Mad Money Journey by Mehrab Irani / Jaico

From - Reviews, Vol I, Issue II

Though CBSE has introduced stock markets in its curriculum, most of the India is financially illiterate. People have all the money lying in their accounts, but still they seldom know how to make that money work for them. Taking advantage of this disadvantaged population are the marketing guys ready to offer hassle free loans to help you buy your dream holiday home overlooking the vale, or that SUV which you always hankered to buy.

Mehrab Irani's Mad Money Journey should be welcomed for it speaks about financial literacy. In the Indian literary scene very few books have been written on the topic of money, that too in a language which even a common man can understand. On this count alone Mad Money Journey should receive all the adulation.

Mad Money Journey is a financial adventure. A successful orthopedic surgeon by name John Pinto is in neck deep financial crisis. His unsuccessful suicide bid reintroduces him to his childhood friend Vijay Desai. Vijay arranges for his financially ailing friend a 30 days around the world trip, which will offer him the wisdom to get well soon. On this journey he will meet mentors who too have faced a financial disaster, owing to some reason or the other, at various points of their lives and have emerged as winners after a little help from Vijay. So John's financial adventure will take him to Thailand, Afghanistan, China, Australia, Kenya, South Africa, USA, England and Deolali and Haridwar in India. He will meet people from all walks of life – a prostitute, a terrorist, a mystic, a runner, a gracious daughter, a happy family man, a divorced man managing his two daughters on his own, a widow of a gold retailer, an army man and a sage. Each of them has a special lesson to impart to him regarding money.

The book speaks of what is an asset and what is a liability. It tells us what is positive leverage and negative leverage. It reiterates that insurance should not be mixed up with investments. It explains how exposure to equity markets will help to cope up with inflation. It steals the sheen away from gold as a lucrative investment option. It introduces us to the concepts of running income and asset income. The book also answers the questions as to whether you should buy a house, if yes whether you should borrow money from a financial institution and whether you should opt for fixed or floating interest rates. In keeping with the age old adage, don't keep all your eggs in the same basket, says the book while talking about asset allocation.

The writing is simple, crispy and soothing. Mehrab's characters are of different nationalities with their peculiar traits. In a very little space, he breathes life into them by making them human with their own sets of tragedies and never say die attitudes. Their pasts justify the lessons which they impart. The book is as much about these people and their lives as it is about money. The same can be said about travel. While imparting lessons about finance, the book takes us on a world tour making us taste all the international cuisine in the homes of locales and arranges a visit to the tourists attractions as well.

The book emphasizes on strong moral values. Mehrab tells us that you cannot be financially successful in the real sense unless you have loving relations, good character, respect for the law and a generous heart. This is an eye-opener for many people who are ever ready to do anything for money. To double your net worth, first double your self-worth, he says. He also makes a revelation by saying that happiness come free i.e. money cannot buy happiness. About change he says, change is the hardest at the beginning, messiest in the middle and best at the end. For those who claim to get tips from the insiders, he says that tips are for waiters not for investors. An investor chases value while a speculator chases price. The book is abound with such one liners and is bound to make the reader financially literate while relating the same to incidents, some of which are humorous and some poignant.

The book says that the protagonist was a prisoner of money. The basic premise of the book is don't work for money, let money work for you. So the book compares financial advisors with pimps. The book opines about education in a manner which may be unacceptable for the majority. One wonders how and why do all the financially successful people who impart lessons to the protagonist have flawless skins and look younger than their age.

Yet, the book is an interesting read. Once you start reading the book you will not keep it down until you have finished. Incorporating travel, food, morality, friendship, real men and women along with the financial wisdom, Mehrab has ensured that book will turn out to be a block buster. Given the financial illiteracy rampant in our country, the book is a must read.

If you are avid reader, you would agree with me when I say that Mad Money Journey can be mathematically expressed as

Rich Dad Poor Dad + The Monk who sold his Ferrari = Mad Money Journey

Nevertheless this book should be embraced as till date many, including both rich and poor, have not even heard the word financial literacy.

Reviewed by Mahesh Sowani

Mahesh Sowani is a writer, poet, book reviewer, speaker and a legal professional. His writings have been published on websites like www.adviceadda.com He writes on his blog https://maheshsowani.blogspot.in. Many of his writings have been conferred titles and prizes by blogadda.com, indiblogger.in and mouthshut.com 

Living Inside by Gopal Lahiri / Authors Press

From - Reviews, Vol I, Issue II

Gopal Lahiri is an ethereal gypsy of the night. With his poems he weaves magic spells which delight the soul and stir the heart. Living Inside is a perfect title for Gopal's latest collection of poetry. The reader will notice, even after a first casual reading, that well over a third of the poems contain either direct or indirect references to the 'moon', the 'night' and to 'dreams'. From the title poem, Living Inside (p. 19) in the night the moon swells and tear apart/the shadow path of the hidden stars/an attempt to escape in silence.

The moon is the mysterious goddess of the night, in Western mythological and esoteric traditions she rules the subconscious, the realm of dreams and our 'inner lives'. These attributes, together with a sensitive, caring appreciation of the natural world are the main substance of Gopal's poetry.

There are far too many examples of the moon’s eerie presence in the poems to mention but here are a few lines from different poems that illustrate my point.

the night darkens, the moon struggles/the stretch of sun and moon, the stillness, the pillage/in one possibility, another possibility always remains./the moon is perhaps behind the real time/it seems safe to come out in the vast open,/the cruel moon can’t possibly/hold that much love and grief.

He often uses a juxtaposition of the moon and the sun, this helps contrast the mystical element of earth with the ethereal, hard-to-grasp mysteries of the night. From the long poem, Kumarakom (p. 31)

azure sky, crisp clouds,/soft sunlight – rolls into/an orange yellow screen/spreading colour; the various/shades and hues of flowers/lay scatter all around by /rocking of the soothing breeze/connect the long pending/mystical elements of the earth.

As renowned poet Charles Simic so brilliantly noted: “What they forget is that a poem is an instant of lucidity in which the entire organism participates. It may not make shopkeeper's sense. This is what haunts, a world where magic is possible, where chance reigns, where metaphors have their supreme logic, where imagination is free and truthful.” (Simic, 1985) The poetry in this volume addresses spiritual matters with vivid imagery to paint colourful pictures in the reader’s mind. Simic’s “metaphor and magic” indeed excites us in Lahiri’s poems as he explores silence, darkness and the unknown recesses of the mind. The first verse of We Lie Empty (p. 146) this one from a recent anthology, The Dance of the Peacock (Jha, 2013).

In a quiet room with no window/Exploring the forms of life in darkness,/A search for strange and unknown depth,/We move our dreams and destinations./We fall for the inner mysteries and Shadows./A speedy river flows into our veins and arteries,/We hear the flapping sound of the marine birds.

Lahiri is a master poet employing all the attributes of great poetry - imagery, metaphor, simple language, and a gentle cadence. There is an elusive depth to many of his poems; this is only plumbed after a number of close readings. Metaphors may be quite obvious or rather subtle, in the poem Time Device (p. 45) for example Lahiri uses metaphor in subtle and intriguing ways.

wafts of burning hung in the air; it was post summer,/the evening scored to a slow and sifting rhythm/in search of the mysterious golden light,/no different than mirrors of yours and mine./skin tight jeans giggled outside on the pavement/the biggest smile still clung to the armchair;/at times pushed back and forth for comfort

As with the subtle use of metaphor Gopal’s use of rhyme and gentle cadence is also subtle, for example in the lines of the poem Fence (p. 54)

The form and style infuse/The meter and tempo to/A logical path, a careful walk/Only to bring the sunshine and shade/The forgotten pain and scar of the sharpened tip.

Some of Lahiri’s poems are concerned with injustices and poverty but these poems are more observations of a situation rather than proselytising lectures. For example in Chasing Stars (p. 34) the grim reality of a harsh life is portrayed. Sometimes this gentle approach has more impact and power to bring about change than a direct hard hitting approach.

in the summer night/of this quaint town/streets of temples/litter with rubbles/dingy house/with broken bricks/ravaged by greed./a slum boy/sits alone/weak bones/dirty clothes/eyes squinty/look up and up/still chasing stars.

Living Inside contains seventy poems preceded by a Foreword by Sunil Sharma and Preface by Gary Robinson, both internationally acclaimed writers and poets. As Sharma says in the Foreword, “Reading Lahiri can be sensory and visual delight. You are wafted on words to a different realm. It is a gift special to the poet. His poems are surcharged with electricity enough to jolt us out of somnolence. Only great poets can achieve this desired result.” I agree with this statement completely and Gopal is certainly one such poet. He has previously had published a number of poetry collections, seven in Bengali and five in English. He is the recipient of many awards and also translates from Bengali to English. Living Inside has an enchanting cover design and artwork.

As Gary Robinson says in the Preface, “...no mere chronicler he is also a guide taking the reader into regions of the heart and mind like rooms to joy or sadness. He does not shirk from the human condition and all its complexities.” The poem Other Side (p. 43) needs careful reading to reveal its hidden meanings, it appears as a great rhetorical poem of an inner conversation, but? – I believe that it hints at the folly of unconsidered personal opinion and self-deception. Two verses below:

if this is true/then there will be/a charming audience/ignoring the/multiple layers/of blatant lie/that rages daily./rudeness or reward/formulate questions/without any answer/more often/we want to see in/black and in white.

Living Inside is a truly wonderful collection of contemporary poems which deserves a place on every poetry lover’s bookshelf. More importantly it should be read and re-read by all aspiring poets as it demonstrates by example the nature of excellent poetry.

Reviewed by Rob Harle

He can be reached at harle@robharle.com

Mundane, My Muse by Sunil Sharma / Authors Press

 From - Reviews, Vol I, Issue II

Light beyond Decay

Sunil Sharma in his third poetry collection, ‘Mundane My Muse’, has brought a blend of precision and compassion to a body of his poems that is caring, focused and always deeply-felt. The words and rhythm of his wrenching poems not only delight the ear but refills the mind and body. He places his readers face to face with the truth of life.

Given that so much, his poems feel solidarity with those who have suffered as well as a quiet celebration of the peacetime and the nature that is so easily lost, so quickly taken for granted, so undervalued. To me, poetry doesn’t get any better than this at times.

The title of the book ‘Mundane My Muse’ is a gentle understatement of the poet’s creative soul. Remarkably enough, the book seems both local and global. The poet here finds symbols in,

This sleepy afternoon,/In a small fishing village,/Off the beach in SW, Australia,/A breeze slips in,/Blowing a faded rose. (Beach poem)

In his Foreword, Rob Harle has rightly pointed out ‘In many of Sunil’s poems there is the dichotomy of the haves and the have not’s” and the elegance and beauty of nature contrasted with the crass, ugliness of high-rise concrete jungles. In this substantial collection of poems, eighty in all, we are treated to a delightful smorgasbord of literary gems.’

There is a very thin but discernible kind streak in his poems which is not the same as having a soft heart. Sometimes it has become a recipe for trouble but his observing eye is so restlessly hungry for detail that it can’t confine itself to a single point of view. ‘Finally, poetry is coming face to face with your spiritual truths that refuse to be commodified and reified by a mass culture. It fulfils you and makes you whole,’ the poet remarked once.

Sunil Sharma in his preface has said, ‘Poetry is like the first rains over a smoggy town: It washes away all the grime and revives the dormant seedling sand revitalizes the corroded cores of your inner- life.’ He is a clear eyed poet, never shy of telling the truth and his writings are trustworthy as testimony.

His poems revolve around the trials and tribulations of life and the firmness of living in present. They show us life through the conduits of a brilliant mind. The neglected soul and the anguished mind may drive into tears yet there is no mistaking of fact that a positive tone rings in silence at the core.

Much of the struggles are rooted in its devotion to life; its settings, its long shadows and mirrors and hermetically sealed world. Not that it happens in a bubble, but sometimes lusciously dark yet the poet goes deeper sketching each one’s real self. The poet touches upon a few pressure points which instantly determine the poem’s trajectory with ease and finesse. More impressive is the expertly weighted interplay between words and rhythm.

Like a few of his poems here, they are so short that your heart asks for more,

Blank/Eyes/Of the/Widowed mother,/Totally/Blank -/Like a/Lonely/Broken/Country road,/On a summer/Night. (Blank)

We are all familiar, if only for a short period, with the unreal seeming world. The tenuousness of the subject is beautifully underlined. His poems underpin that the time has come for delving deep inside to explore the bursting lifeline within a chaotic existence and seek beauty and happiness of mankind.

Detritus is scattered around; in fact, the lamp is part of its dreamy calm will give way to a strange image.

The flickering lamp,/A personal statement/Of a believer’s faith,/Emitting a strange luminosity/That beats the electric light! (Flickering Lamp)

And the ultimate luxury is not just enough but a little more timeless emblems of civilization. Some of his poems are brutally elegant. The images refracted through his words are commendably incisive and rekindle the urge to explore life.

His words pop into prickly sharp focus and fresh colour and the images go past the reader one after another in a fluid motion- no clichés no exaggeration, each utterly distinct in his own identity, each the potential hero, like the slum boy. The venerable poet has always come out with flying colors when grappling with the reality check.

Four women/Varied age groups/Walking down the/Solitary/Country lane from/The far-off river,/This/Early morning,/Balancing heavy/Five-six/Pots piled up/On each other,/A daily act of gifted/Acrobats. (Acrobats)

An uproariously interesting, the narrative in some of his poems is self-reflective and the poet embodies the salient part. There is nothing negative or cynical, no sense that it will be betrayed by the surroundings. His poems are not of an unusual kind, simply and movingly encapsulates the concept, never indulge in enraging, dreary and opaque forms.

Bring your sad words,/I will make them smile/On the faces of war-orphans/Street children/And cancer patients (Bring Your Words)

In defense of human pursuits and values, thereby not neutralized, he has never gone over the edge. Poetry is always in his bones. It occurs to me that there are numerous times, the poet notes the ambiguity in life and pays close attention to the word usage for illustration. Call it energy, if you like. He is capable of touching as well as loving. Like many other poets, he brings to his poem, an elegant narrative voice that find resonance with your life and experience.

In silky shadows that quiver constantly/With every breath of wind,/Thus—/Creating, on this golden afternoon,/A rich world of chiaroscuro.

And then this words heighten the emotion and although a little fretful at the start, the poem effects a magical turn at the end. A whole enchanting world is created and unveiled bit by bit.

Reminded of the famous/Japanese scroll paintings/That turn the bare home walls/Into vibrant/Vivid works of/Immaculate/Art. (A February Afternoon)

The poem begins with silky shadows but creates a rich world of chiaroscuro. The bare home walls testify to an effective style where certainty is more than is claimed. We find the poet at its most eloquent in the ‘Vivid works of Immaculate Art’ and succumbs to the music of the divine drum.

Works of nature often spark his imagination and are mapped out with a human tag. He is at his poetic best in this form of poems and elaborates on this aspect, backing himself for his ability to meet natural elements on their own terms, instead of as mere words or symbols.

The Champa in big clusters,/Blooming on the bald tree;/Nature has covered amply/

The tree’s shocking bareness; (Adornment)

Or

The graceful bamboos/Awash in the golden hue,/On this bright morning,/Swaying like amazons,/Along the serpentine/Country lane; (Autumn)

This poetry collection is elevated by the same fluent and freewheeling style that’s made Sunil Sharma, an accomplished poet. The way of looking at ourselves as well as looking at the world He has aptly said ‘Poetry is a surviving link with our heroic past, with our mythological memory, with a unique moment when man and god were not yet cruelly split but were real for the other and having a continual dialogue. Like these two plants, it is endangered and becoming exotic’.

 In his poem ‘A Vast Canvas’, the poet here turns his ideas into a repository of fleeting images that hits the right tone. The rhythms and play of words are so deep that his readers can see the astonishing view of the literary gems that lies beyond.

A vast sheet/Of shining grass/Unfurled across/The silent plain,/Away from the highway,/The soothing spread/Buttoned with/Yellow, red, white/Wild flowers/Smiling in the/Soft morning-light; (A Vast Canvas)

After reading the book, we find a voice at the end that echoes with a surge of inner life within our soul. It illustrates the way we pick up threads from line to line, stanza to stanza and move on in a quiet alleyway scaling heights on the way that allows the poet and the reader to get in touch with each other.

It is a beautiful collection and not to be missed. The publisher Authorspress, New Delhi, India, deserves to be complimented for this noble effort.

Reviewed by Gopal Lahiri

Gopal Lahiri was born and grew up in Kolkata. He is a bilingual poet, writer, editor, critic and translator and widely published in Bengali and English language. He currently lives in Mumbai, India and can be reached at glahiri@gmail.com  and www.gopallahiri.blogspot.com .

Games Girls Play by Aastha Atray Banan / Rupa Publications

 From - Reviews, Vol I, Issue II

What happens when two opposites meet? Especially girls, out of whom, one claims “I hate sex. I have never understood all the fuss around this three-letter word.” whereas the other declares ‘I love sex. I totally get all the fuss.” And what happens, when those two opposites meet their opposites?

It results to be an intriguing affair, indeed.

Rupa Publications’, Games Girls Play, by Aastha Atray Banan takes the girly things to a new level. 

The foremost question, this novel seeks to explore is, that, can two independent single women in Mumbai, who couldn’t have less in common, be friends? Well, the story tells it all.

Siya, a prudish girl, dreams of writing a chick lit, which may turn a bestseller ‘as she thinks’ someday. Irony is that her to-be book is about dating in Mumbai, an issue totally unfamiliar to her - ‘a virgin of 30 years’.

On the other hand, Natasha, a professional photographer, is a happy go lucky and free spirited girl who lives the life to fullest without any worries, rejecting the notion of taboos. For her, sex is like food, essential to have regularly, wherever you go.

The story takes a roller-coaster ride, when these two girls meet each other and end up being roomies leading further with few (actually many) judgments towards each other, later few fights and finally become foes to friends.

It’s their friendship and trust towards each other, which changes their life. They explore each other, and in the meantime, they explore love as well as life in each other’s’ way.

Aastha is adventurous in all contexts. Her style of narration is as captivating as her characters. Her lucid language is enough to lure her readers for a long time, as lures her plot. 

This book of 201 pages is similar to watching a film and can be read in a single go.  Once in mind, you can’t keep the book aside.

The characters are very easy to relate with common youngsters of the current generation. You may find them all around.  They love to watch and implement the rules of Sex and the City but at the same time, they are extremely touchy and sensitive by heart. 

Aastha has been successful in her journey of portraying her girls confident and makes them love themselves, the way they are.

Vidya Balan on her take on this novel says, “Wherever you look, there’s a Siya or a Natasha … Do you know who you are? A must read for the new sexy Indian woman.”  Indeed.

Reviewed by Varsha Singh

Managing Editor, Reviews.

Can I Have This Chance? by Neelam Saxena Chandra / Authors Press

From - Reviews, Vol I, Issue II

Having read Neelam Saxena Chandra’s innumerable interesting stories before in national magazines, there was no way I was going to miss out on her novel! Neelam’s stories have never ever disappointed me so I was confident that I was going to read an equally interesting novel.

The title of the novel itself, ‘CAN I HAVE THIS CHANCE?’ is an attractive one. Who would not wish to have a chance to do something he/she so desperately wants? Who would not like to make amends or make a difference if another chance was given?

The protagonist Avantika is one such person who is at the crossroads of her life. Having all along believed in the significance of duty, work and career, she is given a chance to fall in love again. But, something edges her on to ignore the chance and board a flight to New York instead, despite the co-incidental/destined chance that comes her way. Is she running away from love? Will she permit fate to play its role? Or, will she carve out her own destiny?

“Avantika was also lost in her own world. She knew she liked Sunil. After all, they were so similar. Their professional liking, their tastes in reading, their tastes in eating – almost everything. But wasn’t liking different from loving? Why did she never feel the pangs of love which she had felt when she used to be with her first love? Had her failed first love closed her world so much that she was not ready to accept someone else? Or was it that she did not really love Sunil?”

But wait, this is not all the story is about! It is about a ‘fiery young journalist grappling with crime, murder, rape and aspiring to bring justice to the oppressed and keeping up the quest for truth intact and lot’s more!’

To be able keep the reader enthusiastic about turning the next page and also convey a message to the society is not easy a task. But, the author is successful in both. Neelam Saxena Chandra’s narrative takes you on a see-saw, now up and then, down providing you with situations to ponder about and a desire to know where the story is headed. From the present to the past and back to the present again, Neelam takes you on a journey that never fails to disappoint.

“Avantika had got so lost in the past that she had missed even the flight take off. She wondered how she could have done that. She always enjoyed the take-offs and landings. Take-offs made her feel the thrill of life on starting on an unknown voyage, of surging hopes and of aspiring wings. Landings made her remain grounded and signified the attaining of ultimate wisdom.”

The charm of the book lies in its simplicity. Despite a theme that is filled with action and adventure, the author never loses focus and therein, lays the success of the book.

Reviewed by Shail Raghuvanshi

Shail is a freelance journalist, content writer, editor, reviewer and poet. She can be reached at shailraghuvanshi@gmail.com

Slightly Burnt by Payal Dhar / Bloomsbury

From - Reviews, Vol I, Issue II

“There will not be a day when we wake up and it’s now okay to express ourselves publicly. We make that day by doing things publicly until it’s simply the way things are.”-  Tammy Baldwin

Payal Dhar has taken a step forward to bespeak her mind against the dramatized psychology of mass against the LGBT community in India in her sixth book, Slightly Burnt. The author has tried to register her dissatisfaction against the social boundaries in a very distinctive manner.

This book is about a 16 year old girl Komal who finds out that her best friend Sahil has a deep-rooted secret within him. His secret puts him with thousands of other Indian children who are completely invisible in their real life and have no acknowledgment from society, except that there is something wrong with them.

Komal finds herself in extreme distress once Sahil confesses about his real identity. For her everything changes, her best friend does not remain the same person she knew for past many years. As she tries to accept this fact, a new secret awaits for her. She tries to reveal the truth but gets confused when finds her own brother Vikram unwittingly raveled in the whole mess.

Komal encounters a fact which carries her mind away, leaving her anxious and muddled. Will she manage to get everything back on track? Will everything revert the way it was before Sahil’s confession? Will she be able to salvage her brother out of the whole mess?  These are the surprises for readers. 

The author has been successful in her attempt to pen down the problems faced by the new emerging India. This fiction is a new psychological investigation reinforced with the shades of character, distinctive plot, and realistic drama of the 21^st century. Although there was lack of anything extraordinary to kindle the imagination of readers.

 Aiming at the impartial presentation of real life these days, this book is humorous, romantic, and thriller, but at the same time it raises a big question against the attitude and approach of society towards sexuality.

 

Reviewed by Swati Singh

Swati is pursuing her graduation (final year) in English from Dhanbad, Jharkhand. She may be reached at swati.sti@gmail.com

No Time for Goodbyes by Andaleeb Wajid / Bloomsbury

From - Reviews, Vol I, Issue II

Love stories are in the air these days; yet Andaleeb Wajid’s No time for Goodbyes, a love story and the first book from her trilogy series is unique, intense and crisp in every sense. She does not dissolves in the air, rather, makes her presence intense and memorable through her creative impulsiveness.

The most strengthening part of Wajid’s novel is, that the readers will find it irresistible and difficult to stop once they get into the narrative.

Andaleeb’s narration is lucid and evocative as well. As per the storyline, the protagonist Tamanna, a typical mundane teenager of 2012 finds herself in a turn of events in 1982 in the past of her mother; where she meets Manoj, a friend of her mother, and falls in love with him.

But every love story has its astounding element and this has too.  How will it work out between them if Tamanna has to return?  That’s a surprise and mystery for the readers.

Andaleeb Wajid excels in characterization and has beautifully carved each character including Suma, Ajji and others. Readers will fall in love with the character of Manoj, as Tamanna falls for him.

Tamanna is a victim of OCD, a compulsive disorder which makes one laugh even at tough times. The book is enriched with humor and encourages the craving for more.  The basic element of this novel remains in time travel but it has not been described clearly, keeping in mind that it’s a love story and not a sci-fi. The narration could have been more memorable.

The first part of the book is entertaining but after some time its magic starts fading away, slightly. Most of the plot is set in the environment of 1982 wherein the description of old and new Bangalore is unforgettable.  The readers will find it soothing to experience the past with a feeling of déjà-vu. The novel has been written to attract the teenagers and youth. A well-executed book with crisp story and a firm plot. All you need is a cup of coffee with it and the plot will be imprinted in your mind for a long time.

I am looking forward to read the second book from the trilogy.

Reviewed by Shubham Pradeep

Shubham is pursuing his Graduation in Physics Honors from Dhanbad, Jharkhand. He can be reached at shubhamp04@gmail.com