#BookReview ; A Broken Man by Akash Verma

Take a deep breath before you are born here, my child! 

You take birth in a land where I struggled; gave it my sweat and blood. A land that I thought belonged to me..… unbridled, uncompromising. 

Krishna is a Dalit boy from Bihar who struggles to overthrow the chains that hold him back. Chhavi is a high caste Brahman girl fighting for the rights of others, propagating equality in a politically charged Lucknow University campus. After Krishna saves Chhavi from getting torched during a protest against reservation, love slowly blossoms, only to be ruthlessly crushed by a society that thrives on divisions of caste and religion. From student politics in Lucknow to the interiors of Bihar, from the corridors of power to the glitz of media and the film industry in Mumbai. 

A Broken Man is the quest of a deprived Krishna to redeem hope from despair, love from separation and success out of repeated failures. From the bestselling author of It Happened That Night and Three Times Loser, this is a story that reinforces our faith in what love can accomplish as it pushes us to achieve the impossible, making us tap our true inner potential.

A Broken Man is the third book of Akash Verma, an entrepreneur & Indian Fiction writer. He is the author of two national bestsellers, It Happened That Night & Three Times Loser. He has a deep interest in music, literature, history & travel.

A Broken Man is the story of Krishna & Chhavi, while our male protagonist is a Dalit from a small village in Bihar who dreams big & wants to be free from insults he has to face just because of his caste despite the parental pressure on him to get selected for a government job & help them come out of poverty, on the other hand our female protagonist is a high caste Brahmin from Lucknow, a liberal woman who is the daughter of a well known politician who is famously known as Pandit Ji. Their first meeting happened in Lucknow University where Chhavi is making speeches for a new student political body who wants change in the university political arena & make it more cleaner but while making such a speech receives heavy opposition from Krishna. And this is the start of their sweet-bitter relationship. But then it was meant to be & they fell in love with each other, unfortunately their happy times were short lived. Chhavi had to make a promise to her father that she will marry the one he will choose for her, while Krishna ran away from her as he couldn’t bear it anymore to Mumbai where he wants to make his dream come true. Will this love stories really have a happy ending? Will Krishna be able to achieve his dream? Read this moving story to find out..

This story is about how faith & hope plays a major factor to make any love story successful. The exploitation & difficulties Dalits go through have been portrayed well & also how the author taught us to get rid of our prejudices is commendable too. The author has been to many cities in India & it shows in the story as the details are perfect. The cover is beautiful as well as the title is appropriate too. A must read!

#BookReview ; Ancient Chants For Modern Living by Aatmanika Ram

The modern world is inundated with problems connected to emotional, mental and physical health. Some problems are brought on by a combination of genetic make-up being passed on from generation to generation and the environment, but most others are brought on by the lack of a strong mind. Stress and anxiety seem to be playing an important role in everybody’s life. Vicious cycles of hectic lifestyle, bad diet, lack of exercise and no commitment to relationships seem to contribute to this ever growing pandemic. This book would help provide practical and easy suggestions to people to become emotionally stronger and stress-free in the longer run. It would serve as a guiding light for the younger generation and help to make conversations with the Almighty more rewarding and pleasurable.

Ancient Chants For Modern Living is written by Aatmanika Ram. The contents in this book are based on her interaction & interviews with knowledgeable individuals who have studied Hinduism since a long time. One of them is Smt. Subashini who has visited more than five hundred temples & interacted with many saints & gurus for 15 years to understand the nuances of Sanathana Dharma.

The author in the beginning of the book describes life as a roller coaster experience and from then onwards the book just soared high. The book speaks about the various problems people face in today’s time due to stress & other such mental & physical adversities. It not just acknowledges the problem but also gives a path which can help people to get rid of their problems & live a healthy life. It professes spirituality as a tool which can be very helpful to people suffering from mental frustration which ultimately leads to physical ailments. The book educates its readers about shlokas & chants & also how they need to be correctly pronounced. This book is a must read for all, whether it is a student or someone working, it will prove itself to be useful for everyone.

While I am an atheist but I won’t deny that this book is a help guide needed for everyone to attain peace in their lives. It has been written in very simple language hence it won’t be much work to understand it, also the explanations given will cover all doubts. The title & cover is soothing too. I urge everyone to just pick it up.

#BookReview ; From Where I See by Ajay Yadav

Ajay meets his childhood friend Shruti on a social network site. He finds her to be struggling with intrapersonal, interpersonal, inter-social and inter-religious conflicts. Eventually the conflicts killed her. Police could solve the case but will it prevent hundreds of Shrutis from getting killed? How long will we aim ‘who’ killed, more important is to find out ‘what’ killed. Till we don’t address this issue and work on it, many Shrutis will keep on getting killed. We need to cure the disease not only the symptoms. 

This book is an effort of the author to find the root cause and probable remedies of these conflicts, exploration of hundreds of pertinent questions like “why in one religion it becomes so easy to get volunteers to blow themselves and others for the sake of religion? Does the religion divides or unites? What precipitates extramarital affairs? Does the immature and wrong interpretation of female emancipation the reason for 13 times rise in divorce rates in last 5 years?  
It’s not only a book; it’s the path to revolution, it’s a journey towards utopian world. Accepting truth and hypocrisy is the toughest job on this earth. If you feel that you are open minded, have courage to accept truth and have a desire to change the world then be the part of change. Let’s take our first step to build a road to the utopian world. 

From Where I See is written by Dr Ajay Yadav & it is his debut work. The author is a consultant anaesthetist, intensivist & pain specialist. His textbook of anaesthesia is most saleable textbook for undergrads in India, South East Asia & Africa. It had always been his dream to write a book which can honestly unfurl the other side of curtain.

The story is about two childhood friends Ajay & Shruti, their childhood has been intricately described by the author but as they grew up their paths got diverted because of several reasons. After many  years he finds her through a social networking site & she was already married by then. As they catch up Ajay came to know about the struggles Shruti was facing & he tried to console her. But then one day he receives a call from Shruti’s husband Aslam that she has committed suicide. But is it suicide? As you read the mystery will be solved..

The plot is quite fresh & enjoyable, the author has used facts & figures in his favour to question various practices in religions. While the premise of the book was good but it was somewhat stretched as well as sometimes it appeared that the protagonist was a bit sexist. Apart from that I liked this book, the cover is beautiful as well as the title is decent. Readers should give it a try..

#BookReview ; 6 Degrees - Game of Blogs

As part of their #CelebrateBlogging initiative, BlogAdda.com, ran the first edition of Game of Blogs in September 2014. Five characters and their descriptions were provided. The objective was to write a fictional story revolving around these characters. Bloggers came together as teams and after three rounds filled with its own set of twists and turns, three stories made it to the end.
The three stories in this book are a fascinating example of how one set of characters can have interesting lives with completely different dimensions. Six Degrees is a result of how collaboration can truly breed creativity in the modern day world of connected living. 

Six Degrees is the outcome of the Game of Blogs initiative by BlogAdda. It was a one of a kind collaborative blogging effort in fact first of its kind in India where 300 people worked in 30 groups to write different stories but with five same characters which were decided by BlogAdda Team. After the announcement the Indian Blogosphere put their thinking caps on to compete for the Game of Blogs trophy. Famous authors like Ashwin Sanghi, Natasha Badhwar, Ravi Subramanian, Meghna Pant, Raksha Bharadia & Kiran Manral were the judges on this initiative but they too had to work hard to choose winners & at the end they chose 3 teams as winners. It has been published by Leadstart Publishing House.

The first story is The Awakening which is the collective work of team ‘By Lines’ which had the following bloggers Anmol Rawat, Preeti Venugopala, Soumyaa Verma, Tina Basu, Ashutosh Bhandari, Paresh Godhwani, Prerna Maynil & Ramanathan P. A nuclear but loving family of three members were living happily in the city of dreams Mumbai & then two unexpected guests enter their lives from thin air. As the story progresses new mysteries are unearthed & revealed which ultimately dawns as a threat to humanity & may lead to the ultimate annihilation. Only some superpower intervention can stop it to happen. But will it? Read the book to know..

The second story is Entangled Lives written by team ‘Potliwale Baba’ which comprises of bloggers such as Shoumik De, Srilakshmi I, Sneha Bhattacharjee, Hemant, Shamim Rizwana, Nirav Thakker, Tushar & Ritu Pandey. The plot is about a happily living family of three with a house help, but then a out of the blue there’s a murder in the house that too when there are two strangers there. While the criminal is unknown but a confession during the investigation solves the mystery. But does it? Is catching murderers ever easy? Read to know.

The third & last story is Missing- A Journey Within penned by team ‘Tete -a- Ten’ with bloggers Sharon D Souza, Oindrila De, Anupriya Mishra, Vaisakhi Mishra, Tinu Menachary, Gauri Kamath, Ritesh Agarwal, Aayan Banerjee & Raghu Chaitanya. Two different characters from two different families, the female goes missing from her family while the male character left his house since he felt devoid of any hope but destiny had something else in its mind & they became friends eventually. But what the future holds for them can only be known if you buy & read it!

This book is a commendable effort of BlogAdda, the judges & most importantly the bloggers who were determined to write that too with given characters which made their job even more difficult. Since the stories are an outcome from common bloggers like us the language is simple & quite relatable, each story gives a different taste to the book & hence makes it even more interesting. I liked the cover & I hope BlogAdda team keeps on coming with such innovative initiatives. This book surely be widely read by Indian readers to inspire & learn from this work of fellow Indians.

* This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!  *

6 Degrees is India's first book published through collaborative blogging, written completely by bloggers for the Game of Blogs activity at BlogAdda. Know more about Game of Blogs here . You can buy 6 Degrees: Game of Blogs if you liked the review. :)

#BookBlitz: Tales of Sunshine by Sundari Venkatraman

BOOK BLITZ

TALES OF SUNSHINE

(A collection of short stories)

by

Sundari Venkatraman

Blurb

TALES OF SUNSHINE is a collection of ten short stories that bring hope.

“A Ray of Sunshine” is about young Raj who’s terribly upset when many people in his team lose their jobs. But is he able to do anything about it?

“A Promise Given” is about Sachin, the poor, rich, young man; and the pregnant Aparna.

“Life Goes out of Control” is the story where Preeti, an only child, is a bone of contention between her parents.

Rakesh Nath has slogged throughout his life to become rich, to suffer a massive heart attack at 57. Read “Rakesh Nath’s Recovery” to find out more...

“Exam Fever” is about Renu and her anxious mother, Maya.Renu wants to play truant from studies while Maya is terribly worried about her daughter’s exams.

“Until Death us do Part” is the story of Rekha, the 35-year-old COO of an MNC. She finds love or does she?

Ansh adores his grandfather. But his mother Anu is scared of her son spending time with the Alzheimer patient in “Is Grandpa Home?”

The “Daydreaming Mercenary” is Reema. She blows up her sister Rita’s hard-earned money. But are things what they actually seem?

“Breaking Free from the Mould” is the most difficult thing as a human. With so much pressure from his Grandma, will Aarush pursue his calling?

“The Elephant in the Room” is in the first person where the poor Nandita talks about her friendship (?) with the rich Shruti.

Grab your copy @

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About the author

Tales of Sunshine is the seventh book authored by SundariVenkatraman. This book is an anthology of human interest stories. Other published novels by the author are The Malhotra Bride, Meghna, The Runaway Bridegroom, The Madras Affair and An Autograph for Anjali—all romances. She also has a collection of romantic short stories called Matches Made in Heaven. All of SundariVenkatraman’s books have been on Amazon Top 100 Bestsellers in India, USA, UK & Australia many times over.

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Other books by the author

The Malhotra Bride

Meghna

The Runaway Bridegroom

Flaming Sun Collection 1: Happily Ever Afters From India (Box Set)

Matches Made In Heaven

The Madras Affair

An Autograph for Anjali

                                                           

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#BookReview ; Panorama by Shilpi Chaklanobis

A turbulent relationship between a mother and a daughter takes a sudden turn when the daughter stumbles across a past that she never knew.....
The golden period of a professor’s life is tainted by questions about his purpose until one night gives him all the answers he needs........
Desperate times test us all but when hunger drives a girl to do the unthinkable, her life changes forever..........
Woven around the lives of the people around us – the shy girl on the metro, your domestic help, your neighbors and perhaps even you – this collection of short stories will take you on a bittersweet journey that explores the spectrum that is part of any human relationship and all the complexity and chaos that secretly dwell within the homes and hearts of India.
Often laced with an element of introspection, the stories are sure to change the way you see the world around you…

Panorama A Collection of Short Stories is the debut work of Shilpi Chaklanobis. Originally from Kanpur but has spent the majority of her adult life in Delhi & currently heads the Digital Marketing division at an MNC. The author is also is an ardent reader which makes her writing even better.

This book contains 15 short stories & covers diverse topics. Each story depicts a story of a complex human life. From the struggles of a poor family of mother & daughter for whom having curry is even a dream, to waiting for your true love to come back even after several years & many such stories which will move readers to their core.

The language used is simple & automatically connects with the reader. The writing is quite refreshing, title is good but the cover could’ve been better. Readers shouldn’t miss this one..

#BookReview ; Ponytail The Love For Revenge by Pradip Chauhan

Ponytail is the story of a man, who has spent his life for making money and becoming powerful. He has his own motives of life and to achieve his goals, he falls in love; that changes his life...

Ponytail The Love For Revenge is written by Dr. Pradip Chauhan, a Gujrat born lad who started with writing in Gujrati & even got some of his work published by local Gujrati publishers which was enough appreciated by readers. He also has two books published by his pen name ‘Prajwalit’. Other than this he has also written two small parts of a book series ‘On the Earth: In Light of the Sun’. Other than writing he also delivers lectures on anatomy in a medical college.

The story is about an ambitious man Prabuddh whose sole aim in his life is to be the richest man in India, everything else is secondary. This ambition of his roots from an uneventful part of his life where his mother died of an accident because they didn’t had the money to save her & then he lost his father too due to heart attack. This made him take an oath to never keep his hair short. His determination showed in the success story of his textile company which he planned to extend for which he partnered with the daughter of the richest man of India, Kaumudi & they started their new venture of woman apparels which was named Ponytail. And then he falls in love with one of his employee Tapasya but some things aren’t just meant to be & she committed suicide doubting Prabuddh. But is this it? Is it all what it contains in the life of Prabuddh? Read it know..

The romantic thriller written by author is quite an intriguing attempt. The language is easy, also its a quick read. While the title has significance with the story I still didn’t liked it as well as the cover isn’t impressive either. Readers interested in this genre should surely pick it up!