Book Review: Private India

Now here's a book those mystery-thriller novel lovers would love to read. It's a fast paced, page turner one would really like not to put down. The 447 pager Private India book by James Patterson and Ashwin Sanghi  is now mine to review. Read on...

First I must confess, I am neither a Ashwin Sanghi loyalist nor a James Patterson fan. However, I love mystery or detective novels. Be it Agatha Christie's Poirot Series, Miss Marple series, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes series- the classics. So thanks to BlogAdda, I landed with a signed copy (yaay!) of the Private India book. The 'Private' series by James Patterson is a very popular series and die hard Patterson fans will swear by how captivating each book is and Private India is no less. The main protagonist is an ex-marine Jack Morgan and the mystery solving is up to him. Private is now in India and is based in Mumbai. This book describes the city's hustle bustle well, especially the strategic and popular locations like Colaba, The Tower of Silence, Shakti Mills, Chowpatty, Kamathipura,  ...woven well into the storyline and plot

Do not want to give too much away, but here are some of the deets. The storyline revolves around a series of murders happening across the length and breadth of Mumbai. Victims of these murders are seemingly unconnected. Santosh Wagh, the chief of Private India, is contacted by Jack Morgan to crack the serial murder case. Santosh has his own personal tragedy -revealed later in further chapters- and lives with a limp with a cane (which reminds me of Dr. House). Santosh's co-workers Nisha, Mubeen and Hari help him to crack the case open and their characters too have a significant role to play in the plot. Up to date techniques are depicted in order to solve the case. The writer builds the story in short, well woven chapters with every chapter having a cliffhanger at the end so much so you will want to turn the page.

What I really like about the book is that it has a well connect to Mumbai's history and geography and can be easily understood by anyone well acquainted with the city's current events. Involving the characters of an underworld gangster, head of a begging mafia, a terrorist outfit, a godman, etc. makes the story more exciting and interesting to read. Moreover the best part for me was how the secret is unveiled and the connections are made.
Little more details could have been used to describe the motive of the murderer behind the crimes, however this can be overlooked by the fact that there are monologues in between chapters that sneak a peek of what goes on in the murderer's mind.

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who would love a good, quick read in the thriller, mystery, detective category. Go grab your copy and uncover the mystery!

This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

Sorry

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 48; the forty-eighth edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

No matter how, no matter why, its never too late to apologise.

Sorry for the time I broke your glasses while jumping on the sofa.
Sorry for stealing your makeup and putting the blame on bro
Sorry for sneaking out behind your back to my bestie's place
Sorry for yelling at you when you gave me a peck on the cheek in front of my friends
Sorry for lying to you about bunking college when I was at a friend's place
Sorry for ruining your favourite white embroidered kurta while ironing it.
Sorry for not listening to you when you had warned me to carry an umbrella
Sorry for getting drenched in the rains against your warning and then getting the flu
Sorry for making you worry when I didn't answer your 7 missed calls
Sorry for not calling you back even when I was free from work
Sorry for making you stay up late when I returned home well past midnight from my fresher's party
Sorry for snapping at you when you called me in the middle of a meeting just to ask me if I was OK
Sorry for making fun of the way you pronounce certain words
Sorry for being stubborn countless times for no reason at all
Sorry for making you cry on my wedding day
Sorry for making you miss me
Sorry for not loving you enough

It wont suffice, this apology of mine. For I might not COMPLETELY realise how important you are to me. Maybe only the time when I become a MOTHER.

Thanks Mom, for everything. I love you!

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton. Participation Count: 05

Back from the (almost) Dead

Yes. I am back.
After (almost) two years of silence on this blog, I am back, for good. Am I? Yes, I am.
As I look at my dashboard, I see "Last Published: Oct 27, 2012". Damn! Its been (almost) 2 years already? I really cannot recollect the last time I typed a post, or what the title of my last post was!
The only recollection of the existence of my blog were the spam comments that used to get delivered directly to my inbox. Yes, spammers, thank you for once.

It was as if someone hit the fast-forward button on my life, the last (almost) two years zipped by with many personal and professional milestones. Somebody hit the breaks! is what I think now as I look back.

And as you have your plate full with work, marriage, responsibilities, etc. you look around and ponder- 'Hey, I used to write, pour my thoughts into a repository for the unknown to read. What happened to that? Where did all the free time go?' -and then stop staring into space and push it to the back of your mind while waiting for the next local train home.

Now, however or whenever I mean to post my thoughts here, I will.

After all, I'll write. No matter after how long, but in the words of Mr. Schwarzenegger..

"I'LL BEE BACKK !"
 

31: Book Review

31 is a thriller on how life revolves in a multinational corporate bank in India. When I was chosen by Blog Adda to review this book, I was pleasantly surprised on how the author of 31, Upendra Namburi has made the situations a manager is in akin to reality. Secondly, it struck a chord with me as it was related to my interest – Sales.

The exact copy of the cover of the book I received (picture courtesy: thehindu.com)

It has all the ingredients as one would expect in a corporate ‘thriller’. All the managerial melancholy that takes place: from junior to manager to senior to super seniors. The protagonist, Ravi Shastry, is the guy who tries hard to upturn the tide in his favour when his company is pulling the plug and runs a tight ship to prove his mettle to his bosses even when surrounded by a credit card scam and a manipulative HR manager.

Not only is he faced with task of preventing his performers to be poached, but is also trying to secure his behind when and if he is axed.

31 paints a grim picture of Indian bosses and a foreign one as such. It depicts how the daily grind for any middle level manager is not in just indulging the luxuries of the gleaming designation but in fact to tactfully tackle boss’ antics and manipulative behavior.

Especially when its time to jump ship, bosses are out to save their own skin, nobody is nobody’s best friend.

Overall the author has highlighted how corporate life of a middle level manager can ruin his personal life – having an affair, indulging in illegal activities, getting framed, how one’s life pretty much revolves around a Blackberry, getting hooked to a social media site like Twitter which acts like the office grapevine – for good.

What caught my fancy is they manner in which the chapters are narrated. Each chapter is a day in the life of the most crucial and the toughest month for every person in Sales: March. As March spells appraisals, bonuses’ and employee reviews.

31 chapters in all the book and each depicts the event at specific time, twists and turns galore.

I would recommend this book to a lot of students and just-started-their-career and first-job-ers as it gives you a glimpse of corporate life and the taste of the real world. All in all this is an interesting book, a page turner right in the middle, all woven in a lucid language.

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

Ek Garam Chai ki Pyaali

I'm not a Sallu fan, so this post is NOT about him; you may gladly move on to the next blog


This is post a cutting review of the Book Hot Tea Across India by Rishad Saam Mehta and hence the title. Published by Tranquebar Books is priced at INR 195. 
The mild yellow book cover is designed with some snippets of the various chapters of the author's journeys inside and the tea rings for the obvious hero of the book.

(Picture courtesy : thehindu.com)

If you loved the countless road journey kind inspired movies or TV shows- ZNMD, Euro Trip, Road Trip, etc. or even enjoy Highway on my Plate- you get my drift, you're bound to love this book. Rishad gives a monologue of his various journeys alone or with his friends across the length and breadth of the country revolving around having a hot brew every where he goes. Each journey is enveloped well with a chai ki pyaali be it the cold of the north, the humid of south, the cutting of the west or yak like tea of the east.


Perfect for those who enjoy the spontaneous, drop-of-a-hat traveling. The author reprimands people who are all gung ho about traveling on a whim and do a U-turn; all in all the momentary bravado:


I've been in umpteen situations where I've heard people loudly declare that they're fed up of their routine and mundane existence and all I have to do is to make the call and they'd be ready for a road trip at the drop of a hat. 'What's the point of existing without excitement? I'm ready to kick routine, hit the rod and live on the wild side', are some of the things I've heard and my answer is always the condescending smile. Because when I do actually make the call, I rarely find the spontaneity that seemed to overflow at the party with the drink in hand. There is usually a 'horrible, demanding boss' not granting leave or a 'sulking spouse' throwing a tantrum'


Rishad aptly describes his journeys with graphic descriptions at certain turns, keeping the reader's sensibilities and tongue-in-cheek humor that colourfully paints his incidents and encounters.
Of all the experiences named aptly as chapters my favorites are 'The Highway Man and a Buffalo Instead of a Can', 'Jolly Jhunjhunwala and the Great Bike Chase' and 'And then there's the food of course' and ‘May we Please Kindly burn your car?’.

Fascinating book to say the least, it is must read for those who are inspired to travel sometime ever in their life for the love of the spontaneity; own a bullet and would kick start it to life just to hear that 350cc engine sing or even enjoy that odd cup of tea on a lone lamp lit street in the foggiest weather one could possibly imagine.

This one's a keeper!

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

My First Book Review: The Iron Tooth

When Blogadda selected me to review this book, I was super excited. Two reasons:
1. I love fiction and fantasy related stories
2. I've never reviewed a book.... EVER!

I mean there was this time during school where we had a reading period to read the books at the library and then talk about in in front of the class; which gave yours truly a shiver down the spine.
Before I start digressing, lets get down to brass tacks :

I am reviewing the book

*drumroll please*


"The Iron Tooth" authored by "Prithvin Rajendran"
First thought when I received the book through BlogAdda's program was 'Yipppeeeeee! a FREE book !' :P
Second thought: Its a signed copy from the Author himself. Another of the firsts!
And then saw the pretty cover of the book -

Very medieval, archaical feel to the whole book. A brave Knight in shining armour and a beautiful Princess...
I was elated at the thought of a perfectly weaved story of magical creatures and mysteries. Classified under children and teens category of books, its bound to be picked up and read; proof being two of my friend's nieces were intrigued and flipped through the book as it lay idle.

The beginning page of the book has inscribed symbols on it which works with the book's whole magical theme. The mystery of the symbols is revealed the latter pages of the book as the alphabets of Nivthrip a language that the Baks, elite soldiers who patrolled Faerum's castle understand and are communicated with. (While reading the book, I had an Eureka moment-If you noticed, Nivthrip is an anagram of the author's first name)

Prologue:
I felt the book's prologue captivates you right from the beginning. Starts with the girl's story of how she was thrown out of her home for being pregnant whilst unmarried. She seeks refuge from her mother's sister but not for long as an unruly mob demanded her to be dead. However, perturbed by the reactions all around, she leaves the country of Sumrak and eventually settles as the foot of the Mala mountains. She goes into labour and delivers: one baby and another a Troll !


Coming to the beginning chapters, it starts regarding the mighty King Dashtum and his Kingdom of Dashter. Dashtum marries a beautiful commoner Frisix and has a son Darum. After King Dashtum passes away, Darum falls in evil ways so much that so that he ignored the castle courtier Elinix's warnings and threw him out of the castle. Then the story talks about King Darum's daughter Princess Nova's foolishness. Too proud of her beauty, she rejects proposals for her marriage and insults and offends the powerful Emperor Faerum of Fallix for his mole. King Darum pleads to Emperor Faerum  for Princess Nova's forgiveness but is unsuccessful.

Next the story dives into the land of Fallix and Emperor Faerum's "alliance" with the Vampires and the Medusas which gives Faerum complete control over them.

Emperor Faerum summons the six spell-casters who have different magical powers from different lands forged into a trust called Trust of Seven. Philipisa from Espagnax, Henroya of Francaix, Ranfus of Italax, Schujake from Germagnax, Vajarka from Portugalax and Rekakov from Hoglandava. (Not really brilliant with the name creation: Italax for Italy, Philipisa for Philip).
The whole idea behind the trust was to put a curse on the Kingdom of Dashter by seeking the help of the immortal the Custodian of the First Light. The curse keeps Princess Nova isolated in her tower surrounded by Zombies and the Kingdom of Dashter bares a sea of gloom. Darum pleads for forgiveness from the Custodian of the First Light but commits suicide in vain.

Kingdom of Greatix is described further in the book. The author has drawn maps in the end pages to help visualize the Kingdoms and their neighbours which guides the reader. Grantum rules over Greatix which has twelve towns out of which story focuses on the town named Ballos. Author now focuses on the inhabitant of Ballos' Ushix's three sons namely Lasixx, Enwixx, and the youngest of them all Princix. The three brothers set out of Ballos to seek their fortune. On their path the the brothers come face to face with magical creatures, combat them with some magic and seek their fortune and Lasixx and Enwixx leave with their fortune. Princixx ventures forth and receives powerful and magical gifts : two wooden sticks, armoued plate and rusted helmet, a mace and a glove.The tale of the brothers' journey is perhaps a resemblance to a old  fable, a name I cannot recall at the moment.
Further in the story Princixx competes in a contest and completes the tasks by battling various magical creatures. I felt the description of the battle and the following are well written however it's an uncanny reminder me of Rowling's genius work in Goblet of Fire with the Trolls, Maze and the Sphinx's riddle.

The story continues with Princixx's journey with Hammil and Candelbre as the Group of Three meeting other magical creatures not mentioned till now - ogre, dwarf, owl, octopus, locust. The author also describes his real life event enveloped into the Chapter 12.

Overall Review:
The Chapters are smaller than usual to my liking but one can flip through them easily. What I found was the storytelling initially lacks smooth flow. What bound the chapters was the italicized raw poetic verses, however, some chapters were full of them which wasn't really necessary. The archaic English is used in the initial chapters for communication between the characters but suddenly disappears in the further chapters. The plot is okayish with the use of maps and abundance of characters, some unwanted.
Overall I think if the targeted readers love the whole idea of a story woven with Fantasy and Magic then they're bound to like it, albeit with some patient reading, if not give it a clear miss.



This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

C.I.D 101

"Ab jail mein baithke chakki pisoo"
"Dayaa, darwaaza todd do"

You think I've lost my marbles? Well, not completely...only that I am talking about C.I.D, Indian Telly's home grown C.S.I for over 10 years
To introduce you to the world of Crime and Punishment.. I'll let my friend, writer Adaalat and C.I.D. superfan Ani do the talking er... blogging in this post (I hope my dear readers miss me :P)



"Television today is abuzz with reality shows like swayamvars, (Big)bossing over fellow colleagues to gain quick and cheap publicity in order to revive fading careers and daily soaps having disputes over “jaydaad” so that real beta gets control of the property while the “sautela” beta gets kicked in the backside. And yes, if you want to laugh out loud then you have comedy shows on the platter as well – comedy artistes cracking jokes on celebs or on the judges themselves – most of the time the jokes being too embarrassing to hear in front of mummy and papa. The daily soaps depict women who are at the extreme edge of being wicked and go to the maximum extent possible to be cruel to those who come in their “career” goal of being the most influential member of the clan. They just know to dress well even in their homes and are at their best even when going to bed….wow…as i wonder, is this the reality?

Now again coming back to the main issue – crime is being depicted in the most comical way in our television world. This can be to some extent funny and to some people it’s totally absurd and doesn’t impress them at all. There are TV shows that come and go like the monsoon. However, there are some shows that have come to stay – not just on the television but in the minds of the people and they have such a huge impact that you will find people who have grown up watching these kind of shows. No wonder, CID on Sony is one hell of a show I have grown up watching right since my school days.

The entire concept based on a fact that the police does not exist at all and all the criminal cases are handled by the CID – a centralized way of handling the cases. Well, the team comprises ACP Pradyuman, Sr. Insp. Abhijeet, Sr. Insp. Daya (Slapmaster Daya), Insp. Fredricks, Insp. Vivek, Insp. Kajal, Insp. Sachin and Insp. Poorvi. Not to forget the Einstein of the entire team – Dr. Salunkhe – the greatest forensic scientist on the face of the planet (jo laash se bhi sawal jawab kar sakta hai) and his assistant Dr. Tarika. These people operate from their head office which is a huge building in Mumbai just for the above people – efficient fixed asset utilization as I call it. If anyone is familiar with the location, the location is none other than the area in front of Inorbit mall Malad!!
The team is responsible for handling any emergency and they come to the rescue of the citizens when they receive a call from a person in distress or a vigilant citizen (all they have to say is “mai CID ko phone karta hoon” ) and here they come in their trusted Qualis vehicle which they have been using through these years. Their entry is a typical one with a screeching noise of the brakes (screeeeeech!!!!) and they come out of the vehicle one after the other!!

The show catches on your attention right from the beginning with ACP having his typical style of inquiring the suspects with his thumb, index finger and middle finger rotating clockwise and anticlockwise at great speed (ye khoon kiya to kiya kisne???) People are still puzzled that he is still ACP all these years…but let me tell you one thing – if you really want to enjoy the show, then switch off your conventional way of thinking and JUST WATCH!!! The case usually begins with the CID team enjoying in the CID bureau cracking jokes on Fredricks or talking about some funny incident until they receive a call from someone. The team looks out for some evidences at the crime scene and they take it all to the forensic lab where Dr. Salunkhe is all set to give all a mystical experience of his knowledge of science and technology. The computers in his lab are faster than most supercomputers IBM has made and are so efficient that they can work without an operating system. The computers can regenerate original faces from tonsured ones within seconds and the CID database is always updated with the photograph, fingerprints and criminal history of each and every “mujrim” in town who is the probable murderer. 

Even the CIA or the NATO must not be having such a database. I suppose they must take a cue from CID!! Many times the death of a person occurs due to some poison (which mostly comes from snakes and spiders in Australia, Africa or Amazon basin) the names of the chemicals causing the death are also hilarious – like Venericoccium Diabasium, Tetraminta and many such authentic names that even Google does not return relevant results. Err…. sorry…did I say Google?? It’s not GOOGLE, its KOOGLE – a high tech search engine used in the CID lab to search virtually any information about any object or person on this planet. A face recognition technology machine can also match the skull with the actual photograph of the person to check if he is the same person or not – it’s a latest face detection technology which makes Nikon and Canon jealous. Oh Yes – how can I forget this? The team can zoom in to a blurred image captured by CCTV footage and obtain a clear picture of the gumnaam aadmi (ye to khooni hai!!!) So powerful is the zoom that it renders all the latest digital cameras useless.

The death can also occur due to some fishbone or “chuhe ka baal” stuck in the esophagus or due to some “zehreeli “gas whose chemical composition is not known to anyone – even Wikipedia. Only Salunkhe and his team possess the necessary competency to crack complex chemical compounds!!! I remember one case in which Salunkhe determines the brand of the nail polish found on the fingernails of a laash just by looking at it under a microscope!! According to Salunkhe, the chemical composition of the nail polish belonged to only one particular company. That’s the most hilarious way of recognizing a brand!!  I also remember one case where the murder was done using an electronic “makkhi” which was nothing but a great piece of innovation which would make Steve Jobs jealous. It was a honey bee like robot which can be operated by remote control. The “zeher” was injected with the help of a sting implanted in the robot. Isse khooni darwaja band hone ke bawajood khoon karke bhaag sakta hai!!! Aur kisiko kano kaan khabar tak nahi hogi!! The CID team also possesses a special spray which sprayed on any object having traces of blood on it; it shows a characteristic color on the object indicating that “is cheez par to khoon laga hua hai!!” And if you think that you will escape the long arm of the CID then you are wrong. You better be careful because the spray works even when the blood is wiped off from the object!!! Based on all these scientific evidences, and enquiring the suspects and eye witnesses, the team narrows down their search on an individual – mostly a close relative or friend of the deceased.

The team also has the capability of zeroing down to just one paanwala or a kirana shop amongst thousands present in the city in search of the suspect!! And there is something more to this – the kirana shop owner maintains a record of his customers and provides a pucca bill for every purchase made!! This enables the CID team to track down the suspect even if they just have an invoice of the purchased merchandise they come across while looking out for clues!!! The tasks involving heavy physical work is handled effortlessly by Daya – who is an expert in breaking doors of any apartment where the resident does not open the door purposely or there is no one in the house (probably a “laash” may be found in the apartment in such circumstances). ACP orders “Daya…darwaza tod do!!” and there you have Daya breaking the strongest of the doors by a push from his shoulders and the door gives way for the entire team!! If you watch it regularly, you will observe that the one who tends to give the maximum possible “gawaahi” and who is saddened the most by the death of the victim emerges “khooni” in the end!! The khooni usually tries to run in all possible directions until all the options are exhausted when he finds himself surrounded by the CID team. The final punch is delivered by Daya who slaps the khooni as hard as he can with a sound loud enough to put a diwali cracker to shame!! The murderer denies initially but confesses his crime ASAP when a tight slap from Daya lands on his cheek. “haan!!!  Maine hi uska khoon kiya hai!!!” The slap from Daya makes criminals confess automatically without the need of any narco analysis test. It directly transports the criminal from the place of getting caught to a chair in the CID bureau. I wish to recall an episode where the team went to Malaysia upon knowing the whereabouts of the murderer. The murderer was comfortably swimming in a pool of a 5 star hotel and he gets caught at the poolside. Daya slaps hard and the next scene is in CID bureau in Mumbai!!! The show ends with ACP sounding the final judgment - “ab jail me baithkar khoon ki planning karna faasi ka order aane tak”!!!

So entertaining is this journey that I can never stop laughing at the incidents shown in the show. Even though knowing that this is not possible in real life, it makes me laugh because I believe that there is a huge audience who watches such shows and get entertained. It is a huge stress buster - believe me and I see to it that I never miss a single episode.  Such shows not only depict the crime and criminals in a unique way but also they change the very perspective of the people about crime. We all have a hectic work schedule and we all are in search of a break. This show gives me just that.  There is no waste of time watching it because such shows are different from the rest – at least they don’t teach our children any antics which fading celebs perform on screen. Yes, the things are too funny to be true but the show takes me to a different level of imagination – as these things cannot be true in any situation. It’s not about conventional logic being used all the time. CID is all about the unconventional things that you cannot even think of. The things depicted are so absurd that it becomes a really good thing to watch!! So just sit back, relax with your tub of popcorn and enjoy one of the longest running shows in the history of Indian Television!!!"