Eternity And A Day

The first most striking aspect about the book is its presentation.. its done in a way which is sensitive to the moods of a reader, realizing the ability ( testing their patience)  of a reader to dwell on a single page - depending on the thoughts that that page is carrying the burden of.

The cover design, pardon me, for my nonchalance in leaping into the book directly before commenting on the cover -  is so perfect that drove me ecstatic to see what lied within without a moment wasted.

The title of the book : Eternity And A Day - when I read it - came across exactly the opposite of what the poet meant as he verbally expressed its meaning inside. Where the author implies to add a day  after eternity has passed... to me, it came across as - a comparative where ... eternity conflicts with a day as though a day can hold within itself eternity and vice versa. 

I simply finished the book in full within an hour literally. I think the poet mutely expresses his respect for the readers time and values it heavily. He understands his poems are such that they simply need a touch, that's all, for the essence of his thoughts and motives to spread afar.

I attended the book launch too of the poet. It was at Thackers in Mumbai on 29th October 2017 Sunday  and was eloquently done gracing the guests with an enjoyable evening with exchange of muses.. his mother who is a singer also performed melodiously in the show despite her sore throat.

I'd like to quote few excerpts of the book :

"Man aches when he learns -
he is a slave to nature

A mere vessel in the scheme of eternity... "

Expresses the poets surrender wherein elsewhere in the book he himself speaks of -
one knows grief due to having tasted laughter and joy in the lap of sorrow.

Another  such quote is  -

"woman is the best thing that happened to man.
she speaks and soon,
how soon he forgets the boredom of work
and takes pleasure in gazing at cows"

this one taps the wit of the drunken poet who uses a simile, wherein,
he is associating a woman to a cow.

hats off to Kartikey for gauging the flow of the emotions within the reader
 and inserting perks of jokes
to keep the reader going..

Few other words that will string a chord within you can be found on page - 52, 54, and 58.


With this I end this review and wish the poet the very best!!

Can Love Happen Twice?

I'd been meaning to read this book for a while now. However, what it basically does is shares a diary of an ordinary person from North India. Lots and lots of cliche things happening in this book. Deals with attachment issues of not just the character playing lead role in the book but even the writer faces attachment issues as there are many places where the writer leaves dialogs and situations, unexplained, where he assumes its just so obvious what comes next that he would not NEED to put it in words and thus -
leaves a reader confused about what happened next. ITs a BIG drawback on the authors part to be frank to leave the reader unattended and floating in the air of possibilities of what really happened.

Escapism in the writers writing style is clear, where he slides through many circumstances without giving a detailed account. The purpose behind writing this book is more egoistic than anything else. The purpose needed to be enriched and made deep before starting off writing this novel.

Let me ask this question to the writer  - Do you think you created a happy ending for the book? Do you think you resolved all the issues you brought up or created causes for in the book?

My guess is, you think its a happy ending. A 'perfect ending' .... but the fact is its a 'imperfect ending' to the book.

A lot of places one finds some fresh seeds being sown in the plot but they are then forgotten as if the writer is throwing ideas, sowing them and then walking away or on in your words to another direction, as though pulled by bliss of the next moment forgetting the baby you had just sown moments back.
The reader sees this and finds it irritating to read the novel in some places when they clearly see the
" WRITER does not value his own words." 
The only reason I completed this book is because am aware that when I begin reading a book and finish it come what may. Does the author really think people are going to continue reading the novel after receiving such jerk offs in regular intervals. They may continue once at most thrice but then many people will give a poor rating and move on leaving the book half read - MY POINT IS - there needs to be a turning point in the story to drive the reader to explore further. Like previously said -the purpose needs to be enriched.

By the way, I just played a song on Youtube recently which goes well with the moral of this book. 

Check it out here : Ruk Jaana Nahi Tu Kahi Haar Ke

Btw, there's one more thing in the book that catches the eye - the target audience the author has kept are just Indians. Clearly so, because, when you open the book to read there are so many Hindi conjunctions and expressions and dialogs which no foreign reader will be able to understand and yes, its a big assumption to think they'd atleast know that the language except English used here is Hindi because those who are unable to identify what a language written is saying also do not know the name of the language which is saying it.

I wish the author all the best with the book.
I've been very generous with this book by putting it for display in a 'Little Free Library' my Cooperative Housing Society created outside on my suggestion. Books get exchanged from this library frequently.

Chandna by Sunny Chandel

I would like to pen a poem of mine over here, its a cinquain :


That Love
Of Poetry
Digs the inner recess
Of my mind to explore and learn
And rest.


The book is the fruit of the drive and spirit the poet is innately gifted with. It expresses a pool of emotions with the groundedness of thought very predominant.

It captures the emotions and dreams with such simplicity that a reader finds themselves in the small town environment where fresh feelings and freedom blooms into something beautiful.

The cover design is simple and straight forward.

The book is not officially published and is simply a record of the work the writer has collected, which makes it somewhat a private journal. That is also a blessing in disguise for the poet as that gives him a better first timer opening. It is not available anywhere online for purchase.

There are a few words that are repetitive which gives a smooth serene feeling to the book. It also expresses the love of the author towards those few words when he is penning a new poem. Repetitive use of words in different places in varied perspectives stresses an emphasis on those words for a reader making the reader realize a better purpose beyond what the words intend to achieve. This skill is very seductive and enriching, it makes a reader enjoy the book more.


The language of the book is in Hindi.

With this I wish the author all the best for his book!!

Songs of a Ruin By Scottshak

ISBN : 9781946641304 

This is a poetry book published by Notion Press. 

It is always a soulful experience to dive into another's baggage of feelings. This one takes you to moments which describes a phase in a persons' life which one always holds dear and spends time remembering in latter years. These are times of confusion and mixed feelings where a person is high on curiosity, questioning every aspect of life that went by and that is is follow onwards. 

There is a motley emotional flow here, where the reader is swung to awaken and thrown into another emotion the moment a person starts enjoying and going deep into feeling a particular emotion. It is difficult to time the moment right and this book achieves that. 

The cover design looks like a guitar is disparaged by a storm or crushed into a scintilla. The title appears to warn the reader that what one is about to read is brambles left over where once a forest farm existed. 

some of the poems I liked include : 

1. Tears of Earth

2. Curses of a Faineant Lover

3. If You Were Everything 

There were poems which I liked and then there were poems I didn't understand. There wasn't anything in between.At the outset, I was on a lookout of a theme or message that the book might be putting across but I think there is none. The book is simply a compilation of work which the poet has experienced or penned down and wishes to share with the world. 

Having known the poet briefly, I'd add a personal touch by saying the poet has voyaged a long journey before being labelled as a published author. His path was strewn with many obstacles that his emotions triumphed over  which were kept shunned in a treasure chest but now that they are out they seek solace, acceptable, appreciation and love.  

The work gone behind the first book is most crucial. Sometimes, the extra time that goes before entering into a new stream  may appear harsh and brutal and frustrating and impossible and extremely challenging but in the end - it pays a lot more than the counterpart. 

The book overall is a good read. 

To encourage the poet, click on this link and purchase their book : 

http://www.amazon.in/Songs-Ruin-Scottshak/dp/1946641308/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1489053102&sr=8-1&keywords=songs+of+a+ruin

Into My Heart By Kartikey Sehgal

The hard work which pores through the writers' pen and transcends through the readers heart, elevating the interpreters' sense of vision, to a level where there is no higher place to be or go - is extremely clairvoyant in these pages. 

The reader enjoys getting mesmerized by the sheer selection which the poet has made.  Above all, the writer inspires the reader to such lengths that they, even if its for a mere second, will have this thought cross their mind - "I too should pen a poem, perhaps!" 

I ask all my friends and followers to go ahead, pick this up and elude themselves into being sensitized for those few moments for the journey this book will take thee. 

Link to the book :https://www.amazon.in/Into-My-Heart-Kartikey-Sehgal-ebook/dp/B01N9WFWYO?_encoding=UTF8&deviceType=desktop&keywords=Into%20my%20heart&qid=1488461207&redirect=true&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1#customerReviews

Cocktail by Vikram Karve

Tonight I'm going to review a book which, though has a very senior person by age, is a debut book. It is written with the playfulness of a blissful child who simply seems to be enjoying indulging into nuances of romance.

This book must be read one story at a time. It isn't meant to be read whole and soul in a single date that you fix with this book.

Each story dives your spirit into the life of a salaried employ. Pen strokes seem to be using the wand(pen), gesturing motions as though conducting an orchestra of music.

Two other thoughts drove past as I gulped down the contents like a eager prey.

1. Characteristics of doggedness. The stories expose it with excessive use of meaningless phrases and expressions.

2. Slice of the same fruit. Each story is like a slice. So if u eat the next slice, it more or less taste the same.

The writer is brave to have published the book. Many people whom I know with similar personalities as him, have drowned themselves engaging themselves into diffidence totally limitless.

With that said I come to the end of this review.

Good Bye Girl By Sheeja Jose

I met the author of "Good Bye Girl" a few weeks back when she launched her second book called - 'Gone With The Bullet'. Her voice itself tremors a prophet of what one could expect in her books.

The book has a ravishing appeal attached to it which soaks the reader into pouts of gruesome circumstances which expresses the authors overindulgence and emphasis on extremism, with little space for reason to enter. As the story unfolds, one is showered with disgust and injustice that is rubbed into  each and every page of this book.

As the title suggests, this book is definitely not for children. It speaks of adultery in the most cruel and meanest context. If i were to count the pages splashed with abusive language and shitty content then it'll cover almost 95% of the book.

There are several places where the authors thoughts projected via the victimized girl, the protagonist, are downright faulty and therein the reader believes it is a fiction novel. Her soul is pored out in the novel where she declares how distrustful life is to her.
It is quite common to find a switch in  use of  "reality" with "torturous". The most interesting bit is the pivotal vital points which swing the story around are the weak links which do not connect well. Had those spaces been used properly the story might have a different face to it.

There is definitely no denying though that the book  is gripping. It possesses a lustrous pull to engulf the reader and I actually shelved the book away after I saw that "thing" reaching out to me, if I'd choose between self integrity and justice. I would opt for the integrity.

I have experienced the Power of Nature and its ways of serving justice. Sometimes, the arena of our thoughts get jailed within our own existence. Which is what the author got trapped into whilst working with her characters and the subject she deals with. Predictability spake as no transformations happened to the characters.

Her descriptions of homosexual relationships also falters many places. The author forgot her protagonist is fighting for her innocence to be proven and gets carried away in proving it do all the tests and trials she undergoes for the sake of her friend Anus' soul to rest in peace.

After reading this novel I wouldn't want to opt to go through reading her next. I wish  the author all the best in her voyage.

When one digs into a well, one has chosen to dig into a well at the outset on their own. When one digs into a drain one has chosen the path and what follows is only a revelation of what ones subconscious is dimly aware about. The story is linear meaning having a straightforward tale told written in one go, if one decides to layer it - there is effort involved there.