Book Review :The Madras Mangler

Usha Narayanan spins a thriller in her debut novel "The Madras Mangler ".Usha Narayanan is a jack of many trades.She was an English Teacher, creative director in advertising agencies,jingle writer,web editor,journalist,green volunteer ,head of copy right publishing in e publishing,etal.She has completed Masters in English Literature with a  gold medal.She has a diploma in creative writing from the Hawaii University as well.

The cover of her thriller shows a girl's face with hair  scattered all around.The eyes are closed .The cover is in black & white .Just like the snaps of old times before colour photographs became a rage.The title of the novel is printed in red towards the top of the cover.The bottom of the cover states the name of the author in white. The back cover of the book is greenish grey with a synposis of the novel towards the upper end.The back cover has faint images of a beaded necklace & some more scattered hair.

The printer is Jufic books.Paper quality is good.Chapters are short in length.There are fifty five chapters in the book of 280 pages.The author thanks all the people who made her debut novel a reality in Acknowledgements.There is a Prologue to the story, which sets the tone.

This is a story full of action & thrills.It is sets in a college in Chennai. Girls go missing from colleges.This is a tale of five girls.....Deepika,Kat, Lolita,Minx,Moti  studying at SS Padmaja College,Chennai.One of the five girls goes missing.No leads are available.

The deputy commissioner Reddy is eager to mingle with the press. Reddy expects girls to remain indoors so that they will remain unharmed. Vir,the NRI criminologist has a scientific approach to the missing girls problem.His Indian batchmate Bishnu has set up an enviable state of the art technology office for detection.Reddy is unimpressed & keeps shooting his mouth off.The girls have to fight on so many fronts....their parents,hooligans at the college,the khap like dictats of Reddy ,etc.

As the bodies of missing girls are found ,the city gets scared.There is a serial killer on the loose.Why is he targeting girls ? Why does he disfigure the girls ? The bodies are battered & barely recognisable.

Who is the killer ? Why has he started killing girls ? Is he trying to break some record in killing ? Do Reddy & police team unamsk the killer ? What about Vir & Bishnu  ? Are they able to rescue girls from the menace of the killer ?

The story is fast paced.It is so much rooted in the current scenario in our nation where girls & women fear for their safety in their homes & even outside.Molestation,ragging,rapes,eve teasing are so common place .It has humour too. Kat opines  that her mom thinks of the boys available for marriage is like a clearance sale ! Kat sarcastic remarks to boys about their evolution ( if any ).Girls like  the college for  freedom from their prying parents,possessive fiances & others gundas.Yet in college ,they encounter hooligans pretending to study,Principal making rules for the supposed safety of girls,etc.

The language is good.A glossary at the end of the book explains the Indian terms used in the novel.At a price of RS 195 /- this book is worth every page !

The author writes from the perspective of the woman .Her narrative makes it  very interesting & immensely readable.

I am thankful to Storizen for making this book available to me for review.

Book Review : The Kite Flyers

I had applied to IndiBlogger for this book review .I received it during this ongoing A to Z Bogging Challenge & thought why not make it part & parcel of the same !


Well,I managed to read this  book in a day ! Actually half a day ...as I started in the afternoon.It has 186 pages .It is a hard bound book by Sharad P Paul, a practising doctor. an expert in skin cancer surgery.He has quite a few academic recognitions to his credit.He teaches creative writing to kids.He is the head of the Baci group which includes the Baci foundation,a charity  that finances literacy programmes.Paul's earlier books include " Cool Cut ","To kill a dragon fly " &  "Skin : A Biography ".

The cover shows a red kite which has a red string attached to it .The string is cut by a pair of black scissors as also a barber's knife.The back cover shows the rolled up string or the kite manja.There is also a red blade protruding from the kite.The red kite is flying in grey sky having black clouds.

There are nine chapters.The book begins with Author;s note wherein he states that this book was written as a poem & became a runner up in a short story contest.He reconstructed the story on requests from readers & that's how this reprint from Fourth Estate has come about. The last chapter after the ninth one is Epilogue.It is followed by Lakshm's barfi recipe adapted to the microwave !

"The Kite Flyers" is a simple story set in Tamil Nadu.It begins in rural Tamil Nadu & later moves to Chennai.This is the story of three friends in school....Kumar & Raman who are expert at flying kites & Lakshmi who excels at making barfis. They are studying in the village school run by Gowrie teacher.The three friends get seperated by circumstances or  fate.Twelve years pass by.They are adults now & yet they have a longing to meet one another.Are they able to make a jugaad of their lives ? Do they meet ? They are in very different surroundings.Are they able to escape to the freedom of togetherness with their friends ? Moreover will their friends accept them as they are after so many years ?What about Gowrie teacher ?

The background of Chennai in this  story,  is politics of AIADMK under the charismatic MGR.Read " MGR is God.Granted ,he may not be the god,but he is a god."And ," Two men burn themselves at every MGR meeting .MGR has the highest kill ratio......"The vehement opposition of Tamil Nadu & its people to Hindi imposition makes an impression.The fact ,that MGR uses Hindi ,to rouse his supporters is shockingly familiar.Our leaders use all the dirty tricks, to further, their ascent to power.

The barbarism of eunuchs gives way to their kindness later, as the story progresses. The caste is the identity of everyone in Tamil Nadu " In Tamil Nadu,everyone is 'something'- Hindu,Christian,........One cannot be an ordinary human being here.The first question a stranger asks a fellow Tamil is 'What are you ?'".

The story  is simply narrated going back  in time as the story begins .Later as it progresses ,it comes to the present.The author is sarcastic about the games politicians  play with the lives of ordinary people.The author is  empathetic about the poor.His poor have an inner strength which makes them accept  those who may be physically challenged with the utmost love & affection.We may turn such persons away.

The flow is steady.The chapters are short .The language is easy with some Tamil thrown in . It is sprinkled with humour which makes for  smiles.

All in all,a delightful story which makes us appreciate the extraordinary simple lives of the poor  Indians.

This is the eleventh post for the A to Z Blogging Challenge 2014.

Sharing blog posts of two fellow bloggers :

Shrikant Pednekar

Vinay Ravindranath

Kolam

I had lot of problems in uploading this  as I seem to have run out of space for my snaps on gmail.

Kolam is the name for Rangoli in Tamil Nadu.It is generally done with rice paste & sometimes even with rangoli powder.

On my Chennai visits,I have seen that women draw kolams outside their homes at dawn on  daily basis after washing the areas.Even outside buildings ,this is done !

Kuup Manduuk

I am blogging today about the frog in the well syndrome.Yes, that is what the title means.A frog believes that the well is the only world as it resides there.It has no idea whatsoever of anything that lies outside the well.

There are quite a few persons who do not feel the need to interact socially.This leads to varying situations.Some get jittery when & if they attend a social function like a wedding,a get together etal.Others may try small talk but realise that they are not updated about anybody there & so withdraw.Moreover,they are unable to make anybody agree to their point of view on any topic.Some also keep to themselves as they would like to believe that they are the best & know everything.Still others refuse to interact except with  their own kith & kin & maybe from their own caste etal .This is because they are under an impression that their caste or sect is the chosen one & interacting with lesser mortals is below their dignity.

Yes,in these times also,there are such people -existing & very real ! But they will be overtaken at all places if they do not acquire socail skills.They will end up depressed even if they are rolling in money.If a person is highly skilled at his job but a zero at social newtworking,then for some time ,his skills may manage to keep all others quiet but later,all will joke about the lack of his emotional quotient.

I have observed that brahmins are particularly prone to this social insensitivity.I can speak for brahmins as I am one of  them. It is said that change has to come from within, instead of being imposed from outside.

Many brahmins though very ahead in many fields refuse to leave behind their caste affiliations.They carry it around as a medallion.They will shun all others however talented the others may be.Moreover,they have this superiority complex  erroneously carried forward from the ancient texts.The fact, that God took various births in different castes ( the Dashvatar)  has not yet percolated  down to their senses.As a Hindi film song goes,"Is lok ko hi apna na sake,us lok mein bhi pchataoge..." meaning "unable  to adapt to this world,you will repent in the next world as well..."

Some places also seem to encourage such orthodoxy & casteism .I feel that in Chennai, all brahmins try to outdo each other in orthodoxy.As to their actual faith in all that they do is quite questionable,at least at  pretention,the Chennai brahmins are immensly adept.

My relatives who stay in Chennai are a living proof of all that I have said.They want their food prepared in the Chennai way- haldi added to cabbage bhaji is a big No.They will just not eat it.They can only eat one sweet-that is payasam ( kheer) Anything else like gajar halwa has them in fits ! They relish beans,cabbage,bhindi,white pumpkin,aloos,etal but all cooked in the manner it is cooked there.Any thing prepared innovatively & in a different way means that they will just leave it on their plates-all wasted.They detest cauiliflower,drumsticks,onions,garlic etc.Even red pumkin was left untouched as it is gassy ! I do read a lot on health & foods but I have yet to come across this bit of  ( mis)information .My nephew is forbidden to eat onions as it will make his tongue thick & be an impediment in reciting shlokas.Just goes to show that for their version of dharma,they are committing gross adharma .Telling lies is an adharma -oniuons provide minerals.Telling such lies to wean a child away from a vegetable will have greater ramifications.The child will learn later that it was a lie & then may refuse to believe even other real truths .It will ultimately lead to rebellion which may flabbergast all .

My niece has  got so used to the sholkas being recited by her brother at Sandhyavandanam,that she  also recites them at times.Her brother chides her,"You should not be reciting."I scolded my nephew & informed him,"Look,there is nothing like girls cannot recite-in early days in ancient India,even girls had thread ceremonies performed for them.Later,some male chauvinists forbid such practice & this continued."Of course,he is skeptical about my remarks but atleast,he will think about it.It is very difficult to extricate him from all lies he has been fed about, male  brahmin superiority .

My niece wants to cut a birthday cake on her birthday like all kids of her age.But this is disallowed, though her cousins ( boys ) cut cakes .The reason,"It is not in our culture to cut cakes & blow out candles."Her father has offered to prepare mysore pak which she can cut like a cake ! Though,I find the idea quite ridiculous,I am pained that even a simple wish of a child is unfulfilled as her dad & uncles want to be the vanguard of culture.Culture ,as per their understanding is singing shlokas,bhajans,satsang etal-it does not include any books other than scriptures,& school textbooks,no drawing ,no dance,no drama,no music, except in praise of God,no films,etc.So which culture or whose culture is sought to be protected is unclear to me.I am  very much be in favour of Culture being unprotected rather be protected by such narrow minds.Culture is a very dyanamic entity-it has to progress imbibing modern thinking & values.If it remains stagnant,it shackles us all.But the same fellows gamble their hard earned money by investing in shares. Does this gamble figure in their  brand of culture? Maybe it does-akin to Pandavas who gambled  away their dear wife who was  then  rescued by Krishna,the Yadava.  So much for protection & preservation of tradition !

The thread ceremony of males is actually a masquerade to showcase male chauvinism.A male who wears the sacred thread will not eat leftover food.In these days of high food prices,the women of the house will eat all leftovers as men post thread ceremony will not eat them.I chided my nephew & told him that as he was wearing the sacred thread,it meant that he was man now.Hence,he should quit calling his mom every now & then for toothpaste,soap,socks,uniform,books,school bag,so & so forth.But then,I recalled that all males in boyhood scream for their moms to dance  attendance  on them & after marriage,the mom's job is taken over  by their wives.After all,it is a question of male convenience & comfort,nothing else -with or without the sacred thread .

One more thing -all this orthodoxy needs a lot of water for practicing it.On second thoughts,the water crisis in Chennai is brahmin made ! They should think of switching  to  the hand sanitiser as water levels are dwindling more than ever before now.

My nephew & neices are all fearful of everything-even a simple task like locking the toilet door scares them .This is because they have been indoctrinated to dread  the wrath of the Almighty if they ate onions,cut a cake,saw films,visited any place other a pilgrim centre etc.Obviously,the mind is conditioned by fear to do things which otherwise,would be questioned.I dread to  imagine how all this will shape up as they grow up & search for jobs or choose a profession.They would like to stay with their parents only as they have fear of moving out of Chennai.So,they may lose better oppurtunities .Even marriage may become a burden as a wife is only meant to be an  unpaid servant.Clinging to such forsaken ideas will continue to make them remain the frog in the well.

Coming to think of it,girls are not kuup manduuks as they generally leave their homes at marraige to go & stay with husbands,inlaws etal.So the men are the kuup manduuks.

I have heard that Trichy ,Comibatore are ways ahead of Chennai in terms of being bound by tradition .I have yet to confirm that.I will have to look for a more satirical title for that .Any ideas ?