The synopsis of the book says:
Surprisingly the modern day arranged marriage institutions still in vogue. Girls and boys continue to give up their dreams for their parents happiness, yield to their family’s demands and end up snuffing all joy out of their lives.

Some of these couples have the luck of the draw and a happy story to tell, finally. Others seek comfort in compromise. Yet others fall apart and eventually go their separate ways. Why do they part ways? Who is to blame?

Vineet Hariharan and Meera Madhav, a couple trapped in a mismatched relationship, have decided to call it quits. The story begins with their relationship coming to an end.

The story in narrated from both Vineets and Meeras perspectives, with some scenes described from the point of view of both.

Stumbled Upon Destiny is about their loveless marriage which gives rise to many issue lack of communication, complacency, unresolved arguments..

Coming to the authoress, I would say that Jolsna Rajan has skills that can be sharpened with more writings and experience. Currently, while reading her first work, I found that she was trying to build the book on an interesting line but it didn’t happen at every place. She sometimes touched the perfection while sometimes she lost it by a very less margin while sometimes she went totally off-track. The first half of the book wasn’t very captivating but the second half was surely catchy. She could have been little more innovative with the part when she tried to narrate the story from the point of view of both the protagonist. I, personally, feel that after 2 more books by the authoress, we can try putting her under the category of Preeti Shenoy-types but currently, she needs to work little more.

The topic on which she has written has been the favorite topic of the married authoresses. The interesting part of the story is that it begins from the point where this couple has already filed for the divorce. The husband- Vineet Hariharan starts as a protagonist initially and tells how his life changes after the divorce has been filed. He also tells how he wanted this to work but his ex-wife, Meera Madhav wasn’t interested in giving it a try. The problem is that Vineet speaks as a protagonist for only 36 pages. Better than this, authoress should not have created this part at all. Meera’s speaking as a protagonist right from the first page would have been better. There’s already nothing special in first 36 pages. When Meera’s part begins, initially, its too cheesy and suddenly I started feeling that the first 36 pages were fine.

But, right from the Page No. 98th to the last page of the book i.e. 177th, book goes to a very superior stage where you find the maturity that the writer has. She just wanted her best to be displayed in the second half of the book. I just wanted to ask author personally during that part as to why didn’t she start the book with the same maturity and energy. From 98th page, the story is about what happened post-marriage that lead to the conditions where both of them had to part ways. The incompatibility shown between both the characters makes us think about why is it going wrong between them when both are a good character. I also liked the part when one of the protagonist realizes the mistakes that he/she has kept committing and apologizes on his/her behalf. I also liked the meetings that are being shown of both the characters in pre-climax and before that too in post-divorce scenarios.

I liked the Meera’s character a lot in the end. And Vineet is equally highlighted. When the book started, I never knew how authoress is going to build the whole story around such plot and where the climax would intersect but it is beautifully done. The parts where the condition of parents of both the protagonist is described is also done sensibly. Meera’s mother’s conversation with her in the pre-climax is another beautiful piece. In all, the authoress has beautifully displayed the life that both- husband and wife goes through when they take a mutual decision such as of divorce even when they don’t have any better specific reason for it except that they are totally different personality. Author has shown how things can be managed even if there are two different personalities getting into a marriage if one learns to accept mistake, apologize and correct it. I would give the 1-97 pages of the book- 1.5/5 and 98-177 pages, 3.75/5. In all, I would say an okay attempt with 3 out of 5 ratings.
Buy Stumbled Upon Destiny: A Star Crossed Knot from Flipkart.com
Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA – VEERU!!!

It’s almost 2 months since I am writing a book review. A long time. I have finally completed reading Ketan Bhagat’s debut novel- Complete/Convenient. I have been one of the promotional partner of this book since it was in its editing stage and after reading this 373-pages book, I am satisfied that I chose a good product to promote/market. As said several times by Ketan Bhagat in his interviews, this book is exclusively about every NRI or everyone living in India and continuously thinking of shifting abroad because of unwanted chaos here. The clarity of thoughts regarding NRI life is what I appreciate the most about the debut author. He does not seems to be confused over the topic that he has selected to write a story about.

Ketan Bhagat, on his website, introduces himself as- Professionally, Ketan joined Satyam Computer Services (the company that Mr Ramalinga Raju made both famous and infamous) post his MBA from Narsee Monjee Institute in 2001. After a 1.5 year stint of trying to learn programming and Tamil, destiny finally took mercy on the young, frustrated North Indian and made Satyam show him little bit of the world – 2 years in Malaysia, 9 months in NZ and 4 years in Australia. About 2 years ago, he moved back to India. Currently he works as a regional sales manager at an MNC in Mumbai. Creative at heart, Ketan has done stints in Television (anchor, script writer) and Print (articles in national dailies) during his college days. Few years ago, he helped his brother script a Bollywood movie.

The synopsis of the book says-
“Have you ever heard of any NRI who:
Hasnt washed dishes and vacuumed carpets
Hasnt missed any of his friends/ family members wedding in India
Doesnt watch Indian movies, no matter how long he has been outside India
Hasnt been to a striptease
Doesnt indulge in Indian food whenever he visits India on a vacation

Do you know any Indian who:
Hasnt thought of moving out of India for a better, safer life
Isnt fed up of the scams, traffic jams, filth, noise, crowd and crime that are part of everyday life
Isnt tired of attending endless weddings, festivals, birthdays, farewells, parties, lunches and dinners that happen almost every second day in India
Has never envied (secretly or openly) his friend / family member living outside India
Hasnt wondered what makes NRIs return to India

Welcome to the world of Kabir newly married and newly arrived in Sydney, hoping to live the glamorous and sophisticated life he has always dreamt of. After all, a life without frantic competition, traffic jams, queues, dirt, corruption and social obligations (read evils) can be refreshingly convenient. Professional success, new friends, a sincere boss… everything seems to be going just fine. But doesnt this sound too good to be true?”

Coming to the author, I would say that Ketan Bhagat has done a great job in his debut novel. A book that’s made up for a light read is written wonderfully with good narration, easy vocabularies, funny one-liners every now and then (it seems as if this part is in his genes ), relative scenarios and yet something that is intense and makes us think about our plans and life. When in one interview I read Ketan Bhagat saying that his stories begin where Chetan Bhagat’s ends, I didn’t take it seriously but now I can say that this book, at some point, seems to be a sequel to “2 States” where a couple is being married after too much involvement of families and then rather than “And they lived happily after”, book discusses what exactly happened to their lives. In short, Ketan Bhagat is someone whom you can’t ignore. If he is not very good, he is definitely not someone whom you would ignore.

Coming to the book, let’s talk about good points first. Book starts with a very good set up where this boy working in an Indian MNC suddenly gets an offer to shift Australia. His college-time girlfriend immediately talks to her parents and decides to marry him before he shifts to Australia and forgets her. The initial family drama while the talks of marriage and while marriage is something that made me laugh as much as 2 States did. Later on, the initial settling in Australia is also shown with okay-ish narration. Then the kind of involvement an abroad job demands is also powerfully and aggressively discussed. The problem that a boy is unaware of before marriage is clearly shown when Kabir’s tussle with newly-married wife begins. The differences shown between wife and mother can make any unmarried boy like me get scared of marriage. But Ketan Bhagat has done it well by filling the scenarios with funny statements and expressions of Kabir. Some of them are still making me chuckle.

The second half of the book is better than the first half. Kabir’s situation when he comes to know about a mishap that his sister creates in India is where the book attracted me the most. How even after giving his limbs and arms to his job, he does not get his deserved credit is another pity scenario. The way he got distanced from his father made me weep. How even his mother does not invite him for a function makes me feel bad. Later when his sister invites him, made me more emotional. How he starts finding his Indian friends more emotionally connected than any in Australia (after 2 years). How he starts finding India better than Australia in every term warns us, not-yet-NRI team. How he and his wife, Myra understands each other’s situation is another wonderful moment in the book (in the pre-climax). These are some of the few incidents that I have put down in the review else there are many which will drive you crazy when you would be reading this tale yourself.

Coming to the drawback, the major problem that I have with the author is that even when he promoted the book as a tale about a confused NRI residing in Australia and thinking of India as a better option always, the book is less about it and more about the differences between husband and wife after getting into a love marriage. Rest, if the author isn’t talking about Kabir, his wife and his mother-in-law, he keeps on talking about Kabir’s working culture and scenario. Though author has tried to give enough of Australia and its life but still, it is something that I was expecting more. I wanted to know about how, as soon as Kabir lands up in Australia, he finds difficult to adapt to the new environments and how he also finds every system far better than India. But all I got to read was stories blocked between the four enclosed walls of his rented flat in Australia. Also, the book could have been easily summed up in 250 pages.

Well.. but still this book is something that one shouldn’t miss. And it is particularly for the people who are NRIs or are thinking to shift abroad for dollars or for systematic life unlike India’s. To the first half of the book, I would give 3/5 and second half, 4.25/5. In all, 3.75/5 what I would give to the first attempt of Ketan Bhagat.
Buy Complete
Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA – VEERU!!!

While his brother is the unarguably the most popular author of India. He, himself never wanted to be an author. Being an NRI, he underwent some different experience that he never heard of. Is it same as captured by Karan Johar on-screen or has he something different, unique and more to say?

Ketan Bhagat better known as Chetan Bhagat’s brother has more to share – completely different from his brother’s. While his debut novel Complete/Convenient is about to release on 15th of May 2013. During an interaction with S. Anupam, Ketan avers, “Complete/Convenient is a beautiful mix of my life’s real experiences and my imagination.” Excerpts…

What did inspire you to become an author?

Even though I have been always creative, I never wanted to be a writer. Was too lazy and adventurous to sit alone and type endlessly. I was happy cracking jokes and making humorous presentations amongst friends and office events. In any case I was too busy travelling countrie and collecting memories – bungee jumping, scuba diving, yoga, sky diving, snorkeling, etc.

Then few years ago, I went through a transformational experience. Something extremely intense and yet surprisingly common to my age group. Yet, I was totally unprepared for it. Had never read, heard or seen about it in books or movies. No one from family had told me about it as well.

A thorough-bred NRI like me gave up a luxurious comfortable dollar-centric life and came back to India.Why? How? This was a story I wanted to tell.

Easiest way was to write a novel as 1) it is cheap 2) it is practical (your boss thinks you are doing office work on the laptop) and 3) at least in my case, there was a writer in the family so it wasn’t considered a crazy idea J

Is Complete/Convenient a fictional work or real story? How much it reflects your life?

It is Fiction. However, it is based on real-life people and incidents that either happened to me or my friends, colleagues or customers.

It is a reflection of what every NRI man goes through especially in the first few years of moving to a new country. I can’t think of any NRI who won’t be able to relate to the situations that Kabir, my main protagonist, goes through.

Book Cover

How much time did it take to finish?

Little over two years. Mainly because I was neither a writer nor a reader. Till two years ago, probably Chetan Bhagat was the only writer I had read. On top of it, I could barely write a proper email.

So even though the story was clear in my mind, it took a lot of rewrites, reviews and rewrites to get the content, flow, language etc right.

Being an NRI story, how much would it appeal to the mass Indian readers?
I am not Chetan Bhagat. He is a genius and a master storyteller. I consider my writing style very average and lacking any ‘ooomph’ factor.

However, I feel this story will appeal to every Indian because of the relevance of its topic. I haven’t met any Indian who has not thought of moving overseas. Yet, there is no realistic story on what actually happens when you settle abroad. It’s certainly not the way Karan Johar shows it in his movies. No one flies business class, zips around in a Ferrari and stays in plus beach facing bungalows.

Also, I haven’t met any NRI who has forgotten India. Or the family of an NRI who haven’t made their share of sacrifices. Has any story, movie in recent times captured this? Even though there are more than 20 million Indians living out of India.

Another USP of the book is that it tells the story from a man’s point of view. Most stories are either about women or about men doing only two things: either playing pranks in college or being superheros. Reality is that a lot happens in a man’s life post college and marriage. Men too go through tough times like mother and wife not getting along, office politics, financial crunch etc. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand a young working man’s psyche.

What’s your marketing strategy for the promotion? Any plan to promote the book at international market…

Even though marketing is extremely important, my focus has so far being on creating a good product. I have worked extra hard in getting the book reviewed by about 100 random people and analyzing their feedbacks. I have been a salesman for almost a decade and so know that no customer wants to end up with a bad product.

Now that the product is ready, I will start with promotions which would involve city tours, tying up with book stores and reaching out to as many book readers as possible. Thankfully, some articles have already appeared in newspapers about my book and few television appearances are scheduled, so there is some foundation already laid.

Even though my initial marketing focus will be on Indian market, NRI’s have already starting showing interest in the book. I have just launched the eBOOK version at Amazon. Plus, I have shipped physical books to Singapore, Australia and USA.

After Complete/Convenient, which are the current projects you’re working on?

Nothing at this stage. I do have a story for a second book in my mind. Again something I have personally experienced and seen others experiencing. If Complete/Convenient gets a decent acceptance from readers, I will write my second book. If, for some reason, they reject me as a writer I will humbly ask for forgiveness and do something else. Don’t want to force myself in the market.

Your favorite books and authors…

My favorite authors/books are Salman Rushdie’s Midnights Children, Hussain Zaidi’s Dongri to Dubai and Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist.

In the end…

Please read Complete/Convenient. While I don’t claim to have any exceptional talents but I have worked extremely hard on the book. I promise it’s very readable. ~ Ketan Bhagat

“It’s a debut novel, so there’ll be a lot of mistakes. But I promise everyone that it’s a very sincere attempt,” he says.

There is a new star on the horizon of Indian literature. Apart from an independent writing style and a good story he also has the ‘writer genes’ in him. We are talking about Ketan Bhagat who is all set to launch his debut novel ‘Complete/Convenient’ on the 15th of May 2013. He is the younger brother of famous writer Chetan Bhagat. So along with a lot of publicity and recognition, Ketan Bhagat also has to deal with high hopes from the readers.

Boldsky caught up with the debutante Ketan Bhagat to have a candid conversation. Take look at what he had to say about his book, his brother and the business of writing.

What is your book ‘Complete/Convenient’ basically about?
‘Complete/Convenient’ is actually a book that records the emotional journey of men. Men are usually shown having great time with friends or big business tycoons. I feel that their emotional side is not given enough importance. Men have the same emotional turmoil as women, they too cry and go through dilemmas. That is what I have tried to show in this book.

How do you think that the inner journey of men is different from that of a women?
No, wouldn’t say its different. I would rather say its the same but we don’t get to read about the inner journey of men very often.

The protagonist of your story ‘Kabir’ seems very similar to you? Is he your alter ego?
Well, it is a heroic version of men. I have taken creative license to present a fantasied version of me in my book. Kabir is very good looking, has lots of friends and a great job. But other than that, Kabir is from Delhi so am I, he goes to Australia to work and so did I.

When you started writing, it was obvious that you would be compared to your brother Chetan Bhagat. Does that bother you?
No, it doesn’t. His brand has rubbed off on me and I got some publicity to start with. But other than that, its been a tough road for me just like any other writer. I have been called the ‘Sohail Khan of literature’ by some critics but I enjoy such comments in a sporting way.

Would you say that your brother Chetan Bhagat inspired you to write?
I am not as talented as my brother Chetan and we do not write about same things. His stories are mostly for the youth. But I am writing about a married middle aged man. After staying abroad would you say that NRI life is not as convenient as we think? It is definitely convenient but not complete. That is why the title of my book is ‘Complete Or (/) Convenient’.

Do you have another book in the pipeline? What is it about?
Well, I can only tell you that my next book will be about the relationship between a father and child.

What is your definition of a ‘good read’?
It really depends. I love Chetan’s books because they are fast and entertaining. But I also like heavy books like Salman Rushdie’s ‘Midnight’s Children’

What is your opinion about contemporary writers?
What inspires me is the fact that Indian fiction is doing so well. The manager of Crossword (a book store) told me that a majority of books on the best seller list these days are by Indian writers. That means that the Indian consumers what to read a good story. It is a very positive change.

A word of advice for new writers..
You don’t need to quit your job to start writing. Our mother didn’t stop raising us because she wanted to pursue her passions. So we can also pursue our passion for writing along with our responsibilities. Don’t write to earn money or fame; write if you have a good story to tell.

Read more at: http://www.boldsky.com/insync/pulse/2013/ketan-bhagat-talks-about-complete-convenient-033163.html

Ketan Bhagat (younger brother of Chetan Bhagat) is all set to launch his first novel Complete/Convenient in May’ 2013.

UnResrictedMinds.in takes the opportunity to interview Ketan Bhagat.

Tell us something about yourself especially about your school and college life.

I was born and brought up in Delhi. My father was in army and so mostly out of station. My mother was an agricultural scientist and would only be home by five. That gave us brothers plenty of time and opportunities to play pranks, fight, break things, call up friends etc. All this and myself being the youngest in the family meant I was really spoilt and pampered. Even today I smile at memories of Nirulas ice creams, our green ambassador car which gave more jerks than kilometers in its lifetime, my dog, flying kites on terraces, school holidays due to mandal commission, chola bhaturas at mangal bazaar etc. From bullying conductors in redline buses to sneaking out my dad’s maruti 800 after he slept to visit my girlfriend, I have done everything that characterizes Delhi.

I did schooling from The famous Army Public School. Yes this is the same school that has produced legends like Manisha Koirala and Chetan Bhagat. Yes, this is also the school that has produced another sort of legends like Shiney Ahuja. Time will tell which category I will fall into (laughs).

Except for once in Class X, I rarely managed good grades. I was too bindaas to care about them. My motto was only to have fun.

I couldn’t get into any engineering college after school. I did a 3 year Hotel Management course from Pusa, Delhi. During college, I used to earn pocket money by being a waiter part time. Then somehow became an anchor in Doordarshan. Post college, I worked for an year in Oberoi and since they made us slog, I opted for an easier option – MBA. Afterall, there is nothing like student life. While doing MBA, became a script writer for Music Asia channel. Again, good pocket money and chance to meet tv stars.

Despite two years of bunking classes, playing stock market with my gujju friends and eating vada pavs outside the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies building in Mumbai, God forgave me for not being serious about studies by making Satyam make a job offer. I was reluctant but Chetan recommended and also people said IT was the easiest way to become an NRI. Forget foreign posting, Satyam sent a spoilt Punjabi like me to a city like Chennai. For 1.5 years, the autowallahs there made oodles of money cheating me. Thereafter, I was posted to Malaysia, New Zealand and finally Australia.

When did you start writing? What is the inspiration behind?

I never planned to become a writer. It is hard, lonely and intelligent work which cannot be outsourced. I was happy doing more entertaining things like scuba diving, skiing, bungee jumping, snorkeling, driving from Sydney to Gold Coast etc.

I was also very happy seeing Chetan as a writer. Seriously, even as his success and fame skyrocketed, my only interest in his writing and life was the number of bollywood actresses he could make me meet whenever I visited India.

However, about 3 years ago, I experienced something very different in my life. Intense, emotional and transformational this was an experience I was totally unprepared for. Surprisingly, friends around me were also going through similar experienced. With time as this wave of emotions (which I call as a ‘Peak’ that every NRI goes through) grew stronger totally enveloping my thinking and personality, I realized this was a phenomenon beyond me. Even after we moved back to India about 2.5 years ago, the aftereffect of this transformational experience kept lingering within me. I realized I needed an outlet. This is how the writer in me was born. Afterall, writing a book is the easiest, most practical and cost effective. Just type, your boss thinks you are working and no one charges you for writing (laughs). That I was Chetan Bhagat’s brother was a further source of inspiration.

Tell us something about your upcoming book “Complete/Convenient”.

Complete/Convenient : : There is More to Men than Bromance
An NRI’s life is not like the one shown in Karan Johar’s Movies. Most Indian’s don’t fly business class, get Ferrari keys the moment they land in airport, do not stay in opulent beach facing resorts and have beautiful semi naked blondes running after them in beaches. Yes, NRI life has beaches, dollars, glamorous things and lots of convenience. But there are sacrifices and constraints too.

Just like life in India is difficult but definitely better for most people than what was shown in Slumdog Millionaire. Yes life here is bumpy, choppy, irritating and jarring. But there is completeness to it.

I feel that no movie or novel in recent times has given a real view of NRI life or Indian life. This despite the fact that every Indian today has a choice to settle outside India and majority of them do consider doing so. This is what I have tried to capture in my book. All characters, incidents and twists are inspired from real life. At the same time, there is no judgment on which life is better or recommended. It just presents two worlds. It’s for the readers to decide which one they prefer individually.

Looking at the trend in India when professionals from varied fields are coming up with debut novels, how do you think “Complete/ Convenient” is more promising?

(laughs) I can’t say that. Readers will decide it. But it is a decent read. I am very sure of that. And frankly I am more concerned about readers liking my novel rather than comparing it with other novels. Each story is different. And one reader can like numerous stories at the same time.

Besides, like I mentioned, this being a very relevant topic for today’s generation I also recommend this book for another reason.

This book is a story told from a man’s point of view. A man not a boy looking for a career, girl or bromance. This is about someone who marries a girl of his choice and is doing well in his career. Nobody writes about the life of men who fall in this category. Just for example, Have you ever read a book that tells you what a man feels when his wife and mother don’t get along? This happens to 90% of men. Just like majority of men are victims of office politics at some point or the other. Trust me, there is a lot that a man has to go through in life. And they are emotional creatures too. Yet, most stories are centered around women.

It is said that new writers face the difficulty of getting a publishing house. How was your experience with publishing house since you had celebrity reference?

While writing the book I had the same thought that I’ll be treated nicely by the publishing houses. But this didn’t happen. Even my brother’s publisher could have treated me better.

I went to many publishers with manuscript and faced rejections. The struggle was tough. Initially even I thought that people from celebrity families have it easy in life. Trust me, some of them don’t.

Luckily, just before I was about to give up, few publishers showed interest but I couldn’t figure out if they were interested in my story or in my being Chetan’s brother.

Srishti Publishers showed great interest and were excited about Complete/Convenient.

Luckily in India, lot many publishing houses are gradually setting up with interests in budding writers stories.

But yes, I definitely had to struggle for publishers.

Would you like to give any advice to Indian Writers who aren’t published yet?

It is important to know if you want to be a writer or a celebrity. Every actor can’t be Ranbir Kapoor. Similarly every writer cannot be India’s highest selling Author Chetan Bhagat. And trust me even Chetan Bhagat didn’t know he would become that big a phenomenon. He just wrote a story he believed in and rest was incidental.

Today I am releasing this book fully aware of that the expectations are set really high and I will be compared with Chetan. Obviously a lot of criticism and ridicule will come my way. Some has already started coming. But I am happy and enjoying this phase. Why? Because my intention was only to express myself through the writing channel. All this is incidental.

What are your future plans? Do you have any inspiration for your second book as of now?
When I started writing Complete/Convenient I promised myself that I will not write after this book. But writing is addictive. I felt so light after completing the novel.

And right now there is one more story in my mind which is haunting me. I will work on it after some months.

Many Thanks for your valuable time to UnRestrictedMinds.in. Any message for the readers?

Please read Complete/Convenient. I promise you it’s a decent read.

This is an Interview of Chetan Bhagat published at postnoon.com. Refer this link.

A sensitive guy with a great sense of humour, Ketan Bhagat is almost ready to launch his first novel — Complete/Convenient. Postnoon chats with the nervous wreck to find out more.

Competition among siblings is quite the norm—we practically grow up competing with our elder and, in-their-imagination, wiser brothers and sisters. However, competition at school level or even college might not be as tricky as one on a professional level.

Ketan Bhagat, who’s the younger brother of celebrated author Chetan Bhagat, is all set to launch his first novel next month. Titled Complete/ Convenient, the book focuses on the life of an NRI. Whether the book will change the relationship the two brothers currently share, only time can tell. For now, we give you the excerpts from a tete-a-tete with Chhota Ketan, who has his fingers tightly crossed.

Q. What compelled you to write the book? Was the success that your brother enjoys a factor?

Ans: I started writing the book in 2010, a little before I decided to move back to India, giving up my almost perfect life in Sydney. What an NRI goes through once he gets to live the dream he’s been dreaming is a topic that is very close to my heart. It was what I was going through personally that provoked me to write the book. Like the lead character Kabir, I too, was a typical Indian boy who always dreamed of going abroad and earning in dollars. However, there is a cost and sacrifice all NRIs have to make to leave their home country. My book is about that. It is a representation of what life abroad is like, it does not say if that is bad or living in India is good. It’s just a story of an NRI’s life through Kabir.

It took me about two years to finish writing. While I hadn’t started writing with the purpose of making a profit out of it, now that its release is barely a month away, I want people to pick it up. Chetan being what he is was a major factor, yes. But not because I wanted a piece of his success or anything, it was a factor only because he knew much more than me about the market. And, about writing in general.

Q. Did you consult your brother about the book? Has he read it? Do you think your book can cause a serious sibling rivalry?

Ans: Initially, he did say that I’d be ripped apart by the people and I needn’t get into anything in such a rush. However, after reading the book, he did say it was a good read and is very readable. Plus, both of us somehow can’t agree with each on creative subjects. We never have.

My intention is not to compete with my brother — I can’t. The way a newbie who wants to set up an IT Company can’t compete with Narayan Murthy, I can’t compete with my brother. He’s huge in India and I’m very happy about that. I just needed to pen down what I felt, and things just led to a book. Plus, a living successful example within the family was only reassuring.

Q. How would you describe a typical NRI life?

Ans: The book will answer that question. Anyway, everything in the book is based on real characters. It will give the reader a significant insight into the life of an NRI. It talks about how one is surprised by other countries that are so beautifully run, where one doesn’t need to fear cops, etc. But then, there’s that longing to return home. For instance, there is a chapter on what an NRI couple goes through during Diwali out of India.

Q. When is Complete/ Convenient releasing? Do have any ideas for a second book?

Ans: The book will release on May 15. However, the publishers—Shrishti — suggested that we release it online before that. I have a topic for another book though I had vouched not to write again, but it is too addictive. The next one might be about the relationship between a father and his child. Again, the topic is very close to me. I’m a very sensitive person and can only write about things that matter to me personally.

Q.Other than a passion for writing, what other similarities do the Bhagat brothers have?

Ans: We have very similar names, thanks to our non-creative parents. But, the similarity ends there. While he’s always been the topper in the family, I’ve been the one barely going through. Even when our parents were called to school, the reasons varied in my case and in his. For me, the teachers only had complaints and for him, it was always praise.

To know more about the author, you can log on: www.ketanbhagat.com

Reading fiction and non-fiction are two different things. While reading fiction, you end up being in a world of imaginations but while reading a non-fiction attempt, you know that these things can specifically happen with you. Hence you read it with more determination and pleasure. You know that you can end up being a protagonist or experience the same events as mentioned in the book. I am just sitting after completing 4 hours read of Yuvraj Singh, the cricketer’s autobiographical attempt where he tells us about his journey from Cricket to Cancer and how he fought the disease and ended up being a normal Cricketer again. The book is titled perfectly “The Test Of My Life” and has a tagline “from cricket to cancer and back”. The cover page carries a very good image clicked of Yuvraj Singh with his shining eyes, black hairs, glowing face and an expressive positive attitude. It also has Sachin Tendulkar’s reaction on the book “Pure Inspiration” imbibed on it. On the back cover, the reactions of Kevin Pietersen, Virat Kohli, Rahul Dravid, Harbhajan Singh and Saina Nehwal is mentioned. There’s nothing over the shell of the book that can stop you from purchasing it except the MRP of the book which is 400+. But… Yuvraj’s attempt and will power to let everyone know his story and life regarding cancer is something for which he needs to be applauded.

One thing that I am very much happy about is the way Yuvraj Singh has cut short events and kept the book of just 190 pages and didn’t just kept writing and writing and writing as generally the autobiography of a sportsman is. He has used a very fluid language with no words, terms or abbreviations making us feel uncomfortable or inferior. He has talked as if he is one of us and that makes this book special. He hasn’t shown any kind of arrogance or pride over himself while scripting his story. His simplicity and humbleness can be easily seen right from the very first chapter till the end. He has covered almost every thing- his initial childhood days, his initial training in Cricket, his selection, his winning moments, World Cup moments and finally the Cancer moments and then the recent comeback in Cricket after recovering from Cancer.

His father’s behavior with him while training him for Cricket is something for which I feel pity for Yuvraj Singh. I have also been beaten by my father for studies but in that comparison, Yuvraj Singh is been thrashed more severely. The way he has opined about his parents’ fights and arguments and then their separation is something one needs a lot of guts to do in a country like India. The way our very own Navjot Singh Sidhu said to his father that Yuvraj Singh does not have Cricket in him and the way his father reacted “Ab dekhta hoon tu cricketer kaise nahi banta hai” is interesting to know. The way he got selected and won the big tournaments in a very small age is another lovely part to read. The way he has described Sachin Tendulkar every now and then shows his respect for him. He has also taken the names of his favorite teammates with immense respect. He has not taken name of many of them including Dhoni which shows that they have not been much a part of his personal life. But maintained his integrity by not speaking anything against them. He wanted to speak about 2007 World Cup and the wrong decisions of captain Rahul Dravid but he choose not to talk about it.

The whole description of 2003 World Cup and then our epic 2011 World Cup including the Finale gave me goosebumps. His description about how he was struggling with his body but still working for the World Cup made me emotional too. Why a World Cup tournament is so important for a Cricketer is also explained by Yuvraj. He has shown his emotions for Indians who support Cricketers and make them feel good about themselves. He has also said about how media has manipulated the news and sometimes analyzed things by themselves and wrote and talked about him. This tells us how cruel media is sometimes. But he has also thanked media for the love that they gave him when his news of Cancer initially broke out. Later on his description about how his mother and he dealt with Cancer is something that will always remain with me. He has wonderfully shown how much a cancer patient has to suffer and what emotions he/she goes through. Even I am scared of this disease now. But as Yuvraj Singh has himself come out of it after losing all the confidence and will power also gives me an inspiration that even I can beat Cancer if I ever fall in this condition.

Also the training that he went through after the chemotherapy gives a good insight about what a passion of living and doing what one loves the most can make one do. One fails to give up in such situations. In all, I would say that Yuvraj Singh will become a sibling to everyone whoever will read this book. He is the first in the contemporary Indian team to write a book himself. But I would still say that Lance Armstrong’s book and Brett Lee’s autobiography was more liked by me than this. But as such books should not be judged, I am not rating this one. I would just ask all to read it as it surely gives energy and makes us emotional for numerous times. And Yuvraj, Kudos and Respect!!!
Buy The Test of My Life from Cricket to Cancer and Back from Flipkart.com
Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA – VEERU!!!

Synopsis:
On the night of Valentine’s Day, a call from Jess informs Reehan about Anita’s attempted suicide. Reehan rushes to the hospital where circumstances forces and fate favours him to spend a lonely night. A journey down the memory lane begins when Reehan introspect the reasons behind his transformation from a shy-guy to a ruthless co-conspirator.

As a teen his life had all colours of love and friendship. His biggest weakness was his emotions. His heart drove his life and was never in control. With failed relations his broken heart took a wrong turn and headed towards a disaster called Anita.

Find out, what went wrong? Was Reehan actually to be blamed for Anita? Will he make the correct choice for his wandering heart and set it towards the right course?

It’s about games that boys play for love and lust. With many losses, yearnings, delusions and journeys the chapters unfolds a story of love, friendship, family, deception, breakups, patch-ups, conspiracy and struggle. Will Reehan’s love, life and inner commotion reach to a conclusion?

What will eventually remain… to be continued…!

Coming to the author, I would say that Moeedul does have a good quality of English unlike other young authors where you find high amount of grammatical errors and inclusion of simple words. He has crafted each sentence beautifully which keeps the pace alive. Even when the story is a college love story, you won’t find it much creepy as these days because of lots of such stories in market, we prefer ignoring the genre. It is also evident through the book that Moeedul wants to give a message through his story to all the youngsters and contemporary age group. But the biggest lack that I find in his writing skill is narration. It isn’t as good as I was expecting. It is something that can bore you while reading the book. Else, Moeedul has a little space for improvement. If he does that, he can be one of the recommended authors. Currently, he should work little harder.

Coming to the review, the good phase of the book starts once the half of the book is done. The second phase of the book stands out for me. Initially, the way a character is being shown in the hospital after attempting to suicide and the way protagonist enters the story, you get an urge to go into flashback and know the story and relation between both of them which led them to this scenario. Then as the flashback begins, the book turns little uninteresting. The concept of showing girlfriends-after-girlfriends has never excited me when I read a college campus love story. I always prefer some adventure, traveling part and some parts that can add to the twists and turns to the story. Here it wasn’t anything of this kind.

But later in the second half, the way story flows with a speed is when you really start liking it. The scenario where the protagonist gets into the bad light in his college is the most exciting phase of the book. The changes his life underwent because of it and the reaction of his parents and family, all makes a delight read in the end. Even the climax is beautifully closed. In all, I would give the book 2.75/5. This book is favorable for all the people belonging in the age group 13-20. I would suggest people who are bored with Indian love stories not to buy this book as there’s nothing new in it. It is the same stuff.
Buy To Be Continued 1st Edition from Flipkart.com
Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA – VEERU!!!

ABHILASH RUHELA – VEERU!!!

Meet Ketan Bhagat, debut author, and ex-anchor with Doordarshan. You might know his brother Chetan. Yes, Chetan Bhagat. Yet, this Mumbai Oracle techie’s novel on real NRI life, which he says is not at all like a Karan Johar film, was not published easily. The pedigree did nothing to help as one would assume. Ketan Bhagat pulls out all stops in this frank chitchat with Techgoss.

Techgoss (TG): How was your life before you became an author?
Ketan Bhagat (KB): Born and bought up in Delhi, I grew up amidst chola bhaturas, chaats, nirulas, movies at Chanakya and Priya theatre, loud flamboyant weddings, Mandal-commission type riots, flying kites at rooftops on 15th August and travelling on redline buses. There weren’t any McDonalds or metros at that time in Delhi.

Quiet unlike my brother, I was a carefree bindass person who barely managed to pass through exams and was almost always outdoors. I loved playing cricket, flying kites, bunking classes, watching movies in front row and talking to Chetan’s girlfriends on phone (we have similar voices and style of talking). Whenever my parents came to school to meet teachers, they used to have great time meeting Chetan’s teachers and a harrowing time meeting my teachers. Once they were especially summoned by my college director as I was caught helping someone cheat. Thanks to me, my mother was always in front of some astrologer or the other. But I wasn’t a bad person. I did not smoke, drink or get into fights. I was just carefree and casual about life.

During college days I accidentally became an anchor for Doordarshan. That became quite popular and it helped me get and afford some attention from girls. Then during MBA days I became a script writer for Music Asia channel (part of Zee group). But all that went away when I joined Satyam Computer Services Ltd in Chennai. After 1.5 years of trying to learn Tamil, haggle with autorickshaws and getting used to Sun TV, Satyam took mercy on me and sent me overseas. I lived for few years in Malaysia, New Zealand and Sydney. Post Satyam I worked briefly for CSC in Sydney and then about 2.5 years ago I joined Oracle India in Mumbai. Currently, I am part of Telco team of Oracle’s Technology line of business. I manage relationships with few strategic customer organizations.

Though I started my IT career as a software developer in Chennai, after 3 years I moved to a sales role and have been continuing in that ever since. In Australia, I used to handle Satyam’s relationship with financial organizations like Westpac, Macquarie and J P Morgan. My wife is a yoga teacher and we used to run a yoga studio in Milsons Point (Sydney). So in the four years that I spent in Sydney, I have been an employee and an entrepreneur. Currently too, besides working for Oracle and authoring a book, I am helping my wife run yoga classes in Mumbai.

Three things have always mattered to me – Being a good human being, having fun and creating memories. Rest all, earlier by innocence and later by choice, have never really mattered.

TG: What techie profile did you have at Australia? Do give us some details of with whom and what, and the languages you handled etc, anything that a fellow techie might like to know
KB: The first three years of my IT career were as a developer. I was part of Satyam’s Microsoft group and have done some programming C#,VB.NET, ASP, ASPX, VB and MS SQL. I remember we all jumped in delight the day we were told that .NET lets you program without having knowledge of POINTERS, a difficult concept to grasp and implement in C++.

In Australia, I had helped Satyam get into Westpac’s Data Warehouse space. We had a strong Teradata practice and Westpac needed help in that space. In Macquarie, I sold projects and consultants around Java technologies. In J P Morgan, it was Microsoft technologies.

As a programmer, we always envied the sales people. We used to wreck our brains in front of a dead, boring machine while they zipped around in flights, five stars with customers. Big mistake! Today I would give my right arm to become a techie. It’s much easier to handle a machine that only understands logic, won’t answer back and call you at weird times to ask for weird things (read customers and bosses)

TG: So how did the book happen?
KB: I had never thought of becoming a writer. I am hardly able to write emails properly. However, I am blessed with a sense of humour which brings me popularity. In Satyam, I would be pulled on stage to make the audience laugh and entertain. At the same time, Chetan was scaling newer heights everyday as a writer. Yet, the idea of becoming a writer never occurred to me. I was too busy having fun to bother about sitting alone and typing.

But 2010, the year I relocated to India, was a transformational year for me. Our yoga studio was gaining popularity, my new job wasn’t turning out to be fun, we were expecting our first baby and I hadn’t been to India for more than 1.5 years. Terribly busy and seriously India-sick, I was surprised at the wave of emotions that started enveloping me.

As the next generation started showing signs of its arrival and the previous generation was nowhere to be seen, my perspective on life began to change. I started questioning life and the choices I have made. I also became sensitive to the emotions of all my friends in India and Australia. This transformational experience had so many facets – novelty, intensity, pain, decisiveness, introspective, etc – that it gave birth to a writer in me. I felt compelled to pen down this life-changing experience.

TG: How do you see your book as different from the ones that are being published today?
KB: Following are some reasons why this is a different kind of book:

1. While this is fiction, it is based on real life characters and incidents. I am sure every reader will relate to the book.
2. I can’t think of any recent fiction book written by an Indian on Australia life.
3. I can’t think of any recent fiction book that captures the life of a software professional. Even though Indian IT companies like Wipro, Satyam, Infosys, TCS etc are established names, I haven’t seen any book that entertainingly captures how these companies work. Especially how these companies sell, their internal office politics, etc.
4. This topic of this book is relevant in today’s times as I am yet to meet any Indian who doesn’t compare life in India vis-à-vis life outside India. Residents often think of moving overseas while NRIs keep contemplating moving back

Most importantly this is a story that captures the entire spectrum of emotions that men go through. Not pranks, peer, hormonal or parental pressure which most of the stories capture and exaggerate about. But, as a man myself, I can tell you that there is a lot more to a man than friendship, romance and pranks. We too go through tumultuous times that make us cry, cringe, doubt, regret, bend, feel helpless, feel lonely and most importantly TRANSFORM. ‘Complete/Convenient’ is a journey of a man.

TG: How did the publishing happen? Was it a tough odyssey?
KB: Oh, it was a very tough journey. Neither had I written before nor was I a reader of books. The only stint with writing was few television scripts I had written during college days. If this isn’t enough, I am the brother of India’s number one writer. I was also short of time as we had a baby soon after I started writing this book. So no experience, no time and a tough benchmark to match.

Finding a publisher was a tough journey as well. Chetan’s publisher refused (after a painfully long wait) and I didn’t know anyone else. There were times I thought I would have to probably have to self-publish it.

But somehow everything fell into place and now the book will be released in the market in May. Personally to me, this feels surreal.

TG: How did your elder brother’s author persona influence your writing a book?
KB: I would never have thought of writing if Chetan Bhagat wouldn’t have been my brother. The salesman in me appreciates Chetan’s success, brand name and legendary achievements.

That said, Chetan wasn’t directly involved in writing of this book. Partly because this is a story based on real experiences and incidents, so there wasn’t much scope to make changes and partly because I wanted to cater to a different genre.

While I always enjoy reading Chetan’s books, I do not always relate to the story. Issues like pre-marital sex, career choice, persuading parents to let you marry the girl of your choice and college friendships are entertaining (like most Bollywood movies are) but are not necessary what people are going through once they are married and working. I wanted to write something that I have gone through and seen other go through in real life.

TG: How was growing up with a brother who has gone on to become an icon like?
KB: Supreme fun. He was a genius from the moment he was born. His creative brain innovated many pranks and stories. Like once for his birthday, he cut a large watermelon instead of a cake. He used to make tea in a spoon on a candle. He would stick posters on girls’ backs that said ‘hand off! I belong to Chetan’. He would dress up as a ghost and scare small school going children in hot, deserted Delhi afternoons. He would convince me that I was an orphan picked from the dustbin. The list of his pranks can be a book in itself. Yet, he always excelled in academics and stood out for his creativity. I remember during the Mandal protest days, we had a peaceful candlelight march in our colony. Chetan’s candle stood out in thousands as he had innovatively layered it with electric lights.

Later on in life, it was fantastic to see him getting surrounded in streets and getting mobbed for pictures and autographs. But the best is when girls go all gooey over him.

TG: I went through your website ketanbhagat.com, and found it to be a very interesting one, quite different from the hey-come-and-buy type that newbie authors usually put up. It looks like quite a lot of effort went into this, could you tell us more?
KB: I am glad you liked the website. This is a heartfelt story and its beauty lies in its simplicity and sensitivity. Yes, it is different from the usual. Following are the reasons:

1. This story came to me rather than I thought of it for sake of writing. It made me a writer rather than me making up a story. This atypical genesis of both the story and writer comes across in the way we approach our audience and promotional activities.
2. Years of selling has taught me one simple thing that in the end, a good product always sells and a bad product always disappoints. I have worked extremely hard on the writing part. In the process, I also got about 100 people to review the book and only after their approval, I started approaching publishers. Even now, I am spending more time in editing the book than in marketing the book. For my biggest worry isn’t how many people would buy the book but how many people would be disappointed with the book.
3. I think there are too many salesmen selling books anyways. No matter how much I shout from the rooftops, I genuinely feel I would only be adding to the noise. Nobody would be hearing me in reality.

TG: When is your book due? And how does it feel to be published at last?
KB: The book will be released in May. Everything from editing to cover design is in final stages. It’s a hectic time. At the same time an incredibly satisfying feeling. In between, on its own, media has started showing interest and the stupendous response from people has been overwhelming. I am getting hundreds of calls, mails, Facebook likes and hits of my website. In this world of commercialism, branding,.

The feeling is so good that I am almost numbed. Not so long ago I was in the pits. Was planning to either dump the project or just distribute this to my friends for free. And now, almost miraculously, everything is falling into place. I just pray to god that everything goes on smoothly and people like the book.

TG: How did you choose the title and how do you think its relevant to the theme?
KB: The title is a question I had asked myself when I relocated back to India and still ask whenever I get an offer to move overseas. It’s a question I have seen every Indian asking himself or herself sometime in life.

Life in India is an assortment of situations – traffic jams, maids, festivals, marriages, parents, corruption, chaos, friends, dirt, poverty, constraints, harassment, inflation, competition, busyness etc – but overall is COMPLETE. Life outside India offers a variety of comforts – dish washer, travel, friends, dollars, cleanliness, process, glamour, freedom, luxury, peace, quietness, solitude, space, choice, work-life balance, etc –very CONVENIENT. Both lives have their shares of pros and cons and appeal to different groups of people. Today, given the choices that Indians have in the world, every Indian has a choice to either live a Complete life or a convenient life. Hence, this story.

The story of ‘COMPLETE/CONVENIENT’ is around a young couple who excitedly move to Australia for a better life. They do get their share of freedom, comforts and dollars but they also realize that NRI life comes with its own share of struggle and sacrifice. The novel neither glamorizes NRIs (like some BOLLYWOOD movies do) nor shows them as victims. It just presents different situations that most NRIs go through.

TG: What are the reactions at home? Your wife? Your parents?
KB: Surprisingly everyone is very positive. My wife is the most excited. In our 9 years of marriage, this is probably the only thing in which she has given me her unflinching unanimous support. She willingly let me eat away weekends and weeknights for completing my manuscript. Even now she is involved in every part of the novel.

My mother is also very happy and supportive. Luckily, both my wife and mother have loved the novel.

TG: What next?
KB: Writing is such a lonely, painful and rigorous process that may times in the past 2.5 years I had sworn that I would never write a novel again. But can you believe it, I have already started making notes around my next novel. Again, it’s a story refusing to leave me. It has been haunting me for more than 6 months now.

TG: Anything else you would like to say here?
KB: Please read COMPLETE/CONVENIENT. It is definitely worth a read

If delectable stories steal your curiosity then meet the new entrant in the field of writing, Ketan Bhagat.

The name rings a bell, doesn’t it? Yes, you guessed it right. Ketan is the younger brother of one of the most celebrated authors in India, Chetan Bhagat. Ketan is all prepared to debut with his book, ‘Complete/Convenient’, which is about to be released anytime in May.

Ketan, introduces himself as a typical 35 year old middle class common man living in Mumbai. His professional career took him to Malaysia, New Zealand, Australia and finally he moved back to India.

Inspired with his experiences as an NRI and many other real life incidents, he finally sat down to author a fiction, ‘Complete/Convenient’.

What his first book would turn out will be decided by the readers, but before they give their own verdicts, we got a chance to interview Ketan to know about his book, his life and impact of his celebrity brother.

Ketan gave us only first few chapters of the book to understand the storyline and characters. The interview was conducted through emails and Ketan candidly replied to all our questions.

Here are the excerpts from the interview with Ketan Bhagat.
………..

The book is about the story of a NRI Kabir and seems to be loaded with your personal experiences. What does the title ‘Complete/ Convenient’ signifies? Is it Complete in India, Convenient outside India?
Yes, the title signifies that life in India is COMPLETE while life outside India is usually CONVENIENT. However, neither the story nor I as an author are judgmental in terms of which is better or worse, right or wrong or any such thing.
The book is based on my personal experiences. For example, Kabir, my main protagonist, is a Punjabi born & bought up in Delhi. His in-laws stay in Pitampura. This is my background too. Kabir’s account in Sydney is Westpac Bank. I used to sell to Westpac Bank when I was in Sydney.
………..
Would this book be presenting a grim picture of life of NRI’s? In other words, would it, in anyway, present India in a good light?
This book neither glamorizes nor victimizes resident Indians or NRIs. Also, it won’t present India like they showcased in Slumdog Millionaire and Australia won’t be the showcased the way it did movies like Salaam Namaste and Bachna Ae Haseeno.
It is a realistic portrayal of life, emotions and situations that NRIs and their families go through. It is a very sensitive and emotional story that should help people empathize with the sacrifices and turmoil one has to go through when one leaves his / her country.
………..
What is your message to young people who long for moving out of India?
I was one of them and was eager to swap the chaos, corruption, crowds, constraints and competition of my Indian life with the clean, simple, free and luxurious life outside. By the grace of God, I got the opportunity and juiced it fully.
For many years, I lived my dreams – drove expensive cars, did sports like skiing, bungee jumping, skydiving and scuba diving, partied all night and then drove to faraway beaches to watch the sunrise, earned in dollars, watched Sachin score centuries in Sydney Cricket ground, Roger Federer win Australian open and Michael Schumacher win F1… I can never thank God enough for those experiences.
But about 2.5 years ago, I willingly left everything and came back to India. Even now, every month I get at least one offer to move out India and I politely decline. I am loving my COMPLETE Indian life.
Yet, I have plenty of friends and relatives who are still living the same life. They do not get stuck in traffic jams, do not face beggars on streets, get most of their works done online and their salaries are in dollars. They are loving their CONVENIENT life.
My message to young people is that no choice – to remain in India or to move out of India – is right or wrong. Each life, yes even the one outside, comes with its share of struggles and sacrifices. It is upto the person to decide which life he/she prefers. So please read Complete/Convenient and decide for yourself.
………..
Who should read this book? Who are your target readers?
While anyone who loves reading sensitive emotional stories should like my book, particularly the ones who fall in either of the following categories would relate to the story:
NRIs and their loved ones back home, People aspiring to be NRIs, Software professionals working in Indian IT companies, Sales people especially those belonging to IT field, Newly married couples, Men whose wives and mother’s do not get along, Men who are victims of office politics, Women who would like to understand men more and Aspiring writers – I am one of you. Please encourage me.
………..
Do you wish to share any short incident from your life which is there in the book?
There are numerous as the whole story and its characters are based on real life incidents. For example, there is a Diwali chapter in which Kabir walks into an expensive store with Myra and ends up embarrassing himself. This is straight out of an actual incident that happened with me. Then there is an incident of relatives blurting out ridiculous comments during a Punjabi marriage. That too has been picked from a real life episode. Ditto for the opportunistic, greedy Nadia who is Kabir’s customer.
………..
Tell us something about your experience of writing this book?
I had never planned to become a writer and sort of became one because this story kept haunting me.
The transformational experience that Kabir goes through in the story is something I personally went through and have seen many of my friends experiencing.
So the story came in easily. That said, I had never written even a proper email in my life. Hence, I spent 2 years in writing this book.
The process involved rewriting chapters, getting them reviewed by various people (including avid book readers, people proficient in English etc) and then rewriting again. It is painful and time consuming. A full time regular job and a newly born at home made the task even more challenging.
But the end result has made the effort more than worthwhile. Today, even before the book has released, I have started getting compliments for the book. For example, Rahul Sharma – the famous Santoor Maestro – has said the following about Complete/Convenient:
“Like a beautiful piece of music… Entertaining, gripping yet soul stirring aftertaste”
………..

Recent trends suggest that simple language, great stories and thin books are more preferred by the youngsters. Can we expect the same from your book?
Yes, No and I hope so.
‘Yes’, because the language is simple. ‘No’, because the book is not thin. At approx. 115,000 words this is slightly thicker than the usual fiction books in the market and ‘I hope so’ for I truly hope people connect to the story and label it as a great one.
………..
Now that your book is about to be published, would you continue with your current profession as regional sales manager?
Yes, definitely. I am more sensitive than creative. Hence, I can only write about real life situations and what actually happens on ground. Hence, it is essential for me to continuously experience regular normal life to get ideas and events for my stories.
………..
Lots of new writers are coming up these days. How do you separate yourself from the others?
You ask about separating myself from others, I am advised that my biggest concern should be separating myself from my brother – Chetan Bhagat, India’s largest selling writer.
But such questions don’t bother me. Mainly for two reasons:
First, unlike a cricket team that has a limit of 11 or corporate world where only one person can be CEO, creative world has no limits. One reader can read multiple books. I myself read multiple authors. Rather the challenge is that a writer can’t write more than one book at a time.
………..
Second. I am not competitive when it comes to my writing. Like I said, I never planned to become a writer. A story haunted me and I have written it with utmost passion and sincerity.
………..
Do you have any message for young writers?
If someone like me can become a writer, anyone can become a writer. Imagine someone who is constantly reprimanded for writing erroneous emails and congratulated for being the brother of India’s largest selling writer.
Then being warned by almost everyone this is suicidal as I would be compared with Chetan’s best works. Then being rejected by publishers. And nowadays by some readers even before the book has been released. Despite all this, If I can do it. So can you.
Please read Complete/Convenient. We all need to encourage each other.

Are you prepared for the comparison with Chetan Bhagat?
Did you take any writing tips from your brother? Would he be helping you in promotion of your book?
I truly admire Chetan for his achievements. I have genuinely loved some of his works. However, our creative sensibilities are quite different. Furthermore, I knew that my first comparison would be with his work.
Hence, part by my own nature and part by purpose, I did not consult Chetan while writing this book. In fact, I even avoided reading Chetan’s novels and articles while writing my manuscript lest some influence comes in.
However, he was one of the first people to read the final manuscript.
………..
Do you feel that Indian education system and social mindset makes our students take the same old streams Engineer/CA/Doctor then MBA? And after a certain years, probably a boring managerial life makes them try their hand at writing? – In other words – what is your take on the fact that lots of MBA’s are now taking up writing as their profession?
I would not blame the Indian education system. Two reasons for that:
Even outside India, people have many facets to their lives. Not just related to a job or family. They haven’t been educated the Indian way.
The Indian education system never forced people to become MBAs/ Doctors/ Engineers etc. it was the poor economic situation of our country that forced parents to force such ‘stable & safe’ professions on them
I also feel that it is not boring to be an Engineer, CA, doctor or MBA. It is the routine that is boring. If, for example, someone just does writing day in and day out for years and years, I am sure he would also feel some monotony and boredom.
That said, the reason why you see many MBA’s or other professionals are taking up writing can be attributed to convergence of two reasons:
Today’s life is full of stress and materialism. Both of these lead to self introspection. I saw this happen to my brother and also to myself. By the time you are in your thirties, you are already done with buying houses, cars, foreign vacations and gadgets. Where do you get your next high from? Obviously not from the next iPhone or SUV; has to be from something within you.
India is the fastest growing market for English books. It’s already the largest after the US and UK. As India’s literacy rate improves (it rose from 52 per cent to 68 per cent between 1991 and 2008), publishers predict that India will become the world’s largest market for English books within the next 10 years. This booming market is the main reason why publishers are encouraging new authors.
This is a welcome trend. Just yesterday I was with a senior executive of Crosswords. He said that about 5 – 8 years ago the top 10 best sellers list was dominated by foreign writers. Nowadays, majority in best seller list are Indian. Truly, the time for Indian writers has arrived.

SYNOPSIS:

The Oath of the Vayuputras is the final book of the Shiva Trilogy. In the earlier books of the trilogy, Shiva finds out that the Nagas are not his enemies and joins hands with them to reach the root of all evil. This book will have answers to ‘the Neelkanth’s’ questions about his fate, the choices he made previously and karma.

Further, in the concluding book of the trilogy, Shiva reaches Panchavati, the capital of Naga where he will come face to face with his greatest enemy. Will he win the battle over his wicked enemies, who are out to destroy him and his legacy?

The Oath of the Vayuputras will also reveal the reason of Shiva’s close friend Brahaspati’s disappearance and reappearance at the end of the second book, The Secret of the Nagas. Further the relationship between Daksha, the king of Meluha and the mysterious temple priests will also be exposed in this last part of the trilogy. Shiva seeks helps from the Vayuputras in the quest to conquer all evil.

The great warrior will encounter the real intentions of some characters he deemed to be close to him. Some new characters will add that extra vitality to the entire plot, especially Shiva’s greatest enemy whose name sends shivers down the spines of many great warriors.

An interesting journey of a warrior who is turned into a God by his followers because of his deeds and war against the evil, this book is sure to have its readers’ full attention. A good read which will make one reflect on their actions, this book like the two earlier books of the trilogy focuses on philosophy, religion and the never ending battle between the good and the evil.

Coming to the author, Amish Tripathi has one good thing- he is clear with what he wants to convey. He is assured about his ideologies. He is crystal clear with each sentence that he writes. With all the three books, he has maintained a monotonous quality and that is the devotion towards the protagonist of the book- Lord Shiva. No doubt why this publisher- Westland has paid him an advance of 5 crore rupees for the next trilogy that he would be writing. The only complain that I have with him is the increasing cost of his books with each release. We know that as demand increases, the rate of the product also increases in direct proportion to it. But as youth should be the core target audience as they need to know about religion, myth, philosophy more than anyone else, the price of the book should be affordable to them. Amish Tripathi has earned 22 crore+ as an author. It would have sounded cool even if it would have been 10 crore +. Hence, my dear favorite author, please cut the cost of your book and keep it at the cost at which Meluha was when it released for the first time.

Coming to the review, the book starts with Shiva being informed about how Somras which everyone considers as the liquid of God is evil and not appropriate for consumption. Shiva then reacts to it and asks everyone to stop the usage. From here the story of this book begins. There are his own people who wants to use Somras and promote it even when they know that Shiva can destroy them. And as it’s evident, the battle between Good and the Evil starts. The way Shiva turns against his own Meluha is shocking. Parvateshwar’s execution’s sentence scene is an emotional moment. Tara’s whole scenario is also interesting. The way Daksha and his companions plan against Shiva are some furious moments for the readers in the book. The involvement of Ganesh and Kartik in the story is as if two mini-Shiva are also added and hence it turns more charming. Later on, THE FINAL CALL chapter made me weep like hell. The chapters post-THE FINAL CALL are the USP of this book for me. The conclusion to the trilogy is made too appropriately to even describe it in words. How a human- Shiva turned into GOD is so perfectly narrated that I want to fall into the tale once again.

The only drawback that I would say is the slow progress of the book in the middle. Amish Tripathi has added many unwanted scenes and plots in the book. I felt many inclusions out of proportions. They could have been expelled. Another doubting element for me is the title of the book. Why the name- THE OATH OF THE VAYUPUTRAS? It wasn’t the basic plot. Instead, THE EVIL OF THE SOMRAS would have worked better. Else, I don’t think that there’s anything which I would like to pinpoint. I give it 4/5 stars. And I recommend all of you to read all the three parts in one go when you get vacation or something. Reading this trilogy in breaks can confuse you. So please, whenever you read, be ready to get lost in this world that resides in our very own India, some 4000 years ago.
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ABHILASH RUHELA – VEERU!!!

Synopsis:
Today, He is a God.
4000 years ago, He was just a man.
The hunt is on. The sinister Naga warrior has killed his friend Brahaspati and now stalks his wife Sati. Shiva, the Tibetan immigrant who is the prophesied destroyer of evil, will not rest till he finds his demonic adversary. His vengeance and the path to evil will lead him to the door of the Nagas, the serpent people. Of that he is certain.
The evidence of the malevolent rise of evil is everywhere. A kingdom is dying as it is held to ransom for a miracle drug. A crown prince is murdered. The Vasudevs – Shiva’s philosopher guides – betray his unquestioning faith as they take the aid of the dark side. Even the perfect empire, Meluha is riddled with a terrible secret in Maika, the city of births. Unknown to Shiva, a master puppeteer is playing a grand game.
In a journey that will take him across the length and breadth of ancient India, Shiva searches for the truth in a land of deadly mysteries – only to find that nothing is what it seems.
Fierce battles will be fought. Surprising alliances will be forged. Unbelievable secrets will be revealed in this second book of the Shiva Trilogy, the sequel to the #1 national bestseller, The Immortals of Meluha.

As I said in my last review itself, Amish Tripathi has a very unique style to present his sentences and theories which has many dimensions. It has all collaborated into one- Love, devotion, philosophy, mythology, legacy, history etc. If you have been an ardent reader, you will easily get the messages, direct and indirect, that Amish tries to give out whenever he makes his characters talk and converse with each other. Every time he writes in italic, you realize the weight in the words that are been put together in that customized font. I could have said that the book must have been shorter by few pages but I can not because every sentence has some meaning. Though its not necessary that we can understand the purpose of all but we will with time. This is what this most talked author- Amish Tripathi has in himself. Blissful writer.

Coming to this book, obviously I would say that The Immortals of Meluha is wonderful and better than this one but still, The Secret of the Nagas is no less. I just didn’t find first half as happening as the last book because I am already introduced to Lord Shiva in the last book itself. The new book could have been started with lots of happening. Though it has been tried but it failed, at least, for me. But from the chapter- The Battle of Madhumati, from where you can say that the second half of the book begins, the real book/story starts. I loved the whole scenario of Shiva’s fight with promising Parshurama. Then the way he gets to know about Neelkanth. Ok, I would like to point one more good thing- the way Shiva is also referred as Mahadev and Neelkanth at times keeps the reader intrigued as monotonous Shiva-Shiva-Shiva can also irritate.

Then, Sati’s own journey towards finding Kali and Ganesh is a surprising element. The way Nagas has been shown, purely villainous, it creates interest to wait to read what Shiva’s reaction would be. Then Daksha’s past and his doings, his wife’s past etc related to Nagas is an interesting part. Shiva’s hatred for Ganesh is also described balance-fully In all, The Secret of the Nagas is a promising sequel of the epic book- The Immortals of Meluha. The third and the last book of this Trilogy- “The Oath of the Vayuputras” will be given to me by tomorrow, as it is of 600 pages, it will take some time but I am unable to resist myself to read it. This is the time when I am loving to be in the world that I can never see. While reading this book, you will imagine all the scenarios not only in a normal visualized version but in a 3D version. This is the kind of description that Mr. Amish has given throughout the book. Kudos.

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ABHILASH RUHELA – VEERU

Synopsis: Shiva, one of the chief Hindu deities, is portrayed in an entirely different light in Amish Tripathi’s debut novel, The Immortals of Meluha. The first book of The Shiva Trilogy, The Immortals of Meluha charts Shiva’s journey from the mountains with his Tibetan tribesmen to the kingdom of Meluha, which is occupied by the Suryavanshis, a race of people who are descendants of Lord Ram and live along the banks of the River Saraswati.
When an episode involving the preserving drug somras leaves his throat blue, Shiva is hailed as the ‘Mahadev’ according to an ancient prophecy, the man who’ll lead the Suryavanshis to victory against the Chandravanshis. Caught in the middle of a tense conflict, Shiva must now make some quick decisions to save Meluha from the wrath of the evil Chandravanshis and their twisted and disfigured assassins, The Nagas.
Will Shiva be able to rise to the occasion and save the clan of the Suryavanshis?
Why does the Princess Sati shy away from speaking to him every single time?
Who are the Nagas, and why are they assisting the Chandravanshis?
Set in 1990 B.C., the book takes readers on an imaginative and exciting journey through Amish’s world.

Amish Tripathi does have the flick of writing. He knows how to build a story using the mythological characters and how to merge two stories together. It is not that he has just tried it for the sake of doing something that is uncommon in the writing industry. Few months ago, I read Ashwin Sanghi’s The Krishna Key. This book has the same smell. The way Amish Tripathi has brought- Mythology, philosophy, history and Geography together is what most writers can only dream of. He made his protagonist so huge that its hard to believe that its a fiction story. You want to believe each and every sentence of the book.

All the characters in the book are beautifully described. Not one of the major characters can be said to be left incomplete or un-happening. Everyone has their role pretty good in the story. Shiva is someone whom I have become so fond of that I am happy this book has come as a Trilogy that I will get to read more about him in The Secret of The Nagas and The Oath of the Vayuputras. Parvateshwar and Nandi are my favorite characters after the Shiva. Then imagining Sati is another good part about the book. It’s always lovely to imagine love interest of the protagonist while reading a book. Then, Daksha is wonderfully described. Anandmayi is one character I am still unsure about. I didn’t enjoy her part in the pre-climax. It could have been skipped.

The first action scenarios in the initial pages of the book is wonderful to start with. Then the way he migrates to Meluha. Later the Somras part and its explanation is interesting. Then the entrance of Sati and description of Shiva’s dance and then their marriage, later on, is a treat. Once when people start calling Shiva their God and savoir, and the way Shiva react to them by smiling to himself, are laughable moments in the book. Even you get an urge to see the blue-colored neck of this Neelkanth. Then Parvateshwar’s hatred for him is beautifully portrayed. I liked all the contradictions that were shown between the two. Later on, just before the war when Shiva tells everyone that there’s a Mahadev in all and asks them to exclaim,”Har Har Mahadev”, it is another good-to-imagine part.

These are very few parts about which I have talked otherwise I would say that the book is a good One time read. Actually, it can be read many a times but I ask all to read it at least one. Missing this one would be a mistake. And as Karan Johar has already purchased the rights of this book and Hrithik is been said to play Shiva, I must really say that do read it before the movie comes. Because this book is too grand to even imagine. I don’t know how can someone build a set that can look as huge as what is being defined in the book. I don’t want to speak any negative points about the book because I didn’t feel irritated while reading any part. I just didn’t want the Climax to be incomplete in such a way even though it is to be continued later in the 2nd book. I was enjoying the tale of warriors, their laws, values, morale, evilness etc. I want all of you to read the Trilogy in a sequence by giving yourself time of 7-10 days. The SHIVA TRILOGY 1 is 400 pages of POWER.
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ABHILASH RUHELA – VEERU

During the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, Anne Frank received a diary as one of her presents on her 13th birthday. She began to write in it on June 14, 1942, two days later, and twenty two days before going into hiding with her father Otto, mother Edith, older sister Margot, and another family, Hermann van Pels, his wife Auguste, and their teenage son Peter. The group went into hiding in the sealed-off upper rooms of the annex of her father’s office building in Amsterdam. The rooms were concealed behind a hidden door. Mrs. van Pels’ dentist, Fritz Pfeffer, joined them four months later. In the published version, names were changed: the van Pels are known as the Van Daans and Fritz Pfeffer as Mr. Dussel. With the assistance of a group of Otto Frank’s trusted colleagues, they remained hidden for two years and one month.

Anne described to “Kitty”, as she addressed her diary, her close relationship with her father, her lack of daughterly love for her mother, with whom she felt she had nothing in common, and her admiration for her sister’s intelligence and sweet nature. She did not much like the others initially, particularly Auguste van Pels and Fritz Pfeffer (the latter shared her room). She was at first unimpressed by the quiet Peter; she herself was something of a chatterbox (a source of irritation to some of the others). As time went on, however, she and Peter became very close, though she remained uncertain in what direction their relationship would develop.
They were betrayed in August 1944, which resulted in their deportation to Nazi concentration camps. Of the group of eight, only Otto Frank survived the war. Anne died in Bergen-Belsen from typhus in early March, about two weeks before the prisoners were liberated by British troops in April 1945.

Coming to my take, I would say that if you really want to read something related to the same event, try some other book but definitely not this one. I am still surprised as to how this book is seen as one of the bests of 20th century. Whatever, what I found in the book was nothing but a normal teen girl writing her experiences on daily, weekly and sometimes on monthly basis. It has almost everything that we feel when we our teenagers- the avoidance by one of our parents, the less understanding with parents, little jealousy with siblings, a crush on guy-next-door and a doubt whether we are straight, bisexual or homosexual. Then, after talking about all these experiences, the diary-writer also tells some of her experiences related to the World War but seriously speaking, its not a bit interesting or something that can hold you back to complete this book in a sitting. It took me 3 days to complete because every time I picked it up, I wanted to keep it back in the half way as there’s nothing that attracted me towards it. Buy The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank from Flipkart.com

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ABHILASH RUHELA – VEERU

Someone Like You is the story of Niharika Singh. A girl who never thought that she is beautiful until she was in school. She didn’t exist for boys and other entities whom every girls want to get an attention from. Then her sister- Simran does a whole make-over which helps Niharika to realize that she is as beautiful as every another girl whom she feels is beautiful than her. She goes to a totally new city for her college. There she meets 3 different boys- Tanmay, Karthik and Akshat. Tanmay ends up being her best friend. Karthik ends up being a mysterious guy in her life about whom she always remain confused. Akshat turns out to be her sister- Simran’s ex because of which she finds weird to date him. Pia turns out to be her room-mate and lately, she also becomes her only friend in this new campus. Tanmay starts falling for Pia. Pia also starts liking him in spite of being in a long-distance relationship with Vishal. But, does the book ends with love sagas of all these characters? No!!! It has much more in it. At least 10 times more than what I have described above. I can not talk about them as I don’t want any spoilers in this review. Do read the book to enjoy one of the best works in this genre of fiction.

Coming to both the authors first, I must say that Durjoy Datta is finally changing his writing style with every book and delivering something which I always wanted from him rather than the same sex saga that he used to write. His last book “Till the Last Breath” turned out to be one of my favorites and with this one, he has just matured enough. I am just excited for his next book now. As I, myself, blamed him for over-excessive use of sex in his books, his last book didn’t have much of it and this one does not have the word itself, as per my memory. I am too happy to witness this change. And as usual the selection and choice of words that the writer implements in his writing is magical. Just for that, he remains to be my favorite. Coming to Nikita Singh, I didn’t like her previous works much but with this one, I can easily say that she has learned quite sooner. I hope she keeps this magic alive and write such character-based stories than sex-related ones. Both of you have already given that kind of book in bulk to us (:-)), now its time to give us such soulful books like “Someone Like You”.

I, generally, write the best scenes that I fall in love with while reading a book. But with this book, it’s hard for me to categorize some events than others and term only them as my favorites. Right from the first word till the last, I was intrigued in the story like anything. It’s good that people trusted this book and just on the pre-ordering basis, it entered the Bestseller’s chart at No. 3 below Amish’s Shiva Trilogy. Initially, the way Niharika gives her introduction is lovely. Even Simran is described lovingly. I fell in love with both the sisters initially itself. Then the entrance of boys in Niharika’s life is shown neatly without any illogical quotients as it normally happens with love stories. But this book is not just a love story. It is a purely character-based story where each person has a totally new personality, background, thoughts and approach towards life. How they end up being in a single plot is what makes a reader like me excited to turn pages.

Later, the hospital scene gave me thousands of goosebumps. The climax is as beautiful and balanced as the whole book is. The entrance of Pia in the book gives a push to the story in the first half. I.. I… I…. actually can’t point such incidents anymore. The whole book is perfect. The second half is something I never guessed that the intense level would be such. Someone has said it right- Don’t judge a book by its cover page. I would ask all of you to purchase it and keep it with yourself. Whenever you feel low, just pick this book up and you would lose all your tension and frustration. But this book also sends a message across that not everyone can be trusted without much experience and reason nor we should blame someone without knowing all the facts-hidden and obvious. We may never know the gray shades of some, blacks of some and whites of some. I don’t know if I should even rate this book but undoubtedly, this is better than most of the book that I have read. I give it 4.75/5. Yes. Believe me. Purchase it right now. And yes, the only drawback that I can point is, no humor-filled one liners.
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ABHILASH RUHELA – VEERU

3 Mistakes is a story of three boys where one wants to do big in business while other wants to do great in Cricket and the 3rd one wants to do anything else in life but not being a priest like his father. These 3 friends come together and starts a business by opening a Cricket shop. It does well and they start loving this journey of life. But then certain incidents take place and every thing starts getting difficult. Politics, religion, cricket, love etc enter their life and takes away all the fun and comfort. Book is full of emotional saga and you can not leave it once you start reading it. And when it’s book by India’s most favorite and entertaining author, you don’t need any review to read it, right? So go get it and read. It would be more fun, I think, if you will watch movie- Kai Po Che after reading the book from which it is been adapted. Because I loved watching 3 Idiots as I was done reading Five Point Someone by Chetan Bhagat yet again a week before that movie released.

Right from the first page to the last, various distinct ingredients are used to make this book an interesting read. Not a page can be termed as boring. As the book’s tag says that it’s about Business, Cricket and Religion, all three aspects come in the same order in the book. When it’s business, you also love the way they start a business with all the difficulties and grow soon. Then an accident in Gujarat and all goes. The way they try to revamp is again a story. The several events of Gujarat are portrayed very beautifully. Chetan Bhagat have carved them in the book and not just written. Calling the book a Fiction work, he has written all that he had to say about Gujarat. He being a part of the state during his IIM days has shown his experience of it in the book.

Later, Cricket enters the book and brings more interest. Mention of some real matches generates curiosity. I am sure boys will surely like the parts. Then a character teaching Cricket to a very young boy of 12 years old is another beautiful part of the book. When one fails to achieve something and starts nourishing someone else whom he finds just like himself in the field, the emotion is clearly felt. Kudos, Mr. Author. The entry of one character’s relative in the book ruins the perfect life of all. The romantic scene in a parallel world to the main plot is also an interesting read. When Chetan Bhagat writes romance as the secondary topic in his books, no one can even touch him in it. Even his love making scene makes us feel good about young romance while other authors write as if love is all about sex and being physical.

The climax yet again a perfect end. It’s very hard for an author to scribble real politic that involves religion. The way Chetan Bhagat has shown guts in portraying what views Hindu and Muslims had against each other in Gujarat is scary to read but somewhere everyone of us know that it’s truth and it still resides. This is the most gutsy attempt by Mr. CB. I will always admire him for this book if not for any else. This book is also filled with wonderful one-liners and humour elements. Typical Chetan Bhagat stuff, in short. I will be reading his 2 States too for the second time but when the movie based on it would be about to release just as I have done this time. 2 States’ adaptation has Arjun Kapoor and Alia Bhatt as lead pair. Let’s see what that movie is all about. But for now, I would like all of you to read The 3 Mistakes of my Life if you don’t want to miss one of the bests by Chetan Bhagat.
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ABHILASH RUHELA – VEERU

I finished this quick book in the matter of 3 hours. It is always fun to read a book of less than 200 pages if it has almost every aspect of story included in it that my eyes and mind searches for. Fortunately, this 196-pages book- “When The Signal Turns Red” published by Alchemy Publishers is a good book. The debutante author of this book is Jayanand Ukey who works for an IT company and is also a freelance journalist and blogger. He has a computer engineering degree from VESIT, Mumbai University. In a career spanning a decade, he has kept his hobby alive by writing three books. This book is his first published work. Jayanand lives in Mumbai with his family. As this book is seriously something that stands with other fiction books, I don’t understand as to why didn’t the author go with a better publisher. This book deserves one. The cover page of the book is beautiful and attractive. And its by none other than my favorite cover designer- Pinaki De.

Coming to the story (it’s better stated in the synopsis so why use my words? )-
A global ordeal
A couple in distress
The struggle to keep afloat
Prudent thinking in tumultuous times

Girish and Prajakta are in love. Very soon Girish will be joining the numero uno IT company of the country. He prepares himself by buying expensive clothes and other accessories he had always dreamed of. He and Prajakta have together planned to build on a good bank balance and then meet each others families to talk about marriage, probably after a year or two. Unexpectedly, the families get involved before Girish can join the IT company. Against all odds, the couple manages to convince their family and an engagement date is fixed. But destiny has other things in mind. A global catastrophe mars their plan which leads to the engagement getting annulled.

Will Girish find a way out of his predicament? Will he ultimately win Prajaktas hand or will he move on in life, learning to live without her?

Jayanand Ukey is himself married and hence the way he has described the whole situation on the same topic can be related. He has a good skill of projecting conversations in a story. I, generally, get bored by too much conversation in novels but the way author has written every conversation excited me rather than killing my interest from the novel. He has good narration skills. And the way every twist has been handled is why this book is in my Favorite List at last. Though the topic could have helped the author to dramatize many situations but he kept them realistic so that we can connect the story with ourselves. And he succeeds.

Love marriage is shown in a very good light. There is no segment when you would feel that author should have tried some other way to solve a particular mystery or twist. Everything is perfectly written. And the most beautiful thing is that the story is not been stretched or intentionally dragged. Other authors have also talked about the same plot in their books but they have written in 250-pages or more. Here, 196 is all that Jayanand Ukey has used. Yet he has talked about all that is needed to be talked in a book written on this topic. Kudos. Book starts at a high point. And the same zenith is retained till the last page of it. The initial pages itself creates the interest. Later on, when parents of Girish and Prajakta meets for the first time is also kept as a suspense and a heart-beating moment. The meeting itself is wonderful. Then the way Girish and Prajakta feels satisfied with their life is a beautiful segment.

Later on, the entrance of recession as a twist in the story is something that could happen with anyone’s life. Then the marriage being in a danger mode is powerfully described. The role of protagonists’ parents is the major reason why one would love reading the book. Specially the role of Mr. Chitre, Prajakta’s father. The entrance of Madan in the story creates a fury in us. It is then that I felt the book went little Bollywood-ish else everywhere it’s a story of an average Indian family. The climax yet is another beautiful way of how the book has been ended with. I would love to read more stories by Jayanand Ukey in future. And everyone who is excited about their marriage will find heaven in this book.

The drawback is that the book is been kept away from introducing any of the friends of both the protagonists. It could have added more flavours. The media articles on economy crisis is something I got bored while reading. It should have been avoided. And next problem that I have is with the Publisher. When other fiction books of more pages and popularity are available for just Rs. 100, is 175 a good number at which you are costing the book? Think and revise the cost.

In all, I give the book- 4/5. Go get it.
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ABHILASH RUHELA – VEERU

Finally, I am done reading “Uff Ye Emotions”- An Anthology published by Mahaveer Publishers. This is the first time when I have read an anthology in which various authors have contributed rather than just one. Before this, I have experienced the same while reading Chicken Soup series which has short stories on a basic theme from various different authors. But 206-pages anthology- Uff Ye Emotions has been a totally new concept in which every love story is of 5000 words each by 11 different authors. The good part about the book is that it has the names which are already famous among the category of people who are accustomed with Blogs on Internet portal. The free service by Bloggers are always appreciated as they come up with creative stuffs every week and entertain the masses. No one has to pay to read the stories and articles. They just need to click the blog link.

Vinit Bansal is the editor of the book who is already a famous author known for his only book “I Am Heartless” which has also been translated into Hindi with the name “Woh Chali Gayi” and recently, work has been started to translate it into Punjabi language too. Talking about Uff Ye Emotions, one thing for which Vinit Bansal should be applauded is the way he has promoted other 10 authors over him. I, being a part of this anthology, can easily say that he worked in the same manner as Aamir Khan worked in Taare Zameen Par. He let the other newbies do the main job and he kept himself as a supporting part of the venture. For this, I would seriously like to salute him. I have never seen such initiative in Fiction Industry of our country by anyone. I would love to work again with you, Vinit sir.

Coming to the book, I feel that the purity imbibed in each story can be associated with love. None of the story is out of the track or seem to be a wanna-be attempt. Every story has been tried with full passion and interest. Though, with some story it has worked while with some, it didn’t.

Starting with the first story- Love @ Platform by Vinit Bansal, the main excitement in the story starts when girl contributes in the boy’s dream but I didn’t want story to end the way it did.

The Soulmate by Anjit Sharma again starts from a bus stop in the same way as Vinit sir’s story began. The scenario when boy goes to girl’s house to ask for her hand is a very terrifying scene. The news articles which state that criminals die one after another is the high point of the story but once again I didn’t want climax to be such.

Then comes- A Date with Fate by Abhilash Ruhela about which I want to hear from all of you. I can’t review myself, right?

Priyanka Dey’s Reminiscences has amazing words at right places which makes every sentence beautiful. I loved reading all the sentences in the story but yet again, I banged my head after the climax.

Saurabh Arya’s Love in the Times of Turbulence’s present part is wonderful but the flashback didn’t have the kind of masala that I expect.

C. Suresh’s A Path of Thorns is the best story for me. It had the ignition that was missing in all the previous stories. Kudos, sir.

Love Undefined by Pankaj Mittal & Rachna Sheth is a very sweet and unique story. It’s very fresh that I have never ever read before. It is another booster in the book. Kudos to both of them.

Sanhita Baruah’s Happily Ever After does well when the surprise scene is been described and how the girl gets snubbed and the after-reaction.

Stephen Anthony K’s The Intercity Express is initially good but I lost the interest because of almost void interaction between the protagonists.

Himanshu Chhabra’s I Love You, I love You too is exactly what I expected from him. As he is young in age, he has drafted a story of his age itself. And he has perfectly written what he wanted to. A genuine attempt.

Drishti Dasgupta’s story- And Then…I fell in Love! is a good end to the book. Her language and narration is very good. Book ends on a good note.

Now, coming to the drawbacks- I have one problem with the selection of the stories. As the stories have been chosen through a contest, all the 10 stories should have been of different types. The first three story itself has the whole process at metro station, local train, bus stop etc. Later on, one story again shares it space at a Railway platform. This repetition of same kind of places and scenes did irritate me. Then, as I have regularly complained above- The climax of many stories has been kept kind of sad or incomplete which does not suit the theme- LOVE STORY. I believe that there are two types of Love Story- Happy and Sad but still….

Then, I have a personal grudge against the editor of the book. The index itself has the name of Anjit Sharma’s story’s title incorrect. Soulmate is written “Solulmate”. And then, after reading all the stories, I have found the most mistake being made in my story. I have almost found 4-6 mistakes that are done by editor’s side. I don’t know if the impartiality towards my story is intentional or it is some co-incidence but whatever it is, I am unhappy as my story is not been treated the way I wanted it to. I don’t know why I wasn’t sent the story for a proof-read after it was been edited for the last time. I recheck my Blog Post twice before posting it. It is obvious that I would react this way when my published work gets spoiled for the reason that I am most sensitive towards.

In the end, I would say that after completing the book you will surely feel that you were lost in a world full of love. I will give the attempt of this anthology 3.5/5 stars. You will remember some sentences in the book for all your life.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA – VEERU

The SYNOPSIS of the book says: MANU, a teenager, grows to be a dashing Indian Army Officer, CAPTAIN ABHIMANYU. Each day at Sainik School Rewa (a renowned boarding school), National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla and Indian Military Academy, Dehradun infuse in him a full of life attitude and amazing wit. But, was he equally confident and flamboyant as a child? To overcome his childhood fear of dealing with the fairer sex, he develops a science, CHICKOLOGY, with a set of well defined rules. “Chickology is a science that deals with all aspects of Chick behaviour, ways of attaining their propinquity leading to intimacy and also to drift apart, if need be.”
And ……… his heart skips a beat..many a times.
LAILA, a popular party chick of Goa.
DIMPLE, a 17 years old Girl Next Door.
AARAGYA, a high headed alumni of Air Hostess Academy, Dehradun.
Is he a confident flirt or a passionate lover?
Are Army cadets any different from other youngsters?
Are they stone hearted or humane?
Can you hold yourself back from falling in love with defiantly close to real life story of the chocolate cream soldier called CAPTAIN ABHIMANYU?

“I caught her young” could have been many times better than the way it has been written. I just didn’t get the exact concept of the book. The kind of biography and narration skills the author has, I was expecting a magic from him but unfortunately, I am been let down. I was expecting to know about the life of a soldier and how he struggles at the border yet has a heart of gold and love. I wanted to know how he meets his girl and treats her in a very different way as he has a big heart which is ready to give heart even to the nation. I wanted to know how he sacrifices one of his two lives for love. But what I got to read was the tale of a yet-another-college-boy kind of love story that I keep reading in every chick-lit that releases now and then. Even with chick-lit, magic can be written as I have reviewed in some of my previous book reviews but this one is just another romance fiction novel including Chickology.

Though there are some good parts that I would like to point out here- The initial pages is wonderful as author started on a good note by telling about a life of a soldier. Later, when Manu meets Dimple, that’s another sweet part of the book. Then both of them getting caught by their parents later on is another part that made me worry yet laugh the way they get caught. The climax is another sweet part which thankfully has not been ended by giving a sad ending and thus ruining the book more.

To my dismay, even the cover page of the book is not perfectly made. The structure of the soldier and the shadow of the girl coming out of his body is stretched because of bad pixels. Something has not worked for this book correctly. As per my knowledge, Mahaveer Publisher never let any of their book look such under-ordinary but I don’t know what happened with this one. Either it is been published in hurry or there has been some distortion in communication. I will give the book 2.5/5. It is for the target audience- 16-22 age group.
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Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA – VEERU

The synopsis of the book says: Do we you really know how much courage is required to listen to our own heart?
Meet Akash, an young engineer, who dreams of becoming a writer. But all his works meet with is rejection from publisher. Will he ever be rewarded for listening to his heart?
Smitten by wanderlust, adventurous Sandip does not care much about career, marriage or making a family. How will life treat him for listening to his heart?
Possessor of a charming personality, Chirag, has a deep perchant for women. But deep down the motherless Chirag is temibly lonely. What is in store for this vulnerable young man?
Maria Fernandez is a lonely and a less-than- looking young girl who firmly believes that possossing a tender heart is enough to make her world beautiful. Will ruthless life shatter her belief?
As their life got seamlessly inter-wined with many others they realized that Life is Always Aimless …. Unless You Love it.

Coming to the author, I would say Ratnadip Acharya is someone whom you can expect to write good philosophical books. The way he has handled the title of the book throughout his story is something that should be commended. Though I feel that much more could have been done with the book but whatever is been done is no less than a good book. I love reading such stuffs as it lets us know that some decisions are not on our choices but what life chooses for us. And it gives confidence and relief to lead the future life. I hope author keeps writing such work always as its better than any love story that are been written under the same Publication house with which he is been published.

The initial pages of the book are slow. It didn’t create any enthusiasm in me to carry forward but once when the book reached its medieval, the story started progressing. The trauma of the characters were beautifully scripted and made us feel the dilemma they are in. Some parts of the book such as favoring the old woman, the story of a poor boy in the pre-climax of the book etc. are the USPs of the book. Because such parts did make me feel about how one can lead life as. The character of Maria shows how one knows that he/she cannot achieve what he/she wants to but still keeps all the hope alive. Her character shows the confidence that one needs to have in spite of disbelief. Akash’s character shows as to how one needs to keep trying in spite of rejection and failure. Chirag’s character tells the pain one has when he is inexperienced with the love of a mother. And in quest to that, the way he leads his life is another thought-provoking part. Sandip’s character, unfortunately, didn’t make me much happy. All credit goes to the character of Maria.

As I said, the drawback of the book is its slow start and lack of humour. Even when the book is written on a serious topic, author should have inserted some humour. He kept the book too focused on the subject. Though the book is lovable in some parts of it but some parts are speed breaker to the story. In a book of 216 pages, I don’t expect such breakers. Else, I would say that the book is based on characters. I will not say that it is a very good book but I won’t even say that miss it. You can give it a chance. Hence, 3/5 ratings. I would love to read more philosophical works by Ratnadip Acharya.
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Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA – VEERU

Some times, time does not favour and you get stuck in reading a book that could have got completed in just 3-4 hours. This book was bought for my friend to gift it to her on Birth day but later I decided to keep it for myself. “The Secret Wish List”- A Book of 260 pages published by “Westland Publishers”. The authoress Preeti Shenoy who has written yet another amazing story needs no introduction. But there’s something very funny and amusing about her journey as a writer is the shuffling of Publishers every time she comes up with a new book. Her first book was with Srishti Publications, then with Random House India and finally, this one with Westland Publication. Haha!

Coming to the story of “The Secret Wish List”- At sixteen, Diksha like any girl her age, finds her life revolving around school, boys and endless hours of fun with her best friend. But one day, all that changes. What starts as an innocent crush explodes into something far beyond her control. Eighteen years later, she finds herself at the crossroads of life. Urged by a twist of events, a wish list is born. But can a wish list help her piece back her life together? Will she succumb to the tangled mess of an extramarital relationship? The Secret Wish List is a captivating, engrossing, racy tale about following your heart, chasing your dreams and the meaning of friendship. To know more, read the book.

Coming to the author, there’s no doubt that Preeti Shenoy is the best female author in the genre in which she writes. Every time she drafts a story, it comes up with a message and lots of learning. A girl/married woman reading it will always find a way out of her problems and a boy/husband reading it will always learn to respect women. And she does it with an entertaining manner rather than keeping the story too intense or up-to-the-point. She knows what to put where in the book which directly touches the heart of the readers. As the authoress herself is a married woman, she understands the plight of married women and hence, they would love reading her books more than anyone else. But what’s interesting is that even youths like me loves reading her book. It does not have any age barrier. But I would like to demand Preeti Shenoy to write a happy married life of a woman in her next book as she is getting stereotyped as “one who writes only depressing tales of married women”.

Coming to the good parts of book according to me- Initially, when the book begins, the way she keeps on shuffling between both the periods of story is too interesting. The school life of Diksha isn’t kept too cheesy like other authors. Even that’s interesting to read. Then her equation with Sandeep, her husband is described perfectly. I was able to imagine each and every sequence as it seems to be real and not a single part seems to be filmy and exaggerated. Her son, Abhay is my favorite character in the book. I just loved reading his conversations with his parents. I want my kid to be like him. The scene when she meets Vibha and the concept of Wish List is revealed in the book is a perfect part. Even I felt that there should be something that every married person should make to keep himself/herself aspiring and motivated. And once her childhood friends come back in her life, the real fun in the story starts. As we sympathize with the protagonist, we start loving the way she breaks all the confinements and does what she always wants to.

All the moments in the book is worth appraising. But I won’t talk about them as many Spoilers might come out and a Review looks nice when its short. The only problem that I find is the one I mentioned above- Too depressing story. Hence, I would ask authoress to please write something cheery next time. I would love to read an opposite version from you. I would rate- 4/5. Yes, get the book. And in the end, Cover Designer of this book should be felicitated with something special. What an incredible work by him/her.
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Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA – VEERU