Wednesday, December 23, 2015

The Bestseller She Wrote - Review


"There comes a point in time when the direction life takes is decided by the choices you make."


This is the first book of Ravi Subramanian that I read. A signed copy of the book sure made me delighted.

About the Story

Aditya Kapoor, the male protagonist of the book, is a banker and a star author. His life is completely balanced with a great wife, a little kid and a perfect career; but only till he encounters the female protagonist Shreya Kaushik. During his visit to IIM Bengaluru, a young student named Shreya Kaushik gets put off by his referring to a book as a product and confronts him. However, later as it turns out, she becomes an avid reader of his books and a great fan of Aditya Kappor himself. Aditya accompanies his friend Sanjay who is the HR head at National Bank for campus hiring process at IIM Bengaluru and because of Aditya’s interest in Shreya, she gets hired for National Bank and gets associated with Aditya’s team. Shreya is an overly ambitious and aggressive girl, who knows working her way through things. She wants to write a bestseller book and wants Aditya to help her with that. As the events take place one after another, Aditya eventually slips into infidelity and lands up in bed with Shreya. What happens when Aditya’s wife, Maya, who trusts him blindly finds out about his extra-marital affair with Shreya? How does he handle the situation? Will he get drifted to Shreya or will he see through the mal-intents of people around him? Will Shreya succeed in reaching the benchmark of a best-selling author? Will Aditya help her in getting her book published or choose otherwise? Will Shreya betray Aditya? Will Maya forgive him?  
Well, the answers to all these questions are contained in the book.

My Review

The Story flows in a manner that it hooks you till the end. Though, sometimes it moves at a slow pace but the characters are carved out well and keep you interested despite of the slow pace. Towards the end, the story picks up pace and a lot is revealed in the final few pages. The language is simple and therefore makes it an easy read. Among the characters, Shreya is kind of most interesting as well as irritating character. Given her family background, She had always been deprived of love. Considering this fact, at some point of time, you feel like giving her a benefit of doubt and may feel bad for her; But in the very next incident, she would do something to make you completely against her. Maya is the most positive and genuine character with a clear head and noble intentions. She is a strong lady capable of taking tough decisions in a dignified manner. As for Aditya, in my opinion, he does not really qualify as a hero. Infidelity was his conscious choice and he lived with this choice for a long enough time. Though, he made amends for his mistakes in the end and he sure deserves some credit for that; but tagging him as a hero is just not done. Infidelity is as much on to him as much to Shreya and may be greater, since he was the one who initiated it, however subtle that initiation may have been.

All in all, the book is a good casual read.

About the Author

Ravi Subramanian is India's numero uno thriller writer, having written seven bestselling books. If God was a Banker (2007) won him the Golden Quill Readers Choice Award. This was followed by I Bought the Monk's Ferrari (2007) and Devil in Pinstripes (2009), The Incredible Banker (2011) got him the Economist Crossword Book Award, The Bankster (2012) won the Crossword Book Award, while Bankerupt (2013) got the Raymond Crossword Book Award. God is a Gamer (2014) followed.

Ravi currently lives in Mumbai with his biotechnologist turned banker wife, Dharini and his daughter Anusha.

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!

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

"The Web of Social Network"


Image Source: bluechameleon.animus3.com

It’s addictive. Isn’t it? Checking facebook every hour, snooping into what’s happening in other people’s life, updating whatsapp profile pictures every third day, indulging in chats which do not actually serve any purpose for your soul, all of this gets overwhelming sometimes. When I give a thought to it, I realize I don’t really have any connection to more than 50% of 450 so called facebook friends. Liking their posts, profile pictures, random updates about their life, does it really mean something? I mean will any of these people be there standing by me during the ups and downs of my life? Does anyone really care? And still it’s a compulsion for me to login to facebook and show my presence in the world of social networking. Sometimes, at the cost of those who are actually there physically and emotionally for me. It makes me a little uncomfortable to confess this, but this is true that I don’t have many people to talk to when it really comes to sharing my mind. For people like me who are kind of reticent, Social media and chatting are easier alternatives, but nothing can replace real chatting looking into each other’s eyes and observing the gestures. No conversation can be complete without a face to face element present in it. What is the point of typing 200 messages in a row on whatsapp when you know it might get awkward to talk in person to the person you are chatting to. Is it not akin to maintaining a superficial kind of relation. The world is changing and so is our definition of conversation. We can’t really opt out of showing up on Social media. We have to change with the changing world. But the limits should be defined. It should not get into your system and overpower you. It should not become an addiction.

For me taking a break helps. For the past few days, I was feeling kind of lonely and depressed. It was the consequence of passing too much of my time on whatsapp and internet for the past few months. I was spending too much of my time on one person and one app. When it ended, all of a sudden I really had nothing much to do. So, I am taking a break now and going home. I want to spend some time with my parents who might not understand everything that I have to say, but nonetheless they are the only ones who are always there despite of me being impossible sometimes. Sipping tea sitting in the balcony, staring at the trees, breathing fresh air , eating fresh fruits from the trees and taking a feel of the countryside; is how I plan to spend the next few days; away from the internet and together with the nature. There are certain feelings which can only be shared best with the nature; nature is what caters to my heart and my soul.  

Celebrate the togetherness with nature and Kissan http://www.kissanpur.com/



    

Sunday, September 13, 2015

*The Love and The Fall*


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There he is,

Unaffected by it all;

He was playing with me,

Waiting for my fall;

The broken promises and the lost love,

Make me think about his ruthless heart;

His love and care was my misconception,

He was only pushing me into his addiction.


There he is,

Unaffected by it all;

He was playing with me,

Waiting for my fall;

My mornings became sad,

Without holding his hand;

My evenings became empty,

Not listening to his ranting;

The pain is deep,

It affects my soul;

It penetrates deep within,

To each part of my whole.


There he is,

Unaffected by it all;

He was playing with me,

Waiting for my fall;

My suffering reached to the brim,

It still does not move him;

He cares in the least for my tears,

My wailing cries still do not reach his ears;


There he is,

Unaffected by it all;

He was playing with me,

Waiting for my fall;

I look back,

Think about his smile;

Oh! I still love him,

His ruthless betrayal still does not rile;

For him it was a game,

On this thought, I do feel lame;

But I can’t stop loving him,

In the lights bright and dim.


There he is,

Unaffected by it all;

He was playing with me,

Waiting for my fall;

Hope sometimes can lead you to perils,

I still wish

There are good reasons behind his devils;

To move on is not so easy,

When your feelings make you dizzy.


The broken promises and the lost love,

Make me think about his ruthless heart;

His love and care was my misconception,

He was only pushing me into his addiction.

There he is,

Unaffected by it all;

He was playing with me,


Waiting for my fall.

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

*That Gal!*


Image Source: tinybuddha.com





















I wanna be that gal who loves herself a lot to be seeking it outside,
Yet I am somewhere in between, trying to discover the love that is inside;

I wanna be that gal who knows to let go of things and of people,
Yet I am somewhere in between, letting go but still holding on deep inside;

I wanna be that gal who does more and thinks less,
Yet I am somewhere in between, trying to find co-ordination between thoughts and actions;

I wanna be that gal who finds meaning in living for herself,
Yet I am somewhere in between, struggling to find a meaning of living every other day;

I wanna be that gal who is self-contained, poised and disciplined,
Yet I am somewhere in between, juggling to overcome the sluggishness of routine;

I wanna be that gal who is confident and self-sufficient,
Yet I am somewhere in between, trying to collect the bits and pieces of confidence that keep flying around every now and then;

I wanna be that gal who does not expect anything from people or life,
Yet I am somewhere in between, trying to cut-short the expectations which surface despite the efforts to suppress them;

I wanna be that gal who is not afraid of having perceptions and views of her own,
Yet I am somewhere in between, justifying the righteousness of these views to self on encountering even the slightly deviating views;

I wanna be that gal 
who loves herself, 
who lives for herself, 
who is not afraid of being herself;

I wanna be that gal 
who loves and lives without expectations, 
who is not afraid of coming out of the stereotype, 
who lives on her own terms,
who is not afraid of looking at the world with her own eyes…………

I wanna be that gal………….

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

*A word with Myself!*


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So one more year past! I hear this saying very often “With age comes wisdom, but sometimes the age comes alone”. I hope I did gain some wisdom though. I learnt about life and I learnt about myself too.

About life, well, at the crux of it all there are just these few lines

When life gives you a tight slap on your face, don’t sit and cry over it. Don’t let it dare to give you another. Being a cry baby will not help you. Rather, Get up, get dressed and slap your life back by choosing to be happy. May come whatever, don’t give up your happiness.  Your smile is your most precious jewel and your most deadly weapon too. With this weapon alone, you can defeat life in its game. If you learn the art of using this weapon, life will no longer dare to mess with you.

About me, well, there is a hell lot!

I am one of those people, who need excusive kind of attention from people. I mean, not from all of them, but from those whom I allow to be close to me. And that being said, it happens, most of the times that I actually do not get that. Because of this reason, I get distant from people very easily. That might be my weakness, but I have figured that I don’t want to change this thing about myself. I don’t want a lot many people in my life. Only a few on whom I can have the exclusive rights and who love me to the extent of bearing with me at my worst are enough for me.

The other day, somebody called me a Psycho. I don’t know or rather I couldn’t understand whether there was any pun intended. Now, THAT is the trouble with me. I take such opinions into consideration which I should not. Why? Because I know myself much more deeply than anyone who just knows me on a superficial level. And my life and my belief system are founded on what I have experienced in life. Nobody else knows my life and nobody else has lived it. They may have a right to opinion but the right to accept or out rightly reject that opinion lies with me and only me.

I am not one of those people who are afraid of being alone. Honestly, I have seen people kind of obsessed with this fear of being alone or living alone. Well! I am not one of those people. I love my own company and I don’t get bored of myself. Sometimes, I hear people telling me that one should marry because one can’t live alone whole life. Yes, I hear such people and not listen to them, because I don’t consider such opinions worth listening to. A relation of a lifetime should not be based on a fear alone. I don’t believe that one should settle down with a life partner for all the wrong reasons. Right reasons are in my opinion as important as the right person.

Nutshell..  I am still trying to understand myself and my life and will keep doing that my entire life….


Sunday, July 12, 2015

*Another Cinderella Story- A Perspective*

What if Cinderella was ugly, yet virtuous kind and courageous? And her Step Sisters were pretty and yet ruthless and mean? Whom would the prince choose?

High heels, sexy dress, fluent in language, eyes and lips coated with layers of makeup- that’s how the contemporary princes would expect their Cinderella to look like. Eh! Don’t agree? Well I guess, in that case, you need to think again. In the times we live in, we are never content with a little; we always want something more, something extra. Even those who belong to the “don’t agree” category can’t deny that they might not be obsessed with the looks, but they are not even indifferent. The rate with which the beauty products business is thriving speaks for itself. Every other day there are new products in the market. Nobody wants to look ugly or bad. In fact, sometimes it becomes an additional pressure on girls to look good. To talk of the ones who are into the glamour business is one thing. Imagine yourself going into some kind of family function or some party without wearing much make-up and fancy clothes. People will ogle at you for being such a simpleton. Even your own relatives will start giving you some unsolicited and free fashion advice. And if they don’t dare to talk in front of you, they will make you a topic of gossip behind your back.


Image Source: imagesbuddy.com









So, if a Cinderella of modern times, who is ugly, lands up on the public platform, will her prince even notice her? When her prince is surrounded with all the gorgeously dressed girls with well made hair and ultra modern make-up on, how will Cinderella be able to get his attention? How would her prince miss her pretty sisters and spot her in the crowd?

Tricky question…

Beauty is not of the face but of the heart. It comes from within, not without. But at the same time, the face is something that opens the door to the heart.  So, in a crowd of thousands of girls where the prince has limited time to interact with all of them, how would he be able to spot a heart which is genuine and beautiful, when the door to that heart isn’t as beautiful.  

Take 1:
The prince spots Cinderella’s sisters who are pretty but ruthless and mean. Infatuation finds its way first, when the face comes into picture. But, if the prince is virtuous and kind, can the infatuation sustain? Eh No! How long the poor prince would be able to put up with a beautifully painted face underneath which lies a heart so black and ugly! Even if the beautifully painted face is adapt at changing colours to fool the prince by its pretensions, it can’t last longer. So, just a pretty face with ugly heart can’t probably work for the prince in the long run.

Take 2:
The prince spots the Cinderella who is ugly, and starts talking to her. He is not infatuated or attracted towards her. But as he interacts with her, he starts enjoying her company. He’s not at all attracted to her face, but he finds her heart beautiful. She has a heart which is just like that of the lady of her dreams. Will her face become a hurdle in their way?

May be not…The prince likes her in their first meeting. But in spite of all his virtues, he is prejudiced. He wants a part of her and does not want to own another part of her. So, he would rather give up and wait for someone who meets both his criteria.

May be…The prince likes her for her genuine heart. Each time he looks at her, he becomes more used to seeing her face, which might not be as beautiful but not something one can’t put up with. When he is with her, he feels so much at peace that no other face could ever give her. He falls for her heart first and then follows the love for her face. So that probably would serve the prince well.

Image Source: Buzzquotes.com















So, conclusion?

A Pretty face with a genuine heart would definitely work for the prince...
A not so pretty face with a genuine heart may work for the prince…
A pretty face with an ugly heart may initially work, but ultimately will come crashing down on him...Eh! Can’t work!

All these conclusions however are only for a prince who is virtuous, genuine and kind. For a wicked and an in genuine prince, well, Cinderella will herself kick him away ;)



Image Source: www.imagesbuddy.com

Saturday, July 11, 2015

* A Word with Myself *


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When you point a finger at someone, the rest of the four fingers are pointing towards you. We may complain about a thousand things, about the system, about the people, about the situations, but we forget that plain talking is no solution. While we crib about a thousand things going wrong around us, we don’t gain anything, but we surely lose our precious time and energy which we could rather use for doing something constructive.

“Be the change” is one statement that says it all.

Of course, nobody is perfect and same goes for the system too. No system is perfect. Merely talking about the problems serves no purpose and moreover it creates a lot of negative energy. So, it’s better to stay positive and keep doing your bit, rather than wasting time in fault finding. Whatever and how much ever your situation allows you, contribute to your own development and that of the system around you. Nobody is perfect and while we are striving for perfection, we should remember that before pointing finger at someone or something, we should look within ourselves. Work for your own betterment; strive for your own perfection. Focus your energy on yourself and always stay positive.  

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There are times when you don’t understand people, when you don’t agree with what they have to say, when you don’t like their perspectives. At such times, don’t give way to arrogance or rigidity. If you can’t understand them, just let it go. Don’t start judging them or yourself.

“Yours may be a way, but it may not be the only way.”

So don’t jump to conclusions. Always leave room for newer perspectives. Be flexible and if you don’t understand their ways, just listen it like that without giving it too much of your energy. Stop trying to control/ regulate people’s thoughts when there is no visible room for it. It will only leave you exhausted.

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Don’t be afraid to leave behind negative people. Sometimes those people could also include your friends. They may not be in genuine or bad as persons. But that’s not a reason enough to hold on to them, when all they can do is instill negativity inside you. Intentionally or unintentionally, if someone starts going too deep into your head and poisoning it with all the kind of negative thoughts, apprehensions, doubts, it’s better to move on leaving such people behind.

“If a part of the body gets poisoned, we may need to cut it.”

Same holds true for people too. They may be close to you and you may feel responsible towards them, but your responsibility towards yourself is more important.

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There are people who will respect you and then there are those who will not. You can’t demand respect from people. Don’t let your ego be effected with such things. Leave their choices to them and you choose only for yourself. Don’t judge them and don’t have any hard feelings for them. Self esteem is important; but a very high self esteem could lead to more negative emotions inside you. So, just go with the flow and try maintaining a humble and modest way of life.

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Make yourself your best buddy. Enjoy your company. When you feel disoriented or heavy, just spend time with yourself. Keep yourself calm and composed rather than being loud and uncontrolled. When you feel troubled, be silent and sort yourself out before venting out anger on random people at random places. Anger does no good to you. Love your own self and your company. Be yourself and don’t be afraid of being seen as a weirdo. Let your thoughts experiment with the new ideas. Let yourself do the silly and crazy things.


Remember, “Don’t feel lonely, even when you are alone, because you have a whole universe to your company.”