The Best-Seller She Wrote- An incredibly entertaining read

The Book- The Best-Seller She Wrote

by Ravi Subramanian
Genre- Romantic thriller


I have been an avid thriller reader ever since I graduated from the Enid Blytons, the Nancy Drews & the Hardy Boys. Somehow I never got around to reading thrillers by Indian authors, just stuck to the Jeffrey Archers & the John Grishams. I got over romantic books after reading a couple of Mills & Boons novels in quick succession and never reached for the mushy stuff as an aftermath of the dull headaches they left me with. But something about Love, Betrayal, Redemption on the cover page of The Best-Seller She Wrote grabbed my attention & I jumped at the opportunity to review this one and thus my first foray into the romantic thriller genre,

The Plot

This is a story about Aditya Kapoor,  who likes his life the way it is, loving husband to Maya- his supportive & devoted wife, doting father to  a six-year-old child, a thriving career as a banker, a  passion for writing, best-selling author. Little does he know that a tiny tryst with someone is about to pull the rug  from under his feet & demolish his entire world.

At an IIM event where he's invited to deliver a talk, Aditya crosses paths with a manipulative Shreya Kaushik a young, beautiful management student from IIM. Unable to resist all the attention thrown his way he finds himself falling in love with her. An aspiring writer Shreya teases, tantalizes him and finally succeeds in drawing him into an affair. Shreya though has a hidden agenda- to get published! She leeches on to him to further her ambition to launch herself as a writer.  He gets swayed by all the attention being showered his way and is unable to see through her conniving ways. Once she's safely ensconced as his protege, she unabashedly continues to throw herself at him & machinates her way into his heart & finally into his bed making him feel young, sexy and in love again.
The book teases with passages of bold and steamy love making that would leave the reader gasping for more.
The protagonist's resemblance to  India's best-selling pulp- fiction author, Introduction of celebrities from Bollywood, mentions of IIM, the Ambanis gives the book a real feel and makes it very interesting. Somewhere in the middle the pace does slow down a bit what with all the romance going  before the story intensifies into a unputdownable thriller.

Read on to find out
What happens when  Aditya sees her for what she really is, a cold scheming social climber?
What will Maya do once she finds out about her adulterous husband?
Will Aditya be able to extricate himself  from the scalding impact of the affair that threatens not only his marriage but also his reputation as an author?

My two-bits

The book is a real page-turner. The Best-Seller She Wrote  was my very first Ravi Subramanian book and definitely won't be my last one. I'm already looking forward to reading his other thrillers.

The verdict

An incredibly entertaining read!!

I am reviewing ‘The Bestseller She Wrote’ by Ravi Subramanian as a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

A fantastic read (No Kidding!)

Just Kidding,.. Yours, Destiny was a book I enjoyed thoroughly. I could relate to a lot in the book be it the girl-seeing ceremony or dealing with office politics- read insecure bosses. A light read, the book holds the promise of being made into a Bollywood flick.The witty footnotes were an added unique feature.. I woke up at 6 am on a Sunday morning to finish what I started on a Saturday afternoon (happily sacrificed my weekly siesta) Needless to say it was a fun read..I'm hoping there'll be a part 2.  

Talvar- Heartwrenching...simply flawless!

Movie Review- Talvar

Talvar... the sound of the title dredges up  memories  of  one of the most controversial double murders in the recent history of India. The movie is based on the story of a 14-year-old girl Shruti Tandon, who is murdered and her parents are considered suspects. It is an effective and intelligent movie that chronicles the investigation giving you a real, humanizing insight into the events that follow. 

Irrfan Khan, as Ashwin Kumar the investigating officer determined to get to the bottom of the murder case of Shruti Tandon and their servant Khempal, is undoubtedly the star performer of the movie. Excellent casting choice, subtle yet memorable performances from the lead actors Konkona Sen Sharma and Neeraj Kabi  as Shruti's parents, keep you hooked on. Veteran actress Tabu makes a cameo appearance, convincing in her role as Irrfan's wife. Sohum Shah perfectly cast as Irrfan's ambitious assistant proves his mettle yet again. Even lesser known actors deliver an impressive performance. Prakash Belawadi is simply outstanding in his role as Irrfan Khan's superior. Ayesha Parveen as Shruti Tandon,  Gajraj Rao as a bumbling police inspector, Atul Kumar as the new CDI investigating officer do a good job as the supporting cast.

A mesmerizing combination of Vishal Bhardwaj's terrific writing, intellectualized screenplay & brilliant direction by Meghna Gulzar makes the movie an intense heart-wrenching masterpiece that's bound to give you goosebumps. 

Zinda hai in Rekha Bhardwaj's beautiful voice touches your soul and resonates long after the movie is over. 

The perfectly paced, the skillful narrative keeps you interested till the very end. Everything about Talvar is intensely effective leaving its audience with something to think about... Do we let our opinions get convoluted by the media carnival??? Guilty or not? You decide! Definitely a must-watch for thriller fans!

Watch the trailer of Talvar

Starring   
Irrfan Khan
Konkona Sen Sharma
Neeraj Kabi
Sohum Shah
Prakash Belawadi
Atul Kumar
Tabu
Gajraj Rao
Ayesha Parveen

Directed by Meghna Gulzar
Produced by Vineet Jain, Vishal Bhardwaj
Written by    Vishal Bhardwaj
Screenplay by    Vishal Bhardwaj

Soulful Music by Vishal Bhardwaj
Cinematography by Pankaj Kumar
Edited by A. Sreekar Prasad
Production companies- Junglee Pictures/ VB Pictures
Movie genre- Drama, thriller, crime, controversial, murder mystery
Release Date- 2nd October 2015

A Short Story for Children

I was going through my stuff and found this story I'd written for my fourth graders several years ago. This was supposed to be used for a Reading Comprehension. I would love to do more short stories for kids. Needs editing, but here goes..

A Magical Mystery

Once upon a time, there lived a small boy named Mustafa. He belonged to a poor family. His father was a farmer and his mother, a tailor. He went to a school in the village.

Mustafa was a clever boy. He was fond of magic. He would often boast to his friends that he had magical powers. His friends did not believe him.

One day a strange thing happened. The children were playing in the park. After some time they were very tired. So they sat under the shade of a huge tree. They looked at Mustafa who was sitting alone by the bank of the river. He was playing a beautiful tune on his pipe. Suddenly, he vanished!

Everyone thought he had fallen in the river and drowned. They were horrified. They started screaming for help. Some of them ran to call the villagers. The villagers came running to the river bank. One of them jumped into the river to save Mustafa.

Suddenly they heard some music. They turned around to see a boy sitting under a tree. A little girl recognized him. He was Mustafa! Everyone was delighted to see him alive! They started clapping and cheering loudly. They wondered how he had survived. All his friends were curious. They asked him, ‘Mustafa, how did you reach here?’ Mustafa was silent, he only smiled...

Did you do YOUR bit?

Why do you mourn her death now, when it’s too late? Can you bring her back? What did YOU do to prevent this from happening? What did you do to prevent any other woman from being a victim?

The other day when you were in a rush to meet your friends, didn’t you hear your neighbour abuse his wife, and kids?

Did you ring the bell and stop him?

Did you seek out the kids later and give them any courage?

Did you inform the cops when you saw the broken jaw, the black and blue scars she was trying to hide?

Did you protect your own mother when she was being abused? Cussed? Beaten up?

Didn’t you ignore the black eye of the domestic maid servant?

Did you call up an NGO?

Did you make an effort to at least find out NGOs that can help?

Did you help create awareness about domestic violence and take steps to prevent it?  

Did you DO something other than ‘sharing’ posts and RTing?

Did you do ANYTHING, except helplessly exclaiming ‘Tch, tch, what is the world coming to?’

-A victim

Goodbye, Sandpaper man!

“Let’s go on a movie date”, said he,

I’ll pick you up at eight.”

He shot me a meaningful glance.

My heart skipped a beat,

And did the lambada dance

“Finally” I thought, “we move to second base”,

And coyfully, lowered my gaze

Recoiled at what I saw

Violently I dropped my jaw

 “I’m a woman of today,” I said,

“I prefer smooth to uncouth,

Manscape over a barbarian ape!

So if you think you can seduce me

with your day-long stubble,

I’m afraid your dreams will join

that sky-high rubble.

You really want that date?

I’ll give you until eight,

Mow down your abrasive sod,

And prepare yourself 

to meet my well-spa’ed hot bod”

Later that evening:

Manscaped man showed up at the door

Manicured fingers and eyes ran a scan

Over the groomed chin I so adore

“Goodbye Sandpaper man,”

 I moved closer and whis-purred,

“Second is just a number,

Let’s just skip to the third.”

Movie tickets and the lingerie,

Lost no time in joining the floor.

This post is a part of the 'Shave or Crave' movement in association with BlogAdda.com

A Short-lived Adventure!

This entry is a part of BlogAdda contests in association with Zapstore.com

I spotted a man

Hovering suspiciously beside a van,

I said, "Here's my once in a lifetime shot at adventure."

So I followed him around

Until I found,

That the poor old guy was only 

looking for his dentures!!

............................

A muted sigh,

An unshed tear,

Somebody...

Send me a cold beer

Summer 2010

56 days, 10 movies, 8 blog posts, 7 1/2 books, 3 reunions, 1 Tuesday Pick, 1 play, 1 blog meet, countless love, homecooked food, endless hours on Facebook and Twitter, a long impending end, and a new beginning...
Does my vacation have to really really end?

Headlines 2020- Facebook kills the reunions

So thanks to Facebook, Orkut and other social networking communities, I had a blast with the past. Nice to catch up with people, squeal  in excitement and at times in shock to see how your friends have turned out. And yeah, catch up with them finally after so many years.

I sometimes wonder how people managed to stay in touch before the advent of social networking sites. How effective really were alumni associations?

With all and sundry now being connected on social networking sites, you KNOW what's happening with your friends, on a daily basis. You know where they've been, you know how they look like, you know what they do, what they do for a living, relationship status, employment history, et al. How will reunions look like, 10 years from now? Will there be reunions at all? Won't social networking take the whole fun out of reunions?

Teacher's Day

Who is/was your favourite teacher, and why? Post your tweets @mumbaiteacher or email your entries to mumbaiteacher@gmail.com Sub line- My favourite teacher. 

All your entries will be posted on mumbaiteacher.blogspot.com on 5th September, Teachers' Day. Hurry!! Send in your entries before 2nd September, 2010.

Toeragz on BlogAdda

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!! My blog post Once upon a time has been selected by BlogAdda @ http://adda.at/Tangy11 as one of the top posts for 'Tangy Tuesday Picks'.

Toeragz on BlogAdda Tangy Tuesday

Once upon a time

A not-so little bird, happy and gay

Once looked up in the sky,

Saw birds flying high above,

Twittering and chirping away.

She wanted to be with them,

Know new birds and trees,

She went and met their Chief,

He welcomed her,

And put her at ease.

So she left her lovely nest,

In search of a new one,

But when she reached there,

She saw the birds,

Who once she thought, were so much fun,

Had not kept up in the race of evolution.

She remembered her lovely nest,

And sang a beautiful song,

But all the birds looked at her

And said her song was wrong

She felt terribly sad,

In her grief,

She went to the Chief,

And asked him to help fix things,

He said all would be OK,

The bird found her wings.

As we read the poem,

She still waits and wonders,

Will she lose her voice?

Or will she rejoice?

Memories

I remember waking up to the sounds of the whistle of the pressure cooker in our small and modest one room cum kitchen every morning. I must have been around 4 years old then, and unlike most kids my age I wouldn't ever complain about being whisked away for a bath, coz I would eagerly await the routine that followed next. Watching my mom getting lunch ready was a visual treat every morning. Sometimes, mom would get annoyed with me for getting in her way (it was a small place after all) but more often than not, I would be allowed to stick my fingers in the dough and play with it till mom was ready to roll out perfectly rounded yummy chapatis. Mom would then pack dad's lunch box with chapati and the subji of the day and then drop me off at the babysitter's.

One day, it got into me to make a chapati for my dear pappa, to earn a proud look from him. As mom wouldn't let me anywhere near the stove, I waited patiently for her to place the hot tawa under the cooking platform. As soon as she got busy, I pressed the tiny bit of dough that I had stolen, on the tawa making sure that it was brown on both the sides. Voila! I had a mini chapati prepared by me. I ran to mom and showed her my creation. It didn't earn the appreciation that I had expected. : ( Not knowing what to do next, I slipped the tiny chapati into my dad's tiffin box and told her to tell dad that I had made it for him.

All day long, through school day and later, I waited for my dad to come home, sweep me in his arms and tell me how he loved eating the chapati that I had made for him. Finally, it was time for him to come home, time for my sterling moment. Alas...no such thing happened...he hadn't noticed the tiny chapati I had made for him. It was as if it had never existed, it remained in my memories...the immortal chapati....

Rant- unedited

it breaks my heart to see kids treat their parents shabbily when they grow up. Kids who mock their very own humble beginnings and feel embarassed to acknowledge their parents coz they dont fit into their new 'social set' which they wdnt have gotten into had it not been for the hard work and sacrifices made by their parents. Sad to see such self proclaimed successes who straitjacket their parents into their new lifestyle without considering whether or not their parents are comfortable with it.
Sorry guys...no matter what u earn and where u live and what u drive, .if you cannot treat ur own parents well, you fail to impress me. Can u really find true happiness after hurting the ones who gave u birth and brought u up with such pains?

Tags

Nothing like a tag to get back in touch with your old friends. So thanks a ton Bikram for tagging me, I am gonna pass on the tag to my old blogger friends, and wake some of them from their slumber...perhaps?

 Here goes...

1. What one material thing are you hoping/ scoping to inherit?
NOTHING. I would welcome anything that comes my way of inheritance, but I haven’t HOPED for any such thingie.
2. If You were a character in a movie that you've seen who would I be and why?
Soooooooooooooooooperman!

3. If You could do one thing for Someone, no matter what it was, what would it be for Who?
Give my eyes to a child who cannot see

4. You’re driving. It’s great weather. Attractive member of opposite sex in expensive car looks at you and half-smiles. You’re in a relationship. Do you return the look and half-smile back?

Yeah, why not? I would return the look and drive past. No harm in light flirtations, right?

5.Pick a situation
a. You’re 42. Would you rather go without sex for three years and win a lottery after that, enabling you to never have to work again? Or
b. Get twice the lottery money now (at 42) but have your partner sleep with your boss?
Definitely A. Cant share my man.

6. What has been the craziest thing u have ever done?
Taking up this crazy tag.

7. God gave u chance to alter any one event in the past, present or future. What wud that event be?
I would wait for a few more years before getting married!

8. Would you rather go bald or lose your front tooth?
Wouldn’t mind losing both. With the lottery I have won, I can afford hair transplants and a new set of deeeeeezigner teeth. Muhahahaha!





So let's play tagggieee

Sriram
Sheriff
Eroteme
Ideasmithy
Nupur- if you are still alive
Mistress of Magic
Prasad
Xena
Satosphere
The Monk
Bishwanath Ghosh
Wise Donkey
Tarun
Prabhu
Praveen
Magix 
Neuromancer
stone


You are supposed to answer these questions, and pass on this tag. Post a comment on my blog, after you've posted ur tag...

Burning a hole in your pocket- redefined

The summer break is fast approaching, so I taught the song Summer Holiday to my class and they loved it.  

RN: Ma’am, we will miss you in the summer holidays.

Me: I’ll miss you all too.

AJ: Do one thing. Take our phone numbers, and call us when you miss us.

Me: That will burn a hole in my pocket.

AJ: Ehh..? Burn a hole in your pocket? What does that mean?

Me: Uhmm..I’ll give you a clue. What do you keep in your pockets?

FM: Purse?

SS: Mobile phone?

RN: Aaaaaaah! I know I know!!

Me: Ok...tell me.

RN: If you call up all of us (28), then your mobile handset will become hot. When you keep it in your pocket, it will burn a hole in your pocket..

Me: ....................