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Monday, May 30, 2022

Dear Mom by Jigar Prajapati | Confessional Memoir | Book Review

     

Dear Mom: Finding Hope, Happiness and Her by Jigar Prajapati

Book Review by Dhiraj Sindhi


Dear Mom by Jigar Prajapati | Confessional Memoir | Book Review by Dhiraj Sindhi | Indian Book Blogger
Dear Mom by Jigar Prajapati



Author: Jigar Prajapati

ISBN: 979-8885036436

Genre: Personal & Confessional Memoir

Length: 168 Pages

Publication Date: 4th March 2022

Publisher: Notion Press

Order your copy right now: https://amzn.to/3Gve5zc


About the author:

Jigar Prajapati, a 32-year-old guy, never thought of writing before. But as soon as he finished his first book, a new topic came to his mind. It Must Have Been Love was the first book that he launched in December 2020. The launching of his first book made him confident enough to produce another by creating a time slot from his regular work of Consulting, Engineering, and as a Builder in Ahmedabad.

While the author was writing his first book, his mom was in a very critical health condition. He prayed a lot and tried everything he could do to save her.

The author tried to write the same in his new book, Dear Mom. Writing about the closest person of his life was pretty easy. But when he started, he found so many wrong things that he’d done to his Mom during his life.

This book is the author’s tribute to his mom. It’s his apology to his mom. This book is a memoir of the relationship of the author, his mom, and his family.


Dear Mom by Jigar Prajapati | Confessional Memoir | Book Review by Dhiraj Sindhi | Indian Book Blogger
Jigar Prajapati


Instagram: @jigar_author

Facebook: Jigar Prajapati


DisclaimerThis review is only intended for initiating discussions. The opinions and views presented in this article are my own and do not reflect anything about the book's author. 


REVIEW


Dear Mom is a confessional memoir written by Jigar Prajapati as a tribute as well as an apology to his mother; the book narrates the psychological state of the author during the flurry of stressful hospital visits when his mother gets hospitalized because of a brain hemorrhage; while seeking forgiveness, the harrowing memories flood back to the author; amongst the portrayal of the average Indian household troubles and how they are dealt with, this memoir confronts the poor state of psychiatry and mental health awareness in the country.

Set somewhere in Gujarat, Dear Mom spans 21 days of the mother’s hospital journey, the narration moving between the past and the present. The book is written in raw conversational language and it mostly comprises dialogues, which complements the simple style. The memoir begins with the brain stroke and the focus is shifted to the author’s lack of acquaintance with the hospital’s nitty-gritty, which a lot of us can relate with. The author acknowledges the privilege of having doctors in the family and resources available for the treatment. 

I would divide this memoir into three parts based on the prevalent themes and/or subjects. Firstly, the hospital experience. No matter how much you prepare for a medical emergency or any unprecedented event, you will be faced with a new, out-of-the-box challenge every time. Regular hospital visits for your loved ones often entail a strong psychological impact especially when you are not able to communicate with them. The author undergoes this experience and emerges with a good change of mindset and manages to keep sanity throughout the major turn of events. 

Other subjects that are prevalent here are little dysfunctions in an average Indian household and how they are dealt with, and schizophrenia. Most of the family quarrels and troubles are caused by dysfunctions like child neglect by one of the parents, rigid boundaries between gender roles and responsibilities, etc. For me, these two themes were interconnected, which should not be the case. The lack of mental health awareness and the scarcity of resources and the stigma, all lead to the handling of mental disorders like schizophrenia as if it is some familial or social issue to be resolved. The reason could be that these disorders oftentimes manifest in the form of conflicts in relationships. Considering the condition of mental healthcare in India, people mostly resort to google for answers.

A few pages in the beginning and a few in the end perfectly described the bond the author shared with his mother. That was the kind of vibe I expected from the book. However, the book as a whole did not follow the title rather it focused more on the troubles that schizophrenia and the brain hemorrhage attracted. The simple language constrained the author’s expression. Overall, it was a page-turner filled with anecdotes introducing you to the author's family as a character, and familiarizing you with different experiences.


Happy Reading!


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Sunday, May 8, 2022

Redefining ‘Religion’ and ‘God’ for Young Readers by Executing a Groundbreaking Plot in the Synthesis of Contemporary and Mystical Settings

  

Redefining ‘Religion’ and ‘God’ for Young Readers by Executing a Groundbreaking Plot in the Synthesis of Contemporary and Mystical Settings


The Ascendance of Evil by Abhinav (Kalki Chronicles Book #3)
Book Review by Dhiraj Sindhi


The Ascendance of Evil by Abhinav (Kalki Chronicles Book #3) Book Review by Dhiraj Sindhi | Top Indian Book Blogger
The Ascendance of Evil by Abhinav


AuthorAbhinav

ISBN: 978-0143454632

Genre: Mythological Fiction for Children and Young Adults (13-17 years)

Length: 336 Pages

Publication Date22nd November 2021

Publisher: Penguin 

Illustrator: Vibhav Singh | Instagram: @_vibhavsingh

Cover Designer: Samar Bansal | Behance: @samarbansal

Order your copy right now: https://amzn.to/3w4W1Hy



About the author:

Abhinav is a Mumbai-based software developer working for a financial services firm. His debut book The Sage's Secret is the first instalment in the Kalki Chronicles. He has since published a second book in the series, Kali's Retribution.


Instagram: @am_abhinav

Goodreads: @am_abhinav



DisclaimerThis is not a review, it is only intended for initiating discussions. The opinions and views presented in this article are my own and do not reflect anything about the book's author. 



REVIEW

The Ascendance of Evil by Abhinav is the third and concluding part of the Kalki Chronicles series. You can find here the review of the first part, Sage’s Secret that I uploaded earlier on the blog. The second part is Kali’s Retribution, which I had skipped deliberately, seeking relatively more entertainment and suspense than what a normal reading would allow. And sure enough, I found it so. The character list had broadened, the writing style improved, the pace had drastically increased, and the plot became much more exciting with plenty of new elements, complexities and secrets. 

The Ascendance of Evil focuses on the battle between Kali, the lord of evil and the Kalki avatar, which is to decide the future course of the planet and the universe. Kalki is accompanied by EOK (Espionage of Kalki, if I’m not wrong) soldiers and the Immortals. Whereas, Kali has an army of sorcerers and other dead Rakshasas. The great war of Kurukshetra—Mahabharata is the ultimate reference point, the Bhagwad Gita and other events serve as a guide. The book begins with the death of Kalki and the resurrection of Kali. This is just one of the several twists and total 180° shifts the book introduces. 


“Despite having so many places of worship, there is a scarcity of goodness. On the other hand, even though I am not worshipped in any form or at any place, evil is present everywhere. It’s as if gods don’t exist at all.” 


The plotline seems very natural and high-minded, addressing the prevalent issues related to humanity. It takes place in the year 2026 and the epilogue, 2050. Considering that the novel takes a didactic course towards the end, the author is being daringly hopeful with readers, vouching for humanity and degrading it at the same time.

With so many characters, all with unique significance puts a good weight on the storyline. Lord Krishna, his charm and his philosophy plays a key role throughout the book. His mystic personality and the way he sees the world and a soul and ‘being one with the universe’ truly shapes this novel’s heart. The war and combat scenes are complemented by illustrious writing and dark, mysterious settings, exactly opposite to the astral realm which is portrayed as nature’s refuge. 


‘I am of that opinion that…Evil will be removed from this world and humans will be rescued by you, the God.’ To which Kalki replies, ‘You are so learned! Yet you fail to understand a simple truth…that humans are at the mercy of their fellow humans. Not at the mercy of gods…or Evil for that matter.’


I cannot stress enough how relevant the book is for this year in particular. I will tell you why. It smoothly carries out all the broad principles pertaining to spirit, purpose, nature, religions and so on. Some subjects like spirit, nature and the universe are discussed in depth with high morale. Whereas, others are merely abstract and superficial ideas but that is obvious since these are some most complex issues, or should I say, we have made them too complex to fix them. I commend how the author chose to deal with warfare, which is exactly what I found ground-breaking in this very specific genre. Nuclear threats, peace talks, money and power, rampant destruction of nature, wildfires and the appalling state of inaction. What is also unconventional is the redefinition of religion and god through long dialogues from the author’s mouthpiece, Kalki.

There is this chapter solely dedicated to matters of social issues we face daily. Although, for a chapter only, I am glad that this book addresses these issues and tells kids what things are absolutely wrong with individual micro-stories. This includes poverty, domestic violence, LGBTQ+ rights, human rights, caste divisions, and all kinds of divisions, religious hatred, divorce, honour killings, inequality, animal cruelty and more. As the author has forewarned, even after three decades, if the universe and nature still allow us to thrive, we WILL continue to endure these issues while also being part of these issues, jeopardizing the existence of other humans and species. 


“Humankind knows the cost of their advancement. But they are ready to pay it, since it is not their wallet it is coming out of.”

Happy Reading!


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Will see you in the next post. Till then buh-bye. Take Care. Peace. ☮

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