25 January, 2012

A calendar too crowded - [Book review]

Book Name: A calendar Too crowded
Author : Sagarika chakraborthy
Publisher : Niyogi Books
Price : Rs.295
 I got introduced to this book through book review program by blogadda.com. If not this case, i would not have tried reading this book, considering it as a serious read from the book synopsis on the cover. Basically, iam not interested in books with serious note and love light reads like Chetan Bhagath's. But, from the day i completed reading introduction and first story, i felt like its worth reading. 


What this is about?                
         A calendar too crowded is a collection of heart touching and realistic short stories and poems on empowerment of women. The background theme of the book is to remind us international days dedicated to women and compare with the realistic world about how these days are forgotten immediately after celebration. It tells us that there is more to do for the welfare of women than celebrating some days dedicated on their name. Characters in this book are nameless, to signify that we can relate woman in each story to someone who is around us or even to us. 
                
Few words about the author and her writing style
         Sagarika, a law graduate have published and presented papers at international conferences on diverse subjects like corporate governance principles, monetary economics, religion etc., She is excellent in story telling with humorous, satirical and realistic touch. Even though it's a fiction work, each story moves you and makes you think about the concerned issue at least for some time. Personally, i felt writing style is good and interesting. 


Some of the best stories that i liked:
The gift called 'Life' - Excellent narration. Every woman can relate to each and everything mentioned in this story. Somewhere in life she might have faced any of those situations mentioned
Finding an Ideal mother to my unborn child - A good lesson for all those mothers who pamper their son from childhood  without letting him know their own problems, sacrifice their time, ideals and life for them and expect the same from their daughter in law. It emphasizes on imbibing good values in children and making them ready to understand and solve problems in life instead of taking all burden away from them.
Witch without a broomstick - This is about a story of a young window and the way Indian society treats her. 
Behind those whispers - It's such a nicely written poem which iam sure every Indian woman can relate to.
Selling a Body to gain a mind - Story is about a prostitute who doesn't want her child to be like her. Amazing spirit and positive attitude of the characters leave us spell bound. I appreciate the way characters are molded and the internal message they give to us. 
Naked - its a very realistic story about the way society reacts to a situation.
Knowledge beyond the printed letters - It's about an ideal house wife cum social welfare activist. This doesn't seem to be practical but we might see those kind of women rarely in our day to day life.
Living by double edged sword - this is about dowry law (IPC section 498A) and to show how it is being misused most of the times.


Even though it is very tough for me to chose best out of many good short stories, i tried to share some above. I liked the way author has explained or touched upon an issue in a very simple way and with subtle manner. I surely recommend this book to everyone, especially women. 
You can buy this book from here:


This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

Until next time..

4 comments:

  1. Darkness under the spotlight is about the model,the story you referred to is "Selling a body to gain a mind"...NICE REVIEW :)
    swarnalidreams.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Swarnali for correcting me.. Updated my blog :)

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  3. Must be an enjoyable read A Calendar Too Crowded by Sagarika Chakraborty. loved the way you wrote it. I find your review very genuine and orignal, this book is going in by "to read" list.

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  4. thanks for dropping by Rohit. Glad that you liked my review. :)

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for dropping by! please share your opinion :)

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