Last Train to Istanbul Ayse Kulin (translation by J W Baker) 2002 (reprint 2013) Amazon Crossing pp. 396 Set in wartime Turkey and France, the novel revolves around the lives of a Turkish family. The younger woman in the family has married a Turkish Jew. The family refuses to accept their marriage and the couple…
Unladylike: A Memoir Radhika Vaz 2015 Aleph pp. 217 Unladylike, like the name suggests, is a memoir of Radhika Vaz. The title couldn’t be more apt, given the way she is living her life. Unladylike breaks away from stereotypes. But on a deeper reading you would feel that almost every girl and woman in India…
Vikram Betal (The 24 Riddles and the Origin of Betal) Sooriyakumar Sivakumaran 2017 pp. 58 The legendary tale of Vikram and Betal captured my imagination as a child. Despite having seen the televised series, I have never got the answers right. I liked the moral fibre,wisdom being imparted through the stories. I also love the…
Namak Swadanusar Nikhil Sachan 2017 Westland pp. 160 Namak Swadanusar is a collection of short stories that revolve around the most common theme that I read : Life. In the initial few stories, I was wondering why I picked up this book. I know why I picked it up: I was craving Hindi. It is…
The Unceremonious Revenge Arpit Shrivastava 2018 Half Baked Beans The Unceremonious Revenge is a fictional account of the trials and tribulations of a college drop out. The female lead falls for the young, responsible gentleman who is a victim of circumstance, having had to shoulder family responsibilities at a young age, at the cost of…
Atlas Shrugged Ayn Rand 1957 Random House pp. 1168 Atlas Shrugged is a popular work of fiction by Ayn Rand. The plot describes the struggle of railroad business tycoon Dagny Taggart and her lover, and steal business leader, Hank Rearden in working with efficiency in a fast crumbing American economy. The two work hard in…
The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Marie Kondo 2011 Vermillion pp. 248 In this book Kondo summarises her method of tidying around the house. She claims that this can have far reaching impact on how you live your life. I don’t dispute her claim that a more organised lifestyle at home is going to have…
The Magic of the Lost Temple Sudha Murty 2015 Penguin pp. 203 There are few Indian writers who I have come across who write stories for children that are so engaging that you can’t put them down even as an adult. I loved Sudha Murty’s writing and I can understand why the nine year old…
This blogpost is inspired by my experiences of observing teaching processes in secondary school classrooms. Over a period of years I have observed the general tendency for teacher educators to repeatedly emphasise not relying on the textbook in the classroom. In sharp contrast lies the somewhat archaic method of teaching by reading and underlining text…
The Unknown Indians (People who Quietly Explored the World) Subhadra Sen Gupta 2016 Rupa pp. 83 This is the first time that I have come across Gupta’s writings and I am left wondering why. Maybe because I have long stopped spending time in sections carrying books for children. When we think of books for children,…
