Tea-20: Perfect companion for your teatime by Vinod Kumar S !!!

           I don't have a very good experience in writing reviews on anthologies but still, as I am being asked to, I am reviewing the recently read anthology- "Tea-20" which also has a tagline "Perfect companion for your teatime". The author of this book is a 29 year old IT Professional, who lives in Chennai, a fun-loving guy, who loves to write and believes that short stories are a strong medium to convey simple but important messages that go unnoticed in this modern world. His stories are mostly inspired from the incidents of day-to-day life. He is also an ardent fan of Sachin Tendulkar. This is his first book and the name of the GENTLEMAN is VINOD KUMAR S. As the title of the book says that it is a perfect companion for our teatime, it really is a good companion. A short book of just 126 pages makes you laugh at the climax of many stories that ends with a humour. This is a light read and hence, you will enjoy it while traveling in a short journey from Mumbai-Pune or Delhi-Ghaziabad. :-) I completed reading this in just 1.5 hours. And I must say the 90 minutes spent in reading this book bought smile on my face for several times.

          As the blurb of the book promises "a collection of 20 simple fictional short stories, which will serve as a good companion for your teatime. This anthology will not only entertain you, but will also give you a generous dose of laughter; it will make you think and contribute to the society, teach simple things about life which are easily missed in our ever-hectic routine and also take you by surprise. Each story is unique in its way, with the impact it leaves in you being the common feature.", it delivers it properly and does not let you feel unsatisfied in the end. I liked the way all the stories are being ordered so that the interest in you remains alive till the last story. All the stories except one are kept within limited amount of words so that you get excited to reach its end soon and start with a new one without much wait.

            The story "A cup of coffee" gives a deep insight to all the youngsters and parents about how to lead life in family. "Bye" chapter is too emotional. "Frosted Heart" is the best chapter for me. "Great Escape" ends with a big Laugh out Loud. I enjoyed its end like anything. No words to define it. Hahaha. "Happy New Year" is the gem of this book. If any story that has a very deep meaning and motivation into it, then this is the one. "Nowhere to run" is again a big Laugh out Loud in the end. :-)  "Two sides of a one-sided love" is a nice creative side of the author. Else, other chapters are fine according to me. But the ones mentioned above won my heart completely. 

              The only drawback about the book is- THE COST!!! Rs. 125 is too much for an anthology with few short stories. The Frog publishers should cut the price of their anthologies else the author will have to suffer less readership. Else, you can get this book when you are about to have a short journey. You will love reading it in a cool atmosphere.

  Thanks.

 ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU