Book Review : 'Satyavati' by Utkarsh Patel

Utkrash Patel’s ‘Satyavati’ is a challenging book. Firstly, because it came to me on Readify, an app, which I had never checked out earlier and secondly, because of all the elements of surprise that it has.

The first few and the last few pages are a complete eye opener for most people. In fact, I doubt if I mention that you probably are totally wrong if I told you that she was not born out of a fish. She and a brother are born out of wedlock to the King of Chedi and the daughter of the leader of fishermen on the banks of the river Yamuna. She is born with a strong smell of fish emanating from her body. 

Her mother dies at childbirth, and it is left to her grandfather to bring her up. The child, treated badly by her father due to her smell, while the son, who was born without any odour was quickly taken in by him. But thankfully, she is brought up by her grandfather. Once, as she is ferrying Sage Parashara she ends up with a son, out of wedlock. The sage takes the son with him and leaves Matsyagandha, now free of the smell, but left with a musky fragrance and also a virgin. 

Matsyagandha, who would now be known as Satyavati. She is desired by many, but finally, the one who catches her eye, is the King of Hastinapur, Shantanu. Her grandfather, the leader of the fishermen, is told of the same but he lays down the condition that her son would be the inheritor of Hastinapur. The king leaves, in much thought and grief. But Bhishma his son, who finds out about the issue comes and takes her to his father, vowing that he would remain celibate.  

So, Satyavati is now Queen Satyavati and leaves for the palace. She is soon mother to Chitrangada and Vichitravirya. How then, she becomes the grandmother of the Kaurvas and the Pandavas, forms the rest of the story.

But, the best part of this telling is the many facts, which are possibly displaced, from the Mahabharata that we get to read today. She seems forgotten and rudely out of our minds. But, what she said and did are things which can now, not be forgotten so easily.

She has transformed from the lost maiden to the real reason behind, what she eventually did. She becomes a woman with foresight, the one behind the kingdom ruled out of pragmatism and sensibility, rather than the objectives, which would have been preferred. The woman left behind so many times, ends up challenging her own conscience, and tells it off, right towards the epilogue.

Very well written and given the importance it deserves. Loved the book, though of course, it is not error free. :D

Notice that societies then and now have little change, in the treatment of women. It is a sad day when a woman, was raped and asked to find her way then and is today, treated pretty much the same way.

You can Buy the Book, right here... You need to download the Readify App for this purpose.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.readify

Author Interview : Terry John Barto, author of ‘Nickerbacher’

Terry John Barto

Read up, Interview with Terry John Barto, author of 'Nickerbacher'. In this part of his Interview, he describes the journey of writing the book, how the three main characters came about, and what he thought the most challenging part of the book was, among others, Folks... 

How did 'Nickerbacher' happen? Could you describe the journey?

‘Nickerbacher’ was first written on an In & Out Burger bag. I was driving to Palm Springs and had this idea about belonging and fitting in. I pulled over and started writing the story.

At that time ‘Nickerbacher’ attended a group therapy class. It's evolved a lot since. After a long time, I met an editor and we worked on some other projects.

Then I remembered a story about a dragon with issues. We worked and re-worked it until it became a Picture Book. Then we re-invented it and expanded it to be a chapter book.

How did the story, especially Nickerbacher’s, Princess Gwendolyn’s and Prince Happenstance’s come about?

I wanted it to be a story about finding your way in life. And

fighting the odds of what was expected of you came to me, because in a way, it's what I did in my life.

In the picture book, the Prince wanted to be something different from the exceptions of being a prince. But that changed in the chapter book.

Whereas, the princess became more in charge and feisty. Also, her cause and fight for dragon rights turned out to be an interesting storyline. 

What according to you is different about your book?

There are a lot of stories about dragons but none who want to be a comedian. And he goes the extra mile by wanting equal rights for all citizens. He makes a difference and Nickerbacher's performance paves the way for a brighter future.

How would you relate the lives of characters to the lives today? Any similarities?

Interestingly, it falls in line with a lot of the protests that are going on right now.

What was the most challenging part about writing this book?

In a way the Picture Book version was more of a challenge, because I had to tell an interesting, far reaching story in less than 1,000 words. But the challenge for the Chapter Book was to let go things in the first version and be open to a whole new approach.

Who was it that told you that you could become the author, you are today?

My editor has encouraged me to keep going and not give up, even in bleakest of times. But before all that, an actress that I was directing (I did stage before) thought I had good story telling abilities and hired me to be a creative director of an animation company, she was starting.

So, that started me in a direction I never thought of.

When will you next book be out?

Not sure, still just in promo mode for Nickerbacher.

William Shakespeare

Which book are you currently reading?

William Shakespeare. A long-time friend just gave me the complete set from a 1901 collection.

Who are your favourite authors and why?

 

I love the magical elements in the Harry Potter series. So I'd say, JK Rowling.

What else do you do on a daily basis?

I walk my dogs by the water. I really enjoy going to Yoga.

 You can  Read the Review, too and Buy the Book, here as well.

Book Review : 'Talon the Falcon' by Deepak Dalal

'Talon the Falcon' by Deepak Dalal is an interesting story. It basically, gets on the plot, almost immediately. The story is about Shikar, a squirrel, who can speak the bird language and also about a falcon, named Talon.

As the story begins, you are introduced to Shikar, who has no clue, why almost all his buddies have suddenly disappeared from the place called as Rose Garden. The mynas, bulbuls, koels, and a few others are all missing. He spends the rest of his time, looking for them, when he comes upon a couple of squirrels, who are his best friends.

Both of them explain to Shikar that they would be going away too, because they are now under imminent danger. And then they point towards another bird, the falcon. The falcons are scary birds, which fly from above and carry away the little ones. That is the reason that all the birds have fled.

Shikar, who stayed on suddenly came face to face with the falcon. It was a huge bird and had huge wings, a curved beak and intense eyes. It looked chilling and ready to kill. But it had a deep voice, and a sad tone. He sang the words of a bird, which was trapped. Shikar noticed then, that the bird was in a cage.

With that the whole scare, which he had suddenly felt was lifted. Immediately, he felt sorry for the bird, and made his way over to talk to the falcon. He realised that it would be easy for him to chew away the twine, what bound him and he could fly away to freedom.

But the falcon would have to promise that he would fly away and not hurt anyone. The falcon who heard Shikar’s words, immediately agreed. But, suddenly there was some noise and Shikar ran away. The people of the house at the child was promising his father that he would handle the falcon and make sure he took good care of it, as it was his responsibility.

By that evening birds came back to the garden, as they had heard that the falcon was caged. The birds are spoken to by Shikar, and though reluctantly at first, most birds agreed to Shikar’s plan of freeing, Talon, the falcon. So, Shikar has plans to chew out the twine of the cage and his friends, who would watch over and make sure that he could chew it out.

So, does he manage to do this? Would no one from the house notice? And would the falcon keep his promise and not hurt a single bird or animal from the Rose Garden? Read up, ‘Talon the Falcon’ to find out more. This book is about bravery, kindness, and doing what must be done, for the goodness of all.

The songs in the book are pleasingly written, and all in the right places. It also has wonderful illustrations by Lavanya Naidu, to help keep the story going. Overall, it was a neat book and it had all the best notes for children and a few adults, as well.

You can Buy the Book, right here. 

Book Review : 'Nickerbacher' by Terry John Barto

Read up, ‘Nickerbacher’ by Terry John Barto, Folks… You might have read a few books on dragons, and Princesses and even a rescuing prince, but none like this one. Now, just put them all together and give them all a good shake and you get a dragon, Nickerbacher by name and his father who yells at the poor guy, just because he has a few dreams of his own. 

Then, we chance upon the princess Gwendolyn who likes and cares for the dragon, who looks after her. It is his duty to look after her and his father tells him to do so and not chase after his silly dreams of becoming a comedian.

But Nickerbacher is encouraged by the princess to follow his dreams and he and the princess are working on his jokes, when Prince Happenstance comes into the picture. The prince, who is all set to fight the dragon and rescue the princess, is stopped by the princess. He is told of the problem. So, the three of them set off to La La Land. 

When the three of them get there, we are of course thrown into the colourful pictures of La La Land. The Comedy Castle, run by Johnny Kingston, is the place to be to show off his comedic talent. It would be kind of a weird thing to have a dragon on stage to try on comedy, because nobody had ever heard of it before.

Yet, Gwendolyn manages to convince Kingston by promising to promote the comedy show throughout the city, while the Prince convinces him of having a novelty comedian. Kingston agrees since it would probably boost his ratings.

So, do they manage to get a full house in on ‘The Late Knight Show’? Will Argyle, the leprechaun agree to be the coach? Does Nickerbacher manage to convince his father to let him do the show? And will there be a full house? 

The Griffin, dwarves, Santa Claus, his elves and even a Sphinx and his

Terry John Barto

friends make up a few of the audience. But who else would come and check out the show with jokes, riddles and the goofiness of the dragon?

It encourages kids to follow their dreams and basically, encourages kids to treat everybody the same way. A funny and goofy book which is something, that is different and will definitely get your thinking hats out for sure. The colourful illustrations by Kim Sponaugle, mixed with Barto’s story definitely are a treat.

You can Buy the Book, right here.