring!….he is bad and he is very good is being bad!!!….

Stan lee with his cameo as in all his movies!…. All this because of this dude!… Thanks a ton for the fun Stan!!…

And the climax?…!!!…. The biggest cliffhanger after Why Katappa killed Bahubali!!…..the wait for the final Avenger is going to be long and agonizing!…..

Watch it folks….as soon as possible!!
Avengers go or assessble!!…..

Paul Kalanithi….. When breath becomes air….

All doctors who have not yet read this just drop everything and read this stat…..All others also do the same….
This is a beautiful and sad book about the trials of a promising neurosurgeon whose life was cut short and young when he was diagnosed with lung cancer….. No spoilers here people, he doesn’t survive but his trials from being a medical student to a promising surgeon to someone who cannot even lift his head has been depicted with such simplicity and truth….

Every page was filled with struggle both the authors and even the reader since turning every page was filled with sadness and despair…..

Reading this I understood what’s the true meaning of a patient. When we tell them to remove all clothes and wear the hospital dress….It’s a metaphor of removing all your ego and doubt and leave only the true nakedness covered by a skimpy dress……

Even the best of the doctors or anyone else else for that matter can get the big C and that can topple your equations and planning…… Remember that when you spend running behind that buck and leaving your near and dear alone…..We fail to see that monster called time which would be slowly chasing you and catching you unawares…….

Reminded me of a joke… This is the best place to mention that believe me…

Most of the conferences we see cardiologists and other diet concious doctors eating healthy food but we see many oncologists devouring all those junk food full of fat!…
One someone asked this to the oncologist to which he replied with a twinkle” son, it’s better to die of a cardiac disease!”….

The patala prophecy by C Doyle….

Read an author called Doyle and you would expect another detective story with a twist but this is not even close to your thought!…at the offset it can be called as an amalgamation of Ashwin Sanghi’s puranas based story with the fantasy approach of Amish Tripathi!….

The story doesn’t idle much and starts off into the fantasy with the word go or om in this context!!…

All those who have already read the author’s quest series of Alexander and Mahabharat will find themselves in familiar territory though I still don’t get the cliffhanger in that series…. Just when I thought we could finally get to know what happened to the characters in that series he goes ahead and introduces another different one without any connection to the former!…

In any case it’s a breeze flowing though the pages special if you are on a sojourn to Banaras and the fight is a long one!….

To make famous characters come alive and get interpreted in different way is quite thrilling indeed!…. Our very own harry Potter meets LOTR!!…. The description of some of the characters do bring out a vivid imagination and the author must be praised for it…. So you have saptharishi and Mahabharat and pretas and nagas and what not!… It’s a veritable soup of puranic Lore!…

In most novels though like this one there’s the Neo but rare are the ones who give more power and material to Trinity!… Spoiler hidden!!!

Some nice familiar stories thrown in for good measure do perk you up though…. His inspiration is apparently Subha Villas whose Ramayana series is really good…. And of course the best part of the book is the entry of the other Indra!…… Read on to find out more!!

Then again when it started itself I had a feeling that this was not a one off and there will be a continuation later on…. This is not a big spoiler but lately with many books going on for continuation it feels like I had the appetizer but didn’t get the meal!!…

So I leave it to your best judgement to either read now and wait or wait and read together!!

Varanasi…..

Amidst the narrow roads (if you can call a small piece of tar that!!) And crazy traffic and even crazier people are these old old temples and ghats!….one minute the ghat is empty and the next minute it’s full!….

To drive in Varanasi you need to have the advanced commando course done, you need to finish the Al Qaeda suicide course!, You need to hurl abuses in chaste hindi as fast and possible and most important you should NOT have a valid vehicle or driving licence!….helmet is decoration and seat belts are just useless accessories!!….fill fuel only when the vehicle stops or else ignore the fuel indicator (it probably doesn’t work anyway!!)……our car (apparently one of the well maintained taxi!!) Came with Cellophane tapes attached to the side mirrors and the bonnet!!…..you can just about see the car body in between the dents!!…..once inside just ignore the voices coming from the car (maybe even from that dude who has been kidnapped and kept in the dicky or even your conscience telling you to RETURN!!)….But like our driver said in between the pan chewing and spitting in pan hindi (this doesn’t mean all over Hindi!…but a type of language or vocal sound which comes Outta your mouth when you are eating betel nut and pan and trying to speak Hindi without spit!!!)……so he had mentioned that you will get used to the sound and ignore it eventually!!…. Which is of course what happened!!….

The hot hot weather can be weathered only by drinking the thandai in those small earthern pots!!… Ignore the fact that they haven’t washed anything including vessels or even their hands!…some had remarked that it’s the only way to get a special taste in the drink and the food!..

Then the sweets and Kachoris and the samosas which make a mountain of snacks in every nook and corner!….while every other corner will have the disinterested Gol Guppa or Pani Puri wala!!(since he knows that anyway no one can say no to Puchka!!)….the free flowing dust from the roadside apparently adds a special flavour to these street snacks which is difficult to replicate anywhere else!!

Then the whole world is like our own home ideology is so deep rooted here that everyone feels and behaves like that only!…so you can spit anywhere and you can pee everywhere!!…..all while walking, talking or even eating!!!….

Then the grand looking sarees which appear real and maybe fake or many which look fake but turn out to be real!!…its your luck!…the while we were moving towards the Ganga Ghat I was surprised to see a big board stating that WE HAVE CHIKAN HERE!!….. Just when I thought that it’s a mis spelt chicken (but then so close to the temple is controversial!!) Which is when I found out that it’s a special type of embroidery work which is famous in UP…..it’s of course many times costly than its namesake!!….but beautiful to look at nevertheless….

Now don’t get me wrong (first try to get me right!)….but if things are like this then it’s difficult for old people and kids and tourists to properly enjoy the sanctity of one of the oldest cities in the country…..

Then I saw the assi ghat….this is the example of cleanliness and that change can happen even here…..

No one of course can even explain the surreal experience of watching the Ganga arrthi!…the Arthi starts with a group song, then a collective invocation, then puja with flowers, incense sticks, Dhoop and finally maha Mangala Arthi in all the four directions!….it’s chereographed so well and so well performed that you can just look in awe!……

At the end of it all I was happy that we went as a family and our parents had a nice time…..

All in all Varanasi is an experience which must be done at least once in your lifetime and probably when you are young…..

Until we meet again….in Banaras….

Undelivered letters….by J Alchem….

There was this old serial called AFSANE….. It was one of the most engaging serials ever!… The premise was that a postman’s undelivered letters get delivered after 20 years!…. Each episode was dedicated to one letter!…. Most of them were tragedies though one was a laugh riot!….

Here the author gets on a similar premise and gets deep into the story line of three letters which gets delivered!…. Each story has been told with sufficient mystery, tragedy and of course with an emotional rollercoaster ride!….. Though of course the heart pines for more!…..

You can finish this novella in less than an hour and believe me that will be worth it….

In the ages of Twitter Facebook and whatsapp this is a nice reminiscence of the bygone times indeed….. Thank God for the small mercies that an undelivered email will be handled as soon

as possible!!…

Jefferey deaver…… The cutting edge…

The problem with books written by Jeff D (not Archer!!) Is that you need full attention to detail!…. The speed is painstakingly slow and the start is very very frigid!…. But just like Fred Forsyth’s the devil’s alternative (that novel had the most boring start ever but the way it ended is probably why I feel it’s the best Fred book ever!… Even better than the day of the jackal!!)…. So coming to this!…. Cutting edge was really cutting edge!.…from diamonds to geo thermal mining to Mexican drug lords where all the stories are so different you get a shocker in the end and it doesn’t even end there and you get a bigger shocker in the final end and you get the biggest shocker at the real final and ultimate end!!…. No more revelations folks!…. Just make sure that when you feel the story has ended do not lessen your guard!!….

Its of course a marvel how Jeff D creates a complex mixture of characters and finally loops them into a cycle which goes around and comes around!….

Though you are introduced to the antagonist (s!!!) In the beginning itself you can never guess who it was or why he did it!!….

All in all a fine ride with lots of literature and knowledge about diamond thrown around for good measure!…. The mention of cryptic crossword puzzles rekindled my old passion of solving them so big thanks for that! (Apparently it also helps keep your mind sharp!…. Just like a diamond!!)…

Of course it’s a series introduced by the bone collector (the movie starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie…. Everyone knows that!…. If you haven’t heard of this movie then stop reading this right now!…. There is no hope for your!!) And now I think it’s book number 14 (not counting when he made a special appearance in Katherine dance series….)… And yes Mr James p and your Alex Cross may wanna take notes on how a paraplegic wheelchaired detective is still better than your hale and hearty crybaby!….

Read on folks!….as a series or even in isolation since it really doesn’t matter….as they say Diamonds are forever (who said that?…. Not the James bond movie you dodo but the tagline!!…. Read it do find out!!)…..

Time to read!! (Couldn’t resist giving that spoiler!!)……