Six Suspects

Six Suspects is a murder mystery novel written by Vikas Swarup, an Indian diplomat. He is well known for his debut novel Q & A which has been made into Academy Award winning film Slumdog Millionaire. I have read this novel around 9 months before. It is just yesterday I’ve got the mood and time to write my opinion about Six Suspects. Actually I am running out of movies in my hard disk, and I don’t know what else to do in the little leisure time I get.!!

A suspect is someone who is accused of a crime. Here we have six different suspects as the title suggests and the crime they are accused of is a murder. It is a high profile murder occurred at the capital city of India and the victim, Vivek ‘Vicky’ Rai happened to be the son of U.P home minister. Vicky throws a party in his farmhouse in Delhi to celebrate his acquittal from a murder case which he did before 7 years. That’s where he was killed. Inside the farm there found six individuals, each one with a revolver in their possession and indeed with a motive that is enough to kill Vicky Rai.

Let’s see the suspects one by one.

1. The actress – Shabnam Saxena, a Bollywood actress and heartthrob of many youngsters who lands herself in a bloody mess that takes away her name and fame.
2. The bureaucrat – Mohan Kumar, a corrupt bureaucrat who claims himself as Mohanlal Karamchand Gandhi after a mishap when he attends a reality show.
3. The tribal – Eketi, a tribesman in Andaman and Nicobar who is on a quest to trace and recover a sacred stone that belongs his tribe.
4. The thief – Munna, a petty thief who falls in love with a very rich girl and daughter of a politician that leads himself to problems that are unimaginable.
5. The politician – Jagannath Rai, an ambitious politician who wants to take over the throne and become chief minister. He also happens to be father of the victim.
6. The American – Larry Page, who visits India to meet his fiancé whom he knew through internet.

What is interesting about the novel is the way it is presented to the readers. The characterization of each suspect is superb and narrated cleverly. After the prologue, each character is introduced through a back story, their motives to carry out the task, i.e., the murder of Vicky Rai and the evidences in separate chapters .Though all the characters are etched out in a neat manner, the part of the actress and the politician are outstanding. The politician's dark and dirty games in order to attain the throne is superbly written. Others are also good except 'the American' part which I find damn boring. He could've been cut out from the novel and title can be changed to Five Suspects!!

Another interesting aspect about the novel is, many events in the story are derived from real life incidents. The case for which Vicky Rai was acquitted is based on Jessica Lal murder case. Other events like driving over the platform killing homeless people, hunting deer and other protected species from forests are also based on real life events. I don’t know their real life counterparts though. The novel also parallels the Indian political scenario, the corrupt politicians and bureaucrats, the way they operate for their benefits, the industrialists who run the government by bribing the ministers and so on. Being a diplomat, the author would not have much difficulty in expressing these things.

Apart from these aspects, the novel has nothing special to call it a great piece of work. Its like a commercial movie. No wonder if it is made into a movie in the future. By the time I started reading it, I was told that it was murder mystery novel. That’s the first reason I chose to read it. When we read a mystery novel, we know that at the end the mystery will be revealed. The revelation should be shocking enough to make you speechless. Unfortunately here the revelation is not much shocking, or at least for me it was not. I felt that, as the end is approaching, I found the plot getting convoluted. Nevertheless, this could be read for its distinctive style of narration and the real life inspirations. If you are an avid reader, and likes mystery and investigative genres, Six Suspects will keep you engaged and I could say you won’t throw it away in the halfway of reading.

Happy reading…!!!

Satyajit Ray's Indigo Stories

Visiting library has many great benefits. One can come across variety of books, old ones, rare editions, precious and valuable books, new arrivals, etc. I do visit my district's central library often. It has a very big reference section with numerous very useful books. Once while glancing through the English Literature section, I came across this book Indigo Stories. It is a collection of Bengali short stories written by the famous Indian cinema director Satyajit Ray. 

Two reasons why I chose to read this book. First, the name Satyajit Ray drew me towards the book that I instantly took it from the shelf. I have known the great man only as a filmmaker but never knew that he has published stories too. In fact, most directors are writers themselves. Aren’t they? Next thing, it’s a collection of short stories. I prefer to read short stories rather than hundreds of pages of novels with only one story.

‘Indigo Stories’ has horror, fantasy, adventure, magic and supernatural stories. They were translated into English by Gopa Majumdar and some of them were translated by Ray himself. All of them look seemingly very simple and average. Yet  they hold the attention of the readers with a humorous narration, suspenseful plot and fantasy elements, like other similar works of Ray. 

The characters in the stories, their lives and the places are very ordinary, yet they land in unimaginable and extraordinary circumstances. In the segment The Scarecrow, a writer gets stranded near a paddy field on his way to the city and encounters the scarecrow in the field that becomes alive. In I am Ghost, a ghost occupying an abandoned burnt bungalow tells about its past life and how it is to be a ghost. In The Case of Mrigaonko Babu, the protagonist feels that he has not evolved as a complete human being. Another one Patel Babu - Film Star tells the story of an artist who strives for excellence and perfection rather than fame and wealth. In the titular Indigo, a traveler who takes shelter for one night in an old lonely bungalow encounters bizarrely the events happened over a century before. Likewise, each and every tale has its own charm and elegance. A few characters became unforgettable once I finish reading them. In one way or other, we can connect them with the events in our own life to some extent.

Satyajit Ray - pioneer of Indian cinema

Ray was quite imaginative, a quality that is a mandate for a creator. He has had an endless fascination towards supernatural and ghost fantasies. That’s how most of the tales turn out to be of such genre. Through the stories, Ray presents us with the beautiful, aesthetic valued Bengal of 1950s, its people, lifestyle, the environment and surroundings. In addition to this,

Above all, the most inviting aspect I find in this book is that they are very crisp and clear. No story lasts for more than 10 pages, no unwanted contents. Very apt for slow readers and lazy people like me! No problem in losing the continuity. 

Simply speaking, Indigo Stories is a treat and treasure to the voracious readers especially those who are very much fond of short and fictional stories. 

Happy reading...

Sorna Regai (Golden Palmlines) - my favorite novel

In the present era of computer, internet and smartphones, novel reading has been reduced to a considerable extent. People read novels as ebooks in their smartphones nowadays. I myself do not read much nowadays, as I spend more and more time in front of laptop. But whenever I read any book, it still gives immense, unmatched and ultimate pleasure which I don't find in internet and computers. If it’s a book of favorite genre or written by a favorite author, it’d be more interesting and exciting. I always get this excitement whenever I read the novel Sorna Regai (Golden Palmlines) written by Tamil writer Indira Soundararajan. I read it for the first time 12 years before, and I have read it many times after that. But it still looks fresh to me, may be because it was the first mystery thriller novel I have ever read.

The plot is about the events surrounding a death sentenced prisoner, a crime branch police officer, a young palmist, a theatre projectionist and his wife in a time span of less than 2 days. Most of the author’s works are based on supernatural elements, traditional beliefs and mythological aspects. Sorna regai falls under similar category with Palmistry as the base for the plot, thus given the title. There is a small note about different aspects of palmistry, its meaning and benefits, at the beginning of every chapter, making it interesting to read.

Apart from being published as a novel in the year 1999, it was also aired as a tele-serial in Raj TV channel as Marma Desam – Sorna Regai, as the third installment of Marma Desam series. It was quite famous those days. I have heard many people saying that some of the author’s works are kind of crap. I agree with that partly. But I can say surely that this one is an exception.  Sorna regai is not a great novel, not the best written book, but comparing to bulky, hundreds of pages of current bestselling thrillers, I feel that this is a fairly good thriller, not long and not too short. Those who like to read mystical thriller genre stories, this is for you.

About the Author

Indira Soundarajan is the pen name of P. Soundararajan, a well-known Tamil author of novels, short stories, and and screenplays. He is an expert on South Indian Hindu traditions and mythological lore. His stories typically deal with cases of south Indian Hindu traditions and mythology, supernatural occurrence, divine intervention, reincarnation, and ghosts, and are often based on or inspired by true stories reported from various locales around the state of Tamil Nadu. He lives in Madurai. 

(This review is an english version of already published review of the same book in Tamil)

Indian Quills Reading Challenge 2013 - Are you ready to read!!

Last year when I started blogging, I kept this thing in my mind that apart from movies, I should write a lot about books, the books that fascinated me, the books that made me crazy that I kept reading it over and over. But being a very very lazy person, I hadn’t done that except only once. I like to read a lot but I am not an active reader because of my stupid laziness. Nowadays I rarely do sit to read. I have a habit of lying in bed while reading (even for my semester exams I used to like this only). I start reading a book and within a few minutes I will be in a pleasant dream, as I sleep without my knowledge. This happens 90% of the time when I attempt to read any book be it a novel or a magazine or a textbook. Even in public libraries, I had slept a couple of times, turning everyone's attention towards me. I still haven’t completed Agni Siragugal (wings of fire) which my father bought me at a book expo some 12 years back. Funny thing is, when I try to sleep I won’t get it and when I eagerly start reading a book, I have no idea when I get slept. 

Ok let’s leave the boring stuffs about my reading habit. The point is, now I am given a chance to make myself active in book reading, through Indian Quills Reading Challenge 2013. It is an effort to gather all the books penned by Indian authors, irrespective of the timeline, in order to make an effective database of Indian literature under one roof The Tales Pensive. As part of the challenge, the reader has to give a target of the number of books that he/she will read throughout this year through this introductory blog post and add the link in the challenge’s website. After that they can review the books in their blog and share the link in the website. My target is atleast 15 books. 

Image source - The Tales Pensive

It’s not just confined to bloggers alone. Non bloggers can also participate and put forth their reviews. There is a separate column for non-bloggers to share their reviews in challenge’s website. For more details and guidelines about the challenge, visit here.

I feel that it’s time to change and improve my reading habit (and a few other habits too) and I am going to achieve it through IQR Challenge 2013. Thanks a ton to the organiser of the challenge Reshmi. I wish her efforts turn out to be a huge success.

Happy reading!!

சொர்ணரேகை - படித்ததில் மிகவும் பிடித்தது

என்னதான் கம்பியூட்டர், இன்டெர்நெட்னு பொழுது போக்கு சாதனங்கள் வந்தாலும், புத்தகம் படிக்கிற மாதிரி வரவே வராது. ஒரு வாரம் முன்னாடி என்னோட favorite சொர்ணரேகை நாவல திரும்பப் படிச்சேன். பிரபல தமிழ் எழுத்தாளர் இந்திரா சௌந்தரராஜன் எழுதின நாவல். 1999ல பிரசுரமானது. என்னடா இவன் 12 வருசத்துக்கு முன்னால வந்த கதையப் பத்தி இப்ப பேசிட்டு இருக்கானேன்னு நெனைக்கலாம். ஆனா, இப்ப படிக்கும்போதும், ஒவ்வொரு தடவையும் முதல்முறை படிச்சப்ப இருந்த த்ரில் மாறவே இல்ல. நான் முதல்முதலா படிச்ச திரில்லர் கதை இதுதான். அதனாலயே இது எனக்கு ரொம்பப் பிடிச்ச நாவல்ல ஒன்னாகிருச்சு. 

இந்திரா சாரப் பத்தி உடனே தெரியர மாதிரி சொல்லனும்னா, சன் டிவில வந்த மர்ம தேசம் தொடரோட கதை எழுதினவர். இந்தக் கதைகூட 'விடாது கருப்பு'க்கு அடுத்ததா மர்ம தேசம் - பார்ட் 3 ன்னு தொடர் நாடகமா வந்தது. 

 

இந்திராவோட‌ நாவல்கள்ல பெரும்பாலும், கூடுவிட்டுக் கூடுபாய்ரது, போன சென்மம், அடுத்த சென்மம், இந்தமாதிரி ஏதாச்சும் ஒரு விசயம் அடிப்படையா இருக்கும். அமானுஷ்யம் உண்மையா பொய்யான்னு ஒரு ஆராய்ச்சியோட இருக்கும்.  உண்மையோ பொய்யோ, படிக்கிறப்ப சுவாரசியத்துக் குறைவில்லாம இருக்கும். அந்த வகையில, சொர்ணரேகையோட கதைய‌ கைரேகை சோதிடத்தை மையமா வச்சி எழுதிருக்காரு இந்திரா சார். கதைல அங்கங்க டுவிஸ்டு வர்றதுனால மேலோட்டமா சொல்றேன். தூக்கு தண்டனைக் கைதி, கைரேகை சோதிட ஆராய்ச்சியாளர், க்ரைம் பிராஞ்ச் இன்ஸ்பெக்டர், டூரிங் தியேட்டர் ஆபரேட்டர் இவங்களுக்குள்ள நடக்குற சம்பவங்கள் தான் மொத்தக் கதையும். வளவளன்னு நெறய பக்கங்கள் எழுதாம, ரொம்பச் சின்னதாவும் இல்லாம, அதே நேரத்துல திரில்லுக்கும் குறைவில்லாம இருக்குறதால படிக்கிறப்ப போர் அடிக்க வாய்ப்புகள் ரொம்ப ரொம்பக் குறைவு.

த்ரில் நாவல் விரும்பி வாசிக்கிறவங்களுக்கு, இதுவும் கண்டிப்பாப் புடிக்கும். அப்டிங்கிறது என் கருத்து. நீங்களும் படிச்சிட்டு உங்க கருத்த சொல்லுங்க...