Pittho's world-Book Review.

Book- Pittho's World
Price-299
Harper collins publication
ISBN 13-978-8172239343
Author-Murtaza Razvi

Pitthos world is a collection of short stories which are interlinked to one another at one level but are as different as chalk and cheese. the writer has been one of the distinguished journalist from Pakistan and though he was born after the horrible act of partition his stories encompasses a great description of both pre and post partition Pakistan. For a moment you are living through the larger than life yet believable characters and events. As much as we nurture and fuel our hatred towards our counterpart brothers and sisters living across LOC, there is always this innate curiosity regarding them, their culture, their routine. Whether their life is interspersed with the same spices of emotion as ours, whether they shoulder the same monotonous struggle for bread , clothes and living. The stories are outrageously humorous and at the same time pushes you to empathize with them.

The stories have a wide range of elements, ranging from supernatural to basic, lovers jealousy. The stories are interlinked as far as the characters in question are concerned but each story has been spurned in such a way that even if you pick up a random story , you will not only understand the basic plot but also enjoy the variety of emotions on display. The book will prove to be a pandora's box for people who have not got any ties to the village and its tradition. They would have learnt a lot about the rural culture and traditional differences existing smoothly between a city and a village. But the story doesnt end there itself it takes us on a whirlwind tour of Karachi, Lahore and a picterusque one at that.

Apart from giving us myriads of glimpses of another country's culture which was once a proud part of India, the stories also tackle different emotions and human traits as precisely as possible. The characters, be it the abuse hurling Apa, or a fierce feminst Rani or the righteous Dada all seem to have etched from our own surroundings and we do sem to identify them, may be not always but sometimes.

The only teeny tiny drawback I found (Not that I was looking for one) was the lack of crisp vocabulary which could have escalated the status of this book from a good read to a great book.
All in all a good book to splurge.

Toke- Book review.

Toke- By Jugal Mody
Harper Collins Publication
Price-160 Rs.
ISBN 978-93-5029-340-9

When you receive a book for review, that exact moment is already supposed to be a moment of elation, add to it the subject of the book is all about getting 'high', so what do you feel? You get high on penned words, thats what you do and that is exactly what I did when I took the book in my hands. I had no idea what I was rushing into, but the story was far from predictable, attention-seeking, and focused.The protaganist of the book is not your cliched, muscular, John Abraham types dude, but an average office-goer with a weird sense of humor and a great deal of un-wanted responsibility on his frail shoulders.
The element of mythology always adds spice for us, the devoted , God-fearing middle class people(Rich people dont have to worry about their karma, they absolve their sins by charity!!) However the mythology staring at us from the crisp pages is completely different from what ever you might be expecting or read previously. Lord Vishnu is not your soft spoken, serenely smiling , benevolent larger than life figure, but an awesome rock-n-rolla, marijuana loving, hilarious comic timing and an even better dressing sense(not to forget the dancing blondies behind him!!).
The confusion starts when a guy having an average IQ and an even lower sense of responsibility is faced with a task of saving the world(read the book to know the cause of destruction), his allies are nothing but two of his college friends (read pot-smoking) , two japanese(err they may be chinese ) chicks with impeccable fighting skills and uninhibited love for the two friends, a geek, and a snitch. Yeah they are aided by Lord Vishnu, Shiva and other mythological figures but the humongous task had to be performed by them.

The plot is fast moving with its twists and turns, evil fighting the good (oops good fighting the evil) and at times you wonder what did the author smoke himself before conjuring up such a ridiculously unbelievable plot and characters. I mean fantasy is one thing and mythology is another, when you mix it up and blend it with humor, You get "TOKE".
The characters including the protaganist and his allies are believeable and you can relate to them on a number of levels, be it professional scenario as in a Multinational corporation or personal level where the hero lusts after his office beauty.
An absolute delight to read it for the first time and I recommend it to all those who cant travel without a book in their hands. It will allow you to forget your daily woes even if for a moment or so. You will wonder "what if?" someday this happens with you. I read it somewhere there are no bad books ever. This one is worth spending your hard earned 160 Rs. If I write any further I will give away the freshness of the plot. My rating for this book is 3.5/5 and I will be looking forward to read more of Jugal Mody in future as well. The cover page in itself invites you over for a look through.All in all a good read.
P.S. In this era where every third person is becoming a published author, with a soppy love story, Jugal Mody's TOKE is a breath of fresh air.
"Fun , fantastic freakshow...."