She (Ekla chalo re) book review by Jayshree Sridhar.

First of all I would like to appreciate the writers and the publishing house who are doing great with the promotion of this book and thank them for asking me to review this book. A few days ago I received a mail from Amrita foundation asking me to review this book, it truly was an honor since this is the first time I was requested for a review.

Now coming to the book, She (Ekla chalo re) is a beautiful short story that describes from gender stereotypes to fitting in a society pressure in the most basic and beautiful way.

The book (more like a booklet) comprises of around 50 pages and explains biggest of issues in our country in shortest of words. The writing is beautiful and though the subject is controversial the narration is not filled with angst and sorrow. It is a very light read but gives a very strong message. I personally loved the ending. Santhosh Avvannavar (the writer) is brilliant in storytelling and I hope to read more works by him in the future. I again appreciate the publishing house for releasing this book and hope to see this story flourish and reach a larger audience.

If any Tumblrian can see this post, I'd ask each and every one of them to read this book because all the lgbt community supporters and gender equality supporters in tumblr would be so happy to find out a success story in the issue.

If I had to explain my reaction to

this book in one gif, it would be this.

WOW!

I'd like to give this book a five star rating, hands down. Great going guys. Keep up the work!

NOT A VIRGIN…

“So, you are a…um…virgin, right?” he asked. The question hung on air for quite a while. This was not his first question. Pleasantries were exchanged of course. Compliment on clothes to discussion on what to order, everything did happen before the real conversation started. Also, he did take a long pause before placing the question.

It didn’t come as a shock though. I did expect the question. It’s the question asked to almost every woman these days, if not by the suitor, then the boyfriend, or a distant aunt, or a neighbor. Why would I be an exception?

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…I just…” he started to fumble in fear because the silence lasted too long.

“No, that’s okay. It’s fine to get your queries cleared. Well…I was raped. If that makes me a non-virgin or whatever they call it, then yes. I’m not a virgin.” There was no pause in my answer, neither was a speck of hesitation.

He choked on his drink at the mention of ‘rape’ but somehow, I expected that too. “I’m sorry, did you say that you were raped?” he asked.

“You heard it right, I was raped. A few hundred times.” I was quite calm but his eyes didn’t stopped bloating big.

“A few hundred times?! Are you kidding me? You would have been dead by now.” he said horrified.

I studied his face for a second. “So, you’re telling me you were never raped…not even once? No sexual abuse?” It was my turn to be surprised.

“NO! No, I was never raped, not once. No Sexual Abuse! But you said a few hundred… what on earth did you mean?”

I paused for a while. “Funny. I thought nobody could escape it. I couldn’t. Not once. I was raped every time I travelled in bus at night, I was abused every time I waited for a bus to arrive, I was raped by my colleagues a few times, my boss a few times, that goon at the end of the street, that unknown number who’d call me without fail at least once in a day, that neighbor’s husband, nobody failed to rip my clothes off me. And I could do nothing about it. I tried I promise but it all went vain.” He probably still could not understand what I conveyed, but he listened, in horror though.

“I couldn’t tell anyone, because there was no proof. I didn’t have any proof on by body to show that I was raped because it didn’t happen physically. They did rip my clothes off, not physically. They did touch my naked body, not physically. They did pin me to the floor and raped me until I bled out, not PHYSICALLY but it doesn’t mean it did-not-hurt physically. It did hurt. It hurt me mentally so much that the knife in my hand felt like it could lead me to a permanent peace, it felt like falling off a cliff would be so relaxing, invisibility felt like a bliss and my own skin like a curse. Only, I couldn’t tell anyone because there was no proof, no evidence.” I stared blankly into nowhere, recapturing every tear I shed for those abuses on me. It almost felt like my tear ducts gave up a long time ago. His horror did fade, but attention didn’t.

I took a deep breath, and shooting a broad smile, I said, “Nobody was ever able to touch me physically, when you run a virginity test on me, I will be a virgin, physically. But sorry, I can’t say the same thing about my mind, because my purity is destroyed there. And that my friend is the answer to your question.”

It was all silence again, I didn’t expect him to speak. He slowly got up and started to leave when I said, “You want to marry a virgin right? I’m sorry but there aren’t any left. Not a young woman, not a young man, not a girl, not a boy, a kid, an old woman, Nobody is a virgin anymore, if not in their own mind, definitely in that rapist’s mind. They’re NOT a virgin anymore. All you can do is just try to protect your wife from being raped again. And stay by her side, if she is abused again. THAT is why she is marrying you. That is all a woman expects of you.” I took my bag and walked out of that restaurant not looking back once. Somehow an unusual happiness flowed through me which said, ‘Now they know…’

This story that I wrote was published long ago in The Daily Mint.com once, But I thought I could share it with my readers, Please let me know what you think of it. I'll be post more soon...I guess!

THE QUEST FOR NOTHING! BY ANURAG ANAND

GUEST REVIEW BY VISHWAS ANAND

When you're really up to something and enjoy it thoroughly, you carry on doing it, irrespective of the time you've spent on it, or the exertion or exhaustion you experience by doing it. It might not be exhaustion after all since you're enjoying it. I had already finished one novel that day (All Yours, Stranger by Novoneel Chakraborty, which is an excellent piece of work) when I stumbled upon this book and took it up as a challenge(or maybe it was more of an exercise) to complete it that day itself, and guess what, I succeeded.

            The Quest for Nothing! is a short novel by Anurag Anand giving an insight into the cut throats of the ambitious corporate world. The book follows a non-linear narrative style, a technique used in super successful movies like Memento and 12 Monkeys, and also in some novels, and moves in three timelines.

           The first is the time when Akash, a student of IBA business school is about to complete his MBA and is looking for a job in an economic depression hit world. The second is immediately after his marriage with the love of his life, Deepali, and the third is a few years after his marriage, when he is bored and frustrated by the institution called marriage and also his job, and takes up a new job in a different city.

Akash's struggles as a husband, as an employee in this rat race competitive world, and as a human who faces his life's biggest corporate scandal and how he escapes it is showcased in the story. It is an easy and light read, with a simple story. The author himself is from a corporate background, a Marketing Professional with an MNC Bank, which reflects in his work as he gives deep insight into the functionality of the corporate corridors. It has been praised by many famous personalities.

"The book is very special."-Pritish Nandy

"I was surprised at why I hadn't finished it earlier."-Gul Panag

The criticism-

The ups-

1. A light read with a simple story. You don't have to stress your brain cells a lot.

2. Gives a deep understanding of the corporate universe, and the toll it can have on you.

3. The climax is decent.

4. I especially like the non-linear storytelling technique of the author. It is a different and difficult style to write in and the author has managed successfully.

5. The number of characters is less, which avoids unnecessary complications.

The downs-

1. The plot is too simple, which sometimes turns boring. The climax is one saving grace.

2. A little bit of unnecessary detailing, removing which could have further reduced the length of the book.

The score:

Vishwas Anand is a philosophy and nature enthusiast, who believes reading to be a need and shares his experience about all the books he read in his main blog BOOKRITIQUE
You can read his words here:
www.vishwasanand.com

Or you can contact him through these mediums!

Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/vishwas.anand.583

Google+- https://plus.google.com/+VishwasAnand3105

Twitter- https://twitter.com/vishwas_va

ALL YOURS STRANGER Book Review

ALL YOURS STRANGER got me like…ALL YOURS WRITER!! JUST GIVE ME THE GODDAMN NEXT BOOK.

Has it ever occurred to you while reading a series of bad books you wondered if you lost interest in the idea of reading? Or maybe, Books now are just genuinely bad...? Well quite recently I have been going through that phase, and quite frankly I was very much on the verge of giving up on the upcoming Indian  fiction writers.

While my  craving for Indian fiction just turned out to be pure starvation because of all the poorly written novels, comes around the Stranger trilogy by Novoneel Chakraborthy. And hopes restored. Having read, one of his previous book, 'A thing beyond forever' I was sure to read something unexpected but boy oh boy was this a treat!

Mistake on my behalf I happened to pick the second book of trilogy first although even if I haven't read the book, there is no confusion or lack of incomplete feeling with the reading. The writer clearly made sure, the readers understood everything, most importantly without being repetitive.

All yours stranger is one epic romance thriller novel that will keep you hooked until the very end and once it ends, the wait for the next book is sure to turn you into a lunatic. There wasn't one tad bit of cliché, not one ounce of melodrama but just to the point story that keeps shooting mysteries at your face and you keep going like…

The turn of events, the way the mysteries in the life of Rivannah unfolds, the way stranger interacts with her, the unveiling of parts of the mystery and the more mysteries arising from it just makes you even more desperate to know the reality behind all the shadows. Unlike my other reviews I genuinely do not want to give any brief on the storyline as that is exactly what readers would call major spoilers and I don't want to do that.

Excellent screenplay, compelling storyline and subtle darkness in the current relationship scenario in India  all put together, All Yours Stranger is a must read and a great treat for the readers, of course after you finish reading the first book.

Now I'm off to undo my mistake by getting back to the first of trilogy while you better start with the first book, to enjoy this mystery ride authentically.

Needless to say the book truly deserves a five star rating and a special place in your bookshelf.

THE SECRET WISH LIST Book Review

THE SECRET WISH LIST now includes death due to boredom and time travel to the time when facebook didn't exist. Guess what? It did happen when I read this book.

Preeti Shenoy managed to pick one of the most ignored topic in Indian society, the suppression an indian housewife goes through, which although is quite appreciated, is also a story that is already known to everyone.

The draggy narration of how the protagonist's husband uses as housemaid and sex toy as if is not painful enough, it is repeated in every tenth page making sure the readers still continue to hate him.

We get it miss, you are a timid housewife raising a child and your husband is a jackass and?

So the story goes like one day Diksha, the protagonist when goes to meet her cousin Vibha, recently widowed, comes up with a secret wish list of her own due to all the pushing from Vibha. Diksha's wish list includes a lot of things like learning salsa, snorkeling, getting drunk and sex with another guy and stuff like that. Now that an annoying cousin that Vibha is, although is willing to help her tick off everything, keeps reminding her that except for the last wish, she can have everything, ALL THE TIME.

Bad ass that Diksha is, manages to tick off all the things in her wish list with just a gallon of drama from her husband added in between. Yes, even the sex part. And quite the happy ending there was, she manages to get away with her affair guy Ankit, give a long speech to her family about how they ruined her life and salutes her husband with middle finger and takes off with her kid.

Now questions from all the women across the world with jerk husbands, We didn't have high school affair and nobody is taking us anymore, any suggestion for us and our marriage?No? OKAY.

FUNNIEST PART OF THE STORY: Now there is a mention of social networking site where people register about their education and jobs and meet people from the same places if you lost contact with them, now if you think this is Facebook, gotcha buddy, you are wrong!! This site has the lamest name and quite creepy in some sense 'Blast From The Past'. The writer managed to keep even the name draggy enough to bore you to sleep. I really wonder if anybody wants any kind of blast from the past anymore.

Person: HEYYYYYY!!!! Remember we did our 3^rd grade together, I've been searching for you all over. How are you??? Where have you been???

Me: *blocked* You cannot send message to this person anymore.

So the narration is repetitive, dialogues are lame and downright bland, the depth in the storytelling that should make the readers dwell inside the story made us dwell into sleeping.

I would like to give two stars to this book, one for the topic raised and one for the representation of a mother in law, completely opposite to the stereotypical ones.   

Letter from my love

I could start feeling the perspiration in my hand as I dialed his number for the fifth time and disconnected again. Without thinking any more I dialed his number again and just as expected, he picked the call within the second ring. 

“So how did it go?” was his hello.

“Well, if you minus the drama, the yelling and screaming, I would say pretty much okay.”

He didn't say anything to that, and I had nothing to offer either.

“We had expected this would happen.” I say after the silence that seemed to last for eternity.

“Yeah, of course we did. So what do they want?” he asked partially frustrated and partially worried.

“Doesn't matter”

“It does, what is it?”

“There's absolute ridiculousness and black-mailing. Nothing important.”

“Would you just give me the exact words?” he almost shouted.

“They want me to stay, okay? They want me to stay with them, marry someone and they seem pretty sure I will find love again. How about that?”

There was silence again and this time I had no intention of letting it stay any longer.

“Apparently I'm all they have. Well you won't disagree. What say, sweetheart? Shall I stay? Won't that be just absolutely great?” I shot back at him sarcastically, a reaction triggered by the extreme pressure life was putting me under.

“What do you expect me to say then?” he yelled again.

“You have said enough and I did as much I could have. Now, we go by my plan. And I need no argument from you. Is that clear?”

“Yes. Okay.” he said slowly.

“I'll see you at office on Monday, keep your passports ready.”

“Okay.”

“Hey, I love you”

“I love you too”

                                                                    ***

I didn't call him since Saturday night and he didn't try either. We both needed that little time to process what we were going through and for what we were going to do. I picked up the bottle of wine I had saved up for a special occasion and rushed to office. Its been a long time we had a good meal together.  Maybe we'll drive to his favorite dhaba for the meal. 

I hurriedly walked into my cabin and dumped my bag on the chair and was about to leave for his cabin when I saw a wine bottle already on my table. It was holding a green paper beneath it.

Hi Ashwin,

I truly don't know how to start but an apology would seem appropriate. I'm really sorry for not listening to you once again and this time I can only hope that you would forgive me some day. Before you read any further, I just want you to remember that I have loved you beyond anything ever and letting go of you is the most painful thing I have done so far in my life.

I took a transfer to Amsterdam. I had been discussing with our CEO about this since a while. I took an early morning flight today. I'm sure you could take the next flight and reach here. Only I don't want you to. They're your parents, Ashwin. They were there everytime we needed them. I don't think you should deny them the one time they need you. I'm not saying this because I lost my family, I just know you won't be able to take it if you had to lose them too. No matter how hard you try, I know you cannot stop caring about them.

So, I'm leaving you here to do that job and do it right. Now don't you think I'm asking you to marry a woman, have kids and spend your life without love. I will always be waiting for you. But just come on the day when your parents understand what you really love and are truly happy to see you with me. Until then, please don't stop fighting and I promise I won't stop waiting. 

Here's me hoping that someday I would wake up beside you in a land where our dear ones accept us just the way we are, here's me hoping a forever with you, here's me hoping for you to come take me back home soon, here's me hoping you'd forgive me sometime.

With love and longing,

Yashwant

                                                                           ***

3 years later...

"Sir, whom should I say is here to see him?" The receptionist asked holding the phone line.

"Ashwin Sagar. He said he would be expecting me." 

AFTER ALL THIS TIME Book Review

So, with that title if you are thinking you'd find a love story very near and dear to that of Severus Snape and Lily, say hello to disappointment. Although you can find a one paragraph reference to it. YAY!

After writing interesting page turner books like, The Promise, If its not forever...it's not love and Someone like you, Nikita Singh brings you a successful drag story of a confused soul suffering from HIV who doesn't decide till the very end of the book what to do about the disease or the rest of the time she has to live. Somehow the title absolutely fits in with the plot, After all this time...would you just decide what you have to do???

Thankfully the answers to all our, “what-happens-in-the-end” questions are answered in the end but trust me you don't need to go through the whole book for that!

Interesting fact, this book is also a love story! But no, don't you get back to the idea of Snape and Lily again! I told you its not them.

Remember that time the guy you friend-zoned creeped you out with his love for you so much so that you ran away to a different country? Well meet Shourya, the hero of the story who cannot get over any of the women he has ever been with and move on with his life. He literally creeps them out very much until all of them give up and come back to him. Now that he has all of them in his pocket he gets to choose and creepy that he is, chooses the first girl, Lavanya the protagonist, even though that woman is an annoyingly crying mess.

The problem with the book is that it is irritably draggy, nose-cringing cliche and bland for the most part of the story, though it is expected to be soul-crushingly emotional. 

After all this time could have made a beautiful short story of 2 pages unfortunately extended to two hundred pages.

I would give this book one star clearly just to show the level of disappointment.