Ripples In A Teacup

 2021 was a tumultuous year for a multitude  of reasons. But as they say, there is nothing a hot cup of cocoa and a good book can't get you through. Here are brief reviews on three of the best I read in 2021. *********************************************************************************** Em and the big Hoom Em and the big Hoom is the spectacular and devastating debut novel of Jerry Pinto. The narrator lives with his parents and sister in a small, cramped apartment in Bombay. The spotlight is on Imelda, his volatile, beedi smoking mother. “Em”, as she is affectionately called, throws the whole family into chaos as she swings between deep depressive episodes and bouts of unpredictable mania. In contrast, her stoic and dependable husband, “the Big Hoom” is the rock of the household. The tale paints a vivid, evocative picture of everything it touches through effortless and witty writing. Suffused with humor, it never strays into the realm of sickly, sweet sentimentality. Things fal

  I used to be a neem tree, tall and strong, my slender leaf fronds swaying in the wind. I lived in a beautiful forest, brimming with life. It was called Aarey. Every day my friends and I danced to the rhythm of the sun, harnessing the soft golden light to make something magical. It was oxygen, a gas that fostered life. This oxygen brought joy and life to our forest and the dirt ridden polluted city around us. Life couldn’t be better, but I had under-estimated human folly, stupidity, short-sightedness and greed           A few months ago,  we  heard the rumours for the first time. “They are going to chop down a few thousand trees at Aarey” to make space for a Metro car shed”.  At first, I didn’t believe the rumours. And why should I have done so? Why on earth would the humans want to destroy the only forest in the heart of Mumbai. Why would they want to massacre thousands?            Panic broke out in all areas of the forest. The saplings were especially confused. If you acknowledged