The Whimsy Bookworm: A Book Blog from India

  Book: Rohzin  Author: Rahman Abbas   Translator: Sabika Abbas Naqvi  Publisher: Penguin India  Pages: 256 How Long it Took Me To Read: 5 days  Plot Summary:   Mumbai was almost submerged on the fatal noon of 26 July 2005, when the merciless downpour and cloudburst had spread utter darkness and horror in the heart of the city. River Mithi was inundated, and the sea was furious. At this hour of torturous gloom, Rohzin begins declaring in the first line that it was the last day in the life of two lovers, Asrar and Hina. The novel's protagonist, Asrar, comes to Mumbai, and through his eyes the author describes the hitherto-unknown aspects of Mumbai, unseen colours and unseen secrets of the city's underbelly. The love story of Asar and Hina begins abruptly and ends tragically. It is love at first sight which takes place in the premises of Haji Ali Dargah. The arc of the novel studies various aspects of human emotions, especially love, longing and se...

 Hello Loves!  I am a little bit of a flaky TBR maker. I make one at the start of every month and I stick to quite half-halfheartedly. I read a few books from the list and then I usually pick whatever my heart desires. I like my reading to be a little driven by my plans and a lot driven by my heart.  But I do see the merit in having a TBR list ready and raring to go. I start my month by pulling out a few books from my shelves and keeping them aside to pick up as the month goes on.  This month I am reading All Bengali Books in April.  Well, mostly all Bengali books.  So I spent some time, a delightful amount of time, picking out my Bengali books for this month. I am so happy with these beautiful books and I hope I end up reading most of these!  :)  Here are my hopefuls for April.  1. Cat People Edited by Devapriya Roy: Stories about cats and people who love cats. What's not to love?! There are pictures and poems and I am hoping this is one fu...

 Hello Loves!! How is your long weekend going?  It's been very cold here and all I've been doing staying cozy under my quilts and reading and watching things and drinking tea.  This weekend my reading looks a little like this:  Rumi's Little Book of Life, Translated by Maryam Mafi and Azima Melita Kolin: I have been dipping into these beautiful poems every now and then and I don't need to tell you how mesmerizing Rumi's words can be!  I am taking my time with these and trying to absorb the meaning and feelings in these words.  Beautiful and perfect for reading before bedtime.   I am not a big poetry person but something about Rumi and his wisdom and joy and life lessons I tend to enjoy.  A Married Woman by Manju Kapur: I just started reading this earlier today. I really enjoy Manju Kapur's writing and have read quite a few of her books. This one  I am glad to get to. This also adapted into a web-series last year and once I read it, I c...

  Hello August!  I am so happy you are here!  August used to be a pretty ordinary month in my corner of the world. Apart Independence Day, it held no real importance in my life.  Till 2013!  When I decided to celebrate Independence Day allllll month instead of just on the 15th.  I started my annual Indian Books in August and have never looked back.  I also include some subcontinental reads, because this month holds a lot of value for all of us. So I try to include some reads from Pakistan and Bangladesh. It is one of my favourite reading months of the whole year and I read books I am anyways drawn to the most.  I am so happy to kickstart my reading this month!  I have a tentative TBR for this month. Something I've been brewing for the last few months. Keeping books aside to read this month.   I am tres tres excited.  Here's my TBR for this years Indian Books in August:  1. Home and The World by Tagore (or some of his short...

 Hello Loves!  This weekend both my reading choice and my watching choices take me to Kerala.  I am neck deep in all things Malayalam Crime and I couldn't be happier. My sister and I both reading the same book right now, i.e. we are buddy reading.  A true crime book, a memoir of a Police Surgeon.  Dead Men Tell Tales by Dr. B. Umadathan: This book was on my radar for a while, it sounds amazing. A retired Police Surgeon talks of his glorious career and the many interesting cases he encountered. I am a little bit in at this point, around 33% and I am quite happy with the writing and the cases and his personal reminiscing.  Will talk more about it once I am done. I should hopefully be able to finish it this weekend.  As for what I am watching, I am strictly in the same-ish league.  Forensic:   This is streaming on Netflix and is a film full of twists and turns and follows a cop and her team trying to nab a serial killer on the loose. I watched ...

Hello Loves!  I haven't done a book haul post in soooo long!  UFF!  Last year was not a good year for book buying, among other things.  I bought a few books and mostly relied on my existing books to see me through, luckily for me I have enough books to sail through years of lockdown.  But by the end of the year my urge to buy books was rearing it's pretty little head and I didn't have the heart to deny myself the one thing that always brings me joy, so I didn't.  I bought books from Book Chor twice towards the end of last year, mostly used books and I got such incredible deals! I cannot recommend them enough!  This haul is the books I bought around Christmas and I got mostly new books and a few used books, but they are all in such good condition I can barely tell the difference.    Seriously, there is nothing better than buying books.  I love love love nothing more than opening up a package full of books!  What a great bunch of boo...

Hello!  This Monday, I've decided to turn my frown upside down.  After waking up early-ish to a hot April morning, I breezed through my chores.  Dishes Done.  Clothes Washed.  Birds Fed. ( I feed the sparrows and pigeons and parrots from my window, this morning they feasted on some peanuts.)  Breakfast and Coffee had.  I was feeling happy and fresh and positive.  And then I decided to treat myself to some new books...ebooks obviously.  I saw that Harper Collins had a bunch of ebooks for over 50% off on Amazon and I hopped over and added some books to my cart and some others to my wish-list.  I got 10 books in total.  9 from Harper Collins.  1 from Rupa.  I got most of them on 60% off and I am pleased as can be.  I don't intend to buy a ton of books, both during this mess and even after.  In fact, I don't see myself buying much of anything till Pujo...or maybe not even then. B...

Hello!  I don't usually make elaborate TBRs anymore. For a while there, a couple of years ago, I was a pretty diligent TBR maker and then I kinda just stopped. For no real reason, I just stopped making TBRs. I read books as and when I feel like them and it works for me just fine.  But for special occasions or to adhere to a reading theme, a TBR is a good idea be.  So for this month and for reading only Bengali books all month long, I figured I take a good look at my shelves and make a TBR to guide my reading and make life a little easier.  So here is everything I hope to read this month.  APRIL TBR///  1. The Circle of Reason by Amitav Ghosh.  2. The Song Seekers by Saswati Sengutpa.  3. A Life Less Ordinary by Baby Halder.  4. A Life Long Ago by Sunanda Sikdar.  5. In the Name of the Mother by Mahashweta Devi.  6. Sister of my Heart by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. (RR)  7. Wonde...

Hello 2020.  Starting my new year with Tagore.  I thought long and hard about my first read and I couldn't think of a better option to kickstart this new year and decade than a Bengali legend Tagore.  This gorgeous book was a recent purchase from my local book fair.  It is beautiful and consists of Tagore's most popular short stories, poems, a novel- The Home and the World- Ghaire Baire and even his autobiography.  I don't think I'll be reading the whole volume at one go.  I am currently reading the short stories and will stick to just those.  I am really, really enjoying these stories.  Some of the stories I've been reading.  There is nothing quite like getting cozy under my quilt and reading the words of Tagore.  The range of these stories are pretty diverse and range from domestic concerns, to dwindling fortunes, there is even a spooky story or two.  Tagore is a staple in ...

Hello!  I want to share this beautiful work of art that was a local Pujo Pandal. It was inspired by books and literature, Bengali literature to be specific.  And it had art all over.  Art from the Bengal school, artists like Jamini Ray and others of his ilk.  It was breath taking. I spend most of my time ogling at the pandal.  The outside.  Protima.  The colours and art.  Books and Art galore.  Books by Tagore, Saratchandra and Bamkinchandra.  It makes me sad to imagine all of this dismantled.  Ki shundor.  :)