Book review: "The songbird on my shoulder" by Saaz Aggarwal

The songbird on my shoulder- confessions of an unrepentant Madam is a book by Saaz Aggarwal, featuring several individual incidents and narrations. “The Songbird on my shoulder” is not a fiction, it is more like a published version of a diary or recompilation of individual articles published in various media. (Refer credits section)

Book features several incidents, observations, experiences narrated by the author, dating between 1993 and 2011 (In one of the chapters it even mentions Indira Gandhi in her post emergency days). Incidents take place in and around Mumbai and Pune mainly (where the author is based) and several other countries and cities where author travelled to.

Lot of poems are also included, along with few articles published in newspapers. I have not reviewed any book of this kind earlier, so not sure how to go about this review. I'll focus on what I liked.

If you’re looking for action/thrill/romance this book is not for you. But it is a great read to know the experiences of a lady, who has lot of things to tell- from her travel around the world, from her experiences during various stages of life and so on, it is excellent read to know life from a different perspective.

I liked following chapters in particular the most:

• Two Amits, a bat, and some sandwiches (about MBA vs Non-MBA)
• Mother Courage (being step mother)
• Dave Barry says size matters (this chapter says there’s an institute called KISS in Mangalore-Kasargod Institute of Social Sciences, and other aspects of being fat. I tried to figure out if this institute really exists in Mangalore- doesn't look like it exists. I mean, its not found on google at least)
• Perils in the press

Each chapter is small enough to few pages and makes a point quickly. There's a fair amount of humor hidden between the lines- you'll appreciate them as you read it. Most of the chapters appear to have been published in various media earlier.

"The Songbird on my shoulder" is priced at INR 300 and published by black-and-white foundation.


Other book reviews: Fate, Fraud and Friday Wedding *  Topgear magazine * Comical Saga * Fate, Fraud and Friday Wedding * I am Number 4 * It happened in India * Raga Chintamani * 2 States by Chetan Bhagat* Not a penny more, not a penny less * Zero percentile -Neeraj Chibba* Colours of life by Ravi Sidula * The 3 mistakes of my life by CB * Bala Takes the Plunge-Melvin Durai * The Incredible Banker * She's a jolly good fellow * A Calendar too crowded *