Literary Thoughts of a Dragon Fly

Singing a song for jim beam Here is to the more spirit I have in my life and in my almost empty glass, However impossible it seems, drinks are going to leave me and I am going to leave them, I am going to say good bye to my best friends to be with you, The shot glasses say one last time, And the tequila say dance with me, Its all the flavor , says Malibu rum, I will drown you in tranquility says the good ole Gin, Give my tonic, my heart says. You can always a sneak a bottle and still be a saint, One a sip is good for soul, says brandy my old friend. Remember the old days, the curtains pulled down And the glasses brought up, Lovers were just memories, The glasses were full, and you were drowned in tears, Now you have pulled the curtains apart, And you say , you are out of your fears, I see a little scare in your eyes, Will he be always there for you, my dear? Take a glass and drown out the sun, ...

Here I come thy mother to rest in your loving lap (based on several true incidents) Here I was a small babe, a growing pearl in the oyster, In your warm loving cocoon , full of sunshine love and happiness. It'll be a cosy world, didn't you promise, my dear mother, But i remember the bright memories, the glowing twinkling memories of life. The first steps in the garden and the run in the courtyard, the first cycle and the first fall. The way father guided me, a strict teacher, yet a loving friend. I was safe, secure in this warm haven, Ma Then why did darkness descend on me. What wrong did i do in my innocent years, To descend my steps to the grave. Whom did I harm in my growing years, to suffer a life time and a after life of pain ? Here I come thy mother to rest in your loving lap. I remember in my growing years, A life care-free, abundant with dreams and happiness. Whatever charm life had, I couldnt ever fathom the gloomy clouds approaching. Wha...

Thoughts on Nadia Akbar’s debut novel- Goodbye Freddie Mercury “ Goodbye everybody I've got to go Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth Mama, ooo” – Freddie Mercury The psychedelic cover will attract you first, then the title, then Lahore & then the story of many lives intertwined in the book. The book stays with you after a long time it gets over & you think about the characters, thinking about their lives, about Lahore or perhaps how as an Indian reader one finds so many similarities in Lahore and its inhabitants. In bringing Lahore, its language and the people alive , Nadia Akbar does a commendable job in her debut Novel – Good bye Freddie Mercury. The book is like a heady cocktail mix which you want to sip it slowly & soak in all the flavors of life, love, friendships, family & of course music. The story is moved forward with the alternating voices of Nida & Bugsy. Nida has just started her college in Lahore &...

Thoughts & Review on - A girl like that by Tanaz Bhathena  Confession :-  I was interested in the book when I got a chance to read the blurb, what i didn't realize that it was going to be a trip down memory lane, back to school, back to first heart breaks, love, first kiss & friendships for life. I almost risked today at job for reading this book at my work desk for the whole day, ignoring work, colleagues & passing the day like a zombie. I didn't know i was in for a ride, chanting names of Zarin & Porus. The heaviness tugged at my heart & I was left in tears. Their story began where most stories ended.  Name :- A Girl like that Author :- Tanaz Bhathena Genre :- YA Fiction Publisher :- Penguin Books-Penguin Random House India ISBN :- 9780143443018 No.of Pages :- 378 Book source :- Flipkart Review Programme You can buy the book from :- Flipkart | Amazon | Infibeam | Zarin Wadia story begins even before she is born, she is const...

Thoughts & Review on- Letters to my Ex by Nikita Singh The story starts with Nidhi leaving her fiance Abhay on the day of their engagement. As the author introduces us to Nidhi's world, we are shown a glimpse in Nidhi & Abhay's broken universe. She starts writing these unsent letters to Abhay where she explains the state of her heart, mind on why did she leave him. Its writing therapy, she explains. The story moves forward with letters, chat, coffee meets . Letters are written both by Nidhi & Abhay. Both of them are trying to move on and trying to find alternative soul partners. As a reader, even i could feel the compatilibilty between Nidhi & Abhay. Their high school romance blossoming to years of "togetherness" in college and when they finally face an unresolved issue in their lives is written with a touching flair. As the author, Nikita Singh deftly describes Nidhi's condition, the emotions she is going through, her heart to heart talk...

 Thoughts & Review on- The Golden House by Salman Rushdie.  There are times in this novel, when the novel ceases to become a novel, a mere collection of words which when uniformly comes together becomes a character, story or event. The novel becomes a person. It reaches out to grab you, convinces you and manages you to sit at one place & read it completely, devour it, savor it. This is what "The Golden House" does. It consumes you in a good way. You want to grab everyone coming in your way & talk about the literary headiness this novel induces. Unfortunately few understand & we are trapped in our own madness. We stumble across, fall down, the void left when you complete reading this novel, until you begin another one. Which i as a reader don't want to. I want to badly meet Nero the pseudo Caesar, Vasilisa the Russian wife, Trilogy of Golden sons- Petya, Apu &D, the not so innocent bystander-Rene and i want to visit New York & Bombay again. T...

Thoughts & review on "Mrs. Saint & the defectives" by Julie Lawson Timmer  “The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because generally they are the same people.”  ―  G.K. Chesterton “Good neighbors always spy on you to make sure you are doing well.”  ―  Pawan Mishra ,  Coinman: An Untold Conspiracy (quote Courtesy- Goodreads.com) When I had glanced at novel's cover on Reddit.com , & without any biased preconceptions in my mind, i thought that "Mrs.Saint and the defectives", must be a novel about a lady named Mrs.Saint and her gang of defectives, who were actually superheroes in disguise. I was partly right.  Oddly enough i am reminded of this line, said by a long time but not forgotten friend- "Don't you think, everyone is a hero in their own life?" I was much reminded of shenanigans, generosity, warmth, love of my neighbors while reading this novel. Too many warm memories were rekin...

Thoughts & Review on Sneaky People by Thomas Berger There are times, when a book chooses you. As simple as that, no thunder lightning, no symphony, no loud signs, neither does the book automatically delivers at your door. But it just picks you up. I was facing a readers block for a fortnight. While i did have piles of books waiting for me to read, but I didn't just have enough interest to read any. After heavy duty reading of Neel Mukherjee's State of Freedom & Arundhati Roy's The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, I was drained out. While these two novels, did satisfy my literary cravings & but somewhere I felt a void. These novels were intense, diverse of course, the treatment & the writing different. But they were like two living entities who possessed me & both refused to leave me steadfastly. However the ghost did wear off, but the emptiness remained. I stared blank at the PC, didn't read in bus, at home whatsoever. I did have this novel ...

"W e are all writers at heart, only most of us have lost our words. " I almost felt a void when i finished reading A State of Freedom. I felt a kinship with all the characters & for me all these days, nights & the restless moments were filled with them. At times, this novel or a consortium of linked short stories filled me with so much sadness, that i was almost tempted to keep the book down. To let it unfinished. But perhaps just as an unfinished work of a writer leaves a writer incomplete, a book unfinished also leaves reader incomplete. Its almost been 24 hours that i have finished this book reading, i am almost tempted to start it again. The novel is undoubtedly sad. But it kind of invokes a thought process inside your head, on what does sadness means to you ? Is it longing for someone, something you have lost or sadness is just a poor far fetched cousin of struggle and survival. Neel Mukherjee's touches on these timeless subjects. It might've been...

Book Review - The Ministry of Utmost Happiness Cousin :- What are you reading ? Me : -a novel called-- The ministry of Utmost happiness. Cousin- So did you find happiness ? Me- I don't know... I only started reading this book, because this book was directly/indirectly garnering all the attention at all corners possible. Be it virtual or real. As for me, i was not interested because my limited reading of Arundhati Roy stopped at 2 or 3 pages of "The God of Small things" at a tender age of 15 because i was searching for love making scene descriptions in that novel. From that point on wards to this time, I never read anything about Arundhati Roy or anything written by her. I am glad that i was mightily proved wrong, I am glad that this book picked me. And most of all this review or the thoughts written about this book are mainly for my purpose & recording of thoughts. These initial few lines greeted me, when i started reading- The ministry of Utmost Happi...