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Like Fine Wine: Nine Real, Rare Love Stories
Is it given or taken – or both? Does love double or halve the lives it touches and enfolds? Is it luck or gruelling hard work ... or the two together? Does it move the heart, the mind, as much as the body, the soul? How does it face life, cope, smile despite its knocks, its hurts? Is it a secret? Does it elude most? Can it be sought and found? Will it happen to you, has it ... will it not? Within these pages some clues, some answers you may find. From those few ‘chosen’ ones who choose to tell. Love Sparkles in Like Fine Wine like never before. It intrigues, mystifies, varies as acclaimed writer Syeda Imam makes short and sensitive forays into the real love stories of nine unusual couples. Amongst them are the nawab of cricket Tiger Pataudi and superstar Sharmila Tagore, acclaimed director David Lean and Leila Matkar, chess grandmaster Viswanathan Anand and Aruna along with six other rare examples of love who fascinate. With what protocol does a Knight of the Empire propose? How did Dr Karan Singh, the prince of Kashmir marry the princess of Nepal? When did famed sitarist Ustad Shujaat Khan take the plunge with his beloved Parveen? What made the Umrao Jaan filmmaker Muzaffar Ali fall in love with Meera and vice versa? Was it the ‘O Calcutta’ romance or reincarnation that united Uma with Mumtaz? Just how do a pair of indomitable twins chance to marry another such pair? Like Fine Wine is a celebration of these extraordinary nine couples who found each other in curious, puzzling, eccentric ways and whose whirlwind romances quickly became immortal in popular Indian culture.
280 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 29, 2023
Irrespective of how much I pine for fictional men, fictional is always the keyword there.
Haven't we all heard or said something on the lines - That just happens in the movies/books; real life is different.
For this particular reason I wanted to read this book, for the reassurance that it isn't just in fiction. Such love stories happen in real life too!
In 'Like Fine Wine', Syeda Imam writes about nine such couples that met in different encounters, some puzzling, some curious but not at all usual. To take a few names, it has the story of the superstar actress Sharmila Tagore and cricketer Tiger Pataudi, chess grandmaster Viswanathan Anand and Aruna Anand, Prince of Kashmir, Dr Karan Singh and Princess of Nepal.
The experience of reading the book was rather lukewarm for me. Maybe I had set up my expectations too high, Guilty!
Where I expected some giddying romance, the book rather felt like a bio piece written on the couple. In often stories, almost half the chapter went in with one individual. With the lives they had, it is much deserved but that wasn't on my mind when I picked the book. Also, I would have appreciated if the language used was a little less complicated at times.
That being said,
There are some stories, some lessons on love and partnership in these pages that I will take forward with me and cherish for long. Leila Matkar's qisse and afsaney are something that added to my understanding of intensity of love as an emotion. Meera Ali's unrelenting love for Muzaffar that she eloped to marry him. Mumtaz's teasing ways that bewitched Uma and they ended up finding their purpose in life together.
Their stories might be a little eccentric but they do have the sense of realness in them.
Haven't we all heard or said something on the lines - That just happens in the movies/books; real life is different.
For this particular reason I wanted to read this book, for the reassurance that it isn't just in fiction. Such love stories happen in real life too!
In 'Like Fine Wine', Syeda Imam writes about nine such couples that met in different encounters, some puzzling, some curious but not at all usual. To take a few names, it has the story of the superstar actress Sharmila Tagore and cricketer Tiger Pataudi, chess grandmaster Viswanathan Anand and Aruna Anand, Prince of Kashmir, Dr Karan Singh and Princess of Nepal.
The experience of reading the book was rather lukewarm for me. Maybe I had set up my expectations too high, Guilty!
Where I expected some giddying romance, the book rather felt like a bio piece written on the couple. In often stories, almost half the chapter went in with one individual. With the lives they had, it is much deserved but that wasn't on my mind when I picked the book. Also, I would have appreciated if the language used was a little less complicated at times.
That being said,
There are some stories, some lessons on love and partnership in these pages that I will take forward with me and cherish for long. Leila Matkar's qisse and afsaney are something that added to my understanding of intensity of love as an emotion. Meera Ali's unrelenting love for Muzaffar that she eloped to marry him. Mumtaz's teasing ways that bewitched Uma and they ended up finding their purpose in life together.
Their stories might be a little eccentric but they do have the sense of realness in them.
November 8, 2023
Now, I don’t usually read romance but this book is not a usual read either!
I think often love stories can be incomplete when they are set in the ‘honeymoon period’ but this book fills a gap as it explores love in ways most stories don’t — what happens beyond the ‘happily ever after’. It won’t romanticise secret glances or the very first touch. But it will show you how love between nine real, extraordinary couples aged like fine wine, better as it grows.
I loved the personal touch this book began with. The author narrated the story of her parents-in-law who faced a difference in their age and social status with grace. And then it went on to introduce us to other equally interesting couples — the prince of Kashmir whose love transcended boundaries when he married the princess of Nepal, and the Chandra twins who married another set of twins! On to more familiar faces, you’ll get to know up close about the chess grandmaster Viswanathan Anand whose marriage is celebrated for its simplicity, and the Sharmila Tagore whose love continues to survive beyond life.
What I love the most about this read is that these are not just stories of romance but stories of history narrated through the impact these couples had on each other, and how that shaped their influence on the Indian culture. It goes beyond the life of the couples, and sets them holistically in their worlds rather than making the world revolve around them.
My favourite story is that of Leila Devi and Sir David Lean, named Scheherazade Herself. We never hear from David but I loved how it felt like I was in the same room as Leila learning about her vibrant life. This ‘love’ story is more a journey through Leila’s romances and her evolution through them. I personally look at her as a love story she has with her own self that keeps growing as long as she lives.
Written by Syeda Bilgrami Imam who worked as Executive Creative Director at India’s three foremost advertising agencies before joining the Ministry of Minority Affairs and External Affairs in the Government of India, this book is bound to be rich in emotions, cultures, and histories.
I think often love stories can be incomplete when they are set in the ‘honeymoon period’ but this book fills a gap as it explores love in ways most stories don’t — what happens beyond the ‘happily ever after’. It won’t romanticise secret glances or the very first touch. But it will show you how love between nine real, extraordinary couples aged like fine wine, better as it grows.
I loved the personal touch this book began with. The author narrated the story of her parents-in-law who faced a difference in their age and social status with grace. And then it went on to introduce us to other equally interesting couples — the prince of Kashmir whose love transcended boundaries when he married the princess of Nepal, and the Chandra twins who married another set of twins! On to more familiar faces, you’ll get to know up close about the chess grandmaster Viswanathan Anand whose marriage is celebrated for its simplicity, and the Sharmila Tagore whose love continues to survive beyond life.
What I love the most about this read is that these are not just stories of romance but stories of history narrated through the impact these couples had on each other, and how that shaped their influence on the Indian culture. It goes beyond the life of the couples, and sets them holistically in their worlds rather than making the world revolve around them.
My favourite story is that of Leila Devi and Sir David Lean, named Scheherazade Herself. We never hear from David but I loved how it felt like I was in the same room as Leila learning about her vibrant life. This ‘love’ story is more a journey through Leila’s romances and her evolution through them. I personally look at her as a love story she has with her own self that keeps growing as long as she lives.
Written by Syeda Bilgrami Imam who worked as Executive Creative Director at India’s three foremost advertising agencies before joining the Ministry of Minority Affairs and External Affairs in the Government of India, this book is bound to be rich in emotions, cultures, and histories.
January 26, 2025
Like Fine Wine, Nine Real, Rare Love Stories by Syeda Imam tells us about nine couples and their romantic tales. The book contains the stories of Sir Ali & Lady Imam, Sharmila Tagore & Tiger Pataudi, Dr. Karan Singh & Yaso Karan Singh, Shujaat & Parveen Khan, David & Leila Lean, Muzaffar & Meera Ali, Uma & Mumtaz Ahmed, the Chandra Twins, and Viswanathan & Aruna Anand. It's a one-time read book.
May 16, 2023
A timeless title, this book will wrap you with the beautiful essence of love, and care.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews