The Story of A Suicide by Sriram Ayer: Book Review

"Adida avala, vetra avala...." (Translation: Beat her, kill her) is a popular Tamil movie number starring Dhanush. Recently, I heard a 5-year old boy singing this song to his play mates at our children's park against a little girl because she wouldn't give way for them to play in the sand.

Imagine these little children growing up imbibing such attitudes from films and observing other male relations in their families. 'When a woman doesn't comply to his wish, hurt her' is what is seeded in their minds which becomes the reason behind several acid attacks, rape, murder cases and stalking. 

And this is in fact happened in the Swathi murder case recently in Chennai!

The Bride of Amman by Fadi Zaghmout, translated from Arabic by Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp: Book Review

Passed university with distinction? Good, you are well enough a bride material now.

Thirty and unmarried? Bad, you've almost reached your expiry date.

Did your father take your virginity? It's okay. Keep quiet.

Do you love someone of another religion?  Beware,you might be soon ostracized from your society.

Are you attracted towards the same sex as your's? Worse, control yourself, get married and have children. 

Author Fadi Zaghmout shares such social taboos that have confined young Arab men and women to the deepest corners of their beings. The Bride of Amman is a tale of five young dwellers of Amman, the capital city of Jordan where gender inequality and gender discrimination, make them struggle through their everyday lives. 

Published originally in Arabic, the book is translated by Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp.

Title is Untitled by Santosh Avvannavar, Kundan Srivastava & Raghunath Babu Are: Book Review

Santosh, an author dedicated to bringing into awareness the social crimes and injustice in India, has teamed with Kundan Srivastava & Raghunath Babu Are in Title is Untitled. The authors have come up with 11 short fictions in the book that highlight how women in India become victims of rape and forced marriages. The stories also speak of how some women unlawfully misuse women-centric laws like dowry laws in their favour. Yet, other stories, on a lighter side, underline how shallow Indian education system is and ironically, how deep the Indian Beggary system is.

Written with utmost sincerity, the book is sure to churn your feelings towards such victims. At the end of each story, through the Dear 'No Light' Diary, the authors present brief facts about the issue related to the particular story. I appreciate their thoughtful efforts in collecting the data.

As I always recommend, please try to imbibe the authors' messages from this book and spread them as far as you can.

God's Table by Santosh Avvannavar, Jyothi Byahati & Dr. Sandeep Huilgol: Book Review

Yet another social subject from Author Santosh and team! This time, it is in the form of a conversational discussion between a couple over their dinners and breakfast tables. They discuss about twelve major social and personal crisis that prevail in our society. At the end of each discussion, they seek the advice of Paul, a Godly man, who enlightens the readers with his unbiased, expert opinions.

A few of the topics that are discussed are education system, euthanasia, honour killing, abuse and social media.

God's Table is a quick read to remind all of us of the atrocities happening around us. The book rightly educates the readers about the intricacies of our society.

Please take part, spread awareness!

The Silent Scream by Siddhartha Garg: Book Review

How safe do you think your children are? What is your reaction towards child sex abuse cases that you read in the newspapers? What do you think is the probability of such an incident happening within your close circle? Do you know that boys could also be victims of child abuse?

I’ll tell you what most of you answered.

You think your children are in the safest hands all the time. You feel that what you read in the newspapers happens to one in a thousand children and mainly because of parents’ ignorance. You think that you hail from a decent family and there is no room for such incidents. And you want to ask me, ‘Did you mean B-O-Y-S?!’

The Silent Scream raises an alarm against all your innocent perceptions. There is much more happening to children around us than newspapers tell us. Most importantly, it warns us that child abuse is not confined to class, caste, religion, family background or gender.

So, be safe. First of all, learn to be safe! That’s what this book intends to do.

A must have book for all parents. I am not recommending the book just because I reviewed it. It’s a request to all parents. Don’t think even once. Just order it!

Note: A part of the profit from the sales of this book would be donated to the Arya Orphanage in New Delhi towards the education of the girl children there.

The Other End of the Corridor by Sujata Rajpal

Leela is a bored, frustrated, humiliated and childless housewife. She  did have romantic dreams about her marital life and an ardent aspiration to become a RJ. However, with time, her dreams and aspirations get diluted by the constant pressures of her suffocating marriage. 

At a point when her days move without anything to look forward to, she lets her heart and mind waver in the direction of shallow gratifications until something happens that changes her life forever. 

The dormant warrior in her gets revived and she is no more the woman who worships her husband's feet. 

Black, Grey & White by Santosh Avvannavar and Santosh I.Birdar: Book Review

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