Book Review: Nargisa's Adventures by Manjul Bajaj

The sequel to Manjul Bajaj’s children’s book series, Elbie’s Quest, is a delightful book, called Nargisa’s Adventures.

Nargisa, the Golden Heart Giving Flower, with red and blue petals, which changed hues, graced since times immemorial, Rangeeli Duniya, showering it with honey and gifts, patron of good times.  When her petals changed hues, very slowly, the worker bees made honey and when they changed to red, it was time to give honey away as gifts. But of late, the colours changed so fast that the worker bees in the factory are exhausted and Queen Bee is very annoyed with Nargisa, for causing the worker bees to work too hard and almost die of exhaustion. This gave Nargisa, the mother of headaches at nights, crowded by Dream Boats and Night Mares. She confides her problem to Titli, her Chief Gusher, who very prudently advices her to take a break. And guess where they are both are headed to? None other than, Elbie’s Soul Café, where, Elbie, the Big Little Tree brews and serves, vials of “Pick Me Up”, “Slow Me Down, “A Dash of Hope”, “A Stirring of Sympathy” .

Nargisa is refreshed and confides her problem to Elbie’s companion, the very smart wolf, Aluf, who then becomes instrumental to finding out where the problem really lies – why is Nargisa’s Golden Isle threatened to near extinction.

Packed with riddles, wild flight of imagination, lots of adventure, sci-fi too, the book is a sheer delight for the reader, I would think between age 12 – 80 and above.

Evil connives against good and entice all who live in Rangeeli Duniya, to follow them.

But does he succeed?

Read it in the most fascinating story you will ever read in Children’s Literature from writers in English, in India.

With excellent illustrations by Shreya Sen, the story comes to life and would be a fun read for kids and all, who love and care for a Sunday afternoon, with a refreshing book to read.

The humour is side-splitting and lifts the spirit sky high.

Here are some parts I loved much .

Tongue twister: “How much Greek can a gaggle of geese speak after a gaggle of geese have been to a geek to learn to speak Greek?”

Riddle: “Tell me, what grows down as it grows up?”

Play of words, bring so much humour:

“Nice place you have here, “said Titli.

“No, no. No plays, my dear. I’m afraid, we don’t have any shows or performances for our guests.”

“Absolutely brilliant – the stuffy nose,” Elbie repeated with a fond smile washing over her face.

“Does your friend Aluf have a cold?” Asked Titli

“Aluf has a cold? Who told you that?” Asked Elbie……” I said, my friend Aluf is brilliant. He is very well-read and the stuff he knows is amazing.”

“Gosh!” said Titli, putting her palms on her ears daintily. “I don’t think we are going to find any peace here.”

“That’s right, my dear,” a tiny voice piped up from nowhere, “If you want peas, it is better you head for the vegetable market down the road….”

And many other laugh out loud stuff all over the book.

Go, savour and enjoy, the delight of “Nargisa’s Adventures.” No harm in getting Eblie's Quest too! It's FREE on Kindle Unlimited!

Publisher: Scholastic India
Author: Manjul Bajaj
Illustrator: Shreya Sen
Pages: 176
Price: Kindle Rs 125; Paperback: Rs 156

Daddy - A Living History of Brahmapur.

WARNING!

Before you download this book on your Kindle, click on Nargis Natarajan  to get to know who the author is. 

As a personal story, and a dedication to her father, the book gives the reader a full view of ‘a now happy – now sad’, big Indian joint family with many characters, children and pets. And of course a good laugh almost all the way.

When I downloaded the book, I thought I would have a glimpse into a traditional Indian family which almost built Berhampur, also known as Brahmapur (Wikipedia) from scratch.  But what I fell upon is a modern, progressive family which was headed by a great visionary, a patriot, educated and progressive doctor, Dr Firoz Ali and the story of his large family and his contribution to a city he loved so much- Brahmapur. It is sad that he lives in every space we see today in Brahmapur, although his name has become unknown to most.  Daddy, A Bouquet of Memories is a history of his work as a Social Worker, a dedicated doctor, a poet and nation builder, as told by his daughter. It is the story of the man for whom, his Brahmapur was his life and light.

Better known as ‘the poor man’s doctor’ Dr Firoz Ali, gave up his Government Medical job to serve the people of Brahmapur. A freedom fighter, proud of his country and his city, Dr Firoz Ali contributed in each and every way to build the city, although if you google his name today, all you find is one or two references. Considering that at one time, the Brahmapur Railway Station was named after him, it is sad how names, persons are deleted from our histories as if they never existed at all.

Some mention:

In Arun Bhatt's blog: 

"I went towards Dr. Firoz Ali’s residence. A three storey building now stands there. There is nothing imperial about it other than the name “Imperial College.”

And Here: 

“It may be noted that due to untiring efforts of well-known social worker Dr. Feroz Ali, the long-cherished dream of Brahmapur citizens for an auditorium became a reality in 1977.”

History is built around people we want to remember, or what someone, somewhere thinks is worth remembering and passing on. Living histories are wiped out which is why, reviving old memories, writing facts that will stay forever, has becoming so important.

I would put Daddy, A Bouquet of Memories, as not only a memory but a living history of Brahmapur, facts, one does not get to read in the text book, Wikipedia or any other book about a place or city.

We in India, choose to remember a Gandhi, a Nehru and forget, even, try to wipe out people who we do not want our children to remember as builders of this nation.

Welcome then, to a Nehru look alike and a Gandhi at heart, a generous, kind and benevolent man, called Dr Firoze Ali, The Daddy you may certainly never forget, not if you are from Brahmapur, Orissa. 

Book Review - The Guest by Suneetha Balakrishnan

Such a pretty story is the first thing I said to myself as soon as I put my Kindle down, having finished Suneetha Balakrishnan’s story The Guest on Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing.

Set in an unknown destination, the story is about three people, Saraswathi, who is the widowed mother of the single child, Sameer, who is married to Kavitha and their story together.

Saraswathi is happy to have Kavitha enter her family as her son’s wife, as she feels Kavitha has a deeper connection in her personal life, which is over and above what she has with her son. Sameer on the other hand is a loving and caring man, but like many single children is lost in his own world. Kavitha adjusts and even enjoys her little family, even as she is a working woman with all the stresses of being one. 

The story takes the reader to the family and its day to day happenings, until, one day, just one single day, everything seems to go wary. An otherwise smooth running family is caught in misunderstandings created by an act, which then races the reader through quite a nail-biting journey, when really the reader joins the family, running helter-skelter to resolve the problem. But finally, when the reader does come to the end of the story, h/she is delighted with what there is to discover. And that becomes the reason for the entire book to have been written – The Guest. Who is this guest? Wherefrom has he come from? The delightful and happy ending tells it all bringing joy to the reader and smiles that sit comfortably on the lips, for a long time, thereafter.

Suneetha Balakrishnan, is a Journalist, author, and writes stories and poems in Malyalam and English. Her writings mix the traditional with the modern. Her characters reflect the same personality; they are at heart traditional and yet use a modern life with its paraphernalia of electronic gadgets and all. 

The characters in this book are well cut out, but the only thing I really missed was some juicy romance between the two protagonists, Sameer and Kavitha. Indeed, I am sure this will follow after The Guest has arrived!

Would you care to find out too?

Find out Here