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Tuesday 20 September 2016

"Waves" by Sharon Dogar and "House of Cards" by Sudha Murthy: Book Reviews by K. Dhana Lakshmi










Here is my review of the book Waves by Sharon Dogar.

They say "Don't judge a book by its cover" but I am glad I did. I was sure that this would be a very interesting one.
It was a a breathtaking story of a brother and sister.

Synopsis
When the whole Ditton family goes to Cornwall during summer vacation, Hal begins to hear the voices of his dead half sister, Charlie. Hal discovers strange things going around him, and starts to dig up the truth behind Charlie's mysterious accident leading him to more unbelievable truths.

My Reviews
"Sometimes, I think the sea nearly killed her, loved her so much that it didn't want to her give her back". This is the best phrase I came across the whole book. It expresses the anger and the depression Hal was suffering from after losing his sister.
 The way Hal fights himself, not to go into the thoughts of Charlie was amazingly described.
 Sara has the best role in the whole book. She was always there to console the family with her overloaded  cuteness, whenever the family felt emptiness, without Charlie.
 I didn't like the part where Hal blamed Charlie for being in coma and making his mum suffer. 
Jack, who grew close to Hal turns out to be Pete's sister. It made me think of Jack as one of the convicts in Charlie's accident, but to my surprise she was not and this made me more curious about the ending.
But , the ending seemed to be less mysterious (which is the only part that disappointed me).

Overall, I think that the book was great in gaining the reader's attention. It has such a good story line and was written so well. I would recommend this book to all the "supernatural thriller lovers". 








Here is my review of the book House Of Cards by Sudha Murthy.


 I like the way Sudha Murthy expresses her thoughts in a simple and beautiful manner. 
Sudha Murthy selects a very appropriate topic and tries to  convey the message to every Mridula who suffers silently. 
The message i gained, was that every girl should have a dream of her own. A woman sacrifices everything for her family but doesn't get anything in return. No woman gets equal importance from her family.
Here in this story Mridula, a small town girl marries Sanjay from Mumbai,  after which her life changes. 
This story tells how money can corrupt an innocent mind .
This story also  tells  how important it is to have trust in any relationship. As Sanjay gets more greedy to this materialistic world,  the distance between Sanjay and Mridula, expands considerably. The more Sanjay starts earning money, the less he is concerned about Mridula.  Though Mridula was extremely hurt because of Sanjay, she bears it all, but couldn't take it when Sanjay  breaks her trust.
Mridula while going to a psychiatrist tells us how frustrated she is mentally.
The way Sanjay and her family behaves upsets her so much that she decides to leave everything and live life her own way, which explains us that there is  a limit to any woman's patience. 
Overall, I think this is a beautiful book which is worth a read.




Friday 9 September 2016

Talking Devi: A Report on QLC Meet 30.8.16 by Avani Rawal


This time at the QLC meeting, the members were introduced to the famous Bengali writer, Mahaswetha Devi, and some of her works.
The session started with Ms. Pankaja  briefing the meeting about Mahaswetha Devi’s life and works. Devi, a Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan awardee, was known for her powerful and disturbing stories that depicted the social evils that still prevail in our country. Her stories are exceptional for their complete lack of melodrama. The hard life of the tribals, who are oppressed by the rich and powerful are described in her distinctively matter-of-fact style. Ms Pankaja also gave a gist of Devi’s 'Draupadi', which is one of her most famous works. Draupadi, a disturbing plot set amongst the tribals of Bengal is the story of a rebellious woman named Draupadi, who,in the face of brutal assault and sexual abuse by  government officials attempting to torment her entire community of tribals, is not cowed but stands strong for herself. Draupadi’s is a story that is as inspirational, as it is disturbing.
Pankaja Ma'am talking about Mahaswetha Devi




The session concluded with the screening of the movie 'Rudaali' which is also an adaptation of Mahasweta Devi's story of the same name. It is about a woman Shanichari who is forced into the work of weeping to sustain a livelihood. Shani, who was abandoned by her mother, only to marry an alcoholic, who leaves her, and her mentally challenged son to fend for themselves, is, incredibly, shown to have never cried in her life before being forced by the society and her circumstances, into the profession of weeping over the deaths of people from the higher strata of the society, whose family members are not allowed to publicly express emotion due to their status in the society. A conflicting love angle is also introduced in the story, when Shani falls in love with one of the local landlord’s son, but her pride and self respect stop her from marrying him.
Getting Inspired
                         
Mahaswetha Devi’s stories leave a lasting impact on the minds of those who read them, because they express raw emotion and depict people in suffering fighting out of those situations with incredible courage, pride and determination. Her stories continue to inspire decades of readers, and will continue to do so despite her death. QLC was indeed honored to have been able to discuss the life and works of a writer as stirring as Mahaswetha Devi.
Watching Rudali
                             

Avani Rawal