The Gita: For Children by Roopa Pai

I had read the Bhagvad Gita earlier twice in my mid-twenties. It wasn't any famous or popular version, rather just a simple Sanskrit to Hindi literal translation. I could understand it then but, honestly, there was no retention at all. I am anyway not much into non-fiction books and I just presumed that it was probably the reason why I didn't enjoy it much.

I had a few years later attented the Book Launch of The Gita: For Children with my daughter, who was maybe 6 or 7 years old then. I was mighty impressed by Roopa Pai. Surrounded by kids, she held their attention rapt. She asked quite a few questions related to Mahabharata and my daughter, fresh off various Krishna and Arjuna related animated movies, gave quite a few answers correctly. "Oh dear, I am mighty impressed with this little girl," Roopa said on the mic and my daughter puffed up with happiness. She started pestering me to buy the book. After the session, I went up to Roopa and asked her what would be the right age for my little girl to read this book. She said she was too young but maybe 13 or 14 years would be better because she would be able to understand the thoughts better. Now, when she has reached that age, I decided to buy the book for her and even before she picked it up, I decided to give it a go myself.

I simply loved the book. Written in conversation style and as a dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, it is very easy to understand. Not just that, it explains the 18 learnings from the 18 Adhyay with simple real life examples that young adults can relate to and also gives tips on how to imbibe the learnings from the Gita into their day to day life. Honestly, most of us adults can use these tips as well.

So, if you are looking for a translation of each and every shlok / prose, then, this is not the book for you. Neither will it give you spiritual analysis and deep prodding to question yourself or explore your inner self. But if you are looking for a light reading which explains the crux of the most famous ideology of life and gives you simple tips to imbibe these learnings into your everyday life, this is absolutely the book for you.

#thegitaforchildren

#roopapai

#bookreview

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#justfinished

Escorting the Billionaire by Leigh James

The less said the better.

P.S. I am only posting this because I spent time reading this so this should go down in my 12 books of the year. But on a serious note, I should have kept away from this. 

#EscortingTheBillionaire

#LeighJames

#12BooksToRead2021 

#recentread 

#justfinished 

Tharoorosaurus by Shashi Tharoor

I wrapped up my third book this year and I am already so proud of myself. But to be fair, this was a shorter book as compared to the ones I usually read. Nevertheless, it was not the book to be read semi-consciously. Why? The name of the author should be clue enough to why. The book is Tharoorosaurus by none other than Shashi Tharoor, the author whose every sentence has to be read twice to grasp what he is saying.

Fortunately for me, it was not a book to read in one go since it basically picks up 53 heavy-weight words and explains their etymology, origins and various anecdotes related to those words. So, there need not be any continuity in reading, which meant that it was a perfect book to be read while dealing with the stress of your teenager's final exams and the hectic work routine.

To start with most words chosen by the author, in consistency with his public image, were long tongue twisters which were more often than not unheard of before. Yet, not all words were unknown to me. Out of 53, I knew about 22-23 words already (not their origins but their meanings) and have been using them regularly. As for the other, even though it was interesting to read about them, I doubt whether I would ever remember them and use them ever. Well, maybe a couple but definitely not most.

The anecdotes and stories backing the words were interesting; although I have to admit that the political references - laced with direct attacks on Modi / BJP and spiked with self-praises - were annoying. Nevertheless, all-in-all it was a fun read.

#tharoorosaurus

#shashitharoor

#bookreview

#12BooksToRead2021

#recentread

#justfinished

Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly

I saw the movie Hidden Figures sometime last year and I was so moved that I immediately bought the book to read. But, I picked it up only now when I have some leisurely time to spend. I read somewhere that Margot Lee Shetterly, when asked about the differences between the book and the movie had remarked that if the makers would have stuck to the book, it would have been a documentary and not a feature film. I tend to agree.

I started the book with great excitement and as I progressed, I hoped it would pick up pace soon. Then, I was 60 pages through (out of 265) - almost a fifth of the book - and only one of the characters from the movie has been introduced (not just out of lead characters, not even the supporting cast). Moreover, there is no mention at all of one, only the drop of the name of the second and hardly any details about the third till now. The book is supposed to be real life inspirational stories of three Black women, and not just the movie but all reviews about the book as well as the Wikipedia entries on the book and the author said so. I had started to feel cheated as I was not finding it as promising as I had thought it would be. In fact, the book read more like a "Black History" textbook.

I soon realized that the book was not going to be anywhere near the movie. It continued to leave the story of these three women in the middle and switched to each other, not moving simultaneously and going back and forth in time which lead to so much confusion. Moreover, it talked about so many more women; numerous political incidents; and rattled names which probably African Americans or the people who have read American History are aware of. But for a layperson like me, it was chaotic and bewildering and at the end of it, I don't remember any of them, least of all the years when they achieved the big feats mentioned in the book.

I had high hopes that at least the part where John Glenn had entered space (where the movie was focused) would match the movie. It was basically the most exciting part of Katherine Johnsons journey and had inspired me to take up the book. I kept waiting for at least some characters from the movie, like Al Harrison (played by Kevin Costner), Virginia Mitchel (played by Kristen Dunst), Paul Stafford (played by Jim Parsons). It had soon dawned on me that these characters did not exist in reality and were a work of fiction. The book narration of the John Glenn space mission was as bland as hypoallergenic food. On that note, the one thing I can say is definitely misplaced in this book is the book cover showing all these fictional people. All in all, the book ruined the movie too for me.

Maybe the problem was not really with the book; the problem was with me having watched the movie before the book and having super high expectations from it. But, I doubt I would have picked up the book ever without first watching the movie. I am not a non-fiction person per se and many times while reading the book I wondered why am I even torturing myself by reading it when I am clearly not enjoying it as much as I had hoped I would. But the elusive John Glenn space mission kept me hopeful and going forth. Once through the said part, and disappointed big time, I left the book for days and didn't go back to it. But I hate leaving books unfinished so I finally and laboriously wrapped it up.

I am not saying that the book was not important. It is insightful and would be enlightening for anyone who enjoys reading about history. I am also not saying that understanding the setting of the environment and the facts and events of the time and age in which the real story of the three women is based is irrelevant. Probably the book helps in more appreciation of the circumstances under which these ladies achieved what they did. It's just, for me personally, the book was a tad too insipid. 

#hiddenfigures

#margotleeshetterly
#bookreview
#12BooksToRead2021
#recentread
#justfinished

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

Last year, just like a few years before that, I didn't complete my resolution of reading at least one book a month. I started well and was very gung ho once lockdown happened assuming that since I was home, I will now get more time to read. But I soon realised that being at home and working from home are two different things. And then I picked up something that I didn't like and things just went downhill from there. I kept telling myself that I need to finish it soon and pick up another one, but neither of that happened.

This year, since I am on leave for a few days at the start of the year, I did pick up a book. Since it was a very captivating read, I finished it too. Besides it wasn't a very big or difficult read either. To say that it was interesting would be grossly undermining this book which is well known to be one of the best suspense novels since ages. I read it as a kid in school and decades later, I had forgotten most of it - I mean the characters etc., not the suspense and how it is revealed. Despite that, it made for a very gripping read. 

I am no authority on the nuances of literary works i.e. the finesse of writing, or the vocabulary used, or even development of characters. I am no analyst, only a connoisseur; and one who very profoundly enjoys Agatha Christie's very British style of writing. The characters, I find are very intriguing and each one of them adds to the story and development of the plot. The epilogue is not just the highlight of the book but also paramount because one could never guess the murderer without reading it even despite having gone through every detail in the chronology of the events in the novel. No one could ever guess who the culprit is without Agatha Christie telling us. Moreover, what could be a better mark of skillful story weaving if not the fact that as bizarre as the events in the book are, they are still absolutely believable, and not once does one feel like putting the book down on account of duplicitousness. 

To conclude, this is a book to enthral adults and young adults alike. In all likelihood, once you are beyond page 15, you will not put it down until you read it through till the end. 

#andthentherewerenone

#agathachristie 

#bookreview

#12BooksToRead2021

#recentread 

#justfinished 

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne

My daughter was prescribed this book in school and when I learnt that it was about the Holocaust, I was somewhat excited and I picked up the book myself. Was I disappointed? Big time! The book is supposed to be about the terrible and horrible things that happened in the Auschwitz concentration camp... Except that it is NOT!!! 

The story is narrated by a 9 year old German boy who develops an unusual friendship with a Jewish boy inside the camp. They interact and meet secretly for months and apparently talk a lot and yet there is not a single mention of what goes inside the camp. The names are all masked and "Auschwitz" becomes "Out-with" and "Führer" (Hitler) becomes "Fury" with the excuse that the 9 year old boy cannot pronounce the words correctly. Although the attempt is to portray that the children didn't understand the holocaust (neither the one outside the camp, nor the one inside it) but even the incidents that happen in front of the boy's eyes are missed out in explanation on the pretext that the boy cannot bring himself to mention it (such as the incident with the waiter Pavel when he spills wine on Lieutenant Kotler). It's highly surprising that in all those conversations Shmuel never once tells Bruno why he hates the soldiers and what he is going through (maybe he doesn't understand the why of it but he could have talked about the beatings or the bruises and how he got them).

I felt that in doing away with the disturbing stuff, the author is not doing the readers any favour, even if they might be young adults. On the contrary, he is absolutely undermining the holocaust. He is misleading the readers about what may have gone inside the camp - like a kid could everyday wander about and spend hours undetected; or a child go actually go under the fence (I had heard that the fences were electrocuted).

Coming to the book otherwise, although this is a young adult fiction, it can very easily be read by younger children. The language is very simple, words and phrases were repeated again and again and, as already mentioned, there was nothing disturbing in the story to trouble the innocent minds. If you want to introduce your 9-10 year olds to holocaust literature, this could be your pick. But, if you want to actually understand what the Jews went through during that horrifying period of History, avoid this book and pick some other.

#TheBoyInTheStripedPyjamas
#JohnBoyne
#HolocaustLiterature
#FourthBookOfTheYear
#12BooksToRead2020
#recentread
#justfinished
#booklover

Animal Farm by George Orwell

Animal Farm is a well known classic and probably read by many people my age when they were in school. But I hadn't read it yet. My daughter was prescribed this book in school and I took it up also an opportunity to read it.

A small and easy read, all I knew about the book when I started reading it, was that it is a satire on communism using animals. As I read a few chapters, I started noticing similarities with the Russian Revolution although I only vaguely remembered studying about it in school. A little more into it and I kept picking up interest and started surfing the internet about which character in the book represents whom. Now, I don't plan to go into a critical analysis which has already been a subject of many Thesis worldwide. I would just say that I enjoyed the book overall. The end was quite predictable and although it didn't leave me with a smile at the end, I also didn't feel stupid having read the book.

#AnimalFarm

#GeorgeOrwell

#Satire

#ThirdBookOfTheYear

#12BooksToRead2020

#recentread

#justfinished

#booklover