Book Review: Dhanda by Shobha Bondre

I got onto this book after reading the fantastic 'Rokda' from the same publisher. I am in a phase where I am finding contemporary Indian history interesting, which is why I breezed through Shobha Bondre's 'Dhanda' in two days. Though I liked the book, it had two major flaws. One, except the Gujarati Mayor character, …

Book Review: The Tusk That Did the Damage

How often is it that we meet a protagonist who is recognized as one of the biggest mammals walking on earth? This was certainly a first for me and such was its grandeur that it will forever be etched in my memory. Period. From the critically acclaimed author of Atlas of Unknowns and Aerogrammes, here is Tania …

Book Review: You Are the Password to My Life

The title of the book should have been my first clue. But then, there was that nagging voice that often rings in your head to not be skeptical and prejudiced about stuff by the looks of it. And now as I have laid the book to rest, I curse that nagging voice for making me …

Book Review: Rokda – How Baniyas do business

Rokda – How Baniyas Do Business is a delightful little book about the Baniya community in India. A compilation of the business stories of five luminary businessmen from the Baniya community, Rokda manages to enthrall and keep the reader hooked till the end. Capturing the life stories of Rohit Bansal (Snapdeal), V. K. Bansal (Kota’s famous …

Book Review: The Case of the Love Commandos

Our country , India, offers all things exotic and out-of-the-ordinary to the foreign palette. India is a land as full of mysteries as it is of corroded ideas and conventions. Few writers, from across the seas, have empathized with us, with our feelings for compassion and our historical past. Tarquin Hall is a British author, …

Book Review: The Death and Afterlife of Mahatma Gandhi

“What has, however, clearly happened in my case is the discovery that in all probability there is a vital defect in my technique of the working of non-violence. There was no real appreciation of non-violence in the thirty years’ struggle against British Raj. Therefore, the peace that masses maintained during that struggle of a generation …

Book Review: Just the Way You Are

If I was to judge a book solely by its cover, title and blurb, Sanjeev Ranjan’s third novel—Just the Way You Are, would score out of out in this particular review. But I am afraid the artistry under the covers has got to be just as good, and this is precisely where the book disappointed …

Book Review: Indian Tango

There are certain books with which you have love & hate relationships in the sense that they just don’t strike enough chord with you so as to grip you along through-out. At the same time, however, there remains something in the book which doesn't let you leave it in between. Fitting perfectly in that canvas …

Book Review: Been There Bungled That

The mountaineer George Mallory, when asked why he wanted to climb Mount Everest, famously replied, “Because it’s there.” Turning his rationale on its head, I say I write humour because it’s not there. If, through Been There Bungled That, I inject some into your life, I’ll be happy. -      Paddy Rangappa An author armed with …

Book Review: Ex…A Twisted Love Story

A twisted love story…that’s how the writer Novoneel Chakraborty addresses his novel. Perhaps one could also call it a brain twister… the conflict of the past and the present rolled into one  leaves us  confused, bewildered and  astounded. Neel  is torn between loyalty to his live-in girlfriend Titiksha and Nivrita who claims to be his …