READER: A Debut Collection of new Authors

For last few months, I have been collecting some Debut Novels by some of the new Authors, I have across through my social media interactions. Finally I have been able to read them and this post shares my thoughts on their beautiful work of passion. This is my tribute to their undying devotion towards writing and creativity. Hope you will enjoy reading my thoughts about them and their work. Please do leave a comment and if you like what I have written about their books, check them out too...

The Debut Collection of New Authors @ Shashi April, 2016

The Other End of the Corridor - Sujata Rajpal

The book opens up with Leela, in a dark corridor with an inkling of domestic horrors to unfold. This might be the beginning or the end, but it is still there… the dark corridor to pass through. And this is the sense you get through out the book, that there are still some more pain lurking in the back ground which keeps the readers hooked to the book, rooting for Leela to reach out to the light at the end of the corridor.

Click here to read the review…

Ink on Water - A book of fine poetry by Shubhrata Prakash

Reading Shubhrata Prakash’s poetry was a refreshing change from the short and cryptic poetic form that I usually write in i.e. Haiku. Her verses, formation of lines with its varying length made it more interesting. Sometimes with rhyme and some times with the sheer poetry of sound inked with subtle nuances, she has created vibrant and powerful pictures of emotions that she went through, while writing those words.

Click here to read the review…

The Real Mission - Pooja A H

"You are what you choose to be" and that exactly what "The Real Mission" is about.

I met the bubbly and vivacious Pooja A. H. - a 17 year young Author on the sidelines of an Author Interaction at “Just Books” Anna Nagar. “The Real Mission” is a lovely Young Age work of fiction and remains true to its genre.

Click here to read the review…

The Guy on the Sidewalk - Bharath Krishna

I enjoyed the simplistic look at the life of an IT person in turmoil and self doubt in the aftermath of 2008 financial crash, where Obama gave the slogan of dream and this book looks like a one too. A dream come true for Bharath Krishna instead of nightmare it could have been for the IT professionals in USA at the time.

Click here to read the review…

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Shashi 

ॐ नमः शिवाय

Om Namah Shivaya

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Timeri N Murari

READER: The Real Mission by Pooja A H

"You are what you choose to be" and that exactly what "The Real Mission" is about.

I met the bubbly and vivacious Pooja A. H. - a 17 year young Author on the sidelines of an Author Interaction at “Just Books” Anna Nagar. She had come all the way from the other side of the town just to hear another author talk, which impressed me. At the end of the session,she caught up with me along with her Autographed book “The Real Mission” which I promised to read and talk about at my blog.

 

Image @ Shashi (Click here to buy the book)

To begin with, I admire her for courage to go ahead and get her book published at an age, where most of the young ones are playing in the confines their rooms on Computer or X-Box or whatever they call it now. It was a refreshing change to see her as a confident and proactive kind of girl, unlike the other children of her age group. Her enthusiasm about books, reading and to do something great in life, made me to take up her book to read next. I wanted to know more about her thoughts and ideologies through her book, which is probably the best way to get to know any author in short time. As I finished reading her book, I was happy that she did not let me down.  

 

The young Author (Pic curtsy FB @ Pooja A H Profile)

“The Real Mission” is a lovely Young Age work of fiction and remains true to its genre. There is disjointed family of four different characters, anchored by their very practical and perceptive mother who fights every day to keep the family from falling apart as the sibling rivalry, bickering and individualistic ambition take hold of the growing up kids. It was interesting to see, the way Pooja kept all the students of the house, retain their starkly contrasting identity through out, even while interacting with each other or with their mother. Her language is simple and intricate at the same time as she takes off, from one scence to other by directly talking to the readers as the narrator of the book.

 
The story is fast paced, probably to ensure that the target audience does not get bored, typically the Young adults have amazingly short attention span. 

"... if she (Runa) could do anything other than texting, calling, shopping, dressing up and make-up, world hunger will be eliminated!" (Pg - 7)

So you get a story, where there is action in every page, bikes flying off, changing clothes on the sidelines, throwing teacher off on the ground to snatch the confiscated iPhone etc and then the ultimate tragedy. Although I felt that it was abrupt thing to do, without creating the back ground, but then that’s what makes it fast paced and unpredictable too.

A write up on Pooja A H in Deccan Chronicle

 "You are not what the society defines you as - you are what you choose to be and that you be" - (Pg - 121)

Author Biography

Pooja A. H. is a 17 years old student of Bala Vidya Mandir. An avid reader, speaker, quizzer, science and tech enthusiast and writer, whose debut novel is ‘The Real Mission”. She is a very passionate and patriotic person with global thinking, and an aspiring social entrepreneur whose main focus is on sustainable development. She believes that unity starts from home.

Click here to buy her book... 

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Shashi 

ॐ नमः शिवाय

Om Namah Shivaya

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Timeri N Murari                                                      The Debut Collection

READER: Ink on Water by Shubhrata Prakash

While browsing through the Odyssey bookshop at Adyar, I came across the poetry book, “Ink on Water” about which I have had heard from my old friend Avi Prakash. When I started reading the  book, I was pleasantly surprised to find beautiful foreword written by another friend, Sanjay Pinto.

Image @ Shashi (Click here to buy the book)

Reading Shubhrata Prakash’s poetry was a refreshing change from the short and cryptic poetic form that I usually write in, i.e. Haiku. Her verses, formation of lines with its varying length made it more interesting. Sometimes with rhyme and some times with the sheer poetry of sound inked with subtle nuances, she has created vibrant and powerful pictures of emotions that she went through, while writing those words.

Her simple, matter of fact treatment of pain in ‘Waiting for Her - II’ was powerful enough to connect me with the despair, a mother goes through as her daughter is raped and killed. It was heart breaking, as I visualized her going through the meetings, while her daughter is not yet back from school.

‘Looking Back’ was another beautiful creation, which I liked a lot. Her words from the poem took me back to my own memory lanes and eventually lead me to believe that I was really on the other side, as the life passed by.

 “The leaves around me

have turned yellow-

wilted and withered,

I pick them up.

Finger their frail carcasses,

Briniging back to mind

their feel,

when they were still

Green.”

-       - From “Looking Back”

Shubhrata Prakash’s words are beautiful, refreshing and most of the times tinged with pain. Just as the ink on water gives hues to the clear water and makes it more vibrant and soulful, her clear thoughts are tinged with emotions that bring out the sense of dawn, as it breaks free from the darkness of night.

“Lurking in the corners, waiting, for just a trigger to strike

It comes back to life, creating an ocean of darkness in your mind.

…
And the battle continues, between the two, for your mind to reclaim

I turned around and ordered the darkness, Sign on the dotted line”

- lines from poem “Phoenix from the Darkness”

Here is another lovely lines from the book as well as one of the many 'Ink on Water' impressions, which compliment the poetic form of her words...

About the Author

Shubhrata Prakash was born and brought up in Patna, studied from St Stephen college - Delhi and went on to do her MBA from Xavier Institute of Management (Bhubaneswar). Worked with Lowe Lintas and Leo Burnett in Mumbai, before joining IRS in 2002. She is also a blogger, as she says, “…bIogging about things all around me. I also review books and movies. I also write travelogues and post photo essays.”

Image curtsy FB @ Shubhrata Prakash

Click here to buy Shubhrata Prakash's poetry book "Ink on Water".

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Shashi 

ॐ नमः शिवाय

Om Namah Shivaya

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Timeri N Murari                                                     The Debut Collection

READER: The Other End of the Corridor by Sujata Rajpal

Recently I have had the opportunity to interact with the Author Sujatha Rajpal few times. She is a popular Author of the book 'The Other End of the Corridor' which details the despair and pain a helpless woman goes through an abusive relationship. Our Chennai Bloggers Club (CBC) along with Odyssey Book store in Chennai organised a very interesting talk around the topic of domestic violence 'Sense and Sensibility. The thoughts presented by Sujata Rajpal, in discussion with another of our CBC Author, Sharada Vijay was an emotional eye opener for many of us.

 

Image @ Shashi (Click here to buy the book)

During the discussion, she pointed out that most of the domestic violence stems from our fear to talk about it in the open. We hide it within, thinking what people will think, while she vehemently argued that we need to take responsibility for our own happiness and I could not agree more.  She continued that through Leela’s journey, discovering one’s own inhibitions and fears is the real story behind the book. For her the writing has been a passion, though to begin with she was not a writer or even a reader at all. But yet, the 14 years her journey started with some people who came into her life to challenge herself to prove. And she is still thankful to them for their presence in her life, which made her what she is today.

Sujata Rajpal in discussion with Sharda Vijay in the event
'Sense and Sensibility' by CBC and Odyssey at Adyar 

Sujata Rajpal
She gave up her rewarding career as a Corporate Communication & PR professional in an IT MNC to become a full-time author – so far the best decision of her life. Sujata holds an MPhil degree in Economics and has studied Mass Communication from Panjab University, Chandigarh. She also writes articles and short stories for publications and journals, such as Femina, Deccan Herald, Star of Mysore. Her short stories have been published in E Fiction India and Women’s Web. She is a yoga enthusiast and enjoys being a Toastmaster. She currently lives in Mysore.

The Other End of the Corridor

The book opens up with Leela, in a dark corridor with an inkling of domestic horrors to unfold. This might be the beginning or the end, but it is still there… the dark corridor to pass through. And this is the sense you get through out the book, that there are still some more pain lurking in the back ground which keeps the readers hooked to the book, rooting for Leela to reach out to the light at the end of the corridor.

Image curtsy Sujata Rajpal

I enjoyed reading the book, which is fast paced with things happening in almost every page, so one can not skip any. Leela’s desire to become a Radio Jockey through out the book, act as an anchor, that makes the reader hope for things in her life to change from desperation and despair of domestic violence that not only her rich husband unleashes but also people around her subject her too, apart from the obvious mother - in - law. By their silence, even her own family deserts her, when she needed the courage to start a new life.

The writing is fluid, very well crafted with unique mix of middle class sensibility. Makes you feel connected with the characters.

“Julie barked outside as if she saw my virginity walking out of the door.” - a very interesting line from the book.

The email to Jai, makes her emotional outburst, very interesting and true to heart. The development of the characters like Jai, Harleen is life like, very sublime but rings quite true. Not every one is drama queen in our lives. I could relate to Leela holding herself back from ordering food, dealing with her day-to-day financial situation.

Her attempts to break the shackles of violence through out stands out and with introduction of her maid into her life, gives a sense of direction, before she completely breaks down in submission and despair.

It was a pleasure to hear Sujata speak at the event and
take an autographed copy...

Overall a book with a message of hope for all those people out there, suffering from inhuman treatment, specially domestic violence. I enjoyed connecting with it. Click here to buy the book...

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Shashi 

ॐ नमः शिवाय

Om Namah Shivaya

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Timeri N Murari                                                     The Debut Collection