Submission - Michel Houellebecq

“The shocking and simple idea, which had never been so forcefully expressed, that the summit of human happiness resides in the most absolute submission.” 

This book is a political satire in which the author imagines France under a Muslim president. The narrator Francois is a middle aged lecturer and  expert in the study of novelist Joris Karl Huysmans. He has few friends and has sort of boring sexual life and his parents are dead. He is pessimistic most of the time.

“Only literature can grant you access to a spirit from beyond the grave a more direct, more complete, deeper access than you’d have in conversation with a friend.”

The newly found Islamic political party "Muslim Brotherhood" has narrowly wins the election after forming coalition with Socialist and Center-right.  After forming the government , they slowly impose the quasi-sharia law - women were ordered to wear veils, co-education is abolished,polygamy is legalized, welfare budget is reduced by 85% and public education is almost defunct.

“The past is always beautiful. So, for that matter, is the future. Only the present hurts, and we carry it around like an abscess of suffering, our compassion between two infinities of happiness and peace.” 

The author targets not the Muslim rulers but the education institution and politicians who just surrender themselves.These intellectuals are ready to do anything asked by the Islamic government and defend their action by using literature. But the author is happy about some of the things happening like returning of old family values in which women retreated from workplace to home and creating millions of jobs for men which in turn reduces the crime rate.

“In all of human history there may never have been a mind as brilliant as Isaac Newton’s—just think what an amazing, unheard-of intellectual effort it took to discover a single law that accounted for the fall of earthly bodies and the movement of the planets! Well, Newton believed in God.” 

At one point Francois visits Black Madonna of Rocamadour  and enjoys moments of bliss but he could not sustain it and he thinks about faith. I think this part is very important to understand the author's view. He really feels something sacred about this experience. The author worries about the madness of the mankind. He struggles between faith and reality- sort of existential condition. This novel asks the question what does it mean to be human being without faith?. The author compares the protagonist's subject (Joris karl Huysmans) who after many struggles end up converting to Catholicism. Why did Huysmans  needed a faith for his deliverance?  

“Jesus had loved men too much, that was the problem; to let himself be crucified for their sake showed, at the very least, a lack of taste, as the old faggot would have put it.” 

“People don’t really care all that much about their own death. What they really worry about, their one real fixation, is how to avoid physical suffering as much as possible.” 

“A woman is human, obviously, but she represents a slightly different kind of humanity.” 

The story ends with Francois looking forward to his own submission to Islam.A controversial but intelligent satire. I don't know much about French politics but wile reading this book I started to read about the history, very interesting but at the same time , its high time France needs to look at itself about the mess it created.  This book was released exactly on the same day of Charlie Hebdo shooting .

Definitely worth reading.

Black Flags : The Rise of ISIS - Joby Warrick

I came to know about this book through twitter. Recently i started reading all the news articles about ISIS and started spending more time in searching about the fight in Iraq and Syria. Obviously I knew something about ISIS and the war against it. But the details in this book is something I never thought of .

First good thing about this book is the way the author structure the events leads to the formation of ISIS and later its conquest of land territories, like a thriller, an absolute page turner.  The " List of Principal Characters" at the beginning of the books makes it easier for the reader to relate the characters each other as one proceeds reading further. And I think list like this is very important for the books dealing with groups like ISIS.

He had a hero complex and guilt complex.He wanted to be a hero and saw himself as a hero, even when he was a thug. But it was the guilt that made him so extreme.

 First part of the book explains how Abu Musab al-Zarqawi , a Jordanian street thug became chief of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. Until Collin Powell's historic speech at the UN , not many in western world know about Zarqawi, US inadvertently made him famous. Zarqawi used the fame to the fullest by murdering an American, who wanted to start radio tower business , Nick Berg. That video changed everything in Arab world and announced that he was there to built a caliphate. The video was so telling - orange jump suit, the Arabic calligraphy on the black flag everything gave some messages to people who watching it.

“In deciding to use the unsung Zarqawi as an excuse for launching a new front in the war against terrorism, the White House had managed to launch the career of one of the century’s great terrorists.”

Though Zarqawi was warned by the Al-Qaeda chiefs, he continued his own way of slaughtering the innocents. He wrote a letter informing the leaders of his obedience. Al-Qaeda gave him the training ground to prepare the jihadits where he developed his own way of running things. He was arrested and put in al-Jafr prison, where he met   Sheikh Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, a radical preacher. The relationship with the preacher was vital to his belief.

Zarqawi cleverly used American invasion to stoke sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shiites and organized various bombing including bombing of UN building . But his suicide bombings in Jordon triggered international outrage, specially it made Jordan to act with immediate effect which ultimately leads to his death and immediate demise of the organization.

He was talking about physically restoring the Islamic caliphate in a way that nobody else did.

The rest of the book deals with how the organization was revived by very clear strategy by the current ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. He made sure that the legacy of Zarqawi will live for ever through his actions and by announcing the formation of Caliphate.Another important player in this book is King Abdullah -II of Jordon. It seems like he was the only one who foresaw the resurrection of ISIS. Its very interesting to know the creation of Jordon and their constant vigilance against their neighbours . The story of King Abdullah-II and how he became a king in a dramatic manner was very interesting.

The author highlights serious of mistakes by  Bush and Obama administrations. Very unfortunate that such senior politicians like Dick Cheney who forced CIA to find non-existing weapon of mass destruction and Saddam's link with Al-Qaeda. In reality Saddam hated Al-Qaeda. All 'so called' findings by Office of the Special Plans(OSP) were fabricated to justify the invasion of Iraq.  The refusal to accept the insurgency in Iraq by the American politician even after the intelligence reports keep confirming it was another big mistake, by the time they realized it was too late.Another 'fatal' mistake was placing all those most wanted criminals grouped together in a prison, seems like Zaraqawi and others enjoyed their stay there and formed a long lasting friendship and made him as a leader.

The author weaves stories around each key events and key players,which makes a compelling read. The book is well researched.The author did not blame anyone , he just gives facts and circumstances related to each events and maintained the neutrality throughout the book. This book gives the perspectives of players on the frontline, CIA and political leaders. A simple lesson from this book if intelligence is compromised by the politician then disaster will follow.

If you want to start read about ISIS I think this is the best book . A must read book.

துருக்கித்தொப்பி - கீரனூர் ஜாகிர்ராஜா

Most of the things I knew about Muslim community is from Thoppil Meeran's books and Salma's Irandam Jamakangalin kadhai. But this novel breaks that boundary. Kudos to the author. Most of the things portrayed in this novel are new to me.

This is the story of  ettukal veedu and it's gradual deterioration. The stand out feature of this book is the portrayal of two main characters KB Sheik and his grandson Rahmadullah.  KB Sheik, once a powerful man, lost huge amount of money which made him powerless. His fall from grace starts from there. He was lustful. His relationship with his wife is mostly sexual. He even tried to have sexual relations with his grandson.  He spends most of his time in his room upstairs with his harmonium.

Rahmadullah's story itself can be written as a separate book. The author brings the essence of the childhood with all its playfulness. As his mother moves away from him after the birth of his brother, Rahmadullah started behaving differently. He enjoys watching his mother giving breast milk. He also  enjoys being with his aunt's daughter Mallika , the first touch by the girl made him go crazy and kept on thinking about next touch. He even write a letter to his father detailing the relationship between his mother and Ruben. He speaks to Jesus during his visit to Palani church.Kudos to the author for bringing psychological aspects of a adolescent.

Noorjahan, the most beautiful girl, who marries not so handsome son of KB Sheik. She think Abbas as her ideal partner. Abbas is her cousin and childhood sweetheart. She realised that all the power in the ettukal veedu is with her mother-in-law Pattammal. She believes she was deceived by the fake fame of the house. But everything changes after the birth of Rahmadullah. She was strong and fight all the way to get his son back when Pattammal took away Rahmadullah. She even walks naked. She starts hating Rahmadullah after the birth of second son,- more importantly once she realized her beauty was destroyed by giving birth to him.Through Athavullah's character, the author highlights the growth of  Dravidian parties and how he was utilized by the leaders.

The story ends with the Turkey cap which made KB Sheik famous and well known in his village was hanging out without anyone taking care when the ettukkal veedu's  family shifting to new house .And at the same time Noorjahan receives money order from her husband Athavullah. As the story starts with Neem tree, it ends with need tree - remarkable story telling.

Everyone has some sort of sexual feeling for someone else, I think this particular point is very important for this story. KB Sheik - Noorjahan, Rahmadullah - Mallika, Ruben - Noorjahan, Kuttilevai-Renganayaki. This shows our society's view on female body and how we treat them.

The author brings alive all the characters with its unique features, though some times the writing is bit boring. The author also highlights the caste , economic division and sexual abuse in this story. The way the author highlights the division is remarkable - Pattamal is proud of eating mutton and hates Keelatheru people from where her daugher-in-law comes, who eats beef etc. The use of local slang was one of the highlight of this novel ,though I did not know some words. So many details about habits,rituals and food items of the Muslim community made this novel even more interesting.

Good read. I need to read this author's other books too.

சிப்பியின் வயிற்றில் முத்து - போதிசத்வ மைத்ரேய

This is a Tamil translation of the Bengali book "Jhinuker Pete Mukto " by Bodhisattva Maitreya. First thing that struck me was that the detailed description of the lives of Parava community. A Bengali writers writes about Tamil people!

 சிப்பித் தாய்கள் கடுஞ் சூட்டிலே இனிப்புத் தண்ணிக்காக ஏங்கிக்கிட்டு இருப்பாங்க. பௌர்ணமி இரவிலே மழைத் தண்ணி ரொம்ப இனிப்பாயிருக்கும். அந்தத் தண்ணியைச் சொட்டுச் சொட்டாய்க் குடிச்சால் அதுகளோட தாகம் தணியும். நிலவிலே கழுவின அந்தத் தண்ணிச் சொட்டு அதுகளோட வயித்திலே போய் அதிலேருந்துதான் முத்து பிறக்கும்.

This is the story of Anthony and Peter who are childhood friends but separated by principles and distance. Anthony is a son of one of the richest man in Tutocorin - Godwin. Anthony despite his families objections leaves home and goes to Bengal , from there to London for education. He was in relationship with a girl there. Through Anthony's character the author highlights the Jeep Scandal case, i never heard about this scandal anywhere before.

Peter's father was murdered and no one was prosecuted for the crime .Peter too was in danger as he lives in hiding in his boat rarely leaving the sea. But Peter has revolutionary ideas of changing working class people's life. He was in relationship with Sophia who joined convent to become a nun . And there is Raman, who was born in Tanjavur , educated in Tiruchi and learnt classical dance . These three are major male characters of this novel.

The author beautifully describes history and culture of these fishermen, their relations with Srilanka. Also the story covers all the major events  of Tamilnadu like story on Chidambaranar and Rajai etc.  I think no other novel may be except Aazhi Chool Uzhagu and Kadalpurathil gives such a detail accounts of the life and history of Tamil fishermen specially Paravar's.The story of Venky Aiyyar was reflection of many of freedom fighters after the independence.

Through Raman, author explores the life of  Devadasis. The way they surrendered their life to the temple and to satisfy the patrons were told in detailed manner, specially the encounter between Raman and daughter of one of the devadasi. The author gives lots of details on Tamil classical music and dance. And lots of references to classic writings .

The novel cover two landscapes the coastal area from Korkai to Turicorin and green lands in Cauvery basin.  The author also highlights the command hold by the catholic church even in people's personal choice. The relationship between Britishers and the fishing community were told through historical context. As expected the rich had good relationship with Britishers.

A must read book about Tamil fishing community.

Beatrice and Virgil - Yann Martel

I was hugely impressed by Yann Martel's first book "Life of Pi" and was waiting for this book but I was bit disappointed.  I only knew that his novel is 'Holocaust Allegory" and have animal characters. The complexity and emotion in this novel is overwhelming for me. The challenge is immense for the author to write fiction about holocaust as he is not a Jew and not a survivor of holocaust . The story is multi layered and complex.

 Faith is like being in the sun. When you are in the sun, can you avoid creating a shadow? Can you shake that area of darkness that clings to you, always shaped like you, as if constantly to remind you of yourself? You can’t. This shadow is doubt. And it goes wherever you go as long as you stay in the sun. And who wouldn’t want to be in the sun?” 

The initial conversation between the main character Henry and the publishers are interesting (specially the roles of fiction and non-fiction) but I think this story do not need that much information , almost first 10-20 pages drag you down. This writer Henry I think is based on the author himself. His new book which is half fiction and half non-fiction about the Holocaust was rejected by the publishers as non-viable. The author receives a letter with a short story and text of a uncompleted play.

“Fiction and nonfiction are not so easily divided. Fiction may not be real, but it's true; it goes beyond the garland of facts to get to emotional and psychological truths.”

The author sets the tone for the story by giving references to some classic texts Flaubert's "Saint Julian Hospitator" , Beckett's "Waiting for Godot" etc.  Julian's redemption in that story is vital for this story. Julian redeem himself by helping a leper even after killing his own parents and slaughtered hundreds of animals.

Fame was not a sensation like love or hunger or loneliness, welling from within and invisible to the outside eye. It was rather entirely external, coming from the minds of others.

Henry the writer meets Henry the taxidermist in a shophouse full of dead animals. The taxidermist wants the writer to help him to complete his play which he is writing throughout his life. Their relationship is not progressing anywhere. Henry the writer feels that the taxidermist is unconventional in all manner.  The two main protagonist of the play are  Beatrice (Donkey) and Virgil (Howler Monkey), the two stuffed specimens sit together in the shophouse .

“Art is the suitcase of history, carrying the essentials. Art is the life buoy of history. Art is seed, art is memory, art is vaccine.

Henry the writer thinks that dead animals are metaphor for holocaust. And the taxidermist's play also leads towards it as the two animals talks about their life . But the taxidermist dismiss it as "story that has no story".  Does the author wants to think these dead animals as Jews during holocaust or making Jews to think about killing animals??

“Once you’ve been struck by violence, you acquire companions that never leave you entirely: Suspicion, Fear, Anxiety, Despair, Joylessness.” 

As the protagonist  Henry struggles to describe his new book to the publishers, Yann Martel struggles to explain his work to his readers in this book. I think I will understand this book better after I understand the holocaust better.

"Colonialism is a terrible bane for a people upon whom it is imposed, but a blessing for a language."

The climax is cinematic - action , blood and fire. But I thought the climax too was late.The writing style and the language saves the day  not the story . The description of the taxidermist shop and the tools - simply excellent.

Read it once , may be twice to fully understand the story.

How Sachin Destroyed My Life ...but gave me an All Access Pass to the world of cricket - Vikram Sathaye

For every Indian of our generation the name Sachin is sacred and brings lots of emotion. I pick this book for only one  reason the title which intrigued me.  Being a fan of Brian Lara  I just wanted to know why the author felt  Sachin destroyed his life - it turned out to be a hilarious laugh riot.

In a home series the Indian Curry  probably claims  more victims off the field than the bowlers on the field.

A batsman essentially has to remain focussed for just 25 seconds per delivery, so why do I need to mediate for 15 minutes? - Sehwag.

An exciting read, the book is an excellent compilation of humor, anecdotes and facts. Vikram Sathaye takes you not only to the cricket matches but beyond too. Keeps you completely immersed and  tells us about the unheard facts about Indian cricketers,and their exploits on and off the field.

Statistics are like mini-skirts, they reveal more than what they hide. - Nanjot Singh Sidhu.

The book reveal how Ponting hit the gaps, how Sachin cracked Murali's doosra, what was Dravid's focus zone about, and more. The author covered all aspects of the game including commentators and sledging - surprising to know how Indians sledged. The authors take on 'monkeygate' was refreshing , why don't players take it easy all these things.

The difference between a lawyer and a wicketkeeper is that they spend most of their lives appealing , usually for the wrong reasons.

Under chapter 16 "The DNA of the Indian Fan" the author explains the types of Indian fan - he is spot on , I think most of the Indian cricket fans knew  all these types of people and they  themselves falls under one of these . Just for fun I put my friends and family in these groups - I had  hilarious time.In Chapter 18 "Are Women Responsible For The Sporting State Of Our Country?" - the author takes on the role of women in a hilarious way.

My jersey number is 19 not because of my supersition but because it is the best way to remember my wife's birthday- Rahul Dravid.

Growing up in 80's and 90's I had one permanent poster of Kapil Dev and another one which we used to change every week based on Sportstar magazine's poster. Reminded me the  good old days!

Just few chapters of this book is worth a money and time. Great read !

1Q84 - Haruki Murakami

I have read many short stories of Murakami but this is my first novel. The first feeling i had after reading this novel was disappointment and felt as if  came out of a strange world.

Is this a thriller ? Yes.
Is this a romance story? yes.
Is it interesting ? Yes.
Did I felt boring at times ? Yes.
Did I marvelled at writers imagination ? Yes.

My answers to the above question will give an idea about this novel.

“If you can love someone with your whole heart, even one person, then there's salvation in life. Even if you can't get together with that person.” 

“Life is not like water. Things in life don't necessarily flow over the shortest possible route.”  

“That's what the world is , after all: an endless battle of contrasting memories.” 

The outline of the story looks very simple : boy meets a girl,separated, and search for each other. That is, the boy held the girl's hand for a moment during school days. Decades later they meet in a strange circumstances.  But this simple outline transforms into a gigantic proportion as the author takes the reader to a new parallel word with two moons,"little people" and the enigmatic cult and its "The Leader".

The story oscillates between two main characters Tengo and Aomame . Aomame ,thirty year old woman , sort of assassin who kills men who abuses women in an untraceable manner.Tengo, who was asked by his editor to rewrite a story called 'Air Chrysalis' by a girl named Fuka -Eri.  Air Chrysalis leads Tengo to Sakigake. Aomame was assigned by an wealthy dowager to kill the head of Sakigake.

“Loneliness becomes an acid that eats away at you.”

“I'm a coward when it comes to matters of the heart. That is my fatal flaw.”  

“Life is so uncertain: you never know what could happen. One way to deal with that is to keep your pajamas washed.”  

Aomame struck a deal with 'The Leader'  that she will kill him and he will protect Tengo. And she did kill 'The Leader'. Tengo was followed by the private investigator Ushikawa , hired by Sakigake. The cult members wants to find Aomame through Tengo but Aomame was disappeared without a trace. She wants to find Tengo so she follows Fuka-Eri and finds Tengo's place.

Another important characters in this story are - Dowager , who helps women who suffered domestic violence, she assigns Aomame to kill 'The Leader'.  Tamaru, dowager's body guard who helps Aomame to disappear and kill Ushikawa. Then Ushikawa, the tireless investigator, he almost succeeded in his job. He is ugly but clever, he is not a member of Sakigake himself.

“A person learns how to love himself through the simple acts of loving and being loved by someone else.”

“Knowledge and ability were tools, not things to show off.” 

“The body is not the only target of rape. Violence does not always take a visible form, and not all wounds gush blood.” 

Typical Murakami's features are there in this novel too - cats, jazz, Classical music  and a cult. He is finding reality in these simple things, making the reader to go in deep. I felt some details are repetitive and boring. For me its definitely a let down.

1Q84 - read if you have time and patience.

Satin Island - Tom McCarthy

In this book cover, there are six subtitles : A Treatise, An Essay, An Report , A Confession, A Manifesto and  A Novel -all crossed out except  A Novel. Reading the books gives the same feeling- its a mixture of all and nothing - a novel. There is repetition. There is interlinking. There is networking.

The protagonist of this story ask the reader to call him as "U", he is a anthropologist , who seeks meaning and connection for everything. He is working for a corporate which makes huge money by selling high concept solutions to businesses around the world. His job is to "unpick the fibre of culture (ours)". He says “Structures of kinship; systems of ­exchange, barter and gift; symbolic operations lurking on the flip side of the habitual and the banal: Identifying these, prizing them out and holding them up, kicking and wriggling, to the light - that’s my racket”. His company is just awarded the Koob-Sassen project. The company is run by Peyman. Peyman asks U to write the Grand Report. He thinks the report "has to be conceived of as in a perpetual state of passage, not arrival-not at, but between.".

“Forget family, or ethnic and religious groupings: corporations have supplanted all these as the primary structure of the modern tribe.” 

 But the narrator struggles to prepare the necessary details for the report. He was distracted by various conspiracy theories surrounding parachute deaths, oil spills and his occasional sexual relationship with Madison.The story of Madison also dramatic, arrested and tortured for planning protest against G8 conference. What happened after the raid was told in detail. But U never heard of that incident as Madison says "After that (9/11), all news was blown out of the water: no one was interested in what had gone on in Genoa, or anywhere else." Another important distraction was his friend Petr, who dies of cancer.

“Incomprehensible is no better than banal – it’s just its flip-side.” 

When he decided to start the report he wanted to clean the table first."One day, I’d told myself, I’ll need to clean it properly and thoroughly, transform it into a tabula rasa upon which I might compose a great, momentous work. I’d been right: that day was now. I cleaned it, then I dried it with a tea towel." As he procrastinates, his views on the Great Report too changes.At one point he thinks that the "Great Report" has already been written. Its like a writer stuck up with no idea about the next story since everything is written already Sometimes later, he thought of sabotaging the whole project.

“To the anthropologist, there’s no such thing as a singular episode, a singular phenomenon – only a set of variations on generic ones; the more generic, therefore, the more pure, the closer to an un-variegated or unscrambled archetype.”

The novel takes it name from the dream of the narrator .He dreams of a island which is exact opposite of the great cities "this island was the exact opposite, the inverse — the other place, the feeder, filterer, overflow-manager, the dirty, secreted-away appendix without which the body-proper couldn’t function; yet it seemed, in its very degradation, more weirdly opulent than the capital it served."  The island resembles Staten Island, initially he decided to go there but after reaching the ferry point he decided not to - a typical characteristic feature of the narrator. " To go to Staten Island—actually go there—would have been profoundly meaningless. What would it, in reality, have solved, or resolved? Nothing. What tangible nesting space would I have discovered there, and for what concrete purpose? None. Not to go there was, of course, profoundly meaningless as well. And so I found myself, as I waded back through the relentless stream of people, struggling just to stay in the same place, suspended between two types of meaninglessness. Did I choose the right one? I don’t know."

The writing is tedious but the same time enjoyable. One can read the book in few hours but end up thinking about it for a long time. Each page says something. The observing skills of the author is exquisite . The author did not give you any resolution on the subjects but gives you joy in reading it. Definitely a good book even though confusing at times.

கடல்புரத்தில் - வண்ணநிலவன்

I have waited long time to get this book and I should say I was not disappointed. This is a story of fishermen from a particular community. This story has everything one can ask for romance, lust, faith, courage , hatred, jealousy etc.  The author beautifully captures the emotions of these people.

வல்லம் ஒரு ஜீவனுள்ள சாட்சியம் . அது பேசாது . எல்லா வல்லங்களுக்கும் எல்லாம் தெரிந்திருந்தது . அனால் ,தங்களுடைய எஜமானவர்களுடைய நன்மையைக் கருதி பேசாமலிருகின்றன .

The story can be read in any characters point of view : Cruz fernando - typical fisherman for who the sea / ocean is everything. His life is very simple but manly. He loves his family so much but never expressed openly - typical to our fathers.  The way he crumbles after losing his vallam was something no one can express. I have seen our grand parents talking very emotionally about losing a boat and losing the simple life of those good olden days. Cruz represents lots of our grandparents for whom old is gold and could not understand the way the new world works.

Philomi , the youngest daughter of Cruz and Mariyammai. I can say she is the real protagonist of this story. She is in love with Samydass ,she trust him whole heartedly. Though, they both had physical relationship , she was not angry with him.  In fact , she started to understand the whole situation with a help of her friend Ranchi.  Philomi almost hated her mother - she did not like her the way she do makeup  and was not happy with her relationship the teacher.  But everything changes once Mariyammai dies. She respect Samydass's decision to marry another girl and accept her life as it is and moves on.

Sebasti , the only son of Cruz fernando, is a teacher working in a nearby village and wants his father to sell the vallam and joins him. Though he was angry with his father , he never hated him and he continued to support Philomi even after his mother's death. Sebasti's situation is peculiar to many of today's fishermen's sons too. After education these sons settled down in cities and asking their parents to join them. It happens and will continue .

Mariyammai - the mother of Philomi and Sebasti, is another interesting character. She spends more time with the teacher than with Cruz. Cruz and family acknowledged their relationship and she continued the relationship even after the village started saying bad things . She found something which is missing in her life in teacher. Philomi understood it.  The reaction of Cruz after the death of Mariyammai is typical to that generation's husbands- very loving but never showed it. Very touching and cinematic( It was a sad sight).

Another very interesting character is Ranchi , Philomai's close friend. This character is a must in this story because of conflicting nature of all the main characters. Ranchi too experienced all the disappointments like Philomi but she moved on and lives happily with her husband.  Through Tharaganar (தரகனார் ) character the author beautifully portrays the relationship between the two communities.  My island Pamban never had any big religious riots or clashes as far as i remember. We always go well with other religious communities.

The clash between boat owners and vallam owners is still continuing in many villages. Issac , the boat owner loses his boat in a cruel way. Loosing boat is like loosing life for a boat owner.  Cruz and Issac both loses their mind and went on living child-like life - I don't know why these two characters keep coming to my mind.

The author brings a typical Christian fishing village alive . The details are perfect. The characters are real , the relationships are real and the story too. Along with "ஆழி சூழ் உலகு" , this novel brings the essence of the fishing communities.

A classic .

Invisible Cities - Italo Calvino

I started Calvino's Cosmicomics first but ended up finishing Invisible Cities first. Calvino was a remarkable writer in many sense. His writing is simple but very thought provoking . Definitely one will be enchanted by the portrayal of various cities in this novel. 

Cities, like dreams, are made of desires and fears, even if the thread of their discourse is secret, their rules are absurd, their perspectives deceitful, and everything conceals something else.

Memory's images, once they are fixed in words, are erased. 

This is sort of travelogue of Marco Polo about the cities  he visited. He tells these stories to the great Genghis Khan. In fact there is no story in it. A novel without a story.This is not really about the cities its about ordering and reordering of human emotions and conditions of the modern world. These cities are seldom with people. Cities are grouped into random patterns.Cities are imagined and conceptualized. Calvino's cities are constructed by ideas and emotions.

There are two ways to escape suffering it. The first is easy for many: accept the inferno and become such a part of it that you can no longer see it. The second is risky and demands constant vigilance and apprehension: seek and learn to recognize who and what, in the midst of inferno, are not inferno, then make them endure, give them space

Falsehood is never in words; it is in things.

I read and reread many pages again and again. This book is definitely not an 'one-sit-reading' book.One needs to analyse each and every cities descriptions , I certainly believe that Calvino wants the reader to explore the inner longings , thoughts and emotions of his / her own.  The imagery portrayed by the author is so powerful, one cannot just race through this book.

You reach a moment in life when, among the people you have known, the dead outnumber the living. And the mind refuses to accept more faces, more expressions: on every new face you encounter, it prints the old forms, for each one it finds the most suitable mask.

 At times the mirror increases a thing’s value, at times denies it.

The author is inventive and original - each and every word strikes its notes perfectly. Both Marco Polo and Genghis build their own cities throughout the narrative by doing so they understand everything - empires, architecture,languages ,tales etc.Its time  for me to finish 'Cosmicomics;.

"Invisible Cities" is  a must read classic.

நித்யகன்னி - வெங்கட்ராம் (Nithyakanni - M V Venkatram )

Madhavi loves Kalavan from the moment she saw him. This is the Mahabharatha story of Madhavi , was born with the gift. The gift was he will become a virgin again after giving birth.  This boon becomes bane as she was tossed by the male characters for their own purpose.

Kalavan wanted to give his master Viswamithra a gurudaksana ,though the master refuses Kalavan insists his master to ask anything. The master unwillingly asks for 800 white horse with one black ear. Kalavan goes to Yayati , the king of Prathisda. The King did not have those type of horses and he did not  want to disappoints Kalavan so he gave his daughter.

மாதவி நீ என்னைக் கணவன் எனக் கருதுகிறாய் அல்லவா?அவள் சிரக்கம்பம் செய்தாள் .
நான் சொல்வது போல் நீ நடக்க வேண்டும் . நான் சொல்கிறேன் : குருநாதர் கூறியதுபோல் ,நீ மூவரை மணம் புரிந்து கொள் ;அப்பால் நீ கன்னிப்பருவம் திரும்பவும் பெறுவாய் ; உன்னை  நான் - பிறகு மணக்கிறேன் .
மாதவிக்குத் தலை சுற்றியது : "என்  கன்னி கழியாது .உண்மைதான் . ஆனால் தன் மனையாளை வேறு புருஷன் தீண்டினான் என்பதை ஒரு புருஷனால் சகிக்க முடியுமா?"

The three kings mesmerized by the beauty of Madhavi married her  .Each of the three kings keeps Madhavi for specific period of time till she produce a child, in return they will give two hundred horses to Kalavan.

The first king Haryaswa was kind of a playboy but Madhavi was not interested in anything still she satisfied the sexual desires of the king.He bore him a son. After  1 year Kalavan returns and take her. While retuning , Kalavan try to convince Madhavi about leaving this mission and go back to the Master and explain their suffering but Madhavi warns him about the Master's temper and proceeds to the next kingdom.

I read the story many times so many questions arises and I'm keep thinking about it:

Yayati sacrifices her daughter Madhavi to help Kalavan, Madhavi in turn sacrifices her life for her father.Kalavan sacrifices her love for his master, whose sacrifies is higher? Whats Madhavi's stance on her three sons? Will she accept them as theirs? After all these things Yayati organizes suyamvaram for Madhavai, does it makes sense? or that's the only thing a father can do? . On the other hand if we check the period on which this story takes place it seems everyone was right

காதலுக்காக  நீங்கள் பொய் சொல்லக்கூடும் ; அதைவிட சிறந்த  காதலுக்காக நீங்கள் திருடவும் கூடும் ; ஒரு உண்மையான  காதலுக்காக கொலையும்  செய்யக்கூடும் .

 Ultimately Madhavi was made as sex toy for all the male characters and she leaves the palace and go to forest.Was she disgusted by the way males treated her?.

The author on request by his friend decided to write about 10 female characters from Mahabharata and he started with "Thilothamai", followed by "Pulomai" , the third one in the series was this "Nithyakanni". I'm very eager to read the first two and the remaining  if available.

An interesting story, told in a very interesting manner by the great  M V Venkatram.

The Moor's Account - Laila Lalami

Before this story, I have never heard of Narvaez pxpedition or Spanish Requerimiento. So everything the story revealed was new for me and it was a brilliant read full of surprises. This is a story of struggle between strong and weak, good and evil.

This is the story of the four survivors of the failed expedition to conquer New World. The main focus of this story is the slave Mustafa, who was baptised as Estebancio. He was a Muslim from Azemmur , Morocco . He is the narrator of this story. He sold himself to the Spanish to rescue his family from starving death. First he works in a merchant's home and shop where he meet Ramatullai. She herself was sold as slave . They comfort each other.To pay the credit he was sold to Dorantes who took him to the expedition.

“A name is precious; it carries inside it a language, a history, a set of traditions, a particular way of looking at the world. Losing it meant losing my ties to all those things too.” 

Though expedition started well, it went downhill once Narvaez decided to part with the ships in search of gold. The expedition suffered with navigational problem, heat, mosquitoes, contagious diseases and above all constant fight with native Indians. Everyone who started the expedition dies within a year except the four  - Cabeza de Vaca , the treasurer, Alonso del Castillo, one of the captains,Dorantes , a nobleman and his slave the narrator Estebancio.

These four joins various tribes and move along the region as the tribes moves. Estebancio learnt their languages. Most of the tribes made them to work very heard for their food.  Due to the groups atrocities during the earlier part of the expedition made, most of the tribes suspicious of these four's actions. Each tribes have their own unique life style. They struggle a lot, being a nobleman, treasurer and captain ,they were not used to these kind of back breaking work but Estebancio quickly learns everything.

The main difference between the three Spaniards and Estebancio was he respected native Indians way of life and did not feel and treated them as inferior . Healing - which started by chance by Estebancio ended up giving them the freedom (from hard work) and fame, which in turn brought them gifts and plenty of food. More importantly they were married to Indian women.

“Telling a story is like sowing a seed—you always hope to see it become a beautiful tree, with firm roots and branches that soar up in the sky. But it is a peculiar sowing, for you will never know whether your seed sprouts or dies.” 

Estebancio in her joint report tells their survival tactics, wars between India tribes and description of beautiful landscapes.  It should be noted that it was the greed of Spaniards which brought all the disasters both to themselves as well as to the native Indians. These expeditor's brought all the unknown diseases too.  There were even cannibalism by Spaniards not by the natives in this story. Father Anselmo's character was a memorable one, he was the one who diffused the frictions among the group, he prayed for the death and friendly with everyone irrespective of their tone and behaviour.

Silence taught me to observe. Silence made me invisible to those who speak.

Among the many female characters - Heniya, Mustafa's mother, Ramatalli, slave in the same household and Oyomasot, Mustafa's wife were the one's which I will remember for a long time. Three distinctive characters.

"Everything had already been loved and everything has already been told. If we only listened to the stories."

The author is an excellent storyteller. The writing is fluid, one will not get bored at any point in this story. The language is simple, clear and credible. The narrative is filled with stories and stories within stories. Most of the folk stories were new to me specially "The story of the Embroider and the Sultan" and "Seven Cities of Gold" etc.

Love is like a camel’s hump, for it cannot be disguised

Historically   (Mustafa al-Zamori) Estebanico, a Moroccan slave who was said to be the first African and the first Muslim to cross the American continent. As always the case, no one interested in slave's story and considered as irrelevant, luckily this author gave some, though its a fictional one. In the original report Cabeza de Vaca talks about the slave in only one line " an Arabic-speaking black man, a native of Azemmour".'

The story is authentic,credible and highly entertaining.

வாஸவேச்வரம் - கிருத்திகா (Vasavechvaram - Krithiga)

I was really shocked and surprised that this book was written by a woman ,that too in '60s , remarkable. Daring!  The reason being the subject - sexual relationships that too 'out of marriage' relationships.

The story is in a imaginary village called Vasavechvaram as author mentioned 'some village in southernmost part of Tamilnadu'. The people were all Brahmins. The author explores many contemporary topics through typical 'thinnai' talks, very common sight in villages those days. The main characters in this story is a newly wedded husband and wife - Chandrasekar aiyyar and Rohini and Pichaandi.

ஆணின் தன்னம்பிக்கை , பெண் அவனை பாராட்டுவதில்தான் இருக்கிறது . அவள் அவனைத் தினம் போற்றி வந்தால் ,அவன் உறுதிகொள்வான் ... அவளே அவனைப் பன்மடங்கு பெரிதாக எடுத்துக்கட்டும் பூதக்கண்ணடியாக இருக்கிறாள் .

Rohini is the most beautiful and educated girl in the village and this makes Chandrasekar angry and irritated. Their sexual life is not that much good.So Rohini expects 'these' things from Pichhandi.  Chandrasekar wants Rohini to surrender herself to her  but he knows it will not happen,on the other hand he himself cannot surrender to her because of social status. Chandrasekar finds faults in whatever she does and treat  her badly. The sexual desires of the the women and men moves the story to the stage where everyone sort of suffer (??!) .  Not only Rohini, many female characters keep their male counterpart at toes in regards to sex.

Pichaandi , the man who opposes Dr. Kandha's way of life and ready to change the society(Revolution, family planning etc). He opposes Chandrasekar in the local election but surrender himself to the beauty of Rohini. This desires leads him to meet Rohini before leaving the village but things goes wrong. Chandrasekar aiyyar was murdered and Pichaandi was accused. The relationship between another couple Subbaiah and Vichu gives another dimension to the murder. Subbaiah and Chandrasekar were grew up together, somehow Chandrasekar got everything he wanted. Vichu always compares Subbaiah with Chandrasekar.

Another important character is Periyapaatta , the head of the family , sort of leader of the community.  He was shocked and surprised by Pichaandi when he came to know about Pichaandi's decision to contest local election.  The village panchayat was Periyapaatta's and other Brahmin elders fort, they decide the course of action for everything in the village, he is not going to give up that position easily. The animosity started growing between these two groups of people.

The word Vasavechvaram means "the place where Lord Indra lives " .So do in this village too, as the below line says.

"வாஸவேச்வரத்திலே, ஆம்புள்ளேள் எல்லாம் கம்பீரமா, எடுப்பா, பாக்க நன்னா இருப்பா. சுறுசுறுப்பா, கடுபடியா காரியங்களே சாதிச்சுக்கவும் செய்வா…"

Another must read classic. Definitely a different experience .

Samskara - U R Ananthamurthy

Another classic from U R Ananthamurthy.The highlight of this book is the brilliant story telling, though at some point  felt like watching a movie.

The story starts with the death of Naranappa who was the odd one out in that agrahara. He was man of his own ways never mind to follow the rituals and traditions. He was a non-bramin in brahmin agrahara. Praneshacharya, scholar and priest is exact opposite to Naranappa. The duty of arranging the final rites for Naranappa falls on Praneshacharya. He has to decide what and who will do it. Garudacharya and Lakshmanacharya the two close relatives of Naranappa are not willing to spend money to do the rituals.Praneshacharya, though married he remains celibate but takes great effort and care of his wife Anasuya. He became popular by defeating rival clan in the great debate and called 'crest jewel of vedic learning' .

According the the Brahmin belief one should not eat anything before doing funeral rites for the dead. Praneshacharya makes sure no one in agrahara eat anything. No one is willing to do the funeral rites. Chandri , a low caste women who was with Naranappa comes forward with her jewels to Praneshacharya, and ask the men to do the funeral rites.The hell broke loose , Garudacharya and Lakshmanacharya urged by their respective wives vying for the gold argued about their relationship with Naranappa . Praneshacharya have to decide on whom to do the rituals and whether to allow another Brahmin community to do it or not.

Praneshacharya waited desperately for the god’s favour, His solution. . . . “How can I face the people who have put their trust in me?”—he said, mortified. . . . He tried to persuade [the god] Maruti: “Don’t you think that it’s my test. Keep in mind the rotting corpse.” Maruti, unhearing, unyielding, stood there, His profile turned forever towards the mountain on His palm. . . . Listening to his gentle grief-stricken voice, Chandri suddenly overflowed with compassion. . . . As she bent as if overcome with grief, she didn’t quite fall at his feet. Her breast touched his knee. . . . The Sanskrit formula of blessing got stuck in his throat. As his hand played on her hair, Chandri’s intensity doubled. She held his hands tightly and stood up and she pressed them to her breasts now beating away like a pair of doves.

The author wonderfully brings the contradictory views of the society on various topics , also through various minor characters highlights the hypocrisy of the people in the name of religion ( The greedy nature of Garudacharya's and Lakshmanacharya's wives..etc). In case of Dasacharya hunger overcomes everything including religious beliefs.

After his encounter with Chandri ,fear of villages discovering ,he left the agrahara and goes out of village in search of new identity.The scriptural knowledge clouds his mind, he wanted to come out of it and live like a normal man. Though he decided to have new life , the fear of going back to old life lingers throughout his journey.

"Though Narnappa left Brahminism, brahminism did not leave him"

The above lines indicates the problem with that community .The books  bring the Brahmin community of 60's in front of us with their belief system and day to day activities.  So many questions arises about defining Naranappa's life. This story made me to think about many things and I'm still thinking. That's the triumph of this book.

The writing is fluid and sometimes poetic, the translator did a good job.A must read Indian classic.

Kannada movie adaptation  :
Part -1
Part -2

Bharathipura - U R Ananthamurthy

 I heard and read lot about U R Ananthamurthy but only after his  death I bought two of his books. Between Bharathipura and Samskara  I decided to read Bharathipura first just because its bigger in size.  I started reading this book when I was doing volunteering work for SEA games and finished it in two days.

First, the story looked familiar for me, may be because I have seen some movies or read some stories like this before. But the ending was something I never expected. Bharathipura is famous for its deity Manjunatha. Hinduism's rules and rituals are in place. Everyday life of the residence here revolves around the deity. Everything is decided by the temple and the deity.

An young landlord Jagannatha who returns after having his studies in England wants to bring revolution by taking lower caste people into Manjunatha temple. He believes God must be challenged and over thrown first before taking steps to make everyone equal. "I must take the Holeyaru into the temple. I must change the tradition of centuries with that one step. I must break Manjunatha. In the one new step the Holeyaru take, all of us will die and be born anew." His main concern is the lower caste and dark skinned Holeyaru people.They were never allowed to enter into the temple and they have their own deity  - Bootharaya who is an agent to Manjunatha .

The Holeyarus do not have any issue with that age old practise , they are used to it - Jagannatha could not understand that - " Beyond Manjunatha, beyond Bhoothraya, beyond the landlord, the merchant, the ascetic, they have the power to live in a secret inner world that no one else can enter; perhaps they're not even aware that they do. Their world has its own shrewd structures."

This book explores the social and political tensions during 70's  along with personal relationships - both social and  sexual. One can wonder where is the revolution takes place is it in Jagannatha's head or outside? "This is all I have to say, Jagannatha. Do you really love the Holeyaru? If you love them unconditionally, you'll be one with bird, beast and chandala and become an ascetic. There'll be no question of any conflict whatsoever; no need for a revolution". The contradicting expectations of Jaganantha about his personal life and others are the highlight of this story. Though he accepts his girlfriend's decision to sleep with his friend but he could not accept the anonymous letter which states that his mother slept with someone other than his father.  He tries to reason the possibility of his mother sleeping with someone and could not take it further.  Though he was shaken but rises up and carry on his work.

This story is allegory of Indian society which is ready to open up but hold back by faith and believes. The author being Brahmin, knew the role of caste played in their life. One cannot forget Chikki, Sripati Rao,Raghava Puranik, Pilla  and Nagamani. Many of the scenes in this story will remain in our memory for long time - when Holeyaru touches Saligrama - the holy stone and when Ganesha uprooted the statue from the temple and throw into the river etc..

A must read Indian classic.

Koozhankarkal Paadukindrana - S.Ramakrishnan ( கூழாங்கற்கள் பாடுகின்றன )

This book is a good introduction for anyone who wants to know about "Haiku" poetries. As usual the author S. Ramakrishnan did a wonderful job in explaining the various aspects of Haiku.

"ஜென் கவிதைகள் இயற்கையைக் கடந்த காலத்தில் வைத்துப் பார்ப்பதில்லை . நாம் ஒரு மலையை ,அருவியைச் சந்திக்கும்போது இந்தக் கணம் என்ற மட்டுமே நம்மோடு இருக்கிறது . அருவிக்குக் கடந்த காலம் நிகழ்காலம் எதிர்காலம் யாவும் இக்கனமாகவே வெளிப்படுகிறது .அதைத்தான் ஜென் கவிதைகள் தன் கவிதைக் காலமாக முன்வைக்கின்றன ."

The author introduces and explains the aspects of the following Haiku writers :

1. Basho
2. Ryokan
3. Issa
4. Li Bai
5. Ikkyu

The author beautifully highlights how different poets use frog,moon,thief,butterfly and winter season as a metaphor in Haiku poems. The interesting aspect of this book is the way the author compares those famous Haiku poems with our own poets like Devathachan and Premil.

Personally I came to know about Haiku poems only in 2007, previously I heard about it but I did not know much about it. I started reading Basho some years back but I did not understand the deeper meanings of many of the poems so I registered in a haiku forum where people published their haiku poems and discussed about the master poets poems. I learnt a bit from the forum.  I believe understanding these master's poem's will teach to you to appreciate nature and life as a whole.

 This book is only 79 pages, a good introduction to these lovely poetry form.

Bel Canto - Ann Patchett

Love is a rebellious bird that no one can tame.

It's easier to love a woman when you can't understand a word she's saying

One of the best novel I read in recent times simply because this story taught me many things. This story is based on the real incident happened in Lima,Peru. A guerilla group take high level executives and vice president as hostages, what happens after is the story of this novel.

It makes you wonder. All the brilliant things we might have done with our lives if only we suspected we knew how.

The story starts with terrorists entering the ambassador's house but everything gone wrong as the target of their operation the president did not attend the party. They do not have any other choice except keep the remaining as hostages. Among the hostages were an Opera singer Roxane Cox, a pianist and a translator. The translator is a unique character, he is a communication point(translates English to Spanish, Spanish to English, Spanish to Russian, Russian to English ...) for all the people, anything needs to be done should go through him .He too very strong and understanding and helps everyone including terrorists.

It was never the right time or it was always the right time, depending on how you looked at it.

The whole group was initially stunned by the voice of Cox and slowly they started to wait for her to sing everyday, even the terrorists like her voice. Most of the males in the group were attracted towards her. I laughed loud whenever the Russian guy tried to propose to Cox, during those times one cannot remain silent about the situations of  Gen.Hilarious.

If someone loves you for what you can do then it’s flattering, but why do they love you? If someone loves you for who you are then they have to know you, which means you have to know them. 

Each character was fully developed and very interesting. I specially loved translator Gen and Carmen, one of the terrorist girl. Their romance was very interesting and the way the communicate and  understand each other is something i enjoyed reading. And I will not forget it easily too. And there is another romance between Gen's master Hosokawa and the singer Cox. Both enjoyed their role in music and even started enjoying themselves.

For a man to know what he has when he had it, that is what makes him a fortunate man.

We can learn that "bad guys" are not really bad and the good guys are not as good. In fact by the end of the story the roles are reversed. I formed a strong relationship with most of the characters , by the end of the book I felt really sad for the 'lovely' terrorists. The author did not talk anything about Peru and situation during the hostage time, I don't know why she left it out. It would have created stronger sense of emotion towards the captors, may be its good that the author left it out.

If what a person wants is his life, he tends to be quiet about wanting anything else. Once the life begins to seem secure, one feels the freedom to complain.

I stopped reading the book after 60+ pages felt bit boring , did not touch the book for next 5 days. Then one day took it and started reading without a break, good I did that. It was a roller-coaster ride of everything, though I guessed the ending and expected it that way but not the relationship between Gen and Cox. The ending did bring tears to my eyes. The community that these group of people created was uniquely bonded , no one wants to break it even the Red Cross mediator, who really enjoyed staying with them. I too did not want to break that.

The writing is superb ,sometimes lyrical and it will make a good movie. The story says all humans are nice if given chance.

Wonderful read.

Killing Jesus : A History by Bill O'Reilly & Martin Dugard

Im not going into the politics of the death of Jesus , but this book helps to understood the religious and political situation during Jesus's crucifixion. The authors tries to explain the human nature of the Christ . As mentioned  by the authors its a historical account of Jesus's Killing not a biography or religious text.

For me, many of the information in this book is new. I knew the story of Jesus crucifixion only through the Bible, but this books gives lots of historical information which im not sure correct or not. Definitely there are some fictional elements there in this killing story of this author. Though the book focus mainly on the killing of Jesus, the authors did not include the vital information about Jesus's beliefs ,in fact they missed many of Jesus sayings and teachings.

The authors explains the ruthlessness of the various Roman rulers and their tensed relationship with Jews.The authors gives lots of details about Caesar, Tiberius , Cleopatra ,Octavius etc which is interesting and give some perspective of the situation during Jesus's time. In fact all these characters were introduced one by one and each one played a role in Jesus's killing. The authors wrote little more than needed about the sexual lives of those Roman rulers.

The roles played by leaders of the Jews specially Annas and Caiaphas and their close relationship with Roman rulers were told realistically.The authors explains how the high priests and his family controlled the temple's wealth specially during the Passover.  The Passover rituals and how people /mob behaved during that time  were explained very clearly . The authors also give some information about Jews Sanhedrin - the assembly of seventy one Jew leaders and how Caiaphas made use of the Sanhedrin to sentence Jesus.(Since I have not read any book other than Bible I can not argue anything about these informations yet !!)

This book is definitely readable history book written in simple language and style. Various places and roads Jesus and his disciples visited  'comes alive'  as the authors explains the Jesus's journey into Jerusalem.  Since most of the details are taken directly from the Bible its like reading the Bible itself. Its better for any reader like me to fall back on Bible for more details about various events explained in this book. It seems some of the events explained in this book contradicts the Bible's version.

Definitely a good read.

Our Moon Has Blood Clot - Rahul Bandita

This is the second about Kashmir I read . The first one was written by a Muslim and this one was a by Hindu. Both gives two different perspectives but one thing was sure - the people of Kashmir had suffered a lot.

I have to admit that I did not know anything about the Kashmiri Pandits before this book, always that Muslims are the only sufferers. To my shock , the atrocities by the Pathans towards Bandits were unspeakable. While reading this book simultaneously I searched in the internet about the exodus of the bandits - really shocking.First thing that struck me - why there was not much news about this tragic events in main stream media. I think they mostly focused on militancy. Another pathetic thing was the inability of the government during that period, the book clearly says that the government did not do much .

"Tradition is like an embarrassing grandparent who needs to be fed and put back to bed in a back room."

The book starts with short history of Kashmir and its beauty, specially the author's place. Kashmir's history is unique on its own, ruled by very different kingdoms. According to the author the golden phases were  reigns of Lalitaditya and Avantivarman and the worst were the reigns of Sultan Sikander and other Afghan rulers. The author also explains how the Pandit community progressed and suffered throughout the history.

 The author feels that everything was perfect before the exodus.May be or may not but nothing is same after the riots. The author meets many exiled bandits and made them to talk about those dark days. The unfortunate things happened during 1947 was told through the eyes of Prithvi Nath. The story of Ravi his friend was too emotional for me . In all these conflicts mostly innocent people only get killed.

"God pervades every particle,every being
  Don't distinguish between a Hindu and a Muslim"

One can sympathize with the author's mother who was shocked at being called a refugee and her need to talk to everyone about their house with 22 rooms. Definitely one will get emotional while reading about the family's stay at the camp and later at  the lodge, their struggle for water and food. The slow deterioration of mother's health was something very unfortunate and the author explains the pain of the whole family.   The book also shows the abject failure of the state to provide for refugees.

This book depicts the pain of the exiled community aptly.A must read book for every Indian.

The Great Tamasha - James Astill

The author documents the growth of India with development of Cricket. The books starts with history of Indian cricket and it's origin. Most of these information I knew through Ramachandra Guha's " A Corner of a Foreign Field". This author gives more credit to Lord Harris than Guha for the development of Cricket in India. I knew most of the information in the early chapters so it was a easy and quick read. But I can not blame author for this because many readers may not know the Indian cricket history.

Though the story is repetitive it did not bored me, in fact I devoured the information about Palwankar brothers, Ranjitsinhji and Duleepsinhji (both played for England), the heroic innings by CK Nayudu against visiting MCC. Then the exploits of the spin quartet - Bedi, Prasana, Venkatraghavan and Chandreskehar - wonderful read. The author also watches India Vs Pakistan match to get the real feeling of the public and of course, the politics played out behind it. The story of Nawab Pataudi was very interesting.

The author explains how the Indian public moved from melodic dramas to the shorter format of the game in quick time by the advent of satellite television and the middle class growth. All these shorter format worshipping started in 1983 when India won the world cup beating the mighty West Indies.The arrival of  T20 format changed everything in India. The book also highlights the caste difference in the sport.

The best explanation for India’s shortage of fast bowlers is not religious or physiological: India has 30 million Punjabis of its own and an awful lot of tall people. It is cultural. India’s biggest cricketing heroes have been batsmen, from Nayudu to Gavaskar and Tendulkar. Some see in this a continuation of the old British snobbery favouring gentleman-batsmen over working-class bowlers.

Through the  story of Cheteswar Pujara  the author highlights the aristocratic nature of the national and state cricket boards. The relationship between Pujara and his father was beautiful and the author did a wonderful job in telling this story. Another interesting read chapter is about India , Pakistan matches. Another highlight in the book is the role of religion (and questioning of patriotism) in cricket, specially in regards to India and Pakistan matches. The story of Azar and Irfan Pathan was a good example. The story of Pawar and his power play was well known to Indian Cricket fans , the author used this story to the full extend.

The book is written easy style and language, starts slowly and ends with a blast i.e IPL scams etc.The book is a  kind of study of power, wealth and corruption in India. India turned once an English summer game into a multi-billion dollar entertainment industry. The author wonderfully explains the role played by Lalit Modi in the creation of IPL and his life after the scandals. At one point the author highlights the lack of interest for Cricket in IPL in parts of India.

Another good book about Indian Cricket.

Anandamath - Bankim Chandra Chatterji

I had no idea how I came to know about this book. When I chose this book to read and kept on thinking about the source of this book's introduction to me. I did not find any. That itself made me to read this book in a stretch.About the author, as most Indian students I too knew Bankim Chatterji through  "Vande Mataram" song.

Anandamath is a historical fiction with some strong patriotic message and sentiment. The difference between the other Indian historical fiction and this one is that the protagonists are monks(sanyasi). This is the story of sanyasi revolution against British during 1700's. I should admit that I did not know anything about Sanyasi revolution before. The story starts with people struggling and dying without food due to famine (Bengal famine of 1770). In this book the author portrays the country (India) as a mother. The rich merchant Mahendra with his wife Kalyani and son decided to migrate to Calcutta for better living, but they were separated during the journey. Both of them were rescued by monks at different places. The monks took care of them.

The motherland is our only mother. Our motherland is higher than heaven. Mother India is our only mother we have no mother. We have no father, no brother, no sister, no wife, no children, no home, no….all we have is the mother.

A monk simply called Mahatma , he was the leader of rebelling sanyasis. He brings all together irrespective of their caste. Mahendra joins the ranks of Sanyasis after his oath to denounce family life. The sanyasis never told him about his wife and son.  Mahendra works diligently and support the monks in all possible manners. Meanwhile Kalyani works under another monk. The son is with sister of one of monk.

We are not afraid. A man never dies more than once in his life. And what death would it be if it occurs in the service for our Mother. Something worth dying for.”

There is another beautiful story of Jiban and Shanti. Jiban left Shanti and joined other monks to fight for freedom. Shanti knew that Jiban is alive and later joined the movement. One can definitely feel that nationalistic tone of the stories as it progress. By the time the revolt starts i.e actual battle starts you are with the monks fighting against the Captain Thomas's troops.  The climax is so dramatic, one can end up crying and angry. The main characters  Mahendra, Jiban, Bhavan ,Shanti etc have different layers of personalities.

I have never read any of Bankim Chatterji's works but I think I started with a good one. This book is definitely a must read . A historical fiction with high amount of patriotism.

Bookie Gambler Fixer Spy - Ed Hawkins

I always had suspicion on matches between India and Pakistan specially played in Indian subcontinent, nevertheless like everyone I watched those matches. After IPL the suspicion on the players grew in me. I was never a fan of IPL. Never supported any team. Never watched full match. And I was happy when the authorities found irregularities in player conducts , spot fixing etc . But I don't know how these fixes and betting works. So for me all those fixing news are just news. But this book gave me clear view of what is going on in Indian betting market.

I started this book just before quarter finals of the World Cup 2015, fascinated from beginning to end and I finished the book just before first semi-finals.  The author is a specialist journalist in sports betting and knew the mathematics involved in it. Unlike other writers , he travelled all the way to India to get first hand experience with those involved in it. The result is this wonderful book.The book explains clearly myriad working of the illegal betting (the types of bets), syndicates , punters etc.

The book is divided into three parts each explaining the authors takes on different issues on the problem of match fixing and happenings in betting in world cricket, specially Indian market. The author befriends the Vinay and Parthiv  , the bookies, through twitter. These two explains him how Indian betting market works. During World Cup 2011 semi-final match between India and pakistan he received 'script' of the match from Parthiv. A script of things to happen in the match. To his surprise and shock , the match is played out almost the same as in the script. This made him to travel and search more about betting and fixing in India.

For me too , the 'script'  - "Bookie update... India will bat first and score over 260, 3 wickets fall within the first 15 overs, pak will cruise to 100, then lose 2 quick wickets, at 150 they will be 5 down and crumble and lose by a margin of 20 runs" - was real shock. I watched the match again after reading this ,oops to my shock its almost the same . What to say!!

The author asks anyone he meets in India about that particular match but to his dismay no one gave him any detail , even the Pakistan spy too, who promised him about more details. Though in later chapters the author dismantle each part of the script with the match and trying to find the probability of fixing , he could not conclude anything but one can not eliminate the fixing suspicion.

Though betting is illegal in India , the way it operates makes one wonder what the authorities and BCCI doing. This book clearly says that the Indian betting market is well organized and structured. The syndicates runs the whole show with small players on the ground. These syndicates creates fear among the bookies,players and other participants to make these illegal activities discreet. The way these bookies operates on the match day - wow- non stop running commentary of the odds

In Indian industry , a punter can bet on four - (Lambi , Brackets ,Lagna and Khana) bet on runs in a innings, bet on runs scored in a given time (for .eg 10 over period), bet on team to win and bet on team to lose. The author also found that in India spot fixing like the 'no ball' episode( sting operation by News of the World) during Pakistan England match does not exist.The analysis of spot fixing scandal by the author is very well researched and written and the experience in India helped him a lot in it.

The author thinks legalizing betting and gambling will reduce the problems but cricketers and administrators needs to accept the problem and take effort to sort it out. The author also stereotypes iIndians as money obsessed. His interview with various Indian authorities gives reader another dimension of this illegal activities. But the most fascinating interview of all is the one with Lalit Modi. The outspoken former IPL chairman was as straight as possible, though  he did not admit anything was wrong with first couple of seasons of IPL.

This book is a must read for all the cricket lovers specially Indian cricket fans. As the book says most of the cricketers are clean and we believe that ICC and other boards make concrete efforts to root out this evil from the gentlemen's game.
 
More about Pakistan Spot fixing case
CBI report on match fixing -2000
Qayyum Report - 2000
King Commission Report 
Justice Cook's sentencing 

Anti Corruption of Code for Participants
ACSU
How does ACSU work
ECB Anti Corruption documents

ஆங்கிலேயர்கள் இல்லாத இந்தியா - பியர் லோட்டி (Pierre Loti)

I never heard about this book. Just before boarding the flight back to Singapore I bought this book in chennai airport.  I had only 200 rupees in my hand, did not know what to with that. I just told the shopkeeper give me a book for 200 rupees or less. The shopkeeper gave me this book and gave me the remaining amount. I asked him about the book. He told me that he did not read it yet.

I started reading while waiting for boarding, hardly 15 minutes, I randomly chose the page and read. It was page number 82 "ரத ஊர்வலத்திற்கு தயாராகுதல்" in that page the author explains the festivities in Srirangam. A foreigners view on our festival, interesting ! After reaching home I started to read from the first.

The author started his journey from Srilanka (Anurathapuram) and he was in a state of wonder about the beauty of the ruined city. His first stop in India was Tirnelveli from there he went to Trivancore. He was a guest of the Trivancore king. The author writes highly of the kingdom. He also visited Jew settlement in Mattancheri. The author beautifully explains the 'situation' in Hyderabad when people were waiting for the Nizam Prince's visit.In Madurai he met the great dancer Balamani and was intrigued by the respect the dancer got from the public.

The author was appalled by the contradiction of the great celebration and the poor people begging for food outside the fort. He visits Golconda fort and was amazed by the nearby caves.He was really sad to know the bad conditions of these historic places.

The Great Famine:

 The author vividly describes the condition of the people of the areas affected by famine. Throughout his journey towards Udaipur he saw malnourished children begging for food in different stations.

இந்தப் பகுதியில் காடுகளும் இறந்து விட்டுள்ளன ; எங்கும்  வறட்சியும் வறுமையும் தாண்டவமாடுகிறது .

ஐரோப்பிய இனத்தின் தாய் மற்றும் தொட்டிலகக் கருதப்படும் இந்தியா இப்போது அழிவுகள் நிறைந்த பூமியாக உள்ளது .

 The author was disappointed with two Brahman brothers whom he thought would help him to understand the Hindu spirituality and philosophy but they were following just what they were taught not knowing anything deeply.He met three fakirs and was fascinated by their way of living.

The last stop of his Indian journey was Benares where he learnt his life lesson.He asked what Benaras great souls thinks of Christianity and he was satisfied by their answers.

"நீங்கள் ஒரு கிறிஸ்துவராக இருப்பின் அதனை முழுமையாகப் பின்பற்றுங்கள் ."

 He believed that Vedic scriptures have answers for everything and it will give happiness and peace. And they were not made by one man but by whole ethnic group and no one can take ownership of it.Throughout the journey the author was fascinated by the Hindu practices and architecture. And writes highly of those things. But as his journey proceeds towards north India the plight of famine was too much , everywhere people lining up for food and he was saddened . On the other hand the richness of kings and princes made him to wonder about the vast inequality.

Definitely worth a read!