The aftereffects of war are dire. I once saw a CBS 60-Minutes episode that gave a rundown on possible explorations of psychedelic-assisted therapies to manage PTSD in war veterans and soldiers. It discussed the possibilities of intense research and funding based on a handful of positive results. Our world grossly underestimates the damage a combat zone can inflict. This novel replayed those scenes through its sombre portrayal of the unspoken pain gnawing at a survivor who found his way home to Wigton from Burma. Life will never be the same for him or his family. An irreparable ripple effect disperses in his community. Even the nature in his native land, with its pristine waters and pastoral plains, couldn't find a cure for him. He's driven to escape again and runs towards an unknown territory with hopes of new beginnings. "The Soldier's Return" is a poetic dedication to numerous war heroes who rejected death but struggled to live. Once reaching a point of no retu...

  Philosophy & Science aren't tightly entwined enough that we have collectively missed a key perspective- the big picture that appears at the fullest zoom out. "Unlocking the universe" was an eye-opener that helped me fathom how physicalities, logics and energies intricately control the Universe. How many of us understand the important distinction between anthropocentrism and cosmocentrism? Loads of reminiscence, reflection and epiphanies arrived along the way. I was glad to see pieces of evidence that corroborated how biology was controlled by physics. The microscopic truths applying to a macroscopic world were indeed an astounding revelation. This pushed me to compare and contrast the characteristics of humans with those of stars. Strokes of lightning, Veins of leaves and Nerves on our hands. We do see an undeniable pattern here, don't we? The contents of this mini cosmic encyclopaedia are deftly structured in a coherent chronological order, which undoubtedly is...

  Crosssword drew me in during my quest for this book. Once Ms Banu Musthaq was all over the press, the world woke up to her tremendous literary contribution. I urgently wanted to get my hands on "Heart Lamp". Our newspapers have perpetually been carrying heart-wrenching accounts of women's plight in India. Irrespective of our background, walk of life, education and financial status, patriarchy spares none. When such a social system is coupled with religious dictations, especially in a minority community, a woman's every living moment becomes a fight for survival. Existence shapeshifts into a thankless job filled with self-soothing compromises and delusions.  "Heart Lamp" had short stories, but left long-lasting impressions, I wasn't prepared to bear. I had to take breaks between each one for the sake of my own sanity. These cautionary tales required a period of recovery. Mind you, none of them felt fictitious. They can't be. You need to brace yourse...

  "The Queen of suspense"- What an apt title to honour the talent that is Mary Higgins Clark. Women can write such underrated, nail-biting, gripping thrillers that can effortlessly move their readers to the edge of their seats. "Moonlight becomes you" stands out as a poetic ode to crime and murder, which keeps us entangled and hooked into the web of human imperfections. Ms Clark possesses a magnetic prowess that makes a murder mystery both subtle and savage at the same time. The lead character, Maggie Holloway's short NDEs at her stepmother Finnuala's house are filled with endless twists and turns, leaving the readers grasping at straws for a small clue. Only near the end of the book, all pieces of this mysterious puzzle fall into place. The whole time, my brain cells were desperately active, constantly searching for hints that might point towards the killer. What I saw here was peak storytelling. It's my first time reading an engaging whodunnit garnishe...

  Smells can be powerful, provocative triggers for memories, whether good or bad. The title of this book reveals this fact, but I wasn't prepared for the gut-wrenching tragedy of it all. We meet countless individuals in our lives, yet little do we know that each person is a central character in this world. It's difficult to imagine how everyone can be the centre of this universe, enduring tiresome days just to face the uncertainty of tomorrow. Amal and Hammoudi lead similar lives, separated by the veracity of their struggles amid a bloody revolution to overthrow an inhumane regime built upon a peace-fostering religion.            Author Olga sprinkles her narrative with dark humour and sarcasm, eliciting a painful smile as we read certain parts of this book. What is the purpose of all this? Why do we still aspire to live and persevere despite the pain and suffering that fate inflicts upon us from time to time? 'City of Jasmine' is a bold recounting of ...

  A text's verbosity reaches unfathomable grandiosity when poetry meets prose. Michael Ondaatje is gifted enough to weave a tale that's tragic in parts but wholly serene. At its core, "In the Skin of a Lion" treads the rugged path that courses a life chart making the journey somewhat worthwhile. Patrick Lewis is wildly swayed by the situational currents while what he truly yearns for is an ounce of regulated love. Love that is messy, uncompromising and effusively profound enough to make him feel things. At the fag end of his life, Patrick understands the universe's twisted sense of humour. In Patrick's case, timing plays a cursed role. Expectations are detached to deadlines. Everything has to run its course.  Alignments don't care about our whims and fancies. "Trust the process", we've been told.  But here's the neat part. By the time the pieces fall into place, everything ceases to makes sense; all dwindled down to a bunch of baloney. Al...

"MOTHER" is Maxim Gorky's fiery magnum opus. Nilovna like many long-suffering yet indomitable women, shows hope and remains a sign of courage to her kind who have lost their inspiration to lead and live in a patriarchal society. Revolution for the greater good is built upon bloodshed and polemical beliefs. The young blood in pre-revolutionary Soviet search for the truth and fight for their rights. For them, words' power supersedes swords' skills; sticks stones and guns even. While czarist censorship was rampant all over the city and suburbs, gendarmes mercilessly confiscated any piece of literature that could threaten the government importantly books and essays might provoke people to think or get ideas. Only intellectual freedom can ultimately free the workers of this world from the capitalistic clutches. If only it were easy to earn those rights. Mother's story is a precursor to the Russian revolutionary period which sparks ideas and thoughts that can cleans...

  Peter Ho Davies opens this tale with a small word origin for "Welsh". It means failing to fulfil one's promise. Much like the minimal doses of caffeine on a Monday morning, the plot's initial pages gradually intoxicate the readers. This slow pleasure prepares us for what is later revealed as a rocky path. Esther is a beautiful name for a woman who is as lost as any woman in this world, irrespective of her time, place or circumstances. For reasons, well-known, the protagonist is tormented by her tumultuous state of mind. When we see/hear the word "war', an image constructed with bleak and dreary details naturally comes to light. Human sufferings are archived in each pixel of that image remaining unnoticeable and microscopic given the scale of damage. Yet, they constitute the bigger picture.  "The Welsh Girl" zooms in on one such pixel, the life of Esther - the daughter of an old shepherd in North Wales set in the 1950s as it's showdown for Worl...

  "Chronicle of a Death Foretold" was the first book of Gabo that I'd read. It happened in haste, unplanned. Our school librarian was doing end-of-the-year stock verification and we were returning all borrowed books. Something with that book's cover caught my attention and convinced my inner voice to read the story. I promised my kind librarian I'd finish the book in one night and return it promptly. And it happened so. I was transported to an unknown world where longing and craving controlled every basic instinct. Gabo has the magical power to enthral his readers by sucking them into a tranced nuanced vortex. You can get into any anu world he has built and see it through the eyes of the protagonist. Reading Anna Magdalena's life built a strange commotion inside my brain.  Is her story my forgotten past? Or a forewarning into my future? August is a special month. I was born and reborn in it. Although the foreword from Gabo's sons warns us about a possibly ...

  Translated into numerous languages and formatted into different versions, "Sapiens" is a book that needs no introduction. From Carl Sagan's, "Cosmos" to David Attenborough's "Planet Earth", we've all tried to grasp the magnificent monstrosity of our world and construct meaning from that learning. Prof. Harari has taken a huge risk by recording humankind's history in a single book. Surprisingly he has done a splendid job. Discounting the endorsements from big shots and great thinkers, this book gets true appreciation from the intensive research behind it. It takes work to pack billion-year-old events in a single paperback and say, "This is us!".  The Universe is ~14 billion years old, earth is ~4 billion years old and we are ~200,000 - 300,000 years old.  Precision and accuracy are debatable when it comes to documenting history. The author beautifully lays out facts, figures and interpretations. Both sides of the coin are clearly...

Legal thrillers, I once believed were plain courtroom dramas. But “Shadow of Power” changed that notion. Paul Madriani seems to be the Sherlock of the legal world as he effortlessly untangles complex judicial knots. Given their compactness and heavily guarded privacy, courtrooms have made the judicial process seem minimalistic. Be it the prosecution or defence, the law is tricky especially because humans and emotions are involved. So, here's the plot. Fighting against time and shoddy police work, Madriani and his partner Harry go above and beyond to acquit an innocent victim who has gotten embroiled in the controversial death of a trouble-making writer Terry Scarborough.  In his afterword, author Steve Martin throws light on the problematic history of the US in the 1700s and 1800s when their constitution was drafted by the founding fathers. Although Jefferson’s letter plays a significant role as a fictional entity in this story, it sparks a sense of wonderment in readers about its ...

This book was gifted to me by one of my colleagues and a good friend Sanghamitra. Our conversations were never trivial or usual. They were always esoteric that mostly touched upon multiverses and meditation practices. Not being a keen believer of a practitioner of mediation myself, I dusted off her opinions on Yoga and Mindfulness. The thought of needing those skills and habits baffled me. In fact it was nothing short of absurdity. But then life has brutal ways of breaking you in order for you to see things and fall in line. Four years later, one fine day, I chanced upon this book that was calmly collecting dust on my cherished bookshelf. Something egged me to give it a try. I reluctantly relented.  This autobiography is the first one I'd read on a Spiritual Guru. Books written about well-known artisits,revolutionary figures, philosophers and politicians showed me how far humans could go to get what they want. I was able to experience a "core connection" with this one. Co...

This book came out in the 1970s. With a brazen confidence to predict the twists and turns,I dove into this suspenseful drama. Even the epic crime stories celebrate family. We’ve seen a celebrated Mafia Don certifying a man’s honour based on his strong familial bonds. However, the stellar storyteller Sidney Sheldon weaves a wild tale in Bloodline. “Do not let the straightforward suits and polished ties fool you” is the gist of this story. Man’s inherent greed is fueled by his insatiable needs. There’s a dirty rat race going on inside the most sophisticated conference rooms of the tallest ivory towers. Competition is a common thread that connects everyone in the social pyramid. When Sam Rolfe, the key board member of a multi-million-dollar pharmaceutical company, dies in a fatal accident, all hell breaks loose. Elizabeth, his daughter and the future president of Rolfe Pharmaceuticals, is a baby in the woods. While being pressurized to sell the company’s shares and bring in private invest...

War is Peace! Ignorance is Strength! Freedom is Slavery! It's an accepted fact that 1984 is the OG of all dystopian thrillers. Long ago, I watched a  dark science fiction movie by the name "Zero Theorem". It certainly gave me an understanding of the world in its advanced age of revolution and technology. That was cataclysmic enough to portray the evils of a power-intoxicated Mankind. This book is a fictional account of how through the eyes of a man called Winston Smith, George Orwell imagines our world's political landscape in the year 1984. Winston is a duty-bound citizen of Oceania immersed in waves of mass cults constantly proclaiming their nationalism and love for a staunch authoritarian saviour,' Big Brother'. Bound by terrifyingly unique ministries and Party protocols, Oceania keeps waging wars against Eurasia and Eastasia in order to maintain the internal social pyramid. After all, Hierarchy yields power and Ingsoc (English Socialism) is fuelled by fear...

Not a day goes by when we don't think of the past at least once. Our thoughts are imprisoned by the sundry choices that still haunt us occasionally. "If only I could go back in time and change things" is a wishful thought we all once had. "Before the coffee gets cold" is as perfect as that piping hot morning coffee blend which offers much-needed mental peace. Every sip gets better as seconds slip away. Stories of 4 strangers connected by their visits to a time-honoured cafe take readers on a caffeine-loaded journey to their past. Nunaced dialogues complement this fascinating experience generously. By accepting the cleverly devised Time Travel protocols, these individuals have sensitively come to terms with the fact that a visit to the past won't alter the course of the present or the future. A glimpse at the familiar before a tragic change took over their lives has brought closure to those who chose to sit on the coveted chair which has transcended obsolesce...

  Every school has an exclusive tree. A tree that wasn't just a provider of shade on sunny afternoons to lunch under but something of a quiet onlooker that stood steady against the backdrop of changes. We had Banyans, Peepals, Neems and Jojobas decorating the school compound like ornate Chandeliers. Flowers rained from the Cassia Fistula a.k.a the Golden Shower tree kept us busy as we created arty arrangements on the muddy ground. Those patterns lasted until the sound of school bells and a dash of cool winds dispersed everything. The Copper Beech set in the beautiful village of Shancarrig invoked my dormant childhood memories. At times, we deliberately lock up good moments in a corner of our brains lest it should arouse tearful nostalgia. Let the good old days stay tucked in because earnestly missing something isn't going to bring it back. It was a painful reminder of how much things have changed and how much we missed cherishing those moments when we had it all for ourselves. ...

A Play Dough is soft and colourful. Such are our minds when we are young and vulnerable; ready to be moulded under influences and external pressures. Laurie Kenyon, the main character in "All Around The Town" is diagnosed with Dissociative Personality Disorder as a result of a traumatic childhood experience. Abuse is the root of her pain. As can be seen in many incidents in her life, the imaginary characters in her head become her secret caretakers with the sole goal of protecting their host from the perpetrators. This worked well in a nightmarish situation but fell through when everything became normal and natural. I read in a blog that specified how the current society has pushed people to have panic attacks just by the thought of making it late to work. This stress provocation leads to increased cortisol levels, affecting one's physical well-being. Our ancestors froze, flew and fought at the sight of danger in caves while we use similar survival tactics to stay in our ...

The beach has always intrigued me. It's the feeling of home that makes travelling to or residing in coastal areas a heavenly experience. That way, Tahiti is now on my bucket list. Rain or shine, from now on, my spirit to visit the islands in French Polynesia will remain staunch. Stories that are raw, fresh, original, and organic stand the test of time, whereas those that are polished to suit the intellectual needs of readers fail to leave a meaningful footprint. frangipani   belongs to the former category. Survival struggles for women across the world are more or less the same. No surprises there. Materena Mahi brought back memories from my childhood and replayed conversations I had with my mom at our kitchen table. Despite the endemic cultural conditioning, women are naturally free-thinkers. Lack of financial independence and self-love has pushed them into the web of unhappy family units where the...

When I chanced upon the term "Saganism" a few years ago, it sounded like a cult that promoted spiritual philosophy. To me, the name "Sagan" gave the idea of an enlightened saint, a cosmic time-traveller robed in white, telling tales about the universe. Immense self-control helped me not to google the hell out of Sagan, as I was determined to know him only through his books. Consequently, the universe greeted me with a copy of "Broca's Brain" at a Crossword store in a mall. There it was, and it was about time too. Wanting to understand the mysteries of space without having to revisit my physics lessons, I trusted Sagan and dug deep. What I found, understood, and realised blew my mind. We all would have already done enough brainwork to reflect on the afterlife, near-death experiences, interstellar, extraterrestrial life, planetary functions, etc.   Sagan breaks it down so easily yet presents it with the right amount of mystery, leaving his readers to ...

Deep inside the trenches of a beautiful soul lies a dark, decaying belief built upon generational evils that are waiting to be revived. The right fuel will stoke that fire. It would only be a matter of time before our grandiose facade falls. Intricately woven by language, clothing, cuisine, creativity, and culture, that pseudo-veil is an ephemeral mask behind which we all collectively play hide-and-seek. The best-dressed gentleman in the room can insidiously enjoy watching the withering assets behind the tattered blouses of a street beggar. Even her puny child’s lifeless eyes would fail to invoke empathy.   An Instagram model mourns the sudden passing of her boyfriend, first alone and then with their friends, families, and social media followers. An adventurous act led to an untimely demise. As condolences gently boiled down to consideration, her need for attention shot up. One of the content creators has now become content. On the pretext of wistful remembrance, the grief-str...