My Mom and I

*************** Start of Conversation ***************

Dad: It’s a Saturday. What’s your plan for today?

Daughter: Mom’s gone to work. I think we can go to the garden and you can help me enjoy the rides. Wish Mom was also free on Saturdays.

Dad: People have different timings dear. I work from Monday to Friday. Mom works from Monday to Saturday. I don’t have month-long vacations. Mom has month-long vacations. I have different problems at work, mom has her own problems.

Daughter: I know about your problems, dad. But mom also has work related problems? I have never seen her under stress.

Dad: Yes she has. She travels for more than an hour to reach her workplace. She travels in Mumbai local trains. She has to prepare a lot prior to reaching her workplace. 

Daughter: I didn’t know all this. Dad, I think we should talk about it today. We’ll go to garden in the evening once mom comes back. Let’s discuss this now.

Dad: Ok. But tell me one thing. Why do you feel mom doesn’t have work pressure?

Daughter: She never shows it. She gets up in the morning and wakes me up in the sweetest way possible. I know I am a little fussy when I get up, I seek attention. But all I am yearning for is moms love and affection when I wake up. Then she takes care of my morning chores. While you play with me in the morning, she prepares breakfast for both of us and happily places it on the table. While we are busy eating / drinking, she gets ready for work. She sees you off and then plays with me for a while. She keeps me busy with something and quietly leaves for work, so that I don't notice and cry about it.

Dad: Wow. Interesting observation, I must say.

Daughter: Even when she comes back home in the evening, she shows no sign of tiredness. She brings lollipop for me, plays with me and we happily watch television for a while. In sharp contrast, when you return home, you seem tired. You play with me for a while and then go back to the room to change and rest. Then you and mom switch roles and you play with me while mom relaxes. But all through this, she never appears tired. This made me feel that you have work pressures but mom doesn’t.

Dad: Moms are wonderful, dear. Your Grand-mom sacrificed a lot to see me doing well in life. You mom is doing the same with you.

Daughter: I agree.

Dad: I look stressed or tired probably because I feel my primary role is to protect the family – financially and otherwise, today and tomorrow. That’s what is always present in my mind. And maybe, guys are made this way. It’s difficult for a man to look happy when there’s pressure from various avenues. Maybe we are hard-wired.

Daughter: Dad, but I think you take a lot of tension. You work hard every day and the money you earn goes into the investments you have made for me, which is great. But by doing so, you are always under stress. For instance, look at all the grey hair you have. I think you need to do what I do when I have a problem.

Dad: And what’s that?

Daughter: Go to a specialist! Like when I need something, food to eat or to apply lipstick / makeup or if I hurt myself while playing, I go to mom. I don’t know how she does it, but her presence makes me forget the pain. Football makes you forget your stress, so football is a specialist for you. Grey hair is now a problem for you, I suggest you blacken your hair. Why even make it black? Try some different shades, why not go to a specialist in this field to solve it?

Dad: OK. I take your point. 

Daughter: OK. But today’s discussion is about mom. I want to know how she hides her stress from me.

Dad: That’s because moms are selfless human-beings. In a world where every person you meet outside is selfish, here’s a lady who will go out of her way to ensure you are content and happy. You will surely realize the secret when you reach that stage.

Daughter: Now, we are taking this discussion out of scope. Its about my mom, not me being a mom some day! Let’s give it 2-3 decades from now. Garden, shall we?

Dad: Yeah sure, my princess!

*************** End of Conversation ***************

This is what I think my daughter (who is 2 years and 6 months old) will say when she starts understanding the sacrifices every mom goes through, to raise a child. These are exactly the same thoughts I have of my mom too. And I am sure many of the readers will agree. Moms are special. I don’t think there will be one special instance that stands out. Every single instance with my mom stands out, like it does for my daughter. 

They say God is omnipresent. I agree. But I also feel Mothers have a huge part to play in this.

Book Review: Where the Rainbow ends

Where the Rainbow ends by Anurag Anand is a story of a certain guy, Rahul, who is in search of a lady named Avantika in Delhi where coincidentally, his ex-wife resides. Sounds exciting already? Well, it certainly is. But hold thy breath! That's not how the story unfolds. Its even better than that. This book is about how that guy tracks down Avantika and the reasons for her sudden disappearance, someone who has become an integral part of his family and how does his ex-wife feature in all this - positively / negatively / neutral.

Judging a book by its cover -

Who should read this book -

1. Youth - with a story spanning across academia, corporate life, marriage and beyond

2. Readers with a special corner for relationships and mystery

What's the story like - Rahul Singh, on his way from Delhi to Mumbai, met an air-hostess named Avantika in a manner that can only be described as uncomfortable. Coincidentally, they met again, this time in Mumbai. Myra, Rahuls daughter, and Avantika immediately hit it off well and quickly Avantika became an integral part of their lives even supporting them through thick and thin. One fine day, she disappeared. Rahul starts searching for her and that's when we are given a flashback of Rahuls life, his ex-wife Shalini, how they met, got married, Myra's birth and eventually, their painful divorce. Shalini left their life, Avantika entered. Now Rahul has a task to find Avantika, amidst Myra's deteriorating health issue. He finds help in his school friend and current ACP of Delhi. How Rahul finds Avantika and how his problems are eventually solved forms the climax of the story. Anything more will be a spoiler.

How's the writing - One of a kind especially coming from an Indian author! This is one of those rare books where its hard to find an error. Kudos. I personally enjoyed reading the book and with every page, my admiration towards the author increased. His writing is clear and simple. The message is crisply conveyed and the story moves at a constant pace fluctuating between the present and the past of the protagonist. The climax is a little surprising. And for the lazy readers out there, the page number is also a 'turn-on' of sorts - only 200! With every book I read, I feel there's any emerging trend to not only write a novel that caters to the reading audience but also to cater to the movie production houses as a prospective script of a new movie. This book is no different in that sense.

So, what do I think - Well worth your money and time. If you are part of the target audience mentioned above, you will hardly regret spending your time reading this book. It has the right amount of humor, more twists at every turn when you feel you know how it's going to end, relationships between a couple before and after marriage and a mystery element (revealed towards the end). My verdict - a definite one-time read.

My Rating: 4/5

Book Review: Complete / Convenient

First things first. Ketan Bhagat is actually Chetan Bhagat's brother! Secondly, their writing is as same Chalk and Cheese. So this is not a "same type of book" from people with the same surname. I am not so sure I understood why the book is titled "Complete / Convenient". it could be a rhetoric question asking the readers if they prefer a complete life (in home country with extended family, true friends and a stable job) or a convenient life (including living in different parts of the world and experiencing different / difficult situations). The tag-line "there is more to men than bromance" points in that direction too. The book cover is divided into two parts - one Indian and the other Australian.

Target Audience:

1. Information Technology folks - for you will know what it means to stay at onsite.

2. Punjabis - If you are a Punjabi, you'll love it for sure. This book is all about them and their lifestyles written in a humorous way. 

Plot: The reader is introduced to Kabir, the central character in the plot. He is in love with Myra and hangs out with Ramesh and Tejas. He works in Satyamev, an IT company headed by a certain Raju (co-relations anyone?). Kabir is one the outstanding performers in the sales team. He is immediately called to Australia for deputation. Ecstatic as he is, he unknowingly / indirectly informs Myra about being together. Myra understands this as a marriage offer. And there you go! Before Kabir leaves for Australia, he marries Myra and takes her along with him. That's when the novel really starts. From searching for apartments, friends, places to hang out, friends / colleagues to hang out with, new account for Kabir, everything starts with a mess. But everything finds a way too. Kabir and Myra realize that love before marriage was a lot easier, living in India with family was much better and so on. The internal fight between career growth and family forms the rest of the story.

Writing: Author has adopted a simple way of narrating the story. The writing is simple too. There are regular comparisons between living in India and overseas, their pluses and minuses. So, people who want to relocate can easily finalize their decision after reading this book! Even the people planning to relocate overseas can go through the different arguments you will eventually face. After reading the entire book, I thought the story could have been accommodated in about 275-300 pages. The author has explained every situation / surrounding in so much depth that the reader might feel off-track in between. That's the only minus point of the book. And yes, Ketan has a different writing style with less masala than Chetan.

Overall, the Bhagat family lived up to their reputation of publishing a gem of a debut novel. This one is as good as Five Point Someone. Now the challenge is to upheld the same quality in Ketan's next novels, if he is planning to.

My Rating: 4/5

Book Review: The Homing Pigeons

"The Homing Pigeons" is a love story of two people meeting, leaving, meeting, leaving and eventually meeting again! Much like the 'homing pigeons' who are known to return to their own place irrespective of the location they are currently in. Metaphorically, the two protagonist in this book, Aditya and Radhika, go through the same motions till they meet (again). Although the title is apt for such a story, the cover page, isn't. It simply depicts pigeons flying in random directions without a destination. I would have preferred a more creative cover page. But, as they say, never judge a book by its cover!

Target Audience:

1. Youngsters looking to read relationship based novels

2. Corporates affected by recession (not that this book gives an option, but you will enjoy for sure)
3. Readers who enjoy non-linear / parallel narration.

Plot: "The Homing Pigeons" is about the stories of Aditya and Radhika - 2 stories running parallel. You meet a guy named Aditya who works as a 'gigolo' to satisfy his 'clients'. You then meet a woman named Radhika who is not sad when she loses her husband but is instead happy to own his materialistic possessions! But all's not bad with the protagonists and their life. Situations made them go that route. And those situations are described in the book. Aditya is actually a promising youngster who loses his job due to recession and lives with his working wife. He met a woman, Divya, in a bar and that meeting changed his life for the better (in terms of money) and worse (in terms of career decisions). Radhika is a small town girl whose parents gave her away to foster parents, who in turn, returned her back to real parents. How the twain meet - forms the crux of the story.

Writing: The narration is non linear. You get too know a part of Aditya's life followed by Radhika's life. Initially, they are as different as chalk and cheese. Your instinct (and the book title) reminds you that their stories will meet at one point. But that's not the point here. It's how smoothly the stories meet that makes this book worth reading. However, I felt the end could've been made a little melodramatic. Also, the stories are moving between the past and present. The writing is simple and easy to understand (a common trait by Indian authors to increase their target audience). People who know me, know that I have a thing or two for witty one-liners. Here's one from the book that's apt - "This response is as dumb as Microsoft Office help; it gives  you the most logical answer that makes no sense"

Relevance in today's times: Recession is relevant, even in today's times - ask those who are still struggling to get back in the career race. Relationships, or the fall of it, is also equally relevant. "The Homing Pigeons" captures the various reasons for the fall of relationships, (regrettable) decision made based on situations and its repercussions. The author has smartly involved two of the most sensitive issues (recession and relations) and churned out a book that's pleasant to say the least.

Overall, based on the story and parallel narration with past and present running together, this book is a worthy page turner. It's a wonderful and promising start from the author Sid Bahri. Narration is truly the differentiating factor here and is, in itself, worthy of a buy. 

My Rating: 3 / 5

Book Review: Spicy Bites of Biryani

"Spicy Bites of Biryani" because life needs a little masala is a book about relationships - serious enough to get married to actually being married types. Its written by a debut author - Ashwina Garg. This books depicts the life of people getting into relationships and how their life changes thereafter. Its also points out reasons why people avoid getting into serious and long term relationships. All this is shown through different characters who are important to the plot. One look at the cover page and you will know what I am talking about. A couple sitting near a beach, with greenery around, car parked nearby, discussing what we can safely assume to be an open ended one (typical of a relationship). 

Target Audience:

1. Indian audience - as some conversations in the book are in Hindi

2. Readers who love novels based on relationships

3. Readers who prefer a straight forward book without too many twists and turns and a start-to-end read.

Plot: This book is all about relationships. One guy comes back from the United States after selling his company and a relationship to Hyderabad in search of a wife and has intentions to settle down. There's a couple in Hyderabad who are his friends. Husband wants to start a family (Read: be a father), but the wife is not sure if she can cope with added pressure. They have a common friend who is a writer and prefers to have meaningless relationships rather than getting married. The guy from the US is Sanjay and the writer is Aditi. This book is about how they meet, become friends, gets into a relationship (with major differences, like marriage, aside) and moves on. Sounds simple right? Now let's include Sanjay's ex from the US and Aditi's exes too. And you have 225 pages of a book worth exploring. Now you are thinking! 

Writing: The writing is simple and easy to understand - something you expect from a debut author from India. Since the reader contingent is growing everyday in India, it makes sense to cater to most of them. The author has focused more on Aditi's character making her the central to the plot. There are characters developing around her. The climax is somewhat unexpected though. I understand the author's intention to spring a surprise and end it in a way the story is forever remembered by  the reader, but the way it ended somehow didn't fit the complete storyline. This is just my opinion. Most of the readers might feel otherwise.There are some grammatical errors (relatively much less) and some typos too. However, if you are deeply involved in the plot, there are chances you will miss / ignore them.

Relevance in today's times: Since its a take on relationships, its relevant (and will always be). "Spicy Bites of Biryani" shows a way in which committed people interact and make decisions. Include the culture diversity and you have the right masala that will make the Biryani yummy!

Overall, it's a fun book and if you have 3-4 hours of free time, that you can read it at one go. No regrets, go for it.

My Rating: 3 / 5

Book Review: Once upon the tracks of Mumbai

"Once upon the tracks of Mumbai" is a Mumbai based story written by debutant author Rishi Vohra. It depicts the life of a certain strong yet autistic Babloo and the incidents that happen to him. They say a first impression means a lot to attract the audience and that's what Rishi Vohra has done with the cover page. You see a couple which makes it obvious that it's a love story. You see the title written as if it's a Mumbai station. And then there's a train. No points for guessing the different elements involved in this novel. Adequate information, I must admit.

Target Audience:

1. Mumbaikars.

2. Readers in awe of Mumbai local trains (Imagine reading this book inside Mumbai's lifeline!).

3. Readers who seek freshness in the novel, which you are assured to get from a debut author.

Plot: The story is about an Autistic person named 'Babloo', his life and his daily struggles (or the lack of it, in some cases). Though the central character is Babloo, there are other parallel tracks too involving other characters like a career driven Vandana, a negative character in Sikander and Babloo's brother Raghu. Our protagonist is slow in understanding what others are talking about and the situations that happen around him. People, including his own family, ignore him. Vandana seems to be the only person interested to talk to Babloo. And logically, Babloo is attracted towards her. Enter Sikander in one story and Raghu in a parallel story. There's love, there's betrayal, there's family ignorance, family pressure et al in this beautiful city of Mumbai as depicted in the book. Babloo is constantly searching for his purpose in life. Enter RAIL MAN. How, why, what happens next forms the crux of the story. Revealing anything more will be spoiling the suspense.

Writing: One must give credit to Rishi Vohra for making a mark with his debut novel. He is surely one of the authors to watch out for in the near future - assuming he continues writing books. The first few chapters set the tone and describes Babloo's character and the area of Bandra in greater detail. For some, it may be a let-down. Some will wonder and appreciate the amount of research carried out by the author. The language used is simple and will be understood by most readers. The story is written in such a way that you feel you are actually visualizing it in front of you. In other words, there is a possibility of this book to be converted into a Bollywood movie. And based on the current trend, I am sure I am not far from the truth!

Relevance in today's times: The book has lot of stuff that explains the way people react and think when surrounded by a situation. It looks at autistic personalities. It looks at how the world around you perceives you despite what you actually are. A lot of incidents and characters resembles real life popular characters and the author has smartly ensured real names are not included. There's a certain Bollywood superstar, certain political factions, a real life stone pelting incident injuring a girl in the train. People in Mumbai and to an extent, all Indians will be able to identify the real people behind the reel name! 

Overall, "Once upon the tracks of Mumbai" gave me a refreshing new novel and to an extent, made me realize (once again) that Mumbai is a lot more than Bollywood and city of dreams!

My Rating: 3.5 / 5

To know more about the author and the book, you can visit the author's website.

New Phase in my life..

This is easily my most special pic. That's me bonding with my new born daughter! 

She was born on 18th October, 2012. Time for me and my wife to enter a new phase in our lives - Parenthood!

Book Review - Love, Peace and Happiness: What more can you want?

Love, Peace and Happiness: What more can you want? is a collection of short stories with a difference. The stories revolve around 3 basic facets of human existence (or the lack of it, in today's world): Love, Peace and Happiness. The protagonists in each story has his / her own way to perceive the above mentioned facets. Some are morally right, some not. You may even feel the story resembles the life of someone you know. That someone can even be YOU!

Target Audience:

1. Youngsters and working population living in cities / metros as they can relate to most of the stories.
2. Readers who want to explore relationships and the attached complications.

3. Readers who want to explore a "different" way of reading a story (more on this later)

4. Readers who prefer books that go beyond love stories, friendship and a time pass read.

Plot(s): As mentioned earlier, the book consists of nine short stories revolving around the basic theme of Love, Peace and Happiness. Every protagonist perceives it in their own way. Some of the stories are simple and will not surprise / shock you. But as you read on, you will come across stories that will keep you hooked. Also, it's important NOT to forget the characters from the previous stories - they appear again. The stories take you through a myriad of emotions and relationship webs that are difficult to cope with. And its highly likely that some of the situations will resemble a real life story, maybe yours or one of your closed ones. Want to view a mirror that tells you the truth? Buying this book will provide you with just that!

Writing: The writing is simple and straightforward. Author has ensured anyone and everyone with basic understanding of English will be able to understand and comprehend. However, there are some typos in the book, some of which you may ignore or may not even realize. There are places where the anticipation builds for a thrilling climax and then ends abruptly. This, I believe, is because the author has deliberately and tactically ensured that the reader should visit the website for alternate endings and read the new climax.

Relevance in today's times: The book is as relevant as relationships are, in today's times. With social network booming and relationships at an all new low, you will hardly find the following anywhere - Love, Peace and Happiness. The book is, in a way, a mirror that shows exactly what is happening. The book doesn't explain why such a thing is happening and how to cope with it - and rightly so. The concept is to let the readers understand it the way they want to. 

USP (Unique Selling Proposition): Undoubtedly, the concept of alternate endings. It's as if the story is being enacted in an alternate timeline. This concept has been tried and tested in the Hollywood movies. What this does is, it increases curiosity among the readers who has just read one story in the book. You get an urge to explore the story more and analyze how the other ending fits. The author wants the reader to end the story in the way s/he wants it. If you are not convinced with the ending (it'll happen for some stories), you have an option to read the alternate ending from the author's website. If you are still not convinced, you have another option to writing the end you want and send it to the author. Something like this has not been explored (as far as I remember) and is unique. This concept will work wonders for e-book publications.

Overall, it was a wonderful experience reading the book. Each story has some inner meaning waiting to be explored and readers are given the option to read and accept what they want! One word of caution though: Read this book when you are connected to the net or have a smartphone with you. You might want to check how the story ends differently!

My Rating: 3.5 / 5

A peek into some Relations....

There is something that forms the crux of every existence. Theres something without which we cant survive. Theres something that we love to hate. That something is either imposed on us, or we are responsible for it. That something can become a necessary evil, or it can also become a wall to fall back on. It would also have been difficult for me to guess whats that "something" if not for the title mentioned above !! :-)

I am talking about Relationships. Without introducing it again, lets directly jump into some of them and see and understand what we know about it, and what we know, but never accepted them as they are. I will be restricting my blog (by the way, my first blog) to Friendship and that "Special" relations.
Theres a saying, "Thank God, we decide our friends" !!! Is this really true ? To an extent, Yes. We decide whom to talk to, Who is part of "My Style", common interests, Blah Blah Blah.... The list in endless. But there are certain friendships that just happen. Chanakya said "There is some self-interest behind every friendship. There is no friendship without self-interests. This is the bitter truth. ". Now this is something very few of us would believe to be true. But if we understand this from a bird's-eye point-of-view, its nothing but the truth !!! We move on to a new locality, a new firm, a new college, anywhere it may be, we just want people to interact with us, provided we are extroverts. In the process, we "make" what we believe to be our friends. Sooner or later, we "filter" them, and have our own group which we call our "friend circle". Isn't this true ? Its not wrong, and we may not realize it, but this happens. Try being one of those "filtered-friends" and you will know what I am talking about !!! But all said and done, I believe friendship actually starts after this phase of subconscious filtering.

Even in friendships, we slab them into different categories. Just a friend, a good friend, my best friend and so on... God knows what difference it makes !!! Even more strange is the fact that a guy/girl who was once considered to be close, is now not even a part of life !!! This is what is termed as "Seasonal Friendship", something which was there with us in one phase of our life, but as we move on, we lose track of it. Not having time to talk to old friends is nothing but an excuse, but we are all game to it at one point or the other. But life's not that bad after all !!! Some friendships last forever !!! Hallelujah !!! :-) How did this happen ??? We had time ??? Or maybe this is the guy/girl who understands me very well !!! Why ??? Because we gave him/her the time to understand us, which others were devoid of !!! If only we had "Judged" others on the same platform !!! Not all things that happen in this world are right, and not all things that doesn't happen are wrong !!! Hence, even this is not wrong, its just the way things happen, and its just the way we accept them !!! But all said and done, Its friendships that define our attitude, its friendships that mould us during those crucial years of our youth (primarily), its because of them that school/college/workplace becomes joyful and fun loving, its because of them that our trivial problems are solved!!! Cant live without them, right ???

Moving on to some "special" relationships now. Relationships that we consider more close than friendship... People call it Love and commitment !!! In todays day and age, very few actually believe in such terms !!! Once again, not that they are wrong, its just the change in perception of this generation compared to the previous one. Commitment, to most, comes only after marriage. Till then, its something they call as "Live-in" Relationships. As they say, "Life is like an ice-cream, enjoy it before it melts". The same analogy applies here too !!! Still, life's not that bad either ;-)... There are certain relationships that go way beyond the definition of "Love"... I know a few friends of mine, who are dead serious in their relationships !!! A salute to them !!! :-) They believe in living for today in such a way that they can have a better tomorrow !!! Fair enough, thats what we call, thinking about short term and long term at the same time !!! But unfortunately, only a few of them see the light of the day (No pun intended). Kudos to those who make it, commiserations to those who can't. But such is life, I guess... You win some, you lose some. But as one of my friend said, the fight is worth it !!! Guess it may be true, but somethings in life can only be guaranteed once you experience it. One things for sure, this is the relationship I believe, one must always experience, with loyalty to everyone concerned. Thats not to say that, one should experience it with someone just for the heck of it, it should be much beyond that, and you don't need me to explain it, do you ??? :-)

Anyways, everything that we go through in life is an experience, and one should live it with total commitment and giving your best at that phase of time !!! Somethings will happen, some won't. Accept them as they come along !!! :-)... As they say, "Means justify the end" :-))) and "Life is 10% of what happens to you, and 90% of how you react to it".