Book Review: Dream: Chaos and beyond

Dreams are always a source of motivation and inspiration for a person to live by and try for the better. They become a source of direction and guide a person to achieve unimaginable things.  But sometimes, dreaming and desire to fulfill them comes at a price. Devesh Kumar Krishdhan with his book, “Dream: Chaos and Beyond” talks about this price that the protagonist, Nandu has to pay for dreaming. The author covers his life and also the closest relations that he has. Their problems and their fates are also described by the author in a vivid and heart touching manner.

The title of the book suggests a lot and the readers get a clue of what the author is going to talk about. They know that there is going to be the talk about a dream and the consequences of dreaming. The cover also gives the necessary idea without giving any spoilers. The author begins the story with the central character and his desire but the readers have no clue of how far this desire will take him. But at the same time, Krishdhan also talks about other issues and perhaps, one of the most important themes is of poverty and lack of money. Through his story, the author proves that money may not be anything, yet it is everything. Apart from this, other important themes include happiness, responsibilities towards one’s family, marital happiness, love, domestic violence and many more. The author manages to cover and address these themes in the framework of “Dream: Chaos and Beyond” single-handedly and the readers only realize this after finishing the book. 

Although the air of gloom is there in the book throughout, but the readers feel the heart-wrenching effect towards the end seeing the poignant state of the characters. They feel Nandu’s pain and burden the whole time and can’t help but feel sorry for both his life and fate. The fact that he dreamt and desired and worked towards achieving his dream is praiseworthy. But at the same time, his pushing himself towards his doom is also anticipated. The readers may not exactly know what is going to happen, yet they know that something will happen. Krishdhan gives the book a touch of the stark realities of life that jolt the readers and make them have a reality check and also understand the life of the people who struggle every day to make their ends meet. The problems they face, the trauma they go through and the stress they have may not be mentioned directly but it is clear by looking at the lives of the characters. In the light of this, calling “Dream: Chaos and Beyond” a work of social importance will not be wrong.

Krishdhan divides the story into 12 chapters and titles them to the best suitability. He keeps the plot sharp and focused and using the forward and flashback technique which sustains the interest of the readers throughout the book. This technique also makes the following part in the book unpredictable for the readers and no one is able to guess what could happen next. They remain curious all the time and keep hoping that something better would turn up. The plot may be short but the author artistically explores a variety of themes and many years in the lives of the characters and also many layers of the society. He brings different people of the society together on one canvas and leaves it to the reader’s observations to understand and comprehend.

Nandu as the central character wins the hearts and sympathies of the readers through his miseries and tough life. The fact that he has to keep deferring his dream breaks the hearts of the readers and they keep hoping that one day, life will get better for him. Other characters like his father, mother, sister, wife, daughters, his music teacher and her briefly appearing husband also have their own positions but at the same time, they help in contributing to the development of Nandu and his personality and make him much more sharp and strong at his position. They all have their respectful fates but one thing that pervades the problems of Nandu’s family is the abject poverty they live in.

Readers who want to read hardcore realities of life and also see love and loss should read “Dream: Chaos and Beyond”. Krishdhan displays attributes of Dickens and Premchand here and there when he brings the extreme poverty conditions of the protagonist and the people associated with him and the problems that come as a package with it. Readers are also isolated from the luxury and fast life of the city and get to read a story which may be a reality of many who are not from the elite and well-off class of the society. Nandu’s story could be the story of any autovala on the road.

Book Review: Hindsight 2020

The year 2020 will be a year that no one will forget. The pandemic of Coronavirus brought people’s lives to a standstill and they got time to ponder over various subjects that had been in waiting for long. This historical time when people were instructed to stay inside their homes to save themselves gave them time to use it any manner they wanted. Sudip Banik has used the time to record this event in his book, “Hindsight 2020: Not a Political Satire” which is, in all circumstances likely to become a hstorical document and also a text of literary importance.

The title of the book may not give a lot of idea to the reader initially regarding the exact content of the book but the present day reader can easily understand what the book will be about with the mention of “2020”. The author gives the book an interesting beginning by talking about his philosophy of “I don’t want to be a photographer”. He explains and justifies his lack of interest in being a photographer and by the time he finishes sharing his viewpoint, the reader is convinced and agrees with his idea of not being the photographer rather the person in the photograph.

Banik has divided the book in 6 plots with a prologue in the beginning. The absence of the word “Chapter” and its being replaced by the word “Plots” is noteworthy. On reading the book, the reader can understand the applicability of plot instead of chapter.

The author picks up on the present day event of the nationwide lockdown imposed by the Prime Minister of the country and the resultant effects of the action taken by the government. Keeping this in the background, he weaves a plotline where there are the characters of Eishu, Ansh, Junaid, Fatima and Nandu who have had their own share of life and all it had to offer them and they all are united by the entwined destines and natural design. The ultimate unification happens because of the lockdown which brought everything to a standstill.

Through the lives of these characters, the author also brings out different aspects of our diverse country and merges them in the book to give the reader more clarity about the diversity of the Indian society and various lifestyles it has due to the difference of economy. He develops the major portion of the narrative in the prelockdown phase when life was in its normal mode and the pandemic was not in the picture. As the lockdown happens, life for many people other than the characters turns topsy turvy and those are the real stories that the author records in the book. This makes the book an eye-opener for those who are less aware about the ground realities of the economically backward section and the extent to which their daily fight for bread was extended. The author presents his view fairly without any bias or criticism and leaves it to the discretion of the reader to decide how and what can be done for the deprived section.

Apart from this, through the characters also, Banik addresses a variety of themes and issues that human beings face. The very first among them is the contrast between urban and rural life, the differences of city and village life, other than this, the all the communal violence of hindus and muslims which has been an endless thing and still continues. The other important theme he address is the issue of caste which is in the blood of the people and the violence and attrocities commited in its name. While pointing them out, the author also indirectly elaborates on the futility of these issues and how important is the universal message: the message of peace. 

Towards the end, the author gives his hindsight, his thoughts over what and how he sees the present time and leaves it to the discretion of the reader as to how they would see it. He also gives a Shellyean manner hope to the people and assures that the present time will also change and we can hope for a better tomorrow. On completing the book, the reader is likely to feel relaxed, enriched with knowledge or perhaps feel a brush up of facts and at the same time thinking about the characters and how different lives they had and yet unpredictable and unforessen circumstances brought them together. The readers living through the present time and the readers of future generations should give this book a try to have an indepth understanding of the pandemic of Corona, its origins and the worldwide impact it has had but also to understand India, excerpts from its history of casteism, communal violence, how generations have suffered and how people still suffer but for different reasons and also, to anticpate how this time will change the coming time.

Book Review: AIIMS

Publisher: Authorpress

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Book link: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B076KQZ7YD/ref=cm_sw_r_wa_apa_i_RCOgFb78XEWXS

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On looking at the title “AIIMS-Catch me if you can: A sensational thought” by Dr. Dewakar Goel, the reader gets a little confused as to what would be the contents of the book after all. But one thing becomes clear, it is something related to the medical field. The author begins the book and takes the readers on a journey in his past, in his college time.

The author through this journey touches the hearts of the readers and the book becomes a must read for aspirants of the medical field or even the students and also the ones who are already a part of the medical profession. Dr. Goel keeps the language according to the levels of every reader and people who do not belong to this field can also try reading it. 

The cover has a captivating power and holds the attention of the reader right away. Apart from that, the plot is not just a simple journey through medical school but also a series of learnings that can be useful for not just the characters but also the readers. Everyone should read the book once and also see the literary potential of Dr. Goel and can expect more from him in the future.

Book Review: जुबां ऐ कलम

The power of the pen has been accepted evey time it has been used. The poet Neha Singhal makes the readers realize the power of the pen once again in her poetry collection, “जुबाँ ऐ कलम”. The poet through her musings writes about her viewpoints and observations and at the same time, addresses a variety of themes and subjects in her collection of 40 poems.

The cover of the book may be a little abstract for the readers to understand. But the lovers of art will for once agree that the cover is more like an invitation from the poet to look at life through her eyes and try to understand her perspective of looking at things. 

Before beginning the poems, the author addresses the reader in the preface and talks about what was the reason that led her to take the pen. She clearly states that some thoughts are better expressed through the pen and her purpose of writing was to bring together the good and bad experiences that a person has in their life to give an enriched and first hand experience to the reader. The poet writes on a wide range of subjects in her 40 poems. Even though the poems are 40, the readers can just sit and go through them in one flow and by the time they reach the last poem, they are in tune with the author’s style, the way her mind works and also the manner in which she writes and expresses.

The author shows the combined traits and potential of writing on different themes which include love, nature, humanity, women and the different roles they play, the importance of time with self, life, and many others. This makes it difficult to categorize Singhal in any one category of poets. Time and again, she also writes lines that readers would want to mark and keep with them so that they could refer to them time and again to not just appreciate the beauty of words but also to understand the depth of thought of the poet. Some of these lines are:

“तेरी झील में चलते शिकारे में बैठ मैं नज्म गुनगुनाती हूं 

पानी में चलते चप्पू  के साथ ताल मिलती हूं" (जन्नत)

“बंद दरवाजों बैठा बीते वक्त के मोती चुनता है

डरा-सहमा सा हर ददन नई उम्मीद बुनता है” (कुदरत)

"काश मिल जाए किर र्ही रहगुज़र

जहां यह शहर अंजाना ना लगे 

फिर मिले कुछ दोस्त ऐसे जिनसे मिल बेगाना ना लगे" (यह शहर"

and many others.

There are different poems that address different issues and subjects but the poet does not wander off in abstract subjects and prefers to keep her themes limited to the ones that any person can easily relate to and can also identify themselves at one level or the other. In poems like “बेटियाँ", "नारी", "गृहणी", she talks of the different roles women play in different phases of their life. In “सरपत दौड़ते कदम", Singhal writes about the transformation of the life of a woman after getting married and at a certain level there is a comparison of life before and after marriage. The interesting thing to notice is the fact that the poet does not restrict herself to womenfolk but also writes from the viewpoint of men in poems like “फौजी" and "पिता". 

Perhaps, the most interesting poems for any reader would be “यह शहर", “आखिर क्यों”, “एक सत्य", “मुलाकात” and "आईना". All these poems are concerned with subjects concerning people in one way or the other. They touch unique themes like city life, degrading humanity and people becoming more and more insensitive, the truth of life and a conversation with the mirror (more like a conversation with self) which would for once remind the reader of Sylvia Plath’s “Mirror”. Other than all these, “ख्वाबों का गांव" seems to be like the poet’s definition of Utopia or how she dreams of the world to be.

The length of the poems vary but none of them seem to let the reader go away from the book even for once. They hold the reader throughout. All readers should read this collection of poetry to not just understand the views of the poet but also to begin seeing life in a different manner with an entirely different perspective.

Book Review: What if Rainbows were your shadows?

Poetry is the genre of literary writing where the poet gets the freedom to express all the he feels through little words and leaves most to the reader’s thoughts. “What if rainbows were your shadows?” by Anusha Veluswamy is a collection of poems which are a testimony to the changing moods and different ideas the author has in mind.

The diversity of her work is such that for once, she sounds wordsworthian in her nature poems like “Play of Light” or “The Plan” or even “Passing Through the Heavens”. At the same time, she comes across as a representative of the womenfolk in her “A Tribe of Warriors”. Her literary talent as a poet is further hihglighted in “What if Rainbows were Your Shadows?” (part III) and the poems written in this part.

The lovers of poetry should read this collection and understand the different shades of Veluswamy as a poet and an artist. The author uses a language friendly to the reader through her simple language, attempts to convey her thoughts through a diversity of themes that she talks about in her collection.The title, “What if Rainbows were Your Shadows?” also has a kind of paradoxical touch to it. It makes the readers wonder about the thoughts that the poet is going to present and on the surface it seems like she is going to talk about the different sides and situations that come in a person’s life. That makes the book like an all round need making reading a memorable experience for the readers.

Book Review: A Collection of Relatable Thoughts

Artists are known to write what they feel and give the best words with which many people can easily relate and many others can understand and agree. Everlyne Nyambura with her poetry collection, “A Collection of Relatable Thoughts” invites the reader to a journey of not just self discovery but also the discovery of the fact that everyone is in the same boat.

The cover of the book features a lion which is a symbol of elegance, grace, royalty and most importantly, courage to face and fight anything. This makes sure that the reader is psychologically prepared to read the book and feel the positivity that the book is going to give.

The author’s division of the poems into five categories with broad titles only gives a brief idea about the kind work she has written and only on reading them, the readers understand the depth of her thoughts and the things she wants to share with the readers. Poems in “Battleground” are like lifelessons which every person must read to learn and the effects of negative thoughts. “Them Vs You” is a section which should be read by all young readers as they are bound to have gone through all that Nyambura has written about. The title says a lot when it comes to “Relationship”. This is also something all young and mature readers shouls read. “Learning Curve” and “Soaring” are like the author sharing her philosophy of life and all that she has learnt so far. These five phases also give a slight idea about the growth in the pesonality of the poet and her evolving as a mature individual.

All readers from different genres or even prose should give “A Collection of Relatable Thoughts” a try and feel the difference the book can bring  even in a single read. 

Book Review: The Cryptic Clutch

When words like mystery or suspense or secret come into play, a reader’s interest is drawn to a book quite naturally. Perhpas A.M. Rain was well aware of this fact while choosing the title, “The Cryptic Clutch: Pari and Nakul Book I”. 

The blurb of the book is more or less enough to reveal a few things here and there and the lovers of the genre of mystery will be drawn automatically towards it.

The author brings an innovative and creative plot which may not feature too many characters but it is enough to keep the reader close to the book and the fact that it is short makes sure that young readers who are not into reading voluminous sized books would also read “The Cryptic Clutch”. The book is highly recommended for mystery fiction lovers and also the people who want to explore this genre or find it new can try reading. The fact that it is short will keep all readers entertained and on their toes throughout.