'THE SIMLA PAINTINGS AND OTHER STORIES' by Rita Joshi: Book Review

Hey lovelies! Hope you all are doing great!

I think I am more inclined towards reviewing books on my blog rather than the beauty side. LOL! Don't you think so?

Well!! I'm not trying to waste your time, today I'm going to review another amazing piece of writing by an author 'RITA JOSHI'. This book includes 6 stories, which highlights the women empowerment. So, I'll be reviewing the same story by story. Let's move on!

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Book: THE SIMLA PAINTINGS AND OTHER STORIES

Author: RITA JOSHI

Price: Rs. 295/-

Where to buy: On Amazon

1. THE SIMLA PAINTINGS: As artist is always inclined towards his/her talent in every way. In this story, the world of paintings is being discussed. The culture of Europe art being showcased by Simla women artists in their paintings. But a heart touching love story of Som and Sarah is also talked about. It is an interesting tale with a mix of beautiful paintings and a romantic love story. The time being discussed here is of the Britishers in 1920s. The sacrifices Indians did for the country. I was in tears the minute this story was finished.

2. THE GODDESS: A girl has always been considered as a flower, which means she must be handled with delicacy. In this story, the author explains how a girl is been used by her family for their survival. A miracle happened, wherein a girl was helped by a divine and then all the super powers entered her body. So, by then she was seen as a living goddess. When she died, a temple was built in Narirani region of Peepulganj. The custom started on by that time where a girl was declared as a living goddess. And when that girl enters the period of puberty, she was been sold to men, who came from Calcutta (now Kolkata). The story portrays through what type of pain and to which extent these girls suffered. Further, the female journalists, sociologists and many others came together and tried to rescue these girls. People lost their lives in this mission, but the sacrifices changed anything?

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3. CURTAIN CALL: In this story, another aspect of life is been showcased but not through the victim's eye. The victim here is Padma, a theater artist is Delhi. A story of her suicide! A story which tells you her need to take her life. She always wanted to enter the Bollywood world as her mother wanted to. She wanted to be loved by a person who understands her and not merely use her as a ladder to reach his goals. After Dharma (younger sister of Padma) receives a suicide note by Padma, she started engaging people to fulfill her last wish. The last wish of Padma was to invite all her closed ones and they should talk about Padma freely. Sharing their thoughts on how she exactly was. The list included her sister, dear friend, boyfriend, philosopher, counselor, and others whom her sister thought was the right person to include in the ceremony. They talked about her throughout the story and at the end came to a decision to do some charity in the name of Padma. But why she took her life?

4. THE CASE OF THE MISSING NECKLACE: It is rightly said that diamonds are girls' best friend. Agree? Well, in this story as well it is the woman who fell in love with the necklace and again it is the woman who steals the same. A necklace revolves around the world and reaches to Mr. Gupta's house, who gifted this necklace worth Rs. 20 lakh to his wife. Gupta family is one of the richest family in Delhi. They often invite TV celebrities and other businessmen from foreign countries to their home. But one day the necklace went missing. This case was handed over to Miss Agni, who solves the case like a master, The story tells how this detective finds out who is the thief. The author has interestingly plotted this story with a detective mind. As I don't want to break the suspense, it is better you give this story a good read.

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5. DRIVING THROUGH DELHI ONE EVENING: In this story, the author has included various types of women live in Delhi. The narrator loves giving lifts to the helpless women. She tries to help others and get to know them as well. The story depicts about an evening when the rain is falling really heavily. She gave lifts to women she encountered on that rainy evening. There are so many variations in the stories every woman told the narrator. You'll find some interesting elements in this story.

6. THE AWAKENING: This story has been written in a form poem. It depicts how the woman survives in this world. You can say that it is like a summary from all the 5 stories written before this poem. I loved the interesting usage of words by the author in this poem.

To sum up, I enjoyed reading this book by RITA JOSHI. It is all about women empowerment. I got an opportunity to read such amazing stories by the author, which gave me goosebumps throughout the journey of my reading. I'll highly recommend you to give this book a read.

Rating: 4.25/5

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I hope you enjoyed reading my review on this book. Do share your views and experiences in the comments below.

As always thank you so much for taking out time and reading my blog.

Always keep smiling, it makes you look beautiful!

Disclaimer: This book is been sent by the book PR for the review purposes, but the review been shared is my own.