Shalabh Agarwal

It indeed is difficult to get over the lives of Sabitri, Bela and Tara; a story that drives you through the pathway with incessant longing, love, hatred and isolation. CBD, you're an extraordinary writer!

She will let you weep in the wake of wanting more of such tenderness. This book (literally) makes you move mountains of realistic creativity. Indeed a must-read! Next up? The forest of enchantments. @divakarunichitra

Well, I might want to slice open his head and look for something that makes him such a prolific writer. Set in late 1960s and published in 1987, Norwegian Wood is a book read by almost every single Japanese ever born in the history of Japan; that’s what the readers say. It’s a story about a human whose life revolves around his perverted thoughts, fantasies and straightened character. So yea, there’s a lot of sex which we all millennials might relate to when it comes to reading Haruki Murakami. P.S. It ain’t a love story and it’s a must read! And yes, this ain’t a book review; so go ahead.

This book will speak to you in a language that only you’ll understand. It’ll haunt you to read more of it, long for it and indeed mourn for it. Another contemporary masterpiece by Murakami that will sweep you off your sleep every single day to re-read the way men long for (certain) women in their lives.

This book? Okay. Hold up. Breathe. Read. Think. Imagine. Re-read. Stop. Sleep. Dream. Rise. Read. That’s what I followed to get answers to some mysterious questions that life throws upon us. Feel this book to find out if there’s another “You” settled somewhere in a parallel universe that only you could imagine. And yes, don’t forget to let people know what you feel about them. Everything. Before it’s loo late to regret about it.

Let’s spend a day doing nothing together, sit close, with our arms laid up and we talk about us and being together! Nay, let’s talk about the book rather. From Kolkata to Los Angeles, Venice and Oregon, this book speaks of (re-kindled) faith by two strikingly bizarre women who will make you drench in the memories of our lives with every single line you progress with. P.S. Well, you may brush up your Bangla and Italian (which you know nothing about) after reading this one.

Well, I have always thought of someone narrating my story when I’m gone and add a little background music to it. Just for taste. May be. I don’t want someone to wail or cry for it, but yes a little memory of me being with them would be fine. Just fine. All my life, I have wanted to be writer, leave everything and write to satiate myself; but I discovered this late, not-so-late enough to let it go. Anyhow, this book will tell you the basics of how mesmerising could a fiction roll out of a kitchen table. I learnt a lot, I hope you too should. I don’t need to say much if you’re a Murakami fan though. Happy Reading!

This one had tears and mystery rolled into one big cheesecake. Another one off the list by Murakami! Oh yes, this one’s from Japan, so certainly an inch closer to my heart! Happy to brake my non-reading-phase after 9 long months of reading everything except fiction.

Have you ever wondered what makes Hanuman Chalisa one of the most read poems in Hinduism? Devdutt Pattanaik has an answer to it. I wish I too had one, concrete and distinct from Pattanaik but then he made it simpler and fancied it in a more realistic way. Drawn in 40 (Chalisa) verses, this makes you alleviate symptoms that lead to stress and calms you down. To me, it did. Certainly did. Well, I would recommend everyone to give this book a read (once). Trust me, this book reveals what we don’t understand and what we can never understand. Anyway, my favourite lines from Hanuman Chalisa which have stayed with me since my childhood: Sub sukh lahae tumhari sarna, Tum rakshak kahu ko darna. Aapan tej samharo aapai, Teenhon lok hank te kanpai. Bhoot pisaach nikat nahin aavai, Mahabir jab naam sunave. What about you?

We all jump ships at some part of our lives but it’s important that someone reads our Miranda Rights when we go overboard. This book just didn’t read me my rights but gave me a perspective of everything that I do in my daily life (hence the title). Go ahead. Explore. Create. Purify. And, re-discover the momentous joy of reading every chapter that you can relate with convenience. P.S. Do not Proof Read.