Bollywood fiance for a Day: Ruchi Sachdeva
Different from the usual books that I read and something I would have never picked up had I not signed up for this reading challenge. Vishakha a doctor gets ditched by her fiancé Munish who chooses Vishakha’s younger sister Saira. Feeling let down, she goes on to prove it to herself as well as others that she is worthy of being cherished and not stepped over. And how she does that? In a very typical Mills and Boon fashion by achieving approval of a hunk. In this case it hap…
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Our Moon has Blood Clots: Rahul Pandita
It is a personal memoir of a Kashmiri Pandit. It outlines the trauma of being rendered homeless in one’s own country. Kashmiri Pandits got caught up in the politics of freedom or azaadi. The angst of Kashmiris against the Indian nation was often manifested in their attitude towards the Kashmiri Pandits. While the antagonism was at its peak in 1990s, there was a large scale exodus of Kashmiri Pandits who felt threatened by the extremist turn of politics in Kashmir. The well …
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The Patience Stone: Atiq Rahimi
What a book!! In one word exhilarating. The book does not delve much into time and space where it is located. It seems to be somewhere where people are engaging in fights in the name of Islam. The entire book is a woman’s monologue with her comatose husband who took a bullet to his neck in his war for God. It starts with the lament of a loving, dutiful wife pleading to God to bring back her man. Because she realizes full well the danger of being left alone in such a society…
Read moreOur Lady of Alice Bhatti: Mohammad Hanif
Mohammad Hanif’s second book Our Lady of Alice Bhatti gives an insight into the lives of religious minorities in Pakistan. The protagonist Alice Bhatti is a Christian woman who belongs to a chuhra community who traditionally work as sweepers and manual scavengers. Despite being Christians, caste continues to play a role in the lives of these people. They are doubly marginalized in a country known for persecuting religious minorities. She starts working as a nurse in a Catho…
Read moreThe God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Reading this amazing debut novel of Arundhati for the second time, I would like to start with emphasising on the beautiful language. Based in the state of Kerala in India, the book is a strong comment on the caste system and the experiences of Christian minorities in India. It is the story of the childhood experiences of two fraternal twins Rahel and Esthappen. It is set in Aymanam in Kerala and the temporal set up is 1969 to 1993. Few issues that the engrossing novel touch…
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Around the world in 80 books.
Being a voracious reader, I try to read different kinds of books. What can be better than signing up for an interesting challenge. So here I am. Signed for this challenge to diversify my readings. One should never forget that reading is an excellent way of knowing about a place and its socio-political set up. Good books based on serious research go a long way in reflecting social reality. So I am excited to start this new journey of knowing. Will keep posting short reviews …
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This blog is authored by Parvin Sultana. She is currently working as an Assistant Professor at Pramathesh Barua College, Assam, India. She regularly writes on contemporary socio-political issues.