Surya Gayathri

When I first saw the book 'Tomb of Sand' by Geetanjali Shree I was perturbed by its number of pages. Even while reading the first part, I felt bored. But as I proceeded I started loving 'Ma' and her story even further. This book is divided into 3 sections: 'Ma's Back' the first, 'Sunlight' the second & 'Back to The front', final and my favorite part. The story revolves around the life of 80 year old Ma , her children- govt officer Bade and journalist Beti and most importantly the so called 'Rosie-Raza' -a transgender. The first section of the book focuses on Ma's depression & her life shackled to bed at Bade's home. Here Shree uses many metaphors most primarily 'Wall'. Second section symbolises the Sunlight that enters Ma's life, i.e her return to freedom and happiness at Beti's home and her friendship with Rosie bua. Final part describes to us her journey to Pakistan ,partition horrors and various religious and country barriers. The story carries multiple themes of which many are often contradictory. Feminism, partition, patriarchy, family, homosexuality and religion remaining the most prominent. More than its themes what is more special about the book is Shree's engaging writing & Daisy Rockwell's near-perfect translation. Shree uses humour and metaphors to convey complicated tragedies. Although Beti considers her to be bohemian, Ma's unorthodox thinking surpasses Beti's modernism. Ma turns to be more revolutionary than any other youth. I would recommend this book to all those who wish to overcome walls of narrow thought and experience sunlight of wisdom and introspection.

Do life and law have a connection? If you want an answer just go through 'Constitutional Concerns' by Kaleeswaram Raj. A relevant and informative book on India's politics, courts and LAW. Kaleeswaram Raj is a prominent lawyer of Supreme Court and has appeared for numerous known cases. His experience and knowledge in law can be clearly seen through this book. It is divided into 5 parts namely- On Laws, On Courts, On freedom, On Politics and On Life. 'On Courts' was my favourite as through It I was able to delve more into courts of India. This book mainly cites incidents that happened in our country b/w 2018-21.Many controversial issues like Farm Laws and CAA and numerous verdicts by courts-both Indian and Foreign are elucidated in this book. Each chapter starts with an apt quote and ends with a wonderful conclusion. Straight to the point, critical and analytical narrative makes it a worthy read.. This is not only a book for Law students but for all those who wish to know the importance of laws in our lives and by doing it I'm pretty sure they'll understand India more...

"To kill a mockingbird "-By Harper Lee I love this book not only because of its interesting and revolutionary storyline but mainly because of it being written from the perspective of an 8 year old girl -SCOUT. She is a very courageous and innocent girl through whom story revolves.... Her brother JEM also play a very important role...But the true hero of the story is Mr.ATTICUS FINCH ,a lawyer,perfect man and a superb parent. This story happens in the village of Maycomb .It describes how racism and discrimination make an innocent mam named Tom Robinson(a negro) charged for an offence of rape of a WHITE girl.....Mr Finch is appointed as his lawyer and through his trial in the court we happen to understand Tom's innocence..The brilliant description of court proceeding by Scout make the book even more ludicrous!!! This is a book that still holds significance in out society where racism ,discrimination and social prejudices holds place.The constant mystery regarding ''Boo Radley" and his appearance at the last of the book make it thrilling..... Coming about the title ...From the novel we understand that some innocent characters are harmed due to racism and social stereotypes..In this book Tom Robinson is the real mockingbird!!He is held for offences he never committed..He only tried to help others... Some quotes that “mockingbirds do nothing but sing for others.” and "Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird" add more value to the book .. No doubt why it won Pulitzer Price and still remains in the heart of many!!!!

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida - a beautiful book that describes Sri Lanka and its civil wars astonishingly .In Sri Lanka ,Tigers and Army are killing civilians. Maali Albert Kabalana ,a photographer, gambler and a gay had woken up dead. He feels he is hallucinating but in reality his body is lying dead in Beira lake.He don't know why he was killed and who killed him. Maali has seven moons to connect to the people he love.Certain photographs were hidden under his bed that could reveal a lot of mysteries of Lankan civil war. During these seven moons he gets the chance to wander in places where his name is mentioned. This book is narrated by the second person and it reveals the brutalities that Sri Lanka witnessed during 1980's. Maali was a war photographer who witnessed atrocities by the Lankan government and captured them in his Nikon 3ST .He have the photos of disappeared journalists and vanished activists bound and dead in custody .These photos have the power to stop wars and bring down governments . The other two important characters are DD (son of a govt minister and Maali's secret boyfriend) and his cousin Jaki. Shehan Karunatilaka's brilliant and sardonic description about afterlife and life in-between make it more interesting!!! Maali's chat with suicides and dead animals make us love the book even further. It is indeed an impressive thriller filled with breathtaking incidents and mordant wit....

A breathtaking splendid true narrative of the dark period under East India Company!! "Era of darkness" is not just an amazing read ,but it really teaches you about our Indian History .British who arrived in India in the name of trade left our country divided. Under British rule India's share of the world economy declined.This book taught me what British really was.We can never forget the harsh cruelties that they did to us ...Shashi Tharoor's detailed writing supported by excerpts make it a worthy read! The book changed my many misconceptions including the one that British are responsible for making us technologically developed. Events like Jallianwala Bagh massacre and nationalist movement is brilliantly described. Made me proud as an Indian.Thank you Shashi Tharoor sir for this masterpiece.

Indu Bhan's LEGAL EAGLES is a good book that talk about seven senior eminent lawyers of Indian Supreme court. Starting in Harish Salve and ending in Rohinton Nariman Mrs.Bhan made a brave attempt to reveal the life of those great activists. What I loved the most about this book was mentioning ONE significant case handled by each of those lawyers. Adv. Aravind P Datar's life was inspiring!! This book made me understand certain important cases like 2G spectrum case, Vodafone case,Coal block cancellation case, and many other cases relating to Arbitration proceedings. But a bit sad as no woman lawyer was mentioned.... I recommend this book to anyone who love law and our great judiciary!!!