Karwaan - Movie

I watched the movie with my in-laws last night and have no words as how I feel after watching it. It was more like someone actually showed me a sort of mirror and I was seeing my own life story unfold in front of me. Of-course I am not going to disclose which character I am talking about ;) so you can keep guessing. Having said that, I must also add that this is one of the best and the most practical movies that I have ever seen from our part of the world. This is as real as it can get for sure, on your face reality, whether we accept it or not.

Irrfan Khan is the perfect man to play the character who is always there when his friend(s) need him, in whatever way he can help and how he helps his young friend, who has to find his father's dead body first and then replace it with the accidental wrong body given to him by the cargo company is the entire story. Dulquer Salman is a revelation, Wow, I was able to see so much of his Dad (Mammootty) in him. The way things unfold in their journey and lot of new characters make an entry and tell their own tales is simply mind-blowing. Especially the young girl with her own set of problems and the way how she deals with them.

I was totally surprised with the way Writer / Director has covered so much in mere two hours of the movie's run-time. I found it too short and never wanted it to come to an end. A superb Father Son relationship or lack of it, Mother Daughter, A man goofing up his business, falling in an out of love and in again at the drop of a hat, The perfect Road trip, Adventure, Thrill, Comedy, Surprises from the past and so much more. We thoroughly enjoyed the way Karwaan builds up, moves ahead and reaches its destination.

A movie which no one should miss (right like me) as I almost missed it but glad that I finally watched it.

Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga - Movie.

Finally, after a long long time, we get to watch a movie with the entire family which was full on entertainment, drama, a lot of comedy with a few very meaningful messages subtly told in a loving manner. A movie with Rajkummar Rao (as he calls himself now) in lead with Anil Jhakkas Kapoor and Juhi Chawla in support could never go wrong. Totally loved the way the family drama unfolds, making it a thrilling ride keeping the suspense alive till the very last moment as which side the tide will turn.

What I liked more about the movie was the way the taboo subject of someone's sexual orientation is touched and told never going overboard. I wish they had taken someone better than Sonam Kapoor throughout the movie was a total misfit (now that is my personal opinion of her and my wife's too), I just couldn't feel anything for her. Fortunately the little girl who plays the brief part of her younger days was way too good. Her expressions, struggle, grief was so much visible on her face and body language too was awesome, loved her. Wished big time that Sonam was able to pull it off.

120 minutes of sheer fun with so many little sub plots thrown here and there actually were the best trick for the movie to work for us. Especially the father son relationship between Kawaljit and Rajkummar, his relations with his mother (cute), Juhi Chawla's earth Shattering performance as a struggling actor and awesome cook. Anil Kapoor the Ambani of Moga and his love of cookery, his relations with his mother, daughter, son, home staff etc. Sister Brother relationship and the sea of changes it goes through in two hours. The movie has so much going on throughout that I had no complaints whatsoever and we all were thoroughly entertained. And I must say I feel proud that the makers in our part of the world are getting braver by the year to touch some untouchable subjects. Just for that reason too I wish everybody watches this gem of a movie and makes it a big hit.

Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier (Book)

Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier.

I guess I am the last person on the face of the planet who is this late in reading this book. And Just when I thought (prior to reading this book) that I already have read the best of the year 2018 came along this one which changed it all for the best. After finishing the book and falling in love with it big time, not only with the amazing characters I am literally finding it hard to explain how I feel. Take it this way, if you have ridden a Harley Davidson bike, the experience I will call "Love in motion" similar way Rebecca is "Love in literature". Where the reader not only falls in love with the book or the story or the characters but with everything else as well and totally lives in the Awe of it all. I read the Kindle version and up-to the 33% mark I was like "Who is Rebecca?", around 66% mark I was like "What is Rebecca" and by the time it hits the end I was like "Why Rebecca Why??". What an amazingly superb and delightful read this was especially when the entire story of one Mrs. de Winter (Rebecca) is told by second Mrs. de Winter who Author refuses to name or disclose the name to the readers. I was short of eyes to read this gem of a book and decode it as well as I had to keep an eye on the Husband, an eye on his new wife, an eye on the mistress of the house in their absence, an eye on the dead wife (Rebecca), an extra eye on her cousin, and one final eye on the remaining characters which keep making an entrance and exit.

Book starts with the legendary line "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again." and I had Goosebumps :). Now that I know what it means, it makes so much more sense. Story of heart broken Max de Winter who has recently lost his wife in a mysterious circumstance meets a girl half of his age and ends up marrying her in no time. One the other hand we have a girl with no name :) (I was thinking of Murakami) and no life whatsoever who works as an aid to a whimsy American lady. In a very brief encounter with Max, she actually falls in love with the man and prays that he rescues her from her mistress who is about to take her to America against of-course her wishes. And imagine all of this happens in one of my all time favorite places "Monte Carlo", again I must mention that I am huge huge F1 fan and Monte Carlo has one of the best racing tracks in the world where the race takes place inside the cities roads. And that's where Max and the future Mrs. de Winter fall in love as well end up marrying before they head back home to mysterious Manderley. The girls life changes upside down as soon as she steps in Manderley and comes in the Aura of the earlier Mrs. de Winter - Rebecca. The much loved and admired female not only by the people working in the house but also by everyone she comes across around the town as well. She realizes in no time that she is no match and no patch on Rebecca and she has committed a sort of mistake in falling in love and marrying Max who himself starts behaving differently once back in Manderley. Her worst enemy is Mrs. Danvers the chief housekeeper, who maintains that Rebecca is still there in Maderley even after a year of her death. I found the story hauntingly beautiful and very intriguing as the way it is narrated and almost every page the mention of Rebecca comes in, I kept imagining that she will actually pop out of a wardrobe, right in front of the new Mrs. de Winter to further haunt her. And trust me when I say this, she actually does :) you have to read the book to know how it goes ahead, if she is dead, why and how she died and how that all makes Mr and Mrs. de Winter's life into a hell. Who wins in the end, Rebecca or the Winters, what happens to Mrs. Danvers the ever so loyal of Rebecca and what about her cousin?

This is undoubtedly one of the best Love stories cum suspense thrillers that I have read in the recent times where I totally felt helpless so much that I wanted to get inside the story and help the Winters :). Although there is a little respite for the Winters too in the form of Max's right hand man Frank, who not only works for him but is a great friend too at all times. And Frith the butler too was one of my favorite characters from the story. But the aura of Rebecca is so strong that even after she being not there in person, it is very hard not to fall in love with her. The inevitable comparison of both the Mrs. Winters and the failure of the new one in keeping up with the Winter's previous style is totally amazing read. And the way the suspense builds up, opening of the card and the mind-blowing earth shattering ending, the book actually deserves all the accolades and an absolute standing ovation from the reader. Wow! that last para brought the Goosebumps back which the first line gives the reader.

Another amazing thing that put a big big smile on my face after I finished this book was, my own signature :). If you have read this you know what I am talking about. Especially the way my R flows and is followed by the rest of the letters, I now feel amazing and it will always remind me of that haunting name Rebecca.

Have you read and loved Rebecca? Although (Unfortunately) this is my first Daphne du Maurier book, but is there a book from her which is at par or any better than this one?

PS (Spoiler ahead): For those who have read and loved the book, I really need to ask this. Is the ending justified as per you? By the way Max is let go from what he had done. And what happens with Manderley in the end, you think it is done by Mrs. Danvers as a revenge? And with that, you think she knows what happened with Rebecca in the first place.

A Damsel in Distress - P G Wodehouse (Book)

A Damsel in Distress - P G Wodehouse.

Whenever I feel a little low in my life, Mr. Wodehouse is my go to man and I bet that 99% people in here especially the one's who have read and loved his stories will totally agree to it. So I read "Lolita" last week and was totally not able to get over it, couldn't think of a better book but a PG Wodehouse :) and my Kindle was the savior as it had "A Damsel in Distress" still showing as unread. If three days back any of you had asked me about my favorite Romance Writer, I would have said "Nicholas Sparks" without batting my eyelids but today I will say no one comes any closer to PG Wodehouse even in romance too. The man is a mine of humor and never lets me down, throughout the book I had a huge grin plastered to my face permanently and (no exaggerations) at-least half a dozen times I actually laughed out loud inviting such looks from my kiddo saying "Dad, you've gone nuts". My last experience with a PG Wodehouse was almost a similar one where my mother almost threw me out of the house when I was laughing like crazy in the dead of the night (one fine fine Friday night that was) when I had finished Stephen King's "The Shining" and was not able to sleep and had picked up "My Man Jeeves" as an antidote. Hence this was no exception but what a brilliantly amazing joy ride of a love story this was, where Mr. A is in love with Ms B, whereas Ms B is in love with Mr. C and on top of that Mr. C is in love with Ms. D and Ms. D has someone else on her list and that someone else turns out to be a solid no go yet by the time it ends, almost everyone is as happy as you can expect them to be, they all laugh their ways back to their places and the reader is in a completely happy trance :) back to picking up another disaster but before that I ordered another PGW ;) just to be on the safer side.

And before I forget, A Damsel in Distress is no less than a proper Sherlock Holmes thriller too as it kept me almost on the edge of my chair as I read it especially the way Mr. Wodehouse opens his cards with each passing chapter. A terrific story of a middle aged Earl, who is writing a historical on his own family, his daughter is in love with a man he doesn't approves of. Parallel as she runs to London to meet the love of her life with her good for nothing brother in tows, who has some other plans, and while all this was going on, a gem of a gentleman saves the day for her but in doing so, he himself falls head over heels in love with her. How the story progresses and the various other important characters are disclosed in the most hilarious ways and situations makes up for a superb humorous read as is always the case with a PGW book. I totally love the way Author takes digs on his contemporaries, offending no one but totally pleasing his readers. The way he takes jibes on someone's physical state yet steer clears through his characters thinking in such a light heart manner was totally outstanding. His love for the game of Gold and comparison of the same with Love had me in splits big time. You've got to read this book for that one reason only if not for nothing else.

So whenever you are down and out in life, do not looks elsewhere but pick up a PGW :) which one is your favorite P G Wodehouse if I may ask? As I need to order one now and keep it in safe custody ASAP :).

Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov (Book)

Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov.

I must have read a lot of books in last few years but time and again there comes a book which is a total "Mindf***", a kind of book which takes a huge toll on the reader, a book that I will never be able to forget for the rest of my life. One such book I read a few years ago was from one of my all time favorite Author Gabriel Garcia Marquez "Chronicles of a death foretold". Oh Boy!! I still at times see that haunted scene of a young man moving along the colony with a blood dripping knife in his hands with which he had slithered someone's throat not so long ago. At times I get that scene in my dreams and at times I see it with my eyes open when I am sitting in my office working on something as I take my eyes off the pc to think for a few moments staring at space. Gabo's book I won't call a Mindf*** but was totally mind-blowing. No book or story has come any closer to it so far in last years and then I picked up "Lolita" from Vladimir Nabokov. Damn!! I can't even put it in words what I have gone through reading this and how I am feeling right now (I wish I was writing this in my handwriting, you would have noticed my hands shaking a lot). To put the gist of the book in one sentence I can say it is the wildest imagination ever of the most perverted mind put across in the most elaborate way by any Author that I know of so far. I still remember an episode from my own life when I was a kid in sixth standard, one day I was sleeping besides my cousin (sister) and for some reason I was attracted to her rising and falling breasts, she was hardly an year elder than me. I told my mother about my feelings the same day about those lovely brownish little hair on her arms too. I don't remember what exactly she told me to clear my doubts but I never looked back at her from that angle ever. I guess if my query wasn't answered that day and doubt cleared, I would have certainly become the animal this man was, the protagonist Humbert Humbert as he calls himself. As I firmly believe, we all have that animal in ourselves, it's just that we keep it controlled as we live in a society with man made rules and regulations that we follow. People who do not follow these set rules and do as they wish as per their own instincts, this is how the story of their lives will turn out to be.

I am sure the people who have read Lolita, know what I am trying to say and people who haven't read it, I will seriously advice to stay away from it. Simply a story of incest from a step father's point of view of a twelve year old girl, because of who he marries her good for nothing mother and fulfills his fancies of having a Lolita for life. The man has his own definition of "Lolita" too, there is a certain criteria every girl preferably under 13 has to fall to qualify to be called a Lolita. I just couldn't believe my eyes, my heart kept sinking and brain went numb as I went ahead with the story. The way he keeps opening his cards, page by page, chapter by chapter as where is he narrating the story, if he is any sorry for what he has done or is he proud of what he has done? What kind of ending is he expecting for himself or the reader can fathom how it all will come to an end, it was a total mindf*** as I said earlier. Shocking is the way Author decides to carve out his characters, of-course its a free world and one is totally free to write a work of fiction as they deem fit, it doesn't matter how a reader cries out thinking especially about the little girl, why she was doing what she was doing was totally beyond me. And Mr. Author so aptly puts if not half at-least a good 2/3rd blame on the little girl too, you've got to read to know how he does that, before I guess the realization kicks in and things look like they will go for a betterment.

Not only all that, I was totally shocked, surprised and what not (finding it weird to explain) how he keeps talking to his Publisher, Editor and even the reader for that matter, through his writing. This is definitely a first of its own kinds of book where the Author involves the reader big time in not only trying to convince them of his situation as if the protagonist was totally not wrong and get him judged in a right manner too. Wow! I am totally impressed on that front, he was actually able to keep me glued to the very shocking ending which I totally didn't see coming till I hit the very last sentence. Undoubtedly this is the first of its own kind of story where the animal instincts are bared open by someone in its sheer true form by any one, I haven't read a better account of that in any story yet. Of-course I am yet to read a book based on "Hannibal Lecter" if there is a book on that, this is actually that kind of an instinct but more about sex than about man eating a man but no better.

I will end it here, as it all is making no sense to me and I have no idea if I am able to put my point forward or not. But pray tell me if any of you have read this one? what was the impact, did any of you actually liked it? If there was anything in it to be liked. I would like to read at-least one more book from Vladimir Nabokov before I stay away from his works, do suggest if you have a book to recommend from him that I should read.

PS: I am not in a mood to do any research if this was a true account of someone's life (I pray it isn't) or a confession from the Author of his own life. Even if it is, please do not tell me all that. I will keep imagining that this was the wildest work of fiction and that's that.

Milk and Honey - Rupi Kaur (Book)

Milk and Honey - Rupi Kaur. First book of the year and that too poetry :) sent by a very dear friend which totally surprised me. I am not much into poetry anyways so had hardly any expectations from this one and my first thoughts were that I may read a few of them as an obligation and let her know that it was beautiful and all that. But what intrigued me was the way the whole book is designed or shall I say conceptualized, totally black front and back. Plus every chapter starts with two back to back black pages and the title mentioned in-between. All the poems and sentences start with small letters, not a single capital letter used anywhere. Mind-blowing illustrations, nerve shattering words, heart-touching painful story of child abuse, heart break, failed relationship and finally last but not the least to my some comfort about healing. A tight slap on patriarchal society which refuses to change even after being free and (so called) democracy for more than 70+ years. I had heard of this collection of poems sometime back but never knew about the gravity of her words. Being a male, a husband and a father, it actually made me think so much, of-course I am not a quarter as bad as the men in her poem are. But undoubtedly it shook me to the core and I guess it changed something deep down inside me. I am finding it very hard to explain and I firmly believe with my limited vocabulary I am doing no justice to this gem of a book. Entire book as I said is divided into four chapters and each chapter has so much heart and pain in it that I ended reading the book in flat one sitting. And then next day morning I couldn't control and read it yet again. This is a sort of record for me personally as I have never read a book again and even if I have, not that fast and not that soon after the first reading. The way her poetry took me on a roller coaster ride that even after finishing it, I was in a trance of sorts for next 10 days. Its been that long and I still couldn't gather my thoughts properly to come out with a blabber. To give you a hint about the content, let me tell you the chapter titles. First is "the hurting", Second chapter is "the loving", Third is "the breaking" and fourth the last is "the healing". If you have read Milk and Honey, do let me know how you like it and if you haven't, I suggest you get a copy asap and give it a read soon. You are so going to love it. But be ready for some shocks and surprises as it isn't and easy read from any standard. And I will look forward to her other books coming my way :).

The Agony and the Ecstasy - Irving Stone (Book).

The Agony and the Ecstasy - Irving Stone.

I can't claim that I have read too many Biographies off-late but whatever and however much I have in last couple of years, this one for sure stands out as "The Best", undoubtedly. For last three years, we've been living in a society called "Kumar Primavera", now that, Kumar stands for the builder's name but I'd been thinking for quite a while as what Primavera meant. Tried a few dictionaries but the word wasn't there and I am too bad at going online and Googling anything. After three years of staying in the society, now I know what "Primavera" stands for :) it was the name of the great Botticelli's Masterpiece of a female who he never met. And that is one thing that I love about Biographies :) as they are actually magical as they always answer so many of our unanswered questions. Before reading this book, I had no idea of Michelangelo Buonarroti's life, I didn't even know his full name :) (Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni). I may forget the others but Buonarroti I will remember for the rest of my life. Also, it was totally amazing to read of some superbly known names from that era. In no particular order these guys keep making entries in Michelangelo's life but always put an smile on my face as they come and go :) stalwarts like Raphael, Botticelli, Leonardo Da Vinci and at least five of the Pope's of the period that he lived to tell the stories of. Italy was never in my list of countries to be visited before I meet my maker but now after this outstanding book, Florence, Rome and Vatican are surely make up to the top 10 places to be visited without fail. The high point of the book as per me personally is his love hate relationship with the great Leonardo Da Vinci, his relations with his father, brothers and cousins and his love life or lack of it. This book will certainly show up in my list whenever I will speak about a book based on Father Son relationship :) and I must say that it indeed sent me a bit closer to my own dad too (Co-incidentally I visited him almost after a year as the book came to an end and read the last of it with him right next to me). How kool is that :)

Michelangelo, no doubt was one of the greatest Artist of not only his own time but even now, the legend lives through his works. He has a staggering list of not only sculptures and paintings only but sonnets and poetry too to his credit, about which I had no idea before I read this book. A hardcore romantic who always stayed away from Romance as he had no time as he always told everyone around him. All he wanted to do was Hammer around the marble blocks, as many as he could lay his hands on, as many as can be sent his way, as much as he could till the very last day of his life. Imagine, the guy lived almost 90 years and even on his death bed, he was sad that it was too early for him to leave as he had so much inside him that he wanted to carve out of the stones. It was totally an eye opening experience for me (and hilarious too) to learn that when he walked up to his first Master, under whom he wanted to learn the art of sculpting, he asked the master to his shock that "How much are you going to pay me to learn and sculpt? As my father for sure won't let me learn anything which doesn't pay". And the grand master did indeed agreed to pay him the demanded internship amount when Michelangelo showed him what he could do with a hammer and a chisel in a few hours time, still the boy (14 of all) wanted to learn. And the most amazing part is this that he outdid his own master in an years time and claimed that "The master has no more to teach me". Wow, I was like Bravo man! So many of his teachers wanted him to Paint whereas he almost hated the art of painting and never actually wanted to paint till someone actually put a gun on his head to do it :).

No doubt, he lived in his own whims and fancies too, never took his life seriously, made as much as he could and never said No to his Dad, siblings even cousins and friends too. One of the most amazing chapters was when he made his first Masterpiece (The Giant), a 17 feet statue, right from the moment he located the block of marble to carving the statue out of it. He spent 15 days just looking at the marble block from late night till the sun starts shining on it, his way of checking the quality of stone was so precise that the man will just sit and watch for days just to confirm if it is the right block of stone before he will touch it with his chisel and hammer :). He claimed that the beautiful statues were hidden inside the stones and he just brought them out for the world to see how amazing they were. But his life was quite challenging, from one master to another and from the time of one Pope to another, he had to spend at times months to years on their wishes as what he should make, or paint for them instead of what he actually wanted to do. Plus on top of that whatever little money he made by pleasing the then Kings, Princess and Pope's, he had to spend a majority of it on his four good for nothing brothers, a totally depended and over demanding father and at times on his amazing set of friends too.

Michelangelo was multi-talented, born to do wonders what he actually did with his life, unfortunately he never had time as much to love anyone and the only love of his love for whatever short period he had, was way beyond his league. But no doubt, he loved so many people and was loved big time in return by a few of his friends. He considered himself an ugly person going by the look and animosity at the very early stage of his life, animosity with another not so great friend and artist further destroy his looks, that particular chapter had me in tears big time yet how he was looked by the people who admired him was such a heart-touching experience. As I said earlier, his love hate relationship with Vinci is one of the high points of not only this book but Michelangelo's life too. They actually started at a very bad note but gradually grew up to not only respect each other but almost became good friends too. Michelangelo was a great artist but Vinci as Michelangelo himself claimed was so much more, a scientist, inventor, amazing painter. Vinci's idea of a flying machine as well as "Monalisa" too gets a very brief mention, a painting that he almost was never able to finish.

I can read this book again for that one special part on Human Anatomy where Michelangelo learns about the human body before he seriously starts the sculptures and especially the way he learns about it, although too much in gory details but totally outstanding. It was shocking to read something of that sort that in those details which I never expected but seriously hats off to people who supported him knowing his passion to the art and his final outcomes are still here for everybody to witness. The Biography is so aptly titled, initially I couldn't make out why it was called "The Agony and the Ecstasy" but as the book grew on me and I got involved with his life, I realized it couldn't have been titled any better. The book was almost 800 pages but still in the end, I wanted it to just go on and on about the man and his works, never wanted it to end. As I post this, I just realized that there is a movie too based on the book with Charlton Heston starring as Michelangelo :) with five Academy Nominations.

Have you read "The Agony and the Ecstasy" or any other biography which you feel is just simply out of this world types? I am now looking forward to my next biography again by Irving Stone only "Lust for Life" based on the life of Vincent Van Gogh :).

PS: I will always remember him now onward especially on my birthdays as that is the day he died precisely 412 years ago :).

River God - Wilbur Smith (Book)

River God - Wilbur Smith.

I must have mentioned this a good 100 times already :) that I have a set of weird friends or actually my friends know me pretty well that they do weird things with me. For example there are a few friends who always send me book number 3 or 4 or 5 from a book series with 6 to 7 books in all. And they pretty damn well know that once I get the book which is in between a series, I will actually end up reading the prequels first, followed by what they have sent me and will further follow it with its last of the sequels or will wait till the end of time for the final book to come out so I can read it. Why they do that is beyond my understanding but they know it pretty well that that's precisely why I love them more. Now, am I weird? or are they?. Whatever! So a friend recently introduced me to Haruki Murakami by sending me an epilogue called "Dance Dance Dance", I will be indebted to him for life for giving me Murakami with whom I am hugely madly in love. And then comes this lovely friend who sent me "The Quest" Book No 5 of a 6 book series whose first part is what "River God" actually is that I read and finished last weekend. How's the book you ask me? It is FANTASTIC. And I am yet again by myself that how many writers I can fall in love in the course of a year. Being my first Wilbur Smith book, I am totally floored by his story telling abilities that too when it comes to Historical Fiction which is exactly not a fiction as it does have some truth too. Fabulous read and almost the first book that I read from Egypt and what a beautiful journey it was as the entire story flows on and around the great river Nile.

700+ pages of sheer fun, love, loss, betrayal, tragedy, war, invasion, invention and what not this gem of a book covers. Very hard to put my thoughts across about it without disclosing some details which may work like a big time spoiler for someone who wants to read it. Even if I tell you about the narrator of the entire story who takes us on a flashback journey into his own life and the story of the princess he serves, would be no less than a spoiler. Can you believe that? The way author decides to open his cards works beautifully like a super suspense thriller, story or two kingdoms, the great Pharaoh, making of the Pyramids and the detailing is simply mind-blowing. But the highlight is the love story of a prince who has lost his kingdom as his father's best friend betrays him, how he uncovers the truth, takes a revenge, falls in love which is impossible for him to get, yet he achieves so much is simply heart-touching. I had no idea of Wilbur Smith's capabilities before this book but now I can only imagine how beautifully the sequels will turn out, if this is how the prequel was. Egypt was never in my list of countries that I wanted to visit barring of-course for the amazing pyramids but now, it is altogether a different story as it will certainly show up in top 10 places to be visited before I die :). And I must say I haven't read a better love story than this ever especially the way a slave can love his own mistress or his love towards her prince is simply the most heart-touching story that I ever read. On top of that his own back story of pain, bondage and cruelty made me so emotional.

One has to read this book for the journey it takes one back in time and is certainly going to put a huge smile on your face as you explore the world, river and countries around the great Egypt from the eyes of the narrator, who is not only just a petty slave, but so much more and amazing that one just can't predict. How he survives his own king's wrath by going against his wishes and changes the future of the two kingdoms successfully is what the story is all about. I had a great time reading the book, deciding its timeline with the help of inventions taking place in the story (can't tell you more about them as you really need the book to find it out for yourself).

Have you read the "River God" or any of the books from his Egypt series? Which one is your favorite Wilbur Smith book? I will be looking forward to get the remaining four books soon and read them all back to back.

Sacred Games - Vikram Chandra (Book)

Sacred Games - Vikram Chandra.

I had no idea of this book's existence till the city was decorated with huge hoardings of Netflix Original TV Series "Sacred Games". With half of it showing Saif Ali Khan as Sartaj Singh the good Cop and remaining half of it showing Nawazuddin Siddiqui as the Hindu Don Ganesh Gaitonde :). The day it came out, I saw a copy of the book at the nearest Crosswords and realized that there was no way I could have finished the book before going ahead with the TV series. And on top of that, the TV series was an overnight success as predicted for its makers that they announced the Season 2 immediately. Before even I could get the book, I gave in to the urge of downloading the series and saw it twice back to back, imagine it was that fantastic. But the best part was that the TV series indeed left its viewers at the tenterhooks of what is going to happen next? And that made me pick up the book as the second season I believe is still some months away if not more. Just to give you a hint that how amazing the book is, I will only say that Vikram Chandra must be a huge Quentin Tarantino fan and he wrote it exactly how QT must have written it, if only he was born in India :). The choicest of Indian cuss words in their authentic pronunciations and multiple uses per page was the cherry on top. It turns out beautifully well when on one side its a frustrated Cop cursing the gangster and on the other side it's the Don who is cursing the world he rules with them. Bravo!! I haven't read a more beautiful, thrilling and chilling story from our part of the world. It isn't for the weak heart for sure but let me tell you, it is indeed much much better than the TV series for sure. Isn't that the case is with all the adaptations, even Anurag Kashyap, my all time favorite Indian Director with his partner Vikramaditya Motwane (another terrific maker) couldn't do justice to the book. And let me not even start talking about the diversion from the book, I can only imagine how and what they will come out with in the second season :).

Like I said above that Vikram Chandra has mightily impressed me with this book big time and he will now show up in my list of contemporary Indian writers who have superb stories to tell. Totally loved the way he carved out the character of his Hindu Don Ganesh Gaitonde and his journey from Mumbai slums to the man with superb powers to shake the world. And an equally brilliant character of Sartaj Singh, the cop with a mission, hand in glove with RAW agents and his own team to uncover the Don's plans. The way both the tracks grow in parallel was totally mind-blowing, even when at the very start you know (almost) how the things are going to end. The way story starts, goes in flashbacks and connection of Sartaj Singh and Ganesh Gaitonde is disclosed, it was totally unbelievable. Unfortunately I had no expectations in terms of the timeline of the story but the way Vikram narrated it, right from the partition of India to the current time, it just keeps getting better by the chapters it opens and yet keeps everything covered till the very end. It is indeed amazing to read how Ganesh Gaitonde rules and his mysterious mentor plans to end the world in one kool sweep with Sartaj Singh chasing them to uncover the whole plan with the help of RAW agents and his own mentor Parulkar, the Police Chief. I love the way Hindu Muslim animosity and the friendship too is shown in the book. The way Gaitonde keeps Muslims as his right hand men and the way Sartaj's friend, another cop, a devout Muslim keeps a bottle of whiskey at his place only for him was simply heart-touching. A perfect cat and mouse chase game but the only regret that I have is that, I couldn't give much time to the book with my busy schedule and it took me close to 20 days to finish this gem.

Sacred Games, which I believe is very aptly titled as the story it covers can very well qualify as a Historical Non-Fiction from our part of the world as it at least tells the last four decades of India's history in almost 100% authentic way. I am glad we have no censor in literature or this book would have never seen the light of the day. The book has everything and in right quantities, perfect story(s), believable true to life characters, amazing love stories, amazing political commentary, corrupt system, not so great lime-light life and a lot more. Hats off to the Author for covering so much in such an amazing way that the reader actually roots not only for the good guys but for the bad too at times when they are not so bad. I was surprised by the way I myself was in love with Ganesh Gaitonde and the way he handles his friend (a female), keeps up with her for decades and almost never comes face to face with her but I expected a heart-break in the end and you really need to read the book to know how it all ends.

The book is full of shocks especially in killing department, blood, sex and gory details, unfortunately I just wrapped up the amazing series "A Song of Ice and Fire" by George RR Martin so it wasn't that bad but no doubt, the book made me go numb multiple times with its ruthlessness in handling so many of the amazing characters. My heart cried out for them, if only a reader had any control on the characters he was reading about.

Have you read Sacred Games? Do let me know how you like it if you have. But if you haven't, trust me, you need to read it before the Season 2 of the TV Series comes out. As I guarantee you that they are going to goof it up big time and for sure Season 2 will be a disaster in comparison to the first one which was totally engrossing.

PS: If you plan to read the book, do not miss the Glossary at the end. The way Author explains the 100's of the Hindi words he has used in the entire story is super hilarious, especially the curse words, loved that too :).

Salvation of a Saint - Keigo Higashino (Book)

Salvation of a Saint - Keigo Higashino.

My first Higashino and before I say it was an amazing book, I must tell you that again I was lucky that the book practically walked up to me :). A very dear (Bookish) friend dropped by to my place last month and we had a few rocking hours gushing about the books, movies and what not :) and as I always claim, I have a rocking set of friends who precisely know what I love and what they want me to read. She was so excited about the book and the story that she told me "You have to read this", and I am glad she gave me the book. I had a little tiff with wifey on Friday evening and we decided to sleep in separate rooms :) and I picked up this book at 4 AM in the morning, kept on reading till she left for office at 9.30 AM (I was mid-ways), hit the 80% mark as she returned at 3.30 PM, slept for a few hours (this time in same room as I wanted to gush about the story) and finished it right after we had dinner at a friends place five blocks down the road from our place and right now, as everybody else is dozing off, I am sitting in front of my PC telling you about the book. I had to make up with wifey over last nights fight because I wanted her undivided attention when I narrated about this murder mystery :). To get her full attention, I had to tell her that this is the same writer on his other book "Devotion of Suspect X" was the acclaimed movie "Drishyam" was based on :). Now, I need to lay my hands on that book at the earliest as I have loved the movie. Also, I guess this will be the last of the Japanese book that I have read as the year is coming to a close.

I love detective stories, especially the one's where the chief detective has an assistant (they always do) who happens to be one step ahead of the boss and if that happens to be a Girl, it always makes it further more interesting. Like in this case we have a Jr. Detective, a newbie in the Japanese Metropolitan Force who have got a very weird Suicide / Murder case where as per the information available the suspected Killer was at-least 1000 miles away :). How the murder is done and the reason behind it is something simply stunning. What is totally amazing about Keigo's story is that in the very first ten pages it is disclosed who the killer is, yet the way inquiry progresses, readers doubts keeps moving from one person to another and at times to even a third person who isn't even in the picture by a long shot. I guess I have read a lot of Agatha Christie and Conan Doyle books that I could actually make out the way murder was done (I was sort of proud of myself in the end) but the way killer keeps playing with the vulnerable detective, it was simply amazing. 377 pages, totally unputdownable with a terrific detective, a super kool assistant and a huge help from a Physics Professor makes this one a thrilling, suspense ride, although the narrative is never hurried but page by page as the cards get opened, it actually blows the readers mind to get to the end as soon as possible to get it all cleared up as how it was done. The elaborate murder planning is the best that I have ever read and I guess this isn't the best of Keigo's works I believe.

Have you read "Salvation of a Saint"? Were you able to guess not the killer but the way it was done? Do let me know how you like it and also, which one is your favorite Keigo Higashino novel. I would love to give it a go.

Another thing that I love especially about Japanese and Russian books is that, on an average if I take flat 18 hours to finish a book, a Russian / Japanese book will take close to 20 hours :), you know why? Because of their awesome names and my habit of always reading the full name and trying to pronounce them as they should be inside my head of-course :).

PS: Comparison with Stieg Larsson is an exaggeration from my point of view. Keigo is absolutely fantastic but definitely nowhere close to Larsson. I will come back after reading a few more books to see if he comes any closer. Your thoughts?