Where Rainbows Begin

Life- a beautiful word, perhaps the most perplexing of all; it is a word that’s often misunderstood just like so many precious things in this world: peace, joy, and love.

_{The most significant aspect of life is that it’s replete with paradoxes, complications and contradictions. What is most fascinating is how people can have such a varied outlook towards the same things. The colours of the rainbow seem to represent these differences, they ‘reflect’ the two sides of the same coin called reality. Life, like good and evil, reality and people, is not all in black and white.}   

_{When bright little rays of sunshine embrace fresh drops of water, we see a striking phenomenon that we call the rainbow; a spectrum of colours that can take your breath away.}

_{Each colour can denote a myriad of emotions. Red may stand for love as well as anger; yellow for patience and happiness- if you notice, one stealthily follows the other. Green represents envy but one can associate it with a connection with nature.}

_{Blue is the colour of the limitless sky of ambition while on the other hand it is also the colour of the ocean that is a symbol of depth; violet spells originality, orange reflects enthusiasm and indigo can be said to represent peace and beauty- it is, after all, in the eyes of the beholder.} 

Hello World!!

Hello there, lovely people!!

*waves hands frantically* 

Yes, both of us are alive. Apologies for being MIA for so long.  I have so much reading and commenting to do....Sorry people, will be getting to reading your posts asap.

Life has been too happening for sometime now and we both haven't had the time to come back and update things here on the  blog. For all those who know me on Facebook are updated about the few things that have been happening lately.  Here is an update of what I've been up to all this time-

1) Remember the book review I did of Aniesha Brahma's The Secret Proposal? So thanks to www.alotofpages.com (where am a member), I got to interview the author. To say she is one of the sweetest people I know would be an understatement.  I am so glad I found her review request in my spam folder last year and decided to give the book a shot. Getting to meet and know Aniesha has been one of the best things that happened this year.  You can check the interview I attached below (please excuse my panic stricken expression in the beginning, this was my first video ).

2) Attended the Kolkata International Book fair last week and had the awesome-est time. The second year of the Kolkata Literary Meet has been supah dupah cool and I got to meet some great people and talk to them, get my books signed and click pictures with them. (Yeah, am still in the euphoric mood ) 
I got to meet Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, one of the world's leading thinkers on post structural and post colonial theory and gender issues. It was an honor hearing her speak. What bowled me was the lady's amazing sense of humor.

 Gayatri Spivak in conversation with Professor Chinmoy Guha

The cherry on the top was meeting Amitav Ghosh on the 2nd of February and get my copy of The Hungry Tide signed by him and click a pic with him. Yay!!  Amitav Ghosh is the most humble man I've met in my entire life. He was so sweet and patient with his fans, he took the time to sign each and every copy (around 150-200 of them) that his ardent admirers brought in. He also made a point to give a smile every time a fan asked him for a picture. Apart from this, a friend of mine had missed the meet and we had sent him a mail asking if he would be able to sign her copy for us the next day if he attended his wife's session for the meet. And we were thrilled to receive his prompt reply. Sadly, he had to hurry midway and couldn't sign my friend's copy, but his wife, Deborah Baker made it a point to apologise personally to us for his absence and she signed my friend's book with a special apology note on his behalf. that was the sweetest things ever. 

With the man himself 

That is my copy being signed 

That is Deborah Baker for you.

3) A dear friend gifted me (a surprise) the entire set of The Naughtiest Girl by Enid Blyton.  These were my favourite books as a child and I had read them way back when I was about 7 or 8 and re-reading them was the loveliest feeling.  Best-est gift evah!! 

4) Was one of the runners up for the Shoppers Stop Perfect Look Contest held last year. 

So yeah , that is pretty much what has been happenning all this while. Tell me what is up on your side.

Book Review- R.I.P. by Mukul Deva

R.I.P.

Author: Mukul Deva

ISBN-13: 9789382618195

Binding: Paperback

Publisher: Westland

Number of Pages: 298

Genre: Fiction

Language: English

Price: Rs. 200 (I received my copy from www.blogadda.com)

About the Book: 

R.I.P. The Resurgent Indian Patriots. Self- appointed guardians of a nation seething with anger at the endless scams and scandals rocking its very foundation. Vigilantes who vow to stop corrupt politicians and colluding civil servants. Even if it means killing them. 

Colonel Krishna Athawale and his team of Special Forces officers rally to protect the country from the enemy within. They call themselves the K-Team. And no one is safe from their deadly intent. 

Hellbent on stopping them is Raghav Bhagat, rogue para commando, gun for hire and Krishna's bete noir. 

Caught in the crossfire is Vinod Bedi, Special Director CBI. Reena Bhagat, a glamorous news anchor, embittered by her husband's betrayal. And two young boys, Sachin and Azaan, torn apart by the loss of a parent. 

It doesn't get bigger. 

About the Author:

An alumnus of La Martiniere College, Lucknow, the National Defense Academy, Pune and the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, Mukul Deva was commissioned in December 1981 into the Sikh Light Infantry of the Indian Army. He took early retirement from the army after fifteen years of service, including a decade of combat operations in India and overseas. Now settled in Singapore, he is an entrepreneur, motivational speaker and an executive, business and creativity coach. He is also a Mentor on the United Nations Institute of Training and Research Afghanistan Fellowship. He is India's leading writer of military thrillers, including the bestselling Lashkar series. For more about him, please visit his website www.mukuldeva.com.

Swarnali Speaks :

Starting with the cover, the book has a very interesting and apt cover with a soldier carrying a gun , a syringe at the top and a bullet replacing the "I" in R.I.P. The significance of all three can be understood as the reader finishes the very first chapter. 

The main plot concerns a group of six ex-army men who call themselves the K- Team pledge to avenge the wrong  that the corrupt politicians have been doing to the nation and its people since its very independence. Why are they called the K-Team? Simply because all these six men have their names starting with a K - Krishna Athawale, Kevin David, Kulwant Singh Bajwa, Karan Singh, Kashif Nadeem and  Kamlesh Saikia. Corruption, nepotism, favoritism and the "rape" of the nation that has been happening  for over 60 years have reached the ebb as these R.I.P- Resurgent Indian Patriots decide that it is high time somebody made an effort at changing the prevailing conditions  A very utopic idea if you ask me but the book does manage to provide the readers with a momentary wish fulfillment  at a time when the real scenario of  the nation is exactly the same as depicted in the book. What I found very surprising is how the book managed not to create any political ruckus despite the fact that the author uses names and characters directly from contemporary politics. Characters like Hazarika, Sheila Kaul and her son Ranvijay, D.M. Karunakaran and Lalit Yadav are completely based on current social-political leaders like Anna Hazare, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Karunanidhi and Lalu Prasad Yadav respectively. Incidents like the hijacking of  the Indian Airlines flight IC 814 (which actually took place in Decemeber 1999) and the Ajmal Kasab case (from the 26/11 terrorist attack) are entirely taken from history (the author however, takes the literary freedom to change the time frames of the two incidents) .

The book is a complete page turner as the very first chapter has three quick immaculately planned murders taking place one after another, taking the reader into its grip for the rest of the 298 pages. The language used in the book is extremely simple with very few ornate words used. I loved the description that the author uses at certain points to describe the particular type of weapon and chemical used for the operation. The effects of the succinylcholine, the C-18 hand grenade and its functions are explained briefly to help the reader understand the mechanism and yet not losing track of the main plot by excessive detailing. The occasional  flashes from the past are nicely blended into the stories which help in understanding the characters better. Apart from the occasional repetitive phrases and a few grammatical and typographical errors, the book is a pleasant and quick read.

The book does extremely well for a military thriller ( a genre completely new to me) and I'm planning to read the other books he has written. Grab a copy or borrow it from a friend, if you love thrillers and action, this book won't disappoint you.

Rating :4/5

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

Guest post from Glad2bawoman.com

A Very Happy New Year To All Our Lovely Readers

The first post of the year is a guest post from an online media company called www.glad2bawoman.com.  We are delighted to have them as our guest here on the blog. Glad2bawoman has more than 75,000 community members and the articles on their site encompass a number of topics, including Health, Leisure, Fashion, Empowerment and Relationships. We love the amazing articles that are published on their site, written by different women. Their attempt at empowering women with a voice of their own is really commendable. We were contacted by them to write an article for them that you'll get to read soon. Make sure to visit their site to read more of their amazing articles.

 Arpita and I are a little caught up with a few issues at the moment and this guest post comes at the perfect time. We will get to regular blogging asap. Till then, enjoy the post :)

A Random Act Of Kindness

Princess Diana has rightly said, “Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you.”  How beautiful a virtue kindness is, and how in myriad ways can it be expressed! It touches the lives of not only the doer but the recipient as well. It does not need big words or major reasons. And the best part is the reward of the act lies in the deed itself.

Kindness is one of the few virtues that is not confined to an individual, but it has a deep impact on many more, who are influenced by it. Thus, it can not only bind together souls, but societies as well. It has been very aptly said to be the language that the deaf can hear and the blind can see. Nobody can “learn” to be kind, nor can it be taught to anyone. If one simply helps an old man cross the street or gives new clothes to the street-children on Christmas, their kindness goes a long way in enriching many hearts. The one who does a random act of kindness never has an ulterior motive or selfish reason behind it, but he does it simply for the sake of doing it, and the inner satisfaction, the sense of fulfilment that ensues is unparalleled.

If we look at it deeply, we shall realize that it is basically kindness that lies at the core of all loving relationships. Be it between a mother and her child, between siblings, spouses or friends, or even between a teacher and his/her student, a boss and his/her employees, the degree, extent and type of kindness may vary, but it is that very feeling that makes each other feel valued and cared for. Love has its very root in kindness, and by doing little, nameless acts of kindness, we actually extend the power of love beyond the barriers of defined relationships. It can be inculcated within us from a young age, and it is indeed something to be cherished for a lifetime. We are mortals who have been brought to this world to spread happiness and goodwill and what better way than kindness to let the positive spirits of universal welfare to exude out of us as well as permeate our inner beings?

And we never need a chance or an occasion to be kind to others. It is simply about a moment, a reflex. We have to do nothing but respond. It is never too late to start. Begin today, in fact, right now, and do something good and heart-warming for your mum, your brother, your neighbour, the street-dog, the handicapped beggar near the traffic signal, the maid who toils hard all day, including your household. Make them feel good, and you’ll be left with a feeling that is incomparable, priceless. The joy and content will return multiple times manifold. For we are not here in the world simply to survive, but to live. And let’s live in the best way possible, which is to live not only for ourselves, but for others as well.

Guest article from www.glad2bawoman.com. 


P.S. - Decided to give the blog a new look. Do let me know how you like the template.