The Bookish Gossips

For many readers, Kashmir is a region they know only through headlines. It is often portrayed as a place of unrest, tension, and silence. But in Rishi Suri’s debut book Children of the Chinar , the story takes a different shape. It is a story of resilience, of women finding their voices, and of hope shining quietly in unexpected corners. Rishi Suri is no stranger to storytelling. As a journalist and editorial commentator, he has spent years analyzing policies and political developments. But this book marks a deeper, more emotional chapter in his writing journey. In an insightful conversation with Unnati Shahi, the founder of The Bookish Gossips, he opened up about his transition from journalism to authorship, the people who inspired him, and the profound lessons he has learned through writing. A Childhood Rooted in Words Rishi’s connection with writing began early. Growing up in a home where publishing and journalism were a daily presence, he absorbed not just the skills of writing ...

  The Linked Reels feature is here, and for many creators, it feels like Instagram is finally catching up to what users have wanted all along. How many times have you seen a Reel labeled “Part 1” and then struggled to find part 2? The search often ends in frustration, and audiences simply drop off. That frustration is exactly what Instagram introducing link reels hopes to solve. Now, when a creator links multiple reels, a button appears on the video that carries viewers forward. No guessing, no scrolling through feeds, no losing the thread. Just a smooth journey from one clip to the next. For audiences, it feels intuitive. For creators, it feels like freedom. And for Instagram, it’s a way to keep people inside the app for longer. This update is more than just a new button. It shows how a social media platform evolves when user behavior demands it.  How The Linked Reels Feature Works At its simplest, the Linked Reels feature connects videos into a series. Instead of each cl...

Some books take you by surprise without even trying too hard. Children of the Chinar does exactly that. It doesn't promise dramatic twists or feel-good fiction. Instead, it introduces you to young women from Kashmir who are out there doing extraordinary things in the most grounded ways possible. Rishi Suri, the author, doesn’t dramatize their journeys. He just gives them the space to speak. The result is a collection that feels intimate and genuine, like you're hearing the voices of women who’ve been waiting far too long to be heard. Ordinary Girls with Remarkable Courage Take Insha Bashir for example. At fifteen, she had a life-altering accident. Her dreams of becoming a doctor were shattered. But somehow, instead of giving up, she ended up on the national wheelchair basketball team. And not just as a player from Kashmir, but the only woman from the region to be selected at that level. Her story makes you stop and think about how often we underestimate resilience until we ...

Reading The Glitch in Our Stars felt like sitting across from a friend who’s just confessed they’ve fallen in love with someone they’ve never met in person. You know, the kind of love that begins in the least expected place, with nothing but words, timing, and the strange magnetism of online connection. And somehow, it works. Not just for them, but for you too, as a reader. When I started the book, I didn’t expect to finish it in one go. But there’s something about Rusham and Dil that pulls you in without much effort. Their connection starts with a simple message on Facebook. No grand declarations. No sweeping gestures. Just a quiet, almost accidental crossing of paths. He’s an author. She’s a reviewer. And from that point onward, you just know something is about to unfold. Real Characters, Real Conversations The best part about this book is how real everything feels. Rusham and Dil don’t feel like characters built for fiction. They feel like people you might know. Dil, with her s...

Let me just say this up front. I didn’t expect this book to hit as hard as it did. I picked up Trapped In Overthinking Break Free With Self Love by Jyotika Mehta Bedi thinking it would be a light read for a quiet Sunday afternoon. You know, something gentle. Maybe even a bit obvious. What I found instead was a mirror. A kind one. But still, a mirror. This book is not loud. It doesn’t scream motivation or throw heavy jargon at you. It talks to you. Like an older friend who knows what it feels like to lie awake at 2 am replaying conversations or second-guessing every little choice you made in the last week. And maybe that’s what made it work. That Voice Inside Your Head We all have that voice. The one that turns one thought into twenty. The one that keeps looping a past moment until it has drained all the peace from the present. I know mine well. Too well. What Jyotika does in this book is help you name that voice. Understand it. And slowly, patiently, soften it. She starts with t...

  Some books you pick up out of curiosity. Others you keep going back to because they shift something in how you think.  Design Your Thinking  by Pavan Soni falls in the second category. It is not just a guide to solving problems creatively, it is a gentle push to rethink how we approach the act of problem-solving altogether. From the start, the book does not assume you are an expert or a creative genius. In fact, what makes it work so well is how accessible it feels. No pressure to be perfect, no checklist of credentials required. It simply invites you in and starts a conversation around how structured creativity can change the way you think, work, and live. What Really Stood Out What I noticed early on is how deeply rooted this book is in empathy. Not the fluffy, surface-level kind but a real understanding of people’s needs, pain points, and motivations. There is a moment in the book where the story of Tanishq comes in. It is not just about jewellery or branding. It is ...

Some books come into your life like a mirror you didn’t know you were ready to look into. They don’t speak loudly. They don’t try to change you. They simply sit beside you, like a friend who knows you’re not in the mood to talk, and doesn’t ask you to. Breaking the Bubble is that kind of book. I didn’t plan to read it all in one go. I thought I would skim through a few pages, maybe pick a chapter or two. But I ended up reading more than I meant to, not because it demanded my attention, but because it felt safe. Gentle. Familiar. The Kind of Writing That Feels Like It’s Breathing Shristi Sharma’s words are soft, but they hold weight. There’s no rush in her tone. No pressure to learn something or get somewhere. Every page feels like a pause. A quiet moment. Like she is saying, “You don’t need to fix anything right now. Just sit with it.” It is rare to read something that feels like it’s written by someone who isn’t trying to impress or educate. Just someone who gets it. And when yo...

  There are writers who plan their stories with spreadsheets. Scene outlines. Beat sheets. Chapter maps. And then there’s Kavitha Venkatesh , who begins with a feeling and lets it tell her where to go. During a recent virtual Author Connect session hosted by Unnati Shahi, founder of The Bookish Gossips , Kavitha shared something that felt refreshingly unfiltered. She doesn’t write because she knows where the story is going. She writes because she doesn’t. She wants to discover it. Live with it. Figure it out as it unfolds. That’s exactly how her debut novel The Day She Met Him came to life. Quietly. Honestly. Intuitively. Not the Kind of Writer You'd Expect Kavitha never saw herself as an author growing up. She didn’t spend her childhood scribbling poems or dreaming of bestsellers. She just loved stories. Listening to them. Imagining new ones. Letting characters live in her head a little longer than necessary. Her first real attempts at writing happened in college. But not no...

  In the world of political fiction, few stories manage to hit with as much intensity and emotional complexity as Grip of Greed. Naveen Kundra’s novel centers around two compelling protagonists whose lives collide in a storm of betrayal, vengeance, and ambition. What begins as a personal act of retribution spirals into a city-wide scandal, engulfing not just its players but an entire ecosystem of power.  The title sets the tone before the story even begins. Greed is the unrelenting force here, one that grips each character tightly and refuses to let go. This isn't just a story of power for the sake of drama. It’s a layered portrait of two women fighting for what they believe is theirs, even if it means tearing each other down to the ground. The heart of the book lies in its two leads: Tanvi Mehra and Soundarya Kapoor. These women aren't simply foils to each other. They're each carefully built with backstories, motives, and internal struggles that make them difficult to pin ...