Digi's Blog

There are few novels which grab your attention when you simply read the synopsis given on its back page. There are few synopses which promise you something awesome but fail to deliver. And then there are few synopses which promise you a strong plot. “THE BRIDAL PYRE” is one such captivating novel. Written by debutante Avantika Debnath, this one is a brilliant one. PLOT Written in first person, the novel describes the story of Meera Debnath, an independent and educated working woman who hails from a Bengali background. With an army background, she is everything you would find in a self made woman of today. An online matchmaking site conversation leads to her getting married to a Bengali guy residing and “working” in USA. Ignoring all the warning signs displayed in front of her eyes in BIG BOLD letters, she goes ahead and marries the guy and his conservative family. Little did she know that this would be the biggest mistake of her life. Post marriage, she realizes that the...

It is a golden period for the gujarati film industry. Yes I prefer to call it that instead of the horrible names “DHOLLYWOOD” and “GOLLYWOOD”. Is it mandatory to copy everything from the United States? Coming back, the Gujarati film industry is witnessing a phase like never before. It all started with the “Chetan Bhagat of the Gujarati Film industry”, i.e Abhishek Jain. His 2 films opened a door of vast opportunities and soon everyone followed suit. The latest offering is Kirtan Patel’s “Bas Ek Chance”. Now this is a special film because apart from it being a gujarati film, it is also the first mainstream film to be almost entirely shot in my city Vadodara. Let us have a look at the music of the film which has been composed by Pranav – Nikhil – Shailesh.     “ LAAGI RE LAGAN ” starts off with soft guitar riffs and a lovely female chorus which reminds you remotely of “Jab se tere naina”. Aishwarya Majumdar  takes the reins from there on. Along ...

Mythology mixed with fiction is a tricky genre – you need to take care of a lot of things. You need to make sure your book is interesting enough with the right dallops of mythology, without going overboard. Also, in India, you need to make sure you don’t hurt or offend peoples’ sentiments. When properly done, this genre is a treat to read. It all started with Dan Brown who literally revolutionarized this genre. He combined history and fiction and the results were fantastic. Amongst Indian authors, I guess it was Ashwini Sanghi who first took up this genre, and he did wonders too. With “The Curse of Surya”, I was skeptical initially. Let us see whether I was proved right or wrong. As the usual format for this genre goes, we have a lead character in the form of a journalist named Sangeeta Rao and an American called Alan Davies. You guessed it right – there IS that mandatory romance track between these two. But that is not the story, so let us leave that out. The plot ...

What is it about food that makes one so addicted to it? Chef Saransh Goila’s debut book provides an answer to this question in the most delicious manner possible. Saransh Goila is an Indian chef who won the Maha challenge hosted by FoodFood channel in 2011. He also features in the Limca book of world records of 2014 for hosting the longest ever road travelogue show – “Roti, Rasta aur India”. Below is a short review of the book. I refrain from calling it an actual novel. It is a journey described along with recipes. There is no story, no script, no characters. Food is the main character. Now let us accept few things right from the beginning. Firstly, Saransh is no professional writer. He is a chef, and a mighty good one. Therefore, do not go expecting heavy language and high – level English, primarily because that is not the focus of this book. The language is kept simple, grammatically correct and never over the top. Secondly, you have to be a foodie to read this book...

For a common man like me, there isn’t much exposure to what goes on in the army, navy or the airforce. We are “Busy” people who don’t actually go out of the way and take the pains to understand what goes on in an army family. Now how many films or books till date have you read which depict what actually goes on in the military families? No I don’t take into account J.P Dutta’s over – the – top and Jingoistic films. We all are subjected to what goes on in the battlefield, but we are never shown what goes on behind the curtains. “ The Mistress of Honour ” is one such novel which says so much in the most subtle possible way. Without wasting any time, Bhaavna Arora introduces us to the main characters of the novel’s first part. Captain Deepak Potnis serves in the Indian army. While a part of the 1984 Operation Bluestar, he meets Parminder Kaur Sodhi “Pansy” in the Golden Temple in the most unusual of circumstances. She has just arrived from Britain & has lost her en...

You can buy the album  HERE So for the first time I will be reviewing an instrumental album. For those who listen to carnatic music, they must be well aware of Karthick Iyer’s name. For those who don’t know, Karthick Iyer Live is a collaboration of musicians from diverse musical backgrounds. An electric violin, mridangam, guitar, bass and drums along with vocals form the core. The band breaks down superficial barri­ers between genres, cultures and languages, to bring out the deep commonalities that define IndoSoul. BOUNDLESS ‘Korappu’ is a compositional format in carnatic music where two musicians exchange questions and answers through their instruments. The sound of mridangam greets you as we are treated to a classic solo mridangam piece by Sumesh Narayanan for the first forty seconds of the song, before he concludes with a tihaai and makes way for Karthick on the violins. What follows is simply stunning. We witness a superb jugalbandi between the violin ( R...

THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS. IT IS TO BE READ ONLY IF YOU HAVE WATCHED THE MOVIE. IT IS NOT EXACTLY A REVIEW. IT CONTAINS THOUGHTS ABOUT HOW I LIKED THE MOVIE. IT IS LONG AND CONTAINS QUITE SOME IMAGES. Few facts we learnt from Tanu Weds Manu Returns – 1.      Southhall mein logon ke ghar ke baahar kacchhe sookhte hain. 2.      Tharki logon ki pasandeeda kitaab hain “LOLITA” 3.      “TILANDI” means “VANISHED” 4.      Tanu saves her husband Manu’s number in her phone under the contact name “HUSBAND” 5.      Delhi ka aadha pollution aashiqon ki wajah se hain. 6.      “JHAND” means “DESTROYED” 7.      “PEEPNI” means … “Bachpan mein buddha hota than a neeli aankhon waala, jisse pichkaao toh         aawaaz aati thi PEE PEE” 8.      Pappi ki colony ki do nikkar wali ladkiyon ne use propose ...