Book Review: A State of Freedom by Neel Mukherjee

Title: A State of Freedom

Author: Neel Mukherjee

Publisher: Penguin Random House

ISBN: 9780670090150

Genre: Literary Fiction

Pages: 275

Source: Flipkart Review Program

Rating:  5/5

While trying to check the bill before settling at the reception desk – just an old habit, inculcated by his father, of giving any bill a once-over to see that he had not been overcharged – he realized that he had lost the ability to perform the simple function of adding up the individual items and the tax that together made up the grand total. He tried again and again. Then he took out his wallet and tried to count the rupee and US dollar notes nestled inside; he failed. Something as fundamental to intelligence as counting was eluding him. In the peripheries of his vision he could see a small crowd gathering to look at him; discreetly, nonchalantly, they thought. The news had spread. It was then that he broke down and wept for his son.

First of all, allow me to keep this structure-of-the-novel thing away, and let me focus on the initial paragraph of A State of Freedom by Neel Mukherjee. I am sure, after reading this, you too would have noticed the way Mukherjee drew attention of his readers. It simply showed the power of his prose style. The way he observed things and transformed them into words is surely inexplicable. It was like he opened a hidden window of a world which existed inside us only. Our surrounding, that we often ignore, Mukherjee took his characters from there only and showed us the mirror. Frankly speaking it was gut-wrenching at some place.     

STRUCTURE

A State of Freedom by Neel Mukherjee, It fascinated me more because it is written in an unconventional style. Five Protagonist Five Stories, not linked on the plot basis yet connected somehow.

In first segment, Mukherjee introduced a man, who returns to India with his six years old son, he visits Taj Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri, trying to revive his roots. Meanwhile he realizes he has become the stranger in his own country. Then something happened that changed the whole situation. Just loved the part where he was trying his best to save his kid from witnessing this grim situation of India.

In Second Segment, a London based son (unnamed) visiting his parents in Bombay, he has come for local research on Indian cooking as he is going to write some regional cuisine book. Here he met Renu, who cooked food for his parents, Suddenly he started to take interest in their lives and realized the gap of these two classes, how the renu’s past unfolded, it was really heart storming. You read those characters and trying to identify various faces into our own surrounding, that's the impact of Mukherjee’s Characters’ Arc.

When it comes to third segment, it would fascinate you the most and if you are four-legged angel’s lover then it will be heart wrenching read. Mukherjee unpacked the emotion of fear and love while revealing his quaint characters especially baby bear, Raju and his owner lakshman, how he tried to get him ready and trained for another source of income. There was so much to read between the lines, those pauses provoked you to read quickly with a curiosity—what will happen next with baby bear?   

In Forth segment, you meet a girl who is trying to alleviate her social condition, in her own possible ways. Her struggle for existence seemed so apt in current scenario. It is always hard to read about underprivileged characters. Yet soothing to your soul cause they come up with hope at last, to a better future. And you feel inspired of after experiencing their will to survive.  

Last segment of this book, leaves you with myriad of questions, If you unintentionally obstruct the freedom of others, gradually it effects our concept of belonging and loss. In Neel Mukherjee’s word—the sense of migration.

All in all, You could read the book, you could close it with great relief but you could hardly get rid of its deeply-woven characters. I have no words to praise Mukherjee enough. Just loved the way Mukherjee narrates his stories. Sometimes it feels so engrossing that you found yourself enveloped into his  world only. Extraordinaire!  

CORE

When we heard of any abroad based Indian author, it is presentiment that he would have written about Cooking or Migration, more so ever the complications he had to face while changing countries and all that nostalgia especially Maa Ke Haath Ka Kadi-Chawal. 

Here, Mukherjee tried to derange this league and coming up with a new concept of Migration. He made me rethink the definition of it. How could we attach the with migration thing only, while migration is a state of mind that we usually sensed here in India only. And this is the core of Neel Mukherjee’s A State of Freedom. 

In our lives we often migrate through our social class, thought-level process, and financial condition. Of course, A State of Freedom would not be an easy read. It will move you, along with doubts, expression of freedom  and trouble your mind till the last. A State of Freedom is a portrait of our own existence. Worth every moment. 

READER’s MOMENT

Something about the urgency of the swarming and the indescribable sound that emanated from that swiftly engorging clot of people, a tense noise between buzzing and truculent murmuring, instantly transmitted the message that a disaster had occurred. Otherwise how else would the child have known to ask, ‘Baba, people running, look. What’s happening there?’ And how else could the driver have answered, mercifully in Hindi, ‘A man’s just fallen from the top of that building under construction. A labourer. Instant death, poor man.’

He had refused to translate, had tried to pull his son back from craning his neck out, but as the queue of cars moved forward, through a chance aperture in the hive of people around the death, he saw, for the briefest of flashes, a patch of dusty earth stained the colour of old scab from the blood it had thirstily drunk. Then the slit closed, the car started advancing inch by inch and the vision ended. He saw his son turning his head to continue to stare at the spot. But had he really seen the earth welt like that, or had he just imagined it? There was no way he could ask the boy to corroborate. As soon as he thought that, all the worries came stampeding in: had the child seen it? Was he going to be affected by it? How could he establish if he had without planting the idea in the boy’s head?

‘Who knows what he’ll do? We have never been able to tell what goes through his head. He says he’s going to come back in two years.’ Pause. “Two more years of sending money,” She said, then quickly tried to dispel the burden of the last few words by her usual dismissive tics.

‘I said to him: Stay as long as it takes to finish what you are reading, you don’t need to think of money… but who listens to me?’ the shift in tonal gear this time was to mock-carping, a time-honoured Bengali way of expressing deep affection.

Then, another shift with: “He says he’s going to come back and built me a house. We shall see”

ABOUT AUTHOR

Neel Mukherjee was born in Calcutta. His first novel, A Life Apart , won the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Award for best fiction, among other honors, and his second novel, The Lives of Others , was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and won the Encore Prize. He lives in London.

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BUY ONLINE: A State of Freedom by Neel Mukherjee (On Flipkart) 

वो लोग जो आपके कुछ नहीं लगते

वो लोग जो आपके कुछ नहीं लगते। ना कोई रिश्ता ना कोई जानकारी। सोशल मीडिया की इस दुनिया में बहुत से ऐसे लोग मिलते है जिनसे कोई बातचीत नहीं होती फिर भी वो आपकी दिनचर्या का हिस्सा होते है। आपकी टाईमलाईन पर उनके पोस्ट आते है। हम उसके जरिए ही धीरे धीरे उन्हें जानने लगते हैं। उनके पंसदीदा गीत, नज्में, शायर, और फिर एक दिन वो चले जाते हैं। हमेशा के लिए। आपकी पलकें नम हो जाती है। दिल कुछ एक पल के लिए पत्थर-सा हो जाता। आप यकीन नहीं कर पाते कि कल से वो आपकी वर्चुअल ही सही लेकिन इस छोटी सी दुनिया का हिस्सा नहीं होगें। गर्म पानी आँखों से गालों तक आ जाता है। आप रोना नहीं चाहते, उनके लिए जो आपके कुछ नही लगते।

25 जुलाई को ट्वीटर टाईमलाइन पर पढा इंदीवर जी (@frozenmusik) नहीं रहे। उनसे मेरी कभी कोई बातचीत नहीं हुई थी। मैं नीलेश मिसरा सर के लिए थोडा-बहुत लिखती हूँ ये उन्हें मेरी टाईमलाईन देखकर पता चला होगा। अभी जनवरी में जब जयपुर लिटरेचर फेस्टीवल में नीलेश सर भी पहुँचे। तो उन्होंने सर के सेशन की टाईम-स्क्रीन टैग की। उन्हें लगा होगा शायद मुझे पता नहीं है। मैंने उन्हें प्राईवेट मैसेज करके इतनी सी रिक्वेस्ट की “Sir, I won’t able to attend Neelesh Sir’s session, will you record some clips, just thodi bahut please please”

उन्होंने कहा उनके बेटे को फीवर है, फिर भी वो कोशिश करेंगे। मैंने उनसे मना भी किया “ रहने दीजिएगा सर, इट्स नॉट देट इम्पोरटेंट” मैं भूल भी गयी थी अगले दिन उन्होंने वो वीडियोज यू-ट्यूब पर अपलोड कर दिए। ही इज़/वाज़ काईंड सोल, मैन ऑफ हिज़ वर्डस। अभी तीन दिन पहले जब टाईमलाईन पर पढा वो नहीं रहे तो सच में अजीब लगा, लगा जैसे इट इज़ सम काईंड ऑफ प्रेंक। लेकिन ये न्यूज़ पवन झा जी की टाईमलाईन से थी। कार्डियल अरेस्ट। आज 28 जुलाई 2017 को जयपुर में ही उनकी मैमोरियल बैठक है।

नौ साल पहले मम्मा को भी ऐसे अचानक एक एक्सीडेंट में खो दिया था। आज भी सुबह उठती हूँ तो लगता है वही घी के दीपक की गर्माहट लिए मम्मा की हथेली मेरे सर पर ठहर जाएगी। आँखे खोलकर वो सबसे मीठा ख्वाब खो देना बहुत तकलीफ देता है। मम्मा के समय रोना नहीं आया था। शायद उधारी है। जब भी कोई जाता है तो किश्तों में निकलती है।  

No

Time doesn’t heal anything

People leave, void remains.

Indivar Sir, You will be missed. ALWAYS!

           

Clicked By Indivar Sir

Book Review: The Ministry Of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy

Title: The Ministry of Utmost Happiness

Author: Arundhati Roy

Publisher: Penguin Random House

ISBN:  9780670089635

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Pages: 445

Source: Flipkart Review Program

Rating:  4.5/5

She lived in the graveyard like a tree. At dawn she saw the crows off and welcomed the bats home. At dusk she did the opposite. Between shifts she conferred with the ghosts of vultures that loomed in her high branches. She felt the gentle grip of their talons like an ache in an amputated limb. She gathered they weren’t altogether unhappy at having excused themselves and exited from the story.

I think it is not an easy task to write few words on brilliance. You hesitate, You slow down a bit, You go through the pages over and over. Literally, I have been struggling with right words while writing this piece on Arundhati Roy’s The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. Perhaps, you could relate this uneasiness.  

I should not be biased but I am helpless. To be Honest, Arundhati Roy is among those authors, who drew me closer to fiction. And made me believe I could survive on reading. She is the epitome of Brilliance. She had proved it twenty years back, by fascinating us with small things and I’m happy to say, she didn’t lose that charm in her recent novel The Ministry of Utmost Happiness as well.

Basically, Arundhati Roy has woven so many characters with two main Protagonists, who were all trying to place the broken pieces back together. We could relate to their resilience, empathy, their daily struggles for survival with their determination to find hope.

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness begins with Anjum, a delhi based famous Hermaphrodite (Hijra), once Aftab. Since childhood he has been facing denial. Whereas all he wants acceptance to his natural self, and then he finds out a prostitute Bombay Silk, who is running a shelter—House of Dreams. Aftab gets fascinated by this place, leaves his home and turned into Anjum, a transgender. How Anjum’s journey ends with city graveyard? I would not spoil the magic of Roy’s storytelling, by telling the whole plot but eagerly want to share this extract.

Do you know why God made hijras?” Anjum’s housemate Nimmo asks her one day. “It was an experiment. He decided to create something, a living creature that is incapable of happiness. So he made us.” Think about it, she says. What are the things regular people get upset about? “Price-rise, children’s school-admissions, husbands’ beatings, wives’ cheatings, Hindu-Muslim riots, Indo-Pak war—outside things that settle down eventually. But for us the price-rise and school-admissions and beating-husbands and cheating-wives are all inside us. The riot is inside us. Indo-Pak is inside us. It will never settle down. It can’t.”

As story sets in modern India, Roy tried to draw reader’s attention on some socio-political issues as well, that go hand in hand with fiction. First six chapters covers the story of Anjum, and then comes Roy’s second Protagonist, Tilo— an illegitimate child, belongs to a group of Kashmir Independence fighter. Roy has beautifully woven this character Tilo and her relationship with Musa, (her lover, maybe, maybe not). Rest story revolves around her only.

Yes! I agree, In some parts,  I too feel disconnected, her description on many events (Gujarat Riot’s, Kashmir, capitalism, 1984 riots, naxalism) made me doubt  if I am reading fiction or else? , but This is Arundhati Roy, It takes courage to do experiment and weave the brutal truth, especially the part on martyrdom.

Overall, Characters are so engaging, that they seemed real to me, I could sense their pain, at some point I wished to continue with their revolutionary Journey.  I mostly loved her balanced narrative, it accomplished to transport me into another realm, if I talk about Roy's writing, It is breathtaking, lyrical, and beautifully written, especially Tilo's Part.  

Roy focused on many issues as caste and gender, and most importantly what I learnt —who are we to pass comments on someone’s existence, how could we judge someone on the basis of their faith, color, body fat, religion, and upbringing.   

In an interview with Barnes and Noble, Arundhati Roy mentioned  “Everybody in the novel has some kind of border running through them. Anjum has the border of gender, for Tillo it is caste, for Nimmo it is Indo-Pakistan, Saddam has caste and religious conversion. Even the graveyard, where much of the action of the book is located, is some kind of border between life and death. The book is also about how, when you harden these borders, this violence of inclusion and exclusion results." 

All in all, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy can be read by hundred ways, it is up to you how you perceive the art and respond to rhythm of storytelling. I would like to say "Go read this beautifully executed book" Highly Recommended!   

READER’s MOMENT   

I don’t know where to stop, or how to go on. I stop when I shouldn’t. I go on when I should stop. There is weariness. But there is also defiance. Together they define me these days. Together they steal my sleep, and together they restore my soul. There are plenty of problems with no solutions in sight. Friends turn into foes. If not vocal ones, then silent, reticent ones. But I’ve yet to see a foe turning into a friend. There seems to be no hope. But pretending to be hopeful is the only grace we have . . .

She didn't stop him. She knew he'd be back. No matter how elaborate its charade, she recognized loneliness when she saw it. She sensed that in some strange tangential way, he needed her shade as much as she needed his. And she had learned from experience that Need was a warehouse that could accommodate a considerable amount of cruelty.

They had always fitted together like pieces of an unsolved (and perhaps unsolvable) puzzle- the smoke of her into the solidness of him, the solitariness of her into the gathering of him, the strangeness of her into the straightforwardness of him, the insouciance of her into the restraint of him. The quietness of her into the quietness of him.” 

There was no tour guide on hand to tell her that in Kashmir nightmares were promiscuous. They were unfaithful to their owners, they cartwheeled wantonly into other people’s dreams, they acknowledged no precincts, they were the greatest ambush artists of all. No fortification, no fence-building could keep them in check. In Kashmir the only thing to do with nightmares was to embrace them like old friends and manage them like old enemies.” 

It had to do with the way she lived, in the country of her own skin. A country that issued no visas and seemed to have no consulates. 

ABOUT AUTHOR: Arundhati Roy is an Indian writer who is also an activist who focuses on issues related to social justice and economic inequality. She won the Booker Prize in 1997 for her novel, The God of Small Things, and has also written two screenplays and several collections of essays.

For her work as an activist she received the Cultural Freedom Prize awarded by the Lannan Foundation in 2002.

Flipkart: The Ministry Of Utmost Happiness

Book Review: Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo

There are things even love can’t do. If the burden is too much and stays too long, even love bends, cracks, comes close to breaking and sometimes does break. But even when it’s in a thousand pieces around your feet, that doesn’t mean it’s no longer love …

Title – Stay with Me

Author: Ayobami Adebayo

Genre: Fiction, Romance

Publisher: Canongate Books

Pages: 300

Rating: 5/5

Frankly speaking I celebrated reading with STAY WITH ME. With her debut, Ayobami Adebayo hooked me at the first page, in fact first lines that say “I must leave this city today and come to you. My bags are packed and the empty rooms remind me that I should have left a week ago.”  

After exploring few more pages, I stopped for a bit, took a deep breath, and silently thanked to the Author for weaving such beauty.

When it comes to story, I would say it is an intense tale of love, care, grief and loss. Plot sets in Nigeria mainly 80’s. When country had been suffering from some political issues as well, that was all in backdrop.  Basically Story revolves around a couple named Yejida and Akin, who were struggling and finding a way to conceive, somewhat same scene we find here in Indian families, How  dramatic Mother-in-law and her tantrums turns the story, In a way after introduction of second wife gives pace to the story. I have to confess here, I could hardly put down the book. Author explored the beauty and drew attention towards respective culture, customs esp the bitter truth of Polygamy and some health related issues as well. She crafted them so sensibly, I am just left in awe.  

"I became known as ‘the pregnant woman with the ripped dress’, even after the baby was born. But I did not care that people pointed and smiled behind their hands during a hymn or the Nicene Creed at the church. I had become immortal, part of a never-ending chain of life. New life kicked within me and soon I would have someone that I could call my own. Not a stepmother or half-brother. Not a father shared with two dozen other children or a husband shared with Funmi, but a child, my child."

With crisp narration and well developed dialogues. Author wins the reader’s heart and  time too.

Heart breaking scenes of Yedija, that internal struggle just makes you fall in love with the protagonist. You feel her pain, her anger, her suffocation. I don’t say it is some depressing read. In fact author put those emotions in such way; I was smiling at a time with teary eyed.  

If I could summarize this beauty STAY WITH ME, I would say, It simply explores the depth of human relationship.  And truly deserves recognition It is long-listed for the Bailey Women’s Prize for fiction 2017.   

"I had expected them to talk about my childlessness. I was armed with millions of smiles. Apologetic smiles, pity-me smiles, I-look-unto-God smiles name all the fake smiles needed to get through an afternoon with a group of people who claim to want the best for you while poking at your open sore with a stick and I had them ready. I was ready to listen to them tell me I must do something about my situation. I expected to hear about a new pastor I could visit a new mountain where I could go to pray; or an old herbalist in a remote village or town whom I could consult. I was armed with smiles for my lips, an appropriate sheen of tears for my eyes and sniffles for my nose. I was prepared to lock up my hairdressing salon throughout the coming week to go in search of a miracle with my mother-in-law in tow. What I was not expecting was another smiling woman in the room, a yellow woman with a blood-red mouth who grinned like a new bride."

  

About The Author

Ayobami Adebayo's stories have appeared in a number of magazines and anthologies, and one was highly commended in the 2009 Commonwealth short story competition. She also has an MA in creative writing from the University of East Anglia where she was awarded an international bursary for Creative Writing. Stay With Me is her Debut Novel. 

Connect : Twitter | Website 

Lamha Lamha Zindagi : Qisson Ka Kona with Neelesh Misra

यहाँ पहले दिन सब कुछ अजीब था। लगा आँखो के सामने डॉक्यूमैंटरी-फिल्म चल रही हो। दिल्ली, शहर था या रंगीन दिलों का अजायबघर, नहीं जानती। आसमान को चीरती उँची बिल्डिंग्स। कहीं न खत्म होने वाली सड़के और उनपर इतनी गाडियाँ कि दिन में तो सड़के दिखाई ही नहीं देती थीं।

सबसे अजीब मुझे वो मैट्रो लगी। जिसका लेडीज़ कम्पार्टमेंट जैसे गुल्लक में बजते सिक्के। कुछ दिन जरूर मुझे उलझन महसूस हुई...फिर लगा जैसे मैं इन लड़कियों को पहचानती थी। हर किसी के चेहरे पर फिक्र, आँखों में बैचेनी, जैसे घर की दहलीज पार करने के बावजूद भी वो अब-तक कहीं अटकी थीं। यही सब तो था जो मैं जोधपुर में छोड़कर यहाँ दिल्ली चली आयी थी। मेरी बचपन की दोस्त आमेरा के पास।

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Khoyi Baarishein : Qisson Ka Kona with Neelesh Misra

तुमने लिस्ट चेक कर ली? कुछ और चाहिए तो अभी बता दो, वहाँ पापा नहीं मिलेंगे मैंने कहा। मैं उससे ज्यादा शायद खुद को विश्वास दिला रहा था कि कुछ दिन बाद निखिल मेरे साथ नहीं होगा।

आप तो ऐसे बोल रहे हैं जैसे मैं हमेशा के लिए जा रहा हूँ  कहते हुए वो दरवाजे पर एक थपकी देकर कमरे से चला गया। उसकी हथेली की वो थाप उस दरवाजे पर नही जैसे मेरे दिल पर लगी थी। जाने के बाद वापस लौटना क्या इतना आसान होता है, क्या मैं लौट पाया वापिस कभी अपने घर? ये सवाल मेरा खुद से था, जिसका जवाब ढूंढने की ना जाने क्यूँ मैंने कभी कोशिश ही नहीं की?

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Prem Patanga : Qisson Ka Kona with Neelesh Misra

यहाँ छत पर मेरे सामने खड़ा ये बत्तमीज लड़का क्या वाकई मेरे बचपन का दोस्त कुनाल था? उसके कहे शब्द “अब तुम इतनी भी अजनबी नहीं हो” मेरे दिलो-दिमाग में गूँज रहे थे। धड़कनों में शोर था लेकिन मैं चुप थी। क्या जबाव देती उसे? बचपन का वो पक्का दोस्त जो कहीं खो गया हो उसके अचानक सामने आने पर, क्या जवाब दिया जाता होगा, ये मुझे पता ही नहीं था।

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Panah : Qisson Ka Kona with Neelesh Misra

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Book Review: Amir Khusrau: The Man in Riddles by Ankit Chadha

Title: Amir Khusrau: The Man in Riddles

Author: Ankit Chadha

Illustrated: Urmimala Nag

Publisher: Penguin India

ISBN:  9780143426486

Genre: Fiction, Poetry

Pages: 96

Source: Flipkart Review Program

Rating:  5/5

INTRO

Have you ever skipped your heartbeat while holding a book? I got that feeling, once I received this beauty Amir Khurau: The Man in Riddles by Ankit Chadha. Literally I was holding it like a baby and my eyes stuck on its cover, inner pages led me into a new world, world of colourful imagination, secret lanes, magical pauses, and the utter desire to solve those riddles without turning the page.  

Structure

Basically Ankit Chadha compiled the mesmerizing verses of Amir Khusrau, actually twenty riddles with bit of cultural description of his era, each page accompanied with beautiful illustration by Urmimala Nag. Though I am not much aware of Khusrau Yet, I easily connected with this book; few riddles were reminiscent of my childhood.

Core

Amir Khusrau, was an eminent poet of medieval India, known as Tuti-yi-Hind (Parrot of India), he contributed to Indian classical music, Sufism, Qawwali, Persian Literature. Many lyricist still using his verses to enhance the beauty of current songs by giving them sufiyana touch like.. 

Here Ankit Chadha spotlighted Amir Khusrau as—when reading khusrau’s poetry, it is evident that the poet intends to convey two meanings one that has to do with everyday world while the other delves into other worldly.

Also, Ankit didn’t forget to reveal the soulful relation between Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, the great sufi saint and Khusrau. While reading this book I could sense that Khusrau was a major cultural icon and as far as I know, he was the founder of Ganga-Jamani Tahzeeb, His prolific image stands him among the world cultural History.  

Ankit rejuvenated the soulful work of khusrau in such a profound manner. The best thing about Ankit’s book, You don’t need to be literature-friendly, even a kid will learn and enjoy it. I read this breathtaking beauty within an hour, avoiding everything.

All in all, Amir Khusrau: The Man in Riddles is gorgeously honest. Trust me, you don’t want to miss this book. Exquisite!   

Reader’s Moment

Here, I want to pick a little piece—

Dil ka to dumbal bhayaa

Aur nainon ka naasoor

Jo okhat se dukh katey

Toh main bhi karoon zaroor

Ishq

Translation:

The eyes are ulcers

And the heart is a boil

If seeking a cure helps,

Then I shall toil. 

ABOUT AUTHOR

Ankit Chadha is a writer and storyteller, who specializes in weaving research-based narratives for performance in the oral art of Urdu storytelling—Dastangoi. His works revolve around Sufi poetry and history education.

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FLIPKART: Amir Khusrau: The Man in Riddles by Ankit Chadha