He heard the sniffling first, and then the sobs made their presence felt. It being a particularly dark stretch of road, the visual confirmation came last. A girl was sitting on the pavement, feet on the road with her head held in her hands, crying incessantly. For a hopeless romantic at heart, who was a fan of romantic movies, and would swear by the movie Notting Hill, this was a scene that could have been easily lifted out of one of the rom-coms, and yet for all the preparation of watching movies and TV series and envisioning similar scenarios, Jai was surprisingly at a loss for words.

After an uncomfortable thirty seconds, while Jai just stared dumbfounded, somehow he mustered enough courage to open his mouth and the words shout out, “Are you okay?“

… … …

The thought train in Jai’s mind was steaming ahead. First of all, that name – Nisha. It had all started with Madhuri Dixit when she had immortalized this name; anytime he met a girl named Nisha he felt an instant attraction and he was not alone in this phenomenon. Many of his friends and acquaintances were crazy after the name ‘Nisha’ too. To top it all, almost all the Nishas he had met had been gorgeous. This Nisha was no exception. And she seemed to be interested in him, he was almost sure of that.

Go buy the book now and let me know how good/bad my story is.

Urban Shots Bright Lights is coming out in January 2012 and in this anthology too I’ve contributed a short-story. No links are up yet for the book, will put them as soon as the page is up.

Have a look at the cover

Bright Lights is published by Grey Oak and the editor is again Paritosh Uttam. Hope my story and the book is enjoyed by everybody

On Saturday morning I lay my hand on the sequel to Dork, Sidin Vadukut’s second book – ‘God Save The Dork’, and I spent the weekend reading the book and I can say with assurance that my weekend was good. The protagonist Robin ‘Einstein’ Varghese is now in London and a new company is at the mercy of his consulting antics. Following a storyline similar to the first book, here too Robin strives to be a star-performer and how he manages that among his innumerable goof-ups is what makes the story.

I’ve always maintained it is difficult to write humour, and very few people have a knack for it. Thankfully Sidin seems to have a few funny bones in his body and comes up trumps in handling the humour. Although there were a few old jokes which I had read on internet earlier, but then those were just 2-3 instances. The story is mostly easy to follow, but since this book is in the form of diary entries there are a few gaps and keeps going off on tangents – but then that is what makes the book different from any other book.

If you enjoyed ‘Dork‘ definitely pick up ‘God Save The Dork‘, you would not be disappointed. Now hoping that Dork-3 is equally hilarious and continues the fabulous topsy-turvy journey of Robin Varghese.

Ilika Ranjan has penned the book “Puppet on the Fast Track” which tells the story of a bank where politics is as common as potholes on an Indian road and everyone in the upper management hates everybody else in the upper management and all of their common aims is to ride on the shoulders of their subordinates to success and subsequently the next promotion. Told from the perspective of the people on the lower echelons, this book would resonate with anyone who has faced office politics.

The story of the book is quite simple, and it is quite easy to empathize with the primary characters as almost everyone in the corporate world has faced one of the situations depicted in the book. The pace of the book is quite steady but owing to a few repetitive incidents it actually feels slower than it actually is. The plot is not complex, but what lets the book down is the abrupt flow. At times I did not realize that one conversation was over and a new one has started between two other characters. The editing leaves a lot to be desired, there were instances when two different conversation topics overlapped and it became a confusing read. Few of the characters have been sketched out pretty well, and you can easily love or hate them. The writing actually improved a lot as the chapters progressed.

There were times when I absolutely enjoyed the book, and there were times it became a lethargic read – that is the reason I feel this book has me in two minds. This book seems aimed at management professionals and students considering the bits of jargon and the work environment and it is an interesting read for the target audience. For others it may get a tad tedious if they are not able to relate to the characters or the scenarios in the book.

Addendum: This is an author requested review. I was contacted by her to review the book.

The book starts following the abysmal life that the protagonist Ardhendu Bose leads, and the fabulous turn-around his life takes when he joins one of the biggest life sciences company – RED. From a rat at the far-end of the pack, he soon emerges as the leader of the race. But in any such scenario there is always a ‘But’. The twist, how it effects Mr. Bose and where do the vampires fit in – these things make up rest of the story.

This thriller is quite fast-paced and makes for an interesting read. It seems obvious from the start that the book has been written keeping in mind that one day a movie would be made based on this book and proof is available on the book-cover where it says the book will soon be a movie. The plot is very simple, the book keeps moving ahead at break-neck speed full with complete filmi scenes.

All-in-all a perfect read for a lazy afternoon.

As soon as I had read the blurb of this book, my interest had been piqued. “The Book of Answers” is the story of Patros Patranobis. He inherits a book that supposedly has the answers to all the problems plaguing the world. Not wanting to add more problems to his already problematic life Patros disposes of the book but is shocked to see it again on National Television under the control of India’s most powerful (and corrupt) political leader. The rest of the story follows Patros and his (mis)adventures as he tries to grapple with unwanted heroism thrust on him, and the repercussions of him becoming the forced leader of a political movement.

The story is gripping and you keep turning the pages to know what happened next. There are rarely any places where the pace of the story slackens and that is saying something for a 350+ pages long book. The flow of the book was mostly linear, and there was no problem following the story anywhere. I especially loved the names of the characters. The protagonist is Patros Patranobis, his son is Tipperary (Tippy), the ‘ruler’ of the country is aptly named Ishwar Prasad, and once you hear the name Shinde – you know it is going to be a cop. Apart from the names, almost all the characters have been given quite a bit of personality. All the major characters have an interesting back-story which helps in understanding nuances of that person’s characterization.

What I did not enjoy about the book was the usage of a few words which would not have been amiss in an advanced English vocabulary class. I would say my knowledge of English is not bad as I’ve been a voracious reader since I don’t remember when, and even then at many times I had to interrupt my read to find the meaning of the word. Mostly I can figure out what a word means from the context, but while reading this book there were times when I had to resort to a dictionary to find the meaning. Thankfully I had been reading this book on my Kindle and thus I had quick access to a dictionary and that saved me a lot of hassles. Apart from this trivial complaint there are hardly any negative points about the book.

In summary, I would say this is one of the better books I’ve read this year and I completely enjoyed the read. Read a few excerpts here and if you enjoy it, do not miss The Book of Answers.

Addendum: This is an author requested review. I was contacted by the author to review his book.

I wooed her unlike any other girl I wooed – after all she was the one. I spent nights pining for her, I took advice from people experienced in the matters of heart. I rehearsed my lines, I learned to tie the perfect knot, I pressed my clothes, I polished my shoes, and I was ready to meet her. In total it took two chat sessions and four dates for me to win her heart. I even remember the date when we got engaged – 19th July, 2004.

Nearly a year later, on 11th July, 2005 I took the vows. We had a rocking relationship. The nights were as passionate as the days, if not more. The weekends were spent together. The romance was alive and kicking. Of course we had our ups and downs but then who doesn’t? We stuck through each trough to celebrate the peak.

There were times when the ebbs were more and the highs kept coming further apart. Maybe that was the reason, maybe we had just crossed the expiry date of our relationship, maybe the declining romance was the reason, maybe it was because now I preferred to spend my weekends with myself, or maybe it was a collection of all these that pushed me to look for gratification outside the wedlock.

I wooed many, most trampled my heart; but I did find love again. The other girl and I professed our love for each other and decided to get hitched. But I had to set the past free. It was not an easy task, you do not take a relationship of 75 months and just flush it down the drain. It wasn’t easy, but it had to be done. After few long discussions we decided it was for the better and filed for separation. Thankfully it was an amicable separation and I would like to believe we are still friends.

I had heard of the 7-year itch, I got hit by the 7th year itch. Coming Monday, I will be getting hitched again.

———–

And so a 6+ year long journey with my first company comes to an end.

For over 10 years I have seen the fort on top of the round mountain just an hour before chugging into the Secunderabad/Hyderabad railway station. Always thought that I should visit the place (Bhuvanagiri Fort @ Bhongir) sometime and climb the mountain. Never imagined that the visit to the fort would be all of 45 minutes long after a 90-minute drive, and never thought I would be so out of shape that just climbing halfway would leave me short of breath.

It is fun going on a long drive, but it is a gamble to go on a long drive with a 6-month old kid. Luckily the gamble paid off. And thankfully the round trip was just 110 kms, so the “short long drive” helped too.

Must revisit the Bhuvanagiri Fort @ Bhongir. And this time I am not taking the steps; I intend to climb on the rock-face. It is far more comfortable navigating the natural rock face, rather than the man-made steps. But since it is a fort, I have no idea till what height could I scale just climbing on the rocks.

This is a pathetic post and I know it, but the only reason I am writing this is because I do not have a pensieve where I can revisit my memories. When I need to revisit my memories, I come visit my blog. And I will reiterate this point the n^th time; it is easy writing posts as a random disconnected list of points.

To alleviate the pain I was looking for something to read, and stumbled upon the a few tales revolving around Sir Donald Bradman that had been shared by Cricinfo readers during a long rain-break in a long forgotten India-SL match. Somehow I had the foresight to copy all the interesting tales in one location; re-sharing those tales here. Obviously I am not the source, I’m just an accumulator for this post.  All credit goes to the millions of readers of Cricinfo.

——————

There is, for instance, the tale of Bill Black, an off-spin bowler playing for Lithgow, who on a memorable day in 1931 bowled Bradman for 52. The umpire was so excited that when the ball hit Bradman’s wicket he called out: “Bill, you’ve got him.” The ball was mounted and given to Black as proof that he had dismissed the greatest batsman in the world.

Later that season Don Bradman again played against Black. As the bowler marked out his run, Don said to the wicketkeeper: “What sort of bowler is this fellow?”

The wicketkeeper, a mischief-maker like the rest of his tribe, replied: “Don’t you remember this bloke? He bowled you out a few weeks ago and has been boasting about it ever since.”

“Is that so?” said Bradman. Two overs later Black pleaded with his skipper to be taken off. Bradman had hit him for 62 runs in two eight-ball overs. He made 100 in three overs and finished with 256, including 14 sixes and 29 fours.

——————

On Bradman’s first tour of England in 1930 there was a popular rumour that the English pitches would sort him out. As an ardent subscriber to this theory, George Macauley, the feisty Yorkshire seam bowler, couldn’t wait to get at Bradman.

When Yorkshire played the Australians Macauley demanded loudly of his captain: “Let me have a go at this bugger.” His first over was a maiden. Bradman then hit him for five fours in the second over and took 16 from the third. A spectator yelled, “George, tha’ should have kept thi’ bloody trap shut.”

——————

Bradman could read a batsman and tell you how to bowl to him, but he did it obliquely, as with Bill Edrich, who tended to play across the line, at Lord’s in 1948. Ray Lindwall habitually placed a short leg behind the square leg umpire. When Edrich came in, Bradman asked Lindwall, “Do you want that short leg behind or in front of the umpire?”

“No, leave him there,” Lindwall said.

He bowled a couple to Edrich and would have had him caught by the short leg if he had taken Bradman’s hint. He asked Bradman if he should move the fielder.

“It’s too late now,” Bradman said; “he won’t play that shot again.”

Edrich played against Australia for another five years; Lindwall says he always had him in trouble as a result of Bradman’s tip.

——————

Lindwall recalls that the team attended a black tie function while a match was in progress, and that three of the bowlers on duty, himself, Colin McCool and Ern Toshach, were then invited to a party 15 miles out of London. They had to make three separate cab trips to get there; this persuaded them to stay at the party rather than attempt a complicated trip back in the early hours of the morning. When they did get back, still in dinner suits, they went up the hotel stairs in case Bradman was in the lift, but met him doing his exercises. The great man said no more than: ‘Have a nice night? You had better do all right today.’

They had a shower and took the field. Bradman bowled the three of them all morning; each took three wickets. Lindwall was on the rubbing table at lunch when Bradman ‘smacked me on the behind’ and said: ‘You were pretty lucky today.’

‘Why? We got them all out.’

‘If you hadn’t I would have liked to see the three of you bowling all afternoon.’

——————

When the Don scored 334 runs in a 1930 Test at Leeds, and a London newspaper finally trumpeted just two grateful words on posters around the city: “HE’S OUT!”

——————

Few tweets from @sidvee

Jardine on Bradman in '28: He doesn't care for the batting manual. He could make scores none of us have dreamt of. (sounds like Viru to me)—
Sidvee (@sidvee) December 11, 2010

I'm shocked how hardly anyone mentions a crucial aspect of Bradman's career: He was dropped after one Test. Like dropped!—
Sidvee (@sidvee) December 11, 2010

Larwood to Jardine before Bradman's debut in 1928: "He's never played England. We'll take him, Mr Jardine. We'll have him for dinner."—
Sidvee (@sidvee) December 11, 2010

——————

It was told to me by the great Australian batsman, Dean Jones, who positively swore on the head of his daughter it happened, and I have since been told that Merv Hughes also confirms its truth.

The scene is set at a Test match between Australia and the West Indies at Adelaide Oval back in February 1989. These were the days when the Windies were the greatest power the cricketing world had ever seen, the days when they used to select 11 fast bowlers in the team and a 12th man who was a fast bowler just to be on the safe side.

And it was into just such a furnace that the young bowler Mervyn Hughes walked – with bat in hand. Figuring fortune favoured the brave, Hughes wielded the willow like an axeman his axe, and somehow – after snicking fortutiously, connecting full-bloodedly, and missing entirely – he finished the day’s play at 72 not out.

The tradition in Test cricket is that the batting side take a few beers into the fielding side’s dressing-room afterwards, but not on this evening. Instead, Merv took an ice-box full of bottles, so keen was he to give the men of the Windies the full blow-by-blow account of every run he’d made. So it was that half an hour later, Jones – who himself had contributed 216 – and Hughes and several other Australian players were in the Windies dressing-room, when a sudden hush fell upon the gathering.

They looked to the door and there was Sir Donald Bradman himself, being ushered into the room by several South Australian cricket officials. The Don had expressed a desire to meet this mighty team, and now here he was.

For the next 15 minutes or so, the great man was introduced to the visiting players, with each West Indian standing up well before Sir Donald got to their position on the bench. Then, when their time came, they warmly shook his hand and had a few words.

This all proceeded splendidly until Sir Donald got to the last man on the bench, Patrick Patterson – the fastest bowler in the world at that time. So the story goes, not only did Patterson not stand, he simply squinted quizzically up at the octogenarian. Finally, after some 30 seconds of awkward silence, Patterson stood up, all two metres of pure whip-cord steel of him, and looked down at the diminutive Don.

“You, Don Bradman!?!” he snorted. “You, Don Bradman?!?! I kill you, mun! I bowl at you, I kill you! I split you in two!”

In reply, Sir Donald, with his hands on his hips, gazed squarely back at Patterson and calmly retorted: “You couldn’t even get Merv Hughes out. You’d have no chance against me, mate!”

The Secret of The Nagas picks up from where Meluha ended; and steams ahead for a few chapters before resorting to a tranquil place in the events that take place at Kashi. After those few languid chapters, the book keeps on speeding ahead with new revelations, new opinions and ends with a nice twist (although a tad foreseeable), and yet keeps the readers hanging for the part three of Shiva Trilogy – The Oath of Vayuputras. Many new characters have made an appearance. Primary of those are the sons of Shiva/Sati, the royal families of kingdoms in Swadweep, and a few Naga characters too. There were a few parts of the book where I felt Amish was going on a tangent, but later on realized that events that took place earlier always had an impact on the happenings later on.

While the events in book-1 took place in Meluha and ended in Swadweep, events in book-2 unfolded in Swdweep and ended in Dandak Forest – the Naga territory. Going by the same logic I’m assuming events in book-3 would be concentrated around the Dandakaranya. Comparing this book to “The Immortals of Meluha“, I feel the first part of trilogy was better – but then that book was a genre changer. While “The Secret of The Nagas” pales in front of Meluha, it is better than most of the books I’ve read this year. Amish Tripathi is a very good storyteller and has rarely penned in any flab in the book. Each word, each event, each chapter moves the story forward with an eye on whatever is to happen in the next chapter or next book. The author has a very firm control on the flow of the book.

If you’ve read The Immortals of Meluha, you must read The Secret of Nagas. And if you’ve not read the books of Shiva Trilogy and are even a tad interested in Indian Mythology, go buy both the books now and read them.