Strangers on the Shore

Author: Randhir Khare

Publisher: Niyogi Books
(Pp 344, ISBN 978-9383098613, Rs 395)

Indians are obsessed with life-long family ties and it is a common tendency to blame parents for any failures in life. Strangers on the Shore focuses on the same. Arnie is a son of a possessive mother whose thought keep hounding him even after her death. Infact he keeps the memory of her alive, fighting her, loving her, afraid of her. His half-sister Chrissie, tries to control and fuss over her son Luke who eventually leaves her in order to discover himself. Then there is Melissa whose life-journey is shaped by the influence of a dominant, perverted grandfather. Another character Sabby isn't able to come to terms with his son's preferences.

All these characters paths cross and recross, dramatically negotiating each other and the myriad lives who touch them, weaving an intensely emotional and psychological story about people who find themselves and lose themselves in an effort to discover who they really are. Strangers on the Shore reveals the dark underbelly of so-called sacrosanct relationships and filial ties and draws the reader into exploring realities that are most often brushed under the carpet. Readers might even get a glimpse of their lives in this fictional novel. An interesting book to understand the realities of relationships!

–Varsha Verma

Stellar Signs

Author: Manjiri Prabhu, 

Publisher: Jaico Publishing House
Mumbai (Pp 315, ISBN 978-91-8495-441-8, Rs 325)

This book is a part of an Astro-detective series, where a female detective – Sonia Samarth- solves cases with the help of astrology. The name of her agency is apt – Stellar Investigation Detective Agency. Various cases are weaved in the book, with doses of humour here and there. It is an interesting novel which compels you to read it from cover to cover.

All the characters are well-sketched and an aura of suspense is maintained effectively. The style of writing is simple, yet alluring. Even though solving cases through astrology may not go down well with few readers, but they are sure to be hooked to the book as the author succeeds in striking the right balance between the logical and surreal and mysterious.

–Varsha Verma 

Discovering the Absolute - Getting to the True Meaning of Life

Author: Pierre Corbeil

Publisher: Mehta Publishing House, Pune
(Pp 148, ISBN 978-81-8498-617-4, Rs 210)

An initiated disciple of AC Bhaktivedanta, Swami Prabhupad, Pierre Corbeil served him as a translator of the largest portion of his work. This book is a simplified and modernised version of the Ishopanishad, based on the elaborately commented translation of Bhaktivedanta Swami. The oldest of the 108 Upanishads, this text clearly presents the personal aspect of the Absolute, and was chosen to serve as an introduction to the philosophical and spiritual tradition of the Vedas.

A very thought - provoking book, it unearths the buried treasures of the Ishopanishad, rendering its wisdom in words that make otherwise esoteric teachings accessible to general readership.