Facebook Phantom by Suzanne Sangi

Initially, Facebook Phantom appears to deal with what should be one of the easiest topics for a teenager to write about, facebook and friendship. It starts with an easy introduction to the protagonists, 3 friends whose life revolves around friendship, cell-phone and gossip (yes, not really facebook). Life is normal. And then comes a strange message on facebook that turns their lives upside-down. The rest is for you to find out!
There are a number of things that stand out in this gripping novel. Suzanne displays a simple mastery over language and evenness of narration that ensures that you breeze through the book, rather than drag your feet through it. The style of presenting different points of view, with the narration being shared between the protagonists is handled well and breaks the monotony. The lines between the normal and the paranormal are often grey, and you cant help but mistake one for the other. Predictable though it is to a great extent, it does keep you engrossed till the end.

The last third of the book has a tad too much romance that often takes away from the broader plot. 

But all in all, a commendable and mature first time effort!

Extremes Along the Silk Road - Nick Middleton

Extremes Along the Silk Road by Nick Middleton is an experience. It is a simple account of the climatic extremes along  the fabled silk road and a complex chronicle of human resilience. As he experiences the extremes of climate and life along this ancient trade route, from the scorching deserts of Mongolia to the icy Tibet and from the towering sand dunes of China to the rolling steppe's of Kazakhstan, he gives a warm insight into how these extremes have shaped human existence, their culture, their beliefs and above all their sense of purpose.

A note on the comparison between this and From Heaven Lake:
At this point, having finished Vikram Seth's From Heaven Lake just before this, I cannot help but compare the two. While Seth's narrative focuses on the journey itself with the experiences along the way remaining secondary, Middleton's narrative is like an amusing documentary, with the experiences taking a high seat and the journey being secondary. Not to mention, while Seth's writing comes with a fair share of nail-biting twists (he is an exceptional fictionist, remember?), Middleton's writing is almost academic (he teaches geography). :)

Dewdrops on bamboo leaves!

Summer holidays meant 25 days at my grandparents place, 25 days at my aunt's place and 10 long days at home.
Located at Visvespuram, my aunt's place was a stone's throw from Lalbagh. Those were the days when sleeping till late was taboo and frowned upon as a waste of precious holiday time. Getting up at 6:30 meant we had 2 options: (i) join my uncle at the morning prayers, which lasted a whole hour or (ii) scoot off to Lalbagh for a refreshing, healthy and un"adult"erated "walk".
Given that option (i) meant sitting cross legged on the floor quietly for an hour under the watchful eyes of adults who were positioned at the right vantage points to ensure discipline, option (ii) was the most sought after. Add to this, we were a band of 6, with my oldest cousin (all of 15 years) popular for coming up with incredible ideas that left us in awe of his worldly wisdom.
Upon entering Lalbagh through the West gate, as you walk down the main pathway and take the right fork onto the trail around the lake, there was a bamboo grove. Walking along the trail, you could reach out and touch the bamboo leaves, and most of the mornings, there would be dew on the leaves. "Dew from the bamboo leaves applied into the eyes, makes your eyes sharp and bright", thus spake the wise old cousin picking up dewdrops carefully from the leaves and dramatically lowering them into his own eyes! And we 5 awestruck children dint need any more persuasion to turn this into a ritual. Come to think of it, innocent passers by must have been quite amused to see a band of six 10-15 year olds picking up dew drops from bamboo leaves and rubbing it into their sleepy eyes.
And that dint end there because we had to also prove that it worked. We would then turn the other way, towards the lake, point out to far away objects/birds and pretend to know exactly what they were (sparrows, pigeons, kites, serpent eagles (!!!), kingfishers even!). Not to be outdone, the rest would maintain that this was exactly what they saw too and hence their eyesight was as sharp, if not better, that the other.

Ahhhhh...those were the days!

From Heaven Lake by Vikram Seth

From Heaven Lake was an impulsive pick.

From Heaven Lake is different from page one. Very few travelog'ers can take you along like Seth does, on his impulsive, stubborn and ambitious journey as he hitch-hikes his way from Heaven lake (in China) to Tibet, then Nepal and finally home, Delhi. The fast paced narrative (I say this because there are often twists in the plot which could have made for a good piece of fiction) is rich with metaphors, taking you on a cultural tour through rural China, often leaving you with a feeling of surrealism, as you stand by the road-side when his truck breaks down in the middle of a road that barely exists or as you hold your breath, guessing how he would get to Nepal with all the rains and washed away roads.

And whats the best part about the book? While he expresses his opinion on various things Chinese, both political and cultural, at no point of time does it turn preachy or philosophical!

Ok...so its been a long time since I found anything to blog about. Before you get your hopes high, let me warn you that the intention of this post is not to talk about something interesting. It is more of a status check...just to ensure that my login does not expire :)

The last couple of months have been busy (work, nephews/nieces at home for vacation), exciting (trips to Mumbai, Lonavala and Mysore) and not without their moments of suspense (the boy's report card).
Between all this, I have also managed to squeeze in time to read a lot of Indian authors. Ashwin Sanghi's famed Krishna Key, which reeked of Dan Brown and his DaVinci Code, followed by his Rozabal line, which I realized is the book equivalent of a documentary film and to finish which, I needed more inspiration than my boy needs to go to school!
Once bitten, twice shy, does not hold for me. Not sure if twice bitten, thrice shy will either, since I plan to someday read his Chankya Chant too! Talk about self-inflicted torture :)
Sandwiched between these was Kalpana Swaminathan and her "Monochrome Madonna", which could pass off as an amateur detective novel, if not for the insane twists, melodramatic characters and irrational "logic"!
After this, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Purple Hibiscus just could not hold my attention and I had to give it up mid-way. It was far too well-written :D
Then came Ravi Subramanian with "Bankster". While many may differ, I loved the book. One of those suspense thriller books set in contemporary India that you can immediately connect with, not just because of its simplistic writing style but also because the characters are very human and the kind you may very well run into.
I will definitely try to write a more detailed review once I find time from the latest book that I am reading, Vikram Seth's "From Heaven Lake" :)
So long...

Ok...I have been really getting busy at work. However, Here is my recipe for minestrone soup :)

What you need:
Tomatoes - 4 large
Onion - 1 medium, chopped not too finely
Capsicum - 1/4th cup, chopped not too finely
Beans - 1/4th cup, chopped into 1cm pieces
Macaroni - 1/4th cup
Assorted beans - rajma, chana, moong - soaked overnight and boiled.
Salt, black pepper powder, italian seasoning, turmeric

How to prepare:
Boil the tomatoes. After they cool down, blend them and sieve out the seeds. This is your purée.

To a frying pan, add half a spoonful of the oil. To this add the onion, capsicum, and beans. Toast lightly (the veggies should not change colour).
In a cooking vessel, add the puree, the veggies, boiled beans and macaroni. Add half a teaspoon of black pepper powder, half a teaspoon of italian seasoning and salt to taste. Add a pinch of turmeric (this is only to give the otherwise dull soup a rich colour, not taste). Add enough water, so that the consistency is just a little more than rasam (this is something that everyone can relate to).
Let the vegetable cook and soak in the flavours. Turn off once the macaroni has cooked. Your soup is ready!
Serve with the open bread toast (wait for my next post!)...



Once the vegetables are cooked, let the salsa cool to room temperature. Add the rice and mix lightly, ensuring you do not break the rice grains.

Of corn rice, minestrone soup and open bread toast - I

Corn rice is one of those dishes that everyone, from Tarla Dalal to Nigela Lawson has a recipe for. And most of the time no two recipes are the same.
So after a lot of deliberation, I decided to create one of my own. Here it is, tried and tasted :)

What you need:
Rice - 2 cups
Oil (preferably olive oil) - 2 spoons
Tomatoes - 2 large
Onion - 1 medium, chopped
Capsicum - 1/4 th cup, chopped
Sweet corn - 1 cup
Ginger - 1 teaspoon, finely shredded
Salt, black pepper powder, chilli flakes

Preparation:
Cook the rice. Drain off the excess water.

Boil the tomatoes. After they cool down, blend them and sieve out the seeds. This is your purée.

To a frying pan, add 2 spoonfuls of the oil. To this add the sweet corn and toast lightly. Then add the tomato purée along with chopped onions, capsicum and ginger. Add half a teaspoon of black pepper powder, half a teaspoon of red chilli flakes and salt to taste. Let the vegetable cook in the purée and soak in the flavours.

Once the vegetables are cooked, let the salsa cool to room temperature. Add the rice and mix lightly, ensuring you do not break the rice grains.

Note (all these are from my own real life experience today)
1. While draining the rice after cooking, pour cold water over it and drain off. This removes the starch and makes the rice non-sticky
2. If black pepper powder and chilli flakes do not spice it up enough, you can add finely chopped green chillis too.
3. If you feel the corn may not cook well enough in the purée, you can boil them a bit before adding to the purée.