Tuesday 25 June 2019

For The Love Of A Son - Jean Sasson

Does everything about a certain 'couple of' countries have to be so extreme? Such wrath, such misogyny, such derogation and such hatred for women just for existing? I am disgusted. Honestly, women are nothing but child bearing machines? No identity, no right to live, no right to happiness otherwise? It is okay for them to be beaten, tortured, insulted, mutilated, raped and what not and bear it all. It should be nobody's business. And they can't even break free. There's no law to support them!? Oh God! Did their Allah allow their conscience to write such laws? How come they thought men were so superior and women nothing! I could go on and on, but I am in utter shock upon completing the book. God help me and all those who bear this criminality on a daily basis, and its scary to imagine how many millions of women have been living such lives all their life, hoping and expecting nothing better, no happiness, no smile and dying into oblivion...just like that! Disgusted! Shattered! Shocked! Angered!
FYI: Had I been a citizen in any of these countries, I would have been beaten and murdered for my thoughts, and they would have said, it's perfectly alright. She was only a woman, after all.

Monday 17 June 2019

Where or When - Anita Shreve

What is it about love that can't be controlled? Is it just the hormones, or emotions running deep? If love matters so much, then is love right even when it stands to break existing families, separating children? What is important?
This book reminded me slightly of Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, where you stand to question the idea of fidelity. They say, if you are not happy with somebody, then there is no point continuing in a loveless marriage. And if you find true love elsewhere, even if both parties are married, what about then? This book left me with unending questions...

Friday 7 June 2019

When The Moon Is Low - Nadia Hashimi

Imagine a sky filled with lights and crackers, the atmosphere rife with pollution and dust. Only, the lights are not from crackers, but rocket attacks. This is no wedding scene that you might imagine, but war-ridden Kabul with the onset of Taliban which made mere thriving itself impossible on a daily basis. Imagine how would it feel to feel imprisoned in your own city, in your own home, where the laws kept changing, and the ones you followed, or grew up following, were never right. The consequence of each misdemeanor being death. Imagine a life where nothing you ever do is right.
Kabul is described as lush and beautiful by people before the Russian invasion. After that, everything is just drab, myriad and full of destruction. In come the Taliban, as a seemingly welcome messiah, but that was not to be. They made even breathing impossible. Is staying put and hoping it would go away the solution? Or running away, which is nothing less than walking on a bridge of fire... It seems impossible to me to imagine surviving in such a situation. Afghan stories always render me shocked...

Wednesday 5 June 2019

Coming Round the Mountain - Ruskin Bond

A 30-year old woman (girl) still reads Ruskin Bond, devours any of his books that come out, pre-orders them even. It is clear the books are meant for a younger crowd. However, she has grown up reading him all her life, so now is no different.
Mr. Bond never fails to keep you hooked. His autobiographical style of writing keeps us all enthralled and the 3-decade-young woman would like to recommend this, and any of his books, to readers throughout.

Saturday 6 April 2019

Th Art of Hearing Heartbeats

What is a love story? What comes to your mind when you think of love? Is it a passing infatuation which changes with time? Or is it something you want to keep under your closed fists? Is love about control and how much time we spent with each other? This book describes itself as a love story but could not be far from it. Encumbered by unfathomable amounts of patience, decades and decades of longing, a whole life gone by without that person beside you. Can trust exist without communication? Can love thrive even if the two people in question are not there to experience it? So many questions and such awe all in one book... One must read to realise if all their questions can be answered, or not...?

Friday 29 March 2019

Imaginary Happiness

I had hopes of an open breeze,
Of dreams unleashed, of happy feet.
I had dreamt of satisfying freedom,
Of open breaths and overwhelming clarity.
I had wondered how life would be,
Next to you, sans daunting severity.
I had imagined a life of bliss,
Of happiness and serenity.
What I got was naught as planned,
Of becoming a thing to be despised.
There's a field and I am blind,
Have to walk but I can't see.
Within me there was love immense,
Yet life works not in that sense.
Losing hopes and sanity again,
Running out of mustered confidence.

Wednesday 27 March 2019

One Half From The East

Ever had your identity questioned? Just imagine, how might it feel? What happens when a 10 year girl wakes up one day to everybody calling her a boy. She is forbidden from believing otherwise. Bacha posh, as is popularly known in Afghanistan, is a 'tradition' in which one of the daughters is made to dress up and behave like a boy. This is supposed to bring good luck, and the next child born to the family will be a boy. But what happens to the bacha posh when she is asked to return to becoming a girl? Has anybody ever considered the mental trauma the child will have to experience? Amazingly written. Reminds me of Khaled Hosseini.

Sunday 27 January 2019

Manikarnika - A must watch

A fresh face for historical genre. Our minds had resigned to the fact that probably Deepika Padukone will be the only warrior princess turned maharani in every historical movie we see. But thanks to Manikarnika, all that's changed now. Kangana, at first glance, given her history of movie selections, would make you dubious about her role as Rani Laxmi Bai. But ten minutes into the movie, she will have you get goosebumps, and before you know it, you are glued to your seat, asking for more. Even the interval lights seem like a disappointment. You would wish an interrupted watch. More than satisfied with her role, and the way the whole story turned out. Must watch indeed!