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

Happy New Year - a story 8 Oct 2000 There is a gentle sea breeze spreading its magic to the air and making me feel vivacious. I got out of auto in front of my office. I had recently shifted to Mumbai from Vadodara on an offer given to me by CEO Harshad Gupta which was too good to be ignored. He had offered me five times of my previous salary and a 1 BHK apartment to live while working in “Fairdeal Securities”.  I was put on an important assignment to bring onboard three stars of Indian cricket and Bollywood, Yash Sharma, the captain of Indian cricket, Umang Kapoor a popular action hero and finally Sahil Khan, known for his romantic roles. This was going to be the biggest project in my career I dialled the number for Amelia Waters, Senior executive from Panther Advertisers, who handled the contracts for these stars and exactly at 1:30 and Amelia came online.  “Good morning, Amelia” I said. “very good morning to you too” Amelia said. “As I already explained in my mail, I need th...

The Fury by Alex Michaelides My rating: 2 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto My rating: 2 of 5 stars View all my reviews

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is psychological thriller, dark murder mystery so saying much will give away plot and spoilers. So without discussing plot let’s discuss characters, psychology, narration and motives. There are three main female characters Rachel (depressed, drunkard, hallucinating, weak, meek, unreliable witness THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN), Anna and Megan. And three males Tom, Kamal Abdic and Scott. Almost everyone sleeps or at least get emotionally involved with everyone else and you lose track of what is happening if you don't pay attention. It is compared to GONE GIRL, but is much better than this boring book in all respect. It is dark, disturbing, depressing, has no message (maybe except adultery is evil) and leave you exhausted. But still I loved it. Why? Many reasons. Let me tell you one by one. 1. The title is totally misleading. The actual title should be "THE MEN ON BED WITH OTHERS’ WIV...

सूरज का सातवाँ घोड़ा by Dharamvir Bharati My rating: 5 of 5 stars “Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda” literally means “The seventh horse pulling the chariot of the sun.” One of the books of which I first saw the movie and then read the book. Movie by Shyam Benegal is brilliant so is Manik Mull played by Rajat Kapoor. Usually in case of movie adaptations of literature one or the other is disappointing. But in this rare case both are brilliant. The novel is in narration style where Manik Mulla (name is very suggestive Hindu and Muslim both) tells story of failed romances of three women, to his friends on seven lazy summer afternoons. There are three heroines Jamuna (a simple middle class homely girl), Leela or Lily (the intellectual, independent, strong, feminist) and Satti (a feisty lower class woman). All three were in love in Manik Mulla at different point of times. Jamuna couldn’t marry her lover Tanna, because he is a coward and subsequently married off to an...

आषाढ़ का एक दिन by Mohan Rakesh My rating: 5 of 5 stars Ashadh Ka Ek Din (Hindi: आषाढ़ का एक दिन, One Day in the season of rain) is a debut Hindi play by Mohan Rakesh in 1958. Since the month of Ashadh (beginning on 22 June and ending on 22 July) is usually the onset period of the monsoon in North India, the name can be understood to mean One day during the Monsoon. The title of the play derives from the opening line of the Sanskrit dramatist Kalidas's play Meghadūta (Sanskrit: मेघदूत literally "cloud (Megh) messenger (Doot)"). The play is divided into three acts. First Act: The love of poet Kalidas and Mallika is not approved by Mallika's mother, Ambika. At this time, Kalidas has composed his first long poem Ritusambar. He wins recognition in the court of Ujjaini and the king has sent his horsemen to bring him. Another villager by the name of Vilom (also interested in Mallika) says that if Kalidas leaves for Ujjaini, he must take M...

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman My rating: 5 of 5 stars The story is written around 1890. The awareness about depression must not be there at that time. It is a short story of a new mother who is battling Postpartum depression. Wikipedia defines it as such: "Postpartum depression (PPD), also called postnatal depression, is a type of mood disorder associated with childbirth, which can affect both sexes. Symptoms may include extreme sadness, low energy, anxiety, crying episodes, irritability, and changes in sleeping or eating patterns. Onset is typically between one week and one month following childbirth. PPD can also negatively affect the person's child." The couple shifts to an abandoned country house for three weeks after birth of their daughter. The man of house is a physician and have some understanding of depression. The story is told in first person. The woman is depressed but as it happens she doesn't know it...

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy My rating: 4 of 5 stars “A novel of real ambition must invent its own language, and this one does," John Updike in The New Yorker You read it and you see Kerala. See the culture of lower caste Hindus and Anglo Indians. You hear the sounds of the ocean and backwaters. I know most of us bibliophiles have read this gem. Please share your thoughts with me. If you ever read poetry in prose … You know what I mean. This is once such book which transports you to the backwaters of Kerala and let you see it in all its beauty and ugliness. I didn’t know what fraternal twins were. I am sure you wise people already know. This is story of two fraternal twin brother and sister- Rahel and Esthappen and their mother Ammu. You will be horrified and furious on the unfairness of the tragedy what their life was. You and me both see and hear what the author sees and hears. But we don’t have the capacity to put it in words. Gre...

Animal Farm by George Orwell My rating: 5 of 5 stars Please share your views in comments. Animal Farm by George Orwell My rating: 5 of 5 stars “The animals found the problem insoluble; in any case, they had little time for speculating on such things now. Only old Benjamin professed to remember every detail of his long life and to know that things never had been, nor ever could be much better or much worse- hunger, hardship, and disappointment being, so he said, the unalterable law of life. And yet the animals never gave up hope.” This book will never get old it seems. This is a timeless classic. At least till the time men lust for power is there and they are ready to subjugate others for politics and power. It has strong resonance to today’s world also. This is a dystopian novel which is based on Russian revolution. In the beginning Old Major [read Lenin], a white boar, had a strange dream and he shares it with the fellow animals:- “Is it not crystal...

The Sherlockian by Graham Moore My rating: 0 of 5 stars The problem is the book is that it is directionless. I read it (rather labored through it) and couldn’t understand the point of it all. There are two timelines, which is a drag style in itself. One is in ACD times where he is after a serial killer and Bram Stoker helps ACD. This track is confusing and protracted. The second one is contemporary where avid Sherlock fans known as Sherlockians gather and one of them is killed. A imbecile type fan Harold along with Sarah, a mysterious reporter is hunting for killer. ACD grandson Sebastian Conan Doyle ask Harold to find the diary, which was supposed to be with the victim, for a fee of course. Harold is least likable character. This whole track is a big bore and directionless. The plot is weak and the diary is weakest McGuffin (an object or device in a film or a book which serves merely as a trigger for the plot) ever. What was the great mystery of dia...

Heroine ki Hatya by Anand K Singh My rating: 2 of 5 stars View all my reviews

There Will Be No Love: A collection of short stories by Ajeet Bharti My rating: 3 of 5 stars This is a mixed bag like his Hindi book "Bakar Puran" which I liked in parts. Some stories are good some bad and some plain boring. I liked "That wasn't consent". It is a strong critique of leftist people in JNU type universities and journalistic and liberal circle. Anas Mahmood is a leach who abused Shalini. This talks of #metoo and sexual abuse. However I think the author is highly biased against the left people. In Bollywood, corporates and politics where sexual exploitations and favors are rampant, most sexual predators are capitalists. Still it was good story. The last story "The process" was boring and prosaic and it was a long winded. I couldn't understand what Ajeet bhai was trying to say. Some stories were set in villages and talked of caste exploitations. In these the view point of author seems contradictory. So...

There Will Be No Love: A collection of short stories by Ajeet Bharti My rating: 3 of 5 stars View all my reviews

मेरी प्रिय कहानियाँ by यशपाल My rating: 3 of 5 stars View all my reviews

नवाबी मसनद by Amritlal Nagar My rating: 2 of 5 stars View all my reviews

लाश की हत्या by Prakash Bharti My rating: 3 of 5 stars View all my reviews

SJWs Always Lie: Taking Down the Thought Police by Vox Day My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

SJWs Always Double Down: Anticipating the Thought Police by Vox Day My rating: 3 of 5 stars View all my reviews

नीम का पेड़ by राही मासूम रज़ा My rating: 2 of 5 stars View all my reviews

The Irrational Atheist: Dissecting the Unholy Trinity of Dawkins, Harris, and Hitchens by Vox Day My rating: 1 of 5 stars View all my reviews