Vipula

As an immigrant parent, I had been looking forward to participating in my son’s education journey through the American public school system. Not only I wanted to revisit math and science, but was curious to see what art, literature, and social sciences mean on this side of the hemisphere. When my son started 3rd grade, I decided to read along the novels they were studying in class. I grew up on steady diet of Enid…

In life, it’s not unusual to have moments when one feels they are losing it. Sometimes these doubts last for a second or sometimes for days. The feeling of losing one’s mind can be a result of stress, anger, nervousness, anticipation, or sometimes you are being just gaslit. And that’s the insecurity that Edith White leans into while building the narrative of her timeless novel The Wheel Spins. Made famous by the Hitchcock movie, “The…

What would happen if one day you came home and your wife had disappeared? Would you worry yourself to death? Or would you send a little prayer of thanks? What would happen if your wife disappeared and it looks like you killed her? And this is where Gone Girl begins…<spoiler warning> That’s where Nick Dunne finds himself one day when he returns home to find his wife gone. The cops are called in and find…

Even though I follow a lot of reading blogs and enjoy marking posts with great book suggestions, I seldom remember to pick these up when I go to a library or a bookstore. For the last year or so, I have noticed that the Persephone Books come highly recommended. These are mostly wartime novels written by woman authors that for some reason or the other had gone out of print. I was a little hesitant…

On the road, I have often passed little towns with fenced houses, some glossy and new, just as in magazine ads and some falling apart as if they have seen decades of rain. I have often wondered about the lives of the people inside. On reading the opening story “The World Around Us” from John Cummings’s collection of short stories, I knew that I was going to find some answers and get a glimpse into…

I have wanted to visit Hong Kong, ever since I fell in love with its skyline on a postcard calendar someone gifted me in high school. I don’t know what it was about tall buildings on the waterfront with shimmering neon signs, but it spoke to me.And just before the pandemic hit the world, we finally made a trip to Hong Kong, a place one needs to experience to experience to even begin to understand.…

Gullible Governesses, Gothic Manors, and Ghosts The Turn of Screw still giving the chills more than hundred years later. If there was ever an award for a book that builds fear just by its atmospheric set up, then Turn of the Screw would be a strong contender. Old Country house manor -check. Angelic, golden haired, creepy children- check. Conspiring servants – check. Floating shadows – check. Unhinged potentially misunderstood heroine – check. The Turn of…

Continuing our Alaskan adventure from this post…Pippin Lake was half way mark on our trip. Next on was Wrangell-St. Elias National Park – highlight  being the glacier hike! Day 5: Glacier Walking At Wrangell St. Elias National Park There are several glaciers that you can hike in Alaska. Wrangell St. Elias National Park is neither the most touristy nor the most easily accessible. If I had to replan the whole trip, I will skip this part…