Paper Planes

“This is amazing,” Volodya said. “He’s the President, yet he has to make excuses all the time for what he does!” “Something like that,” Woody said. “We call it democracy.”  ― Ken Follett, Winter of the World Once in a while a book comes along that grips you entirely, making it impossible to concentrate on other mundane things. After long this book has done exactly that. Absolutely unputdownable! The characters are so well etched, their stories intermingling to perfection. Follett gives such a brilliant insight into the psyche of so many people in different geographies of the world and at different levels. Indeed, a wonderful read this trilogy by Follett had been. This series deals with the economic, political and social incidents that marked the last century. The wars, the cold wars, the conflict between communism and democracy, fights for the civil rights, Revolutions in different parts of the world etc. Follett tells you the complete history...

“ No self-respecting God would allow a good man to be happy for long. God has relevance only in the unhappiness of good people. ” ― Anand Neelakantan, Ajaya : Epic of the Kaurava Clan These 2 books: Roll of the Dice and Rise of Kali: Strong enough to alter and shake all my prejudices and beliefs completely. The beliefs that were instilled and imbibed in me, deep and profoundly, since childhood! Initially, I thought to write about them separately because both the books are so vast and they carry huge amount of information, emotions, story, drama and all. But then the problem is one book is incomplete without another, the second one is a continuation of the first, so thought to write about them as ‘one story’ There is nothing new in the story or the incidents, Its Mahabharata, which we have grown up reading and watching again and again… The same story, same incidents, same characters, same drama, same plot, same conspiracies, same events, there is nothing different, abs...

I never post book reviews on this page of mine. But then, recently I read an extraordinary book, the review of which I am compelled to write at whatever places i can, its that beautiful and gripping! It would actually be an arduous task for me to hunt for words that could describe my feelings for this book! That could elaborate on how I felt after reading it... It's going to be a taxing exercise! I generally take my own sweet time to finish books, but this one! I tell you I finished in 2 days!  This book is, I guess the best portrayal of Krishna's life till date. It deals with his relationships with the four women whom he loved, loved intensely: Radha, Draupadi, Satyabhama, Rukmini. Unlike other epics where all his roles are confined in relation with Gokul, Kans, Kurukshetra, Gita, Arjuna etc... In fact, the beginning of the book itself is totally different. It starts with Krishna, being on his death bed, ready to be relieved from this wo...