Book Review: Udbhav Agarwal's A For Prayagraj: A Short Biography of Allahabad

 

Title: A For Prayagraj: A Short Biography of Allahabad

Author: Udbhav Agarwal

Publisher: Aleph Book Co.

Genre: Biography

Pages: 116

 

Books about the cities are my comfort soul reading. A for Prayagraj is a nostalgic portrayal of Allahabad. Udbhav Agarwal knows how to tell a story. Maybe, it’s his writing style, beautiful and clear that makes this biography easily readable, fun and gripping.

I devoured this book, in two long reading sessions and started writing about it immediately. Perhaps, it is an interesting anecdotal look at the old city, ‘Before the city had a name, before it was even a city, it was the place where the rivers met.’

It succeeds in conveying the different pools of city’s pasts, as they appear in the present, mirage-like. Udbhav skillfully takes reader to the streets of his beloved place. He added personal stories to make this biography even more layered.

A young writer decides to return to his hometown to reclaim many facets of his city. He loves Allahabad, and its Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb that clearly transpires while reading the book. He writes about his personal experiences, his curiosity of other writings on Allahabad, as well as his reflections. The very personal touch is given from the beginning where he shares his childhood visit of Kumbh Mela. I think the best way to depict his emotion is to include that part here as well.

‘It was the year of Kumbh Mela, the largest congregation of in the world. New designs were spread all over the canvas of the city. My last Mela had been twelve years ago, when I still lived in Allahabad. I remember staying in Tent with Baba for two months; my cousins and I would make balls, out of the river loam. We’d stop by the Shaktiman weighing machines and keep score.

Twelve years later, entering the Mela was like, entering an ‘Exhibition centre, multiplex, Mega mall’ at peak hours. The same religious motifs- bright Om signs – etc were up alongside Pepsi advertisements. Speakers blared pre-recorded Ram-Kathas.’  

Udbhav divides his book into easily separated chapters, so the reader doesn’t lose the charm of reading. Each section focused on theme based setting.

In the first sections, ‘McAloo Tikki in Allahabad’ Udbhav recollected his childhood impressions. He talks about his school and friends and how would look for mentions of the city in their history books. He also mentions Sunday evenings in coffee house where he grew up, and movie days in Gautam talkies. Udbhav certainly awed by the Chowk Ki Holi, it was famous for its booming possessions and rowdy play, and the Chowk masjid delivered the most teeming morning prayers in Allahabad.

In the second section, Udbhav discussed Saam Daam Gun Bed, about crime, strategies of survival, and the crucible of street law. The way author was drawn to Balu Raja’s story not only for details on administrative hierarchies but also for its craftiness.

In another section, titled ‘Baikaiti’ he talks about the ‘Allahabadiyat’ in different intellect personalities. While talking with Dr. Chopra, he brings out many stories of big writers and big politicians, such as Purshottam Das Tandon and Madan Mohan Malviya. They all are full of confidence, kind of fakkadpan and that was magical. Here, Dr. Chopra shares a moment of the time of emergency ‘If Mahadevi Verma and Firaaq Gorakhpuri gave an impromptu speech, people would run across town for them.’

Also, Udbhav showed concerned on the Writings on Allahabad, ‘Perhaps the truest tragedy of the city was the sqandering of its creative persona.’ He spoke about many books including Vimal Chandra Pandey’s Ii Ilahabad Hai Bhaiyaa and Nasira Sharma’s Zero road.

‘Apna Time Ayega’, it is a fourth section of this book. A quick read as it is played on miseducation and joblessness in small cities. ‘If the outsiders were impressed, the insiders wanted to get away.’ This sentence alone makes it all clear. He mentions a most favourite watch here, Tigmanshu Dhulia’s film Haasil, watching this movie is like to have the dirt of Allahabad beneath your fingernails.

And last section ‘F for Fyaar and F se Firaq’ is dedicated to romance. Although the characters revealed in the book are interesting but I feel lost here and there, maybe it is an absence of single compelling narrative.

Udbhav ends this book with an emotion that echoed throughout the journey ‘What is it about this place, a centripetal force that spools you back? After a decade of planned and unplanned returns, I am still not sure. Ye Shehar Kasturi Re…’

It is definitely not a perfect read yet colourful one. Adding to that, it is a good warm-up if you are making a visit to your own hometown. Don’t expect that this short biography will make you aware about the historical aspects of Allahabad. Yet it will leave you yearning to explore more about the city.

About the Author

Udbhav Agarwal is a PhD candidate in Political Science at Johns Hopkins University. He was born in Allahabad and has studied at the Doon School and Vassar College. His writings have appeared in the Economic and Political Weekly and Journal of Narrative Politics. This is his first book. 

P.S. I received this review copy by publisher in exchange of an honest review. Also, Thank you Vivek Tejuja,  

Book Review: The Forest I Know by Kala Ramesh

 

Title: The Forest I Know

Author: Kala Ramesh

Publisher: Harpercollins India

Genre: Poetry

Pages: 170

 

The Forest I know by Kala Ramesh, is a stunning collection of poetry centered around nature and human behavior. It reflects on quietness and beauty of being alive. These short poems are so comforting and impactful, mostly based on universal sentiments.

 

While reading these tanka pieces, I tried to absorb every word relates to my core. Somewhere, I found connectedness to village home and my childhood as well. I felt her work as fresh breath, each fragment shaped by understanding of people and life.

 

a visit
to our childhood home
I feel stripped
when those old trees
see me without my dreams

 

Her poems don’t follow any specific structural pattern, uses of free verses is more like music to ears, engaging and full of enigmatic observations. She has ability to evoke emotions and transform her reader into a world of senses. Her observant eye expresses the depth of her craft and artistry

 

today I think
of all my yesteryears
with you
and were you ever with me
at any time at all?

 

Basically, this book begins with a prose piece ─ A gaping whole ─ about a little girl and eventually we start discovering the portrait of a woman. It is a kind of journey that shines into self-discovery, acceptance and sustainable understanding. 

 

Each passage feels like perceptive meditation on nature, human behavior and relationships. Certain poems have tied with bit melancholy and familiar sadness, ‘My heart weeps for the child I have never seen.’

I loved her poems, more than that liked the way she perceives her surrounding, her technique of adding layers to sharpen the imagery. As if we are floating in her poetic conscience.

the red dot
on my forehead
binds me
to a man
who's in his own orbit

 

Her writing is simple yet lyrical. The way she captures joy in each situation, even celebrate the pain is inexplicable. Each passage feels like perceptive meditation on nature, human behavior and relationships. Here, I am sharing some details of my favourite pieces from this collection:

 

In Vratham, Kala describes the value of our roots in a metaphorical form; she gives example of Ekadashi Vrat ‘Twice a month grandmother refused to join us for a meal.’

 

In A Dewdrop World, Kala depicts the hidden meaning of making art, ‘When I asked a potter how she shaped her pots so effortlessly. She answered…’ That answer really amazed me as a reader.

 

I am
what I make of dreams
a dewdrop
holds the moon 

In a passage titled ‘The Unlearned’, she discussed the bishnois in the state of Rajasthan who bury their dead instead of cremating them. This is such thought-provoking piece. At one place, she also mentions about Ustad Bismillah Khan and how his Shehnai shapes the raga.

In Baggage, she has beautifully woven the moment around scribbling, and left us with a quote ‘Habits die after all’

In Bitterness, she talks about her ailing mother, who is heading for Alzheimer and her unsolved puzzle about hairs that fall.

In a way these Tanka proses and Dohas included her own passionate presence, which gives it a doubt of autobiography or personal diary.  Each verse is so beautiful and heartfelt, As if some deserted land was seeking for raindrops. What I have learnt that Kala captured the beauty of one’s presence in a particular moment. Some poems are so good; I reread them and tried to catch the magic of her world she lives in.

at twilight
the forest I know
by sight
becomes a forest of sound
cicada summer 

___ 

for eons, waves
have danced the pebbles
to perfection … but
it’s the sand through my fingers
that leaves me spellbound.

In the end of a book, Michael McClintok has added a short essay on her poetry. He states ‘The truth Kala discovers are universal and cross cultural. They speak directly to the human condition. Her self-examination consistently pivots on the observation of the others around her, to whom she compares her own beliefs, feelings and expectations, frequently expressing disappointment and sense of her own naivety.’

Though I had never heard of Kala Ramesh before reading ‘The forest I know’ but that all up to my ignorance only. She is the recent favourite discovery. I am definitely going to search her work in journals.

This book is balm for wearied beings. If you are new to poetry and really want to pick one book, I will unhesitatingly recommend this collection to you. 

Amazon: The Forest I know by Kala Ramesh

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Book Review: China Room by Sunjeev Sahota

Title: China Room

Author: Sunjeev Sahota

Publisher: Penguin Random House India

Genre: Literary Fiction

Pages: 256 

“Mehar is not so obedient a fifteen-year-old that she won’t try to uncover which of the three brothers is her husband.” 

Sunjeev Sahota’s China Room, begins with this enthralling sentence. Whatever title suggests, it has nothing to do with China at all. In exact terms, China room is a windowless dark chamber in the house, shared by three newly wedded brides. The room is named for the old willow-pattern plates that lean on a high stone shelf, a set of six that arrived with Mai (their Mother-in-law) years ago as part of her wedding dowry.

Basically, the story of ‘China Room’ is set up in rural Punjab, Year is 1929.  The main protagonist, Mehar has just got engaged without any brief knowledge of her groom. Once she shifted to her husband’s home, she gets to know about these two other girls - Harbans and Gurleen - already present there into the same situation.

“None of them knew which man she was married to ….because they had to remain veiled the whole time. There was no electricity. It was in the middle of nowhere on a rural farmstead and they didn’t know who was the husband, so the story goes.”

Three girls, married to three brothers. They don’t have any right to ask about their respective partner. They spend their days doing house-work, and wait for nights to get a nod from their strict mother-in-law, the matriarch Mai, who summons one of them and sends the selected one to China room, precisely to meet her husband. This whole set up is aligned, what for? To produce a strong heir to Sikh family.

Shortly, Mehar - not-so-obedient bride - finds out her husband, after few verbal interactions and sexual meetings, a twist comes into the story and her world gets trembled down.

Although, China Room has such interesting plot but I do prefer to say it is character driven novel, along with many interlaced stories. In a while, we get introduced to second unnamed protagonist, great-grandson of Mehar, who visits India, just to get rid of his drug addiction. He comes back to Punjab to her aunt, and how he transferred into a Village – an abandoned farm, specifically that very China room, that whole scene is an event itself. Rest of the story unfolds from there only. Many revelations come into the readers’ sight then.

‘There was one photo that I’d focus on, a small picture in a dark-wood frame. It was of my great grandmother, an old white haired woman who’d travelled all the way to England just so they she might hold me’ 

What I loved most about Sahota’s work is his prose. Writing is so elegant and absorbing that I read and reread many parts just to savour the reflections and behavior of characters ‘Night came all at once, like a cupboard door shutting, and I heaved out a charpoy, its frame cracked and loose and showing signs of woodworm, its weave so slack that it was more hammock than bed.’

It is hard to believe that a simple story of family life could be so enriching. It is not only a family drama but there are many layers as well. Through his flawed characters, Sahota talks about sense of belonging and alienation, desire for identity and struggle amidst loneliness. There is loss wrapped into the blanket of nostalgia.

At the end, Sahota has shared a photograph of an old lady cradling a baby. It might be a hint that somewhere his novel, China Room stood on his own family history. Maybe few elements of his real life helped him to construct this superlative piece of (he)art. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will surely recommend to others.

You can buy this book via Amazon (Link is here)

 About the Author

Sunjeev Sahota is the author of Ours Are the Streets and The Year of the Runaways, which was shortlisted for the 2015 Man Booker Prize, the International Dylan Thomas Prize and the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award, and won the Encore Prize, the European Union Prize for Literature, and the South Bank Sky Arts Award. He was chosen as one of Granta's Best Young British Novelists in 2013. He lives in Sheffield.

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Book Review: Growing Up With Teens by Ruchi Verma

 

Title: Growing Up With Teens

Author: Ruchi Verma

Publisher: Authors Tree Publishing

Genre: Non-fiction, Parenting

Pages: 92

‘Growing up with Teens’ by Ruchi Verma, is a Psychological approach at what works with Teens. Although, I am not a parent or dealing with such situation, Yet I loved to explore this genre. It intrigues me a lot, how parents establish connection with their offspring, how they involve in the process of long-term behavioral management. So I read the book.

This book has absolutely sensible vision on teen parenting. It is not an easy task to raise a teenager, but with right approach every parent puts forward make this journey easier. As communication should not be a barrier in your relationships, and these methods will definitely help you to begin better conversation with your teenager kids.

Ruchi Verma states ‘Each day as a parent we too are growing up and understanding the other side of the story.’ This book comprises of 12 chapters. Every section deals with new challenges emerge in the road of family life. There are so many questions arise with this set of age, in regards to emotional, physical and social changes. And the perspective, author shared here, is really a nice construct if you can agree to put it into practice. I have highlighted many salient points as ‘note to remember’.

Ruchi Verma offers a whole section on communication that I liked the most. Author acknowledges some main points, for instance─ why communication is important? How your teens want to communicate? Do and don’t of communications.

‘Don’t assume or read their mind. If you don’t understand certain behavior change or less communication or even they are not doing things according to house rules’

‘Listening means letting them finish their story and their thoughts. Just make sure when they talk, look in their eyes, and show interest in their versions. You opinion on that same topic might differ but remember to give them equal opportunity to put forward their opinions.’

As reader I have very mixed feeling on this book though. On the positive side, Ruchi Verma shared some absolute gems of advice based on her personal and professional experiences. She comes up with the idea of talk about adolescent depression. Adding to this, she explored myths and taboos sex education in India. ‘We carry a hush-hush talking attitude for years. It’s high time to change and break this taboo. Teaching your child this aspect is as important as giving them any other education’.

Not only had she incorporated some discussion on daughter’s puberty but her son’s too. I have found it to be immensely practical.  

Writing is simple and absorbing. Author has rightly convinced me to go on reading the book. On the other side, I found the information bit repetitive. I so wish it were organized bit differently.

Reading this book has definitely enhanced the way I look at behavior of teenage kids, One idea that will stay with me ‘ it is important to teach both boys and girls to respect the other gender’s emotions and consent always’

 

Contact to author: Instagram  

Buy on Flipkart: Growing up with Teens (Link)

This review is powered by Blogchatter Book Review Program.

 

Book Review: Operation Khukri by Major General Rajpal Punia and Damini Punia

 

‘Operation Khukri’ is a documentation of a peacemaking mission in Sierra Leone. More than that, it  portrayed the life of a soldier, how this mission emerged, how his family effected by this twist, full of longing and sorrows, and while the mission progressed, how 233 Indian soldiers faced death without food for close to three months and finally chose to die fighting than hunger.

According to Punia, forces of 17 countries took part in this mission. Among them, only Indian army decided to stay and fight against Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels of Sierra Leone, for around 80 days.

Readers get chance to absorb this book through the perspective of Major General Punia and his daughter Damini, who co-authored this book as well. Father-Daughter duo dedicated this courageous book to Havildar Krishan Kumar, who is the only soldier, Indian army lost during mission.

In an introductory part, Damini provides some insights about bravery and heroic tale of soldier’s life. She stated "It is truly unfortunate that people are not aware of an operation that transpired a year after the Kargil War, an operation where soldiers chose death over cowardice, dignity over two meals and honor over freedom"

 

Although, Sierra Leone is the wealthiest place in the world, with an abundance of the best grade diamonds, Sierra Leone lacked basic amenities like electricity and tap water, even in the national capital, Freetown. Nearly 30 per cent of its population was amputees because of the civil war that had gripped the county for over a decade.

In 2000, UN took a step and initiated a peace-making mission; the two agencies of Indian Army were deployed in Kailahun. But this intervention couldn’t come out as they planned; somehow it turned into warfare between Indian Army and RUF Rebels.

‘Every RUF soldier in the DDR camp had faced such terrible experiences as part of the RUF that merely hearing about those incidents was enough to send shivers down our spine. One face among hundreds that stood out was of a young boy named Moomba, who was barely fifteen years of age. He had been forcefully picked up by the RUF from his home in Pendembu almost five years back, and as a part of the ‘Uniform Presentation’ drill, he was forced to shoot a man at the tender age of ten.’

‘Operation Khukri’ is about the story of survival among odds, gritty tale of those superheroes who dedicated their lives to motherland. One can even fall in love with their determinant journey. Apart of telling valiant facts about mission, Punia painted a world of a normal family life, he wrote a touching scene where he has been leaving his family behind “I could see the eyes of my better half well up. She held back her tears, and her silent serenity was loud enough to shake my soul to its core.”

Amid of that, he ponders over the behavior of his kiddo, who is trying to act like an adult as he was going to become the only man of his house for three years, that too out of choice. Those little nuances of normal life, really added vivid colors to this book.  

The only thing I felt needed an improvement was on editing front. This book could have done wonder if it were more crisp and focused.  All in all, what not to love about patriotic stories, hmm? This book will definitely leave an impact on the life of Indian readers.  

Operation Khukri is published by Penguin India and You can buy this book via Amazon (Link).

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