Book Summary of Another Chance
This is the story of a depressingly gorgeous woman, Ruheen Oberoi.
A fragile beauty brought up by her indulgent Nana in Shimla. A woman stalked by a violent, obsessive son of a powerful minister. A woman married to a junkie in London who spends his days on a Playstation. Her passionate lover, Aditya Sharma, a successful Brand Manager trying to strike the work-life balance, wants another chance with Ruheen in Amsterdam. So does her old flame and best friend Varun Shetty, a recovering alcoholic in Shimla, finding meaning in life. Malika, a seductress wronged by her cheating ex-husband, wants Ruheen’s Aditya instead. Who gets another chance? And with whom?
Book Summary of Urban Shots
Edited by bestselling author, Paritosh Uttam, this is an anthology of 29 urban tales by 13 young writers. Each of these fresh, vivid and deceptively simple stories focuses on an epiphany. The stories are set with the backdrop of our urban metros with their bright lights, sky rises, glitzy malls, tenements, crowds and the chaos that comes with it. A woman tries to come to terms with loss of a lost baby; two strangers, a young man and a young woman, both with a love for Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment board the same aircraft; a woman ponders over giving a second chance to her cheating husband; a young man is in love with his apple pie loving best friend, who is set to marry through an arranged match; a chance meeting between two old lovers after 11 years; the memories of an old woman in love; an illiterate migrant from the village looking for her own kind of liberation; the longing of a married woman for another man; a child and his silent suffering mother and their financially strapped family; a couple once in love, frustrated with each other after getting married; love and relationships in the age of Twitter and fat free gelatos; the morning after for a couple in an adulterous relationship; a man running away from his own life in the city hoping to find salvation; a couple who decide to marry for reasons other than love and many more stories...
Synopsis:
Raj: I saw Rahul intimate with Mohit.
What will happen to Shivani?
Charu: Raj, you are junior to me... my brain suggests me to turn down your proposal but heart says “Give it a try”
Are you ready for Trail Love?
Robin: She is the lady of my life, I must propose her.
Is proposing a professor safe?
Ankita: This baby in my womb is a life time punishment for my husband.
“What? Are you pregnant?”
Rahul: Only misfortune of such caliber can turn medico into a terrorist.
“What? Kiss me or kill me was the password of this operation?”
Three teenagers enter the glamorous medical world, become best friends. Why sudenly chaos hit their lives, when they tried to explore love and destiny and finally bomb blast screws them completely.
Be a part of their journey called...
“Plz..kiss me or kill me”
Chanakya's Chant is a racy and gripping account on Chanakya, one of the greatest political strategists India has seen. The story changes track as it narrates the tale of Gangasagar Mishra, the reincarnation of Chanakya, in parallel. Will he be the next kingmaker?
Summary of Chanakya's Chant
Gangasagar Mishra, a denizen of a quaint old Indian town, is no ordinary man. Society sees him as a Brahmin teacher who can barely make ends meet, but he's the reincarnation of the man who brought the fragmented subcontinent together under a single empire – Chanakya.
Chanakya's Chant by Ashwin Sanghi gives its readers a look into two parallel worlds that are tied together by the intelligence of the main protagonists. The first story is set in 340 BC, when a young Brahmin man, fueled by the death of his father, vows revenge against the king and overthrows his rule by bringing in Chandragupta Maurya, the first emperor of the Maurya Dynasty.
The scene then shifts to modern day India, where Gangasagar Mishra leads his life as a nonentity – until he decides to groom an ambitious girl from Kanpur into India's prime minister.
Will Chanakya's manipulative mechanisms change the face of the nation again?
The book takes readers on a joyride through Chanakya's cold and calculating moves.
Chanakya's Chant was very well received by critics and readers. Renowned bureaucrat and writer Shashi Tharoor released the book in Mumbai and termed it a gripping and delightful read. The book is a historical account, but features many colloquial terms too.
Kaveri is thirty, single, knows seven languages, is an interpreter by profession, has read all the books about men and how to get a date. Yet, she has not been able to figure out the language of love. Since the 'THE ONE GREAT LOVE' of her life has eluded her for thirty years and might never show up, she decides to take matters into her own hands. On her thirtieth birthday, she makes a resolution love or no love, she is going to lose her virginity. Life, however, has other plans!
Myth = Mithya: A Handbook of Hindu Mythology by Devdutt Pattanaik is a guide tailored for readers to understand the vast and often confusing array of Indian Mythological Lore.
Summary of the Book
Devdutt Pattanaik is a leading expert and writer on India’s ancient scriptures and traditions, and this book of his explores the intriguing and often paradoxical world of Indian Mythology.
Through the course of their descent down countless generations, mythological stories are often treated as works of fantasy, and in order to break this down and provide some clarity on what’s fact and what’s fiction, Pattanaik delves into the smaller details and explains them with succinct ease.
In the book, Pattanaik attempts to explain common Hindu symbols and traditions, and he also explores the meanings behind rituals that are followed by Hindus. The book includes interesting snippets about Indian culture, the potential of the human soul to reach perfection, and the concepts of life and death.
Why do Hindus believe in one Supreme God, but have 330 million Gods overall?
Is there a place beyond hell that Hinduism talks about?
Why were the righteous Pandavas banished to hell, while the Kauravas were sent to heaven?
The book includes illustrations sketched by the author as these give him the freedom to explain the finer aspects of Hinduism easily.
Can Love Happen Twice is a beautiful tale of love and its various facets. Starting off from the last page of Ravinder Singh's debut novel, this book takes you on a journey with its focus set on the million dollar question; ‘Can love happen twice?’
Summary of the Book
Does cupid strike just once, or can people fall in love all over again when they meet someone new?
This is the central theme that's explored in Can Love Happen Twice, Ravinder Singh's second novel.
Can Love Happen Twice takes the story forward from where the author's previous novel, I Too Had a Love Story, left its protagonists. The book traces Ravin's life after his success as a novelist, and he's invited, along with his friends, to a special Valentine's Day program in a popular radio station in Chandigarh.
As people across the country tune in to listen to his heartbreaking love story, the novel takes a stunning turn – Ravin doesn't show up during the program. His friends Manpreet, Amardeep and Happy read through Ravin's unfinished second book to find out where he is, and listeners from across Chandigarh are taken through an emotional ride when Ravin's next tryst with love comes to light.
Can Love Happen Twice is a clean and simple love story that was highly anticipated by readers after the success of Ravinder's first novel, I Too Had a Love Story.
All hell breaks loose when Shiva tries to unravel the mystery surrounding the Nagas and their link with the Chandravanshis. The Secret of the Nagas continues the tale of Shiva and the Suryavanshis right from where The Immortals of Meluha left it.
The Secret of the Nagas is filled with intrigue and surprises, much like the previous installment, The Immortals of Meluha. The story kicks off with Shiva trying to decipher the motives of the Nagas, a race of deformed assassins who have killed his friend Brahaspati and are targeting his wife Sati. His path of vengeance leads him right to the land of the serpent race, where he needs to find the man who's the mastermind behind the elaborate attack planned on Meluha.
Shiva's journey throws many surprises at him, as he learns about the secret lying dormant in Maika, a city in Meluha where the newly-born are raised, and as his trusted advisors leave his side, fueled by darker motives.
Will Shiva uncover the truth and vanquish the Chandravanshis and Nagas?
This is the third book by the author, his first one being ‘The White Tiger’ which won the Man Booker Prize in 2008. I had read this award winning book sometime last year and had enjoyed it. Though ‘Last Man in Tower’ explores a story in similar lines, I cannot say the same about this book. No doubt, it is a very well written and a well researched story but there is something about it being so pessimistic, that it kind of creeps on you and leaves you devastated in the end. I cannot help but do a small comparison of the two books I have read of the author.
The White Tiger was fast paced but Last Man is Tower starts slowly. The author has spent a good number of pages in painting – the characters,their emotions, pictures from their daily life, the surroundings and the overall atmosphere. It adds to ambiance in the novel but at some point it starts to creep on the readers. I felt, the book radiated many negative vibes and that is why it took me a long time to finish it. I have realized that what I read affects my moods and emotions in some way of the other and even after reading a few pages, I felt heavy and had to keep it aside. In ‘The White Tiger’protagonist was from the lowest strata of society and it was rich rags to riches tale. It dealt with how an honest person can get corrupt in the process of seeking power and money. Last Man in Tower is about the middle class people who are forever trying to elevate their status in society and when an opportunity knocks on their doors, they are ready to stoop as low as can be possible to avail of it, even if that involves sacrificing some one’s life! That is the cliche, as much as I can see that there is truth in the story, I don’t believe there cannot be exception to it.
Here is the blurb from the book:
Real estate developer Dharmen Shah’s offer to buy out the residents of Vishram Society—a formerly respectable, now crumbling apartment complex that abuts the infamous Dharavi slums—is more than generous. But one man stands in the way of Shah’s luxury high- rise: Masterji, a retired schoolteacher who will not leave his home in Vishram’s Tower A. Shah is a dangerous man to refuse, but as the demolition deadline looms, Masterji’s neighbors—friends who have become enemies, acquaintances turned co- conspirators—may stop at nothing to score their payday.
An electrifying, suspense-filled story of money and power, luxury and deprivation, peopled by brilliantly drawn, unforgettable characters, Last Man in Tower exposes the hearts and minds of the every men and women of a great, booming city—ordinary people pushed to their limits in a place that knows none.
With the real estate prices sky rocketing in India, there can be such instances but, is really all humanity wiped out of the Indian middle class? It is a powerful novel with a theme that is relatable in many ways but I do feel it paints a very wrong picture of Indian society, the middle class in particular. I didn’t really enjoy the book but I would not stop any one from reading it. It certainly left me squirming with uneasiness but it did me ample thoughts to ponder on!
