Jai’s Jottings
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My name is Sitharaam Jayakumar and my friends call me Jai. I am fifty-three years old. After spending nearly thirty years in the Information Technology field, I am now working as a freelance writer. I am keenly interested in politics, music, cricket, books - both fiction and nonfiction, writing poetry, articles and fictional stories.
Jai’s Jottings
3M ago
Title: Hot Stage
Author: Anita Nair
Publisher: HarperCollins India
Genre: Fiction / Crime & Thriller
Format: Paperback
Number of Pages: 422
Price: Rs 499
Link To Purchase: https://www.amazon.in/Hot-Stage-Anita-Nair/dp/9356995907
My Take:
Anita Nair’s Hot Stage is a complete police procedural and I for one enjoyed the book thoroughly. The story tells us how exactly an efficient police team (SIT) would set about investigating a murder. A rationalist professor (Mudgood) is killed and Assistant Police Commissioner Borei Gowda and his team along with a team from the CCB are tasked with finding ..read more
Jai’s Jottings
3M ago
An Ode To An Aspiring Pilot
The stormy winds shake the aircraft hard,
As we fly high up in the sky.
I don’t feel any terror nor am I scared,
For I know I am safe as I soar high.
People around me stare at each other,
As they perspire in severe trepidation.
Fearful of the heavy drops of water that pour,
And seem to be emanating straight from heaven.
I smile calmly to myself
Relaxed in my secret knowledge
That nothing can happen to others or thyself
As the shuddering and rattling grow savage.
There is a flicker of lightning outside,
And a young child cries aloud.
I am still not scared, but I tur ..read more
Jai’s Jottings
4M ago
Title: Saint Richard Parker: His search for love and enlightenment across India, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia – Merlin Franco – Book Review
Author: Merlin Franco
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Travelogue cum Adventure
Format: Kindle
Number of Pages: 430
Link for Purchase: https://amzn.eu/d/dpqA0t5
My Take:
All of us wonder about the true meaning of life every now and then. Richard Parker is one such man who is on a quest to attain enlightenment or Nirvana. He sets forth on an expedition to east Asia in search of the elusive mystery of life when an astrologer tells him his des ..read more
Jai’s Jottings
4M ago
Title: The Blogchatter Book of Thrillers
Author: Blogchatter
Publisher: Readomania
Price: Rs 250 /-
No of Pages: 111
Link to Purchase: https://amzn.eu/d/2kzGADc
My Take:
The Blogchatter book of thrillers contains 15 spine chilling short stories. Some of them chill your spine more than others but one and all are scary. I tried an experiment while reading this book in order to find out which ones among the stories frightened me the most. At the moment I am staying in a guest house at my parent’s place in Chennai which is an assisted living facility. This meant that I would be sleeping entirely ..read more
Jai’s Jottings
7M ago
Title: Unbroken: The Untold Story
Author: Indrani Mukerjea
Genre: Non-Fiction
Publisher: Harper-Collins Publishers India
No of Pages: 373
Price: INR 599
Link for Purchase: https://www.amazon.in/Unbroken-Indrani-Mukerjea/dp/9356994102
My Take
The book gives us a very good picture of the author’s early life and her struggles. She was abused and ill-treated, and her own family toyed with her emotions and betrayed her. The author comes across as a strong independent woman who is bold enough to live life on her own terms. She has fought her way through to the top and in the process sacrificed a lo ..read more
Jai’s Jottings
7M ago
Joy and Sorrow: A Bird’s Eye View
Oh little birdie!
Every morn,
I would wake up,
To your melodious song,
Of love and beauty.
I often wondered,
Wherefrom you learnt,
To sing like this?
Did you learn it on your mother’s lap?
Or is it God’s gift to you?
The Maroon and Red hues,
Of your patterned wings,
Like coloured fans,
Help you soar high,
And sometimes swoop low.
You have been teaching,
Your young one to fly.
I often hear your instructions to her,
Wafting through my balcony door.
She is growing up to be beautiful just like you.
A week back, I was sitting as usual,
Reading the missive,
In the ..read more
Jai’s Jottings
9M ago
Title: The Witch In The Peepul Tree
Author: Arefa Tehsin
Publisher: HarperCollins India
No of Pages: 323
Price: Rs 325 /-
Genre: Fiction
Link To purchase: The Witch In The Peepul Tree
My Take:
Pros:
The story is about a murder that occurs in a traditional Muslim household of the fifties. Who murdered the daughter of the house, Sanaz? Further, how come the door of the room where the murdered girl is found, bolted from inside? The windows are barred and there is no way of getting out of the room. The author manages to maintain the suspense right till the end of the book. The book is divided int ..read more
Jai’s Jottings
10M ago
Title: My Name Is Cinnamon
Author: Vikas Prakash Joshi
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Hay House Publishers India
No of Pages: 216
Price: Rs 279
Link for Purchase: My Name Is Cinnamon
My Take:
Pros:
The story moves at a gentle pace like the slow and steady waves of a quiet river. Such waters are generally deceptive in appearance and look shallow but turn out to be very deep. The correct phrase to describe the way this book is written is ‘light but with a surprising amount of depth’. The story is about fourteen-year-old Cinnamon, who is an adopted child. The name Cinnamon is a nickname giv ..read more
Jai’s Jottings
10M ago
Evoked The Lavasa Incident – Mansi Babbar – Book Review
Title: Evoked the Lavasa Incident
Author: Mansi Babbar
Publisher: HarperCollins India
Price: Rs 299
No of Pages: 216
Link For Purchase: Evoked The Lavasa Incident
My Take:
Pros:
Right from the word go, the author has concentrated on only one thing, which is to maintain the pace of events that occur in the story. Using this one strategy she has managed to keep the reader’s eyes riveted on the pages. As I read the book, I got the feeling that I was on an extremely fast roller coaster ride, and I might fly off my seat at any moment. The re ..read more
Jai’s Jottings
10M ago
The Slimy (Z)ombie
The next morning found Gayatri and Varun standing at the point near the river where the filming had taken place. The time was 6.30 AM, and the Sun was rising. Varun did not want to attract too much attention to what they were doing. He wanted to get it over with quickly. Gayatri was looking very apprehensive. She kept repeating, ‘Be careful Varun.’ Again, and again.
Varun rapidly changed into his diving gear. He smiled at Gayatri and said, ‘Don’t worry. I have done this once before at this same spot. It is not too much of a problem.’
He put on his diving glasses and waited ..read more