Au Contraire, Mademoiselle...

Blurb:
Rani a young lawyer on the brink of womanhood, discovers herself as her story unfolds. It is intertwined with her college friends, her colleagues and her cases. Be it a talking parrot or the ever present father figure, or the elusive love, they all play a part in her life until in the end a bizarre truth is revealed.
What is that truth?
What impact will it cause in Rani's life?
We'll go through the book and find out the answer to all your questions.

My Views-
1) The story is beautifully penned with each word seeking like it's authors own story.
2) The college life sequences and events, especially the introduction of  abhinav (page 17), the part which is written in hindi is hilarious and emotional at the same time.
The same lines when abhinav said in english "And yes I am proud of my school, my heritage, my village. My father is a simple, illiterate, small time farmer, but i am proud of my father and extremely proud to be his son", can bring tears to eyes.
3) Few instances in the book reminded me of my college days-
"She had often caught him gazing at her intently, not in the curious intrusive manner like others, it was a steadfast acknowledgement of her existence which he seemed to cherish for some odd reason. (pg-30).
4) the courtroom drama is right on the edge, engaging and nice to read. (perks of being a law graduate).
"Being an unmarried woman in search of a place to stay, brought its own challenges and limitations of "choice". Rani, as a protagonist comes across a strong and fearless character that is refreshingly different.
5) The Cases are dramatic and insightful, revealing glimpses of rani as she struggles to establish herself as a lawyer beautifully interwoven with her love life.

*There are numerous instances like this which will make your mood light.
* Everything was going smooth, but the end is totally unexpected and will leave you in shock.
* The end is where the title in french becomes more important.
A nice book to recommend everyone especially if you are a kindle person.

Oxygen Manifesto

Book Name - Oxygen Manifesto

Author - Atulya Misra
Publication- Rupa Publication

Social issues is a burning topic in the world. But when it comes to oxygen, its an alarming situation. After a long, i found a refreshing read. Oxygen Manifesto is a triumph of ordinary people over the might of the establishment in their battle to save the environment. Thatha lives in a remote and inaccessible part of manipur and Ravi is a young IAS Officer from the Tamil Nadu Cadre.

Circumstances bring them together and they create the most effective environmental movement the world has ever seen. They shun the politics of criticism and personal attacks and focus on establishing a new policy based on the principles of environmental protection, habitat conservation, direct civil action and democratic decentralization.

Oxygen Manifesto is an engaging story about environmental degradation and the impact of the Anthropocene. It exposes the myth around wealth creation and the paradigm of economic growth. It also plants a development narrative that is environment centric- an idea which is considered fringe in today's times, but is bound to emerge as a mainstream thought in the future. The story also has an undercurrent of minimalism and veganism, as opposed to consumerism and wasteful consumption. A nobel concept of taxing goods and services based on their carbon and water footprint has also been introduced by the writer. This is a must read for anyone who cares about the future of human civilization.

We are living in a world where the air we breathe is not even pure and healthy and newspapers are filled with the various environmental issues. And, the saving of the planet is very important at this point of time. There are very few books that talk about the conservation of the environment. Oxygen Manifesto by Atulya Misra is one such book which opens the mind of the reader and tells the hidden stories of the people who worked for saving the environment. This is definately going to be my most humble recommendation.
The Book cover is catchy, showing different versions of environment.
My Rating has to be 5/5.

Know Your Author -

Snakes in the Meadows

Snakes In The Meadows-

Book Review-
Book Name - Snakes in the Meadows
Author- Ayaz Kohli
Publication- Rupa Publication
Pages - 278

Jammu & Kashmir, 1987. In the hilly village of  Pathri Aali, where legends appear true. Aslam and Ashwar, two young lovers, dream of marriage and the good things of life. But that is not to be. Unable to cope, Aslam leaves Pathri Aali forever.
Years later, as men migrate to Saudi Arabia for employment, Pathri Aali is populated mostly by women and children. Soon they realize the Mujahideen, who guise themselves as their liberators, are the worst perpetrators, and misery seems inescapable. Ashwar refuses to be cowed down by this reign of terror and is determined not to let it devastate the once-peaceful village. The only one she can bank of time and space, to return and live up to the legends of their village.

Snakes in the meadows is a saga of the onset of militancy, the suffering and the resilience of Pir Pangal- the 'and' of Jammu and Kashmir.

Snakes in the meadows is set in the beautiful valley of Pir Panjal. As said "good things does not last longer". This place which is famous for mountains, flora and fauna faces it wrath of humanity, whwen some militants enter their area.
These devil who they called as muslims starts their havoc from men to women, even the pity children's does not get spared. They are used to fulfill their lustful desires and sometimes beaten up if they disagree.

Kashmir has always been under such radar. The beautiful valley has faced everything from love, happiness, hatred, anger, militants, fear, cruelty, patriotism etc.
Overall i loved the book, it was unputdownable, gripping. I was literally imagining Pathri Aali in front of my eyes. I cried sometimes reading the sacrifices, pain and how our people was treated. It was completely unhuman.
One thing for sure is that the title had complimented the story very well. Snakes had been referred to MILITANTS and meadows had been referred to PIR PANJAL. How they crawl like snakes and enters the home is what something the author tries to depict.
My rating = 4.5/5
Book cover is deep.
Plot and Characters = 4.5/5
Its a must read definitely.

No More No Less

No More No Less

Book Review-
Book Name - No More No less
Author - Alisha Nandeshwar

When the sassy Pari meets the arrogant Sameer, it is impossible for them to avoid the sparks of love that flare between them like a forest fire, but falling in love is easy. It is staying in love that's like a rollercoaster ride- all full of ups and downs and a whole cocktail of twists and turns. As if that wasnt enough, there is always destiny ready to make thing worse. And sometimes it has nothing to do with destiny. so while Sameer and Pari are busy writing the chapters of their perfect love story, fate intervenes in the most terrible way and now they don't know if they would make it to their "Happily Ever After" unsacthed.

From a debutant author, what do you expect? Yes, i also did not have much expectations. But this girl just blew my mind. It does not seemed like she is writing her first book. It was like she is already a professional. Some authors write love stories, some live them. Alisha has written to express, and not to impress.
3 friends Pari, Riya and Avinash seems life in a different way. Pari is a dreamy girl who believes her prince charming will sweep her off the feet. She wishes to settle for nothing less than that.
Riya also has the same thought process. Avinash is a guy who's handsome, sweet and flirty, he is that guy, girls fall for her and he is the friend everyone wishes to have. He is very protective and caring. They all 3 live like a small bunch of family members.
I loved the fact that each chapter starts with a beautiful quote. Some of the quotes i really loved was -

1) With friendship comes a responsibility. To be able to keep the sweet secrets covered in the veil of acceptance.
2) Love is that delicate little bud, which blossoms in its own sweet time.
3) You can't really expect anyone to agree with you. Some decisions are just too painful to happily accept and move on.
The writing is simple and easy to understand. Language is lucid. Author has left scope for a sequel because the ending is like that. Watch the race between destiny and love. Who wins, who looses ? Keep guessing. Writing is crisp and clear. Back story has played a big part in the book. It keeps you hooked till the end.

Tales of Wizardencil

Book Review No. 20-
Book Name - Tales of wizardencil
Author - Sreeparna Sen
Publication- Swipe Pages
Pages - 103

Blurb:

Stories are portable magic, they say. Such magical words about the beautiful world around us has been collected and complied from the nib of wizardencil. Tales of Wizardencil is such a assortment of different kind of microfiction, flash fiction and short stories. A read for all age groups.

My Reading-

The Book is divided into 3 segments.
1) Ten Tiny Droplets-
This segment consists of Miny Tales. It consist of 10 Mini Tales.
My Personal Favourite were -
A) The Return
B) A Walk to Remember
C) The Lost History.

2) Fictions in a Flash-
It also consists of 10 fictions.
My Personal Favourite were -
A) A Date over Coffee
B) Truth or Dare.
C) Thankless Job.

3) Collection of Short Stories-
My Personal Favourite were -
A) Love, Heartbreak and Life.
B) The Soul Survivor.
C) The Space Soccer

As a Debutant, she has given her heart out and has done a commendable job. This Book is a read for all age groups.
Some stories were really good that i could even visvualise scenes in front of my eyes.

Ratings-
Book - 4/5
Book Cover- 4/5

#The book is easily available on Amazon, Swipe Pages.

Know Your Author-

Sreeparna Sen is a Banker by profession and Computer Engineer by education. Writing is her passion. Apart from that, she is a voracious reader. When she is not dealing with the loan documents, you can mostly find her nose in a book or facebook. She frequently writes in her blog Wizardencil by Sreeparna Sen in Wordpress and also manages a facebook page with the same name, where you can find stories written both in English and Bengali.
Currently living in the "City of Joy" Kolkata, she aspires to bond with people through her stories.

Ballad Of A Belle

Book Review No. 19 -
Book Name - Ballad of a Belle
Author- Rahul Tushar
Publication House - Adhyyan Books
Pages - 294
Main Characters - Aarti, Dilip, Arun, Sanjive, Priya

First of all I would Like to thanks Rahul Tushar for giving me the book to review.

Blurb -
Smitten completely, love was all that Aarti desired as she stepped out of Panditpora, Sapore, a small town in Kashmir, with dreams of a glorious tomorrow in her eyes. She was ready to merge with varied colors that life had painted for her, surreal most of the time. With sprinkles of love and care from priya, her leading light, the game changing journeys across various cities of the world strengthened her resolve to fight back every time fate besmirched her. Although, Priya helped Aarti Wriggle out of decaying associations that had become possessive, self-centered and oppressive, could she teach Aarti all about life in a world full of envy, jealousy, greed and treachery?

"For those viewers who have just joined us, we are tracking the unfortunate incident of the alleged drug overdose of Ms. Aarti Mehra ,wife of the CMD of Beyond Horizon Group, Arun Mehra. Aarti was found unconscious in her bedroom of their mansion, Elysium, at 10 Tansen Road, New Delhi, today at 9 PM by chief Housekeeping Matron, Dorothy Raju. Unfortunately Few Hours before the incident , Mr. Arun Mehra had left for Newark, USA on an important business trip. He has been informed about the mishapback home throught the ATC network at Istanbul. The Lufthansa Airlines flight, on which the oil moghul was travelling, has made an unscheduled landing at Istanbul from where a chartered plane will fly him back to delhi.
Aarti was rushed to Maxwell Hospital in Saket after Mr. Dorothy Raju found her in a critical state. Our special correspondent, Mark D'Costa, at Maxwell Hospital, has reported that at the time when aarti was brought to the hospital, her body had turned blue and she was profusely frothing in the mouth. The Preliminary investigations as per the medical bulletin released by Maxwell Hospital have indicated the probable cause of Aarti's condition as an overdose of Nefazodone, a serotonin antagonist drug she had been taking for the last six months for dysthymia which is characterised by a persistent depressive mood. Ms. Aarti Mehra, as per the latest medical update, has slid into a coma and is now in a rather critical condition.
In a seemingly associated incident, an unidentified man in his mid-thirties was shot dead in his car by two motorcycle borne assailants barely a kilometer from 10 Tansen Marg. Earlier in the afternoon, the white Hyundai Elantra driven by the deceased was seen parked for a while near Elysium. However, the security staff at Elysium denies having seen this car parked anywhere close to the high security mansion of the Mehra's. Interestingly, the Commissioner of Police has shown remarkable urgency to dub the motive of this sensational murder as personal vendetta before conclusively establishing the identity of the victim.
Is there a link betwwen the 2 shocking incidents ? Is police trying to shove the unprecedented sequence of events around Elysium under the carpet?

My Take:
I was hooked by the "Prelude" so much that i read it twice and what if I tell you that I was Just reading an masterpiece by a debutant author.
The Story opens with Aarti who hails from the city of scenic beauty - Kashmir (sapore). It was in her graduation days when she felt in love with a boy named Sanjive. How she experiences the love and the cruel side of sanjive is the journey. Journey from marriage to Divorced within a year.
The Second Phase where she goes to Singapore and Australia, meeting different people, culture and heart wrenching events which turns Aarti's life upside down.

This book can be termed as Thriller, Suspense Novel.
Many Emotions has been depicted like Love, Struggle, Betrayal, Hostile, Astrology, Psychology, International culture, Pain, Drugs etc.
# Author has also put few 'Alarming Topics' in the sequence, such as Kashmir Militancy In 90's , Status of Women, Drug Overdose, Teenage Love, Running away from home etc.
# Writing is simple and easy to understand. Even a first timer would easily understand the story. The story is meant for all age groups.
# I Could even visualise scenes running in front of my eyes, like a movie going on.
# Rahul has actually written a Screenplay rather than a novel, and i strongly believe filmmaker like Kabir Khan, Ali Abbas Zafar should read his book.

My Rating for the Book is 4.8/5
The BooK Cover is amazing, the quality is superb - 5/5
Plot and Narration- 4.5/5
Characterisation - 4.5/5

Know Your Author-

Born to a family of broadcasters, Rahul secretly desired growing up in the corridors of National School of Drama at Mandi House. However, with Chakras in his feet and Marshis ruling planet, destiny had already charted a different course of life for him. Travelling across the entire length and breadth of the country, he was destined to fall in love with the concept of india. His wanderings turned him into a die heart patriot and a moderate nationalist.He scribbled whatever touched his heart, till one day when he decided he must write. Since then, he has been in overdrive. Besides 'Ballad of a Belle' his debut novel, Rahul is simultaneously working on his second book of fiction "The Sinful Oracle".
Life in this maddening city drives him to the wilderness of the mountains every now and then. Till the time he adopts some hill top as his abode, he continues to reside in Delhi with his loving life.

Chalta Hai India

 Book Review No. 18-
 Book Name - Chalta Hai India
Author - Alpesh Patel
Publisher - Bloomsbury
Pages- 283

Blurb-

India once commanded a massive 30 percent share of the global GDP and led the world in most fields, but today the country sadly is a developing nation. People Often attribute India's sluggish progress to the malaise called the 'Chalta hai' (it's okay,let it be) attitude, but not everyone agrees with that presupposition. Debates on the subject are often inconclusive and discomfiting questions remain unanswered. Are we really a Chalta Hai Nation? Is Chalta hai ingrained in our DNA or is it just a bad habit which can be easily exterminated? Will this attitude stop India from becoming a global power?

My Take:

How often we have used the word "Chalta Hai", "Theek Hai", "Sab Jugaad Ho Jayga" in our life. Even if we are not satisfied with something, we tend to say " Sab Chalta Hai Yaar".
Alpesh Patel brings out the book that charts out suggestions on how to get rid of the Chalta hai attitude and take India closer to becoming a developed nation.
A well researched book that is imperative for India.

The Book has been divided into 4 parts-
1) Part 1 - Exploring the 'Its Okay' life.
2) Part 2 - Measuring the 'Let It Be' Menace.
3) Part 3 - Why this 'Take It Easy' Policy?
4) Part 4 - The Root causes and Revolution of Chalta hai.

#Personally hats off to the author that he devoted 5 years of his life to write this knowledgeable book. On spending time in various R&D Work. Various case studies and facts have been mentioned in the book.
The Book Revisits our cultural, ideological and political history over three millennia to trace the roots of Chalta Hai attitude of Indians. Many Interesting facts have been mentioned which provokes the reader to know the truth about Chalta hai.
#The Author wants to spread the message of say "No to Chalta hai".
#The Book has covered almost every topic such as Road Transport, Films & Music, Sports, Education etc. Some of the facts mentioned are really mind blowing.
.
# Alpesh Patel delves into this quirky Indian approach and answers these questions by examining the country's pace of progress in different fields.
A BIG MESSAGE WHICH I AND THE AUTHOR WANTS TO SPREAD IS "SAY NO TO CHALTA HAI, SAY SAB BADAL SAKTA HAI".

#A highly recommended book.
# My Rating for this masterpiece is 5/5.

About The Author-

Alpesh Patel is a Published author, a consultant , an entrepreneur and a mentor to start-ups with over 20 years of corporate experience. Alpesh worked as a management consultant with the BIG 4S for 15 years and advised corporates and governments on business strategy, technology, change management, mergers and reforms. His consulting career groomed him as a specialist in banking, insurance, micro-finance and power sectors and took him to India's hinterland as much as to big cities. He had thrilling opportunities of working on many green-field ventures, including India's first payments bank, the country's first integrated steel plant and a tele-medicine start-up that brought medical consultations to rural patients.
Alpesh is an engineer from the National Institute of Technology, Rourkela and a management graduate from SPIJMR, Mumbai. He currently lives in Mumbai and manages a venture that focuses on leading technologies like Artificial Intelligence and Robotic Automation.