Amchya aayushyatil kahi athawani (आमच्या आयुष्यातील काही आठवणी) by Shrimati Ramabai Ranade (श्रीमती रमाबाई रानडे)

"Amchya aayushyatil kahi athawani (आमच्या आयुष्यातील काही आठवणी)", a Marathi book by Shrimati Ramabai Ranade (श्रीमती रमाबाई रानडे). This edition of the book is published by Samanvay prakashan in Nov 2012 and has 272 pages. Original book was written in early twentieth century.

Ramabai Ranade was second wife of Mahadevrao (Madhav) Ranade, who was a judge, great thinker and social activist. He was a champion of women's education and was firmly in favor of remarriage of widows which was considered a taboo in those days (Second half of 19th century). He was also the cofounder of Prarthana Samaj (प्रार्थना समाज). He married little Rama, almost 20 years younger than him, upon insistence and tantrums from his father instead of marrying a widow. (And this is considered as biggest blemish on his career)

Ramabai was illiterate at the time of marriage. Mahadeorao taught her and appointed tutor to teach her Marathi, English & Bengali. Ramabai was impressed and awestruck by him, his thoughts and personality. She also loved him unconditionally.

She tells us that despite having an excellent salary, he never carried any money on him. All the household expenses were handled by ladies of the house and later by Ramabai. Rama traveled all over India with her husband, from Lahore to Kolkata and from Amritsar to Madras. This was unusual for a typical brahmin lady of that time.

This book is written in the format of memoir or a diary, though the entries are not dated. If the author had not kept the notes then we have to acknowledge that she had tremendous memory because everything is written in great detail.

Although both Rama and Madhav were active in public life and are celebrities of their time, this book is about their personal life and their public life appears only in reference to private life only when necessary.

Madhavrao had a very delicate health. Rama took great care of him playing various roles. Sometimes she played his disciple, sometimes care taker, sometimes his nurse, sometimes his mother and mostly his wife. She idolized him, revered him and loved him.

The narration is simple, language is ancient and author had preferred not to dramatize and kept it factual. Her whole life was her husband, until his death. He was her first priority and she considered herself blessed to have such a husband.

The book ends with the death of Madhavrao in year 1900. Although Rama carried on with the social work of Madhavrao after his death, it doesn't form part of this book.

A good book. If you  are interested in the personalities, read it.

A nice quiet holiday by Aditya Sudarshan

"A nice quiet holiday" a debut novel by Aditya Sudarshan. This is a murder mystery.

Anant, the narrator and a young lawyer, works as law cleark to Justice Shinde. Shinde decides to take Anant with him to a nice quiet holiday, in the mountains, to Bhairavgadh at his friend Shikhar Pant's house. A number of guests are invited. Pant's  writer cousin (Kailash), a couple (Mittal's) who run a NGO for AIDS, Pant's friend (Mr. Anand) with his young son (Avinash) & Pant's family  homeopath (Dr. Nath) with his two sons and young beautiful daughter (Mallika). There are two servants and a dog in the house in addition to this ensemble.

There is a public unrest against the NGO for publishing obscene material. Kailash's influence avoids arrest of Mittal's. Then Kailash is murdered. The judge encourages Anant to become amateur investigator. He startes investigating and at the same time is smitten by Mallika's charms.

A book goes missing with other unrelated things, children who are playing hide and seek give a clue, there is a blackmailer, there seems to be no motive for murder. Anant stumbles and fumbles trying to find clues and reports to the judge.

Who is the murderer? Is he in the house? Is there another murder? How is the murderer identified? What role does the judge play?

In a murder mystery you expect at least some and preferably many twists. Needle of suspicion should always be pointing to someone and change as the story goes. In this story, no one is a suspect. You hardly feel that an investigation is ongoing.

Love story takes front seat in one section over mystery. Story is slow and uninteresting. Motive for murder is also not very convincing. Book doesn't end for a while, even after the murderer is caught and motives and deductions are explained.

The book is insipid. Avoid.

The racketeer by John Grisham

"The Racketeer" a novel by John Grisham.

Grisham is well known for his legal thrillers. This one is a borderline legal thriller. It has no court room drama.

Malcom Bannister, a black lawyer and ex marine, is sentenced for 10 yrs for money laundering. He claims to be innocent, his only fault being choosing wrong client.
A fedral judge is murdered with his girlfriend. His locker opened. Why was the judge killed? Banister may or may not have some vital info about the murder and killer.

Does the FBI get the info from Banister? What is the price? Is the murderer found? Who is the racketeer?

The story takes place in America and Carrebien. The pace is good, although it slows down in a couple of places. Writing style of this book seemed to be different from the previous Grisham books. Moreover this book is written in present tense (but not continuous present), which is a novelty.

There is a big twist to the story towards end that I did not see coming. It changes all the equations.                      

Its a good change from hard core Grisham legal thrillers. Although this book is not in the same league as 'The runaway jury' its a good one. If you don't like legal thrillers but would still like to read John Grisham, this is your book.