Jon Evans's "The Blood Price"

Jonathan Evans's globetrotting thriller novel "The Blood Price" introduces the reader to the underground dangerous network of human trafficking to the west. Paul Wood, the protagonist of the novel, gets entangled in affairs of refugee smugglers in war-torn Bosnia. Those smugglers are notorious war criminals as well. To rescue his girlfriend Talena's sister Saskia from her brutal husband Dragan, Wood contacts Sinisa, head of refugee smuggling network. Paul, a computer programmer, agrees to build a website for Sinisa's organization and in reward gets opportunity to smuggle Saskia to America. He manages to run away with Talena and Saskia to Albania and then to Albania, Belize, Mexico and ultimately to America. But their real adventure starts in apparently safe America where the murky past of Sinisa's aides Zoltan and Zorana and Sinisa's cargo of refugees (zombies) threaten Wood and family's present life leading to the climactic showdown at Burning Man festival in Nevada.

The story gripped my attention till the end. All the characters are well sketched. None of the events gets boring. Some computer-related technological descriptions are difficult to understand, though. The story is relevant to Nepali context as we have heard many Nepalese taking the dangerous route of South America to enter the US, enduring hardships and brushes with death along the way. Evans had come to Nepal as well and in the novel he describes Pokhara as "backpacker's paradise". A very fine piece of crime fiction, this book is a recommended read for all.

Stanley Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove: Or How I learned to Stop Worrying and Loved the Bomb"

Stanley Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove: Or How I learned to Stop Worrying and Loved the Bomb" is a bitter satire in black comedy form. Paranoid Brigadier Jack D. Ripper of the US Army commands his officers to drop a nuclear bomb on Russian soil as he feels that the communists are hatching a sinister plot to destroy the bodily fluids of Americans by fluoridizing water. Despite many efforts to recall those planes by executive officer Lionel Mandrake and US President Merkin Muffley, actions move ahead once set in motion. The world teeters in the brink of nuclear holocaust. Despite the gloomy ambience of the story, Kubrick successfully manages to introduce comedy and is able to make his actors perform their best. Noted comedian Peter Sellers plays three roles in the movie, each with equal conviction. George C. Scott as General Buck Turgidson, Sterling Hayden as Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper, and Slim Pickens as Major T. J. Kong among others portray the lunacy of arms race and the inherent foolishness of hawkish army men. Kubric holds the notion "nuclear deterrence" into question and mercilessly deconstructs it. A must-watch movie.

Gurcharan Das's "The Difficulty of Being Good: On the Subtle of Art of Dharma"

Gurcharan Das's book "The Difficulty of Being Good: On the Subtle of Art of Dharma" subjects The Mahabharata to rational scrutiny. Facing a middle-life crisis in his illustrious career, Das embarked on the spiritual journey of seeking answers to questions that life poses to everyone. He took the age-old Mahabharata for getting some clues to his questions, but "Mahabharata raises more questions than providing answers." Bhishma cannot answer Draupadi's questions regarding dharma (something between morality, inherent nature and law) at the dice-game because dharma is so subtle that it escapes easy answers. It is the beauty of our time-honored religious and philosophical tradition that we are to question things as they appear and not lazily submit to them. We have to use our "viveka" while appraising even the gods. The gods or God and sons of gods as portrayed in the epic are not paragons of virtue; rather they have inherent flaws to their character which they exploit to bringing the result they favor.

Das goes into details of the lives of each major character of the epic and analyzes their traits. He seems to be fascinated with Yudhisthira, who tries to be good despite adverse situations that he has to constantly face in his life and has to endure barbed comments by his friends and foes alike for his ideal acts. Das's strength lies in his simplicity in telling things and I really liked his down-to-earth approach in writing philosophy. It is free from high-sounding jargons and opaque ideas which some pseudo-scholars love to employ in their writing. Moreover, he provides relevant examples from contemporary India and the world to drive his point home. He brings insights from Western philosophers while making a point in his logic.

However, I also find Das guilty of careless interpretations in the book. In the preface, he has interpreted chakra vyuha as lotus like formation whereas that is what Padma vyuha denotes. I am not convinced with the very first sentence of the book which claims, "The Mahabharata is the story of a futile and terrible war." He has not substantiated the claim by explaining why the war was futile. The Pandavas were trying to regain their lost territory of Indraprastha and Duryodhana turned deaf ear to their peace proposals. There was no recourse left and they had to gain independence from Kaurava tyranny. If this war is futile, one could also claim that any war for independence is futile. Moreover, it seems Das has inadvertently praised Duryodhana and Shakuni and seems to have overlooked these evil characters' misdeeds. Das demands altruistic feelings from Bhima in a hypothetical case of treading upon Duryodhana's gouty toe. This sympathy for Duryodhana is unwarranted at this point. Duryodhana has some good aspects to his character but his oveall bearing is bad and it was his bad company that inspired even lofty Karna to hurl insults against helpless Draupadi. I espouse Das's method of rationally interpreting an ancient text but feel that he has gone too far in some cases.

Nonetheless, a commendable effort.  

Suketu Mehta's "Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found"

Suketu Mehta's non-fiction "Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found" provides a comprehensive view of sprawling Mumbai city that is bursting at the seams. Hundreds of people from all over India and other places arrive at Mumbai daily and try to settle here. This is the city of illusion (maya nagari) and city of sin (paap ni bhoomi) for some and perhaps that is why it is so attractive. Mehta, born in Bombay and later raised in New York, has returned to his birth city towards the end of the millennium to see that it has grown too big to grasp. Yet he does try to understand the city and goes beyond its appearances to find its dark truth. He describes the problem in having basic needs fulfilled, like getting a decent room to rent and managing cooking gas. He meets with the far right politicians; members of Indian underbelly, namely gangsters (both Hindu and Muslim); ruthless cops; bar dancers; Bollywood directors (especially Vidhu Binod Chopra); B-grade movie-makers (much mirth to be had here although of the black humor kind); immigrants dwelling in slums and footpaths and lastly the ascetic Jains who leave their immense property in Mumbai for moksha. Mehta keeps his journalistic deadpan manner of describing things good and bad. He is not judgmental to anyone or anything but he injects ironical observations to unrealistic claims that people make. He is largely sympathetic to the characters that he meets although he takes jibes at people that he doesn't like (Bal Thackeray, for example). This book forces a mirror on the Indians in hopes that they do something to improve the conditions of neglected mass. The only issue against this book would be its length. It runs more than 500 pages and at times gets tedious. After Orhan Pamuk's "Istanbul", it's a very good read. Recommended!