August Round-Up!

This August, I thought I would do something else. A little extra to keep my readers occupied. This is especially, because the more of you these days, is equal to more wonder and delight for me. So, this past month I have read about four books and reviewed them. And interviewed a few authors and editors, as well.

The books, I read were ‘The Legend of Ramulamma’, ‘Dead in a Mumbai Minute’, ‘The Pashtuns: The Unresolved Key to the Future of Pakistan and Afghanistan’ and ‘Fraudster’. All very different, in the way they had been written, and of course their subjects. The first one was Vithal Rajan’s ‘The Legend of Ramulamma’. This book was striking because it was very close to me. Of course, the author belonged to my city, Hyderabad and he wrote about a few subjects which I was close to, though indirectly.

The first book I read this month was Vithal Rajan’s ‘The Legend of Ramulamma’ which was a collection of twelve short stories that was around Ramulamma, a Dalit widow. Her adventures revolved around doctors, foreigners, rich landlords, corrupt policemen, and poor neighbours, like herself. But what really brought out the best thing about these stories were shades of bravery, relentlessness and her brand of wit. I really hope for more of Ramulamma’s stories to keep the adventurous side of my brain satisfied.

 

Next, I began Madhumita Bhattacharya’s ‘Dead in a Mumbai Minute’. The second was a mystery, which was the second of the Reema Ray series. I missed the first one, but I guess I did not really feel the need for it, because the second part more than makes up for it. Set in Mumbai, the murder of this story revolves around how Reema Ray manages to get her new boss out of trouble with the police and keep her love story intact with the extra sense of mystery. 

The third book was Abubakar Siddique’s ‘The Pashtuns: The Unresolved Key to the Future of Pakistan and Afghanistan’. This non-fiction is one, which attempts to be a key to the economic and political factors of Pakistan and Afghanistan. The misunderstood Pashtuns could be the key to the problems. The mountainous region, the Taliban and their leaders are all dealt with in this eyewitness account. I would recommend this book, to people who really want to understand the Pashtuns and the reason behind Afghanistan’s and Pakistan’s disorder.

The fourth book, this month was ‘Fraudster’, which I was unable to write a review in August, because of birthday complications. :) We are back to financial mysteries, with a few murders and technological issues at hand. You have the economic angle which keeps the story going.  You have people from the corporate world dying, you have a young girl working with a global accounting firm, you have a financial scam with the police involved and to top it all you have Gmail, smartphones and hackers!! The entire mystery finds its solution in this book. Log on to this, RV Raman’s book, alright. Brought ‘The Economic Times’ to my mind, since it was the place to be, when I seriously began work.

Basically, the way it ran around brought back memories of stuff, I had read at different times of my life. Adventures, to mysteries, to a little general knowledge to finance… It’s a superb thing because this was the month, I was born in.