The Whimsy Bookworm: A Book Blog from India

Hello!  Another month is over and what an inordinately long month this has felt like.  Seriously, some of the things that happened in the beginning of the month feel like they happened in another lifetime.  I have quite a few favourite things from this month, so let's get started.  1. Favourite Web Series: This was a month of binge watching things and losing myself in another world. I honestly watched more than I read this month, which is not my usual normal. But in this new normal it's sure been nice to just quiet my mind and find a story, a world beside mine to concentrate on.  Paatal Lok was pretty much the best thing I watched all month. It's so good. Dark and hard to watch at times but so is our reality. All the buzz is justified. Please watch it if you haven't already.  Never Have I Ever was a happy revelation. I know everyone kept buzzing about this since it came out, but I am not big on romance or desi stories in A...

We just finished binge-watching Paatal Lok on Amazon Prime Video and here are our 10 reasons why this web series is an absolute must-watch! 1. Paatal Lok is a layered and nuanced cop drama. The basic premise of the show centres around the four hired "killers", who are arrested by the Delhi Police for an assassination attempt case just as they were leaving the city. The case is then handed over to the inexperienced local thana inspector, Hathi Ram Choudhry, who, along with his rookie junior, Imran Ansari, sets about to solve this case and get to the bottom of who these four hired guns are and who hired them to kill a top, honest journalist. 2. So, while Paatal Lok sounds like a thriller or a whodunnit it is so much more! It is a searing reflection of our times- of the harsh reality of caste politics, of religious discrimination, of dirty politics and it shines a light on the privilege of urban, middle-to-upper-middle class Indians, who live in a cocoon, blissfully u...

Book: Murder in Shimla Author: Bulbul Sharma Pages: 304 Publisher: Speaking Tiger Books Read on: Kindle Read in: 3-4 hours Plot Summary:  When, at the height of World War II, an uninvited guest arrives at a dinner party at Chartsville Hall, the Assistant Deputy Commissioner’s house in Shimla, the lives of its inmates are thrown into turmoil. Especially when the guest is blonde and beautiful—and found dead in her bed the next morning. Who is Rosa Rodriguez and why did she come to Chartsville Hall? In the answer to that question lies the key to solving the murder. Inspector Ram Sen sets about diligently finding it, ably assisted by the redoubtable Mrs Tweedy, who knows everything that goes on in Shimla, though she hardly ever leaves her little cottage. The line-up of suspects includes William Parker-Smith, the seemingly bland and boring Assistant Deputy Commissioner, his wife Helen, a very pukka English memsahib, and his acid-tongued sister, Emily; the gin-swillin...

Hello!  Even in ordinary circumstances, books are my solace. When life seems unbearable or even mildly inconvenient, I turn to books to pull me out of my world and transport to somewhere, anywhere else.  So when the world is a hot mess, like it is right now, of course I find comfort in my shelves, in stories and people having a much better time than any of us.  Especially now, books are my everything. Well, books and Vim Liquid...my jhadu and my magical skinny mop...but books are right there on the top of my list..I promise. I also think that now is perfect time to read happy books.  Books full of joy, heart warming characters, fuzzy feelings and just oodles and oodles of comfort. Hence this post.  A post dedicated solely to some Happy Book Recommendations.  I will say though, I don't often read that many happy books.  Murder. Mayhem. Moodiness.  :)  Angst.  History.  I am quite surprised that...

My sister's beautiful Hobonichi Techo and a glimpse into her pencil bag.  Journaling is such a good way to deal with all the uncertainty and angst of right now.  My favourite time of day.  Seriously, the only thing I like about summer in Bombay are the glorious sunsets and the blue skies and the mad beautiful sunshine.  Also, loving how cute and utterly ridiculously my bed looks like now.  Rose Milkshake.  All you need is.. Milk Vanilla Ice-Cream  Rose Sherbat  Throw it all in a blender and mix mix mix.  Add a couple of ice-cubes if you want your milkshake extra chilled.  What my sister and I read over the weekend.  I read The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi , this is pick for Reese Witherspoon's book club. It sounded right up my alley.  Plot Summary:   Escaping from an abusive marriage, seventeen-year-old Lakshmi makes her way alone to the vibrant 1950s pink city of Jaipur. T...

The Here is not where I'd thought I'd be. None of us did.  It's not perfect.  It's hard and getting harder still.  But there is nothing we can do but sit tight and try to find comfort in the things we find ourselves surrounded with.  For me here is Home.  A home full of books, day dreams, trinkets, stationery, dry flowers and memories of happier days.  Here is where I am. And where I hide.  Some glimpses of home.  A shelf of mostly Maa's things.  Little delicate figurines I have grown up around and spend most of my childhood scared of breaking into a million little pieces.  :(  The little damsel in the lilac dress I did accidentally drop and behead but thanks to the magic of glue and my sister's nifty skills she was brought back from the dead. And I saved from a scolding of a lifetime!  Llama Love.  A beautiful and happy corner of home.  This little guy always makes me...

Book: The Stranger's Wife Author: Anna-Lou Weatherley Pages: 288 Read on: Kindle Read in: ~  3-4 hours   Plot Summary: Beth and Cath are leaving their husbands.  This is a story about two very different women. One is wealthy and having an affair with a man who gives her the kind of love that her cold, detached husband does not. One is living hand to mouth, suffering at the hands of a violent partner who would rather see her dead than leave him. You may think you know these women already and how their lives will unfold.   Beth will live happily ever after with her little girl and her soulmate. Cath will go back to her abusive husband. And these two women will never cross paths.  But you will be wrong.  On the 3.15pm train from London to Bristol, Beth and Cath are about to meet and discover they share one shocking thing in common. TRIGGER WARNING: This book has depictions of domestic violence and emotional abuse, control and gasl...

Hello, hello! I hope the Lockdown (round 3 this time!) is treating you well! I hope you are physically and mentally well and are managing to find food to eat and entertainment to keep yourself engaged whilst cooling your heels at home! Basically, I hope you are safe and healthy! My sister and I have been re-watching some wonderful and, might I add, recently uploaded to YouTube, classic Doordarshan serials from the 1980s. For any non-desi readers, Doordarshan is India's public/ government broadcaster. Before the advent of cable TV in India, which happened with the onset of the Gulf War in 1990, Doordarshan or DD was the only entertainment option for TV viewers all over the country. Surprisingly, it turned out some very high quality, progressive, "modern" content. Don't believe me? Watch some of these shows that I am recommending below and see for yourself! *grin* 1. Trishna is the best Indian adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice. If yo...

Hello May!  May you be the answer to our problems.  May you be full of goodness.  May you grant us the strength to live through these trying times.  Be magical May!  May is not my favourite month of the year. It's too hot.  Too muggy.  Too humid.  My way of coping with May is usually hiding indoors and reading myself into slumber. So in some ways this May won't be all that different...almost.  I started my month with little comforts.  Milkshake.  Chaat.  And I've spend most of today comforting myself with an absolute favourite film of mine- Karz.  A way to remember Rishi Kapoor and lose myself in film that has my heart.  Simi looked so gorgeous!  I don't remember when I first saw Karz, I must have been a little over 6 or 7, and it was love at first viewing. Something about this film, it's theme of reincarnation just spoke to me. And ever since it's b...