Review - Moustache by S. Hareesh, Translated by Jayasree Kalathil

Titile - Moustache

Author - S. Hareesh

Trasnlator - Jayasree Kalathil

Publisher - Harpercollins India

Pages - 360

Blurb - 'A novel of epic dimensions ... easily among the most accomplished fictional works in Malayalam.' K. SATCHIDANANDAN Vavachan is a Pulayan who gets the opportunity to play a policeman with an immense moustache in a musical drama. The character appears in only two scenes and has no dialogue. However, Vavachan's performance, and his moustache, terrify the mostly upper-caste audience, reviving in them memories of characters of Dalit power, such as Ravanan. Afterwards, Vavachan, whose people were traditionally banned from growing facial hair, refuses to shave off his moustache. Endless tales invent and reinvent the legend of his magic moustache in which birds roost, which allows its owner to appear simultaneously in different places and disappear in an instant, which grows as high as the sky and as thick as rainclouds - and turn Vavachan into Moustache, a figure of mythic proportions. Set in Kuttanad, a below-sea-level farming region on the south-west coast of Kerala, the novel is as much a story of this land as it is of Vavachan and its other inhabitants. As they navigate the intricate waterscape, stories unfold in which ecology, power dynamics and politics become key themes. Originally published in Malayalam as Meesha, S. Hareesh's Moustache is a contemporary classic mixing magic, myth and metaphor into a tale of far-reaching resonance.

Review - Moustache by S. Hareesh translated by Jayasree Kalathil.

I would say this novel has something unique. To be honest, In the beginning, I wasn't able to connect with the story, But when I started reading with more attention, I felt a connection to the story.

The story is set in Kuttanad, a below-sea-level farming region on the south-west coast of Kerala, the novel is as much a story of this land as it is of Vavachan and its other inhabitants. 

Vavachan, the protagonist plays a beautiful role in this novel which is a blend of Magic, Myth and Metaphor. Vavachan is a Pulayan who gets the opportunity to play a policeman with an immense moustache in a musical drama. He got a chance to appear in only two scenes with no dialogue. However, Vavachan's performance, and his moustache, terrify the mostly upper-caste audience, reviving in them thoughts of characters of Dalit power. Afterwards, Vavachan, whose people were traditionally banned from growing facial hair, just because they belong to the lower social caste order, refuses to shave off his moustache and decides to grow his moustache further. 

To know what is waiting for Vavachan after his decision you have read this beautiful book.

The author has approached the delicate subject in a well-polished way. The characters lived through every page. Though the outline may look simple - "Dalits Vs Upper-Caste", the struggle and pains which they have gone through during the British rule couldn't have been described better than this. The book also talks about so many issues like caste discrimination, misuse of powers, poverty, etc. 

I must say that the author has done a great job by presenting this kind of story to read also a big thanks to the translator for delivering this story across the readers who can't read and understand Malayalam.

Thank you, HarperCollins India for the copy.

 Ratings

Cover: 4/5

Blurb: 4/5

Plot: 4/5

Overall: 4/5

Available on Amazon

About the Author - S. Hareesh is the author of three short-story collections: Adam, which received the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award, Rasavidyayude Charithram, and Appan. He is also a recipient of the Geetha Hiranyan Endowment, the Thomas Mundassery Prize, and the V.P. Sivakumar Memorial Prize. Moustache (Meesha in the original Malayalam) is his first novel. Hareesh is also the author of two screenplays - for the film Aedan, which received the Kerala State Award for best screenplay in 2017, and for the 2019 film Jallikattu, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and won a silver peacock at the International Film Festival of India. Hareesh works in the revenue department, and hails from Neendoor in Kottayam district, Kerala.

About the Translator - Jayasree Kalathil's translations have been published in the Malayalam Literary Review; No Alphabet in Sight, an anthology of Dalit writing; and as part of Different Tales, a book series for children. Her translation of Kerala writer, N. Prabhakaran's novellas, Diary of a Malayali Madman, was shortlisted for the 2019 Crossword Book Award for Indian Language Translation. She is the author of The Sackclothman, a children's book that has been translated into Malayalam, Telugu and Hindi.

Review - Future Tense by Nitasha Kaul

Titile - Future Tense

Author - NItasha Kaul

Publisher - Harpercollins India

Pages - 308

Blurb - The son of a former militant, Fayaz is an aimless bureaucrat whose marriage to his wife Zeenat has broken down. His nephew Imran is a young student, a misfit in Srinagar, hoping to join a new kind of spectacular resistance. Shireen, the granddaughter of a spy, discovers how her painful and divisive family story is deeply intertwined with the history of Kashmir. The paths of these characters intersect and diverge in Nitasha Kaul's tour de force novel Future Tense, which traces the competing trajectories of modernity and tradition, freedom and suffocation, and the possibility of bridging the stories of different kinds of Kashmiris.

Review - Future Tense by Nitasha Kaul is a novel which revolves around Kashmir and the people of Kashmir.

The author has divided the story into three parts. 

Part One -  What Happened After

Part Two -  What Happened Before

Part Three - What Comes Next

In the first part, you will read about Zeenat and Fayaz. An unhappy married couple, after a few years how Fayaz started to ignore Zeenat. The son of a former militant, Fayaz is an aimless bureaucrat whose marriage to his wife Zeenat has broken down. The bonding between Fayaz and his nephew Imran is damn good just because of the little age difference. How Zeenat came to his father's house when she has broken from inside, and how Zeenat's family member surprised by Zeenat's unexpected arrival, to know what happens with Zeenat's and Fayaz you have to read the book.

In the second part, You will read about Shireen, the granddaughter of a spy discovers how her painful and divisive family story is deeply intertwined with the history of Kashmir. Shireen's parents died when she was a little kid and from that point of time, her grandparents raised her. Later on, she got to know that there is some connection between her and Kashmir just because she is a granddaughter of a spy, to know what happens with Shireen next you have to read the book.

In the third part, you will read about Imraan and his friends Bichor and Rafiq and their life plans. There are something very important things present in this story which I can't disclose here so better you read the book to know more.

The paths of these characters intersect with each other

.

The locations mentioned in this book are Kashmir, Leh and Kargil I always wanted to visit these places I am damn sure, everyone's dream is to visit this place like me, The author has done a great job while penning down this book and presenting to readers. 

The author has mentioned various incidents took places in Kashmir in the last few years which we have heard in the news whether it is about JNU, Mujahideen and stone-pelting and slogans of Azadi. How  People living in Kashmir Survive from that. There is a strong connection between title and content of the book.

We can easily connect with the author and can feel what the author tries to tell through her story. Characterization is something which really matters in every story and the author has done a great job in this section. Lastly, I would say that overall author has presented what she wanted to present.

Thank you, HarperCollins India for the copy.

 Ratings

Cover: 4/5

Blurb: 4/5

Plot: 4/5

Overall: 4/5

Available on Amazon

About the Author - Nitasha Kaul is a multidisciplinary academic and novelist. She has worked on themes relating to identity, democracy, political economy, feminist and postcolonial critiques, Kashmir, and Bhutan. Her first novel Residue was shortlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize. She lives in London.  

Review - Where Do You Go in the Dark, My Love? by Isha Singh

Title - Where Do You Go in the Dark, My Love?

Author - Isha Singh

Publisher - HarperCollins

Pages - 176

Blurb:

Your understanding of the occult is about to change. There are no vampires here, no werewolves. These are stories of life interrupted by forces unknown: energy flowing dark and silent from unspoken fears, repressed desires and small-town secrets. Set in hauntingly beautiful hill-stations, the sleepy lanes of Lucknow and breath-taking Rishikesh, these stories explore cities and the characters they coil around: whether it is a waiter disillusioned with the world around him, a school boy followed everywhere by a pig, a lawyer who wears a tiger claw at his neck for virility, or a young woman as much in love as she is in mortal danger. Here, in these eerily quiet worlds, are stories of horror that come from the most familiar of places, where nothing is ever as it seems.

Review: 

Where Do You Go in the Dark, My Love? by Isha Singh is a collection of 19 horrifying stories with unexpected twists and ends present in this book which will surely entertain you. Stories of life interrupted by forces unknown: energy flowing dark and silent from unspoken fears, repressed desires and small-town secrets. Set in hauntingly beautiful hill-stations, the sleepy lanes of Lucknow and breathtaking Rishikesh. It has a stories of waiter disillusioned with the world around him, a school boy followed everywhere by a pig, a lawyer who wears a tiger claw at his neck for virility, or a young woman as much in love as she is in mortal danger.

Author has done a very impresive job by peening down these stories, every story has great characterisation and plot.

Writing style of the author is very impresive which helps to connect with the stories.

I would recomend this book to the readers of Horror or if anyone wants to start with this genre this book will never disapoint you in any manner you will surely enjoy reading stories presnt in this book.

Lastly I would like to appreciate the work of cover designer, hence I also design cover and I really liked  the cover.

Thank you, HarperCollins India for the copy.

 Ratings

Cover: 4.5/5

Blurb: 4.5/5

Plot: 4.5/5

Overall: 4.5/5

Available on Amazon

About the Author- Isha Singh is a research scholar, currently working on Trauma and Memory in Holocaust literature. She has previously done her Bachelors from Miranda House, University of Delhi.  

Review - My Little Epiphanies by Aisha Choudhary

Title: My Little Epiphanies

Author: Aisha Choudhary

Publisher:  Bloomsbury

Pages: 84

Blrub: Aisha Chaudhary was born with S.C.I.D (severe combined immune deficiency) and underwent a bone-marrow transplant when she was six months old. She lived in New Delhi, where she was born. The year 2014 was brutal for Aisha as her disease progressed, and her lungs started giving up on her. The last few months of the year felt like a roller-coaster ride, one that seemed to be mostly going down. Spending almost all her time lying in bed, Aisha wrote down her thoughts to get some relief, to get them out of her head. Aisha’s life was not anything like the average life of an urban teenager, but she had experienced a lifetime of emotions; life and death, fear and anger, love and hate, the depths of utter sorrow and the happiest one can be. In my Little epiphanies she took a hard look at her own feelings and what it was that gave her a sense of hope and control. This book gave her life purpose and meaning, something to hold on to. Sometimes, Aisha’s little epiphanies had morphed into doodles that capture what was going on in her mind as her destiny played itself out. Through the book she wanted the world to understand her unusual life and she hoped that it will inspire others, going through similar hardships, to find peace.

Review: My Little Epiphanies by Aisha Choudhary is a beautiful book 

Thanks to Bloomsbury India for publishing such beauty.

Thanks to Aisha for this book and inspiring us through her story.

Its a story of Aisha Chaudhary was born with S.C.I.D (severe combined immune deficiency) and underwent a bone-marrow transplant when she was six months old in London. She lived in New Delhi, where she was born. The year 2014 was brutal for Aisha as her disease progressed, and her lungs started giving up on her.  Aisha wrote down her thoughts to get some relief, to get them out of her head. The doodles in this book that capture what was going on in her mind. You will feel an emotional attachment while reading her thoughts. 

Sadly Aisha passed away on of January 24th, 2015 after fighting with immune deficiency disorder and Pulmonary Fibrosis.

Her story will teach you about life how everyone has the potential to fight with a problem until your body starts giving up, never give up so easily. You will also get to know why she had chosen this title for the book.

Note: The Movie "The Sky is Pink" is based on Aisha's story do watch it.

Thank you, Bloomsbury India for the copy.

 Ratings

*This Book does not need any ratings.

Available on Amazon
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Review - The Last Séance: Tales of the Supernatural by Agatha Christie

Title - The Last Séance: Tales of the Supernatural

Author - Agatha Christie

Publisher - HarperCollins

Pages - 368

Blurb - From the Queen of crime, the first time all of her spookiest and most macabre stories have been collected in one volume. ‘From behind the curtains there still sounded the terrible high long-drawn scream – such a scream as Raoul had never heard. It died away with a horrible kind of gurgle. Then there came the thud of a body falling…’ for lovers of the supernatural and the macabre comes this collection of ghostly and chilling tales from Agatha Christie. Acknowledged the world over as the undisputed queen of crime, in fact she dabbled in her early writing career with mysteries of a more unearthly kind – stories featuring fantastic psychic visions, spectres looming in the shadows, encounters with deities, eerie messages from the other side, even a man who switches bodies with a cat…
This haunting compendium gathers together all of Christian spookiest and most macabre short stories, some featuring her timeless detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Finally together in one volume, it shines a light on the darker side of Agatha Christie, one that she herself relished, identifying ten of them as ‘My own favourite stories written soon after the mysterious affair at styles, some before that’. contains 20 stories.

Review - The Last Séance: Tales of the Supernatural by Agatha Christie is a collection of short stories. I was damn excited to read this book but when I picked I was disappointed. The first story itself is not that interesting you can predict what is going to happen in the very next moment.

I can only say that never judge a book by its cover as I did while choosing this book. This book has around 20 stories but only a few of them are good.

You will also see a few familiar faces, as Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple make appearances in a few of the stories if you have read Agatha Christie's previous books.

I liked only four stories present in this book which are -  

The Dressmaker's Doll - Stories with dolls are always scary and this is one might be the scariest and most unique of them all.

The Flock of Geryon - Hercule Poirot aids an heiress in bringing down a dangerous religious sect.

The Blue Geranium - The wife of the Kenite the strange case of Sir Arthur Carmichael the call of wings the Red signal

Wireless - An elderly lady hears a message from her long-deceased husband through the newly-installed wireless.

You will also read about haunted houses, mysterious characters. If you want to read some of the stories written by Agatha Christie which have not published before you can pick this collection of short stories to read those.

Thank you, HarperCollins India for the copy.

 Ratings

Cover: 4/5

Blurb: 3/5

Plot: 3/5

Overall: 3.5/5

Available on Amazon

About the Author - 

Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. Her books have sold more than a billion copies in English and another billion in a hundred foreign languages. She died in 1976, after a prolific career spanning six decades.

Review - A Ticklish Affair and Other Stories by Sunil Kapoor and Sudhir Kapoor

Title -  A Ticklish Affair and Other Stories

Authors - Sunil Kapoor and Sudhir Kapoor

Publisher - Rupa Publications

Pages - 224

Blurb - 

A man is blackmailed for a past he never had. An unrequited love story binds two lovers. A man waits for his lover, only to be killed at her hands. A girl takes back her life from her tormentor. From the bestselling authors of the peacock feather comes another delightful offering, ticklish affair. This collection of short stories has all the ingredients of an unputdownable book. Taken from the daily rigmarole of ordinary life, The stories are given extraordinary twists and turns, leading to fascinating climaxes. The dark undertone of ‘blackmail’, the power of belief in ‘Spark of the divine’, the forbidden romance in ‘ticklish affair’ or the eternal power of love in ‘rickshaw faridabadi’, this collection of stories is sure to move readers to tears of sadness and joy at the same time.

Review - 

A Ticklish Affair and Other Stories by Sunil Kapoor & Sudhir Kapoor is a collection of 10 (Ten) Unique short stories, both the authors highlighted many important issues like Sexual Abuse, Smuggling, Corruption and many more in this book.

I am glad that I got a chance to read this beautiful collection. The illustration used in the cover looks just awesome. 

I never read any books from these two authors before. Its a collection of 10 short stories and I personally like 3 stories which are - ‘A Ticklish Affair’,  ‘The Kikar Tree’ and ‘Blackmail’,  there are other 7 stories present in this book which are also good for reading.

Some stories are already made into a short movie, The language used by the author is simple, Every story has some special element, language used in this book is simple and

both the authors succeed in engaging the reader with their storytelling style, looking forward to reading many more from this duo in future.

Thank you, Rupa Publications for the copy.

 Ratings

Cover: 4/5

Blurb: 4/5

Plot: 4/5

Overall: 4/5

Available on Amazon

Available on Amazon
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About the Authors - 

Sunil Kapoor:

Sunil Kapoor, co-founder at Zenith Global, is a Delhi-based financial consultant and taxation advisor. He has almost four decades of experience in guiding national and multinational clients with their tax obligations, strategy consulting, real estate transactions and financial structuring. He has had the honour of serving the ex-president of India and various Bollywood actors. Sunil is also actively involved with many NGOs and has been awarded by Khushii (an NGO) and Lions Club of Delhi for his contributions. He has also been awarded for his contribution to the field of music by the President of India and performed at live shows in India and Singapore. His hobbies include rendering piano recitals and reading books, especially autobiographies. 

Sudhir Kapoor:

Sudhir Kapoor is a chartered accountant and a renowned financial consultant with around 30 years of diversified experience. He is an expert in the field of business controls advisory, audit & assurance, and financial risk management. His clientele mainly consists of public and foreign companies. Sudhir is an FCA from the Institute of Chartered A ccountants of India and a commerce graduate from Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University.

Review - Postscript by Cecelia Ahern

Title:  Postscript

Author:  Cecelia Ahern

Publisher:  Harpercollins

Pages: 400

Blurb: 

We desperately need your help Holly. Were running out of ideas and…’ she takes a breath in as if Summoning the energy, ‘all of us are running out of time.’ when Holly Kennedy is approached by a group calling themselves the PS, I love you club, her safe existence is turned on its head. Inspired by hearing about her late husband gerry’s letters, the club wants Holly to help them with their own parting messages for their loved ones to discover after they've gone. Holly is sure of one thing – no way is she being dragged back to the grief she has left behind. It’s taken seven years to reinvent herself, and she’s ready to move on with her life. But Holly comes to realize that when you love someone, there’s always one more thing to say.

Review: 

Postscript by Cecelia Ahern made me emotional while reading it, like the prequel (PS. I Love You) as expected.

Postscript is a Sequal to PS I love you (One of the much-awaited books of the year). If you are planning to read Postscript I would strongly recommend you to read "P.S. I Love You", first to know Holly's story.

Postscript will make you emotional. There is some magic in Cecelia Ahern's books which you will feel while reading. The Cover looks just amazing.

Seven years have passed since Gerry’s death, and Holly is moving on with her life She is now working in her sisters Ciara’s second-hand shop. Holly has found someone with whom she is thinking to move on.

One day she agrees to do a podcast on "How To talk about Death" for her sister Ciara, and after doing this podcast her life changed, In that Podcast, she shared everything that happened with her after losing Gerry, how He planned everything before his death, How helped Her in moving on after His death. 

A group of strangers have formed the P.S I Love You Club. They approach Holly in the hope she will help them, they are all terminally ill and, just like Gerry. 

Holly doesn't want to recall those painful memories by helping them. 

Will Holly help them? 

If yes how she will deal with those painful memories by recalling it?

Read the book to know.

Thank you, HarperCollins India for the copy.

 Ratings

Cover: 4.5/5

Blurb: 4.5/5

Plot: 4.5/5

Overall: 4.5/5

Available on Amazon

About the Author: 

Cecelia Ahern

Cecelia Ahern was born and grew up in Dublin. Her novels have been translated into thirty-five languages and have sold more than twenty-five million copies in over fifty countries. Two of her books have been adapted as films and she has created several TV series. She and her books have won numerous awards, including the Irish Book Award for Popular Fiction for The Year I Met You. She lives in Dublin with her family.