Books N Unicorns

Since the release of the trailer, every single person has been waiting for Dangal to hit the cinema screens, and the wait had indeed been worth for. Despite all the opposition for Aamir Khan for his 'intolerance' comments, the charm of the movie has been powerful enough to hush down the noises, all at once. The movie begins with a quick pace, portraying Mahavir Singh Phogat's desire for a wrestler son, fathering four daughters, and preparing them to be world-class wrestlers.  Characters Geeta and Babita Kumari Phogat have been peerlessly played by both the child actresses, Zaira Wasim and Suhani Bhatnagar, and Fatima Sana Shaikh and Sanya Malhotra as adult sisters, respectively. The casting team has done an admirable job; Girish Kulkarni playing the national coach, Sammar as the sisters' close cousin, Sakshi Tanwar as Daya Shobha Kaur, all bring the characters to life with their flawless acting. Coming to Aamir Khan's performance, the PL actor proves that he a

The Alchemist author Paulo Coelho's latest book ' The Spy ' is based on the adventurous life of the famous accused secret agent of the late 1800s, Mata Hari. Written in the format of a pair of exchanged letters, the novel throws light on the early life of the exotic Dutch dancer, and her side of explanation for the convinced espionage. The story begins with the execution process of Margaretha Zelle - stage name Mata Hari - by the French government. The absence of fear from the dancer's face and body language reflects her boldness since the very beginning. The story moves forward in the form of a letter by Mata Hari to her attorney, Maitre Clunet. The letter encapsulates her entire life journey; from a little girl in Holland to being deceitfully married to finally becoming the desire of scores of men around the world. The 208-page novel has been published by Penguin Random House in a hardcover format, which is pretty handy and kind of cute too, The bestselling aut

Recently I heard from a few male friends that they couldn't crack an engineering exam but a few girls who scored even 10 marks lesser than they cracked the exam due to the reservation of seats for female candidates. Their plight is very justified since half of the seats in any government conducted exam are already reserved for category students. Now in the remaining half, further division of seats is truly heartbreaking since there's a lot more pressure on male candidates for finding government jobs than girls (thanks to our patriarchal society.) But the question arises, are women technically less intelligent than men? For sure there are a lesser number of women than men in prestigious institutions like the IITs, IIMs, etc., but on the basis of this one statistic, can we pass the judgement on the gender's intellect? The Human Resources departments of several Indian state governments played the gamble of introducing reservation of seats in a few educational and service

  Santhosh Sivaraj's debut novel The Blue Moon Day is a collection of five short stories of an equal number of men who discover the most beautiful and simple truths of their lives during their journey of life. The novel throws light on the difficulties faced by the five humans of vivid ages and how they discover the joys of living. The first story  The Pizza Engineer  belongs to an intelligent and desperately job-seeking  Abhinav, nicknamed Avi. The 29-year-old is looking for a high-paying job after completing his M.B.A and a Ph.D. during which he crosses path with Mr. Pillai. In the two days they spend together, Avi gets to learn the very basic facts of life in very simple ways, and at times the reader feels jealous why s/he doesn't get to spend time with Mr. Pillai.  The second story The Messenger  revolves around the life of a young and married man Deepak and his best friend Ajay. This story reflects the everyday problems of an MNC employee who is having troubles at hom

  Mohit Uppal's debut novel Here Be Dragons is the tale of three friends who go on a thrilling adventure in the beautiful country of Italy. Koren mafias, carnival of Venice and tons of bloodshed is all rolled up together in this absolute pageturner. The story begins with a slightly depressed Ayaan Kehal, an Indian guy who has left his job, sort of broken-up with his ladylove and is on a Euro trip to find answers to the questions haunting his mind. He is surprisingly joined by his college mates Aiden Vanderwolf and Kwan-Hoon Lee at the Rome airport. Aiden, a rich American brat  along with South Korean ex-soldier Kwan have been looking for the latter's long lost love, Su Jin, a Korean prostitute. The novel doesn't lose its pace at any point. The author has crafted the mystery very well and presents jaw-dropping twists at proper gaps. The plot is well-defined and the bonding between the three men from different nationalities gives friendship goals. In particular, the de

  Rashmi Rathi's debut novel Life isn't Such a Bitch revolves around the laws of Karma and how it affects love and life. This is the story of a young entrepreneur who is blessed to have a supporting family, lovely wife and an acclaimed company he runs along with his college friends. Krishnakant Shukla, or what he prefers to be called, 'Krish' co-owns a startup with his IIM-friends which is about to seal a deal with a huge investing company when on the day of the final meeting, their office is raided by the Income Tax department under the notice of search and seizure. On finding out that he has been stabbed in the back by one of his most trustworthy friends, Krish undergoes a state of depression and cuts himself off from the world. Some time later, he starts his journey towards spirituality following a few startling events. He spends a few days at the beautiful hill station of Pachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh, India and observes the nature closely. His dreams are always oc

  Emraan Hashmi's debut book The Kiss Of Life, co-authored by Bilal Siddiqi is the story of how Emraan's son Ayaan fought the battle of cancer despite all the tough times faced by his family and the four-year-old himself. The book revolves around two time phases: how Emraan Hashmi became the 'actor' Emraan Hashmi and the half-a-year-long cancer battle of Ayaan Hashmi. The Foreword by actor Akshay Kumar is pretty touching and inspiring.  The book begins with an utterly shocked father who ran with his son to a hospital after discovering something very unusual going on in his son's body. The quick happenings in the hospital take the reader to the hospital itself; doctors flashing from one room to other, nurses keeping things quick in the corridor, a stunned yet brave face mother accompanying her son to the operation theatre and a father trying very hard to hold his tears. The entire narration is so straight from the heart, the reader can find him/herself right in th

Paulo Coelho's thirteenth novel The Winner Stands Alone revolves around a Russian millionaire Igor who is hell bent to win his ex-wife Ewa back. The story is set in a 24-hours span during the much glamorous Cannes Film Festival. The story entwines mystery and fashion in a remarkable manner, bringing a psychopath in the world of the 'Superclass.' Coelho has dug the fashion world and its communities to the core and showed his readers the dark side of the world of glitz and power. The story begins with Igor landing in Cannes during the film festival to give his ex-wife Ewa, who left him and married an haute couture designer, the message that he will destroy other 'world' for her. The Russian businessman is a man of deep knowledge of weapons and contacts. Igor starts killing one by one and keeps informing Ewa that he has 'destroyed another world' for her. Thrill and suspense make the novel an absolute page turner. The struggles of aspiring actress Gabriela

Sakshama Puri Dhariwal's debut novel The Wedding Photographer is the story of a business tycoon and a photographer-journalist who cross each other's path at a fat Punjabi wedding. The story comes with a wind of freshness and is an absolute page turner. Sakshama has dug out the true essence of a Punjabi wedding and the people involved in it. She takes you amidst the wedding of Rohan and Nitisha where the theth-Punjabi Nani tickles you with her pure badassery and lightens up sarcasm with the 'divinity' of Sri Sri Priye Guru Ma. The narration is sassy and the witty conversations between lead character Risha Kohli and her best friend Nidhi will give you BFF goals for sure. Arjun Khanna, the male lead character holds the charm of Fawad Khan and the gaiety of Robert Downey Jr. This jaw-droppingly handsome meets part time wedding photographer and full-time journalist Risha Kohli on a flight and there's where the sparks fly between the workaholic couple. The n

Anupam Kher’s very first book The Best Thing About You Is You is the collection of wise words of an old-by-number-young-by-heart man who has travelled the world and has a lot to share. The unique design of the book itself speaks it’s not an ordinary book. It’s an extraordinary one, to be honest. Anupam Kher, who happens to be a world-renowned actor and has acted in more than 400 films, has penned down every single word of the world straight from his heart. He shares his life experiences, teachings and quotes of great people in the past, and suggests the easiest ways to make life much simpler and happier without putting a lot of effort. He stresses on the power of hope and love, and how having faith can bring happiness in our lives. He talks about being open to change, destroy egos and let go of fears in a very comfortable way. One of my most favorite parts of the book is where the writer mentions that as we grow old, we are expected to act more formal. Businessmen aren’t ex

Ayushi Jain’s debut Unofficially Yours is the story of a young girl and her college senior falling in love  with each other and facing difficulties to reach the destination of their relationship. The story is narrated by Rajveer (RV) who happens to be Arohi’s love interest and the main character of the story. The story begins with the farewell party and e motional moments of a gang of nine college students, collectively self-named Gyaanis’. Seven of them are placed in the same multinational companies in the Indian tech city of Pune and shift together. The novel proceeds with the gang having fun together, exploring the city and ‘birdwatching’. Fast forward one year, Gyaani member Priya’s younger sister moves to Pune for joining office and that’s when one sided love for her begins in RV’s heart. The childlike-delicate Arohi becomes a precious member of the group which strongly believes in ‘No couples in the group’ policy. Even though she shifts pretty far from the other group

“What is wrong with you, Vineet? Why the hell..oh God!” yelled a bewildered Sneha. She was sick of her boyfriend’s annoying habit of scaring street dogs by passing his bike near them at a lightning speed. “Come on Sneha, this is just for fun. I never do it hurt them. I never have.” But she chose to express her anger with silence. They were coming back from a fancy dress shop on Vineet’s motorbike. Sneha has auditioned for the International Ballet Dance competition and had cleared the state round. If she could impress the judges at the national level competition, she’d get a chance to represent India in France. She had always dreamt of becoming a professional ballet dancer and making her parents proud. Vineet and Sneha were returning from the shop which provided clothes for rent when this irritating incident happened for apparently the hundredth time. “You’re upset, and I know exactly what will bring your mood back to normal,” said Vineet, parking his bike in the parking z