tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14029614995883792752024-03-12T17:50:40.313-07:00 Vishal AnandVishal Anand is the author of one bestselling novel, 37 + Grace Marks and two short story collections titled Urban Lights and Emotions Unplugged. Vishal Anandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12085709660257487821noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1402961499588379275.post-20925322512520523522019-01-25T05:08:00.004-08:002020-11-15T08:01:35.476-08:00Book Review: The Sun Shines Down (Sankha Ghosh)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EZMDP3jUOZQ/XEXzBo1u4yI/AAAAAAAAC08/OQLVPQ_kfoQrD49nNJYqjXbiawUaxg5ZACLcBGAs/s1600/The-Sun-Shines-Down-Final-Cover-370x0.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="370" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EZMDP3jUOZQ/XEXzBo1u4yI/AAAAAAAAC08/OQLVPQ_kfoQrD49nNJYqjXbiawUaxg5ZACLcBGAs/s400/The-Sun-Shines-Down-Final-Cover-370x0.jpg" width="256" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><b>Book:</b> The Sun Shines Down</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><b>Author:</b> Sankha Ghosh</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><b>Publisher:</b> Hawakal Publishers</span></div>
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Last month, I saw one of my facebook friends tagged with a book cover. On a closer look, I understood that it was a book written by Sankha Ghosh.<br />
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Sankha Ghosh was one of the early reviewers of my debut short story collection, Emotions Unplugged. I totally loved his honest opinion on my book. We were not in touch for a very long time. That's why when I saw him on Facebook, I sent him a friend request immediately. A set of communications, both on Facebook messenger and few phone calls followed later.<br />
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Early this month, he came with a request to share my opinion on his book. Like all other authors who reach out to me, I chose to reject his request. But then, somewhere I owed him for reviewing my book when I was a debutant. So finally, I agreed to share my honest opinion and the book took almost no time to reach me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #626262;"><b>Author's Bio from the book: </b><span>Sankha Ghosh is a banker by day and writer by night. Starting off as an environmental </span><span>activist</span><span> with an international foundation, he eventually got into the exciting industry of banking. An avid observer, an alternate thinker, and strictly opinionated, his writings have been published in several national and international blogs.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #626262;"><span><br /></span></span> <span style="color: #626262;"><span>Before I go deeper into the story, let me be honest and say that I didn't like the cover or the title of the book. The cover doesn't tell much about the story. I would not have bought the book if I could have found it at an online portal or from a bookstore with this cover and title. The back blurb gives a rigorous idea of the plot. However, I found it a bit lengthy. Surprisingly, the page quality used in the book is good and the font size is perfect for our eyes, which is really appreciable but unexpected from a less known publisher like Hawakal.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #626262;"><span><br /></span></span><span style="color: #626262;"><span style="color: #626262;"><span>‘<b>The Sun Shines Down</b>’</span> is a story about two individuals who belong to two very different social brackets. The first protagonist is Shreya Basu, a politician that India has hardly ever witnessed. With an impeccable beauty and excellent oratory skill, Shreya Basu’s shot to fame is no less than a fairy tale. But now she wishes to contest election with a powerful incumbent government at their own bastion.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #626262;"><span style="color: #626262;"><br /></span></span> <span style="color: #626262;"><span style="color: #626262;">The second protagonist is Faiz Ahmed. Obscured by thousands of unanswered questions, Faiz Ahmed is haunted by the ghosts of his past. And, to put them to rest, he wants one single thing - Vengeance.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #626262;"><span style="color: #626262;"><br /></span></span> <span style="color: #626262;"><span>To start the review, first I will talk about Sankha's narration. When dealing with two parallel stories of different persons, who fall in different social brackets, it’s really hard to maintain the distinct flavour for each of them, but he has done that with a lot of ease. Description of events and behaviour of characters left me in admiration for his amazing narration capabilities. When I read Faiz’s parts, I felt as I am seeing an innocent boy right in front of me. His thoughts, pain, everything is submerged in the story. While on the other side, description of Shreya, made me feel the intensity of her brilliance. It’s really rare in Indian Literary scenario to see such an impressive narration from a debutant.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #626262;"><span><br /></span></span> <span style="color: #626262;"><span>On the language front, Ghosh again scores full marks. He has done a commendable job by maintaining the language simple yet captivating. Chapters are structured very well and are full of his minute observations that made characters more authentic and almost real. I never felt the story losing its engrossing characters. Every time I began with a new chapter, I felt more involved in the story and perfectly synched chapters made the book a wonderful read. </span></span><span style="color: #626262;"><span>Also, </span></span><span style="color: #626262;">holding so many characters that come and leave the story after every few chapters with comfort is another skill that I loved in the author. The book was a fast-paced read with a number of twists and turns that make it ready for a good web series.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #626262;"><span>A major drawback with the book is its pricing. The book is priced at Rs 250 and is available for Rs 169 with a shipping cost of Rs 80. I believe this shall hinder the book success. Better pricing would have helped the book here.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #626262;"><span>To conclude my review, I must say, by far ‘The Sun Shines Down’ is one of the best books by any young Indian Author. It takes us towards the hope and a better life through the stories of loneliness and pain of common people like many of us. The book gives a great message to society and is capable of making anyone see the brighter side of life. The best thing about the book is that literally, anyone can read it because the story is not targeted at any specific age group and it’s clean enough that you can blindly suggest it to anyone. The book is simply flawless in almost every manner. If Sankha Ghosh is working on any new project, I’d be looking forward to it with certainly higher expectations.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #626262;">You can get a copy of the book from <a href="https://amzn.to/2RDLnGv">https://amzn.to/2RDLnGv</a>.</span></span></div>
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Vishal Anandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12085709660257487821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1402961499588379275.post-43744029728141604262017-04-29T04:16:00.011-07:002020-11-15T08:18:45.438-08:00A true story of the day when Chetan Bhagat met Anvita Bajpai<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pJ-j7gf7N3E/WQR0OS4B1ZI/AAAAAAAACNc/_L9owzR4vGsgdTpA0--ETtqvqhdJBAILACEw/s1600/anvitachetan.PNG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pJ-j7gf7N3E/WQR0OS4B1ZI/AAAAAAAACNc/_L9owzR4vGsgdTpA0--ETtqvqhdJBAILACEw/s640/anvitachetan.PNG" width="580" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Early this week, I saw several facebook
posts stating about Chetan Bhagat's plagiarism issue. I came to know that a
Bengaluru based author, Anvita Bajpai has accused Chetan Bhagat for plagiarising
her story, Drawing Parallels in his recent book, One Indian Girl. These posts
were then followed by several media coverages across the country. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Generally, I prefer not to speak about any
controversial issue. But then something was different this time. Firstly, I am friends with Anvita Bajpai at facebook since past 3-4
years. Secondly, I have seen her at the Bangalore Literature Festival where she
claims to have given her book to Chetan Bhagat for review.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Let me rewind my life a few years back. It
was mid of 2014 when I landed Bangalore looking for better job opportunities.
Somewhere in early August that year, I met Vikram Sampath, founder of Bangalore
Literature Festival at International Folk Festival at Jaya Mahal Palace,
Bengaluru. He introduced me to Shinie Anthony, another founder of the Bangalore
Literature Festival. I came to learn about the festival through them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Almost after one and half month later,
Bangalore Literature Festival was conducted. Since this was the first
Literature Festival I was attending, I was quite excited. Chetan Bhagat was
available on the very first day for the inaugration ceremony of the festival. I
was quite new to the industry and thought getting rave reviews from popular
authors would help my book. That was the reason I carried few of my books to
the event.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">I believe it was after 2:30 pm, when Chetan Bhagat was done
with his session with Shinie Anthony, he walked towards the Author's Lounge.
Several fans of him followed him. I believe this crowd had lot of new authors
as well as aspiring ones. I was too a part of the crowd. We waited outside the
Author's Lounge for Chetan Bhagat to come out, either to give our books, get
his book/s signed or getting few pictures clicked with him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">I was sitting outside the Author's Lounge
when I saw Anvita Bajpai near the drinking water area for the first time. Her
face felt known to me. With social communities getting bigger and bigger, I
understood she is one among the authors I've added in facebook. I scrolled down
my friend list to find out who she was and landed over her profile after few
minutes. Since I did not find any necessity, I did not buzz her. I waited there
for Chetan Bhagat to come out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">In case, we all trust her, I would say,
she must have given her book to Chetan Bhagat the same day. I too gave my book to Chetan. And, I believe, many others gave it too. But then, would Chetan Bhagat remember each one of us? Would he care to read all our books? I'm not sure what happens to books when it goes to someone like Chetan Bhagat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">By 26th April, late night, I saw a
facebook post by Anvita Bajpai claiming in her own words that some of her
friend shared links where glimpses of her book "Life, Odds &
Ends" can be seen in hands of Chetan Bhagat during BLF 2014.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">I tried to have a better look and was
shocked seeing the image. And, that is also the reason why I'm writing a post
about this whole issue. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">It was not Anvita's book which she
claimed. It was the first edition of my debut short story collection, Emotions
Unplugged over which the tea cup was placed. I'm sharing the image Anvita
shared in the facebook post as well as the cover of the first edition of
Emotions Unplugged below for your reference:</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: right;"><span style="clear: left; display: inline !important; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GWNmcDa2CXE/WQOxS9jlXxI/AAAAAAAACMY/K-kNB6RqXw0vJz2NcyYBZI1dqko-vSOSwCPcB/s1600/dispute.PNG" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="319" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GWNmcDa2CXE/WQOxS9jlXxI/AAAAAAAACMY/K-kNB6RqXw0vJz2NcyYBZI1dqko-vSOSwCPcB/s640/dispute.PNG" width="580" /></a> </span></div><div align="center" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div align="center" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span>(Click on the image to enlarge it.)</span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oOIXVOrJLOM/WQOmanD0iDI/AAAAAAAACLw/WAg2oj8D670ywlvCdwdmzOyDvYNmuD6jwCPcB/s1600/book_cover_emotions_unplugged.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oOIXVOrJLOM/WQOmanD0iDI/AAAAAAAACLw/WAg2oj8D670ywlvCdwdmzOyDvYNmuD6jwCPcB/s400/book_cover_emotions_unplugged.jpg" width="245" /></span></a></div>
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</span><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">If you try to have a closer look of the
image Anvita shared, you can see the top right corner of the book cover has
some white space which was actually in my book cover. Moreover, you can also
have a look of one of the bulbs below the white space.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Another thing that the picture doesn't say
is - The red piece of cloth and the bag in the left corner in the image belongs
to Shinie Anthony. I'm sure if inquired and requested (hoping she has a good
memory), she can confirm that the book kept below the tea cup belongs to me and
not Anvita Bajpai.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">I'm not sure if Anvita got the high
resolution image as she requested, but I'm afraid that her claim mentioning
glimpses of her book, Life, Odds & Ends in hands of Chetan Bhagat during
BLF 2014 based on the image she shared is totally wrong. Moreover, Chetan didn't carry any book in his hand all through the event.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">I'm not saying that Anvita must have posted
the image knowingly to prove her point that Chetan carried her book. It totally
might be a mistake she did, but thought she is correct.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">However, this also makes me think. - <i>Can't
it be the same case when she accused Chetan Bhagat? Can't it be just few mere
incidences that she thought has been copied from her book?</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>I'm not sure who among the two, I must
trust.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">But I want this whole issue to get closed
soon because this surely is not a good sign for the industry which is already
facing a lot of problems. If Anvita Bajpai is true, she must get the
compensation she is demanding. Though I'm not in favour of stopping the sales
of the title, One Indian Girl. However, if Chetan Bhagat is true, he must get
back the honour that he has won all these years because of his hard work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">As I write this, I completely have faith
on the judiciary system of the country and whatever decision they share in the
months to come. I shall surely respect it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span>I would have chosen to stay mum as I do in
all other cases. After all, I belong to a society where we don't care to speak
until we are the victim. But then, I had a thought. </span><span>Today, it is Chetan Bhagat
who is accused, it is Anvita Bajpai who seems to be the victim. But tomorrow,
it can be me. Will I still be mum? </span></span></div>
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Vishal Anandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12085709660257487821noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1402961499588379275.post-86638929368025402412015-12-11T04:22:00.002-08:002020-11-15T08:01:59.317-08:00Short Story: The Flood<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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A little wetness on my left cheek awoke me. I rubbed my eyes and tried to sit on my mattress. Damn! Not only my left cheek, but half of my body was wet. The pillow and bed sheet was no different.</span></div>
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'<i>Am I hallucinating?</i>' I asked myself. I touched my forehead to find it extremely cold. I tried to open my eyes with a lot of difficulty. My room was filled with water. Half of the things kept on the floor was submerged in it. While the other half kept floating over it. Worried, I looked at my mobile. I used to feel too lazy to wake up every morning and most of the days I switched off the alarm put on the mobile and slept again. To avoid the practice, I started keeping it at some height so that I have to stand and switch it off. Luckily the phone was still kept on the rack above. I stood on the mattress in a shocked state of mind.</span></div>
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'<i>Shit! Did the Chennai flood come to Bangalore too?</i>' Another question popped up in my head. '<i>No. It can't be true. I live on the second floor. The two floors have to submerge in the water to reach me.</i>'</span></div>
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I tried to switch on the light with fail. There was no electricity. I placed my foot safely and walked towards the window. I could see the water drizzling outside my room. I rushed towards the other room to see the damage.</span></div>
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Loud knocks at the door called me back. Keeping my foot with utmost care, I walked towards the door. Meanwhile, the door bell rang and the knocks turned louder. Someone on the other end of the door was too impatient to hold on. '<i>It might be the neighbor</i>,' I thought.</span></div>
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I opened the door. My landlord shouted at the top of his voice, "How many times would I have to tell you to close the kitchen's tap properly? The whole tank is empty."</span></div>
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That's what I have for today. A small try to give you a sigh of relief that it's all over! Please let me know your views/comments/suggestions or feedback. Tada! :)</span></div>
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Vishal Anandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12085709660257487821noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1402961499588379275.post-9476139138148752112015-09-25T17:30:00.001-07:002020-11-15T08:03:43.565-08:00Find the Sachin Tendulkar in you!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Let me tell you a story today. A story of Sachin Tendulkar!<br />
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I believe, most of us know him as one of the greatest cricketers of all time. But then, Cricket is a game and cricketers are just few players. Every player has good and bad days; times when they perform well and times when they couldn't. It wasn't good time for Sachin Tendulkar those days. Most of the times, he used to get out under a score of 10. Many of the people started criticizing his abilities. Few others commented that he should quit Indian Cricket team. Matches after matches happened but his performance could not improve. After he was out one day and was returning to pabellón, a man questioned him from the crowd, "Why do you play Cricket if you can't?" </span></div>
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He listened to the man's words but ignored him. Later BCCI President, Mr Jagmohan Dalmiya called him and inquired about his poor performance. Sachin answered Mr Dalmia's queries. Months passed by. Sachin practiced harder and achieved his form. He created several new records and made his mark in World Cricket that can never be removed.</span></div>
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Why am I telling you this story? Because I believe, we all are nothing more than players of our life. Sometimes, we perform good while at others, we fail to do so. People criticize/comment/question our abilities. But we choose to answer all/most of them. While most of the times their views hardly matter until he is Mr Dalmia in the story above. </span></div>
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Thanks to a college friend for narrating me this story years ago. Maybe, I will remember this story all my life. Though this story is fictional and I don't know if something like this ever happened or not. But I believe, I have started making differences between the masses and Dalmias. I know whom to answer and whom not to. I don't want to answer everyone and waste my time which I would have otherwise used to do something constructive. Maybe, I've found Sachin Tendulkar in me. Have you?</span></div>
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Vishal Anandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12085709660257487821noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1402961499588379275.post-56600387891912261492014-11-14T05:28:00.001-08:002020-11-15T08:04:50.476-08:00A Short Story about a Short Story Collection (Part -II)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Thanks a lot to each and everyone for commenting, messaging and appreciating the first part of this post. Your words encourages, inspires and motivates me. And, I'll always be grateful to you for your kindness.<br />
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Those who haven't read the first part of this post can do so by visiting the link here: <a href="http://www.vishalanand.co.in/2014/10/a-short-story-about-short-story.html">http://www.vishalanand.co.in/2014/10/a-short-story-about-short-story.html</a>. Others can go ahead reading further.<br />
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Everything was organized for the launch ceremony. Tarun, Pari and all other contributors already reached much before the launch. The anthology in an attractive, shining cover was kept on a table. Pari picked one of them and turned a few pages in it. She read the acknowledgements there. The more she read, the more her heart cried. Few drops of tears trickled down her cheeks. Tarun didn’t even care to acknowledge her for all the hard work she did.</span></div>
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The launch started. Each of the contributors who were present there was given an opportunity to share his/her feelings. Pari did the same. However, she didn’t tell her pain to anyone. I spent a little time with Pari after the event. Later, I went back to my hostel.</span></div>
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Time passed by. The short story collection became a hit. As it happens with all other short story collections, the credit went to Tarun, the person whose mind was behind the anthology. Who was Pari?</span></div>
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Time passed more. Months were replaced by a year and more months added to that year later. I’ve been writing short stories one after another during this period. My debut short story collection released. I’ve been keeping a check on the book reviews time after time. Few days earlier, I was at flipkart.com and was searching for my book when I found out this.</span></div>
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Even before I could complete writing my first name, Flipkart was suggesting my name under the category, Books. A moment that I shared with Pari knocked my mind for few moments and I could not control the smile that appeared on my face.</span></div>
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I went to compose mail and wrote a mail to Pari attaching the above screenshot. Here’s the mail:</span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Hey,</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">How are you doing? Where are you these days? I remembered you just now. Want to know, how?</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Remember I said you something while you were contributing your short story? I generally search for my book at flipkart, checking for latest reviews by customers. Today, while I was searching my book, I couldn't stop a smile that came on my face. Attaching a screenshot with this mail. You will understand too.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Stay in touch!</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Cordially,</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Vishal Anand</span></i></div>
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Her reply came to me the very next day. Here it is:</span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Hey Vishal,</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Firstly, thank you for making this effort. A lot of people we know would probably just smile and remember. And then forget.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">I think we'll remember that conversation of ours for reasons more than one! It was a necessary phase of our lives. And yes.. This is what matters at the end of it all. Truly!</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">A similar but a little disappointing experience happened with me. I've come to ABC Lit Fest. Yesterday was the third and final day of the event. After meeting all these authors and poets and others from the fraternity, I realised how much things have moved ahead from where I'd left it all, about a year back.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Gladly, few of them still remembered and recognised me.. A lot of them said that I have changed a lot.. God knows.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">But yes, one thing that I realised was that, the gift that has been a part of you, wanting to come out in one way or other, someday leaves you too.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Perhaps, I have lost my quota of words. To be strung into a book.. </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Also, I was so much better than so many of them Vishal.. But why couldn't I make it? I've loved my words passionately. And yet, at the end of this Lit Fest, I stand empty handed.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">A realisation that has become utterly clear to me, for good or bad is that, sometimes in life, there is no going back. Only moving ahead.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Maybe someday that book shall become me. Only that day my soul shall be truly free.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Too philosophical was I? :)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Anyway, how are things with you..? </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">So, you've moved out haan? </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">And hey, I am glad you remembered me Vishal.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Stay blessed. And believe that good will happen to you. Not because it will, but because the other way doesn't give you peace. Or hope.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Regards,</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Pari</span></i></div>
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I wasn’t happy after seeing her reply. I wrote my last mail to her:</span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Dear Pari,</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Are you okay? You surely have changed a lot. Your words are speaking for you. Let me know when you reach Delhi. Will make you a call.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Things are moving fast in the industry. I believe the delay we make, the more difficult it will become. Remember, how easy it was to get published by 2011? Everyone has a book by his name. But then, there is a concept that even the industry follows - Survival of the Fittest! The poor has to leave, and the one with strong determination will fight back again.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">People have a tendency - Saluting the rising sun. Or, why would one care to give so much importance to me when I meant nothing to them few years ago? </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Words don't leave us. They are a part of us as long as we live. We just need a push. May be, someone who can hold our hand, encourage us to speak our hearts in form of a book. You're still better. You couldn't make it because you didn't try; didn't try enough to prove yourself to others. And, you're not empty handed. We keep on learning things by experience. Some teaches us what to do while others teaches us what not to do. Isn't it?</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">You don't have to go back. Move ahead. Show the world you're better than them. Work harder and prove yourself. With every passing year I believe, we become stronger and wiser. I believe, you will fight back with more willpower and determination than ever. Every year 84 k books release in India. Who knows them? I don't want you to write a book. Rather, I want you to create a masterpiece that will be remembered for years.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Were you really philosophical? If that's the case, am I too?</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Things are still tough with me. I still have to struggle for so many things.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">I will always remember you. No need to be glad. Try picking my call inspite of being glad. That will make me happier.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Even if good doesn't happen to me, I will force it to happen to me. Was doing and will continue doing it. Yes, it is.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Stay in touch!</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Warm Regards,</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Vishal Anand</span></i></div>
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I dialed her number the next day. We talked for almost an hour until I had no balance left on my phone. I tried to convince her to write. She said that she will give it a try. That was the last time we communicated. </span></div>
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I would like to apologies as this is the only short story that I’m leaving incomplete. Why incomplete? I think, this story will finish when Pari will launch her debut book. I will try till I succeed. And, I think, I will be a happy man that day.</span></div>
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But then, I do think about others. About us. About people who have a dream to become authors! We look for a short cut and get trapped easily in the traps thrown by people who have better knowledge than us of the industry.</span></div>
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There are many Paris between us. A lot of them have left writing. Many of them though understand everything and cry about the wrongs done to them, still chose to be a part of these. They still contribute to anthologies with only few people knowing and appreciating them. There are also few Paris’ who will shout about an anthology if they are a contributor there. However, they will be more than happy if their names are beautifully printed on the cover as an editor.</span></div>
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Tarun has changed as well. Even young people with no experience in writing have taken anthologies as shortcut to success, unaware of how many Paris’ they make. After editors, now another term called 'compiler' is getting popular. Publishing houses too are taking it as a wonderful opportunity. They don’t need to pay to contributing authors after selling their books. Few of them choose to give certificates to contributors. While few others even choose to demand money from contributors for the sake of publishing. So called editors and publishing houses gain and we; the one with dreams in our eyes fail.</span></div>
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With the success of my debut short story collection, few people came to me asking me to become an editor of such anthology. But then, whenever they ask so, I ask few questions to myself. ‘<i>Will I be able to give the credit to every contributor that they deserve? Will they gain anything out of such anthology? Won’t I be making more Paris?</i>’</span></div>
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I don’t have an answer to these questions. And that’s why I may never become an editor. But then, I do wonder, there are still too many short story competitions. There are too many aspiring authors. And then, there are too many Tarun’s among us. I know I won’t be able to stop them. But then, this is just a small initiative to make people aware about what happens behind a short story collection. If I’m able to stop even a person from becoming Pari with this post, I think this short story is successful.<br />
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I hope you liked this post as you liked my previous ones. Feel free to drop your comments, feedbacks and suggestions. You’re welcome for a discussion too if you don’t agree to me. Maybe, I will learn something from your point of view. Anyways, that’s all I have with me today. Hopefully, I will drop another post soon. Till then. Bbye!</span></div>
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Vishal Anandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12085709660257487821noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1402961499588379275.post-26464703393219892612014-10-31T07:15:00.002-07:002020-11-15T08:05:20.095-08:00A Short Story about a Short Story Collection<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Now-a-days, we are seeing a lot of short story competitions for different anthologies. In fact, few people have come out with their poetry competitions too. I too have a short story; a short story about a short story collection. </span></div>
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This story is true. However, the names of characters have been changed and minor liberties have been taken for a healthy purpose here and would like to say that the story doesn't mean to harm anyone by any means, but comes with a thought that I believe in.</span></div>
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Those days were different. Short story collections weren’t in fashion then. Or, they were in their infancy. I was a blogger those days. I would write poems, short stories or any other thought that came in my mind. </span></div>
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When you write for a blog, you want others to read and share their views. That was the time when I learned about Pari for the first time. She was a blogger too. She would write poems, short stories or anything on her blog. But there was always a difference in the way we wrote. She was far better than I was. I would read her blogs and would be in awe. Maybe, that was the reason, whenever I would complete writing a blog post, I would share it with Pari and would wait for her views. She would read it, criticize or appreciate what I wrote. That was the foundation of a good friendship. </span></div>
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A few months later, one of the bestselling authors of a romance novel, Tarun planned to organize a short story competition. His debut book was doing well. He had a good fan following. I met him few days back in one of the book launches. We spent some nice time and were happy to know each other. I was a struggling author back then. I don't remember how many publishers had rejected my manuscript till that date. The one who accepted it wanted a huge sum of money to publish my book. As a student I couldn't arrange the money to pay to the publishers. Like every other struggling author, I would ask published authors for suggestions and for any help if they could. Tarun knew I was struggling to get my book published. So, as soon as he organized the contest, he started approaching people like me who had a dream to become authors.</span></div>
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I clearly remember the day, he pinged me. He mentioned that he was expecting a story from my end. I had written few short stories by then. And I loved what all I had written. They were a part of my heart, my soul. I could not give any of them to anyone. They were like my children to me and I have been nurturing them like a mother. How could I give any of my children to anyone? I refused him. He didn't say me anything. </span></div>
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The competition was in full swing. Many aspiring writers from all parts of the country dropped in their stories. A shortlist was prepared and a list of selected stories was made. I was surprised when I saw Pari's name on the list. She didn't mention me that she had submitted a story for the competition.</span></div>
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I dropped her message in her chat box, ‘<i>When you’re free, do ping me.</i>’</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><i>Tell me, Sir</i>, a reply came few minutes later.</span></div>
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We talked about few things going in each other’s life before I mentioned about the collection.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><i>I wanted to talk about the short story collection</i>, I told her.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><i>Yes. Tell me</i>, she replied in nanosecond.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><i>I have done a little research. I think the contributors don’t get the credit they deserve when they participate in a short story collection</i>, I said honestly.</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">I don’t understand.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">I met an author few days back. He is writing since 90’s for different collections. In his last collection, even APJ Abdul Kalam submitted a poem.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Are you talking about Inklings?</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Yes.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">What’s the author name?</span></i></div>
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I told the author’s name. To my surprise, Pari hadn’t heard about him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><i>What’s the use when you don’t know the authors in your own collection, Pari?</i>, I questioned her.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><i>Inklings have too many authors, Vishal</i>, she replied.</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">That’s why I ask you not to participate in such anthologies. I want you to write at places where people know who Pari is. When anyone types your first name in flipkart search, it should suggest your surname.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><i>What a dialogue, dude!</i>, she wrote in excitement.</span></div>
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Next, I read a few lines on her FaceBook wall credited back to me.</span></div>
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We chatted for a while and she said that she would give it a thought while writing next short story. It was time for her dinner. She left and I involved myself with some other work.</span></div>
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Everything happened as it was destined to. Editing of the short story collection began. Let me be honest with few facts that I’ve known in recent years. There may me multiple anthologies you must have read by now. Almost all of them come with a phrase on its cover ‘Edited by XYZ.’ But I do wonder how many of them are edited by the same person! Pari’s anthology was no different.</span></div>
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Tarun’s grasp on English wasn’t that good. And, Pari was far better in literature. Maybe, that was the reason why Tarun asked Pari to edit the book. Pari was very happy as she believed that it was her first step to achieve her dreams. She agreed to edit stories of all the contributors in the anthologies. Tarun didn’t have to even read all stories once. </span></div>
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Days passed by. Weeks passed. Months passed. The promotion of the short story collection was going on in full swing. There is a good thing about any short story collection. Every person who contributes a story in the anthology promotes it. Each contributor thinks of the anthology as his/her own book. He/she will share posts, pre-order links, trailer or anything related to the anthology. Maybe, that’s why anthologies are promoted more than novels these days. Pari’s anthology was no different.</span></div>
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Most of the contributors asked their friends and relatives to pre-order the anthology. Most of them did. The anthology received good number of pre-orders. The day of the official launch for the anthology came closer. Pari was still left with too much editing. Tarun convinced her to do it faster. </span></div>
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I think, there’s a wonderful thing about every girl. When they love a person or a thing, they do it with all their heart. They are fully devoted to it. Pari was no different. She loved her dream of becoming an author. So, she would even skip her dinners to edit the stories; she would bunk classes. There were sleepless nights involved. Finally, editing was done.</span></div>
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A launch was announced for the anthology at New Delhi. Most of the contributors, few of those who lived outside Delhi came for the launch. Contributors invited their friends and relatives. I was invited by Pari too for the launch. Though I had some urgent work the next day, but I visited the launch ceremony just for Pari.</span></div>
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What happened on the launch day? What happened after the anthology released? What about Pari? Do you have questions in your mind? Please go through the second part of the story here: <a href="http://www.vishalanand.co.in/2014/11/a-short-story-about-short-story.html">http://www.vishalanand.co.in/2014/11/a-short-story-about-short-story.html</a>. </span></div>
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Vishal Anandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12085709660257487821noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1402961499588379275.post-87129300067939154632014-08-29T08:57:00.001-07:002020-11-15T08:13:55.300-08:00That thing called ‘Free Copies’!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">Before I begin telling you what I exactly mean by this post of mine. Let me tell you a short story: story of a reader, a reviewer and an author.</span></span><br />
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<span><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">It was month of February; year 2013. Delhi Book Fair was going on. Readers, reviewers, authors and all book lovers crowded Pragati Maidan. It was those days when Vijay, a book lover and reader decided to meet Himadri at Delhi Book Fair. Himadri was a well known book reviewer. Any author who would write a book was bound to send a copy of his/her book to Himadri. Vijay being a student could not spend much on books. He had good friendship with Himadri. So, he asked her to bring two books with her that day. Himadri did it as said by him. In book fair, Vijay met other authors. He asked one of those authors to sign the autograph for him. They didn’t have a paper other than those two books. Vijay opened the first page of the book and asked the authoress to sign on the first page. </span></span><br />
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<span><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">‘The book belongs to someone else and you’re making me sign it,’ she said smiling and signing the book for Vijay.</span></span><br />
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<span><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">Vijay smiled and replied, ‘Who cares? It’s just another book that came for free.’</span></span><br />
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<span><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">The very next day Vijay met the author of the same book in the book fair. The author was kind enough to drop Vijay to his place of residence. They both sat on Vijay’s room. Vijay picked out his book from the cupboard and asked him to sign it for him. The author turned the page and found out that he signed it for Himadri while he himself went to give the book to her. He turned the first page to find the book signed by the authoress on the first page. That was one of the embarrassing situations for Vijay. Though the author signed in the little space left below authoress’ signature, Vijay was left with a guilt; the guilt of disrespecting the book that the author wrote after hard work of many sleepless nights. </span></span><br />
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<span><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">Time passed and then Vijay himself became an author. Now, he understood what really a book means to an author and what actually a free copy is.</span></span><br />
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<span><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">Before I begin telling you any further, let me tell you two things. First of all, Vijay is no one but me. Secondly, before I tell you anything about free copies, I would like to tell you a little about publishing industry and the process.</span></span><br />
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<span><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">Publishing industry, as I have known it in recent years is much more complicated than what I had seen it from a reader’s eye few years ago. Readers see it as a money making industry; giving glory, fame and money to the authors. However, the actual scenario is just the opposite. I wondered it to follow a simple rule. Write a book, sent it to publishers, they will publish it and bang! You’re an author. But recently with the increasing number of manuscripts that are floating in the market, it is really difficult for any publisher to read each and every manuscript. Tell me! What would you do if you get as much as 50-60 mails per day. I believe you would too look for an escape. Moreover, try visiting a Landmark or Crossword near your place. You may notice the book section getting small and being replaced by eatables or toys. Publishers are making less money. So, to tackle this, there are hardly few publishers who publish books with traditional publishing. For other aspiring authors, there is a simple rule: pay and get published. Authors with no choice have to go for it. No matter, how he pays the publisher. Whether it be his dad’s hard earned money, borrowed up money from friends or a personal loan, he pays it to the publisher to fulfill his dream.</span></span><br />
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<span><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">What next? The book goes in pre-order at different online portals. The author shares the pre-order links and bang! A chatbox opens up with a message – ‘Yaar! Mere ko ek copy sign karke bhej dena.’ Or, ‘Arey, aap to mere ghar k kitne pass rehte ho. Aapko to khud book sign karke deni chahiye.’ Few of those messages get those copies for free. But then, this has just started man. There will be another set of facebook friends whom you may have never met even want signed copies of your book. By signed copy, it doesn’t mean that they will cherish it. It means they want a free lunch.</span></span><br />
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<span><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">Come back to author side again. You may wonder how many free copies he gets from the publisher. Hardly, five to ten or maximum twenty! Enough? No.. not really. Actually the number of people who want free copies are not less than 50 in any case. Now, suppose author wants say few more copies from his publisher, what will he do? He will surely take a price from the author. These books are sent to authors at a discounted rate that may vary from max 40 to 50% discounts. Suppose, there is a case for few seconds, let us assume that author gets something called ‘free copies’, what will he do? If I were an author in that place, I would like to take maximum copies from my publisher and sell it to distributors, retailers and other book sellers at a price that my publisher does and make hell lot of money to recover the investment I made or even gain more. But then, why can’t a publisher give it for free? No matter, one does not think but book printing and transporting it to distributors is a bigger part of the cost at which the books is sent to the distributors for distribution.</span></span><br />
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<span><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">The author though has to buy few copies for him. Why? Every author wants his book to reach the masses; he sends it to bloggers, reviewers and newspapers. Once I asked Mr Anand Neelakantan, #1 bestselling author of Asura: Tale of the Vanguished whose book had numerous newspapers coverage for months. My question was simple - What is the ratio of the newspapers coverage to the books that has been sent to newspapers? I was amazed at his reply. The actual copies that have been sent to newspapers were around 200. However, the newspaper coverage was hardly 20-25. It brings the ratio to be 1/8th or 1/10th of the actual books sent to these newspapers. In most of the cases, author is bound to take this burden as newspaper is a strong media to reach the masses.</span></span><br />
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<span><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">In my other conversation with Mr. K. Hari Kumar, the bestselling author of ‘When Strangers Meet’, I came to learn about a new story. Hari was to attend some family function that night when we were talking. I wondered family functions are good place for an author to speak about their work. But again to my surprise, Hari told me that every relative of his wants a free copy of his book and it’s useless to talk about his book to them.</span></span><br />
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<span><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">Disheartened, I looked for a solution. I mean, the author who is already burdened with the heavy loan he took while getting his books printed, what should he do? And, the solution came in the form of a website named www.getsignedbooks.com, a venture by Dipen Ambalia, who is himself an author of three books till date. Getsignedbooks is a concept where an author can sell his personalized signed books at a price he/she wants. I got listed my book there and whenever there is a ping or comments saying, ‘Yaar! Mere ko ek personalized signed copy chahiye.’, I would smile; share my book link from the website and ask the person who demands it, ‘Please! Go ahead. ’ Only genuine people who needs authors personalized copy will buy it then, others will never demand it again, nor buy it.</span></span><br />
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<span><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">However, not many authors have registered their books on the website. They are still troubled, working hard to sell their books. What should one do as a reader? Trouble him more by asking free copies? I believe, no. With this post, I just want to request every reader not to demand for free copies. No matter you don’t read your friend/author’s work, but at least don’t bother him by asking a free copy. Trust me, if you really deserve it, he/she will surely send it to you. </span></span><br />
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<span><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">That’s all I have with me for today. Hope I didn’t hurt my readers very much. Just a request! Think before you drop a message in author’s chatbox – ‘Can I have a signed copy of your book?’</span></span></span></div>
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Vishal Anandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12085709660257487821noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1402961499588379275.post-25286080192242649632013-11-01T08:28:00.001-07:002020-11-15T08:05:38.696-08:00Book Review : Beyond Birkie Fever (Walter Rhein)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><b>Author: </b> Walter Rhein</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><b>Publisher: </b> Rhemalda Publishing</span></div>
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It's not every day you log into your mail and find a mail from a person living thousands of miles away from you. It was the last day of July when author, Walter Rhein sent me a mail for the first time. He came across this blog and few reviews here. He gave details about this book and asked me if I can review it.</span></div>
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Two things always stop me from reviewing books. First, when you start doing it regularly, you get a plenty of requests to do it. I neither have time, nor the zeal to read every other book that’s available in the market. Second, my reviews about a book are generally not good. Honest reviews have always brought troubles for me. Still out of curiosity, I visited amazon link of Walter's book, he shared to me in his mail. With the quoted price there, I was sure about one thing. '<i>I'm not going to review this book.</i>' Moreover, I was not sure how much my review will help Walter. But, I knew I may be the only Indian, he must have asked to review his book. So, my reply would not only be mine, but will represent a nation. He will make a picture of India and its people from my reply. So, I replied him with my views few days later. He still asked me to review it; inquiring my address.</span></div>
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Almost a dozen of mails got exchanged after that before the book finally reached my address in the last week of September. Even before I could open the envelope with the book, the sender’s location brought a smile on my face. It's not every day you get an envelope with a US stamp on it. I opened the book a few days later.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><b>Author's Bio from the book:</b> Walter Rhein was born in northern Wisconsin. As he grew up, he developed a deep appreciation for cross-country skiing, the American Birkebeiner, and the Worldloppet circuit. His pursuit of international cross-country ski races sparked a powerful wanderlust that resulted in a ten year period spent living and working in South America. However, a true skier cannot resist the call of winter forever, and Rhein was recently relocated to Wisconsin, at least for the time being.</span></div>
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Beyond Birkie Fever is an adventurous journey of author, Walter Rhein in America's greatest cross-country ski race called American Birkebeiner. He shares with his readers how his journey as a skier changed since a kid of 7 years till date with details explaining his experiences beyond anything that one would ever hope to imagine! Let us dig out to find more about the book.</span></div>
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Every year, thousands of people journey from all over the globe to Hayward, Wisconsin, for a world-class celebration of life, winter and the competitive spirit. Prior to the race, local participants find themselves in the throes of a unique and natural euphoria. They thrill at the prospect of participating shoulder to shoulder with elite international competitors in a wild race through the great Northwoods wilderness. The book is a common person's Olympic ideal!</span></div>
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The cover page has an image of few skiers skiing with their full zeal, which surely goes with the book. Though I got this book shipped at my place, still if I would have noticed it at a bookstore, I would have picked up the book. However, there is some scope with the cover for improvement. The page quality is good. I have not read many paperback or hardbound books from foreign authors so can't comment about the standards followed in other countries.</span></div>
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When you start with the book, you find founder David Landgraf's account of the first Birkie. I would say it's a good idea to start a book like this. It's like giving a cricket lover, a book written on Cricket starting with the interview of Sachin Tendulkar. A straight six by the author on the first ball itself! Those who have been involved with ski races will surely appreciate it.</span></div>
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I found language used at the start of the book a little tough. Maybe, I felt so as being an Indian, I don't use words used by the author here in my daily talks. But, as you move with the flow, you find it to go smooth. Incidence one after another of the author's life keeps you moving with the flow of the book. Narration by the author is brilliant and would make you imagine yourself drown in the story. I belong to a country where there is not much snow. Still, I could imagine the plot very well. The part where author mentioned about his grandfather is really humorous. I didn't expect such a good end from the author after few setbacks with his health. Though, he fully convinced me with the end of the book.</span></div>
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At the end, I must say, it was a refreshing read for me as I have been continuously reading Indian plots. The author was tremendous in taking me to a different world. I would rate it a 4.25 on a scale of 5.</span></div>
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There are two drawbacks I found with this book. First, editing part could be taken better care of. Second, if the author wants to trap markets like India, he must reduce the price of the book. </span></div>
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On a personal note, I would like to thank Walter Rhein for choosing me to read this book. His next book, 'The Reader of Acheron' is soon going to hit the market. I wish the author, all the best for his next book and other future endeavors.</span></div>
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You can get kindle edition of the book at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Birkie-Fever-ebook/dp/B00FEPQ212/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-1&qid=1314120830">http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Birkie-Fever-ebook/dp/B00FEPQ212/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-1&qid=1314120830</a></span></div>
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Vishal Anandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12085709660257487821noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1402961499588379275.post-22153168695683499332013-08-23T08:02:00.003-07:002020-11-15T08:06:08.953-08:00Short Story : I like her<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xsbUHSwRP1I/UgqMLYZzTLI/AAAAAAAAAoQ/Fl4HVC2klmM/s1600/ilikeher.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" height="245" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xsbUHSwRP1I/UgqMLYZzTLI/AAAAAAAAAoQ/Fl4HVC2klmM/s320/ilikeher.png" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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‘Yes, I like her!’ I said.</span></div>
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She did not reply for few minutes.</span></div>
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‘What is there in her that is not in me?’ she questioned with anger mixed in her voice.</span></div>
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‘She makes me smile whenever she stands in front of my eyes,’ I replied her honestly.</span></div>
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‘Hmm..’ Her eyes turned moist.</span></div>
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‘I think smile would not be the perfect word here. I really die laughing when she is standing in front of my eyes,’ I said making the situation worse.</span></div>
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‘Is she a Delhite?’ she asked further.</span></div>
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‘Umm.. Not really! She is actually a Punjabi.’</span></div>
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‘She must have fooled you by her talks.’</span></div>
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It was time for me to be silent.</span></div>
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‘Speak up!’ she shouted.</span></div>
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‘Yeah, it’s something of that sort you can say.’ I did not have a choice other than being true. I was really bowled by anything this girl spoke.</span></div>
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‘I know. All Punjabi girls are like this.’</span></div>
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‘Hmm..’ I nodded.</span></div>
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‘How long have you known her?’ her voice was turning sober every passing second.</span></div>
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‘I don’t know,’ I replied.</span></div>
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‘Days? Weeks? Months? Years? What?’ her voice rose this time.</span></div>
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‘Maybe, an year. Or, maybe more,’ I tried my best to remember when I saw her first time. But, I could not remember that moment.</span></div>
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‘Fine,’ she said wiping the tears which rolled down her eyes.</span></div>
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‘Are you OK?’ I asked her.</span></div>
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‘Yes, I am.’</span></div>
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‘All right,’ I replied, meekly.</span></div>
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‘Is she very beautiful?’ she asked.</span></div>
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‘Not really. But, she is my favorite. I love hearing to her.’</span></div>
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‘Fine! Best of luck with your future,’ she tried to smile this time.</span></div>
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‘Thank you,’ I smiled.</span></div>
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‘Take care. Bye!’</span></div>
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‘Bye!’</span></div>
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I turned to pick up the bottle kept to my right and gulped a few sips. I got busy with my daily work. After few hours, I logged myself on facebook.</span></div>
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‘Can I see her pic?’ my chat box popped with her message as soon as I turned online.</span></div>
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‘Yes, here it is,’ I said pasting <a href="https://www.google.co.in/search?q=Bharati+Singh&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=mqn6UeK_NIyyrge82YGwAg&biw=1366&bih=667&sei=nan6UYTcGdHIrQe0pIDIDg">https://www.google.co.in/search?q=Bharati+Singh&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=mqn6UeK_NIyyrge82YGwAg&biw=1366&bih=667&sei=nan6UYTcGdHIrQe0pIDIDg</a> in her chat box. :)</span></div>
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Vishal Anandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12085709660257487821noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1402961499588379275.post-10074917527807071352013-07-26T07:44:00.001-07:002020-11-15T08:06:26.568-08:00Book Review : Dented & Painted (Tirupathi Khemka)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><b>Book:</b> Dented & Painted<br />
<b>Author: </b> Tirupathi Khemka<br />
<b>Publisher:</b> Notion Press<br />
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These days if you ask me to read a short story or a short story collection, I will be more interested in it than I could ever be. It is because of the short story collection I am working for these days. However, that is not the reason you will find me biased towards this short story collection. </span></div>
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Somewhere in mid of May, Notion Press organized a contest and the winner was to receive a copy of “Dented & Painted”. To my hunger for free copies, I participated in the contest and like most other times, I won it. The copy of ‘Dented & Painted’ written by ‘Tirupathi Khemka’ reached my address in no time.</span></div>
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Businessman, industrialists, leader, visionary, innovator and philanthropist, Tirupathi Khemka, is known for his Midas touch. He added panache to everything he undertook; be it creating and managing multi-million dollar businesses, revolutionizing the power generation industry, pioneering the concept of airline charter in the country, breeding industrial relationships or generously supporting social causes. He has extensively travelled across the globe and has observed different societies, cultures and people as a profound enthusiast of human character.</span></div>
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Dented & Painted is a book that talks about 23 independent women who were oppressed, abused and used, and stories of women who avenged, repelled or survived in author's own word. Let us find out what it has to offer to its readers.</span></div>
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We live in tough times. Manhood established his world with his set of rules; womanhood strikes back, unfortunately playing by the same rules. Here is a collection of touching true stories of modern women and their lives in a contemporary society.</span></div>
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The cover page has an image of a woman, half wrapped in a saree. It is one of the covers that cannot be described in words. The cover page is capable of attracting you towards the book. As you further turn the hard-bound cover, the page quality has been marvelous. It is one of the best page qualities that I have read in recent days which give a feel of its own. </span></div>
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Language of all stories is crispy, engaging and touching and narration too has been good. There are a few typos that appear at the end of the book but that can be ignored. Just a few stories are normal wife-husband stories but they are very few and most of the stories are good which make you forget about them. In recent months, we have found rape as an inhuman act but I believe the author has done its best in attracting us towards other issues faced by women. Few stories really showed how a man can go out of humanhood to play with a daughter/lover/wife's feelings. I am mentioning few of my personal favorites for your reference:</span></div>
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1.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>Prerna</b>: Prerna story appalls me. It squeezes my heart and makes me think why should a child be pushed to the edge where the only option left is repulsion/withdrawal? And what should the society do to a man who pushes a child to the edge by molesting his/her body and soul? And what should be done to the man who does that to his own child?</span></div>
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2.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>Nikita:</b> Nikita knows what she wants and she uses all her charms to get it. Fair? Unfair? Who’ll judge?</span></div>
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3.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>Chaaya: </b>Why are woman suppressed? What Kind of a father would treat a little girl so brutally? What kind of a man treats his wife so inhumanly? What makes these men beat, rape and suppress woman in their lives? And how can a woman change this?</span></div>
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4.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>Tasha: </b>Every decision has a price to pay, are you prepared to pay the price commanded for this choice? What will a child conceived in an orgy be like? For people who attend orgies, what age do they think would be good for their children to start attend orgies themselves? </span></div>
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5.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>Mrinalini: </b>The thing that keeps bothering me about this story is, why victimize faith?</span></div>
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6.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>Jhanvi: </b>Why did she go back? She had the chance to get out of it. And why was she clinging on to Ritz? She knew he had got her into it?</span></div>
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At the end, I must say ‘Dented & Painted’ is a must read. I would rate it 4 on a scale of 5. The stories take you to every color of womanhood. You can feel the need to change your thinking that has been ruining the life of woman in many ways, may it be her father, her lover or her husband. The author has done a tremendous job in showing all the characteristics of woman. He leaves us with lot of questions in our mind. Do we really have the right to call us civilized with these questions? I really don't have an answer.</span></div>
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The only drawback I found with this book is it's price i.e. Rs 450/- Although, the book is hardbound but still I believe the author as well as publisher should have lowered the book price to make it reach the masses because many stories needs to reach to every mind.. every soul.</span></div>
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On a personal note, I’d like to wish Notion Press all the best for providing such a platform to many writers who are now heroes among their friends. And, I wish the author, Tirupathi Khemka best of luck for the book. I would love to read any future books by the author. </span></div>
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You can get a copy of the book from <a href="http://www.flipkart.com/dented-painted/p/itmdhr85fytq9hya?pid=9789382447443">http://www.flipkart.com/dented-painted/p/itmdhr85fytq9hya?pid=9789382447443</a></span></div>
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Vishal Anandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12085709660257487821noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1402961499588379275.post-48799877393567801252013-06-28T09:35:00.001-07:002020-11-15T08:06:48.537-08:00Life Is What You Make It!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Hold On! I know as you read the title of this blog post, you may think I am going to talk something about one of Preeti Shenoy’s book here. But, I would clarify that I am not. I am going to talk what the title actually means.</span></div>
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It has been one year now I have been blogging here. Few of you appreciated it and few others chose not to speak anything after reading my blog posts. Some of you imagined the short stories I wrote on this blog while some of you said me to work on my grammar. Each of your comments and feedback were important and is treasured to its best.</span></div>
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I started this blog almost one year back with the blog post titled, life similar to a samosa chat (<a href="http://vishalanand07.blogspot.in/2012/05/life-similar-to-amoa-hat.html">http://vishalanand07.blogspot.in/2012/05/life-similar-to-amoa-hat.html</a>) and as I complete one year of this blog I felt like writing a blog post again titled on life. Let me tell you the reason why I started with this blog first before coming to what actually I want you to tell. </span></div>
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For past few years I want to be an author. It was four months when I was tired sending my sample chapters to several publishers one after another with no positive response. And, the rejection is really painful. But, I did not want to kill my passion for writing. That was the time and my reason why I wrote the first blog post here. </span></div>
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Himani Goyal, a dear friend and renowned book reviewer was the first to appreciate my blog post. And, appreciation has immense power in it. It was all your love that made me to write blog posts one after another. I started writing poems and short stories time to time. Most of them were appreciated by you. I even wrote few blog posts in Hindi which were loved by few. Meanwhile, I got approval for my first book from one of the leading publishing house. However, the publishing process is still a long way.</span></div>
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It was in December last year when one of my short stories, a day before my divorce got huge response from the readers. Getting wonderful response from the readers about my short stories, I started penning down all the short stories idea I had in mind. Till now, I have written 14 short stories and am planning to release my anthology. I have already sent the sample stories to few of the publishers and will send to few others in coming days. </span></div>
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I don’t know how long I have to wait before becoming an author. I don’t know how many of us leave our dreams midway when we are tired trying it. It’s not about me. It’s about anyone who has ever dreamt. It’s about anyone who dared to dream big. Few of us leave our dreams when we see it’s getting tough to achieve them. I may have done the same a year ago. But, I didn’t. I may have been lucky to achieve my dream. But now when I see it, I smile thinking about my past. </span></div>
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If my book could have been out a year ago, I would have been happy. There could not have been this blog, there could not have been my short stories collection and most importantly, there would not have been you reading me. So, at the end I believe what happened is not at all bad. It is actually the best that could happen.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">
Past one year has taught me a lot. I have made few authors, literary friends who admire my work, come forward for suggestions and feedbacks, and stop me from committing faults. I have learnt not only from my mistakes but more importantly from other mistakes. That is what I believe life is all about.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">
That’s all I wanted to say today. I hope I made my point. I know each one of you reading this, may have numerous dreams on your eyes. I don’t want you to leave them mid way. You may get obstacles, you may get slow to reach them but I don’t want you to kill them. Because you know ‘Life is what you make it’. </span></div>
</div>
Vishal Anandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12085709660257487821noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1402961499588379275.post-61121965390455767152013-03-15T08:36:00.005-07:002020-11-15T08:07:09.266-08:00Good Deeds, Great Returns<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DxT6qihRFeg/UUM-QX4ePlI/AAAAAAAAAlM/srzf_n8gXL4/s1600/0531-us-caltruism_full_600.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DxT6qihRFeg/UUM-QX4ePlI/AAAAAAAAAlM/srzf_n8gXL4/s320/0531-us-caltruism_full_600.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">We all must have
heard about the proverb, 'Kar Bhala, Ho Bhala' from our childhood. I don't know what we say it
exactly in English. But it's something like 'Do good, get good.' With the
increasing rush in everyday life, we all are forgetting this and no more
believe in this. Today, I want to share with you a small incident that actually happened
with me few months back.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">This
blog would have been a little popular by that time. Maybe, that was the reason
when I logged in my facebook account, I had a message in my inbox.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Hi<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in; text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">My book
"ABC" by PQR Publishers has just released. I was wondering if you do
book reviews on your blog.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Let me know. I can send you a copy.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Thanks<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">XYZ<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">I
had never done a book review. Neither,
had a plan to do that in the near future. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">‘No
ma'am. I don't do book reviews. But, if you want I can send you the names of
book reviewers who does that and are well known at facebook,’ I replied
instantly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">‘Yeah,
that will be good. Thanks,’ said the authoress.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">I
narrated name of seven reviewers one after another with a little knowledge
about how they review a book. The authoress knew few of them, however was
unaware about few others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">‘If
you want I can talk with him for your book. He knows me well,’ I offered the
authoress.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">‘That
would be good. If I have his address I can send him a copy,’ came her reply.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">The
authoress has full confidence on her book. She believed that her book has no
errors and contains a good story. So,
she decided to send her book to every reviewer I suggested. She asked me to
help me with the reviewers she does not know to which I agreed. While we were
about to end our chat, a message popped on my chatbox , ‘Thanks man will send
you a copy if you haven’t ordered my book yet. Give me address.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">I
was surprised by her message. I repeated again, ‘I don't review at blog.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">‘Not
for review, to enjoy!’ she replied.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">I
laughed at her innocent reply. I thanked her for the offering and confirmed the
reviewers she did not know. I promised to arrange their addresses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">‘Thanks.
Get their address and give me yours,’ she insisted again. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">‘Ma'am!
Why are you taking trouble to send me your book? I don't expect anything in
return of helping others,’ I explained her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">‘Why
not? Why are you taking trouble to help me? I want you to read it!’ she
questioned me again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">‘I
am like this only from the day I know myself,’ I replied with a smile.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">‘Well
I'm like this too. I have to do my karma.’ She seemed to be in no mood loosing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">I
promised her to send my address with the addresses of the other reviewers she
don’t know. We ended our conversation with another thank you from her end.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Her
book reached me on 9th January. Due to my busy curriculum and other free books
that I received in free book giveaways here and there, I read her book last
month. She although did not lose any chance to abuse me publically for not
reading her book even though it was sent to me free of cost.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">As I
was wondering what to write this month as my blog post, I thought of returning
her good with a little good I can do. Yeah, I am reviewing her book. I don’t
know how good or bad I review a book. So please, forgive me if I do a blunder. The
review is written below.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AqJnRA2ps6c/UUM_qS6p07I/AAAAAAAAAlY/Nn1OfW40zik/s1600/spicy.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AqJnRA2ps6c/UUM_qS6p07I/AAAAAAAAAlY/Nn1OfW40zik/s320/spicy.png" width="269" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><b><span style="color: #ffe599;">About
The Author:</span></b><span> Ashwina
Garg lives in Hyderabad with her husband and two kids. She studied accountancy
and has worked as an entrepreneur, a German translator and a technical writer.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><b><span style="color: #ffe599;">Synopsis
of The Book:</span></b><span> Studied hard? Got the perfect job? Found the
perfect mate? And Still Screwed up your life? Is it possible to do everything
right in your life and still not be happy? Meet Sanjay, Aditi, Mayank and
Jayshree. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Sanjay is US-returned
software millionaire determined to have an arranged marriage aftr slling his
company and braking up with his two-timing girlfriends. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">Aditi is a
commitment-phobic writer who cant figure out what her next book is about but
has perfected the art of break-ups Manyank and Jayshree are the perfect couple.
If only they werent dealing with rude relatives, killing deadlines, procreation
pressures and those ultimate romance-killers... monotoy and boredom!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">This light-hearted
story traces the lives of these four successful, thirty-something friends who all
come to the same conclusion... <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><b><span style="color: #ffe599;">My
review:</span></b><span> I have
divided my review into two subparts. Pros and cons about the book. So here it
is:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><b><span style="color: #ffe599;">Pros
of the book:</span></b><span> I got
to read something different. Shrishti Publishers has been coming out with so
many college romances. So, I felt good seeing something out of college. Aditi's
character in the book is too strong. I fell in love with her character while
reading it. Sanjay in the book was good too. Their romances were explained
well. Although, I feel it is tough to make me smile. But, the authoress did it
with her book. I even dropped a few tears when Sanjay proposed Aditi. The
chemistry between the other characters, Mayank and Shree is also shown well.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><b><span style="color: #ffe599;">Cons
of the book:</span></b><span> The
authoress had talked about so many brands that were appearing as aliens to me.
For a moment, I thought her crazy. Beginning of the story is not so good.
Moreover, the authoress has used names of so many dishes that are cooked in
south. The book lacked suspense.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span><br /></span>
<span>Overall, the book can
be read in your leisure time. I would rate it 3.5 on a scale of 5. I would ask
my readers and friends to please comment below how was the review. Thanks, in
advance.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #ffe599;">Note:</span>
</span></b><span><span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">I am not open for
book reviewing. My curriculum keeps me busy. So, if I get a book I don’t know
when I will be able to complete it. Therefore, I kindly request my author
friends not to ask me to review their books.</span><span style="font-family: Book Antiqua, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
Vishal Anandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12085709660257487821noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1402961499588379275.post-52777730092590998292012-11-16T22:00:00.001-08:002020-11-15T08:07:37.181-08:00How I Fought Plagiarism And The Ways To Curb It! - II<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kid61BAp5pU/UHhG5OLPvaI/AAAAAAAAAjA/EWs5VauSumI/s1600/plagiarism.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" height="245" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kid61BAp5pU/UHhG5OLPvaI/AAAAAAAAAjA/EWs5VauSumI/s320/plagiarism.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">
*<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> * *</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">
Jolly sardar stretched his hand as he saw me coming after my first lecture. Balwinder aka Ballu has been studying with me for the last one year but I have never seen such a big smile on his face while greeting me. We made a handshake.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>‘What an article, sir jee?’ said he.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>‘Did you read it?’ I asked him with a surprise.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>‘Almost half, then, there was a power cut. But, what I read was superb. You really write well,’ he said still holding my palms.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>‘Just trying my hand on blogging,’ I said as I slowly pulled out my palm from his long, heavy fingers. We both moved in opposite directions in fraction of seconds.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Although it felt great getting appreciation from my classmates but there was still a pain in me of the last night. I attended my lectures for the day and went back home.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">
*<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>*<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>*</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">
After having my dinner for the day, I wrote a long post mentioning my blog post link, Aakash blog’s link and my grievances at indiblogger family at the facebook. Priya posted the link to other blog posts or websites from where Aakash copied his several other blog posts. Several other fbians joined our discussion on the post and started giving their suggestions. I was talking to them when suddenly a chat message popped out. It was from someone named, Namitha. I greeted her. She suggested me to post comments at Aakash’s blog and also to ask my friends to do the same. I did not understand the logic behind it. But Namitha persuaded me by saying that we should try to get so many comments there that the blogger feel ashamed of his plagiarism act. Priya was the first to comment on Aakash’s blog, followed by few others who were part of the discussion in the indiblogger family at facebook. I started pinging all my online friends and requested them to comment on Aakash’s blog. Soon Balwinder, Aastha, Naren, Aabhar and few others commented on his blog. Every comment was cursing the blogger for his act. It was total ten comments when Naren asked me to stop.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>‘He might not be aware of the evil. Is it right to post so many bad comments?’ he asked me.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>‘What can we do otherwise?’ I replied with another question.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>‘Can’t we wait a little? The guy does not seem to be online.’</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I thought for a moment. I was of course hurt by the act but the good part somewhere deep in my heart still did not agree to hurt the ones who hurt me.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>‘OK, we should stop today with the comments but if the guy does not remove his blog post after two days, we will continue with it with a faster speed,’ I declared finally.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Naren agreed for my condition with a smile. We all departed for the day and decided to act more rigorously if we did not achieve our goal after several comments.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">
* *<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>*</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">
Few more appreciations from few others literary lovers came to my chatbox within next days. The pain was reducing gradually and slowly but I almost decided not to blog anymore. But, then she pinged. Who’s she? She is Deepika. I added her just the last day when saw a friend request from her. We exchanged the normal hi/hello stuff and then she sent me the link to a facebook profile. It was profile of Aakash Mishra.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>‘Are you sure? Is he the same guy?’ I asked Deepika.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>‘Yeah, I am chatting with him. :)’ she replied back.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I took Deepika’s pardon and tried to read about me of Aakash’s profile. He was some engineering student from some engineering college from the NCR region. Luckily, he was in my friend list so I was able to get all his details now. In the recent months, my friend list has been increasing with greatest speed from requests from literary lovers and people who somehow read my blog. He might be one of them. I sent the profile link to Priya. She cursed me by saying that she is seeing no input from my side to punish the culprit. I could just smile at her comment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>‘Hi,’ I wrote to Aakash.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>‘Hey,’ he greeted me back.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>We shared some normal conversations before I gave him my blog link asking him whether he copied my post from my blog.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>‘Yes,’ he replied it without hesitation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>‘Have you heard about plagiarism?’ I asked him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>‘No,’ he replied in no seconds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What should I say to a guy who was so innocent, who did not know the meaning of plagiarism? He just completed his higher secondary school last year and joined some engineering. He believed that knowledge is important but not the way how it is shared or from where it is copied? How could I punish such an innocent guy? We did not exchange any words for few minutes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>‘What are you doing?’ I asked him after several minutes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>‘Was searching for the meaning of plagiarism.. Is online from mobile, so, it’s taking a little time,’ he explained.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I laughed out loudly on his sentence. I took a deep breath and explained him about the act of plagiarism and the plagiarized articles. He took no seconds in deleting his copied blog post. He promised me that he will delete all his plagiarized articles in a day or two or will try to give credit to the original authors and also will renovate his blog. I felt better after two full days. We talked about several other topics. He was greatly impressed by the talks we made and asked me for a guest lecture at his college. I would have loved to have the honor. But, I spend all my lectures sleeping in the first bench. How could I give another set of students same sort of torture? It took me long to convince him that I won’t be able to come to his college for the lecture. We still chat several times on several other topics and I really find Aakash a nice guy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>So, this is my story of my plagiarized article. I hope I did not bore you much. By the way, there are a lot of ways to curb this act. There are good html codes available on internet which when you paste in your blog/website can disable right clicking of the mouse thus preventing the copying option. But if you are not comfortable so much with html codes, you can always use copyscape.com. There are limited number of times when you can use it. But, if you need an urgency for it, you can surely buy a premium copy. And, if not there are always people like Namitha who come with a boom to save bloggers like me. Go on commenting the blog. By the way, I am not using html code for this blog post, nor will use copyscape for it. Why? Because I want you to share this short story in your blog/website even without giving me a credit because some kid taught me some day that knowledge should be spread, no matter from where we copy-paste it. That’s all for today, keep blogging, keep smiling. Bbye for now.. :)<br /></span>
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Vishal Anandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12085709660257487821noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1402961499588379275.post-84654341490667070732012-10-12T21:30:00.001-07:002020-11-15T08:07:54.387-08:00How I Fought Plagiarism And The Ways To Curb It! - I<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Thanks for the great response that you all gave me for my first short story – Life after college. May be that is why I am trying to write more and more these days. I think after writing my blog for more than four months now, I can call myself a blogger. Although, I never wanted to become a blogger but still I am now. I had a dream, the dream to become an author. But the process of getting published is really very time consuming and I may also call it frustrating some time. And, I did not want to kill my passion for writing. So, that’s how I became a blogger and you are here. Hey wait, this is not a story on how to become a blogger? But, the story of a blogger through his blog. I have changed the name of the characters for any disputes. So, today let me tell you another short story. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Following my rule of posting one or two blog posts every month, I was still confused what to write in my blog this month. Today is a Sunday and normally this is the day when I write my blog posts. I opened the word document and went deep into the ocean of thoughts and after thinking a lot posted my article named, ‘The True Meaning of Victory’. Since, I was already late for my dinner, I went out to have it. When I returned it was already 10. Now, my blog needed some visitors. Because when you write something you want others to read it. There may be a lot of ways to drive visitors to your blog. At a later stage when your blogs becomes popular search engines play a vital role. But, my blog was still to get its popularity at Google. So, I use facebook, the love of so many youngsters these days. I am a member of more than 100 of the literary groups with thousands of members in each of them. I posted my blog link with few lines from my post in several of the groups after I updated my blog posts in my status. The people who even did not open the blog started liking my status by just reading the line from my blog. On the other tab, my gmail was open as always. I checked in my mail that a comment was written in my blog post. Just this message in my inbox brought a smile on my face. And, why not, it was less than two hrs and I received a comment on my blog. What could be better than this for a blogger? I went to my blog and checked for my first comment. I felt like somebody has taken my kidney out of my body after reading my first comment. It said, ‘Awesome Words! I am copying it ....’ </span></div>
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All my hard work and thought process was of less importance now. The time value of 2-3 hrs that I spent this evening meant nothing. The comment was from someone named ‘Aakash Mishra’ and trust me if the guy would have been standing in front of me, I would have taken no seconds to kill him. I had a deep pain. I didn’t know how to react, what to do, whom to ask for help? I searched through the long list of my online friends and my eyes stopped at Abhinav. Abhinav is one of the leading blogger of the country and has more than 700 posts in his blog now. His admirers include leading movie actors to the bestseller authors from the industry.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I did not feel like greeting him. My first words in our chatbox were, ‘Yaar, updated my blog right now and the first comment is I am copying it. What should I do?’</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>‘Tell him to give credits,’ he replied back instantaneously.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I thought for a moment. Do I have a choice? With a sad mood, I wrote those words, ‘Aakash, it would be really great if you mention at the end of your post/article that it is copied from the blog followed by the link, I don't have a problem in that.. :)’ and asked Abhinav whether it is fine to post in my blog comment.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>He replied with a yes and we ended our conversation by greeting each other.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I felt more upset for that moment. Allowing someone to copy from your answer-sheet in exam is easy, but allowing someone to copy it from you blog with a smiling face is very difficult. Although, I did the tough job by replying to his comment.</span></div>
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However, I was not happy. Can’t anything be done with those who rob our contents? There should be a way to punish them? I had a lot of questions fighting in my mind with no answers. I felt like my head was going to burst. I shut down my laptop and kept it in my cupboard, switched off the light and rested my head on my pillow.</span></div>
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It has been almost an hour since I switched off the light. The time can really be very slow when you have something going in your mind. I was almost tired by changing sides of my bed when the James Bond in me shouted out, ‘C’mon, you can’t let it go like that; wake up and search for the culprit; punish him or teach him a lesson.’</span></div>
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I don’t know others. But the James Bond in me never listens to me after he decides about something. I woke up and in just few seconds was switching on my laptop. Aakash teasing comment was still ruling on my blog post. I clicked on to look for his blogger profile. There was no picture of the blogger and not enough detail. I started clicking on his blog shown in his blogger profile one after another but, still was unable to find mine blog post. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>‘Oh, I must use copyspace.com,’ my mind gave me a quick thought.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Copyscape.com is a website which shows the links of all the websites or blogs that are copied from a link when you paste the link on the search bar. I pasted the link of my blog post and here it was. Aakash blog’s link was shown below. I took no time in reaching his blog. My blog post was in front of my eyes with the same title, same picture, but no link of my blog in it. I went to contact us page of the blog and was disappointed not to find any details of the blogger. I flipped among different posts and pages without any use. I logged in my facebook account back and pinged Abhinav.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>‘I got the blog of the guy and my post but no reference :(,’ I wrote in the chatbox.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>‘If he does, it’s very nice. If not, you can do nothing. That happens bro, get used to it,’ he replied back in another second.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>‘All my words, my views, my ideas,’ my pain showed in my words. ‘How can anybody post it in his/her blog?’ I questioned him although I knew he doesn’t have an answer to my question.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>‘It happens, with me it happened a several numbers of times,’ he replied back.</span></div>
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‘And, even the same picture from my blog.’</span></div>
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‘The side effects of publishing our views on our blog which is open to all..’</span></div>
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I gave the culprit link to Abhinav and asked Abhinav if I can somehow find his email id. None of us exchanged any words for next few minutes. I still moved from one posts to another of the blogger for may be finding even a small and minute detail of the blogger but of no use. I mean, I had only his name ‘Aakash’ and that too in a country where there is a Aakash studying with you in all your school or college days.</span></div>
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‘There are no details available about the blogger,’ Abhinav replied after few minutes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I felt disappointed. I closed my chat window without replying him any further. I tried to look for other updates in the facebook but didn’t find anything interesting now. I saw an update from Priya. If I don’t tell about Priya the story will be incomplete. Priya is also a blogger. We are from the same city, the city of Delhi but we never met each other and enjoy our presence together at facebook. Life at facebook is so different. We don’t know each other well. We have never seen each other but still we share a special bonding with each other. Although Priya and I may be of similar ages but her profile shows she is the managing director of some magazine that I have seen only at her profile. I pinged her with my problem as she was upset with the same problem of plagiarism just few days back. She understood the whole problem and asked me to report about the plagiarism at Indiblogger Family group at facebook. My mind and body were in no mood to take more pain and so, I shifted the plan for further proceedings next day.</span></div>
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For remaining part of the story, visit <a href="http://vishalanand07.blogspot.in/2012/10/how-i-fought-plagiarism-and-ways-to_12.html">http://vishalanand07.blogspot.in/2012/10/how-i-fought-plagiarism-and-ways-to_12.html</a><br /></span>
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Vishal Anandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12085709660257487821noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1402961499588379275.post-36505828105331470982012-09-20T09:06:00.003-07:002020-11-15T08:08:10.492-08:00So, it’s a bandh today!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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“We live in India and are proud to be Indians,” all of us are used to of saying these words since our childhood. But, today I don’t feel so proud of being an Indian. Today there has been a bandh called by the opposition party in the name of hiked diesel prices, reduced number of gas cylinders, FDI in retail and so on. There has been a bandh few months back in May too. But still I am not able to understand this way of showing the protest. Is it the correct way to show our anger? I don’t want to discuss here which party is correct or which party is wrong. But these lonely roads in the city haunt me even in my dreams. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I am not someone who gets deeply affected by the bandh or any of the hiked diesel prices, reduced number of gas cylinders or FDI in retail. I am just a common young guy who travels in the bus when required, had to rush to his hostel canteen when he feels hungry and no matter whatever the retailer charges, he will pay the price. Then, why am I mourning? I am mourning because I think about millions of young kids who woke up early this morning and rushed to their schools but had to return after seeing a big lock on their school gate. I think about that passenger among those thousands of passengers of the trains whose train was stopped by some protestor and he could not reach home on time where his mother was still ill and looking for him before she takes her last breath. I think about millions of laborers who could not go to work because of this bandh and will starve with hunger. I think about millions of shopkeepers who are forced to close their shops by some party. I think about millions of those auto rickshaw drivers who would still be looking for passengers and so on. And, I feel so sorry because I can’t do anything for any of them. I am writing this article because once somebody told me that pen is mightier than sword and I believe if at least one of you understands my reason to write this article, the goal is achieved.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I don’t say that we should not protest against evils prevailing in the society, we should and we must. But, I believe that bandh is not the correct way to do it. We can always opt for better ways. Maybe, we should try to protest in front of the Constitution. Maybe we should stop the vehicles of those politicians who are behind these steps and not the poor auto rickshaw-walas. Maybe we should not try to affect our daily meals but of those politicians who fill their belly to its maximum capacity before coming out for a bandh. I think then we would be able to show our protest in a better way and we all could call ourselves- “a proud Indian.”</span></div>
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Vishal Anandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12085709660257487821noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1402961499588379275.post-13042531715090490412012-08-12T21:00:00.001-07:002020-11-15T08:08:35.079-08:00The True Meaning Of ‘Victory’<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I always used to find the true meaning of the word ‘victory’ from my childhood. When I was a small kid, I used to top in my class exams, my teacher used to say that I was a victor and achieved victory. But then, I would look at not-so-happy face of my dear friend who was second to me in the exam. Does that mean victory comes after making someone sad? I was not sure. I tried to find it at different places, searched for it in the playgrounds of school, mark sheets of colleges and so on. But still I was not satisfied. For me, a victory does not mean to hurt someone neither does it mean to upset anyone. Some friends said me that Google is the best search engine available in the world. You feed any words in it and there will be millions of results within fraction of seconds. I searched for victory meaning in it. It said, ‘<i>An act of defeating an enemy or opponent in a battle, game, or other competition: an election victory</i>’. I was still not convinced. Is defeat of an opponent required to be a victor? Many years passed but I was still unable to find the true meaning of victory. Then, one day, I found it. I found it just in my home.<br />
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My father and elder brother used to do hand wrestling from the day I was a kid. My dad is of course the strongest man I have ever seen from my childhood. I would sit by side of my brother and cheer him up. But my father would defeat him all the time and smile at us. But one day, I found my elder brother winning over my dad. And, still the same smile on my dad’s face. Who is a victor – My brother or my dad?<br />
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We spend days eating food cooked by our mother from our childhood. We try to find mistakes in the food that mothers cooks and try to eat less by making small excuses. I and my younger sister were no different from other kids. But the day when my sister made her first chapatti and my mother ate it, she had a smile on her face. The half baked chapatti tasted her better than what I could imagine. Who is the victor – My sister or my mother?<br />
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May be that was the day I could find the true meaning of the word ‘victory’. I think it does not mean to defeat someone, neither to show someone low in front of others. It means to bring smile on everyone’s faces that are associated with it. Hope you are smiling at the moment. Take care, bbye for now. :)<br />
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</div>Vishal Anandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12085709660257487821noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1402961499588379275.post-53739454074962408642012-06-10T22:30:00.002-07:002020-11-15T08:08:59.164-08:00Somewhere deep in my heart, the GOOD and the BAD fight..<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AKEY_RsT4vo/T9P19G7jmpI/AAAAAAAAAhc/PUwvHTE-S-o/s1600/good-and-bad.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" height="260" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AKEY_RsT4vo/T9P19G7jmpI/AAAAAAAAAhc/PUwvHTE-S-o/s320/good-and-bad.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;">I don't write a poem usually and the few I wrote still are limited to my school magazine. But, I don't know how and why a struggle between two parts of my heart finally ended into a poem. Before this poem loose its power to express and I find something more interesting to post in here, I hope it's better to share my poem with you all. Hope you all like it and share your views about the same. <br />
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Somewhere deep in my heart,<br />
the GOOD and the BAD fight,<br />
the one who is stronger takes my ride,<br />
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the BAD in me compares with A,<br />
the GOOD in me says to share with A,<br />
<br />
the BAD says, 'A has been rude',<br />
the GOOD in me says, 'A has earlier been cute',<br />
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the BAD says, 'A has been lying to you',<br />
the GOOD says, 'A has been caring for you',<br />
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the BAD says, 'A has made you weep',<br />
the GOOD says, 'A has helped you on its tip',<br />
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the BAD says, 'A has hurted you',<br />
the GOOD says to forgive A... and just smile :)<br />
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Somewhere deep in my heart,<br />
the GOOD and the BAD fight,<br />
the one who is stronger takes my ride...</span></div></div>Vishal Anandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12085709660257487821noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1402961499588379275.post-82722384636753629032012-05-27T22:00:00.001-07:002020-11-15T08:09:17.205-08:00Life similar to a... $AmO$a ( Hat..<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BO5AMrBBP-w/T8EkAZf8usI/AAAAAAAAAg0/rhSlhqhV550/s1600/life.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Philosopher; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" height="217" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BO5AMrBBP-w/T8EkAZf8usI/AAAAAAAAAg0/rhSlhqhV550/s320/life.png" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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Sometimes deep in my head runs several questions. '<i>Why is life so tough?</i>' '<i>Why does it gives so much pain?</i>' '<i>Why can't we be happy all the time?' </i>And, if God gave us this life to suffer, he/she would have chosen not to create us.</span></div>
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Life, still seems to me a puzzle. I tried it to compare with so many things but still found it different from anything living or dead. It still seems something weird.. something that hurts. I know, I am being very sad with this post but I have my reasons for it. For the past one month, I have been suffering from illness that has made me weak and lean. I had a dream to become an author that seems distant from where I stand now. It has been tough four months after sending my sample chapters to publishers one after another; still waiting for them to reply. I do think that my life is tough. But then I rewind my life a little and look at the things I have with me. I am studying at one of the premier institutes of the country after clearing CAT. I have amazing friends who when find me sad, drag me to multiplexes for watching movies saying that they will pay for it. <i>Haan</i>, it's a different story that when you reach at the counter of the multiplex and wait for your friend to pay, he replies, "<i>Pagal hai. Tere baap ki shaadi hai kya jo paise mein donga? Jaldi de! AC mei chalenge.</i>" But still it feels great when you have friends like that around you.</span></div>
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How can life be a pain then? I thought life to be complex. Then, it was today's evening while walking down the road, I found something.. something very similar to what life is. You know what it was? It was a samosa chat. Yeah, you read it correct, I wrote - a samosa chat! Sounds weird, na? Look, why did it feel to me a lot similar? Life you see has all the tastes. For few if it gives a pain, its sour. For others whom you believe are born rich and enjoy all the benefits can tell, life is sweet. For others, it's tough, similar to the hard pieces of the chat that you have pain to bite in. I believe that while God was making us in plenty, he forgot to mix all the spices well. If it's easy, we enjoy life. If it's tough we curse God for that. But we don't wait for the moments when sweetness enters our life. You may be going through a tough phase now. But wait my dear friend, if it's tough for you right now, then may be you are a lucky chap. You still have a lot of sweetness left for you. Don't worry. Just enjoy your chat. :) </span></div>
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Vishal Anandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12085709660257487821noreply@blogger.com4