One of the finest school stories collection (with brilliant illustrations) by some of India’s best authors that I have read is ‘Whispers in the Classroom, Voices on the Field‘. Richa Jha, the excellent editor of the collection, compares ‘Roll of Honour’ with the critically acclaimed Siddhartha Sarma’s ‘The Grasshopper’s Run‘ and points at the glowing reviews for both books but laments the reading habits of teenagers and parents and teachers when compared with books from the West. She makes an argument for our, Indian books on teenagers, to be read by our adolescent readers. Thank you Richa for this much needed pointer examining our reading habits.
‘…a gripping, haunting, disturbing page-turner. In many ways, it is also India’s first boldly written brutally honest crossover fiction.’
Read on here…
Tags: 1984, Adolescent, Bluestar, Khalistan, Mrs. Gandhi, Punjab, riots, Roll of Honour, school, Teenage
Smita Beohar is a friend I have met only through my writing. She reviewed Sepia Leaves when it came out and now reviews Roll of Honour. Her straight talking and frank books blog is quite popular, deservedly so. Thanks Smita!
‘…a story of male camaraderie, loyalties, of surviving in dire circumstances, of letting go & shows you a mirror that what happens if you let your past rule your present. It also makes you think that you might have great friends in your life but at the end it is each for its own. A dark & gritty book but a must read.’
Read here …
Tags: 1984, Bluestar, Khalistan, Mrs. Gandhi, Punjab, riots, Roll of Honour, school
I am glad that advertising professional and writer Julia Dutta read Roll of Honour the way she did. While the book has been hailed as a text on boarding school culture and the events of 1984, she invites a discussion on the psycho-sexual aspect of the book. It was a key theme for me while writing it. Thanks Julia!
‘…there is a deeper and denser meaning that emerges from the reading of this book, that being, the underlining, loud voice that literally shouts out to the reader revealing an insight into the relation between violence and sex… Both sex and violence is about power, they are two sides of the same coin.’
Read on…
Tags: 1984, Bluestar, Gay, homosexuality, Khalistan, LGBT, Mrs. Gandhi, Punjab, riots, Roll of Honour, school
Maullika Sharma who read Sepia Leaves a few years ago and Roll of Honour recently left the technology industry a few years back to work as a counselor with children in schools. She interviewed me recently for the prestigious journal to plot my journey from being a care giver, sufferer, to becoming a writer. In this interview in which I talk of writing as therapy I duly acknowledge the role Dr Ajit Bhide, Dr Alok Sarin Dr Shekhar Sheshadri and Dr Anirudh Kala played in my life. Thank you Maullika.
Q: What was your motivation to make your story public?
Ans. The motivation for Sepia Leaves was that through my growing up years the society called me a ‘mad woman’s son’ and hence unworthy of equality but worthy of a lot of sympathy and even some pity. I asked myself: is there no space in the world beyond our home where our family’s story can make sense? Is madness truly as dehumanizing as it is made out to be? Can’t we live in a world, or even inside a story?
Read on…
Tags: 1984, Bluestar, counselling, Khalistan, Mrs. Gandhi, psychiatry, Punjab, riots, Roll of Honour, school
A brief review appeared in the Afternoon – Despatch and Courier. Read on.
Tags: 1984, Bluestar, Khalistan, Mrs. Gandhi, Punjab, riots, Roll of Honour, school
Anu Reviews is one of the early Indian websites devoted to book reviews. Anuradha Goyal turned her passion into her life work. Her dedication to both book- and travel-related writing is inspiring. She is also a city walker and often organises walks to places of historical importance. I feel honoured she features an interview with me this month after carrying the Roll of Honour review last month and the Sepia Leaves review a few years back.
Read on.
Tags: 1984, Bluestar, Khalistan, Mrs. Gandhi, Punjab, riots, Roll of Honour, school
Friends, all the years since 1984, while Roll of Honour churned inside me, I wondered if it was relevant. The events of the last few weeks shows us that it is, here is a journalist who mentions it.
‘Roll of Honour landed on my table at a time when the news of former Indian Army General KS Brar surviving a bid on his life in London flooded the newspapers. Brar had sustained injuries but survived the assault. Many believe the attack was meant to avenge Operation Bluestar. A mere mention of Operation Bluestar demands the topic be handled with care. Such is the emotive appeal of the issue that even 28 years after the storming of the Golden Temple, it continues to haunt the memory of Punjab.’
Read on:
Tags: 1984, Bluestar, Khalistan, Lt Gen Brar, Mrs. Gandhi, Punjab, riots, Roll of Honour, school
A few days back I was surprised when Shankari Murali picked on this aspect of reading Roll of Honour: the most disturbing idea for me was that I was there in the book as a voyeur – vekhan chali.
It made me reflect again if I had in my pursuit to not be a voyeur of other people’s pain in fact created voyeurs out of readers. There is a little bit of voyeur-ism in all our reading and listening. We also often seek pain to define ourselves. Happiness can be unlimited but often pain has boundaries and threshold levels and those define us. In the following account Shankari shows immense courage by recording her story, a sort of my experiments with pain.
This is more a result of the trigger that the book gave her, her musings, than a review. Please read.
Tags: 1984, Bluestar, Mrs. Gandhi, Pain, Pleasure, Punjab, riots, Roll of Honour
Santosh Singh is an award winning development journalist based in Patna. Santosh focuses on real stories, he has been mapping Bihar for the last decade, and this is his first public review of a book. I take it as a compliment that he felt the book was real enough to be discussed.
‘…blunt and honest where characters do not wear masks and where others are expected to shed them. It also exposes the hubris of military discipline, which cares more about crease-less uniforms and well-polished shoes than inculcating real values.’
Read on.
Tags: 1984, Bluestar, Khalistan, Mrs. Gandhi, Punjab, riots, Roll of Honour, school
Nandini Krishnan, who we met through an earlier review of ‘Roll of Honour’ actually spend half a day with me talking about the book, the Sikhs and other issues. This piece, available below, has been edited. The interview, to me, is also an experience of what the Internet can give us – unlimited storage space and thus a relief from the tyranny of what editors assume the readers need. Read this at leisure, over the next few days maybe, write in any thoughts, queries. In this conversation, I feel I have spoken. Thank you Nandini, this is the kind of journalism I grew up with and miss today. Read on.
Here is the edited piece which appeared on sify.com.
Tags: 1984, Bluestar, Khalistan, Mrs. Gandhi, Punjab, riots, Roll of Honour, school