Category Archives: Book review and excerpts

FIVE GO TO DEMON’S ROCKS … by Enid Blyton

November 5, 2025book corner, book review, Book review and excerpts, Uncategorizedanne, books, dick, enid blyton, five go to demons rocks, george, jeremiah, julian, kamlesh tripathi, kirrin cottage, one ear bill, quenten, sex, shravan charity mission, sports, technology, tinker, writingshravancharitymission

Five Go to Demon’s Rocks is the nineteenth novel in The Famous Five series by Enid Blyton. It was first published in 1961.

Irascible scientist Quentin Kirrin informs his wife, Fanny, that his colleague, Professor Hayling, will be arriving a week early for a stay at Kirrin Cottage. The professor is accompanied by his son, Tinker, who often has a sudden urge to start imitating vehicular noises and has brought his pet monkey, Mischief. It is also described that Tinker imitates such noises when he is upset or when someone has been ‘horrid’ to him. Also arriving are Quentin and Fanny’s daughter, George, and her cousins, Julian, Dick and Anne, and George’s dog, Timmy. The ensuing crowded and noisy household upsets the two scientists, prompting Tinker to propose that the children spend their holiday at his abandoned lighthouse at Demon’s Rocks, located 10 miles away.

After settling in at the lighthouse, the children meet an elderly retired sailor, Jeremiah Boogle, who tells them of his youthful encounters with three villains who lured ships to Demon’s Rocks and plundered the wrecks. He says the ringleader, One-Ear Bill, hid a treasure trove which has never been found. Two of One-Ear Bill’s descendants, Jacob and Ebenezer, now show tourists through the wreckers’ cave. Jacob burgles some items from the lighthouse and also steals the key. When the children visit the cave, Mischief discovers a gold coin. Later, Ebenezer and Jacob lock the children in the lighthouse to prevent them from returning to the cave to hunt for the treasure, but Julian and Dick enter the cave network via a tunnel and discover the treasure. Unable to reach the mainland because of the rising tide, they return to the lighthouse, light its lamp and ring an old warning bell amid a fierce gale to alert the villagers to their fate. Jacob and Ebenezer flee, and the children are rescued the next morning. Julian and Dick declare they will recover the treasure for the police, and then the children will return to Kirrin Cottage.

Posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

Author, Poet, & Columnist

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

Like it and Share it

Shravan Charity Mission is an NGO that works for poor children suffering from life-threatening diseases, especially cancer. Our posts are meant for our readers, including children and adults, and have a huge variety of content. We also accept donations for our mission. Should you wish to donate to the cause of cancer? The bank details are given below:

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

***

Book Review: The New Geography Of Innovation: The Global Contest For Breakthrough Technologies … by Mehran Gul.

October 19, 2025author profile, book corner, book launch, book review, Book review and excerpts, book review, book synopsis, Uncategorizedai, apple, artificial-intelligence, austin, baidu, bengaluru, business, bytedance, china, communist party, germany, kamlesh tripathi, korea chaebol, Mehran Gul, miami, new york, shenzhen, shravan charity mission, silicon valley, switzerland, technology, tencent, the new geography of innovation: the global contest for breakthrough technologiesshravancharitymission

TIMES OF INDIA 11/10/25

HOW DO YOU CREATE A HOT TECH HUB?

–Via a culture that’s open to change and normalises risk-taking–

    The US-China big power competition is the defining geopolitical issue of our times. Undergirding this dynamic is the race for tech, especially AI. In The New Geography Of Innovation: The Global Contest For Breakthrough Technologies, Mehran Gul investigates whether US’s Silicon Valley still retains near-monopoly over cutting-edge tech, or have other global locations such as China’s Shenzhen and even the greater London area taken over that mantle. Plus, what’s truly conducive for creating a hot tech eco-system? Is there a secret sauce that America has and China appears to have replicated? The answers are complex.
    At first glance. China’s breakneck development in tech over the last decade appears to be eclipsing Silicon Valley. But closer inspection reveals a nuanced picture. True, Silicon Valley is undergoing change – described in the book as a vibrant rainforest being converted into controlled farmlands. But that necessarily doesn’t translate into US tech decline, the author says. New American tech hubs are coming up in New York, Miami and Austin that are taking the flame of Silicon Valley forward.
    China, on the other hand, has created its own tech champions like Tencent, Baidu and ByteDance in record time. It certainly has speed on its side, and it’s quality and volume of research has also improved tremendously. But it’s still not doing pathbreaking research like US. Why? A combination of factors that includes strict guardrails of the Communist Party -exemplified by the 2021 crackdown on Chinese tech firms – a Chinese university system that is not quite yet at par with American universities, and an environment where govt policy guides the direction of innovation.
    But to settle the debate, one statistic is enough to confirm US’s continued tech dominance: Apple became the first American tech company to cross a trillion-dollar valuation in 2018 with seven other American companies joining it since, but the rest of the whole world, including China, doesn’t even have one.
What then is the secret to successful tech eco-systems? The author interviews scores of tech entrepreneurs and stalwarts across geographies and comes to a somewhat underwhelming answer: there is no set formula. Almost all successful tech companies look the same. But they can come up in very different circumstances. In UK, the Greater London area is where all the action is. But that has come at the cost of increasing regional disparity that not only puts London at a risk but also undermines the dynamism of UK’s tech story. This disparity was also a reason for Brexit.
Switzerland and Germany have great education and no shortage of talent or infra, but their local cultural preference for stability over risk means they are just not able to realise the same tech innovation potential as US or China. South Korea and Singapore created their miracles through huge govt support. But there are also limitations to this approach as seen by calls to reform Korea’s chaebols.
But one thing appears clear, according to the author; societies that are more receptive to change appear to have a better chance of fostering tech successes. That means openness to talent, openness to Innovation, and openness to risks. In the Indian context, we may have Bengaluru. But we need many more Bengalurus that incentivise tech entrepreneurship and risk taking. That means a policy framework that fosters innovation and a culture shift that normalises failure. India has lots of catching up to do.

Posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

Author, Poet, & Columnist

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

Like it and Share it

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

***

Book Review: The Roads of Destiny … by O Henry

September 24, 2025article, author profile, book corner, book review, Book review and excerpts, book stall, book synopsis, Uncategorizeddavid, kamlesh tripathi, literature, mutton, O Henry, poem, poems, poetry, shravan charity mission, the roads of destiny, writingshravancharitymission

O. Henry’s The Roads of Destiny may not be a structured poem, but it carries a poetic spirit by way of exploration of fate, choice, and the unpredictable nature of life. The story is about a man named David who stands at a crossroad, literally and figuratively, and each road represents a different future. Through this branching narrative, O. Henry entreats readers to ponder how small choices can lead to vastly different outcomes, and how fate can shape our lives in ways we don’t expect. Although written in prose, the theme and emotions in the story are rich with poetic meaning.

The story’s central theme is how fragile and powerful our choices could be. O. Henry conveys that even decisions that seem minor can send our lives into different directions. Life is full of small, quiet moments that later turn out to be incredibly important. A step to the left or the right might not seem significant in the moment, but later it could be the reason why everything changed. Every decision holds a potential. Life is made up of many such turning points, often unrecognized until we look back.

Closely tied to personal choice is the grip of fate. In each stage of David’s life, no matter which road he takes, he ends up facing difficult or tragic outcomes. This suggests that fate has a stronger grip on our lives than we would like to believe. The author doesn’t present fate as something harsh or cruel, but rather as mysterious and unpredictable. We walk ahead thinking we know where we’re going. But the road can suddenly curve into a completely unexpected direction. This uncertainty gives life its beauty and its difficulty. The poetic lesson here is that though we may have no control where the road leads to, we still have to walk it.

Life’s unpredictability is another theme that gives the story its emotional weight. David’s various life unfolds in unexpected ways, proving that no plan is ever guaranteed. Even when we try to do the right thing or follow a certain path, we can’t guarantee how things will turn out. O. Henry’s storytelling reminds us that surprises, both joyful and tragic, are always around the corner and they will get you. This paradigm of unpredictability is common in poetry, where meaning often emerges in layers and can shift with time or mood. Just like an intricate poem, life unfolds with twists and surprises that challenge our understanding.

Time also plays a pivotal role in the story. It moves forward no matter which path David takes, and it never pauses or gives him a second chance. The passing of time gives weight to our choices because we rarely get an opportunity to revisit them. This is another idea that feels deeply poetic: time is always moving, and once a moment passes, it becomes a memory. The story implores readers to be mindful of the time they have and the decisions they make within it. It also encourages reflection. Looking back at the roads we’ve taken and wondering how things might have been different.

Regret and reflection are intertwined themes that show up throughout David’s story. Each life he lives seems to carry a shadow of what might have been if he had chosen to live differently. This idea is emotionally powerful because almost everyone, at some point, has wondered “what if?” Regret isn’t always a loud or dramatic feeling. It can be quiet, something that lingers as we look back into the past. O. Henry captures this subtle emotion in a way that feels similar to poetry, where a single line can express a lifetime of feeling.

The author uses irony in a poetic way. In each of David’s paths, he faces hardships despite choosing different directions. This irony teaches us that even when we try to avoid danger or seek happiness, we can’t always escape what life has in store for us. The roads of destiny seem to curve back towards difficulty no matter which road he chooses. This twist reflects O. Henry’s trademark storytelling style. In poetry, irony often reveals the hidden truths and helps readers think more deeply about life’s contradictions.

Perspective is another layer that deepens the story’s meaning. Often, we only understand the importance of a choice or event after the time has passed. What appears small at the moment may turn out to be life-changing. Just as a poem seems confusing at first and later makes perfect sense, our understanding of our own lives also changes with the perspective. This reminds us to look at our lives with curiosity and patience. The meaning of life sometimes reveals itself slowly.

All these ideas connect to the phrase “difficult poems make easy mutton.” Though it’s a playful and unusual expression, it captures an important truth: sometimes, the things that are hardest to understand at first—like complex poems or life’s confusing events—can later become clear and deeply meaningful. Just as tough meat becomes tender after careful preparation, a difficult story or experience can eventually offer comfort, insight, or wisdom. The Roads of Destiny is that kind of story. At first glance, it seems simple, but the more you think about it, the more it says about life, choice, and the strange, beautiful mystery of where we end up.

Written and posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

Author, Poet, & Columnist

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

Like it and Share it

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

***

Dramatic Ends, Enduring Bonds: A Tale of Three Love Stories published in City Essence magazine

September 5, 2025article, Book review and excerpts, book synopsis, book talk, Uncategorizeda service of love, kamlesh tripathi, o henri, romeo & Juliet, short story, shravan charity mission, The gift of magi, william shakespeareshravancharitymission

Don’t miss my article that discusses and compares three love stories written by William Shakespeare and O Henri. Happy reading.

Written and posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

Author, Poet, & Columnist

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

Like it and Share it

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

***

BOOK CORNER: THE FINAL DIAGNOSIS by Arthur Hailey

August 25, 2025book corner, book launch, book review, Book review and excerpts, book review, book synopsis, book stall, book synopsis, book talk, book talk,, Uncategorizedamputation, art, arthur hailey, books, doctor, food, joseph pearson, kamlesh tripathi, medical, pathologist, pennysylvania, shravan charity mission, the final diagnosis, travelshravancharitymission

Illness … doctor … pathologist … investigation … diagnosis … treatment. Yes, I’m talking about THE FINAL DIAGNOSIS by Arthur Hailey.

At times, even an ace pathologist might have to send his findings in the form of slides to two experts who are contemporaries in the same discipline. Where one might say the tumour is malignant and the other non-malignant or benign.

So then, what does Chief Pathologist, Dr Joseph Pearson, finally script as his … final diagnosis? The basis on which the surgeon would have to decide whether the amputation of the leg is required or not. The pathologist is often known as the doctor the patient seldom sees.

In ‘THE FINAL DIAGNOSIS’, author Arthur Hailey unveils the tension-packed drama that is being played in the mammoth complexity of a great hospital. A world where one faulty diagnosis or one irrevocable error precipitates into appalling tragedies.

In the enthralling story, there is a continuous struggle between the Chief of Surgery, Kent O’ Donnel and Dr Joe (Joseph) Pearson, Chief Pathologist, who was once an ace pathologist, but with the passage of time, he has stagnated, which he realises towards the end of his career.

The book also describes the struggle of a young pathologist, David Coleman, who happens to be Dr Joe Pearson’s deputy, in terms of restoring the standards of a hospital laboratory. Controlled by the ageing but once brilliant doctor Joseph Pearson, Hailey takes us behind the reception areas, and into those emergency rooms and the bustling world of medicine, to reveal those hidden corridors of a world that the patient never gets to see.

The centre of action is the three-counties hospital in Burlington in Pennsylvania. The novel has a plethora of characters … the prime being:

Orden Brown—Chairman of Three Counties Hospital

Eustace Swayne—Board Member and a retail magnet of a departmental store empire.

Doctor Joseph Pearson—Chief Pathologist around whom the entire novel revolves.

Doctor Kent O’ Donnel—Chief of Surgery and Head of the Medical Board.

Doctor David Coleman—Deputy to Doctor Joseph Pearson

Doctor Charles Dornberger—The baby’s doctor … Paediatrician

Doctor Lucy Grainger—Orthopaedic Surgeon

Hilda Straugham—Chief Dietitian

Vivian Lobourton—Trainee nurse

Mike Seddons—Doctor

Alexander and his wife, Elizabeth.

The language is moving and precise, with tailor-made sentences that fit the bill. There is usage of high-toned vocabulary, but it doesn’t give that shade of verbosity. The intensity and tone of the sentences change as frequently as the change of scene. The flow of the book gives you a feel as if you’re seeing and not reading—something close to a movie. Most descriptions are vivid as if you are witnessing the scene. Especially, the ones that describe the happenings in autopsy, pathology and even surgery.

The novel makes an important point for doctors through the Chief Pathologist, Dr Pearson. One should never give up his or her pursuit as far as the latest inventions in the medical world are concerned, no matter how much pressure of work there is. For that was the sole cause of doctor Pearson’s failure. And that holds good for any career today.

And the scenes when Vivian is diagnosed with cancer and when Alexanders lose their newborn baby because of a faulty medical blood test report in the hospital are nail-biting and highly emotive.

I would give nine out of ten to this book. So, don’t just miss it.

One last point—I was amazed at the manner in which these doctors smoked in the hospital and drank at parties. And to their patients, they must be canvassing otherwise. It is said about authors that they try and paint the real picture of the times when the novel was written. I now believe in it ever more. This novel was written way back in 1959. Pick it up even if you have to find time.

Written and posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

Author, Poet, & Columnist

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

Like it and Share it

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

***

Book Review: Voice For The Voiceless … Review in The Shillong Times by Kamlesh Tripathi

June 6, 2025book corner, book launch, book review, Book review and excerpts, book review, book synopsis, book stall, book synopsis, book talk, UncategorizedDalai Lama, kamlesh tripathi, shravan charity mission, Voice for the voicelessshravancharitymission

Book Review: The Voice for The Voiceless by Kamlesh Tripathi in The Shillong Times

Written and posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

Author, Poet, & Columnist

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

Like it and Share it

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

***

BOOK REVIEW: A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIMEKEEPING: THE SCIENCE OF MARKING TIME, FROM STONEHENGE TO ATOMIC CLOCKS BY CHAD ORZEL

June 1, 2024book corner, book launch, book review, Book review and excerpts, book review, book synopsis, book talk,, casual causeriea brief history of timekeeping, chad orzel, clocks, kamlesh tripathi, shravan charity missionshravancharitymission

I give this book eight out of ten. Don’t miss reading it.

Chad ORZEL is the author of the international bestseller ‘How to Teach Quantum Physics to Your Dog”. His recent title ‘A Brief History of Timekeeping: The Science of Marking Time, from Stonehenge to Atomic Clocks’ is another bestseller. The title is published by Oneworld Publications and distributed by Simon & Schuster. The price of the book is Rs 741. The title has a thick spine of over 300 pages. Chad Orzel is a professor of physics and a science author, noted for his book ‘How to Teach Quantum Physics to Your Dog’, translated into 9 languages. His other similar-sounding title is ‘How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog’. Chad as a science communicator is a regular contributor on Forbes.com, his website and on ScienceBlogs.com, while continuing with his work as an associate professor at Union College.

The book has a long list of contents. It is divided into 16 chapters. The chapter headings seem to be very interesting: They are as follows: 1. A Clock is a Thing That Ticks 1. Sunrise 2. The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars 3. “Give Us Our Eleven Days!” 4. The Apocalypse That Wasn’t 5. Drips and Drops 6. Ticks and Ticks 7. Heavenly Wanderers 8. Celestial Clockwork 9. To the Moon … 10. Watch This 11. Does Anybody Really Know What Time It is? 12. The Measure of Space-Time 13. Quantum Clocks 14. Time and Gravity 15. Time Enough for Everyone and 16. The Future of Time.

The author teaches in the picturesque campus of Union College in Schenectady, New York. The college features lush green quads surrounded by columned buildings full of classrooms, labs, and offices. Like most college campuses, it’s also full of clocks. There is the tower clock in Memorial Chapel, whose chimes regularly ring out to mark the hours. The subject title is a virtual journey through the science that grew up alongside centuries of human efforts to measure the passage of time. Beginning with the oldest known solstice-marking monuments, the narrative explores the astronomy of the solar system and the features that determine the sun’s path across the sky. The efforts to better understand the motion of the sun and planets led to the development of Newtonian physics, and we’ll see how this enables the technology to build mechanical clocks. The book discusses revolutionary developments in the physics of electromagnetism and quantum mechanics that eventually led to the alterations of standards of timekeeping based on the motion of physical objects (like the pendulum of a mechanical clock) by modern atomic clocks that count the oscillations of light. The narration is not only a story of abstract science and technology. It also includes intriguing elements of politics and philosophy. The narrative looks at the social aspects of calendar systems like the intricate mix of cycles in the Mayan calendar at their peak around 500 CE, the theological considerations that led Europe to adopt the Gregorian calendar nearly a thousand years later, and the political negotiations that produced our modern system of time zones.

When one year ends, another begins. This is how we discipline time into manageable units. But what sort of time order does a calendar impose, and what is it based on? With another new year, the same old conundrum of calendars begins. Calendars are inexact efforts to track time. The book narrates how the science of tracking time has obsessed every era and location. Human beings have explored the patterns and cycles of the sun, moon and stars in different combinations to mark time. While it may seem universal, the modern calendar of 12 (almost) equal months in a rigid sequence was shaped by thousands of years of theology and politics, but also astronomy: the seasonal motion of the sun and moon across the horizon and the variable lengths of day. Human beings have divided the year into 12 segments, but the stars and planets are not so accommodating says the author. If the moon went a little slower, to take exactly 30 days, and if Earth orbited, the sun a little quicker, in 360 days, celestial timekeeping would be a breeze, there would be no irregular months, and no need to remember that September has 30 days and July 31. Between the sun and the moon, something’s got to give. A perfect calendar where the solstices and equinoxes fall on the same dates is impossible to construct, though much effort has gone into it. One way to deal with the incompatible cycles of the sun and moon is to forget the moon altogether. The ancient civil calendar of Egypt, with 360 days and 12 months in three seasons, did exactly this. It hitched to the position of the star Sirius and the flooding of the Nile. The Roman or Julian calendar learnt from this to go with 365.25 days, with months between 30 and 31 days, and a leap year every four years with an extra day. This calendar brought much-needed stability to agricultural and astronomical events, synced with the civil months and seasons. Calendar reform became a pressing issue for mathematically minded Christians who wanted to fix the date of Easter, with an English monk in 1297 describing the Julian calendar as ‘intolerable, horrible and laughable’. Pope Gregory XIII in 1572 set up a committee to settle the matter. The Gregorian calendar is most successfully synced with the tropical year, with a mere 26 seconds of difference; it will take 3,323 years before the date of the March equinox slips by a day. In counterpoint to these calendars is the highly sophisticated system of Mayan timekeeping. There was a widespread notion that Mayan astronomers considered December 21, 2012, to be the end of the world, but this trivialises their complex astronomical and mathematical learning. Their numbers were based on 20s, rather than 10s, and their 260-day cycle has to do with the experience of light in the tropics, marked by ‘zenith crossing’ days when the sun is directly overhead. They didn’t have a concept of doomsday but imagined time in endlessly repeating cycles. Calendars are social constructs, the book says we standardised railway schedules and time zones to facilitate industrial modernity, and we need this precision to keep our world ticking, but the eccentric orbits of celestial bodies don’t fully cooperate.

Posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

Like it and Share it

Shravan Charity Mission is an NGO that works for poor children suffering from life-threatening diseases, especially cancer. Our posts are meant for our readers, including children and adults, and have a huge variety in content. We also accept donations for our mission. Should you wish to donate to the cause? The bank details are given below:

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

Kamlesh Tripathi’s Publications

GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE

(The book is about a young cancer patient. Now archived in 8 prestigious libraries of the US which include Harvard College Library; Harvard University Library; Library of Congress; University of Washington, Seattle; University of Minnesota, Minneapolis; Yale University, New Haven; University of Chicago; University of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill University Libraries. It can also be accessed at MIT through Worldcat.org. Besides, it is also available for reading in libraries and archives of Canada; Cancer Aid and Research Foundation Mumbai; Jaipuria Institute of Management, Noida, India; Shoolini University, Yogananda Knowledge Center, Himachal Pradesh and Azim Premzi University, Bangalore).

ONE TO TANGO … RIA’S ODYSSEY

(Is a book on ‘singlehood’ about a Delhi girl now archived in Connemara Library, Chennai and Delhi Public Library, GOI, Ministry of Culture, Delhi; It is also available for reading in the Indian National Bibliography, March 2016, in the literature section, in Central Reference Library, Ministry of Culture, India, Belvedere, Kolkata-700022)

AADAB LUCKNOW … FOND MEMORIES

(Is a fiction written around the great city of Nawabs—Lucknow. It describes Lucknow in great detail and also talks about its Hindu-Muslim amity, which is the undying characteristic of Lucknow. The book was launched at the Lucknow International Literary Festival in 2014. It is included for reading in Askews and Holts Library Services, Lancashire, U.K; Herrick District Library, Holland and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library, Mecklenburg County in North Carolina, USA; Black Gold Cooperative Library Administration, Arroyo Grande, California; Berkeley Library, University of California).

REFRACTIONS … FROM THE PRISM OF GOD

(Co-published by Cankids–Kidscan, a pan India NGO and Shravan Charity Mission, that works for child cancer in India. The book is endorsed by Ms Preetha Reddy, MD Apollo Hospitals Group. It was launched at the Lucknow International Literary Festival in 2016).

TYPICAL TALE OF AN INDIAN SALESMAN

(Is a story of an Indian salesman who is, humbly qualified. Yet he fights his way through unceasing uncertainties to reach the top. A good read not only for salesmen. The book was launched on 10^th February 2018 at Gorakhpur Lit-Fest. Now available on Amazon, Flipkart and Onlinegatha)

RHYTHM … in poems

(Published in January 2019. The book contains 50 poems. The poems describe our day-to-day life. A few poems from the book have been published in Shillong Times, Bandra Times and Bhavan’s Journal. The book is available on Amazon, Flipkart and Onlinegatha)

MIRAGE

(Published in February 2020. The book is a collection of eight short stories available on Amazon, Flipkart and Notion Press)

AWADH ASSAM AND DALAI LAMA … The Kalachakra

(The story of the man who received His Holiness The Dalai Lama and his retinue in 1959 as a GOI representative when he fled Tibet in 1959. The book was launched on 21^st November 2022 by His Holiness The Dalai Lama at Dharmshala. The title is archived in the library of the Department of Information and International Relations (DIIR) Government of Tibet, Tibet Policy Institute (TPI) and the personal library of His Holiness The Dalai Lama. The title is also archived in The Ohio Digital Library, USA. It was recently included in the digital library of the world-renowned company APPLE).

BHAVANS JOURNAL

Short stories, Book reviews and Articles published in Bhavan’s Journal: 1. Reality and Perception, 15.10.19; 2. Sending the Wrong Message, 31.5.20; 3. Eagle versus Scholars June, 15 & 20, 2020; 4. Indica, 15.8.20; 5. The Story of King Chitraketu, August 31 2020; 6. Breaking Through the Chakravyuh, September 30 2020. 7. The Questioning Spouse, October 31, 2020; 8. Happy Days, November 15, 2020; 9. The Karma Cycle of Paddy and Wheat, December 15, 2020; 10. Power Vs Influence, January 31, 2021; 11. Three Refugees, March 15, 2021; 12. Rise and Fall of Ajatashatru, March 31, 2021; 13. Reformed Ruler, May 15, 2021; 14. A Lasting Name, May 31, 2021; 15. Are Animals Better Teachers? June 16, 2021; 16. Book Review: The Gram Swaraj, 1.7.21; 17. Right Age for Achievements, 15.7.21; 18. Big Things Have Small Beginnings, 15.8.21; 19. Where is Gangaridai?, 15.9.21; 20. Confront the Donkey Within You 30.9.21; 21. Know Your Strengths 15.10.21; 22. Poverty 15.11.21; 23. Top View 30.11.21; 24. The Bansuriwala 15.1.22; 25. Sale of Alaska 15.2.22; 26. The Dimasa Kingdom 28.2.22;27. Buried Treasure 15.4.22; 28. The Kingdom of Pragjyotisha 30.4.22; 29. Who is more useful? 15.5.22; 30. The White Swan from Lake Mansarovar 30.6.22; 31. Bhool Bhulayya 15.9.22; 32. Good Karma 30.9.22; 33. Good Name vs Bad Name 15.10.22; 34. Uttarapath—The Grand Trunk Road 1.12.22; 35. When Gods Get Angry 1.1.23; 36. Holinshed’s Chronicles 15.1.23; 37. Theogony 15.2.23; 38. Poem: Mother 14.5.23; 39. THE NAG MANDIR 30.6.23; 40. The Story of Garuda 30.7.23; 41. Janmabhoomi vs Karmabhoomi 31.8.23; 42. The Ghost Town of Kuldhara 15.9.23; 43. The Tale of Genji 15.10.23; 44. The Soul Connection 1.12.23; 45.Book review: Jungle Nama … a story of the Sundarban 16.3.24; 46. Book review: A Forgotten Chapter 16.5.24;

THE SHILLONG TIMES

ARTICLES & POEMS: 1. POEM: HAPPY NEW YEAR 8.1.23; 2. POEM: SPRING 12.3.23; 3. POEM: RIGHT AND WRONG 20.3.23; 4. THE GUSH OF EMOTION—WRITING, 26.3.23; 5. THE NAG MANDIR, 7.5.23; 6. POEM: MOTHER 7.5.23; 7. POEM: RAIN RAIN 9.7.23; 8. POEM: YOU COME ALONE YOU GO ALONE 6.8.23; 9. RAIN RAIN (SECOND TIME) 10.8.23; 10. POEM: GURU TEACHER 10.8.23; 11. POEM: AUTUMN … THE INTERIM HEAVEN 15.10.23; 12. POEM: HAPPY DIWALI 12.11.23; 13. OVERCOMING BLINDNESS: LEARN IT THE JOHN MILTON WAY 10.12.23; 14. THE HAPPY PRINCE AND THE HAPPY MAN’S SHIRT 31.12.23; 15. ANNUS MIRABILIS 2024 7.1.24; 16. GANDHI TO MAHATMA GANDHI- Incidents that Shaped Gandhi in South Africa 28.1.24; 17. POEM: TOGETHER BUT NOT MADE FOR EACH OTHER, 11.2.24; 18. THE BIRDS BEES AND THE SPIDERS OF NICHOLAS GUILDFORD AND JONATHAN SWIFT 25.2.24; 19. THE OVERCOATS OF NIKOLAI GOGOL AND RUSKIN BOND 10.3.24; 20. THE ETHNIC COLOURS OF HOLI 24.3.24; 21. A LESSON FROM DALAI LAMA, 21.4.24; 22. POEM: MORNING WALK 28.4.24; 23. TRIP TO RHINE FALLS, SWITZERLAND, 19.5.24;

THE ASSAM TRIBUNE

ARTICLE: 1. THE MAGIC OF READING 11.12.23; 2. GANDHI TO MAHATMA 29.1.24; 3. GEOGRAPHY OF SOLITUDE 8.4.24; 4. A LESSON FROM DALAI LAMA, 22.4.24; 5. A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION, 29.4.24; 6. THE FOUR-LEGGED LIBRARY, 12.5.24;

BANDRA TIMES, MUMBAI

ARTICLES & POEMS: 1. POEM: SPRING, 1.4.23; 2. POEM: MOTHER, 1.6.23; 3. POEM: RAIN RAIN, 1.8.23;

ARTICLES IN THE DIGITAL MAGAZINE ESAMSKRITI

29.12.2020: INDICA BY MEGASTHENES; 14.3.22: ABOUT THE DIMASA KINGDOM ASSAM; 10.12.22: GRAND TRUNK ROAD-UTTARAPATH; 5.10.23: THE GHOST TOWN OF KULDHARA NEAR JAISALMER;

(ALL THE ABOVE BOOK TITLES ARE AVAILABLE FOR SALE ON AMAZON, FLIPKART AND OTHER ONLINE STORES OR YOU COULD EVEN WRITE TO US FOR A COPY)

*****

CAPTAIN POPANILLA THE MODERN GULLIVER’S TRAVELS

February 10, 2024article, book corner, book review, Book review and excerpts, book review, book synopsis, book stall, book synopsis, book talk, book talk,, Uncategorizedatlantic, benjamin disraeli, benthamite utilitarianism, cape of good hope, captain popanilla, catholic monarchs, christopher columbus, gulliver's travels, jonathan swift, kamlesh tripathi, menippean satire, shravan charity mission, the voyage of captain popanilla, vasco da gamashravancharitymission

After over a century of the publishing of ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ came ‘The Voyage of Captain Popanilla’, considered, a modern Gulliver’s Travels. The former was penned by Jonathan Swift in the year 1726 and the latter by author Benjamin Disraeli in 1828. Disraeli, later went on to become the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

But what inspired Benjamin Disraeli to write this satiric sea adventure is worth pondering. Because the two real-life master adventurers and explorers of the world were born centuries ago. Italian sailor Christopher Columbus was born in 1451. He completed four Spanish-based voyages across the Atlantic Ocean sponsored by Catholic Monarchs, opening the way for the widespread European exploration and European colonization of America in the 15^th century. Vasco Da Gama the Portuguese sailor and explorer was born in 1460. His initial voyage to India by way of the Cape of Good Hope was the first link between Europe and Asia. So did Disraeli get the idea of writing this novel from these two master explorers?

But that apart. The Voyage of Popanilla is an allegorical adventure story describing the surreal voyage of Captain Popanilla and his crew to distant lands and is a satire on contemporary society. It belongs to the genre of Menippean Satire and was influenced by Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels.” The wit is very incisive, and the satire, though it lacks the teeth of Swift’s, is surely rubbing. It contains shades of utopia, in which the author creates a confrontation between an innocent and happy life on a blissful Arcadian island in the South Pacific and the principles of Benthamite Utilitarianism, which Disraeli despised. Obliquely, the narration is a satire on utilitarianism, where the author through appropriations of sea-voyages tries to give a message to England where he later goes on to become the Prime Minister.

The Voyage of Captain Popanilla can also be read as a concomitant sequel to Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels. Using the platform of travelogue, Disraeli describes an imaginary land on which he plants contemporary English vices and follies, particularly the mercantilist mentality of the new commercial middle class. In his narrative, Disraeli incorporates a series of dialogues between representatives of two opposing viewpoints: The utilitarian and the non-utilitarian. The novel also deals with issues such as the protectionist Corn Laws of the late 1820s, the acceptance of silver-fork novels, the economic crisis of 1825-26, as well as the founding of the University College London and the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. The author has very aptly tried to expose the downside of utilitarianism through the escapades of the sea voyages of Captain Popanilla. He uncovers the conflict between utilitarian and non-utilitarian in the narration. In the following passage, Disraeli ridicules utilitarianism when he exposes its inherent paradoxes and pitfalls.

‘He also showed that man was not born for himself, but for society; that the interests of the body are alone to be considered, and not those of the individual; and that a nation might be extremely happy, extremely powerful, and extremely rich, although every individual member of it might at the same time be miserable, dependent, and in debt. […] Man is created for a purpose; the object of his existence is to perfect himself. Man is imperfect by nature, because if nature had made him perfect he would have had no wants; and it is only by supplying his wants that utility can be developed. The development of utility is therefore the object of our being, and the attainment of this great end the cause of our existence. This principle clears all doubts, and rationally accounts for a state of existence which has puzzled many pseudo-philosophers.

Popanilla then went on to show that the hitherto received definitions of man were all erroneous; that man is neither a walking animal, nor a talking animal, nor a cooking animal, nor a lounging animal, nor a debt-incurring animal, nor a tax-paying animal, nor a printing animal, nor a puffing animal, but a developing animal. Development is the discovery of utility.’

According to Disraeli, utilitarianism dimwits people by destroying their individuality by reducing them to mere automatons and statistical numbers. The reader may infer that the mechanisation of people and converting them into machines will prevent the natural progression and development of their imagination and emotions.

‘Man’, said he, ‘is called the masterpiece of nature; and man is also, as we all know, the most curious of machines: now, a machine is a work of art, consequently, the masterpiece of nature is the masterpiece of art. The object of all mechanisms is the attainment of utility; the object of man, who is the most perfect machine, is utility in the highest degree.

In Disraeli’s interpretation, utilitarianism allows individual rights and liberties to be sacrificed to maximise the vaguely defined collective welfare.

There is a good comparison one can make between the king of Brobdingnag who laughs at Gulliver, in Gulliver’s Travels and the King who doesn’t understand Popanilla’s lucubrations and laughs at him.

Disraeli, who as Prime Minister led the movement to make Queen Victoria the Empress of the British Empire, here early in his career ridicules British colonial expansion as a commercial enterprise created by sea merchants and adventurers — a clear attack on the East India Company.

In The Voyage of Captain Popanilla Disraeli also ridicules the nouveau riche, principally the rising world of capitalism and industry and by extension the silver-fork novels, like his own book Vivian Grey, which enjoyed great popularity among both servants and middle-class readers. Disraeli laughs at the newly rich called Millionaires (however desperately he wished to become one himself), who do not know how to behave in polite society and need to read books about fashionable life for education.

***

Written by Kamlesh Tripathi

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

Like it and Share it

Shravan Charity Mission is an NGO that works for poor children suffering from life-threatening diseases, especially cancer. Our posts are meant for our readers, including children and adults, and have a huge variety in content. We also accept donations for our mission. Should you wish to donate to the cause? The bank details are given below:

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

Kamlesh Tripathi’s Publications

GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE

ONE TO TANGO … RIA’S ODYSSEY

AADAB LUCKNOW … FOND MEMORIES

REFRACTIONS … FROM THE PRISM OF GOD

TYPICAL TALE OF AN INDIAN SALESMAN

RHYTHM … in poems

MIRAGE

(Published in February 2020. The book is a collection of eight short stories available on Amazon, Flipkart and Notion Press)

AWADH ASSAM AND DALAI LAMA … The Kalachakra

BHAVANS JOURNAL

Short stories, Book reviews and Articles published in Bhavan’s Journal: 1. Reality and Perception, 15.10.19; 2. Sending the Wrong Message, 31.5.20; 3. Eagle versus Scholars June, 15 & 20, 2020; 4. Indica, 15.8.20; 5. The Story of King Chitraketu, August 31 2020; 6. Breaking Through the Chakravyuh, September 30 2020. 7. The Questioning Spouse, October 31, 2020; 8. Happy Days, November 15, 2020; 9. The Karma Cycle of Paddy and Wheat, December 15, 2020; 10. Power Vs Influence, January 31, 2021; 11. Three Refugees, March 15, 2021; 12. Rise and Fall of Ajatashatru, March 31, 2021; 13. Reformed Ruler, May 15, 2021; 14. A Lasting Name, May 31, 2021; 15. Are Animals Better Teachers? June 16, 2021; 16. Book Review: The Gram Swaraj, 1.7.21; 17. Right Age for Achievements, 15.7.21; 18. Big Things Have Small Beginnings, 15.8.21; 19. Where is Gangaridai?, 15.9.21; 20. Confront the Donkey Within You 30.9.21; 21. Know Your Strengths 15.10.21; 22. Poverty 15.11.21; 23. Top View 30.11.21; 24. The Bansuriwala 15.1.22; 25. Sale of Alaska 15.2.22; 26. The Dimasa Kingdom 28.2.22; 27. Buried Treasure 15.4.22; 28. The Kingdom of Pragjyotisha 30.4.22; 29. Who is more useful? 15.5.22; 30. The White Swan from Lake Mansarovar 30.6.22; 31. Bhool Bhulayya 15.9.22; 32. Good Karma 30.9.22; 33. Good Name vs Bad Name 15.10.22; 34. Uttarapath—The Grand Trunk Road 1.12.22; 35. When Gods Get Angry 1.1.23; 36. Holinshed’s Chronicles 15.1.23; 37. Theogony 15.2.23; 38. Poem: Mother 14.5.23; 39. THE NAG MANDIR 30.6.23; 40. The Story of Garuda 30.7.23; 41. Janmabhoomi vs Karmabhoomi 31.8.23; 42. The Ghost Town of Kuldhara 15.9.23; 43. The Tale of Genji 15.10.23; 44. The Soul Connection 1.12.23;

SHILLONG TIMES—SUNDAY EDITION

ARTICLES & POEMS: 1. POEM: HAPPY NEW YEAR 8.1.23; 2. POEM: SPRING 12.3.23; 3. POEM: RIGHT AND WRONG 20.3.23; 4. THE GUSH OF EMOTION—WRITING, 26.3.23; 5. THE NAG MANDIR, 7.5.23; 6. POEM: MOTHER 7.5.23; 7. POEM: RAIN RAIN 9.7.23; 8. POEM: YOU COME ALONE YOU GO ALONE 6.8.23; 9. RAIN RAIN (SECOND TIME) 10.8.23; 10. POEM: GURU TEACHER 10.8.23; 11. POEM: AUTUMN … THE INTERIM HEAVEN 15.10.23; 12. POEM: HAPPY DIWALI 12.11.23; 13. OVERCOMING BLINDNESS: LEARN IT THE JOHN MILTON WAY 10.12.23; 14. THE HAPPY PRINCE AND THE HAPPY MAN’S SHIRT 31.12.23; 15. ANNUS MIRABILIS 2024 7.1.24; 16. GANDHI TO MAHATMA GANDHI- Incidents that Shaped Gandhi in South Africa 28.1.24;

THE ASSAM TRIBUNE

ARTICLE: 1. THE MAGIC OF READING 11.12.23; 2. GANDHI TO MAHATMA 29.1.24

BANDRA TIMES, MUMBAI

ARTICLES & POEMS: 1. POEM: SPRING, 1.4.23; 2. POEM: MOTHER, 1.6.23; 3. POEM: RAIN RAIN, 1.8.23;

ARTICLES IN THE DIGITAL MAGAZINE ESAMSKRITI

29.12.2020: INDICA BY MEGASTHENES; 14.3.22: ABOUT THE DIMASA KINGDOM ASSAM; 10.12.22: GRAND TRUNK ROAD-UTTARAPATH; 5.10.23: THE GHOST TOWN OF KULDHARA NEAR JAISALMER;

(ALL THE ABOVE BOOK TITLES ARE AVAILABLE FOR SALE ON AMAZON, FLIPKART AND OTHER ONLINE STORES OR YOU COULD EVEN WRITE TO US FOR A COPY)

*****

BOOK REVIEW: HEY RAM TO JAI SHREE RAM … 20 Dates that Changed the Course of India … Anand Vardhan Singh

October 21, 2022book corner, book launch, book review, Book review and excerpts, book review, book synopsis, Uncategorizedanand vardhan singh, Hey Ram to Jai Shree Ram, jai jawan jai kissan, kamlesh tripathi, POLITICS, shravan charity missionshravancharitymission

Generally, we all feel we know everything, about our country India … Hum sab kuch jante hain aur hamse kuch bhi chupa nahi hai. But do you know why? Because till now, no one has ever made you feel that you don’t know everything about your country. But the subject narration titled, “HEY RAM TO JAI SHREE RAM … 20 dates that changed the course of India” by senior journalist Anand Vardhan Singh will surely make you feel that.

The book is a publication of Anamika Publishers & Distributors (P) Ltd. The price of the book is Rs 495. The narration completes in 394 pages. It’s a lengthy book. Just as human beings grow over a lifetime, nations too, grow over an aeon. India was born in the year 1947 after a hard-nosed freedom struggle. The subject book captures the salient happenings that shaped India after her independence. A famous quote that comes to my mind while reading this book is by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. It says, “There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen.” Such is the history of all countries without fail where India is no exception.

The book details twenty such broad events that shaped India after her independence. Along with these twenty events it also covers the peripheral episodes of that period, possibly churned out, by the main event or even vice versa. I’m describing these events below but only in brief as the title has just been launched. The book narration is in plain simple English so easy to read. Noticeably, the author has given the date and year of each event on the content page itself at the beginning of the book, which gives you a bird’s eye view of the gaps between the two important events. The gaps range from two to four years in most cases with the widest one being twelve years. For example, after India embraced the constitution in 1950 the next big event that shook India was the 1962 debacle, the Chinese aggression and Nehru’s death thereafter.

Now let me diegesis the plot to you in brief, but before that let me apprise you that the book has a crisp foreword by Dr Shashi Tharoor who requires no introduction followed by a Prologue by Satish Jha of the erstwhile Dinaman and Jansatta fame (both Hindi periodicals).

India suffered a pathetic partition at the stroke of independence, the wounds of which are raw even now. The book starts post-independence with the famous tragedy in Chapter One. The assassination of Mahatma Gandhi on 30 January 1948. It highlights, his last, painful utterance ‘Hey Ram’ which forms, the first two words of the title of the book. In the Second Chapter post the death of Mahatma Gandhi, India embraces, the Constitution of India on 26 January 1950. Then there is a lull for more than a decade when Mother India gets into the mode of building the nation but some neighbourhoods cannot digest this. Chapter Three takes you through the famous slogan ‘Hindi—Chini-Bhai-Bhai.’ It recounts the debacle of the Chinese aggression and Nehru’s death, all between 1962 and 1964.

After the gruelling Chinese aggression, comes the blasting war of 1965 with Pakistan, followed by Lal Bahadur Shastri’s death in Tashkent in the year 1966. And who can forget Shastri’s famous slogan ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’ all covered in Chapter Four as India breathes fire. In Chapter Five, the author covers India’s victory over Pakistan in 1971 followed by the creation of Bangladesh and post that the emergence of Indira Gandhi as a triumphant Durga in the Indian scenario. But one great achievement, may not, necessarily, lead to another for in the years to come India landed up with the Dark Days of Emergency where civil liberties were suspended in the year 1975 by the same Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The author, Anand Vardhan Singh, has written about this misfortune, of the country in Chapter Six where he also narrates the poem ‘Aao Mardo … Namard Bano’ written by the late Atal Behari Vajpayee. Then in Chapter Seven, he talks about the ‘Sampoorna Kranti, the collapse of the Janta Parivar,’ and then about an Idealist JP being betrayed in the year 1975 in days around the emergency.

India was always a laggard in sports but Kapil Dev and his men from the position of underdogs rose to become the world champions in one-day cricket on 25 June 1983. Indeed, it was a big milestone for such a big nation which the author covers in Chapter Eight. Chapter Nine is an assortment of ‘Operation Blue Star’ which was the cause of Indira Gandhi’s assassination on 30 October 1984. This was followed by the Anti-Sikh Riot when the famous, unpopular, statement of Rajiv Gandhi that said, ‘When a Big Tree falls, the Earth Shakes’ was scripted by him. The author blames Congress for terrorism in Punjab. A point to note is that in the chapter headings on the content page, the author has mentioned several important events, dates and days which makes the heading and the chapter appear meaty. To site and example. Chapter Ten describes the Campaign Against Corruption. At the same time, it also talks about Bofor’s claims by Rajiv Gandhi, and V.P. Singh’s rise and fall. The date of these events is 30 November 1989.

It took 44 years for the Indian economy to open up in 1991 while Narasimha Rao was the Prime Minister. The period also saw the famous Stock Market Scam in 1991 engineered by none other than Harshad Mehta. Anand covers this path-breaking step in his Eleventh Chapter. After 45 years the nation takes a mammoth turn in terms of opening the economy. In Chapter Twelve, the author takes you through the Ram Kahani of India or the Hindus. The book narrates the demolition of the Babri Masjid leading to the Rise of a New Social Identity in the year 1992. This has a reaction covered in the later chapters. Further, who doesn’t want to become a nuclear power? Ukraine dismantled all its Nuclear Weapons on the advice of a superpower and faced horrific consequences. Our leaders had visualised this need for a nuclear bomb because we are surrounded by hostile neighbours such as China and Pakistan. Chapter Thirteen describes Pokhran II, from code name ‘Smiling Buddha’ to Operation Vijay in the year 1998.

Further, the author expounds about the year 2002, which is splurged with, carnage, and an, indelible, blood bath, in terms of the Godhra Carnage followed by the reactionary Gujarat Riots. The author extends the heading of this chapter which is Chapter Fourteen by adding the words ‘No One Killed Sohrabuddin. Sohrabuddin’s case in the book has been detailed quite well, almost like a murder mystery. Chapter Fifteen is about ‘MGNREGA’ which is indeed a game changer in rural India. The chapter is also clubbed with the RTI act, UPA’s return to power 2009: Rise of Rights in 2008.

The advent of the Aam Aadmi Party. The arrival of Anna Hazare and India Against Corruption captured the imagination of the entire country. It also brought in a new way of Mohalla politics and canvassing with devoted volunteers wearing Gandhi caps with AAP logo. The author takes you through all this in Chapter Sixteen.

Chapters Seventeen to Twenty are topics of the current era. They refer mostly to the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his policies, his election-winning juggernaut, headline management, the draconian demonetization and what it did and what India achieved, net-net. How Narendra Modi transformed himself from Pradhan Sewak to Pradhan Senapati. It illustrates, the Modi-Shah’s unstoppable electoral juggernaut and last but not least it is Jai Shri Ram, The Ram Temple, and whose Ram Rajya is it?—Gandhi’s or Modi’s? These are topics of common interest between 2014 and till date.

Now let me express my impression of the book. It is not a fast-moving spy-thriller title, but yes it is comprehensive, in the topic that it deals with. In certain chapters, the detailing of GOI acts and release of data is overbearing on account of which the book slows down. It appears the author has been privy to political hot spots during his career. This has enabled him to add certain information not so easily available in the public domain. The author gives the start date and the day for all the events for some peculiar reason or maybe for you to get a bird’s eye view of the last seventy-five years. He has criticised all political parties but only on merit. The book is a bundle of the assassinations of Indian Prime Ministers, slogans, wars, invasion and liberation, dark days of the emergency, analysis of BJP and everything that went into the making of India post-independence. It appears the author has done a great deal of homework before embarking on this project. He has analysed the data well. For political aficionados, it is a must-read. It impacts you.

By Kamlesh Tripathi

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

Please share it

Shravan Charity Mission is an NGO that works for poor children suffering from life threatening diseases especially cancer. Our posts are meant for our readers that includes both children and adults and it has a huge variety in terms of content. We also accept donations for our mission. Should you wish to donate for the cause. The bank details are given below:

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

Our Publications

GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE

(The book is about a young cancer patient. Now archived in 8 prestigious libraries of the US that includes Harvard College Library; Harvard University Library; Library of Congress; University of Washington, Seattle; University of Minnesota, Minneapolis; Yale University, New Haven; University of Chicago; University of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill University Libraries. It can also be accessed in MIT through Worldcat.org. Besides, it is also available for reading in libraries and archives of Canada, Cancer Aid and Research Foundation Mumbai; Jaipuria Institute of Management, Noida; India. Shoolini University, Yogananda Knowledge Center, Himachal Pradesh and Azim Premzi University, Bangalore).

ONE TO TANGO … RIA’S ODYSSEY

(Is a book on ‘singlehood’ about a Delhi girl now archived in Connemara Library, Chennai and Delhi Public Library, GOI, Ministry of Culture, Delhi; Available for reading in Indian National Bibliography, March 2016, in the literature section, in Central Reference Library, Ministry of Culture, India, Belvedere, Kolkata-700022)

AADAB LUCKNOW … FOND MEMORIES

(Is a fiction written around the great city of Nawabs—Lucknow. It describes Lucknow in great detail and also talks about its Hindu-Muslim amity. That happens to be the undying characteristics of Lucknow. The book was launched in Lucknow International Literary Festival of 2014. It is included for reading in Askews and Holts Library Services, Lancashire, U.K; Herrick District Library, Holland and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library, Mecklenburg County in North Carolina, USA; Black Gold Cooperative Library Administration, Arroyo Grande, California).

REFRACTIONS … FROM THE PRISM OF GOD

(Co-published by Cankids–Kidscan, a pan India NGO and Shravan Charity Mission, that works for Child cancer in India. The book is endorsed by Ms Preetha Reddy, MD Apollo Hospitals Group. It was launched in Lucknow International Literary Festival 2016)

TYPICAL TALE OF AN INDIAN SALESMAN

(Is a story of an Indian salesman who is, humbly qualified. Yet he fights his ways through unceasing uncertainties to reach the top. A good read not only for salesmen. The book was launched on 10^th February, 2018 in Gorakhpur Lit-Fest. Now available in Amazon, Flipkart and Onlinegatha)

RHYTHM … in poems

(Published in January 2019. The book contains 50 poems. The poems describe our day to day life. The book is available in Amazon, Flipkart and Onlinegatha)

MIRAGE

(Published in February 2020. The book is a collection of eight short stories available in Amazon, Flipkart and Notion Press)

Short stories, Book reviews and Articles published in Bhavan’s Journal: 1.Reality and Perception, 15.10.19; 2.Sending the Wrong Message, 31.5.20; 3. Eagle versus Scholars June, 15 & 20 2020; 4. Indica, 15.8.20; 5. The Story of King Chitraketu, August 31 2020; 6. Breaking Through the Chakravyuh, September 30 2020. 7. The Questioning Spouse, October 31, 2020; 8. Happy Days, November 15, 2020; 9. The Karma Cycle of Paddy and Wheat, December 15, 2020; 10. Power Vs Influence, January 31, 2021; 11. Three Refugees, March 15, 2021; 12. Rise and Fall of Ajatashatru, March 31, 2021; 13. Reformed Ruler, May 15, 2021; 14. A Lasting Name, May 31, 2021; 15. Are Animals Better Teachers?, June 16, 2021; 16. Book Review: The Gram Swaraj, 1.7.21; 17. Right Age for Achievements, 15.7.21; 18. Big Things Have Small Beginnings, 15.8.21; 19. Where is Gangaridai?, 15.9.21; 20. Confront the Donkey Within You 30.9.21; 21. Know Your Strengths 15.10.21; 22. Poverty 15.11.21; 23. Top View 30.11.21; 24. The Bansuriwala 15.1.22; 25. Sale of Alaska 15.2.22; 26. The Dimasa Kingdom 28.2.22; 27. Buried Treasure 15.4.22; 28. The Kingdom of Pragjyotisha 30.4.22; 29. Who is more useful? 15.5.22; 30. The White Swan from Lake Mansarovar 30.6.22; 31. Bhool Bhulayya 15.9.22; 32. Good Karma 30.9.22; 33. Good name vs Bad Name

(ALL THE ABOVE BOOK TITLES ARE AVAILABLE FOR SALE IN AMAZON, FLIPKART AND OTHER ONLINE STORES OR YOU COULD EVEN WRITE TO US FOR A COPY)

*****

BOOK REVIEW: A CASE OF IDENTITY–Sherlock Holmes: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

December 11, 2020book corner, book launch, book launch aadab lucknow, book review, Book review and excerpts, book review, book synopsis, book stall, book synopsis, book talk, book talk,, Uncategorizeda case of identity, hosmer angel, kamlesh tripathi, sherlock holmes, shravan charity mission, sir arthur conan doyle, strand magazine, the adventures of sherlock holmes, windibankshravancharitymission

Khidki (Window)

–Read Initiative—

This is only an attempt to create interest in reading. We may not get the time to read all the books in our lifetime. But such reviews, talk and synopsis will at least convey what the book is all about.

The ‘Case of identity’ by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle first appeared in the Strand Magazine in 1891. It is considered to be, despite its, evasive and dry title, a corner stone in the detective novel history. It is appreciated not only by the admirers of this unappreciated genre and Sherlock Holmes’ devotees, but also by the specialists of crime detection and forensic science. The latter pay tribute to the inductive way of thinking, and to the use of traces and imprints, left by a criminal action initiated in this story. One can find references of it in Criminology and Police Science papers even nowadays. The reader is amazed by the multiplicity of meaning and interpretations of ‘identities’ revealed (or concealed) in a masterly manner in this story.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective Sherlock Holmes appeared in fifty-six short stories and four full length novels. “A Case of Identity” is one of the lesser known stories in the series, possibly because the case does not focus on a major crime in the same way as the majority of the other tales do. “A Case of Identity” was first published in 1891 in Strand Magazine, a month after the publication of Conan Doyle’s better known story, “The Red Headed League”. The following year ‘A Case of Identity’ was included in the collection, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. In ‘A Case of Identity,’ Holmes does not deal with a robbery or a murder, as in earlier cases, but with the disappearance of his client, Mary Sutherland’s fiancé. Holmes’ ever-present colleague, Dr. Watson, does not know what to make of the case, but Holmes on the other hand, doesn’t even need to leave the confines of his flat at 221B Baker Street to solve the case.

When Mary explains her situation to Holmes and Watson, they learn that she lives with her mother and her mother’s new husband, Windibank. Mary has an income of one hundred pound per year, as a result of an inheritance from her Uncle Ned. This money she gives to her mother and stepfather so as not to be a burden on them. In spite of having poor eyesight, Mary is able to do typing work to earn a bit of extra money. Mary is unhappy that her mother has remarried, a much younger Windibank. Windibank has amassed a considerable amount of money for Mary’s mother, by selling her late husband’s business for her. He doesn’t like to socialize and is upset when his wife goes to the gasfitters’ ball with Mary. At the time of the ball, Windibank goes on a business trip to France. At the ball, Mary one day meets one Mr. Hosmer Angel and within a short time they get engaged. Mary and her mother do not tell Mr. Windibank about the engagement.

When Windibank returns from France, Mary and Hosmer decide that they will communicate with each other via letter alone, rather than in person. While Hosmer, types his letters, he requests, that Mary make hers, more romantic, by writing them by hand. Mary knows little about Hosmer. She does not know where he works or lives. The letters she sends him are addressed to the Leadenball Street Post Office, where he picks them up. Being a shy man, Hosmer likes to walk with Mary only by night, rather than, by day. His voice is also weak as a result of some childhood illness. He wears tinted glasses because his eyes are sensitive to light. When Windibank returns to France on business, Hosmer convinces Mary to marry him before her stepfather returns. He makes her promise that she will always be true to him, regardless of anything that might happen. Mary’s mother makes Mary agree to this and accordingly makes a promise to Hosmer.

Mary does not believe she needs her stepfather’s permission to get married, yet she feels uncomfortable doing so without his knowledge. Hosmer, tells Mary and her mother not to worry about Windibank, but he does write to him. But the letter is returned by the post office. Mary sees this as an indication that Windibank must have left before the letter reached him, and so, he is on his way back to England. Meanwhile a small wedding is planned. Hosmer arrives in a Hansom cab to bring Mary and her mother to the church. Once again, he insists that Mary vow to remain true to him no matter what. Hosmer takes a separate cab to the church because there is not enough room in the Hansom cab. But later, when Hosmer’s cab, arrives at the church, it is found empty, and the driver can offer an explanation, though he had seen Hosmer get on board.

Mary defends Hosmer while talking to Holmes, even when, Holmes points out, how shabbily he has treated Mary. She fears that he has been in some sort of accident and is sure he will be in touch as soon as he is able to. She thinks he must have felt that something is to happen, which is why he made her promise to remain true to him. In response to Holmes’ questions about other people’s reactions to Hosmer’s disappearance, Mary says that her mother is too angry to discuss the situation, while her stepfather agrees that something unfortunate must have happened to Hosmer and that Mary will hear from him in time. Holmes, advices Mary that she should forget Hosmer, as she will never see him again. But when she presses him for more information, Holmes asks Mary for the typed letters, Hosmer had sent her and also for a description of him. He also takes note of Mary’s address, which is the same as Windibank’s, and the name of the company Windibank works for. As Mary takes her leave, Holmes reminds her once again to forget about Hosmer, but she continues to pledge her allegiance to him.

Holmes, writes a letter to Windibank and receives a response, typed on the same machine, as Hosmer’s letters. This confirms, what Holmes, already knows, that Windibank and Hosmer are the same person, and which also explains why they are never in the same room at the same time. At the end, it comes out that the missing fiancé is the ‘double’ of her stepfather, Mr. Windibank. Windibank, in disguise had been taking advantage of Mary’s poor eyesight. He pretended to be Hosmer, to engage Mary in a love affair which would have never fructified in marriage. All of this was designed to help Windibank and Mary’s mother retain the one hundred pounds per year they received from Mary’s inheritance. Holmes chooses not to tell Mary the outcome of the situation—that Windibank and Hosmer are the same person, believing Windibank someday will follow a path that will ultimately lead him to the gallows.

After solving the mystery, Holmes chooses not to tell his client the solution. He feels, “If I tell her she will not believe me. Remember, the old Persian saying, ‘There is danger for him who taketh the tiger cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.’ There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much knowledge of the world.” Holmes had earlier advised his client to forget “Mr. Angel Hosmer,” but Miss Sutherland refused to take Holmes’ advice and vowed to remain faithful to “Angel” until he reappears, for at least ten years.

Holmes predicts Windibank will continue a career in crime and end up on the gallows.

By Kamlesh Tripathi

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

Share it if you like it

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

Our publications

GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE

(The book is about a young cancer patient. Now archived in 8 prestigious libraries of the US that includes Harvard College Library; Harvard University Library; Library of Congress; University of Washington, Seattle; University of Minnesota, Minneapolis; Yale University, New Haven; University of Chicago; University of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill University Libraries. It can also be accessed in MIT through Worldcat.org. Besides, it is also available for reading in libraries and archives of Canada, Cancer Aid and Research Foundation Mumbai and Jaipuria Institute of Management, Noida, India)

ONE TO TANGO … RIA’S ODYSSEY

AADAB LUCKNOW … FOND MEMORIES

REFRACTIONS … FROM THE PRISM OF GOD

TYPICAL TALE OF AN INDIAN SALESMAN

RHYTHM … in poems

(Published in January 2019. The book contains 50 poems. The poems describe our day to day life. The book is available in Amazon, Flipkart and Onlinegatha)

MIRAGE

(Published in February 2020. The book is a collection of eight short stories. It is available in Amazon, Flipkart and Notion Press)

Short stories and Articles published in Bhavan’s Journal: Reality and Perception, 15.10.19; Sending the Wrong Message, 31.5.20; Eagle versus Scholars June, 15 & 20 2020; Indica, 15.8.20; The Story of King Chitraketu, August 31 2020; Breaking Through the Chakravyuh, September 30 2020. The Questioning Spouse, October 31, 2020; Happy Days, November 15, 2020,

(ALL THE ABOVE TITLES ARE AVAILABLE FOR SALE IN AMAZON, FLIPKART AND OTHER ONLINE STORES OR YOU COULD EVEN WRITE TO US FOR A COPY)

*****

Shravan charity mission

Our NGO works for poor children suffering from life threatening diseases especially cancer: We cover our blog with short stories, children's stories, articles, book reviews, vignettes, spiritual, episodes, poetry, analysis, news report, general knowledge, quotes for the benefit of our readers.

Category Archives: Book review and excerpts

FIVE GO TO DEMON’S ROCKS … by Enid Blyton

Book Review: The New Geography Of Innovation: The Global Contest For Breakthrough Technologies … by Mehran Gul.

Book Review: The Roads of Destiny … by O Henry

Dramatic Ends, Enduring Bonds: A Tale of Three Love Stories published in City Essence magazine

BOOK CORNER: THE FINAL DIAGNOSIS by Arthur Hailey

Book Review: Voice For The Voiceless … Review in The Shillong Times by Kamlesh Tripathi

BOOK REVIEW: A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIMEKEEPING: THE SCIENCE OF MARKING TIME, FROM STONEHENGE TO ATOMIC CLOCKS BY CHAD ORZEL

CAPTAIN POPANILLA THE MODERN GULLIVER’S TRAVELS

BOOK REVIEW: HEY RAM TO JAI SHREE RAM … 20 Dates that Changed the Course of India … Anand Vardhan Singh

BOOK REVIEW: A CASE OF IDENTITY–Sherlock Holmes: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle