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Ladakh - Planning The Trip

Over 2000 Km by road, in around 10 days. Stunning landscapes, wonderful people. That sums up our Ladakh trip. But how did it actually work? How did we make it happen? Read on to find out!  Leh, the capital of Ladakh , is accessible by air and road. Flying into Leh is the easiest, and time-saving option, while the road is the time consuming one, but with the added advantage of driving past some of the most beautiful landscapes in our country. Each option has much to recommend it, and we chose the road for just one reason – altitude sickness. Altitude sickness was one of my biggest concerns, since I suffer from motion-sickness. Yes, I do travel a lot, but that is despite my condition, and, over the years, have learnt how to handle it. I struggled with it when we visited Nathu-La in Sikkim, and wondered if I would be able to manage a week at the even higher altitudes that we would encounter in Ladakh. This was the reason we stuck to a basic plan, of only 9 days in Ladakh, thoug...

Book Review: The Karachi Deception by Shatrujeet Nath

Thrillers , especially spy thrillers hold a special fascination for me. I remember a time when my dreams were filled with me in the role of a spy, braving dangers and deception to serve my country. That, of course, was a long time ago. With the passage of time, the fascination for thrillers never quite passed, but as I discovered other genres, the enthusiasm lessened, though I still pick up the occasional thriller, mostly for the thrill of the adrenaline rush I get without having to move from my chair!

Book Review: Manto: Selected Short Stories, Translated by Aatish Taseer

I had heard of, but never read Manto before.  

Book Review: Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie

In his introduction to Midnight’s Children , Salman Rushdie writes –

Book Review: Barfani Baba; To Amarnath, Happily - By Aabha Vatsa

‘ Amarnath’ one of the names of Lord Shiva, implies not simply that He is immortal, but that he is beyond immortality, above the concept of life and death, the one who controls all, death included. That is the very concept behind the holy shrine where He is known by that name. The Amarnath cave is situated in a terrain which is certainly among the toughest to cover, and the idol isn’t just a stone, but ice, or rather, water, which has no beginning and no end; which takes different forms, yet doesn’t lose its character; but above all, which sustains life itself! A journey to the Amarnath cave is thus not simply a visit to a shrine, but one which makes you think of life itself, to ponder on issues of life, death and everything in between. It is this thought that Aabha Vatsa puts forth in her book ‘Barfani Baba; To Amarnath, Happily’.

Book Review: The Rose Grower by Michelle De Kretser

The 14 th of July, 1789 - A date which would become famous as Bastille Day, a symbol of the uprising of the common man against the tyranny of the monarchs. The date would soon be etched in the pages of history, but in a small corner of France, the date is memorable too... for another reason. On that eventful day , “labourers working in the fields around Montsignac, a village in Gascony, saw a man fall out of the sky.” So begins the novel, “The Rose Grower” by Michelle De Kretser.

Book Review: The Aryavarta Chronicles, Book 1: Govinda by Krishna Udayasankar

Govinda . We know him by many names – Krishna, the dark one, Vaasudeva, the son of Vasudev, Gopala – the cowherd, and many more. Then why Govinda? Why choose this among all his names?

Book Review: A Possible Life by Sebastian Faulks

‘A Possible Life’ by Sebastian Faulks, is ‘a novel in five parts’. However, it’s not a novel as much as a collection of stories, spread out over various periods in time, from the past, present, and even the future, with the word ‘possible’ being the key to connecting them.  The five stories are of different characters in different time frames, facing different situations, but each of them has have made choices which have changed the direction of their lives. Each of their stories could have had a different ending, but it is the possibilities in life which give the stories the direction they take.

Book Review: The Seeds of War, by Ashok Banker

The Mahabharata is technically an epic, composed by the sage Vyasa. However, in reality, it is so much more.

Book Review: Delhi 101, by Ajay Jain

Delhi 101,  by Ajay Jain, as the title says, is all about “101 Surprising ways of discovering Delhi”.

Book Review: Thundergod : The Ascendance of Indra, by Rajiv G. Menon

There is something about mythology that attracts me. Having grown up on a steady diet of stories from Indian mythology, somewhere, there has always been an urge to rationalize the stories, to search for their roots, and somehow connect them to history. 

Book Review : Raised from the Ground by Jose Saramago

It’s not just crops which are raised from the ground, but men who work the fields too are raised from the very lands they tend to. It is about these men that José Saramago writes about in ‘Raised from the Ground’.

Book Review: The Artist of Disappearance by Anita Desai

When I was sent ‘The Artist of Disappearance’ for review, I was thrilled. I had heard and read so much about Anita Desai, but had never read any of her works. This was the book I chose to carry along on my trip to Shimla, and it was meant to give me company at least for a couple of days.

Book Review : The Man before the Mahatma by Charles DiSalvio

Book Review : Cain by Jose Saramago

José Saramago opens the story of Cain with the lines...

Book Review: Maps for Lost Lovers by Nadeem Aslam

Imagine a town called ‘ Dasht-e-Tanhai ’ (Desert of loneliness), a town with Pakistani, Indian and Bangladeshi immigrants... A town whose residents struggle to hold on to their customs, beliefs and traditions in the face of changing times and circumstances... and you can be sure that the story will be one that is familiar... it doesn't matter that the town is in England.. Far from the roots of the immigrants who have rushed there to escape their fate in their homeland, and yet struggle to grasp the frail threads that tie them to their origins. Yes, the story is familiar. We have heard, or at least read in the papers, about the young lovers who are killed for going against the wishes of their elders.....we are so aware of the fear parents have, that their children will fly the coop someday... find their wings and live their own life.. their own way... Today, as I opened the newspaper, the first article I set eyes on, was one of a minister suggesting that the best way to avo...

Book Review: Death in Mumbai

Reading crime stories i sn’t new to me. In fact, crime and mystery would probably figure right at the top of my reading list any time! However, would I enjoy reading about an actual crime? Should I, in fact, enjoy reading about it? Such were the questions that cropped up in my mind as I considered the book ‘Death in Mumbai’, by Meenal Baghel.

Sons of Thunder: A Motorcycling Anthology - Book Review

Driving is not one of my passions , and motorcycles and I have no connection whatsoever. The nearest I have come to motorcycles is riding pillion with a couple of my cousins, and those opportunities were few and far between. Of the Bajaj scooter though, I have loads of memories.... again, not of driving, but of being driven... When I got the book ‘Sons of Thunder – A motorcycle anthology’ for review, I must admit, I hesitated for a while. Would I be able to enjoy a book that dealt with something I wasn’t really keen on? Would I be even able to complete reading it? But I was also curious. Here was a book solely about motorcycles.... how much could you write about them? So, I laid aside my inhibitions and decided to go ahead and find out just what 26 authors had to write about motorcycles! Image Courtesy: Random House

Book Review: I, Rama

I don’t quite remember which was the first Ramayana I read. I am sure that I had heard many versions of the story long before I read it myself... My mom was (and is) an ardent storyteller, and most of her stories revolve around mythology... and Rama, the obedient, dutiful son who never does anything wrong, is probably the favourite character of most Indian parents. “Look at Rama. Did he ever back answer to his parents? Did he even question his father or step mother when he was told to go into exile? Thats what an ideal child should be like.” I am sure most of you would have heard this dialogue sometime in your life.

Book Review - The Elephant's Journey

“There is the elephant. Although he is smaller than his african relatives, one can still see, beneath the layer of dirt covering him, the fine figure nature had in mind when she created him. Why is the animal so dirty, asked the king........I want this animal washed right now.......

Book Review: Balasaraswati - Her Art and Life

A question I was regularly asked at one time was:”So, you are a Tamilian. You must have learnt classical music and Bharatanatyam, right?” It was a question which always succeeded in irritating me, for I had nothing to do with either music or dance, despite being a Tamilian. Yes, my mom had, true to tradition, tried to get me interested in music. I had endured the classes for a year, and soon after, telling my mom that the classes intruded into my reading time, had refused to go anymore. She would have loved to send me to Bharatanatyam classes, but that was something I had no interest in even trying! Having two left feet, I stayed away from dance of all kinds, and she soon gave up, leaving me to my literary pursuits.  Living in a place where there were hardly any cultural events, and even fewer related to our South Indian background, I grew up blissfully ignorant of Carnatic music and Bharatanatyam.  Then, I got married and shifted to a predominantly South Indian neighbourhoo...