Long ago, when I was about eleven, I went on  a trek through a nearby forest with my brother, uncle and his friend from college. All we carried with us was a back pack with a water bottle and a box of bajjis my grandmother had made especially for the trek. Once we reached a clearing, my uncle and his friend plonked themselves on a rock to do some catching up on their lives. My uncle strictly instructed us to explore the forest on our own but only within his field of vision. He visually marked the boundaries and told us to stay within.

Eagerly my brother started looking for exotic insects and wild animals. (Considering the sparse forest, I don’t think it housed any!) But me, I was on another mission. High on all the Enid Blyton stories I’d been reading, I was in search of pixies. Once I met them, I wanted to ask one of them kindly to accompany me back home.

I started speaking softly to the bushes and plants, sure that pixies were hiding inside them. I tempted them with various treats if only they’ll come out and show themselves.

My brother slowly stopped what he was doing and began to notice me. Once he came closer and realised what I was doing, he started begging me to stop. He had a panicky edge to his voice. He was sure that I had totally lost it. “There are no such things as pixies, ” he pleaded. ” Its only a story… Will you please stop this nonsense at once?”

“Go away!” I snapped at him. “You’re scaring my pixies.”

Giving up he wandered back to my uncle casting nervous glances towards me.

After a while I gave up too and plonked myself on another rock and began to devour the bajjis.

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Last week I finished two books based on Indian mythology back to back.

One was Ashok Banker’s Prince of Ayodhya (I know, I know, it came out ages ago, but just got my hands on it!) and the other was The Pregnant King by Devdutt Patnaik.

The former was Valmiki’s Ramayana retold and the latter was a fiction based on one of the branch stories from the Mahabharatha.

And both were just brilliant.

How could Banker make the Ramayana, which we all have heard a hundred times from our grandmothers to Amar Chthra Kathas to the good old Ramanand Sagar Productions so gripping?

He has got into the pyschies of each individual character and not just stereo-typed them. He’s just taken them from the 2 dimensional level we’ve been used to and re-presented them in 3 dimension. I never knew what went on Rama’s or Laksmana’s mind when they followed Vishwamitra to the forest. Nor about the relationships between Dhasaratha’s three queens. This book is full of the emotional struggle they went through when faced with various situations. We all know Rama and Lashmana were inseparable. But what Banker does is also explore the comaraderie  between Bharatha & Shatrukuna. We read about Bharatha’s emotions when he’s torn between his loyalties towards his mother on one side and his father and brothers on the other.

To all this add Banker’s brilliant picturesque descriptions of Ayodya and Mithila, the dark forces, Asuras and thier dark powers, the Brahmans and their powers and all the magical stuff that Indian mythology is made of.

You get the unfolding of this mind-blowing drama of jealous queens, brave sons, all-powerful sages and a Dark Master.

The Pregnant King, though a fiction, is made up of almost the same things. But this is more about a king yearning for an offspring. And his inner turmoils of not being man enough for his mother to hand over the reigns of his kingdom (because he has no heir apparent) in the beginning.

He drinks the magic potion from a yagna conducted to give him an heir by mistake becomes pregnant with his son. He is later torn between his maternal instincts towards his son and his outward, stern and dutiful appearanace of a kingly father.

Brilliantly written, this book too has no slack in the story and travels fast from one incident to another through the minds of the king, his mother, his queens and others.

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Now having  had a heavy dose of occult, ancestors watching us from the other side, various yakshas floating around humans without their knowledge, I’m seriously thinking even if an iota of all this is true, I may have some yaksha or demigod smack next to me and I may not even realise it!

So people, don’t be surprised if I start talking to my comp, my shelf or just the wall…

I think I’ve come a full circle!

Perfect Eight by Reema Moudgil is a haunting story of someone born to parents who are totally opposite in what life has dished out to them.

The protagonist’s mother is a refugee from Pakistan who came to India at the age of 5, brought up grudgingly by a family friend. Ever sensitive of her position in the lives of people around her, her outlook of life is rather grim. She never trusts happiness when it finds its way to her.

Her father, on the other hand, is a very cheerful guy who can sing a happy song at any given situation.

The story is also about her love for Samir, the boy whom she sees periodically during her stays in Anneville, his home.

The story travels easily from Pakistan to Kanpur to Ambrosa to Bangalore… The narration never loses pace even for a paragraph…

I think revealing the protagonist’s name in the last page of the book is a stroke of a genius!

The characters in the book, their pain, longing, happiness… everything is so real.

The language is lucid & poetic…. really touched a chord in me. (Imagine if  one can smell grief!)

Loved reading this book & I reccommend it strongly to people who love reading Indian authors.

One of the best books I’ve read in a long time!

From a man who frequents Starbucks on business meetings, he becomes a man at the counter or ‘the partner’ (the term used for baristas at Starbucks) when he ends up by chance at a recruiting Starbucks outlet. He quickly grabs the opportunity when he knows he has not much time to think with his impending medical condition and pressure of day to day living.

The events which unfold when he is at Starbucks becomes a life altering experience for him and a thought provoking read for any. The writing almost borders on fictional autobiography (Thanks to Oprah for inspiring the term) when the twist and turn of events are too surreal.

The book teaches humility and most of all foreseeing a rainy day. The author breezes through subtlety and humour even during his lean/dark days, an inspiringly bold attempt at seeing the light of the day.

Grab you venti or tall, skimmed or with cream, caf or decaf sit at your favourite spot and finish this unputdownable.

Chennai Latte – A Madras Brew

Ranjitha Ashok, Biswajith Balasubramaniam

This book deals with everything a Chennaiite goes through in his day, from the moment he wakes to the time he hits the sack. From the pot holes he maneuvers and festivals he feverishly celebrates. A day in the life of Chennaiite is not easy, be it receiving a long lost distant cousin flying for a visit from the US or standing in queue to visit an American aunt, the die hard spirit he holds while standing in the queue in front of the American Emabssy in the questionable hours of the morning with a picnic basket, has been brought about with a dry sense of humour that is so close to a Chennaiite’s heart. The true ability of a Chennaiite to laugh at himself at the end of the day while he can carefully wriggle himself out from the tough clasps of a cop, is so well brought about by the duo Ranjitha and Biswajith.

The degree or the meter coffee that runs in the blood and sweat of every Chennaiite has seen many a musing from the works of even great writers like R K Narayan and this only adds a natural flavour to this book and will make any work about Chennai incomplete without the mention of the filter coffee and the ‘davara-tumbler’. The book also reminds me so much of the RK Narayan and RK Laxman, the delighful duo who mesmerised the readers tempering the book with wit and humour through writing and illustration. Do not miss the minute caption every illustration holds.

A book that can only be written so fascinatingly by a writer who has spent a great deal of her life going with the unstopping motions of the city. The language I wouldn’t call it simple but feels like straight out of my grandfather’s journal. I had to re read in a couple of places to understand the subtleties of her writing. I am not surprised by the use of such language that has always been so close to any well read Chennaiite who can put to shame a native English speaker.

A must read for anyone who has been so close to Chennai and woken up to smell the filter coffee .

Set against the backdrop of IIM A, Ananya and Krish meet, become friends and move onto becoming a couple. They have their share of fights, laughs, tears, funny moments and even sexual encounters. That storyline would seem enough for an entire book but this is what Bhagat covers in the first few chapters. The real action begins when Krish’s mom – a stout, plump, loud and ostentatious Punjabi lady who lives in Delhi meets Ananya’s parents – soft spoken, traditional South Indians who are content with their sambar rice, Hindu paper, carnatic music and simple Chennai life. It’s a clash of the titans from the word go and the rest of the book takes us through the events that transpire between both the families – the “boys side” and the “girls side” which eventually takes a toll on Krish and Ananya themselves. So does their love blossom into marriage? Do they manage to convince each other’s parents?  To what extent are they willing to go to make it work? Well, you’ll have to read the book to find out.  The book provides an insight on the Punjabi and Tamilian mindset, for those of you who aren’t familiar with either of these communities. Parts of the story are set in the cities of Chennai and Delhi and you can expect numerous references to iconic buildings and a splattering of local slang. The storyline is predictable; yet Bhagat’s ability to draw you into the lives of the characters makes this book an absolute page-turner.

Born into a North Indian family but having been brought up in Chennai I could very well identify with the book. There is no doubt that 2 States will appeal to the sensibilities of its readers – almost every Indian will identify with Bhagat’s theme and message. ‘2 States’ is absolute value for money. Critics may not find Bhagat’s latest offering to be “Booker” material; but who cares, it’s appealing, engaging and…kick-ass!!!

This is a must-read. Go get your copy.