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Saturday, 11 April 2015






Date Published: December 22, 2014

Publisher: Leadstart Publishing Pvt. Ltd.

Pages: 85

Format: Paperback




Goodreads Synopsis



The protagonist is about to turn forty, belongs to a rich and affluent family, lives a luxurious life but feels discontented because he believes that the world is ruled by fake moral values and suffocating bondages. He leaves everything and migrates to Kolkata to live a creative and meaningful life. He goes through many funny experiences in Kolkata in his quest to know what the real meaning of life is. He meets Debolina, an upscale prostitute, who loves to listen to his poems while making love. She tells him about many truths of life and finally he has the panacea for his confusions and doubts.





My Review


What would you call a rich man in his forty who leaves his family, job and career only to live a creative and meaningful life in Kolkata? Impractical? A dreamer? But, Sanjay Chitranshi in his book, ‘Poetic Penetrations’, asks, is it sin to dream?


Well, Sanjay Chitranshi’s protagonist not only does leave everything behind – his job, family and life – but also shifts to Kolkata and lives among unknown people to pursue a creative and meaningful life. As soon as I finished reading the book, I could come up with only one sentence which sums up the essence of this entire book – this is one such book which will cut across your heart and make you bleed.


And here’s why:


Story of Poetic Penetrations is probably the most unique one I have ever read. As soon as I read the blurb of the book, I knew I had to get my hands on it for two reasons: the book is set in Kolkata and, second, it is about the meaning of life. And, Sanjay Chitranshi didn’t disappoint me. His story deals with many incidences from Kolkata and paints a perfect picture of the city. His story has humor, emotions, thoughts on different issues and everything else which makes it a perfect story. When it comes to the meaning of life, at least according to me, happiness comes into the picture. In his book Sanjay perfectly deals with loneliness, happiness and in the end, the meaning of life.


Perhaps the most fascinating thing about the book is the language. Sanjay Chitranshi, an alumnus of IIT Roorkee, has done magic with his simple language in just 80 pages what rest of the authors couldn’t in more than 300 plus page books. His poetic language penetrates the walls of the prejudiced and imperfect world questioning the very foundation of our existence – happiness, morality and meaning of life – and leaves its readers flabbergasted. Apart from few type mistakes, which hardly hindered my reading, Sanjay’s language is to be noted by new and emerging authors.  


Probably the most unique feature of this book is spontaneous thoughts of author running spontaneously, yet smoothly and steadily, throughout the book. His narration in the first person, moves throughout the book flawlessly like a river flows through mountains; patiently and unhindered. The book’s narration kind of reminded me of James Joyce’s work.


His subtle yet effective way of directly dealing with social issues – from prostitution, publishing industry, education system to the meaning of life – makes the book, a must read! And for that reason, Sanjay’s book, ‘Poetic Penetrations’, reminded me of one of the quotes on books by Franz Kafka.


“I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound or stab us. If the book we're reading doesn't wake us up with a blow to the head, what are we reading for? So that it will make us happy, as you write? Good Lord, we would be happy precisely if we had no books, and the kind of books that make us happy are the kind we could write ourselves if we had to. But we need books that affect us like a disaster, that grieve us deeply, like the death of someone we loved more than ourselves, like being banished into forests far from everyone, like a suicide. A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us. That is my belief.”



This is one such book for me!


Will Sanjay Chintranshi’s protagonist find happiness among the unknown people? Will he find someone to share his loneliness with? Will he ever find true meaning of his life? 


Well, I suggest you to read Poetic Penetrations by Sanjay Chitranshi and find out…


I rate this book a 4 out of 5 for beautiful language, dealing with social issues directly and spontaneity of thoughts. This book is recommended to all those who love reading books based in Kolkata. Language and social issues deal with in the book makes it a read for ‘young rebellious generation’. This is a book not to be missed at any cost!


As an author, book reviewer, poet and reader, I sincerely request Sanjay sir for a sequel! I look forward to reading the sequel of ‘Poetic Penetrations’.


Note: I sincerely apologize to Sanjay Chitranshi for the delay in reviewing this wonderful book. But, I believe that a book such as this one deserves a book review which does justice to it. For that exact reason, the delay was caused in the reviewing this book.



~RP
Saturday, 4 April 2015





Date Published: March 16, 2015


Publisher: Patridge Publishing

Pages: 180
Source: Review copy provided by Nikitha Hingad

Format: Ebook (PDF)





Goodreads Synopsis


Just like the title suggests Philia and Sophia is a compilation of poems and writings on love and wisdom. The compilation consists of of well-crafted poems written in diamat, haiku, sonnet and free style of poetry. Philia is a set of heart touching poems with ubiquitous themes like proposal, betrayal and memories. Sophia on the other hand leaves reader with a message, a moral and inspiration for better living. Sophia makes reader really think and Philia makes reader feel. Philia and Sophia intend to touch the heart, soul and stir deep thoughts.




My Review




“Tell no one what you are.
Just show them who you are.
Action speaks louder than words.
Pens are mightier than swords.”

~Nikitha Hingad



Nikitha Hingad’s poetry book, Philia and Sophia, is a collection of breathtaking poems and writings on love and wisdom and she has indeed proven that pens are mightier than swords. Her book caught my attention when I read the blurb of the book on Goodreads and, as soon as I did, I knew I was going to have the time of my life reading it.


As a poetry lover, I love picking up books or poems from various authors from various parts of the world. When I found out about the book Philia and Sophia, I decided to contact Nikitha Hingad Ma’am right away. As soon as I got my hands on Ebook through Nikitha ma’am, I observed that the book is divided into two parts: Philia and Sophia. Philia is a collection of poems and writings on various aspects of love and related emotions such as betrayal, heartbreaks, longing, proposal etc., whereas, Sophia is a collection of poems and writings on wisdom, morals, inspiration. In the introductory pages, Nikitha ma’am explains beautifully what the word ‘Philia’ means and to quote her,

“Philia is the lover in me, in you, in everyone.”


In the introductory pages, Nikitha ma’am also explains in mysterious way, what the word ‘Sophia’ means and to quote her,

“Sophia is a mysterious woman whose thoughts are wise.”


To speak of the language of the poems and writings in the book, I really enjoyed reading her poems for the simplicity of the language and the depth of wisdom. Her poems and writings travelled deep beneath the sea using the simplest language I have ever read and left me enthralled. Her words, simple and subtle, pierced through my heart and soul and touched the very core or the center of my existence.


Titles of the poems are something not everyone will focus on but I always find something hidden in the darkest of caves. I observed that many of the poetries don’t really give out what they are truly about from the title and that lead to surpassing my expectations by the time I finished reading them. A preconceived notion or expectation which comes with a title is taken away by Nikitha ma’am in few poems and writings and by doing that she has exceeded my expectations in unimaginable ways.


For the very reasons mentioned above, I really enjoyed reading almost all of the poems from the book. But, to point a few favorites, I would say, ‘Love’, ‘Departed’, ‘Hugs & Kisses’, ‘Chosen one’, ‘Self esteem’, ‘ Negative emotions’, ‘Hands’, ‘Life’, ‘Pens are mightier than swords’, ‘Beyond religion’, ‘The art of living’ and fear.


One of the most fascinating and unique feature of this book is Nikitha Hingad has herself illustrated few poems. You would never expect a poet to be such a beautiful sketch artist and vice-versa. But, Nikitha Hingad is the exception. Her illustrations, simple and graceful, were very touching and deep and left a lifelong impression on me. They did in fact help me understand her writings better as she mentions she intended to do in the Preface of the book. If you ask me, the illustration before the poem ‘Departed’ and ‘Hugs and Kisses’, ‘I walk alone’ are my personal favorites.


I rate this wonderful collection of poems and writings 3.5 out of 5. This book is a recommended to all the poetry lovers who wish to enjoy a collection of poetries on various subjects. Original sketches in between the poems are unique and make the book more interesting to read. There’s definitely a lot to learn from this book and so I recommend it to all the amateur poetry readers and writers. To all the readers, who are not truly poetry lovers or afraid whether they will understand poems or not, I must recommend this book for its simple language and deeper meaning.


I’m truly thankful to Nikitha Hingad ma’am for giving me the opportunity to read and review this wonderful collection of poems and writings, Philia and Sophia.


~RP
Tuesday, 31 March 2015



Date Published: January 20, 2015


Publisher: Gargi Publisher

Pages: 160
Source: Review copy provided by Sandeep Sharma

Format: Paperback



Goodreads Synopsis


From childhood, the world in which we live, teaches us to bury our ‘bad’ past somewhere deep inside us, so deep, that even we can’t dig it back and after that just move on. 

What happens when a 10 year old child, who claims to be your future son, comes to you to help you find a perfect match for his mother? What happens when eventually you start to doubt on his intentions? What happens when a girl starts to turn your dreams into nightmares? What happens when your ‘Future son’ starts to haunt you? What happens when your FUTURE starts to bleed in your PRESENT through your PAST? 

‘Hey Dad! Meet My Mom!!!’ is nothing less than a roller coaster ride of comedy, fear, love and don't forget to expect the unexpected!


Find out more at:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23911468-hey-dad-meet-my-mom?from_search=true




My Review


A couple of days ago, I found out about this amazing book called, Hey Dad! Meet My Mom… Written by Sandeep Sharma and Leepi Agrawal. As soon as I read the blurb of this book, I knew I had to get my hands on it. There was something strangely beautiful and scary about this book’s title which intrigued me. I knew I just had to contact authors for review copy. One of the authors, Sandeep Sharma, was kind enough to courier me a review copy of this book and that’s when I embarked on the journey of this wonderful story.


If you ask me, the USP of Hey Dad! Meet My Mom is the story. This story is probably the most fascinating stories I have ever read. The story of HDM3 starts with a prologue, giving us the slightest hint of what is coming our way, but leaves us completely guessing at every turn and in utter shock throughout the book. The incidents taking place in the story are so unpredictable that you will never be able to guess what’s going to happen next. The story of HDM3 is like a dream; like a dream, it takes over our mind slowly and steadily with light humor and lollipop and later turns our imagination upside down leaving us baffled and confused at what’s going to happen next.


The most fascinating feature of this book is the dreams. The protagonist sees dreams or nightmares to be precise, in his sleep, which leaves him baffled and in fear and the way these dreams or nightmares have been incorporated in the book was my personal favorite part of the book. The dreams have a meaning, they say. In HDM3, dreams play a vital role. Without dreams, story of HDM3 would have felt like a body without soul. The manner in which authors have written the dreams or nightmares have seriously left me speechless.


Another fascinating feature of this book is original poems which go along with the story and the theme of the book. I really enjoyed the poem with which the novel ends. Every chapter comes with a few original verses which were very unique and interesting. For a poetry lover, this was a bonus! The authors have done seriously great job with original poems. Kudos to them!


But, one thing I didn’t really like about the book was the staleness of the language and the metaphors. Both the writers are still young and they have written a really good story. But, somewhere, the language and the metaphors failed to do justice, to the story. I kept wishing for paragraphs or sentences which I could mark as the noteworthy, but, I came empty handed. All I can say is that, there’s still scope for improvement in the language of both the authors.   


I would rate this wonderful book 3 out of 5 for the unpredictable story and the original poems written by the author. This book is recommended for all the book lovers who enjoy a light read during travelling or for those who love reading on a weekend night tucked in bed. This book is recommended to everyone who loves a good story with humor, romance, and mystery. And last but not the least, this is a book recommended to all the boys whose mothers are probably looking for a bride.


Huge thanks to Sandeep Sharma for the review copy!


~RP


Tuesday, 24 March 2015








Date Published: November, 2014

Pages: 262
Source: Review copy provided by Jyoti Arora

Format: Kindle Edition




Goodreads Synopsis




'It's all your fault.'
Mere words these are. "But words can possess a shadow invincible enough to rob even a soul of its eternity." 


In a society that finds it easier to mark sins of a victim than the culprit, Nirvi is a young girl punishing herself for the faults she did not do and avenging her hurts by defeating her own truth.

She is scared of her future, and ashamed of her past. She is failing herself, and knows it. She has had a long line of boyfriends, and hated them all. She detests the guy she is living with, runs away from the one she loves , and seduces the one who can never love her. When Arsh first sees Nirvi, she's a free and frank girl in whose eyes sparkle the lemony zest of life. The next time he sees her, she is a voiceless doll draped in clothes that cover her body less and shroud her soul more. And Arsh can't rest till he finds out what made Nirvi give up her own real self.

Nirvi knows she is dragging herself on a path from which there can be no recovery. Can her spirit survive the treacherous downfall? Or is the pull of fear and push of desperation just too strong to withstand for a girl who believes she has "nowhere else to go" but down.
"When it's time for you to fall in love, even a lemon can become the cause of it," says Arsh.

But can love survive, when even the self love dies?Can love survive when respect is no more?Does true love have the power to revive a dying soul?Find out in the pages of this brilliantly woven, intense, heart-warming and thought-provoking saga of RISING IN LOVE... 

First 12 chapters of the book are now available as free download at: 
http://www.jyotiarora.com/lemon-girl




My Review


"A young, pretty, confident and gracious girl with a dream in her eyes and last but not the least, a story behind her smile"


Although I wrote these words almost a year ago, I still remember them as if I just came across them. The reason why I’m bringing the caption up again from the past is these words: 'Story behind her smile'. While I read ‘Lemon Girl’ by Jyoti Arora, I was gripped with curiosity, like darkness grips the night and, the question reverberated in my body and soul was what the story behind Nirvi’s smile is? Lips which purse just too perfectly to bring out the most perfect smile must surely be a lie and, deep down, under the bottom of the ocean, the truth awaits to be discovered. As I read on, I found out there’s indeed a great story behind that smile.


‘Lemon Girl’ by Jyoti Arora is a great Indian story of a great Indian woman, Nirvi, the lead character of the book. The dance of sorrow in Nirvi's eyes and the emptiness of her smile ignited the curiosity of not only Arsh, the lead male character of the book, but also me. What happened to Lemon Girl, I wondered. This is where Jyoti Arora didn't disappoint me. Jyoti Arora weaves a mystery around this very question and takes just the perfect time to reveal the truth. Just as a cocoon takes just the perfect time to turn into a beautiful butterfly, Jyoti Arora reveals the mystery of Nirvi at the right place and right time. And, then Jyoti Arora's story unfolds like a night; it falls slowly calming our souls and then, takes us through the darkest and scariest nights of our lives and, in the end, as the dawn appears, leaves us with tears in eyes and hopes in our hearts.


One of the most fascinating features of the novel is the narration of the story. Jyoti Arora, with her two weapons, a Post Graduate in English Literature and Applied Psychology, narrates the story shifting between two lead characters Nirvi and Arsh’s point of views smoothly and narrates the psychology of both the characters. Jyoti Arora does justice to both the characters perfectly, especially to Nirvi, a girl with a troubled past. I really enjoyed the parts where Nirvi narrated the story. In fact, that was my favorite part of the narration – Nirvi’s narration.


Not only the novel but also a fantastic first page Dedication of Jyoti Arora left me speechless.


Jyoti Arora, a feminist, I assume, couldn’t have chosen better words than this to dedicate the book to Indian women when she says,

“In earlier times, Indian women suffered in the name of culture. Now it’s being done in the name of loss of culture.”


Hardly had I read this very first line of her dedication, when I knew I had the ‘best book of the year’ in my hands.


Well, I have a dedication myself to all the ladies who fell victims to the cruel hands of lust; to all the ladies who are brave and determined to live a respectable life in this unfair world; to all those who are broken, crawling in the dust, helpless and suffering; and last but not the least, to the ‘Lemon Girl’ and the ‘Caption Girl’. I borrow words from Maya Angelou’s poetry, ‘I Rise’, and let her words be my dedication:


“You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.
.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.
.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.
.
I rise
I rise
I rise.”


Will Nirvi ever rise from the dirt? Will Nirvi’s smile ever be back? Will Nirvi earn respect in this unfair world? Will she ever fulfill her dreams?


 Read ‘Lemon Girl’ by Jyoti Arora to find out…


Lemon Girl by Jyoti Arora deserves a rating of 5 out of 5! She showed me the mirror of an imperfect world and the beauty of love in the same book and for that she deserves full marks! I recommend this book to every Indian men and women, to every parent, children, grandparents, in fact, to every Indian. This is a book recommended to all feminists and victims of cruel hands of lust. I assure you, you will have a great time reading this book.

Huge thanks to Jyoti Arora Ma'am for Review Copy!

~RP
Saturday, 14 March 2015





Date Published: February 4, 2015

Publisher: Jaico
Pages: 404
Source: Review copy provided by Blogadda
Format: Paperback



Goodreads Synopsis

Shattered Dreams is the sequel to the national bestseller, Rise of the Sun Prince, in the new spiritual and motivational series Ramayana - The Game of Life. Twelve joyful years have passed in Ayodhya since the wedding of Rama and Sita at the end of Book 1.

Now, in Shattered Dreams, Shubha Vilas narrates the riveting drama of Rama’s exile. Through tales of Rama’s unwavering and enigmatic persona, the book teaches us how to handle reversals positively; through Bharata’s actions, it teaches us to handle temptation; and through Sita’s courage, to explore beyond our comfort zone. This complicated family drama provides deep insights on how human relationships work and how they fail.

With Valmiki’s Ramayana as its guiding light, Shattered Dreams deftly entwines poetic beauty from the Kamba Ramayana and Ramacharitramanas, as well as folk philosophy from the Loka Pramana tales, to demonstrate how the ancient epic holds immediate relevance to modern life. Experience the ancient saga of the Ramayana like never before
.
 



My Review

Ramayana and Mahabharata are the epic mythological tales known to many and have been told and re-told many a times. But, even if we are aware of these epic tales, have we really understood them completely? Have we really gone through the details of each and every incident that takes place and took lessons from them? Have we really discovered the hidden psychological gems from the epic tales? Have we ever walked into, not only shoes but also skin of, each one of the Ramayana’s characters and understood why they did what they did?


No? Well, don’t worry! Shubha Vilas, a spiritual seeker and motivational speaker, has done it for us.


‘Shattered Dreams’, written by Shubha Vilas, is the sequel to the national bestseller, ‘Rise of the Sun Prince’ and is a part of series, ‘Ramayana - The Game of Life.’ To be honest, I was a little skeptical about the book but, Shubha Vilas’s book has come to me as a huge surprise and left a lifelong impression on me. And here’s why:


Shubha Vilas has dived in deeper in the vast ocean of knowledge from the Ramayana and has touched every stone which was left unturned for all these years. He has presented it to us in his book in simple and lucid language and has left us bewildered at the knowledge, the perspectives, and the management skills that can be learnt from the epic tale of Ramayana. These lessons and skills are also useful in day-to-day life, especially for managers and can be applied to personal relationships. Shubha Vilas has done what most Ramayana versions probably failed to do all these years and has left me, someone who never read mythology genre books, completely hooked to the book. I found myself in utter disbelief that I too enjoyed a mythology genre book.


Shubha Vilas has done a great job in carefully arranging chapters and each chapter has innumerable footnotes giving us the depth missing from the epic tale all these years. If you ask me, footnotes presented in the book are probably the most prominent feature of this book.


The best part about Shubha Vilas’s book is the language. His language flows smoothly throughout the book and his words flow like a river flows through the mountain ranges but only to meet the vast ocean in the end as if to give a complete sense of satisfaction to his readers. His words and sentences not only tell an epic tale of Ramayana but also send his readers in trance!


This book is recommended to all the readers who want to swim in the vast ocean of psychological depth Shubha Vilas has explored in the epic tale of Ramayana in very simple and unique language. In fact, I would recommend readers to get a copy of book one and two and the entire upcoming series as this is the knowledge and the depth we all have been waiting for inside the epic tale of Ramayana.


Having said all that, it is just a formality now to rate this wonderful book by Shubha Vilas. I rate this wonderful book 4 out of 5 for surprising me with its wonderful insights and giving me a complete sense of satisfaction by the end of this book.  



Huge Thanks to Blogadda for Review copy!

This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. 

Participate now to get free books!

~RP
Tuesday, 3 March 2015

The Unbreakable You is a collection of 27 stories and each one of them is unique in their own way. But for me, only one story, 'Her Diary' by Miss Ruchi Rai, caught my attention.

It is a story of a young girl who faces the toughest test of time and goes through a series of events which shatter her world. She goes through the loss of someone dear and when this wasn't enough she becomes a victim of lust and betrayal by someone she never imagined even in her wildest dreams. 

But the story isn't just stating a series of events, the girl goes through, but goes one step further into the mind of the girl who has lost all hopes of ever becoming whole again. This story not only gives you insights into the broken hearted girl, but also questions, to my surprise, 'true meaning of life'.

'Her Diary', a story of a young and vibrant girl, Miss Ruchi Rai, gripped me like darkness grips the night and in that infinite darkness, her protagonist still looks for a ray of hope. Miss Ruchi Rai's story of a broken hearted girl captures your soul like a predator and leaves it with invisible scars - invisible scars with infinite pain and boundless suffering. This story forces you to rethink about love and lust. This story is a must read for every boy who ever broke a girl's heart, for every girl blinded by love and for every parent with children.  

Can she pick up the pieces of her broken heart and become whole again? Can she find her 'ray of hope' in the midst of infinite darkness which surrounds her? Can she ever find happiness in an unfair world? Well, read 'Her Diary' by Miss Ruchi Rai to find out more. 
   

You can buy 'The Unbreakable You' by Write India Publishers from Amazon at surprisingly low prices.

Amazon:
http://www.amazon.in/dp/9384180343