Manish Tully: Book Review

For One More day..... by Mitch albom One word for this Book.... EXCELLENT! Mitch, through his character Charley Benetto delivers discourses on life and importance of ‘One More Day’ you want to spend with your loved ones. What I realized after reading this book is: “ if and when you feel like speaking to someone- a friend- a relative- loved ones etc.... just pick up a phone and speak to them or just see them right away.. you never know whether they will be there to talk to you tomorrow or not.... manish tully  I personally went through this phase..... my elder daughter, one fine morning simply said that she wanted to see my maternal grandfather... she was about six years old then and had hardly met him; only on two or three occasions.... I was surprised... I  told her that we will soon see him.... a false promise... she after two-three days again repeated her desire.... and once again I said we will visit him....though I wanted to see him but couldn’t do so and t

Aisle Be Damned.....Swaying hips, praying lips and flying tips...... by Rishi Piparaiya.............. complicated surname.... A book which will take you on an airplane.. only to suffer ..... from problematic baggage trolleys, shrewd eyes of pretty females sitting across the check-in counters, security check, check-in, transfer busses, boarding, take-off, landing and de-boarding. The book is a firsthand account of the author about the miseries of flying. The book is hilarious and explains all facets of air travel with a pun. I am sure once you start reading this book... you cannot put it down. Funny quotes from the book: One should not flush while sitting on the throne. Finish your business, get and then hit the flush button. Air-planes are equipped with state-of-art vacuum flushes that use brute suction power to pull al the crap. If you operate the flush while still at the pot, there is a reasonable chance that your intestines may get ripped out through

Those Pricey Thakur Girls..... by Anuja Chauhan To be honest, I simply bought this book for three reasons: (       a)     Its blurb, which refers to Hailey Road...... my acquaintances, can understand as to why mere mention of Hailey Road was a decisive factor.......... I worked at an office there......still working for the same organisation ... but at some other location..... (       b)      Those legs on the cover page;  and (       c)     The Cat ..... I think I know this particular cat..... author must have clicked her pic at Hailey Road itself....   J The book revolves round the story of Justice Laxmi Narain Thakur and his five delectable daughters housed at a sprawling bunglow at Hailey Road.... New Delhi-110001... the pin code,  all rich and elite want to use with their residential address. The story line is quite formal and purely filmy. The story is revolves aroung LN’s daughter Debjani and Dylan Singh Shekhawat. The typical love and hate story

The Krishna Key---- by Ashwin Sanghi This is a mythological thriller. A murder mystery coupled with life of Krishna and his fight for truth. For the first time, I got to know what is the significance of 108 beads? Why 108 is sacred for Hindus... Add up all individual digits.. its 9.. number 9 represents wholeness. If you multiply 9 with anything, the answer is always 9 when you add the digits together.. there are nine Navratras (holy period of fasting for Hindus).. Hindus worship Navgrahs (9 planets).. The book also brings to fore trught of somnath and Taj Mahal. I will not be divulging more on this book, it being a thriller with suspense. Read this book. It’s quite interesting. Tully

The Sunset Club...... by Khushwant Singh   An average book... not typical Khushwant Singh’s writings... I will call this novel a “Constipated Novel” ... there are certain reasons for referring it like this.. the story line revolves around three friends Boota, Baig and Sharma and their life at Lodi Gardens. Singh captures life of these three Charlie’s- their sex life, their daily routine, their perception about Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus and their death. Manish

I read this book in flat two days. This book is really a gem. A masterpiece! Journey from life to death is explained in a simple and uncomplicated manner. You read 188 pages and I am sure, your perspective towards life changes. Mitch Albom, in this thesis ( it is indeed a thesis on life, death & conversations of a dying person with a middle aged person ), give a detailed account of discourse by his mentor, guru, counsellor – his teacher... Morrie Schwartz.   Personally, I never came across such a teacher so far whom i can idolize and look forward for guidance or direction towards life which Mitch got from Morrie. .... people say.. When you are ready ... the master will appear... I am waiting for that experience. I am just penning down certain golden phrases/ statements by Morrie as given in the said book, which are beyond doubt life transforming: 1.        Once you learn to die, you learn how to live. 2.        If you accept that you can die at any time,

  The Life of a Mogul Princess: Jahanara Begum; Andrea Butenschon My prized possession! [ At least I believe so ]. Its 1931 edition by George Routledge & Sons Limited, Broadway House, Carter Lane, E.C.. I purchased this book from an antique collector in Australia. The book is primarily written from the personal diary of Jahanara which accidentally fell into the hands of the writer (as claimed in the book), from behind a marble slab in the Jasmine tower of the fort in Agra. If this is true, this book is indeed a rare one existing now. The manuscript was in Persian and translated in English. Awesome Book. First hand account of life of Jahanara Begum. The book will take you back to year 1550-1600. Your mental clock re-winds and you will find yourself, interacting one-to-one with Jahanara Begum. Interesting fact about Jahanara: Her grave is quite a simple one and with following inscriptions: “Let no rich canopy over my grave: this grass is b

The Last Mughal: William Dalrymple I would like to rate this book first: 10/10. What an excellent account on Indian history by William Dalrymple. I think he gave tough competition to Indian historians with his research and thoroughness of day-to-day, month-on-month and year-to-year account of Mughal reign. The book also gives detailed account of enmity amongst renowned poets in Mughal Durbar like Mir, Mirza and Ghalib. An interesting statement by a one of the unknown poet about Ghalib: “ Kalaam-i-Mir samjhey aur zubaan-i-Mirja samjhey Magar inka kaha yeh khud hi samjhein ya khuda samjhey” --- we  follow poetry of Mir, and the language of Mira, But of him (Ghalib)- only he can follw his verses, or may be God alone can. I read this book on 22 nd November, 2009. One cannot ignore this book, if you are really interested in understanding The Mughal Durbar. Manish Tully

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: Stieg Larsson Beautiful book on love, hate and revenge.  Pretty fast and keep you hooked. I am not writing much on this book as I am not interested in divulging any suspense, mystery and thrill. Read this book and believe me, this will give you goose bumps esp. when you reach biblical verses and their correlation with murders. One important stanza, I liked most: “ I had many enemies over the years. If there is one thing I’ve learned, it’s never engage in a fight you’re sure to lose. On the other hand, never let anyone who has insulted you get away with it. Bide your time and strike back when you’re in a position of strength- even if you no longer need to strike back”--- I PERSONALLY NOW RELYING ON THIS. I rate this book as 10/10. Cheers, Manish

In the Valley of Mist: Justine Hardy I read this book on 21 st July, 2012. This is not a novel. There is no sex, love and hate. This is just a firsthand account of Justine Hardy about Kashmir during her stay and work in Kashmir. This book is pretty slow; but if you want to understand what all Kashmiri people have gone through during Indo-Pak conflict, one must read this book. While I write this blog Kashmir is still recovering from its loss- loss of its people, culture and heritage. Hopefully, Kashmir will again be “Jannat”. Manish Tully

  Victoria and Abdul: Shrabani Basu This is a story of Abdul, Munshi to Queen Victoria- then Empress of India, story of rags to riches-rags. Abdul, started off his career with the Queen as her khidmatgar but scaled to the heights of being a Munshi to the Queen Victoria. Storyline revolves around howthe Queen Victoria pampered Abdul and then, how Abdul used love and affection of the Queen to his benefit and to the jealousy of his fellow countrymen in service of the Queen. Abdul was the only Indian who was ever permitted to open confidential letters of the Queen.  Queen Victoria, in her letter of her daughter-in-law , Louise, Duchess of Connaught, dated 3 November, 1888, acknowledged the fact the she was very fond of Abdul and he is good, gentle and understanding & real comfort to her. A great book about: “The Durbar of The Queen” and “The Hostility of Royal Family towards Abdul”. After the death of the Queen, Royal Family turned against Abdul and

Devil In Pinstripes: Ravi Subramanian An excellent Book! I read this book in flat two days. This novel unfolds dramatically to depict dirty games played in the playground of Corporate World. It highlights cheap tactics of people in power to attain success in their professional pursuits. The story-line is pretty fast and motivates its reader to keep flipping through the pages to know “What’s Next”. A good book by a banker. I rate it as 7/10. Manish Tully