The Big Switch - Book Review

 

The Big Switch by John Thomas is the story of Keith. Keith is a software engineer who has a nasty boss Mathur. Both promotion and the expected pay rise elude Keith for a very long time. Work is becoming monotonous and Keith is losing the love for his job. His personal life is on the rocks too. He has broken up with his girlfriend. Then one day a chance encounter with Ramesh changes everything for Keith. This life coach rekindles Keith’s passion for life. How? To know this you will have to read the The Big Switch by John Thomas.

The Big Switch pays a tribute to Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist, but smartly deviates from being its carbon copy. The writing is clean and the editing is good. The author uses simple language to narrate the tale. While reading the book, you keep on wondering if this is the personal tale of the writer. This is because there is a budding writer in the story and his first book is autobiographical.

I didn’t really enjoy the football part in the story. I have never played the game, so I was unable to understand most of the stuff. I thoroughly enjoyed the writing part though. I feel the romantic angle involving Kyra could have been avoided. The book appears to be a realistic. Any working class youth can identify with the protagonist. Yet towards the end the book takes a melodramatic turn, which is difficult to digest. The grey colour of the font in the kindle edition makes the reading difficult. I wish it was standard black.

I liked the following lines from the book. ‘Everyone starts small. Be positive.’ ‘The destination is just an illusion. It is the journey that matters. Think about all the stuff that you have learned. Think about all the new people that you have met. I am pretty sure it wouldn’t have been possible if you didn’t follow your heart.’ ‘I understand that nothing seems to be falling in place for you. But you shouldn’t be scared. These setbacks are inevitable. The path to one’s dream is loaded with setbacks. These tough times, shouldn’t worry you.’

The Big Switch is a simple, motivational tale. That is the reason why it is highly recommended.

Transit Lounge - Book Review

I love travel writing. It gives the immense pleasure of visiting the most wonderful places in the world. No wonders an arm chair traveller like me lapped up the book Transit Lounge. It documents the travel experiences of the author across thirty countries. This book is his personal account of travels to places in Africa (Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt and Mauritius), South America (Venezuela and Argenina), Asia (China, Iran, Kuwait, UAE, Singapore, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Thailand), Europe (UK, France, Italy, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Belguim, Georgia, Turkey, Croatia and Romania), USA, Australia and New Zealand.

The write ups are small. Neither too long to bore you, nor too short to leave you high and dry. The book is full of nuggets of the authors experiences. The author tells us how in Ghana the funeral is actually a sendoff ceremony rather than a mark of sorrow and grief. The writer is quiet in awe about motor cycle taxis in Africa. He seems to be unaware that in the tiny state of Goa these motor cycle taxis are a ubiquitous affair. Speaking of the middle east countries he says that Most of the times we do not realize that the world knows these countries from the lens of the western media which is not very kind to them. He says the family bondage in the small towns in US is as good as in any middle class family in India. London tubes he says need substantive investment to be called anywhere modern. London is a city of walkers, it has a widespread city transport too which helps people move around easily. His experience of checking into an unmanned Western Europe hotel is both harrowing and intriguing.

The author tells us how the imported goods, that were most sought after a few days ago, have lost their sheen. Denmark he says is the most prosperous nations in the northern Europe, where some people commute every day to work by flight. European cities are very tourist friendly he says. The common saying in Singapore he says is -irrespective of the economic status, everyone has a house, mostly built by government.

He bursts the bubble of prosperity by keeping the immigrant’s life stark naked in front our lives.

The book though very well written is ridden with mistakes. These typographical errors play a spoil sport. So incident becomes inddent, civic becomes dvic, class becomes dass and the crest jewel – click becomes dick. I wish the book was well edited and these mistakes were avoided. Yet I loved the book. It didn’t disappoint me.

Carthick's Unfairy Tales - Book Review

As a child I loved fairy tales. As I became an adult I started thinking over those tales. The flaws were apparent. The good people were always fair and beautiful, while the evil ought to be dark and ugly. The sole aim of the heroine's life was to win the heart of the prince. The tales were fatalist and some where even downright sadistic. Do we wish to tell such tales to our children? Certainly not.

Against this backdrop Carthick's Unfairy Tales comes as a bright change. This collection is a retelling of seven tales. To be honest out of the seven I had heard only three that of Cinderella, Pipe Piper and the frog prince. So the rest of the stories were brand new for me.

I really liked the way the author has shaped up the Frog Prince's story. He gives the Princess a spine. She comes across as a strong woman who can make intelligent choices and whose aim is certainly not marrying a man only because he is a prince (read rich and powerful in the modern connotation). I am sure I will be more than happy to tell such a tale to my toddler. Undoubtedly this is the best story in the collection.

These stories are told in unique voices. While the rat's narrative works well in the Cinderella's story, some voices appear inorganic, like a patch work just to sound something different. Also the Pipe Piper's story offers nothing new. Its just the same old story. With Cindrella and the Frog Prince the author had raise expectations. I wish there was a novelty in other stories as well.

What I liked about the book is that the writing is clean, the editing is superb. The author succeeds in maintaining a pace. The stories are of appropriate length. They are neither too short nor too long to lose attention span of the reader.

Carthick's Unfairy Tales is a unique book and you should not miss it.

Some Stories

I am glad that I came across her writings. 

M S Manaswi enchants you with her tales.

#SomeStories

Hundred Flames of Injustice

 “Mama, Sarang got a second serving of the ice-cream and when I and Rashmi went to ask for it, we were told that the ice-cream is over. This is unfair.” Hearing this from my mouth, my aunt cuddled me and said, “Don't worry my child I will get you some more ice-cream when I go to the market in the evening.” I was just five year old then and the flame of justice had kindled in me.

“Mama, aunt Ruhi sends Sarang to an English medium school because he is a boy and she sends Rashmi to a Marathi medium school because she is a girl. This is wrong.” No moment had I uttered these lines as a fifth grade student, my aunt thundered. “You shouldn't poke your nose when adults are speaking.”

“But what is wrong with what I am saying.” I asked. At this moment my mother pulled me a little aside and asked me to keep quiet.

My aunt then turned her words towards my docile mother. “It is all because of you that he was become so arrogant. Look at the way he is speaking. See our children, they never back answer the adults. You have given him too much of liberties and spoilt him.” My words had hit my aunt at the place where it hurt the most.

I never understood what was wrong with what I said. But slowly people had started branding me as an arrogant, argumentative boy who back answered adults.

That day when the teacher had distributed assessed answer sheets of science, I noticed that me as well as my friend had written exactly the same answer for a particular question. But while the teacher had assigned me only four out of five, my friend had scored five on five. I took both the answer sheets to the teacher and brought it to her notice, very humbly, very politely. Still that enraged the teacher, and my reputation of being arrogant and argumentative travelled beyond my family up to my school.

I could never tolerate injustice. My blood would boil and I would raise my voice against it. I was right, but my age wasn't. “When elders commit mistake, we don't call it mistake.” My mother had told me once. But I simply could not understand the logic behind it. “Isn't law the same for everyone? How can the same act not be a mistake merely because the person doing it is an adult.” My mother had no answers to my logic.

My life was turning miserable. On one hand I couldn't handle injustice and on another when I protested against it, I was called arrogant.

Then one day I got a loving teacher as my class teacher. Her name was Mrs. Apte. She loved me like her own son. Rather she loved all children like her own. She understood my predicament. One day she told me. “Logic and reasoning are not everybody's cup of tea. You are blessed with it. Put it to better use. I am sure you will be a firebrand lawyer one day.” Until then I wanted to be a doctor. But those words of Mrs. Apte ignited another flame in me. I had never thought that these qualities in me which were branded as bad by others were in fact skills.

I took up law and my life changed 360 degrees. I was appreciated for my keen acumen. My argumentative nature was now termed as my good reasoning skills. I topped the examinations and won all the debate and moot court competitions. My name started appearing in the newspapers. Now all those detractors, including my relatives and school teachers started appreciating me for my skills. #AhundredLittleFlames made me into the person who stands for justice and equality.

The Woman who Saw the Future

The Woman who Saw the Future by Amit Sharma is a riveting original story told in a flawless manner. This is the story of Sapna, who gets premonitions about death. All this starts after the accidental death of her brother Vikrant. Initially the family still coping with Vikrant's loss is shaken with Sapna's nightmares. All those who die in Sapna's dreams soon die. She is helpless and in spite of the support of her parents and boyfriend Sahil she is on the verge of depression. Then one day Sapna discovers that she can save people from dying by alerting them. But one premonition changes her life forever. The game soon goes beyond her control and one day she is found buried under a fort wall. She was pregnant at the time of her death. How did she die? Who was the father of her unborn child? To know answers to this questions you have to read the terrific book The Woman who Saw the Future.

The Woman who Saw the Future dexterously weaves reality with fantasy. The author succeeds in bringing to life all the major characters. All characters in the novel are major for the story is narrated in multiple voices. Sapna's middle class parents are ubiquitous. The novel opens with gloomy picture. There are too many deaths and the resultant grief. The novel brightens up when Sapna starts saving people. Then it gains both speed and shape of the thriller.

The Woman who Saw the Future has both a fascinating story and an immaculate treatment. Though there are some mistakes like though it is mentioned that Sapna has an habit of inserting like in every sentence, the same is not reflected in her dialogues. At another place police is referred to as singular. But these errors are too small and considering the amazing world in which the novel sucks you into they are pardonable.

The Woman who Saw the Future is undoubtedly the best book I have read in the year 2017. It is irresistible and simply cannot be missed.

The Ficticious Dream - Book Review

The Fictitious Dream by Ravish T. Ram is the story of Rakvendra aka Rak. Rak is a BA graduate who suddenly finds himself in a desert. His journey lands him up in a sanatorium and then into the King’s army. He meets strange people in his even stranger destinations. Be it the old man whom he encounters first in his quest or the once famous doctor who now is mentally ill or the guard who once was an honest police man trapped in the corrupt system or Rak’s friend with a weird name called Shapat - the characters make the story even intriguing. Then there is the beautiful and rude princess who steals Rak’s heart. Will Rak reach his destination? Is his journey worth it? In order to find answers to this question you will have to read the book the Fictitious Dream by Ravish T. Ram.

This novel opens up an interesting premise for the readers. You are fascinated to know where this journey is going to lead. The author succeds with a terrific opening. The blurb has already raised your expectations. But unfortunately the novel falters and doesn’t deliver what is promised in the blurb. Lines like The next morning I woke up because of the noises made by those mad people. But when I treated them politely, they said I was sitting there just for masturbating to criminals. Criminals were assaulting the society. Why should are you interested in it? demonstrate the crying need for an editor’s job. A good editor would have certainly shaped this fictitious dream into a good fiction. Yet I congratulate the author for trying something new and not falling into the trap of formula.