The story line is simple; a boy in search of his birth parents learns the true meaning of finding a home. The plotline chronicles the boy’s journey in this search. It takes us from Pune to Kolkata and then subsequently to the interiors of Maharashtra (Nandurbar) where the protagonist finds his answers. The characters in the book have been etched well. The scenes from the protagonist’s childhood are particularly well written and they are replete with all the teensy details that we may be able to recollect if we throw our minds back to our childhood. Did we not give childish nicknames to our friends? Hell yes, we did!!

With the advent of the Corona Pandemic, life has been divided into the 'Before' and the 'After'. But, irrespective of any such 'Pauses', life goes on undeterred. Much like Time, that eternal nemesis of all life forms, it doesn’t stop. This is a universal fact. Because the events of our lives, are connected with each other, and those of others, by a different, more significant thread. That of overcoming the challenges life throws at us, individually and collectively. To fall and rise only to fall again, with the firm belief that we will rise again. That is the story of life, and of this book. Based on true events, these seven stories are a glimpse into the struggles of the living.

Robinhood Singh is dead. Yet, he speaks, that too endlessly. He narrates the story of his family, who is coping with the loss of his sudden death. While commenting on the goings and comings, his judgemental side peeks out in certain places, and his jocular nature in all! Realizations come to him in small pockets and Robinhood (or Robu) is generous enough to share them with the reader. He is amused to learn the several secrets his mother holds close to her heart and is saddened to discover how his wife, Pushpakala, has masked her unhappiness for years, under her beautiful and serene smile. Robinhood grapples with shock of being unable to hug his daughter Dimple as the scenes of his tormented family struggling to adjust to his absence bombard him.

“Break the chains!” were the cryptic orders of Queen Victoria Empress of India In December 1867, a force set sail from Bombay, under Lt Gen Sir Robert Napier OBE, to bring to heel the Ethiopian Emperor Twedros and subjugate his Abyssinian Empire. The Abyssinian Campaign, involving the greatest force to sail under the British Empire, led to death, desecration and loot. The looted ancient treasures of Ethiopia ended up in England, in Museums and private collections. The desecration of Churches and loot unleased ancient prophecies and unnatural deaths over the years. A group of youngsters in London involved in the movement for return of the Ethiopian treasures discover the deaths and the prophecies that have continued to the present day. What starts as an innocent interest, turns into a sinister involvement that threatens to consume them. Vikram’s great grandfather had taken part in the campaign into Abyssinia. Catherine is the granddaughter of Sylvia Pankhurst, the world-famous champion of Ethiopian rights, Aferwork has a blood line connected to the unwed wide of Emperor Twedros II. One of the Regiments brings back a processional Cross from the Church at Magdala. The Cross has a curse…it lives… The sons continue to pay for the sins of their fathers. The curse eventually consumes the protagonist as he gets possessed in a horrific ending.

This story was written to a competitive prompt on #ArtoonsInn for the #Navarasa competition.  Prompt – Your protagonist travels to a new country for the first time. What emotion takes over their life? I chose disgust’ as an emotion.  ————————————————————————————————————————-   Change is hard. But relocation – that’s harder, because …

Book title – Excess baggage Publisher – Black Ink       Author – Richa S Mukherjee Genre –  Drama, humour    Pages – 328 pages   Language – English Available on – Amazon.in Purchase Link – https://www.amazon.in/Excess-Baggage-Richa-S-Mukherjee/dp/9353579732/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1T8BO33IHYIKT&keywords=excess+baggage&qid=1665057578&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIwLjYwIiwicXNhIjoiMC41MSIsInFzcCI6IjAuMDAifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=excess+bagga%2Caps%2C357&sr=8-1 ************************************************** Excess Baggage is a book that is consummately Indian in its flavour. I daresay that there …

  Book title – Cosmic Vibes – from chaos to quietude Publisher – Literature’s light        Author – Shristee Singh Genre – Poetry     Pages – 81 pages   Language – English Available on – Amazon.in Purchase Link – https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/9391301118/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1   ——————————————————————————— Shristee Singh’s debut poetry book titled – Cosmic Vibes, from chaos …

Book title – A window to her dreams Genre –drama Publisher – Readomania        Pages – 320    Language – English Author – Harshali Singh Available on – Amazon.in Purchase link – https://www.amazon.in/Window-Her-Dreams-Harshali-Singh-ebook/dp/B06VT8GR1F/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1451VWSMJ1D93&keywords=a+window+to+her+dreams&qid=1658801198&sprefix=a+window+to+her+dream%2Caps%2C268&sr=8-1 _______________________ At the heart of this book is an ancestral Haveli, 150 years old that stands as a testament …

Today, if our next generation is failing then the onus of that failure is not on them. It is on us because we have failed both as parents and as humans. The question is, are we willing to open are eyes and do something about it?

What I enjoyed most about the book was the amount of information it left me saddled with after I finished reading it. I found myself thinking about the life of Telgi, his circumstances, his motivations, his penchant for expensive things and his eventual downfall. Long after I finished the book, I was left ruminating over the psychology of the fraudster. What went through his mind as he perpetuated scam after scam? Did fear never cloud his planning? Was he so drunk on the success of his frauds that he was unable to stop? What prompted him to keep going – greed or the lure of power?