Best Sellers This Week : Kalam's 'Turning Point' Tops The List

Delhi: Former president APJ Abdul Kalam`s ‘Turning Points’ continued to reign in the top spot in the non-fiction category this week, as did EL James` ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ in the fiction category. 

Non-fiction

Title: Turning Points

Author: A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Publisher: Harper Collins

Title: Pax Indica

Author: Shashi Tharooor

Publisher: Penguin

Title: India: A Sacred Geography

Author: Diana L. Eck

Publisher: Harmony Books

Title: Churning the Earth: The Making of Global India

Author: Aseem Shrivastava & Ashish Kothari

Publisher: Penguin

Title: Breakout Nations

Author: Ruchir Sharma

Publisher: Penguin

Fiction

Title: Fifty Shades Of Grey (Trilogy)

Author: EL James

Publisher: Arrow Books

Title: The Case of Deadly Butter Chicken

Author: Tarquin Hall

Publisher: Random House

Title: Narcopolis

Author: Jeet Thayil

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Title: Bring Up The Bodies

Author: Hilary Mantel

Publisher: Fourth Estate

Title: I, Michael Bennet

Author: James Patterson

Publisher: Century

Queen's English Society Decides To Shut Shop!

London (ANI): The Queen's English Society has announced that it will cease to exist at the end of this month as no one cares about speaking proper English language anymore.

For 40 years, it has battled to defend the English language against poor grammar, spelling and punctuation.

But the society has finally conceded defeat to the Twitter and text-obsessed generation and is to fold, after none of its 1,000 members volunteered for roles within the organisation, the Daily Mail reported.

Chairman Rhea Williams revealed that the move in a message to supporters after the annual meeting, attended by just 22 people.

"Despite a request for nominations for chairman, vice- chairman, administrator, web master, and membership secretary no one came forward. So I have to inform you that QES will no longer exist," she said.

Its magazine Quest will publish one final time and then "all activity will cease and the society will be wound up."

Expressing sadness, she said: "Things change, people change. People care about different things. Lots of societies are having problems. Lives have changed dramatically over the past 40 years. People don't want to join societies like they used to."

Since being founded by a teacher in 1972, the QES has pointed out errors made by numerous public figures, including the monarch herself in a speech.

"It pains me to say it: the Queen has made a frightful howler," ex-chairman Kevin Botting said.

Patron Gyles Brandreth insisted that "the Queen's English isn't under threat" despite the closure.

"Her Majesty can sleep easy. The language is still in the good hands of all the people who speak good English," he said.

One of the society's biggest achievements was helping to shape elements of English in the National Curriculum. 

Women Stepping Out To Become Authors

Delhi: (IANS) An increasing number of women are now stepping out in the world of literature to shape up the voice of feminist authors, feel well-known women authors and publishers.

"As a feminist publisher, I find it interesting to see more and more women willing to write. We often talk if there`s `women`s writing` in India, but on seeing writers coming up with ideas on all sorts of issues, it`s great," said Urvashi Butalia, director and co-founder of publishing house Kali for Women.

"And other than just works of non-fiction, women writers are also coming up with pertinent issues such as female foeticide and dowry brought out through fiction writing," Butalia added.

Well-known authors and names from the publishing industry gathered here Saturday at an award function for Indian Women`s Press Corps (IWPC) short story writing competition. In the first-ever story-writing competition by the professional organisation for women journalists, three best story writers were awarded among 75 entries received.

Present for the award ceremony, Prasar Bharati chairperson and founder-president of IWPC, Mrinal Pande, said: "It is notable that some of the best writers in the country are women. And they are present among us. But when writing begins to happen, the mind is androgynous. There is a man inside every woman writer and vice versa," Pande said.

Treading into the art of story writing was pulling women writers into literature, the authors said.

"Short story writing is the most difficult kind of writing as opposed to the popular impression that this form is inferior or easier than longer novels. Writers should not get discouraged by this wall of opposition. These are exciting times for both writers and publishers in India, and we find more women wanting to write now," said Butalia.

The jury included author Githa Hariharan, Urvashi Butalia, and Antara Dev Sen, editor of The Little Magazine.

The first prize was won by Chennai-based short story writer Hema. S. Raman for "A Good Father is Hard to Find", the second prize was bagged by freelance journalist Azera Parveen Rahman, who reports for newswire IANS, for her story "Letters to Unborn Sister", while the third prize was bagged by Vijaya Venkataraman, who teaches Spanish at Delhi University, for her story "A Moment of Reckoning".

Marriage Guide For Muslims Suggests 'Wife Beating' Ways

London: (IANS) An Islamic marriage guide advising men on 'the best ways' to beat their wives has sparked outrage in Britain, especially among moderate Muslims who say that it encourages domestic violence.

The book - A Gift For Muslim Couple - tells husbands that they should beat their wives with "hand or stick or pull her by the ears", the Daily Mail reported.

Authored by Maulavi Ashraf Ali Thanvi, who is understood to be a prominent Islamic scholar, the 160-page book claims to be a "presentation for newlyweds" or couples who have been together for some years.

"The book... deals with the subject of marriage and after marriage relationship, as well as the various pitfalls of marriage, causes of breakdown and their causes," reads the book's blurb.

The book claims to narrate "real life incidents" and advises on "different aspects of family life and how to run the institution of marriage successfully".

The book, however, also states that a husband should treat the wife "with kindness and love, even if she tends to be stupid and slow sometimes".

The book has faced backlash from moderate Muslims.

Erotic 'Fifty Shades of Grey' Becomes Best Seller In US

Washington: (ANI) An erotic novel ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ has become such a success that gray ties, an article of clothing that plays a prominent role in the book, have become a hot item in New York, it has been revealed.

The novel, which recently reached the top of the fiction charts, is the first of a trilogy by British author E.L. James, published by a small independent Australian press in May 2011.

The print version has been hard to come by in bookstores, so many have been forced to read the e-book edition.

“Hundreds of women write to me every day asking where they can buy grey ties,” ABC News quoted Lyss Stern of Divamoms.com, who recommended the novel before it became popular as saying.

“The books are really making people want to have sex again. They’re a Band-Aid for marriages that maybe weren’t falling apart, but were getting stale,” Stern said.

Margot Sage-El, the owner of Watchung Booksellers in Montclair, N.J., called the trilogy a “phenomena.”

“It’s coming in and out of here so quickly that none of us have read it,” Sage-El said.

“When I got here this morning, men were lined up outside the door, saying their wives sent them to pick up the book. When there were two books left, an 86-year-old man waddled in, asked for the book and said, ‘My wife sent me in, she thought it would be good for her book group,’” Sage-El said.

‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ is about shy college student Anastasia Steele, who interviews the successful and attractive entrepreneur Christian Grey for her campus magazine. The two begin a passionate affair that forms the basis for a tale the author’s website claims “will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever.”

James’ website offers a soundtrack for each book that includes everything from opera to Frank Sinatra to Britney Spears. Why each book has a soundtrack is left for the reader to wonder.

According to The New York Times, readers aren’t the only ones who have been trying to snap up this book. American publishers battled over the rights to re-release the trilogy, with Vintage Books winning the fight with a seven-figure offer.

Vintage Books will release e-book editions of the trilogy on Monday. The publisher plans to print 750,000 redesigned paperback copies in early April.

Delirious Delhi: As Dave Prager Saw It

Delhi(PTI) Expats often face challenges in Delhi but for US-based adman Dave Prager, the joy of living here far outweighed these challenges so much so that he tries to demystify the city by chronicling how he and his wife experienced: isolated, overwhelmed, and loving every minute of their nearly two-year-long stay.

"Every expat has different challenges. Some expats have a lot of trouble adjusting to having maids at home and peons in the office. Others have trouble with the pollution, or the heat. For me, my biggest challenge was the traffic, because I commuted from Delhi to Gurgaon every day. But for us, the joys of living in Delhi far outweighed the challenges," he says.

Dave was a copywriter working at a Madison Avenue advertising agency until fate offered him the opportunity to spend a year-and-a-half working at the agency`s office in Gurgaon. He and his wife Jenny Steeves leaped to spend the next 18 months "immersed in the cuisine of their dreams".

And then ‘Delirious Delhi’ was born, a 392 pages book offering hilarious anecdotes, astute observations, and attempted comprehension about what the couple encountered, ate, and stared at while stuck in traffic in Delhi.

"Delhi`s only going to get more influential in the world economy. That`s one reason I wrote the book: as more foreigners come to visit it, whether for business or for pleasure, it`s increasingly important to know what makes the city tick," Dave told reporters.

He feels most books about India written by Westerners document an obligatory personal journey.

"At first they hate India, but then they learn to love it. At first they`re overwhelmed by the chaos, but then the soul of the people shines through. At first they`re horrified by the poverty, but then they find spirituality in every speck of dirt.

"Many people have talked about Delhi`s problems. I like to focus on the positive side of things: the fact that Delhi, in the face of all its challenges, is still essentially peaceful and prosperous. If you look at history, you find that all of the world`s big cities had periods of great problems -- including New York, London, and Singapore. They`ve all

overcome those problems, and I know that Delhi will, too."

According to Prager, every traveller should know three Hindi words ? `chalo`, `theek hai` and `bhaiya`.

The couple’s trajectory in Delhi was different.

"We loved it instantly and intensively, every bit of it, as frightening and overwhelming and incomprehensible as it was."

"But the adventure we seek is not mountain climbing or jungle

safari -- It`s things like riding in an autorickshaw or shopping in a spice market. In other words, we fly 20 hours and pay thousands of dollars to do what everyday Indians would consider chores. That`s just the expat mindset."

Ask about incidents which he and his wife can never forget and he quips, "I can recall 392 pages worth of them. That`s why I wrote the book! But when I think back, I remember our Holi celebration and our walks through the Old City. Most of all, though, I think about all the great food we ate. More than anything, our memories of Delhi revolve around food."

And his take on Delhi`s food and hygiene, "You can`t judge a book by its cover, and you can`t judge a restaurant by its tablecloth. In Delhi, every reward has an equal and opposite challenge necessary to redeem it: which means that sometimes the best food can be found in the not-so-best places."

Organised into 12 thematic chapters (like worklife, transportation, and food), "Delirious Delhi", published by HarperCollins, is perfect for expats and locals alike: it helps newcomers orient themselves to this intense and amazing city, and it lets veterans see it through eyes that have never seen anything like it before.

'Hira Mandi' By Claudine Le Toumeur d'lson: Life in Lahore's 'Dirt Bowl'

New Delhi: (IANS) Hira Mandi, the traditional red light quarter of Lahore, lives in the popular mindscape through its stories of longing, loss and 'mujras' after the Pakistan government clamped down on prostitution in the 1970s, says noted French writer Claudine Le Tourneur d'lson.

Her fictional biography, 'Hira Mandi', based on the life story of Iqbal Husain, the son of a Hira Mandi courtesan, has connected to the English-speaking world with its first-ever translation by the capital-based Roli Books.

The novel, originally written in French in 2006, went on sale in India this week after an informal launch at the Alliance Francaise in the capital Monday. It will debut in Pakistan at the Karachi Literature Festival starting Saturday.

Claudine describes the book "as her love affair with the people of Hira Mandi, with whom she had spent weeks in Lahore as if she was a part of them".

"The book has been inspired by Iqbal Hussain, son of a Hira Mandi prostitute, whom I had met in 1988. Iqbal is an artist - perhaps the only one of his kind - and a restaurateur. He owns an eatery, Cuckoo's Den, in Hira Mandi where he serves traditional Lahori food," Claudine told IANS here.

Iqbal is a misfit of an artist in Pakistan, where "even talking about prostitutes is a taboo", the writer said.

"Iqbal is not very comfortable among people though he has been drawing Lahore and the world to Hira Mandi with his food," Claudine said. Cuckoo's Den is a mandatory stopover for tourists in Lahore.

Iqbal uses the dancing girls of Hira Mandi as models for his impressionistic paintings "of figures and landscapes without expressions of sex", the writer said.

"In his leisure, Iqbal spends his time helping the dancing girls. He is very human... Iqbal says, 'I am a man before a Muslim,'" Claudine recalled.

Iqbal in Claudine's novel is the hero Shanwaz Nadeem, who narrates his life story in first person.

Shanwaz's earliest memories of Hira Mandi are of his beautiful 20-year-old mother Naseem, who lives in her Mughal-style "haveli" with her aunts, cousins and her five-year-old son in the narrow crowded bylanes in the old walled city of Lahore.

Naseem's quarters are partitioned and Shanwaz wakes up every night to the "cries, moans and sighs of his mother in the bedroom on the other side".

Shanwaz's life charts Pakistan's turbulent history from partition to the Bhutto years, Zia-ul Haq's repressive regime, fundamentalist violence and the years of "The Satanic Verses".

Hira Mandi gradually disintegrates around Shanwaz, leaving him with memories of its once-forbidden grandeur - and unrequited desires - amid aging courtesans and confused novices.

"The residents of Hira Mandi had hoped that the 'Bhuttos' would bring in democracy and free them of repression and blind police atrocities...But Benazir Bhutto had failed to do much for women. I suppose they were disappointed in the end..." the writer said.

The Hira Mandi of the courtesans does not exist any more.

"The dancing girls (the prettier ones) have either moved to Dubai where the business is good while the others are spread across hotels in Lahore," Claudine said.

Segregated as a red light area during the British Raj for "the benefit of the soldiers" in the old Anarkali Bazar overlooking the Badshahi mosque, Hira Mandi was known for its "refined courtesans with impeccable manners, accomplished in performing arts, music and traditional gastronomy".

However, the tradition of dancing girls in the old Lahore city - a walled settlement - dates back to the reign of emperor Akbar whose son, prince Salim, once fell in love with Anarkali, a dancing girl from Lahore.

Amazing: The Most Overused Word in 2011

Nothing strips a word of all its meaning like using it over and over.

Case in point, the word "amazing," which has gone from describing sheer astonishment to a simple affirmation of the slightly above-average. Which is exactly why Lake Superior State University wants to ban it.

Every year the Michigan university releases a list of 15 words that, after months of staggering overuse, have got to go. Other words and phrases that made the list: "occupy," "man cave" and "ginormous."

Most of the words are synonymous with a driving force derived from pop culture. Look no further than the cult-like obsession with Beyoncé's pregnancy for the reasoning behind "baby bump," or the self-explanatory "occupy."

According to Time magazine, "amazing" came out on top with more than 1,500 nominations from anglophones worldwide. Many people complained that the word went stale after being overexposed through reality TV.

“I blame Martha Stewart because to her, EVERYTHING is amazing!” one nominee wrote.

The plight to eradicate the word has even been taken to Facebook where a smattering of groups lament the word's ubiquity.

John Shibley, one of the people responsible for the Lake Superior list told NPR that the annual word collections are like "looking at snapshots of cultural movements back then, times gone by."

The inaugural list was born at a New Year's Eve party in 1975 when a college relations director bet that he could go home and write up five overused words and phrases. That list consists of timely gems such as "macho" ("seldom pronounced properly and therefore lacks meaningfulness") and "détente" ("invented by Henry Kissinger. Nobody else knows what it means, and now even Kissinger has forgotten").

"I personally don't want to see language squelched in any way or form because I think it's a living thing. It reflects us and it's always changing," Mr. Shibley says.

The Toronto photographer JJ Thompson compiled a similar list for the Toronto Standard, where he dreams of a future without "staycation" and "foodie." Public usage of the latter word, he writes, "is like whipping out your Razr."

Another blogger ranted about words that needed to be retired with a list topped by "adorkable," no doubt inspired by Zooey Deschanel's pervasive brand of saccharine whimsical.

Lake Superior State says it doesn't compile these lists to try to control our choice of words, but simply to start a conversation about language. Still, a world without the word "man cave?" That would be pretty amazing.

For The List of All Fifteen Words Prepared By Michigan University Click on the link given below.

http://www.lssu.edu/banished/current.php

Courtesy : The Globe And Mail

I am desperate to read a book: Shahrukh Khan

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan is an avid reader, but amid the promotions of his last release, `RA.One` and upcoming film `Don 2: The King Is Back`, he is missing the joy of catching up on books.

"Desperately seeking a good book to read. Kindle dried up...bookstores out of bounds...heading to Nagpur would have been nice if I had a book," Shah Rukh posted on Twitter.

The actor and his `Don 2` team are beginning their multi-city promotion tour for the film with Nagpur. He also recieved many suggestions for latest books, and asked his Nagpur fans to give him books during his stay.

"Thanks guys and girls keep the suggestions coming...need to immerse myself in books. Been a long time since I spent some time with myself. Enroute to Nagpur...the tour begins for the chase continues film. I really love meeting you all in the garb of film promotions. DON is ON...

"So if you are in Nagpur and have the time I would love it if you get me books...remember to write ur Twitter handle please on the book," added Shah Rukh.

'Supermodel' Tyra Banks turns bestselling author with 'Modelland'

Tyra Banks’ debut fiction book, Modelland, has reached number two on the New York Times bestsellers list and number one on the Barnes & Noble charts.

The achievement certainly marks the advent of a journey from being a super model to a super author for Banks.

In a candid interview with New York Daily News, Banks revealed that books are “a work of fiction that honours my love of books and fantasy, and also lets me poke fun at things I’ve seen in the real world… many of the characters will be inspired by some of the models I’ve known, both nice and ``ice’,” the Telegraph reported.

Rumours circulated last week that Tyra`s debut book was to be turned into a film.

Of the rumours of film adaptation the model-turned-author said that she “would love to open up the Modelland casting to the world. I’m looking for an ``everygirl`` to possibly play one of the characters in the story.”

Showcase: The making of an artist

                                                                                                                                By : Swati Daftuar

He is one of India’s best known cartoonists and social chroniclers. And now comes a book that shows us how he got there. The Life of Mario: 1951, published by Architecture Autonomous, is a graphic diary of images and cartoons from Mario Miranda’s life. More than 50 years old, it is a collection of his rib-tickling, tongue-in-cheek art work edited by Gerard Da Cunha. The year 1951 marked a turning point in Mario’s artistic development and in Goa’s own history.

In 1951, Mario De Miranda had just finished university in Mumbai and was on a sabbatical. Born in 1926 in the Portuguese enclave of Daman, Mario belonged to a Goan Roman Catholic family of Saraswat Brahmin origin. His father was the Administrator of Daman and his family a part of the local aristocracy. Consequently, Mario managed to imbibe the best of both Portuguese as well as Goan cultures. This multi-cultural understanding and empathy is clearly manifested in his work.

It is impossible to have read newspapers and magazines in India and not come across examples of Mario’s works. His influences are everywhere, in books, poetry and social commentary. But this book provides us with a peek into his personal life. Included in this volume are scenes from his daily life, which he was in the habit of drawing.

There are gossiping aunties, solemn priests, dances and birthday parties, favourite bars that allowed credit; everything from those years of Mario’s life that would later chart out the path towards his career. These images also show the cartoonist’s trademark style taking shape; the exaggerated line of the bosom and the rosy noses, the strut and bug eyes that would later become his signature style. Flipping through the pages of Mario’s life, you see the artist evolve and find himself within his own work.

All of 25 and free spirited, Mario’s sabbatical in Goa was filled with old friends and cousins out to have fun. They organised clandestine parties and picnics, visited their favourite haunts and hardly had a dull moment. Mario recreates this world, introducing us to hoards of charming and lovable characters.

A keen observer of village politics and human nature, he transforms this book, with his notes, dialogues and vignettes that pepper the images, from a simple chronicle of his life to a richly humorous social satire.

Many have wondered how Mario, with no formal training in art, could draw so spontaneously. Manohar Malgaonkar, whose book Goa was illustrated by Mario, seemed to have hit upon the answer when he said that Mario ‘did not become a cartoonist. He was born a cartoonist.’

(Courtesy : The Hindu)

Book Review : 'Sita's Ramayana' by Samhita Arni & Moyna Chitrakar

The docile and soft Sita of Ramayana may not be a role model for most women today, however, author Samhita Arni in a new graphic novel has brought out the bolder colours of the epic character.

"Sita's Ramayana," a vivid book which retells the ancient Indian epic through illustrations in Bengal's folk art form of Patua, has Sita voicing out her turbulent life, her anger on Rama and various such emotions that have been underplayed in most of the 'sanitised' depictions of the Ramayana.

Arni, who found international acclaim at the age of 12 with her book "The Mahabharatha: A Child's View," collaborated with Patua artist Moyna Chitrakar to portray a Sita that the current generation could identify with. "The book came with the feeling that the kind of Ramayana that I grew up with is where Ram and Sita are like ideal characters, can't really identify with them but are held up as role models superficially.

"Sita's Ramayana comes from folk stories and versions which were sidelined and where we saw a very different Sita, one who has a strong voice, a voice articulating the kind of tragedy that befalls on her," says Arni.

The author was in the capital for the fourth edition of "Bookaroo" book festival which was held in Delhi from November 25 to 27.

Arni's interest in mythology began at a tender age of four with her grandmother s tales and grew further with time spent in Indonesia, Pakistan and Thailand. Her exposure to different cultures also gave her an insight into the varying forms of Ramayana across the world.

"There's a wonderful poem that's written on a wall of a Thai temple where Ravana confesses his love to Sita and how he knows his love will kill and destroy him and yet he loves her. I think it s quite beautiful and creates a different image of these characters and also different image of love," she says.

The 27-year-old writer disagrees with Delhi University's decision to withdraw A K Ramanujan's essay on Ramayana from the history syllabus.

"You should not hinder knowledge and should not blinker yourself. Education is for the sake of expanding knowledge. I don't think we should restrict or prohibit it in anyway because that becomes censorship.

"Obviously, you can disagree with Ramanujan's essay, you can have a conversation about it, you might not like it but that should not stop it from being out there. Different versions of Ramayan are part of our heritage, we should celebrate it rather than push it under the carpet," she says.

Arni, whose book has made it to the New York s best seller, featured in the fourth "Bookaroo" book festival that was held in the national capital from November 25 to 27. Speaking of her experience at the festival, Arni says, "Although my session at the festival was for 12-16 years of age group, children as young as 8 years old had joined. The book is not restricted to any age group or language due to the visual treatment of the subject." Her next book, she says would also be based on the Ramayan but in the setting of 21st century and as a fictional thriller.

Stephen King, Haruki Murakami nominated for 'Bad Sex in Fiction'

Stephen King: Ouch!

Famous British journal the 'Literary Review' has nominated certain eminent authors like  Haruki Murakami; master of horror, Stephen King and the twice Booker nominated and Sebastian Barry for its yearly Bad Sex Award, the prize awarded to the worst literary depictions of sexual acts.The Bad Sex Award, now in its 19th year. We bring for our readers certain quotes from those authors books who have been nominated for this year's bad sex awards

Choicest quotes

11.22.63 by Stephen King  (“Her head bonked on the door. ‘Ouch,’I said. ‘Are you all right?’”)

The Final Testament of the Holy Bible by James Frey (“Every part of my body sang some song I had never heard.”)

The Great Night by Chris Adrian. (“His lady lifted to the stars on his impossibly stiff, impossibly elegant cock.”)

On Canaan’s Side by Sebastian Barry (“We got rid of our damned clothes, and clung, and he was in me then.”)

Dead Europe by Christos Tsiolkas  (“My tongue furiously worked the craters.”)

Parallel Stories  by Péter Nádas (“They hit gracefully on this exceedingly advantageous position.”)

Ed King by David Guterson (“At the moment of their mutual climax, Ed made sure Diane was on top.”)

The Land of Painted Caves by Jean M Auel (“It surged up, unti, with volcanic release, it engulfed them.”)

The Affair by Lee Child (“Then faster and harder. Then we were panting. faster, harder, faster, harder.”)

Outside the Ordinary World by Dori Ostermiller (“We’re part of the same organism: some outrageous sea creature.”)

Everything Beautiful Began After by Simon Van Booy  (“Henry reached up her thighs … as though quietly imploring.)

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami  (“A freshly made ear and a freshly made vagina look very much alike.”)

And also : "[Her breasts] seemed to be virtually uninfluenced by the force of gravity, the nipples turned beautifully upward, like a vine's new tendrils seeking sunlight."

And also: “I’m still erect now, and it shows no sign of subsiding. Neither Sonny and Cher nor three-digit multiplication nor complex mathematics had managed to bring it down.”

'Chapter Eleven', the corporate tale that wasn't

(IANS) Chapter 11, which in legal terms means filing for bankruptcy, is the central theme of this supposed peek-a-boo into the corporate world. The title is apt and justified as it won`t even take you 11 chapters to figure out that the book is a result of clear bankruptcy of ideas.

For starters, it could have done with some sharp editing and generous chopping of the tech lingo, which though simplified still manages to sound like gibberish.

The plot is a done-to-death Bollywood cliché. Virendra Vikram Singh or VVS is your typical small town boy dreaming of making it big one day. The dreams of VVS, a Rajput from Udaipur with exceptional intellect, come true when he lands a job with a Fortune 500 company in Gurgaon with the help of a sleazy college senior who`s now a strings-pulling "fixer" office senior.

The Blackberrys, laptops, corporate suits and king-size breakfasts make for a glamorous entry but soon lose sheen when the company files for Chapter 11.

Heads roll, VVS does a `what-am-I-doing-here` act but the "fixer" senior comes to his rescue, time and again.

Meanwhile, our protagonist naively manages to get into a soup by doing a hacking job for a blue-blooded Rajput from his hometown, finds a place to stay with two women - one of them beautiful with a bell-like voice - and discovers the virtues of Facebooking and coffee guzzling to kill office time.

In between, we`re also subjected to ill-timed flashbacks where VVS is still a student in Delhi University. We`re told, more than once, that he was IIM (Indian Institute of Management) material but the "god-like" influence of the sleazy senior changes the course of his life and puts him on the path of Navy Cuts and Old Monks.

Back to the present, VVS expectedly falls for the girl with the bell-like voice despite a sarcastic wife back home who keeps calling to check if he`s been asking "how was it" there too -- a reference to a question he used to ask her after their passionate act.

In office, he`s been christened "thakur" and is just beginning to make an impression on seniors with acronyms like his when tragedy 1 strikes. A marketing campaign is leaked and all fingers point towards him. Under the impression that he`s innocent, VVS gets the shock of his life when he finds out that he`s been stabbed in the back by the bell-like voice. Tragedy number 2.

Losing all sense of faith and sanity, VVS bursts out with an impromptu, supposedly-brave speech in the office whose customary purpose is to make the protagonist appear like a coming-of-age hero. Unfortunately, it is neither heroic nor does it move, it`s just a never-ending rant.

Contemporary in its voice and setting, what drowns ‘Chapter Eleven’ is the oft-trodden path it takes.

What could have been an insightful, vivid journey of the corporate industry is reduced to an underwhelming and unintelligent drama with one-dimensional characters, uninspiring writing and a storyline that can be predicted just by turning the book over and going through the blurb.

Grace Before My Eyes: A Poem by Mukul Raisinghani

A letter kept beside my sleeping girl

My Grace

My love, as you are about to read this, I just wanted to tell you I kept on looking for hours at you. I was glued to this serene grace of god on your face and trust me each and every moment lasted forever endlessly...

Sitting beside my sleeping grace, sitting beside my sleeping you I just kept on wondering and wondering whether to keep on wondering and feel this eternal beauty of your soul forever endlessly....

Or

Should I paint this splendour of yours on a canvas and immortalise you forever in colours so vivid and exquisite seen or felt never before so that each and every one feels this eternal bliss of paradise....

Or

Should I fill life in these lifeless papers of my diary in reverence of the everlasting serenity of an angel sleeping right beside me, who makes me realise this delight of paradise....

Or

Should I compose a melody so soothing and alluring heard or composed never before that touches each and every soul that hears it in the same way it touches me and makes me feel this rhythm of paradise....

All I wondered was whether to keep this music, lyrics and paintings of

Paradise that resides in you to me or should I tell everyone about these including the heavens above about this paradise of LOVE in the form of a PAINTING coloured with the colours so enchanting never seen before, or a SONNET immortalised with the elixir of ink, or a MELODY so mesmerizing that mesmerizes even the heavens above......

...........

I know it very well no matter how much I wonder and how much I try, I‟ll never be able to colour my reverence for you on a canvas with perfection like the way God did on the canvas of my life.

I know it very well no matter how much I wonder and how much I try, I‟ll never be able to present flowers of my words in my reverence for you on a paper like the way God did on the pages of my life.

I know it very well no matter how much I wonder and how much I try ,I‟ll never be able to create a melody of my reverence for you so soothing and enchanting like way the God composed on the memories of my life.

All I can do is praise and thank the Almighty,

For providing this solace of coldness to my eyes, for filling my life with the music of love, for blessing me with pictures lovely sunsets, filled with rainbows of bliss, and each and everything he bestowed upon me by gifting you......

Sometimes there is only one thing that I wonder, whether you yourself know how charming you are,

Whether you can see what I see in you,

Whether you have the slightest idea of the depth of your beautiful soul,

Whether you know what all you do to me with all those little gestures and those smiles that take my breath away,

Whether you have had the taste of your own eyes, the way they play and the way they talk to me,

Sometimes I really wonder whether you yourself have talked to your own eyes looking into them like the way I do.........

Sometimes all I wonder is whether even God knows the delight of your beauty, does he have the slightest idea of what it feels to be me while looking into your eyes and talking to them, does he knows how it feels to be me as I am sitting beside „ the sleeping you‟......

As you are sleeping and I am sitting beside you, my Grace!! And looking at your angelic face there is one thing I can say, Everything is there in a name, and it seems to me that “it‟s all about the name”.

Ohhh dear gracious Grace!!! it‟s God‟s grace that I can see in you, it‟s God‟s grace I can see in my life when I look at you. And all those who have you in their lives, they not only have you they have God‟s grace in their lives in form of you, ohhh my grace!!!!

Ohhh baby!!! I am looking at you, the sleeping and dreaming you, with the dreams of pleasant heavens and clouds above. Your eyes that are peacefully and delightfully closed like that of a seashell shining brightly in morning on rhythmic seashore....

And these red lips of yours seems like a bud of a red rose waiting to mesmerise the aura around it and as you smile unconsciously I can see

them blossoming into a beautiful red rose filled with infinite amount of magnificence and heavenly fragrance....

And these hands of yours joined unconsciously seems like a

Bouquet of baby pink roses, all I wish is I could hold them forever and remain forever in awe of you....

Ohh my dear!! with these joined hands and serenity in your closed eyes you seem to be a sweet little kid praying with blissful innocence.......

And as this sunshine falls on your face, trust me you shine brighter than everything that shines, brighter and finer than glowing snow and the Merril. I can feel the divinity of heaven and calm of innocence in you....

And as I touch your cheeks of yours trust me I can tell you I have never felt the softness this way, no feather and no petal can be softer than you my Grace!!!

As I try to keep your lovely and silky hair behind your ears, to me it feels like making way for the sunlight through the leaves of a tree....

Like the shadow of leaves of a tree standing beside a lake and in between the leaves when shines the sun, in the same way my Grace you shine in the morning light and in the same way your grace shines on my smile....

While looking at you I can feel the beauty of heaven and see the soothing innocence, I can feel and see the unseen Love, I can fly without the wings and swim without the fins, I need nothing more than the moment I am living. All I wish is I could stay magnetised to you like this.... Forever, hypnotised and mesmerised the way I am... Forever.

The perfection of the beauty of your soul and perfection of the moment says it all about the existence of an eternal power, it says it all about the presence of God.

“Bow to thy god, who created thee”

“Bow to the god because of you I am sitting beside thee”

As this sun will blossom more, it will bother you, and soon you‟ll wake up but as always you won‟t let this sun bother you much. You‟ll shine back at the sun with a radiant smile on your face for you know that love shines in you and this shine of your love makes the light of sun feeble to bother you.

Ahhh!!! How lovely will it be...., watching you spread your arms with a sweet smile on your face, like watching a bud blossoming into a flower in morning light just like the way your smile seems......

“Will it be like blossoming of a flower or will it be like a dove waiting to spread her arms to kiss the sky or an impish butterfly fluttering her vibrant wings while coming out of the cocoon....

I came to wake you up by embracing and cuddling in the sweetest possible way, I wanted to hold you close to my heart and wanted you to feel how it feels to be me in your arms but I am allowing my words to do the talking, to touch your soul.

You listened to my heart and now it‟s time to feel it, My Love!!!, my sweet embrace is waiting for you or rather say I am waiting for your sweet embrace. I have been waiting for this moment for a long time, and now is the time it will come by.

Come oh dear Grace, love of ours is waiting to get flourished in the garden beside the lake. As you are reading this my love, I am waiting by the lake side just for you to come by, and paint my love with your shining colours. As you are reading this I am feeling the most blissful moments of waiting and as I am waiting the nature is singing the songs of immortal dreaming.

Come my dear love!!!

I am waiting to hug you in the laps of nature, with these orangish red flowers sprinkling down from these tall trees and this fragrant and chilling breeze playing with our cheeks.

Come my dear love!!!

As this flowing lake and this charming wind has also started playing a melody so soothing and alluring heard never before,

Come ohhh my dear love!!!

Let me love you in this mesmerizing aura of magnificent love

Come oh my dear love!!!

let me play with your long flowing locks and touch your cheeks like the way these enchanting winds are touching me, come and let me enlighten you the way this aura is enlightening me and the way you have enlightened me....

Come oh dear love!!!

let us walk down these miraculous path of love holding hands in and hands and constant cuddling of love, come let us walk playing with each other‟s fingers,. Come and we‟ll fly out to heavens above......

Waiting by the lake, with the sprinkles of flowers from the heavens above, and the drizzling of elixir from the paradise above, and listening to the most melodic melody ever heard created by these alluring winds and enchanting lake...

Come my Grace!!! Come and let me love you this way!!!

Love you more than my words can say....

Waiting endlessly

Mukul Raisinghani

Book Summary of Chetan Bhagat Combo Of 5 Books

The box set includes the following 5 titles : 

1) Revolution 2020

Once upon a time, in small-town India, there lived two intelligent boys.
One wanted to use his intelligence to make money.
One wanted to use his intelligence to create a revolution.
The problem was, they both loved the same girl.
Welcome to Revolution 2020. A story about childhood friends Gopal, Raghav and Aarti who struggle to find success and love in Varanasi. However, it isn't easy to achieve this in an unfair society that rewards the corrupt. As Gopal gives in to the system, and Raghav fights it, who will win?

From the bestselling author of Five Point Someone, one night @ the call center, The Three Mistakes of My Life and 2 States, comes another gripping tale from the heartland of India. Are you ready for the revolution?

2) The 3 Mistakes of My Life
In late-2000, a young boy in Ahmedabad called Govind dreamt of having a business. To accomodate his friends Ish and Omi's passion, they open a cricket shop. Govind's wants to make money and thinks big. Ish is all about nurturing Ali, the batsman with a rare gift. Omi knows his limited capabiltiies and just wants to be with his friends. However, nothing comes easy in a turbulent city. To realize their goals, they will have to face it all - religious politics, earthquakes, riots, unacceptable love and above all, their own mistakes. Will they make it? Can an individual's dreams overcome the nightmares offered by real life? Can we succeed despite a few mistakes?

3) Five Point Someone
Five Point Someone is a story about three friends in IIT who are unable to cope.

The book starts with a disclaimer, 'This is not a book to teach you how to get into IIT or even how to live in college. In fact, it describes how screwed up things can get if you don't think straight.'Three hostelmates - Alok, Hari and Ryan get off to a bad start in IIT - they screw up the first class quiz. And while they try to make amends, things only get worse. It takes them a while to realize- If you try and screw with the IIT system, it comes back to double screw you. Before they know it, they are at the lowest echelons of IIT society. They have a five-point-something GPA out of ten, ranking near the end of their class. This GPA is a tattoo that will remain with them, and come in the way of anything else that matters - their friendship, their future, their love life. While the world expects IITians to conquer the world, these guys are struggling to survive.

4) One Night At The Call Center
The novel revolves around a group of six call center employees working in Connexions call center in the Delhi suburb of Gurgaon in Haryana. It is filled with a lot of drama with unpleasant things happening to all of the leading characters. The story takes a dramatic and decisive turn when they get a phone call from God.
The novel has also been adapted into a movie.

5) 2 States (The Story Of My Marraige) 
Chetan Bhagat latest book '2 States' is about a boy and girl from two different states of India, who fall in love and want to get married. Of course, their parents don't agree. What happens next is what the book is about.

In India, there are a few more steps:

Boy loves Girl. Girl loves Boy.
Girl's family has to love boy. Boy's family has to love girl.
Girl's Family has to love Boy's Family. Boy's family has to love girl's family.
Girl and Boy still love each other. They get married.

Welcome to 2 States, a story about Krish and Ananya. They are from two different states of India, deeply in love and want to get married. Of course, their parents don't agree. To convert their love story into a love marriage, the couple have a tough battle in front of them. For it is easy to fight and rebel, but it is much harder to convince. Will they make it? 

If you want to read these books you can purchase it from booked4books@gmail.com by placing your order for this 5 book set of Chetan Bhagat's novels. The 5 book set is available at Rs 455 only

JK Rowling ‘considered killing Ron Weasley’ in Harry Potter series

JK Rowling has admitted that at one point of time she seriously thought of killing Ron Weasley in the hit Harry Potter series.

Although the author had originally planned not to kill any of the main characters, it was one of the low phases of life during which she pondered upon killing Harry Potter’s sidekick.

“I planned from the start that none of them would die,” the Daily Express quoted her as saying.

“Then midway through, which I think is a reflection of the fact that I wasn’t in a very happy place, I started thinking I might polish one of them off, out of sheer spite.”

“I was thinking: ‘There, now, you definitely can’t have him any more.’”

But she always knew that she would not have taken this decision.

“But I think in my heart of hearts, although I did seriously consider killing Ron, I would not have done it.”

“Anyway, it’s a real relief to be able to talk about it,” she added.

Julian Barnes wins Booker Prize

 It was fourth time lucky for British writer Julian Barnes, who won literature`s Booker Prize on Tuesday after a contest that had as many insults, rivalries and bitter accusations as a paperback potboiler.

Barnes, a finalist on three previous occasions who once described the contest as "posh bingo," finally took the 50,000 pound (USD 82,000) prize with ‘The Sense of an Ending,’ a memory-haunted novel about a 60-something man forced to confront buried truths about his past after the unexpected arrival of a letter.

Former British spy chief-turned-thriller writer Stella Rimington, who chaired the judging panel, said the 150-page novel "spoke to humankind in the 21st century."

She said it was "almost an archetypal book of our time" that examined the unreliability of memory and how little we know ourselves.

"It is exquisitely written, subtly plotted and reveals new depths with each reading," she said.

Barnes, one of Britain`s most critically acclaimed novelists, was previously nominated for ‘Flaubert`s Parrot’ in 1984, ‘England, England’ in 1998 and ‘Arthur and George’ in 2005. The 65-year-old writer conceded that "in occasional moments of mild paranoia" he had wondered if forces were working against him ever winning.

"I`m as much relieved as I am delighted to receive the 2011 Booker Prize," he said, thanking his publishers "for their wisdom and the sponsors for their check."

Barnes had been the strong favorite to win the award, attracting half of all bets laid through bookmaker William Hill.

He beat five other finalists. Three were British — Stephen Kelman for ‘Pigeon English,’ AD Miller for ‘Snowdrops’ and Carol Birch for ‘Jamrach`s Menagerie.’ Two Canadian novels rounded out the shortlist: ‘The Sisters Brothers’ by Patrick deWitt and ‘Half Blood Blues’ by Esi Edugyan.

One of the English-speaking world`s most high-profile literary prizes, the Booker is open to writers from Britain, Ireland and the 54-nation Commonwealth of former British colonies. Founded in 1969, it is officially called the Man Booker Prize after its sponsor; financial services conglomerate Man Group PLC.

It always attracts colourful commentary and controversy, but this year`s contest has been particularly combative, with critics accusing the five judges of dumbing-down after Rimington said the finalists had been chosen for readability.

The shortlist drew criticism for excluding some of the year`s most critically lauded books, including ‘On Canaan’s Side’ by Ireland`s Sebastian Barry and "The Stranger`s Child" by Britain`s Alan Hollinghurst.

And a group of writers, publishers and agents announced it was setting up a rival award that hopes to supplant the Booker as English literature`s premier prize.

Literary agent Andrew Kidd, spokesman for the new Literature Prize, said the goal was to create an award "where the single criterion is excellence rather than other factors."

The new prize will be open to any English-language writer whose work has been published in Britain — unlike the Booker, which does not allow American entrants.

On Tuesday, Rimington accused the Booker`s critics of patronizing and insulting both authors and judges.

"What`s a novel for it it`s not to be read?" she said.

She said the judges were pleased that the batch of six finalists was the best-selling in Booker history.

Though only Barnes was an A-list literary name, readers have embraced the novels` pacy plots and varied settings, which range from inner-city London in "Pigeon English" to Gold Rush-era America in ‘The Sisters Brothers.’ ‘Jamrach`s Menagerie’ moves from 19th-century London to a whaling ship, while "Snowdrops" is set in modern-day Moscow and ‘Half Blood Blues’ in prewar Paris and Berlin.

"I thought that the intelligence world was the place for intrigue," said Rimington, former director of the MI5 spy agency. "But that was before I met the publishing world."