The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad – Book Review

I had built up an immense hope right from the time I ordered the book from Amazon. Ever since reading Twinkle Khanna’s ‘Mrs Funnybones’ I was bursting with excitement to read this one. Needless to say I had pre-booked it and my patience was thoroughly paid off.  

I started & finished this book in one sitting as I was waiting in line for my turn for a bank transaction during these testing days of demonetization.

The collection of short stories talks about the matters of heart & determination. My favorite of the entire bunch was the one with Noni Appa and finding love at an unexpected corner of her life. The others in the collection are enjoyable as well. I was rather awestruck by ‘The Sanitary Man from a sacred land’ which like all her other stories is written with so much grace and ingenuity. Fashioned on the struggle of Arunachalam Muruganantham, the author has woven the story with panache and added some fictional bits as well. Of course being an ardent fan of dogs, I absolutely loved the relationship between her lead character Bablu and his mongrel Choti.  Both Muruganantham & she have proven that feminism need not only be the property of women, strong men can be supreme feminists too.  

Whether it is the one with the young girl who creates a plan to save the girl child of the village or the one with the lady who was on a tryst to find the meaning of life & true love, each of Ms. Khanna’s characters are embodiment of will power & strength of character.  

My verdict:

Must read for everyone whether you are a feminist or not.

I am in love with her writing and I eagerly wait for her next literary excellence to pop up. 

Badly Bengali

Hello dear chums! How are we today? Did we have good breakfast? Good! Now let’s continue with my rants, because it is all about me… isn’t it! Of course it is! It’s my blog! So let us proceed!

With Durga Puja beginning with Mahalaya today, I sat down thinking, am I a true Bengali? I ask this question rather often, because of the following;

• I never feel the feeling of Pujo (All the days are same for me, no special get-together/fun time for those days)
• I do not care much for Kolkata street food (because I’ve never tasted any)
• I am not well versed with Robindro Sangeet (I cannot sing, not even to save my life)
• Pandal hopping is not as enjoyable as before (too much crowd & too many screaming elated Bengali aunties hitting the highest possible octave while they chit chat)
• Political chats do not entice me at all (I detest the futile chit chat about what which politician should do and should not)
• I am not much of a Tea person (I am more of a coffee person).
• I have zero understanding of art (especially paintings and poetry)

After racking my brains and memories (read my previous article to see how difficult it is for me to play through my memories) for a long time, I have decided I am as Bengali as I can get and I am proud of it.

L    

Like any true Bengali person, I have a steady supply of Boroline, Gelusil and Aqua ptychotis syrup with me.

We do use a Guptopress Ponjika (a book of auspicious dates, horoscope for the year, constellation placements throughout the year etc) at home.

I love bhapa ilish, shukto, aaloo bhaaja and mochar ghonto (and other lip smacking Bengali dishes as well)

I am a big fan of Soumitra Chatterjee (a total dude of the Golden Age of Bengali cinema & my 1^st favorite Feluda) and have watched and re watched almost all of his movies (not all though).

I may not be well versed with Robindro Sangeet but I have devoured books of Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay, Leela Majumdar, Sunil Ganguli, Satyajit Ray (and the likes of them)

Amidst all my favorite fictional detectives from all over the world, Feluda and Byomkesh Bakshi come in first 5 alongside Sherlock Holmes, Tintin – the reporter and Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau.

Oh and yes… I am the proud owner of the complete Tintin and Asterix series.

Most importantly I can proudly say that thanks to my grandma, I am well versed with the spoken and written language, something that not many Probashi Bengali (a term used for a Bengali living outside Bengal) can say. 

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My friends would know that I make fun of the Bengali accent and certain stereotypes that are there (like in every other culture), but no ‘non-bengalis’ can do that in front of me and get away with it.  I am proud to be a Bengali no matter which state I stay in!

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From the diary of a bookworm...

Like any other 80's child , I have grown up reading characters like Feluda, Byomkesh, Kakababu, Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Tintin, Asterix and others. My adolescence has been extensively cultivated by Bengali and English authors alike. 

Thanks to my Grandfather who introduced me to the world of books, I’ve had a pretty colourful childhood. Imaginations ran wild and life was never monotonous. Every new book brought a new adventure along with it. Power of suggestion played a rather pivotal role during these days. No cell phones, no ipads, no gaming consoles, no malls to hang out, yet I was hardly ever bored.

Now life has much advancement to offer me, but the smell of both old and new books act as an instant portal to a new dimension or may be an old dimension where I have visited before but would not mind doing it again...

photo courtsy - www.annabellahagen.com