Want to read climate fiction? Biopeculiar by Gigi Ganguly is the one
Although nothing is common in 22 stories of Biopeculiar by Gigi Ganguly, a speculative twist of the sub-genre of cli-fi (climate fiction), they are united by a strong undercurrent of empathy for the life around us. Life, not life. These stories carry a grain of empathy; Ganguly has embossed it into every word, every paragraph […]
Mahabharata on Red Bull. Reviewing the epic, Sons of Darkness
Sons of Darkness carries a soul that sings truly to its name. It abounds a darkness that subsumes all: deity or demon. An extensive retelling of Mahabharata, that great Hindu epic that’s been a fodder for authors every decade, Sons of Darkness is filled with characters who are either hiding something or tinkering with ethics. […]
The Goddess of River: Ganga takes the stage in Vaishnavi Patel’s second outing
The author of runaway global success Kaikeyi (a reimagination of much-maligned warrior queen from Ramayan) has chosen to tread on placid waters this time with The Goddess of River, moving her quill towards the tome set in the turbulent times of the Dwapar epoch, the one sandwiched between the idealistic Treta (when Ramayan takes place) […]
Why Vish Dhamija’s Conman Feels Like a Modern-Day Hera Pheri
Jainand Gurjar reviews The Secret Diary of a Conman by Vish Dhamija (published by Pan Macmillan India, 2024). My introduction to what a con man looks like was from the movie Phir Hera Pheri (a Hindi comedy movie directed by Neeraj Vora, starring Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty, and Paresh Rawal, among others). It showed me […]
Shabnam by Syed Mujtaba Ali: A Tale of Separation and Hope
Kaustav Das reviews Shabnam by Syed Mujtaba Ali, translated from Bengali by Nazes Afroz (published by Speaking Tiger, 2024). Who can tell the beginning and the end of this world?Ancient is this book; just the first and last pages are ruined. – Shabnam by Syed Mujtaba Ali, translated by Nazes Afroz October brings in the […]
Why Mother India by Prayaag Akbar Is the Novel We Need Right Now
Rahul Vishnoi reviews Mother India by Prayaag Akbar (Fourth Estate India, 2024). Mother India by Prayaag Akbar wouldn’t have existed in the 90s. If we all sit in a time machine and go back 30 years ago, this book would be rendered irrelevant. Multiple reasons come to mind; the most important one is that back […]
Let’s Be Best Friends Forever Review: Stories of Friendship That Warm the Heart
Jaisha Priyam reviews Let’s Be Best Friends Forever: Beautiful Stories of Friendship (published by Talking Cub, 2024). Let’s Be Best Friends Forever: Beautiful Stories of Friendship encompasses the beauty of friendship in all forms of life. It is a collection of short stories celebrating the beauty of friendship among animals, people, and giants. It captures […]
Why Krishna Sobti’s A Gujarat Here, A Gujarat There is a Must-Read for Partition History Lovers
Rahul Vishnoi reviews A Gujarat Here, A Gujarat There by Krishna Sobti, translated from Hindi by Daisy Rockwell (published by Penguin Hamish Hamilton, 2019). The partition novel is a genre unto itself and Daisy Rockwell has seemed to hone her craft on it. Before translating Gitanjali Shree’s Ret Samadhi into Tomb of Sand, which won […]
Heartstrings and Harmonies by Manali Desai Review: A Melodic Journey Through Love and Life
Jainand Gurjar reviews Heartstrings and Harmonies by Manali Desai (published by Ukiyoto Publishing, 2024). Songs often tell stories where each verse, chorus, bridge, outro and even refrain resembles a conversation, a dialogue, an emotion, some unsaid and (maybe) unacknowledged feelings, dilemmas and even delusions! Sometimes, songs become stories where we condition them with certain events […]
5 Ways Literature Festivals in India Can Transform Audience Experiences
A personal essays about how literature festivals in India could change with the times.
