Read 237 of 2021. The Women I Could Be by Sangita Jogi. English Text by Gita Wolf.

Title: The Women I Could Be
Author: Sangita Jogi
English Text by Gita Wolf
Publisher: Tara Books
ISBN: 9788193448533
Genre: Feminism
Pages: 68
Source: Publisher
Rating: 5/5

This is hands down one of the best books I have read this year. It is intricate, empathetic, gives a world view in its own manner, feisty, feminist, and above all makes you check your privilege, and look at the world differently.

Sangita Jogi’s mother Tejubehan is an artist herself and has been working with Tara books since a while now. Sangita Jogi brings her own style to the fore. “My women are modern” she says, which is seen beautifully in this book.

The book is divided into sections – modern women, women I could be, roaming the world, appearing in public, good times, and the world has progressed.

Through each section, Sangita Jogi most uniquely tells us about her life, her dreams, her aspirations, how she had to get married early – tradition being what it is, and how she manages to still draw and paint and be her own person.

I love the part when she speaks of her daughter and how she will not be who her mother is. She wants better for her daughter, which she intends to give.

“The Women I Could Be” shows you a different India – of women who have the same dreams and ambitions – yet give in to circumstances and even then, dare to be who they want to. Jogi’s art is stunning, liberating, and makes you want to have it all. I was stumped looking at it and kept coming back to it again and again.

The text is sparse, honest, and hard-hitting. She admits to only wanting to draw modern women – they make her dream big and think even bigger. I guess that’s the power of imagination. Jogi’s women are feisty and fantabulous. Through her art we see how they only want to have fun and be themselves. Through her art, we get a glimpse of the person she is and one can do nothing but applaud her talent and what she stands for.

The Night Life of Trees by Durga Bai, Bhajju Shyam and Ram Singh Urveti

Title: The Night Life of Trees
Author: Durga Bai, Bhajju Shyam and Ram Singh Urveti
Publisher: Tara Books
ISBN: 978-8186211922
Genre: Picture Book, Non-Fiction, Mythology
Pages: 48
Source: Personal Copy
Rating: 5/5

Trees are strange. Trees are comforting. Trees have histories and tales spun around them. Trees also have a life of their own which cannot be gauged by humans. Keeping this in mind and all the tradition and myths behind trees of India, tribal artists in conjunction with Tara Books have published a beautiful limited edition hand-made book called “The Night Life of Trees” and I cannot begin to praise and admire it.

I am not the one for trees and their stories and what they are all about, but after reading this book and soaking in all the illustrations, I want to know more about them, in fact, everything about them. This book is testimony to the living masters of the Gond art form.

Snakes and Earth

There are a total of 19 trees featured in this book and each one is with a story from mythology or seems to be a fairy tale or just is, which is what you will love and cherish as a reader.

All of them

The images are alongside the description and make for some beautiful viewing. Moreover, the handmade paper is to die for – quite literally. You will fall in love with it.

The Tree of Intoxication

The trees in our country are exotically named like the Khirsali, Nagphani, Sembar and so many more after Gods, Goddesses, Serpents and also Birds and Humans.

The Silkworm’s Home

“The Night Life of Trees” is a treat for everyone to own and keep going back to it. The art will for sure make you.

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I Like Cats by Anushka Ravishankar, Gita Wolf and Various Artists

Title: I Like Cats
Author: Anushka Ravishankar, Gita Wolf and Various Artists
Publisher: Tara Books
ISBN: 978-8190675611
Genre: Children’s Book, Picture Book
Pages: 48
Source: Personal Copy
Rating: 5/5

I was never an animal lover till I fell in love with dogs. Till about 2009, I did not even like cats and then I fell in love with them and things weren’t the same since then. I began to take a great fondness to them and to fall in love with them was as easy as learning the alphabet.

It is therefore no wonder that I picked up this beautifully designed and made by Tara Books aptly titled “I Like Cats” by Anushka Ravishankar, Gita Wolf and other various tribal artists. The cat drawings are superbly done. The illustrations and the texture of the hand-made paper is something else when it comes in contact with your eyes and touch.

What I admire the most about Tara Books is that they are always driven for a cause and that is what makes them this unique. Even though they are expensive, you’d still want to own them because of how they look and feel.

The cats and their representation in this book are simply adorable. There are times when the feline form is most abstract, but then too it is quite recognizable. I would say that this book is a treat for both adults and children and with the limited edition printing, it is only found in physical stores.

Book Review: The To-Let House by Daisy Hasan

Title: The To-Let House
Author: Daisy Hasan
Publisher: Tara Books
ISBN: 978-81-906756-5-9
Genre: :Literary Fiction
Pages: 227
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4/5

When you talk about a region that no one speaks about, there is enough excitement held within the pages of the book, to sustain the readers’ interest. That is what happens when you read, “The To-Let House” by Daisy Hasan. Written without any sugar-coating, this book comes from a place that is surreal and at the same time haunting.

The To-Let House is a story of four individuals and their lives. It may seem a mundane, run-of-the-mill plot, however it is not. The story is set in the city of Shillong, in the North-East, an almost forgotten territory for most writers. I have yet to come across more books set in this area and sadly there aren’t many there.

Back to the book, The To-Let House is not an easy read. At least it wasn’t for me. The story kept racing between the past and the present and took some time for me to get hold of it, however once I did, it was a read like no other. One cannot imagine that this is the author’s first book. The book is about childhood memories and how much do we hold close and how much do we let go of. As the children enter adolescence, their friendships and lives are taken to different levels – their reactions, their opinions and also the territory’s violent background, which shapes them as people.

The writing is visibly dark and dense and yet hopeful. It leaves you with a sense of connection with the characters – Di, Clemmie, Kulay and Addy. Their worlds, their stories and their lives are at the core of the book – what they think and how they make sense of where they live and that’s when you realize that it is not the house at the core, but people. The book will lead you in and charm you and make you forget the world as quickly as you can. Read and enjoy it. It is one of the books that will get you thinking and not stop.

Buy it from here: https://www.tarabooks.com/books/?product_search=the+to-let+house