Stories that resonate
Short Stories
A DAY IN THE LIFE
Anjum Hasan
Publisher: PenguinHamish Hamilton
Published: March 2018
Pages: 256, Hardback
Short stories can either leave you feeling like you have read multiple incomplete pieces of work or there will be, at most, one or two stories to save the anthology from joining the ranks of forgotten works on your bookshelf. But Anjum Hasan’s ‘A Day In The Life’, a collection of stories recently published by Penguin, is a class apart. The 14 stories that Hasan tells of seemingly ordinary people leading ordinary lives are anything but ordinary. Though essentially about belonging and personal peculiarities, A Day In The Life draws many parallels from everyday life that make the stories relevant and relatable. In ‘Sisters’, a woman shrunk by sickness starts to see healthy people as ogres. ‘The Legend of Lutfan Mian’ is narrated over a two-day walk to Banaras in 19th century India. ‘I Am Very Angry’ sees the arrival of loud, always fighting neighbors disrupting the life of an older Brahmin man who has lost his wife. ‘Bird Love’ revolves around a newly married couple discovering new things about each other and thus reinventing their life together and in ‘Godsend’ you meet two women with completely different parenting styles trying to compare and outdo each other. As varied as these stories are, dissonance, often inwardly, is the theme that ties them together. There always seems to be an internal conflict that underlines the lives of these contrasting characters.
That Hasan is skilled in analyzing the lives of different kinds of people and telling stories that resonate was evident in her first collection of stories, Difficult Pleasures, published in 2012. And she carries that legacy forward in her most recent collection as well. Hasan is also the author of the novels ‘The Cosmopolitans’, ‘Neti, Neti’, and ‘Lunatic In My Head’, and though all her books have a finesse that just isn’t there in works of other Indian writers, it’s evident that her expertise lies in telling short stories.
It’s very difficult to tell a good story in just a few pages but Hasan pulls it off with ease. Though A Day In The Life has stories set in different worlds, be it in terms of class or place, each story is so richly crafted that you feel like you know these characters. They could very well be you or someone you know. Hasan’s writing is elegant and nuanced, ensuring nothing is over the top or dramatic and the fact that she writes with such striking confidence makes reading the stories a pleasure. This is a book you would want to keep at your bedside, to revisit the neatly crafted worlds whenever you can.
Rocking and Rolling, Lakeside
You know you’re in for a rocking treat when the venue you’re entering has the legendary The Rolling Stones band’s iconic insignia fashioned as the entrance door. And once you set foot inside, the Rolling Stones Rock Bar doesn’t disappoint. True to its name, the rock bar in the heart of Lakeside, Pokhara is probably the biggest and loudest live music venue in the tourist hotspot. A full-fledged stage, complete sound system and lightning, the very best performing artists, along with a wide selection of food and drinks, make every evening at Rolling Stones musically enriching. The bar is popular among locals as well as tourists from around the world and from right across the country too. There are many Kathmanduites who never miss a chance to go to the Rolling Stones whenever they are in the Lakeside. The venue is also a favorite spot for musicians from Kathmandu to perform for the Pokhara audience.
THE MENU
Chef’s Special:
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Opening hours: 12 noon - 12 am
Meal for 2: Rs 2,500
Cards: Accepted
Reservations:061467496
Location: Lakeside, Pokhara
A complete waste of time
Non-Fiction
HOW TO BE HUMAN: LIFE LESSONS FROM BUDDY HIRANI
Manjeet Hirani
Publisher: Ebury Press
Published: January 2018
Pages: 156, Hardcover
They say, ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’. That idiom holds true quite literally in the case of ‘How To Be Human’ because the cover is nice and thus misleading. The only good thing about the book is that the chapters are short so you don’t have to suffer for too long. Also, the illustrations that accompany the chapters are fun to look at, making reading the badly written (and edited) somewhat preachy chapters just about bearable.‘How To Be Human’ is basically about what Bollywood director Rajkumar Hirani’s wife Manjeet Hirani, who is a pilot and motivational speaker, has learnt in and of life so far through her dog, Buddy, who was, if anyone remembers, Anuskha Sharma’s depressed dog in the 2014 movie PK, featuring Aamir Khan.
Though Manjeet was scared of dogs and would have never allowed one into her house, she couldn’t say no when her husband sent a six-week-old pup to their son, Vir. Earlier named Nikku, the pup then became Buddy because the Hiranis felt Nikku didn’t suit his vibrant, always-up-to-something personality.
As Manjeet got close to Buddy, she claims to have learnt invaluable lessons from him. She started writing blog posts on Buddy and his shenanigans and, as someone who with a keen interest in philosophy, she then found herself comparing his ways to people’s habits and wondering what Buddy would do in certain situations. ‘How To Be Human’ was the result of that contemplation.
As delightful as that idea sounds, and despite great reviews from Ranbir Kapoor and John Abraham, and a gushy foreword by Dia Mirza, ‘How To Be Human’ is not a book you will enjoy because the writing is sloppy and erratic. Although the author starts each chapter by singing praises about Buddy, it eventually leads to a rant and then ends with her telling you what you should and shouldn’t do or how you can make the world a better place.
Sometimes Manjeet manages to bring Buddy back in at the end of the chapter as an afterthought, having forgotten all about him while she went on and on about politics, health, society, and what not. It’s almost like she suddenly remembers that the theme of the book is ‘Life Lessons from Buddy Hirani’ and she can’t afford to digress anymore and has to quickly wrap up the chapter too.
It’s this erratic nature of the book, apart from the shoddy writing, that leaves you with a bad aftertaste, making you wonder why you picked up the book in the first place. Or maybe you can blame Ranbir Kapoor for that, whose two sentences on the cover are the only nicely written ones in the entire book.
‘Best-in-town’ pizzas and more
THE MENU
Chef’s Special:
- Spaghetti Carbonara
- Ricotta Pizza
- Fish N Chips
Location: New Road
Cards: Accepted
Meal for 2: Rs 1500
Reservation: 014243333
New Road—the old shopping haven of Kathmandu and the cultural center of this ancient city—is also the home of street foods, lightning fast and cheap. Almost every other door opens to a place where one can get a quick bite. But what if one wants to spend some time relishing the meal in a nice environment, and also escape the heat of the commercial zone? The newly opened New Road-branch of the Black Water Restro and Bar is such a place where you can relax with your food, and at affordable prices too. The New Road branch of Black Water, located in the New Road Complex, has become popular for its beautiful ambiance and affordable menu. Sandwiches, burgers, noodles, pasta, friend chicken are some popular orders that Black Water receives along with its various offerings of pizza, which it claims to be “probably the best pizza in town.”
