Book Review: Love is Vodka

Book: Love is Vodka

Author: Amit Shankar

ISBN: 978-81-925354-4-9

Publisher: Vitasta Publishing Pvt. Ltd

No. of pages: 203

Cover Designer: Deepak Jain

Review:

By the time I sit to review this book I haven’t slept for the past 30 hours. I was not endorsed with this book so long but I had to complete my final assessment which made my day hectic and left me tensed. To relieve from it and get some sleep, I took this book. The name of the protagonist, Moon was the first thing that impressed me and its blurb wide opened my eyes. It  said-

Being a love child, Moon is anything but a conventional teen. With a leading TV news anchor as her mother, an aspiring entrepreneur as her boyfriend, the word love baffles her. the whole idea of having one partner and love being eternal intrigues her.

Life turns upside down when she falls for her mother’s boyfriend. Destiny further complicates things by blessing her with a mega modelling assignment and turning her famous overnight. A war between her head & heart exposes her various hues of love.

Will she decipher the true meaning of love? Embark on an exhilarating rendezvous with moon and discover love like never before.

After reading so many college love stories this story was fresh and well written. To start with, the cover is attractive and with the pink shade it clearly says it’s a girl’s book. Thanks Deepak Jain for the cover.

The book starts with Author note where the author clearly explains about his point on love. He has explained his point on various stages of love and I agree with his point. The story revolves around a modern teenage girl, Moon, who is on an internship with one of the biggest Advertising Company. It starts with a nostalgic trip that shows the adventure with her life, career and boys. Moon Ami is a love child born to Indian mother and a French father, who later left them to take care of his ailing wife at France. From that day she has been taken care by her ambitious journalist mother. Because of her mother’s busy life she often feels neglected and misses her father. Her father always been in contact with her through phone or internet and gifted her all she wanted through online portals. When Moon turned nineteen, her mother pursues her internship in an advertising company and hence the story begins.

She is initially in a relationship with Ash and finds another man attractive. When she gets close with him she finds the president of that advertising company attractive and falls in love with him who is almost 25 years elder than her. She listens to her heart, lives in and misses her father. But to all does she find content? She becomes a model in between and becomes a stardom of the nation. She suddenly attends a rally on her friend’s compulsion. Does she find true love? Does she find the reason of her existence? Does she listen to her mother who advises her every time or does she follow her heart? Will she find a permanent residence?

Read the story to know more about Moon journey.

The book is well written with everything that is needed for an entertainment read. Moon being the main character is lively, not afraid to experiment new things in life and lives the life to the fullest. The idea of “believe in yourself” is expressed well. The devil’s character seems to be intriguing right from the first. I felt emotions at the end are missing a little and the end moved very fast. I would give a 3.5/5 and I assure you a fun read, after all it relieved all my tension by the time I finished reading this book. I’m looking forward to read his next book soon and I strongly recommend this book. Wish you all the best Mr. Amit Shankar.

A shot wasn't enough :-)

You can order the book through Flipkart and Homeshop18.

About the author:

With over a decade of advertising and marketing experience, during his advertising stint, as a Copywriter and a Creative Director, he leveraged his creative panache backed by a solid strategic thinking. No wonder, his campaigns bagged some of the biggest creative as well as strategic marketing and communication awards. Having worked with some of world’s biggest and hottest advertising agencies, he has worked spearheaded brands like Nestle, UNICEF, Cisco, HP, GM, pedigree, Microsoft, Honda, Canon and Toshiba.

After advertising, he moved to the next level, marketing and joined one of the largest global telecom brands. It was her that he decided to take a break and tell a story on a large format.

Released in 2010, his debut novel, Flight of the Hilsa was widely accepted and appreciated. Next year, in 2011, he launched, Chapter 11. Both these went on to become national best sellers.

His passion include music, biking and photography and list of Gods; Clapton, Slash, Blackmore, Santana, Satriani, Vie and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Book Review: Travails of Entrapment

Book: Travails of Entrapment

Author: Himadri Roy

ISBN: 978-93-81836-01-9

Publisher: Frog Books

No. of pages: 486

Cover Designer: Mishta Roy

About the Book:

Rohan De is a single child born in a class-conscious, academic family of Nainital. Growing up in an atmosphere of arguments and quarrels between the parents, he nurtured in the ideologies of his governess, Meena. He became a recluse child suffering innate traumas and disturbances emotionally. Ragging and physical abuses of the seniors became a part of his everyday life. Later, he comes close to one of his seniors, Nikhil, with whom his realisation of a bondage of friendship proliferates.

Despite his parents’ disagreement, he moves to Delhi for his higher studies in the University of Delhi. Soon he befriends two of his class mates, Monisha and Paras. With passage of glorious time of his new friends and friends of Nikhil, he falls in love with Paras exploring his real self.

 Struggling between friendship and love, time favours his love over his friendship. Rohan’s life encompasses both pains, agonies, tears, bruises, and smiles, happiness, bliss.

About the Author:

Dr. Himadri Roy was born in a small town, Siliguri, in West Bengal. He currently resides in New Delhi. He is an Associate Professor in the School of Gender and Development Studies, Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi. He teaches Queer theories, liberation and movements, Literature and Arts and Media to the Post-graduate students of MA in Women’s and Gender Studies.

Travails of Entrapment is Himadri’s first novel and he can be contacted at himadri14@gmail.com or himadriroy@ignou.ac.in

Review:

Let me begin with few words about the cover page. The cover page, designed by Mishta Roy is good but not very attractive. I would have suggested a bigger font size for the title. It is not looking catchy. May be some bright color for the title would have worked well.

Travails of Entrapment is a book which covers all kind of emotions that a boy undergoes in his life. The book covers 486 pages, which I felt quite elaborate in few places. Through a simple language, the author has given life to the story. The story revolves around Rohan De who is a single child born in a class-conscious, academic family of Nainital. The scenic beauty of the place is very well described. His parent who are professors, take no care for their child. Rohan’s longing for their love and his hatred towards his father for his cruel punishment is written very emotionally.

 I liked Meena di’s s character. Though she is just a servant in De’s place, she nurtures Rohan with love and care. Nikhil is Rohan’s first and best friend. Their bondage brings them very close. Nikhil stands against everyone who harms Rohan. Being a senior, Nikhil leaves to Delhi after his exams. Just to be with his only friend, Rohan also joins a college in Delhi after his exams. They stay together in a rented place. Their relationship is beautifully addressed here.

In college Rohan befriends two of his class mates, Monisha and Paras. He is attracted towards paras and finally falls in love with him. Knowing that their relation will be against the society, they decide to live together throughout their life. Other characters like vaibhav, ruchika, kunal, karan and seetha move along with the story well. And the part in which Paras and Rohan convince their parents for their relation is written in very emotional way. Mrs. De finally realize that his child was longing for her love and care.

To conclude my review, Mr. Himadri Roy has put lot of effort to give a different story which talks about friendship, love and homosexuality. I appreciate his courage to write a book on gay story in a very decent way. I give 3 out of 5 for this book. I’m looking forward to read his next book soon and I recommend this book. All the best Mr. Himadri Roy.

                       

 You can buy the book at Flipkart and Homeshop18.

Happy Reading :-)

Author Interview: Suddhabrata Deb Roy, Author of Few Smiles and Few Tears

Welcome to the Author Interview that we have today. Suddhabrata Deb Roy shares about his upcoming novel "Few Smiles and Few Tears" with us. Thanks Suddhabrata for spending your time in-between your exams.

Author Interview

Hello Suddhabrata, Welcome! I am extremely glad to have you on my blog and I hope you have a great time answering the questions.

1) Tell us a litte bit about yourself?

Suddha: Well,I am just another regular guy. I did my schooling from Silchar ,Assam and then got admission into JORHAT ENGINEERING COLLEGE and am currently pursuing my BE degree in electrical engineering...

2) Tell us something about your upcoming novel, Few smiles and Few tears?

Suddha: Its a novel about the four L's-love,lust,lies and loathe. The story is about 3 people who take the centre stage of the novel at three different times of the novel. Its a sort of love triangle but not exactly a love triangle. More to that,the story has death and revenge, which you will understand when u read the book. The twist comes at the very end.

3) How did the idea to write "Few Smiles and Few tears" come up?

Suddha: Actually, I started writing on a broad basis, that means I started writing many things at the same time and at the end try to bring everything at one place under the same platform. FSFT was actually the plot of two novels that i jotted down two years ago,with the course of time, I realised that both of them work together much better..so the idea, u can say came out of just like that.. My plots just come,i don't try to think,they just happen..

4) How long did you take to write the story?

Suddha: It took about 15 months.

5) How has your experience been with your publishers? what was the time span of the book having been written and published?

Suddha: Well,my publishers for FSFT are the best people I have ever come across. Whitefeather Publications has been a big help to me. They are always trying to help you out regarding the marketing as well as the overall quality of the book. It took me about one year to get the book on floors.

6)When we enter your Facebook profile, first thing we could see is Student Federation India. What is your part there? Why and how did you join?

Suddha:  Well, It will be better if we don't bring political discussions into it. To answer you in plain words, I am a Marxist.

7) What does Suddhabrata do when he is not writing?

Suddha:  Ah, I do a lot of things. Besides studying, I read a lot, I write for a few local magazines. As well as, I have some duties for the Students Federation of India to fulfill. I am into reading comics very much, so that occupies a lot of spate time but more than that, I am thinking of what to write next as you know, a writer has no vacation, either he is writing or thinking about writing. 

8) So you are clear that you are going to write more. Do you plan to become a full time writer?

Suddha: Yeah,i am going to write a lot more. more projects are already slated up in the upcoming months...i don't think India is set up for full time writers except a select few, if i can be them, then surely I will become a full time writer. My writing ambitions are quite high and I don't want to just write general fictions.

9) Who is your favorite author and what are your favorite literary works?

Suddha: Well, i don't have any favorite author. I like them all equally but if you insist i would say its Dan Brown and its impossible to put up a single work because the works i read are just to diverse to be listed on the same list.

10) What do you say about the present scenario of Indian literary circle?

Suddha: The bigger the better..just the one sentence..

11) When is "FSFT" officially releasing?

Suddha: It is releasing on 25th of July.

Thank you Suddhabrata, It was great chatting with you. All the very best for your future endeavors.

You can pre-order Suddhabrata's upcoming book "Few Smiles and Few Tears" at Homeshop18.

You can connect him through Facebook.

Book Review: Look Stunning At Any Size

Book: Look Stunning At Any Size

Author: Parimita Chakravorty

ISBN: 9789381588437

Publisher: V & S Publishers

No. of pages: 172

Genre: Style and Beauty

About the Author:

Parimita Chakravorty is a writer, content specialist and a communications professional who currently resides in Mumbai. She has an extensive background of feature writing, editing, research and content creation for beauty and fashion magazines, blogs and websites. She is also associated with diamond grading and jewellery industry and has written on various related topics. She strongly believes that if you feel beautiful, you look beautiful. The book ‘Look stunning At Any Size’ is all about celebrating womanhood. Parimita supports causes related to women’s health in India. She is working towards bringing awareness about Endometriosis in India and maintains a page where patients can interact and discuss about their condition.

About the Book:

The book has been written keeping in mind the contemporary Indian women, her needs, her lifestyle and demands of her professional life. It has information specifically suited for Indian colour tone, texture as well as sense of style. It intends to bring together a comprehensive overview about how to be presentable and confident with comfortable styling and dressing.

It has makeup suggestions hairstyle suggestion hair and beauty care suggestions for all. Everyone will find something useful in this book as it tries to cover most of the problem areas of today’s women. It is not about fashion but identifying one’s innate style sense and the quest to look beautiful. It is a staple to long term elegant dressing and a wardrobe essential. This book has been written with the help of eminent experts who are revered in their fields. Therefore, it contains practical solution conveniently listed at one place for today’s busy women. It is a ready reference for everyone.

Not only does the book cover various ways to look good but also lists body types face shapes different body build and the style disasters one should avoid at all cost. It also lists in detail various  accessories shoes colour charts undergarment essentials dress style as per body type that one could refer while shopping.

This is a style guide to help you in your shopping list and tell you where to invest; what to wear and where which are the wardrobe essentials and how to use them to your benefit. Don’t be a slave to fashion. Choose dresses carefully. What might be looking good on a mannequin might not look good on you. Next time go shopping like a style pro and make prudent choices. Become your own wardrobe stylist. 

Review:

First, I thought the book would be only text but when I opened the book I was surprised to see various topics with the description and images. I read a few pages and found its purely a girl’s book. So I passed it over to my friend Navya. When she started reading she said “Dude it’s something which I need the most” and she said that she will help me in reviewing it. So this review is the work of both of us.

I think every young woman should read this book. This is the first and the best style related book I have ever read. I thank the author for having written such a book that is well suited for Indian women. She keeps her advice simple, real, and most importantly, she focuses on self-confidence and true care for your body rather than sending forth a materialistic message. Her advice “To look stylish, you need not wear expensive clothes, but wear clothes that look expensive” is very apt.

I got this book knowing almost nothing about beauty and fashion. I had no interest in spending time in front of the mirror and guessing what make-up or dress suits me until I read this book. I should say that this particular book has totally changed my view of how important it is to present oneself neatly with the things that best suit you.

Reading this book, I got to know myself better as it helped me to know my bone structure, face type and my body type for which I had no idea before. It has also helped me to know what a perfect wardrobe must contain. The author has clearly explained what kind of clothes and accessories will look good on you, knowing your body type and also the best colour that will go well with your skin tone. She has given advice on basic dressing style and also the do’s and don’ts.

When hair styling is considered, the most important part of any make-up; this book will guide you to know what hair style will suit your face type. Along with her suggestions, the author has also lent her support in taking care of our hair by giving few tips to maintain good and healthy hair.

Face make-up is always given importance before stepping out. As the author says, Make-up can make or break your look. This book will also guide you to know what kind of make-up should be used and it also has few tricks for make-up which is really very informative. The author has given ideas for different looks with different make-up along with beautiful pictures. Just like the tips for hair maintenance, she has also recommended few guidelines for skin care which also includes eyes, lips, nails, and skin. Good detailing is given on the types of facials. As right accessories can make a lot of difference to enhance your overall look, this book has all the essential information about the extra stuffs that will enhance your style which includes types of handbags, belts, scarves, jewellery, watches, sunglasses and shoes.

Thus, I personally think this book is what all women are searching for. I highly recommend this book to any woman who cares about her well-being and how she presents herself. When my friends saw this book at my desk, everyone was attracted with the content and some fought to take this book with them for reading. Those who lost the fight came back to me saying that the book is out of stock in the online book stores and reserved the book once it is back to me but I am finding it very hard to get it in back. Thanks Ms. Parimita Chakravorty for such an informative book on creating a personal style through dressing efficiently. I wish someone had written for men this way.

You can buy the book from Infibeam , Crossword or directly from VS publications.

Happy Reading :-)

Book Review: Chameleons

Book: Chameleons - The story of ever changing human nature

Author: Sanket Ghag

ISBN: 978-93-82473-43-5

Publisher: Frog Books

Number of pages : 207

Mr. Sanket Ghag, born Piscean, is a happy-go-lucky guy since his childhood who never bothered about what lay ahead in the future; he lives in the own dream world Studies being his last priority, he is a drop-out by choice in his last years of graduation from Bhavanas College as he wanted to chase his film dreams. But on the persistent pressure from parents he studied Interior Design at Rachana Sansad and worked as an Interior Designer and joined L S Raheja Film and television to chase his dream and is now working in the Hindi Film Industry as an Assistant Art Director. Sanket loves writing and photography and wants to become a filmmaker.

The back blurb says:

What would happen to you, if someone you loved madly left you without giving you a reason? What would you do if your business, which is running smoothly, turns into a bumpy hell ride? And a friend, whom you looked up to, turns his back when you needed him the most? The last resort you look to is your mother, who comforts you in your crisis, but she too pushes you to the extreme.

Situations like these brings out the true inner self of a person; some change themselves to adapt to the situation like chameleons, some fight back and change the situation.

Sunny is entangled in such situations. Standing on a six inch thick parapet wall of a four-storied building, he is looking out for a solution, and life flashes back to Sunny. Will Sunny find the solution? Will he become a chameleon or will he jump off?

Before I start with the story let me tell you about the cover page of the book. The cover page, designed by Mishta Roy itself is of high quality, colourful, looks lucrative and can easily be spot in any shelves or book stores.

‘Chameleons’ is a tale of varying temperament of the individuals who acts weird on different circumstances. The story revolves around a colourless, unsuccessful Interior designer who always trusted every one blindly. The story swings from his present to past. The present deals about his business life, the past deals about his love life and both are interconnected in one way or the other. In most of the chapters he has compared his present and the past on similar situation showing the positive and negative of the situations. It is a story about love, friendship, relatives and trust. The story clearly portrays the different colour of the people under different circumstances and Mr. Ghag has explained every situation well and clean.

When I read from Sunny point of view I saw a defeated interior designer in front of me. His thoughts, pain and happiness everything is submerged in this story left me in admirations for Mr. Ghag’s narrating capabilities. The past life or Sunny’s love life was very interesting when compared to the present. Though Natasha comes a little in the story she turned out to be my favourite character with her sarcastic talks. The love scenes are realistic and triggers Goosebumps. The only thing I felt from his past life is he could have done the break-up part better. He made me to laugh, turned me sad and felt pity.

The present part is quite slow but it has got more to do with the story. This is the part where he explains and experiences different colours of the people and how they change to be in a safer position. Once he is in the tough situation he understands those friends with whom he lost contact after college only helps and those who were connected with him runs away. Sunny’s mother who had been yelling at him from the beginning turns out to be the supportive mother at the end, with all her love and solves his financial issues. His Dad turns to be the commander when Sunny is in low and guides Sunny and his brother in the right path to success.

Every character has got a role to be done and it looks complete at the end. Once when he is back to the regular life he gets call from his lost love and solves her problem. The way he ended the story without showing pity turns out to be realistic and the art in the last page is excellent. On the language front there are few spelling and print mistakes do exist which could be solved by a little rework. The usage of words is excellent and the sentences are well structured. Hindi has been used in few places and at the same time it has been translated too which makes the book to read by anyone who knows English.

To sum-up my review, I must say, ‘Chameleons’ is one of the good books by any young Indian author. It shows various natures of the human nature and takes you towards hope and betterment of life. The book gives great message and is not targeted to any specific group. It is clean enough that you can suggest to anyone. If Mr. Sanket Ghag is working on any new project, I’d be looking forward to it with higher expectations. I rate 4 star for this book. I wish Sanket ghag all the best for his future and I hope to see him as a film maker.

You can buy the book from Flipkart or Homshope18

.

Happy Reading :-)

Waiting

Waiting has been a part of my life. I don’t know how many has been waiting for the things they wished, as people around me got everything they wished, instantly. I never saw anyone longing for things they dreamt of. Either it is a pen or gadgets, they got it instantly. The major issue I noticed with them was those things became uninteresting in few days of owning or they feel it is outdated. Recently one of my friends bought an I-phone 4 and I saw him adoring that mobile the day he bought but today he seem to have lost interest over it. When I asked the reason he gave a simple reply by saying “It has become old as there are better one than this and to top it all, I-phone 5 has arrived in stores.” I wonder how their likes changes instantly.

But I was not one among them. I had to wait for everything I wished. Right from my childhood, I never got anything instantly and I never compelled or nagged any one to get me what I wished for. I always asked only once and waited with the hope that one day or the other I will get that or I made myself to buy what I wished for. Only in that way I got my first ever pencil, toy, drawing note, pen and phone but I didn’t throw those after using it or for the silly reason because it has become outdated and I will never because only I know the pain and the pleasure of waiting. I still have the first ever pencil even though it has become so small. Many people has asked me, teased and scolded me for using my first phone, Nokia 2600, but they didn’t know how important it is to me. The first time comes only once and I want to cherish that all time. No one can understand the importance of the things unless and until they had longed for. And, at the same time my likeness towards that never went down and will never go down because I know the value of it and the urge I had had on it. Only after experiencing these, I came to know that “Anything you get instantly will never be stable.”

Hope and patience is what needed for waiting which I have got more. So I will wait until I get what I wish for. If you have both of them then you will get what you wish for, though it may take time. Try experimenting once; you will enjoy the pain and the pleasure of longing. Right now, even after knowing it would take a longer time, I’m waiting for my dreams to come true.

Book Review: Seven Days Without You

Book: Seven Days Without You

Author: Anmol Rana

ISBN: 9789382473282

Publisher: Frog Books

No. of pages: 336

Book Editor: Cora Bhatia

Cover Designer: Archana Bais

About the Book:

‘Seven Days without You’ is a story of two childhood friends that finds its destiny only when they live seven days away from each other. What the joyous life of years together couldn’t unearth, was dug out by the heart breaking realities of seven days that were no less than a new life for him- one where his childhood friend was not with him.

The protagonist, Vishwas is all set for his first job. Enthralled with excitement the small town ‘mummy-papa’ boy leaves for Delhi and would return after seven days. His seven days without Shailja do not happen as he thought they would. His dreams ruined, expectations shattered and fantasies turned into nightmares, he realizes that life isn’t as simple as it looked from the balcony of his room.

Fun, joy, excitement, sorrow, disgust, embarrassment, deception and then LOVE… Seven days teach him the perfect definition of every sentiment. The battle of emotions and confessions that lasts for seven days transmutes his years old relationship into something else, and his heart overflows with the love he thought Shailja would never kindles inside him.

What happened in those seven days that gouged his love out of friendship?

Will Shailja still be waiting for him after these seven days? And will she reciprocate his love…?

About the Author:

Anmol Rana, 35, was born in Dehradun, and completed his education from Mussoorie and Dehradun. A postgraduate in science, he is currently working as a scientist in Defense Research and Development organization (DRDO), in Dehradun. Writing was like a hidden treasure he discovered only recently. But he invented himself into a completely new person in the form of a writer. The English language scares him, but calls it an irony of the education system that he can write only in English.

Slightly introvert by nature, he believes in understanding rather than saying. A scientist by mind and a writer by heart, he loves playing soccer and chess. Music comes naturally to him, and if you were to believe his friends, they say that he is a far better singer than a writer. This is his first book, but not the last.

Review:

‘Seven Days without You’ a simple, decent but still a beautiful story I have ever read. I give full marks for the cover page and the title of the book which is the perfect match for the story, thanks to Archana Bais for the cover. Looking at the number of pages the book had, I thought the author would have dragged and elaborated each scene which usually ends in boredom. But to the contrary, the book was so interesting throughout and I wished the book never ends. Though love stories of two best friends are common, detailing about the realization of true love in seven days is beautifully written in a clear and neat language. All the characters apart from Vishwas, the hero and Shailja, the heroin seemed to have important place in making Vishwas realize his true love for his childhood friend Shailja.

The story begins with the first day of the seven days, where Vishwas leaves to Delhi for his first job. He feels happy to stay away from Shailja, towards whom he had developed a kind of hatred from his college days. His travel with Nishika was well written and added humor to the story. Chachaji’s family was addressed with all stuffs needed for a typical middle class family. Harsha, whom Vishwas thought as his true friend, helps him to stay at Malguddi’s place. Vaijanthi and Harsha make use of Vishwas to get married which creates problem for him. Sooner he realizes that Harsha was not his true friend. The betrayal part was handled every well.

The story at his work place was well described. Bhosle, his team leader, lives a life without caring for what others say about him. Sanjana was a sweet lady with more of helping character. Vishwas finds true friendship in Rajeev at workplace. Though Shailja doesn’t revolve around the full book, Vishwas’s mind getting clouded with her thoughts at the end of each day was beautifully written. The letter was simply superb and I enjoyed reading it. The last two days was so interesting and emotional. The true love that he had not realized for years was finally realized. I loved Vishwas’s family. The last few pages gained my full attention and I enjoyed the final proposal.

To conclude my review, I would say that Mr. Anmol Rana has put a lot of effort in making his first book though it never looks like a first work. I’m sure everyone will enjoy reading this book as I did. Thanks to the author for writing a beautiful story of true friends that talks about all kind of emotions. It isn’t a love story but a tale of true friends. . I give 5 out of 5 for this book. I’m looking forward to read his next book soon and I strongly recommend this book. Wish you all the best Mr. Anmol Rana.

                       

You can buy the books from Flipkart.

Book Review: The Pink Scarecrow

Book: The Pink Scarecrow

Author: Ankita Srivastava

ISBN: 9789382473138

Publisher: Frog Books

No. of pages: 173

About the author:

          

                  Ankita Srivastava is a prolific writer who first published her work at the age of seventeen and has, since then, been publishing in both international and national magazines. An avid poet, Ankita is also a poem reader on AIR, a theatre artist, an Army officer with Operation Kargil and Operation Parakarm on her resume, an Air Force Officer’s wife, and a mother of two bright boys. She won the Tanishq Beauty pageant in 2008 and Most Vivacious Woman award at Gladrags Mrs India 2009.She is the first lady security officer of the State Bank of India, New Delhi and was conferred the State Banks Performance in Excellence award in 2012.This multi-faceted and accomplished lady finally gives shape to her dream of writing a novel and takes us into the captivating world of a fascinating romantic suspense in the backdrop of an Army Cantonment and the glitter of the fashion world as she writes her debutant fiction "The Pink Scarecrow.

The Synopsis of the book says:

As Lieutenant Colonel Vishesh looks around for the lady of the evening – whom he presumably offended by committing the misdemeanor of ogling at her, an act in clear contravention of established military courtesies, which could possibly make him lose social accolades earned in his military career spanning many years – with the thought of apologizing to her, he inadvertently enters a vigorous thought burrow where he sees one of the many insignificant passions that had got lost in the journey……that of his very own ‘Pink Scarecrow.’

Unable to fathom the reason for such inopportune reminiscences at the most inappropriate of times and venue, he launches into accomplishing the task he had set before himself for the evening.

He is shocked when he is chosen by the lady as her dance partner, much to the chagrin of his Commanding Officer and so many other fine-looking Army and Air Force officers. Oscillating between visible and invisible infatuations on the dance floor while dancing in close proximity with the dazzling lady, he could smell her perfume and he felt his body heating up.

The clock strikes 12:00…midnight...he holds his breath under his command just to wholly absorb her unruffled breath next to his ears…now craving to be rewarded…he hears her whispering something. As her words descend upon his ears, he freezes in his track.

Read on to find out if at all she thought he had committed an offence or does she make him feel punished for his permanent offence, if there was any !

The review:

                   To start with, a special thanks to Mistha Roy for a good and impressive cover page. At first I found the title to be irrelevant until I came to know about the real pink scarecrow of the book. The choice of title is good which a perfect adjective to describe ‘her’. Though the book has only 173 pages, the full story is clearly written with all needed stuffs. I congratulate Mrs. Ankita Srivastava for writing a novel with different military background. Reading the blurb I thought it would be a usual military story oscillating between war and love. But this book is totally different from the usual. One can learn all the military bearings or rules reading this book which was very new to me. The author has made an effort to let know the readers about the military bearings and responsibilities of the military officers in a neat way. A special note for letting the readers know about the women’s part of work at military that are brave and dedicated towards their service. The descriptions about the lady officers were very clear that I could imagine how they will resemble in their military attire. 

                   

The full story is about a New Year’s Eve party at the military camp which is celebrated every year. The protagonist is in army and the story swings from his present to past. The entire military group enjoys the day with their family and friends. Lieutenant Colonel Vishesh who is the hero here is forced to attend the party by his Commanding officer, Colonel Sameer Chauhan. As Vishesh’s wife and children are out of town he had decided not to be a part of the eve but he is cornered when his officer who is also his friend, philosopher and guide who simply orders him to attend the party. This New Year party is considered very special and all are excited because of the celebrities who are invited to honor the eve. Vishesh who attends the party with no interest is slowly attracted by the guest of the eve who is the grandmags Mrs. India. The discussion or argument about Mrs. India between Sameer and his wife is well written.

                  

The flashback about Vishesh’s college days makes the book interesting. Vishesh – The Casanova part talks about how he was the biggest flirt in the town. Gravita’s character is so perfect with that of an army officer’s daughter. Her fear to talk with a stranger that she also enjoys for the first time addressed beautifully. I found the telephonic conversation between Vishesh and Gravita to be very elaborate but still I enjoyed it. Finally the dance floor shared by Vishesh and the pink scarecrow is brilliantly handled and really is the unexpected part of the book.

                 

To conclude my review, I would say that Mrs. Ankita Srivastava has put a lot of effort in making her first book .I really appreciate for giving a new and unusual story about military background .The use of language is so clear and beautiful. I give 4 out of 5 for this book. Thanks for sending me the review copy, I’m looking forward to read her next book soon and I strongly recommend this book. Wish you all the best Mrs. Ankita Srivastava.

You can buy the books from Flipkart or HS18.