A(NU) Thought

Image Credit Book: Saraswati’s Intelligence Author: Vamsee Juluri Publisher: Westland In India, since childhood, the mythological stories of Mahabharata and Ramayana are ingrained in us. We have grown up perceiving a certain character in a certain way, without even giving a thought on the facts and fictions. Similarly, we have a traditional image of Lord Hanuman established in our minds; while the author in this book ‘Saraswati’s Intelligence’ has attempted to portray a different picture, unconventionally. When one talks of Hanuman, we automatically relate it to Ramayana; the mythology sees him as a loyal and close comrade to Lord Ram and a fearless fighter. But was he always as fearless? Was devotion always an essential part of his character? Could the bhramachari hanuman too have a love story?

Image Source Book : Fool Me Once Author :  Harlan Coben   Publisher : Random House If I have to sum up the story, I would say it in a phrase (from a Bollywood song), 'shikari khud yahan shikar ho gaya'. I had lost the number of count I encountered twists in this tale.  The story begins with the funeral of the protagonist Maya's husband, who was (or is) a rich businessman and one of the heirs to a wealthy and affluent family. His murder, witnessed by Maya alone, is supposedly an unthought-of act by random robbers; however we know that there has to be something more to this death (and the story). It’s all going fine, when one day Maya sees her dead husband in her house, with her daughter in the nanny cam. Now this gets her started (and me too) in search of the truth. In the process we come across plenty of elements that may not be connected to the murder mystery - family secrets, business secrets and Maya's past to name a few. Did I mention that abou...