Expressions

It was a busy working evening on the streets of Mumbai. Just outside the Ghatkopar metro station,  a line of people were waiting eagerly to get home after tiring hours of work. And there were some others who might just be getting ready to get started to toil hours for the night. The Bus stand was filled with exhausted feet, hopeful eyes waiting for their sawari to come get them. And buses were obliging in their capacity, taking steep turns just along the corner and stopping right in front of the bus stand but in the middle of the road; blocking off the traffic for just a few minutes and jostling off with equal energy and larger burden of weight upon them tilting heavily to the left side. Then there were shared rickshaws and autowallahs swooping in and buzzing by doing their duties of transporting people from places to places. Shivram was one among the side of the pavement just outside the gate 2B of the metro station, observing this daily hullabaloo eating his share of frie...

The First It was a warm sunny day. The sun had almost risen up until the helm of the building and the light streamed through the grilled French windows and on to the tiled floor. Zee lay rested on the carpet enjoying the Indian suntan of a lazy weekend afternoon, his eyes closed and face tranquil like disciples of Buddha. The sudden chatter of Ami broke this reverie. He looked up, eyes half closed, and found her clearing the creases of the cushions. This was arguably her favorite pastime – cleaning up here and there, setting things straight so that the house looks out freshly delivered every moment like a hotel room. He gave a resigned look, well aware of the obsession. “Don’t you think life has become boring; too monotonous!” Ami said glumly, raising her eyebrows to signal Zee to comfort her of random musings. Zee rolled his eyes as usual and sank back to oblivion. “Isn’t always so? After every change, life does become stagnant. That’s what stability means”. “No, it isn’t s...

Ravi Subramanian's new novel "THE BESTSELLER SHE WROTE" is out in the market and I had an opportunity to read it thanks to BlogAdda. I have been looking for a quick read for quite some time and this book serves the purpose very well. The book cover is attractive and interesting. Around 380 pages novel is good enough for a quick page turner and the pace of the novel is fast and edgy. The story revolves around a famous author Aditya whose life is a perfect blend of professional and personal achievement. He is a very successful banker and also enjoys the pleasure of writing novels professionally at the same time. He is happily married to his college sweetheart and has a kid. During one of his encounters as a chief guest in his alumnus, he encounters a young, bold and very attractive student Shreya. Sherya is very ambitious and aspires to become a writer herself. They soon end up having a passionate affair as she joins his office. Aditya's best friend Sanjay ...

It happens once in a while when you come across a book which is simply written, adequately edited and offers pure pleasure of a new story line! When I received the book from Blog Adda, the first page of the book signed by the author brought a smile to my face with  a"Stay Awesome" personalized by a smiley ! I was genuinely pleased with the author's sweet gesture. Thank you Mr. Ravi Subramanian. :) The book is a refreshing story in 'Mystery/Thriller" genre. The most striking feature of the novel is the style of writing. It is very crisp and straight forward with basic English vocabulary usage. The author has spared the reader from complicated long paragraphs with excruciating details of each characters and sometimes irrelevant information of the surroundings, history, banal things in and around . The author has made sure that the reader gets a story and that's what it is in the book with no exceptions ! I would suggest this one to all the new and aspiri...

Its after long I'm reviewing a book ...... hectic work schedules, change in lifestyle after wedding and city and having not read a book in a WHILE might be one of the main reasons :D. Today I read new novel "Rise of the Sun Prince" by Shubha Vilas. A personal note from the author on the front page of the book is so welcoming ! This book is refreshing and revisited version of our Hindu mythological epic Ramayana.  As an Indian, I've read Ramayana several times since childhood and thanks to our television channels Ramayana has been aired so many times in so many different modernized versions that I know the stories well. Also, our grandmothers and mothers have never failed to bring out and highlight some or the other story from there as per the situation or as childhood bedtime stories ! What is different in this book then? This book extensively covers minute teaching and moral background of every emotion or action or event following every emotion/action/event....

The first impression of the book gives you a feel of a cheap story book - probably a translation of a Hindi horror thriller "Sahitya". The cover design backs up your thought even more - the ghostly imprint in the cloud, a mysterious female killer overlooking a mediocre town in the night....and the title of the book in Tomato Red colour.....overall this does not look like a book that one would pick up for an interesting literary read.... The "About Author" disappoints me further....the reading of hiding under the cover hardly throws a light about him. The "By Line" of the book is oldest cliché which is unnecessary and dismounting. I was dismayed when the book arrived. Finally I gathered courage to open up the pages. The storyline of the book didn't impress me much either ... bits and pieces put together it appears a combination of the protagonist “Lisbeth Salander” in  Millennium trilogy by Steig Larsson  and vampire hunting concept...

The new novel "The Krishna Key" by Ashwin Sanghi is really a good read for the Indian mythology and history lovers.The author is very knowledgeable in mythological subjects and it shows in his writing. He has really worked hard to develop a thriller around the mythological characters. It surely reveals the level of research Sanghi has done to present the book in the way which forces one to rethink about the history and the event of occurrences. This is really a novel style and genre of story telling which the author has the upper hand on experimenting with and also cater to interest of large number of suspense/thriller readers, not only in India but in foreign countries as well. For novice readers and amateur interest in religion, on the contrary, this book would offer you with over stretched explanations of religious concepts. With its complicated terminology and over usage of Sanskrit phrases, the book feels like a painful lesson in theology. The bollywood style flash...

There are various genres of books/novels/write ups being published daily. But there are very few books which explore the vast subject of Bollywood. Writer Diptakirti Chaudhari has attempted just that in his new book "Kitnay Aadmi Thay" and that too in a novel style. The book has a tagline "Completely Useless Bollywood Trivia". And yes it’s true! It is totally time passical in nature.....the one which you pick up when you have leisure time and nothing better to do.... The first and foremost thing to understand is that this book is meant only and only for people with keen or shall we say ardent interest in Bollywood...to the extent that they would dig up all the stories behind their favourite movies, as if watching one wouldn't suffice their souls! The ones who would have scrap books made in their adolescent years of their favourite heroes/heroines, their likes/dislikes all their movie posters pasted on their rooms. I recall one such friend of mine who...

This is a Japanese thriller novel by Keigo Higashino published in 2005 and has been made into a cult film in 2008. Once in a while it happens that you come across a novel that captivates you completely and I’m really glad I found one last Friday night . I read this book with a single break......speaks a lot about the glued thriller content it has to offer! The book is a refresher for the writing style, the varied characters and the complicated web of human relations it has tried to portray maintaining the discreet pace of a suspense narrative. The story revolves around a murder and the investigation procedure that follows.  The characters are a mother and her teenage daughter, a brilliant mathematician, a police detective and a physics Professor who is helping the police solve the case. Each niche and detail about the murder, the leads involved is finely fabricated with a witty description. The remarkable part is that reader is well aware of the murderer and yet h...

I’ve been reading chicken soup for soul books since I was a teenager. The most refreshing part of chicken soup stories is that they are precise, short and sweet. And this one is no different. This book is about love, friendship, differences, commitments, understanding and an unspeakable bond shared between couples in the Indian Society.  The book is divided in 8 sections featuring various oddities of love. The stories range from college romances, to discovering soul mates, to newly married exciting love and struggles with adjustment, to bitter relationships, to family bonding and nurturing kids together, to coping with death scenarios to old ages support and nostalgia and even struggling to keep romance alive in day to day lives of middle aged couples. There is a story on every type and every stage of love any person can relate to. Each narration has its own flow and speaks out to the reader enveloping in the experience.  The emotions are so strong and animatedly...

An attempt of satire towards Indian politics and amused criticism to how things are done in India....... the book "Making the Minister Smile" is a great read !!! Appearing to be what can be called as "The great Indian comedy "........ it touches the chords on the other side........ to what ppl feel and see in the "contemprory art cinema" or in the lines of Madhur Bhandarkar............the book is quite different from the author's previous one "The Inscrutable Americans"......(which was a hilarious take on the small uptown Indian student getting into the American way of life).......... Anurag Mathur surely has an intelligent humor....... Both the books are not to be missed !!!