Book Review: Eating Wasps by Anita Nair

Rating: 4/5

“The ancients, the scriptures, all of them tell you that life is simple. That we complicate it with our thoughts, our desires, our hopes for ourselves, our need to immortalise ourselves even while we breathe.”

To me, this seems to be the essence of Eating Wasps.

While reading the book, I kept wondering by the resort by the Nila river sounded familiar. Only later did I remember that the resort had originally appeared in her book, Mistress. I had read the book four years ago, but a quick reading of the blurb brought back the details of the story. I remember discussing with my colleagues how I hadn’t come across such a tastefully depiction of adultery. I was impressed by the detailed description of dance, too.

Eating Wasps is overwhelming–a whole gamut of open-ended stories about women and their struggles. I wish each had been brought to some sort of conclusion–like Sreelakshmi’s story–even though it was unfortunate that she chose to end her life instead of soldiering on.

It is through Sreelakshmi’s spirit, residing in her fossilized index finger bone, that we are introduced to the lives of the other women. I found Brinda Patil’s story to be of particular interest. Why would she give up when her badminton career was at its peak? The question is never fully answered. We get an insight into the lives of gifted children who have to shove their childhood aside for the sake of their sport.

Najma’s story is one of immense strength wherein she gets acid thrown in her face because she refuses to wear the hijab–and to accept her stalker’s offer of marriage. Incredibly, she returns to the scene of the crime–the train compartment–with her scarred face and ensures that the passengers who denied the knowledge of the crime could see the consequences of their actions.

Molly and Theresa’s story is a fascinating look into how sibling rivalry and religious fanaticism can drive one to madness. The painful story of Lilian “Pussy Mouth” is a reality check about the dangers of oversharing on social media.

Nair has drawn apt comparisons between three social media platforms and village life:

” Facebook was no more than a village well where daily updates were shared and Instagram was the bathing spot in the river where either you looked or were looked at. As for Twitter, it was no more than an extension of the tea shop where men gathered more for news and debate rather than for the tea and parippu vada. The only difference between then and now was that men and women bathed together, and men fetched water from the well while women sat on the narrow benches in the tea shop with their knees crossed and discussed politics and world affairs. “

The common thread in all these tales is how society, be it men, women, or one’s own family, is quick to denounce and shame a woman who is unwilling to play by the rules. Men feel the need to teach women their “place.”

The book is peppered with Malayalam words to lend it an authentic flavor, but I don’t understand the language and a glossary at the end of the book would have been helpful.

I felt a sense of incompleteness and discontent after reading the book. I am still looking for answers. But there are plenty of life truths for the reader to chew upon. Let that sustain you.

You can get a copy of the book here.

Book Review: Musings of a Romantic by Shankar Kashyap

Rating: 4/5

After composing beautiful pieces on love and longing in various poetic forms in Lady in Red, it was obvious that Shankar Kashyap would continue to amaze us with his eloquence. Musings of a Romantic features an exquisite collection of poems on love, humanity, and the river Sarasvati (the poet’s favourite river) and the book is structured to include some of the most common poetic forms used around the world.

An informative introduction gives us a detailed history of poetry writing right from its oral beginnings. The poems are categorized on the basis of the poetic form used to compose them and several new forms have been employed—gnomic verse, sestina, palinode, kyrielle, monody, and rispetto, to name a few. Kashyap includes a brief description of each form to help acquaint readers with its intricacies. He also helps us understand the composition better with a short write-up about it.

It is fascinating to see the sheer amount of research that has gone into this collection. Kashyap is not only a gifted poet, but a thorough researcher as well. An appendix dealing with poetic formats, metric structure, and other aspects of poetry is included in the book.

This is how this collection of poems is different from the usual poetry anthologies. Not only does it include poems composed by the author, it also contains detailed information about the history of poetry and each poetic form employed along with a famous poem that exemplifies the form.

“Poison” and “Life” in gnomic verse are particularly interesting compositions that were thought-provoking. I could relate to “The digital city” very well since I have lived in the city for many years. I felt the pain in “A Friend is Forever” and the glory of a long-lost empire in “Tribute to a Golden Empire.”

My favourite composition is “The Leader,” a pithy poem about two-faced politicians. It is a “chastushka,” just four lines, but it conveys a wealth of meaning.

I hope you enjoy reading this book just as much as I have.

Book Review: December Waves by Mandrita Bose

Rating: 5/5

This vast volume of poems has been an absolute delight to read. For ease of reading, the book is broken into seven chapters, each with an overarching theme. Each poem is given its space to breathe on the page, without crowding it with other poems, no matter how small it may be. This gives the book an airy, pleasant, and readable quality.

My favorite was chapter five, “Amore” and if I were to pick one poem that I liked best, it would be “Stay.” So much emotion, love, and delicacy in one piece! Dealing with one of the finer human emotions, love, the poems in chapter five are particularly beautiful.

Mandrita has dealt with nearly every emotion under the sun. I did not know it was possible to speak so sensitively of topics like depression and bullying. There are poems of every hue and color, shape and size. She weaves magic even with a 3-line poem.

“The Breeze” (in chapter one) is a light, fresh-toned poem that I loved. “One more time” (in chapter two) tugs at the heartstrings and it is one of the poems that I re-read simply for the pleasure of it.

I’d like to make special mention of the publishing team behind the book for creating such a beautiful cover page. You know you want to pick up the book and explore further when you see it.

(Literoma Publishing Services offered a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Looking through the Prism by Sujata Chatterjee

Rating: 4.5/5

A collection of poems cannot be read like a novel, covering several chapters a day. Each poem is to be savoured and mulled over. Think—How do YOU feel about it? What does it say to YOU? I believe that the magic of a poem lies in the manner in which each person interprets it in a slightly different way. “Looking through the Prism” is a collection of 17 delightful poems that can be easily covered in a day, but I chose to give each piece time to sink in.

Sujata Chatterjee has covered a wide range of subjects in her poems, from descriptions of nature to the meaning of freedom to hope, love, memories, and beauty. I found “Exhaustion” to be most relatable as it deals with the futility of memorizing facts as part of the current school education system instead of learning life skills and developing one’s personality.

Another poem that I felt compelled to re-read was “The Rosebud.” The contrast between cruelty and compassion is depicted so sensitively and beautifully. Each word in “The Freedom” gives one a sense of being free of the many chains that hold us captive and feeling breathless in one’s newfound freedom.

“Loving You” is an endearing dedication to one’s beloved—each word is filled with love, longing, and deep fondness. Chatterjee manages to convey a gentle sadness in “Gateway to Memories” without making the poem sound melancholy. The longing in one’s heart is classily depicted via the use of imagery. Autumn, sunsets, whispers, winks, and shedding leaves are put to good use to portray the pain of remembering bygone times. “The Forgotten Cottage” is a poem that deal with similar feelings—of long-lost laughter, longing, burning fireplaces, dancing, and music.

There are several happy and hopeful pieces in the collection – A Rainbow, The Blessed Fairy, Musical Notes of Nature, Come O Spring–and all make use of the beauty of nature to draw a picture of the ups and downs of life.  

The collection ends with the sombre “Destiny: Faith Or Reason” and is a fitting end to a book that traverses the entire span of human emotions.

(Literoma Publishing Services offered a copy of the book to me in exchange for an honest review.)