Saturday 7 March 2015

Book Review: A Walk in the Rain

Book: A Walk in the Rain
Author: Udai Yadla
Publisher: Revelation House
Price: 190 INR
Pages: 326

Blurb: Love is elixir that keeps you alive. Love is poison that kills you. Unreciprocated love keeps you alive but kills every day.
Heartbroken Sunny lives a reclusive life, trapped in the past, living in his memories. He has no complaints about his life but refuses to embrace the present.
Saloni is a prostitute who is desperate to earn money by any means. She does not care about exploiting others to fulfill her purpose.
Fate unites the loner and the prostitute to embark on a life changing journey of retribution and self discovery.

Lovelorn Sunny turns misogynistic after Sandy, the only girl he loved walks away from his life, unannounced. He suffers painful solitude for almost two decades with the relentless haunting of her thoughts. A distressed friend Imran, vows to change his life forever. A surprise planned for his birthday turns into a tragedy that claims the life of his dear friend, triggering a series of unbelievable events. As Imran gets killed by a stranger, Sunny's calm life suddenly turns into a turbulent storm. With nothing left to live for, vengeance becomes his ultimate mission. His reluctant alliance with a prostitute to trace the killer sets him onto a nerve racking adventure of life and death.

Both are bound to a common goal with different motives but destiny has its own motive. A walk in the rain is an intricate tale of intense emotions, driven by hair raising twists and turns.
 
My Rating: 3.5/5
 
My Review:
 
I loved the prologue of the book. It ensured me that I am in for a great reading experience and I am in no way, disappointed.

There are two primary characters in the book. The first character is Sunny who is a lovelorn and lonely person after his childhood sweetheart, Sandy left his life unannounced. Even after two decades, he couldn't get over the girl he loved in his childhood. The other important character is Saloni, a prostitute who has been a victim of malicious fate. 

When their roads cross in an uncanny circumstance, both of them don't realize that they are getting entwined more and more in each others lives. Although they hate each other, but they could feel a deep sense of familiarity with every passing minute. Sunny wants to seek revenge for his best friend, Imran's death and Saloni is the only one who could help Sunny in finding his prey. In return, she demands a huge sum of money. Sunny loathes her nature for the sheer greed she exhibits.

Will the hatred on the surface and a deep sense of familiarty within give way to some unbelievable revelation? What is that thread which is binding Sunny and Saloni everytime, irrespective of their wants or whims?
You have to read the book to find it out.
 
There are some extremely heart touching moments in the book, which would make your eyes clammy if you are an emotional person. The childhood love and friendship between Sunny and Sandy is something that will stay with you even after you finish the book. There are also some incredible twists and turns that makes this book an absolute page turner.

The only downside of the book is that some places in the book are overly exaggerated which makes you want to skip a few pages. If the book would have been a little more compact, it would have been nearly flawless. However, it's a commendable job by a debut author. I would definitely like to read more from him.

These thought provoking words that Sandy told to Sunny touched my heart:

It's beyond your consciousness that your soul lingers with the person you love and hence your mood will affect the one you love. This is the reason why you sometimes sense your mood changing mysteriously with no reason.
 
Recommended to all who loves to read romance with a little thrill and adventure.
 
You can buy the book here 
 
 

Sunday 1 March 2015

Book Review: Shattered Dreams (Ramayana: The Game of Life #2)

Book: Shattered Dreams (Ramayana: The Game of Life #2)
Author: Shubha Vilas
Publisher: Jaico
Price: 350 INR
Pages: 387
Genre: Religion and Philosophy/ Self-help

Blurb: Shattered Dreams is the sequel to the national bestseller, Rise of the Sun Prince, in the new spiritual and motivational series Ramayana - The Game of Life. Twelve joyful years have passed in Ayodhya since the wedding of Rama and Sita at the end of Book 1.

Now, in Shattered Dreams, Shubha Vilas narrates the riveting drama of Rama’s exile. Through tales of Rama’s unwavering and enigmatic persona, the book teaches us how to handle reversals positively; through Bharata’s actions, it teaches us to handle temptation; and through Sita’s courage, to explore beyond our comfort zone. This complicated family drama provides deep insights on how human relationships work and how they fail.

With Valmiki’s Ramayana as its guiding light, Shattered Dreams deftly entwines poetic beauty from the Kamba Ramayana and Ramacharitramanas, as well as folk philosophy from the Loka Pramana tales, to demonstrate how the ancient epic holds immediate relevance to modern life. Experience the ancient saga of the Ramayana like never before.

My Rating: 4.5/5

My Review: 

Shattered Dreams is the second book in the spiritual and motivational series, Ramayana. This book starts from the juncture when Dasaratha decides to coronate Rama and ends at the point where Rama, Lakshmana and Sita head towards Dandakaranya after spending the first year of their exile in the mighty Chitrakoot mountain.

Despite knowing the story of Ramayana by heart, what hooked me to the book is its beautiful and lucid narration. The dialogues are exceptionally beautiful. Some scenes are so beautifully described that it fills you up with reverence and wonder. The scene where Bharata pleads Rama to go back to the kingdom of Ayodhya touched the innermost chords of my heart. The dialogues that were exchanged between the righteous Rama and the faithful Bharata would not fail to mesmerize the readers. I have always admired the character of Bharata in Ramayana and this book further enhanced my admiration. As told by a Guha, a friend of Rama to Bharata in the book : 
"Blessed are you, Bharata! You are one in a million! In fact, you are the only one. No one can be like you. What Rama did is not as big as what you plan to do. He abandoned the kingdom because he was asked to do so. In order to remain an obedient son to His father and stay compliant with the rules of Dharma, he took to a life of austerities. It is easy to forsake tasty food taken off your plate, but it is extremely difficult to resist the temptation of something that is available within your legal reach"

The emotional turmoil faced by each character was desribed aptly. The words that Rama said to Bharata when he compelled him to return to Ayodhya will provoke the readers to think deeper:

"Human beings are pawns at the hands of higher powers. My forest life, too is destined by Higher powers, Daiva (the hands of God). As far as death of our Father is concerned, it is the act of Time, kala kritha. When destiny and time are not in Our hands, what purpose does blaming anyone serve? People are just instruments of destiny and time."

The beautiful bond between Rama and Sita is definitely one of the best things in this book. The delicate moments, dialogues and emotions shared between the couple don't fail to amaze the readers. Similarly, Lakshmana's devotion towards Rama is perfectly depicted in the book. There is a chapter in the book which shows the egoistic nature of Ravana. The antagonist of the epic will be playing a significant role in the next book of the series, so the introduction of Ravana was rightly done in this book. 

Throughout the book, there are several mythological stories sprinkled on it that makes it more interesting to read especially the stories about Anasuya Devi. The book ends with Rama, Sita and Lakhsmana leaving the hut of Atri muni and Anayasuya Devi. Anasuya gives a subtle warning to Sita about her fate. 

What makes this book a beautiful self-help book is the footnotes in each page which contains beautiful nuggets of wisdom. I can surely go back to this book again and again for the wisdom it contains. 

Highly recommended to people who love to read books on mythology, philosophy and spirituality.

You can buy the book from here

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