When Alison Bechdel wrote, 'Fun Home', a graphic novel about her closeted gay father and her relationship with him, it was received with great aplomb. Critics loved it and so did the regular readers. I read it last month and was in absolute love with it. At the end of the book, I wondered, What about Alisons mother? What about her point of view and her life? and the wonder...
01:57:28 PM May 22, 2012
Do you believe in love at first sight? And does love at first sight happens because of collective circumstances that lead to it? 'The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight' is a book as the title says, quite what it is - love and the chances of it at first sight. When Hadley misses her flight to London by four minutes, she never expects to meet Oliver - someone...
01:51:40 PM May 22, 2012
Based on today's world, where online dating is as common as cheese, both Aryan and Alisha luck out as Worddiva is a 28-year-old lawyer Alisha Menon and Wordfreak is a 25-year-old architect Aryan Chawla. By coincidence they both not only live in Mumbai but are also gorgeous and rich to boot. Alisha and Aryan meet each other at a blind date and fall for each other like a ton of...
05:18:39 PM May 18, 2012
Long-winded and just never getting to the point, while the book cover promises a fantastic mysterious and intriguing story, the actual narrative doesn't even come close to it. The protagonist - Pierce Oliviera describes how although she tries returning to the life she knew before the accident, she can't help but feel a part of this world, and apart from it. Yet she's never alone, because someone is always watching...
03:54:13 PM May 18, 2012
"Facts are important. The story is important. It's what happens to you that changes your life, not where or who with." One night before putting him to bed, Enaiaitollah's mother tells him three things-don't use drugs, don't use weapons and don't cheat or steal. The next day, he finds his mother gone and he is left all alone in Quetta with neither money in his hand or a home, nor...
05:52:05 PM May 14, 2012
'Man could perceive some unseen, unheard, untouchable, non-aromatic divine power only after the evolution of his imagination.' Ajay Kansal in his latest book 'The Evolution of Gods' attempts to explain religious scriptures from the world over. He talks about how most religions claim that God has made man, although no supernatural power has been identified by science that created and governed humans. According to the author, men could perceive gods...
03:08:30 PM May 11, 2012
Smart, sassy and funny, 'The Moslems are Coming', is a well written book which emerged from Essa's award-winning blog on Thought Leader. An insightful take on global politics, he tackles race and religion, bigotry from anti-Semitism to opposition to blacks, gives a fresh perspective on the Israel-Palestine conflict and casts new light on old stereotypes. He also presents the existing views about a particular issue which is talked about in...
03:39:51 PM May 09, 2012
The story begins with an incident in the life of a Sikh family which is targeted after the assassination of Indira Gandhi. The narrative follows the wedding of Ashu, the daughter of the man who died due to Sikh violence and the granddaughter of influential Tara Singh, a famous industrialist. The author Shamini Flint has interjected bouts of humour, which makes it a very interesting read. The author manages to...
01:10:21 PM May 09, 2012
In the year 1930 during in the Civil Disobedience Movement led by Mahatma Gandhi millions of Indians bought and publically set British goods on fire. Among them was the author of the book 'My Days in Prison', Urmila Shastri, who joined the movement as a volunteer for the Congress. She was arrested on the grounds of both picketing and instigating university students against the Government with the words- 'Who knows...
03:43:56 PM May 08, 2012
'The Dance of Death' is a story about the trial of Daata Anand, a leader of a religious cult who is accused of murdering his followers. This trial has a peculiar effect on Kishen Das - a young law graduate who suffers from nightmares, which seem untreatable, and the Judge presiding over the case, whose family is threatened in lieu to the case. Money has a tendency to change a...
01:28:52 PM May 08, 2012
The main title alone should make you reach for this book, though I'm not entirely sure about the cover design. Given how we tend to judge books by their covers, that's a point that can't be ignored, I suppose. But that's pretty much where the criticism ends! Venugopal has a feel for writing, loves reading, books, and writers in general, and I feel like she could have gone on! Maybe...
01:02:50 PM May 08, 2012
It starts on a jarring note. A girl in Amritsar, working in a beauty parlour is narrating her story in English. It's just not the kind of story I thought I'd be reading. It could be one of those new TV serials catering to tier-two cities with gaudy clothes and conspiracies and too many twists in the tale. But there's nothing dramatic about Rani and her life. She could well...
05:02:32 PM May 07, 2012
'Em and the Big Hoom' by Jerry Pinto may be positioned as a book about a mother's descent into madness, but at the core to me, it was the story of a family. Not dysfunctional as much as a family thrown together in a circumstance, who make the most of life while dealing with the way things turn out for them. Readers have speculated and critics have opinionated that the...
12:50:10 PM May 07, 2012
No one is more fascinated by advertising people than advertising people. Their extra-curricular efforts have often been hypnotically self-referential. Until 'Mad Men' came along, and turned retro advertising drama into mass entertainment. Sujit Sanyal may not be quite as handsome as Jon Hamm, but his memoirs are a successful foray into the same genre or subculture, as the case may be. Mr Sanyal was active in Calcutta in the seventies...
11:56:09 AM May 03, 2012
The seventeen sharply observed short stories are infused with a melancholic aura, somewhat reminiscent of a Fitzgeraldian landscape. We move past the gilded gates of Delhi society, and mingle with people who are comfortable in their Dior shoes, their big cars and farmhouses at the edges of the city - but still struggling with a dark cloud overhead, yearning for something else. This cloud takes many forms, such as: aspirations...
06:14:16 PM May 02, 2012
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Disclaimer: TV18 Broadcast Limited is proposing, subject to market conditions and other considerations, an offer of its equity shares on rights basis and has filed a Draft Letter of Offer with the Securities and Exchange Board of India. The Draft Letter of Offer is available on the website of SEBI at www.sebi.gov.in and the websites of the Lead Managers at www.icicisecurities.com and www.rbs.in Investors should note that investment in equity shares involves a high degree of risk and are requested to refer to "Risk Factors" in the Draft Letter of Offer. The Equity Shares have not been and will not be registered under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "US Securities Act"), or any state securities laws in the United States and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, "U.S. persons" (as defined in Regulation S under the US Securities Act) except in a transaction exempt from the registration requirements of the US Securities Act and in accordance with any applicable U.S. state securities laws.
