The Blog of Small Things

Name : Kanavu Thozhirchalai  Author :  Sujatha     Year of Publication : 1979     Genre : Fiction, Novel     Rating : ***** ( 5 stars out of 5) A blockbuster Sujatha novel which has all the elements of a runaway hit in the box office. That the novel was serialized as a weekly series in "Ananda Vikatan" in 1979 is evident in the (sometimes forced) twist at the end of every chapter. With some minor tweaks related to technology, the novel can still be adapted to a 2026 version as the core emotions are timeless. It is a sad denouement that such a novel could never be made into a movie till today. A movie version can still be attempted and almost everything will fall in place but where will we get a younger Kamal Hassan (The only actor who can ace the complexities of the protagonist Arun Vijay) again? 

  Name : Thaaragai Author : Tamilmagan     Year of Publication : 2016     Genre : Fiction, Novel     Rating : ** 1/2 ( 2 and a half stars out of 5) Sujatha, the heart-throb Tamil writer of an entire generation, passed away in 2008. Tamilmagan is an author who tries to evoke the haal of a Sujatha work through wit and pace. This novel is based in the glitzy Tamil film industry and traces the life journey of an aspirant actress. The regular tropes of casting couch, political ambitions, travails at a shooting spot etc are present. In "Kanavu Thozhirchalai", a classic Kollywood based novel, Sujatha evokes the absurdities and chaos of the film industry in a cathartic way. Tamilmagan falls short of mastering the third key Sujatha element ( Wit and pace, being the first two) : Emotion.

Name : Indira Gandhi and the years that transformed India Author : Srinath Raghavan     Year of Publication : 2025     Genre : Non-fiction, Politics, Biography, History     Rating : *** ( 3 stars out of 5) Srinath Raghavan, the erudite scholar who has previously written valuable works on Nehru and  Bangladesh war (among others)  pens a semi-biographical, semi-political portrait of the "Long 1970s" through the travails and decisions of the fragile yet indestructible "Durga"- Indira Gandhi. While the research material is new and the context setting is thorough (understanding local economic decisions through the lens of global crises), the author is in a hurry to pack in too much material in limited space. In a book with large ambitions, epiphanies are expected but the book stops short. The biggest decision in Indira Gandhi's career was to withdraw Emergency when she was at the peak of her political legitimacy.  Ramachandra Guha's "India after G...

Name : OTP please! Author : Vandana Vasudevan     Year of Publication : 2025     Genre : Non-fiction, Economics, Society     Rating : *** ( 3 stars out of 5) The author pens a well-researched tome on gig workers and online commerce - a theme hitherto unexplored in developmental literature. The book documents the travails of such workers across South Asia through patient one-to-one interviews (from Swiggy delivery boys to Amazon warehouse workers) and emotion-based chapters (guilt, anxiety, freedom etc). The author resists broad brushstrokes and paints a mixed picture of this new world with words of caution about it's future.  This book is an important addition to our understanding of jobs and development in the South Asian perspective.

  Name : Chronicle of an Hour and a Half Author : Saharu Nusaiba Kannanari     Year of Publication : 2024     Genre : Fiction, Novel     Rating : **** ( 4 stars out of 5) The debutant author spins a lyrical narrative set in small town Kerala covering nearly 200 pages of events which happen within 90 minutes. The structure of the novel - a new narrator every chapter- adds to the frenzy. A tempest-hit village in Areekode(or is that the right spelling?) smells an affair while the woman's husband is away in the Gulf, feeds poison on Whatsapp and turns into a mob baying for blood. The result is a heady (and scary) work of fiction which sounds eerily close to reality in our rabid times. A new and original voice has arisen in the Indian Fiction horizon and Saharu Nusaiba Kannanari is here to stay.

  Name : Nehru's India Author : Aditya Mukherjee     Year of Publication : 2025     Genre : Non-fiction, History     Rating : **** ( 4 stars out of 5) Aditya Mukherjee's love for the Nehruvian Idea of India shines through in this short tome which provides a brief overview of the different aspects which underlines Jawaharlal Nehru's commitment to democracy, socialism and secularism. The book also provides a snapshot of how Nehru's passion for the discipline of history guided his ideals. Along with Nehru's short biographies by Shashi Tharoor and Walter Crocker, this volume is a handy introduction to who Nehru is and what Nehru means to today's India.