Jasoda - Book reviewed

Jasoda by Kiran Nagarkar
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Had enjoyed reading his 'Ravan and Eddie'. This book somehow did not live upto my expectations. Took some time to get into the rhythm of the story that kept going back and forth and then was enjoyable till almost the end when somehow it felt as if I was reading a Hindi Movie script but then again bounced back to a lovely ending.
It is a woman-centric, hard hitting tale about patriarchal and feudal systems that have not changed till date in the rural areas and then moves seamlessly to the migration of the poor to the city of dreams, Mumbai. The woman rules. Life on the pavement is touched upon and some comparison of the urban rural divide is shown too.
Nowhere does it bore the reader. It always keeps the reader wanting to read to know if what happens next is what is guessed.
Available only in hardcover and Kindle editions. I had bought the Hardcover :)

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Shantaram - Book review.

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After a long time I read a book that I could relate at so many different levels. I was initially apprehensive looking at the size of the book but once I started reading it, it was a breeze.
The description of life in Mumbai in the late 70s and early 80s as described in the book is perfect. I have been there and done that. Though he claims that it is not an autobiography, what he writes mirrors the life as it was for so many Mumbaikars.
I have met and interacted with so many characters described in the book that it was like a deja vu of sorts for me.
I would have rated it 5 stars if the bit of Afghanistan was not dealt with.
At the end of the book he even gives a glimpse of the birth of communal wars in the city, which till then were non existent. And having seen it all happen, it is so real.
Though this is an old book, it still has relevance to all those interested in delving into Mumbai's past.
A must read.

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