Kabira khada bazar me mange sabki khair; Na kahu se dosti na kahu se bair.

Tarikshir: The Awakening by Khayaal Patel My rating: 4 of 5 stars Fantasy makes good stories. In India the fantasy genre draws a lot from mythology and Puranic tales. Khayal Patel wrote a decent story. Ramayan is the greatest story ever written. It is source of inspiration to countless poets/ writers. This story also takes inspiration from Ramayan. However, I want to make it clear at the outset that the story is original creation and only some things are borrowed from Ramayan so as to start the tale. In the very beginning Valikesh, a simple foot soldier in Rama’s army goes to Ravana’s palace after the war. There he finds an evil stone whose power is difficult to contain. This stone is a gateway to evil Tarikshir. Then the story comes to British India where Prince Rudra Pratap Chauhan of Devangarh is confused about war or peace with the British. The shrewd Britisher Walken is on the heels of Raja Ravindra Pratap. Ravindra is totally against of succumb...

Key to My Soul by Probal Mazumdar My rating: 3 of 5 stars Book cover tells that Probal Majumdar is “The national first prize poetry winner” of Year 2014. Key to my Soul is essentially a love story. Sample this poem from the book: “Something has grown wings at last And was flapping within my rib cage. I tried to hold on to it fast But it found its way to this page”. Sidharth and Hazel study in school together. They are opposites and opposites attract. Sidharth a loner and introvert. Hazel is star of the school. As happens in love stories they come close. Then some tragedy sends them apart never to meet again? Or will they meet? The story starts in the steel town of Jamshedpur. The town life revolved around the plant. Sidharth is a poet and painter. He has a collection of Indian poets. He was known as a prodigious painter in school. Hazel is an athlete. She won trophies as well as hearts. The book recollects the famous events from Indian and world hist...