'Criti....que not Criti....cize'

“Ma’am, I am back home!” It was music to my ears. Then came the description. One of my students united with his family after recovering from Covid this evening. While his father is making good progress and will be home in another two or three days, he wonders why he hasn’t joined them yet.  “There was a man about 30-32-year-old in our ward. He was talking to another man on the nearby bed. And suddenly, he started breathing heavily. His chest was heaving. The nurses came running. Oxygen mask was put. He struggled to breathe and within minutes, he was no more.” His words… It seemed like he was narrating an episode from some daily soap. The difference, however, was that it was the stark reality. The reality much of India is dealing with right now. Call it dramatic, heartbreaking, miserable or what not, the Covid wave has rendered us handicapped.  What also awaited him at home was news of his uncle's passing away because they couldn't find a Plasma donor on time. The tone ...

How many of us have thought about why transgenders in local trains and buses clap? Is there a reason? Why do they, seemingly pitiable people (considering the general society’s lens) always seem to be celebrating by clapping hands? That’s their way of venting out the pent-up negative energy, frustration and desperation and smiling at yet another person. Nishtha Nishant was the one who made the audience think in that direction. She made everyone sit straight and get it all into place. A transwoman, Nishtha caught attention of the participants of the session by mentioning how she could not enter the women’s washroom due to documents which ascertained her as male (prior to her surgery). She is a scientific researcher, educator, TEDx Speaker and counsellor but funny how ‘trans woman’ topped the list. There’s a man and woman in all of us,” said Dr. B.S. Ajitkumar, Principal, VPM’s R Z Shah College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Mumbai, which proved to be the perfect start to the session on...

There are talks about how the lockdown might be extended further (which, by now for most of us in India does not seem new) and it makes one think about how to be more self- reliant.  Being in Kerala during this period (for about four months) has shown how it can be a great option to grow your own vegetables and fruits, have your own water source, recharging wells in order to maintain and improve groundwater levels, making use of a compost pit, using the compost thus obtained as manure for your own vegetables and fruits. Life comes a full circle! Or does it? I look around. But all around I see huge palatial structures. One seems to be bigger than the other. Another seems to be more spacious than yet another. Fancy lights, huge walls, pictures of demons in front (to ward off the evil eye) stare back at me.  But all I do is stare. I am wondering how people manage to clean their houses. They may keep servants. But on a daily basis, isn't maintenance a pain? And that's when a thoug...

A Death in the Himalayas: A Neville Wadia Mystery by Udayan Mukherjee My rating: 4 of 5 stars Name of the book: A Death in the Himalayas Name of the Author: Udayan Mukherjee Publisher: Picador India Price: Rs. 499 Genre: Fiction Pages: 274 ISBN: 978-93-89109-18-4 This review appeared in the Free Press Journal newspaper: https://www.freepressjournal.in/book-... A celebrity author-activist, Clare Watson, is found battered in a Himalayan forest spring. While it resounds internationally and puts pressure on the investigating officer, it also disrupts the peace of the inhabitants of the picturesque Birtola village. The author with a two-decade-long career as a television anchor and editor, an occasional commentator and newspaper columnist, fluidly expresses both sides of a seemingly idyllic village and about the fangs of brusque urban concretization plans. Also worth noting is the perspective of the villagers and the city dwellers towards each other and th...

Sara by Shashi Warrier My rating: 3 of 5 stars Name of the book: Sara Name of the author: Shashi Warrier Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers India ISBN: 978-93-5357-105-4 Genre: Fiction Price: Rs. 399 Pages: 315 This review appeared in the Free Press Journal newspaper: https://www.freepressjournal.in/book-... You are a chef and restaurateur and your business thrives upon a recipe that was passed on to you from your ancestors. While chasing your dreams, you stumble upon love. And what kind of a love is one which does not teach you something about yourself that you didn't know till then? But, what if added to it is a history that connects your ancestors with theirs? Also, is your recipe really an exclusive family secret? Call it destiny's ways or pure co-incidence, that's how Junaid (of Fatehgarh) discovers more about his grandfather after whom he was named. The story takes you from present to the last few years of the British Raj in Ind...

One Foot on the Ground: A Life Told Through the Body by Shanta Gokhale My rating: 4 of 5 stars Name of book: One Foot on the Ground : A Life Told through the Body Name of Author: Shanta Gokhale Publisher: Speaking Tiger ISBN: 978-93-88874-85-4 Genre: Non-fiction/ Autobiography Price: Rs. 399 Pages: 252 This review appeared in the Free Press Journal: https://www.freepressjournal.in/weeke... Waved into the ante chamber of a labour room when the pain begins, what do you do? You do what's been told to you. And when the gynaecologist, on his morning rounds, asks you what you are doing there, what do you say? "Having my baby." Of course. In another instance, she walks out of the MRI 'tunnel' laughing and tells the assistant technician, "That's quite an orchestra you have there." Written by Shanta Gokhale, one of India's most illuminating cultural commentators, a well-known writer, translator and also, the ...

Wake Up, Life Is Calling by Preeti Shenoy My rating: 3 of 5 stars Name of the book: Wake Up, Life is Calling Name of the author: Preeti Shenoy Publisher: Srishti Publishers and Distributors ISBN: 978-93-87022-60-7 Genre: Fiction Price: Rs. 199 Also available as an e-book This review was published in the Free Press Journal : https://www.freepressjournal.in/book-... The beginning can be a battle – with your mind, your near and dear ones, your thoughts. You can actually feel the protagonist Ankita's pain as the story proceeds. There were instances when the reader wanted to close the book because it was too daunting– a life so depressing. But as I kept 'moving on', I knew something would definitely change. Bipolar disorder – as scary as it may sound – is something which the author has broken down to simple bits for people to understand. Thank you, Preeti Shenoy, for another positive book. As a sequel to her second book written in 2011 ca...