My Kind of Girl

My Kind of Girl

Author: Buddhadeva Bose (In Bengali)
Translated to English: Arunava Sinha
Publication: Random House India
Price: 350/-





I always saw this book cooling its heels in the rack of my book store. The cover & packaging was classy and so was the price. I always felt that for a 171 page book the price was too much. And then on a rainy day I picked the book sat on red couch of the book store & was hooked to it in no time. Needless to say the book was bought & possessed.


On a cold December night a doctor, a bureaucrat, a contractor & a writer are stuck in the waiting room of Tundla Railway station. Ill at ease & uncomfortable they were worried about how the night will pass when the door of the waiting room opened. A newly wed couple peeped in and retreated after seeing four pairs of prying eyes. Behind them they left a sad room and the men inside started wondering the reason for their departure. All of them had a theory and the one which stood out was


‘They look like a couple in love, they will find a cozy, private spot for themselves, they will enjoy it. They don’t want anything else, they just want privacy.’


This small incident propelled these old guys into talking about love and its intricacies. One thing leads to other and they start sharing their stories, stories of their love, marriage et al.


Each story shows us a different face of love, if in once case it is a synonymous to sacrifice then in other it is blind faith or sometimes it is friendship which is love. There is one common thread between each stories and that is innocence.

The book was originally written in 1951 in Bengali and the stories have the charm of that era. There is certain magic in each story which manages to touch a chord. I keep wondering that if the translation is so beautiful then how beautiful the book would be in its original language.


If I want I can summarize each story but in the process I would kill the magic that I had felt & experienced. I fell in love with each story and am sure so will you. The book has the making of a slow book but it never meanders on that path. It keeps you gripped and enthralled.


It is a sweet little book which endears you with simple language and innocent love stories.


In the present times of fast paced life and faster love life’s the book makes you sit back and yearn for the times when you could not pester your boy friend with unlimited missed calls. All you could do was to wait for him to turn up. It makes you yearn for the times when the best way to pass time as a couple was to go for a walk not mall hopping.


Sigh!!!


A lovely book about love!!!


It can not get better than this.


5 on 5 from me.

Lucky Everyday

A new and exciting novel from a rising star in India read the subject line of the mail by a lady called Carli Rasch. I opened it with no expectations whatsoever but it turned out to be a pleasant surprise.

Carli turned out to be a member of Penguin Viking Publication New York’s, publicity team. The mail was an attempt to introduce me to a new book by an Indian Author and ended with the note, “be in Touch if you would like a copy for a review”. Needless to say I was on cloud nine and got in touch with them for a copy. Here is my take on the book.

Lucky Everyday

Author: Bapsy Jain

Publication: Penguin

Price: $14.00



When a lady commented to Lucky Boyce, “You are lucky today, you escaped miraculously.” Lucky simply said “I am Lucky Everyday”.

Can a name make you luckier than others??

What we get to see of Lucky’s life can never be called a lucky existence. As an outcome of her bitter divorce she was forced to flee from Mumbai to New York leaving behind a trail of bitter memories & a business which she had nurtured with her sweat & blood. She tries to start afresh in New York and starts teaching Yoga to prison inmates but the lure & passion for high adrenaline life pulls her back into a business with some old associate.

It is then that her life takes a u- turn. Life which was turning look up starts throwing unpleasant surprises on her. From getting mugged, to getting into an affair with a much married man, to being falsely implicated for a crime; she sees it all. All the while her lone strength is the learning’s from her friend Shanti. Besides the friendship of some prison inmates it is the art of seeing things in perspective and of letting go which keeps Lucky afloat.

But how long can she survive?

How will she fight her enemies when she doesn’t even know that her enemies exist?

The book moves from Calcutta to New York to Bombay and back to New York. It begins on a note of déjà vu. Falling in love, resistance at home, a workaholic couple, cheating husband, deceit & divorce but in the later part of the book the author springs a surprise on us. It isn’t a simple book of fighting for your dreams but it is a little bit more than that.

If we talk about negatives of the book there were places where I was bored especially at places where there was spiritual talk. Though the principal characters though are well etched but there are small characters which are mere caricatures & their actions unexplained. Even the ending leaves a lot for your imagination but I guess the author is looking out for a sequel.

However as a whole the writing is taut and by the time the book ends you will feel so much is encompassed in so less pages. Slowly the book catches upon you and the twist n turns make the book unputdownable. Your heart goes out for Lucky who has been anything but lucky in her life and she still shows a strength which only a woman is capable of.
As is written somewhere in the book

"One does not choose this kind of life. This kind of life chooses you."

So true na?? We are mere puppets in the hand of God & destiny.

To sum it up I will consider it to be an above average book and a nice read for Time pass.

3/5 stars from me.

Now comes the sad part, right now the book is not available in India and though sites like flipkart are selling the book but it is the imported edition which is way too expensive. Am still awaiting a reply from Carli to know the exact release date in India but if you feel this is your kind of book then note the name somewhere :-)

Review Coming Up Next: My Kind of Girl

A Doctor, A Mela & A Friend!!!

It was around last Thursday that I felt that something akin to cold was approaching me. I had a body ache & the throat was burning. I usually avoid visiting a doctor so early in a bimaari but then I had some certificates which needed to be attested so I thought I will kill two birds with one stone. So Thursday evening I sat across the doctor and dished out my so called mild symptoms.

His reaction was, you have fever? Is the throat paining really badly? When I answered in negative he gave a disappointed look and said...


“I feel you will have viral but as of now you have no strong symptoms & I can not give you any thing.” And with a glee he added “But come back in 3 days by then you will have all clear symptoms and then I will give you the medicines”.

lol, he was sure that I will come back in 3 days but could not help me then. Had I been on camera I would have turned around, looked at the camera and would have said “lo kar lo baat!!!”

I went to office for next 2 days and wasn't feeling any better. On Saturday it was raining really hard but my desire to eat fresh banana wafers made me walk back home instead of taking an auto rickshaw. The result was I was totally drenched. Now I had fever & severe cough. I decided to skip office on Monday & visited the doctor.

“See I had told you, you will fall ill in 3 days and now I can treat you”. He looked so proud that his prediction had come true that I couldn’t help but smile.

Doctors!!!!

I have been telling this incident to all my friends and it doesn’t fail to amuse them ;-) BTW You can read my tryst with another Doc here. It was hilarious.

So thanks to the bad bout of cough I was cooling my heels at home and was royally bored for 2 days. The laptop is still out of action so net access was ruled out. I had so many books around me but somehow couldn’t read beyond a page of any book.

Thus I was stuck with the TV & the remote. As it always happens the ‘Murphy’s Law’ was in full form. There was not a single movie which I could watch & out of compulsion I watched Miss. Congeniality again and loved Sandra Bullock in it :-) I also saw bits n pieces of Jerry Maguire starring Tom Cruise, a nice sweet movie.

But for the better part of the forced chutti I was stuck with watching “Rakhi Ka Swayamwar” (I prefer calling it ‘The Marriage Mela’). The show sucks but entertains (I can't believe I said that).

In a surprising move this sweet Kashmiri fellow discloses that he has a wife & three kids but he still wants to marry Rakhi because he genuinely loves her. WTH!!!! When asked to go the way he said “but what will happen to my dreams” he looked & sounded genuine, almost!!! However the whole incident made me think, did these people go ahead with the show & contestants without doing a reference check???

Or this was some publicity stunt!!! Because the way they were repeatedly showing the teasers it did look like one. But I must admit, Rakhi isn’t at her Nautanki-best, Hell!! she even sounds normal sometimes and looks genuinely excited & looking forward to her marriage types.

God!!!! I can't believe I said that. I guess I need to go to a rehabilitation center otherwise I would be defending her next ;-)

But yes I must say, Vee am sorry, we should have let you go there!!!! :D


That reminds me of another important thing that happened last week. I started an impromptu war with Vimmu. Most of the readers found the post hilarious but then there was a guy who felt it was a publicity gimmick (!!!!) and the comment he left wasn’t something which I liked and I was busy planning a reply which could be rude and yet sounded indifferent when somebody else gave a strong worded reply to him.


It was no one else but Vimmu who stood by me :-) he said things which I would have wanted to but am sure wouldn’t have said. The best part was he was defending me in a comment section where I had raged a war (without an iota of seriousness) against him. It was also the first time that I saw the no-nonsense side of his. I haven’t met you Vimmu but I know you are genuinely nice guy and a wonderful friend, somebody on whom I can blindly fall upon.


There, I have said it once don’t expect me to repeat it, you know how painful it was to say that. BTW this also redeems you from whatever you said for Salman Khan but yes the count was in my favor and I have won the battle but will spare you ;-) And all this doesn’t mean that I will not fight with you. Nah!!! Not so easily!!!! You know na, I don’t forgive n forget ;-)


That's it from me, please pardon me for not reading & commenting in your posts, hoping to catch up soon or else MAAR zindabad ;-)

And You thought You Could Malign him So easily???

I am a very peaceful peace loving blogger who loves to write, read & comment. I usually never react to any specific post and take everything in good humour. But this time I have been seriously irked by a casual comment of a fellow blogger.

Vimal the bugger in his posts on mobile phones say

"Expecting a technical post from me would be like expecting Salman Khan to do a good film!! "

Now, though I agree with the first part that he cannot write a technical post because for that one needs brain :D but to say Salman Khan can never do a good film is most appalling.

I am not saying this because am a Salman Khan Fan nah!!!

I am not at all biased and I believe in the policy of “different individual’s different choices”. But am raising objection because

- The post was on mobile phones and mentioning Salman Khan was totally out of context & was done to malign him.

- The line denounces all the good movies done by the super star. And I can list them here.

• Maine Pyar Kiya

• Patthar Ke Phool
• Hum Aapke Hain Kaun
• Khamoshi: The Musical
• Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
• Phir Milenge
• Judwaa
• No Entry
• Partner and many more to go

*such a difficult task it was* Ah!!! So easily done!!!

- The line also seems totally out of context because Vimal himself is a biiig fan of Salman Khan. There, I have said it, now prove me wrong Mr. Vimal!!!!

Though I am very very angry with Vimal but am ready to pardon him or rather call a truce if and only if he promises to write a post accepting the fact that, the line on Salman Khan was written under pressure and that he agrees with me that Salman Khan is capable of doing or rather has done some wonderfully good movies.

He will have to publically accept that he is big fan of Salman Khan and never misses any of his movies.

Do these and I pardon you Vimal otherwise I will storm the comment section of your blog with spam & anonymous comments.

An appeal to my fellow bloggers to come join me in this drive for doing the right thing. Come save the honour of my hero Salman Khan.

The Case of the Missing Servant

The Case of the Missing Servant

Author: Tarquin Hall
Publisher: Random House
Price: Rs. 430/-

Let me make myself very clear at the outset. I have never been a fan of who-dun-it novels by Indian authors or who-dun-its based in India. The only one that I have liked in recent times was Krishnna’s Konfession & that too I attribute to the fact that it was chick-lit cum mystery novel. My last attempt at Indian thriller (though I must accept it wasmore of a love story) was “My Friend Sancho” by Amit Verma. The book though listed Man Booker Prize in 2007 (!!!) was just about average. So when I heard about “The Case of the Missing Servant” I wasn’t very excited but two facts made me pick up the book

- It has got rave reviews

- It was listed in the ‘HT Page Turners to pickup in 2009’ & the list is yet to fail me.

The cover & the catch line “Meet Vish Puri India’s Most Private Investigator” reminded me of “The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency” but that’s where the similarity ends.

Vish Puri, a pot bellied 51 year old man is the MD of India’s Most Private Investigator Ltd. From screening grooms for matrimonial alliances to murder mysteries Mr. Puri has done it all and is considered to be the BEST in the business.

He has a team of undercover operatives with cutest nick names in town; Tubelight (because the man is slow), Facecream (because the girl is fair), Flush (his was the first house in the village to have a flush) and his ways of investigating are bollywoodish!!!

Mr. Puri’s lands with one of the most complicated cases in recent times when a Public prosecutor is accused of murdering his maidservant Mary.

He faces the indomitable task of finding Mary who was just another face in the crowd & has now vanished in thin air. Even before he can seriously start his search the police claim to have found her body and arrests Mr. Kasliwal.

Can Mr. Puri solve the case?

Can he prove the innocence of his client???

Well that’s not the only worry that he has in his mind. While watering plants at his home Mr. Puri miraculously escapes an attempt on his life and it is then that the detective instincts of his mother raises its head and nothing he says can discourage her from the case of shooting on his son. Needless to say the situation gets quite a many chuckles out of us.

The book is

- A Page Turner
- Racy
- Cute
- Funny
- Adorable

Sample this, Mr. Puri a hot shot detective leaves for Jaipur for an overnight trip but no one at home has any clue about the trip and this is how he explains things to his zapped driver

“I have packed my overnight things in the cardboard box. It was not possible to explain all this to you at home. Everyone is doing gossip”.

A detective who can not keep secrets in his home :D

The writing is taut and the description of India very colorful & real. The driver of Mr. Puri, Handbrake loves his job but hates the fact that his boss asks him to follow traffic rules & speed limit. The later meant giving way to traffic & this humiliated him to no ends. Isn’t that the mentality of every 2nd Indian?

What makes the accurate description specials is the fact that the author is not an Indian national. No where does he go overboard in description. The mystery when solved leaves some loose ends but I felt the humor & the writing quite makes up for every small flaw.

I won’t spend much time in shredding or appreciating the book & all I will say is.

A who-dun-it with Indian Tadka can not get better than this. Not at all over the top, has lovable characters & the taut writing makes the book an immensely entertaining read. I am now waiting for a series of cases to follow. So go grab your copy NOW!!!

I would give it a 3.75 4 star rating!!!