If you want to start a conversation with her, send her an email here and she promises to replyI paused and sighed. That's how Subhadra Sen Gupta's bio note ends, and even though I never knew or even met her, that line right there warms me up. And even if she cannot reply now, her words stay alive through all the wonderful books she's written.Mostly Ghostly Stories is a fun, pacy collection of six stories. The stories span across time - from one set in Vijayanagar during Krishna Deva Raya's rule to another set in the age of the internet and social media. And no, even though they are all ghost stories, they aren't horror stories. They're stories of witches with a sense of humour, ghosts with the ability to solve mysteries and grumpy spirits who insist that some rules about food cannot be broken. The title of the collection is important too: they are mostly ghostly stories. … [Read more...]
The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise
How does one even begin to talk about a book like The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise? Coyote - why is she called Coyote? Why does the cover image show her sitting on top of a school bus?Coyote's mother and sisters die in a road accident and for her father, the only way to overcome grief is never to look back. So, he begins to call himself Rodeo, and never lets Coyote call him Dad. Nothing, nothing should remind them of the past. And returning to a place full of memories? That's a no-go.But when Coyote learns that she is about to lose one tangible aspect of her memories of her mother and sisters forever, she must go back. And somehow, she must get Rodeo to take her back without letting him find out what she's doing because if he finds out, there's no way he'll take her there. How she does it is what makes her journey remarkable. The people she meets, the acts of kindness … [Read more...]
Names and Words
Peanut vs the PianoWe're reading Peanut vs the Piano at two of my book clubs. Peanut, Papad and Pickle. What funny names those are!"I hope their parents named them after their favourite food!" I said. "Not things that were lying around. What if your parents had named you after their favourite foods? What would your names have been?""Fish!" said Zayn. "My name would have been Fish.""Like the dog in At Least a Fish!" someone said.So, Zayn amended, "Fish fries!"Aarav thought about it. "I think I would be called Kalidal Pizza."We couldn't help laughing. And then, he changed his Zoom name to something even more specific - Dal Makhani Four Cheese Pizza.Ira could not think of what her parents would name her. "They like everything!" she complained. Finally, she settled on 'Mutton'. Mutton. That's what she would be called.And Aarya? Her parents like very different things. … [Read more...]
Unfair
Three years ago, when I read No. 9 on the Shade Card, I came across the concept of a shade card for the first time. As a child, conversations about skin colour bounced off me. People spoke of how one person was lighter or darker than another; they talked of having tanned too much after a trip to Goa; I knew people who wore socks no matter how hot it was just so that their feet wouldn't tan. None of these conversations pierced the bubble I lived in, much like Lina, one of the two protagonists of the story. Unlike Lina, however, there never came a time in my childhood when I had to come face to face with the fact that being fair was a real obsession, not something you could just roll your eyes at and forget all about.Lina loves drama. When she learns that the school production of the year is Romeo and Juliet, she's thrilled. Of course she'll audition for the part of Juliet! Unlike … [Read more...]
Rain Must Fall
Rain Must Fall by Nandita Basu is such a beautiful read! I devoured it in one sitting, and I loved it.Anya, Rumi's best friend, asks whom Rumi would like to go on a date with. Rumi makes the mistake of being honest and saying 'you'. After all, you can be truthful with your best friend, can't you? And it isn't really as if Rumi has a romantic interest in Anya; it was just a game. Wasn't it? Maybe not. Because gossip and cruel jokes begin on the school group. Soon, Rumi discovers that neither parents nor schoolmates can accept the idea of a non-binary individual. Schoolmates think it's a joke, and Rumi's parents think therapy is the "solution".Away from it all, in a small town, Rumi discovers and befriends a ghost, Rain. Both Rain and Rumi are trapped, alone and misunderstood. As human and ghost get to know each other better, Rain begins to remember snippets of his life, and … [Read more...]
January Reads
In December, I visited a books by weight sale, and I couldn't resist picking up seven books that were in near-mint condition! I couldn't finish one, but I read the other six, some of which I quite enjoyed, and others that I loved. Here they are, listed in an unusual way for me - from the one I enjoyed least to the one I enjoyed most. 3.5/5 Fan Fiction, Feminist, Ages 10+I enjoy reading spin-offs of classics. Off the top of my head, the ones that come to mind are Wide Sargasso Sea, Wishing for Tomorrow and Lilliput, though I'm sure there are many more that I've read and loved.Hook's Daughter was the first Peter Pan spin-off I've read! After I finished reading it, I learned that it is the first of a series of revenge stories by Heidi Schulz, but it works well as a standalone story too. Captain Hook doesn't … [Read more...]
Green Reads – Part 2
The Golden Eagle. With its gorgeous pictures and gripping storyline, it drew us in. "I think I'm going to like this even more than The Butterfly Lion," said one child. Just by chance, all three books we read during this edition of my book club featured animals. Manolita has seals; the title The Butterfly Lion says it all - butterflies and lions; The Golden Eagle has a profusion of birds. Many of the children have never seen storks, ospreys, harriers, green pigeons and thrushes, and the book brought these alive to us. It was time for a follow-up activity, one that we threw our hearts into. What birds would you like to talk to us about? That was the only question I asked the children at my book club."I hope to go to Zimbabwe someday and see the African Fish Eagle," said Amritayu. Eagles fascinate him, and even more so because of the book we read on the golden eagle."The … [Read more...]
Green Reads – Part 1
On social media, I've been seeing posts about book club facilitators introducing green reads to children. "What a lovely idea," I found myself thinking. I've always loved stories about the environment. I read post after post, and then I stopped. Wait a minute! I'm reading green reads with my book clubbers too - A Very Naughty Dragon with two bunches of seven and eight-year-olds, and The Golden Eagle with the slightly older ones! So, I reached out to Archana, who runs AA's Book Nerds, asking if she'd like me to jump on the bandwagon. I had no idea how structured her Green Reads mission was, but ...We're trying to draw attention to our role as book club hosts and indies and our contributions in the kidlit space.Archana Atri, AA's Book NerdsPerfect! And so, here's where one of our explorations of A Very Naughty Dragon led us.As planned, we started reading this book with the last … [Read more...]
Careers in Writing – Fergusson College
A career in writing - what does that mean? As part of UGC's STRIDE (Scheme for for Trans-Disciplinary Research for India's Developing Economy), the English department of Fergusson College invited me to talk about making a career in creative writing. What I loved was that I didn't speak just to students of the English department; it really was trans-disciplinary!What would a talk on a career in creative writing involve? For me, first, it would involve demystifying the publishing process. Secondly, to use a word that the organiser used, it would need to deglamorize the life of a writer. If you're talking about a career and not a hobby, writing is not about penning down your thoughts and expressing your feelings. No. It's not the random poem here, or the the snippet of deep, philosophical thought there.Okay, so you write poetry. When did you last buy a book of poems? Does your … [Read more...]
Pench – December 2021
Should we even consider travelling? Maybe we should just cancel and stay home.We haven't gone anywhere for so long! Surely, a jungle is safe! Where else will we actually be able to stay socially distant?What if we have to do an RT-PCR before taking our flight back. Will we have to spend a night in Nagpur?Let's not cross a state border. That way, being doubly vaccinated should be enough for us to catch a flight.Wondering, debating, planning ... we finally did go to Pench Tiger Reserve in December 2021, and I'm so glad we did. Safari in the Rain Watching the rain, all by ourselves in the wild The weather report said there would be a little rain. A little rain.Not a thunderstorm.But have you ever been stuck in a thunderstorm in the middle of the jungle?It was incredible. We stood at Bakhari Camp and watched the rain pour down on huge teak … [Read more...]