Reading Time: 6 minutes During my childhood in the slums of central Bombay, I often hung out with friends in Dadar, Sion, and Colaba. While the tall buildings, clean roads, and open spaces were a delight, what always fascinated me were the huge stores. They often felt out of reach for the pockets of slum dwellers, no matter how …
In Defense of a Book Store – Moral Responsibility of Literature Enthusiasts Read More »
Reading Time: 10 minutes Brief Introduction to Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie Burnt Shadows was written in the year 2009 by renowned Pakistani-British author, Kamila Shamsie. The novel is a historical epic, documenting the most tragic events of recent global history through the lens of two families, the fate of whom seem to be intertwined throughout the story. The …
Political Analysis of Kamila Shamsie’s Burnt Shadows Read More »
Reading Time: 6 minutes Growing up in the ghetto of Mumbai, I was personally never good or even interested in studies. Usually spending my time as an ‘outstanding’ student, I was more into sports than academia. Reading books was the least important for me, and reading the ones out of the syllabus was out of the question. Regardless of …
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: My Favourite Authors – Part II Read More »
Reading Time: 8 minutes Brief Introduction to Alfred Lord Tennyson Alfred Lord Tennyson is widely regarded as one of the greatest poets of the 19th century. Born on August 06, 1809, in Somersby, Lincolnshire, England, where his father was the rector, Alfred was the fourth of twelve children. He was the first the 1st Baron Tennyson FRS, and was …
“Crossing the Bar” a Considered Elegy by Alfred Lord Tennyson Read More »
Reading Time: 3 minutes Death of Beloveds Death has an important place in Emily Dickinson’s poetry, and there’s a strong reason for it – she saw several people who she adored and loved died, some even very young. These tragedies played an important part in forming her thought and ideology, as her collection reflects. Dickinson portrays death in a …
Reading Time: 4 minutes Karl Marx – The Original Socialist In the first part of our series on the Top 5 Revolutionary Authors of Modern Era, we discussed the life and works of one of India’s most influential personalities – Ahmed Raza Khan Bareilwi. In the second part, we will discuss one of the most influential politicians of the …
Reading Time: 13 minutes Introduction to Shakespeare In all the literature that’s ever written in the English language, no name seems as prominent as William Shakespeare. His works, all of which were created before his death in 1616, continue to inspire art and cinema even today. His plays have been adapted in various movies across the globe, including India. …
Political Maneuvering in William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar Read More »
Reading Time: 11 minutes Introduction to Hari Kunzru Hari Mohan Nath Kunzru is a British novelist from London, born to a Kashmiri Pandit father, and a British mother. Kunzru completed his MA in Philosophy & Literature from the University of Warwick, after studying at the Wadham College, University of Oxford. Kunzru began his career as a journalist for the …
Multiple Names and Identities in “The Impressionist” by Hari Kunzru Read More »
Reading Time: 4 minutes Dynasties, Empires, and Kingdoms – Part 1 ‘The Sun Never Set on the British Empire.’ For an empire that dominated European politics for over a thousand years, and world politics for almost two centuries, it is quite important from a historic point of view to know about it. The British Empire, founded by the Monarchy …
Five Books You Must Read About the British Empire Read More »
Reading Time: 4 minutes I started reading novels quite late in my life when I was in Class 11. Many of my friends from school had already read the Rowlings and Ruskins by that time. However, since I began, the reading bug has never left me for much time. From Mario Puzo to Robert Goddard, George Orwell to Aravind …
Top 5 Books I want to Read in My Lifetime (Fiction) Read More »
Reading Time: 5 minutes Since the turn of the 20th century, the world has been at a war of ideologies. Be it the battlegrounds of Europe and Asia, or the Cold War, the social movements, political elections, and of late, university election – the Right vs the Centre vs the Left has been one of the longest fought battles, …
Reading Time: 7 minutes The power of the pen or the written word is signified in every culture from across the globe. The men and women with a pen have chronicled the history of the world as we know it today. Out of billions of human beings to brace the earth, very few have impacted it more than writers. …
Reading Time: 6 minutes Since the beginning of the 20th century, the world has been under a state of turmoil in some way or the other. Revolutions, genocides, wars, everything the world has witnessed in the past 120 years is stranger than the most mind-blowing works of fiction. And today, the world is witnessing another great moment when the …
Reading Time: 5 minutes Reading a novel is quite a private affair. A good story sucks you in, cuts you from the world. Until you gulp down the very last word, you’re locked in completely. However, reading a novel is not just about thousands of words and spectacular plots. It’s much more than that, it is an experience. One, …
Reading Time: 5 minutes Following your passion in an insanely competitive country like India is almost a philosophical dream that not many are able, or even willing to pursue. And out of all such passions, the rarest of the rare is writing. Don’t get me wrong – everyone loves the idea of having the name on the front cover …
Top 4 YouTube Videos Every Aspiring Writer Must Watch Read More »
Reading Time: 13 minutes Introduction to Shudraka’s Mrichchakatika Sudraka’s Mrichchakatika is among the earliest known plays of Sanskrit Literature. It is widely celebrated as one of the first plays to skip the narration from the perspective of the royals or nobles and depict the life of a common village populace. The underlying story of this iconic play is set …
Thematic Elements in Shudraka’s Mrichchakatika (The Little Clay Cart) Read More »
Reading Time: 5 minutes Over the last decade, I have had the opportunity to read some of the most exquisite pieces of literature from all over the world. From Russian classics like The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky to Indian gems like The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, I consider myself privileged to have been able to get my hands …
Reading Time: 5 minutes I took a liking to read novels only when I was in college, which frankly is quite late. It is not that I was away from books, as our school had a big library with lots of them. But to be honest, I was always intimidated by the sheer size of the books. Generally, the …
Reading Time: 7 minutes Introduction The evolution of the novel happened over a period of centuries before it took the form we witness today. There have been several landmark contributions to the development of storytelling all over the world. One book, however, which remains ground-breaking in various aspects is Pamela. Written by Samuel Richardson, Pamela is widely regarded as …
Reading Time: 4 minutes Stories have been part of cultures around the world for thousands of years. They helped shape our societies for centuries and continue to do so even today. However, in modern times, stories, in the form of novels, have become one of the major sources of entertainment. They no longer are limited to the privileged class, …
Reading Time: 3 minutes There are two kinds of people in this world. One, who read books, and the others, who want to read books. Inherently, every human being loves a good story, and therefore, reading novels is quite a fulfilling activity. However, for those who are just beginning to read or thinking to begin, more often than not, …
Reading Time: 4 minutes Since the beginning of the millennium, there hasn’t been an author in India as influential and polarizing as Chetan Bhagat. He has achieved almost everything that aspiring India dreams of a famed academic double – IIT + IIM, a million-dollar investment banking job with likes of Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank, and multiple best-selling titles …
Reading Time: 9 minutes Introduction to Romanticism of William Wordsworth History has seldom witnessed that a person who instigated a genre of any art form, and the same person went on to become the epitome of it. Take movies, for example. The first-ever movie was directed by a Frenchman named Louis Le Prince. However, instead of Prince, it is …
William Wordsworth and His Contribution to Romantic Poetry Read More »
