Book Review: The Secret of the Nagas

The book by Amish picks up from where it left off in the last book ” The Immortals of Meluha”.

Shiva and Sati pursue the fleeing Naga, the killer of his brother Brahaspati. The chase goes in vain as he manages to flee by giving the slip not before wounding Shiva and Sati lightly which makes the Naga realize that Sati is carrying a child.

Back at the camp, Shiva decides to go after the Nagas and their allies, the kingdom of Branga which pays tribute to the Chandravanshi King. After brokering a deal between Daksha, the Suryanshhi king and Dilipa, the Chandravanshi king, Shiva sets off on the mission to find the Nagas and avenge his brother’s death while managing to add to his growing number of loyal followers the crown prince of Chandravanshi Kingdom.

There is an element of love brewing in the air between Anandmayi and Parvateshwar which  Parvateshwar refuses to acknowledge the love as he is a lifelong celibate. Shiva’s journey makes him pass through the land of Magadh where he has a strange problem at hand of that of paying of portage charges to a subordinate king of Swadweep which cannot be resolved by paying the charges as an emperor cannot pay tribute to a subordinate nor will the subordinate king allow passage without charges being paid. This situation is resolved by the brilliant prime minister of Swadweep, Siamantak.

In Magadh, Shiva encounters the Pandit of Narasimha temple who explains the masculine and Feminine way of life to him which puts him in a dilemma about Good and Evil and who is what. The book unveils more twists and turns along the pages. It manages to capture the emotions subtly and beautifully and grip the reader through the articulations about the events and situation.

Does Shiva manage to find the Secret of the Nagas and are they truly Evil? Is there a link between the Lord of the Nagas and Sati? Are the Vasudevs who they claim to be? read the book to find out the answer to these questions and more about life as it was in the 1900BC.

Nik

Book Review: Keep off the Grass

One of the books that left a profound impact on me is this book by Karan Bajaj. I had earlier picked up the book by the same author which was Johny Gone down, which i had thought was a little overdone but then when i revisited the book had created a new impression and a new import which i had missed the last time round. Coming back to the book, this is my review of it.

The book begins with a short glimpse of what is to come in the form of a night in a prison by Samrat Ratan who is there with his friend Sarkar. Samrat Ratan is a America born and educated 20 something lad born to Indian parents who migrated before he was born and who’s connection to Indian roots is his annual trip to India where they stay at their relatives and all that his cousin’s are interested in knowing is how many girls he has slept with. Samrat works at a big US firm where he makes a cool half a million dollars. Fed up with his so called cushy life and to get back to his Indian roots, he enrolls at IIM Bangalore to gain a first hand experience into the India he has always yearned to know more about. Thus begins his journey of dreams against the wishes of his parents. At IIM Bangalore, he gets exposed to Indian-ness in all its raw display in its many manifestations as the ultra-competitive Chetan who represents the desire of every Indian to rise above  others no matter what the cost, the brilliant yet understated Sarkar, who’s father is the finmin but spends his time wasted on grass and the ex-soldier Vinod who has seen life and death at its closest in the army. His travails with Vinod and Sarkar take him through the length and breadth of emotions leading him to explore the path less taken more often and seeking himself and the answer to his questions. His choice to take up a stint with Srushti Chemicals  over a top-notch Investment bank and his time spent trying to understand the realities of selling in India add flavor and flair to the character.

This book manages to weave  emotions, characters and situations into a exquisite story seldom told before. This book is what makes Chetan Bhagat and his ilk seem like doodlers. Overall a one-of-a-kind read in my honest opinion. Till next post.

Nik

Leon Uris

I was browsing through Flipkart for recently sold books and i saw that Mila 18 by Leon Uris had been purchased recently. This brought back memories of my tryst with Leon Uris and his incredible novels. Incredible not cos they were about any superhero or a tale of fantasy but because they were the tales of the early Jewish settlers in their land which we now know as Israel wove inextricably with a bit of fiction to make very interesting reads and also makes one knowledgeable of the happenings in the Arab world and its war with Israel, the turmoil and sufferings of the settlers and so on.

The list of books that i read or rather devoured are:

• Battle Cry, 1953
• The Angry Hills, 1955
• Exodus, 1958
• Mila 18, 1961
• Armageddon: A Novel of Berlin, 1963
• Topaz, 1967
• QB VII, 1970
• Ireland, A Terrible Beauty, 1975 (with Jill Uris)
• Trinity, 1976
• Jerusalem: A Song of Songs, 1981 (with Jill Uris)
• The Haj, 1984
• Mitla Pass, 1988

One moment i ll never forget during this period is when i walked home with 6 of his books freshly bought off the flea market and my dad recognizing the books and telling me that he used to read the books during his time when all along I had thought i was the first one to read it….Damn, Dad beat me to it by a few years . Fiction and Facts woven remarkably can live on for many years is all i can say. Till Next post

 

Nik

Book review: I too had a love story

I had a false start with this book as i had ordered the wrong book rather i had ordered the audio book instead of the book. Being the one who does not like listening to someone else s voice play out in my mind, i decided not to listen to it but order the book along with my next book order from Flipkart. After nearly a month’s wait, i ordered my third consignment from Flipkart and received it after 3 days which was 10-May-2011. i didnt know what to expect because i had friends tell it was written poorly and such. But what happened once i took it into my hands…read on.

This book is written by Ravinder Singh who works in Infy. The first few pages of the book wont interest much as this is feels like the recording of someone s life. for me it felt like my initial days of writing this blog where i was recording almost every other day of my life in which i was talking of food, work and arbit stuff. After a few pages, the story becomes involving as the plot now begins to unravel. The life a young man in pursuit of a life partner whose life changes after the first few conversations. the beginning of a love story unlike any other that has been documented so far but played over many times in the life of every couple in love. the pains and joys of having a long distance relationship. Losing your heart to a person whom u have seen in pictures but never in real life, never held the hand but always felt the warmth of a loving hug and tight squueze around your shoulder when u need the support of a person. the book manages to capture the emotions which every person who has ever been in love goes through.

I wouldnt recommend the book if u planning to read it as part of your GRE/GMAT prep but definitely if you are a person who believes or been in love. There are moments when everyone feels that they have been through the scene described. It manages to capture the imagination and touch hearts all through the story. Hope u found this review useful. till next post

Nik

Book Review: Vengeance of Ravana

This was one book for which i was waiting for a long time to read as this was the 7th book in the Ramayana Series by Ashok Banker which i have reviewed earlier. I found this book on Flipkart.com, my fave place to buy books to the extent that i find buying here better than Majestic roadsides which i used to frequent in search of books to buy at a much cheaper rate. I bought this book for Rs 206 which is a 31% discount . Here the review below.

All the stories that we have heard in Ramayana essentially culminate with the homecoming of Rama and his subsequent ascension to the throne and life is assumed to be rosy after that. There are stories of Rama and Sita getting separated and their sons uniting them at a much later stage which is usually not explained not revealed by many elders. This part of the story was a enigma that kept haunting me for a long time  but somehow i could not put it to rest. This book is a step in that direction. Ashok banker sifts through many layers in the story to begin the telling of the story towards the separation of the godly couple.

The book begins with Rama getting a dream and waking up only to hear an invisible voice which gives him directions to stepping out and follow the voice to see what secrets the future has in store for Ayodhya  and himself. This is then followed by the appearance of kala nemi who is the uncle of Ravana and whom Rama had dispatched to the netherworld. This turns out to be a decoy and the actual event turns out to be the onslaught of the 6 Aryan kingdoms of Ayodhya along with Mandodhari, wife of Ravana and the last remaining son of Ravana. The Vengeance of Ravana reveals that the reason of Rama and Sita to remain on earth after the completion of their task of slaying of Ravana is to ensure the destruction of evil as with Ravana’s death, evil has no master no race to inhabit and hence will targets the mortals. The book also holds many surprises which I ll not reveal as these surprises form an icing on the cake which is the book itself. Happy reading and I hope you found this review useful. Till next post.

Nik

The Immortals of Meluha

the immortals of meluha is an excellent book read which is unputdownable once picked and has been so designed to attract and evoke interest in it from the offset…my tryst with this book began when i walked into crosswords with Abhi and was attracted by this but didnt buy as Abhi was supposed to lend it to me …fate so transpired that i cudnt meet her to collect the book..i again caught up with the book in the BIA airport during my journey to Gzb….this time, i just didnt bother abt price and picked it up for 295..was it worth it…its worth every single penny i paid..i finished abt 250 pages during the flight and the rest in an hour in my hostel room…totally awestruck by it…this book is the first book of the trilogy..just cant wait for the remaining 2 books

 

Now for the review…the book begins with the plot that if Lord Shiva was a mortal and had a destiny to fulfill to be called the Mahadev….the book starts with the portrayal of Lord Shiva as the leader of a tribe in the foothills of mount Kailash and in constant fight with another tribe….he is invited by the  Meluhans to settle in their country which is rich and fertile along with his tribe…tired of the constant fight for survival, Shiva accepts the offer and decides to move to Srinagar for settlement…the life of Shiva in Srinagar, his sudden elevation from a normal human to the status of Mahadev and also his meeting of love interest Sati and subsequent challenges he has to overcome in the his life makes this an amazing read..one of the best i have found so far…to get a glimpse of what lays in the book…try this link

 

http://shivatrilogy.com/books/1st_chapter.pdf

 

let me know ur reviews on this book…till next time

 

Nik

Shantaram – an experience

i have read Shantaram twice now with the first time being a pirated book and second time by going thru the book gifted by bro. there is always something mystical in it for me to both relate and repeatedly draw me to it. why i call it an experential book is because its not abt fiction or reality but creating that bonding with the experience in a way most of us have been through. might not be verbatim experience but relational nonetheless. the situations in the book are real/realistic and always create that feeling that “yes, i have been thru something like that”. the first time i read it was way back and that time i had a different feeling towards it and now that i m in IMT i have different takeaways from it…not because i have changed but because i now relate to it in a different way. life changes pretty much and so does the way we perceive and perceptions do matter a lot and thats what i have been learning from it.

 

one of the recent incidents that triggered a sense of deja vu was during my flight back to delhi from bangalore, seated besides me were 2 elderly people and both friends from long(i presume). being their captive audience for nearly 3 hours i pretty much had to sit their conversation and tantrums. both were from lucknow and the journey was kinda stressful as they did not like being cooped up in economy class seats. their convo somehow began like the 2 foreigners that Lin encounters during his inital days in bombay where they were quibbling abt how Lucknow is changing and so on and how it was etc etc..this then proceeded more like talk Lin has with Karla where she tells him things the palace where these 2 were talking abt someone else and saying some good and some nasty thing.. and so on.i wasnt eavesdropping on them but they were loud enuf for me to hear pretty much whatever they were saying..i did manage to doze after abt an hour or so only to wake up in IGI airport….

 

this book is like any of the ayn rand’s book where each has a different takeaway and no 2 are same…but this book is sure worth a second if not third read…till next post then and probably i will regularly do book reviews now that i have more time at my disposal…more time being relative u know..

 

Nik

2 books 2222222 many

ok to begin with..i buy a lot of books all year round and most of them are 2nd hand books or pirated ones if 2nd hand not available…which means i have a not so bad collection of books and now i m out of space. also i m going to IMT soon which means the books will have to be disposed of as bro is gonna shift to my room (probably) ad secondly, they ll gather dust which is even worse. now i need a  solution for this forthcoming mess…i thot of a few but none seems worthwhile

1. Give it to some school or maybe the one i studied in..

yeah right. when i was in school i have dusted many a book and i dont wan2 contribute any more books to gather dust..tho i wud love to..besides most books are novels..so the probability is even less

2. Give to some Library.

Considering the way the treat the books with as much disdain as dust. no ways

3. Sell it to some Bookstore like blossoms.

Hate to do this. but maybe i shud considering atleast they ll be slightly better off i guess

4. Keep it in cold storage.

Hate this more than everything else

5. Give it away for free.

dont know if this a good idea. tho i dont expect the books back.shud i actually do this.

while i ponder abt the ideal solution. the books are gathering dust on my bookshelf and tables. any idea as such for this do lemme know

Nik

Ashok Banker- Author Par Excellence

i have begun reading the Ramayana series by Ashok Banker and  i have a couple of words for this gr8 author…1. Amongst the most brilliant books by an indian  author (of course..bombay rain bombay girls far exceeds ). 2. a retelling of the original classic told in a timeless way that wud make u seem more of a participant in the epic than just a by stander reading a book..i have completed 3 books and well into the fourth and i can vouch for the awsmeness of the writing..its simply fantastic…

the works by banker dont adhere to the original epic but come on, a lil deviation is accepted without any malice..didnt his peers do it but the one thing to note is..writing an epic is tough but writing a classic is nearly impossible and retelling a epic is nearly so…but he is one author who has gone on to do just that and he s done a fab job i must say…the books are told in a manner which is set for most of us..action packed, fast paced, made interesting, gr8 details, some not so too but still a gr8 read all the way..till next post

PS: i have had enuf of this headache caused to my laptop by Hamachi..my sincere advice.lay ur hands off that thing..it ll screw ur system in more ways than u can imagine…ask me

Nik

Book lover’s paradise- Basement bargains

most people buy books which are pirated and poorly reproduced at abt a fraction of the cost of the original..cos reading the books matters and since most of us dont keep the book arnd for a long time as we exchange books with friends..most of the pirated books are available on pavements all over the city..if u wan2 find second hand books, u can find it in book worm on MG road, blossoms in church street and Shiva book center in malleswaram and a few more spread close to MG road ..now if u r not so particular abt finding a book and u wan2 some books which u have near heard of or set ur sight upon, then head to the heart of the city Majestic area for one such place. the book stall is located near Cauvery emporium / Upparpet police station and the place sells a variety of books ranging from technical, non technical and novels at all price points ranging starting from Rs 10 , 20, 30 to 100 for a book..i recently took abt 12 books for 100 Rs..most of which are in slightly bad condition and out of the 12 i have decided to finish 4 and undecided abt the rest..but u certainly wont feel like u have spent a lot of money….

Location: Majestic, next to upparpet police station
Open from 11 to 6pm only on sunday for Rs 10, 20 30 books..7pm for books of higher price… pay a visit preferably around 4-5pm
Books available: Random and Arbitrary

U can also drop into the mantap ice cream nearby for a ice cream cone if u so desire..:)..ll update the lesser known location for bargain basement books soon

Nik