Author: H V Seshadri/ Publisher: Sahitya Sindhu Prakashana/ ISBN: 9788186595077

The only reason for India-Pakistan partition was Congress - few Congress leaders who were old, tired, not ready to fight anymore and having a deep political desire of getting power at the earliest. All this made them accept partition without much protest and fight.

One of the most important chapters in the Indian history (and equally so for Pakistan) is the partition of the nation in 1947. This article is H V Sheshadri's book “The Tragic Story Of Partition” reviewed by Dr Bharat M Desai.

Director(s): Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra/ Acto(s): Abhishek Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor, Om Puri, Waheeda Rahman, Rishi Kapoor, Divya Dutta

I finally started living in my new (rented) apartment in Bangalore, with no great movie to look for on TV (not sure if I should blame TataSky for that). The only option was to re-explore my old DVD collection. No rewards for guessing, I picked Delhi 6 – one of my all-time favorite movies (as most of my closest people already know). I loved it so much the first time I watched it, I immediately bought its DVD and happen to have watched it more than once (being modest).

While I’m about to watch it (n+1) th time today, the only question running through my mind is – why would anyone not like Delhi 6? That’s a question for those to answer who can’t appreciate this phenomenal creation. I belong to the proud-others, who’re sane enough to understand and digest its perfection.

Author: Ken Blanchard, Margret McBride/ Publisher: William Morrow/ ISBN: 9780688169817

Dr Bharat Desai's review of "The One Minute Apology" by Ken Blanchard and Margret McBride:

• A powerful way to make things better.
• A manipulative technique for getting what you want.
• A power of forgiveness to improve or repair relationships, your business and even your home.

This is a rare book exploring a very important subject – poorly understood and hardly bothered. I will start with the most important issue that is,

1. “The toughest part of Apologizing is realizing and admitting that you were wrong.”
2. The power of the one-minute apology is deeper than just words.
3. The core of most problems is the truth you don’t want to face.
4. The longer you wait to apologize, the sooner your weakness is perceived as wickedness.
5. Without a change in your behaviour just saying “I am Sorry” is not enough.
6. Apologize not for the outcome, but because you know you were wrong and it is the right thing to do.
7. When you honestly express your feelings with someone you care about, you show respect for yourself and the relationship.
8. A one-minute apology can be an effective way to correct a mistake you have made and restore the trust needed for a good relationship.

Author: Khushwant Singh/ Publisher: Grove Press/ ISBN: 9780802132215

Arthi is back to pen her thoughts down and so is Train to Pakistan - one of my long-loved books. Here's a guest post, the book review of Train to Pakistan. 

Although I have read a lot of books since I was 10, this is my first book review. Thanks to Rahul who inspired (read as forced) me into this one ;)

Train to Pakistan is a book based on the partition of India Pakistan right after India's independence. It takes us to the summer of 1947 to Mano Majra, a tiny village in Punjab.

The partition means almost nothing to the local villagers and all is well between the Sikh farmers and Muslim tenants of the village until the local money lender Ram Lal is murdered. Jugga and the England-returned social activist become the prey of Punjab police. The heavy drama shifts drastically when an eastbound train makes an unplanned stop at Mano Majra, coaches full of corpses. The flabbergasted villagers have not yet accepted the truth when reality slaps them once again when Sutlej floods from neighbouring village. Action paces on as the magistrate, Jugga, Iqbal (the social activist) and village heads try to tackle the revolting violence. Also, the attitude of local police and niggling government officials is very nicely portrayed. The end, however, leaves a lot of open threads. Once I was about 4 - 5 pages away from the end, I was keen to know how will he end the series of misfortunes in the village. Frankly, I was a bit disappointed since I was expecting something out of Mr Iqbal as well. But to sum it up, Mr Singh's eye to detail makes it a total page-turner. Train to Pakistan gets a "Must Read" tag.

Author: Chetan Bhagat/ Publisher: Rupa & Co/ ISBN: 9788129115300

Just finished reading Two States and thought of sharing its review. Two States is fourth in line from Chetan Bhagat after blockbusters Five point someone, One night at call centre and Three mistakes of my life. (What’s with the numbers here? Chetan Bhagat really seems to be a superstitious, as all his books start with numbers.)

Statutory Note: If you are thinking that this book is going to be different from his previous writings, then don’t buy it - instead, borrow it from a friend. ;-)

The story goes like this: There is a girl and a boy; they meet as classmates; become friends; fall in love and decide to get married. Here is where they hit a roadblock - the boy is a Punjabi and girl is a Tamilian and this is where the book gets its name from: Two States (of India?). What follows is a long drama of how the boy and girl struggle to convince each other’s family and the hard fact that an average Indian was, is and will always be (I hope not) against inter-caste marriages.

Director(s): Danny Boyle/ Acto(s): Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Madhur Mittal, Anil Kapoor, Irrfan Khan

A Mumbai teen who grew up in the slums, becomes a contestant on the Indian version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?". He is arrested under suspicion of cheating, and while being interrogated, events from his life history are shown which explain why he knows the answers.

Great movie with amazing background (and foreground) score, I still feel this movie is fairly overrated. It closely touches the bitter reality and the aspects of 'Real' India unknown to many. However I'm not sure if I would want to highlight it too much.

Global recognition for A R Rahman's music is a step ahead in marking the Indian Art industry presence in the world media. Otherwise, A R Rahman has done far superior compositions many of which are sadly ignored.

Director(s): Abbas Tyrewala/ Acto(s): Imran Khan, Genelia D'Souza, Prateik Babbar

A good movie... 6 on the scale of 7: C-SAT!

The right weightage to every character and a good balance of the flow. Especially, if you're into theatre abd plays, you're bound to love it; Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah, Paresh Rawal, Rajat Kapoor, Anuradha Patel... it really was a rich movie!

The lead actress (heroine?) was "cute" as Barkha could decide, and the lead-actor (Imran Khan) wasn't bad either. And the Jignes Patel guy kept reminding me of Pradeep (although he was sitting right next to me).

I really want to write a lot more, but can't think of anything. It's 5.52 in the morning and I should hit the bed.

In any case, it's a great movie... do watch it! You'll like it for sure...