Skip to main content

Book Review - Ghachar Ghochar by Vivek Shanbhag

Family. One word, but too many emotions. When you think of family, A lot of scenarios and emotions, come to your mind. Not everyone has the same experiences, so where one can see the happiness, you might see hatred or sadness for different reasons. It is a bond connected by blood where you do not get the choice. So, you got to have what it already serves on the plate. It can contain your favourite dishes along with things you are not so fond of, but you can’t discard anything and, that’s how you can imagine our relation. We can love them or hate them, yet we to stay together. You tend to save your clan when the time comes because it is yours.

This book will take you through phases where it becomes unbelievable to accept the scene going on. Why I’m using the word ‘scene’ because it is a combination of brief moments when compared to your own life, you might go into flashbacks. I could say this because I could relate to many things when I read it. Especially the scene where the protagonist talks about how things change with the flow of money as I have first-hand experiences of such times. It wasn’t easy but, now looking back at those incidents, I find myself above them and tried to judge no one based on those things. Something I learnt at a small age.

It is a story of a joint family who has seen their share of bad times and has come out of it. They care for each other but don’t think it is necessary to show it all the time (basically, a typical Indian household). Yet, you can clearly see how they handle the matter with utmost patience even when they are boiling inside. Prima facie it’s a simple story, but the meaning hidden beneath is very crucial. The ending leaves you juggling with many thoughts as you try to make sense yet know there is nothing serious going on except the usual humdrum of that household which will go on how it used to be. But what can you do with yours solely depends on how you carry it forward!

Go for it,

-if you are a connoisseur of short stories

-if you love reading about family-related stories

-if mundane things don’t bore you

-if you love to explore translated literature

-if reading about relations and their intricacies excite you

Rating – 4/5

Genre – Literary fiction, Indian literature


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review - Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

  I don’t know what to make of this book as it left me with so many things to think about regarding the scenarios/situations I read. Also, if it falls into the romance genre, I can only find revenge and desperation to prove the other person wrong. The book is tricky as it has a story within a story. But after some time, it becomes easy to identify one from another, and it doesn’t feel like a chore. I found it hard to understand what is going on at the beginning.  Also, the gothic parts were very few and were not scary at all. They added little to the story; I feel. I felt something would come out of it, but found nothing. There are two main characters, Heathcliff and Catherine, and both were just okay. I didn’t like Heathcliff at all. His traits were brutal and harsh. Despite that, I was always looking forward to what he is up to next. On the other hand, Catherine is too sweet and gullible (not the Catherine you are thinking about, though). The book has a theme of love, frie...
5 comments
Read more

Review - Lullabies by Lang Leav

Poetry books are always beautiful because they speak more with fewer words. To grasp the underlying meaning, you need to reach the depth of the expressions. They make you feel things that you have forgotten about and make you forget those that you don't want to remember. Poetry is a wordplay where you like some and love some a little more than the others. Lullabies take you to places from where you do not want to come back. I really loved a few pieces of poetry. They spoke to me in a language which I'm unable to express. Some were too distant for me to reach. It might be because of the way I approached them or never had that kind of experience to get those. It is a combination of poetry and excerpts. I have always loved Lang Leav's posts. Hence, the book came with a familiar aura of wishful emotions. If you are a connoisseur of poetry, you should definitely try it. It might not be best, but it will provide you with something useful. Rating - 3.5/5 Genre - Poetry
4 comments
Read more

Existence

Many a time in our life we happen to face some situations where we start questioning about our existence. We are working round the clock but at someone else’s discretion as if what we want from our life doesn’t matter. It does matter to us, but not to them. Howsoever they want us to believe it is good for us but we all know we are not enjoying it. Also, I agree not everything is supposed to be for our enjoyment but when you do something which feels like a task or a burden, in the long run, you tend to make plans to run away from it. It doesn’t happen overnight. It starts building up as and when we feel we are getting near the breaking point. We start seeing the patterns which earlier wasn’t visible to our line of vision. Then we become anxious. Now when you know the patterns and want to break the chain, it won’t leave you no matter how much you want to be left alone. It’s a cycle. You know it. You sense it. You feel it. You struggle. You struggle really bad. It gets to the poin...
4 comments
Read more