Deep Ties

Romance reigns in every walk of life, forming a kaleidoscope of shared memories and incandescent moments, unfulfilled love and second chances, along with old regrets wiped away.     The Readomania Book of Romance offers a bouquet of love stories, each forming a radiant bead in a chain lit up by love. These stories are unique – they traverse a journey which claims romance in its purest form, where age, gender, religion, marital failure and regressive ideas are no barrier to the union of two hearts. While Neel Pari, Star-Crossed, Twilight Beckons, Payasam and Samara touched with their poignancy, A Clean Slate and The Desires of Love delighted, employing literary quotes to create magic. However, it was A Little Ambiguity that stood out for me with its beautiful narrative and exquisite writing style. A book to be savoured, whether one is a romantic or not!    

Nithya Rajagopal’s tales are as crunchy and as welcome as the samosa in the title of her book, short, crisp and palatable! They delight in their brevity, and yet, each tale leaves behind an emotion that is akin to a pleasant satiety. What shines through in these tales is the fact that life is made up of simple joys, held together through stolen moments that make it perfect. Whether it is the strength of a baby girl who has withstood a storm, or the satisfaction on the smile on the face of a six-year-old girl; the camaraderie and banter between a well-adjusted couple or the travails of a mother trying to marry off her eligible son, all these thoughts blossom out through language that is spare, yet effective. Sometimes, there is no looking back. Life moves on, despite personal tragedy, a love that repels or unfulfilled work issues, and in such cases, it is better to move on with it and find happiness in those flowers within reach. Besides, it is the quirky side that bring...

This triad of stories by Mona Verma boasts of a theme quite unique, of relationships unimagined, and biases that rule. Whether it is the middle-aged Mansi and her perceptions in the story titled ‘I Need Colour’, or the 30-year-old Angela and her guilt in ‘Just at the Finishing Line’, or the older Bala and his patriarchal prejudices that cloud his thinking in ‘The Invisibles’, the readers are stopped in their tracks and made to ponder. While all three stories are diametrically different, a common thread ties them together. They are sagas of when the paramount disparity arises out of degrees of difficulties. Life can often be unpredictable, where the worthy lose their self-worth as the decades go by, and the mediocre come up through sheer luck and opulence. When neglect hangs in the air, only because no one has bothered to bring the sparkle back in life. At times, the weight of guilt is too heavy to shoulder, and “remorse is an unrelenting tormentor.” Friendships are pricele...

Anurag Anand’s three stories bring in the gravity of the pandemic that has overtaken the world. Bhumika, an aspiring actress, who is living it up, gets a break in an acclaimed web series. How does her life change when a virus makes her plans go awry? The second story, titled ‘Corona Mai’, takes an amusing look at the how a little hoax can take on giant proportions, involving a whole village of gullible believers and canny upstarts who milk the situation for all they are worth. ‘One for the Road’ brings alive the worst nightmare that a woman can face in the times of lockdown. In a world that has turned topsy-turvy, these three tales by Anurag Anand touch upon realities that thousands of people are going through across the world. Apart from his riveting style and his penchant for apt characterization, it is the looming spectre of the corona virus that makes his narration gripping.

I have always run away from science fiction, mainly because I feel that my brain is not wired to enjoy it. However, ‘Revolt of the Lamebren’ by Manjiri Prabhu uncrossed those wires because I did read the book, and I did enjoy it as well. The novel opens in the engineered Ace-World of the Altklugs, hassle-free and disease-free, where there is zero tolerance for wastage of time, “a world of limitless possibilities and perfection”.   What, then, mars this seemingly perfect world? On the other side exist the lamebren, a word coined from lamebrain, a species pitiable, helpless and unaware of their fate. They cower under the tyranny of the super-intelligent Altklugs, with no control over their miserable lives. It is into this world that G 23, a brilliant lamebirl who prefers to call herself Zinnia, is thrown. A square peg in a round hole, Zinnia is a true heroine, who refuses to knuckle down to the Altklugs, and her brave struggle for justice and survival is the them...

When a blogger turned editor decides to write a book, it is likely that it will be one free of glitches and gaffes. 'Aspen Leaves' by the talented Dhivya Balaji is one such book. The title makes one think of delicate leaves that tremble in the sunlight, akin to the stories in the book that dance their way into the hearts of the readers, quick and fleeting, only to stay there forever. There are ten stories in the book divided into three sections – Drama, Supernatural and Revenge Drama. What makes these stories unique is the association of each with a colour that gives each story its meaning and its emotion, colours that are as rare as they are beautiful. The emotions are universal. Is it better to hide a life of passion rather than live a life of austerity? Are there truths that are realised too late in life? Is it possible for perfection to lose its sheen and turn mundane in a relationship? How significant a role does religion play in wedlock and can a woman ever...

What makes this story – Unloved in Love – different from any other similar romantic saga, when the title itself is an oxymoron. What does author Rituparna Ghosh say that distinguishes this book from others? Maybe, it is in the way she says it. Ms. Ghosh reveals a wry sense of humour from page one, when she introduces the way her heroine, Kiara, was born to parents who were taken aback when she arrived. From that point on, Kiara continues to be self-deprecating, “cruising rock bottom in expectations” till she shocks everyone by doing well as a career woman. Three main voices tell the tale, followed by a fourth voice at the end. The three voices belong to Kiara Sen, Kyle Wolf (an interesting German background there) and Karan Shergill, three attractive young people, as they take the action ahead in a series of see-sawing events that keep the reader wondering what the outcome will be. Kiara sees herself in a mirror that is diametrically opposite to how others view her, ma...