Book Name: Not Totally Unbelievable
Author: Vibhuti Bhandarkar- Vibhuti Bhandarkar was born and brought up in Mumbai, India. A graphic designer and copywriter by profession, Vibhuti is a passionate and prolific writer. She discovered blogging in 2006 and found it to be a fantastic tool for honing her creative writing skills. A doting mother to an extremely naughty two-year old son, Vibhuti has not let go off her pen and keeps her MoJo intact. Numerous accolades and awards from fellow bloggers and writers from around the world, has strengthened Vibhuti-s belief in her pen. -Not Totally Unbelievable- will be her first published collection of fiction short stories book for young adults. She is currently working on a novella.
Book is a collection 10 stories. Every character is different and unique. All the stories have different outlook. The locations and backgrounds on which the stories are based are different from one another. I would compliment Vibhuti Bhandarkar for this. But, not even a single story touched my heart. She is a blogger and she started her journey through this but I have seen many bloggers posting much better stories than this one. And, I also feel that the cost of the book is extremely high in comparison to its quality and content. For 10 short stories, who pays 95 rs? Publishing house should see this. I don't have anything more to speak on this. Totally Disappointed. Sorry.
Thanks.
ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU
In Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, I didn't found anything special while watching the movie but as soon as the movie ended, it did something to me. I was lost in the movie for a month and some scenes and the message delivered by the movie still knocks me. There are some works which doesn't seem wonderful when you actually experience them, but when they are gone, you begin thinking about the effect that the work has left on you. Last night, I completed Chandraprakash Mohata's "The Dev-D Syndrome... Bringing emotional attyachaar to a halt". It is the second book of the author after his bestselling debut novel- Patyala Down De Throat. Chandraprakash Mohata is a young author and entrepreneur based at Ahmedabad, India. Having graduated from EDI (Entrepreneurship development institute of India) Chandraprakash Mohata works as an entrepreneur with Mohata Textile Mills. A diehard romantic poet and a prolific blogger his interests are as multifarious as the author himself. A successful business did not stop him from running an editorial group, MATESZ, to support his flair for writing. So, coming back to his book, while reading The Dev-D Syndrome, I felt it nice but I wasn't finding anything special in it until the climax came and as soon as I finished the book, my mind started brainstorming about the end of the story. It made me learn so much. Everything was said in climax. The whole book had a meaning which is defined very intellectually in the climax. I applaud Chandraprakash Mohata for this.
Let's talk about the story first, Dev has found a very good friend in Sid. He has finally realized that he can do anything for Sid and he can go till any level for the friendship he had with him. Sid opined his affection towards Tehzeeb to Dev. Now, Dev starts trying to make Tehzeeb attract towards Sid too. He wants Sid to be happy all his life and he knows that without Tehzeeb in his life, Sid can never be happy at all. But, the life plays according to it and not according to the protagonist Dev. Tehzeeb said to Dev that I know what are you trying to do and let me tell you I have no feeling for Sid. Dev and Tehzeeb starts bonding nicely. The developing stage of the feeling of love between both of them was visible to everyone around them. Seeing this, Sid gets addicted to smoking. And this is just the first half of the book, for the second-half which delivers an effective and inspiring message, go get the book and read it in a go. :-)
Coming to the review, as I have said in starting, the book effects you once you finish it and not while you are reading it. TDDS is an easy book to read with nice narration and you'll experience an unique style of writing by Mr. Mohata. The craze of the story begins from the Prologue section itself. You want to know about how a cool boy like Sid gets laid into hospital. You want to know what went wrong between friends like Sid and Dev. You start loving Tehzeeb as she is defined so real in the book. The first half of the book is very entertaining while the second half has many twists in the tale so I may not call it entertaining but it is confusing on your part as you can't think about what will be the next. But in the end, when the book finishes, you will close the book, keep it aside and you will sit still for next 15 minutes thinking about what can happen if there's a feeling of possession for anything in life. Mr. Mohata has delivered a very strong message through this book that obsession and possessiveness for anything in this world may lead you to a place where you will cry your heart out for committing those crimes in your past. The obsession of a girl, a friend, drugs or SMSing or anything can be dangerous for you. It can change your life because you start behaving carelessly towards other aspects of life.
Book is wonderful as I have said above but there are some drawbacks too(not much). The characters haven't got a proper description in the book except Dev, Sid and Tehzeeb. The characters of Sheena and Riteish has nothing to do with the progress of the story. Then why did the author included them in the story? And, once the story used to take turn, author used to concentrate only on the one character of the book and others were ignored. For Tehzeeb, Sheena was ignored. For Sid, Tehzeeb was ignored. For Tehzeeb, again Sid was ignored till many pages. Author should have taken story forward with all the characters all-together. Else, I didn't find any such drawback in the book. Book is powerful and everyone should read it once. Its a One-time read. I would have rated this book 3 for its story and narration but for the strong message delivered through the book, I give it .5 more and hence, 3.5 out of 5. Go for it. And yes, the cover page of the book is 5 on 5. It's attractive and beautiful.
Thanks.
ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU
3 hours of incessant reading and I finished this 176 pages book “As long as I love you.. I will let you hurt me” by Nikhil Mahajan. This is the second book by the author and the growth in Nikhil Mahajan can be seen. He used to write his personal diary. One day a friend of his read it and recommended him to convert it into a book. With no aim of being a writer, he became one and his own love story got the form in his first book. People complained about its spelling mistake and grammatical errors. Nikhil Mahajan gave a valid point saying that I am no writer and I don't know how to write. I just wanted to express a story and I did. But, I expected his second book to resolve those issues which were present in his first book. But unfortunately, the second book contains too many grammatical mistakes. You feel irritated while reading the story. It's not only the fault of Nikhil Mahajan but also of the publishers who aren't checking out the manuscript before going out for the printing session. Publishers should see that the book is error-free because it pisses off the reader as no one wants to suffer these errors in a book when he spends his 100 bucks on it.
Coming to the story, the protagonist of the book- Manav is in love with Meha. He follows her and finally succeeds in winning her. As soon as he gets her, he realizes that he just like Meha but he loves Diva. He dumps Meha for Diva and finally manages to win over Diva. His friend Karan keeps helping him throughout his love stories. Diva's boyfriend KAbir comes into the scene and Diva dumps Manav. Now, Manav gets into a mysterious friendship with his teacher and have physical fun with her. His crush-Gauri knows everything whatever he had with Meha and Diva and also with the teacher. But he proposes her too. Just when he proposes her, Diva comes back into scene. Now, read the book for knowing where did Manav stopped and whom did he selected as his last girlfriend. :-)
Nikhil Mahajan has used an easy language to write this novel. He has tried to make this book more funnier than his last one and somewhat he has managed to do so. The poems written periodically in the book are very nice. You can use some of them to impress your partner. :-) The quotes written by Nikhil Mahajan are meant to make you laugh and he succeeds in making you smile in some of them. Story is not very unique and you don't expect the same love stories every time you pick up a book. This book, as promised by the author, is a confusing love story. Yes, it is but the problem is, the readers gets more confused than the story. Nikhil Mahajan is not a writer who is working on this from his childhood as a passion but he has grown last year itself and I personally think that we should give him time to improve. It's not right to expect very much from him. But still, he has improved 10 times better than the time when he came out with his first book. This book si fine for the people who are going to pick up a book for the first time as they will find it easy to read.
Thanks.
ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU
In a sitting, "Love in the Reality Is not always that easy" by Hardik Dhamija has been finished by me. The author is a second year student at UIET in Punjab, Chandigarh. He is not a regular blogger but he writes whenever he feels to do it. He is also a RJ at P.U. Community Radio and runs the show named "The Road Less Taken". I have personally talked with him and let me tell you all, this boy is too innocent and too pure by heart. Now don't contradict my words by saying that he described Sex for lots of time in the book. :-) The cover page of the book is too attractive and it made me to pick it up as soon as I felt like reading something easy and beautiful. I didn't had much faith in the book when I picked it up but as soon as I started reading it, I got a very new feeling and the book quested me to read it more and finally I completed it in one go.
Coming to the story, read the synopsis of it as it is perfectly written (not fooled the reader like the synopsis of some books do): "The word drishya in the name Drishya Roy means 'the sight to see a relationship develop' and as per the meaning, he did try to strike a friendship with each and every girl he came in contact but could not build a lasting bond with any of them as he could not forget his past, when he had been sexually abused.So what did he do to get rid of his past and free himself from the guilt of having harmed his loved ones? Did he have the right to fall in love and if yes, would the world allow him to continue? Did he deserve to lead a happy life? What provoked him to build a Business Empire?This is a story which shows how Drishya Roy's story affects Aditya's life and makes him realize that love actually means rejection of the word 'practical' and adoption of the reality. Will Aditya be able to recover from his screwed life? Despite losing his best friend in an accident and his girlfriend subsequently, with whom he had been in a relationship for at least five years, was he able to find the way to happiness? read on to find more...... "
Coming to the review of the book, let me tell you that this is the book which starts magnetizing you right from its first page. Author hasn't taken time to describe how he fell in love with his love Aprajita but directly started with a conversation with her. This interests the reader. The book is full of decent sense of humour and you smile reading the funny statements written by the author. The mischief of the Monster Group- the name given to his school friends by him are very naughty and exciting. The friendship part with those friends and Shahid is described very beautifully. You feel like having such friends after reading few chapters. The birthday part of his girlfriend is described so romantically that you start imagining the whole scenario in front of your eyes. The Chapter' An Unusual Call is very disturbing and depressing. When the author gets confused whether he should continue with his love Aprajita or leave the relationship, he goes to his favorite uncle- Uncle D i.e. Mr. Drishya Roy. And the whole story of Drishya Roy which works as a flashback in the midst of the book is the USP of "Love In The Reality". It teaches you so much. The part when a speech on Parent's importance in life comes, you feel like going to your parents and ask them to forgive you for all the sins you have committed in your life.
Now coming to some drawbacks of the book(there are not much but still the errors should be pointed out too): The incessant deaths of characters make you feel depressed throughout the book. The first half makes you laugh while the second half makes you cry. But still, author has chosen a topic like Child Abuse and he has narrated it very distinctly which helps you understand how this incidents takes place in life and depresses you and ruins your life. So, the depression part is justified but still the deaths of certain characters were not required. Mr. Hardik Dhamija could have made this book much better by eliminating those plots. Else, the book is different from other love stories. It is indeed a love story but it captures other surprises of life too. It makes you think about your life if those conditions would have happened with you. The book is something which you can keep with you for the whole lifetime and gift it to the special people in your life. I rate this book- 3.8 on 5. That means, you can purchase it without giving a thought. Well done Mr. Hardik Dhamija.
Thanks.
ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU
So, I have finally finished reading Jyoti Arora's Dream Sake. First let me share the story of the book as per it's synopsis:
He can be as good as he wants to be and I'll be as bad as I need to be! We'll see where it all ends up,??? says Aashi.
She believes she has a right to fight for her dreams. She believes a little bit of selfishness is necessary to survive in this world. Abhi, however, has not learnt that lesson. And he can't accept the fulfilment of his hopes when they seem to rise from the ruins of Aashi's dreams.
His sister Priyam and friend Sid are made from much the same mould. And in the path of their love too lies a dream ?..... the dream of a dead and betrayed mother.
Feelings rise, and are suppressed. Past grips the present and threatens the future. Memories refuse to wane their shadows from the heart. Hope and despair fight a battle. Guilt rises up and resent the forgiveness. Revenge weaves a web. Friendship is tested. And love demands a sacrifice. A tumultuous battle wages on...
What lies at the end of this battle?
Coming to the review, Jyoti Arora has defined each and every character so articulately that you don't feel it's a fiction at all. At one point of a time, you start feeling that the story is true and you want the book to end as soon as possible so that you can know what happened with all the characters in the end. Book is based in Delhi and hence you may feel that the book will have all those elements of a city but Jyoti Arora has defined the story as a world of only those 5 characters. It has no connection with any thing else. The whole book concentrates only on the story of the characters. She has perfectly shown a hatred of a son for his father who he thinks is the criminal of his mother's death. She has perfectly shown the trauma of the orphan brother and sister. She has shown the heart of a father who loves his child a lot but remains sad because he don't want to talk to him because of misunderstandings. She has perfectly shown the romantic triangle between the character. The one who is receiving the love is all fine while the one who is bearing his/her love go to somebody else is feeling depressed throughout.
The story of Dream's Sake is too slow and Jyoti Arora could have made it little short. The story flows very slowly in the beginning while it gains speed in the midst of it but you start feeling annoyed till then. The climax part is too fast and you get a sense of fiction while reading it. Because, the whole book remains so real that you start pretending story as a real incident but in the climax, you get the feel of story-being-scripted. Jyoti Arora has used a very distinct and unique style of writing. She has used beautiful words throughout the book. If someone wants to improve his language and vocabulary, they should pick up this book and read it with full dedication. Else, I would like to give a salute and standing ovation to Jyoti Arora because this girl is suffering with Thalassemia which makes a patient visit hospital every week for dialysis. This made her leave schooling after her seventh class. But she kept reading and the dream of writing motivated her to keep going. Today, she has her book in her hand. What more will you expect from such a girl. Let's pray for her that she turns into National Bestseller very soon.
Thanks.
ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU
My exams are going on but still I managed to pick this book by Sachin Garg and completed it within 3.5 hours. It's the first book written by Sachin Garg and the name of it is "I'm Not Twenty Four... I've been nineteen for five years...". The cover page of the book shows a girl's leg with blue jeans and red sandal which makes it look like another Indian pulp-fiction-love-story. But when you finish half of it, you come to know that you have something different in your hand and you have really got the right book. Sachin Garg, the author has done engineering and also completed his management. He has quit his job in 2011 to start his own venture "Grapevine Productions". I am too happy that Sachin Garg is a publisher now because a writer can better understand other writers than a publisher. The first few books which are being released under his Grapevine Publishing house are from his friends but I hope he gives chance to passionate writers who haven't got chance still.
Coming to the story of INTF, it is about a girl "Saumya Kapoor" from Delhi who is selected in the placement offering in her college and sent to a village- Toranagallu which is based in the heart of Northern Karnataka. The journey starts from here. A girl who has addiction to malls, handsome boys, fashion and shopping is sent to a village where the population is just 5000 and there's no one who has ever seen a girl from city, has no malls, handsome boys, fashion and shopping material. She was ready to welcome hell in her life in few days. She went to a restaurant and ate lot and expected bill of thousand when the waiter came and told that her bill was just 40. She was surprised by seeing the cheapness in value of products in this village. She started enjoying her life. She gets her friend Amit and Malappa too. After the training period ends in the Lala steels where she is placed, she is appointed in a department where she has to tell the relatives of employees that dies in the accidents in the organization. All the enjoyment blows away. Her boss asks her to visit some live spots where the accident took place and she fainted every time she saw these workers struggling between the machines or already flooded with lots of blood around or the body being divided into several parts. She starts hating her job. In the training period, she meets a boy named- Shubrodeep Shyamchaudhary who tells his wonderful past to her. She starts liking him but the conditions of Shubrodeep's life doesn't permit her to stay with him for longer. She is confused about this part of her life too. But one day, she finally gets to know about many facts of this guy and her life changes after this. How Shubrodeep brings a change in Saumya's life is the USP of this book. I'll not reveal much. Go for the book. I would say, purchase it and keep it with you. You will love reading it every time you feel depressed and lonely.
Finally reviewing I'm Not Twenty Four, I would first applaud Sachin Garg for writing a book where girl is a protagonist and not a boy. Being a boy, it is hard to write a book in a girl's narration. Coming to the story, the way Saumya is introduced is mind-blasting. I have never read such an introduction of the protagonist in any book. Something very creative. Her expression in words after getting the job in a village is too funny and you start loving the character of Saumya. The way the village- Tornagallu is described is the best part of the book. I read it twice after completing the book. If I will be asked about one part why this book will always remain in my mind and heart, I would say the part when Shubrodeep tells about his past to Saumya, Amit and Malappa. The "move-on theory" described by Shubrodeep is something on which I can write 1000 pages book. A very nice insight of life by Sachin Garg. I read this part for 3 times after completing the book. This is the only book which I have read again in parts just after completing it. The part when one of the friend of Saumya dies and the way her emotions and trauma is described makes you shiver too. I was on bed when I was reading it and I almost jumped after reading that part. Just imagine if one of your friend is thrown by his boss in furnace where iron is melted just because of you. Fuck! I am still shocked.
Coming to some bad points (Ohh, there's nothing bad in this book but when you read such a book, you want nothing to go bad and when it goes, you don't like it even a bit), Amit and Malappa are sidelined when Saumya starts describing her job and her journey with those dead bodies and shattered bodies in blood. Sachin Garg should have tried to add some more adventures with the job profile of Amit too. Malappa's was described later. :-) And the blogs written by Shubrodeep in the end could have been more effective but it didn't bought that effect which you expect after what Sachin Garg has done right from the first page of the book. These are the only two points I want to point out. Ohh Yes, one more thing, I am also disappointed with the cover page and the title of the book. Actually, there's nothing wrong in them but it makes the book look like just-another-love-story but it is something far above than that. Sachin Garg should have chosen a Revolutionary kind of thing to show on the cover-page of the book and the book should have been named - MOVE-ON THEORY... 90 days of life.... Hahaha. Else, this book is an epic in Indian-pulp-fiction-writing. The easy language and beautiful narration makes it more beautiful. And yes, once again, an Indian writer showed that its not necessary to write an all-and-all Love Story and Sex to make a book bestseller, popular and sell-able. You can use a good story with life in it rather than writing those stupid romance between the protagonist and their love partner throughout the book. Kudos for this to Sachin Garg and lots of respect.
I rate this book 4 on 5. I didn't even wanted to cut that 1 but those blogs from Shubrodeep compelled me to. In the end, A Salute to Mr. Sachin Garg.
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ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU
I finished reading "Accidentally In Love" by one of the most favorite pulp-fiction writer of youth- Nikita Singh. I came to know about her first book through Facebook which is "Love @ Facebook". I saw the cover page and I read some reviews and I got to know that her first book is something very special. I never got to read it because I was busy in reading other books as I committed those writers that I'm reviewing them soon. Nikita Singh published her first book when she was just 17. This is something which attracted me towards her. The second thing which attracted was that she hails from Bihar- the place where girls don't even take education seriously, Nikita from there had written a book at the age of 17. Truly, an inspiration for all the girls residing in Bihar who thinks that they don't have any future and scope. She came up with "Accidentally In Love" in September this year and I luckily got this book to read.
Coming to the book, AIL is a story about two girls- Chhavi- the protagonist and Vatsala- friend of Chhavi. Chhavi is a model who gets small advertisements and she is happy with her looks as everyone keeps complimenting her for that. Vatsala is happy with her relation with Ankit. Suddenly, Chhavi meets this guy- Tushar who is a photographer and he is too in struggling phase. The first time she meets Tushar, she ends up sleeping with him as she was too drunk that night and in the morning, she was not even sure whether she had sex with him or not. Then both of them get committed in an open relationship where they decide that they have nothing to do with love and commitment, they will just have fun with each other's body. And with time and several meetings, Chhavi starts liking him and he likes her back. Both of them get into relation and then the real problem arises for both and the story takes a twist. While Vatsala is confused whether to get back to her first muse- Ronit or to stay with this guy- Ankit who loves her a lot and even she loves him. To know the end of the love story of Chhavi and Vatsala' go and buy this book.
Here comes the Review: This is the 3rd female writer I have picked and I found Nikita Singh the most open writer who describes everything in detail- Either it is love or hatred or abusing scenarios or Sex. This will surely lead to other female writers to try their hand on sex after reading this. Book starts with the open relationship between the main character- Chhavi and her partner Tushar. Too much sex in the first half of the book pisses you off. Sex in book is good up to a level. Once you start talking only about it, it becomes boring. Everyone cannot be Durjoy Datta who knows how to keep story going with Sex at every 10 pages. He is good in doing that but that doesn't mean you will try it out too. Another drawback of the story is that that Chhavi is shown a struggling model in Mumbai. Having this concept in the book, she should have researched little more and worked on this thing better. She didn't disclosed any interesting fact about the struggle of a model. This is another thing which disappointed me.
One thing for which I'll really applause Nikita is for portraying the character of Vatsala in very sweet manner. Her love story is much interesting than Chhavi's love story. I wanted to know more about Vatsala than about Chhavi. Actually, Vatsala is the main character in her previous book- Love @ Facebook and hence, I think Nikita is still lost in her love story. Hahaha. And the relationship of Chhavi and Vatsala is also sweet and nourishing. Both are shown as totally opposite characters and their argument sections are very interesting to read. The best chapter of the book was 17th where Vatsala narrated her story. I just can't get over it till now. That chapter reflects the real skill of writing Nikita possess. She should use that kind of narration in her future book rather than this typical kind of Indian-pulp-fiction-writer's narration. The last 40% part of the book is something one should look forward to. There, the Sex gets lost somewhere and the story comes in front. Nikita should not have stretched Sex part so much. It was over and kind of boring to read it again and again. It seems like she wrote it for those people who haven't read books still and this will be their first book. Definitely, they will like to read such things and they will go for more novels but when it comes for avid readers like me, I search for story and I found it lacking here. She should write what she wants to rather than trying something which today's reader are enjoying. She has the capability but it didn't came out in her 2nd book. One more thing about Nikita- Boys, she is too beautiful. Even I fell for her once when I saw her pictures in her gallery on her website. :-) In the end, I rate this book 2.5 out of 5. Even if you miss it, you haven't lost anything.
Thanks.
ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU
What can be a better option for a Sunday evening than reading a cool book! I picked up Durjoy Datta's latest "You Were My Crush ! ..till you said you love me!" which is co-authored by Orvana Ghai. Durjoy Datta is an engineer from DCE college and he has completed his management this year itself. I have read all his previous books and I found all of them awesome except his 3rd book which is his solo performance. All other books written by him has been co-authored by some or the other beautiful girlfriend of his. Maanvi Ahuja and Neeti Rustagi has been his previous companions while the latest on the list is Orvana Ghai who has graduated this year itself and has won many awards in dancing. I don't know how Durjoy Datta manages to write in company of the girls. :-) I criticized Durjoy Datta after reading his 3rd book and picking up this one, I was sure that I'll be pissed off again as I knew that he would continue writing about Sex but I'm surprised to see the positive change. Actually, Durjoy Datta has completed his management so I think he has finally matured. :-)
Coming to the book, YWMC is a story about a boy named Benoy Roy who has big house, powerful dad, luxurious car and lots of money to spend. He doesn't have any control of parent as his mother lost life because of cancer and he blamed his father for his worst childhood period and the death of his mother. His father silently provided him with all the luxuries and never interfered in his matter. Benoy is a nerd and never studies seriously. Finally, he collides with Diya in his class and after a bad start, they end up being very good friends. He adds her on Facebook and finds that her sister is too beautiful and he should try his hand upon her. Finally, he meets her and falls in love. Luck plays its part and Shaina (Diya's sister) starts loving him too. At last, they share a kiss and Shaina feels it awkward and leaves him. And this is where the whole twist and the real fun of YWMC starts.
Coming to the review, I felt Durjoy Datta attempted a very new kind of story this time. Either he has matured himself or Orvana Ghai has turned out to be a revolutionary partner for him. In all his previous books, the only thing I remembered after completing them were the numerous love making scenes and sexual part of the story. But after completing this one, I remember all the sweet moments of the story. YWMC is not like Durjoy's previous works. It has no sex. It has only love and beautiful story. A very different kind attempted by Durjoy. This book got the most number of LIKES on Facebook pre-release and I'm happy that all those 30,000 people who liked it will not be disappointed. They would be too happy to trust a book like this. The protagonist is defined accurately. Both the sisters are defined as you already know them and you find them to be the sweetest girls of the world. Even, Deb And Avantika are added in the book which are Durjoy's trademark characters in most of his books. But I didn't liked their part as they are forcefully added and don't have an important role. I liked the climax. It was too beautiful and it made me smile with broad lips. I missed the kind of Durjoy's humour quotient. They were missing this time but still the book is full of many humour statements. But previous books had better. I didn't liked Author's note in the end of the book. Actually, I'm ignoring it as it's not part of the story. I have finished this book just now and I can read it once again now itself. It is one of the sweetest book I have read and Durjoy Datta's sweetest composition till now. Thanks Durjoy for giving us one of the best work of yours. I rate this book- 3.5 out of 5. Go, buy it, and gift it to your girlfriend. :-) She will surely hug you after reading this one.
Thanks.
ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU
At last, I finished reading Mr. Chetan Bhagat's Revolution 2020. Being his fan, I have read his last four books with quite interest and passion. There's nothing which can touch Five Point Someone. Reading it, many youth started scripting a book and they are successful writers today but still, no one has been able to write a better story than Five Point Someone. After that, CB's One Night @ The Call Center came in the market and people rejected its climax. His 3rd book- The Three Mistakes Of My Life was quite interesting and he wrote it with wit and knowledge. It was not just a fiction book but it gave a true image how people think about rival religion in small village and how some chaps from village can dream big and make it turn true. Then came his 2 STATES which brought Chetan Bhagat back in form and people started loving him again. 2 STATES was loved by almost every age group audience and CB got a new group of fans. Chetan Bhagat almost became star with 3 Idiots release and 2 STATES success. He released his latest venture- Revolution 2020 on 7th October this year and 5,00,000 copies are already been sold. Congratulations, CB.
Coming to Revolution 2020, CB promoted it as a Love Story rather than a story about Corruption and Ambition. yes, they are the subheading of the book but still, he focused much on the Love Story while promotion rather than the other two topics. So, let me talk about the Love Story first. Its about Gopal who is in love with his childhood friend- Arti. Arti sees him just as a friend. Like any other girl. :-) Gopal goes to Kota for his IIT preparation as he fails once. In the absence of her best friend Gopal, Arti falls in love with Raghav. Raghav got admitted passed JEE exam the time Gopal failed in it. Gopal started feeling inferiority complex because of Raghav and he became jealous of him. From here, the story takes lots of twist and turn. For that, pick up the book. Coming to the corruption, it is shown quite nicely as Gopal chooses the way to meet his ambition of being very rich. Raghav is shown as ambitious person for bringing Revolution in India. Gopal keeps playing game with him as he always wanted to fail him but he couldn't do it in school days.
Giving up my review, I am sad to say that I didn't found Revolution 2020 any special. it is just another book for me. Yes, the CB readers who have only read CB will like it because they haven't seen other talents of India. I have found better story than R2020 in other books. When you attempt Fiction, it should be at the level where the reader starts jumping while reading the book. Five Point Someone had that effect but R2020 lacks. The love story is also boring because you never find anything cool happening except Gopal trying for Arti and Arti ignoring him for Raghav. Yes, the story takes turn after 180 page and this is when you start loving it. Coming to the Corruption part, CB started it quite nicely but he didn't show a way to deal with it or any kind of exposure to what really is happening in real India. Ambition part is the best part of the book where Gopal is shown striving to pass in his JEE tests but fails every time while Raghav does it. Then, Gopal become ambitious for being rich while Raghav becomes ambitious for bringing revolution in the country.
R2020 is good in parts but talking on the whole, it is not something special which I would recommend everyone to read. I don't know how some people are rating it as the best by Chetan Bhagat but I would still go for his 1st and 4th book. After seeing CB growing in last 2 years, you expect something larger-than-book from his book but it turned out to be just-another-fictional-attempt. I also felt the lack of sense of humour where Chetan Bhagat is the master. The book doesn't make you laugh out loudly like his other books does. Hence, I didn't found any kind of Chetan Bhagat effect in the book. And, the title of the book is shown as the failure which pisses one off at the end. The one who is corrupted still remains rich in the end. The one who tries to bring Revolution is forced to shut up and sit. Is this what you expect from a book which is named "Revolution 2020" and written by India's most successful author. Sorry to all the CB's fans for breaking your heart. I am also one of them and thus I can't talk good about him even when he hasn't done anything good to be spoken about. I will rate this book 3 out of 5.
Thanks. Now waiting for the 6th book. :-)
ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU
I ended up reading Preeti Shenoy's Life Is What You Make It. This is the second time when I attempted a female Indian writer. Last time, it was Varsha Dixit who disappointed me. Preeti Shenoy's LIWYMI has been at Bestseller from a long time which compelled me to read it. I started it with a believe that this book will disappoint me as very less female writers have managed to impress audience. But to my surprise, I'm a fan of Preeti Shenoy now. She knows how to carry a book with love stories, sex and physicality being an Indian women. Mostly, Indian audience doesn't like a girl speaking about all these things but when it is done with style, no one catches you.
Life Is What You Make It is about Ankita who is a very super-cool and talented girl. She is full of ambitions and she is quite romantic. Her story is based in the year 1989. So as there were no telephones then, she send letter to her boyfriend Vaibhav and she treats her life as she has already married him. Her friends hate this about her. She changes her mindset and gets engaged with Abhi-the boy who loved her a lot. Then she gets admission in a college of Mumbai for MBA which was her dream but Abhi doesn't get it. She is in no mood to compromise with her life and leaves Abhi behind. She meets new friends in college and now she starts hanging around with Joseph. Suddenly, the thoughts of Abhi starts haunting her mind again and she starts sinking into depression. She ends up in mental hospital. Now, how Ankita returned back. What she learned about life. What did she do with those 3 boys after coming out. What happened to Abhi. Did she became normal again. There are many twists and tales in this book. Go get it and read it as soon as possible as you will clap as soon as you will finish the book.
Coming to the review, Preeti Shenoy has a great sense of carrying a story as she knows that Indian audience expect some raunchy talks and behaviors between the couple and she did justice to it. She kept her love story simple. This book is not a love story but it is about how one should live their life like. Preeti has beautifully scripted the whole story to let the world know that the people going to mental hospital or coming back from it aren't crazy. That's a kind of sickness which can happen with anyone at any point of time. The time I realized that the book is about the main character itself and it has no love story involved, I took deep interest in reading it. At last, when the book ended, I clapped and wanted the book to be little more big. I didn't wanted it to finish. I finished it at one sitting. Preeti Mam, I am definitely looking at your next fiction novel. I rate this book 4/5. Go for it. Very different. Deserves to be in Bestsellers.
Thanks.
ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU
I finished reading Durjoy Datta's third book "She Broke Up, I Didn't! ... I just Kissed Someone Else!" I have read all the three books of Durjoy Dutta's and this was the last one which was remaining. I wanted to read this book as soon as possible because the 5th book from him is about to release anytime in September. I completed reading the last book before reading this one some 1 week ago and hence I had huge expectation with this one as I liked Oh Yes I am Single very much. But I am so sad to say that She Broke Up, I didn't is all and all a shit. I didn't liked it at all.
Story- She Broke Up, I Didn’t! is story of Deb and Avantika, two management students, who after three years in to what is possibly the most picture perfect relationship run into trouble after Deb, drunk as a pig goes ahead and kisses a classmate. To err is human, to forgive divine, eh??This is a story of a group of friends who battle the questions of infidelity, loyalty and love as they step out of their colleges….
Durjoy Datta should understand it now that readers are expecting more than love-breakup-love-breakup and finally love stories from him. And after periodic intervals, there's an intimacy part in the book which never fails you to experience an erection but too much sex also takes out all the fun from the story. Sex and Love making plays it part only when they are kept at few spots where the readers can feel that Sex is a valuable thing which can at the best time in the book. But Durjoy makes Sex a very common thing and thus the reader starts centering male character as Playboy while his girlfriend as Slut as the only thing they love doing in relationship is Sex and nothing else. Durjoy Datta should change his style now. He is all and all inspired from Chetan Bhagat but he should see that Chetan has tried 4 different stories in all his 4 books while you have managed to keep hold on the same story plot every time you started penning down a story.
Having great creativity skills and writing ability, penning the same story again and again just frustrates the reader. Durjoy Datta has always written a book with a female partner and this is the only book from his where he has performed a solo work and he has failed. I think Durjoy needs a company of a girl to bring out best out of him. So Durjoy please don't try writing a book by yourself again. We want you to write with a chick or an another every time you think of writing a Love story. Durjoy Datta, for me has become the Salman Khan of Indian fiction where everytime the same kind of weird story will come at the box office or market and people will make it Blockbuster or bestseller blindly. Even after hating Durjoy Datta so much I am going to be one of the few readers who will read his 5th book in its first week of release. I would rate She Broke Up I Didn't 2.5/5.
Thanks.
ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU