A Splash of Love by Rajeev Ranjan !!!

        It has become so common in the Indian fiction market to have the word "Love" in their titles. I don't know what's so interesting about the word but I am fed up of it. Even when some books that does not have the theme of love also prefers to have this word in their title or tagline so that the first time readers will get attracted to it. But, for me, this word doesn't interests me anymore in terms of reading a book. I want some other stories. There's one more book that I have just completed with the same word in the title- "A Splash of Love- A Kiss of Infatuation". When I started it, I was prepared to read the same kind of story that everyone is writing now-a-days but to my surprise, this book turned out to be more articulate and distinct from them. It's the first work by Rajeev Ranjan who is a Graduate in Physics from University of Delhi in 1996, then he pursued Post Graduation again in Physics and turned into an Indian Coast Guard. No, he is not a young author like others who are on the board these days. :-) So girls, chill. 

              A SPLASH OF LOVE is the story of a boy- Arunoday who is very sentimental in every situation. Right from the death of his childhood friend/cousin and the break up with his girlfriend, he remains a person who keeps asking the same questions to himself just to stop his attraction towards other useless things. But, he fails. Every time, he knows that he is getting attracted towards a wrong thing, even when he tries to stop him, his fate and his addiction magnetizes him to move towards the same direction. Because of this, he loses his friends, his girl-friend and many other consequences take place in his life. But, in the end, when he does some thing extra-ordinary in his life after getting mislead through out his youth days, he finds himself back in the position where he can smile without thinking of anything that he lost. And, the whole journey of this boy is what the book delivers to its readers. :-)

               Rajeev Ranjan has attempted a very interesting story which can be made into a Bollywood movie with great stars. The story has the power to keep the interest in a reader alive. Rajeev knows the basic of writing a fiction story that if something is described in the initial chapters, it should have some correspondence or statement in the ending chapters too. And this is what, I liked the most about this author. 

            In 1st 100 pages, the best part is the way the story started with the first chapter, and the way author took the story forward in every chapter makes you read it more faster to know what happened in future years with the protagonist and his career. The part when Arunodaya runs behind the auto-rickshaw is also a very beautiful part of the book. The campus recruitment part is damn funny. I enjoyed it. The moment when Anjali's father rings the bell, shivers you. You want the protagonist to be safe. Another heart-breaking part is when Sanjana commits that the crime is being done by her when even Arunodaya remains a major part of it. Last 100 pages is the real skill of the author. With every page, the story unfolds a new twist and you get the feeling that this book is going to be your favorite. Climax of the book, initially, is unpredictable but later on, becomes predictable but still excites you, that is what I liked about it. To climax, 5/5. And, the USP of the author is the first paragraph of every new chapter that he has started with his views/doubts on certain issues of love, life and dreams etc.

            The major drawback of this book is its publisher. No editing done. The book gets ruined because of several grammatical mistakes and spelling errors. At least, one proof-reading is required. Diamond Publishers also chose a very unattractive font for this book. They will have to work on this in future. They spoil the content of the book because of their carelessness. That is where this book disappoints you. And Rajeev sir, its good that you have kept only 5% of the conversations in the book with 95% of story in it, but at some places a reader wants to know what kind of conversation the couple or friends used to have among them. So, you could have added much of it too. Else, you have done a terrific job. Looking forward to your next book. 

            I rate this book- 3.5/5. 

  Thanks.

  ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU