Book review - Wind Chimes by the sea

 Book Title – Wind Chimes by the sea

Author – Beetashok Chatterjee

Publisher - Readomania

Beetashok Chatterjee gets it right with the title itself, which says, “Stories blown ashore”. For the stories have truly been blown ashore by the master story teller, whose vast experience of travelling the seas in all corners of the world comes handy, and combined with his tremendous story telling skills, he conjures up tales of every hue, weaving them into a web of words, in which the reader loses herself only to emerge at the end, with a smile on her face.

The stories show the entire range of human emotions and characteristics. 11 tales, and no story is similar though all connected to life at sea. When a seaman is on a ship, his mates are his family but he is still, all alone on a watery prison which can test anyone’s mental toughness.

While ‘Service to the nation’ explores a patriotic theme, ‘In the heat of the night’ makes the reader pray for the protagonist’s life.

‘Island in the sun’ takes you back to the middle ages, the 16th century, where the protagonist is a pirate living precariously on the edge, and whose love is doomed. Does he survive the battle with the authorities? Does he find love at the end?

A seaman always dreads the fury of nature, which quickly turns the peaceful waters into monster waves, helped along by fiery gales and everything comes alive in ‘The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald’.

A seaman, after a lonely long trip always looks forward to a shore leave, wherever he may be, but if this shore leave is forced by a medical emergency in an unknown country, then what happens. Please read ‘Shore leave’ to know more.

What happens when a ship’s captain is irresponsible and doesn’t follow basic SOP of navigation? Read ‘Okinotori Shima’ to know more.

Anyone would love to have his family on board, especially a young seaman. But how does the wife, accompanied by her newborn child, cope with the challenges thrown at her by the lonely life at sea? Read ‘There and back’ to know more.

If sea life is challenging, a Captain can add humour to it, with some eccentric schemes, however positive the intention may be. Have a good laugh with ‘The GM Diet’.

 The Covid pandemic affected the entire humanity but hardly anyone gave a thought to the challenges faced by those involved in “essential services”. Do read ‘The forgotten’ to understand what the seamen went through.

If the weather can challenge a ship with violent storms, it can also confront with extreme cold. Read ‘Frozen’ to discover artic winter at its worst.

“All’s well that ends well” lives up to the title to wind up this great anthology of sea faring stories.

Pick up “Wind Chimes by the sea” to lose yourself in a topsy turvy sea and enrich yourself with the effortless language of a gifted author.

Book review - Hawk's Return

 Book Title - Hawk's Return

Author - various

Publisher - Room9 Publications

One thing is assured, when Room9 Publishers from ArtoonsInn come out with their offering, readers are assured of some tremendous stories. It is the same case with Hawk's Return, the 3rd book from Room9 Publications. So, without wasting any words further, let's have a look at the stories here.

Darussalam by Dr. Supriya Bansal - Dr. Supriya Bansal is a storyteller par excellence, and she doesn't disappoint at all, and the anthology starts with a bang. She peels off the story, one layer at a time, to finally reach a climax that surprises the readers to the core.

Rotten wood by Nigel Yu - I read his story for the first time and loved the languid pace. The story proceeds like a lazy stream, and by the time it ends, you are overcome by emotions.

Home by Kruti Bharadva - the background of World War 2 is perfect for a story about painful loss and final redemption, ending positively.

O Captain!My Captain! By Sheerin Shahab - a story that unfolds through diary entries of an innocent little girl, whose hunky dory life is not so rosy as it seems. Beautiful narration.

The village that could not sleep by Dr. Pallavi Sawant-Uttekar - one of my favourite writers at ArtoonsInn, and she comes up with a story that has a life lesson in it.

Return to her mother by Charulata Panigrahi - a story from The Ramayana cannot go wrong when it is narrated by Charulata Ma'am

Strange are the ways of Providence by Sudha Vishwanath - when the story starts, you feel sorry for the protagonist but by the time it ends, you will be as happy as her, that's the strength of Sudha Ma'am's narration.

The Ascension by Lalitha Ramanathan - a beautiful tale that teaches you that it is never too late to pursue your forgotten dreams.

The Ghosts of Lidice by Narayani Manapadam - another story with a war background by another favourite author of mine. This time, the ghosts are looking for deliverance from their sorrows.

The Longest Return Journey by Srivalli Rekha - a story from another Indian epic, this time The Mahabharata by the veteran writer, Srivalli, about one of the biggest heroes from the epic.

The Lost Memory by Venkat Raman V – one more story with a war background where the protagonist discovers a ghastly truth at the end, when he finally remembers everything from the war.

Ruth’s Patties and Pies by Shankar Hosagoudar – the anthology ends with a bang with this excellent story about a protagonist who finds his true calling in life while helping his aged grandmother. P.s. – this story has a pleasant surprise for some wannabe bakers.

 Give some love for my story...

https://prowritersroom.com/salon-de-la-reine/

“Such a beauty! Is she a movie star?”, the girl, doing the facial of a masked lady on the back of the Salon, asked the girl who was straightening my hair. Though I couldn’t see her, I could feel her admiring side glances. I felt like a queen, regally sitting in her throne, as I sat there, having my beauty regime done at ‘SALON DE LA REINE’. It was my favourite place, a cozy corner in an usually crowded Salon.

I was used to such adoring behavior from total strangers, especially boys and many middle-aged, portly men. While some were direct, anonymously wolf whistling in the streets, the others ogled at me from safe distances. Men walking with their wives, kept their gaze straight if I appeared in their sight of vision, but as soon as they had crossed, I had noticed some of them turning back on some pretext or the other, leering at me with their half admiring half lascivious looks.

Soon, I was going to leave this middle-class neighborhood to establish a kingdom of my own at the matinees.

16 years later

I am back. It's all so changed. Being back to my roots, my town of birth and my family, feels so nostalgic. A feeling of peace transcends my whole being though numbed by pain. The cancer has spread and I no longer wish to live. But nothing in my life has gone as per my wishes, except for the first 5 years after I left this town. Then, it all started falling apart. So here I am, back to my town, to spend the last few days in peace before I get bedridden. I might as well visit 'Salon De La Reine' for old times' sake, in my favourite Cosy corner. 

As I glance at myself with trepidation in the mirror, a precocious girl, as beautiful as a rose bud, long tresses cascading from her petite shoulders, stares back at me. The vision is momentary, but it is enough to break my resolve, I am hit by violent convulsions of pent-up despair, the tears just flow undammed. 

I feel two hands holding my shoulders, then embracing me from behind, trying to comfort me. As I wipe away my tears with shaking hands, I realize it's the same girl who had straightened my hair, all those years back, albeit with extra kilos on her frame. I try to force a smile but break down again. Then, before I can react, she reaches for the electric hair trimmer, puts it to her thick, afrotextured hair and just like that, she is standing there, all bald and beautiful. Overcome by her empathy, I stand and envelop her in a tight hug while she caresses my bald, chemo-affected head, as incessant tears flow in that Salon.