JLF 2012 Contest

“A Temporary Matter” by Jhumpa Lahiri is about detachment, grief and lost love. It takes five day for this story to unfold, beginning March 19th. On this day a young wife, Shoba, comes home from her editing job and is informed that the power will be out for one hour each evening for approximately five days. Although the story only covers a five day period it actually had begun six months earlier when their child was stillborn. A lot of unspoken pain and grief is obvious. Both fighting their depression in different ways, but not together. The power outage forces them to eat together at the table, and in an attempt to silence the awkward quiet they begin to play a game of confessions. This game leads to mixed messages; which lead to several painful revelations. Momentarily it appears that all hope for survival of their marriage is over. Yet, in the end they are finally able to grieve together.

In a quiet unpretentious voice Lahiri reveals the unbearable grief; she also uncovers the love that Shoba and Shukumar once had for each other. Very subtly she raises hope that under the grief; love may still be alive

priyadarshini Sur

If I were to describe the book-“The Off-Site Tamasha" by Abhay Nagarajan in one word, I’d say “Fun”! An entertaining mix of humor, drama, comedy, sexual escapade, fantasy and yes corporate tamasha. So we have a team of three financial advisors embarking on a journey to a relaxing three day company off-site – a dominating (married) boss, a docile (unmarried) subordinate and a rich (but ugly looking) colleague. The constant (friendly) squabble between the boss and the rich guy lends many a humorous incidents to the episode. Once at their destination, they meet two mysterious women who become lusty targets of the three men. They all vie for attention and of course a sexual encounter but the outcome is far from what they had planned/hoped for. The identity and motive of the femme fatale is revealed towards the end and it leaves you laughing all the more. A very novel way of depicting humor and sarcasm. With a simple, fresh, and breezy style of narrative promising tremendous fun, the author captures the readers’ interest to the tee. All this without disclosing the names of any of his characters! Kudos to the author for a splendid, fun-filled offering.

"The Talkative Man" by R. K. Narayan set in the fictional town of Malgudi.Though a short novella, Talkative Man does not lack in its entertainment value.The main character is an ordinary, wealthy journalist. He follows a set routine, daily: post articles in the post box, have a talk with people in a tea shop, go to library and house. One day, he meets a man from an unknown land called "Timbuctoo", another of Narayan's creations, the land being similar to the US. The man seems to have come for an official duty for UN and, seeing the calmness of the place, decides to stay here for his work.Herein comes a twist about the man’s intentions and the journalist’s approach to solving the “problem”.The story is simple, and you will definitely love it. The apt detailing makes this a good read and can be read for the calmness with which Narayan writes his story, as a critic rightly points out.

Johnny Gone Down..

Johnny Gone Down was one of the books which I bought mistakenly, after seeing its advertisement on one of the FB page.. One will initially think, as I also thought, that this book will have a protagonist named Johnny, but alas, i was wrong, because there wasnt any character by the name of Johnny untill n unless the Climax of the book was reached.

The book starts with an unimaginable sequence in which the author Karan Bajaj beautifully describes the scenic picture of the semi-aridarid lands of Central India, in between through which a train was passing.. The reason I called this sequence unimaginable because though the Central Character of the book was introduced, his name wasnt.. Should he introduce himself as Nikhil Arya, an MIT graduate, to the people or should he introduce himself as Monk Nemche, a budhist monk from the country of Thailand, a nation adjacent to Cambodia, where a vacation trip with his friend Samir had totaly gone wrong or should he introduce himself as an accountant of a Drug Lord MARCO, in the South American Nation of Brazil.. The author, Karan Bajaj, immidiately creates the suspense over the life of that man, with an amputated arm, by giving his 'n' no of names, which creates an immmense suspense over the story..Intelligent writing.

Then enters into the scene, Dayaram. Both Nikhil n Dayaram r into the competetion, in which one loses, even if he wins.. Lost thing being Life, winning thing being money.. The contest was to survive even after placing a 'tammancha' onto the ones respective temple. The 1st part of the novel is then started, in which author shows the happy life which the two MIT boys were experienceing before going to the vacation trip. The were placed in NASA n GE, n while Nikhil had got his PR from his US employer, his friends PR was under process, and hence his American Passport.. A trip to Cambodia was supposed to b a fun trip, but it seems that wasnt meant to b d case. The trip had gone wholly wrong, and they realised as soon as they landed on the Interational Airport of Cambodia, when they got to noe about emergency like situation in the nation. Another character, Ishmael, is introcued into the story. Ishmael is on a visit to Cambodia, in order to study, but since he is from that nation, which has its no embassy in Cambodia, he was forced to waste his precious life, as no other embassy would accept him as its citizen n hence no shelter would be given to the vagabond. However, while American Embassy in Cambodia was taking its citizens back, since Sam had no american PR proof, he was forced to b left out by the America, that is when, the HERO of the story came out to his rescue n sent him on his passport, thus leaving behind himself. Now starts the journey of Nikhil, when he tortured in the Jail of Cambodia. On one of the events, when he escaped from the forces of Cambodia, amidst a thick forest, he interacted with himself, before he fell unconcious.

To his rescue came the buddhist monk, from the other side of the inter-nation border,where he would experience his life as a monk, a Budhist Disciple, by the name of Monk Nemche. In order to propagate buddhism, he goes to Brazil, where he had saved life of a drug lord, Marco, who in return favoured him by giving him a place. It was sheer intelligence of Nikhil that he made Marco one of the rich earning guy legally, of Brazil, by maintaining his accounts. Since his life being in danger in Brazil as well, from the Colombian Mafia, he is forced by Marco to move back to America, leavng behind his son n wife, n advised him to not to b in contact with them atleast for 5 years. There he met a man, and helped him in making anotherlife.com, a Social Network, which would enable people to be what they wanted to be, and not what they are. This Social Network was a hit among the masses, and made the man millionaire within the couple of nights. Though he credited Nikhil for the success, Nikhil on the other hand maintained that he had nothing to with the success of anotherlife.com. He made his way back to India, for the contest. Then happens what is simply the unexpected. Just like it is seen that the protagonist of Bollywood movies making some action and saving the people from the evil, same was the case here, with Nikhil being the protagonist n Dayaram being the person being saved.. Dayaram needed money, n worked for his sahab. Another twist here, like the bollywood movies, that sahab was none other that Samir (Sam), friend of Nikhil, who was saved by Nikhil in Cambodia. When they met, Samir was Dumbstruck. He saw the condition of nikhil n didnt believe that he was alive, as when he enquired about Nikhil from the authorities, he didnt figure in their list, thus making him to believe that Nikhil was no more alive.. There were mixed emotions, that of Happiness n Sadness within Samir n gives a place to Nikhil in his home.. Nikhil turns into Johnny, and when he is told by his MIT friend that an Alumni meet of MIT ppl is going to be held, though he goes with him n when he sees the ppl from MIT n their lives, he is certainly not happy because he was supposed to be like them, but certainly he was different. Then was the time when he decided to drop Johnny n introduce himself as NIKHIL ARYA 4m MIT.. Indeed, JOHNNY had GONE DOWN..!! In the end, i would like to conclude that Johnny Gone Down was a book that wil have biting ur nails so often..a MUST READ for one n all :) :)

The Immortals of Meluha..

The Immortals of Meluha is an exceptional title written by Amish,based in 1900 BC, with Indus Valley Civilisation in its purview.. With this title, the authors flair of religion,mythology n history is clearly visible.. It is said that Never Judge A Book by Its Cover, but certainly, when I saw this book, I had felt that this title will have something mysterious in it.. The Image depicted on the title cover gives a clear image of Lord Shiva.. Lord Shiva is considered to be one of the Gods in the Holy Trinity. The Creator, Brahma, The sustainer, Lord Vishnu, and the destroyer, Lord Shiva.

Whilereading this title, one may get a feeling and ask d question that what if Lord Shiva wouldnt have been the destroyer, destroyer of the evil.. Even while luking at the ancient texts, one gets to know that he drank the poison,emerging from the holy river, in order to save the humanity on earth. From this extract, one gets an inference that he stood upto the challenge of saving mankind on earth, and thus aquired the title of Mahadev..This can be called as the stepping stone for the story, or the tone of the title.

As we were taught in history in Grade 6, that Indus Vallev Civilisation ws also known as Mesopotamian Civilisation, or Meluha. Little less was known that it was also the land of saviour of mankind, or in other word, land of supermen, who did the things,which were simply not done by the local beings. A twist has been added by the author by terming Shiva as a herder, who was found on the foothils of himalyas, which creates a mirage over the identity of shiva, wether hes a full indian or half indian, the other half being from the tibetian side, and the author, while saying this, must have a clear proof for the same, which is quite evident in the story. As already said, Shiva is shown as a Tibetian Trible, who crosses the border of territory to the city of Meluha,which is ruled by the descendants of Lord Ram,known as the Suryavanshis. The suryawanshis face severe perils as the Saraswathi is drying to extinction. To add to the worst condition of suryawanshis, there is a threat,which eventually turns out to b true, from the eastern side. Shiva emerges out to b d saviour. The suryavanshis have their counterpart, The Chandravanshis, and Shiva is given their nectar, The Somras.He drinks it and is beheld as the Neelkanth.As already said,Lord Shiva drank the poison which emerged from the sea, in order to save the mankind, during the fight of Asurs n Devs. Other characters such as Nandi, Veerbhadra, Dashya form an integral part of the story and the life of shiva,quite unusual for the reader (as we have seen them through a different angle, all through our lives).

I'd suggest to one n all to read this title... Thanx.. :) :)

The story of Harry Potter is actually told in seven books, very intricate and delicate, which I have tried to summarise in 200 words, here is goes:

It’s a story of an orphan boy(Harry) for whom life is living in a broom cupboard under the stairs, wearing old and oversized clothes of his cousin and doing household chores, until he is told by a mysterious letter that he is a wizard! Then he is taken to wizarding world where he is already famous for defeating a powerful dark wizard (Voldemort) who killed his parents, when he was just a toddler. His wizarding school is now his real home with love and friendship of which he was deprived in childhood. He finds his only living family, godfather who was wrongly convicted for murder of his parents, only to lose him forever later in a fierce duel. He discovers dark secrets about his past and fate that he must be the one to destroy Voldemort who has now returned. Dumbledore, greatest of all wizards prepares him for the final battle against Voldemort, and sacrifices himself in the course. Events take a new turn when Dumbledore’s secret weapon Snape is revealed. Finally it’s Harry’s destiny to embrace death to defeat Voldemort for the good of the world. After all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.

The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant is an unforgettable story .Maupassant infused the story with heartache, with the wounds of self-sacrifice--the stuff we can't ever forget or be allowed to let go. And, then, what happens when the hellish torment is over? Mathilde always imagined herself in a high social position with wonderful jewels. However she has nothing and marries a low paid clerk who tries his best to make her happy.

Through lots of begging at work, her husband,Charles is able to get two invitations to the Ministry of the Public Instruction party. Mathilde then refuses to go, for she has nothing to wear. Her husband is upset to see her displeasure and, using money that he was saving to buy a rifle, gives Mathilde 400 francs and lets his wife buy a dress that suits her. Mathilde goes out and buys a dress but even with the clothes Mathilde is still not happy since she has no jewels to wear with it. The pair does not have much money left, so her husband suggests that she buys roses to wear with it, but after Mathilde disagrees he suggests borrowing something from her friend, Madame Jeanne Forestier. Mathilde picks out the fanciest diamond necklace that she can find. After attending the Ministry of Public Instruction party, Mathilde discovers that she has lost the necklace.

Mathilde and her husband look everywhere but the necklace is not to be found. It takes them ten years of hard labor to come up with the 36,000 francs necessary to pay them back. Toward the end, Mathilde takes a walk, remembering her past and the night when the necklace was lost. Suddenly she sees Madame Jeanne Forestier and goes to meet her. Mathilde confesses about that night and how she worked so hard to return her necklace. Mme. Forestier, deeply moved, tells Mathilde that the one she had borrowed was made of paste, not real diamonds, and that it was worth at most 500 francs.

Priyadarshini Sur

The Way Up to Heaven by Roald Dahl

This is the story of Mrs Foster, who is paranoid at the thought of losing a flight. She is all set to visit her daughter and three grandchildren. She is particularly excited about this one and somewhere deep down he knows that she will miss her flight this time.

She gets ready well in time and leaves the home with her husband, who decides to drop her to the airport. He looks at the fog in the sky and says either you miss your flight today or the flight gets cancelled. She prays that none of these things happen. But unfortunately when she reaches the airport she hears that the flight is postponed for tomorrow. Disheartened she gets back home.

The next day she is even more excited to travel. Mr Foster requests her to drop him to the club before she goes to the airport. She agrees and somehow they begin to get late this time too. And only when Mr Foster remembers to pick up the gift he had bought for his daughter something happens that forces Mrs Foster to leave her husband behind in the home and leave for Paris. She has the time of her life in Paris and when she gets home after six weeks the first thing she does is goes to the study and asks the elevator repair man to repair the lift!

Swami and Friends is the first of a trilogy of novels written by RK Narayan.. The novel is set in pre-independence days in India, in a fictional town - Malgudi, which has almost become a real place in India today, due to the wide recognition and popularity of Narayan's many novels.

The central theme of the novel is growing up of young Swami. He is a spontaneous, impulsive, mischievous and yet a very innocent child. His character is a child in the fullest sense of the world. Through Swami's eyes the reader gets to peak in to the pre-independence days in South India. The life portrayed in the novel is accurate in its description of the colonial days - the uprisings, the rebellions, the contempt and the reverence the natives had for their subjugator, together with varied elements that have become one, such as cricket and education.

Swami’s life is fairly complex and he has a tough job to do: pleasing both his demanding peers and also the dour world of adults around him. He manages his tough balancing act for a while but then two incidents change his life forever. Finally, he gets out of trouble, but the cost is heavy: he loses the friendship of Rajam, the son of the Police Superintendent and is devastated at his departure at the end.

Swami is a paradox throughout the narration. R.K.Narayan does a wonderful job in bringing out his emotional pysche.

Swami and Friends remains evergreen and fresh at even this day and age

Priyadarshini Sur

Percy jackson and the lightning thief is indeed a good novel and also have very adventurious sequels . . . . :)

The story starts with a boy named Percy is having a disease called dyslexia and also has only one friend named grover.

Percy is not able to understand anything in normal sense but he can understand ancient greek language to some extent . ..

percy lives with his step Mother and Step Father . . .

once the school took children to a museum (fieled trip). there Percy was attacked by a fury (monster) but anyhow he was saved by a sword which was given by his teacher and then he is been taken to a camp (camp half blood) and there he discovers that he is the son of the POSIEDON ...!!!

In olympus it were the news that son of Posiedon has stolen the most powerful weapon in the universe...and then percy is trained in the camp and then after travels in search of the Lightning bolt....he travels through the underworld (hade's place) and find the thing stolen and also his mother which was earlier taken by a Minetour....and percy founds the bolt inside his bag and has a fight with a god and returns the lightning bolt to the ZEUS...!!!