Digi's Blog

PLOT The story begins on a night in the year 2050 in New York city where we are introduced to the central character of our story Ismael. Ismael is a Pakistani who was brought up in a rather rigid and conservative family and told stories about paradise (Jannat) and hell (Jahannum) during his childhood by his father. He soon realizes that his father is so religiously blind that he will go to any limits to safeguard it. He thus runs away from home at the age of 18 and goes to New York. In 2050, Ismael is 30 years old and he is currently writing his thesis on the topic of paradise and hell and he vehemently believes that whatever idea of paradise and hell was given to him by his father in his childhood is a farce, and that no such things exist. On one night, Ismael meets Petra at a bar with whom he shares his thesis topic. Petra urges him to try a psychedelic drug called which transports a person to the spiritual world of the past as well as the future. In this trance – l...

Novels involving courtroom sequences need to be taut and gripping to create an impact. That is precisely why very few authors have succeeded in writing tense thrillers involving the court. That is precisely why John Grisham is so popular and that is also precisely why Vish Dhamija’s author note calls him the John Grisham of India. After reading his latest novel “Unlawful Justice”, I can only say that calling him that isn’t a mistake. PLOT Vansh Diwan is a successful top notch lawyer who has a lovely family in the form of his lawyer wife who gave up her career for him, and their daughter. Things take a drastic turn when Baby, the teenage minor daughter of Diwans’ household maid gets brutally raped and assaulted. As the mother of Baby and the ladies of the Diwan family vow revenge and justice respectively, Vansh finds himself sandwiched between a powerful client and justice for Baby. However, just when things were beginning to settle down, this case gets converted int...

This novel traces the story of Neil and Gauri. Then there is also another couple comprising of Drishti and Somesh. Then there are various other friends called Tom, Jerry, Antriksha, Mehr, James, etc. There is something in the plot about Drishti being allegedly kidnapped, and Neil being framed for it. Get a hint? No right? Neither did I when I read this synopsis on the back cover of the novel. However, I was optimistic that the novel will provide a clearer picture compared to the vague synopsis. WRITING Aravind Parashar’s writing is good, though not extraordinarily brilliant. It is basic English language. One good thing is he doesn’t attempt to add fancy words and make his sentences sound like they have been framed using a thesaurus. His language is as simple as it can get. And so, the book is easy on the mind. It is neither too heavy nor too complex. Writing style wise, Parashar tries to create an abstract pattern by using flashbacks and then coming back to the pr...

“I am sharing a Half relationship story at  BlogAdda  in association with  #HalfGirlfriend ” There was this woman. I call her a “WOMAN” and not a girl, though she is still only 23 years old. This post is for her – that one single woman who I believe is someone who will be etched in my heart for years to come. For the world, she was a random person, a typical girl, loaded with the usual tantrums, habits, styles and fusses usually associated with a girl of 18 years freshly arrived in college. For me she was different. She wasn’t at all a random person. I loved her typicalities, experienced her tantrums, marveled at her styles, and got angry at times and smiled at times at her fusses. The first time I had met her, I had actually shook my head in disgust as she was unstoppingly and unhaltingly speaking – something a woman totally loves to do. Let us leave the words “love”, “girlfriend”, “relationship”, etc aside. She was a friend. A friend who taught me h...

Writing a story about college life and romance has become too commonplace in India since Chetan Bhagat became famous. Every other guy thinks he is a good author and dishes out mediocre or even disgusting stuff which is even gladly published by upcoming publishing houses. This author prefers to write under the pseudonym “Toffee” (Cringes!) but thankfully, what he serves is definitely sweet and delicious. As the title suggests, “Finding Juliet” is a coming-of-age story of Arjun, a guy who tastes the bitter taste of heartbreak not once or twice but thrice. Almost dejected and lost, he then meets Krish, who changes his life forever. Along with Krish and his childhood friend Anjali, he becomes a totally changed man. What happens next forms the crux of the book. LANGUAGE & CONTENT Toffee’s command over language is impressive. He is frank, to the point and conveys to readers whatever he intends to. It is indeed a pleasure to read a book written by someone whose E...

Short story writing is a tricky genre, something where even the most accomplished writers falter at times. Tejaswini Apte – Rahm’s novel “These Circuses that Sweep Through the Landscapes” is one such collection of 10 short stories which explores various human tendencies, some real while some unbelievable. PLOT It is not possible to actually depict the plot of ten short stories. However, I’ll try summarizing each plot within a line or two, and also what I felt about each story. 11. HOMO COLEOPTERA tells us the story of a man whose passion in life is to collect beetles and win contests. Mr Ghosh’s story is definitely told and written well. The detailing is very good. I personally liked it. Also, this story sets the spooky tone which continues throughout the book. 22. THANK GOD FOR STAR TREK tells a story of a little girl whose childhood is anything but colorful. Not that it is bad, but I felt the overall tone of the story too dull, morose and dark. Also, “Star Trek” isn...

MTV Unplugged is a mixed bag of sorts. It always has been like that. While some episodes and artists stand out among the rest, some are plain mediocre, largely owing to the extra modifications made in the songs. Song selection is the most important aspect here – one should know which songs will sound good on a live platform. Secondly, one should know how much to modify and where to stop. I agree it is a platform where musicians have full freedom to experiment, but one has to be sure of the fact that the vocal and visual output of their experiments should go well with the audience. I usually don’t review episodes. I have reviewed an episode of “Unplugged” only once, and that was when A.R Rahman performed the first time. However, I simply couldn’t resist doing a detailed review of this outstanding episode. I am a devoted fan of Sachin and Jigar. For me, it is more of a trio rather than a duo, with Priya Saraiya forming the essential 3 rd member. As far as I re...