tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99824772026-04-09T16:04:21.153+05:30<i>opening my universe a little more...</i><br>mandar talvekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17060905096456474640noreply@blogger.comBlogger657125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9982477.post-12491315092770964572017-03-13T19:00:00.001+05:302017-03-13T19:02:36.255+05:30

The attraction of reading Prashant Yadav's The Jeera Packer for me was the prospect of an easy, entertaining read. The plot, at least going by the blurb on the back cover, promised a retired sharpshooter returning to pull off one last act -- to shoot the chief minister of India's most populous state. This is a man who at the peak of his career as a "bullet artist" gave it all up to lead a

mandar talvekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17060905096456474640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9982477.post-6142312551343057942015-08-02T17:47:00.002+05:302015-08-02T17:49:03.074+05:30

About fifty pages into Aditya Sudarshan’s The Persecution of Madhav Tripathi, I realized I still hadn't gotten into whatever was going on; that my mind, unable to get involved in the story or plot, had began to drift. And throughout the book The Persecution of Madhav Tripathi just couldn't get me interested and at times (for I am one of those who doesn't like to leave a book incompletely read

mandar talvekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17060905096456474640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9982477.post-31555475908970739762015-02-07T22:22:00.000+05:302015-02-08T01:35:42.468+05:30

The test that Shubha Vilas' Ramayana – The Game of Life : Shattered Dreams faces, is the sort of test faced by any author who attempts a retelling of any epic — &nbsp;How to make the story and the characters appear fresh and new again? We readers, may not have read the Ramayana or the different versions of it, but we are familiar with the story and the protagonists. In such retellings,

mandar talvekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17060905096456474640noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9982477.post-47386071795537176232014-11-23T17:28:00.000+05:302014-11-23T20:36:59.257+05:30

Why don't we get decent entertaining Indian genre fiction? I am not here kvetching about getting some good writing, but something that at the very least honors the long-established traditions of a genre. Possibly the issue is with us, readers and reviewers – an average "reader" is perhaps so thrilled to be seen toting a book around that any thought about the standard of the writing would be

mandar talvekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17060905096456474640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9982477.post-7260050450409816442012-12-23T14:30:00.000+05:302012-12-23T16:26:39.217+05:30

Has there been a more competent writer to emerge in the past year in the Indian English mass market publishing than Douglas Misquita? I very deliberately choose the word, "writer" &nbsp;-- &nbsp;using it in the sense of a "craftsman" -- rather than calling Misquita a "storyteller." Misquita to me, in his earlier book --&nbsp;Haunted,&nbsp;and as well as his current publication --&nbsp;Secret

mandar talvekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17060905096456474640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9982477.post-20655367732732829962012-12-16T16:29:00.001+05:302012-12-16T20:02:15.205+05:30

Reading Ashwin Sanghi's The Krishna Key -- nearly 500 pages long what with a references section appended to the end to lend it that air of researched seriousness -- with the specter of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code hovering insistently over it, was not going to by any means easy. Particularly if within the first few pages of the book, you start feeling The Krishna Key is trying really very

mandar talvekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17060905096456474640noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9982477.post-28727320735061526202012-07-29T14:09:00.000+05:302012-12-18T14:35:12.218+05:30

&nbsp;"Some people stop themselves from doing what they want because of what their friends would think about them. . . Some people regret their silly reasons, wondering why they did not succumb to their desires at the time. . . But now they want to change. They want to shatter the chains that the society has bound them with and win the war that rages within them, once and for all. Will they

mandar talvekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17060905096456474640noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9982477.post-172985969512879932012-04-08T13:34:00.000+05:302012-04-08T22:23:43.678+05:30

Plot Points: Fight staged in darkness in a scrap yard in a thunder shower - check Theft from a top security lab of a nerve agent that could potentially kill millions - check No-holds barred gunfight in a warehouse - check High-speed car chase on a freeway - check Assassins turning up at residential complexes and shooting random people - check Underwater action scenes - check Yachts and ships

mandar talvekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17060905096456474640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9982477.post-37634688893762671702012-04-01T15:17:00.000+05:302012-04-01T20:14:20.788+05:30

If you have studied English Literature in an Indian college or university, there is no escaping the great debate and divide: Native Writings Vs. Indian Writings in English (IWE). While there are many points of argument between the two it essentially boils down to these: the "Nativists" largely contend that literatures in Indian languages are far superior and "Indian" than the ones written

mandar talvekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17060905096456474640noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9982477.post-74827380855501357072012-03-23T17:39:00.001+05:302012-03-31T12:09:56.089+05:30

The Wednesday Soul by Sorabh Pant is a bit better than most of the "mass-market" publishing that is &nbsp;so much in vogue currently in India. The book ostensibly is a funny and sarcastic look at life after death or as the tag line puts it "the afterlife, with sunglasses." The Wednesday Soul tells us about the afterlife of Nyra Dubey. Nyra Dubey is an urban vigilante who roams around Delhi

mandar talvekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17060905096456474640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9982477.post-87844198656671682722011-12-10T23:00:00.000+05:302012-03-25T01:20:03.913+05:30

About a millennium into the future, the universe is a lot different. Many generations ago from 3011, the year in which Sue Lange's Tritcheon Hash opens, women decide they have had enough of the testosterone fueled violence and messiness of males. They pack up and over the next decade or so, leave the men behind on the polluted and resource-depleted Earth and board starships to Coney Island.

mandar talvekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17060905096456474640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9982477.post-15660853399665193172011-12-04T14:28:00.001+05:302012-03-25T20:19:23.454+05:30

In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams, the Vogons are an alien race from the planet Vogsphere who are responsible for the destruction of the Earth, in order to facilitate an intergalactic highway construction project. They are the writers of "the third worst poetry in the universe." The only way Vogons get other races to hear their poetry is by capturing them and

mandar talvekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17060905096456474640noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9982477.post-22156435834721527892011-11-13T14:58:00.001+05:302012-03-25T20:31:40.429+05:30

I have always wondered why Payal Dhar and her Shadow in Eternity series are not famous enough. For the large number of authors that seem to have their 15 minutes under the limelight these days, the lack of excitement around Payal Dhar's Shadow in Eternity trilogy feels like a betrayal by us readers. Those three books, to me, are amongst some of the best fantasy fiction written in India and I

mandar talvekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17060905096456474640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9982477.post-22362628748457208612011-11-06T23:36:00.000+05:302012-03-25T20:20:49.476+05:30

Chetan quit his international investment banking career in 2009, to devote his entire time to writing and make change happen in the country. That is from the short (but extremely eulogistic) bio that appears as soon as you get past the cover of Chetan Bhagat's Revolution 2020 — Love. Corruption. Ambition. So, does this book measure up to that praise? That is a rhetorical question. For a

mandar talvekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17060905096456474640noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9982477.post-54052338313677796212011-10-31T17:50:00.001+05:302012-03-25T20:32:17.369+05:30

When I wrote about &nbsp;Lucy and Stephen Hawking's attempt to bring theoretical physics to kids through George's Secret Key to the Universe, I had pontificated a bit on e-learning — on the process of using stories and scenarios to convey information, to teach. Much of what I had said then about e-learning can be reiterated again while discussing Rajeev Nanda's attempt to fuse literature and

mandar talvekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17060905096456474640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9982477.post-46186132968868088492011-10-08T14:42:00.002+05:302012-03-25T20:33:06.279+05:30

Warning: Spoilers Ahead! Rajeev Sir looked into my eyes and smiled that extra special smile of his. I felt as if my heart was made of butter. His smile is like a microwave. When the microwave is on, the butter melts. I admit that at times I am slow. Slow to call a spade a spade. Perhaps I just didn't want to admit that I had made a grave error in judging a book by its blurb. It was only

mandar talvekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17060905096456474640noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9982477.post-86865702224515362232011-09-26T14:52:00.001+05:302012-04-06T12:45:38.879+05:30

What would you expect from a book that tries to be clever (and only succeeds in eliciting a groan) with its title? I read Jason Lethcoe's No Place Like Holmes, without expecting much from it. At no point in my reading did it feel that the book would attempt to change my opinion of it. No Place Like Holmes, and we might as well get this out of the way, is yet another book that tries to sell

mandar talvekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17060905096456474640noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9982477.post-59345619450979550572011-08-29T19:50:00.000+05:302011-08-29T19:50:37.913+05:30

Anil Menon's The Beast With Nine Billion Feet uses "opposites" to tell its story. At the most primary level this is a story of social and ethical issues about genetic engineering. This is depicted through the covert war between two groups: one wants to make genetic engineering affordable and used for public good. It believes in propagating its boons through something similar to the current open

mandar talvekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17060905096456474640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9982477.post-81989569538520890302011-08-28T00:51:00.004+05:302011-11-09T12:59:25.214+05:30

Photoset | Slideshow I visited the nation's capital, New Delhi, between 17th-22nd August, 2011. The trip wasn't the usual "touristy" one&nbsp;—&nbsp;the primary purpose was to spend some time with close friends who have made Delhi their base. We did manage to visit a couple of spots frequented by tourists. A goodish bit of the other time was spent in staying inside to avoid Delhi's hot and

mandar talvekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17060905096456474640noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9982477.post-63414028796059606522011-08-18T13:21:00.001+05:302011-11-09T15:23:56.993+05:30

Remember Fatty? The Five Find-Outers and Dog? Recently I had one of my many bouts of regression — a time when I find I can only read the stuff I had as a kid. During my last such bout, I decided to do a marathon of Enid Blyton’s Five Find-Outers and Dog Mystery Series. Having acquired all the 15 books for my Kindle, this would be the first time I could read all the books in the sequence they

mandar talvekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17060905096456474640noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9982477.post-79844948090422688992011-08-15T16:17:00.015+05:302011-08-16T11:48:34.398+05:30

Photoset | Slideshow For the benefit of non-Maharashtrians, Mamachya Gavala Jau Ya is a popular Marathi kiddy song about taking a train to visit your Mama (maternal uncle, mom's brother) in his village. The reason for invoking the song in the title was my visit to my Mama's village, also my birthplace, last week. I was visiting after 25 years. I stayed there for a couple of days — time I spent in

mandar talvekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17060905096456474640noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9982477.post-13566673766699546582011-08-02T11:51:00.003+05:302011-08-02T11:59:07.090+05:30

Geetha Krishnan on the six ways in which technology has impacted learners and learning: In case you are unable to watch the video here, visit this page: TEDxGachibowli - Geetha Krishnan - The Technology Affected Learner

mandar talvekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17060905096456474640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9982477.post-5901414545045881582011-04-06T16:04:00.000+05:302012-03-25T20:42:48.637+05:30

Are you one of those who subscribes to AWAD and The Hot Word daily newsletter or RSS feeds? Are you fascinated by words? Have you ever wondered how different words come together to mean something or how in the hands of a supreme author mere letters on paper acquire such power? Have you ever wondered where the words and phrases you use come from? More importantly have you ever pondered on why

mandar talvekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17060905096456474640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9982477.post-73877695237894120982011-03-20T16:41:00.003+05:302012-03-25T20:35:00.360+05:30

Warning: Mild spoilers ahead At the risk of making an extraordinarily sweeping generalization, I think it would not be amiss to hazard that most of us would know what I am talking about when I mention an entertaining but horrible B-grade Bollywood production. It's the kind of movie which we instinctively perceive to have the worst of plots, stories, acting/hamming, the most outrageous

mandar talvekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17060905096456474640noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9982477.post-60993684789341533402011-03-13T19:04:00.001+05:302012-04-06T12:47:27.754+05:30

Warning: Mild spoilers ahead Chetan Bhagat's success has spawned a spate of Indian&nbsp;“mass-market”&nbsp;novels written in English. You know the kind of novels I am referring to — simple, easy to read stories with a non-taxing, barebones plot and narrative. The focus is more on sustaining the pace of the story rather than building atmosphere or exploring the motivations and interiority

mandar talvekarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17060905096456474640noreply@blogger.com0