Pregnant King - Devdutt Pattanaik

Its a book about a king accidentally become the mother of a child. Written by Devdutt Pattanaik, its a tale of maternal adoration and love by a male species as opposed to a woman. It a beautiful tale of a king and his 3 wives trying to conceive a prince for which the king's grand father is awaiting to go live on vaana prasta. The pitrus are waiting to be reborn but there is no conception of the child. When the king decides to call 2 siddhis - Yaja and Upajaya who perform extravagant ritual to create a potion meant to be given to the queens, the king accidentally drinks it. He eventually becomes pregnant and gives birth to happy healthy boy. The 9 months of pregnancy and the child birth is kept secret. 

When the child is born, the only wish of the king is to be called mother by his child. The child refuses. The longing of the king continues till his breath. He keeps wondering "What sounds sweetest, being called Mother or being called Father"

He tries to seek answers from all possible avenues. He is entangled in this dilemma and desperate to find answers. He speaks to Arjuna to whom the king believes Bhishma narrated the story of a man who became a man and then a woman. Arjuna brushes off the query saying he does not remember any such story being told to him. 

The king also bears another child through his second wife. So he wonders "I am not sure that I am a man…I have created life outside me as men do. But I have also created life inside me, as women do. What does that make me? Will a body such as mine fetter or free me?"

The king who is supposed to be the upholder of dharma and embodiment of manhood is in deep confusion whether he is a man or a woman. 

The book is a good narration of king's wild mind and how he sees the world with a definite distinction between man and woman and at the same time he being a man and woman in himself. There are references to Shiva and Shakti both having different forms and how king relates to Illeswar - The patron God of Vallabhi who is God on full moon days and Goddess on new moon days.  

Leap of Faith - Danielle Steel

Not a  great story line and not a great set of characters. The whole thing would've been over in a 20 min clip on a web series. Lol. But definitely I could read the book head to toe without hassle. That is because you dont need to remember anything from the book. Wherever you start or end, you can almost certainly predict what would happen in next few pages. It was a good experience when I read this book during my son's bed time story time and he read his own books without troubling me. 

The story is about a 11 year girl who gets orphaned when her parents and brother die in a terrible accident. She is moved from France to America to live with her great aunt. Aunt treats her badly but there is a very close friend with whom she finds happy times in her distress. She is left with a huge inheritance by her father. She is suddenly millionaire rich. She goes back to Chateau in France where she lived with parents. She meets a very amicable friend who marries her and she becomes mother of his children within a short time. The story from here becomes very predictable and even with the most open ended mind, one prejudices over her stupidity. 

Back in my college days, Danielle Steel's books were entertaining. This book may be looked like the worst of Steel. 

Murder in the vicarage - Agatha Christie

Life has been busy for the last few months. I wanted to read something thats not mind boggling and a simple thriller. This book was the first in a shelf in an abandoned library. So I picked up to amuse myself in a subtle way. 

About 20 years ago, I used to read a lot of Agatha Christie novels. Thats something that helped me with getting along with reading. The general theme is to find the murderer. So, it used to be thrilling. 

The plot is about an extra martial affair and a murder associated with it. There is an old lady character called Miss Marple - is over intrigued with general business of everyone in the village. She proves to be resourceful in solving the murder mystery. 

Most beautiful thing about the book is narration. Its like watching a movie fathom itself. Also there are no crazy twists and turns which you will have to remember. Good book to keep you entertained for a bus/train journey.