The Easter Bunny Conspiracy by William F.Powers JR.

Title : The Easter Bunny Conspiracy

Author: William F.Powers JR.

Genre: Humorous Fiction

Age-Group: Young Adult

Publisher: iUniverse .com

12-1/2 is a precarious age. Not kid, not adult and not even a teen yet, the child faces numerous befuddling situations. You still are not officially grown up but the hormones are starting to course through your body and tweaking it just a little here and there.

The book depicts three days in the life of such a seemingly precocious boy Chris JR. aged a bittersweet 12-1/2 , that he is Catholic is significant, at least to Chris. He is going to be confirmed after three days and is totally confused about the unreasonable customs, practices and beliefs. This is in addition to his growing up troubles; being overweight, uncomfortable with the girls, still trying to prove himself and fit in with the boys.

An alcoholic father and a frustrated mother do not provide any guidance. The teachers are also not forthcoming as he goes to a catholic school with a tradition of strict discipline and corporal punishment. The irony is that the young boy does not realise that it is all in the course of life and there is nobody he can turn to for either advice or guidance. He constantly struggles to devise a plan for his future and avoid the overriding guilt for enjoying the simple pleasures of growing up, in the end finding a suitable personal method to retain his own identity and line of thought though still uncertain. It is a universal story of early adolescence, where kids are trying to find their own identity and facing many questions which need to be answered.

A book which delves into the adolescent mind with great insight, it is a hilarious voyage.  It has peeked inside the minds of little children who simply want to live and learn. Of particular note is the religious rigmarole that Chris undergoes without understanding most of it and his constant endeavour to come to terms with the contradictions and hypocrisies that it entails. The book is crisply written. The humorous tone is kept intact till the end. The characterisation is brilliant, especially Chris, his parents and the nuns.

The title needs a special mention. It is symbolic of the feeling of having been conspired against, which the children develop when they realise that some customs were propounded only so that the parents could stay ahead of them in the knowledge of things that they were made to believe such things so that they would behave in accordance with the social or religious norms. A very apt title indeed as Chris discovers that being present for a special friend is much more significant than following religious dogmas.

This one should make happy reading for kids as well as parents irrespective of their religion or nationalities. It might help parents to understand the children better. For the children it might not give any definite answers but they will certainly understand that they are on the right track even if they are confused about things around them.

THE MANTARAM HANDBOOK A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO CHOOSING YOUR MANTRAM AND CALMING YOUR MIND BY EKNATH EASWARAN

TITLE : THE MANTRAM HANDBOOK

AUTHOR : EKNATH EASWARAN

PUBLISHER : JAICO PUBLISHING HOUSE

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought:

We are formed and molded by our thoughts. Those

Whose minds are shaped by selfless thoughts give joy

Whenever they speak or act. Joy follows them like a

 shadow that never leaves them.”

This is one of the famous twin verses of The Compassionate Buddha, says the Mantram Handbook.

Eknath Easwaran was professor of English literature at the University of Nagpur, India. He is the founder of the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation.The Mantram Handbook has a foreword The Brain, the Mind and the Mantram by Daniel H. Lowenstein, MD.

The Mantram Handbook is one of the most precise and simple self help book that I have read till date. I was skeptical about the book simply going by the name and the synopsis as I have a mantram of my own. It rather turned out to be a valuable and an interesting  read.

 This beautifully written book is very clear in its instructions as to how to initiate and choose your mantram. How the power of mantram can help turn fear into fearlessness, anger into compassion and hatred into love, basically keeping the mind steady ! How it can help in excitement and depression. It also gives simple and easy guidelines as to how we can become established in the mantram and how we can reap benefits of the mantram in our life.

 I could very easily correlate with the book. I am sure a lot of readers would be able to connect with it as easily.

The two things that I liked the most about the book are, that all the religions have been treated at par. Eknath Easwaran has basically said that you may belong to any religion but you can still have a mantram of your own. The power of the mantram will see you through thick and thin and will illumine your life for sure.

Second thing that I liked the most about this book is that there is no spreading of superstition of any kind. He rather demystifies the whole thing. Easwaran says “the mantram transforms negative forces in consciousness into constructive power.” Very well said I would say.

The book comes highly recommended especially to the spiritually inclined and also to novices like me. Go ahead read the book and enrich your life.

The Bible says,”As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.”

Shades of Sin:Behind the Mask - A Collection of Short Stories

Title :Shades of Sin: Behind the Mask

Author: Various(Vivek Bannerjee, Upneet Grover,Saksham Aggarwal, Aanandita Chawla,Vrinda Baliga, Sreelatha Chakravarty)

Genre: Short Stories, Fiction

It’s an intriguing collection. All the 25 stories are about the dark side of human beings.  A side which lets itself loose when given space, excuse or circumstance. A side which exists in every one of us but a side we refuse to acknowledge. A side which needs to be analysed, rationalised even neutralised. The stories will compel you to do this analysis fulfilling the purpose of the collection as stated in the foreword to the book. The Cover of the book needs a special mention. It is very interestingly designed, the half shrouded man and a barren tree against the dark sky prepares you for a foray into the mysterious and the sinful, compelling you to start turning the pages.

The stories are divided into 3 sections Light Grey , Dark Grey and Black…increasing in degree of the darkness, arranged so that they achieve a crescendo as we read on. The all pervasive human weaknesses are very strikingly brought about.  All the shades of darkness such as lust ,greed, anger, ego, jealousy, pride  and oppression have been touched upon.

The authors have really worked hard to make the plots and style slick and polished. The protagonists in the stories come across as normal human beings who have been overpowered by their emotions or who have lost their rationale due to their innate weakness.

“The Blue Shoes” by Saksham Aggarwal in the light grey section was very interesting to read. The pun on the word soul and the bantering of friends despite the philosophical bent was just like out of the diary of Makrand’s best friend. Similarly “An Illicit Thought” by Sreelatha Chakravarthy was just fabulous with its subtlety and empathy for humane desires however amoral and the acceptance of it. “Kalpana” by Anandita Chawla is a heart rending description of woman and child abuse and is exquisitely written. “The Bet” and “The Yellow Top” by Vivek Bannerjee are crisp and chilling.  “The Confession” and “The Diary” both by Upneet Grover in the Black section are masterpieces showing the extent of human degradation and its effects.

All the 25 stories are engrossing and intriguing. Editing is slick and accurate. This is a book which will force you to introspect and understand human psychology. The only drawback is that the constant darkness leaves you a little less hopeful. But that was the intention of the authors and editor: To make us aware of this darkness prevailing around us so that we are more inclined to make things better and ourselves less inclined to evil. 

Wise Enough To Be Foolish by Gauri Jayaram

Title :Wise Enough to be Foolish
Author: Gauri Jayaram
Publisher : Jaico Publishing House
Genre: Fictionalised Memoir

It’s a candid story. Direct and simple, a tale almost any middle class girl who has gone against the tide of family customs and marriage and lived her life on her own terms, making mistakes and learning from them; sometimes not learning and making them again.

We are introduced to Gauri when her marriage is on the rocks, a marriage we learn of her own choice maybe more out of convenience, ease and friendship than love and inter-religious to the boot. What brings her to this stage, her struggle (if you may call it, considering she had lead a comfortable middle class life) , her journey from growing up as an armed forces child to becoming a true Mumbai girl forms the first half of the story. It is interesting, anecdotal and very realistic. Readers, especially women, can identify with it as the stories are very similar to their own.

 A girl trying to reason against gender discrimination and stereotyping in her own family, she grows into a rebel. Her coming of age along with the crushes and disappointments are typical of teenagers. Her strength is her intellect, the rare trait of foresight as well as a reasoning mind. She has amazingly clear insight as well as foresight. She then moves on to Mumbai as a college girl and we get a glimpse of her hostel life and work. This part has nothing new but refreshingly told and very entertaining. Her travails and travels and new people that she meets and befriends are interesting.

Again we come to the beginning of the tale and see her through the process of a divorce; which she handles with characteristic calm and intelligence. She continues her turbulent journey of self discovery and of finding true love and her own happiness and we are thoroughly entertained.

It’s a tale you can identify with. Many incidents and lines make you reminisce about your own life. Women can easily identify the gender bias, the stereotyping and the family pressure and the stress that a dominating relationship gives you. But what is most heartening is her determination to overcome everything and live her life on her own terms. The writing style is simple and flowing. The dialogues are crisp and the characterisation apt. Some characters though could have been more fleshed out. Also the men are given too much word-space, a little less about them and a little more about the other women and her work would have been welcome.

All in all a simple but refreshing tale which will make you introspect and feel good. A book that will surely tell you that pursuing your own happiness is not after all a crime. A good entertaining read.

The City of Ember by Jeanne Duprau

Title : The City of Ember

Author : Jeanne Duprau

Publisher : Random House

There is something strange about the city of Ember. It is night everywhere but no twinkling stars and no moon in the sky. There are no plants and animals except for bugs and insects. It is dark all the time except for the yellow lights that flicker from the lamps in the houses and on the streets. Since there is no notion of day or night, the activities happen as per the specific timings. The lights are put out at certain hour every day indicating bed time and the lights are turned on after specific passage of time every day. Everywhere everything seems to be bathed in an ominous yellow glow but still the brightness is missing. Beyond the area that is lit by these floodlamps there is a black scary world that no one has dared venture into. In fact, some people did try exploring that part of the city but were not successful in finding anything after just a few steps in the pitch dark unknown world. The life has been going on in the city as a rhythm, or is it so? Though people have been living here for more than 240 years, it is becoming more and more noticeable that the storerooms are running out of supplies, things are getting scarcer by every day and the city is plunging into blackouts more often now, bringing everything to standstill. In short, uncertainty is looming large over the future of the city and its inhabitants. This underlying fear is getting reflected in the gloominess that is writ large on the faces of citizens of Ember.

One more school term is over and twelve-year-old Doon Harrow and Lina Mayfleet have been assigned their life jobs - Lina as a messenger, and Doon as Pipeworker. The lifeline of the city - the pipeworks are underground where a river roars and a generator works untiringly, illuminating the whole city. Doon believes that he would find something there among the pipes which could possibly change the doomed future of the city. Lina happens to find an old document titled - 'Instructions for Egress', (Egress means exit) in a torn state and along with Doon she decides to solve the puzzle to find the new world. These happen to be the instructions that were written by the builders of the city some 241 years ago to lead the people out at the right time. But clearly something went wrong in the way it was supposed to get passed on from one generation to another.

While on their mission to find directions out of the city, they stumble upon some unflattering secrets about the mayor of the city and his guards. Doon and Lina now face a prison sentence for spreading false rumours. Time is ticking, the guards are looking for them, Doon and Lina have to decide fast and act fast. They have to decipher the mysterious instructions and the task becomes even more difficult when they do not even know what do things like matchsticks, candle and boat mean. Will they every see any light at the other end of the tunnel?

'The City of Ember' is full of fear, mystery, adventure, and desire and determination of two pre-teens to save the people of their city. The narration is engaging and it is interesting how the strangeness of the city is unraveled slowly chapter after chapter. While smoothly weaving the flow of the story, the author very subtly talks about the 'want' in a person which often plagues any logic or reason that comes in its way. Lina experiences this feeling once when on seeing the colour pencils in the store which she so desperately desired, she finds the 'need' of a coat for her grandmother fading away. It was perhaps the same 'want' which had cast its spell on the mayor and his trusted people too, including one of Lina's friends. 

If you want to know what happened to the people of Ember, you need to read the sequel of this book - The People of Sparks. 

THE DEADLY ROYAL RECIPE by RANJIT LAL

Author: Ranjit Lal

Publisher: Duckbill

Price: INR 225

ISBN: 978 93 81626 94 8

Everyone is living a perfectly normal and happy life. Everything is going as it normally must for three friends, a little boy and a little girl. Only so long as the little girl, a princess of one of the still surviving royal families in India, decides to join a school, where she meets the three friends and the little boy. And from there on their lives go an a roller coaster ride. Only, not in an actual roller coaster, but on some of the most exquisite, expensive yet rashly driven cars.

These five kids decide to go on a tour along with the princess' uncle. There they are kidnapped and their attempt to run away from captivity only leads them into further danger. The only thing that can save them is the kids' quick wit and the princess' excellent culinary skills, which she has inherited.

The parts of the story are linked to one another so beautifully and the story literally keeps you at the edge of you seat. It is not so easy a task to put it down once you begin reading. There are times when all seems perfect and peace seems close, and... it is only the beginning of what would eventually turn out to be a real crazy sequence of events. 

From underage driving to dishes called 'sharabi suar ka bachcha' and 'angoothe ke beech ka murabba' to the most mouth watering aromas to the murky rivalry between the blue blooded families to the most dangerous car rides to sweet poisons to kind beasts and beast faced madmen to horse racing to a heartwarming homecoming, this book gives you an experience of everything. And this 'everything' revolves around a book. A single book. Well!

It isn't the regular kind of book you would like to read, review and put away. It is the kind you would want to read as fast as possible, finish up all your nails in the process, wonder, smile, close your eyes, imagine the scenes, smile again and go to a happy sleep.

Go ahead and read it if you are not afraid of scary adventures and scary captors. Not to mention that this book will be a very special delight for the foodies and those who generally believe in eating for a happy life.

Our Moon Has Blood Clots by Rahul Pandita

Title : Our Moon Has Blood Clots

Author : Rahul Pandita

Publisher : Random House India

ISBN : 978-8-18400-087-0

Rahul Pandita brings the ugly yet true story of Kashmiri Pandits who endured the torture from time to time since 1947 because of their faith in one way of reaching the almighty. In an ideal world, this reason for such brutal behaviour sounds so senseless and shallow but oft man has managed to put even animals to shame by his lowly actions.

Rahul was 14 years old in 1990 when his family was forced to exit their home in Srinagar during ethnic cleaning by Islamic militant. This was the time when the threatening calls for 'Azadi' from India by Kashmiri Muslims were getting louder, aggressive and violent against the minority population of Kashmiri Pandits. People were tortured and killed and were forced to leave their homes and spend the rest of their lives in exile in their own country.

As the author reminisces his personal story full of incidents of torture, violence, looting, exodus and unhealed scars, many policies and politicians stand disrobed in front of truth and revelation. While narrating his personal experience as well as those of others in the similar situation, he talks about the fictional mask that has conveniently been given to the facts to suit the needs. The narrative reflects the pain and suffering of the author - who witnessed everything first hand at a very tender age, who saw his parents mourning the loss of their loved ones, who saw a big part of their being dying when they became refugees in their own country, who still yearns to go back to his roots someday. This heart wrenching tale brings in front the ignored plight of a big section of Kashmiri land.

'For me, exile is permanent. Homelessness is permanent. I am uprooted in my mind. There is nothing I can do about it. My idea of home is too perfect. And home and love are two intertwined.  I am like my grandfather, who never left his village his whole life. It was deeply embedded in his matrix, too perfect to be replicated elsewhere.' There is yearning, there is hope and there is pain when Rahul says, 'We will return permanently'.

'Our Moon has Blood Clots'  is a sad yet compelling story about the open wounds of numerous families which became homeless and refugees in a matter of hours and days because of some mad fundamentalist  fervor. Rahul Pandita has taken it upon himself to bring the names and numbers of every person who bore the brunt of this brutality. "I have made it my mission to talk about the 'other story' of Kashmir. I have reduced my life to names and numbers, I have memorised the names of every Pandit killed during those dark days, and the circumstances in which he or she was killed. I have memorised the number of people killed in each district. I have memorised how many of us were registered as refugees in Jammu and elsewhere." This is his way of making people aware of the forgotten chapter in the history of Kashmir.

It is heartening to read that in spite of such extremely harsh circumstances, the humane traits can thrive if one so desires and Rahul Pandita owes his thinking to his upbringing when he could confront an army chief by saying, "I have lost my home, not my humanity".

A great book to understand the real blood-stained history of the 'Paradise on Earth'.

A brief timeline at the end summarises the events in chronological order for reference.