Book review: Medicos – a battle for survival

Author: Dr Nachiket Vyas

Genre: medical drama, contemporary fiction

Storyline: Nitty gritties of every medical student encapsulated

Pros: I related thoroughly with every word. Could smell the toxic fumes of formalin, visualise the trepid white coats peering over Kalu the cadaver (I remember mine was coined Harry!) and feel the 275 kg Grey’s volume. The palpitations of being a successful entrant, the terror of hostel tyrants, the voluminous syllabus that saps the brain and drains energy, the stinking aprons, the ubiquitous stetho parading like a garland or coiled like a serpent around the neck; and of course, the dread that every disease you read has already attacked your system.
Nachiket makes doctors waltz into the amygdala (read – memories). Non medicos who envied the glittering tip of iceberg will finally appreciate and apprehend the toil underlying it. Interwoven are also the love-hate relations, the eternal friendships and tender family moments welling up between its 5 protagonists. Humor (artificial insemination!) bursts through to relieve the stressful moments.

Cons: Bit high priced.

Pages: 352

Amazon link

Aum or Om chanting methods

Tags

brahma vishnu shiva, mantra, om chant, yoga secrets

The sacred chant, the yoga mantra, the divine code.

Om or Aum Indian sacred sound. The symbol of the divine triad of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

To the limits of my knowledge, there are 2 methods to pronounce this magic word

1] Om – Here the oooo and mmm are roughly in 1:3 or 1: 4 ratio. For example, if your breath can last 16 seconds, then do 4 seconds and 12 seconds of O & M respectively.

Infact higher the denominator, higher is your respiratory capacity and longer your life (as promised by my yoga teacher). Click below for a demo:

Book review: Diamonds and Stones, an unlikely story

Tags

political, thriller

Author: Navreet Sran

Pages: 202

Whirlpool of life and emotions

Picturize a luxury yatch cruising along scenic waters before a tornado smashes into it… and therein begins survival. Navreet Sran’s ‘Diamonds and Stones’ beguiles the reader into guessing whether the plot involves a corporate slugfest, or an Indian bride propelled into NRI world or bitchy boss Namita’s murder. Instead, it veers abruptly into unexpected terrains – both emotional and geographic. Ambitious and dreamer Meera’s life goes topsy turvy once she is kidnapped.

Book review: Dakshin – south indian myths and fable retold

Tags

book review, fables, folk tales, myths, south indian

Author: Nitin Kushalappa

Price: Rs 186-196

Genre: Folk tales /folk lore/Myths & Legends

Translations of folk songs and re tellings of folk tales across generations

A children’s book should satisfy 3 criteria.

• Easy, fluid language
• Suspension of disbelief aka rich imagination
• A moral of the story (or even 4 as in Bala Nagamma)

This collection of tales from the South India aka Dakshin Bharat ticks all the above. It’s a world where animals are often wiser than humans, where magic happens at the snap of a finger, and where each tale offers food for thought, much like our Sanskrit epic Panchtantra.

Self Defense – tele play

Tags

courtroom drama, experimental skit, review, tele drama

Description of film by writer: A one hour courtroom drama that raises important societal questions of gender bias and social conditioning, it challenges many set notions. The film raises important questions, and leaves you, the viewer, to judge the answers.

An experimental skit filmed during Covid Pandemic Nov 2021

Writer: Mr. Ramanjaneya Sharaph

Director: Sheetal Sanjay

Cast: from Anantha Namana Nataka Tanda, UK.

Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gH7i03aUxs

Duration: 45 minutes

Storyline: It’s a ‘why-done-it’, rather than ‘who-done-it’. It raises the question of whether ‘being guilty’ can be equated with ‘committing a crime’ – and of course, what qualifies as a crime? And what is the ‘self’ which deserves to be defended.

The drama starts with a female judge casually swatting a spider, perhaps indicating our guiltless way of dealing with a pest. She goes on to sit in judgment of a wife accused of stabbing her husband.

The defense lawyer tries to force an insanity plea upon the client Boomika, which is resolutely refused by the client. As he withdraws, his assistant Tejaswini takes on the mantle of honoring the client’s wish and defending the client without resorting to insanity plea. A courtroom drama then unfolds….

Positives that struck me: 1] Despite having a male writer, the drama has a decidedly empathic view from women’s pov. Rare indeed!