Devil in the House? - Kalpana Takbhate (Book)

Devil in the House? - Kalpana Takbhate.

The best part about my love for reading is when a book comes to me on its own especially when it comes from an Author and the worst is when it doesn't work for me. Like in the above book's case, Author approached me to read her book as my hourly rate for book reading is pretty affordable and I always more than oblige when approached as that's what I love doing provided I am compensated by an amazing story and if not, it at least covers the book price and cost of putting the book that I am reading on hold till I finish the Author sent book and pass on my opinion of the same. Going by the title and the review available on Goodreads, this one sounded liked a murder mystery cum thriller and got me excited as soon as I received my Kindle copy. Unfortunately it is a case of trying too hard to make it a suspense story with almost an average premise of whodunnit but it falls flat on its face as it doesn't have its heart in the right place. It was a pretty challenging read where the murder takes place at the very start with story keeps going back in flashbacks and reader is left guessing who could have done that and the reason behind it. There was a huge scope to develop but where it falters is the timeline, where it is happening and character development. None of those points are explained or covered by the writer that reader in me could connect with any of them. On top of that it doesn't even work like a straight forward story (which I believe she didn't intend to keep it anyways) where by the time it ends, it should make a point at least.

A very straight forward plot of two sisters relationship with each other gone sour (reason?) where younger sisters husband is a suspect in killing the elder one as they were having an extra marital affair (again reason?). The only thing which worked for me or I could call it a saving grace which kept me going to finish the book (as I always standby my commitment) was the Cop guy "Jai Dixit", yeah! You are right, our own Dhoom super cop :) I could actually imagine Abhishek Bachchan moving around solving the case but again there is no detailing as what he was wearing, riding / driving, nothing about his own life or past but in one last scene he is seen getting off a police jeep. What shocked me was no effort from writer to show us anything about the victim too, it was such a disaster that he life meant nothing to no-one that I kept looking forward to read something about her immediate family which wasn't there at all. And it was laughable by the way Mr. Jai Dixit solves the case as its a super cake walk for him to not only locate the murder weapon but finding its origin too. In the end, it leaves quite a few questions unanswered but then I seriously do not have the energy to grill the Author anymore as this wasn't a pre-published manuscript but a published book so I will let them it go. A lot of blame should go to her Editors too as there were quite a few instances where the names were printed wrongly, instead of cop they have printed suspects names and vice versa too. It is very confusing and not explained properly which city they start with, where they live and where exactly the whole thing is taking place, yet the case gets solved (or remains a mystery is to be read by the readers).

I believe one good thing this book actually did that it woke me up from the slump that I was going through of not posting anything for quite some time. Anyways, with this my paid project comes to an end and I will go back to Mr. H H Munro to finish his short stories. 

Uncle Pai - Rajesh M Iyer (Book)

Uncle Pai - Rajesh M Iyer.

I must have mentioned this umpteen times by now that when it comes to books, I am seriously born with amazing luck. A lot of Authors (some are now actually good friends now) are so kind that before even I order their books online, they approach me to read there books (as if they were already not in my wish list) and top of that I get the signed copies fresh out of oven :). It takes me a few hours before my allergy kicks in after I smell those fantastic brand new copies to actually start reading them. And this one was no different but there was a reason why I actually had to take a break from my office work and get up early before my household got up so I could read the Biography on an Uncle who we all loved back in the days. Somehow I totally forgot about him till this book happened and Rajesh was simply amazing to choose me as one of the early readers. Wow! First thing I did after finishing this amazing life story was to call my Mom and ask her if she could check our own library for as many "Amar Chitra Kathas" and "Tinkles" from back in the days that I was able to collect. They were definitely not cheap but my darling mother never said no to books and not at all to comics which should have been part of school's curiculum. I am going to seriously bill him now if I am not able to find my old collection in reading order as his book has totally intrigued me to get the whole lot, read it back to back and hand it over to my teenage kiddo who I am not sure but pray that she loves Uncle Pai's creations as much as my generation loved it. If I ever wanted to read Biography on any Comic writers life, this was definitely in contention with Mr. Pran's life as and when it comes out, eagerly waiting. Food for thought Mr. Rajesh :) you've gotta get that in your kitty now as I believe there is no such book available in the market. 

Right from the moment I jumped into "Uncle Pai" like literally, I've been thinking :) can there be a person especially in India who haven't heard of "Amar Chitra Katha" or its creator Mr. Anant Pai's name? Please raise your hand if you haven't (and let me get my gun to shoot you in the first place if you exist) :). I very well remember that I started reading my Mom's books when I was in 5th Standard as such was my appetite for books and reading. She will snatch them out of my hands and hand me over a few bucks to get my own books and direct me to the right book fair's which kept happening in our town during those days. There was a few small libraries too which will have us pick up books on rent as low as 10 paise in mid to late 80's. I very well remember having picked up the fastest fat bounded books so I could cover at least five comics in one shot :) if a Digest form was not available. If you were born in 70's you will precisely know what I am talking. And Uncle Pai's books were always on top of our priority list back then, although my memory doesn't serve me so well but it won't be an exaggeration to say I must have read if not more at least half of his comics and Tinkles as I am surprised to know through his life story that he indeed was not only a genius but a man with a mission to teach not only Indian values through his books but also so much about our own mythology and golden past. In between reading this book I asked my daughter if she knew who Lord Ram's mother was :) and that confused smile and rolling eyes told me that I've gotta get her own set of these books so next time she is able to answer my questions based on our own past. They do not teach that enough in school curriculum these days. I am assuming just like me a majority of my generation people will be huge fans of Uncle Pai and you will for sure lay your hands on this must have must read book. I am not going to disclose anything here but a few things Uncle Pai's fan following not only included a few of our own Prime Ministers or Presidents but also a Friendly nations President who would actually call him to understand the meaning of a Sanskrit shloka :) can anyone beat that. 

One question or shall I say one thing that I missed in this biography is that there is one part of his life which isn't explored much (again that is one thing that I would not like to disclose here to spoil it for those who would surely read this book), I will direct that query to Mr. Writer right after this post. And one thing that I totally disliked is the way he refers to Amar Chitra Katha as ACK in who narrative :) totally not done. It may have added another few pages but those three magic words are just incomparable. I have read almost all of his books and I must say, this is his best work so far and none of his earlier stories (that I loved much) comes any closer to this one and I am surprised by my own words that I have actually loved a Non fiction more than Fiction. If you have read "Amar Chitra Katha" and "Tinkle" back then, do let me know how you loved them and if you still have your collection with you? Unlike me who will have to use power of blackmail to get it out of my own mom :).