The Writing on My Forehead- Nafisa Haji



Alright, I admit- I like Pakistani writers. So sue me. Anyway-  Haji is of Indo- Pak descent , so there!

This book is diaspora writing but not about displacement angst or alienation. It is about rebellion, growing up and  family.

Saira is rebellious. But this is not a cultural rebellion but more of a generational battle, one which she discovers many others have fought in other times in other places. Saira travels through  many years and to many cities in different countries only to come full circle. You can never escape your inheritance or your destiny or your past or your family. Saira learns this as does her sister, her mother and others with  her.

The book is lyrically written without becoming cloying fulsome. It touches all the right  emotional chords. The characters come alive and we all can thing on at least one Ammena or Big Nanima or the mother or anybody else in the book.

Read it-  It may not be brilliant or intellectually challenging but it's emotionally very satisfying. A very  good read. And it's after all about people like us.

Maya

Salt and Saffron- Kamila Shamsie

                                                                


Shamsie weaves magic with words. Here’s a sample:

“I could mention the spices, so perfectly balanced you could almost see the mustard seed leaning on the fenugreek, the cumin poised on the dried chillies”

And with this delicately poised, evocative prose that is laced with dry wit she weaves such a fine web- about Aliya, her family the Dard-e-Dils, and their family legend that you never notice that it is after all just a love story about falling in love with boys from the other of the tracks. The characters and their eccentricities, the aristocratic society they inhabit, the thin edge of class borders and the bigger boundaries between countries all come alive without burying you under their weight. You close the book with the feel of having had a sumptuous feast.

A fine blend of salt and saffron.

©Maya

The Cambridge Curry Club- Saumya Balsari

Why did I pick it up- Undone by the blurb, alas. And a claim that it was like the 'No 1 Ladies Detective Agency' Either that Bookseller correspondent or I have to re- read that one.

Interest zones- Other than the blurb? Hmm Noddy the parrot and Roman Tempest.

But- Let's make it buts. Very uninspired writing. character sterotyped, plot- boring. I skip- read. Sorry ,but what could I do?. The story  does have bursts of interesting bits - like Durga's past and Durga and Tempest. But those are few and far in between.

Final Verdict- The curry has neither flavour nor fragrance. Just the odd dash of colour. Pass over if you care about what's on your plate.

©Maya