Digi's Blog

  I have always liked reading novels and watching movies based on wars, especially the second world war. As a child, I remember being fascinated by Readers Digest when they had an entire collection published about secret stories of the second world war. As I grew up, I realized that I missed these war stories. Debutante writer Prateek Singh chooses to focus on the recent war, an area that has been relatively less explored as far as novels have been concerned. And so, it was only delightful and commendable to see the amount of efforts he has put in to write this novel. PLOT The plot revolves less around individual characters, but more around how the US – Iraq war affects people physically and mentally. And so we have a character who fights with his inner demons because he knows he has killed innocent people in a moment of anger. Then there is another character who is being hunted by terrorist as well as secret agencies of the world because of classified information she suppo...

  When it comes to business management and stuff, I shy away, because I believe I am simply not someone made for doing business. However, when it comes to movies, I believe I am someone who was born to be a movie lover. So when I came upon this book which proclaimed to provide "Movies & management lessons for dreamers", more than anything I was curious to see what this book offered. Also, the description of the author Lakshmi Narayana read – "Business leader plus movie enthusiast". And so I decided to give this book a try. THE PLOT  First things first – this is a non-fiction book. Broadly, it is a book containing lessons regarding business management, pitching, how to be a successful enterpreneur, etc. However instead of taking the conventional preachy route, author Lakshmi Narayana takes up a rather interesting route of explaining things with numerous references of movies.   It is a novel concept, and I really loved it. This is a method to increase th...

  Achala Moulik's novel "Rogues Among the Ruins" is not a fictional novel, in case the synopsis gave you such an idea. It is essentially a pure non-fictional tale in the guise of a fictional novel.   PLOT There isn't one single plot. It is basically an amalgamation of a few incidences from our country's history, beginning from pre-independence era to post-independence era. The focus here is on how corruption invades all forms of professions and all strata of the society. The novel begins with an archeologist named "Elangovan" describing in first person his experiences during the British rule. Later on, Elangovan's son Raman carries forward the account in first person how he experienced the various events during his tenure and experiences of his colleague. There are a lot of familiar names during this phase – Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Arun Jaitley & Ram Jethmalani (Towards the end), and you really enjoy watching the proceedings throug...

I have been following Mayank Shekhar since the last many years. I have always liked his writing and his bollywood film reviews. He is one of the few Indian film critics I like primarily because he reviews the "product" and not the "people" associated with the "product". (Unlike many so called reviewers and film critics who vomit out their personal hatred towards a particular actor/director in the review.)   And so when I came to know about this book written by him, I was only happy to read it. Major chunk of the book focuses on bollywood, so I had hardly any reason to complain,   being a hardcore bollywood fan myself.   The title of the novel itself evokes nostalgia – "Name, Place, Animal, Thing". The kids of today's generation who are perennially glued to their mobile and laptop screens would hardly understand the sheer joy of playing this game called "Name, place, animal, thing" during a free period in school on the last p...

  I have not been a hardcore fan of non-fiction or self help books, except for a few extraordinary ones like "The Secret" or the Monk series by Robin Sharma. It isn't that I don't like this genre. Infact few books have the capability to change your life. However there is so much more to read in the fiction genre that I always end up preferring that genre. Sanjay Desai's book titled "Jasmine Builds on Shifting Sands" is a unique book which combines fiction and non-fiction. But it doesn’t end here – he even makes us experience a totally novel concept – that of E-microlearning. How did I find the book? Let us find out! PLOT AND WRITING STYLE This is essentially a self-help book, however to cater to a wider audience and to make it more interesting and relatable, Sanjay adopts a combination of fictional as well as non-fictional elements. And that works really well. So we have a real story – that of Ma Krishnanandgiri whom Sanjay met in the Himalayas. ...

Writing a psychological thriller is a tricky genre. There are hundred different things you have to take care of to make sure you serve the right mix of elements to the readers. Juggi Bhasin’s latest novel “FEAR IS THE KEY” claims to be one such novel. But does it succeed in keeping the readers hooked till the end? Well, almost… PLOT “Yummimages” is a digital platform run by three people – Rahul, Suhel and Simone. Rahul and Suhel are thick friends since college days and their friendship is one of those unbreakable ones. Then comes Simone who instantly entices Rahul but on the other hand, develops a slow but sure enmity with Suhel. To sort out things between the two, Rahul hosts a party at his house during which Simone mysteriously disappears. Even after the police thoroughly investigate, they are unable to solve the mysterious disappearance of Simone. Finally, Rahul decides to solve the mystery himself. As he goes further, he realizes he has to battle his inner demons ...

Murder suspenses are always a tricky genre. The writer has to have the ability to hold the readers till the end and then pull an ace up his sleeve in the form of a shocking suspense revelation. Sourabh Mukherjee’s latest novel “The Colours of Passion” is one such novel which just about manages to tick all these boxes. PLOT Hiya Sen was the current heart throb of the Tollywood film industry until one day when she was physically assaulted and then murdered, just few days after her marriage. As ACP Agni Mitra starts investigating, we are taken into the lives of the usual suspects – Hiya’s husband Manav, Manav’s ex – fiancée, an ageing and fading actress, etc. WRITING I have previously read Mukherjee’s small book titled “Romance Shorts” and I had pretty much liked it. So naturally I was looking forward to this book. The novel starts of in kickass thriller style. The way the story progresses is perfect material for an unputdownable book. It had me hooked in...

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...