Bookish Indulgences: Leadstart Publishing

Showing posts with label Leadstart Publishing. Show all posts

13 July, 2017

Debdatta Dasgupta July 13, 2017 0

#BookReview :: Fables from India: A Collection of Short Stories by Uday Mane

A King's negligence costs the Prince his eyes. How will the King make amends? A farmer is torn between resurrecting his wife and upholding his duties. What will in uence his choice? A jester lives two lives - Masked for others. Unmasked for himself. His masked side brings happiness to everyone. But what brings happiness to his unmasked side? A magnificent tree bears fruits of different kinds, but the King wants it to be cut down to serve justice. How will the tree defend itself? An orphan boy is in search of the world's bestselling book. Will he eventually find it? A dog struggles to uncurl his tail. Will he break the curse that curled his tail in the first place? A young boy and his pet lamb are separated from each other. Will their friendship stand the test of time? Set in the ancient times, Fables from India, is a collection of 22 profound and unheard stories from a country known for its storytelling."

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Though I had previously read The Helpline by the same author and had some idea about his storytelling style, I went into this book with a fresh outlook as this book is of a completely different genre.

The book has 22 stories set in ancient India. From kings to orphan boys to a dog, the stories touch various characters and bring their stories to life through these pages. Each story has a message to deliver and each story does it in a loud and clear manner. The stories are delivered with an easy flowing narrative and in simple language. My favorite stories in the book would be ‘The Race of the Limps’ which was actually really motivating.

For most adults though, the stories in this book may feel familiar and just repackaged; especially with the one about the Jester. I put this book down several times and read it over a period of week because the book did not have anything new to offer to me. But the book would be an effective way to introduce some fables to the younger minds.

Review Copy received from Leadstart Publishing

24 June, 2017

Debdatta Dasgupta June 24, 2017 0

#BookReview :: Renee's Treasure by Indrani Sinha

Renee lives in a Railway Colony in Varanasi with her family. She has been promised a birthday gift by her Dadaji. In a sudden turn of events, she has to hunt for it through the lanes and by lanes of Varanasi, helped by her friends Anita and Sacchu. It must be kept a secret from the adults as Renee chases her dream in a race against time. Will Renee and Sacchu, venturing out for their secret
exploits from the safe precincts of their Colony, ultimately ﬁnd the treasure?

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It is Renee’s eleventh birthday and her grandfather has promised her a fantastic surprise. But there’s a clause to it… Renee must keep it a secret from her parents and she has to go on a treasure hunt to find it. With unfortunate turn of events, her grandfather expires before giving her the first clue. Soon, Renee’s parents move to a new locality where she makes friends with Anita and Sacchu. With her friends by her side and having her back, Renee decides to try and find the treasure on her own. What follows is an adventure of a lifetime.

I loved the book even though the book is clearly meant for a much younger audience. The language is dainty and the narrative is entertaining. But the best part of the book is the way it has captured the innocence of a child. Be it Renee or Anita or Sacchu, they have a certain charm and air of innocence about them that is lost in today’s world. Their camaraderie reminded me of my own childhood and the trust I had in my friends. It is hard to find it these days. The well-paced and interesting plot also has a few twists to offer giving the readers even more reasons to continue reading.

I am not one to judge a book by its cover, but this book has a beautiful and pleasing cover which is a bonus for cover fanatics.

Review Copy received from Leadstart Publishing

07 February, 2016

Debdatta Dasgupta February 07, 2016 0

#BookReview :: Wanted Back-Bencher and Last-Ranker Teacher by Kavita Bhupta Ghosh

"When indiscipline at Roderick International School, Mussoorie, becomes an alarming issue for members of the Board, educators and parents alike, CEO Jacob Roderick decided to bring in an experimental teacher, Roma Mathur against the wishes of the Board of Directors to curb the growing aggression, hostility and vandalism.

Will someone like Roma Mathur, written off by her teachers as a ‘Moron’ and ‘Good for nothing’, be able to inspire learning in students who loath studying and sitting in classrooms? Will this maverick academic, who had been extremely mischievous as a student herself, be able to instill values and discipline in her students? Is there any place for someone as unconventional as Roma Mathur among the esteemed and sophisticated faculty at the prestigious International School? Has Jacob Roderick made a grave mistake in recruiting someone who plays drums, watches Tom and Jerry, beat up Goons in the pub, and rides a sports bike, over the gold medalist, experienced teachers who had applied? What was it the school needed at this desperate hour?

It is time for the students of RIS to take a call on what kind of teachers they need in their classrooms.

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Teaching is a very important career choice and I feel that Teachers can make or break generations. These days it is no longer a ‘calling’ but just a career choice and as a result we hardly find teachers who really influence their students. I know from personal experience how a good teacher can inspire you, influence you, shape your thoughts and mould you into the person you finally become.

The blurb of this book attracted me because I like the idea of a dark horse winning the race. At the same time I figured that this would be a story where a teacher does influence a particular generation in the positive way and I just had to pick up and read this book. It is needless to say that I had high expectations from this book and I am glad to report that the author has lived up to it almost completely.

The book deals with an unconventional protagonist, Roma Mathur. We either see a protagonist who has always been good and done the right thing, or we have seen protagonists who have gone down the wrong road but finally ‘find themselves’ somewhere along the way and do the right thing in the end. But Roma Mathur has always been unapologetically rebellious and not for the sake of rebelling, but because that is how people interpreted her true nature. Her strength lies in her confidence in herself irrespective of all the labels that the society has tried to put on her over the years. She comes in and ‘saves the day’ not because she has some super power or because she always does the right thing – but because she understood, she reflected, she empathized and because she was willing to take that extra step that conventional people probably would not.

I did love the way the author portrayed the various characters in the book along with certain situations that are our reality. Kavita Bhupta Ghosh has her own style of storytelling that is only complimented by her dainty language. Her narrative is mostly crisp but I felt that at one or two places the author did overdo with the dissemination of information. There are doses of reality dealt to the readers in guise of fiction.

This book is absolutely a must read.

Review Copy received from Leadstart Publishing

06 February, 2015

Debdatta Dasgupta February 06, 2015 1

#BookReview :: Believe by Varun Gwalani

The book is set in and around the fictional town of Levion. The protagonists are Conner White and Victoria Parks. Conner is a controversial author who finds out that his negative and pessimistic books have resulted in someone committing suicide. So he reaches Levion with the purpose of reconnecting with people and finding himself. There he encounters Victoria Parks, a girl who is fighting her own demons. Dark secrets, including ones of death and illness, are exposed all around; with several prominent characters all seemingly having their own inscrutable motives. And Conner White has to save Victoria and the town of Levion. But to do that, he has to first save himself.

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Varun Gwalani has whipped up a fictional town and a bunch of fictional characters to show us the reflection of some of our harsh realities.

Conner White is an author with a number of depressing fictions under his belt. When a reader commits suicide after reading his book, Conner takes on a journey of self-discovery and ends up at a small town of Levion. There he meets a variety of characters but it is Victoria Parks who he gets close to. When bodies start to fall in Levion, it is up to Conner to save the day.

First of all, though the plot of the story is not extraordinary, it had great potential that was not fully realized. It turned into one of those formulaic hindi movie script with over the top ingredients that are sometimes hard to digest. The characters swoop in and save the day… I liked the way Conner is developed and somehow is ‘hero’ like persona suited him well enough. Victoria Parks is also an interesting character with her own baggage though I would have liked to see a bit more development in her case.

As for the writing style of the author, his youth shows through his writing. It needs some working but for a debut author his narrative style works well. Another thing irked me a bit – the fact that an Indian author has used international names for his character has not gone down well with me… Why use Tom, Dick & Harry when you belong amongst Ajay, Vijay & Rahul? Especially since the plot rolls out like a Bollywood movie!

Review Copy received from Leadstart Publishing

28 June, 2014

Debdatta Dasgupta June 28, 2014 0

#BookReview :: Once Upon A Crush by Kiran Manral

Rayna De has a lot of things going for her. Not that they're necessarily going well, of course. Her thirties are approaching fast, and her boss could give Satan a run for his money. Her romance life, well, that's non-existent. When Devan Ahuja enters the workplace, Rayna quickly falls head over heels for him. She tries telling herself otherwise, that he's out of her league, but it doesn't work. Why would he look at her anyway? He does have a model-turned-actress for a girlfriend and they seem to be quite happy, what with the page three supplement articles which claim so. Her parents aren't helping, not in the least by waving the photographs of Sid Bose in her face, multi-zero salary package, three bedroom house et. al. Rayna thinks things couldn't get more confusing. She needs to think again, for fate has other plans.

Once Upon A Crush takes us on a journey that is Rayna De’s life. At twenty nine, she is stuck at a stagnant job with the devil himself for a boss, her love life is virtually non-existent and though she is still on the right side of thirty (not for long though) she feels her life is going nowhere – atleast nowhere near where she wants it to be. Then things start to happen. Her friend runs away from home for a break and puts up with her. A new face is added to her list of colleagues and while Devan Ahuja quickly baits her heart, he has a supermodel of a girlfriend and gives off mixed signals. To top it all, her family introduces her to a prospective groom – Sid, a poster boy for eligible bachelors. What does Rayna do? How do these twists change her life?

The plot is a recycled one… But don’t let that deter you from reading this book as the author narrates the story in a refreshingly straightforward manner and infused with doses of wit and humour. There are lots of drama and confusion going on in Rayna’s life that makes it a colourful story for us readers. But the best part is that Rayna herself is your girl next door whose life resembles yours. There’s no over the top situations or larger than life people involved and so it is easier to relate to… After all, for a certain period we all have had a crush in the forefront of our lives. But does Rayna end up with Devan or with Sid?? Read this book to find out.

Overall, a fast paced chic-lit that will claim about a couple of hours of reading time.

21 June, 2014

Debdatta Dasgupta June 21, 2014 0

#BookReview :: Transactions of Belongings by Jaya Padmanabham

The short stories in the collection blend emotion and introspection. Moments of urgency and sweetness are fully canvassed and explored. The stories draw out and examine the texture of emotional belonging. In "His Curls," a mother suffers the anguish of wondering if her son is a terrorist. The ending is left to interpretation and several possibilities. The reader is forced to teeter between laughter and sadness in the tragicomedy of "An Indian Summer." "The Blue Arc" is a redemptive tale of a young woman who shows enormous courage. Each story in the collection is a journey of insights. Transactions of Belonging is a unique, intense and gripping work of short fiction.

I have to admit that I picked up this book based solely on its title. ‘Transactions of Belonging’ sounded a bit ominous and it genuinely made me curious about this anthology of short stories by a single author.

This anthology contains twelve astonishingly daring and beautiful short stories that delve into human emotions thoroughly. From a mother daughter relationship to the life of an lonely old man to a mother anguishing over whether her son is a terrorist to a girl ending up as sex worker in her life to the connection between drinking and abuse to children becoming too independent of their parents. Name an emotion that real people feel in their lives that hasn’t been deeply explored already and it is there in this book.

Each story has its grip on the reader and I can’t, for the life of me, decide which story I like the best. Individually, each story has something unique to offer and as a whole this anthology is a bomb waiting to go off as readers turn its pages. It took me only a couple of hours to finish reading this book and I wished that there were more pages to be turned. I applaud the author for choosing to write such emotional short stories that tug at the right heartstrings. An amazing debut and I hope to read more meaningful work from this author soon.

02 January, 2014

Debdatta Dasgupta January 02, 2014 1

#BookReview :: Ajaya: Roll of the Dice (Epic of the Kaurava Clan #1) by Anand Neelakantan

THE MAHABHARATA ENDURES AS THE GREAT EPIC OF INDIA. But while Jaya is the story of the Pandavas, told from the perspective of the victors of Kurukshetra; Ajaya is the narrative of the ‘unconquerable’ Kauravas, who were decimated to the last man.

***
At the heart of India’s most powerful empire, a revolution is brewing. Bhishma, the noble patriarch of Hastinapura, is struggling to maintain the unity of his empire. On the throne sits Dhritarashtra, the blind King, and his foreign-born Queen – Gandhari. In the shadow of the throne stands Kunti, the Dowager-Queen, burning with ambition to see her firstborn become the ruler, acknowledged by all.
And in the wings:
* Parashurama, the enigmatic Guru of the powerful Southern Confederate, bides his time to take over and impose his will from mountains to ocean.
* Ekalavya, a young Nishada, yearns to break free of caste restrictions and become a warrior.
* Karna, son of a humble charioteer, travels to the South to study under the foremost Guru of the day and become the greatest archer in the land.
* Balarama, the charismatic leader of the Yadavas, dreams of building the perfect city by the sea and seeing his people prosperous and proud once more.
* Takshaka, guerilla leader of the Nagas, foments a revolution by the downtrodden as he lies in wait in the jungles of India, where survival is the only dharma.
* Jara, the beggar, and his blind dog Dharma, walk the dusty streets of India, witness to people and events far greater than they, as the Pandavas and the Kauravas confront their searing destinies.

Amidst the chaos, Prince Suyodhana, heir of Hastinapura, stands tall, determined to claim his birthright and act according to his conscience. He is the maker of his own destiny – or so he believes. While in the corridors of the Hastinapura palace, a foreign Prince plots to destroy India. And the dice falls…

There are always two sides to a story and depending upon the narrator, one gets to live the story the way the narrator sees it. Then again, it is mostly the victor’s side of the story that gets narrated to generations after generations until someone tells the other side of the story. And no one does it better than Anand Nelakantan. If you have already read his debut novel, ‘Asura’, then you know… If you are yet to pick up an Anand Neelakantan book then pick up one because as a reader you can only live this experience by reading his narration.

‘Ajaya’ tells us the story from Suyodhana’s, or as we all know him more commonly as Duryodhana, point of view. Yes, Once again the author has gone and done it by telling the story of Mahabharata from a different point of view over the more common version of Padava’s. As we delve into the pages, we come to a realization, Bhishma wasn’t all good, Karna was indeed mistreated and was more of an honorable man than depicted earlier and that there were very important reasons behind every single act that we took as a general course of the story. The fact that no one is made of only light or only darkness is highlighted over and over again as we see the lighter sides of the ‘accepted’ villains of the story and the darkness within our heroes. The superstitions and hypocrisy of the society then reflects how little we, as humans, have actually developed over time.

The author’s language and narration remains crisp as ever. His view can be described as radical as he takes us on the journey to question our heroes and give a chance to the other characters to explain their situation, their point of view and their dilemmas. I love the fact that he encourages and makes us question everything that we know about Mahabharata and its cast. At the same time he brings certain freshness to the same old story that every Indian has grown up reading.

I thoroughly enjoyed the insights to the other side through the author’s quill and you will too if you pick this book up with an open mind. I will be eagerly waiting for the next installment.

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02 April, 2013

Debdatta Dasgupta April 02, 2013 1

#BookReview :: Asura- Tale of The Vanquished by Anand Neelakantan

The epic tale of victory and defeat… The story of the Ramayana had been told innumerable times. The enthralling story of Rama, the incarnation of God, who slew Ravana, the evil demon of darkness, is known to every Indian. And in the pages of history, as always, it is the version told by the victors, that lives on. The voice of the vanquished remains lost in silence. But what if Ravana and his people had a different story to tell? The story of the Ravanayana had never been told. Asura is the epic tale of the vanquished Asura people, a story that has been cherished by the oppressed outcastes of India for 3000 years. Until now, no Asura has dared to tell the tale. But perhaps the time has come for the dead and the defeated to speak. “For thousands of years, I have been vilified and my death is celebrated year after year in every corner of India. Why? Was it because I challenged the Gods for the sake of my daughter? Was it because I freed a race from the yoke of caste-based Deva rule? You have heard the victor’s tale, the Ramayana. Now hear the Ravanayana, for I am Ravana, the Asura, and my story is the tale of the vanquished.” “I am a non-entity – invisible, powerless and negligible. No epics will ever be written about me. I have suffered both Ravana and Rama – the hero and the villain or the villain and the hero. When the stories of great men are told, my voice maybe too feeble to be heard. Yet, spare me a moment and hear my story, for I am Bhadra, the Asura, and my life is the tale of the loser.” The ancient Asura empire lay shattered into many warring petty kingdoms reeling under the heel of the Devas. In desperation, the Asuras look up to a young saviour – Ravana. Believing that a better world awaits them under Ravana, common men like Bhadra decide to follow the young leader. With a will of iron and a fiery ambition to succeed, Ravana leads his people from victory to victory and carves out a vast empire from the Devas. But even when Ravana succeeds spectacularly, the poor Asuras find that nothing much has changed from them. It is when that Ravana, by one action, changes the history of the world.

Over the centuries, there have been various versions of the Epic Ramayana. Debut author Anand Neelakantan has delivered us with a very refreshing new look at it with his novel ‘Asura’.

The story starts at the point where Ravana is defeated in his battle with Rama and is waiting for death to take over him. Then the story then goes back to Ravana’s childhood and then progresses thereon. It’s almost like a Biography of Ravana that is narrated alternately from the Demon King and Bhadra’s point of views. It was exciting and mesmerizing to meet a poor and ambitious boy who fights his way to ascend to the throne. He seemed more like a common man, with his share of mistakes and darkness in him, than an antagonist who deserved to leave behind a legacy that still has us burning his effigy. The other voice in this novel of Bhadra, a common man, with an extraordinary life. He is probably the most significant insignificant character in this storyline.

‘Asura’ manages to paint a picture in front of its readers that shows that Ravana, in fact, was more human than we imagine. He isn’t the larger than life persona with ten head on his shoulder, instead he is an ambitious person backed by the support of many people. He initially had the best in his mind for his subjects, but power brings corruption with it and like most people we know in the position of power, Ravana too fell for it. Also, I must warn that not all believers of Prince Rama will like this book. Every picture has two sides and this story is told from the opposite end of Rama and not everything we see will paint a pretty picture.

The author’s style of narration is flawless and loved his way of incorporating known information in a new light.

I have to admit that I have often wondered whether Ravana was this big-bad villain that Ramayana made him out to be. The reason being simple enough, even after kidnapping Sita and keeping her captured for so long, Sita’s honour was never compromised. That’s more than what we can say for most men of our generation. On the other hand, Rama is unable to trust Sita on her return as he believed that she had betrayed him which ultimately resulted in Sita taking the ‘Fire Test’ to prove her innocence. I can’t be the only one to have noticed the irony and the unfairness of the situation. I guess that made it easy for me to accept Asura’s story that so much easier.

The author has managed to put a forward an amazing rendition of the epic with finesse and amazing twists.