Book Review - 'The Bestseller She Wrote' by Ravi Subramanian

Here you go with my typical review for this book.... unlike other reviews with stereotype content and format .... this time I want to write it in very straight forward way "What I liked" ...."Why to read" and "What not to expect".

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Paperback king, Aditya Kapoor’s life is straight out of a modern man’s fantasy. His literary stardom is perfectly balanced by a loving wife and a spectacular career. With everything he touches turning to gold, Aditya is on a winning streak.

Shreya Kaushik is a student with a heart full of ambition. Young, beautiful, and reckless, Shreya speaks her mind and obsessively chases after what she wants. And what she wants is to be a bestselling author.

What happens when their worlds collide? Is it possible to love two people at the same time? Can real ambition come in the way of blind passion? Can trust once broken, be regained?

Master storyteller Ravi Subramanian, delves into the glitzy world of bestsellers and uncovers a risky dalliance between a superstar novelist and his alluring protégé.

The Bestseller She Wrote is a combustible cocktail of love, betrayal and redemption.

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What I liked :

So the uncrowned King of corporate thriller is back with another nail biting novel "The Bestseller She Wrote" . 

I have read all the books of this author and as they say and I believe, he is one of the finest Indian English author and when it comes to corporate thrillers he is the only one. One more time books revolves around main character "Aditya" ... (just like his most of the previous novel ). The moment I read that name in his novel one fiction character with strong presence, attitude portraits into my mind. 

Simple language....short chapters and pacy story holds you through out the book. I felt that at some point author has made it like a script which can directly adopted into movie. But what I believe is no screen play can be better than imagination of human mind. When I read something I actually see it like a movie...and that's why I able to finish most of the book in 3-4 hours at one go :p .

What else I like is the quotes....catchy one liners..... that's what people remembers just like "Thapped se dar nahi lagta ....saheb pyar se lagta hey " this novel has so many one liners which gives the punch to story....few examples...

"Cheating is never a mistake. It is a choice..."

"Life is all about choices you make…"

"Relationships with the right people always pay in life..."

"If instead of malls we built libraries, the future generations would be a lot smarter."

"A lottery gives you a better chance at success than getting a book published.""

"Without these bookstores, there will be no books, and without books, there will be no culture"

"Nothing in life is more wretched than the mind of a man conscious of his guilt."

"The problem with trust is that if it is broken, then all acts committed by the perpetrator come under the purview of suspicion."

"Life is binary in many ways. There is no way that we can move away from each other slowly and painlessly. There has to be a complete exit"

And the last one...which I liked the most.....

"Books make sense of life...the only problem is that the lives they make sense of are other people's lives....never your own...."  - Julian Barnes

Why to read :

You will like the book if you are frustrate from blast of Indian English author's romantic novel. Just like rest of the his novels by Ravi this one also revolves around corporate world of India....tussle of egos...raise of hero....betrayal.....old friendships.....I mean it has everything that one wants to read into entertaining novel.

If you want to read something different than ordinary Indian English author (excepts Ashwin Sanghi and Amish Tripathi) than you can read this.  Not typical love story ....but this time he has tried to get diverted little bit in that direction.

If you have read his other books ..... "Bankrupt","God is Gamer", "If god was banker", "Devil's pinstripe", "Incredible Banker" than you won't be able to stop your self from going through this. 

Go for it....there are very few Indian author who has reached at the stage which he is right now.

What Not to expect from book :

Unlike other books of this author this book has so many co-relation with one of the other author..so many points in the starting were similar that I was scared that this book is written for that author it self or what :P

Please find funny points and co-relations as below...

Spoiler alerts..... 

Story is about banker turned author Aditya (Just like Chetan Bhagat )  is the reigning 'paperback king' (Just like Chetan Bhagat of 2007-8).... he is from prestigious institute of India for management study IIM ( again like CB ...).... he move back to India after successful career at Hong Kong (CB also has same story)  at one point of time in novel Aditya also get offer to judge the dance reality show ( Just wanted to make a point that CB has recently judge "Nachh Baliye" ) .

See how many co-relation with real life... :p

But rest of the story is not similar to his life so please don't abandon reading in between :p.

(I am reviewing ‘The Bestseller She Wrote’ by Ravi Subramanian as a part of the biggest Book Review Program forIndian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books! )

Life - a melody of love !!

Today morning, while heading towards office in my car I had an interesting experience.

Well....before you start running horses of imagination ..... let me tell you I was alone in my car. Now start thinking that what interesting thing one can have alone in a car. :-)

I was going office early than my usual time so it wasn't rush-hour. Usually I go in cab but whenever I drive my self to office .... I try to pick a time where I would not hit rush-hour traffic.

So I was listening to radio and comfortably cruising with speed of 80-90 km with out much interruption. Car going with more than that speed comfortably overtaking from sides...and no body will get blame to do that on a four lane highway...with absence of serious traffic...you generally get tempted to step on the accelerator. 

Radio was on but I was hardly listening to words ....and was lost in thoughts. Suddenly I was rudely awakened by my senses that traffic ahead of me was halted suddenly. A few meters away drivers of 3rd and 4th lane were coming to 2nd lane and 4 lane road was converted in two lane. Must be accident some place ahead. Obvious result of this was slowing down of traffic.

I was hopping for quick clearance but instead of clearing it become bumper to bumper and door to door....and just like a grinding halt... long distance drivers on highways recognize all these situations.....how messy situation can be... I had one experience on that famous golden bridge of "Bharuch" for such traffic for more than 7 hours... nothing can be worst than that.

And every time in such situation the lane in which we stand always would be slowest one. After 5-10 minutes I found that since last 10 minutes NOTHING really moved in my lane. For a moment I have toyed with idea of trying to move to another lane but need to stop....as there wasn't any space and that stunt can be proved dangerous for me.

So I stayed in my lane – and just waited for the traffic to move.....It took a while....actually much longer than I expected. Which sort of surprised me because we still had two active lanes. And this was non-peak. So what was the big deal ?

Well...that big deal came.... little bit later.... I realize only when 2-lane had become 1-lane.... yeah the single one.

I still do not know why all these lanes had been progressively shut off. There was absolutely no sign of any accident or road repair work. But it did make sense to me that if you convert a 5-lane motorway to a 2-lane one (that too not very far from the airport), the chance that traffic will build up is not entirely unrealistic.

I was shuffling the radio channels and halted at one stations where this song was being played.....

"Kuchh paakar khonaa hai

Kuchh khokar paanaa hai

Jeevan ka matlab to

Aanaa aur jaanaa hai

Do pal ke jeevan se

Ek umr churaani hai

Zindagi aur kuchh bhi nahin

Teri meri kahaani hai...."

                                                       (Translated version)

"Life is about finding and then losing

It is about losing and then finding

It is about coming and going

From the few moments called life,

we need to steal a lifetime

Life is nothing more than your and my story

Life is a melody of love"

and so on....

"Toofaan ko aanaa hai
Aakar chale jaanaa hai
Baadal hai ye kuchh pal kaa
Chhaakar dhal jaana hai
Parchhaiyaan reh jaateen
Reh jaati nishaani hai
Zindagi aur kuchh bhi nahin
Teri meri kahaani hai"

                                                      (Translated version)

"The storm HAS to come

But after coming, it has to go too

These are but transient clouds

They have to fade away after hanging over us briefly

Only shadows remain

Only marks (signs) remain

Life is nothing more than your and my story

Life is a melody of love"

I never listen any song with more intensity than this....traffic was still on halt.....song ended with a note .... Santosh Anand Ji ka likha hua geet and bol diye hey.....someone someone ne....

Traffic was still on halt and I have googled about him.....just out of curiosity to find his other song....

I have got few more lines.... which are not there in the original song....and these are my favorite lines....as well

"Jo bit gaya hey wo..

Ab daur na aayega...

Is dil me ...siva tere ...

Koi aur na aayega....

Ghar phunk diya hamne..

Ab rakh uthani hey...

Zindagi aur kuchh bhi nahin
Teri meri kahaani hai"

"Tum sath na do mera..

Chalana muje aata hey

Har Aag se wakif hu...

Jalna muje aata hey..

Tadbir ke hathon se..

Taqdir banani hey...

Zindagi aur kuchh bhi nahin

Teri meri kahaani hai"

P.S.  Since morning this song is keep on buzzing in my head....hoping to add few more lines....if you have please add as comments...

Mahabharata revisited !!!!

Unlike one of my own creation this one is just re-framed and somewhat extended version of one the forwarded message!

Again not all of the readers will be able to understand this but....few who are in the zone of "Office goers" will certainly relate....

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Dronacharya: 

The Mentor. The employee who doesn't like working himself but is always ready to guide and train new joiners.

Bhishma: 

The Loyal. The employee in a relatively senior position who happily assists the boss in spite of knowing his incompetence (because of some strange oath maybe)

Dhritarashtra: 

The blind boss. He knows that everything is wrong with his project but will still let it function, without making any changes to the current processes.

Gandhari: 

The Yesmen/Women. Boss's immediate juniors who know that they are a part of an evil plan but will stay blindfolded and pretend as if nothing is happening.

Yuddhisthira: 

The ethical guy. Poor chap would never fudge timesheets and call in sick only when he is dying.

Bheema: 

The angry resource. Always ready to pick up a fight with his peers, subordinates or even the bosses.

Arjuna:

The cool dude. The star performer who also knows how to sell his skills. A natural charmer, very famous among the ladies.

Nakul & Sahdev: 

The good average resource. No one notices them. They keep doing their work and get average appraisals.

Duryodhana:

The Bully. Knows how to get work done, by hook or by crook. Doesn't mind threatening the likes of Nakul and Sahdev to get his work done.

Karna: 

The unsung hero. The best performer in the office but never claims credit for his work. Stays an unsung hero for all his life. Girls take him for a snobbish nerd.

Shakuni: 

The evil plotter. Copies management in every mail. Escalates every trivial issue, sometimes to take credits and sometimes purely for fun.

Dhristadyumna: 

The One inning wonder. The one who performs an extraordinary feat, and then basks in the glory of it for the rest of his life.

Draupadi: 

The shared resource. Keeps hopping projects on boss's advice.

Krishna: 

The Ultimate Boss (MD/CEO) who knows that it is his game while he makes everyone believe that they are playing important roles too.

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Who says history never repeats itself? It does, everyday.....in the office.

Something interesting !!!

Here I come up with another post on songs.... After writing last post about my favorite songs and lyrics..... something happened and I have started listening each and every song from my playlist more carefully. 

Some of them made sense and some of them were just crappy but I had it in my play list. Don't worry I won't make you bore by writing lyrics and translating them here....

Instead I suggest you to do some activity along with reading this article....

1. Put your iTunes, music player , Windows Media Player, Ipod or whatever medium you use for listening song and keep it on random / shuffle mode.

2. Now for each question you read below, press the next button to get your answer.

3. YOU MUST NOTE DOWN THAT SONG NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS...

I have done the same and got my list as below..... :P

1. If someone asks you, “How are you ? ?” you say:

    Tanha Dil...tanha safar ...

2. How would you describe yourself ? 

    Char bottle vodka... kam mera roj ka...

He he... don't judge me here... :P

3. What do you like in a guy/girl ? 

Bin kuch kahe...bin kuch sune...Haathon mein haath liye...Chaar kadam bas chaar

4. How do you feel today ? 

Chalni Kar De Seena Mera....Chalni Kar De Seena Mera

5. What is your life’s purpose ? 

Main dhoondhne ko jamane main khuda nikla....pata chala ki galat le ke me pata nikla....

6. What do your friends think of you ? 

Aksar is duniya main...anjane milte hey....anjani raho me...milke kho jate hey...

7. What do your parents think of you?

Main tenu samjawa ki....

 8. What do you think of often ? 

Main to superman...Salman ka fan...koi le le panga ..... 

9. What do you think of your best friend ? 

Matlabi...ho ja jara matlabi...sooraj dooba hey yaaro... 

10. What is your life story ? 

Aahatain....aa rahi teri...Dil ke dar pe mere,. Tu yahin hai

11. What do you think when you see the person you like ? 

Tu hatho main to hey mere.....kyo nahi lakeero main...

To be continued..... => 

My Fav Songs - Music touches to mind but lyrics touches to heart !

It's almost 3 a.m. of the night and sitting in shabby corner of my room with laptop and glass of whiskey mixed with lots feelings. This is something strange topic to write on..... but I was discussing this with my best buddy and I have promised that I will write something on this... so ...here I go....

Have you heard the song "Sajana" from movie "I , me aur main".... a little bit old song...but seriously...I really liked this song...actually I had liked many songs...alright but never paid much attention to meaning of the songs. Each and every lines has got so much depth. I realize this before month and so when I have listened it while travelling to Ahmedabad from Rajkot. I liked this song earlier but i think i have understood the lyrics recently. My favorite stanza :

Ek tujhko hi bas dekh kar
Bhooli mujhko hi meri nazar
Tujhko shayad nahi hai khabar
Tujhko jeete hain hum kis kadar

Jude jo tere khawab se
Toh toote hum neend se
Yeh kaisa tera ishq hai Saajna
Tu haathon mein toh hai mere...
Hai kyun nahi laqeeron mein....

Most meaningful lines at the moment as per me is the highlighted one... which means

"You are in my hand(with me right now)..but why are you not in lines(my destiny)"

Let's talk about one more my fav song of mine.... Have you heard the song "Ya Ali" from movie gangster... ??

Again bit older than the previous one....and again I have liked this song earlier because of music but now I like it because of lyrics...earlier I have never paid much attention to the meanings....but nowI can see the depth in Each and every line!!! I think...I just realized it yesterday only when I was not able to sleep at night and playing some online songs on you tube. My favorite santaza :

'Bina tere na ek pal ho,
Na bin tere kabhi kal ho,
Yeh dil ban jaaye patthar ka,
na isme koi hulchul ho
Sanam Pe Haan, Ishq pe haan,
luta doon, mita doon,
main apni khudi'

Again not word to word translation.....but it means something like....
"Let there not be... a single moment without you.... nor should tomorrow ever arrive without you....
  Let this heart turn into a stone....and hence not have any emotions/feelings any more...
 I am ready to lose my identity for my loved one and my love!"

Beautiful ....isn't it!!! Someone from you would call me crazy and let me remind you I am not in love with anyone.... I am in love with my self.....in love with my happiness at the moment. No body will agree to this but....it hardly matters :p

List of other favorite songs due to lyrics are...

=> Tanha dil  ( Shaan)

Ankho me sapne liye, 

ghar se hum chal to diye...

 Jane ye rahe ab le jayegi kahan...

Mitti ki khushbhu aaye,

Palko me aansu laye,

Palkon pe reh jaayega yaadon ka jahan,

Manzil nayi hai anjaana hai kaarvaan,

Chalna akele hai yahan

=> Allah wariyan ( Yarriyan)

Apne roothein, paraaye roothein

Yaar roothe naa

Khwaab tootein, waade tootein

Dil ye toote naa

Roothe to khuda bhi roothe

Saath chhoote naa 

.

.

Udte patangon mein

Holi waale rangon mein

Jhoomenge phir se dono yaar 

Waapas to aaja yaar

Seene se laga ja yaar

Dil to huey hain zaar-zaar

.

.

Then....again...my favorite one

Reh bhi na paayein yaar

Seh bhi na paayein yaar

Behti hi jaaye dastaan 

Umr bhar ka intezaar

Ik pal bhi na qaraar

Ungli pe nachaaye dastaan

Just Loved it ....yaar....

Actually...there are many more songs which at the moment I just cant remember...

Why don't you tell me...which one is your favorite..may be it is mine toooo..:))

Book Review -> Ramayana – The Game of Life : Shattered Dreams

Title - Ramayana – The Game of Life : Shattered Dreams

Author - Shubha Vilas

Prequel - Ramayana – The Game of Life 

                 - Rise of the Sun Prince

Rating - ****1/2

Review - 

Let's not follow the traditional way of reviewing book this time. This book it self is something different from all normal books we do read. I won't add any spoilers or give any sneak peeks about the story line. Because I never really like to read that kind of reviews so how can I do something like that. Instead I will point out the reasons why I liked the book , the reasons behind it and what you should expect while reading this book. 

The Game of Life: Shattered Dreams, is the second book in this re-telling of the Ramayana. The first book of this series is Ramayana – The Game of Life - Rise of the Sun Prince . Shattered Dreams starts with the nightmare of the King Dasratha, where he faces the dark side of his past and the turmoil of deciding who should succeed him. Then the author has re-written the same story of Ramayana which most of us have read in his unique way. 

No it's not something like what David hair has written in the Return of ravana series . Where he has used the story line of Ramayana to create his fictional story.

No it's not something like what Ashwin Sanghi has done with Chanakya's chant and The Krishna Key , where he has used reference of ancient story line to promote his fictional story of current age. 

No it's not even like what Amish Tripathi has done with his Shiva Trilogy where he has used characters of the mythology to create his own story where he has portrait Lord Shiva as the ultimate hero.

Shattered dream has the original story line of the epic Ramayana written by the Valmiki  but author has just used the different language and way of narrating the same story line. He has narrated some incident in depth by exploring the hidden meaning between the lines of the epic which was never explored till date. 

The second thing I have noticed was the little footnote added by the author for the incident which was continued for entire book. The way he has used the notes to elucidate the principles put forth by the great ruler of history Lord Rama are indeed helpful. When I say helpful not because it teaches something but it gives an interesting perspective when you are reading the story.

Honestly speaking , I am always been fan of reading Indian Mythology. I am always been the fan of the strategies used by different rulers and the heroism they have shown in various phases of history. However when it comes to the Dharma and blind following of tradition my mind stops working. Sometimes I can't really accept something which is quite illogical. 

I don't really wanna criticize it but we all have been witnessed the story of  Ramayana , if not in form of book then may be in form of TV series . Many of the incidents can raise eye brows if one start thinking from the other perspective. Just for an example from the perspective of Bali the brother of Sugriv or from the perspective of Vibikshana or from the point of view of anti hero The Ravana him self. 

The author has tried to explain details behind most of the actions (also those which seems to be illogical when we have witnessed the epic in any form ). It worked to resolve some of my questions about the illogical actions of the characters from epic but few of them are still there. 

Verdict -  I would say if you are fan of Indian Mythology then it's must read. I would say if you have read any of the above book I have mentioned above and liked them then you should have read this as well. I would say if you can read books of Chetan bhagat and Durjoy datta where fat average looking boy gets the damsel beauty  and like it then you should at least give this book a try. :p

You can buy it from here ...

Trek to Polo Forest - Prologue

Huhh... It's just ending of winter and starting of summer and we had one more trekking event. Just like we have 3 different seasons winter, summer and monsoon in my company we have 3 fixed place for one day trekking trip - Jessore , Taranga hills and Polo forest.

This time it was polo forest ... there is something about this place. I have been there to polo forest for 5 time before this trip and each time I had hell lot of fun. How can I forget that road trip on bike with gang of friends during monsoon or camp fire in chilly winter night. It's been time...since I have visited it last time. 

None of my close friend were coming to the event and one friend was also only 50% sure but I have so much of memory associated with the place that I couldn't even refuse to join the trek. Talking about me before I talk about trek ... I don't really make so many friends neither I do make it very fast. I take my own sweet time before I open up with them. 

It was scheduled to start at 5:30 A.M. and I played counter strike with friends till 4:00 AM. Instead of taking quick nap for hour I have decided to getting ready and roam around city for a while. Soft music and cold breeze of late winter freshened up my mind.

                                        

Surprisingly all were on time and bus driver was also on time... It was the first time we have started actual journey only 20 minutes late. Otherwise we have always followed the standard Indian time. All were going good and then something happened and I have lost my mind. I played counter strike  for whole night and I was sure that I would have took head shot of him with single bullet if given chance.

I have experienced the trekking I have started getting bored and wondering what I will do for next 7-8 hours. Then there comes the savior of my life... friend popped up novel .. I didn't even knowing it but then she asked for review of book and I was like......wow... after little war of words.... and puppy faces... I got the hold of book. At very first look it was looking like similar story which I have read in past The Krishna Key . However, interesting enough to hold my attention for next couple of hours.

People were playing games in the bus and having fun. I had mixed time till then and was hoping to have little different time after that.........

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Just for easiness let me create separate post for the actual Polo forest details.

Visit - Trip to Polo Forest

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It was amazing experience for me to visit it for 6th time but then .... I felt most isolated this time....I never missed my friend this much before....at each and every places reminded me that I was almost alone.....Alone in the crowd.... so not so good sign.....but there were few who made me little bit comfortable.

But then this time I have enjoyed the beauty of place more than any other time....even I have drafted the both of my posts during this trip it self.....