Read the complete short story at
Sunday, 16 August 2020
Friday, 14 August 2020
Sunday, 5 July 2020
The woman in a white Kimono
The Woman in the white kimono
It started as “reading a bit before bed time” on Friday. Then, I spent two sleepless nights finishing this book. The breath-taking prose is lyrical and melts your heart. A magnificent story, which runs on two parallel tracks, about two women, who live in different continents, but their past strangely connected through one man. One is a daughter in awe of her father, the other a besotted lover, who was forced to give up her love. It is a spectacular tale of a young Japanese woman falling in love with an American soldier, and ostracized for fraternizing with the enemy. 1950s is the time when the second world war had ended and Japan was tending to the severe wounds caused by the devastation of the war. America still continued its presence in Japan and the presence of US sailors are not an uncommon sight in that era.
But the relations between the two countries are tense and inter-racial relationships are not something which either of the countries approved. Such couples, who fell in love, were ostracized and were subject to severe criticism They were caught in a situation not very different from the idiom “The devil and the deep sea”.
The story of seventeen-year-old Japanese maiden, Naoko Nakamura, is no different when she falls for an American soldier, Jimmy Kovac, whom she fondly nicknames Hajime. She succeeds in earning the wrath of her family, her father especially, whose hatred is deep-rooted towards the Americans. She gets pregnant, runs away from home and get marries to her Hajime. The sailor, still in early years in his job, is sent away to distant waters. Her family, then sends her to a maternity home, hidden deep behind the tall bamboo fences, which promises to clean up the unwanted weeds in the wombs of young women, who are considered a social taboo in the society.
Naoko is determined to get her child into this world, and raise her as one of her own kin. Can an innocent child and a helpless mother survive in the ruthless Imperial society which looks down upon their very existence with disdain?
Tori Kovac, in present-day United States has lost her father to cancer. Before dying, her father trusts an unopened envelope to his daughter revealing the truth that he was once married before to the love of his life, when he was very young, and has had a daughter from that marriage.
Tori, being a journalist by profession, then travels to Japan to uncover the truth of her father’s past and find out what happened to Naoko and her daughter, who also happens to be her own half-sister. What she discovers is nothing short of horrifying and devastating.
The book makes you cry, not once but many times. I cried for the circumstances under which Naoko gets married, and the painful ordeal she goes through in the brutal maternity home. I cried when Tori uncovers the ugly scam, the arrangements made by the Imperial Japanese elite to get rid of their “tainted” family extensions.
I am not sure if I can ask you to read this book and weep like me, but if you do read it by any chance, I can tell you what we can discuss. We can talk at length about how Naoko is similar to Sayuri (The memoirs of Geisha) and the difficulties they both had to endure alone in their own ways. We can discuss the Japanese customs in detail, right from the proper way of handing over tea to one another, to the salutations before and after the meal. We can talk extensively about the Japanese folk lore, the traditions, the wedding customs the funeral rituals, their Gods, their demons. We can talk about country side Japan, the tall cherry trees and about Tokyo , the most populated metropolis city of the world. We can talk about how words can be so hauntingly beautiful, how they can pierce your heart and one can weep bitterly, but at the same time long for them more to fill your heart with more agony.
I made my choice; I did not rest till I finished the book. It’s over to you now!
Thursday, 2 July 2020
Friday, 26 June 2020
Tuesday, 9 June 2020
goodreads updates
Anantha's books
Spring’s calling is an urban fantasy novel which revolves around a cop, Ezri Trenton, who has magical capabilities. Unfortunately, she struggles alone to train herself to a control these magical powers and hurts herself in the process of...
Hansel and Gretel: Down the rabbit hole is a collection of seven short stories based on the actual fairy tale deftly written by different authors. Each author unleashes their imagination a different way and it was interesting to see thos...
This is one of the books where one celebrates the author more than the book itself. The book is about a princess on wheel chair, Misty miles who is locked in her room and has limited exposure to the world. Her parents love her but fear a...
Be Brave with me is a romance story set in a small town of Green springs. Meg has had a tragic incident and is on a road trip to let go of the demons of her past. Drew lives in Green springs for a living, he has lost a leg in an accident...
This young adult dystopian novel is a fast paced read, second in the lovelock series and is heavily action based. 16 year old Jema along with her friends is faced with an almost impossible task to save the world, against a deadly virus. ...
Sunday, 31 May 2020
Monday, 25 May 2020
Trishna
Past two days have been absolute bliss binge watching Trishna, a Hindi serial, which was aired on Doordarshan in the 1980s. It is an authentic Hindi remake of the much-cherished classic, Pride and Prejudice. It has been uploaded on YouTube by Prasar Bharati Archives in April, thanks to the re-broadcasting spree by Doordarshan of late.
I used to miss watching Trishna in school days because it used to air during the time I used to be in school. I had been searching for these videos for more than 20 years now, until someone from a book club tipped us off with the YouTube upload.
The story follows a life of the bright, chirpy and high spirited Rekha Anand (Elizabeth Bennett), second daughter of a middle-class family in Bombay (now Mumbai) and a rich business man, Rahul Mehta (Oh, Mr. Darcy) from Ahmedabad. One is proud of himself, and the other is prejudiced against him. We all know the rest of the story. I am not going to narrate the plot of Pride and Prejudice here 😊
Considering it is a 35-year-old serial, one can understand that it has few major glitches. The chemistry is not so great between the main leads. The acting of most of the actors and settings are quite mediocre. But the storyline itself is so refreshing. The native “Indian” ness adds much charm to it. We all can recollect those loose Kurtis and salwars we used to wear in our schools and colleges. The dances and balls in the book are replaced by parties and picnics. The story brings back memories of those days when we all used to huddle up in a neighbor’s house to watch a movie or play some games. The long walks our dads and uncles used to take to avoid paying the taxi fares, the urge from few of them to arrive on time and the chaos they create in the family to be punctual brings back some good old memories and a big smile on your face. There are two characters who specially deserve special mention for their acting skills. Lakshmi Anand (Mrs Bennett) has played her role to such perfection in the Indian context. Most of us can relate to the fussiness of our own moms when we watch her. Another character is Raj Mohan (Mr. Collins). He is a natural and his acting is brilliant. He has portrayed the imperfections of Mr. Collins so perfectly, all of us can relate to one distant relative of ours who makes such a fuss. These two characters are given enough screen time to show case their skills. Rekha Anand is casted very well, according to me, the perfect Elizabeth Bennett. Sangeeta Handa as Rekha Anand, is dusky, has a very ordinary face but such beautiful eyes. She does not dress up well, wears those loose kurtas and most of the times, does not comb her beautiful hair. She has an unkempt bun tied on her head, and has no make up or any other adornments most of the times. But when she looks and talks with such beautiful eyes, even we fall for her, leave alone Mr. Darcy!!
It might sound preposterous, but I could never come to terms with Aishwarya Rai or Keira Knightley or even Jennifer Ehle (who was so perfect) as Elizabeth Bennett. They all are too pretty to play the role of the charming Elizabeth. But for once, I liked this casting of Rekha Anand. She is just perfect! I cannot say the same for Rahul Mehta though. Whoever plays Mr. Darcy has to be charming. Tarun Dhanrajgir is indeed good looking, but leaves a lot to be worked upon on his acting skills. He just doesn’t seem to connect with his counterpart, though he does due credit to his role in the last episode.
These episodes were shot 35 years back and the print which is uploaded on YouTube is not very clear. The acting of most of the characters is quite mediocre except a few of them, who have done a brilliant job. The script writers have to be lauded to stick to the authenticity of the plot. Each and every dialogue is in line with book. Contrast to the boisterous and loud Aishwarya Rai starrer Bride and Prejudice, which had such glamour around it, this simple yet refreshing 13-episode serial is bound to steal your heart.
I was waiting for this serial with great expectations, and it did not let me down.
If you are an obsessive fan of Pride and Prejudice as I am, do not miss Trishna despite its glaring flaws. Go get transported to your childhood memories with this precious port-key.
Thursday, 21 May 2020
Wednesday, 20 May 2020
The Pianist
Last weekend, I watched, in my opinion, one of the finest movies ever made and was thinking had I watched it before, I would have put it the first and foremost in the challenge which I took to list my favorite movies.
The Pianist is a biographical war drama film of a Polish-Jewish Pianist, Wladyslaw Szpilman, starring Adrein Brody. It is about Szpilman’s extraordinary survival during the Holocaust.
The film covers the one-man survival through the Nazi invasion of Poland and the perils he has to face just to stay alive losing everything he held dear to his life including his family, his love, his occupation, status, and his passion, the Piano. It brings forward the miseries faced by one race in the hands of another, treated like worms, tortured to death. To this day one fails to understand what made one race morbid with such arrogant power to try to abolish and exterminate another from the planet. This film is the moving tale of one of the darkest times in the world history as seen through the eyes of one Jew.
The film covers the one-man survival through the Nazi invasion of Poland and the perils he has to face just to stay alive losing everything he held dear to his life including his family, his love, his occupation, status, and his passion, the Piano. It brings forward the miseries faced by one race in the hands of another, treated like worms, tortured to death. To this day one fails to understand what made one race morbid with such arrogant power to try to abolish and exterminate another from the planet. This film is the moving tale of one of the darkest times in the world history as seen through the eyes of one Jew.
Watch it, be prepared to shed a few tears, in the least it will tug at your heartstrings ! A brilliant movie, The Pianist !
Check out my review in the imdb critics section at
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0253474/externalreviews….
The full review could be read at
https://theworldofmovies.com/the-pianist-movie-review/
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0253474/externalreviews….
The full review could be read at
https://theworldofmovies.com/the-pianist-movie-review/
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