Poetic Fables

Book Review : Beastly Tales from Here and There - by Vikram Seth. 

A set of ten fables in verses in this book, the first two from India, the next two from China, the next two from Greece, next two from Ukraine and last two that came to Seth from the Land of Gup (this mention reminds me of Rushdies' book Haroun and the Sea of Stories).

Fables presented as poems, delightfully lyrical and magical, timeless classics these are that cannot be reviewed but only eulogized. 

The collection starts with the familiar - The Crocodile and the Monkey from Panchatantra , fabulously retold. Then there is The Louse and the Mosquito, two diminutive creatures leave a matter of fact lesson. 

Seth gracefully re tells these fables in rhythmical prose and stirs up a mini albeit immature poet in the reader.

I have jotted down my summary of the above tales in a poetic way, under the book's influence. 

1) The Crocodile and The Monkey.

This is the tale of Kuroop, the crocodile, 

Who lived with his wife on Ganga's isle. 

And of a monkey, happy and jolly,

Who threw the sweetest mangoes to croc friend below in a volley.

Everything went well, there were no woes,

Until the croc couple turned bitter foes.

Monkey had no clue, but his mind alert and ways smart,

Had a brilliant escape, and saved his heart. 

2) The Louse and the Mosquito 

Very short tale of blood sucking louse and mosquito, 

Of how the former allowed the latter to bite a royal toe.

A small drink of royal blood was the ailing mosquito's need,

To which the louse did reluctantly heed.

Only to land in trouble the same day, 

However, unaffected the mosquito flew away.

The Mouse and the Snake is a retelling of a Chinese tale - of friendship, of death, grief and pain. There is a lot of humor and wit in The Rat and the Ox, tale of how the rat acquired the first and most prominent position in the Chinese zodiac, by nook or crook.

The Eagle and the Beetle is a Greek tale retold beautifully, of friendship, loss, anguish, above all,  of unabashed vengeance and wrath that even the God cannot behold. 

The very famous Aesop fable - The Hare and The Tortoise appears next in collection, leaving the reader stumped for Seth's atypical interpretation of this fable opens new vistas. Does one always have to be slow and steady to win the race? Or is this just a bygone fad? One should read this beautiful piece to get the answer. 

The Cat and the Cock from Ukraine is a gentle reminder of the fact that a friend in need is a friend indeed and that to his advice one should heed. The Goat and the Ram stresses on the importance of how a mind applied correctly without panic can help one emerge out any challenging situation, it seemed very similar to Three Billy Goats Gruff tale in essence for me. 

The last two fables - are Seth's own creations and they are sheer magic. 

How many of us remember The Frog and the Nightingale from class 10 textbook? The tale of a boisterous, vile and corrupt frog who is determined to stay supreme and unbeaten in his bog with his cacophonous croak; usurps a sweet voiced, immensely talented but highly naive nightingale using all crooked means, leading to even death of the poor bird in the end. 

The Elephant and the Tragopan is a harsh reminder of the times we live in, a precise summation of the constant strife between animals and man, how the latter so selfish and ruthless, unleashes havoc on the planet in name of self sustenance, wipes out the existence of every animal for his benefits, alters the very scape of their land, their homes to get his water and food. One should read this to understand why this tale by Seth is so often anthologized.

From the ubiquitous Rat to the lesser known Tragopan, animals from here and there impart very common lessons, leave gentle reminders of simple and purposeful life. It is a pleasure of different sorts when a book instills a child like happiness, elicits naive smiles in agreement, invokes memories of fables and childhood story time. 

Must buy, must read and one should preserve such priceless classics in the safest sections of ones' bookshelf. 

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The Poison of Love - Book Review

(I could not really find a suitable name to this blog post - a book review of The Poison of Love by KR Meera, translated by Ministhy.S., too many thoughts this novella has left behind)

One of the most important primal feelings - love, has often been associated with everything beautiful, poetic and magical. However, can passionate love be all consuming, highly corrosive that it dissolves one's identity? Can it be streaked with vengeance that waiting for an act of retribution alone sustains life? Yes, possible proves KR Meera as she handles this all deftly in her book - The Poison Of Love (translated), originally written in Malayalam and titled Meera Sadhu.

The Poison of Love is a story of Tulsi and Madhav, Tulsi's downfall from being loved every second to begging for a second of love and attention, a whirlwind change that pushes her to becoming a Meera sadhu in Vrindavan and surrender to the Lord. 

Madhav's love for Tulsi; or more precisely, Tulsi's love for this only man in her life stifles her, makes her numb, the realization that she has deserted too many things all along to earn just emptiness in the name of love strikes her too very late. 

The author leaves a deep chasm when she delves into how even after this realization, Tulsi does not reveal her pitiable condition to the world just to guard her self esteem. Her deep pitted eyes well up with tears but every time a cloak of false pride dries them up till a final straw is drawn. In her years at Vrindavan, does she wait for Madhav, his love, what will be the atonement?

I found a shade of similarity between Madhav and Mahendra from Rabindranath Tagore's Choker Bali and even little of Binodhini (from Choker Bali) in Tulsi. 

I am completely bowled over by how KR Meera has delivered such a powerful story in just 100 pages, every sentence deals with an action or an emotion, really astounded at her firm grip on words. My accolades to the author apply equally to the translator who with same fervor and energy as the author has opened the story to a wider audience, these efforts are easily perceived by the reader.  

The Poison of Love deals with the dark aspects of how love (or any emotion for that matter) in excess can make life hellish. And this is where the big, decisive question arises, what really defines an excess, how or when does one know what is an excess?

This is a dark, thought provoking tale, gets really caustic at times, but as some one has said - to find the brightest wisdom , one must pass through the darkest zones. So, do read this book, definitely profound and different. 

A Big Slice of Odisha

Dasuram's Script -- Book Review 

A collection of sixteen short stories, edited/compiled and translated by Mona Lisa Jena that provides a big slice of Odisha.

Contemporary writing that shifts spatially from urban centers to rural lands, farms, dense jungles in the hinterland and culturally maps in time from 70 s - times of all powerful landlords, landless laborers,  religious and 

socio-economic discrimination, gross disparities, black magic and superstitions to post 90 s where corruption trickles further into interpersonal relations, running clearly in threads even within a family.

Apart from hardships faced by the commoner, love, betrayal and such run-of-the-mill emotions, there are many interesting revelations from stories in this kitty.Unemployment, child abuse, domestic violence, superstitions, local folklore, confining traditions dealt with in these stories paint a picture of the not so perfect life.

The scape shifts from developed Cuttack on one end of the spectrum, it's well lit lanes and Khatjodi river to remote Guduripanka village where Kui tribes strive for an identity and fight against an authoritarian state. There are ponds brimming with fish, Sal trees, mahua overflowing that make a perfect backdrop in stories.

All are good stories - Dasuram's script, This short story should not be remembered, The genius, The shy bride bearing more impact than the rest. A note on the contributors and a short story on writing/ literature in Odia at the end of the book is worth paying attention to.

The cover on the back says - this book is a startling introduction to parallel realities that exist not so far from the self absorbed existence of India's big cities ... and this is very true.

Dasuram's script as a book is like a good flower bouquet, there are some flowers that are bright, some that leave a waft of fragrance in the air and some mere fillers for the sake of adding up volume. Do pick this bouquet, for it does have a charm.

An Entry in my Travel Diary

Its been really really long since I wrote a blog post under the label 'Travel".

The last travelogue entry was of my trip to Rameshwaram, Kanyakumari and Trivandrum along with my husband in Nov 2011, before my kid was born. Not that we haven't traveled there after, we certainly have to places where we had relatives to visit, where a functioning house welcomed us and made us (especially my little one) feel at ease. After all, a home is where hearth is and heart is. 

Swerving a little away from that trend, we undertook a three day long vacation to Goa in the second week of Oct 2018, with mixed feelings - with the joy of visiting a destination that me and my husband love immensely from the time we visited it for the first time, back in 2007; with little skepticism on how we were going to fare with our kid in a place where we had no relatives or acquaintances, rather had no "home" like set up. 

I chose Santa Terra Apartments on Verem-Nerul Road for our stay after browsing through tags like homestay and service apartments on Instagram - hash tags really help, you know. (Smiles)

Located very close to Reis Magos Fort, not very far from Panjim, close to Aguada fort and Candolim beach, Santa Terra apartment offers a beautiful and convenient stay amidst lush greenery, a home away from home, literally. 

The laudable aspect for me was the presence of a fully equipped kitchen in the apartment , an induction cook top, a microwave oven (I didn't have to use it), a 4 burner gas stove, an electric kettle and Aqua Guard installed in place for clean drinking water. 

Traveling with a kid with very specific tastes and clear preference for home food, cooking his meals were of utmost importance to me and this was made easy at Santa Terra, utensils and cutlery required were in place; groceries could be procured from a shop right opposite the property. 

The apartment was spacious, with cleanliness clear winning the attention. Relaxing in the balcony or taking a walk inside the property observing plants, trees and beautiful flowers in the garden served as a great refreshing option. 

The owners of the property Sunaina and Sachin are quick to respond to queries and solve outstanding issues, if any. The housekeeping team ensure comfort in the hours they are available at the property. 

WiFi connectivity , Inverter/power back up, an indoor pool are other promising features. Contact information for bike/car rentals and airport pick up can be easily obtained. 

It will do good if one can pack a few utensils along and carry small packets of spices; other commonly used ingredients required to make a meal, little planning helps in avoiding a visit to the grocery store as the first thing you do upon landing at the venue.

 
Our stay was a comfortable and pleasant one, hassle free given the many doubts I harbored before it began. 
If one is traveling with a kid or better put prefers to cook and eat, one should have no doubts in booking this property. 

Here are a few pictures of Santa Terra Apartments that I managed to click on my mobile phone - 

Indoor swimming pool 

Santa Terra Apartments - a view from the garden 

Disclaimer: As is the norm of any review post - just a mention that I neither partner with the owners of the property nor stand to gain from any of its promotions, my three day stay here with my family was definitely a pleasant one, one that I will remember fondly. Just that good words should be shared without much deferring as it might help others like me make a decision. 

Not Just a Story of a Black Goat

No matter how much you give to this heart, it will never be enough.

Poonachi or the story of a black goat - written by Perumal Murugan and translated by N.Kalyan Raman describes life;  birth and death, and many events that happens in between - many events, very few over which one has control; and all others beyond ones' control, some even beyond comprehension.  

In a village almost devoid of rainfall, an old couple with a minimal subsistence witness an inexplicable change with the arrival of a very ordinary life - a day old goat kid, that looks like a mini dung ball. 

How this miniscule fragment of life acquires a name, how she escapes the clutches of an eagle, a wild cat, from the jaws of death literally in early months of her life form the initial part of the story.  

Poonachi not only fills the void left by the the old couples' daughter' departure post marriage but slowly evolves into a God-sent miracle. The old couple revere her, villagers flock around to get a glimpse of her. The old woman loves Poonachi much more than her own daughter, the old man has mixed feelings right from the start. 

Poonachi, however, realises with time that the love of the old couple towards her is just as long as the rope that is used to tether her to a peg, only scant and measured. 

Poonachi is not just a story of a goat or her growing up years, but a complete narrative of human beings, their feelings, their behavior in different circumstances, a strong observation of the dark times which we live in, where there is a constant strife between ethically right and wrong, where preserving an essence of humanity is seemingly impossible. 

A short, powerful tale, translated extremely well (I could sense the equivalent Tamil lines running in my head as I read the text) that offers a bird's (rather goat's) eye view of a small world in which man and animals strive to thrive together. 

All about Emotions and Errors

Book Review - 

Most book lovers need no introduction to the author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, for her book - The Palace of Illusions has received rapturous applause from all quarters, readers world over. That is precisely what made me pick this book - the Unknown Errors of our Lives (stories, a set of nine of them),  my first from the author's desk.

The lure of short stories coupled with an erratic reading schedule I had foreseen for this month made me prefer this book to a complete novel.

The prose beautifully lyrical, eloquent and mostly poignant is a clear strength of this book.  Chitra evokes an emotion she wants in her reader in a manner as easy as eating a pie.

The book opens with Mrs. Dutta Writes a Letter, this reminded me a little of Jhumpa Lahiri; people torn between their mother land and the place they have immigrated to, changes that some fall in line with, some just cannot manage and won't. Even the  concluding piece in the book - the Names of Stars in Bengali is centered around the change in scape, in lands/homes where one lives and in relationships therefore & thereafter.

The second story - the Intelligence of Wild Things strikes a harmonic resonance, but the sheen disappears thereafter, re appearing only vaguely in the 7th story in the collection - the Blooming Season for Cacti, even the titular story is not powerful as usually expected.

The Lives of Strangers is open ended, does allow a lot of thought to flow but the plot hangs loosely with no ends to safeguard it securely, this happens in few other stories too which creates a lull. 

The most disappointing aspect for me is the way the author treats a short story. Taking cues from the preface of an earlier read/an anthology - a Clutch of Indian Masterpieces, the editor in there quotes a definition of a short story as one with a fully developed theme, significantly shorter and less elaborate than a novel. The THEME or an undercurrent is starkly amiss in three of nine stories in this package.

Going by the same preface, it is believed that there are many authors who like Chekhov treat a story just as a 'slice of life' , construct them on events and turning points in life; but even on that ground and being highly lenient in forming an opinion,  6 out of 9 stories in the collection failed to impress me.

'Go with the tide' is my advice, may be pick 'The Palace of Illusions' or even Before we Visit the Goddess as a first, for having picked this book turned out to be a minor (not Unknown) Error in my life.

A Fascinating Expedition

The Globetrotters - Book Review 

A work of fiction that bundles amazing facts with a simple lesson for all of mankind, a pleasurable read woven carefully with great intelligence and skill. 

Arefa Tehsin, the author, in the prologue, introduces us to Hudhud, a brat, a big bully and a merciless prankster studying in class 7 in a school, his pranks and acts earn him a curse from his history teacher, that he must find the answer to a question - "What is the answer to all wrongs?"

Out he must go, leaving his home and his human form, traveling across oceans, crossing continents along with migratory animals as one among them. 

Chapters 1 to 5 that follow see Hudhud transform into a blue whale, a painted lady butterfly, a porcupine Caribou, an Atlantic leatherback turtle and a great Arctic tern and embark upon adventures in air, sea and on land along with his friend and accomplice in pranks, Kilkila. Each chapter deals with interesting facts about the animals, their journeys, the hardships they face and Hudhud's eternal quest for an answer to the question that he mostly forgets battling the perils of each intercontinental journey he undertakes. 

It all comes together in the epilogue section - did Hudhud find the answer, what is the answer to the question? Did he ever get back home, did he become his normal self or did he keep wandering the world as one of the migratory animals, constantly changing form?

A 200 pages long book, a magically real and dreamily factual account of some wonderful inhabitants of this planet Earth. Apt for a read for age group 10-11 yrs+ , this book offers fascinating insight into some very useful information. 

I am going to preserve this book carefully and hand it over to my little one at the right age so that he can read and enjoy this simple, delightful book. 

A Succinct Folktale

It didn't take me long to finish this short and sweet novella, roughly three to four hours grabbed from here and there over two days. 

Don't run , my love by Easterine Kire is a short book, about 120 pages long, with a distinct folktale like flavor. The book describes the events that unfold in lives of two women Atuonuo, a young girl of marriageable age and her mother Visenuo, after a young, handsome man Kevi arrives offering them unsolicited help during the harvest season. 

Does Kevi manage to marry Atuonuo, does he get that maternal love from Visenuo he craved for from birth? Or are there some dark secrets hidden somewhere that push the lives of these two women into a state of emergency that they never thought of? Concise prose, beautifully written and densely packed because even ten pages of space carries lots of details. Also, we get a peek into the lives of farmers in a Naga village, know a bit of their traditions and practices, food and festivals by reading this book. 

A special reference to the section of the book between pages 30 - 70 because this is where through conversations between mother and daughter we get an insight into their life, also the tale catches up pace and energy. The conversations between elders in Atuonuo's family and her mother Visenuo strike complete familiarity.

There are no cons I see in the book, there is definitely some suspense but nothing like 'out of the box' climax. I guess it is more to do with Indian writing where most of the times, much like in movies, the endings are always happy. And if it is not happy, it is really not the end.

I will not call it a riveting read. However, surely a good read for its writing is highly meaningful and detailing perfectly appropriate in such limited space. 

PS: The above review also appears in my Instagram account.

Riveting Read!

Daphne du Maurier's The Birds and other stories is the book in for review in this blog post. 

A set of six stories, the common feature they (all barring one) share is an element of thrill, some unknown information that keeps the reader hooked till the end. 

The book begins with Birds, my favorite in this collection. Set against the backdrop of World War II, the story describes how life changes for a simple family in a Cornish seaside town with the advent of winter when birds for very strange reasons turn highly aggressive, cause death and unleash large scale destruction. From an uneasy calm, to becoming increasingly eerie and unfolding into a full blown catastrophe at the end, the writer keeps you spellbound through the length of the story. The story is believed to be an allegory of the Blitz attack on London towards the end of World war II. 

Monte Verita - a good sized novelette, is another great story in this pack, lot of theology and philosophy packed into this one but the two subjects do not bring boredom to the reader. Beautifully written, reading this one is akin to rolling a long rectangular sheet of paper to let its shorter, opposite sides (quite like the start and end of the story) just touch each other. There are many wonderful lines that call for good introspection and below is one such example - 

"Religious teachers disagree when they try to show the difference between good and evil; what is a miracle to one becomes black magic to another. The good prophets have been stoned, but so have the witch doctors. Blasphemy in one age becomes holy utterance in the next, and this day's heresy is tomorrow's credo".

The Apple Tree is about a recently widowed man who cannot wait to settle into some peace and private space, after years of lull, spent with his over-laborious and ever complaining wife, Midge.They say that the usual fortune of a complaint is to excite more contempt than pity, so as the man talks distastefully about his dead wife through the length of the story; piles up hatred against an old, odd-looking, stooping apple tree in the yard, putting every effort to get rid of it, he only leaves a certain acerbity in us towards him. This is a story where the author does not hold the reader's attention tight. 

The Little Photographer carries the trend forward like its predecessor in the book of being unable to hold the readers' attention, a clearly predictable tale with a certain cinematic quality about it. A Marquise's life, laden with riches and comforts and yet her heart searches fervently for clandestine pleasures which gets her into real trouble in the end.Despite that banal plot, I loved the story for the way in which it is written, describing an illicit affair sans obscenity is quite next to impossible in contemporary writing. 

And quite like a turn of the tide, the last two stories pack a powerful punch in a brief space in this book. 

Kiss me again, Stranger is a thriller, highly intact right from start to end, a reader wanders in his/her head to many possible conclusions only to get bowled over by the author in the climax. 

The Old Man is a winner in the end, as brilliant as Birds. Now what does one say of a story where the central points are left in suspense to be revealed only in the last few lines, marvelous isn't it? 

There is an excellent foreword at the start of the book that highlights the differences between the world of writing books and making films based on them, between authors and movie directors, worth a read. 

Reading Daphne du Maurier occurred to me pretty late, but now that I started with this one, I am allured enough to read all her other works.

Book Review : A Man Called Ove

A good book comes like a gentle breeze and leaves behind a waft of fresh and sweet fragrance. 

This book -  A Man called Ove does just that.

I have never rated any book in my head out of 5 or 10 stars, blame it on my inability to translate an overall impression into numbers. But here is a book, that gets a neat 5 on 5 without an iota of doubt.

Why? 

1. Relatability  - this is what I adored the most while reading this book. I could relate to what was written in it, there's a little of Ove in my dad and little more of him in my husband. The RQ or the relatability quotient made me grin, smile sheepishly and secretly nod in approval, quite often. 

2. Perfectly paced - never, not once do you feel the author could have saved a few pages or elaborated little more to enable better understanding.

3. The Story Unfolds in Layers - chapters in this book move from the present to few weeks back in time, and to many years back in time but never is one lost in time and space. Also, each chapter is a short story in itself, catering well to my love for short story format.

4. Detailing of the Protagonist - our understanding of Ove grows through the book, gradually. The author doesn't play it defensive on why is Ove the way he is, never. He evokes different emotions in us towards Ove, never once justifying all he does or demanding pity. 

5. Beautifully translated - most of us fumble for the right words that connect our thoughts,  something does get lost in the process of translation, at times. But this book translated into English from Swedish, leaves one wondering if the author and translator are twins, conjoint in their head and heart.

6. Only a few characters - for a person who has still not gotten over post partum forgetfulness, having just a few characters in the book makes the job of reading and remembering easier.

Reading happens pretty erratically, after finishing all household chores, that are sometimes lined up in an unending queue. My reading time is from 12 to 1 am, where I sink into the sofa, heave a sigh of relief that the day has gone by well and get into the reading mode. 

I am happy that I came across this book, and happier that this book came to me at the most important juncture - when I have gotten serious about getting back to my good, old habit of reading. 

A Story a Day Keeps Stress Away

I have forgotten the way to my blog, I feel. Even as I sit down to write this post, I am taking more time than usual to gather my thoughts and put them down here; household chores - one, two, three are lined up in my head. Shunning that little distraction, I start off with the review of the book that I finished reading a week back - Raavi Paar and Other Stories by Gulzar. 

For anyone who has followed Hindi movies and songs for a considerably long time, Gulzar will be a favorite. So the author of the book needs no introduction. A compilation of twenty five short stories in this book, translated by either Alok Bhalla or Masooma Ali, each story replete with human emotions  and perceptions deals with ordinary characters striving for peace and calm even in the most difficult circumstances.  

The stories, really short in length, deliver quite an impact ; most have a cinematic quality about them. Ironic twists are a mainstay in most. Of the 25 stories in here, only 5 lack a definitive punch, so the book is a good read overall. And it is admissibly great if you are like me, trying hard to cling to the habit of reading, one who feels that some reading during the day will yield a good nights' sleep. 

Now getting down to the review, for a person born in Deena, Pakistan, who moved to India post independence and witnessed riots during partition times in his early teens, writing about it is almost inevitable. Therefore, this subject takes the center stage in three stories Raavi Paar, Batwara, Jamun Ka Per, the first of these has the most brilliant content. Khauf and Dhuan use Hindu-Muslim riots/conflicts as the backdrop. Sunset Boulevard, Dhuan, Dalia, Haath Peeley Kar Do, Hisab Khitab, Guddo and Seema give prominence to the female protagonists in them. Of these, Guddo is a shortened version of Gulzar's movie Guddi starring Jaya Bachchan. 

Stories Fasal, Kiski Kahani, Mard, Zindagi, Addha, Satranga, Kagaz Ki Topi offer great read, the powerful characters in here are males, they set the reader on a journey of human emotions in offbeat ways. 

Mard, Michelangelo, Bimal Da, Habu Ki Aag are stories I will love to read again, some impeccable story telling and excellent work by translators. Lekin and Das Paise aur Dadi leave an eerie unease and Najoom quite lightly tickles a funny bone. Junglenama reminded me of The Elephant and the Trangopan by Vikram Seth.

To weave tales in such compact space, with such proficiency, using ordinary characters and their routine activities is an art at which very few excel, those who have watched/heard this living legend's works will without an iota of doubt accept that Gulzar is a master at this job.

Reading gives us some place to go when we have to stay where we are says Mason Cooley ; with Gulzar's book in hand, you get a place to go, a life to peek into, every time, with every story.

The Book

This .. such a beautiful expression.

  

Simple and Stunning Account of Familial Turmoil

My trysts with my blog have become few and far in between but I never thought I would leave a gap of more than an year in writing down something here. Also the bibliophile in me has taken a different avatar; I have started collecting titles for my 5 year old and buried myself in his stories.

Ghachar Ghochar has brought me back to my blog and also redefined my scope of reading. This book popped out and grabbed my attention from an Instagram account, good reviews it garnered and the mention that it is about 120 pages long made it an apt pick. 

Smaller books meant sustainable attention and a better promise of on-time completion.

Ghachar Ghochar by Vivek Shanbagh (translated from Kannada by Srinath Perur) is a skilfully written account of familial turmoil that arises in wake of newly acquired wealth. Never through the length of the book does the reader feel that there are too many subtleties discussed or too many details omitted. Rightly paced, correctly dense, the narrative cannot get more concise and intriguing. The translation by Perur is elegant without hiccups thereby throwing open this impressive work in Indian fiction to many like me.

The book is divided into seven chapters and starts with the narrator sitting at a Coffee House - an airy, spacious, high ceilinged bar and restaurant mulling over many things. This place serves as a retreat for the him when his head has a thousand wheels spinning in it from what transpires at his home daily. An oracular waiter working here, Vincent, is not just the narrator's confidante but his well wisher and soothsayer too.

In the chapters to follow, the author maintains immaculate precision in introducing members of the narrator's family in order of their importance linked to their financial status.

Chikkappa or Venkatachala, the narrator's father's younger brother steers the family from a life of modest means, cramped but dignified existence to abundant riches by founding and successfully running a business in spices called Sona Masala. Seemingly, he is a messiah who raised the family onto a higher socio-economic pedestal but inevitably is the harbinger of utter chaos into which the family is gradually pulled in. 

The narrator's father is scrupulous man, a salesman by profession, his income though minimal meets the family needs. The narrator states "we did not desire what we could not afford , when you have no choice, you have no discontent either." The episodes before they became affluent - a description of the house they lived in, their wars with endless columns of ants in there, their daily activities are described in right depth. 

It is when the narrator talks of his elder sister as a pile of gunpowder waiting to go off, we infer the damages improved finances bring along apart from many lavish benefits.You cannot agree more when he says - It is true what they say,its not we who control money, its money that controls us. When there's little, it behaves meekly; when it grows , it becomes brash and has its way with us.  

The narrator speaks about himself and his wife Anita only towards the end, their marriage and finding love is described sans obscenity in crisp prose. Post marriage, he has trouble dealing with the real right stuff and purportedly right stuff which is essential for peace and unity in family. Anita's brutally forthright nature stirs up dirty waters and raises a lot of muck. Does the narrator deal with these issues, if so how, and what binds this family together despite lack of moral principles? 

One might dismiss this book based on a subject featured round the clock on television as dull and unnecessary. But what is noteworthy is that even on such a banal topic, the author weaves intricacy, packs thrill, leaves things unsaid, gives reader ample scope to interpret and conclude; this makes him outstanding and his work an excellent piece of fiction. 

Don't turn your back on this book Ghachar Ghochar since it deals with familial problems, but read it to know how well balanced a work of fiction can actually be. Words after all are nothing by themselves , they burst into meaning only in the minds they have entered, the author says in one of the chapters, asserting the importance of perception and interpretation, and that rests with the us who read this work.