A very very long blog-post, that is how I would describe the book “Anything for you Ma’am” by Tushar Raheja (www.raheja.org). The same lack of structure, the same lack-of-flow, the same flying off at tangents, the same numerous footnotes (which are not at the foot of the passage but within the passage - just like this - within brackets), and the same need to read 
I spied the book at Odyssey; I was reluctant to buy it, but seeing that The Hindu had given it a positive review terming it as one of the funniest books, I bought it. The review goes to show that even The Hindu has some bad reviewers. I did not hate the book, but neither would I suggest it to others.
Some good things:
- Very good writing skills, keeps the reader captive (Ok, not the prison-type-captive, but at least house-arrest-type-captive).
- Vivid descriptions of the weather, beautifully written.
- Description of the love-interest of the writer makes one fall in love with her.
- You cannot help but smile as reading this book. It is one such book where everyone will find some shades of himself.
- Book is cheap; at 100 bucks it does not burn a hole in the pocket.
Some bad things:
- Why does this have to be “an IITian’s love story”? I know IIT is a huge huge brand, but does it mean that it has to be in the title. IIT has no significance as such in the whole novel. Keeping IIT in the title seems to be nothing but a marketing gimmick.
- It seems the editor of the publication house was sleeping. I don’t remember the publication, but that publication house should look for a new editor. The writer is verbose - like a blogger - but verbosity is not good in a book unless you are Arthur Hailey. The book would have been way better had it been 50 or maybe 80 pages shorter.
- Too many co-incidences result in indigestion. One co-incidence is ok, two - I could live with, three - difficult to digest but I have strong stomach, but here the whole book was hinged on co-incidences - resulting in a severe bout of burps & hiccups. The premise was very real, very believable; but the events that unfold - let me put this mildly - were a bit out of this world.
- Why this obsessive need to glorify everything? October is great, January is great, winter is great, monsoon is great, trains are great… Was there anything that was not great?
Technorati: Anything for you Ma’am, Review, Book Review
book ka toh pata nahin ..
tera review great hai ..
the last bad thing .. amen
i guess if it was shorter people would not feel that it justified the 100 bucks .. eh ?
“but here the whole book was hinged on co-incidences - resulting in a severe bout of burps & hiccups.” =)) .. was there anything as funny as this in the book !!
The book just lacked a few minor things like a ’story’. Definite turn offs were the lack of well etched characters, and as u wrote, too many coincidences and marketing gimmicks like adding the “IIT” tag. But the guy can only improve and whatever we say the guy did get a book published before he passed out of college. How many of us can claim that?
d book wasnt dat bad….it was ok ok typs actually sreejith is rite it lackd a stry….ya d co-incidents made it a bit interstin i guess worth-readin n its a bit funny too!bt d writr needs to improve d first book isnt dat bad ill say its a nic try!
I have just written a feedback email to Tushar Raheja requesting my money back. If I can describe the weather so well, he should become a weatherman rather than a novelist. How many times have we seen a me-too writers becoming successful? Obviously Tushar Raheja needs to stop aping Chetan Bhagat as he does not come close. Writers such as Tushar, give IIT and the Indian Writer’s fraternity a bad name. You can someone you love, MAAM, You call your wallet, PURSE and not a single page is without grammatical and structural issues. Story? Ah well…that is another point of discussion all together. One single word: Disgusting. No wonder an obscure publisher choose to publish this book. Come on Tushar, stop insulting the intellect of the readers!
Copy of Email received from Tushar Raheja!!
Alas, you are only human. I feel sorry for your mistake of buying the concerned book. But I advise you to learn from the mistake and keep away from my further books.
Regarding your hundred rupees, sorry they are lost. No consumer court will take up your case.
Thanks for the insightful mail. It would be nice if you refrain from sending more “reviews”. We recieve more than twenty mails a day (and thankfully not all bad). The load is enough already.
GUYS…WHAT SHOULD BE DONE FOR WRITERS WHO HAVE THIS ATTITUDE TOWARDS FEEDBACK?
Kavita,
I read the book and it’s not that bad.
I found the reference to the wallet as purse funny too but that’s how more than half the men in India refer to their wallet.
As for your writing to the author for a refund, that’s the most hilarious thing I’ve come across today !
I mean,
1. The book isn’t that bad.Infact, I enjoyed reading it.
2. Couldn’t you tell from the cover and the summary that the book would be light reading, and the fact that it was written by a college student should have told you not to expect wonders ??
Instead of encouraging young talent, you have to pull him down.
There is a big difference between constructive criticism and plain bitterness.
I’m not surprised he chose to respond this way, though he probably shouldn’t have responded at all.
I read the book. Its a good one. I enjoyed it, so did my friends. Kavita, don’t be mean if you don’t have a sense of hunour.
lagta nahi ke aap ne book padha hai.REVIEW se PAHLE BOOK PADHNA CHAHIE. Kitna acha likha hai tushar ne. still u r troubling to find something -ve in it.
Come on guys!! Please dont discourage the young talent. He is just a college student and iam sure none of you can even do what Tushar has done.
hey guys,
i mailed to Tushar and asked few questions. If anyone is intrested please have a look at them.
Hi Gautam
Most of your questions concern the redoubtable Mr. Fate; one simply can not be sure when that’s the case. That’s what the book is about. Still, to answer you.
> 1) Will they get Married??
They desperately want to. Girl’s father is the only obstacle.
> 2) Will Pappu come to know that the financer for the Bio-bull project is Tejas’s brother Vineet?
Noways. Let that never happen.
> 3) How will both Tejas and Shreya’s parents react when they come to know about their love?
Tejas’s parents are cool. Shreya’s dad the problem.
> 4) Is the Bio-bull really an IIT’s project or just a fictionary project?
It is my vision for future, no project. We need a fuel like that to save us.
> 5) Why does your story resemble “Five Point Someone” by Chetan Bhagat.
> (Even in that the lead characters screw up things in a similar way and get into DISCO)
DISCO, being as groovy as it is, and a very prominent feature at IIT explains why it is so popular with writers. I havent’s read FPS.
> 5) Finally, is it the real story or the imaginary story?
No author likes this question.
Regards
Tushar
hey check my review of the book here…..http://ktima.wordpress.com/2007/01/17/anything-for-you-maam-an-iitians-love-story/
a decent first book irrespective of your age i should say…most of campus guys can relate to it at some point of time or other…and that hold the attention…
it seems sometimes we can praise a book without understanding bits and pieces like use of malayam words and phrases in books like the god of small things…and sometimes we complain about words like ‘purse’ which is well understood….but thats obvious…as they say you CANNOT satisy all.
man ur book is awsome man grt keep goin on dude,,hmm actually u shud hav pud a diff tag 2 it instead of givin it an iit tag …like nit/neotr heyy easy man ur book is awsome
keep goin man
hey!!!
d book is awesome yaar…………………kya book hai………….but m not satisfied wid itz end…………i want itzzz versionzzzzzzz d book is not yet completed …………i really want more………
Thank You
hey tushar
an awesome book man
i cud relate it to being in love myself
great going
keep it up
well i dnt love reding novels bt heard of chetan bhagat’s n tushar’s novel
Hmm Now cumint to nything for u maam…..its nt dat bad,i mean its pretty gud n dat too wen its someone’s first book.Well tell me how many can actually write something n tushar u better know “tum kuch bhi karo log to bolenge hi,bt wen ppl thr bck such words like disgusting or useless ,dnt get depressd,may b they r jealous”
THE BOOK IS GUD,good enough to read. And its nt at all a waste f time or 100bucks.
Must tell it was a gud book n would love to read more frm u
ALL THE BEST
this book is really rockin and the characters are superb but there are some parts which is absolutely useless and unnecessary like explanation of weather and ghost……except that you have nicely naratted all the events. i think ur journey from pune to chennai was the best part in your book and if i got the chance to rate this book then i will give 7 out of ten……
Yeah I totally agree with all the points mentioned above…but the only thing i want to mention is he did it better than many..it might be a longer version of a blog…but at the end of the book what it matters did we complete the book…that itself says there is something it..if it was awful i bet atleast half these intellect population above wouldnt have read this..And Kavitha shouldnt be so harsh at people who are trying something…please be constructive dudette… the worst thing an author can face to ask for the refund of the price…for God’s sake don’t do this again…
PS: Though this was a very very very late response, I coundnt resist replying
coool
hey Tushar…i love ur book…i tol many of my frens n brothers n sisters to read it…im planning to gift the book to my some1 special also…ya,i agree wid so many things u hav said about love…like u i too feel like doing anything for my love…i too love to b adventurous n do crazy stuffs like u said…i totally enjoyed the book but now i tel u something ….do that….dont listen to ppl who dont want u to write n all…if they dont want, let them not read…but i definitely want the next version as one of the ppl above said…so for me n her, u r gonna write wat happens next….gotit>this is a command!!!wil make it a point to meet u personally wid my some1 special some day…if Mr.Fate is on myside…
well….the books a bit confusing….a lot many coincidences….sumone can take so much risk wen ur in luv is questionable but on the whole its quite nice….
initially as i started with the book…it did seem like a long blog as some of u above have mentioned..and it appeared that somewhere down the line , tushar was maybe trying a bit too hard to be funny…maybe…but..ya…but…the thing is it still held my interest and i finally managed to read the book…and in the end ..i feel..inspite of all that..it was a good first effort..and the dude is only gonna improve with time..he being a bit verbose adds to his style of writing…so nothing against that …though i did feel they could have done away with the tag…”an iitian love’s story”…that was a mere marketing gimmick…inspite of all this…i would love to read his next book…
seems like this tushar guy was too fascinated by “FIVE POINT SOMEONE”…..an absolutely nothing book. and for all those who describe it as funny, guys…..whatever happpened to the good sense of humor in Five point…. and Inscrutable american ETC. !!! Does it even come close???
seems like one IIT guy making it big in writering has inspired a clan which isnt necessarily as good as the first one. and the tagline is definitely a gimmick as even i picked up the book just for tht. he doesnt even come close to give the IIT a proper place in the whole book some thing chetan bhagat so beautifully did. I finished the entire book on a train journey of bout 4 hours which speaks volumes about the incompetency. the book hardly makes u think and this is something i absolutely despise. ( I am sure i have support in this regard).
well….the book written by our fellow iit friend is of the ‘okay’ types..though readers would find his work a bit amateurish..well…using the iit tag is uncalled for..any other name would have sufficed.. the content is absolutely pathetic..the whole plot just goes round and round about the same thing..in other words..futile effort..without results..
hi there
da book is cool
nd as it’s da frst try i really appreciate ur work
v want some more of it
it’s really funny a gr8 timepass
hey dear
i hav read all these reviews given by so called critics above mentioned wid there remarks
so it’s 4 dem
whenver someone does a gud job there r loads of obstacles
so don’t dicourage dis tushar raheja nd let him work
nd dis return back money stuff really irritates
i read the book yesterday…its a light hearted book with a little humour…
i liked it….there mite be ppl who didnt like the book and will criticize Tushar but this is natural….i will be waiting eagerly for his next book…
I just completed the book.
Nice one, I must say.
The pace was slow at first, but slowly the story gained the pace and the acceleration did not stop until the last page. Of course, there are too many coincidences. But hey, nobody is promising that its a direct narration from real life. Its a story which may have several similarities with an original incident. So, if you cant gulp it, check your intestines.
Again, you cant say such dialogues as “HE CANT EXPECT CRITICISM !!” when you curse a person and he curses you back. It ka Jawab Paththar. Nobody has forced you to buy the book.
As for Tushar, nice love story man !! I just hope, at least 50% of the story was real…. cause the rought times faced by Tejas made me feel the love more dearly.
Isn’t it a cool book???
Asking for refund is a real stupid thing!!!!
It’s his first work, appreciate the young folk…..
All the best Tushar, waiting for ur next one…
The book is far less captive than house arrest too. The author keeps running off from the plot and worse, admits it too. Not that humorous unless your sense of humor is that bad. But I liked the fact that the novel resembled a lot of the real writer, I needed to know if it is the real story of Tushar Raheja and not Tejas. But again, I’ll doubt if it’s a real story as he begins the novel with a short poem dedicated to his lady love “wherever she is” hoping she’ll think of him when it rains. So,….ambiguous… :S
Read the book and ALL the comments on this page. Must confess though,that I found it almost impossible to get through till I came to the last 30 pages or so. The English(?)is irritatingly colloquial and the swinging back n forth between then and now leaves one quite confused, not to mention the host of ‘ji’ relatives (mummyji,pappaji, tayaji, behenji….).Plus its a wannabe Wodehouse.
Nevertheless, Tushar’s earnestness shines through the muddled maze of plans, counterplans, triumphs and setbacks and one finds oneself inexorably drawn into the pinings and whinings of young love. As The lass in question would probably say, at the end of it all, “Not bad! Not bad at all!!”
yup! i agree with you.
it get boring in parts. It becomes a big drag at times.
the publisher is Srishti publication.
they are coming out with another book this july.
Of course I love you..!
break up: a chance life gives you to find someone better….and bigger.
let us see how that turns out.
have heard good things pre-release, let us see…!!
Hi Friends,
About book Anything for you Ma’am i can’t say anything bcoz i have not read it yet but after these review i am definitely going to buy it.
Actually i was searching review of One night @ call center by Mr. chetan bhagat that time i came to know about this book.
Thanks for people like you who post the review so people like me can choose the pretty books.
Hey friend do you know any other such wonderful books specially romantic love stories like this one.
Please suggest me the name so i can read them.
Thanks and regards,
Parag