Her thoughts were like a heady cocktail of emotions for him. She overpowered his senses yet he felt in control. She took him high in passion and left him low in despair. He was ecstatic in her presence and unbearably anguished when she was gone. She made him restless, yet she was where he found tranquillity.
Author: Swati Kaushal
Publisher: Hachette India
ISBN13: 9789350097694
Genre: Fiction/ Crime Thriller
Pages: 336
Source: Personal Copy
‘Lethal Spice’ is a crime thriller set in the backdrop of a reality cooking show. It is October in Shimla. The air is crisp the mist is rising and the stakes are sky-high as the finalists of “Hot Chef” are pitted against each other in a live shoot at the historic gaiety theatre. A hundred-year-old stage steeped in tradition. Six contestants with a world to gain and everything to lose. Three judges who stand between them and their dreams. The spices are ground the fires are lit the knives have been sharpened. Then things start to go horribly wrong. Mala Joseph, judge and former winner of the reality show dies on stage. Shimla’s superintendent of police Niki Marwah is more determined than ever to get to the bottom of a perplexing mystery.
This is the second appearance of Niki Marwah in Swati Kaushal’s books. She is one of the very well etched characters. A confident police officer who commands the respect of not only those working for her, but also her superiors is a perfect protagonist. She stands out distinctly even when the other characters are very well written. Each of them is described in detail. From the personalities of the contestants to the emotions flowing around, the author has done a brilliant job at descriptions. The second half of the book twists before it ends, ticking all the right boxes on the crime thriller check list. The pace at which things happen is what keeps you hooked. Its just apt. Any faster and it would over speed, any slower and the reader would lose interest.
Swati Kaushal is the author of three best selling novels ‘Piece of Cake’, ‘A Girl Like Me’ and ‘Drop Dead’. An alumni of lady Sri Ram College, New Delhi and a MBA from IIM Calcutta, Swati has worked with Nestle India and Nokia mobile phones, India. While her home is in Connecticut, she is more often to be found wandering the secret gullies and mohallas of a good book, a cup of elaichi chai in hand.
I picked up Lethal Spice with a “I know the butler did it” kind of a mindset, but it ended up making my weekend perfect. Its a very well cooked spicy story with a brilliant after taste.
Rating: 4/5
She looked faraway into his eyes. Her face so close that he felt her breath. He could hear a primal force howl inside him. He held the back of her head, her hair falling over his hand like silk, and tightened his grip. She tried to break her gaze, but couldn’t. He had taken control.
She walked to work like everyday. The feeling that some one was watching was stronger than most days. She wrapped her arms around tightly, holding herself together. Just as she looked behind to make sure she was alone, the wind whooshed passed suddenly, playing with her hair, whispering like it had a secret to tell.
Author: Kiran Manral
Publisher: Leadstart Publishing Pvt Ltd
ISBN13: 9789382473916
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 224
Source: Personal Copy
“Once Upon a Crush” is a story of twenty-nine year old free-spirited, Rayna De. Things aren’t going her way, a runaway friend is bunking with her, she has a boss who is a Satan reincarnate, her thirties are running towards her with all their might and to add to it, her love life is non existent. When Devan Ahuja enters the workplace, Rayna quickly falls head over heels for him. She tries telling herself otherwise, all in vain. Responses from the office hunk who has a model-turned-actress for a girlfriend are hot and cold at the same time, it confuses Rayna further. Meanwhile. he parents put in front of her, a Sid Bose, all with a fat pay pack and three bedroom house. The choices that she makes the story take interesting turns.
The author has described each character with a funny twist. Be it the overly dramatic friend Pixie or the highly irritating colleague Mathur, the boss Aparajita or the crush himself. You empathise with Rayna, a girl coming to the city of dreams from Kolkata. Its simple yet vivid at the same time. Kiran has added a new spice to an old recipe, making it very interesting.
Kiran Manral is an Indian writer, blogger, media consultant and the founder of India Helps, a volunteer network which works with disaster victims. She has also worked with several publishing houses as a features writer and journalist. A self-professed school gate mom, she lives in Mumbai with her family. This is her second book after ‘The Reluctant Detective’.
I picked up the book because I love the way Kiran Manral writes. Simplicity in writing makes it an easy on the eyes read. This one qualifies as a perfect Bollywood pot boiler. Its a nice light read. The pretty cover gets it placed in the chick lit section, but just like crushes aren’t gender biased, the book isn’t either!
Rating: 3.5/5
Love is blind, they say; sex is impervious to reason and mocks the power of all philosophers. But, in fact, a person’s sexual choice is the result and sum of their fundamental convictions. Tell me what a person finds sexually attractive and I will tell you their entire philosophy of life. Show me the person they sleep with and I will tell you their valuation of themselves. No matter what corruption they’re taught about the virtue of selflessness, sex is the most profoundly selfish of all acts, an act which they cannot perform for any motive but their own enjoyment – just try to think of performing it in a spirit of selfless charity! – an act which is not possible in self-abasement, only in self-exultation, only on the confidence of being desired and being worthy of desire. It is an act that forces them to stand naked in spirit, as well as in body, and accept their real ego as their standard of value. They will always be attracted to the person who reflects their deepest vision of themselves, the person whose surrender permits them to experience – or to fake – a sense of self-esteem. Love is our response to our highest values – and can be nothing else.
A man’s sexual choice is the result and the sum of his fundamental convictions…. He will always be attracted to the woman who reflects his deepest vision of himself, the woman whose surrender permits him to experience a sense of self-esteem. The man who is proudly certain of his own value, will want the highest type of woman he can find, the woman he admires, the strongest, the hardest to conquer–because only the possession of a heroine will give him the sense of an achievement.
Author: Devdutt Pattanaik
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN13: 9780143064329
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 328
Source: Personal Copy
Ramayana is one of the two mythological Indian epics that have been told and retold over the years. It is the story of Rama, the son of King Dasharatha. He was the heir to his kingdom, an empire. Yet, due to the malice prevalent in the palace, the Prince was exiled for fourteen years. The Ramayana is all about obeying the rules and laws of Dharma, even at the cost of personal loss and unhappiness. She plays a prominent role in the epic, but is a very quiet and restrained character. Her abandons her in the end because of the persistent gossip among his subjects about Sita’s fidelity. Sita remains quiet, does not lose her composure, and does not vocally demand retribution. Sita’s silence is not the silence of the weak. It is the silence of the ascetic, who knows the truth, and so is patient. She knows her husband loves her, and she is indispensable to him. Moreover, she knows she is the Goddess who makes him the God, the woman who makes him the whole man.
The book explores the enigma of Sita and explains her real strength of character. “The journey to discover Sita makes you realize that the Ramayana is not a book, as most people assume, but a vast tradition manifesting itself in written, oral and visual traditions. And for some reason, children of India have been kept away from it. Yes, we are told of the Valmiki Ramayana, but we are not told that there are several versions of this original story itself a northern version, a southern version, an eastern version, which have barely a third of the verses common between them. Then there are Sanskrit plays written by dramatists like Bhasa and Bhavabhuti where Ram is a great hero, not necessarily God. Then we find Ramayanas of the Jains, the Buddhists as well as from South East Asia, which retell the same story but with a very different emotion. From the tenth century onwards we find the Ramayana in each and every Indian language, written by several authors, in different scripts, with different styles, all deeply immersed in bhakti. It is through these regional narratives, not the Sanskrit ones really, that ideas related to love, valour, fidelity and wisdom spread to every corner of India.” says Devdutt Pattanaik in an exclusive article for Flipkart
Devdutt Pattanaik is a doctor who became a writer. Other books by this author include Business Sutra: A Very Indian Approach to Management, 7 Secrets of Vishnu, Jaya: An Illustrated Retelling of the Mahabharata, The Book of Ram, and Hanuman’s Ramayan.
Sita: An Illustrated Retelling of the Ramayana is a brilliant read. The illustrations add character to it. It makes you rethink the pre-set social norms of right and wrong. Devdutt is a master story teller. With this book he gives detailed insights about stories that have been told for ages. Yet again he effortlessly manages to makes you fall in love with mythology.
Rating: 5/5
“I hate that you are such a narcissist” She whispered. “That’s the fun of this, even that makes me feel good” he smiled, moving closer to her. “You cannot be proud of that” she frowned. “But I am, cause someone who cannot love himself, is incapable of loving anyone else” He replied, kissing her.
Lying in the shade of the jacaranda tree, he could feel her flutter around his thoughts, pretty as ever in her white summer dress. Sunlight filtering through her long hair, lighting him up blisssfully. She had always managed to set things right for him. He did not want to blink. She was his favourite illusion.
She stood between the man she loved and the man who loved her, waiting for a sign. He read the confusion on her face and called out to her. She hesitated, looked the other way, then walked up to him. In that one moment everything changed. She always remembered his acceptance and he never forgot her reluctance.
Simple Plane Girl 