Showing posts with label Indian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Indian. Show all posts

Sunday, March 3, 2019

Book Review - Professor Chandra Follows His Bliss by Rajeev Balasubramanyam

Photo Credit - Amazon

Professor Chandra is an internationally known economist who has been shortlisted for a Nobel Prize. He is a divorced father of three children who he struggles to understand. Recently, Professor Chandra was a victim of a bicycle hit and run. He saw his life's work flash before his eyes before the accident. While recovering from his accident, Chandra decides he will take a break as his doctor recommended. Professor Chandra decides to try and enjoy himself and follow his bliss.

When I first started reading this novel, I wasn't sure what to expect. To be honest, I am actually still contemplating what I reading exactly. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I was able to relate to both Professor Chandra and his children. I feel there were times that our culture makes us think something is better for children when it really causes doubt and issues in their lives. For example, when I was younger like Chandra and his children, our parents rarely gave praises instead they would make negative comments. They did this to make us feel motivated and try harder. When in truth, it just made me feel like nothing I ever did was good enough. Overall, while reading this book I was asking myself what is the story or plot behind this book but I found myself introspecting my own life path. Which lead to a lot of different discoveries about myself and I wonder if that was the goal of the novel all along.

 **Disclosure - This post may contain affiliate links which means I earn advertising and/or referral fees if you purchase an item through my link. Please note, there will be no any extra charges to you. Thank you for your support.**

Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Book Review - The Windfall: A Novel by Diksha Basu

Photo Credit - Amazon

The Jha family has lived the comfortable life of in between poverty and rich, but when their son was accepted to an American business school, they looked forward to living out their golden years comfortably. But when Mr. Jha unexpectedly comes into a large sum of money after sold his website to an American startup,  their lives become turned upside down. He and his wife move to East Delhi, where the super-rich resides and he is eager to fit in with the rest of the upper class residents. However, this leads to a chain of unexpected events and causes the family to reevaluate what really matters in life.

This novel showcases the downfall of pride along with the human instinct of wanting to belong along with doing things to please others will only lead to your own downfall. As someone of Indian heritage I saw a lot of the common threads of my family and the Jhas. However, there were a few things where I couldn't relate to and felt like it was the exact opposite of what my family believes. There were things that were appalling that I could relate to as well. For example, Mr. Jha tells other people about how his son was an academic failure so Mr. Jha could fit in more with the neighbors. I personally don't understand how one can  sacrifice a child's emotional health just to fit in with strangers. I also felt some of the characters and bits of the story fell flat, like there was potential, but the author didn't go into more detail. On a side note, this novel is being billed as a comedy, but I didn't find myself laughing along with anything but rather smiling occasionally thinking of my own Indian roots.

**Disclosure - I received a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest opinion**