Book Review: Palace of Illusions

Author: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

 

Book Blurb:

A re-imagining of the world-famous Indian epic, the Mahabharat—told from the point of view of an amazing woman.

Relevant to today’s war-torn world, The Palace of Illusions takes us back to a time that is half history, half myth, and wholly magical. Narrated by Panchaali, the wife of the legendary Pandavas brothers in the Mahabharat, the novel gives us a new interpretation of this ancient tale.

My Review:

Mahabharata is quite a complex work in itself. But this book puts a whole new take on this epic: Mahabharata from Draupadi’s viewpoint.

My sister recommended this book to me. So, that along with the awesome book blurb, I had real expectations from this book, and fortunately, it did not let me down.

There were some explanations for this book that I really preferred. Like the name “Paanchali”, I thought that it was used as Draupadi was a wife of five men. But, I was pleased to know that I was wrong. She was thus called as she was the queen of Land of Panchal. SO GOOD!

What I liked the best about this book is that the author manages to make her characters human.

This book is fast paced, well written and manages to stand on its own!

Buy Palace of Illusions in English

Buy Draupadi Ki Mahabharat (Palace of Illusions) in Hindi

Buy The Palace of Illusions in Marathi

We REALLY need to learn some hospital manners

In 2 days I will have completed a month from operation. I was operated on my left knee legament, and it takes 2 months to be up on my feet again….so one more month to go!

But, in my days in the hospital, and subsequent lounging around home, it has become quite glaring how insensitive people can be!

You understand who cares for you, and who is there to just..i dunno…because they have to.

Once of my biggest pet peeve is the statement: ” Oh! You have put on weight…!”

Ummm..yea… I had a knee operation and cannot walk, you dim wit… you want me to quit eating too? Even worse than that….it’s appalling to see that people focus more on my weight and not my getting better. Like COME ONNNN..even if you are strictly on bed, a person needs to be on diet?

A few of my relatives even had a problem that I was wearing shorts!! In MY OWN HOUSE…might I mention… Let us forget the huge iron wrap around my leg that makes it impossible for cloth of any other kind..It is my house! Even when I am well..I wear shorts! What is strange is why were you so focused on my legs, you perverts!

Also, when you visit people on the day of their operation or even afterwards, be aware that they might be in pain. So if you want to visit, make sure you make your visit keeping in mind their comfort..and if not that..at least ASK them about their health…before droning on about that fever that you had months ago and how much poor you suffered. Or how some relative of yours had this very same problem and how now they are in so much pain…really..REALLY DON’T DO THIS!

I swear, if my fiancé had not been there to calm me, I would have bumped heads of these insensitive people with my extremely heavy leg! Of course…even he could not stop me from imagining 😉

So, if you saw me giving a weird grin..yea..

 

 

 

Book Review: King of Hearts

Author: Prassant Kevin

Book Blurb:

Sometimes you have to fight the greatest battles to discover who you really are.

At the age of 21, Ayan left his home and ran to Delhi in search of his dream and identity. In everybody’s eyes, he was nothing but a loser except for his best friend, Misha, with whom he fallen in love. And after two years of hardship, when he finally got his long awaited chance, he stunned the whole nation and became one of greatest artist and heartthrob of this generation. But destiny had some other plans for him and one day, something happened which turned his whole life upside down. He was on the verge of losing everything he ever had and to save them all, he had to fight the greatest battle of his life.

To know more, read this astonishing tale of a young man’s extraordinary journey to find his lost dreams, love and friendship.

My Review:

While the blurb looked very interesting, I did not really like this book.

There were too many grammatical errors in it which really got in the process of reading. What is the use of a book, if it has grammar errors? There is a reason that the teachers used to say read books to improve your English.

Along with that the use of sms language in books does not work with me. I am reading a book, not a twitter status.

Also the story line had too much of the clichéd bollywood masala film essence to it. A girl and a boy can be best friends without falling in love…I can vouch that from personal experience.

 

 

 

TED Talks:How to stop screwing yourself over

This is a talk by Mel Robbins who is an ivy-educated criminal lawyer, and one of the top career and relationship experts in America. Widely respected for her grab-’em-by-the-collar advice and tough love. Robbins drills through the mental clutter that stands between people and what they want. Her approach is smart, effective and entertaining. Five days a week, Mel hosts her own syndicated radio show The Mel Robbins Show, discussing hot topics and giving advice to callers across America. She is starring in a new series, In-Laws, airing this summer on A&E. In addition, she writes a monthly column for Success Magazine, is a former CNBC contributor and is the co-founder of Advice for Living, Inc., which develops products and television programming with experts in the wellness, health, relationship and career categories.

In this video, she gives a speech on how you can get what ever you want!

Borrowed Plumes: Book Review

Author: Pratima Kapur

Book Blurb:

1805 – The feisty Ragini and her husband, Indrajit Rai have to leave their ancestral home in the Himalayas in search of new pastures. Settling in their new home, the Rais make a life for themselves on the foothills with help from Raja Jaswant Singh. The family flourishes and with their hard work and dedication, work themselves up to their past glory.

1980 – Himmat Rai is an Army Officer, who is home after a wonderful thirty five years in service. He and his wife hope to settle peacefully into retired life, but circumstances disturb their peace. Who is the person behind this terror? Why is ‘three’ a lucky number for the Rai family? Will anyone succeed in stopping the Devil’s work and bring justice and peace to the land?

My Review:

I really enjoyed this book, the writing was simple yet elegant.

I especially enjoyed how the author managed to weave a story of the family through generations. How people can lift themselves up and build a meaningful life from scratch with help of hard work, determination and education. While even the most erstwhile families can see destruction if they do not cultivate themselves.

When I read the blurb, i thought that this would be a story that draws parallels between two timelines, but i was wrong.  It is a story that spans generations.

The character that I liked best was that of Ragini. The way that she has been portrayed was an absolute pleasure to read.

Pick up this book when you are in mood for some meaningful yet light read.

Buy the book here: http://www.amazon.in/Borrowed-Plumes-Pratima-Kapur-ebook/dp/B015J5D1KG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1447932223&sr=8-1&keywords=borrowed+plumes+book

 

 

Book Review: S.O.A.R – Success Over Adversity Reigns!

Author: Abir Mukherjee

Book Blurb:

Frustrated with their current jobs, Uday, Adhyayan, and Rajasekaran team up to start an innovative business, non-existent in India until then. Ignoring all pragmatic aspects of life, they chase their dreams with immense pleasure. However, their journey is no cakewalk, as they confront financial crisis and rejections soon. Uday plays a business trick to triumph over that uninfluenced market; it works initially, but soon boomerangs, blowing the team apart. The police arrests Uday accusing him of illegal activity by his organization. Were there any blemishes in their plan or was it just a typical Indian market, reluctant to accept an un-experimented concept? Will they be successful in implementing their innovation, staking their hard earned money, stable jobs, relationships, and life ‘S.O.A.R is the story of chasing a dream, quandary between desire and responsibility, friendship and love. Join the gutsy journey of three young entrepreneurs

My Review:

Again this is not your love story. Is it just me, or are we finally moving out of the me- too Chetan Bhagat genre? If that is the case than nothing like it!!

This is a story about 3 guys, who get together to start a business venture, and as the story progresses we see how they grow their business, face ethical issues as well as personal issues and how they handle it.

While I was reading about the personal life of Rajasekaran. who hails from a very traditional family, falls in love with a city girl. It kind of reminded me of the advertisement. I forget which product it was advertising, but there was this girl whose hands were covered with tattoos. She asks the traditional guy who is accompanied her whether his mom would accept her. He looks at her and shutters…of course..my mom loves paintings.

This book is a very easy read. Its ideal for when you are in mood for something light and fast.

Coming to cons, I found the use of sms language a bit annoying. It is understandable if we are reading a mail or a message between people. But then it became a bit too much.