Deep Ties

Chetna Keer’s writing is never predictable. It does not flow like a serene river from one point to another; instead, it leaps from crag to crag leading to sudden dips that make the readers hold their breath. It meanders across the plain for a split second, and once again, takes an unexpected turn into the unknown. The unforgettable Lollita aka Laasyanga Mansingh makes an appearance once again in Garnets Under My Gulmohar, the sequel to Giddha on My Gulmohar, published by Readomania. While the latter was more of a satire, Chetna’s latest offering is more on the lines of a suspense novel even though its exquisite crimson cover screams of romance.   The Reading Room at Kussowlie Club is the backdrop for the Strolley Storylovers’ Book Club consisting of six steady bibliophiles, along with a mysterious seventh member. The Book Club is suddenly thrown into mayhem as a woman is found dead in a bathtub and the news channels run amok trying to conjure up the most bizarre reasons for the...

  On our second day at Cape Town, it was time to do something for the kids. So, we made our way to the highly popular Two Oceans Aquarium. As we waited to get the tickets, we glanced around at the exterior with massive placards that were very impressive.   We couldn’t wait to get inside.                                      The interiors were dim, designed to make us hold our breath as our eyes fell on the spectacular exhibits within the glass cages.  I, for one, had never seen coral so colourful in my life. The sea horses with their unique question-mark shapes captivated us as did the various other specimens that were spread in a dazzling array, each more eye catching than the ones that went before. We felt that we were under the ocean as shoals of fish swam around us, darting about in quick succession.                   ...

  Manali Desai’s latest book title ‘Love and (Mellow) Drama’ reads like a Bollywood romcom with all its twists and turns. It showcases romance and friendship as two sides of the same coin. Relationships play a significant role throughout the narrative, which is peppered with lyrics from Hindi songs and movies, provoking in the readers a sense of deja vu as they look forward to that happily-ever-after moment.  Gayatri Kulkarni and her beau, Varun Agarwal, are the two main protagonists who lead the reader on to a merry dance with their blow hot - blow cold romance. Gayatri with her passion for dancing and her choice of Political Science in college comes across as a bubbly drama queen with a penchant for Bollywood movies like DDLJ. Varun is the quintessential Mills and Boon hero who sweeps the heroine off her feet, even when she loses her footing and falls into his arms.  Many delightful characters pepper the book - Ayesha and Abhi (Varun's exuberant brother), Sharad (Gayatr...

                                                                        Unsplash   They called her the girl with chutzpah, who could take on the world and joust with windmills! She appeared from nowhere with long pigtails and the face of an angel. From the start, there was an aura about her, a coldness almost, which people noticed. Yet, she had chutzpah, a word that her friends had no idea about. It was more of an instinct, the idea that no one could mess with her. One glance from those gimlet eyes could quell even the highest spirits. Anyone who messed with the girl found themselves in hot water soon enough. Aman, who had taken her favourite pen surreptitiously, found his notebooks floating in water, the blue ink all smudged and unreadable. Suchitra who had scoffed at her hairstyle suddenly dis...

  The most important landmark in Cape Town is, of course, Table Mountain, and Signal Hill nestles next to it and is also known as Lion’s Rump. When seen together with Lion’s Head, which is another peak next to it, the whole formation appears like a lion sphinx. Thus, the three hills lie adjacent to one another – Table Mountain, Lion’s Head and Signal Hill and can be seen from any point in Cape Town on a clear day. Signal Hill got its name from the olden days when signals were sent to ships through signal flags to communicate warmings as well as anchoring instructions to visitor ships experiencing stormy weather. The first two days in Cape Town saw Table Mountain shrouded in clouds. The drive up Signal Hill was picturesque with views of Cape Town below and glimpses of the peaks as the cars cruised uphill. The grey clouds hung ominously overhead as the weather threatened to worsen and we were all thankful that we had worn our thickest jerseys and woollens. The view was beautiful wi...

  Once we had finished with Spier Hotel and Wine Farm, we were raring to go to the next leg of our trip. The gorgeous Malay Quarter, which nestles at the foot of Signal Mountain, took our breath away. The buildings were all tastefully painted in lovely colours, and I could hardly contain myself as we drove around. Pinks and blues, greens and oranges, yellows and reds… the sight was magnificent. History has it that the Malay Quarter came into being during the third quarter of the 18 th century. In the 1830s, when slavery was abolished, it is believed that the Malays who had been forcibly brought into the Cape, now earned their freedom and began to shift into this area. By the middle of the 19 th century, this area was dubbed the Islamic Quarter. The presence of this Quarter brought the Cape Malays together as a group, but in 1944, after World War 2, the quarter deteriorated to the extent that it was declared a slum. The City Council and the Historical Monuments Commission acted ...

Photo Credit - Spier Wine Farm Four days in Cape Town. It sounded too good to be true! So, the four grandparents, the parents and the two terrific twosome (Z and S) boarded their flight, filled with anticipation. Each of them had their own ideas about what lay ahead, but one central idea loomed large. They were all set to have the time of their lives. The week earlier, or at least part of it, had gone into planning our itinerary. After all, there was so much to be done; the problem was in sifting the parts that interested us most. The general view was that it was going to be freezing and that we would have to be clad like Eskimos most of the time. That was daunting (brrrr!) because I suspected that I would have to be thawed out every time I returned home after a jaunt. We stayed in a friend’s beautiful home which faced a water body which was a kayaking path. At times, kayaks would whiz by, manned by men women and children. A few ducks also made the crossing, and weaver birds had bu...