Nimbus Equations: Yarn Spinner- A creative writing workshop

Nimbus Equations: Yarn Spinner- A creative writing workshop

Yarn Spinner- A creative writing workshop

Yarn Spinner- A creative writing workshop: "Imaginario launches Yarn Spinner-a creative writing workshop. Yarn Spinner uses a wide range of mediums to explore and experiment with the facet of creating ..."

SOLO by Rana Dasgupta

Solo by Rana Dasgupta

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Solo



Painting the surreal landscape of love, relationshsips, society, bonds, politics comes naturally to Rana. His imagination creeps slowly and steadily binding the reader's thoughts and taking them on this experience that leaves them at the end of the ride either drained or mesmerised or floating.

Rana is an artist at work, his language flows, "On hot days, the smells become overpowering, and rain comes as a relief, washing everything away. The blind man sits by the window when the rain is heavy and he can hear the different patters of near and far: the silky spray in the trees, the heavy drumming on plastic water tanks, the hard scatter of roads and pavements, the different metallic pitches of car roofs and drain covers, the baritone trilling of tarpaulin, the sticky overflow of mud, the concentrated gushing of drainpipes ?and, for a moment, the landscape springs forth, and he is reminded of how it is to see."

"He raised his violin and played the things of sixty minutes. The colours, the thought. The uncippled nails, the oval pool of vision. the time, the need, and the sounds that break through from beyond. The book on the fence post. The other person drawing close. The normal emotions, the thing-at-hand, the body's suck and pump.

He did it in a couple of moments, which was another part of the feat"

His language dances with a range of ideas, like a butterfly flirting one moment and suddenly sucking at the flower the next moment drawing out a unique flavour and spilling the atmoshpere with a strange perfume.

where the real ends and where the surreal begins happens so easily that one keeps asking, how will this story end? where will this story take me? I used to feel that with fairy tales. They had overpowering and overwhelming strenghts and great imagination and Rana is most times a fairytale writer.

Solo is like that too. Its a journey that starts with the rich telling of the story of science, Bulgarian history, its society and politics through the dreams and memories of Ulrich -the failed musician turned chemist who somehow could never find his place in the world order.

I loved the first half of the book. the second half made me jerk out of comfort and sit up to keep a watch out for the surreal taking over the real and then it ends in a strange wisdom as mystical as life and its mysteries perhaps?

I think the dream that Ulrich sees in the second half is pivotal to the story's narrative. I would love to discuss this with Rana and figure out more.

An amazing book but only for those who are willing to shift from the mundane to the strangeness of dreams and the deja vu they bring each time they recur.


View all my reviews.

SOLO by Rana Dasgupta

Solo by Rana Dasgupta

My review

I had read Tokyo Cancelled long back and was waiting for his second book. I have just started reading it. The first chapter is well written and I am already willing to devote this weekend over it.


View all my reviews.

TWILIGHT series by Stephenie Meyer

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
The first book in the series is an engaging introduction to the plot of the story. I can see why it has become so popular with teenagers. The story is set in a school where a young new entrant meets up with the future love of her life. the attraction is palpable and the syrupy texture of the love angle apart the setting is intriguing as the person she is in love with turns out to be a vampire. There are no complextities in the romantic plot, it is a pretty straight forward romance; just the characters and settigns are different from that of an MB and this has been turned later into an adventurous saga of their love and journey to come together and become equals.

From the second book onwards in the series you may find a love triangle emerging out of the storyline to keep the plot interesting. The vamprire disappears leaving the heroine behind while the friend transforms into a werewolf...mind you none of the story's main characters are normal or from the real world.

The plot thickens when Bella is struck between Edward the vampire and Jack the werewolf and cannot interpret her feelings for thw two. The vampire is stoic, guilty, and engagingly a perfect counterpart to the rather wilful, adventurous and wild Jack.

Readers are invited to place their own bets as the flip-flop affair continues until another set of disaster awaits them and so on it goes....on and on one disaster in each book finally leads Bella to her destination.



The book's heroine is at times as narrcistic as any teenage girl would be while the vampire is interestingly cold and she adores his cold touch...ugh!!! too sweet!!!


View all my reviews.

The reluctant fundamentalist

The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Hamid has moved a step further. Now he is composed and settled with his identity crisis(i feel its that space, the lull before the storm that is very calm and soothing to the mind). Wonder what his next book wil reveal-the storm?



He's found a place and a role in the scheme of Pakistan's evolution and is ready to report. He's involved and not yet involved-the reluctant fundamentalist is exactly that- a person guided by the moods and situations of time rather than a person's personal vision and intervention.



His character is caught in the trauma of post 9/11 then released to test the murky waters of a society at the onset of a civil revolution. In this story he works on the east west relationshsip and unearths the reasons for the urban man's fundamentalism in the indian sub-continent and displays the delicate and extremely thin layer of trust that exists all around.






View all my reviews.

the bok thief

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
How many of us may have thought of Death as a story teller?? So when Death begins a narrative, its difficult to not pay attention, or to miss observing the curve of a child's bent neck hanging low and breathing softly into a stolen copy of "The Gravedigger's handbook" To know more about what made Death stop and watch, read the book!!! For those of you who have layed your hands on every story from the Nazi period, here's one that will come as a complete surprise.


View all my reviews.

Moth Smoke

Moth Smoke: A Novel by Mohsin Hamid

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Mohsin Hamid writes with credibility and a certain conviction that tears characters off the fabric of pakistan's social tapestry and paints instead a vivid etching in grey scales. The narrative forebodes the breakdown of the society's very weak fundamental values as would be the case in any upwardly mobile urban story.



Hamid is a subtle craftsman at work.His characters reveal the story of Daru the social outcast. Most significantly Mumtaz holds up the mirror to bring the two paralles in her life ozi and Daru who seemingly meet at a point and then move away displaying the stark contrast and the deep chasm that separtes them as a person and as a part of the society's frameowrk.



Moth Smoke balances itself on a thin and delicate question that the subcontinent is facing right now. What is the identity of the urban youth-both men and women: What are their choices and where are they heading?



Has it reached a tipping point? change will it be an evoltonary one or a dramatic fallout leading to a very tragic destiny for the sub-continent?






View all my reviews.

The Zoya Factor by Anuja Chauhan

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Zoya Factor is the new face of contemporary Indian writing in English. Its masala fiction at its best with astory and charcaters that would appeal to the mass Indian reader. Anuja Chauhan builds the mini and sub plots in true adwoman style keeping the flavours intact- completely local and frivolous.A great book for a fun movie.


View all my reviews.

Review of Aaravind Adiga's second book

Between the Assasinations by Aaravind Adiga

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
The book is set in the period post Indira Gandhi's assasination and before Rajiv Gandhi's.



Aaravind exposes facts wrapped in the bright weave of a story's intricate design with detailing that is vivid and stays in the mind for a long time.The characters are memorable.



Good work.


View all my reviews.

review from my goodreads page

Q & A by Vikas Swarup

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
A fantastic begining to a new genre of writing in India in the Englsh language. Till date story telling revolved around mostly post or pre independence stories or raising social issues like women's rights, equality, education, discrimination et al...here we have something that's new, contemporary and popular.



Its an engaging story of a young adult living on the streets who wins a quiz based on the same lines as the popular Kaun banega Crorepati and wins a crore. The officials suspect foul play and the entire narrative drives around how he succedded in a quiz. While the story telling is light and easy for non-serious readers, serious readers can celebrate the birth of the new breed of story tellers.


View all my reviews.

books

Silent Raga by Ameen Merchant

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
For a debut work...the narrative is refined, offers mature reading.A contemporary story. I am suddenly happy to read indian writers who have discovered there's more to story telling than recounting stories of pre-colonial or post colonial periods.



Its the begining of a new wave in indian writing that shows the other writers...come on pick up interesting stories from contemporary periods...there's so much to explore!!!


View all my reviews.

Travel bites

Blow them wild!!!

Chasing dragonflies through the lens at Majkhali near Ranikhet

Observations from a park in winter

Fish scales criss cross across hands indiscriminately
creeping over grass burning in winter sun. They rest, seeking the glory of sunshine
reclaiming youthful juice.

Numbers fade over head counts as the teacher rests her forehead
and faints. Her soft breath shakes the tiny leaf below ten gazing faces.

Part of the problem is her ability to go away, disappear. Even when she here she's not here. How can one possibly form any kind of relationship with her. Sometimes I have asked myself, why did we meet and come together.

What do two people who come very close have in common that binds them for that one moment or a lifetime. And why is it a lifetime's wait in one case while it's a lifetime's sharing in the other. Would I trade one for the other?

Its evening and everywhere the corners are taken. Groups, couples lounging against them and a familiar chatter paints my background. I risk looking up and see the barman waving at me for more ice. Its best to sneak into the kitchen. The heat is killing me. The ice tray is full, I empty the contents in the box and shield myself from the burst of laughter that rings as I approach the makeshift bar. 'Hey.' .....'Oh My God, My goodness, .....You? All this while ....', a familiar voice asks me the question I have been avoiding for the past so many years. There was silence for that split second.And suddenly voices engulfed me, everywhere I turned they threw the questions. 'Its you, isn't it?' 'Where were you all these years?' 'We thought we'd lost you' 'Are you sure you are not mistaken, she looks different, what do you think?'...

Women walk slowly, dancing through a maze of endless direction. Dark eyes gaze across the skyline, watching birds going back home. It's time and not yet time for some to go. I ask for additional light to screen the frame for a soft mellowed effect and we begin shooting again.

Some people have asked me if this will work, if this story will make any difference to the way these women live. If this story will bring them change, relief. Perhaps not. The documenatry will be screened at some places, they will discuss the subtle aspects of craft and direction and pass witty remarks over clinking glasses of vodka or rum while some others will plot schemes to negotiate grants and aids into their well meaning NGOs so dedicated to the task of upliftment in this community.

Dusk has settled like a fine wrap on the edges of the hills, dark and soft and beautiful. In the distance one can hear the soft sounds of the cattle beign led back home. Its time. I want to go back. But where is home?

There's the heat that courses in my veins and settles down under the arm pits, a musty smell that grows and weighs on me with a tanglible force so heavy and darkly humid that I can slit its gut with the razor sharp knife made from cold ice.

My face rests against the cold wisps of air that float in the refrigirator. I look into the caverns hoping to find something that will take away this ancient endless thirst.

And yet it may all soon become a distant part of this summer's fading memory. I'm waiting for the full burst of monsoon. But for now the room seems heavy and dark and uncompromisingly hot.