Sunday, January 29, 2017

The Quest of the Sparrows - Spiritual Fiction of Sorts




This book came to me just as I was finishing typing out my father's novel, The Being and the Becoming

In that book, a man sets off in search of self and meets many people - other selfs - and adventures in this journey of self-discovery. I was a little girl when my father was writing it and he would read aloud to us each night from whatever he had output that day. As he was my father, the book has sentimental value to me as I discover bits and pieces of what might even be some of my father's own personal experiences.

As the daughter of a man who had undertaken a spiritual journey, the book leaves me pointers for my own journey. 

Thus, Ravi and Kartik Sharma's The Quest of the Sparrows did not come as any eye opener in the spiritual sense. You can read excerpts at the website.

Yet it enchanted with its dramatic opening and, in places, matched milestones in my father's book - tales of a man of spiritual worth inspiring a crowd to action. Action which is useful and benign.
In terms of books about spiritual journeys also it stands nowhere near the works of Hermann Hesse 


or Richard Bach 



or even Lloyd C Douglas. 



The blurb says:
A seemingly ordinary young man forced to become a guru takes a leap of faith and sets off with his followers on a taxing journey that changes their mindsets and lives forever.
Inspired by the carefree life of a sparrow, reluctant guru Partibhan takes off on a 600-kilometre expedition on foot to test his theory of practical spirituality. He believes that human beings can become powerful creators, but the desire to secure the future makes them mere survivors. However, survival isn't the only goal of life. A much bigger role, a higher calling awaits us. 

Will Guru Partibhan and his disciples complete the journey? Will they discover their true potential and find everlasting joy? 

The authors have also uploaded a short inspirational video for the book: 



While not quite in the league of the other authors I have mentioned above, this book is a charming tale, laced with human experience and draws the reader to questions which need examination.

In any case, this is another offering from a growing breed of Indians writing in English and, for me, it represented a cross between a Chetan Bhagat 


and a Shubha Vilas.   


Which is to say that it's eminently readable and quite enjoyable and likely to bestow enlightenment.

Friday, January 13, 2017

Shubha Vilas Retells The Ramayana

When I was little, my family owned a set of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana - these are the two main mythologies of the religion that is now called ‘Hinduism’. They were big and thick and bound in some rust red cloth and had plenty of colour pictures. I spent long hours pouring over these pictures as a child, as dust motes danced in the slanting afternoon sun of our living room.

The Ramayana consisted of two volumes and my mother would begin a reading of it at some auspicious point and conclude by another sacred date.

These books were from the Gita Press but it is rather hard to navigate their website and I cannot find a link an English version there.

You can find the Gita Press versions online at a couple of places and download them at several others but I’m not sure how safe that is.


  Hindi Book Valmiki Ramayan Part I by Gita Press by radhakrishan13299 on Scribd



If you want to read it in a very scholarly way you'd perhaps do best to visit here.

The Hindi version of the Gita Press is available in PDF.

Now, in a nutshell, this is the story of a noble prince who unhesitatingly obeyed his father and went into exile in a forest for fourteen years. Along with him went his wife and one of his brothers. And they had a great many exciting adventures. It’s a marvellous tale and, like all holy books, provides many with much solace, not to mention the unfailing enchantment of epic tales.


All I can remember of what it had to teach me is what my father said: How to be a king without a kingdom. 


There has even been a version that appeared on TV in India and was a huge success. But I've resisted watching it as I consider it as much blasphemy as Jackson's retelling of Tolkien's epic. I hope the animated version below won't be too bad.





When my son was small I read him a retelling which was in English and, though it was pretty different from the story I’d been raised in, it had a good style and was engrossing. I can't quite remember who wrote it.

And then we went to Malaysia and I discovered that the Ramayana has versions there and in Indonesia. This must form an interface of translation and religion and literature between our countries.

And, yet, some tales are such that they can be retold an infinite number of times and all tales grow in the telling.

Shubha Villas’ book came into my hands at a time when I was working with a Korean scholar who was researching mythology. It helped me look at how this story has been morphing and adapting itself over time.

It’s an elegant book with lively colours to the cover picture and makes for easy and enchanting reading.

The edition is enriched with wisdom and interpretations, provided as footnotes. I find the small picture of a leaping deer at the foot of some pages very charming.



All in all, it would make a first class gift to anyone, especially anyone planning to travel to India.



Monday, January 09, 2017

Beggars Banquet - A Feast For Aficionados

Given 2017 has just begun, I'm a little more prone to trying to stick to resolutions. One such is to read 20 pages of a book, in a park.    And that's how I finished Trip Trap, the first story in the collection.


It's one of the rare cases where I enjoyed the Introduction too!

Ian Rankin writes in an easy manner and, before I knew it, I was absorbed.

The introduction was full of references to music.



There seem to be a lot of Inspector Rebus shows on Youtube:



And there's others...


Given that a 20 page read of Beggars Banquet has whetted my appetite, I can see myself going for the one below soon!



But, for the present, I'm happy to have some 21 stories to read on my upcoming trip!

Tuesday, January 03, 2017

The Jury's Not Quite Out On Steve Martini's The Jury



Has anyone heard of Perry Mason? I grew up in a household which boasted a goodly collection of those courtroom novels! 



I really enjoyed them but never got to see any on-screen.



It was quite natural to graduate to Grisham when the time came...




And I'm sure I've enjoyed at least one of his books as cinema.


While I'm still undecided as to whether I'll try another Steve Martini, I enjoyed his peppy conversational style:

There is a twist in the tale and some detailing which is drool worthy for the right reader!


Apparently Hallmark has some of his works as film.


Wondering if there's anyone out there who has the jury all out on this book or author...