Hello Loves!
And a Subho Ashtami to you.
Today is the most important day of the festival, the day we save our best outfits for.
However today is one HOT day in my corner of the world (41 degree Celsius) and I am hiding from the sun and reading, lazing around and planning dinner.
Spoiler Alert: It's Biryani!
:)
I did all of my Pandal Hopping on Shoshti, in a bid to avoid crowds and traffic and it was the best way to see the beautiful pandals and protimas.
For the rest of Pujo my plans have been quite sedate.
Eat good food.
Hide from the sun.
And of course, READ.
And each some stuff with the family.
First let's talk about the reading.
The Illuminated by Anindita Ghose: This is my current read. I am hanging out with Probashi Bengali mother and daughter duo for Pujo this year. I recently bought this book, for a pretty good deal, even though I really wanted to hold out and get a physical copy because the cover design is so lovely (a total first world bookish problem) but I was good for a change and got the much more affordable Kindle version. I am about 40% through and so far it's been lovely. Well-written, moving and oddly familiar and deep.
I like.
I like a lot.
I am hoping that the rest of it is just as good.
Plot Summary: 'When the light shifts, you see the world differently.'
A superbly nuanced work of fiction, Anindita Ghose's first novel The Illuminated revolves around two women: Shashi and Tara. After the sudden death of her celebrated husband, Shashi is alarmed to realize that overnight, she has lost her life's moorings. Meanwhile, their fiercely independent daughter Tara, a Sanskrit scholar, has been drawn into a passionate involvement with an older man, which threatens to consume her in ways she did not imagine possible.
Amidst a rising tide of religious fundamentalism in India that is determined to put women in their place, Shashi and Tara attempt to look at themselves, and at each other, in a new light. But is it possible to emerge from an eclipse unscathed?
An astonishing feat of the imagination, The Illuminated is as sophisticated in the quality of its prose as it is provocative in its thematic focus on questions of identity. A remarkable novel of ideas, it marks the arrival of a tremendous new literary talent.
I am hoping to read this and finish it soon enough. Will let you know my final thoughts once I am done. But so far it's been pretty stellar.
I like both our main protaganists. Shashi a wee bit more than Tara and I am curious and low key stressed about where the rest of the book takes us.
:)
IF this book gets to be a little sad (which I have sinking feeling it might) I might seek comfort in some good old Feluda stories. Because something about Pujo just screams nostalgic joys and Feluda is peak Bengali excellence and nostalgia.
Sitting here my Feluda Vol-1 with a perfect companion. A laptop sleeve from Sampoorna, designed by Karubasona. A new love.
:)
As for watching, I am watching a few thing at the moment.
Last evening we started watching the new season of Eken Babu on Hoichoi and one episode down it's quite fun. It's essentially a detective show and while the detective himself can be a little annoying and it takes a little time to get used to him and his antics, the plots and the mysteries are good fun.
I am also watching 911 on Hotstar which is always a fun thing to watch.
We might start on Squid Game tonight...the buzz is a lot and honestly that's what kept me away from it. I might sample an episode or two tonight.
Also SVU Special Victims Unit has a few episodes out and we may watch that too.
The options are quite endless.
:)
How is Pujo treating you?
What are you reading/watching/eating?
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