Name: Home and the WorldAuthor: Rabindranath Tagore (translation by Nivedita Sen)Reading Time: 8-10 metro rides About the Book:Home and the World is a fascinatingly written book. The setting of the book is pre-independent India, when the Swadeshi movement was gathering momentum in Bengal. The book aptly describes the entoxicating radical Swadeshi movement. At the same…
Name: Ek Khali Jagah (Hindi)Author: Amrita PritamReading Time: 2 metro rides (not read in the metro) About the Book:The book is the story of a beautiful young girl who belongs to a lower middle class family and wishes to participate in a beauty contest. However, she is more or less compelled to get married to…
Name: Pinjar (Hindi)Author: Amrita PritamReading Time: 10 metro rides (only partly read in the metro) About the Book:The book is set around the time of the India-Pakistan partition and is about various issues. It talks of family rivalries, religion, relationships and family ties. The strongest issue discussed throughout the book is that of the role…
Name: The Crimson ThroneAuthor: Sudhir KakarReading Time: Forever.. About the Book:The book is set in the Moghul era and narrates the tale of two doctors/ medicinemen, who have come from the far west. The experiences of the two Europeans of their travels in India and how their lives and destinies meet take up a major…
Name: Ohh Yes I Am Single.. And So Is My GirlfriendAuthor: Durjoy Dutta and Neeti RustagiReading Time: 3-4 metro rides About the Book: The book is about the numerous love affairs that the male protagonist, named Durjoy, after the author, gets into and gets out of… and also how easily he gets in and out…
Name: IntimacyAuthor: Hanif KureishiReading Time: 10 metro rides (not read in the metro) About the Book: Intimacy is a very ‘intimate’ book. It borders on obscenity in its language at many places. Several times I got so disgusted that I wanted to put it down. But if you ever go past the dirty old man…
Name: InvasionAuthor: Robin CookReading Time: 10-15 metro rides About the Book: Invasion, like all robin cook books, is a medical fiction… this time medical fiction took an extra terrestial turn.. an alien life force, took the form of a virus and infected almost the whole of earth, taking it over to ensure a safe environment…
Name: Laakhi (Hindi)Author: Anotn Chekov (Name of translator: unknown)Reading Time: 1 metro ride About the Book:Laakhi is a Russian short story based on a pet dog’s perception of her life. Her getting lost in the hustle bustle of the city, finding a new owner, getting trained for a circus and finding her old master back….
Name: Babe: The Gallant PigAuthor: Dick King SmithReading Time: 2-3 metro rides (not read in the metro) About the Book:Babe is the story of a gallant pig who reaches a farmhouse as a piglet. The farmhouse did not want a pig but gets one and welcomes one. The farmer’s dog thinks most animals other than…
Name: Foucault for BeginnersAuthor: Lydia Alix FillinghamTime Taken: 2 metro rides I have never read Foucualt before. I don’t know if I ever will again. But like all “for beginners” book, this one is interesting and very readable. The supplementary sketches add to the interseting view point Foucault has presented to life. I have unfortunately…
