SPEED POST. Review on Speed Post - Shobha De

The relationship between a mother and her children is unquestionably the most special human bond. A message to every mother and child of the twenty-first century comes from the best-selling author Shobha De to you in the form of ''Speed Post''.

Penguin has published the book, which contains, according to the author, 'letters to my children about living, loving, caring and coping with the world.' The book has been written in the form of letters. The author has written personal letters addressed to her children. They have been divided under different sections ? living, loving, caring and coping with the world. She has not only shared her childhood and daily life experiences with her children but also has tried to educate them on some simple yet so significant things. In majority of the letters you will feel that you have shared the same experience as she has and the beauty of the book lies in its minimalism.

Although all the letters are written in a very poignant way still some of the letters which really touched me were when she is seeing her last solar eclipse with her husband, when she tries to educate one of her daughters on sex education & is dazed by her incomplete knowledge, when she feels that she shouldn?t smoke as she is the role model for her children, when her teenage daughter goes for shopping by herself as the writer realizes that she is growing up, developing her taste & trying to find an identity of her own and when she has to leave her small daughter (who is crying her lungs out) to attend an official party.

The book seems to be inspired by Jawaharlal Nehru?s letters to his daughter and if you liked that one you surely will relish this one too!

As far as the wordings are concerned you need not be a scholar in Shakespearean English to understand this tome. The language of the book is startlingly simple and you surely can do without a dictionary unless your English is absolutely ?hopeless?! If you have adequate knowledge of average English words you will cruise without any problem what so ever.

This was the book, which included Shobha De in my list of favourite writers, and now I don?t miss any chance to read her write-ups. I?m a habitual reader of her regular columns in the reputed newspaper Times of India. This book has given her a status, which she has to maintain. It has transformed her from a ?masala writer? for film magazines to an archetypal novelist. And the more remarkable aspect is that it has transformed many parents who have read her novel and they are now able to comprehend their children in a far better way! It works as a bridge to fill the unwanted generation gap, which is always there whether you accept it, or not.

Even if you aren?t a doting reader of English novels still I?d suggest you to read this one, as I?m pretty confident you won?t be disenchanted! This isn?t your typical work of fiction; it?s much more than that! It?s as if the she is trying to capture those rapidly passing precious moments of her life by penning them down in this book. To describe this book in one verdict ? When motherhood was converted into transcript the upshot was Shobha De?s Speed Post! Happy Reading!