Book Reviews

From the poem ‘Sands of Time’ //They trickled slowly down the funnel, no sound of bells or chime, quietly, through the glass tunnel ran out the sands of time. The mighty mountain stood its ground, foreboding, all alone. The waves would all come and pound their fists onto its stones….//

Between the pages of this book are lovingly cradled a plethora of emotions. As you read, Nisha takes you through pages that invite you to enjoy nature and its elements and gently nudge you to sit, relax and introspect about yourself, about those around you and about life. However, the shift in mood in the book is not sudden. Like a day bright with sunshine and warmth gently sighs into the embrace of the cool, bedecked night; Nisha’s poems lead you down the path of self-discovery and love. Each nugget is presented with such transparent candour that you cannot miss their relevance to your life.

Even though the suspense unfolds early in the book, it is a story backed by some wonderful research and crisp writing. For that alone, I recommend it.

Somehow as I read through this book, I was reminded of the jaltarang. Each individual glass of water has a distinct sound and yet, together put all the glasses create a melodious resonance.

It all begins with a death. Nita, a pregnant woman falling from her balcony becomes the string that unravels the plot. Her death casts a shadow over many lives; her heartbroken father, her husband and Vinny, a young journalist, drawn in by the whiff of foul play and murder.What follows are stories within stories, eras and worlds colliding with each other, leaving behind splintered relationships and mesmerizing slices of lives that appear to be drawn together and driven apart by the whimsical threads of destiny. As events cast their shadows ahead to link the stories of Vinny, Kavita, Roma, Krish and Nita in an unrelenting knot, a journey starts to uncover the truth. What is the secret that links Nita’s death to the other characters? Will Vinny be able to unravel the mystery of Nita’s death? From intimate diary entries and letters, to bantering over a meal and sharing memories while spring cleaning, this novel de-familiarizes the ordinary, presenting a kaleidoscope of our own pasts, broken edges and pulsating hearts.

To the reader – if you intend to pick this book up then take your time with the stories. I think I have it pegged correctly if I were to surmise that this book is meant to make you feel uncomfortable. The idea is to jar you out of your comfort zone and make you sit up and take note. These stories are a heavy read and scanning through them will make you miss out on the idea behind the book – to challenge societal prejudice, stereotyping, gender discrimination and marginalization. If you fail to imbibe what the author is trying to bring across then the whole idea behind the book is defeated. Fair warning - there is a story that deals with sexual violence.

‘It happens’ succinctly captures this dynamic as it unfolds in the lives of ordinary people, people who sometimes got caught up in things that were not of their making. Bhaswar has taken snippets from life, perhaps even news reports and woven realistic tales around them. Backed by brilliant language, the stories take you with them on mini-journeys. To me this book came across as a wonderfully aromatic broth, chock full of fragrant ingredients, which when eaten contained flavours that literally exploded in my mouth.

This is the kind of book you should pick up as a late night read when you are sleep deprived. You pick it up thinking – I am just going to read a few stories and then fall asleep - but, you end up staying up longer than intended to finish the book because your fingers are itching to turn over the page to see what the next sheet with unravel.

As the name would suggest, this is a book about happiness, the kind that only touches the life of a few lucky people. However, it is also a book about loss and finding your way out of your grief. The funny thing about grief is that even though it hurts, we grieve loss by finding a sense of comfort in the emotion. We wrap it around ourselves and refuse to let go because within its confines we still find the presence of our loved ones.

The characterization in the book is strong, as strong as the strong-willed protagonists that Neil has created. His protagonists are not lily-livered children with over-active, fertile imaginations. They are decisive thinkers and planners. They carry the weight of the stories on their puny shoulders.