The Long Walk Home

Great

2012-05-28T18:52:23.632+08:00

Great

Communal violence has surfaced on multiple occasio...

2012-05-27T01:33:01.285+08:00

Communal violence has surfaced on multiple occasions in the history of India. I'm sure every one of those incidents could have been controlled if the government concerned had acted appropriately and effectively. In fact, the Congress party has been in power while multiple incidences of communal violence have occurred. Neither the BJP nor the Congress have a clean record in this regard.

The question, as rightly pointed out, is what do we want for India? Do we want a government that has proven itself to be unabashedly ineffective, brazenly corrupt and even discretely communal? A government led by an economist who is too shy to speak to his own People?

The BJP, on the other hand, in its term as the ruling party brought in the one change that all of the preceding Nehru-Gandhi governments had fought so hard to avoid. During that one NDA term, for the first time in Indian electoral politics did development, growth and accountability feature above religion, caste and freebies. And that, I believe, counts for a lot.

This is a very lovely, moving and beautifully writ...

2012-05-24T15:29:52.976+08:00

This is a very lovely, moving and beautifully written book that traces the lives of several residents, if one can call them that, of an illegal slum on the outskirts of the airport in Mumbai. It follows several different families through their ups and downs (where up is not very nice, and down is death by rat poison) in the slum. The main characters live through a subsistence living focused on collecting or stealing garbage to recycle, or taking advantage of other poorer people, and how their lives are captured, twisted, and impacted by the utter poverty and corruption.
It is both heartwarming and sad; uplifting and tragic. It is one of those books that will move you and you will find hard to put down.

Thanks Purba! For my older 2 books you'd be be...

2012-05-22T18:39:26.527+08:00

Thanks Purba! For my older 2 books you'd be best ordering online, say Flipkart etc. Cheers!

Dear Manreet, I wish only to extend my heartfelt g...

2012-05-20T22:04:21.494+08:00

Dear Manreet,
I wish only to extend my heartfelt gratitude to you for indirectly promoting the cause of the language and encouraging healthy and well meaning debate,which can only help by deepening or crystallising one's own understanding of the oft complex and even dynamic,poetic and literary constructs.
Otherwise,one hardly ever encounters any meaningful dialogue 'on' or 'in' the Punjabi language at these more ambivalent and trans-regional platforms.
With warm regards - Sukhdeep Gill.

Agam's quite right there.In fact,i'll go a...

2012-05-20T21:40:12.252+08:00

Agam's quite right there.In fact,i'll go a step further and say that one needn't even be from the rural heartland, or even physically associated for that matter - to connect to the true blue Punjabi values,the cultural and traditional sensibilities and moorings.Speaking for myself as one,i am sanguine that just by the act of reading the language and the literature of the land,as a school discipline,has enabled me to seamlessly connect and appreciate Punjab and Punjabiyat,in all its myriad and nuanced forms and colours...and of course have grown up on Shiv Kumar Batalvi's prose,and have come to love and cherish it across the times,ages and spaces !

The next time I am at a bookshoop, I"ll be lo...

2012-05-17T20:46:06.510+08:00

The next time I am at a bookshoop, I"ll be looking for your books.

this will be an interesting read...will get to kno...

2012-05-16T13:16:37.787+08:00

this will be an interesting read...will get to know how terrorism spreads from and within pakistan in relation to afghanistan...thanks for the review ma'm...

rahul

Thank you! If you're interested in the region ...

2012-05-14T09:30:26.978+08:00

Thank you! If you're interested in the region and its geopolitics, I'd suggest you start with Rashid's first book on the subject.

Cheers!

Sure, look forward!

2012-05-10T14:16:10.889+08:00

Sure, look forward!

i vl try my best to come Thank You http://drivingw...

2012-05-10T12:55:24.709+08:00

i vl try my best to come
Thank You
http://drivingwithpen.blogspot.in/

Thanks Bhavana! And yes, tweet in and let's ch...

2012-05-10T12:45:44.244+08:00

Thanks Bhavana! And yes, tweet in and let's chat :)

May just peep in if I have some time btw work!!! G...

2012-05-10T10:56:05.593+08:00

May just peep in if I have some time btw work!!! Good wishes on ur book!

Balanced review - would like to read it!

2012-05-09T20:24:16.893+08:00

Balanced review - would like to read it!

wooow...thanks for sharing this ma'm...brought...

2012-05-07T22:35:28.512+08:00

wooow...thanks for sharing this ma'm...brought back the memories when i read a blog about shiv kumar batalvi on my brother's blog few years ago!!!

here's a link to the post:
http://raghav505.blogspot.in/2008/06/shiv-kumar-batalvi.html

Thanks! Totally relevant - wish she had done more ...

2012-05-07T17:05:06.853+08:00

Thanks! Totally relevant - wish she had done more with the story, sigh!

Thanks! I think the fact that Shriver has worked a...

2012-05-07T17:04:34.139+08:00

Thanks! I think the fact that Shriver has worked as a reporter has contributed to some of the disdain in which she holds the jounos :)

Thanks Akanksha! And so it is :)

2012-05-07T17:03:17.909+08:00

Thanks Akanksha! And so it is :)

I love this review! It is fantastic. I especially ...

2012-05-07T16:21:40.976+08:00

I love this review! It is fantastic. I especially like the last bit when you compare a writer to a pugilist!

What an awesome review! I like the fact that this ...

2012-05-03T14:14:48.896+08:00

What an awesome review! I like the fact that this has a relevant issue and talks of the relation between terrorism and media. Even during the post 9/11 American attacks on Afghanistan,media was a major medium through which the American govt created this sort of paranoia about terrorism as if all the Afghani people and Muslims in general were terrorists. And why just today, media has always been used to propagate its ideology. Even during the Vietnamese War or even the whole paranoia over Communism. James Bond's books also reflect the sentiments of that time!

You have nearly recreated the barren blustery Barb...

2012-05-03T10:29:04.889+08:00

You have nearly recreated the barren blustery Barba where several dramas are in progress, human and inhuman. The review seems to have captured the essence of the work so well, it is as if I've half read the novel already. I gather the sombre theme of Shriver's much-rejected novel is in dissonance with the satirical tone. Or maybe, the phony intellectualism of the journalists is a parallel theme that the author seems to dwell upon for some reasons. I also hate it when conversations assume Bernard Shaweque tones.

Wahhabism is an 18th century movement..

2012-05-02T08:57:20.638+08:00

Wahhabism is an 18th century movement..

Really good blog;). Keep it up:)

2012-05-01T13:30:02.751+08:00

Really good blog;). Keep it up:)

may be they just wanted to be different from the e...

2012-04-29T13:12:26.128+08:00

may be they just wanted to be different from the entire world...so they gave up on democracy :P

I enjoy reading your comments - they are always co...

2012-04-25T09:50:27.785+08:00

I enjoy reading your comments - they are always considered and well-written! I guess the Bard got us all young :)

Thanks for the reference to your professor; I guess I am not doing too badly :)

The Macbeth piece is beautiful.

Cheers!