It's All About Books!!!

Wednesday, 13 March 2019

Travelthon Tales by Tikku's Travelthon/Anuj Tikku (Book Review- 2.75*/5) !!!

This is the 3^rd book of Mr. Anuj Tikku which I have completed reading named “Travelthon Tales”. Anuj has published it under his publishing banner name “Tikku’s Travelthon”. To start with, I must say that the Cover Page of the book is very creative and beautiful which made me pick this e-book for reading. Anuj Tikku has shared his personal experiences of Traveling through this book which either consists of his personal account and other short stories which are based upon the people, locations and the conversation Tikku had with people he met while traveling. Some chapters are written as fiction stories which are also interesting to read.

After reading this 3^rd book by Anuj Tikku, I am sure that he should move out of e-book now and start getting his thoughts published as paperback too because his books share the kind of experiences and tales I believe I have never found in the work of any other author. This book is of just 70-odd pages but at the end of it, you shall feel as if you have read a long autobiographical account of a traveller.

There are few important chapters/sections that I liked in this book such as the one where the monk and prostitute’s reference is nicely given. Another chapter is quite spiritual which is based on a popular monk and tells us about the power of within. It is very nicely conveyed. The climax of two chapters where sex gets attention is so nicely scripted that you want to learn what happened after that. Haha! The few chapters which are based on locations such as Kedarnath, Ganges, Kapil Muni Temple has done total justice to the background of the spots. Being a Mumbaikar, reading the chapter on Mumbai which is based in the old times was an interesting read. The last story which is based on thriller aspect is also interestingly crafted.

Now, talking about the drawbacks of the book, I must say that because the book has been projected to be based on traveling and because the author also owns a Youtube channel based on traveling, I had expected more about his personal experiences on traveling or the way he travels different cities differently considering the distinctness of each of them. The book is very short considering that and very less chapters express such detailing. Also, author, when, writes Hindi words and sentences in English generally does not write in the spelling which are popular in Hinglish which becomes hard to read and enjoy those sentences as they are not always translated in English by him. Except this, I must say this book is a light read between heavy literary books if you are on a reading marathon like me. I give this book 2.75 stars out of 5.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!!

Tuesday, 12 March 2019

The Break-Up Clinic by Dr. Govind Sharma (Book Review: 2.75*/5) !!!

I shall always remember the author, Dr. Govind Sharma, for writing short books of less than 200 pages. “The Break-Up Clinic” is the 3^rd book I have read written by him and like the last two books, this book is also a very short story which can be read and completed in a single sitting. This book comes with a tagline “You only live once, but if you do it right Once is Enough”. I didn’t understand why this quote has been given a place on its cover page considering the book is more about a dark topic based on certain situations few youths end up in rather than a motivational/inspirational book.

The book is based on few characters such as Ajay, Karan and Nisha where all of them have been ditched by someone in the love relationship some or the other way. All of them are either heartbroken or turned into an aggressive person or wishes to take revenge. The two doctors who play the important part in this book, Doctor Dev and Shweta, are the ones who apply different kinds of therapies on these characters and ensure that they come out of their current victimhood situation and get back to their life in a very powerful manner.

The book has discussed about the psychotherapy and behaviour therapy implementing which the people who have been affected by the end of their love relationship can be treated in a very safe and familiar way. Hence, you shall go through many related words such as psychoanalysis, cognitive behaviour therapy, Freud, Transactional analysis, Gestalt Psychology, Non-directive Therapy etc. The book definitely gives many information that I wasn’t aware before this. This book is an awareness for these kinds of therapies which can be used on depressed people who are impacted by their love relationships.

Talking about the drawbacks of the book, the book is not written in a very exciting manner the way author has written his last two books. The book is quite straight where either the therapies are discussed or the case history of each of the characters are narrated rather than building a great plot keeping the whole play of story in the front with these elements of therapies in the background. Also I felt that author could have played wonderfully with the characters which he missed in his motive of writing this book. Overall, I shall give this book 2.75* out of 5 only for the awareness that it provides with its short read which can be finished within 2 hours.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!!

Monday, 11 March 2019

The End Of Romance by Amitabh Satyam (Book Review: 4.5*/5) !!!

There are rarely books which hits you hard because of its gutsy representation of the issues it wants to discuss with its readers. One such book that I have just ended up reading is “The End Of Romance” written by the 2^nd time author, Amitabh Satyam. The book also stages a tagline: - “Lessons in Patriarchy, Feminism, Rights and Privileges”. The cover-page of the book is all black with an image of a person having tears in eyes which essays that the book is on a very dark subject which might be depressing or discouraging for some. To protect you from not picking up this book in case you can’t handle it, author has very widely mentioned the segment of people for whom the book is written for.

As the title of the book says, this book can seriously lead to the end of many romances if things are actually thought the way author has discussed this debatable topic with such confidence and fearlessness. The book basically talks about the injustice and extreme take women have on men these days because of which they either start abusing them directly/indirectly, asks for certain privileges which is completely invalid considering society as one, blackmails men just because they know they have an upper hand considering the kind of laws implemented in India where the men are directly accused without any kind of witness or proof.

The accountability of feminism is questioned so severely that while reading the book, you would want to share every page with so-called feminists and tell them what exactly this wrong class is doing in the name of feminism rather than the things that should actually be done to embrace the right to equality. In the name of feminism, how women have forgotten that it’s about equality and not getting privileges just for the sake of what happened with women years and centuries back. Right from the 1^st page author has started discussing incidents where men have been treated badly, violently or aggressively just because he did something which women thought is not as per their expectations.

Author starts the book very well describing how the two genders kept getting far from each other up to the mark where one of them have started hating the another up to such an extent that they are ready to kill and accuse even the gender lying in their direct relationship. Author has done an extensive research and mentioned many reasons why women turn abusive towards men. Author has also given examples of different types of abuses women does upon men. Author has also given references and statistics to prove his words. Even the privileges and entitlements are mentioned in one of the chapters while reading which I was completely shocked to know the kind of laws India have got submerged into that has made achieving this gender-equality almost an impossible thing.

This is one of the most hard-hitting books I have ever read. There has been many articles, blogs and books about women suffering but there was none about men as per my limited knowledge. The new perspective that this book gives is a surprise and a new angle through which you can see the same scenario. The way the whole thought process and psychology of women are changing due to this thing called Feminism is only been touched upon from an Eagle’s height by these ladies is very well covered in this book. The good part about the book is the way author has written it:- Section-wise, chapter-wise, pointer-wise to make it more specific to prove his points.

After saying all the good things about the book, there are certain things I would like to talk as the drawback of the book: - The book obviously is quite biased as author never talks about the ill that some men also perform to make the resolve of women stronger of getting more emotionless towards men. After some point, it feels that author is cribbing against women way too much. Though the book is surely very well researched but at some places, author has for certainly made generic statements. And then there are certain crimes against women which has been justified which looks wrong if you read the book neutrally. The only biggest problem this book can cause is either making the men too hateful towards women or making women think that men actually don’t think good about them as it is already said everywhere.

Overall, this book will either be completely loved by the readers or completely thrashed. There is no middle-way as it has been written in such a challenging manner. This book is a great read post which you would enjoy debating on this topic as you get to learn a lot. I give this book 4.5 stars out of 5. It’s recommended if you want to read something very different and straight-forward.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!!

Friday, 8 March 2019

Upside Down Fitness by Manisha Israni (Book Review: 4.75*/5) !!!

The books on fitness are hit these days in the bookshelves because of new inclination towards health and lifestyle of the new generation. Since last ten years, I have come across many fitness books but not much of them have stayed in my mind for the sole reason that they suggested something following which is so difficult and impractical that you would want to live the way you are than making any changes to your daily routine. But surely there are few fitness books which makes things easy for you by giving you practical and simple solutions to be healthy, cutting your fats, getting rid of the unwanted belly etc. that you actually end up noting down and implementing it in your day-to-day life. One of such fitness books which has already taken place in my favorite shelf is first-time author, Manisha Israni’s “Upside Down Fitness”. The greatest confidence shown by the author is that her name is not mentioned on the Cover page at all but completely focuses on the topic.

The cover page and the title of the book shall make you little resistance in picking it up as you might presume the book to be displaying the impossible postures as the way to be healthy but this is not the case at all. Authoress is just trying to tell us that her version is completely different from others which is practical, doable and manageable. Manisha Israni’s book is very interactive. You can easily complete this book within a single sitting because of the way it has been written where you feel someone has actually understood your nerves and telling you only things which are specifically meant and customized for you. Right from the 1^st chapter to the last chapter, author has shown wonderful display of experiments, researches, knowledge and practices that she has herself gone through to understand the benefits of certain lifestyle and activities in our lives.

The book talks about how to create SMART goals with the same explanation of SMART as we are taught in our MBA books. In the very next chapter, she has introduced us with some interesting facts about how we can instantly replace certain unhealthy foods with the healthy foods without actually cutting down our appetite but enforcing ourselves in eating more healthy stuffs. Author then talks about how we should make our exercise routine interesting rather than making it a TASK for us. She has introduced some great exercising methods, meditation techniques etc. with tips on how to exercise in a shorter time to gain maximum effect rather than scheduling it for an hour and never ending up accomplishing it.

In one of the other chapters, she has given us the list of supplements that we should have as per our bodily needs. In yet another chapter, she has given list of multiple recipes for every type of people- vegans, vegetarians, non-vegetarians etc for all types of eating time- breakfast, lunch, dinner, tiffin, snacks etc. One of the chapters similarly comprises of the Workout Plans for the whole week again for different reasons for why you would like to exercise:- Losing fats, gaining weight, maintaining weight, want of flat tummy etc. My favorite chapter is the one which is written about redefining happiness. The wonderful tips given and explained in this chapter for always being happy assures me that author can end up writing another book only on happiness, self-help, motivational topics.

This book is one of the best books on fitness but let me also talk about certain things which did not go well with me:- In the chapter where author has explained Workout Plans, some jargons are used for the Workout activity which a general person would not understand and shall have to google which takes away the charm from the chapter. Similarly, in the chapter where smart meals are discussed, there are no images for the recipes discussed which makes it difficult for anyone to try preparing it without knowing how it should end up like. Author could have at least given some QR code or Youtube link where she could have shown the whole preparation method. Similarly, some ingredients are totally unheard of. Their Hindi names could have also been mentioned for ease of understanding. Other than these petty points, there is nothing else which stops this book from surprising you. I give this book 4.75* out of 5. Yes!

It's a great co-incident that on this Women’s day, I have ended up reading a book by a female author and giving one of the highest ratings. Waiting for 2^nd book by Manisha Israni now.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!!

Tuesday, 26 February 2019

The Code by Mukta Mahajani (Book Review: 4.75*/5) !!!

The 3^rd book of the year which I picked up to read was again from my favorite publication house, Jaico, named “The Code” written by one of the prominent authors, Mukta Mahajani. The book also has the tagline of “Awake the hidden wisdom of your heart”. I have always hated reading any kind of short stories- either fictional or non-fictional. It has been on very rare occasions when I have liked a book consisting of short stories. This book gets into this rare shelf of my book consisting of my favorite books featuring short stories. Authoress has divided the book into few prime parts such as Conquering the Ego, Controlling Over-competitiveness, Mastering Overexpectations, Overcoming Jealousy, Curbing Overambition, Taming Anger and Beating Procrastination.

Each of these parts have several stories proving us why we need to follow a certain pattern in our life which can awaken the hidden wisdom of our heart. After every story, authoress has shared a paragraph referring it as “THE CODE” which is such a gem that I wanted to click each one of them and get it framed. Before this, it has only been in the case of Robin Sharma’s books and few other couple of authors where I have found every chapter or paragraph as gem. The questions on which authoress wants us to contemplate has been shared after each chapter which is such an introspective session that you would find it very hard to answer those questions and the moment you find an answer for that, you would understand the power of the story and “the code” shared just before those questions.

The book provides wonderful insight on the personal and professional life. What I liked about the stories shared by the authoress is that all of them are so unique and distinct that you will never get bored of reading them even in one single sitting. I took 5 stories each day and I must say many of those have got ingrained in my mind and personality. Another good thing that I need to mention is the quotes that authoress has mentioned before beginning of every story. How wonderful those quotes are that I just want to remember all of them and keep them with myself just like “the codes”. Overall, this is one of the rare books where I liked almost all the chapters. I would rate this book 4.75* out of 5. Highly recommended! Mukta, I am fan from today onwards.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA

Monday, 25 February 2019

Kumar Mangalam Birla by Drimi Chaudhuri (Book Review: 3.5*/5) !!!

What I like about books from Jaico is that their focus is so passionate on the self-improvement that even if you are not liking any of their books still at the end of it you would find some motivation and inspiration through it. One of their best series is where they publish short biographies on India’s great personalities for us to know about them and learn from their experiences and lifestyle. The latest such book I ended up reading recently from Jaico is on the life of Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla written by Drimi Chaudhuri. The book discusses 10 secrets of Success from the life of Mr. Birla such as Dreaming Big, Aiming High, Learning from the Past, Building and then Expanding, Evolving with the World, Building a World-class Team, Keeping our Cool, Being Humble, Keep Learning and Being Prepared to Succeed.

Drimi has very well discussed the life of Mr. Birla on how he takes on from his previous generation from Birla dynasty and rather than falling on his knees, brought more name to the empire and made it grow like never before. The values and principles that he followed in his life is discussed which makes evident a lot of things about what such personalities live by to ensure they succeed at the end of all. It is nicely discussed how he enabled so many verticals and succeeded in almost all of them. And even in those he could not perform as well as others, he either ended up them successfully by merging together with another entity or selling it off keeping the sanctity of the institution alive.

The book is divided in ten chapters where each of them talks about one of the secrets of Success that the author has extracted out of Birla’s life. The decision-making techniques and transformation by Kumar Mangalam Birla is nicely appreciated in the book- the one which impressed me is the way he allowed non-vegetarian food in the office campus which was a strict NO before him as the whole Birla family had been strictly pure vegetarian. The words by the previous generations as quoted in the book tells how relevant Birla’s style of working has been that despite making some big changes in the existing culture, the earlier generation still adored his workstyle.

Overall, the book is a nice short read. I give it 3.5* out of 5.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA

Sunday, 24 February 2019

Ballad of a Belle by Rahul Tushar (Book Review: 3.75*/5) !!!

There are few books you pick for their title, some for their cover page, some for their synopsis, some for their overall presentation in case when you are not aware about the Author. This book that I have just ended up reading has a title quite difficult considering the average readers in India which most of them won’t understand. What impressed me to pick this book up was the synopsis which arose quite a curiosity within me to read about this protagonist- Aarti who is basically from Kashmir and another girl, Priya, who is there to teach her about life against envy, jealousy, greed and treachery. The name of the book is “Ballad of a Belle” which basically means a slow romantic/sentimental song of a beautiful girl/woman (if I go through the dictionary meaning).

The book is almost 300 pages published by Addyyan Publication written by the debutant, Rahul Tushar. Talking about the writing style, I must say from nowhere it can be said about the author being a debutante with the way he carries the story from one plot to another without any of them sounding less interesting than the others. With each page, the story only keeps getting better as the protagonist of the book finds herself in new relationship and challenges of life with one constant always- Priya Majoomdar, her friend. The narration is very well handled which manages reader to stick with the book until its finished. I read this book while traveling to my office in Mumbai Local and I must say, it really became hard to keep the book in bag without completing it as the excitement after each page has always been high to know what happens next.

The characterization is handled very insightfully as each and every character in the book seems to be having their own story in the back-end which is also given importance along with the tale of the protagonist- Aarti. The characters of Aarti, Priya, Sanjive, Dilip, Arun, Stan and Sheetal remains ingrained in your mind even after hours of finishing the book which says a lot about the skills of the author. Another great thing that has been handled is the way author discusses about the Kashmir’s fact in the initial phase of the book then to the Corporate politics and in the end about the politics involved in mega-projects handled by big businessmen in India. All these social phenomenon is very nicely discussed in the book. The equation of Aarti and Priya is the USP of the book out of many colors and themes that the Author have tried touching.

Spoilers Ahead…….

Now talking about the drawbacks of the book: - The cover page is kept quite dark matching with the story of the book but I would have suggested author to add little more colors to it as the book is not only about darkness in the protagonist’s life. Secondly, there are too many deaths in the book which becomes irritating and unjustified after a point of time. It seems author is doing it only to add more darkness in the protagonist’s character. Thirdly, the way protagonist gets into each relationship so easily without giving 2^nd thought to her already hell of a past is quite surprising. Fourth, the ending could have been positive after all that the protagonist had suffered in her life. Fifth and the last, the book is priced quite high.

Overall, the book is a quite nice read and I have big expectations from the author’s 2^nd book “The Sinful Oracle” which has been introduced at the end of this book. I give “Ballad of a Belle” 3.75* out of 5.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA