Tag: Light Humour

Authors, Book Reviews

“Lights! Wedding!Ludhiana” by Jas Kohli

It was a delight to read, “Lights! Wedding!Ludhiana!” by Jas Kohli, published by Rupa recently. I came to know that Jas Kohli is actually a well-known cosmetic surgeon who has written two novels earlier in the same vein as this one. They are titled, ” Lights, Scalpel, Romance” and ” Anything To Look Hot!” Judging by the book I just read, I think I must add the others by Dr Jas Kohli to my library list!!

The plot of his book is fairly straight forward. Kushal, an industrialist in Ludhiana who would love to be an activist to protect the environment more than anything else, is caught in a jam. His hyper active young son, Lakshya has discovered from his phone that he is getting messages from an old flame from his college days. Kunal’s wife, Reeti, a good looking free spending beauty is aghast, as are his parents. Dr Kohli covers what happens next in an interesting and entertaining manner.

The earthy language and slang used in Ludhiana, the social norms prevalent there, the hunger for fame, food and booze, are brought out extremely well in this book. We also come to know of the high expectations from Ludhiana society whenever a Big Fat Punjabi Wedding is planned and taking place!

What I liked best of all was the accurate characterization of the people involved. Apart from those already mentioned, we come across Kunal’s parents, Kimti and Tripta ( with their own stories to be told); his daughter Vanya, a typical teenager of today, and assorted others. On reading the book, we feel we know these people ourselves.

A typical Punjabi wedding with all the grandeur and the noise provides the backdrop to much of the story. Here again, the author’s description of people and their behavior demonstrate his skills in wielding the pen ( figuratively if not literally) as well as he does his scalpel.

All in all, a light read, and fun too! I am prompted to read Dr Jas Kohli’s other books having sampled this one.

Authors, Book Reviews

“Tongue of Slip” by C P Belliappa

I simply loved this book as it made me chuckle from time to time. My wife mentioned that it has been so long since she saw a book elicit such a response from me! The book I talk of is called, ” Tongue of Slip: Looking Back On Life With Humour” by C.P. Belliappa, published by Rupa Publications in 2014.

When it was first published, little would the author have known that his book would bring so much cheer in the dreadful times we are living in. I would heartily recommend this book of light humor to anyone looking to cheer up in these stressed times. It is something like the “Buck U Uppo” made famous by Wodehouse, if you get what I mean!

Let’s start with the author. C. P. Belliappa? The name sounds familiar, you may think. Isn’t he the guy who used to write “middles” in the Deccan Herald amongst other publications? Or wait! Is he the guy you met in Goa?? The well known Charlie Peter??? But you need to read the book to find out for yourself.

Writing a fiction novel is not easy. Writing a short story, I consider even more difficult. Writing a well-crafted ” middle” has to take the cake! It looks easy but it is not, take it from me. C P Belliappa has mastered this art and this book is perhaps based on some of them fleshed out in more detail.

I am sure these tales ( over 50 in number) from locales ranging from his beloved Coorg to Chennai to China will hold your attention as they did mine. There are delightful nuggets in there but I don’t want to spoil your reading.

Look out for stories about the chap who was hungry all the time while at school; the prankster at college; the Pomeranian with a huge appetite for food and more; and the sales girl trying to flog a time share deal as if her life depended on it (which possibly was the case – of her budding career, if not her life!)

Thank you, Mr Belliappa. You made me laugh spontaneously on reading your stories. I bet this would be a common reaction amongst many more who will read your book.

Highly recommended!