That Woman You See – Sujata Parashar Book Review

With the emerging gender equality and women empowerment strides, the book That Woman You See by Sujata Parashar is a plus 1 for the efforts put by human rights activists. Sujata, who is herself a human right activist, has rightly portrayed the ideas of a modern woman. The woman likes to express her views in the way she wants to. She doesn’t prefer to hide her feelings.

The collection of 9 short stories, all focus on a single idea, but in different manner. The stories beautifully depicts on how the modern day woman would like to act upon in different situations. A woman who finds that her son is taking the wrong path in his marriage, stands up for her daughter in law’s rights by behaving rationally.

With a pinch of romance and tinges of suspense, all the short stories keep you hooked up till the end of each of them and wanting for more in the next one. Although the climax of most of the stories didn’t entice me. They seemed to be either incomplete or unsettling to be a good climax, probably because I expected more twists in the story. But the unsettling part is something which raised my excitement to read the next one.

All in all, a wonderful book by the author Sujata Parashar, deserves a quick read while having your afternoon bites at your favourite restaurant (like I did 😉

Corpokshetra Review – Deepak Kaul

Book name: Corpokshetra – Mahabharata In The MBA Yug
Author: Deepak Kaul
Publisher: Bloody Good Book

An out of the box thinking, that’s the power of a book author. And Corpokshetra author, Deepak Kaul, has done exactly that.Who would have pictured Duryodhana visiting the Starbucks, or Duryodhana inviting the Pandavas for poker game over the Whatsapp? Kaul has made us do that!
Mahabharata is well depicted in today’s corporate world. Hastinapur Enterprises, Indraprastha Airlines, all entities are well in place. Despite of knowing the popular story, you will be certainly glued to the book till the end. The humour and flow of the story keeps you engaged. The heavy thick books and hundreds of episodes are intelligently concise in this 142 pages Corpokshetra making it a quick read.

The epic has been recreated and inspired many authors and filmmakers. Some of them excelled while some couldn’t pick it up. Deepak Kaul belong to the first category. The light-hearted nature of the book gives the reader the liberty to go beyond imaginations. When Draupadi is pulled out during the dice game (poker), she is more concerned about her hair which took hours to get done. Brothers cursing the iPhone and regret for not buying a Samsung instead! That is so us! In short, the author of Corpokshetra has hit the right node.

Corpokshetra an MBA Yug Review: 5 out of 5

Legend
1: Naaaah!
2: Think twice before you go for it!
3: OK!
4: Great!
5: Out of the World!

Have your reviews & experiences with Corpokshetra? Do share in the comments below.

Bhima – The Man in the Shadows Book Review – Vikas Singh

Book: Bhima – The Man In The Shadows
Author: Vikas Singh

Passionate, action-filled and humorous.

That’s Bhima by Vikas Singh summed up in three phrases. Beautifully enlightened Bhima’s feelings, this book has covered every aspect of the great warrior’s thoughts. His caring nature towards the love of his life, his feelings towards his brothers, his affection towards his parents are so amazingly penned down that the reader will be left amazed.

As rightly said by the author, Bhima – The Man in the Shadows, He was indeed the one. So why is he addressed as “in the Shadows”? Because in the front were Yudhisthira and Arjuna. If you are aware about Mahabharata, all you know about the second Pandava was that he is a muscled man who can put down anyone with his mere strength. Least did we know about the sensitive side he had. Thanks to Mr Vikas Singh, he enlightened us with it. Some of the lines are truly touching for readers.

“What would have I done if I were in his place.
Maybe I would have just taken Draupadi’s hand and walked away from there forever…”

His care for his lady can be deeply felt with just these lines. He understands every pain that Draupadi goes through but surrounded with bars of limitations he is left helpless. His failure to express his feelings makes him seem a man without emotions. But the author has so beautifully elaborated his emotions that you will feel how it is to live the life of Bhima.

To summarise, this book is a must for you if you haven’t read or watched about Bhima through any other source. Keeping aside the wars and fights, Vikas Singh has raised a thought on whether Bhima has been appropriately understood by the past and present generation.

My rating for this book would be 4 out of 5.

Chapter 15: The Suspects

 

Read the previous chapter here - The Redeemer

The story continues..

While Shekhar desperately waited for Roohi and his nightmare to end, he wondered what kind of torture his little child Sophia must have gone through. How much pain she must have experienced while she was away. Why such a monstrous treatment would be given to a 9 year old girl?

His heart wept when the investigation officers said,

“She was tortured physically and mentally for 6 months. No part of her body - internal and external, was spared from the torture. Finally when her body couldn’t take the pain anymore, her soul left the body and got dumped by the killer.”

Shekhar couldn’t forget the day he had heard her last voice. Although he was on the phone, he could visualize what must have happened when Sophia was just about to call Roohi.

He thought,

‘I wish I had stayed with them. I wish I hadn’t come back. With more people around, may be the killer wouldn’t have thought of breaking the window glass and kidnapping her from her house. May be she would have still been with Roohi and me….’ Little did he know that the actions were planned long time ago.

 *     *     *     *     *

Tara had got used to the way others treated her. She would usually be left alone even in a crowd with family members, friends or colleagues. And in a way she liked it as it allowed her to be the way she wants to be. She was never happy living with Shekhar as he was quite her opposite.

Both were supposed to take care of Roohi and Sophia. Shekhar took his responsibility gladly. But Tara couldn't take their giggling, smirking and running all around the house. It irritated her. It made her beat them up till they get hurt.

*     *     *     *     *

While watching Cyrus and JJ moving out from a corner of his eye, Duryodhan immediately picked the phone and set up a plan to keep an eye on them. The case being on priority, he didn’t want to miss a single clue left by the suspects which were Cyrus and JJ currently. Pressing the phone receiver on his left ear, he waited for his informer to give their location update.

Their first halt was at a café. He instructed the informer to grab a nearby table and listen to their conversation. All he could hear were the facts already known to Duryodhan, except for Aryan Ahuja who stayed in Mumbai. On investigating about this new character in the case, he found out Aryan to be Dutta’s neighbor. Duryodhan didn’t want to rely on his present informer any more. He chose to fly to Mumbai and personally witness Cyrus and JJ’s next plan of action.

While the duo entered Aryan’s house, Cyrus could sense someone watching them from the street near the gate, but a quick glance didn’t help him discover anyone. However he got an assurance from Aryan that the  security inside and around his house is quite efficient to prevent any such interception.

All Duryodhan could do now was wait in his vehicle till his suspects get out of Aryan’s house.

Read the next chapter of the story here.

Me and my team are participating in Game Of Blogs at BlogAdda.com. #CelebrateBlogging with us.

Chapter 7 : Her Last Voice - by Writers' Den - Game of Blogs

Chapter 1: Mens Rea by Mahesh Sowani

Chapter 2: A Morning Star by Rohini Varun

Chapter 3: The Cursed One by Sreesha Divakaran

Chapter 4: The Vanquished by Aurindam Mukherjee

Chapter 5: The Insurmountable by Vinay Biradar

Chapter 6: The Vulnerables by Shilpa Garg

The story continues....

Shekhar took Roohi in his arms and caressed her. Moving his palm on her head, he planted a kiss on her forehead and managed to persuade her to go back to sleep. As he stared at the wall, a flash of memories screened in front of him.

He was missing his little ones and had called them up at their grandpa’s place. Busy with their game of hopscotch outside the veranda, none of them cared about the phone ringing. Grandpa walked over to the room to pick up the call on his cell phone.

Sophia ran over to Grandpa stealing the phone and yelled,

“Daddy, we are playing hopscotch! You know I have won all 3 games! Roohi stepped on the line each time and lost.”

Her voice bought a smile on Shekhar’s face. He replied,

“Baby, I don’t know how to play hopscotch. Will you teach me when you come here?”

Hopping all around the house, she chuckled,

“Sure Daddy”

“Ok. I have bought a game for you and Roohi. So when you both come here you both can play more!”

On the background, Shekhar heard Grandma’s voice searching and calling for Sophia.

“Really Daddy? I love you! Oh wait, I’ll call Roohi. She will …..

Sophia could never call Roohi neither did Shekhar get the chance to hear Sophia’s voice again. Next, all he could hear was the sound of glass crashing and the thud of the table heavily dropping to the floor. The last and most heart piercing was that of Sophia’s shrill painful cry.

The phone got disconnected. And silence.

Shekhar went all numb. He wanted to dial the number and call back. But his fingers started quivering heavily unable to dial. Somehow after a few moments, he managed to call but this time instead of Sophia, it was Grandma crying “Shekhar…”

*     *     *     *     *

Cyrus mumbled on the phone

“The Actus has been committed, Mens rea is known. The person behind this will not be spared”.

JJ raising her eyebrows, “Huh?”

Cyrus ignored her reaction, “JJ, I’ll need your help. I would like to know more about Sophia’s parents, Tara and Shekhar. I believe you and Tara are connected. Could you come to Delhi?”

The photographs of the innocent child and intentions of the killer made JJ’s determination to hunt the killer even stronger. She made her decision to visit Cyrus right away, “I’ll take the morning flight to Delhi. Hope to see you at 1 in the afternoon”.

Cyrus agreed and the call ended.

Resting on his ergonomic chair, he stared at the ceiling. He wondered if he can give justice to the innocent girl. He wanted to take up this case as a part of his law internship. But in spite of several appeals his father didn’t let him do so because of the complicated nature of the case and incomplete police investigation. Cyrus was never given a choice, but this time he created one. He decided to take up the case surreptitiously. He told JJ to meet up at a café in Saket area. Although this idea of meeting up at a café planted a seed of doubt in JJ’s mind, but all she knew for now is that she needed an aid to crack the case and Cyrus is the one.

Ready to visit the lady for the first time, Cyrus waited at the café with his laptop placed on the table. Comfortably seated on the couch he scanned every woman sitting in the coffee shop to find out if she had already arrived. But she was yet to reach. He turned on the laptop which had pictures sent by JJ, necessary documents and information hunted by him on the number 666, Nero Caesar and Lucifer. As he peeped though the slightly open wooden door, a lady wearing a sleeveless blouse and denim skirt entered. Cyrus instantly recognized JJ. He couldn’t take his eyes off the beautiful lady. He had seen her picture in the Forbes magazine where she was featured in 30 under 30. But she was all the more gorgeous. Her gladiator sandals didn’t go unnoticed neither did the tattoo on her arm, when seen by Cyrus, left him jaw dropping.

Read on the next chapter here Chapter 8: Survival of the Fittest by Aswin Madhu

Me and my team are participating in Game Of Blogs at BlogAdda.com. #CelebrateBlogging with us.

Dan Brown - The Author of Symbols and Codes

Source: parade.com

The author of symbols and codes has come up with his new novel Inferno. All of us are well aware of the fact that he is the expert of symbols, codes, secrets and signs. Blending facts and fiction efficiently Dan brown has come up with books like - Digital Fortress, Deception Point, The Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons, The Lost Symbol and now Inferno, all of which are dedicated to code and symbols. And one more part which is common in the later 4 novels is Robert Langdon.

Robert Langdon

He is a professor with immense knowledge about symbols and has an excellent problem solving mind. A swimmer by interest, Robert Langdon is scared of elevators as he suffers from Claustrophobia and wears a Mickey Mouse watch gifted by his parents. Some of the books written by this fictional character as said by the author in his books are Religious Iconology, Symbols of Lost Sacred Feminine, The Symbology of Secret Sects etc.

Films out of Dan Brown Thoughts

2 of his books – The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons have been adapted into films in the year 2006 and 2009 respectively. Both of them starred Tom Hanks. Although both the movies gained poor reviews, it was liked by many (especially me :) ) The next adaption would be of The Lost Symbol (waiting for it eagerly).

In an attempt to take his novel Inferno a step further, Dan brown will be publicly talking about it at Lincoln Center, New York.

Source: lincolncenter.org