Tears of My Motherland - Book Review

 

Tears of My Motherland is an emotional read. It strikes a chord with every reader and takes them into a hitherto unknown journey. That is what makes the book unique.

 After the untimely demise of Subhash Chandra Bose, Indians living in South East Asia were in a fix. Their hero, the one who fought for the freedom of their motherland was gone. They were in a fix. They didn’t know what to do. But who can escape the daily struggles of life? When you are a migrant you are in constant search of better life. In fact, that is the very reason why you migrate from your motherland and step into unknown territories. It is against this backdrop that Tears of My Motherland  is set.  This topic has never made its way into the mainstream books and media. The author needs to be congratulated for the same.

 The author has won half of the battle by choosing such a unique concept. With characters that are easy to relate he wins the second half too. You feel for the characters, and that is the success of the author. The author keeps us glued up to the end and makes us introspect. The language is simple, yet riveting. The flow, the characterization is up to the mark.

 I loved this book. I feel every Indian, every migrant and person interested in understanding the psyche of migrant diaspora should read this book. Highly recommended!

 

The Seed

Learn film making at the cost of a pizza

Deep down everyone hankers to make a movie someday. But many of us have neither the resources nor the time to invest in a film making course. For all those people whose dream of making a film has remained unfulfilled for the aforesaid reasons, there is some good news. Shamiana has brought its film making courses to your home.

Now you can learn filmmaking sitting at your home. No fancy equipments are required and you can shoot your film on your mobile phone at your home. The fees of the course are nominal and anyone can afford it.

The course began on zoom sessions. I was apprehensive. I knew nothing about making films, leave apart making one on the mobile phone. But once the session began all my apprehensions were put to rest. The trainers were extremely friendly. They introduced us to various concepts of film making in an easy and understandable manner. We were free to ask as many questions as we wanted. Even if the question was a basic question, it was answered with utmost sincerity.

 

A screenshot of the session 

We were shown various equipments used for film making. At the same time it was no selling. We were told that the equipments were not necessary and one can make films with just a smart phone, which all of us have.

We were introduced to various video and editing apps. We were told about the importance of sound. We learnt three scenes which can save a movie. It was emphasized that though technicalities are important, the performance of the artists is important too. If you pay too much attention to technique, the performance may be compromised somewhere.

I am thoroughly satisfied with the course and I am eagerly looking forward for the next session. To book your seat click here

Hats & Hoots and Humiliation - Book Review

Hats & Hoods and Humiliation is an interesting book written by a child prodigy named Hiranya Verma. My first reaction after reading the book was impossible, a ten year old child cannot write such a book that offers a plethora of practical insights into dealing with daily problems.

Given the age of the author, the book concentrates on the issues faced by young children and even adolescents. The book offers practical advice on how to handle bullies, crushes and heart breaks.  The ten years old author is a highly matured person. She says, ‘Someone wants to ruin your day, but don’t let them. Simply laugh. But don’t bottle up your feelings either. Remember, the balance between your emotions.’ She offers relationship advice too.  She offers solutions to most of the problems. She reaffirms that your joy is not dependent on what others feel about you. At the same time she emphasizes the importance of apology and confession.

I have been living on this planet for thirty-six years, and obviously, I am senior to the author by many decades. Yet, let me candidly admit that I have learnt a lot from this child author.

The book is extremely well written. It is edited professionally and has an attractive layout. Buy this book, it will cost you less than a coffee, but enrich you by many bounds.

Alex - book review

Alex by Simon Prathap is a thriller. It sits comfortably on the shelves of thrillers as well as horror genres.

The protagonist Alex gets a series of dreams where he is asked to murder one of his family members. While his friends try to help him, a child with super natural powers creates problems for him.

What I liked about the book is its intriguing plot. What needs improvement is editing. There are numerous typos in the book. With another round of editing, the book will be a page turner for sure.

Realization during Lockdown

What an irony it is that work is always valued, but household work is not only grossly undervalued, but even looked down upon. Fortunately, I was not the one who underestimated the household work. I have lived alone for a considerable period of time and have done all the chores by myself. Yet, it is equally true that post marriage, most of the household work was taken up by my wife. While I would be watching TV, she would be frying fresh batch of pakodas for me in the kitchen. While I would be surfing the net, she would be feeding the baby. Occasionally, I would help her out. But doesn’t the word occasionally say it all.

This lockdown changed the things for good. I was at home all the time. For the first time I saw all the effort that my wife undertook for the house. No selfish motives, no salary, no promotions, yet she continued to do the dread, uninteresting work every day and night. For all those men who ask their wives, what do you do the whole day, I ask them to give their wife a day’s off and do all the work by themselves.

Secondly, the house-help had stopped coming. The gym was closed. One fine day sitting with the calories counter in my hand, I calculated the calories burnt in doing all the household chores. They were far more than those which I would burn lifting the weights or running on the treadmill. ‘I will do the laundry and cook the dinner’, I said. ‘Thanks, but I will do it myself.’ She said. But I did not stop to listen to her. I was already picking clothes from the laundry bag.

As I did those manual chores suddenly my heart was filled with joy. Yes, I was providing the family with finances. But the joy of contributing to the family with physical labour is something which cannot be described in words. At the same time, I must also admit that the initial joy soon faded out, and the work became a routine, monotonous and boring activity. My wife was doing this for all these years. My heart was filled with gratitude and tears welled up in my eyes.  I committed to myself that I would continue doing these two tasks even after the lockdown was lifted. I promised myself that I would make it a lifelong task.

P.S. I don’t have a washing machine, so I manually wash the clothes. If I win this contest, I will wash in the machine.

ShareTheLoad  #ShareTheLaundry  #ShareChoresMultiplyLove

‘I will #ShareTheLoad and help in household chores in association with Ariel India and BlogAdda‘

Editing Bootcamp - Book Review

Editing Bootcamp by Dola Basu Singh  is a book of great help for newbie authors. The book explains the various types of editing – developmental editing, line editing, copy editing and proof reading.

Though the book is titled Editing Bootcamp the book deals with various stages of creative writing. It explains the common structure formats of creative writing. The book also explains the various point of views from which a book can be written. The book also gives insights on crafting of characters and plot. Setting, conflict and dialogues also find explanation in the book.

If you are a new writer, I am sure this book is a must have for you. The book is simple and error free. Honestly speaking I was looking for errors. Afterall this is a must for a book on editing. But I couldn’t found a single error. That speaks volumes about the book.