inKonversation: Nagendra Murti on Debuting With A Mind Thriller and More…

Born in Bengaluru, India and a Master of Software Engineering from Brandeis University, Waltham, USA, Nagendra Murti is a technologist and a customer advocate by profession. He is also an avid bird-watcher, photographer and wildlife enthusiast. His constant gripe is the disappearing lakes of Bengaluru due to chaotic urbanization and is looking for avenues to help with that cause. When time

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Book Review: Rise of the Sun Prince

There are stories, good stories and great stories. Stories are nondescript tales you read and don’t leave you thinking about it after it is over. Good stories leave you pondering on the tale it tells even after it gets over. And great stories are the ones that keep coming back to your mind at different points of your life, making

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Book Review: The Guardians of the Halahala

Halahala – Hindu mythology. Vikramaditya – Indian history. Did I tell you I am a mythological & historical fiction fan. Shatrujeet Nath just went ahead and blurred the lines between the two, and the result is a book that gave me a reason to return to reviewing books 🙂 Coming to the book, The Guardians of the Halahala takes us

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Book Review: Losing My Religion

Losing my  Religion is  a roller-coaster ride — that of exhilaration and dismay, hope and despair, enthusiasm and disappointment. It says the story of life itself. How  an individual faces the ups and downs of life and emerges a winner!  An oft-told  story, you would say. Perhaps, but not in the way in which it is  narrated…there is an inspiring vitality

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Book Review: Fraudster

Fraudster is R. V. Raman’s first book – a thriller set in the corporate/ financial sector. The premise of the book is the prevalence of NPAs (Non Performing Assets) in a large number of financial institutions and the myriad schemes and machinations involved therein. The core strength of Raman’s book is that the plot is quite realistic and believable. What I

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Book Review: The Legend of Ramulamma

When I started reading this book I thought at worst, Ramulamma would be an Indian derivative of Agatha Christie’s somewhat underwhelming Ms. Marple – a shadow of her legendary Poirot. However, as I got further into the book, I realized that getting an Indian Ms. Marple might have actually been a good bargain. Quite frankly, I did not quite understand

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Book Review: Labyrinth

Anthologies are not very rare in the Indian literary market these days, and yet there are few which can be counted into good ones. Litizen is a virtual platform for writers and it has come up with an interesting anthology, unrestricted to the bounds of genre. There’s gaming, ghosts, paranormal activities, beautiful con artists at job and a little magic

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Book Review: The Radiance of Ashes

While reading this book, I came across a line that I feel best suits the feeling about this book – ‘All Nations are full of sad stories, especially our nation India’. Even with the common surname Mistry you would never think that the author is anyway related to the much celebrated Rohinton Mistry. Though they share similar literary capabilities, they

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Book Review: Birth of the Bastard Prince

Warning: Mild Spoiler Alert Let us assume that you have no idea who Amrapali was and what the various re-tellings of her story have been. Let us assume that you have not seen the movie starring Vyjayanthimala, read Acharya Chatursen’s Vaishali Ki Nagarvadhu, seen Hema Malini’s TV series. Lets just take this book as a piece of fiction loosely based

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Book Review: Where The Rainbow Ends

Does the title sound gloomy? Perhaps…but life isn’t always about roses and dreams, nor is it about the seven shades of the rainbow. Sometimes we stumble at stark reality, while one’s head tells us this is real the heart refuses to accept it. And that is what this new novel from Anurag Anand seems to tell us. Look beyond the

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Book Review: No Man’s Land

“Land – you can’t burn it like money. You can’t melt it like Gold. You can only buy it, sell it, snatch it, grab it. Titles change, governments change, times change but land stays where it is unmoved and sterile. That is its beauty” – Nilesh Shrivastava, Author, No Man’s Land This is a story of a dysfunctional Indian family

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Book Review: Happily Murdered

Most of us who are devout fans of the mystery genre have a certain degree of fixation with the whodunits. They suck you into its mystery unlike any other sub-genre. They seduce you to have a look into them and before you even know it, you’ll have immersed yourself into the action in the form of an invisible detective—someone who

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Book Review: Under Delhi

Nothing hurts a reader as much than a disappointing read from his/her expectations of a book. When I picked this book, it sounded promising with it’s back cover description of a plot that involved a female vigilante fighting the evils thriving in the capital city, I was looking forward to have a great time with what sounded like a Kick-Ass

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Book Review: The Sad Demise of Manpreet Singh

I really love reading books where foreign authors ramble on India or stories with an Indian backdrop. It is not their story or ideas that attract me but rather their perspectives on the Indian culture and how they entwine them with their characters. Its also the curiosity that I develop to see if they have got their facts right, judgmental

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Book Review: Indian Tango

There are certain books with which you have love & hate relationships in the sense that they just don’t strike enough chord with you so as to grip you along through-out. At the same time, however, there remains something in the book which doesn’t let you leave it in between. Fitting perfectly in that canvas was Indian Tango by Ananda

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Book Review: The Love Letter and Other Stories

Do you like short stories? What do you like about them? The fact that they are short? That they are stories? Not novellas? Or big giant novels? That more often than not, they just deliver a knockout punch smack on your face and disappear? Or, that they are like the cup of coffee early in the morning that makes your day

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Book Review: Been There Bungled That

The mountaineer George Mallory, when asked why he wanted to climb Mount Everest, famously replied, “Because it’s there.” Turning his rationale on its head, I say I write humour because it’s not there. If, through Been There Bungled That, I inject some into your life, I’ll be happy. –      Paddy Rangappa An author armed with that philosophy is bound to

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Book Review: Path of the Swan

Indian authors in the fantasy genre is rare. And finding a competent Indian author in this genre is even rarer. And finding a fantasy story that stays with you forever is of the rarest. Charu Singh is one of the rarer. Almost first of its kind, a Tibetan-Buddhist fantasy novel, the novel is a thorough page turner, though the pace

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Book Review: The Exiled Prince

It’s the age of retelling in the Indian book publishing industry. So many new re-tellings of Ramayana and Mahabharata in the Bookstore, that you are confused on which to choose. They all tell the same story but with different insights and angles which make it impossible to not like it. But what about mythological fiction? This genre is still in

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Book Review: The Prophecy of Trivine

Based on the concept that aliens once existed amongst us and have influenced the development of religion, technology and cultures within the human race and are in fact are responsible for the various wonders of the world like the pyramids of Giza and stone heads of Easter Island (reference Wikipedia), The Prophecy of Trivine explores the idea that life on earth could

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Book Review: How To Screw Up Like A Pro

‘The original draft was much darker than the current version.’ said the authoress in an interview. It had me wondering how the book would have panned out had the original draft prevailed, for the final product is anything but dark. An interesting title, a tidy book cover and a particularly appealing blurb at the back. From the outlook, Abirami M.

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Book Review: Ex…A Twisted Love Story

A twisted love story…that’s how the writer Novoneel Chakraborty addresses his novel. Perhaps one could also call it a brain twister… the conflict of the past and the present rolled into one  leaves us  confused, bewildered and  astounded. Neel  is torn between loyalty to his live-in girlfriend Titiksha and Nivrita who claims to be his Ex. Is all this for real

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Book Review: Sahara – The Untold Story

Sahara – The Untold Story, at first glance, seems like an attempt to cash in on the newsworthy sordid mess that Subrata Roy’s affairs have become… but at first glance only. As one begins reading the book, it becomes apparent that Tamal Bandyopadhyay, a career journalist, not only has done meticulous research to write the book – including interviews with

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Book Review: Savita – The Tragedy That Shook A Nation

What should I tell about a young woman named Savita Halappanavar that she was smart, beautiful and vivacious; that she was a doctor by profession and loved to dance; that she was ever vibrant in personality and had a diamond smile; that she was recently married and was expecting her first child; that her womb had along-with the fetus, some

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Book Review: Stay Hungry Stay Foolish

In the current market scenario, where the term Recession finds its way in any and every conversation, job security is no longer an idea that professionals cling to. In order to set up a well-established career & to fulfill their requirements (both professionally as well as financially), the number of people jumping from one organization to another is on a

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Book Review: Skyserpents

In Skyserpents, Jash Sen has proved once again that a background of Hindu mythology and ancient lore, gods, demi-gods and asuras can form an arresting and deadly cast of characters when thrown together with her creative ingenuity. The second book in the trilogy, Skyserpents starts out with one of the most well known and pivotal moments in Hindu mythology –

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Book Review: Baramulla Bomber

The genre of espionage fiction hardly fails to thrill. To say that the first part of The Svastik Trilogy, Baramulla Bomber by Clark Prasad, is just an espionage thriller, would be tantamount to the statement that our country, India, has only natural bounty. It is a must read for anyone who likes reading espionage fiction, with an after taste for scientific

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Book Review: The Other Side

I am the type of girl who would do her best to avoid horror stories/ movies unless my curiosity gets the better of my senses. My initial foray into this genre started with Goosebumps and similar R. L. Stein novels and somehow stopped there. I did delve on to some serious horror novels like The Shining and Carrie by Stephen King,

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Winning to Judging: Shoma Narayanan

Banker on weekdays, writer on weekends the first Indian Mills & Boons writer to have a global book release – Shoma Narayan – has had an exciting journey from being a winner of Mills & Boons Passions Contest to judging the same contest 3 years later. As Passions 2014 – Season 4 is well underway we get inKonversation with the writer

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Book Review: The Yogic Manager

The art of yoga, is the way to good living, as we all know. Combining yoga with the principles of management, is quite novel and unique to say the least. The book draws inspiration from the epic, The Mahabharata, especially the gem within that epic, The Bhagavad Gita, which is the series of conversational pieces between Lord Krishna and Prince Arjuna/ Dhananjaya. In the Foreword of The Yogic Manager:

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Book Review: Smart Phones Dumb People?

Information technology and exploration of its hallowed portals are the mantras of the present perfect. There are both pros and cons of getting high–tech. The ordinary mobile phones have got upgraded to smart phones. But given the fact that we have gone more tech-savvy with each passing day, Smart Phones Dumb People? – Using 21st Century Tools To Address 19th

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Book Review : Jack is Back in Corporate Carnival

Jack Patel and his partner-in-humour Brahmadesam Balasubramaniam Krishnan (Kitch) are back in Dubai to regale us with their corporate adventures. Jack is Back in Corporate Carnival – as the title suggests that it’s a sequel to Jack Patel’s Dubai Dreams. Thankfully as you read along, it doesn’t make much of a difference if you haven’t read the previous book. Jaikishan

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Book Review: It Takes A Murder

Brooks Town is a sleepy hill station that hasn’t changed much since independence. Everybody knows one another, and secrets, it seems, are rare. But Charlotte Hyde has some rather big secrets that she manages to guard very well. Only one person – Soumen – knows all her deepest and darkest secrets, but he is a rather unreliable character, appearing and

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inKonversation With Romance Addict & Addiction – Ruchi Vasudeva

With two novels in her kitty, Ruchi Vasudeva has arrived and some. While her first novel Bollywood Fiance For A Day has charming Zaheer swooning the females off their feet, her second novel You Can’t Fight Royal Attraction has gorgeous Saira making every girl want to be her. In short, Ruchi Vasudeva creates some memorable characters. Ruchi Vasudeva is a doctor by

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Book Review: The Blood Telegram

The Seventies decade of the Twentieth century started on a very inconsolable note especially for the South Asian countries. There were series of events & agitations in eastern Pakistan that culminated in the Indo-Pak war of 1971 eventually leading to the birth of a new nation called ‘Bangladesh’. The irony of these events is that despite being involving one of the

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Book Review: The Lonely Monarch

Calcutta,1924. In the vibrant world of Bengali theatre, Sisirkumar Bhaduri, a young man of talent and vision, is king. The opening lines of the blurb present a fair idea of what The Lonely Monarch is about. The twenties were an enchanting era in Calcutta encompassing dazzling celebrities in the literary, academic, cultural and socio-political arena including Rabindranath Tagore. Sisirkumar Bhaduri

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Book Review: Love Potion Number 10

Set in the 1960s, in the fictitious hill station of Hamara Nagar, Love Potion Number 10  transports its readers to a gentler age and times with its quirky cast of characters. Though touted as a Jana Bibi adventure, do not expect any pulse pounding action. The intrigue that the book blurb refers to is at best muted. But that doesn’t take

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Give Up (writing) While There’s Still Time! – inKonversation with Andy Paula

Andy Paula is quite a versatile personality. From a teacher to a corporate trainer to a writer, she has travelled a long road, which few of us dream of travelling or are apprehensive of. After the innumerable essays, poems, articles, editorials, congratulations & condolence letters she wrote for herself and others refused to satiate her writer’s self, she finally put

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Book Review: The Invitation

When I first read the blurb of this book, I expected an emotional drama filled with behavioral and emotional theatrics displayed when a group of individuals, especially those that have migrated to the promised land of generation ‘X’ meet after a decade! I was expecting chapters filled with the display of wealth and success by the main protagonists in true immigrant

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Book Review: Haroun and The Sea of Stories

We all know of Salman Rushdie as the controversial author who has a fatwa hanging over his head for stepping into forbidden territory in his controversial treatise The Satanic Verses. But I had missed out, before I read this book, that he had soon after the fatwa stepped into action in what can be called a lit contrast – from

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Book Review : The Sea of Innocence

The Sea of Innocence by Kishwar Desai is her third work in the Simran Singh Series. The first one was Witness the Night which dealt with female infanticide while the second one Origins of Love focussed on surrogacy. The only thread linking all these three reads is the recurring protagonist – Simran Singh who is a social worker/ investigator making it suitable

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Book Review: The Wordkeepers

Part of Debut Indian Writers Challenge 2013 As soon as I started reading the first page of Jash Sen’s debut novel, The Wordkeepers, I was instantly hooked by the scene, which drew me right onto the battleground in Kurukshetra, set at a pivotal moment, with Arjun–Ashwatthama about to annihilate the planet, and Lord Krishna trying to prevent it. Thus began a

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Book Review: Aisle Be Damned

Aisle Be Damned attracts the reader with the cover and tagline. It is an intelligent blend of pun and posh-ness. The book starts with airports, covers check-in, security, boarding, flight safety, food and all the other steps in separate chapters. There is a little something for everyone – tips to strike useful conversations with attractive co-passengers, a very important section on choosing your seats wisely before boarding, a rather intimidating chapter on flight safety, hilarious anecdotes on captains and cockpits.

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inKonversation With A (very) Young Love Guru – Anamika Mishra

I have never met Anamika Mishra, so when I got the chance to read her book and interview her, I didn’t have any high expectations. Okay, here is another chick lit. Girl falling in love, heartbreak and all the other ingredients. There wasn’t much to be impresssed about. Right? Wrong! For a young girl Anamika’s insight into relationships and human

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New England Meets India: inKonversation with Betsy Woodman

A north american with memories of India, returns back after decades to write a fiction based in the country of her childhood memories. Part memoir – part fiction the Jana Bibi Adventure series is back this winter with its second instalment. We get inKonversation with the creator of the vivacious fortune teller Jana Bibi and her intriguing parrot – Betsy

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Never Stop If You Love Writing: inKonversation with Parthajeet Sarma

Bringing together hope and humor seems like his thing. Atleast his debut proves so. The debutant author who brought us the very intriguingly titled Smart Phones Dumb People? – Parthajeet Sarma– gets inKonversation with us and we get a sneak-peek into a mind that is equally intriguing. Read on: Tell us a little about yourself and your background Parthajeet? My

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Book Review: Lady, You’re Not A Man

Apurva Purohit talks about the Suffering Sita syndrome and the fortyish syndrome found in Indian women. She points out categorically that these not only hamper their career growth prospects, but also impede their character development. She writes, “Like wine, we only become better with age.” The modern social scenario, according to the author: “It is thus crystal-clear that traditional stereotypes are getting redefined and we cannot slot men and women into airtight boxes any longer.”

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Writing Can Be A Bolt From The Blue, Proves Sundari Venkatraman

inKonversation with Sundari Venkatraman who felt the happiness of being a published author when Indireads decided to publish her short novella Double Jeopardy. When I got this book for review I was ready for a quick read without much expectations. This small package made me sit up, bite my nails and hold my breath and above all the oomph factor was something I would not have guessed in my wildest dream.

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Book Review: Faraway Music

There are books which engage us for a short time and some which touch our hearts. Sreemoyee Piu Kundu’s novel lingers on in our hearts even after we have finished reading the book. It is lyrical and very very feminine. Though not a feminist statement, it does reveal an underlying feminine consciousness.
A piercing insight into human emotions, Faraway Music is a wonderful debut creative endeavour.

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Book Review: My Journey

Once in a while, you come across a book that will make you ponder about the life you have lived – about everything you have learnt and done; and this thought process might trigger a self introspection of your being. This book did that for me – it had me thinking about my journey, things that I could have done better and how I can start making little changes that would make me a better person and take a step closer to achieving my dreams.

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Book Review: Complete/ Convenient

Part of Debut Indian Writers Challenge 2013 The fact that the author’s name rhymes with Chetan Bhagat, is not a coincidence. Ketan Bhagat, is in-fact the younger brother of an author who has redefined our reading habits and has proved that best-selling books can also be made into box-office film hits, in an Indian context. As Ketan Bhagat writes, in his

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Pensiever calling Pensiever: inKonversation with Adite Banerjie

I met Adite through the blogging world. Her book The Indian Tycoon’s Marriage Deal was about to be out and she was feeling the jitters of an author debutante. But once I read her book I had a strong feeling that this book is not only for the Indian readers but also should be distributed in the International market. While her story

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Book Review: Love, Films and Rock ‘n’ Roll

Part of Debut Indian Writers Challenge 2013 Love, Films and Rock ‘n’ Roll explores a different track of life far removed from the preconceived ideas of society. The novel seeks to link the present and the past talking about the changing outlook of the young generation on love, films and music and how they rediscover their inherent cultural values through personal trials

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Book Review: Don’t Slap Your Wife But Don’t Get Slapped Either

The genre of self help books has gained immense popularity and readership over the past couple of years. These books help in self –improvement as well as provide useful guidance to enable one to tide over the tumults of life. Readers Digest (yes, that international magazine) had conducted a survey and had found the top ten self help books that have successfully

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Book Review: Bollywood Fiancé For A Day

Mills&Boon (M&B) are books that a girl apparently grows up with but fortunately or unfortunately, my reading group in school – we grew up looking down on M&B. Even though reading wasn’t that cool in the 90s, we beleived we were too cool to be reading about love struck petite heroines and love deflecting hot heroes.

The first time I read a part of a M&B was (preposterous as it may sound) when I was forced to read a chapter during the hostel ragging.

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Book Review: The Last War

Part of Debut Indian Writers Challenge 2013 Tell us who is your favourite character from The Mahabharata and why? Answer in the form below. The best answer makes you the Reader-Winner of September 2013 and gets fun-express The Average Indian Male by Cyrus Broacha home delivered at your place. Sandipan Deb’s debut  novel, The Last War surely is a page-turner. Having a corporate and

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Book Review: The Virgins

Somethings are change makers, like some people. They can be movies, conversations, books…anything. Even fiction. Yes the make belief can challenge beliefs. This book did it for me. Call me ignorant but being the avid shiva believer Varanasi has, in my mind, remained a city of temples, tourists and tantricks. The Virgins made the city real for me. It put forth on the 318 odd pages a city like any other Indian city, with real people and relatable problems. Siddharth Tripathi in his debut as a novelist presents rare maturity in Indian English writing and a cast that is as entertaining as it is enticing.

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Writing Is More Than Just Being Able To Put A Sentence Together: inKonversation Ambalika Bhattacharyya

She has one of the most intriguing author profiles, we have ever come across Indian writers:  Ambalika was born during an extraordinary planetary eclipse that had momentarily wiped off the sunshine from her life. When the darkness threatened to take over, she wrote and wrote, and when the eclipse passed, she found that she had authored this book. When she

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Cast & Win Contest

CAST AND WIN CONTEST Here’s something to rake the filmi imagination and satisfy the book hoarder in you, Pensievers… Hello Casting Director (Dear Pensiever). Read the character sketches listed below. Cast an actor/ actress from the hindi film industry to the characters. Answer in the form below. Go dream about the movie having a 100 crore weekend, till you get a winner announcement eMail from us

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Book Review: The Caretaker

Through the story of captain Ranjit Singh, Ahmad showcases one man, at two places – thousands of miles apart, in two situations – set years apart, yet connected like those thin threads of cheese that refuse to break, stretch as much as you may. A word-potrait of emotions with some intriguing secrets and revelations infused in the storyline is what, I would call The Caretaker is about.

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Book Review: Life..Love..Kumbh

Part of Debut Indian Writers Challenge 2013, South Asian Challenge 2013 and Reading Challenge 2013: First Reads What is the most exotic thing you know about Kumbh Mela in India. Answer in the form below. The most e.x.o.t.i.c. answer makes you the Reader-Winner of July 2013 and gets the laughter riot book The President’s Coming by Anuvab Pal home delivered at your place. A

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Book Review: Compass Box Killer

Certain things when they associate with certain places hold a very different level of excitement. Crime and Mumbai have a similar association. Blame it on the reputation of the city or hindi cinema but the association runs deep and the proposition always excites. Last year when filmmaker Piyush Jha decided to move his mode of story telling from celluloid to pulp he took it upon himself to explore the fascinating yet rarely explored genre ( in India) of crime thriller. And choose his favourite muse Mumbai as the canvas. Mumbai and crime – the stage was set.

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The Homing Pigeons Art the Heart Contest

Two hearts that’s what you have to put on paper. You are free to use any art form; your are free to use any type of colour (crayons, pencils, pens, paints…anything) or even not to use any colour. You are even free to use inspiration. The only condition is it should be done in hand on paper. No computer kalakaari.

After you have art-ed the hearts on paper, click a picture and upload using the form given below.

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Never Make Decisions When You’re Angry or Horny, says Lara Bagai

She will be the big Three O soon, has a super bitch competitor in business, has the whackiest supporter there too, has the craziest bunch of friends (like all of us) and they are all congregating for her 30th. For a whole week. And yes, she has this filmy deal with her not really buddy friend, that awaits realization at

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Book Review: The Secrets of the Dark

Part of South Asian Challenge 2013, Debut Indian Writers Challenge 2013 and Reading Challenge 2013: First Reads Legend. Secrets. A cult of protectors. A child of destiny. What more does a fantasy fiction fan need? Fantasy fiction seems to be taking some steady, sturdy steps in Indian literature these days. This year at The Tales Pensieve we have had the fantastic Luwan of Brida

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Book Review: The Homing Pigeons

Part of South Asian Challenge 2013, Debut Indian Writers Challenge 2013 and Reading Challenge 2013: First Reads Time does funny things to us. And so do circumstances. It is true for life but fiction just emphasizes it better. Like The Homing Pigeons does. Sid Bahri‘s debut novel is a much needed fresh breath in the  stagnating romance sagas that present day Indian literature sees. The book has its

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Desi inKonversation from Videsh: A Talk With Ankita Kapoor

Once a desi, always a desi – for the heart knows just one beat! We get inKonversation with the very much desi in videsh – Ankita Kapoor. The debuting author and artist talks about her first book, the trials and time pass that writing has become for her. An author published in the US of A, a story about the

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Book Review: Murder in Amaravati

Part of South Asian Challenge 2013, Debut Indian Writers Challenge 2013 and Reading Challenge 2013: First Reads A crime thriller should have pace. It should have multiple suspects. All suspects should have motives. All motives should be equally compelling. And finally the fun is in spite of all the suspects and their motives, the murderer turns out to be someone we (the reader) suspected

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Book Review: 2012 Nights

Part of South Asian Challenge 2013, Debut Indian Writers Challenge 2013 and Reading Challenge 2013: First Reads Magic could be so magical!! (don’t get your hopes high, this book is not a magic propagating fantasy fiction) But it is definitely about the magical stories that entwined our growing years – with a twist. The Arabian Nights – what a fabulous collection of stories it was. Fascinating, intriguing and magic

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inKonversation: WordMaverick of April 2013 – Adi

A science graduate of Stanford University with an MBA from the Harvard Business School, an insatiable interest in the religious history of India, spirituality and mythology and one who claims to have spent his entire life researching for his debut book Tantra – Adi is the WordMaverick of April 2013. We get inKonversation with the shy wordsmith who gives us not

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