Ash Talks Books

Book Review by K.S.Loganathan, Tyre and rubber consultant and author. Savarkar: The true story of the father of Hindutva by Vaibhav Purandare, Juggernaut, 2019 The Marathi biographer Vaibhav Purandare follows up on his biographies of Sachin Tendulkar and Bal Thackeray with that of the great anti-imperialist Indian patriot, Savarkar. He deals brilliantly with the interpretation of the immense mass of documents, particularly as reported in Marathi journals, relating to the complicated period of Indian history from the years 1883 to 1966 that Savarkar lived. The dark side of imperial Britain, the high hopes of the Indian nationalists and Savarkar’s own trials and tribulations are captured well. It was a period of much bitter discontent and turmoil all over Europe and Asia, marked by two world wars and the weakened position of the European colonial powers after 1945. Savarkar was born into a Chitpavan Brahmin community near Nasik, which embraced the Bri...

Sriram was my colleague at Cognizant way back in 2005 and 2006. It gives me immense pleasure to learn about his second graphic novel, Grit. Read on. ‘Grit’, a graphic novel by Sriram et al., was launched on 21 July 2019 in Bangalore, and it’s already into the second print run. It got 55 reviews, 52 of which are 5-stars and three are 4-stars.  Sriram’s first graphic novel, Mai, was released in April 2018. The book is about two heroes, Malvika Iyer and her mother. Grit: The Major Story is the true account of a man who rose from humble beginnings to become a hero. It is about the inspiring story of Major DP Singh, a Kargil war veteran and India's first blade runner. Faced with the tragic loss of a limb while serving on the frontlines during the Kargil War, Major Singh's indomitable spirit came to the fore. With the support of his family, friends and dedicated healthcare professionals, and aided by the training he received in the army, he set a fresh course fo...

‘The Reluctant Debutante’ by Vibha Batra is a peek into the world of glamourous social events, but with a twist. Its USP is that it transports the reader to the days of yore when noblewomen were introduced to polite society as debutantes while being set against a completely modern backdrop. The story is about identical twins who share similar looks but whose personalities are starkly different. The so-called troublemaker twin of the two impersonates her rather saintly counterpart in a “social event”(read: beauty contest) held in France, at the goody-goody sister’s behest. What ensues is an enjoyable account of this rather ungainly sister navigating the competition while trying to rein in her true nature. The other contestants and her “Cavalier” of the opposite sex are described well and add colour to the story. The “Cavalier” came across as a kind of modern-day Darcy for Young Adults! By making her protagonist almost anti-beauty pageants, Vibha appeals to that ...

I  read the next book on my TBR, Mr Vasudev Murthy’s ‘The Ramgarh Literary Festival.’ And what a ‘pick me up’ it turned out to be! Absolutely delightful! Slightly Wodehouseian and totally of interest to me ‘coz I love stories about the publishing world, and I’ve always loved Wodehouse. I loved when Mr Murthy referred to ‘Pupa’ publishers early in the book and made a remark about Sheelaa Dey in another part of the book. Sample a few dialogues from the book, which almost caused me incontinence at age 42: ‘Ticket to Ramgarh,’ I said arrogantly to the man behind the ticket counter, handing over the reservation form duly filled. ‘I am a key speaker at the Ramgarh Literary Festival.’ ‘You must be crazy, you old fool,’ said the rude person. In another place, this: “Dinner?” I inquired. He took off the lid off a large dish and I peeped in. Within was a small infant chappati. I asked about anything that might be sampled with the chapatti. He pointe...