When Mira Went Forth And Multiplied by Shinie Antony
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A difficult book to rate for me as the book was completely different from what I had thought it would be. Judging by its cover I thought it would be a light read with some good humor, but how I was wrong. It does start on quite a few funny notes but then it takes the reader to a journey of broken marriage, acute heartbreaks, family drama etc.
The book starts with the story of Mira who has recently come to the big city Bengaluru and romanticizes of soon finding her soulmate, but this wish of hers with time starts to fade. Instead she gets stuck with a boring job, a house owner who constantly rambles about her husband and lots of loneliness. Then one day she meets Sam, who shows her the glimmer of the life she always wanted; but after spending one night with her he forgets her, and thus starts her journey of tearful nights, cursing herself over the decisions made and a terrible heartbreak. Meanwhile we get to know that Sam already has a wife back home and Mira was just a one night fling. Things then get interesting when Mira finally decides to pay Sam a visit.
In terms of story, it is quite new, with good twists thrown every once in a while. In terms of writing, Mr Antony proves his mettle with some solid one liners. The later parts of the book where characters contemplate long and hard about concepts like marriages,infidelity are bit of a drag. Overall go for it if you want to read a mature story about relationships with some good dose of humor intermittently.

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Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There was a lot that I loved in this book, the awesome characterization, insanely funny conversations, bizarre situations... but having said that there are parts/conversations which were really too weird for my taste. maybe I need to read this book once more to fully appreciate/understand it, since the story is so much layered with major happenings being touched upon in first 100 pages and then their description being given layer by layer in further pages. This technique though most of the times left me in awe but in the end I feel that i should and would go through the book at least once more.


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Midnight's Children

Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Mr Rushdie takes us through the lifes and times of the protagonist Saleem Sinai whose life is filled mostly with woes and lows throughout the book and very little to cheer for.
He uses a web of metaphors and bizarre coincidences to tell his story and I must admit that I was more in awe of his storytelling than the story he wants to tell. Maybe that is why for most of the part I couldn't invest much in the protagonist's journey but was more interested in how Mr Rushdie will pen down the journey.
But overall it is a fantastic read and I don't remember reading any other book which has enthralled me so much in terms of its literary value.



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Emperor of All Maladies

The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Emperor of All Maladies is an important book to read. It provides several insights not only on the cancer disease in general and the various treatments developed for it over the period of time, but also on medical world at large. Parts about the randomized drug trials and the many important medical discoveries were something about which I never knew about before this book.
The book also brings forth the major social impacts the cancer has had over time which are a very interesting read, especially the parts about how the cigarette smoking was proved to be linked to lung cancer and the various battles it incited between Big Tobacco and various anti tobacco campaigns.
The last part on the changes that the carcinogens bring about in the DNA structure is a bit of a tough read but is very rewarding too for someone who is interested in human physiology.
Highly recommended for anyone who is looking forward to gain some basic understanding of the dreaded emperor of all maladies, Cancer.




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The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales of Terror by Robert Louis Stevenson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A story which is really a classic in every sense. The literary devices used throughout the book are amazing and it really added a lot of new words to my vocabulary. For the most part the narration is from the POV of an outsider which keeps the proceedings interesting.
Even though I knew the basic outline and the punch of the story I was still immersed the whole of the time.
The book is full of creeps and the final Statement By Dr Jekyll really shook me up.



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1984 by George Orwell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The best thing according to me about 1984 is that it is never superficial in its dealings. The totalitarian regime is elucidated perfectly. The characters portrayed are very clear and the sense of fear is pervasive throughout the book.
Like an Issac Asimov book, entirely a new world is created and described and as true of every classic you cannot help but hang on to every word in the book.

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Liar's Poker

Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The book starts off hilariously, then starts delving into the Wall Street business. The parts where Michael Lewis shares the anecdotes from his life as the bond salesman are the best in the book.
Few paras I had to read like 2-3 times to catch the whole meaning. Like the part where author explains about how the junk bonds were created by taking over some established firms, or the parts where mortgage bonds are explained .
Overall a great book to read if you can't get enough of Wall Street phenomenon from the movies like Wall Street and Margin Call.



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India Unbound

India Unbound: The Social and Economic Revolution from Independence to the Global Information Age by Gurcharan Das

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The book covers economic history of India and the major social and political impacts that the economic policies had on the Indians. The book starts with the state of affairs of Indian society just before Independence and highlights the importance of British rule. The author, Mr. Das stresses how Britishers helped Indians set up a comptent railway network and an effective bureaucracy.
Mr. Das notes early on that India had two economic paths to take after independence - on of Gandhian self sufficient economy and other of Nehruvian model of setting up big technological industries.
India after independence went with the Nehruvian vision of mixed economy, wherein public enterprises were set up to promote important industries with help of foreign capital and technology.
Throughout the book, Mr. Das rues about the woes of this model and discusses how this model was inefficient and ineffective. He also comes down heavily on the way Indian politicians and bureaucracy stifled private industries.
He then discusses the Indian economic setup after the 1991 economic reforms and how it has changed the way an common Indian thinks. Throughout the book, Mr Das has also shares some interesting anecdotes from his professional life along with the stories of famous industrialists like GD Birla, Tatas, Dhiru Bhai Ambani, Subhash Chandra, Sam Pitroda and others.




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Crime and Punishment

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Its after a long time I got to read some terrific characters and such novel and scintillating philosophy in a book. Last time I such an effect from the novel was from The White Tiger.
For the most part, I found the book quite scintillating. The epilogue though, takes some sheen off from the book at the end.
Incidentally, I saw Crimes and Misdemeanors while I was reading this book, and both dwell on somewhat similar undercurrents in the story.



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Animal Farm

Animal Farm by George Orwell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is an amazing read. After a looong time I have read a book completely without losing my focus. I didn't find it a scathing critic on Socialism or anything like that. The last chapter is really a treat especially the concluding statement.



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AGNEEPATH(2012)

Right now just after watching this movie, there is only one word I can think of to describe this. Its "Explosive". The extremely loud bg score, the awesome performances, the large scale settings for many scenes, the many close up shots are all a treat.
Like the earlier Agneepath, this one starts with the village(Mandava) setting where a "Master" is trying hard to elevate the economic and knowledge level of the people. But, all that is ruthlessly crushed by Kancha who gets the Master set up for a serious crime and eventually kills him with support of villagers. What follows then is the revenge story.
While the structure and some of the critical scenes resemble the original Agneepath, this movie is in true way inspired. After Sarkar this is the hindi movie that can truly be said to be inspired( or remake). The many scenes which although resemble the previous Agneepath, have been taken a step further with some important additions, like the one where Vijay's sister is kidnapped(this particular sequence also happens to be the highlight of the movie for me) or the one where Vijay goes for the dinner to her mother's house.
Regarding performances, Hrithik delivers one of those performances which we refer to as "breathed fire to his role". It is completely on the different lines than what Amitabh had portrayed. Like at places when Amitabh believed in just using his eyes to tell a lot, Hrithik uses his whole face to express the same emotions. In any case at the end you do have to appreciate Hrithik for giving something meaningfully different to the role of Vijay Chauhan, instead of making a mockery of his predecessor(yeah I am referring to SRK here).
Sanjay Dutt as Kancha is again entirely a different person than Danny was. Though the right amount of "edge" is there in his role but I still felt there could have been something more to be able to call his character as Pure Evil. Priyanka just has an extended guest appearance, and at most places is just there for song and dance routines. The best character to me was of Rishi Kapoor as Rauf Lala. The old man is simply scintillating who first plays a father figure then a bitter rival to Vijay.

The movie has a long running time, and some parts are quite loose in terms of screenplay especially in the first half, but the end product is worth a watch one time if not two.