Reading Beyond My Prejudices: The Naani Diaries by Riva Razdan
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Akankshya Abismruta reviews Riva Razdan’s The Naani Diaries (published by HarperCollins India, 2023). The last Indian love story I read by an Indian author was Revolution 2020. I was 17, and so disgusted that I not only stopped reading Bhagat but also concluded that Indians cannot write love stories as authors like Nicholas Sparks in […]
Delish for Culinary Lovers – The Indian Cafe in London can make you a chef!
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Veena Nagpal’s The Indian Cafe in London surprises readers. As the title suggests, one thinks it’s about a cafe in London, perhaps owned by an Indian, perhaps a cafe that serves as the setting of the book, perhaps a story like Naseeruddin Shah starring Today’s Special. It’s all of these but the plot is layered […]
Odia Writer Jagadish Mohanty’s Battles of our Own
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Read Akankshya’s review of Battles of Our Own by Odia writer Jagadish Mohanty, translated from the Odia by Himansu S. Mohapatra and Paul St-Pierre During the 1960-the 70s, Jagadish Mohanty was known as one of the most influential Odia writers. In his lifetime (1951-2013), Mohanty authored 13 short story collections and five novels. His writing […]
Pakistan, growing up: The Whispering Chinar by Ali Rohila
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Ali Rohila, a writer and banker from Pakistan, comes out with his second book. The Whispering Chinar is a collection of 11 short stories set in or connected to the village of Charbagh in Pakistan. The titular story introduces the family of Khan Sahib living in an old mansion in the village. They have a […]
Chaotic women and male gaze in Salman Rushdie’s The Enchantress of Florence
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The Enchantress of Florence, published in 2008, is Salman Rushdie’s most researched novel. It includes Indian, Persian, and Florentine history at large. In the late fifteenth century, India and Europe had their first encounter. It was a time when there was a philosophical shift – everything that was believed to be true turned out to […]