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There are some good books and then there are amazing books which stay to haunt you. Demons in My Mind is one such book.  About the Author and the Book Aashish Gupta is the bold author of the book. Why Bold? This is such a heavy book, not by volume but by theme. Hats off to him for handling the story of 'The Three Monk' in a way one might not expect. The story starts with the ailing Dakshesh who is left under a tree by the villagers as he wants to meet the three Monks before he breathes his last. He does meet them and each of them tells their story. Interestingly each of the monk was a criminal, performing the most hideous of crimes. I was so much into the book that I lived each of the monk's lives and also died the way some characters died. There was a point of time where I hated the men in the story and wanted to throw away the book. But then, that's when you get a surprise. I couldn't stop reading and continued. The book does touch upon the point

Book : Undelivered Letters Author :  J Alchem Rating : 4/5 Story and characters: Framework of the story is a relatable one, where a postman Aron and his wife discover letters not delivered for the past 20 years. Aron feels guilty but is determined to set things right and goes in search of the people. Three different stories and each of them a gem! The characters stay with you for long. I fell in love with each of them. Kudos to the Author for treating us with such wonderful stories. Go grab this book! I read the Kindle version...you can do the same.

Author :  J Alchem Time you spend with this gem :1hr Rating : 3.5/5 Book and the story: Two short stories, each with a twist. Our young author knows the art of storytelling. He keeps you hooked. You laugh and cry with the characters and you feel their pain. But what stands apart is the twist at the end. It's truly an art to write a short story without losing the essence. Congratulations J Alchem, you do that nicely. Read it on the go... Search the Kindle copy and have fun!

What attracted me to the book? Firstly, a strong female character and secondly an uncommon one! Many of us have just heard of the Vedas, how many actually get into the details of who is who? These authors and books are the gateway for us to a different world.  I have read Abhaya by the same author, which again has a strong female protagonist. As an avid reader and a reviewer, this book was definitely in my hit list. Book Cover and the Story Vishpala from Rigveda is a warrior and the first lady with iron legs (artifical limbs). The cover art by Anirudh Sainath depicts both beautifully. The story, as has been described by the author and by all the reviewers is about Vishpala from Rig Veda. She has been given a name Avishi. The story starts with a young Avishi getting separated from her father. As the story progresses, one gets to visit Naimisha Aranya (Jungles of Naimisha), Ashtagani and Vrishabhavati. The Samiti, where the wise ones sit and discuss is depicted in a way

Authors – Anil Chawla and Debashis Ghosh My review should have lot many Hashtags, the way the new generation does to emphasize their feelings. The first one being #Proud – Coz both the authors are Pillar of one of the IT giants and I am a part of the same Organization. As we move, I will have more of these tags. Authors, Book Title and Expectation What do you expect from two people who spent years in the industry, who know the Principles behind it and who also have been pivotal in establishing and realizing some of the Principles? Obviously, a Non-Fiction with loads of Jargons and Gyan! What I assumed was translation of a set of the secret messages from Mahabharata for the techies. But...Tada…We have a fiction from two of the best brains in town! So, first battle won. They did surprise the reader. #BeSurprised  The Story It is a story of five friends and their journey in life and how each of them lives in a parallel world called the ‘Corporate Life’.

Four friends sitting at a pub with beer mugs. What conversation do you expect? "Spiritual awakening under the influence of Spirit"I say! Let's call them F1, F2, F3 and F4. Two pegs down and the conversation begins. F1 : "Yaar enough of this life. Same work day in and day out". F2: "True Dost, this work is killing me personally and professionally". F3 with a sad face: "Me and my wife hardly talk." F4 with a determined face: "Why do we run behind money? I think we should leave all this and start living our lives." All of them agree and toast "Cheers! to a new life". It's a cue to the bartender to fill the mugs. Then our friends start the real conversation. Their plans vary from starting their own venture to travelling. Trip plans spanning from the Himalayas for a peaceful life to Haridwar for freeing oneself of sins. From Leh Ladakh to Mount Abu to Kanyakumari.  They discussed their everyday r

This would be the first Book of Poetries that I review and as part of this I have learnt a lot. It was not easy for me,primarily due to the fact that I’m more of a story person and next I have minimal understanding of world of poetries. But this young author, Neel Preet who is hardly twenty two, made this journey smooth. It's interesting to see how the focus towards short stories and poetries is back! India has some of the best poets and the next generation is nurturing this passion. The Title: The Book has an interesting Title 'Voice From East'. I had many questions to Neel, one of them was why this title. The way he answered showed his maturity and his awareness. The Author has beautifully used the word 'East' to represent that the book belongs to Asia; that the literary work is by an Asian or probably an Indian, as India is referred to as Eastern Cultured Nation. Full marks for the thought itself!! Theme/Concept: Of course Poetries... Th

Story telling is an art and Sudha Murty is a master of that art. For an aspiring author like me, who at times has big dreams and is tempted to use complicated words to impress others, her writing style is an eye opener. when you read the story, it is as if the words have flown effortlessly from the author's heart and mind. To tell the truth, if I write reviews for authors like her or Ruskin Bond, it would always be related to how I was taken back to my childhood days and how many of the incidents mentioned by them actually happened with me. In any case, let me go ahead with my thoughts. Book, Title and the Cover As the title says, it is definitely a story set in India. The cover page has a small girl with round eyes and a beautiful smile. You can actually feel her excitement with the background of an old temple. Hat's off to Priyankar Gupta for the illustration. The Plot Our author first sets a context on why she thought about the story. You can feel her love

How could you do all these injustice to us? 1. You showed us how shooting in India(Kerala and Andra Pradesh) can be done beautifully and technology can be used to its best!(except for 25 days in Bulgaria). (and we had assumed that nothing could surpass Avatar). 2.Be such a good story teller- and pause for almost 2 years before showing the world 'Why Kattappa killed Baahubali'?(probably the most searched question in the last 2 years). 3. Create characters so real- who remain with us even after the movie ends? Be it Amarendra Baahubali or Kattappa or Raajmata or Bhallal and his father or Avantika or Devasena (my personal favorite). 4. Dubbing in Hindi - (I leave out other languages). when we have a plethora of Dubbed movies, with pathetic dialog and songs..you came up with impeccable dialog-- Why? Who asked you to deviate from the set standards(read it as low std). 5. One scene and we thought you were getting over ambitious and would fail. But NO...that scene and

It gives me immense pleasure to write the Book Review for my friend Dr. Gagan Syal (Dr. G). I have known him for many years – first as my mother’s student, then as my husband’s friend and now as an upcoming author. Kudos to you Dost!! Coming back to the Book Review Book Title – Indian Curry with German Beer Sounds pretty interesting! It’s like the Fusion which we all are trending towards (Vidya Vox singing ‘Shape of you’ with ‘Ae Kabira’). Look at the title...Catch a glimpse of the ‘confused’ character on the cover page..one would feel an instant connect with the simple character. Theme/Concept – Travel Guide – cum- Experience Guide – Cum- Humor- Cum- Dr.G’s Advice. The Book gives you a complete view of what could NOT go right to what’s beautiful about the complete experience! I could totally relate to the language chaos; the mess ups and misunderstandings. Dr.G (as our friend calls himself) sums up his experience right from his Post Graduation Days to his work

A new Indian Author with a new book. Promos on FB looked promising. When I accepted to an honest review of the book, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Once I completed reading it, I had just one word. ..Different!! Neelabh Pratap Singh holds a Promise. It’s good to see authors and that too new ones opting for a strong and different genre. Otherwise, the market is filled with the light-hearted romance. I will use my standard attributes to judge the book. Book’s Title – ‘The Resurrection of Evil’, the title is what attracted me. Translating to ‘coming back to life after the death of Evil’. How and why? One can make out that the book is a thriller. The Cover is equally interesting. The Theme/Concept – One can draw parallels with or see streaks of inspiration from the likes of Christopher C Doyle, Dan Brown. A lot of mythology mixed with events in the current world. One will meet many mysterious characters. An antique artefact goes missing and how the events unfold. As the stor

The below poetry is an imaginary conversation between a lady and the children for whom she has been waiting for many years to be born. I have tried putting myself into the role of a yearning mother and the souls yet to born. I asked her, with tears in my eyes, I asked him , with pain in my heart. Are you not able to hear me? Don't you know it's for you that my heart beats? I have been waiting for long, To hold you in my arms. To feel you, To look into eyes full of charm. Can't you feel my love? Can't you hear my call? I want to share my love, O Beautiful Souls.. And then.. I heard them. Beautiful feeble voices. Mother...they said in unison, We need to know before we make a choice. I was elated... Finally my babies heard me. I said , yes my children. Ask me anything, whatever it may be... Mother, is the world safe? How will you save us after our birth, From the heavy pollution? Is the air good for us to breath

It is never easy to write a book review. But in this case it's more difficult, coz it's not a single author or genre. It's not just a book- it's a platform that I intend to review about. I'm talking of Write India Stories!  The journey began with 'Write India Initiative' announced by TOI, which became a huge platform for budding authors. Let me try to put my review in words ( words are not just enough) The Concept : 11 mentors were roped in. These being the famous ones in book circle. Each of them had written a passage of a story, which needed to be used by the author as it is. The Mentors : Interesting group of mentors and more crazy and imaginative were the passages shared. I just can't stop myself from naming the mentors who were/are an integral part of this TOI initiative. Amish, Chetan Bhagat, Ashwin Sanghi, Ravi Subramanian, Preeti Shenoy, Tuhin A Sinha, Ravinder Singh, Durjoy Dutta, Madhuri Banerjee, Jaishree Misra and Anita Nair. M

Guru- the one who imparts knowledge Shishya - the one who acquires knowledge Parampara-lineage I recently observed a student talking about his teacher in metro. He admired the teachers dressing sense but not the way he taught. Some remarks were not of tolerable nature. This made me go back to what teaching means. This tradition of Guru-Shishya is deep rooted in Sikhism, Hinduism,Buddhism and Jainism. There is a school of thought which says that everyone needs a Guru, there is another school of thought which says that this Guru can be one-self , when one achieves 'self-realization'. It is based on this, the good old education system was set up- Gurukula (Guru-Teacher, Kula-extended Family). Students , irrespective of their social status were to stay with the teacher, as a part of family. It was up to the teacher on how he wanted to teach his students. Through tasks or stories or even household chores. Parents knew that they were not supposed to interfere by any means,

I love reading books and watching movies. But when it comes to writing reviews, I would prefer writing for a book rather than for a movie. My first movie review was for Tamasha. I just loved it. And why? Coz I could relate to it and not just that, but the movie was made 'intelligently' for the 'intelligents'. ( I know I'm sounding rude) Similarly, in case of Uttama Villian, I found the movie quite different. Different is the word! Kamal Hassan plays the central character. For those who do not know, Kamal Hassan makes and acts in difficult movies having a deeper meaning. Anbe Saivam, Dashavataram are few. Coming back to Uttama Villian. What's so good? 1. Story telling: story is told in good old manner. Balachandar Sir is one of the best story teller and he is a part of this movie. It's a sheer pleasure to watch Indian classic come alive. 2. Ambu Paatu and Thaiyyam: Ambu( Bow) Paatu(Song) is a folk way of telling story in Tamil Nadu and Thaiyya