Book Review: Prisoner Jailor Prime Minister by Tabrik C

The best political novel that I read is First Among Equals by Jeffrey Archer. It told a story spanning decades about the rise of three competing politicians from diverse backgrounds and of different ideological positions and its masterstroke was the suspense that broke only in its last sentence. The awesomeness of that novel is the reason why I keep that as a benchmark when I read anything in the genre. Tabrik C has attempted a political thriller to start his writing career. As soon as I read the synopsis of this book on BlogAdda, I was interested to know what dimensions can an author who is also a perfumer, an entrepreneur and a political enthusiast, bring to the table.

Prisoner Jailor Prime Minister tells the story of Siddhartha Tagore, a music prodigy and Harvard educated heir of a senior politician who enters the arena of murky politics. The novel starts when a mysterious person enters Indian territory through Pakistan and plants a nuclear bomb in Pokhran on December 31st 2016, the day Siddhartha is elected to the Prime Minister's office. Causing head ache to the newly elected Prime Minister, one side is the Jehadi nuclear threat and on other side is the internal revolt by opposition leader Rukmani Devi, an economist and a Nobel laureate who wants to alter Constitution. Reader is then exposed to his past- a past of hidden secrets, bruised egos, reckless living, his relation with his love Ruby and her twin sister Karisma.

The story is told in alternating first person and third person narrative. First person narration is through the eyes of Siddhartha and wherever he is not present, it is in third person. Also the novel uses a non linear time frame. Novel starts in 2017 and alternates between then and as back as 1986. These techniques, changing narrators and alternating time frame is, I feel becoming a norm in Indian English writing. In the case of this book, they definitely help in getting into the genius but deranged mind of the protagonist, which is essential in identifying with him. It also help to keep the suspense built up. The book cover is designed in line with its mood- dark, sinister and ominous.

Tabrik has succeeded in writing a book that is immensely readable. The characterisation is a high light of this début novel and it is really satisfying to read about a bunch of people who are as crazy as nuts but relatable to the core. The passion that has went into creating them, not only the significant ones like Siddhartha, Ruby or Karisma, but even the relatively minor characters like Vikram and Shanti Jaykar is commendable. I loved the parts were Siddhartha shows off his Mozart Man psyche. His sudden transformation and behavioural pattern are depicted very well. There were a couple of places were the narrative plunged into cheesy, even little bit silly situations, but I feel those can be overlooked.

As a political novel, I expected a bit more politics in it. The ideological differences, power games, confrontation of national issues and conspiracies that are an integral part of the genre are given a toss, preferring to concentrate on more personal affairs. That definitely is an opportunity lost as the present Indian political scene muddled with serious issues of cross border terrorism, corruption, favouritism and regionalism could have provided ample potential for a great thriller.

Prisoner Jailor Prime Minister is a good debut novel inhabited with many complex characters and tells a good story. The author can be proud of it. Hope the next time he writes one which is more insightful about Indian political scene.

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Book Review: Supertraits of Superstars by Priyanka Sinha Jha

Bollywood... a factory manufacturing dreams written on celluloid. A place were stars come down to earth every Friday. Bollywood of Legends, Kings, Queens and Emperors of entertainment. Every day several persons throughout the world reach Mumbai in pursuit of their silver screen dreams. Very few of them make it into the film making industry. A tiny fraction of them develop themselves into faces recognized by public. Out of them some are destined to see their names written in golden letters in the pages of cinematic history. Supertraits of Superstars is an effort by journalist Priyanka Sinha Jha to uncover the secrets behind the unparalleled success stories of some of these distinguished celebrities.

 In this book Priyanka Sinha Jha showcases eleven celebrities of Hindi movie industry, each of them possessing enormous star power. All of them have ultimately achieved phenomenal success, and on their way to top or even when they are right there have survived several downfalls, failures and criticism which can turn fatal for the careers of lesser men. The writer scrutinize each of these stories and tries to arrive at certain traits these individual personalities has in them which enable them to survive the grind and to endure the long race to the pinnacle. She uses her long career as a film journalist and her access to celebrities to her advantage for writing this book.

 The book dedicate one chapter each for a star, with a nice and funny caricature at the start of the chapter that in most of the cases sums up the qualities of the person described. There are plenty of relevant motivational quotes embedded in the book at the starting of the chapter and of every subtopics in it. Quotes from celebrities themselves are given enlarged and boxed. In the end of each chapter there is a boxed summary that lists the traits that makes the superstar distinct from peers. With a colorful cover design and its retro look, Supertraits of Superstars is sure to grab eyeballs in bookshops.

 Main plus point of this book is its readability. Its light and humorous prose makes sure that the reader has difficulty to put it down. The content is relatable to any common man as it deals with movies, a passion that most of the Indians share. This helps the motivational aspect of the book too. Because generally we like to adore and worship our heroes and an endorsement from them goes a long way. It also helps that she has discussed about their short comings and how they valiantly overcame them.

 Speaking of minuses, I feel the book never give the reader anything new or even mildly surprising. Every traits that the writer elaborates on is already established in connection with these stars. After all who doesn't know of the punctuality of Amitabh, Shahrukh's passion, Aamir's perfectionism or Salman's generosity..! She never go beyond that. I feel Vidya Balan's and John Abraham's chapters were quite interesting in this regards. Also a representation of someone from non commercial cinema, who are superstars in their own rights, would be a welcome change. Inclusion of a Naseerudin Shah, Irrfan Khan or Nawazuddin Siddiqui could have spiced up things a bit.

 As a light read and for some quick dose of motivation Supertraits of Superstars is recommended. The moral that I learned is that, though success is obtained with talent, inorder to sustain it severe adherence to some basic principles is a must.

The book was received as part of Reviewers Programme on The Tales Pensieve.

My views on the controversy surrounding The Hindus: An Alternative History

I read the book in parts. I was planning to read it thoroughly before making this post. But couple of days back I happened to read many articles published around the globe about the controversy surrounding it and some of them had excerpts from the book. By then I had just read two chapters of the book. It was perplexing that the passages quoted in the articles were totally different from the two chapters that I read, which were elegant and had the tone of a well researched paper. Curiosity made me to skim the book and read the quoted controversial passages and try to find the context in which they were written.

Most of the book is about marginalized sections in Hindu society and I found it well written and sensible. But the parts that tries to interpret Hindu mythology is written in an extremely demeaning manner and the prose lacks any academical quality. Its as if two different people with extremely different agendas has authored it. I felt that the author consciously tried to contract atleast some of her interpretations of Hindu scriptures into narrow circles of lust and incest, losing out on the wider meaning and symbolism somewhere and finding non existent treasure troves elsewhere.

And then comes the strange behaviour of intellectuals. Some of the stock words thrown out by them include Talibanism, Hindu fundamentalism, Fascism, arm twisting and banning of books. After reading the articles, national and international, about the story, I feel either it is over reaction or oppertunism. The plaintiff is a small outfit that want to alter the educational system of the country. There was no fatwa, no physical threat to writer or publisher, no incident of violence, no public hate speech till this time. They had just filed a case that the content of the book slanders their religion unnecessarily. Did Taliban ever approach court with their grievences? Or in that case Fascists? Did Ayatullah Khomeini consult law before issuing Fatwa to Rushdie?

Another interesting fact is that court has not yet banned the book. There is no court order saying that selling, purchasing or possessing this book is crime. (You still cannot possess a copy of Satanic Verses in India). Penguin India agreed for an out of court settlement and took back the copies in circulation. But the book can be purchased from other countries and brought to India and can even be downloaded as digital version domestically. Why did they not opt to carry on with case and back the writer, when there is even an option to go for appealing if the court verdict is against them?

In every interview with the writer, that I have read, she just shifts the blame on Hindu fundamentalists. She always maintain that her book is an alternative history of Hinduism. Did she ever check the back cover of her book? Or the book description in Amazon? It uses the adjective 'definitive' to describe the book. How on the world can an alternative history become definitive one?..

These are my views on the controversy. I accept that others can have different views. You can call me a Hindu Fundamentalist after reading this post. (Those who personally know me will laugh at you). But I'm never going to call you sickular.

My word...

Book Review: No Man's Land by Nilesh Shrivastava

Land... a resource that is limited, that cannot be created or destroyed, that cannot be moved and is difficult to attach a price tag on to. Different people maintain different view points regarding it. For some it is home, for some livelihood, for some a commodity to trade and for some it is a means to go back in time. And land is one reason why sane persons behave like mad causing feuds and violence, why families disintegrate, why nations fight fierce battles altering the course of history. No Man's Land is the second novel by Nilesh Shrivastava which narrates the tale about a piece of land and its effect on the lives of many people who gets associated with it.

This is the story of Agastya, a dying man, whose only legacy is a piece of ancestral land in Gurgaon, which was considered waste by his family of paint merchants. After it reaches him, he along with his mind keeper Saswat, turns it to a farm land of breathtaking beauty. Now on his deathbed, he has to decide its future, and for that he has to confront his past... his two sons Karan and Pranay. But they come to the farm land from the city of Delhi with their own troubled pasts, prejudices and agendas. What furthur complicates the already fragile situation is the presence of a woman involved with them in different levels. Agastya's paradise on earth turns to a stage on which each character display their greed, pent up emotions, desires and hidden motives.

No Man's Land is told in a non linear time line. The story spans three generations. Each chapter start with a monologue in first person that is italicized. Only later does the reader become aware of the identity of the speaker. Then narration shifts to third person. The story is told devoid of much melodrama. The characters are planted solidly on earth. Every one of them are three dimensional entities- complex and realistic. This makes the reader relate to their motives and get convinced with their behaviour.

The novel is all the more interesting due to its subject matter- greed of men towards land. The story is set in Gurgaon, at a time when real estate tycoons had for the first time set their eyes there. Social relevance of the plot and the setting makes the book a compelling read. Adding to this aspect is the finely written story, well etched characters, a plot that piques the curiosity of the reader by gradually building suspense and a climax that goes well with the pace of the narrative.

The last book by Fingerprint that I read was The Virgins, which was a delightful one. Now this one is yet another ace for them. The overall packaging of the book- cover design, paper quality, printing, etc. is done very professionaly, compelling the readers to take this book seriously. One complaint, that I have with most of the Indian novels these days, plague No Man's Land too- silly errors, that could have been corrected with a bit of care. It is a disgrace that a few grammatical and editing errors can creep up into such a competendly made book- like finding a few granules of rock in a delicious plate of biryani.

Book Source: Publisher

Along Came a Spider by James Patterson: Alex Cross Mystery #1

Along Came a Spider is the first novel by James Patterson featuring Alex Cross. There was a movie based on it starring Morgan Freeeman as the protagonist which I never had a chance to watch. My expectations were a lot from it as Patterson went on to write around twenty more books featuring the Cross.

The novel starts when Cross, a black detective and a doctor of psychology, involve in a murder investigation of a black family. He is furious when he is pulled from it to investigate the kidnapping of two children from high profile families. His adversary is a master criminal, cold blooded, brutal and ready to go to any length for becoming United States' biggest criminal. What folows is a cat and mouse chase were Cross finds every thing that he valued in life at stake, even his sanity.

As the starting book of the series, Along Came a Spider works in establishing the premise and characters. The setting of the novel is Washington DC. On one side there is the posh neighbourhood of affluent movie stars and politicians, while on other side there is the black  neighbourhood where poverty reigns. Cross stands as a bridge between these two contrasting worlds. Though the writer tries to play down the racial undertones of the premise, it shows beneath the surface. In Gary Murphy Alex Cross gets a worthy adversary.

Still there are a few blemishes. The romantic side track makes the story dragging. It is essential to the plot as revealed in the climax, still it dampen the atmosphere of suspence. Also, though Cross is a professional shrink as per the story, we don't find many instances where it is used in the narrative.

Along Came a Spider works ok as a suspence thriller and the character of Alex Cross as a conflicted investigator is worth reading once.