It wasn't love at first Shalini and I by Prashant Sharma !!!

              I have said it in my previous reviews that whenever I pick up a book by Srishti Publication, I always expect something natural and relating story. And when I have a Writer from Srishti whom I have read even before, I just expect too much from him. Because, the first timer will always do plenty of mistakes. But when he stands up for the 2nd time on the same platform for the same purpose- "Story-telling", I expect it to be perfectly described and narrated. This time, I completed reading Prashant Sharma's "It wasn't love at first- Shalini and I". I read the debut book of Prashant Sharma-"Love, Life and a Beer Can". It was full of humour and I wanted Prashant Sharma to come up with the same stuff when he publishes his 2nd. But his 2nd-"If I Pretend I am Sorry" was too intense. I am yet to read it. But finally, in this third book by Prashant Sharma, I did find the characteristics of his Writing Style for which I vindicated him in my Favorite authors' list. :-)

             Coming to the story of "It wasn't love at first- Shalini and I", it is about the protagonist boy who is too cheerful and takes life easy. But a mysterious girl who comes in his life time to time makes his life complicated for a while. This mysterious girl- Shalini does not remain to be his whenever she meets him. Every time they meet co-incidentally, after few talks, Shalini bids a good bye and leaves him behind to leave it to fate if they meet for the next time. The story of this book is spread across years of this phenomena. There are other surprising and interesting elements in the book too with this primary set-up. To know all of them, go get the book.

              Prashant Sharma is one of the most prolific author I have read. Even without using a single hard vocabulary word, he manages to write the whole book in a good language. You will not get irritated as some authors do write in childish language. He has a perfect sense of humour that keeps you turned on throughout the experience of reading his book. I would say that reading Prashant Sharma's book is surely an experience. He makes it sure that he picks you from your ragged life and put you somewhere in the Fictional world from where you can see a totally new life with a new story and desire to be a part of it. He has shown the same magnificence through this book too. And to Srishti Publishers, even when the Cover page was so beautifully designed, you didn't do justice with it by printing the Cover Page like a Scrap. 

             The initial pages of the book are very wonderful that gives you a confidence that you are about to spend your next 3 hours in a very good journey. This is indeed a very unique story.  All the characters in the book are interesting. And rather than listing all the moments in the book that made me smile, cry, think and excite, I would just say that the whole book in itself is a Sweet Experience. It's a one time read but you will never regret reading it. I am too happy to see that Prashant Sharma is improving with every work of his. I am surely waiting for his 4th book to come out. Till then, a 4/5 to this one. :-) 

 Thanks.

 ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU

Lucid Dream by Atul Mohite !!!

               I completed reading one more book in just 1 hour and 15 minutes. It's always a great feeling when you get to read a Fiction story which is covered in just 80 pages. :-) The book is "Lucid Dream" that is the first book by the debutante Atul Mohite. Atul Mohite is a computer engineering student & also very much passionate about chess, tennis, novel writing, music & especially the piano, romantic places, gaming & making friends. He resides in Pune and has completed his education from S.P. College, Pune and MIT College of Engineering, Pune. He recently got his novel autographed by Sachin Tendulkar which is almost the biggest achievement that he has been able to gain. :-) I don't think this review or any other review by any other reader means to be anything for this guy anymore. :-) He got his first book- "Lucid Dream" published by Cinnamonteal Publications. 

              The story of Lucid Dreams revolves around 4 friends who are into a coaching class for IIT entrance preparation. After some days, as their friendship blossoms and they explore other elements of their life, the interest towards studies starts to decline. Then, Suraj, the protagonist comes up with an idea of writing a novel on their life. As their life is not ordinary, Suraj feels that his novel can help other students to save tehir future than getting stuck in some coaching class which promises to raise your IQ but ends up fooling you. To read the whole story, get the book.

             According to me, this book is a very sweet attempt. Author made it sure that something which can be said in few words should not be elaborated just for making a 250 pages book. He has played a very safe game by ending his novel before a reader starts getting bored of the story. Every character that is described in the book has his/her own charm. For me, everyone was protagonist. Lucid Dream is a very sweet concept and I loved it. But still this book is not a unique piece or something that can be called an Epic. On the other note, a book of 80 pages is priced 250 Rs. I don't know what these Publications think when they keep the rates of such books so high. I didn't even find this book in a lesser amount at Flipkart too. Strange!!! Else, i would rate this book 2.5/5 taking everything into consideration. 

          Thanks.

 ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU

Thirty year Old Virgin by Ankit Uttam !!!

Book: 

Book: Thirty Year Old Virgin
Author: Ankit Uttam
ISBN: 9380914202
Binding: Paperback
Publishing Date: 2012
Publisher: General Press
Number of Pages: 192
Language: English


About the Author: 

When he is not sitting idle, Ankit lives where he hasn't been born. Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Delhi may be, right now he is camping in Noida.

Like most idiots of his generation, this generation, he graduated from a shitty engineering college and works in an I.T. firm like any stereotypical a hole.

One night he was struck by lightning and started scribbling lame things. That happened to bring Beyond Love out, Emosional Atyachar followed, making way for the virgin and not just any but Thirty Year Old Virgin (don't get duped, virgin is just in title, rest is all...).

About the Book:

She duped him into kissing her when they were five. Don't judge her, she was curious.
He tried to finger her when they were thirteen. Forgive him, he was delusional.
Her boyfriend took revenge on his first day in college. And his attempt at fingering wasn't even successful.
She knows, his heart is in his pants.
He saves her from goons and she stabs him on his heart as a token of gratitude.
She dumped her last boyfriend when they were making out. And he didn't come after that... for a few weeks.
He dumped his last girlfriend and found a boyfriend for her, the same night. Heart of gold.
He hates dogs. She has a dog by his name.
Childhood friends. Childhood enemies.
Hate, the single common thread between them.
If he would be the last guy on this planet she will prefer to preserve her virginity till eternity.
If she would be the last girl on earth he will prefer to die eunuch.
They meet again.
Still share the same bonhomie.
But now they have another string binding them. Their hate has another companion.
They don't want love but they miss sex. Love is anyways overrated.
Opposite poles, as they are, they know they can never fall in love.
She proposes a no holds barred physical relationship. He agrees but with caution. Which guy in his right frame of mind wouldn't?
But it wasn't long before they realize that each of them wants something more than the other is willing to give.
Meet Maya, the freak. She is a diva, the sparkling wine. She is unpredictable. She is fearless. She is a monster. A psychotic bitch.
Meet Arnav, the geek. He is the dude, the gifted one. He is emotional. He is a jerk. He is a manipulator. A bona-fide pig.

Review: The book is more of conversation and less of narration. It is funny and makes you laugh at several points initially but later on the same style of writing bores you. But, Ankit Uttam has tried writing with a very different and unique style but the story moves too fast without mentioning other things. When you read a book, you always want to read something that can take you to a complete new world, I didn't find any such element in this book. But, even when the whole book is a conversation-kind-of-a-thing, author has managed to make you understand the role and depth of each and every character. That is something which impressed me. But still, I would like to leave it on you if you want to read this Sex-comedy as it didn't satisfy a reader within me.


  Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU

Did She Love Me? by Jyotirmoy Majumdar!!!

               I have decided one thing for the next 10-15 books that I am going to review. If the book is written by a 19 year old author, I'll read it according to the state of mind I had when I was 19 and this is how I'll read every book that is written by authors who are younger to me. Because, when we read a book we expect a lot from the story and we do not get it from the guys who are young. It is obvious that a 40 years old man will write according to all the experiences he had in last 4 decades while an author of 19 years old will write a story according to the horizon that has been visible to him till the age which according to me is quite less to write an intellectual book. So, I only expect a Love story from them which does not have any Epic reality in it but just the same Crush->Love->Date->Break-up->Patch up and then it depends upon the mentality of an author if he wants to end up with the Patch up as the climax or Break up to make it a sad story. :-) 

              Recently, I completed reading "Did She Love Me?" by a 20-years old young author- Jyotirmoy Mazumdar. And as he is just 20, what I expected him is the same that I have mentioned in the first paragraph of this post. And, to our surprise, Jyotirmoy Majumdar has turned 20 today itself. So a very happy birthday to the young boy who has a will to write as good as possible and pass on the message to the youth of the country but struggling with the lack of experiences. The author is from Assam where a life of glamour and fame is out of reach of people's mind but still coming out with a novel at the age of 19 is a success in itself. So, a shout-out for this. Coming to the story of Did She Love Me, it is about Jayrish who shifts away from his home to prepare for IIT entrance exam. Leaving back the girl Sakshi who loves him too much, he meets a new girl in his class- Shweta. He challenges his friends- Anisha and Ritwik that he'll prove himself by winning the heart of Shweta anyhow. At last he gets her. But, Shweta is still not over the thought of her ex-boyfriend- Ritesh. This keeps troubling their relationship for a long time. And, what happens in this turmoil in the relationship, read the book yourself. :-)

              Jyotirmoy Mazumdar can't be judged in his debut book itself. I know how I used to write my initial blogs when I was of 18 years old. My English was too basic and that is what I found in this book too. I had bad experience in love then, and that is what I found in this book too. Even I gave entrance exams to get into good college, and I liked the mentions of the entrance examinations regularly in the book. In all, the author has scribbled this book for those who are in the age group of 15-20. That's the target readership for this book. Any children in this age group will like this book as they'll feel its their own story. The initial poem on the very first page is wonderful. And to be more precise, all the poems written in this book is commendable. One more part, anywhere where the author has used Hindi sentences, he has made it sure that he translates them into English too. As that's the language in which the book is written which some authors forget now-a-days. Some moments in this love story are surely unique. Like, I won't forget the Chocolate Kiss and I will definitely try it with my girlfriend if I get one soon. :-) Friendship with Anisha and Ritwik is beautifully described in the beginning of the book. The story clearly wants to send a message across that never play with your academic and professional life for a silly girlfriend. One day a Relationship will break and you will die regretting that why did you leave your relationships, dreams and goals aside. 

             The major drawback of this book is English that is too basic. Author is surely someone whom I am targeting for this but to Diamond Publications, I would like to say that- Editing is a major task of a Publishing house. If you're unsuccessful in doing it, the readers will never want to pick up a book from your publication again. The friendship with Anisha and Ritwik that is depicted so nicely initially, is totally neglected once Shweta is introduced as a girlfriend. Once, when Jayrish has a fight with Anisha, it is just stated in a sentence without describing the fight. That shows the lack of commitment writer has with every character in the book. Even Ritwik is sidelined as if he is not even in story. So there are some points that I would like the author to work upon and work little slowly for his 2nd book rather than running fast to get it published soon. Read at least 50 books that are written with great skills and quality. 

                In the end, people below 21 will enjoy this book, go for it. 

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU

Poor Indian Graduate Students by Anish Sadanandan!!!

             As it is obvious and known to everyone that the first book which 90% of youngsters has picked up from a bookstore is a Chetan Bhagat novel. I am no different. But after reading all the four novels of Chetan Bhagat, the one that I went for was Mandar Kokate's Oh Shit Not Again. And once I read and completed it, I saw that the book gave a serious competition to Chetan Bhagat's 4th novel- 2 States in the Bestseller Chart as it was released in the same month. Everyone was astonished that how can a debutante give a competition to Chetan Bhagat. But he did it and Mandar Kokate became one of my favorite author after Chetan Bhagat. But, rather than writing his 2nd book, he started getting other newcomer authors published. Out of 7 books published by his Expression Publication, I have read the 3rd one today. It is debutante- Anish Sadanandan's "Poor Indian Graduate Students" which he abbreviates as PIGS too. :-) The cover page, title of the book, author's name, tag line, synopsis, book binding quality and almost everything is attractive. Hence, I picked it up. 

             The book is about the Indian students who go through a superficial life during their Graduation times, then Master's Degree and also the earning phase of their life. The book also consists different scenarios of how a boy keeps falling into the trap of different girls during this exploring age of his life. 

             Anish Sadanandan has a good writing skill but it didn't satisfy me. He wrote the whole book as if he is writing his own life story for someone whom he is going to get married or for his 20 years old son whom he wants to explore life like him rather than living it too sincerely. He just keep on narrating story in the same flow which does not impress someone who expects some full-of-fun conversations, funny scenarios and something that has sweet suspense into it. This book is almost what anyone can write. Actually, I would not have hated this book that much if it would not have been from Expression Publication. My last two experiences with the Publication's books were terrific and hence, I was expecting a lot from this one. The book promises that it is Fictional Humour but I found it hard to laugh throughout the book. It was only once or twice that I really laughed. Else, it was just like one of the blog post written by a College student. When the boy runs away from Vedika's house when her father comes home is something that really made me laugh too much. The part where author describes that Mumbai and Delhi, both are annoying cities in respect to how people fight to prove one of the city as a better one is something I liked very much. 

             The story is very very ordinary. It does not have a thing called "Plot". It's just a narration of one's life. Too much mention of girls take away the interest that you start taking in the life of the protagonist. His affair has been shown with more than 4-5 girls which is seriously annoying to even imagine and digest. It seems as if one's autobiography is written with little amount of fiction that is being inserted because of some pressure. I am dissatisfied with this book. I hope I will get a better experience in reading the next book that is also a Expression Publication's published book. 

              Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU

Ishaan Lalit's most exciting book- "HEXAGON"

          

            Ishaan Lalit(Ishaan Lalit is a multifaceted and creative writer in his late twenties, is a gemologist, a pilot and an adventurer. Born and brought up in Faridabad, Ishaan lives there with his family and three dogs. He has traveled to various countries and loves learning about various cultures. He has been writing ever since he was a young boy) is one of those writers who has made it sure that he will write everything that is not related to Sexual contents and Love stories. When he came up with his debut book- “The Bracelet”, he claimed that there is not even a single sex scene or a kissing scene in the book and hence you can gift it to any adult reader without getting embarrassed. It is visible that Ishaan lalit is also fed up of Love stories and want to bring out some different kinds of book in the market. His first book was appreciated for its distinct and articulate topic. And this wasn’t the end. Now, Ishaan Lalit is up with his 2nd novel and that is too hard to belive that someone has attempted such kind of a book. 

             The 2nd book of Ishaan Lalit is named “Hexagon” which is a Science fiction thriller. Yes, all of us have seen the Hollywood movies with the same genre but a book?? And that too by an Indian author?? And that too by the one who is in his late 20s?? I am sure you are as surprised as me. More surprising is that this book is a Non-fictional attempt. According to the author, Hexagon is racy, fast moving and a thrilling tale about Rahul Oberoi, an art thief whose great achievements was that he had never been caught.  The book is going to be released by Mahaveer Publications who are known for releasing book with which a common person can relate to. According to the recent comments that the book cover page has got, it is said to have one of the best cover pages ever published by Mahaveer Publication. 

              The book is up for pre-order at the link- http://www.flipkart.com/hexagon-8183520200/p/itmd7zf5kqh9hc9f?pid=9788183520201&ref=f99563e5-ebdf-4c3d-9490-e07f1d85cff1. The book is very articulate and distinct from the genre that are being published now-a-days. You can go for this book undoubtedly. Even if it will not excite you, at least you will get something very new to read. The book is going to be released on 25th June. If you want to read it on the very first day, pre-order it from the above link. 

Few Words About Debutante- Jyotirmoy Majumdar's "Did She Love Me?"

        I still remember the time when Item songs started bombarding into every major movie of Bollywood. Everyone got astonished to see the revolution happening in the film industry with such a speed that everything changed in a year. Something similar has happened with the Bookselling industry of India. There was a time when Indian books were known for its literary value and vocabulary power. But, after some Minor Publishing Houses came into the scenario, the whole thing turned out to be a commercial world of book. Every writer came out with a book based on his true love story. And one of the latest entrants in this world is Jyotirmoy Majumdar.

            Jyotirmoy Majumdar is basically from Assam and loves his state. He is also crazy about the beauty of the city- Delhi. He didn’t have to wkr a lot for getting into the arena of writing as his mother herself was a Writer. He had writing in his nerves. But still, he does not give the credit of his first book to his mother as he started scripting it after a girl broke his heart and went away. Then, as everyone of us, even he asked the question to himself,”Did She Love Me?” and that gave birth to his first book which is titled, yes the same, “Did She Love Me?” The book is published by Diamond Publication. 

             Jyotirmoy Majumdar has made it sure that he does not speak only about Love in his book based on love story, but also talk about different factors such as Lessons of friendship, loyalty towards parents, career, and Hope and Trust. He also says that Sacrifice is another word for Love. The author promises that his book will make every person feel that its his own love story or the reader will find that some or the other event of the story has happened with him in his life. So, get Jyotirmoy Majumdar’s first book “Did She Love Me?” as soon as possible.