Amina Thajudeen Book Review, Fiction, Indian Authors

Men and Dreams in the Dhauladhar

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Name: Men and Dreams in the Dhauladhar

Author: Kochery C. Shibu

Publisher: Niyogi Books; First edition (3 August 2015)

Paperback: 284 pages

Language: English

Blurb: A Hydel project in the remote Himalayas- three people brought together by fate.
Nanda an engineer from Kerala at the dam construction site, hiding from his past, from the law, torn between the love for his dear ones, and the Kalari code of revenge.
Khusru, a youth displaced from his native village in Kashmir, a gambit in the terror plot that threatens to blow up the dam, working as a labourer at the site. Rekha, a Kathak dancer at heart, a doctor by profession, arrives at the campsite as the consort of Khusru. A village that accepts the dictates of modernity with a heavy heart, its population steeped in superstitions and religious beliefs.

All throng the campsite like moths to a flame, some escape untouched, successful; some miss a step and perish. each has a story to tell and a dream to realize. Men and Dreams in the Dhauladhar are about the aspirations of these people, with their cares and worries woven to the site life. The fury of nature and hardships of project life have no mercy for the weak and no time for the dead.
Like an eternal spectator, the Dhauladhar watches as men risk their lives and limb in the quest to fulfill their dreams.

My review

For every book I read, the first thing I notice will be its cover and the title font.  This title cover shows the beautiful Himalayan mountain range and being a travel wanderlust, it strikes me very hard. Because of this appealing cover, I always picked it to read and re-read so many times.

The story revolves around three main characters Nanda, Khusru, and Rekha. Nanda is an engineer from Kerala who comes to Dhauladhar for supervising a dam construction on the Dhalaudhar mountain range. Khusru is a Kashmiri who is a part of a terrorist group which is planning to blow up the dam. For that purpose, he joins at the construction site disguised as a laborer. Rekha  is a doctor and a classical dancer who is in search of an ideal match for herself. All these 3 protagonists meet at a certain point in the novel. The rest of the story revolves around the problems they’re facing as their lives intervene with each other

Men and dreams in Dhauladhar is a character-driven book, because the author Kochery C Shibu, has invested a lot of effort to develop each and every character to the fullest. The aspirations, the dreams, the thoughts, the background of all main characters are given in vast detail. It is one of the best quality of a book I personally like. The book opens with the travel of the protagonist Nanda to the construction site. From the first chapter, the book is written in a way to create suspicion and mysteriousness in the character. Thus the book kicks off promisingly to every reader and does keep the entertainment graph high throughout the book.

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One-third of this book covers the technicalities of building a dam and I liked those parts very much because of my engineering background. Technical fiction is one of the genres most of the authors feared to engage because it only appeals certain group of people from a particular technical background. But here the author mixed this technical fiction with an accurate formula that makes it readable to all the kinds of readers.  Also, being a Keralite, I loved the description of Kerala and the family backgrounds of the protagonist Nanda.

Another notable quality of the book is it has large number of supporting characters.  But the author cleverly has woven all their lives with the beautiful regional description of their home and dreams, goals which makes the story a full circle.

Overall, the book is well planned and well written which is worth your time.

My rating: 3.5/5

Amina Thajudeen Book Review, Fiction, Indian Authors

Daredreamers: A Start-up of Superheroes

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Name- DareDreamers: A Start-up of Superheroes

Authors- Kartik Sharma, Ravi Nirmal Sharma

Genre- Fiction, Adventure

Pages- 288

Publisher: Rupa Publications

Blurb: India’s first start-up of superheroes with a mission of saving lives is here to kick ass.
Rasiq is riding the highs of life thanks to his successes as an investment banker. But his arrogance soon gets the better of him and he ends up losing everything he holds dear. Managing to salvage only his grit from the wreckage, Rasiq reboots his life and teams up with five uniquely talented superheroes to start a rescue venture
– DareDreamers.

These superheroes Nick: a crazy inventor; Halka: an inhumanly strong man; Arjun: a champion shooter; Natasha: a Bollywood stunt-double; Dr. Vyom, a medical Sherlock Holmes; and, of course, Rasiq: the mastermind combine their unique talents to deliver spectacular rescue operations. Their skyrocketing success, however, comes at a price an enemy hell-bent on tearing down their fame and reputation.

Will DareDreamers defeat its wily adversary? Or will it become yet another failed start-up?
Treachery, action, and adventure come alive to make DareDreamers a page-turner.

My Review: Before turning the first page of every book, I will always examine the cover and the blurb given in the back cover. These two things always should appeal the reader to take that book and read. So in this point of view, “Daredreamers” perfectly adhere to the plot and sincere to its blurb!. A special mention goes to the father-son duo who penned this interesting read

The protagonist Rasiq has a lucrative job which everyone in his age group eyes for. But the fat check at the end of the month given at the prize of all his time. This grueling job nearly kills his life and he resigned his job to achieve something which has value more than money. This character is an absolute reflection of every one of us. Every fresh-out college graduate aims only higher and higher packages of money only. The higher the package you got, the more success you’re and of course vice-versa!! I know this because I’m also lived in these situations. The high money package always comes with high workload because nothing will be free ever in our life. It is obvious that everyone who has joined in this rat-race feels numb at a point in their life. Most of them I know just go on with their job because of personal and professional commitments. But when comes to a film or a book, the plot-twister will grab the attention of readers from here.

Creation is about diversity.

So Rasiq launches a start-up with a unique idea of rescuing those who were in danger and named it “Daredreamers”.Like the name, the team behind the venture is the people who dare to dream which every other finds impossible. This team consists of Nick – a crazy inventor, Halka – a strongman, Arjun – a champion shooter, Natasha – a Bollywood stunt double and Dr. Vyom – a medical Sherlock Holmes and the mastermind Rasiq. But of course, how a story becomes interesting without a villain? Rapid success and fame is the dream everyone eyes. The success will always come with a prize and without obstacles, there will be no improvement so far. Rasiq has to battle with his revelries in this field to save the team from being a failed start-up. How the villainous force rift the lives of this team and will they able to overcome these trouble? The rest of the story answers the question.

My life in this urban jungle feels like that hare in the race with the tortoise.

Highlights

$This is not less than a thriller and surely surprise every reader with a unique plot.

$ All the characters are well developed and has there own space in the story

$ Very interesting naming of characters: A mixture of modernity and traditionality is applied to brought uniqueness in names such as Rasiq (instead of Rasik), Rakeysh or Halka.

$ Writing is simple and lucid with lots of twists and turns

$ A twisted tale of hare and tortoise welcomes you at the first page and this surely indicates how the thought of author(s) twisted a common tale to an interesting read

$ Motivating punchlines

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Overall the father-son duo has managed to come up with a very interesting read which will satisfy any kind of readers.

Rating: 4/5

Amina Thajudeen Book Review, Indian Authors, Self-Help

Rajini’s Punchtantra: Business and Life Management the Rajinikanth Way

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Name: Rajini’s Punchtantra: Business and Life Management the Rajinikanth Way

Author(s): P.C.Balasubramanian and Raja Krishnamoorthy

Publisher: Rupa publications

Being a south Indian, it was impossible for me to live without hearing the name “Rajinikanth” in my life. Most of the south Indians were watched his films at least once in their life. Just like his films, he made his brand and wealth through his hard work. One thing I have to mention specially is his renowned humbleness. Most of the lines he was given through films are now great dialogues. But as indicated in the blurb, I also have seen so many people who were quoting him in casual occasions for conveying a message in an interesting way (in fact, me also). That much the actor and his stylish film heroes influenced the life of common people.

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This book lists 30 top punch dialogues from Rajini movies. The authors P.C.Balasubramanian and Raja Krishnamoorthy then relates these punch lines with business and life management in an absolute creative way. Since both of them have built corporate organizations and have been successful for a long time, these piece of wisdom is a great insight into personal and business mastery.

Highlights

  • Out of box thinking, very creative
  • If you have ever watched a movie by Rajinikanth, then when you read his dialogues in this book, you will surely remember his pace, tone, and sound when reciting these lines
  • Each punchline is accompanied by a picture of Rajinikanth from his film
  • The core message of each punchline is highlighted at the end of the explanation
  • Very attractive cover for the physical copy
  • Surely a motivating read
  • Many explanations will surely surprise you!

A word of caution: Overall, this is a good light read for everyone, but I think if you are not familiar with Rajinikanth and his films, you will be unlikely to find this book interesting

Rating: 4/5

Amina Thajudeen Book Review, Indian Authors, Thriller

Unforeseen: A battle for his daughter’s life by Chandan Sen Gupta

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Name: Unforeseen: A battle for his daughter’s life

Author: Chandan Sen Gupta

Genre: Thriller

India became a medical hub for the past few years with quality services, treatments, and facilities which are comparatively cheap attract a large sum of people from foreign countries to avail these services. This thriller was written on the backdrop of this scenario.

Unforeseen by Chandan Sen Gupta is the story of  Yousuf, his wife Mariam, and their daughter Ayesha, who have traveled from Pakistan to a hospital in Gurgaon for a liver transplant for their daughter. She is been suffering from a congenital liver disease from birth, for which the only treatment left is a transplant of the liver. The donor is her mother itself.  Yousuf who is a teacher invested his all savings in this trip to make this surgery happen. But the unforeseen array of incidents which eventually makes the life of this family in a foreign land to suffering.

As they travel in Samjhauta express from Wagah near Lahore to Atari, Yousuf comes across Pakistani militants who are traveling on their own in an independent coupe. Yousuf accidentally witnesses their getaway and, thus, one of the infiltrators, warns him that he will come after Yousuf if he reveals this to anyone. Yousuf remains silent owing to the urgency of the trip as he has only one aim, which is the successful surgery of his daughter. However one of the infiltrators returns to silent the family forever as he cannot take any chances which will cause failure of his mission. Further to the horror of the family, Yousuf gets implicated for a murder in a hotel at Delhi. In addition to this, the family is accused of visa rule violation which causes a chase of local police and Pakistani militants for the lives of this family.

To clear his name, Yousuf travels to Kashmir to expose the infiltrators and the real culprits. But he gets caught by the conspirators instead. They drugged him and thrown Yousuf into the river Chenab to drown. Meanwhile Yousuf’s wife Mariam also gets attacked. The next part of this story answers the questions that whether this family survives this multiple attacks and whether the girl gets the treatment and live a healthy life.

Another good quality of this story is, despite Pakistan being imprinted as a hub of terrorism, the author describes it as just another country with common people who wants to live in peace. He also gives an insight into the historical facts which created unrest in Kashmir. The culture and lifestyle values of the people in different regions of India are also explored through the eyes of Yousuf.

The plot is cleverly woven with an accurate development of all the characters with adequate details. The emotions of the protagonist are explored to a next level by the author through the edge of his innocence. The hand of politics which turn the events to upside down are also described through this story. The way the story was told is enough to keep the reader on the edge of the seat all the time. After all, the author gives an optimistic message to reinstate humanity and love above all the hatred which will be the base of our co-existence and secular culture.

Amina Thajudeen Book Review, Indian Authors, Self-Help

The Little Book of Happiness by Ruskin Bond

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Name: A little book of Happiness

Author: Ruskin Bond

Publisher: Speaking Tiger

Ruskin Bond is one of the most beloved writers of all the time in India. In this anthology, he brings to the readers, a code for happiness. Happiness is the emotion for all of us thrive in life. We’re doing everything we can for achieving this coveted “happiness”. But in the midst of a quest for happiness, we all forgot so many things. Hence we end up in despair.

‘To find happiness, look halfway between too little and too much.’

Like most of his writings, this anthology begins with recalling an incident happened in his life which makes him think about what is the meaning of happiness. Later observing some of the people in his life, he arrives int he conclusion that happiness means different things to different people.

Happiness is not waiting to be found; there’s no use looking for
it. All we need to do is to find the barriers within ourselves that we have built against it. Trust in people, in life is a good way to begin.

For the beloved writer, it will be

I’m quite happy on a rainy day because then I can curl up on a sofa, visit Blandings Castle with P.G. Wodehouse, enjoy a village cricket match with Mr. Pickwick and his
Dickensian friends, or go rowing on the Thames with Jerome K. Jerome’s three men
and a dog. A good book on a rainy day is happiness for me.

As a writer, I am also happy when I have completed a story or poem or essay and feel pleased with it.

So he advises us to find the cause behind our happiness which will be a unique thing.

We all have to do something in life, and if our occupation or vocation or profession
gives us pleasure, well, that’s happiness.
So choose well, my friend. Before you launch out on the journey of life, make sure
that the career or lifestyle that you have chosen is something that you really want to
follow.

This is something we all want to hear for a long time. With so many memories on his life, he is recollecting the little joys in his life through the quotes and poems of his favorite authors.

This will brighten up your day

If we have never been unhappy, how will we know when happiness comes

This is must read for everyone. Truly a little book of old man’s wisdom worth sharing. As a gift to others, it contains all the qualities to be perfect. The book also leaves some pages to pen down all our thoughts after reading those thoughts at the end of each chapter. Ruskin Bond himself wants us to write down something inspired by his anthology!!

Rating: 4/5

Some of the honorable mentions are:

‘If a straw can tickle a man, it is
an instrument of happiness.’
—John Dryden

 

‘If a straw can tickle a man, it is
an instrument of happiness.’
—John Dryden

‘Don’t cry because it’s over, smile
because it happened.’
―Dr Seuss

‘For every minute you are angry
you lose sixty seconds
of happiness.’
―Ralph Waldo Emerson

If one day you should lose all
your money, who knows—you
may become a happy yogi!
(If not, make peace with
your misery.)

If one day you should lose all
your money, who knows—you
may become a happy yogi!
(If not, make peace with
your misery.)

He ends this little book with some beautiful lines:

Dear reader, may you have the wisdom to be simple, and the humour to be happy.

Amina Thajudeen Book Review, Fiction, Indian Authors

If God was a Banker by Ravi Subramanian

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The book ‘If God Was a Banker’ is a nice little corporate story. It was written in simple language and can be like one in the genre of Chetan Bhagat’s books. The story mainly revolves around two characters, Swami and Sundeep who works at New York International bank. Both are IIM graduates and they joined at the bank same day. We could say that Swami is the epitome of humbleness and honesty. But Sundeep is just opposite to Swami. Sundeep aspires to be successful in much shorter time and he is cunning for achieving it. But he hides his true personality behind a nice little mask. Because of that, he got promotions also. Swami was just opposite to this and he fails in this race initially. The question is, will the evil always win at the end? No. Sundeep eventually gets punishment but there is a good suspense element was awaiting for readers at the end. It was worth of time and a good read. The end of the tale takes all credit.
Furthermore, the author was good at depicting the Banker life and job circumstances. I can much relate to this story because we all have an ambitious heart. But unscrupulous means and dishonesty never win. The way you walk to the success is equally important.
Rating: 4/5