Book Review : Ba’az of the Bengal Lancers By Uttiyo Bhattacharya

Debut novel, Ba’az of the Bengal Lancers written by Uttiyo Bhattacharya has been set on the premise of the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. Bayazuddin Ali Khan aka ‘Ba’az the Bungalee’ served as a scribe for the British and reported to Captain Hodson. Around the same time Bahadur Shah Zafar is taken captive by British and his sons are shot dead by Captain Hodson.  Ba’az becomes the sole guardian of a priceless treasure which he intends to share with his three close friends- Akbar, Abdullah and Iqbal. As the events unfold Ba’az loses his friends. Unsure of what to do with …

Continue Reading

It’s Geek 2 Me by Francis Cleetus

It’s Geek 2 Me by Francis Cleetus

This graphic novel definitely wasn’t my pick after browsing through the popular online shopping portals. Thanks, tomy friend R who always gives me good suggestions and asked me to pick up this book. This book is surely the funniest, wittiest and craziest one, which I have come across in long time.It’s Geek 2 Me is a collection of comic strips by Francis Cleetus revolving around the techie lives of some of the wackiest employees of a software company named Paradox Software. What makes it humorous and yet gives the sense of the bogged down lives of the techies is that Francis …

Continue Reading

A New World by Amit Chaudhury

A New World by Amit Chaudhury

Amit Chaudhury deftly portrays new worlds converging as a family rebuilds itself and Calcutta gingerly enters globalization. In A New World, he depicts three generations of Chatterjee family grappling with the aftermath of divorce and adjusting to retirement.Jayojit Chatterjee arrives in Calcutta on holiday with his seven year old son Bonny after a divorce. He puts up with his parents, a retired Admiral and a housewife. This leads to two months of bonding within the family members.Chaudhuri’s delicately nuanced descriptions of dislocation and the disorientation that comes with the adoption of the lifestyle of U.S.A while still held by memories set …

Continue Reading

#Book Review: Illicit by Dibyendu Palit

Illicit by Dibyendu Palit

Translated by Arunava Sinha I have always enjoyed reading translations by Arunava Sinha and this was one of the reason for me to pick up this book. But, it was an utter disappointment.Dibyendu Palit’s Illicit, translated to English by Arunava Sinha, was originally published in 1989 as Aboidho.  The plot spans just three days and is a slice of the protagonists’ illicit life. Jeena, an attractive young housewife is bored of her ‘wooden relationship’ with much older husband, Ashim. Partha, her neighbour, is married, a father of two, and equally bored in his marital life. We are introduced to them in the …

Continue Reading

Red Oleanders by Rabindranath Tagore

Red Oleanders by Rabindranath Tagore

I was intrigued to pick up this book due to the fact that it is a work of translation by the Nobel Laureate himself Rabindranath Tagore and I have no shame in accepting the fact that I had no clue that Tagore also wrote in English. This is the story of Nandini, a beautiful woman who appears at a time of the oppression of humanity by greed and power. The antagonist in the story is the King, who represents enormous authority but barricades himself behind an iron curtain. He transforms a town in to a fort and the humans into …

Continue Reading