Manju(Snow) by M T Vasudevan Nair

This short novel by one of the most gifted Malayalam writers made me think about something very inevitable in our life; something  that will make you excited,  sometimes desperate, sometimes disappointed. It is a verb, a noun, a pronoun and a feeling...Yes, Manju made me think about "waiting". 

This is a story of people, in a faraway hill station, each of them waiting for someone. Vimala, a teacher in a residential school, is waiting for  Sudheer , who, touched her heart years before. Buddhu, the boatman, is waiting for his father, who he has never seen, to come back.  When the hill station is getting ready to welcome tourists, these people are waiting for some tourists to come back and give meaning and hope to their lives.

In spite of being a novella, the main protagonist, Vimala, is a well-defined character. Her life, family background, emotional setup etc are well-etched. The other characters who appear in between somehow supplements her loneliness.

A well narrated story. 3.5 out of 5.

Trivia: made into a movie later.

Picture courtesy: indulekha.biz

Now Let Me Sleep (Ini Njan Urangatte) by P.K Balakrishnan

Mahabharatha is undoubtedly the great epic of India.  But I would always like to see it as a great text of human psychology, strategy , politics and diplomacy. This is my second book related to Mahabharatha after this.

Kurukshetra war is over, Pandavas won the kingdom, although they lost most of their allies and relatives in the war and the post-war massacre. It is at this point that Kunthi reveals to the Pandava brothers that Karna is her eldest son. Yudhistira is devastated hearing this and decides to renounce his throne.This is a shock to Draupadi who was hoping to finally find justice after war. A sudden declaration from Kunthi is not strong enough for Draupadi to consider Karna in a new light. The way she always picturised Karna was how he sat in the Kaurava court and laughed when she was being disrobed by Dusshassana.

Now the story of Karna gradually unfolds, through Draupadi's eyes. In the words of many of her friends and relatives, including Krishna, Kunthi and Sanjaya, Draupadi starts to see the real Karna. Karna is growing now, in Draupadi's as well as readers' eyes.

Unlike Randamoozham, this work is based on well known facts. Though Karna is a much-written-about epic figure, Karna-in-Draupadi's-perspective is a refreshing take on his life.

Will not replace Randamoozham as my favourite work in this genre, but still a good work. 3.75 out of 5.

A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie.

I am usually particular about the first book  I read in a year. I always try to start with something which I think will make it to my list of top-rated books. This book was not one of them. But a long train journey forced me to pick this from the queen of crime.

Miss Marple, the elderly sleuth is on a vacation in exotic West Indies. Though a little bored at first,  her vacation is soon spiced up when Major Palgrave offers to show her a photo of a murderer. But at the same instant, Major sees someone and changes the subject. Later the Major is found dead in his room, supposedly after a heart failure. But Miss Marple is suspicious, especially after she finds out that the photo that the Major was previously talking about is missing.She started investigating. Soon there is a second murder. Who among the harmless-looking guests is the murderer?

The book has all the ingredients of a good Christie mystery but some  incidents are kind of repeating in  every story esp. the second murder following a blackmail. Also I was able to guess the murderer after a certain point in the story.

A typical Christie mystery. 3 out of 5.