UNCLUTTER – by Winnie D Pagora. A book review

 

"Suddenly, I felt a hand graze my thi— my upper leg. I froze, startled at the unwanted touch. As the principal droned on, Nicholas’s hand continued to stroke my leg, traveling up toward—“Hands off, you sick pervert!” I screamed, slamming my elbow into his face as hard as I could. I jumped to my feet. There was pin-drop silence in the room as everyone in the audience and onstage looked at me, shell-shocked."

This is from the opening chapter of the novel "Unclutter" by Winnie D Pagora, a new literary sensation in the town. This is her debut novel and I never heard/read anything that she scribbled before this one. You are always doubtful about new writers about whom you have no references/reviews available,

From the moment I picked this up to read, barely I could put the book down. It's so racy (literally as well as if there is a word that describes as " one that moves with the speed, races ahead"). I am a slow reader and normally a book of this size (357 pages) will take nearly 10 days for me to finish but I completed this in just 4 days or so.

Stories meant for and of young adults like Mills & Boon seldom interest me, initially one feels that this book is similar, but as you go along you find that this is not just a story about late school early University going students’ everyday activities and infatuations but it's a story of the protagonist Tina aka Tia aka Tiara who is bold, strong, studious, multi Tasker, intelligent, enterprising, sports person and has the guts to take on her rich and influential perpetrator/s who make her life miserable with the help of his anti-social friends and that of his family influences in the high places.

Tina is bright but timid due to an early life episode that curtailed her childhood activities. The story moves further and the teenager gets into some good company of friends and leaves behind some who turn bad. At that age and with such incidences early in life she is apprehensive about just about anyone and everything. However, how she overcomes those difficulties and turns into a normal life loving teenager who has a great set of loving friends and a boyfriend, which is the crux of the novel. The book also has a social message for everyone especially the teenagers (girls) as to how to guard yourself from hawks who are all around you.. in the family and in the society. In life you are surrounded by different types of people .. your immediate family is always there to protect you and to encourage you to be a fighter against some really bad elements and many others who are your genuine and helpful friends, it takes time for a teenager to identify and differentiate them but if you are courageous (others will help you only when you help yourself, so it's very important that you be brave) everything falls in place and life becomes beautiful and UNCLUTTERED.

The setting of the novel is in the West and detailed and pointed observations give you the impression that the writer has lived all her life over there, a remarkable skill. One thing that irritated me is the description of a character who is often referred at they/them. I know it's a new gender-neutral addressing system but nevertheless, wish the writer has kept the old style and not enforce this "new and bold" gender choice on the generation prior to millennials.

Congratulations Winnie, you made a great beginning in this literary world and we the readers look forward to many more gems, ahead.

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Pradeep Joshi (pradepkjoshi@gmail.com)

Delhi, India

August 23, 2023

Movie review - GHOOMER.

There have been several hindi movies with sports as main theme over the last half a century but the names that have a big recall are the ones made over the last two decades are Lagaan (2001), Chak De India (2007) and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013). These movies centred around sports and also had an appealing star cast and great music. They also made good commercial success in the competitive Bollywood Industry. Some more names come to my mind that have done reasonably well on all these accounts like Dangal, Ferrari ki sawaari, Iqbal, Mithu.. 

Cricket is the most popular game of the country along its length and breadth and this is no surprise that most films on sports are on cricket. 

Ghoomer that is just released has both the Bachchans (Abhishek and Amitabh) also seen in the cast is Shabana Azmi but in the lead role is Saiyami Kher, a relatively new face. R Balki is also a known name in Direction. What this team has given is a unique story that has never been seen before.. quite an imaginative story of the struggle of a rising star who has some wonderful work on the screen. 

I got to know of the movie when I saw Nyla Masood in the cast. She is on the screen in quite a few movies over the last decade and has made an equally impacting name for herself off the screen through wardrobe designs over the last couple of decades. This movie had a small but important role for her and needless to say she does more than justice to her role. Her role in the movie Lift Boy is unforgettable.

I didn't collect any information about the movie and had no clue what it is about.. I wanted it to be a total surprise.. the name Goomer suggested it as some kind of a dance drama.. and surprised I was.. wow!! Most Hindi movies succeed with songs and music.. this one has good background music but I don't recollect any song/s and you don't miss that.

I don't want to spoil your surprise so I advise that you see the movie in the theatre or later when it comes on any OTT platform....sooner the better.. Let me assure you that you will never be disappointed through the movie either before or after the intermission.

I wish and hope this movie, released just a day before, a great success as it has a great appeal similar to Lagaan or Chak De..

Good Luck.. GHOOMER.

Delhi/August 20, 2023

Clips: Captured from the screen for the review. 

Pic: From the film's media coverage.

Book Review - Reunion.

Never read such a touching story about the Jews in Germany of the late thirties of the last century in such a short novella, almost a long story.

Reunion is a brilliant tale centred around two school going friends one a commoner Jew and another Christian from a royal family that believed that Fuhrer is their saviour not knowing that his ambitions will destroy the world.

At one point the author quotes someone "death undermines our confidence in life by showing that in the end everything is equally futile before the final darkness".. I love this quote that is the most impacting sentence in this 92 page story that one can read in about 3 hours.

Delhi/August 16, 2023

தயிர் சாதம். Tayir sadam. Curd Rice

தயிர் சாதம். Tayir sadam. Curd Rice.

Easiest of the tasty and healthy dishes. This could be readied in 3 mins if you have cooked rice, if not another 5-6 mins. But keep aside for another 20 for best aroma.

How I made it.

Two cup cooked rice, 50 ml cold milk, 100gms curd, 1 tbsp cooking oil, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 green chilli, 2-3 red dried chilli, 1tbsp curry leaves, 1 tbsp coriander leaves, 1/2 tsp amchur powder, 1 tbsp finely chopped ginger, 1/2 tsp table salt, 1 tbsp urad daal, 1 tbsp pieces of walnut.

Picked up last night's cooked rice  from the refrigerator, added milk, curd, salt and mixed thoroughly and kept aside.

For tadka, put oil in a small pan and when it comes to medium heat add mustard seeds, urad daal, curry leaves, chopped green chillies, amchur powder, chopped ginger, dry full chilli, mix well and let it cook for about 1 1/2 minutes. Put the contents into the bowl of rice mixed with milk, curd and salt. Mix thoroughly and add chopped coriander leaves and small chunks of walnut. Cover and keep it for 15-20 mins for all the aroma to get soaked into rice.

You are now ready to serve. Add a bit of chilli - tomato chutney and eat the finger licking India's famous dish - curd rice... தயிர் சாதம்.. thair sadam.

Delhi/ August 17, 2023

Saturday leisure in the kitchen.

Saturday Mint Lounge is the most interesting newspaper of the week. I like the Food recipe column that involves history, humour and information much more than just the recipes... today's column "our daily bread" is   by Samar Halarnkar and the recipe was Chicken Pallipalayam. Since most ingredients were available in the kitchen (and the rest came from the "big basket" in 20 minutes), I decided to try it out..

This easy to cook and delicious to eat dish took about two hours. Let's look at the ingredients:

750 gms, chicken (small pieces with bone)

for the marination:

- 2 tsp ginger garlic paste, 1/4 tsp turmeric powder,1/4 tsp salt.(I also used 2 green chillies) 

other ingredients:

10 dried red chillies (you may reduce or increase depending on the pungency and your liking), 12 peeled shallots (small sambar onion), 1/4tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp mustard seeds (सरसों), 2 tsp finely sliced coconut (not the dried one) about 30 leaves of curry leaves, 2 tsp fresh coriander leaves chopped, 4 tsp sesame oil (I used olive).

cooking method:  

pound ginger slices, garlic cloves and chilli on the grinding stone(सिलबट्टा). marinate chicken with these ingredients, add 1/4tsp turmeric powder, 1/4 tsp salt. I also used a tsp of Coorg Curry Masala and keep it aside for at least 30 mins (in the fridge), I kept for an hour to get better taste.

In a heavy bottom wok, heat 4-6 tsp oil and add mustard seeds,.when they start popping add red chillies and curry leaves. After about a min add shallots and saute till they become brown, add marinated chicken some ginger garlic green chilli paste, 1/4 tsp turmeric powder, chopped coconut. Mix well, cover and cook on medium flame for about 20 minutes, if chicken starts sticking to bottom add a tbsp water. Keep stirring in between. Taste and add salt if needed. Put the flame off when the chicken has turned slightly dark brown. 

You are ready to go. Garnish with coriander leaves. Plate and serve. Eat with plain parantha or rice. Add some side dish like fried potato veg and curd.

Enjoy your meal and share as to how did it go.

सूर्यास्त

 एक और सूरज अस्त हुआ

एक और शाम आई

शाम हुई फिर रात हुई

फिर सुबह, फिर दिन गुजरा

बस जिंदगी यूं ही गुजरती रही

अक्सर सूरज को डूबते देख

लोग तन्हा हो जाते हैं

पर मुझे यूं महसूस होता है

मानो या जानो कुछ पा लिया हो

कुछ अधूरा सा 

कुछ पूरा सा

एक अहसास।

आज फिर एक सूरज डूबा।

मार्च ०९,२०२३

Ghachar Ghochar - a book review.

When the pandemic hit upon us and the physical world came to a standstill, it was important to engage oneself creatively and to stay away from the negativity prevailing around. Amongst many other activities I  started listening to podcasts quite regularly to keep me updated on world affairs on a variety of subjects.. business, organisational psychology, stories and experiences of leaders in their respective fields of interest... entrepreneurs, CEOs, academics, authors, coaches and many others. Amongst many interesting podcasts I found "After Hours" produced by TED audio collective and hosted by Harward Professors quite informative, educative and engaging. Mihir Desai is a professor of Finance at Harvard Business and Harvard Law schools and is a co-host of After Hours. At the end of 40-45 mins podcasts hosts usually give recommendations on various subjects.. food, books, TV shows, cinemas etc. In a recent podcast Prof Mihir Desai recommended the book Ghachar Ghochar and that's what prompted me to read the same.

Vivek Shanbhag is a story teller who writes in Kannada and it is the English translation by Srinath Perur that made it possible to read this 115 page novella. 

It's a family drama that could have been set anywhere, not exactly from rags to riches but somewhere in between. It has all the elements that keep you engaged ...head of the family who is an honest salesman just making ends meet, a housewife, a boy and a girl, a younger brother who takes up the responsibility of the household and runs a business that is not exactly run in an honest manner. The easy money for the family makes  them change their spending and working habits and arrogance and lethargy sets in every member. A broken marriage due to the arrogance behaviour of the girl and a simple but confused man married to an idealistic woman who doesn't know how to keep a balance in the family and finds solace in a coffee house.

It's a racy, engaging, moralistic and "to the point" short novel that leaves many things to your imagination in the end. I wonder if it would hold the reader's interest had there been more details and the pages had doubled. Simple language and I suppose great translation. This is one of the few books that I finished reading within a day or two of acquiring.

Recommended for a light weekend reading, those who read with good speed could finish it just in 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

Delhi/ Sunday March 19, 2023