Book browser review

A Life Incomplete - Nanak Singh
Sahitya Akademi award-winning author Nanak
Singh draws on personal experiences to create
a compelling portrait of Punjab in the
‘20s. Kuldeep Singh is serving a term for participating
in anti-British agitations. When he
returns home, he finds that his wife has died,
leaving behind their infant child. As Singh
struggles to cope with this new world, he is
pulled by forces beyond his control: a holy
man advocating renunciation, a childhood
friend who has always loved him, the altruistic
Waryam Singh who is perennially subordinating
his personal interests for those of the
community, and the ill-tempered Prakash who
is attempting to hide a dark past.

The Killer App and Other Paranormal Stories Various authors
This collection of short stories brings together
chilling tales of the paranormal. These include
a story on a wildly popular app that “feeds on
hatred”, a luxury resort that turns deadly on a
new-moon night, a trek that turns men to
beasts, and a swimming pool with a deadly secret.
Other tales include those of murderous
ghosts, enchanted amulets, a haunted medical
school, and an uncle with a resemblance to a
vengeful lion. The authors include David Hair,
Ranjit Lal, deepa Agarwal, Subhadra Sen Gupta,
Mainak Dhar and Himani Dalmia.

Journeys Through Rajasthan Edited by Aman Nath
Journeys Through Rakasthan shows you this
state through the eyes of some of India’s travelers,
poets, novelists, explorers, historians,
wildlife enthusiasts, a photographer, a foodie,
a naturalist, a bird-lover and a princess. All
the stories are located in different parts of
Rajasthan. Journeys through Rajasthan is a
companion for both the wandering traveler
and the armchair one interested in the discoveries
that emerged from the skilled pens of
those who choose to look beyond familiar picture-
postcard images of a fabled land. Prem
Shankar Jha writes about the decline of the
Bharatpur sanctuary, Maharani Gayatri Devi
on the trappings of royalty, and William Dalrymple
documents two of the last hereditary
singers of an epic medieval Rajasthani poem.

Bali and the Ocean of Milk - Nilanjan P Choudhury
Indrah, the once-mighty king of the Devas is
not the man he used to be, struck by a mysterious
ailment. Bali, his Asura counterpart, is
faring no better. There is one elixir that can
help both of them. To extract it, the gods and
the asuras have to work together. Choudhary’s
book re-imagines the conflict between
the asuras and the gods in a humorous way.
There is an unabashed candour with which
Choudhury approaches the gods and their
dubious portfolios. The book has contemporary
touches, from modern day lingo to mentions
of Facebook, animal rights violation,
low-fat milk and the best one, Indrah’s hair
colour — Molten Midnight by So’Real.

My Father Baliah -YB Satyanarayana
The book is a simple and brief journey into the
lives of 4 generations of a dalit family. Twentyone-
year-old Narsiah is poised to inherit a
huge tract of land gifted by the Nizam to his
father but loses it to a feudal lord. This triggers
his migration from his ancestral village in
Telangana, an event that would free his family
and future generations from caste oppression.
Years later, it saves his son Baliah from a life
of humiliation and bonded labour. The gripping
nature of the theme, a smattering of the Telangana
dialect, a few forgotten details of names
and local practices, combine to create a
thrilling read.