Penguin Spring Fever - Advance Booking

Today was a different kind of an evening at the Penguin Spring Fever. 2 theater personalities read out sections from yet to be released Penguin Books.

One Amazing Thing by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni; Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel; Tiger Hills by Sarita Mandanna and Jimmy, the Terrorist by Omair Ahmad.

The crowd was way thinner than last Sunday and  Monday. I guess that was because there were no authors around.

I had hoped that even though the previews were to be read out by theater personalities (something they really should have done last Monday for the Metro Reads) the authors would be around to discuss their work. A lot of people seemed to have the same idea, because once they realised that there were no authors around, a major portion of the meager crowd also left.

The actors were doing a good job of reading out sections of the novels, but the main reason people go to a Literature event is to hear the authors talk about their thought process and interact with them.If its just a reading, I might as well wait for the book to be released and read it in the comfort of my home.

"One Amazing Thing" sounded interesting and I think I will pick this one up. I left after the "Beatrice & Virgil" reading as it was already quite late. (Today for the first time, they started late. Were they hoping / waiting for more people to arrive?) So I missed the third and fourth books. But then I guess I'll just decide whether or not to buy them, the normal way I browse for books.

Read my review of "One Amazing Thing"

Penguin Spring Fever - Dork: The Incredible Adventures of Robin ‘Einstein’ Varghese by Sidin Vadukut

The crowd today was half as much as yesterday, but that was to be expected given that today was a working day and its difficult for working professionals to reach a venue by 7pm unless they work next door (such are the problems of Corporate Life)


90% of the audience was there to hear Sidin Vadukut speak. Sidin has been blogging at http://www.whatay.com/ since over 6 years and has enough of a regular following for his brand of humor, that Penguin gave him a book deal.  Dork is the result of that deal. Sidin promises part 2 and 3 will be out soon and he was sure there was scope for many more.





Unfortunately before we got to hear what most of us had come for,  we were faced with a Marketing disaster from Penguin. Penguin has started a new series called Metro Reads. This has been widely covered in the papers. They are short novellas that can be read anywhere (or on the metro) and the media buzz around it was enough to make us curious to check out the books in a store.

Since Penguin is also selling some of its books on location @ IHC, we flipped through some of them and were still considering whether we should pick one up, among the other 15 books that we bought today. But since we weren't convinced about them, we decided to wait to hear the authors speak before buying any of them.

Story writing and story narrating are 2 entirely different skill sets. Unfortunately the 3 authors chosen from the Metro Reads section weren't very good narrators when they read out excerpts from their books and they lost the audience attention almost immediately. People were talking, texting and tweeting as long as these authors spoke. It was very telling that when the floor was opened to questions, NOT A SINGLE person had a question to ask.

Basic rule of marketing: do not put people in the floodlights if they are not yet ready to handle it. As the publishers, Penguin does have a responsibility of giving ample coverage to their authors, but the authors also must be equipped to handle this coverage. It is easy to say that they are first time authors, they will learn on the job, but I've seen secondary school students with more confidence and conviction when speaking in public.

Fortunately once that was out of the way, Sidin and Vinay took center stage and then it was a laugh a minute. Including when the author insisted that "Einstein" Varghese was a visionary who should share shelf space with others of his ilk like Bhagwan Rajneesh and Nandan Nilekani and the guy at the sales counter, promptly complied.

There was a lot of audience interaction even during their conversation and even more so when the floor was opened for questions, with audience directing questions @ Sidin and Robin and sometimes both, so we got to see a bit of MPD on stage :)

The book is really funny and anyone who has been to a B-School will truly appreciate the humor. But it will still be an extremely funny read for anyone who has ever held a corporate job. As Sidin said, every office has its share of psychos.

Penguin Spring Fever - Kal, Aaj aur Kal - Writings on the Mahabharata

Penguin India is currently conducting a festival of Literature at the IHC. Penguin India started 23 years ago (Penguin is 75 years old) and has since then become the publisher of choice that most Indian authors aspire to.

This festival which is a celebration of the 75th anniversary is a chance for the public to interact with its well known and budding authors.

The 14th of March saw Gurcharan Das, Namita Gokhale, Shashi Tharoor and Bibek Debroy meet for a discussion on Kal, Aaj aur Kal - Writings on the Mahabharata.

Gurcharan Das has written "The Difficulty of Being Good - On the Subtle art of Dharma, Namita Gokhale has written a childrens edition of the Mahabharatha in 40,000 words. Shashi Tharoor's The Great Indian Novel is a series of stories of modern day India running parallel with stories in the Mahabharatha and Bibek Debroy is half way through writing the first complete English translation of the Mahabharatha by an Indian.

Bibek's endeavour is to try and present the situations and decisions and actions in a context relevant to its times. For eg: he says that Dushasan baring his left thigh and asking Draupadi to sit on it, isnt as vulgar as interpreted today by the baring of his flesh. To put it in context of those times, the left thigh was reserved for the wife and the right thigh for the daughter or child. So while it was a vulgar invitation to be his "wife" it isn't as vulgar as it is currently interpreted.

Given the context of the recent "Women's Reservation Bill", the discussion started with the role and power of female characters in the Mahabharatha. Draupadi's polyandry, Kunti's sons with fathers other than her husband, Gandhari's decision to blindfold herself were all brought into consideration.

The conversation then moved onto the concept of dharma and Gurcharan Das illuminated the audience on how the concept of dharma had changed across the ages. Including as recently as the 19th century, when the Christian missionaries landed in Calcutta and equated religion with Dharma.

The audience questioned the role of Krishna as a God and if the authors in the panel believed in the divinity of Krishna and if they beleived that he was divine then the question was raised as to why he allowed the massive war and destruction to take place. Gurcharan Das narrated 2 incidents to clarify this. He spoke of Krishna meeting an ascetic in the Rajasthan desert after the Kurukshetra war was fought, who asked the same question. Krishna replied that it was not something that he could control, bringing into play the role of destiny.

In another incident Krishna is believed to have replied that it was time to rid the world of the kshatriyas who were creating havoc and destruction on earth.

An audience member asked how the panel could say that women were empowered in the Mahabharatha when Kunti felt compelled to relinquish her eldest born son and not claim him as her own through all the shame he was put through, until matters came to a head with the possibility of her valiant eldest son fighting against all her other children.

There were two different points of view on this matter. The first was that while having a child out of wedlock was acceptable for a married woman in those times, it may not have been so for an unmarried girl. The second was that Kunti simply panicked. She used a mantra whose power she didn't completely believe in and the consequences made her panic and these caused her subsequent actions. And later when she saw Karna it was too late to publicly accept him as her own.

All the authors had a depth of knowledge of their subject and the audience could have listened forever. Looking forward to more such illuminating discussions in this week.

    

Kim's Review : In an Antique Land

In an Antique Land was a unique book for me, as its two threads focus on a small town that I grew up in for the first 20+ years of my life and a Country that I have lived in for the last 3 years. So I had a unique connect with this book.


Not so suprisingly, the description of my hometown did not ring a bell as it focussed mostly on the town as it existed 800+ years ago. The description of rural Egypt created a veritable clang in my head as I kept thinking to myself "How true" or "Yes, I know someone who would have reacted the exact same way"

This is a book of non fiction. Amitav Ghosh chanced upon a letter between Abraham Ben Yiju, a Jewish merchant living in Mangalore, India, and Khalaf ibn Ishaq from Egypt, written in 1132AD. Part of this narrative focuses on Ghosh's search for more documents relating to Ben Yiju and part of the narrative tries to imagine the world that Ben Yiju lived in.

The other narrative in the book, covers Ghosh's stay in rural Egypt (Mashawy and Lataifa) and it was this section that I found infinitely more interesting and hence hope to pick up his book of essays The Imam and the Indian which promise to shed more light on this phase of his life.



It is in this second narrative that Amitav's gift of story telling is showcased, while in the first narrative it feels stilted, focussed on facts and doesn't flow as naturally. Blending history with a a current travelogue is an art perfected by William Dalrymple and sadly in comparison, Ghosh didn't match up.

While Ben Yiju did spend time in Egypt and his letters were written to people living there and most of the surviving documentation came from the Geniza Documents cache from the Ben Ezra Synagogue in the Coptic Cairo area of modern day Cairo and Fustat of Ancient Cairo, this is the only point at which the two narratives seem to meet. For the rest of the book, they just continue parallel to each other.

In the final chapters, when Ghosh heads out towards the tomb of a Jewish Saint in rural Egypt venerated by Muslims and Jews alike, I hoped it would bring about a meeting of the parallel stories, but unfortunately it didn't.

Both narratives on their own are great and very illuminating, I just didn't see the point of putting them together.

Its a great read for someone visiting the Fustat area or interested in observations/revelations from the Geniza Cache or life in Rural Egypt.

Also Published on desicritics

Kim's Review : First Family

The main story was rather gripping, engrossing, unravelled well and was generally well put together, but I found the digression into the story of one of the Private Investigators on the case, completely extraneous. It did not explain any behavior relevant to the case, nor did it shed any light on the main plot or add to it. It was just a distraction from start to finish.

In general, I do like Baldacci's writing style, but I wish he had edited out this substory in this particular book, it just slowed the pace down, while the rest of the story was racing. I'm not sure if this story would be of more interest to someone who had read Simple Genius or Split Second, because those are some of Baldacci's books I haven't read yet. But this book still works well as a stand-alone.


At 658 pages, the book is a little unwieldy for reading in bed, but great for travel time reading in a car or a plane.

Plot synopsis is that the 12 year old niece of the First Lady has been kidnapped and everyone the FBI, the Secret Service, Private Investigators hired by the First Lady are racing to find the child, before it is too late.

Kim's Review: The Bollywood Cookbook

I can never resist stopping and browsing at a bookshop. and heaven help my poor husband if there is a Book Sale on!

Since we are still in transit, we are living in a guest house where the kitchen is guarded by the (well since they are so young, I can't call them Maharaj's)  Rajkumars of the guest house and I am on a cooking break. We are living out of the suitcases we were able to carry with us on the flight and the rest of our possessions lie in a warehouse until we find a home.

But this could not deter me from buying books at the fantastic 10-90% discount sale at Om Bookshop across its locations in Delhi and NCR. I finally managed to sneak into one of their outlets when the husband wasn't around and came back with a load of books, one of which was The Bollywood Cookbook: The Glamorous World of the Actors and Over 75 of Their Favorite Recipes by Bulbul Mankani.

The book has over 75 recipes as well as part interviews, part nuggets and photographs of the Film Stars whose contributions have  been used in the book. Hence this book can also double up as a coffee table book and the reproduction of some old film posters like "Guide",  "Bobby", "Umrao Jaan", "Pakeezah" could spark off some interesting conversations.

The pictures are lovely and the printing quality is good. The photos of the food that accompany the recipes can easily tempt you into cooking from the book. Some of the traditional recipes like the Manglorean Coconut curries have been given a low fat, low cal twist by the stars, their parents or their cooks.

Contrary to what is sometimes perceived as my indiscriminate picking up of cookbooks, I do read a couple of recipes to get a feel of whether the author is being authentic to the taste of the dish and if ingredients will be easy to find. This book scores high on both counts. Just like someone who reads music, can visualise and hear what the notes will sound like, some foodies who are avid cooks will have an idea what the finished product will taste like, just by reading a recipe.

The reason I don't bake is because I can't follow precise instructions, so I do jiggle with the quantities recommended to suit my own tastebuds and mood, so I cannot tell you how accurate the measurements are. And I have not yet been in my own kitchen to put the recipes to the test, but they seem to have potential.

Some of the stars also share their favorite restaurants with you. I was suprised to see that 2 of Nandita Das's favorties, Aap Ki Khatir and Swagath in Delhi mirrored my own. It somehow makes them more human to read their likes and dislikes about food.

The recipes are Pan Indian and some of them have an International twist to them too. Contributions from Shah Rukh Khan, the Bacchans, the Roshans, Shabana Azmi, Rani Mukerji, Preity Zinta, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor among others, span Lucknowi, Mughal, Manglorean, Parsi, Marathi, Rasta and Bengali recipes. So it does give you a wide range of cuisines to choose from.

My only crib about this book so far, is that on page 127 where the recipe is for Suneil Shetty's Uppitu, the accompanying picture is of some paneer dish.

If Bollywood and Food are dual interests to you, then this book is worth your while. Even if just one of the 2 interests you, there is still a lot you can get out of this book.

If you would like to sample a few pages of the book before buying it online, this Amazon link lets you Look Inside.

Kim's Review: Street Cafe Morocco

The colours used in this book are what first attracted me to pick it up. The photography by Jeremy Hopley is very captivating.

The book covers recipes for street food in Morocco. So the foods themselves are easy to prepare. Most recipes have less than 6 ingredients, so its easy to throw a dish together with ingredients in your grocery cupboard or refrigerator.

Primarily targetted at a British audience, I find myself being more generous with the chilli powder than recommended in the book. But its been great at getting me to use some of the spice mixes I picked up on a recent trip to Morocco.

Do not let that fact scare you. A majority of the recipes can be prepared without searching for exotic ingredients.

Kim's Review: The Poison Tree - Planted and Grown in Egypt

A friend sent me the link to this yesterday. The book is legally downloadable for free from Marwa Rakha's own website. While currently available in English, she promises that the Arabic translation too will soon be online.

The book is written in a semi disjointed "part blog-part diary-part letter" fashion and someone who is used to a structured flow when reading, may start out feeling a bit disconcerted. But if you persevere you can gain some insights into Egytian culture, sexuality, morality and society. The unifying theme of the book revolves around gender stereotypes, dating and marriage and how men and women are held to different standards in society. While this may be true across the world, it is more pronounced in Egypt.


I often wondered how so many Egyptian friends and acquaintances kept ending up divorced within barely a year or two of marriage, sometimes with new born kids who were not even a year old. Some have ended up remarrying men who had been unfaithful to them during their first attempt at marriage. This being a very sensitive and private matter, I have never felt comfortable enough to actually ask them the question directly. But Marwa's book has shed some light on at least some of the reasons, which seem to lie in Social Conditioning.


There were parts that I skipped over, but there were also parts that are really insightful.


This book is worth reading if you are interested in human behavior or are visiting Egypt and would like to know a little more about people you will encounter.

But, I would highly recommend the book to any non-Egyptian girl/woman/lady planning to get herself an Egyptian boyfriend or Egyptian husband. Most Egyptian men think and operate differently from "Western" men and its important for a female to know what she is getting herself into before she gets in too deep.


While the book may also be guilty of stereotyping men and women, there are a lot of grains of truth behind the characterisations.


The book could be classified as chick-lit, but there is a lot you can begin to understand about Egyptian society and how it operates through the eyes of a Single Independent Woman


If you would prefer to read the book as a paperback or on kindle, they are both available via Amazon.



Also published on desicritics.org

Kim's Review : An ABC Escapade through Egypt

An ABC Escapade through Egypt is a wonderful book for children within Egypt or outside to learn a little about things uniquely Egyptian.

It isn't just for the little ones who are learning the alphabet, but can be a reading tool even for slightly older children.

Cactus Crunching Camels and Underwater Urchins share space with crunchy konafa and jumping jerboas. Bernadette Simpson uses alliterations to create a fun reading experience accompanied with some lovely colorful photographs that make reading fun as well as informative.

Bernadette first moved to Cairo in 1993 with her parents and did a part of her schooling in this country before returning to the US to study further. She then came back to Cairo and was inspired with all the activity around her to write a book that would be fun, educational, informative and have content that would be familiar to its readers. This book is the result of those efforts.

Her book is available in Egypt in most of the major bookstores:
http://bernadettesimpson.com/buythebook.html

Also available on Amazon:

If, after reading the book, you still want more, you can visit her blog http://escapadethroughegypt.wordpress.com/ which lists more alliterations for the alphabet.

Her mother Ginda Simpson is also a writer and painter.

Kim's Review : Egypt Pocket Guides - Alberto Silioti

The AUC Press has brought out a wonderful series of pocket guides for Egypt by Alberto Silioti.

Each of the books gives a quick glimpse into the area it covers, in just enough depth for the average tourist.

The aerial view maps reminiscent of the DK Eyewitness guides are much easier to navigate than flat maps.

The books are printed on glossy paper which brings the photographs used to life. There are just enough technical details for those mildly interested in them but not too much to bore those who aren't.


Egypt Pocket Guide : The Pyramids covers the pyramids of Giza, Saqqara, Dahshur and Meidum. It also includes Memphis just to complete the Pharonic circuit around Cairo.


Egypt Pocket Guide : Luxor, Karnak and the Theban Temples includes everything that you would want to see in and around Luxor. Luxor Temple, Avenue of sphinxes, Karnak Temple, Colossi of Memnon, Medinat Habu, Ramesseum, Hatchepsuts Temple, Luxor Museum, Mummification Museum and Dendara.


Egypt Pocket Guide : Islamic Cairo gives the historical time frame of the various Islamic dynasties. It also covers the major Islamic Monuments in Cairo : Ibn tulun Mosque, Gayer Anderson Museum, al Ghuri Complex, Al Azhar mosque, al Hakim mosque, Khan al Khalili, Qalawun & Barquq Complexes, Sultan Hassan Madrassa, al Muayyad Mosque, Blue Mosque, Citadel, Mamluk Tombs, Nilometer and the Museum of Islamic Art.


Egypt Pocket Guide : Coptic Egypt starts with an informative section on Coptic Christianity and monasticism. It only covers the Synagogue of Ben Ezra, Coptic Museum and Hanging Church in detail. The rest of the churches in the Coptic area; it just skims over. It does give details of all 4 monasteries in Wadi Natrun and the 2 monasteries of the Red Sea but not those of Upper Egypt.


Egypt Pocket Guide : Alexandria and the North Coast covers everything of interest in Alexandria: the Qaitbay Fort, Lighthouse of Alexandria, Serapeum, Pompei's Pillar, Roman Theater, Catacombs, Greco Roman museum, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Jewelry Museum, Montaza Palace and some of the Ncropolis around Alexandria and Abu Qir. It even covers Alamein.

Each of these books costs 30Le if you buy them in Egypt.