Books Read in May 2025

 Books that I read in the month of May in pics. 

Short story singles 

War and Peace

 

I have been guzzling down news from different sources since May 6, 2025, more precisely since the Pahalgam terror attack that shook the nation on 22nd April. Reading fiction has taken a backseat for now but the bibliophile in me bought a copy of Ramacharitamanas, thanks to Air Marshal AK Bharti. Yes, only a book lover can turn the country's DGAO into a book influencer. 

In the press meet dated May 12, when a journalist shared lines penned by the famous poet Ramdhari Singh Dinkar in his question, the DGAO replied with a couplet from Ramacharitamanas (in pic shared above) adding that for the intelligent, a hint is enough. Cultural significance aside, what stood out  garnering applause from even journalists who were not at the venue to be wooed was how the Air Marshal explained the 'why' behind Operation Sindoor and our strategy using just two lines from Tulsidas’s epic poem. I still have copies of ACK Valmiki’s Ramayana and C Rajagopalachari’s Ramayana published by Bharathi Vidya Bhavan from my childhood days in the book shelf, but I couldn't resist my temptation to grab a copy of Ramacharitamanas (this copy published by Gita Press Gorakhpur) after listening to Air Marshal AK Bharti.  

No one wants war, everyone wants peace. And yet, they do appear together as in the title of Leo Tolstoy’s popular classic. For the considerable sample space in fiction I have explored from the genres - historical fiction/war fiction, I have a fair understanding of the environmental destruction, losses of all sorts - financial and emotional associated with a war. I don't have a family member serving in the Indian Armed Forces, I don't reside anywhere close to the border or conflict zone, but just the sound of the siren and visuals of blackout on my TV screen are enough to leave me with a churn in my stomach. 

Pakistan has been actively breeding and fomenting terror and religious fanaticism on its soil for decades, ‘a dirty work’ they themselves have admitted doing. There isn't an iota of doubt about this for what else can explain the country borrowing money 28 times in 35 years from the IMF and yet unable to improve its economic health earning itself the tag ‘a debtor too big to fail’.

Operation Sindoor isn’t a war on our neighbour Pakistan that we started or waged with an intent to threaten their sovereignty or territorial integrity, it's a fitting reply and resounding slap to the terror they unleashed on innocents in Baisaran Valley in Pahalgam on 22nd April. Even when Pak shelled Indian towns across the border and showered drones on our cities, we thwarted those attacks and struck their military bases in a highly calibrated and precise fashion. 

To me, this book will remain a token of memory of Operation Sindoor. It's my way of saluting the Indian Armed forces for all that they achieved, a humble expression of respect, gratitude and admiration for their efforts, grit, valour and precision in their successful mission to safeguard their countrymen and avenge the wrong done to them. The book will also remind me of how vulnerable people are in areas close to our border with Pakistan, always the first ones to bear the brunt of our enemy's actions. It's a way of remembering that the Prime Minister and his cabinet did not just stop with diplomatic measures/exchange of files and dossiers to tackle terror but resorted to firm retaliatory action by striking the terror establishments when the nation was  pushed to the corner, no mean feat given how tricky and difficult the political situation/equations between the nations in the subcontinent and world are. 

I am not one for blind adulation for an elected premier, it's clearly not a healthy attribute of a vigilant citizen in a democracy. I have been skeptical, even critical of our PM on many occasions, but there is no taking away credit here, where it’s due. Even as I write this post, there are grey areas and no clear cut answers for many questions, but whenever I pick this 1200 pages book/tome for a read, I will remember Operation Sindoor as a turning point, a successful one, in Indian response & its zero tolerance to terrorism.

(PS: I sincerely hope we don't make a movie out of this operation starring Vicky Kaushal, Ayushmann Khurrana and their likes)

Books Read in April 2025

 

Blackened

 

Blackened, by Vinoy Thomas, translated from Malayalam by Nandakumar K, the story of one man's fervent efforts to discover his roots and solve his identity crisis is also a fine study of history and anthropology. It details how ‘migration’ not only changed the circumstances in which human beings thrived but changed them as well, shaping our history. It highlights how the journey, a constant and a long one, added labels to us making us overlook the basic fact that we are all Homo sapiens, who evolved from apes, roamed lands as hunters and food gatherers before settling down to till the land.

The Adhikarathil family in Malabar, Kerala, a prosperous and venerated Christian family boasts of a rich history. Its origin traced to the union of a Persian man and an upper-caste Namboodri woman lent it an air of superiority and an honour that had to be safeguarded, apart from leaving its members fair-skinned. And, born into this family, Eranimose, the dark-skinned one, sticks out like a sore thumb. The humiliation he suffers due to his skin colour makes him suspect his parentage, wonder about his caste and sends him to Karikkottakkary (inhabited by dark-skinned, lower caste people/Pulayas newly converted to Christianity) for answers. On an arduous quest, he learns that ‘history is a collection of conjectures and beliefs’ before secrets his family hid from him to avoid shame are revealed.

Over the past few days, I have been mulling about how meaningless or hollow is the pride we take in our cultural identity and roots, our faith/religion, our caste identity, our complexion/racial superiority when we forget the primeval trait - humanity that defines and unifies us. There couldn't have been a better time to read this book, one that shows how a chain of migration, wave of conversion redefines who we are over years.

Sharing some lines from the book that will stay with me -

“What am I? Who is my God? Forefathers whose thirst is slaked by the blood of black fowl split on the sacrificial rock ? Or the taste of flour that dissolves on my tongue in the shape of a sanctified white disc, who is my God? Why this life? Offspring of an illicit relationship. Living as a parasite in a noble family, uncounted as a member of any clan, humiliated, how far was this life going to drag me on?” (from chapter 9)

“In the nights, as I lay beneath the mango tree, I had visions of the past, as vast and infinite as the sky. Like the stars, the lighted spots were few and far between. It was filled with darkness. Darkness was the truth-the moans and laments and clanking of the chains of those overlooked in the dark underbelly of history.” (From chapter 7)

A slim but dense read, Blackened packs a lot of Kerala’s social and political history, caste hierarchy and its belief systems. The traditions followed during the holy week starting from Palm Sunday to Easter, recipe for INRI appam, hunting fish in the Chaitra Vahini stream, hunting boars in hills of Sulya, the beauty of the land with its fauna and flora are all detailed with an astonishing clarity that the text doesn't feel like a translation. There’s a sizeable character set, each one with a role to play. There is free flow of sex and lust, some of it helps steer the story forward, some clearly feels unnecessary. The foreword by author S Hareesh is enlightening.

A thought-provoking read that highlights how one's past helps understand his/her present, a book that is as much about history as about the contemporary, Blackened deserves a wide readership and the translation so brilliantly done by Nandakumar K ensures just that.

A Demon in Dandi

 

A Demon in Dandi by Lavanya Karthik takes us back in time to 1930 to a quaint fishing village with mangroves and salt encrusted beaches lacking proper roads or access to drinking water, Dandi in Gujarat. Indians marched in huge numbers openly defying the oppressive salt laws and tax imposed by the British right under their intent and mocking gaze. A roaring success, Dandi march marked the  beginning of a country wide non-violent Civil Disobedience movement and in good measure, its success was due to the efforts of Arun Tukdi, a group of volunteers who spread Gandhi's messages and laboured to ensure that he and the marchers had basic food and accommodation at different stopovers along the way. 

Dinu, a 15 yr old boy from a rich business family in Surat is sent to work as a volunteer by his father. A misfit in the group, a distracted Dinu roams around Dandi, makes a few friends and finds himself at the center of a murder and theft in Wasim Seth’s mansion. An avid reader of Sherlock Holmes adventures, he silently resolves to unveil the murderer and show the villagers that the crime is not the handiwork of a demon that supposedly haunted the village. Does Dinu manage to nab the culprit and how? This slim, well-written murder mystery with the Salt Satyagraha in the backdrop holds the answers and much more. 

Several ideals that Bapu preached are carefully woven into the narrative - right to education for all irrespective of gender, caste and class and a vehement no to superstitions, alcoholism and gambling. Wasim Seth, though an Indian National Congress supporter, has a son politically leaning towards Muslim League and by placing such contrasts in the same family, the author highlights the need for tolerance. As Dinu slowly rules out suspects he listed out at initially, he learns more about the world around him and his abilities, what he means to the Tukdi and what the Tukdi means to satyagraha movement; thus making the story his coming of age journey too. 

Just like other titles from the Songs of Freedom series, this book too explores the lives of children across India during the struggle for independence. A comprehensive historical note at the book's end helps us clearly understand what's fiction and what the facts are. Sketches of Dandi and its landmarks, layout of a traditional house belonging to Dawoodi Bohra community, the Salt March route and the recipe for raab (a porridge made from bajra/wheat flour sweetened with jaggery, a staple for Tukdi volunteers) shared at the end enrich our reading experience. The author's acknowledgements is easily one of the best I have read in a long time. Lavanya Karthik’s A Demon in Dandi is a beautiful addition to the Songs of Freedom series. An engaging read, I enjoyed reading this one! 

(Note: Thanks to the publishers for providing me with a review copy of this lovely book in return for an honest review)