Tea-20: Perfect companion for your teatime by Vinod Kumar S !!!

           I don't have a very good experience in writing reviews on anthologies but still, as I am being asked to, I am reviewing the recently read anthology- "Tea-20" which also has a tagline "Perfect companion for your teatime". The author of this book is a 29 year old IT Professional, who lives in Chennai, a fun-loving guy, who loves to write and believes that short stories are a strong medium to convey simple but important messages that go unnoticed in this modern world. His stories are mostly inspired from the incidents of day-to-day life. He is also an ardent fan of Sachin Tendulkar. This is his first book and the name of the GENTLEMAN is VINOD KUMAR S. As the title of the book says that it is a perfect companion for our teatime, it really is a good companion. A short book of just 126 pages makes you laugh at the climax of many stories that ends with a humour. This is a light read and hence, you will enjoy it while traveling in a short journey from Mumbai-Pune or Delhi-Ghaziabad. :-) I completed reading this in just 1.5 hours. And I must say the 90 minutes spent in reading this book bought smile on my face for several times.

          As the blurb of the book promises "a collection of 20 simple fictional short stories, which will serve as a good companion for your teatime. This anthology will not only entertain you, but will also give you a generous dose of laughter; it will make you think and contribute to the society, teach simple things about life which are easily missed in our ever-hectic routine and also take you by surprise. Each story is unique in its way, with the impact it leaves in you being the common feature.", it delivers it properly and does not let you feel unsatisfied in the end. I liked the way all the stories are being ordered so that the interest in you remains alive till the last story. All the stories except one are kept within limited amount of words so that you get excited to reach its end soon and start with a new one without much wait.

            The story "A cup of coffee" gives a deep insight to all the youngsters and parents about how to lead life in family. "Bye" chapter is too emotional. "Frosted Heart" is the best chapter for me. "Great Escape" ends with a big Laugh out Loud. I enjoyed its end like anything. No words to define it. Hahaha. "Happy New Year" is the gem of this book. If any story that has a very deep meaning and motivation into it, then this is the one. "Nowhere to run" is again a big Laugh out Loud in the end. :-)  "Two sides of a one-sided love" is a nice creative side of the author. Else, other chapters are fine according to me. But the ones mentioned above won my heart completely. 

              The only drawback about the book is- THE COST!!! Rs. 125 is too much for an anthology with few short stories. The Frog publishers should cut the price of their anthologies else the author will have to suffer less readership. Else, you can get this book when you are about to have a short journey. You will love reading it in a cool atmosphere.

  Thanks.

 ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU

Crushes, Careers & Cell phones by Manjiri Gokhale Joshi!!!

            The purpose of my Blogging has changed from time to time. Because, living in the country like India, one gets to know so many things that one gets confused about what is the main priority of this nation. :-) Once, I used to write on Social Awareness. I got many comments saying "We already read newspapers. Don't want to get bored again by your blog posts". I closed it. Now-a-days, I write on Social issues that a Teenager/youth faces in our country. I am also one of them, hence I am one of the most potential people who can talk on this. I feel comfortable writing about these things. Same is this book that I completed reading right now. "Crushes, Careers & Cellphones" is a book written from a perspective of a mother for all the children between 10 to 25 years old. Manjiri Gokhale Joshi is the writer of this book who has impressed me by writing something which is very recommendable for all the children between 10 to 25. And to some extent, even parents can read this book. As, it gives some suggestions to them too, as to how shall a child be handled when he gets on a wrong path. 

           ABOUT AUTHOR:- Founder and CEO, Maya CARE. Manjiri has worked in the media, publishing, information technology (IT) and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industries since the last 16 years. She is a recipient of the British High Commission’s Chevening scholarship for Indian professionals. Her past assignments include – National Manager, Marketing at ICICI Lombard General Insurance, Head, Contact Centre and Head, BPO HR, Zensar Technologies, Assistant Editor, Dataquest and a news reporter with The Indian Express. Her first book – Inspired, co-authored with Dr Ganesh Natarajan, was published in 2006.

        This Non-fiction book is divided into many chapters. Let me name some of them alphabetically, yes the same way as they have been organized in the book. :-)- Achievement, Alcohol, Ambition, Anger, Break-up, Boyfriends, Cellphones, Crushes, Drugs, Embarrassment, Exams, Failure, Gossip, Girlfriends and so on. Each chapter is written by keeping a target in mind. That once the Chapter ends, the teenager gets an idea about what the writer wanted to convey as a parent, and this is what our parents expect from us, or this is how our parents think about certain topics. So, this will help a teenager to develop himself in the same way, and treat life accordingly. As, I am 22.5 years old now, even I found some points about which I never thought the way it has been described by the author. Authoress Manjiri has done a very good job by writing a book that is beneficial for both the generations- Parents and Children. :-)

            Right from the Chapter- Alcohol, I got a sense that I am about to complete a very sensible book. The way this chapter is described gives an insight of how a parent does not want a child to consume alcohol, and even if he/she does, parent will not kick him away, but accept; and author has given some tips of how to consume alcohols even if you can't resist yourself. This approach is enough mature to turn the mindset of a child by 180 degree. :-) After each Chapter, there is view of 1 or 2 children between the age of 10-25 speaking about their perspective on the topic. And these children are not just the Indians that are residing in India, but all around the world. So, it helps you to understand the mindset of those who are away from India. And, I don't think that I need to say much about the book which has a Foreword by Sushmita Sen and is being recommended by an inspirational "Kiran Bedi". :-)

            Little drawback of the book is that few topics are not treated as well as it could have been. The major targeted teenagers are girls than boys. The book becomes monotonous after some times because of the same format. And, few examples could have been added to make some topics more effective. END!!! These are the only drawbacks of this book. Else, I will recommend all the parents to gift this book to their child. It'll help them a lot. And, if you are yourself reading it kiddo, go  get this book, at least you will know about your parent's view on certain topics that you think they don't have any idea about. :-) I don't think that I should rate this book. I am just recommending this to all who are between 10 to 25. And even if you are above 25 and live with your parents, go get this book. There are still some loopholes in your life where you can improve yourself. :-)

  Thanks.

 ABHILASH RUHELA- VEERU

It's Always Been You by Kritika Malhotra !!!

            Ended up with another Romance Fiction this evening. After reading Arpita Sarkar's book, I thought let's read one more by a female author and then move towards male again. :-) And for a change, I liked the book. Kritika Malhotra is a Final year student of Hindu college, pursuing Honors in Physics. But as she has a passion to write, she worked as an intern with Viewspaper and kept publishing her articles on various different portals too. And the final result of her love for literature came out in the form of her debut novel which got released some months ago named- "It's Always Been You" which is being published by Mahaveer Publishers. The book carries a tag line too- "Can you be in live with two guys at the same time...?" Reading this, I thought that I am going to get bored with another typical triangle love story, but to my rescue, it wasn't that cheesy. :-)

              IT's ALWAYS BEEN YOU is not just a love story. In fact, it's not even a typical love story that everyone writes now-a-days. To be precise, Indian authors who get published in their college days itself. :-) It's the book about the thinking and approach towards life of the boys and girls studying in elite colleges of metro cities like Delhi. It's about how they see Love and how they fall into relationships. How they experience several break-ups but still manages to find a new partner for them within days. Because, for them what matters is a relationship, not the person. But, even they have that middle-standards feeling for LOVE which keep them in the airs of their ex-es and they don't find pleasure in their new partners like the last one. So, this is the story of this girl- Maully, studying in Hindu college, getting into an affair with Viraj (after her last break up with Rohan in junior college) and still loving Keyur whom she met before Viraj. So, for knowing the kinds of emotions that Maully had about both the guys, go get the book. :-)

           Kritika Malhotra- When I came to know about the release of her book, I was sure that she would have attempted a love story with a simple English language which most authors prefer to do now-a-days. But fortunately, the kind of vocabulary she has used throughout the book is the best part of it. I learnt lots of new words through this book. Kritika also knows how to carry the same emotion throughout the book, and how to write them in several ways, such that it does not turn monotonous and a reader can enjoy the read till the end of the book. She knows that the story demands some humor statements and funny scenarios, hence, she has added them excessively in the book, which I liked. :-) The Sabreen-Maully's chemistry in the initial part of the book is fun to read. I liked the part where Maully goes for dating with Keyur. It's so unpredictable. The description after having the First sex is cool rather than being vulgar like the attempt of some other authors. The frustration after Maully gets a bad result is another good part of the book. That's exactly how a student feels. Even, the way how author has connected the initials of the book with the climax gives you a good feeling about it. 

            I would rate this book- 3/5. That's average. Yes, because the story is not new. Only treatment is. 

   Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU