What a powerful, beautiful book.Across the Line is one of the South Asia Book Award Honor Books 2020. I was intrigued by the title and the cover image, but I didn't know anything about the book, except that it was South Asian, probably Indian. And the name naturally suggested to me the partition.I was not wrong. And yet, Across the Line is much more. It's about the cultural baggage we continue to carry, so many years after India was divided. The story begins in 1947 when the line was drawn, dividing the nation. Mountbatten chose to leave India to its mess, even though he knew that a bloody massacre was likely to follow. The story alternates between New Delhi and Rawalpindi, tracing the lives of two families that happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.And then, before we know the whole story of the characters we meet in August 1947, we move to the more recent … [Read more...]
What to Read on StoryWeaver
At this moment, StoryWeaver has 22,487 stories. 22,487. Let's do some maths. If I read a story a day every day of my life, I will need over 61 years to read all those stories. That's not even taking into account the fact that there will be many, many more stories by then. So, here's a list to start on that journey. This is a set of books I read recently and loved. And if you're anything like me, you'll read more than a story a day, so maybe you won't need 61 years to catch up with them all.The Manasa SeriesWho doesn't love a book series? There are three books about Manasa, and I wish there were more! In Manasa Finds a Rainbow, Manasa boasts to her friend Titus that she has feathers of every colour. When Titus says that he will come over to see them, Manasa panics! She must find enough feathers to show Titus a proper prized collection!There are so many stories about curly hair … [Read more...]
Crenshaw
Look at that gorgeous cover. It invited me in with all its charm, its wonder, its mystery. And the book was just as heart-warming.Jackson likes facts. He's the kid who runs backstage and then reveals to everyone just how the magician pulled a rabbit out of his hat. He knows facts about bats and cats and dinosaurs and all kinds of other creatures because facts are real. Facts are important.If only his parents would tell him facts too, instead of trying to be all cheery and optimistic, and pretending that everything is going well.The other problem with Jackson's factual, real, rational universe is a giant cat, Crenshaw. Crenshaw was his imaginary friend when he was younger. Surely, he should have outgrown something as un-factual as an imaginary friend! Crenshaw first made an appearance when Jackson's family had to move out of their house and into a minivan for four weeks, which … [Read more...]
The Good Thieves
I've said it before and I'll say it again - you cannot go wrong with Katherine Rundell. The Girl Savage, Rooftoppers, The Wolf Wilder, The Explorer, and now, The Good Thieves. I've loved all of them. I love the poetry in the storytelling, the feisty characters and the power of relationships. Katherine Rundell's work just sucks me in each time and holds me in the story until I've read the last sentence.A rich conman Sorrotore has swindled Vita's grandfather out of his home, an old castle that is falling apart. Sorrotore insists that he bought the castle cheap - he paid 200 dollars for it, and her grandfather's account reflects the payment. Yet, he never sold it. He would never sell something so precious to him, and however pressed he was, he would never sell it for a paltry two hundred dollars.However, lawyers are expensive and the family cannot afford to fight a long legal battle, … [Read more...]
All of Me
It's been a while since I wrote a book review, simply because I haven't been reading much for the last two months. I wrote about that for The Curious Reader - about reading old favourites, but not really taking the plunge and reading something altogether new. Finally, a few days ago, I settled into a newer kind of reading. I began (finally!) to look for books to buy and read on my Kindle to keep me going until libraries reopen and I feel comfortable enough to go visit them.And the first book I bought was All of Me by Venita Coelho.There are some books that when I read, I feel, "I write much better than that, come on! This story is ... just ... mediocre."And then, there are some books that make me wonder why I am a writer at all when there are people who write so well, sucking you into the story and keeping you there, chapter after chapter.Considering I never review books I … [Read more...]
Dragonflies, Jigsaws and Seashells – The Story Behind the Story
Stories of rejection can be empowering if they have happy endings. I realised that when I shared the story behind the story of Sisters at New Dawn. I think, since writing is such a solitary affair anyway, knowing that you aren't amassing those rejections alone makes you feel warm, and a little less alone. So, here's the story of Dragonflies and how it came into being. It's the story of the rejections I accumulated before being shortlisted for the Scholastic Asian Book Award. The book is out now, available in India, and now is as good a time as any to write about it. Not naming any names here because that's not what this post is about.Publisher OneI sent my manuscript to the first publisher on my list in 2013, shortly after I had my first collection of short stories, The Story-Catcher, published. (Yes, you read that correctly. 2013. Seven years ago.) I did … [Read more...]
Letters I Receive – VI
Okay, so this blog post cheats a little because even though it is about letters I've received, I'm also going to write about ones I just received - as photographs. They're letters that I sent over 18 years ago. In my previous post, I wrote about the only crossed letter I ever wrote. I just saw a picture of the crossed letter and I realised I got it all wrong. So much for that. A crossed letter doesn't have upside-down writing; it has writing at 90ยบ to the original text--that's what makes it crossed. Oh, well here's my only attempt at a crossed letter, influenced by all the Georgette Heyers I read.I didn't read the whole thing, but I was amused by the fact that the parts I liked most in her books were the arguments! And also, now, I wonder how it was to read her books for the first time. That does feel very long ago.Just like my father, I enjoyed sending out fun newspaper … [Read more...]
Letters I Receive – V
I've written about both Sreeja and her grandparents before. When Sreeja was studying at IIT-Kharagpur, she invited Veda and me to come for Diwali and see the magnificent illumination and rangoli on campus. All the dates went awry and we finally reached Kharagpur the day after the illumination. Oh, well, we saw what was left of it all. And Kolkata was special.We stayed with Sreeja's grandparents in Calcutta. They're exceptionally warm people, who, like so many other Indian grandparents, showed all their love for us through food. This was in 2005. When we got back home, in the way I try to do, I wrote them a letter, thanking them for everything. And the wonderful thing? They wrote back! For once, here's a picture of the whole letter.Sreeja was also one of my most regular correspondents. We wrote regularly to each other, pages and pages. At a time when I was devouring Georgette … [Read more...]
Letters I Receive – IV
Recently (well, not recently really, but not long before the lockdown began), I did a letter-writing activity at a couple of workshops. I've always loved receiving letters. A letter in the mailbox with YOUR NAME on it? Ooh, the joy!I wanted children to experience that too, and what better way than through a workshop? But the world has changed. I learned a lot through my letter-writing activity - including the fact that some children have been taught not to tell other people their address - ever!I understand that, don't get me wrong, but I couldn't help thinking about the Pen Pals page in one of my favourite children's magazines, Sanctuary Cub. I have no idea if that page still exists, but the pen friends I made as a child were thanks to the magazine - which published my full name and address. I didn't think it at all dangerous then. Now, I wonder.Pen friends are fun, so much … [Read more...]
Letters I Receive – III
Have you ever had chicken pox? But more importantly, did you have a special friend to write letters to when you were quarantined?My sister Nisha missed her sixth standard final exams because she had chicken pox. Right through those weeks, she was extra careful, taking precautions rather similar to the ones we're taking right now in times of Corona, though sanitiser was unheard of then. She didn't touch things I would touch; she sat in one sofa; our beds were socially distant (of course, we didn't think of it like that). After my exams, after Nisha recovered, I got chicken pox too. I guess it was bound to happen. But during the weeks that I was at home, she would take letters from me to my bestest best friend every day. I had a little black book in which I would write my letter. My bestest friend would write in the same book and bring it back. And privacy was a core value at home, so … [Read more...]