The Broken Inkpot

A blog about all things books, fiction, movies, and life

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Good Fathers Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.com Good fathers often don't knowhow to say 'I love you'

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Parallels In Hindu & Greek Mythology: Achilles

Parallels In Hindu & Greek Mythology: Achilles

Mythologies are not merely stories but give us a glimpse into the world in a gone by era. Mythologies reflect long-held beliefs and morals of a particular society. Myths around the world are diverse but also share some common elements. For long, mythology scholars, and amateur readers have found common elements in mythologies belonging to different cultures. For example, there are several common…

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Strange I can finally hear the birds againBut it sounds strange these days.It doesn't remind me of freedom anymore…

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Gandhari: The Blind Queen

Gandhari: The Blind Queen

Image source: Wikimedia.org

Gandhari, the princess of Gandhar, is mostly known as the Queen who gave birth to 100 children – 100 sons and one daughter. Married to Dhritarashtra, she was the Queen of Kuru Kingdom, which is believed to have existed around the modern-day Delhi and Haryana.

Her marriage with Dhritarashtra is claimed to have been arranged by Bhishma in exchange for her father’s…

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William Shakespeare: The Bard Who Speaks Through Ages

William Shakespeare: The Bard Who Speaks Through Ages

April 23 is observed as ‘English Langauge Day’ by United Nations. The day is accorded the status for being the day, as many believe, when William Shakespeare was born and died.

I am drawing on my limited knowledge of the Playwright’s life and his works to write this article.

The first time I heard of William Shakespeare, was when I was around 12. I came across a copy of ‘Tales from…

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Pygmalion Effect And Why You Should Know About It

The Pygmalion Effect, also known as the Rosenthal Effect, is a phenomenon where higher expectations lead to an increase in performance.

The phenomenon takes its name from a tale in Ovid’s Metamorphoses about a sculptor. Pygmalion was a sculptor creates an ivory statue and falls in love with it. He prays to the Gods and to give him a wife just like the statue. The Gods give in and the statue…

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Why 'Albus Severus' Makes Sense To Me

Why ‘Albus Severus’ Makes Sense To Me

There’s a dispute among Harry Potter fans about his decision to name his second son after Severus Snape. While one group hinges on the deep and life-long love Snape held for Lily and says that it is only fitting that Harry names his son after him, the other group doesn’t fail to remind that Snape was a bully who chose Dark Arts and came back only when he realized that Voldemort would kill Lily.

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Aravan: Krishna's Forgotten Husband

Aravan: Krishna’s Forgotten Husband

‘One Night Only’ a play I went to see in 2018 after much insistence from a friend. I had taken a careless look at the synopsis for the play and knew that it had some Mahabharata connection.

The play was a delight, woven into the world of Mahabharata and Koovagam festival; it introduces the audience to a much lesser known character from Mahabharata. I would not delve deeper into the nuances of…

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Reading In The Times Of Corona

I try to read but I can’t so then I gaze on the wall in front of me for a long time.  I remember that I have a book to read, so I look down again on the page opened in my lap. It’s not a boring book. It is interesting, I love the subject, and exactly why I bought the book.

It can be difficult at times to focus on something that you have always loved doing. And in times like this when you know,…

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I Have Lost Poetry

For the first time in years,

I have lost poetry

and words and rhyme

and all the stars in the world

have also gone invisible.

I ramble like that old man

who sailed in the raging sea

trying to kill a fish

Or was it an octopus.

My memory too fails me,

I look at words and all I see

Are some scrambled letters

and a sunny side up with paragraphs.

Have I lost poetry?

For the first time in years

I don’t…

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Book Review: 'The Good Girl's Guide To Getting Lost' by Rachel Friedman

Book Review: ‘The Good Girl’s Guide To Getting Lost’ by Rachel Friedman

  One of the most wonderful books I read this year. Like it’s said every book has a purpose to serve in our life.

When I held this book in my hand for the first time, I knew it will change me in a profound way and it did.

The book, on a simpler level, will encourage a non-traveller to travel. On a more profound level it will ask you to question your beliefs about yourself and assess what you…

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A Stroll Through Daryaganj Sunday Book Market

A Stroll Through Daryaganj Sunday Book Market

It all started with an idea. Everything starts with an idea.

“Why don’t we organize a book walk?”

“Why not,” I said.

It all began with an idea to get more books for a public library which is to be set up in the far North-East India, a place where I have never been to. I don’t know those people, perhaps I will never meet them. But I know what libraries mean, having been brought up in a household…

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'Britt-Marie Was Here' by Frederik Backman - Book Review

‘Britt-Marie Was Here’ by Frederik Backman – Book Review

I have read three books by Frederik Backman so far. Bought the first two – ‘My Grandmother Sends Her Regards And Apologizes’ and ‘A Man Called Ove’, from the book fair and then could not stop myself from buying another one. After I had read the first two, it was pretty evident that Backman was a friend who would show up at the darkest of times and hand you a ray of hope, instill your faith in…

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'A Short History Of Nearly Everything' By Bill Bryson: Short Review

‘A Short History Of Nearly Everything’ By Bill Bryson: Short Review

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson My rating: 4 of 5 stars It took me more than a month to read this book and it was worth it. This year I have decided to read more non-fiction and only a handful of fictions. This was my first non-fiction of the year. With this book, I was touching a science book after almost 10 years. With the last 10 years spent reading literature and devoted…

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'My Invented Country' By Isabel Allende: Short Review

‘My Invented Country’ By Isabel Allende: Short Review

My Invented Country: A Nostalgic Journey Through Chile by Isabel Allende My rating: 4 of 5 stars I have recently developed a taste for memoirs and this my third one that I have read. It’s a good book which explores the idea of nostalgia above all else. I have never been to Chile and do not hope to visit the country in this lifetime, but this memoir has given me as good a taste of the place as if…

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Stabbing of the heart and it's characteristics

Stabbing of the heart and it’s characteristics

Have you been stabbed, like ever? Me neither. Chances are hardly anyone we know has been stabbed. Let’s rephrase the question. Have you ever been stabbed in the heart? I have. Chances are you have been stabbed too and many people you know have been stabbed in the heart too.  The stabbings of heart are not the usual kind and yet are most common. It can happen in any circumstance. But the most…

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2 Sadists

Photo by Jez Timms on Unsplash   Everything will be okay, you say. Will it? I mumble. What? You raise your eyebrows while carelessly lighting the cigarette between your lips. Soon your face hides behind smoke and the winter fog. I search for your eyes, trying to figure out if you really meant what you said. If you really believed that everything was going to be alright. I keep wonder, does…

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