Bøker av Manik Bal

With this diverse collection of short stories, Manik Bal continues to explore the bizarre in the mundane, and the mundane in the bizarre. Exploring seemingly ordinary characters as a caretaker of a shared accommodation, a construction supervisor, and an out of job stay at home husband, every story weaves a heady cocktail of ordinary and unbelievable. The characters cheat each other with glee, but also display loyalty, even at a possible cost of their lives. The narrative shows the danger of the destructive ire of a spurned partner, yet shows the power of silent, long term marital love. The book is dedicated to the city of Mumbai, or Bombay as it was called. Several stories take place when the city was called Bombay, and the internet and cell phone were not very common. "Her Revenge, and Other Stories from Bombay" joins the previous three books in the series Odd Tales From Bombay and Bangalore. Please read the other books if you like this one. Each one tries to be unique while sharing the same DNA. Ride the rollercoaster and don't forget to switch off the lights when you fall asleep.

Rati, September 2001"I do not want to go out today. I look at the pink paper that I have carefully folded and kept in the upper drawer of my study table. The paper has a poem, I think it is about me. It is about a girl whose smile is out of the world. Is that guy a weirdo? Who writes poems at the age of eleven? Who even writes poems nowadays? But he is cute, and super serious."Samay, January 2008"I know she is lying. I do not mind. I know she wants to be seen as a strong person. And strong people do not cry. But we writers know. The real strong person does not mind crying. In fact, the real strong person cries often, shares the pain of the other people, making it their own. But I let her lie, because she is being honest, as she always is." Rati, July 2009"That's what everyone thinks when they are young. You need money, it is a reality. Everyone starts with a very optimistic view of the world, but then disillusionment hits fast, and it is too late by then. In my opinion, even being a plumber is better than being a writer. Besides, you will have to spend your life alone. No sane girl would marry an author." Samay, August 2010"She is like that. Impulsive, dominating, endearing, talkative, beautiful - adjectives end when you start describing her. Descriptions are not meant for people like Rati. They are what they are, ethereal and otherworldly."He is a writer.She is an engineer.He writes poems to her.She teaches maths to him at lunch.They know each other since they are eleven.They think they have problems. They just don't know what's coming. In September 2010, their world turns upside down. Will they survive the biggest crisis of their lives?A part of the World of Whiskey and Suicide, a world populated with the characters that you met first in "Whiskey and Suicide", a world of middle class Indians, who lead a mundane life, till something makes them do something heroic, or villainous. The world contains romances, heartbreaks, mid life frustrations and joy, friendships, ambitions and heartburns, and a vast kaleidoscope of emotions that are pastel color." Meet Samay and Rati, the ordinary extra-ordinary couple.

Whiskey and Suicide paints a kaleidoscope of myriad emotions of the Indian middle class families. In a very informal storytelling style, it narrates the dilemmas of the urban families in dealing with the conflicting emotions arising due to contradictory desires. It is the bonds of family and friendship that allow the protagonists to deal with these crises which are depicted by Manik Bal in a detached but empathetic narrative style reminiscent of the great "slice of life" storytellers of the east and the west. This book is raw and real and these people can be anyone truly. It is remarkably heartfelt, endearing, it claws at you at times with its depth and emotion. Hard to put down. One of those books you hand to a best friend and say "Read this!" This book by author Manik Bal is a bouquet of feelings. Every story describes the new face of a person's life. The stories are all very good but out of all my favourite of all these is Her Father's Killer such an interesting, emotional and unpredictable short story and it really touched my heart. (Whiskey and Suicide is) The petrichor in Indian fiction writing. The impression is similar to reading Alice Munro. Variety of intricate topics and unusual metaphorical contrast become an accustomed feat of the author.I loved the author's style of narrating the incidents. Minimal yet precise. Bapu and Her Father's killer plots are weaved around two completely opposite emotions.The heart or the author is easily felt with every line, as the lives of the characters seep in, and it is impossible not to get carried by their wave. It's a fascinating inside glimpse at dysfunctional family life in modern India in real-world times, subtlety told with enough detail to make your hair curl.Whether it is the alcoholic father who takes the wrong path after his wife's death or the sensitive couple in "Subtlety", most characters are sketched in details. Modern India is a complex place with the variety of demographics ranging from the multi billionaires to people who are not able to get a day's meal. The financial liberalization and the IT revolution has created a middle class that is ambitious both in economic aims and spiritual aims. Whiskey and Suicide is empathetic without being condescending.

He wanted to stay true to his art. It would cost him his sanity and his life.She wanted a life of dignity.It was a recipe for poverty and strife.Soubhik and Sourav, inspired by real heroes Vincent and Theo, try and make it in the cut throat indie music industry of Mumbai with the power of their brotherly love, and the love for their kind of music. The story honestly but delicately documents their romances, their passion, their love for the craft, yet the desire to give a sane life to their loved ones.Will they live their dream?Can they stay true to their principles?This is what immortality may mean, not a chain of infinite moments, but a moment that is immortalized in time for its permanence. Deeply moving and simultaneously entertaining, this is a major novel by an artist of note. Very highly recommended. -- Amazon top 50 reviewer An enjoyable book that will stand the test of time. Highly Recommended 5/5 -- Amazon reviewer When the author writes about music I just kept reading without taking my eyes off and awestruck about the people who are obsessed about the industry like the Sengupta brothers wanting to make a career out of it. Only when I read this book, understood the love for music by the protagonists who made me ask, why would anyone love it so much even when it causes them excruciating pain and losses unrecoverable? -- A leading book blog The struggles of a creative and talented artist, complexities of relationships, middle class misfortunes, inevitabilities of certain decisions in life are all cocktailed up perfectly in this musical journey of brothers who are tested time and again by fate and society. -- A leading book blog An interesting story about relationships and emotions. -- A leading book blog This is the first time that I have read such a genre of literature and that too portraying someone's musical journey through words and really like the concept, this book is indeed a treasure for people who are exploring with their different genres. -- Amazon reviewer I would like to recommend this book to everyone who wants to do something magical in their life. --- Amazon Reviewer This is a lovely book based on a true unique theme - - using the Van Gogh brothers as a model. How the journey of these brothers is related to Van Gogh brothers is really brilliant. --- Amazon Reviewer