Book Review – 1971: Charge of the Gorkhas and Other Stories

Book Title: 1971: Charge of the Gorkhas and Other Stories

Author: Rachna Bisht Rawat

Publisher: Penguin Veer

Format: Paperback

Pages: 200

Blurb:

On the fiftieth anniversary of the 1971 Indo-Pak war, revisit its battlefields through stories of bravehearts from the army, navy and air force who fought for a cause that meant more to them than their own lives

Why do the Gorkha soldiers of 4/5 GR attack a heavily defended enemy post with just naked khukris in their hands?

Does Pakistan find out the real identity of the young pilot who, after having ejected from a burning plane, calls himself Flt Lt Mansoor Ali Khan?

What awaits the naval diver who cuts made-in-India labels off his clothes and crosses into East Pakistan with a machine gun slung across his back?

Why is a twenty-one-year-old Sikh paratrooper being taught to jump off a stool in a deserted hangar at Dum Dum airport with a Packet aircraft waiting nearby?

1971 is a deeply researched collection of true stories of extraordinary human grit and courage that shows you a side to war that few military histories do.

Rating: 5/5

Review: Books written on wars don’t qualify for a review. They hum tales of the forces fighting for the nation. I have read a couple of books on the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. Every time, I read about the war where soldiers lost their lives and I felt we don’t recognize their sacrifices enough as a nation. The author has written about 10 books on the Indian Defence Forces. Every book spoke volumes about the unsung heroes of the country.

Soldiers don’t die on battlefields, soldiers die when an ungrateful Nation forgets their sacrifice!!

There were many soldiers who never returned back from the war front. The author interviewed their comrades and their families. I am not sure how gut-wrenching it was to describe the war after four decades. But I am sure that it brought tears to the eyes for the loss of loved ones. I cannot forget the way, the author described the story of Flight Lieutenant Vijay Vasant Tambay. A beautiful rendition where an officer’s wife described her day at home romantically.

Her response to his ‘Aaj tumne ghar mein kya kiya?’ has always been ‘Intezaar!’

I agree with the author that – ‘Remembrance is all that we can offer them in return for what they did.’

Even after four decades, the war memories haunt many soldiers who survived. We must honor the sacrifices of our soldiers yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

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Book Review: Sach Kahun Toh: An Autobiography

Book Title: Sach Kahun Toh: An Autobiography

Author: Neena Gupta

Publisher: Penguin eBury Press

Format: Kindle

Pages: 296

Blurb: In Sach Kahun Toh, actor Neena Gupta chronicles her extraordinary personal and professional journey-from her childhood days in Delhi’s Karol Bagh, through her time at the National School of Drama, to moving to Bombay in the 1980s and dealing with the struggles to find work. It details the big milestones in her life, her unconventional pregnancy and single parenthood, and a successful second innings in Bollywood. A candid, self-deprecating portrait of the person behind the persona, it talks about her life’s many choices, battling stereotypes, then and now, and how she may not be as unconventional as people think her to be.

My Rating: 4.5/5

Review: I must admit that reading this autobiography has been on my TBR. I failed to procure a first-hand copy of this book. When Bahrisons Booksellers released an Instagram post showcasing autographed copy of this book, I was excited. But, I was late to the party and missed procuring an author-signed copy of this book. I finished reading this book yesterday night. I have been a fan of Neena Gupta, right from the movie Badhaai Ho. I have loved her in the Amazon series – Panchayat, along the side of Raghubir Yadav and Jitendra Kumar (aka Jeetu). Coming back to this book, it is one of the honest ways an actor could have communicated their life story to the world.

At the beginning of the book, the author narrated stories from her childhood. She mentioned in the middle of one chapter – “I know there’s a part of you that only picked up this book to read about my relationships and the controversies that have been part of my media image for decades now.” She has defined her roots in the book ranging from her early marriage to her family details. The book seems an actual narration from the actress, and she had her struggles everywhere. I remember she was a face in the television industry, but I had no idea she was a hottie in the film industry back those days. It was phenomenal how Neena Ji has described her friends in the industry who helped her during pregnancy. If you aren’t her fan to date, you will be a fan after reading this book. Throughout the whole book, she has not bad-mouthed anyone ranging from the press, editors, co-workers, or even family. She has been generous to everyone in her autobiography. The most heartbreaking part of the book was where Masaba’s birth certificate was out in the press. Everyone must be treated as a human being first, irrespective of their profession. Do you think the press had any right to publish Masaba’s birth certificate? So, what if she is the daughter of Vivian Richards? The book is the answer to many questions people had about Neena Gupta. No one’s family is perfect and it takes a lot of courage to come out in public about it. Yes, Neena Gupta is a phenomenal actress and she is breaking all stereotypes at this age.

Some people are lucky that they find what they want to do at a
young age. But I sincerely feel that no matter how old you are, or how old you think you are, it is never too late to start.

Neena Gupta

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Book Review – Mirror Mirror

Book title: Mirror, Mirror

Author: Andaleeb Wajid

Publisher: Duckbill

Format: Kindle

ASIN: B093FZ43GQ

Blurb: Ugly cow. Miss Piggy.

Five years earlier, a friend’s nasty comment makes Ananya start hating her body. She decides to change into a new person-one who effortlessly fits into all kinds of clothes, who shuns food unless it’s salad, and who can never be called ‘Miss Piggy’-and to cut everything from her ‘old’ life, including her best friend, Raghu, for being the witness to her humiliation.

Ananya is on her way to becoming the Ananya of her dreams, but she’s still a work in progress.

One day, her parents announce that they’re expecting a baby (at their age!). To make matters worse, Raghu reappears in her life …

Andaleeb Wajid’s latest novel for young adults is a touching and funny story about a young girl’s journey to acceptance and self-love.

My rating: 4/5

Review: The story is about a teenage girl, Ananya, who discovers that her mother is pregnant. At the age of 17, she is embarrassed by the act of her parents. She tries hard to talk it out to her best friend and remains angry about this news. Her best friend, Nisha, cannot contain the excitement of a newborn baby. The backdrop is pretty great, in sync with the life of teenagers today. They have access to phones and are active on social media, whereas the 90’s kids had the bare minimum. I loved the plot as it spoke about the self-affirmation of a teenager. Aunty V and Raghu had their roles to play in shaping the story. In the beginning, I thought the story is about violence. Later in the plot, Esha’s hurtful words clarified the situation. It is one of the feelings that each one would have had during school or even college days. Sometimes we don’t realize that our hurtful words affect our friends, battling the same war as we are. I was astonished that Ananya’s parents were fine that she ate salad for the rest of her life. Omg! I wish every teenager has understanding parents to help them out of body shaming or any bullying for that matter.

The author has discussed the problems faced by teenagers quite remarkably. Since today we are concerned about social media image, we should take care of the generation we are raising. There is no suspense in the book, so it is fine to say that I am not revealing any plot here. I would like to recommend this book, since it is a short read and it discusses topics such as fat shaming, eating disorder, mental health issues, anxiety issues etc.

I would like to thank Penguin India for the review copy 🙂

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Book Review – Queen of Fire

Book Title: Queen of Fire

Author: Devika Rangachari

Publisher: Duckbill

Format: Kindle

ISBN13: 9780143453222

Blurb: Lakshmibai, the widowed queen of Jhansi, is determined to protect her son’s right to his father’s throne and safeguard the welfare of her kingdom. Faced with machinations to take over Jhansi, at a time when all of India is rising up against the British, she has to prove her valour and sagacity time and again. But will this be enough to save all that she values?

In this gripping novel, award-winning historical novelist Devika Rangachari brings to vivid life the interior life of this nineteenth-century queen, thrust into a position she does not desire but must assume, and of her son, who is cowed by the challenges he has to face but determined to live up to his mother’s courage

My Rating: 4.5/5

Review: Queen of Fire is a book dedicated to Rani Lakshmibai. We have read stories about her valor during our school days. She was the epitome of bravery in ancient India, who fought the odds to save her home – Jhansi. This book is quite different from what you might have seen or read. It is a quaint depiction of her character, her kingdom, and her love to gain Jhansi back from the shackles of British rule in India.

The book has been narrated in simple language, avoiding storyboarding acting as a plus point while writing historical events. The story breaks a lot of stereotypes dating back then. If she lived in today’s world, she would be called a feminist. She wasn’t afraid of picking up weapons or training her army for war preparedness. English women judged Rani Lakshmibai for dressing like men.

Look how she rides – just like a man

What was the harm in wearing pants and riding on a horse with armor in hand? Her sword spoke for her, as the soldiers in the British army were frightened by war skills.

Those who belittle women are fooling themselves. History can bear witness to that.

The story describes her adopted son, Prince Damodar, who was nourished and loved by everyone. The chemistry between Rani Lakshmibai and her adopted son describes motherhood. Prince Damodar was adopted to be the next heir of Jhansi, however, the British government played their evil cards. Prince Damodar lived at the mercy of pity pension. As every mother would do to protect their child’s future, Rani of Jhansi did the same till her last breath. It is one of the most inspiring stories written about Rani Lakshmibai.

Rani Lakshmibai continued to inspire her son during wartime.

We cannot live in fear, it will kill us before we die

Rani Lakshmibai

I would like to thank Penguin India for providing me the review copy 🙂

It is great to have writers inspired by historical women characters.

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Book Review – Satyajit Ray in 100 Anecdotes

Book Title: Satyajit Ray in 100 Anecdotes

Author: Arthy Muthanna Singh, Mamta Nainy

Publisher : Puffin (19 April 2021)

Blurb:

A collector’s edition to celebrate the 100th birth anniversary of Satyajit Ray on 2 May 2021
The book is an easy introduction to the genius of Satyajit Ray with short anecdotes presented in a wonderful package
The book has gorgeous line arts that complement the text to create an engaging book that readers will enjoy reading

Tracing his magnificent life with 100 little-known and inspiring incidents as well as unusual trivia, this collectible edition pays homage to the maestro on his 100th birth anniversary.

A master filmmaker, a remarkable auteur, a writer par excellence and an artist of immense reach and range, Satyajit Ray was an indefinable genius. This book is a classic tribute that celebrates his many accomplishments across literature, music, art and more

My Rating: 4.5/5

Review: Satyajit Ray – An artist, unforgotten to date. A man who has given a different perspective to the cinema. He was born in the land of artists – Kolkata. He has been an inspiration to budding filmmakers across the globe. Satyajit Ray in 100 Anecdotes – is a tribute to a legend born in India.

A book that brings out Satyajit of various age groups to life. Satyajit was fondly known as Manik, similar to every Bengali household, he also had a pet name. His classmates never called him Satyajit, it was used only by his teachers. The book draws details of the child who was born an artist. He was good at everything, he was great at drawing.

The details from his life have been drawn out perfectly, describing moments such as purchasing an autograph book and yearning to get it signed by Rabindranath Tagore first. The event has been described beautifully, where Ray got his notebook back with a Bengali poem written along with the autograph. There are various movies mentioned dating back to the golden era of cinema. A lot of them, young readers wouldn’t be able to recognize. I wasn’t able to recognize them myself (definitely worth Google search though).

People learning fine arts would relate to the fact where Manik’s journey in Santiniketan has been mentioned. Many people wish to turn into commercial artists, but Indians have been hesitant enough to pursue their passion as their career. The Chinese watercolors, miniature paintings, Indian sculptures – it transported me to my childhood days when I was getting my Fine Arts classes. The book describes the artistic influences Satyajit Ray had during his days at Kala Bhavan.

Santiniketan played a role in shaping him further as an artist and for most, his mother was the reason who drew his passion to the doors of an institution perfect in itself. His love for Western music concerts was crazy, he mentioned in letters to his mother. “He asked her to send the newspaper clippings of Western music concert reviews. His journey from a graphic artist to a filmmaker is a historical event.

I do recommend everyone to read about his journey in this book. The authors have done a terrific job, listed 100 anecdotes about the Legend. I am sure there is a lot written about him and found in the National Library, Kolkata, and Film Societies across the world.

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Book Review: Vijyant at Kargil

How many of us remember reading about war or military history of India? There, may be a handful who have shown interest in reading about the military history away from sci-fi novels. I have been reading about military history for quite some time now. But, I would still love to be tagged as an amateur when it comes to quoting statistics from wars and several military operation happens across India. I have never been fond of reading on a Kindle, yet thanks to the current lockdown situation and trapped in house with limited supply of hard cover books on shelves. I couldn’t miss a book for somehow I remembered reading about this one from the Instagram (IG) post of the co-author Mrs. Neha Dwivedi Chibber. I have following the siblings religious after reading her sister Diksha Dwivedi’s ‘Letters to Kargil’. That book happened to be my first ever non-fictional read and also the first book for which I ever wrote a review. It took me days to figure out the feeling and sense of loss that the families under went after the war. How the war left a lot of families broke and all they had were those letters. When Neha Ma’am announced her book on her IG handle, I was super excited and kept a tab on the book’s release. When the book became officially available on the Kindle, I downloaded the book and finished reading in straight two days. However, it has been really difficult to write a review for the same.

‘Please come and see where the Indian Army fought for your tomorrow.’

Captain Vijyant Thapar

The book has been written beautifully by Colonel Virender Nath Thapar and Neha Dwivedi. A book about a child, who went on becoming an inspiration for hundreds of officers inducted in the Indian Armed Forces. The story starts with the nuptial knot of young Army officer Virender and his beautiful, modest wife Mrs. Tripta Thapar, where their life began from amidst multiple posting packing bags every now and then. Vijyant (Robin) was the first born to the parents who traveled across military stations and slept under the same sky where jets roared in the sky. Virender Sir proudly named his first born after the battle tank Vijayanta (known as Vijyant), when one evening he was enjoying his tea at Pathankot. The tank transporters where unloading the battle tank Vijayanta, the first indigenous tank of the Indian Army. Vijyant was rightly named in all the sense, his spirit was high and since his childhood days he lived with his parents and was brought up in the plush cantonment area, where men in uniform marched every where. He also belonged to the family where generations had served in the Force. His determination to join the Forces was a dream which he bestowed upon idolized his father returning from work every day in the uniform. Robin was an extra-ordinary child who used military lingo, while playing games with his cousins even at a very tender age.

‘A soldier has to eat whatever he gets in the battlefield to stay alive.’

“The uniforms, the mannerisms, the discipline and the lifestyle drew people to join, and it helped that army officers were held in high esteem by everyone.”

Flip the pages of this book, where you would experience the laughter of a family, units marching in and out, bags being packed every year, new friends in every walk of life, aroma of homely food, and dreams of a boy called ‘Robin’.

There has been never a dull moment in the book. There’s a zeal in every defeat and an added flavor to every victory in the walk of life. How Robin and Birdie walked from every stage of their life, facing defeats gracefully and kissing challenges. I have never been to Indian Military Academy, I have just seen it in the movie “Lakshya”, but when Robin marched in as an Officer.. I did nothing but smile. Not many of us know about war hero and military history and this book is why you should know.

I have been delaying the chapter 18: Knoll. As I knew, we will lose a smiling Robin, an enthusiastic Robin, a Robin uttering “Shera Shera” in difficult moments…. A war would be won, at the cost of many lives.

A uniformed man cannot afford to let the pressures and demands of his job get to him. The consequences can be disastrous.

I am nobody who would have known what it feels like to lose a loved one to war, fighting on front lines while I enjoy my lockdown days at home. But, Colonel Thapar I would like to salute you for this one. I choked at this one.

“On the day Robin was born, Virender had welcomed him with a sharp salute. Little did he know then that he was destined to see him off in the same way. Thus, a proud father in full uniform and a chest full of medals gave him a crisp but heavy salute for the second and last time.”

Neha Dwivedi

I think every one should be reading this one for not just soldiers protecting us from dawn to dusk. Even civilians should read and understand the charismatic figure of Captain Vijyant Thapar, how he lost his future and our today. A proud couple lost their shining child whose smile never faded away in tough times. I can’t imagine the pain which Thapar family underwent during the writing of this book, living the days again. But, certainly I am overwhelmed reading the book about the HERO.

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"The uniforms, the mannerisms, the discipline and the lifestyle drew people to join, and it helped that army officers were held in high esteem by everyone." Flip the pages of this book, where you would experience the laughter of a family, units marching in and out, bags being packed every year, new friends in every walk of life, aroma of homely food, and dreams of a boy called 'Robin'. As a morning ritual of a reader, I did start this one without thinking if I had the heart to take it or my right to review it. No, certainly no. I have read many more in my lifetime, never did I encounter a father writing the book as a tribute to his son, a National Hero. There has been never a dull moment in the book. There's a zeal in every defeat and an added flavour to every victory in the walk of life. How Robin and Birdie walked from every stage of their life, facing defeats gracefully and kissing challenges. I have never been to IMA, I have just seen it in the movie "Lakshya", but when Robin marched in as an Officer.. I did nothing but smile. Not many of us know about war hero and military history and this book is why you should know… ‘Please come and see where the Indian Army fought for your tomorrow.’ I have been delaying the chapter 18: Knoll. As I knew, we will lose a smiling Robin, an enthusiastic Robin, a Robin uttering "Shera Shera" in difficult moments…. A war would be won, at the cost of many lives. . . . I am nobody who would have known what it feels like to lose a loved one to war, fighting on front lines while I enjoy my lockdown days at home. But, Colonel Thapar I would like to salute you for this one. I choked at this one. . . . "On the day Robin was born, Virender had welcomed him with a sharp salute. Little did he know then that he was destined to see him off in the same way. Thus, a proud father in full uniform and a chest full of medals gave him a crisp but heavy salute for the second and last time." #captainvijyantthapar #kargilwarhero #posthumous #colonelthapar #nehadwivedi #penguinpublishers #indianarmy #recommendedreading

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