Sarcastic, spiteful…yet beautiful is Yogie Chandra Tatvaraj’s Wagging Tongues. It is a book that might not resonate with a commoner’s interest and pretensions. The book is at some other level with its preaching, however, it doesn’t persuade other peoples to accept its allied philosophies of life. The book is a mix of short stories, folklores, adaptations, and personal philosophies, and quotes from a range of influential people, including the author.

Unspeakably, the first part of the book is about the life of its character Ranjan D’ Cruz, a maverick Rock singer of 1980s with his famous band Rakhsas. The first story Patient No. 497 is a testimony to the world’s cruelties against a naïve and talented music artist. However, the other aspect looks it in a different perspective – tragic end of an artist who takes the reality of the world lightly and otherwise. Yes, it was both ways. Ranjan was a talented and becoming a famous singer but when he chases his English girlfriend to the UK, four people calling themselves Bull Dogs snubs him to a point of no return.

When back in home, he takes drinking and drugs to forget about his girlfriend’s deception. English aren’t Indians. And they don’t like non-whites. Hating so much the English and their people, he abuses them while being in a call centre job. He takes appreciating Indianism, so that whatever the English have should also have an Indian version too. In that fury, he thinks of a renaming his band as Rampur Hounds.

Funny, pleasing, educative! This book is a class in itself. Talking about life lessons, the second story is about a ferrous pet dog named IMMO, the Doberman. The dog was best in its class, caused terror in the colony. But he wasn’t smart. One day a few monkeys incite him for a fight on the terrace. The dog charges and runs towards the monkey teasing him from a tree. The dog didn’t realize the end of the boundary, falls off and breaks his spine. This story is about anger and fake greatness and glory, which we should avoid.

The lesson we can learn about life from this incident is that although courage, valor and confidence is good, it should be used in the world with discretion. You should choose your battles in life carefully and not be ruled by over confidence of your strengths.

It’s just the two reflections from the book, imagine reading all 50. It could make anyone fulfilled with profound wisdom and life experiences. Wagging Tongues by Yogie Chandra Tatvaraj is everything but warts and all. Ranjan is hilarious and funny but doesn’t forget to teach you many valuable lessons about life.  

The cover of the book is straight and apt to its inside content. The snake with a wagging tongue is a metaphor to the world that loves to keep wagging anything as per its systems and beliefs in full futility.

Wagging Tongues by Yogie Chandra Tatvaraj is a unique collection that will be remembered for its omnipresent weirdo maverick character ‘Ranjan’. The book’s underlying themes depicts a medley of stances on life. He goes through fame, rejection in love, let down by society and what not…yet the cycle of learning never ceases for this funny, sarcastic, and queer and honest character Ranjan. You will love his philosophy and views on all worldly things such as beliefs, religions, narrative of life and so on. If life can be a confusing puzzle for you, so did it was for Ranjan, the maverick. The book reads like a fountain of wisdom and life experiences that shape us for better or worse. From short to medium, personal to general –the semblance of the book is a heady mix of fiction, philosophy, and spirituality. All in one! Simple language, high influence. Kudos to Yogie for this book!