Opening Chapters

I first heard of Celestial Bodies by Jokha Al-Harthi when it was long-listed for the Man Booker International Prize and was talked about by  @arablit  on Twitter. Translated from Arabic by Marilyn Booth. The book went on to win the prize which was something I wanted initially for sentimental reasons (having grown up in the Middle East).  At the heart of Celestial Bodies, are the stories of three sisters: Mayya, Asma and Khawla. We read about each of them through their pastimes, their married lives and so on. The story is a postcolonial, multi-generational narrative that takes us through different people. These chapters give the reader of picture as Oman changes from a collection of feudal, nomadic tribes to the Sultanate of Oman following the exit of the British. We learn about the effects of the British occupation that’s percolated different parts of society, the slave trade that was vibrant till the early twentieth century and how its society changed as globalization happe

When the Roswell adaptation was announced in 2018, many lamented that yet another remake was landing on their screens. Roswell, New Mexico , is adapted from the original Roswell High books written by Melinda Metz where Liz was Liz Ortecho of Mexican descent and not Liz Parker, as in the 1999 show that catapulted actors like Shiri Appleby and Katherine Heigl to stardom. Roswell, NM is a very different show that explores the story differently while making leaps in the area of representation. The 2019 series sees Liz Ortecho as a young biomedical scientist, the daughter of Mexican immigrants returning to Roswell, NM after 10 years, after the funding for her research has been slashed. The premiere episode shows her working at Crashdown Cafe, the alien-themed eatery owned by her father Arturo. The cafe is attacked by a gunman, who holds the Ortechos responsible for the death of two girls - friends of Liz’s older sister Rosa who had died in a car crash 10 years prior along with

Firstly, I would like to thank Vivek Tejuja and Penguin India for a copy of The Begum: A Potrait of Ra’ana Liaqat Ali Khan, Pakistan’s Pioneering First Lady written by Deepa Agarwal and Tahmina Aziz Ayub. In the 21 st century, it is more than clear that feminism comes in a plethora of forms. She comes in skirts or jeans, long or short, in shoes or heels, with a hijab or without. What is important is this – it is her choice. So it is, seventy odd years after the bifurcation of the Indian subcontinent, I set out to read about a lady whose identity could be defined in multiple ways – Ra’ana Liaqat Ali Khan who was born Irene Margaret Pant to a family that had converted to Christianity from Hinduism. It was quite an odd time for me to read this book, with the rising tensions between India and Pakistan looming above all our heads. However, to read about a feminist figure from across this border that is not even a hundred years old, leads the reader to realize that as women,

Anita Nair is one of the prominent authors in the Indian publishing scene today. The first Anita Nair book I picked up was Idris, published in 2014. Idris is a historical fiction novel. She is also known for Lessons in Forgetting, The Better Man and Mistress to name a few. Sometimes, a book comes along that devours you as much as you devour it. I started reading Eating Wasps as soon as I got it - how could you not, with a title and a cover like that?  EW begins with a first-person narrative of a woman called Sreelakshmi - a writer who had been awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award at only 30 years old - she is dead. Sreelakshmi’s character committed suicide - the locals who know about her and didn’t know about her begin to talk about why did that. “The speculation was as dense as the grief.” After the cremation of her body, Markose - Sreelakshmi’s secret lover - digs through the ashes, finds a piece of skeleton that once was Sreelakshmi and keeps it for himself, loc

Taken from balabhaskar.in On Tuesday, 2nd of October 2018, Malayalis and other Indians across the world woke up to the news of musician Balabhaskar's death. Just a week prior, they woke up to the news of the car crash that took his daughter's life on the same day.  I woke up later than usual today, the 2nd of October being a holiday. I woke up and scrolled through Twitter only to see that Mohanlal had shared a video of Balabhaskar playing Kanneer Poovinte from one of Mohanlal's most prominent and moving films, Kireedam . The song in itself is a sad song - and while it is one of my favorites of Mohanlal songs from the 80s and 90s, I listen to it on rare occasions because such is the power of that song to move you to sadness.  The violin is a beautiful piece of instrument. When I was 9 years old and had gone to summer camp, I had learnt to play it - although I did not continue once summer ended for a myriad of reasons. My first encounter with a violin however,

A few years ago (nearly a decade, says my mind, boggling another part of my mind), I blogged on a wonderful platform called Posterous. I posted fairly frequently, sometimes unnecessarily, but it was what made me a regular to this world. Some time in 2012, Twitter acquired Posterous and promptly shut down Posterous Spaces breaking a million hearts around the world (thousands, at least), but not before giving us a chance to download our work. So download, I did. I had forgotten about them, until recently, much to my surprise, I find the folder hidden among the darkest corners of my husband's college laptop. Which brings me to this post. I have been going through the posts - most of them cringeworthy. However, I have to admit, I have come quite far from the writer I used to be - definitely more cynical. For the past few days (read months), I have been missing Dubai - the city I grew up in - a lot. I've also been working on something Dubai-related. So when I found this goodie of