The Reader

No, this post has nothing to do with the Oscar award winning movie featuring two of my favourite Western actors ...Ralf (promounced Rafe) Fiennes and Kate Winslet. Although I am dying to see the flick....

Recently I have been reading book reviews as it has been quite some time since I read a book. I have been denying myself the pleasure of what I like doing most and have been moping around a like a sad sack.

Some of the new books on the shelf include Daughters of Shame by Jasvinder Sanghera which deals with the horrors and atrocities suffered in the UK by South Asian women. Reminds me of the movie 'Provoked' based on Kiranjit Ahluwalia. Am I ready to go through another tale of horror and exploitation?

The other one which is much talked about is 'The Lost Flamingoes of Bombay', by Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi. Based loosely on the Jessica Lall murder case, it is supposed to be an interesting read, but with language which has too much sleaze wrapped around it. Don't know whether I shall be able to digest that!

But one book I am definitely going to read is 'Stranger to History' by Aatish Taseer. Some of you may have heard about the author in passing if you have been reading gossip mags. He was in a relationship with a minor British royal Gabriella Windsor and even made it to the pages of Hello.
This is his story....not about his affair, but about his very existence. I did not know Tavleen Singh, a senior journalist in the country had a love child (Aatish) with former Punjab governor in Pakistan Salmaan Taseer.

I have grown up admiring Tavleen since the days she would report for the now erstwhile Sunday magazine and as a growing girl in my early teens was jealous because she had interviewed my idol of those days Imran Khan! In fact, she was the only woman journalist of note for a very long time in the country and I was inspired partly by her to start my career as a journo. Anyway, enough of that later.

The book promises to be something of a masterpiece. A love child who belongs half to Pakistan and half to India. Reminds me of a little of Abhishek Bachchan's character in Delhi-6. But this, I am sure will be much more powerful. A reality, a circumstance in life, written by the boy who has been through it all.

The book hits the stands next month. So, many reasons to read it... And did I mention? Aatish is a gorgeous looker!