In this book, Nariman Vakeel, a 79 year old Parsi Widower, and a former professor, is inflicted with Parkinson's disease. To make matters worse, he breaks his ankle during one of his evening walks causing him to be bedridden and thrown at the mercy of his step children, Coomy and Jal. Coomy, the stepdaughter shares a love-hate relationship with Nariman. Love because Nariman never discriminated between his own daughter and the stepchildren and lavished affection on all of them as though they were equals. Hate because of his loyalty to his former sweetheart which she believed was the cause of her mother's death. When Nariman gets bedridden, the uglier side of her takes control and she succeeds in passing the burden of caring for her stepfather to her half-sister Roxanne. As they say, what goes around, comes around. Coomy becomes a victim to her own plot and faces a premature death. Jal is good at heart but is too coy to stand up for himself or for his stepfather. Following Coomy's death, Jal atones for his lack of convictions by sharing the ownership of his flat with Roxanne and his family reversing their financial woes. Prior to Nariman's entry into their lives, Roxanne, her husband Yezad, and children Murad and Jehangir, lead a happy life. Having to take care of an invalid person takes a toll on the family physically and financially, and Roxanne does an excellent job of caring for her father with grace while not letting it ruin their routine or things that they did as a family. Yezad initially treats Nariman with disdain but takes inspiration from Roxanne and becomes humbler as time passes. Murad and Jehanghir, my favorite characters in the novel, are way too mature for their age and their presence in the story is so refreshing and I believe is author's way of putting things in perspective. In between these stories, Mistry weaves in Bombay politics and other side stories that lends a touch of reality to the novel.

Recommendation: It was hard for me to like the book in the first few pages but unintentionally I started falling in love with the characters Roxanne and Jehanghir. Mistry beautifully depicts the dilemmas and struggles of a middle class family living in a city like Bombay. The section relating to political unrest and Shiv Sena were a drag and forced me to skip pages here and there. Nariman's flashback gave a cinematic twist to the novel and was uncalled for. I recommend this book as average for plot and above average for evolution of characters. 

Unaccustomed Earth is a collection of five short stories and a trilogy, all of which circle around the emotional struggles that the second generation of Indian Americans face in the normal course of their lives. Each of these stories examines a certain relationship, be it father-daughter, sister-brother, mother-daughter, or friend-lover, and adds a layer of complication to the relationship making the stories emotionally intensive. To relish the stories, readers must shed their prejudices and let the characters evolve on their own. There is a touch of melancholy that weaves all these stories together.

The first story, Unaccustomed Earth, is centered around the father-daughter relationship, the daughter still coping up with her mother's loss while the dad ironically feels liberated by the tragic event, and ends up falling in love with a woman that travels with him on his European trip. In Hell-Heaven, a daughter comes to terms with a break up, as she realizes how her own mom fell in love with a family friend in her youth while being married to her father. A Choice of Accommodation is the story of deteriorating marriage between a husband and wife that takes a u-turn during a weekend get away. The brother-sister relationship is captured by Only Goodness in which the brother's alcoholism threatens to jeopardize her family life. Nobody's Business is the story of deceit and one sided love. The trilogy, Hema and Kaushik, captures the story of friends-turned-lovers who choose to part ways to keep up with their spirit of independence.

Recommendation: Well written, quick read, a little stereoptyped but excellent story telling . I rate this book as above average. This is my submission for this month's edition of Thoughtful Thursdays. 

After reading Khaled Hosseini's second best book, I had my heart set on his debut, The Kite Runner. As tempting as it was, I refused to finish the book in one sitting. I savored it, word by word, line by line, reluctantly turning the pages as the novel was drawing to a close. Have you observed how following a calamity, natural or man made, the media is rife with people stories; stories that provide first hand account of what had happened and what it was like to be caught in that pandemonium. That's exactly how I look at The Kite Runner as well. As a one man's narration of how his life was influenced by the ethnic clashes in Afghanistan, and the twists and turns in the nation's political setup.

Review: Whenever an ambulance or a fire engine passes by when I am driving, my first reaction is to reach out for the Ganesha idol in my car and say a 20 second prayer. A prayer for the well being of the person who has met with the accident, and a prayer to thank God for making me and my family to be at the right place at the right time. That's the kind of reaction that this novel invoked. After reading the book, I felt awful for what the Afghans had/have to go through and wished that things changed for the better, sooner than later. Then I felt thankful for being endowed with the privilege of leading a normal life. As boring as normal can sometimes be, I am more than willing to take it any day.

A close friend of mine, fondly nicknamed Atul as “Kelvi Nayagan”. Kelvi in Tamizh means question and Nayagan refers to Hero. So roughly translated, Kelvi Nayagan would imply king of questions.