Book Review #85: Nanna Bhayaagraphy By Beechi

Title – Nanna Bhayagraphy

Author – Beechi

Genre – Biography

Publishers – Sapna Book House

Pages – 350 (Hardbound)

Source – Personal Copy

Numerous authors and popular personalities engraves their autobiography as soon as they contemplate that they have accomplished something big in their lives. Those books are merely pages about how they have achieved success in their life by fighting against all odds. Though it’s kind of an inspiration to many readers like me, but, the actual bothering point is, they are just human beings like us, and even they have shortcomings. Will they ever dare to pen those inadequacies in their biographies? I certainly doubt it. Beechi a.k.a Bheemasena Rao is an odd man out in such cases. He has written his autobiography in such a way that, the readers would get a sense of feeling that, this man is speaking his heart out or rather he is sitting beside us over a drink and narrating their entire journey without any white lies.

The book is not about how he rose to become a successful author of 57 books or how he achieved his title of veteran writer. He has kept himself to the ground and introduced us to a exhilarating and impressive interpretation of his life. As a writer, Beechi is a comical fiction writer. His ever great works like “Thimmana Tale” or “Thimma rasayana” proves that he has kept his grief-stricken life behind his comedy writings. This book is titled as “Nanna Bhayagraphy” that can be slackly translated to English as “My Scary Life”.

Beechi begins his story from the time of his birth, telling the stories about his orthodox family and how he has grown up in the pre independent India during the early 1930’s. Till adolescence, Beechi was a firm believer of God. By the age of 18 or so, he declared himself as an atheist and lived his life like one. At the same time, he wasn’t contrasting to any of the religious proceedings that used to happen in his house. Neither had he opposed his family members. Having not seen his father at an early age made the author to not to mention a great detail about his father figure in this memoir. His mother, a staunch orthodox, was succumbed to illness and left this world when the author was just 7 years old. Grown up in the house of his uncles, author had faced stark difficulties and persistent mocking by his kinsfolks. Author has an elder brother and a sister, who were world to him during his distressed times.

As the book progresses further, we get to read the author’s ‘not so good’ educational credentials. Studied up to only 10^th standard, he had no choice but to earn his bread and butter himself for the rest of his life from an early age. He made all his determinations to stay well-balanced during all these struggling years and slowly opened himself to the world of literature. Comedy was his forte and since his first publication, he never looked back. He went ahead and wrote 57 bestsellers. Several of his works have been performed as plays in theatres and radio. Being a part time performer, author himself has acted in few of his own plays. His success was soaring to the new heights while his personal life was tumbling down.

Author has no fear in disclosing that he is habituated to smoking and drinking for lifetime. His wife was his greatest admonisher for his habits, but that never daunted him. He continued to be a great writer, great speaker and a fantastic human being.

Elucidating his personal life perspective, author had three children and out of which he has lost a child when there was complications in his wife’s pregnancy. That went even shoddier, when he found out that his wife was mentally ill for almost a couple of years. He made all his efforts to give a good education to his other children and was successful in doing it. But life was not a fairytale for him. At the age 22, his second son, a graduate in commerce and a primary critic of his works, died due to typhoid. This event has made the author to lose his focus for some time, but he bounced back. The only remaining child, his elder son, didn’t disappoint the author, he went ahead and completed his doctor degree. He got married and now they are a happy family with grandchildren.

Amidst all the events, author is firm in calling spade a spade. He recorded some of the prominent events in his life without hesitation that includes, his rendezvous with the prostitute households. He affectionately reminisced many of his colleagues and well-wishers in his life who contributed directly or indirectly to keep him gratified. His literary guru, Aa. Na. Krishnaraya played an important role in the author’s life, which made him to become a better writer. His close friends and his drinking buddies provided him the relaxation and relief that he always longed in his lifetime. His wife, though uneducated, proved to be a worthy partner to him. She held the responsibility of bringing up their children and taking care of the house despite bearing all the lunacy of the author.

Overall, a fantastic narration. This is a different and yet the honest way to write an autobiography. The author never called himself a legend. He just described his life with all the ups and downs and his staunch atheism concept and the greatest love he had for the humanity.

My Rating:

5/5

Book Review #84: The Bestseller She Wrote By Ravi Subramanian

Title: The Bestseller She Wrote

Author: Ravi Subramanian

Publishers: Westland

Genre: General Fiction/Thriller

Pages: 300+

Source: Personal Copy

Reading the thriller genre books adds an extra layer of expectations from the story. Having read The Bankster from the same author had kept my hopes further high and took up this book to read. As the author himself says, this is the first time he is penning a romantic thriller genre novel and I will give the benefit of doubt to the author. But still, Author Ravi Subramanian was left with no choice but to use the same Bank as his prop for setting up the novel. Few authors couldn’t think beyond their home turf I would say. Anyway, coming to the book, it is an easy read kind of book. Broken in to nearly 85 small chapters adds the required pace to the book and you can very well read it in few hours. Language used is quite simple and the narration is good.

Aditya Kapoor a successful fiction writer of the country, who is also an alumnus of IIM Bangalore, comes there to give a talk or speech. An unexpected argument with a girl called Shreya from the audience regarding selling the book as a product, where Shreya had a differences of opinion with the author. The argument led to the intersection of the lives of these two in quick session. After reading a book of Aditya, Shreya becomes a huge of him overnight. She emails him about how his book has changed her perception of him and how she felt silly to argue with the best author of the country.

When Aditya, who is also a successful banker again goes to IIM Bangalore for placements, coaxes his friend cum colleague Sanjay (the HR head of the bank) to hire Shreya. She was hired to the bank and as expected a close friendship develops between Aditya and Shreya. Shreya who was also an avid reader and an aspiring writer, gets help from Aditya to publish her work or as the title of the novel goes “The Bestseller”. Whereas, Aditya, a middle aged married man, with a six year old son, finds himself attracted to Shreya. Thus begins an extramarital affair between both of them.

Few sections in the book could’ve been really avoided considering the audience that this book will be reaching. The book certainly adds the thrill factor to it. But, what is the necessity of an erotic part? I am still thinking, what has author achieved while he described how Shreya’s buttocks or boobs looks like? Or How the Aditya gets attracted to Shreya’s physical features than the actual love that they both thought in reality? Things like these could damage an author’s reputation instantly. As per the author, the famous fiction writer in the country, do not know how to write an erotic scenes in his novel? (What a downfall?). The disgusting part was when Shreya helps Aditya on how to write an erotic scene in a practical way? And that too by keeping an audio recorder that records their wild moaning during the act? (Author certainly needs some introspection here). I am sure this section of the book reminds the readers about 50 Shades of Grey.

Each character in the novel seems to be lacking in moral. Aditya, a successful writer and a happily married man and also a person who had an extramarital affair, finds out that he loved his wife Maya only when she falls sick, and that too after sleeping with Shreya? Shreya on the other hand was an avid reader and an aspiring writer and is all ready to get her work published either by hook or crook? To the extent of sleeping with Aditya and then resorting to blackmail? Sanjay, a college buddy and now colleague of Aditya, who is also an avid reader and has a strange habit of not letting anyone to touch his books, who stands by Aditya’s side always, but turns out to be a conman? Apart from these characters, the rest of the characters were given less prominence. I had expected more from Maya’s character. But, let us agree that this is what the author had imagined.

The narrative is rife with the things that are unnecessary or unbelievable. The love scenes are put in such a way that, it was not all required to go to an extent that, how Aditya unbuttoned Shreya’s shirt or how he pulled her panties or how Shreya unzipped Aditya’s trousers and feel and touch of their reproductive organs is quite uncalled for. The funny thing is, Aditya now stuck in dilemma on how to resolve his love-life crisis, finds out that, his “beloved” wife Maya is suffering from Ebola. Are you serious? Showing Maya on critical illness would’ve sufficed a lot. But, bringing the “Ebola” into the picture was not needed.

As is the case in every other romantic novel, Maya does gets cured of Ebola and the climax revelation will feed Maya regarding the emotional side of Aditya and how “courageous” was her husband. Just because he accepts his illicit relationship with Shreya on an open podium could melt the heroine’s heart (Where are those feminists?). At the end, as everyone expected, Shreya went on to become a bestseller for just one book. Guilt ridden Shreya, who thinks, because of conning and blackmailing Aditya had psychologically damaged her writing brain and she couldn’t continue to write. On the other side, Aditya, having lost everything and gaining back everything (including his lost wife) lives happily ever after.

I sincerely hope that the first romantic thriller experiment of the author becomes the last experiment of him. I loved his other writings but not this one. This could’ve been shaped up really well, had the author not followed in the footsteps of Chetan Bhagat (Oh yea, there is a reference to CB as well in this novel). A soon to be a biggest motion picture in the Bollywood!! Well, I am definitely not looking forward to it. Period.

My Rating:

2.5/5

Book Review #83: Bettada Jeeva By K. Shivaram Karanth

Title: Bettada Jeeva

Author: K. Shivaram Karantha

Publishers: Sapna Book House

Genre: General Fiction

Pages: 150

There are few book which haunts you for some time though you’ve finished reading it. Bettada Jeeva is one such book where it is almost impossible to forget the characters or the story as such. Set up in a remote mountain village of South Karnataka, the book captures the scenic beauty of the entire village and mountain as well as the subtle tragic events of a family. This book is short with just 150 pages. The story that the author had written is brilliant in many aspects leave alone the main plot of the novel.

The book has a prominent plot which carries the story till the end with its elusive narration. There are multiple protagonists in this novel and the main characters are the old couple Gopala Bhat and his wife Shankari and a visitor guest to their house Shivarama. The story appears as simple as it sounds in the first few pages of the book, but, as you read through it, it has something else to offer. The tragic and secluded life of the elderly couple will remain a focal point in this novel.

The story begins when Shivarama, another protagonist in the novel loses his way towards his hometown Puttur. While roaming in the forest pathway to decide which way to go, two strangers appears who were heading to a different village and offers their help to get Shivarama to a nearby village. As it was already night and there was no way that Shivarama could get any bullock cart to find his way, agrees to go along with those men and finally lands in the house of the elderly couple.

Shivarama received a warm welcome from the oldies and they treat him as one of their own relative. They offer him the best food and shelter and knows his whereabouts. As they begin their conversations, Shivarama was awestruck by the liveliness of these old couple and tries to get along with them. He speaks about their life in that secluded village and in that single house. Shivarama learns that, the old couple had two children, a boy and a girl. While the girl married at any early age and due to the complications in her pregnancy, the girl loses her life. While the younger son was the only solace for these couple, but he turns out to be a bigger disappointment in their life.

To get higher education, the son leaves their hometown and heads to Mumbai. Months and years passed and there was no sign of him. The couple became old and vulnerable waiting for their son’s arrival. 12 years have passed since then, and there was not even a single letter from their son. Dejected by their son’s behavior, the old couple comes to term with the situation and continues to live their lives by accommodating any new guests in their villages and treating them as if their own kith and kin has arrived. This was a turning moment for Shivarama and he decides to stay in the house for few more days to hear the couple narrate their entire story.

As the story drifts further, there are other short tales of how the elder couple adopted an orphan person Narayana and raised them as their own son. They got him married and provided him the land to till and build his own life. Now, this orphan person has two kids, which the elder couple feels them as their own grandchildren. There are also few short stories of visiting the deep forests, hunting down a tiger in the traditional village way and roaming around the water falls deep within the forests and so on.

As the days progressed for Shivarama, he approaches the elder couple and asks them few question regarding their lost son and promises them to find him in his next journey. As soon as he sees the photograph of their son, he remembers the face is quite known to him. He immediately says to the couple that he has met this person somewhere in Pune and promises them to find him out. The old couple lives with a renewed hope.

My Rating:

5/5