READ THE REVIEWS ABOUT KAMA: THE RIDDLE OF DESIRE

Open Magazine 5^th Oct 2018 (by Arshia Sattar)

"Kama: The Riddle of Desire is a book about desire in the fullest sense of the word—it is about love and vulnerability, about self-doubt and betrayal, about wanting more of everything and being haunted by settling for less….When we read Kama, Das offers us a journey into the life of a body as much as the life of a mind, and in Das' narrative, the body diminishes through life but the mind expands. There are multiple strands in this complex book which is part memoir, part treatise, part life-lesson and most obviously, a tantalising roman-à-clef.

READ FULL REVIEW: http://gurcharandas.org/magazines/infinite-passions

Scroll.in 6^th Nov 2018

"If you are someone who has ever loved, or lost, or dreamed of loving, or is frustrated by its paradoxes, this book is definitely for you."

READ FULL REVIEW: http://gurcharandas.org/interviews/kama-unique-blend-theory-and-fiction-asks-what-desire-and-provides-no-definitive-answer

Hindustan Times, 10 November 2018

With an astute mind and a romantic eye, Das pieces together the riddle of desire, leading to the meaning of life. He concludes, like Proust, that 'what matters in life is not whom or what one loves… it is the fact of loving'… He deserves praise for tracing the history of kama and its multiple strands across the history, cultures and philosophies of both the East and the West.

READ FULL REVIEW: http://gurcharandas.org/the-riddle-desire-gurcharan-das

The Hindu, 11 November 2018

"Das has created this sense of enchantment, using memory as a device to summon the many forms of desire that play upon the mind [thus] entering an imagined world of beauty…. In evoking those moments of beauty in a lifetime of memories, Gurcharan Das is a poet-philosopher to be cherished."

READ FULL REVIEW: http://gurcharandas.org/memoir-passion

Indian Express, 17 November 2018

"A fascinating narrative, it weaves the story of Amar, the protagonist, into a philosophical journey… It could have been a treatise, instead it's a grand novel with a gentle message of acceptance. Not unlike Michel Foucault's History of Sexuality, which is a study of Western concepts, Das's unique success is to tell the Indian story of "desire" which is much beyond sexuality…So seamless is the plot created by the author, it is the greatest kind [of fiction] that speaks of an era of social transformation."

READ FULL REVIEW: http://gurcharandas.org/commentary/newspapers/shades-desire

The Week 28^th Oct 2018 (By Sanjaya Baru)

"With this book and others, Das has established himself as a truly modern Indian thinker grappling with the complexity of the mind of the urban middle class Indian.

READ FULL REVIEW: http://gurcharandas.org/magazines/theweek/mind-the-mixed-indian

The Tribune 16^th Sep 2018

"With empathy, effortless humour and doses of the philosophies of the great masters, Das examines romance, love, rejection, nuptials, family, infidelity, ennui and jealousy in the relationship of a couple. His book challenges the reader, placing paradoxes and riddles before him…The key word is balance, which underlies the civilisational equipoise— a good life demands a balance between the plural goals of human life."

READ FULL REVIEW: http://gurcharandas.org/newspapers/tribune/chronicles-the-carnal

Business Line, 10 Dec 2018

"It is a ground-breaking narrative that is engaging and enlightening, shedding new light on the irresistibility of desire. It assigns new meanings to kama and tells us that it is our duty to live every moment as though it were our last because making creative use of kama serves a higher purpose of life."

READ FULL REVIEW: http://gurcharandas.org/newspapers/business-line/the-tao-desire

Outlook India 5^th Oct 2018 (by Manu Pillai)

"Is there really, one wonders, 550 pages worth of fresh insight into what Das describes as a 'sense-intoxicating emotion'? As it happens, there is, and Kama is a creditable attempt to encapsulate in a single, voluminous tome the author's informed grasp of the subject of desire. The prose flows smoothly…and there is strength in Das's exposition, enriched by an insightful reading of texts."

READ FULL REVIEW: http://gurcharandas.org/magazines/outlook/expatiation-riddled-tale