Kevein Books and Reviews

Lajja by Taslima Nasrin is a moving story that deals with the bitter reality when the people of any country have to face perils of riots or communal hatred. The story unfolds a Hindu family’s position and privation among a riot-torn city in Bangladesh. The writer has dutifully covered the traumatizing incidents and the hatred that unexpectedly comes out of communal harmony and force people to leave their own country. In the aftermath of Babri Masjid collision, riots break out in Bangladesh, in protest of that act the Muslim population of that country beats and forces Non-Muslim population to leave the country. The story is based on true incidences and has an added fictional touch to make it more effective and real. A Hindu family, before the riots, is a well-settled family among the Muslim society.  However, when the riots break out they too face the heat but refuse to leave the country as they had also contributed in the independence of Bangladesh. So, in this notion...

K. A. Abbas was a master at writing short stories, presumably influenced by O. Henry. His work presents a different picture of India and is mainly based on humanity. He was the contemporary writer of that colonial India when the cinema used to run in black and white. Reading K.A. Abbas means exploring the old culture of India. ‘Sparrows’ is a brilliant short story. Once, the story ‘Sparrows’ was conscripted in the world’s best stories along with ‘ The Lost Child ’, written by Mulk Raj Anand. A bit about Sparrows Rahim Khan, the protagonist, is a stolid figure, almost devoid of emotions. He lives alone and the whole village is fearful of him because he brutally beats children and men on slightest pretexts. With time, he has grown so obtrusive and rough that streaks of humanity have left him. Why is he like that? During the magnificence of his youth there was no one who could compete with him in the wrestling and other sports. It's his deepest desire to join...

Falling leaves always come up to the roots. It is a story of a growing Chinese girl through much emotional hardship. Adeline Yen Mah is the youngest child in a well off Chinese family. Subsequent to her birth in 1937, her mother passes away. For this reason, she is taken as an object of a little importance and her siblings treat her with a difference. Though she is from a wealthy family, but barely entitled to any of the privileges like other children. Her real nightmare begins when his father remarries Niang, a woman of half-Chinese and half-French descent. It is truth that she abhors all children from the previous woman but holds an incorrigible grudge against Adeline. Adeline’s only lifeline is her spinster Aunt Baba, who too often tussles between various crises, thus finds it tough to openly express her grievances against Niang because she has already taken the husband under her command. Due to the rise of communism in China, her family is forced to move to Hong Kong, whe...

‘King Solomon’s Mines’ is certainly a dream book for a growing kid. Full of adventures and mysteries just like movies. It got all the ingredients – powerful characters, mysterious Zulu people, an antique land, impassable desert, and mountains that demand hardship to cross them. And at the end lies a glorious treasure. Three people, less on imperialism instinct, set on an expedition; one of them is just interested to find his lost brother who had gone missing in an attempt to make fortune from King Solomon’s diamond Mines, while the other two are out to make fortune. The novel reflects imperialism, African culture in the form of Kukuanaland, value of knowledge, virtues of bravery, race relations, greed and materialism, the hunger for power and the victory of good over devil. Throughout the novel, the characters travel a lot and come across number of difficulties – that keeps the book a riveting read. Their route guide is a map drawn by a Portuguese trader, Jose da Silvestr...

As per the core reality, India-Pakistan partition has left rigid consequences on both the nationalities. However, crossing out Muslim contribution for freedom struggle and trampling of culture of the nation is the notable aspect. ‘Dawn of Dreams’ is a novel written by Abdus Samad. The book poignantly throws light on this tragic development.   In that shadow of partition, the contribution made by Muslims of undivided India was recklessly marginalized. In the freedom struggle saga, only  Abul Kalam Azad is the only seemingly exception and to some extent Mohammad Ali Jinnah but the sacrifices completed by other Muslim leaders like Dr. Ansari, Hakim Ajmal Khan and the Ali brothers seem to watered off.  From original sources it has been stated that Muslim population of undivided India fought equally, shoulder to shoulder, along with their Hindu brothers, for almost a century, since the ignition of great uprising of 1857, to set free the country from the clutches of ...