Inane Murtaza

Almost 5 years back, when I was in Delhi, I was finally able to visit the Delhi Book Fair and the trip just could not get any better. I finally had the privilege to meet Mr. Bond (Not James) who was signing books at that time. A lot of my friends tell me that it is not a big privilege to get a signed book of his as he is quite easily available in a cafe in Dehradun but coming from a small town where you hardly get to see any authors, this was quite special to me. Though I should inform that it was my very first Ruskin Bond book that I had ever purchased and I never looked back. Coming back to the book, this will be quite a short review as the book is of hardly 105 pages along with illustrations. The book was published on the occasion of Mr. Bond's 89th birthday and it talks about his relationship with his father 2 years before his death. The book takes the readers to Delhi in first half of the book where Ruskin starts developing a bond with his father when he takes a break...

So, I must confess, the first time I ever heard the name of John Green was during all the hullabaloo when the movie 'The Fault in the Stars' released. As we all know, 'The Fault in the Stars' dealt with two adolescents surviving Cancer. The book did bring tears to my eyes the way it was written and it helped me pick up one of his other books, 'Let it Snow' written in collaboration with two more authors. Though honestly, the book was quite a drag but the plot written by John Green was quite interesting. So with all the hype surrounding the book, I had to pre-order the book and see what John Green has brought to the table this time. The first thing that catches one's eye is the interesting title which has no reference anywhere across Google and we get the reference only when we reach almost three-forth of the book. No, I'm not planning to spoil the reference for anyone unless one wants to know about it specifically. Apart from the title, the book cover ...

'A Horse Walks into a Bar', I finally picked this book up after reading a lot about the accolades the book had received including 'The International Man Booker Prize'. I did mention about my apprehensions of Booker Prize Winning books in one of my previous posts and had also mentioned about how I finally overcame it with 'The White Tiger'. So, when I came across this book, what caught my sight was its minimalistic and beautiful cover and it's weird title. A bit of a research on Google helped me uncover the mystery behind the title. Coming back to the book, the book revolves around two protagonists Avishai Lazar and Dovaleh Greenstein. Avishai, a retired judge recieves a phone call from Greenstein who asks him to attend one of his stand-up shows and judge him. Avishai keeps wondering, why he has been called to the show as they haven't been in touch with each other since childhood. They had known each other for quite a brief period which intrigued Avi...

I always loved Imtiaz Ali and his movies as he used to bring the best out of his actors working for him. Though as his career moved forward, one thing was quite redundant in his movies. The main protagonists meet each other at an unexpected location, they travel and find a change in their character when they fall in love with each other. So, why am I discussing Imtiaz Ali instead of Dan Brown's book here? The main reason is Dan Brown's books so resemble Imtiaz Ali's movies. The same plot where we are introduced with the character who is apparently a friend of Robert Langdon, the murder of the character followed by Langdon being framed for it, Langdon assisted by a female character, an assassinator involved who will most certainly die when we reach the final quarter of the book and a cult/group who will be framed. Also, one should not forget a character apart from Robert Langdon who will be portrayed as a villain but eventually does not turn out to be. So, let me explain ...

It's 10th October and a short Google Search tells me, its World Mental Health Day today. Interestingly, it's a day where my Facebook feed will be filled with dozens of posts on Depression, Mental Illness etc and I would love to put my bit on the same as well. A few months back there was an interesting trend on Facebook where people were posting statuses asking people who have depression to come forward and talk to them. Most of these statuses were filled with such genuine emotions that would move you but the reality can sometimes be quite different. This is my personal experience with a few of my friends who have been undergoing/ have underwent depression and how it has affected them personally and professionally. There is literally no single cause for depression and this could vary from lack of interest in studies to terminal illness to personal relationships and can have different effects. In extreme cases, a person could even take away his life as he/she could see no f...