How Sachin Destroyed My Life by Vikram Sathaye (Book Review- 4*/5)!!!

      Frankly speaking, I didn't know even the name of Vikram Sathaye before reading this book. I do not know if I have been so clueless, lost, ignorant, naive or dumb but I seriously didn't know about his stand-up acts, commentary and comic timing before experiencing this awesome journey of 208 pages. "How Sachin Destroyed My Life" is the book I am talking about. It entered the Bestseller list at No. 7 in its first week of release itself. That's how interesting the title, introduction and face value of this book is! You know it's not just another book written on Sachin as it has foreword written by the Master Blaster himself. And the back cover-page has comments by Rahul Dravid and Harsha Bhogle. That's enough to pick this book up. 

     

         Starting with the review, I must say I totally agree with what Rahul Dravid has said for it. The book is funny and entertaining but it's also insightful and enlightening. I liked the starting of the book when in an autobiographical manner, Vikram starts telling about his early life and how his parents started giving examples of Sachin Tendulkar to show how irresponsible he behaves at the age of 16. Later on, even when he scores good runs, it gets compared with what Sachin scored on the same day. Somehow he understands that Cricket is not his cup of tea and goes on graduating and doing MBA like several kids do. He gets his first job and he happily announces his package at home. It again gets compared with the million dollar deal that Sachin agreed upon with a brand. The initial chapters makes you chuckle, giggle, smile and laugh out loud. The one-liners are amazing and every expression depicted and comparison made are excellent. Some of this even continues throughout the book at regular intervals. 

   

        I liked how the book is not only about its title but more about the facts related to Cricket and players that we do not know about. These are the things that are not even discussed in interviews or media reports. There are many unsaid stars behind making these players the legend in their own way. Vikram talks about people like Ramesh Mane who is popularly known as Mane kaka. He serves players with massage, acupuncture and various other activities that helps in helping their body recover from injuries and aches. Vikram also talks about what goes behind IPL and how junior cricketers can easily get influenced by money and sexy actresses around them. That segment surprised me a lot as I never expected this might be a reason behind indulging in match-fixings. 

           There are several chapters dedicated to the cricketers such as Sachin, Sehwag, Dravid and Yuvraj Singh. Sathaye also explores the life of commentators, ex-cricketers, fans, statisticians like Mohandas Menon etc. In all, I would say this is a very good attempt and I doubt if any Cricket fan will dislike it. Recently, I read a book by Shamya Dasgupta that helped me get little more closer to what happens in Cricket that I could have ever known and after reading this book, I have equally liked Vikram Sathaye's attempt. The power and USP of this book is its potential in making you laugh and still informing you with substances that you will never hear from any Cricket Legend or IPL's new rising star. If you are a Cricket fan, this definitely deserves to be in your hand and if you are not, do read this as it might make you start following Cricket. I give it 4 stars out of 5.

 Thanks.

 ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU!!!

Lemon Girl by Jyoti Arora (Book Review-3.75*/5) !!!

   It's 25th day of the new year and I have finished reading the first book this year now. It's not that I picked it just today and did it in first sitting but I was struggling to complete it since last week of December. I went into the state of reading and Writing block because of extreme stress of academics. I am finally done reading LEMON GIRL written by Jyoti Arora. This is her 2nd book and as far as I can remember, I didn't find her first book quite perfect. Talking about Lemon Girl, I am happy that though the authoress took many years to write it but the way she has grown with her writing has really impressed me. Right from the starting, book holds you and makes you a part of the feelings that Nirvi and Arsh keeps on expressing as first person in chapter after chapter. In some cases, you find Nirvi's point of view correct while in other, Arsh's. That's the magic of this book.

     

         Though the book starts as if it's just another love story but keeping the pace in synchronization, Lemon Girl becomes more than a love story and you find many such topics discussed that makes you think again and again about who's right and who's wrong. The personal trauma of Nirvi is so perfectly scripted that your sympathy with her character remains until the climax of the book. The passion of Arsh towards Nirvi in few scenes initially and then, mainly in climax tells you how beautifully even a male character is portrayed. The character of Tiya tells you how a girl bears a break-up or an unsuccessful relation because of a friend but still remains positive about her. Nirvi's life with Sam is also nicely shown through words and you can easily understand the plight of Nirvi's whole persona that she adopts because Sam does not like her doing certain things. 

          Lemon Girl also discussed about rape and its after-effect in a girl's life. I liked the way authoress has written the chapter where rape is executed. The climax is also well crafted and does not let you feel that just because the story had to be completed somehow, author took some step foolishly the way Chetan Bhagat did with Half Girlfriend's climax. Last time I had a complain that Jyoti made the story sound bore by over describing things but this time, she kept it short and still effective. Still I would like to compliment the way she discusses few sensitive topics and love in few chapters. After reading the whole book when you will see its cover page again, you will be lost in thoughts and it would become hard to forget about Nirvi's struggle once she leaves her current world and goes to work in Rishikesh. Overall, a good attempt which can be surely read. I give it 3.75 stars out of 5. The only problem is the price of this book- Rs. 255. :-(

 Thanks.

 ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU!!!

PDAF announces the Biggest Opportunity for the Emerging Artists of India

Mumbai: It’s good news for the innovative and experimental group of Indian talent, who are contributing their best in the fields of arts! The Prafulla Dahanukar Art Foundation (PDAF) has announced the ‘Emerging Artist Contest’, to encourage talented artists by recognizing their work with Gold, Silver, and Bronze Awards in the disciplines of Painting, Sculpture, Ceramics, Print Making, Installations, and Photography. 

The awards are specific to each State and therefore 18 individuals will be awarded in each of India’s 30 States, amounting to a total of 540 awards. In addition, the Foundation will present 18 awards on an all-India basis; one of them being the coveted ‘Emerging Artist Award for 2015.’ The winner of this award will be felicitated and given the opportunity to hold a solo exhibition at a prominent art gallery in Mumbai, with all expenses paid for by the foundation. Furthermore, the winning artists will be showcased on the internet, in the ‘Directory of Emerging Artists’, that will be created by the Prafulla Dahanukar Art Foundation, along with a yearbook for the same.

AWARDS & PRIZES

Rs. 1 Crore Prizes for the Emerging Artists!

All India PDAF Prizes
Category		Category		Category
	Prize Rs.		Prize Rs.		Prize Rs.
Painting		Ceramics		Installation
Gold	40000	Gold	40000	Gold	40000
Silver	20000	Silver	20000	Silver	20000
Bronze	10000	Bronze	10000	Bronze	10000
Sculpture		Printmaking		Photography
Gold	40000	Gold	40000	Gold	40000
Silver	20000	Silver	20000	Silver	20000
Bronze	10000	Bronze	10000	Bronze	10000
Special All India Prizes
Dr. K. Anji Reddy Prize for best Installation All India of Rs. 2 lacs.
Bajaj Electricals Ltd. Prize for best Painting All India of Rs. 2 lacs
JehangirSabavala Prize for best Stylized Landscape Painting Rs. 25000
K H Ara Prize for best Still Life Painting Rs. 25000
M F Hussain Prize for best Stylized Figure Painting Rs. 25000
PrafullaDahanukar Prize for best Abstract Painting Rs. 25000
V A Mali Prize for best Portrait Painting  Rs. 25000
Ramesh Pateria Prize for best Marble Sculpture Rs. 25000
S M Dahanukar Prize for best Fine Art Wedding Photograph Rs. 25000

PDAF Prizes in the States of:
Central Zone		East Zone			West Zone
Chattisgarh		Bihar			Goa
Madhya Pradesh		Jharkhand			Gujarat
Rajasthan		Odisha			Maharashtra
Uttar Pradesh		Sikkim
		West Bengal
North Zone		North East Zone			South Zone
Chandigarh		Arunachal Pradesh			Andhra Pradesh
Delhi		Assam			Karnataka
Haryana		Manipur			Kerala
Himachal Pradesh		Meghalaya			Puducherry
Jammu & Kashmir		Mizoram			Tamil Nadu
Punjab		Nagaland			Telengana
Uttarkhand		Tripura
PDAF States Prizes
Category		Category			Category
	Prize Rs.			Prize Rs.		Prize Rs.
Painting		Ceramics			Installation
Gold	45000	Gold		20000	Gold	20000
Silver	10000	Silver		10000	Silver	10000
Bronze	5000	Bronze		5000	Bronze	5000
Sculpture		Printmaking			Photography
Gold	20000	Gold		20000	Gold	20000
Silver	10000	Silver		10000	Silver	10000
Bronze	5000	Bronze		5000	Bronze	5000
Metro Cities Prizes for Painting Category
Ahmedabad			Rs. 1,10,000
Bangaluru			Rs. 1,10,000
Chennai			Rs. 1,10,000
Delhi			Rs. 1,10,000
Hyderabad			Rs. 1,10,000
Indore			Rs. 1,10,000
Kolkata			Rs. 2,10,000
Mumbai			Rs. 1,10,000

 

The Prafulla Dahanukar Art Foundation (PDAF) is a registered charity trust founded in memory of the award winning Indian painter and artist PrafullaDahanukar. The Foundation finds benefactors amongst the top artists of India and is effectively a fund for the artists, by the artists. “The purpose of the initiative is to create a strong network amongst the artists’ community, simultaneously recognizing and publicizing the works of talented & emerging artists from every part of India,”said Dilip Dahanukar, husband of the late Prafulla Dahanukar, and trustee, PDAF, while talking about this had this program.

Artists interested in applying for these awards can check the details on: www.prafullafoundation.com