Can you spend your entire life loving only one person? Can you embark on a journey in seeking this love life long? Novoneel Chakroborty’s latest romantic thriller Roses are Blood Red spun on the premise of unrequited love and pushing the limits to find it. It was my last read of 2019 and closed the year with a bang. Vanav Thakur, the protagonist of the novel is a romantic, responsible and a caring person who never objectifies women. He is everything a girl yearns. Aarisha Shergill is the love of his life but she is in love with his cousin …

The first thing which struck a chord with me is the word ‘Chaos’ in the title. With the world undergoing rapid changes, the dynamics of relationships are also changing. I have been married for 13 years. When I tell the same to my friends or acquaintances, some admire our bond and there are some who raise their eyebrows with the unsaid question in their eyes, “how can you be married to the same man for so long.”. I have witnessed extremely mushy relations where romance takes a back seat under the pressures of daily chores and responsibilities. A lull sets …

Convenience Store Woman is a Japanese novel revolving around a 36 year woman named Keiko who finds solace in her work at a convenience store, much to the chagrin of her family and friends who worry about her. Keiko started working in the convenience store after university, though her family tried to ‘fix’ her up with better job prospects. The convenience store resonates persona while the store becomes her whole life. It is such that she starts mimicking the speech patterns of her colleagues and identifies that as her reality.  Working for 18 years in the store, Keiko settles in …

Have you ever felt low and have you been ridiculed for saying it out loud ? I had lost my mother when I was 7 years old and my father has practically raised my elder brother and me single handedly.  It has been a long journey of loneliness, struggles and sacrifices. After I moved out from Kolkata to Mumbai my father would often tell me about feeling low and sad. Since, I was too busy in my personal and professional life I HARDLY DID SOMETHING ABOUT IT other than being a patient listener. Things were still normal when he was …