I am M-M-Mumbai by Rishi Vohra – a book review

Book Reviews, Books Reading / Read, Motivation, Stories/storification, , , ,
I am M-M-Mumbai by Rishi Vohra

Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Vishwakarma Publications; 1 edition (2018)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9386455706
ISBN-13: 978-9386455703 

I am M-M-Mumbai is a breezy read and has a very simple to talk tone that makes its a single sitting read. Stammering and you know you might think about another hero in Bollywood. Coming together of things make it for the hero in this scheme of things.

The stammering of the hero is all that he needs to overcome and this could be well anything in our life to overcome. A motivational positive story of an upcoming actor is well presented in a straight forward manner. May be the background of the author has some element of coincidences being revealed to the readers. The many facets of Mumbai come to the fore during the story telling.

Sometimes its a bit predictive, but the characters hold on to their own right from the protagonist to the circle of characters around him. One thing I liked about this is the story could well be a negative of what all happens in the Bollywood but then this is a whiff of fresh air in terms of the people presented here.

Some of the incidents are quite relatable and that we can easily identify with. I liked the way the story moved on and the characters in a very positive way, given that you can write so much of negative things around Bollywood.

The author does a great service to the goodness of human being,  taking it for granted and every time there could have been a disaster, he get a seamless character to help the protagonist and also use a handicap to make it better for Rudra.

The marriage of the childhood sweethearts in the story, is a bit bollywoodesque if you ask me, but then given the authors proximity to bollywood it’s was quite expected.

I would recommend you to pick it up for some whiff of fresh air and a dose of positive vibes in your life and you will think that the world is after all not as bad as portrayed.

Like I said earlier the book finishes up so fast may be because some places are predictable. But then that’s ok with some social messaging.

So go here to pick up your copy Amazon | Flipkart

Thanks to the author for sending a copy to review and hope he has many more stories to tell. (This is the first time I am reading his work.)

Senthilkumar Rajappan


‘The Wise Man Said’ by Priya Kumar – a book review

Book Reviews, Books Reading / Read, Management, Motivation, Spirituality, Stories/storification, Training, , , ,

 

 

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  • Language: English
  • Binding: Paperback
  • Publisher: Books That Inspire
  • Genre: Religion & Spirituality
  • ISBN: 9788193391204, 8193391209
  • Edition: 1, 2017

So its again a wonderful opportunity to review after having read the book ‘The Wise Man Said’ by Priya Kumar.

This is a stellar work in terms of getting so many nuggets of wisdom from far and wide with the character of the Wise  Man through his diary. I am sure you would not dare to take this trip unless we have the time as our investment to go the distance and learn things and sometimes unlearn it the hard way.

The chance meeting with the wise man probably was destined to be since we get to know a lot of stories from all around the world in its unique flavour. Every story / travel of the Wise man is a testament to how we take life and how we react to it in situations that present before us.

I am sure we would not have known about some habits from far and wide unless the wise man decided to trek them and give us the wisdom in a power packed paper back.

That the man decided to tell us some unconventional stories is something we need to cherish with this book. The sense of gratitude or a sense of deja vu is evident when he sees some personal achievement which are bound by ethical behaviour even when they are in high seas.

That spirituality is a part of our living is evident irrespective of it being given in non religious way across the world and ofcourse that is a proof that world is a better place than we imagine.

P.S: I have to admit I wasn’t able to finish this review long back. But the best part is I am able to recall those mystery stories and also how impactful they are.

P.P.S: Also keep track of the author on her social media handles and Youtube channels.

P.P.P.S: In case you want to pick up a copy.. at Flipkart / Amazon 

Vishnu by Subhadra Sen Gupta – a book review

Book Reviews, Books Reading / Read, Mythology, Spirituality, Stories/storification, , , , , , , , ,

9788129147370-700x700

  • Language: English
  • Binding: Hardcover
  • Publisher: RUPA
  • Genre: Fiction
  • ISBN: 9788129147370, 8129147378
  • Edition: 1, 2017
  • Pages: 48

So this is the second book in the series after Ganesh which has already been reviewed earlier.

Now I can foresee many more stories being told to kids this way and they don’t disappoint, and imagine the story telling with telling illustrations for kids and the setting is going to get better and enjoyable.

So here the author presents three different stories we normally identify with Vishnu the protector of the trio, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

In this land of India if you want to achieve seriously powerful weapons and sometimes even immortality there is an way to go about it and quite often the asuras or the opponents of devas as we know them, do it with finesse that they will end up with some of the best wishes granted to them.

So in the first story titled How to fool an Asura is that of Bhasmasura as his name suggest the asura with ashes, invoked Shiva and got his prayers answered and in that he wanted anyone he touches  with his hand to become ashes.

This as usual was a problem for the Devas led by Indra and they take refuge of Vishnu to somehow defeat Bhasmasura.

Vishnu takes the form of Mohini a beautiful girl and get to teach Bhasmasura and he being very happy about it continues to dance following the steps of Mohini,  till he puts his hand on his head without realising that he would burn to ashes.

The second story Sea of Milk  is that of churning the milk ocean and how Vishnu became the turtle and held the mountain for them to continue churning the milky ocean. He takes the form of again a beautiful maiden to get the advantage to the Gods.

The third story of Vamana is also a great one with the King Mahabali who is also an asura who gets to rule the world with his powers. But then it has to be stopped or else there might be a problem for the devas. When asked for three foot steps of land from Maha Bali, Vishnu covers the earth and sky with two steps and Bali offers his head for the third step.

So we have some nice stories that will enliven the kids during sleep time or when they are seeking fun.

The author has taken liberty to interpret things for kids and in a way it seems it suits the adult audience too. As for me, the kid at home seems to like it with the interesting illustrations and pictures that they identify with.

Tapas Guha has done a commendable job with his illustrations and the cover looks very nice.

Click on these links to pick the copy from Amazon / Flipkart.

Senthilkumar

You Can Achieve More by Shiv Khera – a book review

Book Reviews, Books Reading / Read, Entrepreneurship, Motivation, Stories/storification, Training, , , , ,

  • Paperback: 296 pages
  • Publisher: Bloomsbury India (18 April 2018)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 938634906X
  • ISBN-13: 978-9386349064
  • Package Dimensions: 21.3 x 13.7 x 2.3 cm

I signed up for this for the simple reason that its SHIV KHERA.

One of the most impacted stories that is also a part of this book is about being woken up by the mother every day morning. In a situation of handling money and a bit of unethical variety the accountant asks his mom what he should do. When he explains the things, she says that she doesn’t understand what he says but says one thing  “I don’t understand anything you say, but I want my son to be awake when I enter the room”

I was not disappointed with the book, has a lot of things on the ethics and moral side of it which are given a go by in todays corporate world.

The book is a very lucid in the sense making the subject easy. Not many jargons. Author given his extensive training experience quotes from his seminars and makes us relate to the messages he has, in his inimitable style.

To be honest his approach on the ethical and moral issues deserves praise simply because he has taken it to the logical end in terms of the context and more so he believes real issues are taken up.

The base premise is of living by design and not by default. I think we get into the default mode the moment we get into a comfort zone. Perhaps that is why we need to remind ourselves that its not the real potential that we are really better and more capable that what we think.

There are books and there will be books, this is one of the simpler ones and easy to digest if you ask me. The design of the book and the layout with easy to read format and quotes in special boxes makes it reader friendly and also make it easy to take notes.

The author does say that you can take your time reading this book, I think its like you can come to this book anytime later and that serves you well simply because it is a kind of reference material that we can look up to.

The best part is the exercises behind each of the topics and I think that works very well like – the things to do and action plan after every chapter is read.

This book is a clarion call by the author to live life by design and not default. You could always keep it simple and real and this book has the ability to make people look within and find their potential and achieve more than they think they can.

The book will be a great help for those who doubt themselves and for those who think greatness is thrust upon a few.

A person with a positive attitude cannot be stopped and a person with a negative
attitude cannot be helped.

Thanks Flipkart for the copy. This review is a part of Flipkart Sponsored Book Review Program.

Senthilkumar

The Big Switch – Its Never Too Late by John Thomas a book review

Book Reviews, Books Reading / Read, Motivation, , ,

the big switch

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 2196.0 KB
  • Print Length: 239 pages
  • Sold by: Amazon Asia-Pacific Holdings Private Limited
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B0776ZJGNR
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled

About the book

What does a 24-year-old man want in life?
Love?
A decent job?
Keith has both. He is a software engineer at a reputable company and has a girlfriend whom he loves a lot.
Yet, there is something missing in his life. He is not even close to being happy.
Only after losing his girlfriend, he realizes what the reason for his unhappiness is.
He realizes that he is caught up in the wrong career.
With time running out, he knows that he must switch to a new career — one that makes him happy.
But, is 24 too late to do that? Is he making a mistake?
Find out as Keith follows his heart in pursuit of an impossible-looking dream.

My review:

There are motivational books now and here is one attempt with a nice reading novel in the plot. So at first glance there is a novel and there is a motivational part. What you get in Big Switch is primarily a slice of life events which will help the readers see through the circumstances and motivate them as the character goes through different sets of emotional ups and downs.

Lets be clear that life is not that fair as much as we would love to be, and author with his character Keith has rekindled hope for us a lot in the sense that we can see parallels of what Keith undergoes in his career and personal life. Sometimes the narrative I felt could have been better, he could have avoided the gossip chatter that comes once in a while.

The characterisation is good and the language is simple and sometimes the author has taken liberty in making it conversational most of the times. I loved the sports part of it since that’s a very low priority in our lives especially once you are out of school.

A good motivational book but I think it was a bit long for a motivational book having read small books of the same genre.

But for a debut author this is a great one and look forward to more titles and little crispier version of the same. On the other side I would have loved a hard copy of the same, it would have made the reading faster especially with motivational books like these.

One can identify with the characters at different points and the industry here is a giveaway and the project managers are all the same may be. It takes an individual to really work on his side and then take things up to make it happen with others.

A good book and a nice read. I took three sessions to finish this, but this can be done in one session at a stretch.

This review is a part of the biggest Book Review  Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books! You can download a copy of this book on Amazon  kindle here.

Senthilkumar

Murder in Paharganj by Kulpreet Yadav – a book review

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Murder in Paharganj

Paperback: 278 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury India; First edition (10 October 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9386826615
ISBN-13: 978-9386826619

First things first, this is the first time I am reading Kulpreet Yadav and happy that we have a series with someone called Vicks Menon, it definitely is a nice idea to get a Journalist don a detective’s hat.

The story opens with a murder in a hotel in Paharganj, of a foreign lady, and the hotel staff invariably a friend of Vicks Menon informs him before he actually calls the police and that’s where it all starts.

The man in the story Vicks is a journalist albeit this time he is jobless and wants to show his boss that he has made a mistake and that’s one reason why he decides to take this on his own instead being a help to the police. Also in the story is his live in partner and lover combined  Tonya who is a psychiatrist and helps the police unravel motives for crimes.

The story travels across half the continent atleast from Israel to Iran to Afghanistan to India to Bangkok. Though most of the happenings is at Paharganj and Udaipur for a bit, its shadow casts across the other places mentioned earlier.

There is also the farther daughter story which comes to light with an introduction of an Israeli spy in Ariel.

The contours of the killer who is Jalauddin in real and with a name of Jamie and how he is an agent for Iran is well crafted but the scenes that unfold are quite cinematic in the way it takes shape towards the end.

The unravelling of the plot could have been more intense. The trace that the police are after looks pretty amateurish. It could have been much more scientific and today there are enough things in digital that is happening. I would expect much more from a spy thriller.

Easy and a fast paced read but could have been more gripping, because it was left to someone to finish of the killer, somehow doesn’t seem true to the plot. I think the character of the psychiatrist should have been chiselled in a way that could have a bearing on the case.

There are too many characters to contend with and we have to sympathise with them too. And their roles get limited when the author tries to give each a bit of the focus on them. A good read overall.

This is a part of Flipkart Sponsored Book review. Thanks FLipkart for the copy and you may pick up yours here!

Senthilkumar

Celebrating the Super Connected City #celebratingsuper

Entrepreneurship, , , ,

entreprenuership

The spirit of entrepreneurship runs through every chaiwala, every kulche wala bhaiyya not to forget the golgappa wala bhaiyya. These are times when entrepreneurs are changing the landscape of the economy in more ways than one. The best part is that it is encompassing every sphere of life right from childhood to youth to the rest.

And it’s no surprise that Delhi or the NCR region is home to some of the best of the entrepreneurship fairy tales that we see today. What we see is what we seed. Quite often the strength of the network is what is the strength of the individual, that perhaps defines the spirit of New Delhi as it spawns new set of techies and expands frontiers of success stories across a variety of disciplines from food to classifieds to real tech to AR to VR.

With a heavy push on Digital India the roads are now more than crowded with many a startup competing to be there, to be heard and to win. The journey is a tough one because the ideas are easy but the execution is difficult and at times like these we have some real super help from the like of Vodafone.

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You heard it right the #CelebratingSuper Vodafone actually helps the startups with initial packs that can go upto over 2 lac rupees that a huge huge amount of money if you ask me. This is not new, and some of the most celebrated successful startups like Zomato and Oyo rooms have tasted this before.

The entrepreneurs know how each of these measures will help them overcome initial difficulties and gain momentum especially in the first few days of starting up. You will be ridiculed because we still don’t know how it is going to be and people can easily say things when it doesn’t happen.

But its the story of persistence, like once I read about the founders of LinkedIn wherein they said our over night success had to wait over 14 years when Microsoft took over LinkedIn.

So this attitude of persistence is a strength of the entrepreneurs we see today. There is so much of similarities when we think of these things with respect to the City of New Delhi. The city has a never say die attitude and is giving itself a shot in the arm whenever a crises hits and that when you see the resilience at display.

The Vodafone network  has these quality that you can easily relate with in terms of what it is supposed to deliver. To make it interesting the city today boasts of 120 hotspots across Delhi & NCR such as DLF Mall of India, Fortis Hospital, Delhi Haat, Khan Market, Airport, etc

And when you thought the air is unbreathable Vodafone decided to create the first Air-Purifying bus shelter in the city so that people could breathe non-polluted air while waiting for a bus. Innovating to get the best for the people of Delhi.

It is in such small details that God aka Network resides today. So Vodafone apart from making us talk is making it easy for us to breathe and more over look to making it cleaner. That’s the secret to making Vodafone the choice of 1.2 crore customers in Delhi and NCR and Vodafone receives 1 customer appreciation every 30 seconds.

Times are a changing so too is the Network!

What Kitty Did by Trisha Bora – a Book Review

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what kitty did

Book: What Kitty Did
Author: Trisha Bora
ISBN-13: 9789352644476
Product Code EBK0398371
Binding: Paper Back
Publishing Date: 2017-06
Publisher: Harpercollins
Number of Pages: 288
Language: English

For once, the don’t judge the book by its cover doesn’t work for me personally because the cover is designed very purposefully and as you read the book you will know the fitment that has come to fruition in terms of the prose and the design team which did the cover. Well that’s the designer in me before I get to review the book.

The central character of this book nick named Kitty (Ketaki Roy) has a roller coaster of a life as a journalist. You get a peek into her life during the course of her covering an incident about a death of a movie star. That forms the part of the story because what Kitty thinks it to be a small assignment that will have an impact on her promotion and money part later seems to be different than she thought. In between you have flings, romances and everything peppered in.

The author has a style of her own and the best part she does is get funny with her own antics and making us laugh in the process. Its Delhi all the way and if you have been in Delhi you would know how to empathise with what she says about Dilli.

I would probably look at it as a view of a Delhi girl’s perspective in a way and in short a profiling of how young girls there get to live their life. A millennials perspective as the cover says.

The English is straight forward and conversational and ofcourse I don’t know if its because of her background in literature that she loathes so much, nevertheless. I think the book should have got atleast some pages less say may be 20 odd pages. As for the pace the book manages to keep you going. I took three sessions to finish this book.

This is a part of Flipkart Sponsored Book Review Program. To buy your copy click here : Flipkart | Amazon

The Demon Hunter of Chottanikkara – S V Sujatha a Book Review

Book Reviews, Books Reading / Read, Spirituality, , , ,

 

the-demon-hunter-of-chottanikkara-original-imaeun2gpk5uwqv8

  • Language: English
  • Binding: Hardcover
  • Publisher: Aleph Book Company
  • Genre: Fiction
  • ISBN: 9789386021090, 9386021099
  • Edition: 1, 2017
  • Pages: 200

The story of the demon hunter of Chottanikkara is a super natural  thriller in a unique way. Probably if you know the place and the temple you would more than easily understand the background and appreciate the story telling. That was one of the reasons that actually got me to read this book.

This is a very interesting read because it bares the human limitations and weakness to a level that it is really scary what people can do in some instances.

The portrayal of Devi is a classic case of the super natural among the human and it is very vivid and down to earth and makes her a hero of the masses with an earthen attitude. The all powerful and the rustic portrayal and especially the food habits etc make it a part of the folklore and how the temple manifestation is a pointer in a way. I loved the fearlessness that is so easy going with the character which makes the people worship her. The background and the minute details especially of the rituals and the way the demon is hunted makes for a great reading. I think the story of Kannappa – a thief turned father here adds to the emotional drama.

The characters are so well sketched to make you sit up and though I would say the plot could have been a bit intense towards the end, the story at some point midway almost give away the secret.

I liked the interlude of Parasurama, for me the mythological aspect of him being a Chiranjeevi and his relationship with Kerala are quite folklore and so loved the aspect of his characterisation.

The author has written a beautiful prose and the story telling is fast paced but could have led to the climax and plot in a more intense way and it would have been a better presentation. As for the pace I took three sessions to finish this book.

I was also wondering the date of this story. Absolutely vivid story telling, and simple narrative prose for reading, this book gives you a different perspective on exorcism and rituals.

This is a part of Flipkart Sponsored Book Review Program. Thank You Flipkart for your copy!

Best Stories From Around the World by Deepa Agarwal – Book Review

Book Reviews, Books Reading / Read, Stories/storification, , , , , , ,

 

book cover

  • Reading level: 8 – 12 years
  • Paperback: 200 pages
  • Publisher: Rupa Publications India (2 June 2017)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 8129147386
  • ISBN-13: 978-8129147387
  • Product Dimensions: 13 x 1.2 x 19.8 cm

Absolutely a delightful read, each of the stories took me back to the childhood. Timelessness is not easy but then the authors in this collection are not ordinary human beings for that matter. So when you get to put some of the best names in a collection the result obviously is going to be something extra ordinary and to that effect I am very thankful to the Editor Deepa Agarwal here.

She has chosen some of the best works from around the world literally. Who can ever forget the Gift of the Magi, or Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, I liked some of those stories that will remain etched in life for the sheer magic that they create and make you spell bound when they close.

The story Open Window  by Saki is a classic example of narration and holding you by the wits with the childish innocence that can transform things in a great way! The little girl simply knows what she was doing or does she?

I relished the Freedom the story which actually looks at the present set of police and how the Freedom fighter thinks he can be the same as against the British.

You cant miss the Red Room by HG Wells or the story Dare for its narrative excellence and how it gives you a twist.

One of the relatively longer stories is Saritha Kamakshi makes a mistake by Jerry Pinto makes for a wonderful reading and just gives us glimpses of lives of people around us.

The Accursed House makes for a wonderful reading especially how it makes fun of the character and how things go for a slide, very well articulated and the story stands out for its sheer black humour.

All in all a great set of stories with varied background and delivered by masters story tellers. One thing about the Short story collection is you don’t have to go page by page, you could start reading a new story at will and so I did not read it in sequence as a matter of fact but got to read all the stories. Some were known and had that affinity to re read it at a fast pace.

The editor  Deepa Agarwal has taken pains to present the same without any changes in the way it was told.

Thanks a lot Rupa / Red Turtle for the copy and I am sure this will brighten the days of many who read and those around too!

Pick your copy here: Amazon