Petals!

Winter mornings, go away! Cloud skies, I don't want to wake up to you. Sometimes I feel that waking up is becoming harder each day. The sun looks like a pale yolk and I feel so blue. These early winter mornings are tough, I tell you! [ Do Read: A Dad's Advi ce to the Daughter He loves ]                                   [ FOLLOW MY BOARDS ON PINTEREST ] Now I don't know how these last months have been for you. For me, October has been the toughest month so far. My family lost a very dear and much loved person. It was a huge personal loss for me and nothing less than devastating for my parents. But this loss also taught me lessons that I can never forget.    Beautiful memories live forever My mother tells me that when she got married and came to her new home, it is my aunts (father's sisters) who made her feel most loved, cared for and welcome. My aunt Manivalima, who passed ...

When I began to read Mehak Daleh's debut novel, "And the Roses Bled", I could feel a chill around me, as though the dark narrative is casting its shadows while the characters came to life, particularly the little girls. I found myself looking behind my shoulders. I also liked the subtle ways through which the novel's gripping narrative turns many cliches about crime thrillers upside down. For latest book reviews, subscribe to  Svara's Newsletter ! " Kids know things....they do. But sometimes they refuse to accept or acknowledge what they feel uncomfortable with. They refuse to see it. It is survival. The child has to survive. So, they block things. "  The story revolves around a catastrophe that strikes the lives of two little girls. The twins, Nina and Alisha, are happy little girls until one goes missing. What the other twin goes through is nothing less than a nightmare. You feel deeply for every emotion that Alisha is going through. She...

After Mumbai Police, Prithviraj Sukumaran and Rahman are back together in this thriller! Nirmal Sahadev's directorial debut 'Ranam', starring Prithviraj Sukumaran, Rahman, Isha Talwar and Nandu, is an ambitious, powerful and disturbing thriller. It revolves around an unusual theme - Detroit's underworld. The narrative opens up with gripping questions. What does Detroit mean anymore to the world?  What hopes and dreams can immigrants have in a city where drug wars are a daily affair and violence is a way of life? Right from the beginning of the film, the helplessness of Indian immigrants is evident, when Prithviraj's voice over brims with sombre tones about the lost glory of Detroit. You are unknowingly pulled into the gloom and despair the city's dark images evoke. Ranam Story 'Aadhi' (starring Prithviraj) is Detroit's best known getaway driving champion and he deals with deadly party drugs. I am not entirely thrilled...

It's September already - wow! That is how I feel about every passing month in 2018. No other year has brought so many changes, month by month, in my life. This is more like, 'you are kidding me, right?' roller coaster ride, with stunning 'UPs' and some heart-wrenching 'LOWs.' [READ: Feeling depressed?]                                                                               {Image: Pixabay}                                 You know, there were days when I felt like there is no humanity left in this world.  Swami often says, "Trust only in God." What a beautiful reminder, isn't it? The silver lining is that the sun never stops shining and life goes on, right?  We have to put ourselves tog...

There are books that blaze into your thoughts and here's a book that definitely stayed within me even after weeks of reading it, With its blazing red flower cover, Mini Sukumaran Nair's novel B3/703, Gulmohar Park , caught my attention in a bookshop. As a child, I grew up reading the books of Enid Blyton, RK Narayan and Anita Desai.  Mini Sukumaran Nair's  refreshing narrative brought back bittersweet memories of those growing up years.  Right from the first page, I felt like I could curl up with this heartwarming novel. And just in case you are wondering, this isn't a novel that was sent to me for review nor do I know the author or its publisher. I just loved the book, that's it! This heartwarming tale of childhood, family drama and tragic upheavals is narrated from the perspective of a little girl called Madhura , whose mother Vani is a maid in the home of an affluent Punjabi family and later on, through the perspective of her mother's employers, A...

Published by FingerPrint! Publishing, Subrata Dasgupta's novel 'Voice of the Rain Season' is not an easy book to describe for it involves a journey that takes you back into time, spanning four generations and catapulting you into the epicenter of a Bengali family's long kept secret that is tied to notions of identity, homecoming, language, love and loss. [ DO READ: The Amazing Tale of Peddabottu ]  The telling of  Subrata Dasgupta's novel  opens in the US. The protagonist is  Joya Bose, a twenty five year old Indian lecturer, who is living with Martin Shawncross, an American undergraduate student at the University where she teaches. Initially, Joya is surprised that Martin Shawncross is not only familiar with Rabindranath Tagore's poetry but is also passionate in his interpretation of it. She is delighted when he tells her that her paternal grandmother Manjula is a Bengali, who had married his grandfather, an American. Manjula's twin sister Nili...

Published by FingerPrint! Publishing, Susunaga Weeraperuma's collection of essays titled 'Clarity is the Only Spirituality' takes you through a diverse world that is battling complex problems with little clarity on the big picture. A heartwarming style of writing, peppered with a dash of good humour, makes this book a memorable, interesting read as it negotiates through the turbulent landscapes of human mind and emotion on all aspects of life.  From several people I personally know, I had heard tales of how difficult it was to communicate to the French people in English. A veteran journalist had once told me that when he checked into one of their finest and best hotels way back in the 80s, the receptionist would not even acknowledge his queries unless he addressed her in the French language. But hey, wait a minute! This author is living in France and he has pointed out that French schools don't even encourage or promote the use of English language. The author...