Brajesh's Review : On Safari - The Tiger and the Baobab Tree

While on a week-end get-away at the Velavadar black buck sanctuary, I found this beautiful book  - "On Safari. The Tiger and the Bobab Tree" by Babi Nobis in the resort library.

The size of my list of unread-but-purchased books, gives me little motivation to purchase expensive photo books. These photo-books end-up being a one-time indulgence. Hence every time I find an opportunity to lay my hands on a photo-books I try and flip through it immediately.

“On Safari” is a collection of photos by Babi during his journeys in India and Africa. My favorite section is the one on the Indian Tiger which has many amazing pictures. These are beautifully laid out and printed on a very fine paper, both increasing the impact of these great photographs.

I have attached two collages from the book (pictures taken of the book) to give you an idea of how powerful the images are.

Babi is the founder board member of the wildlife protection society of India and his love for the animals is evident in the stories and nuggets accompanying the photos.


Rating : 3.5 / 5

Kim's Review : The Dalai Lama's Cat and the Art of Purring

"The Dalai Lama's Cat and the Art of Purring" is The Most Touching and Inspiring book I have ever read in my life. My only regret is that I read this second installment before the first and I've promptly ordered the first book too.

I've been recommending it to everyone that I've been speaking to in the last week and will continue to do so for quite some time to come.

This book, as the name suggests, is written in the voice of the Dalai Lama's Cat who is known by many names - Rinpoche, Swami, HHC - His Holiness' Cat amongst others.

The story starts with the Dalai Lama setting off on a long journey and tasking his Little Snow Lion with "investigating the art of purring" or rather finding the source of happiness. HHC wanders around the town in his favourite old haunts and investigates some new ones too. In the course of his wanderings, he is a silent participant in multiple conversations from different perspectives on happiness, contentent and satisfaction.

The insights, the teachings, the perspectives in this book are wide ranging and each one is brilliant fodder for thought.

While the tale itself, compelled me to race through, I had to restrict myself to a chapter a day, so that I could reflect on the ideas expounded.

Nothing I say or write, can even begin to do justice to this book. So I'll just humbly request you to read it and let me know if you agree with my rating.


Rating : 5 / 5

Kim's Review : Cat Vs Human - Another Dose of Catnip

"Cat Vs Human - Another Dose of Catnip" is the second book by Yasmine Surovec.

Ever since I discovered Yasmine Surovec and her cartoons Cat Vs Human, a couple of years ago, I have been a die hard fan. She recently started a facebook group, which keeps her regular readers apprised of everything new regarding her cartoons, books and book signings.

I find almost 95%+ of her cat-toons spot on. Most other cat cartoons, don't even hit the mark 50% of the time.

Yasmine herself lives with 3 cats and a puppy, and all her material comes from her deep love and insight of the behaviour these animals exhibit.

As a regular follower of her blog, there wasn't anything "new" for me in this book. all the cartoons I have seen and read before the day she published them, but they are so lovely and always bring a smile to my face, that I had to buy the book and keep a printed copy next to my bedside table along with the first book.

Whenever I'm feeling a little low, sick or blue, I just need to flip one of these 2 books open to a random page and I'm guaranteed a smile. What more can one ask for from a cartoon?

Rating : 4 / 5

Another Dose of Catnip is the second book in the series. Also read our reviews of the first "Cat Vs Human"
Kim's Review
Brajesh's Review
Brajesh's Review of Another Dose of Catnip

Brajesh's Review : Cat Vs Human - Another Dose of Catnip

"Cat Vs Human - Another Dose of Catnip" is a happy book. Read it with a smile if you don't have a cat. But if you are owned by a cat you will burst out laughing on every second page. The cartoons are amazing and Yasmine Surovec's insights are so real, that they feel spooky. This is a must buy for any cat lover and should be made compulsory for all those who are owned by a cat

Rating : 4 / 5

Another Dose of Catnip is the second book in the series. Also read our reviews of the first "Cat Vs Human"
Kim's Review
Brajesh's Review

Kim's Review : Geronimo Stilton

The Geronimo Stilton series is a lovely collection of graphic novels for children. Given the depth of information in the stories, I would not classify these as comics, but more of illustrated stories - hence graphic novels for kids.

Geronimo Stilton is a mouse and he, his friends and assorted relatives undertake time travel to save the world's history from the machinations of the cat pirates.

The issues that I skimmed through were all relating to ancient civilisations like the ice age, the Chinese empire at the time of Marco Polo's visit there, the Egyptian empire during the reign of Khufu.

While the stories are entertaining and  I have gotten past the fact that cats are the villains and mice are the heroes in this series, what makes this series special is the amount of history and facts that are slipped into the story line. Facts are marked differently, so its easy for kids to differentiate between fiction and facts while reading, yet they don't disturb the story line flow.

Rating : 4 / 5 (for young readers)

Brajesh's Review : Ranthambore : 10 Days in the Tiger Fortress

I speed read this part journal - part photo book at a dhabha cum bookshop between Jaipur and Ranthambore . The book chronicles a 9 day holiday of Valmik along with his family and some friends.

Disappointed by the situation around Tiger conservation, Valmik a grass root warrior for the tiger cause for 3 decades had decided never to write another book on tigers (post 1998). He vowed that he would only break this promise if he saw some dramatic turnaround in the situation.

In his own words, during this 10 day holiday in April 2008, he observed just such a miracle at Ranthambore. The book has many rare photos of tigers - posing in the beautiful settings of Ranthambore Fort and Jogi Palace, a full sequence of a fawn kill, 2 cubs on hind legs playing, around the famous banyan tree etc. etc.

The narrative isn't half as fast paced as the photos are and could have had more insights, but as I said before - this book is part journal and part photo book.

I would not advise this photo-book to people on their way to Ranthambore as this will raise your expectations sky high and totally unreasonable. I doubt any normal person (without the clout of Valmik Thapar) can have such a range of exciting and rare sightings within 10 days at any game park in India.

BUT I must say (having interacted with him last year) that nothing short of dramatic and magical would have made Valmik break his vow, and pictures in this book are testimony of the same. So enjoy the book but keep your expectations rooted.

Rating : 3.5 / 5

Also See my review on Valmik Thapar's - Secret Life of Tigers

Brajesh's Review: The Secret Life of Tigers

India's biggest tiger crusader Valmik Thapar, pours his heart out in this beautiful book. He along with Fateh Singh Rathore re-wrote the history of Ranthambore. Today these two legends are the reason we have Ranthambore surviving & thriving. Do read if you love tigers and surly read if you don't, because after reading this you will :) :) Passionate writing bring the tales alive. The insights break a lot of standard myths, e.g. Male tigers don't get involved in raising family.

Rating: 3.5/5

Brajesh's Review: Cat vs Human

Must read for any cat lover. Or for that matter any pet lover. Hilarious to the core, easy read, one could finish in 30 mins & then laugh for a few hours. You can also follow Yasmine's cartoons regularly on catversushuman.blogspot.com

Rating: 3/5

Also read Kim's Review of this book

Kim's Review: Cat vs Human

I've been following Yasmine Surovec's blog: http://catversushuman.blogspot.com for quite awhile now. She is so bang on, in her observations about cats, that I often just forward the days cartoon to all my animal loving friends. Most of them have subsequently signed themselves up for her newsletter too.

Yasmine is hilariously funny. Her cartoons capture the humorous moments of living with cats just so brilliantly.

When I heard the book was out and available on flipkart, I just had to order my own copy. As soon as it arrived home, my husband and I literally were fighting over who would read it first. We ended up reading most of it together, while taking breaks in between to stare at our own cat and say "Oh MY God! That's just like Bacardi"

I had of course seen most of the cartoons before on her blog, but its lovely to have them all compiled in one book. This is my new favourite "goto" book to bring a smile on my face, no matter how bad the day has been.

It's Bacardi's favourite bedtime reading material too, as you can see in the picture above.

Yasmine even has an online Cat Vs Human Shop from where you can buy the book, postcards or tee shirts with the cartoons printed on them.

If you love cats and can see the humour in sharing a living space with them, you will love this book. Take a look at Yasmine's blog: http://catversushuman.blogspot.com if you want a sample of what to expect in the book.

Rating: 5/5
Because I identify with so many of the situations and the book made me smile and laugh