Saturday, June 29, 2019
Thursday, June 27, 2019
Book Blitz : Her Man Friday
Print Length: 161 pages
Publisher: Flaming Sun (Indie published)
Publication Date: May 24, 2019
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
Language: English
Available on Kindle Unlimited
Genre: Romance
Rituraj realises he’s in love with the Gaekwad princess, Sitara Devi. The timing is slightly wrong though. Just ten minutes ago Sitara Devi married Harishchandra Gajanan. All of seventeen and nursing a badly bruised heart, Rituraj takes up boxing, hoping to build his strength and heal his wounded soul.
When destiny gives them a second chance, hope springs in his heart.
Rituraj grabs the opportunity of becoming Sitara’s bodyguard-cum-assistant. He’s the only man in her life but he’s just her Man Friday. Since his father was merely an employee of Sitara’s father, will he even be considered as a prospective life partner for the Gaekwad princess?
Sitara, and Rituraj are crazily attracted to each other, yet they are unable to move forward. So where is the hitch? Why the fear in taking the relationship to the next level?
Class Barriers! Debauchery! Sexual Perversion!
It looks like ‘Ne’er the twain shall meet’.
Read the book to find out if Sitara eventually gets together with her Man Friday.
It would be great if you can add this book to your TBR
Sundari Venkatraman is an indie author who has 43 titles (39 books & 4 collections) to her name, all Top 100 Bestsellers on Amazon India, Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada and Amazon Australia in both romance as well as Asian Drama categories. Her latest hot romances have all been on #1 Bestseller slot in Amazon India for over a month.
Even as a kid, Sundari absolutely loved the ‘lived happily ever after’ syndrome as she grew up reading all the fairy tales she could lay her hands on, Phantom comics, Mandrake comics and the like. It was always about good triumphing over evil and a happy end.
Soon, into her teens, Sundari switched her attention from fairy tales to Mills & Boon. While she loved reading both of these, she kept visualising what would have happened if there were similar situations happening in India; to a local hero and heroine. Her imagination took flight and she always lived in a rosy cocoon of romance over the years.
Then came the writing – a true bolt out of the blue! And Sundari Venkatraman has never looked back.
You can stalk her @
Grab Your Copy From
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Friday, June 21, 2019
Manual Scavenging : Inhuman Scourge
Last week , in Vadodara , Gujarat ,seven people who ventured into a septic tank to clean it up died . Isnt it shocking that though we should have abolished manual scavenging, it continues in our nation & ends fatally ?And yet, we are not bothered because , those who die were not living any way. Because, those who end up cleaning septic tanks do so ,because they are supposed to that, as per the caste system & they are not good at anything else. And anyways, how does it matter if the poorest of the poor die doing such menial jobs ?
As per directions which our State or rather the nation is supposed to follow in governance, Article 42 , which is a Directive Principle of State Policy as enshrined in the Indian Constitution states , "The State shall make provisions for securing just & humane conditions of work & for maternity relief. "
Manual scavenging is the most degradable & inhuman work that can be done by anybody .And not only, has it continued to persist in India, people are forced to eke out a living , cleaning public & private latrines & toilets. And more often than not, it ends in loss of lives. And what is even more deplorable is that no safety gear is provided to the people who clean up the septic tanks, latrines & toilets. And if this is the case with the Municipal Corporations of Metros, the less said about the others, the better .A film "Court "has touched on this pitiable conditions of the sanitation workers & yet, lessons are hard to learn for us. Because , we are least affected by deaths of others especially if it is some sanitation worker / s.
Manual scavenging was banned two decades ago & yet , because of our adherence to the caste system, we continue to employ the sanitation workers to manually clean public latrines, toilets, gutters & the like. And the wages they earn is the bare minimum. And there is no insurance or any other form of protection even absence of safety gear ,against diseases infections, etc.The deaths of sanitation workers has become a regular feature in our nation & yet, it hardly matters to anybody because the manual scavengers are nobody to the nation.
And none of the other castes seem to find anything objectionable with manual scavenging. There is no demand, that there should be reservations for the positions of manual scavengers for obvious reasons. And yet, all join protests to ask that reservation should end for the scheduled castes & tribes as they have taken undue advantages & continue to do so.If the disadvantaged had taken any benefits whatsoever , they would have already gotten ahead in life .And no manual scavenger would be left to do the dirtiest work .And yet the fact that , manual scavengers are the first persons to come to mind when the dirtiest, unhygenic work needs to be done symbolizes that manual scavenging is the result of casteism & the reason for casteism & all its ill effects.
And this menial work if done by machine would have cost Rs 3,500/- only for the cleaning of the septic tank in Vadadara .Since labour of sanitation workers is the cheapest of the cheap, no machine was hired. And the result, is tragedy or rather seven fatalities.
And yet, this preventable tragedy of seven deaths has ignited a debate .Anand Mahindra, the chairman of the Mahindra Group had tweeted that he was shocked & saddened by the loss of lives & he was ready to finance mechanization of scavenging work. Amitabh Bachchan, the Bollywood thespian tweeted that he had given some machines for scavenging work to BMC. Even the union of sanitation workers ,the National Commission for Safai Karmacharis is in favour of introduction of mechanised cleaning of sewers , septic tanks etc.
Lets trust, that this argument in favour of mechanised scavenging comes to fruition.And all human beings are able to live with dignity in this Bharat desha !Then only will the idea of Swacch Bharat ring true !
As per directions which our State or rather the nation is supposed to follow in governance, Article 42 , which is a Directive Principle of State Policy as enshrined in the Indian Constitution states , "The State shall make provisions for securing just & humane conditions of work & for maternity relief. "
Manual scavenging is the most degradable & inhuman work that can be done by anybody .And not only, has it continued to persist in India, people are forced to eke out a living , cleaning public & private latrines & toilets. And more often than not, it ends in loss of lives. And what is even more deplorable is that no safety gear is provided to the people who clean up the septic tanks, latrines & toilets. And if this is the case with the Municipal Corporations of Metros, the less said about the others, the better .A film "Court "has touched on this pitiable conditions of the sanitation workers & yet, lessons are hard to learn for us. Because , we are least affected by deaths of others especially if it is some sanitation worker / s.
Manual scavenging was banned two decades ago & yet , because of our adherence to the caste system, we continue to employ the sanitation workers to manually clean public latrines, toilets, gutters & the like. And the wages they earn is the bare minimum. And there is no insurance or any other form of protection even absence of safety gear ,against diseases infections, etc.The deaths of sanitation workers has become a regular feature in our nation & yet, it hardly matters to anybody because the manual scavengers are nobody to the nation.
And none of the other castes seem to find anything objectionable with manual scavenging. There is no demand, that there should be reservations for the positions of manual scavengers for obvious reasons. And yet, all join protests to ask that reservation should end for the scheduled castes & tribes as they have taken undue advantages & continue to do so.If the disadvantaged had taken any benefits whatsoever , they would have already gotten ahead in life .And no manual scavenger would be left to do the dirtiest work .And yet the fact that , manual scavengers are the first persons to come to mind when the dirtiest, unhygenic work needs to be done symbolizes that manual scavenging is the result of casteism & the reason for casteism & all its ill effects.
And this menial work if done by machine would have cost Rs 3,500/- only for the cleaning of the septic tank in Vadadara .Since labour of sanitation workers is the cheapest of the cheap, no machine was hired. And the result, is tragedy or rather seven fatalities.
And yet, this preventable tragedy of seven deaths has ignited a debate .Anand Mahindra, the chairman of the Mahindra Group had tweeted that he was shocked & saddened by the loss of lives & he was ready to finance mechanization of scavenging work. Amitabh Bachchan, the Bollywood thespian tweeted that he had given some machines for scavenging work to BMC. Even the union of sanitation workers ,the National Commission for Safai Karmacharis is in favour of introduction of mechanised cleaning of sewers , septic tanks etc.
Lets trust, that this argument in favour of mechanised scavenging comes to fruition.And all human beings are able to live with dignity in this Bharat desha !Then only will the idea of Swacch Bharat ring true !
Wednesday, June 19, 2019
Monday, June 17, 2019
Book Blitz : I am the 10th
I Am The 10th (Book-1)
Genre:
Modern, historical fiction
Blurb:
Sarah, a happily married lady from New Delhi, India, wakes up one fine morning in an unknown place. It’s not her home, not her city; it’s not even her country.
What is she doing there? How did she reach there? Where is her family?
Her search to all these questions takes her on a journey, a long journey that started way back in the 3rd century BC, a journey where she finds out that everything she thought she knew about her- her marriage, husband, family, home, India, even her name- was a lie.
Will she be able to find out the truth? More importantly, will she be able to handle the truth if she finds it out?
Come and join Sarah on her journey that will take you to 300 BC and back. Witness the biggest and the deadliest battle ever in the history of mankind that could well spell the end of humanity and the end of this world. Experience the might of the ancient Shastras and Astras, like Naag Pash, Brahma Kavach, and Narayan Astra.
Based in modern times, ‘I Am The 10th’ is the story of one of the oldest, and arguably the mightiest cults that originated in India during the 3rd century BC.
Grab Your Copy @
Amazon.com | Amazon.in
About the author
D.
R. Downer is a writer, author, editor, and a ghostwriter. He has penned more
than 37 books so far, 16 of which have been published under his own name, with
the rest being ghostwriting projects. Although he has written books in varied
genres, his favourite genre is mystery and suspense and he has already
published 5 books in the same.
After completing his B.E. (Mechanical) and M.B.A
(Marketing), Downer started his professional journey as an Executive in the
sales department of a UK based organization. Since then, he had changed over
and handled many roles and responsibilities in the Marketing & Customer
Service departments across industries. He finally shifted over to Advertising
and spent a good 11 years in the same. Later on, he found writing was his true calling, and
now he spends hours glued to his laptop
and wonders if his wife can sue him for cheating on her with his laptop.
Other books by the author
Saturday, June 15, 2019
Saving our kids .
This was published as Featured Post on Women's Web on 14th June , 2019.
Justice has been delivered in the Kathua gangrape case.And yet, the question that should agitate our minds, is why kids of such tender years are assaulted sexually & other wise.Perhaps, because kids are the most vulnerable after girls & women. And kids include both boys as also girls. More boys are sexually abused than girls as per statistics .And our society being patriarchal , we live in denial, that boys are raped & continue to be raped.And what begins as a sexual assault can slowly give away to sexual trafficking of kids which is apart of the $ 150 million illicit world wide trade which comes third after trade of small arms & drugs.
Recently , a 2 year old girl was found lifeless ,with her eyes gogged out in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh.As usual, the matter was politicized .One of accused, who was arrested has been facing two charges under POCSO & yet, he was roaming freely to look around for potential victims & traumatize more kids.
Hence, there has been an urgent need to have a database of sexual offenders on a pan India basis. This would help in faster arrests & a better conviction rate. This in turn, would assist in assuring safety of kids. The idea of a national registry of sexual offenders is by activists like Sunitha Krishnan of Prajwala. She also started a #ShametheRapistCampaign as she had received many gangrape videos .And she felt outraged, that people who filmed such videos & or raped ought to be punished. She had approached Supreme Court with a plea that a national agency needs to deal with gangrape & rape videos which are being shared on various social media & the internet.
And all efforts by Sunitha Krishnan & other activists have yielded positive results.India has got a national registry of sex offenders .
It has been shown time & again that most of the sexual crimes are committed by people known to the child.As per NCRB data of 2016 ,43.3 % % of rape victims are minors .13 % of minor rape victims are aged 11 & below.And NCRB data of 2016 reiterates that 94.6 % of offenders were known to the victims.So obviously, minors are being raped by people known to them. Though data is unavailable regarding percentage of offenders known to minor rape victims, obviously it must be above 75 % .This is also one of the main reasons why conviction rate is as dismal as 30 % because many a times, families want the shame to remain within the family. Nobody tries to understand how this is going to traumatize the victim/ s who is/are family member/s. as well. And this non reporting of sexual assault / s makes the offender more brazen about perpetuating similar or more violent assaults on others within the family & outside .
Rapes are very traumatic crimes that affect the mental as also the physical being of the victim and or survivors. And in India, its a social stigma as well.The victims & survivors have to face the blame that they asked for it by wearing clothes which were in appropriate or by being too bold in any what way. Rape is an act of power play & control..And if some of us say that dressing indecently ( what is indecent & what is decent, depends on how the viewer sees it ...it is therefore subjective & hence, unfair & unjustified ).Moreover, what I may feel is decent dressing, may be not so as per another person's viewpoint .If dressing made somebody commit rape , then how can rape of babies & old women as old as eighty be explained ? Gangrapes during communal flare ups & caste violence ? Can they be explained by skimpy dressing ? No, & definitely rape of minors cannot be explained by dressing sense. Specially, rape of minor boys can never be explained , for those, who allege that females need to stay within limits & not behave like boys .Patriarchy is so entrenched, that the offenders roam freely after raping many, while the victims & survivors face the wrath of the society & the members of the society including anger from family & friends because the victim/s asked for it ( to be sexually assaulted ).
In a judgement delivered by Bombay High Court, the judges stated that rape is worse than murder because , it affects victims physically as also psychologically.And these affect the victim till the victim is alive. Hence, many of the victims tend to end their lives.
What needs to be done to prevent or lessen the number of rapes of minors ? Many steps need to be taken. Firstly, make sex education a part of school curriculum as has been done recently .Sex education will enlighten minors about the good touch,, the bad touch & the ugly ones. These will warn the minors about potential offenders.
Another step is sensitizing public about safety of children. .Its our duty as adults to create a safe environment for our children so that they grow up into fearless healthy adults.Minors who are raped suffer trauma on a life long basis & they have lots of psychological issues as well.
Police needs to be sensitized to take faster action & thorough investigation in all cases relating to sexual assaults of minors .This will assist in increasing the conviction rate under the POCSO Act.
And last, but not the least, faster trials & speedy dispensation of justice will act as deterrent .Certainty of punishment is deterrent & not the death penalty. Death penalty is most inappropriate as death penalty has almost the same effect of deterrence as life imprisonment. as per 262nd Indian Law Commission Report. Death penalty is a long & winding process .Death penalty is expensive. And sometimes , errors in judgement lead to innocent people who are punished by death penalty.And the death penalty has been shown to be awarded to people who are from the minorities & scheduled castes & tribes .
Kailash Satyarthi, the Nobel Peace Prize Winner in a recent article on the occasion of World Day Against Child Labour , 12th June, 2019 talks about steps each of us ,must take, to reach the goal of a child friendly society .Because each time, we remain silent as we witness any injustice in whatsoever form regarding a child, we let down that child & ultimately our future.
Because , as stated by Nelson Mandela, "There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children . "
Justice has been delivered in the Kathua gangrape case.And yet, the question that should agitate our minds, is why kids of such tender years are assaulted sexually & other wise.Perhaps, because kids are the most vulnerable after girls & women. And kids include both boys as also girls. More boys are sexually abused than girls as per statistics .And our society being patriarchal , we live in denial, that boys are raped & continue to be raped.And what begins as a sexual assault can slowly give away to sexual trafficking of kids which is apart of the $ 150 million illicit world wide trade which comes third after trade of small arms & drugs.
Thankfully, the POCSO ( The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences ) Act has been made gender neutral to tackle sexual abuse of boys & girls .And yet, the death penalty for the guilty in POCSO cases cannot stem the rot of sexual abuse of kids.
Recently , a 2 year old girl was found lifeless ,with her eyes gogged out in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh.As usual, the matter was politicized .One of accused, who was arrested has been facing two charges under POCSO & yet, he was roaming freely to look around for potential victims & traumatize more kids.
Hence, there has been an urgent need to have a database of sexual offenders on a pan India basis. This would help in faster arrests & a better conviction rate. This in turn, would assist in assuring safety of kids. The idea of a national registry of sexual offenders is by activists like Sunitha Krishnan of Prajwala. She also started a #ShametheRapistCampaign as she had received many gangrape videos .And she felt outraged, that people who filmed such videos & or raped ought to be punished. She had approached Supreme Court with a plea that a national agency needs to deal with gangrape & rape videos which are being shared on various social media & the internet.
And all efforts by Sunitha Krishnan & other activists have yielded positive results.India has got a national registry of sex offenders .
It has been shown time & again that most of the sexual crimes are committed by people known to the child.As per NCRB data of 2016 ,43.3 % % of rape victims are minors .13 % of minor rape victims are aged 11 & below.And NCRB data of 2016 reiterates that 94.6 % of offenders were known to the victims.So obviously, minors are being raped by people known to them. Though data is unavailable regarding percentage of offenders known to minor rape victims, obviously it must be above 75 % .This is also one of the main reasons why conviction rate is as dismal as 30 % because many a times, families want the shame to remain within the family. Nobody tries to understand how this is going to traumatize the victim/ s who is/are family member/s. as well. And this non reporting of sexual assault / s makes the offender more brazen about perpetuating similar or more violent assaults on others within the family & outside .
Rapes are very traumatic crimes that affect the mental as also the physical being of the victim and or survivors. And in India, its a social stigma as well.The victims & survivors have to face the blame that they asked for it by wearing clothes which were in appropriate or by being too bold in any what way. Rape is an act of power play & control..And if some of us say that dressing indecently ( what is indecent & what is decent, depends on how the viewer sees it ...it is therefore subjective & hence, unfair & unjustified ).Moreover, what I may feel is decent dressing, may be not so as per another person's viewpoint .If dressing made somebody commit rape , then how can rape of babies & old women as old as eighty be explained ? Gangrapes during communal flare ups & caste violence ? Can they be explained by skimpy dressing ? No, & definitely rape of minors cannot be explained by dressing sense. Specially, rape of minor boys can never be explained , for those, who allege that females need to stay within limits & not behave like boys .Patriarchy is so entrenched, that the offenders roam freely after raping many, while the victims & survivors face the wrath of the society & the members of the society including anger from family & friends because the victim/s asked for it ( to be sexually assaulted ).
In a judgement delivered by Bombay High Court, the judges stated that rape is worse than murder because , it affects victims physically as also psychologically.And these affect the victim till the victim is alive. Hence, many of the victims tend to end their lives.
What needs to be done to prevent or lessen the number of rapes of minors ? Many steps need to be taken. Firstly, make sex education a part of school curriculum as has been done recently .Sex education will enlighten minors about the good touch,, the bad touch & the ugly ones. These will warn the minors about potential offenders.
Another step is sensitizing public about safety of children. .Its our duty as adults to create a safe environment for our children so that they grow up into fearless healthy adults.Minors who are raped suffer trauma on a life long basis & they have lots of psychological issues as well.
Police needs to be sensitized to take faster action & thorough investigation in all cases relating to sexual assaults of minors .This will assist in increasing the conviction rate under the POCSO Act.
And last, but not the least, faster trials & speedy dispensation of justice will act as deterrent .Certainty of punishment is deterrent & not the death penalty. Death penalty is most inappropriate as death penalty has almost the same effect of deterrence as life imprisonment. as per 262nd Indian Law Commission Report. Death penalty is a long & winding process .Death penalty is expensive. And sometimes , errors in judgement lead to innocent people who are punished by death penalty.And the death penalty has been shown to be awarded to people who are from the minorities & scheduled castes & tribes .
Kailash Satyarthi, the Nobel Peace Prize Winner in a recent article on the occasion of World Day Against Child Labour , 12th June, 2019 talks about steps each of us ,must take, to reach the goal of a child friendly society .Because each time, we remain silent as we witness any injustice in whatsoever form regarding a child, we let down that child & ultimately our future.
Because , as stated by Nelson Mandela, "There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children . "
Friday, June 14, 2019
Thursday, June 13, 2019
Spotlight : Shiva Stone : Hampi's Hidden Treasure
BLURB
Mithila is a senior archeologist on the Hampi site along with two other UNESCO scientists. They decide to open some secret vaults in the underground Shiva temple. Treasures and artifacts from the 18th century make the headlines but the Shiva Stone was kept a closely guarded secret.
When a RAW officer hires Mithila on a secret mission to safely transport an ISRO professor and the Shiva Stone to Bangalore, she knows something is up.
Why is the stone called the Shiva Stone? Why are archeologists, UNESCO, ISRO, and RAW interested in a discovery at Hampi? Why is Mithila working for RAW? Is she the only agent on the mission?
Shiva Stone will take you on a thrilling adventure through the historical site of Hampi. Buy it now!
Grab your copy @
About the author
I am an Electronics and Telecommunication Engineer with an inclination towards reading and writing. Besides, being Engineer, I enjoy running.
My first novel is Shiva Stone which is self-published on Kindle.
I was born in a small town called Wai, near Panchgani, Maharashtra. Moved to Satara for High School.
Under-graduation from Pune University and Masters from California State University, Long Beach.
Currently, working as a Cloud Support Engineer for Amazon Web Services.
You can stalk him @
Monday, June 10, 2019
Wednesday, June 5, 2019
Spotlight: Aspire to Inspire
BLURB
Aspire to Inspire: Poems that elevate your speech is a book full of poems that defy all norms and rules for poetry writing. The authors work is packed with words that rhyme and when read with rhythm, are delightful to the tongue and ears alike. Right from the acknowledgments and dedications at the beginning of the book till the concluding statements at the back of the book, the author has aspired to be lyrical throughout. Written between 2017 and 2018 in Antalya, Turkey, all the poems in the book are simultaneously independent but connected to each other by way of the subject of leadership. Nasreen has always held that Leaders don’t need titles and aren’t necessarily from the corporate world. All people are leaders in whatever they do and so she has written a diverse range of poems that are aimed at inspiring massive action in whatever people want to do or accomplish in their lives.
In Aspire to Inspire: Poems that will elevate your speech, motivational speakers, teachers, trainers, and coaches can look forward to 100 poems that can be used at the beginning, middle and concluding parts of presentations. The author has written short but powerful poems on love, leadership, spirituality, strength, abuse, authenticity, financial management, communication, listening, heartbreak and family to name but a few. Whatever the subject, the poems embody the aspect of leading oneself in different aspects of life and living. They teach simple but powerful lessons and reach the point of the subject very quickly. Speakers using them can begin the objective of a speech quickly, make valid points during a speech by breaking the monotony and conclude just as powerfully at the end of a talk.
In an industry overflowing with advice in the form of quotes that are either overused or recycled, Aspire to Inspire: Poems that will elevate your speech is a fresh, innovative and entertaining way to influence an audience, persuade a client or simply lead passionately. The book is a must have for your coffee tables, library shelves, office desks and makes for a thoughtful gift.
Grab your copy @
About the author
"Nasreen Variyawa was born and raised in South Africa where she completed her Post-Graduate Diploma in Education Leadership and Management from Regent Business School. Most followers would know her as a trainer, coach and mentor. Having worked at some of South Africa’s biggest education and training brands, Nasreen has touched thousands of lives through her work.
After spending 10 years in the corporate trenches, she swapped life in suits and stilettos for the classroom and chalkboard, wander-lusting through Turkey where she now resides and teaches English as a Second Language.
Nasreen is also a graduate from Ledge International where she pursued a Mastermind Programme in the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C Maxwell.
She is the author of 4 books and hit the #No. 1 best sellers list on Amazon recently for Ignite the Champion Within and Inspire Others to Begin and Ignition: Answering your call which she coauthored with Dr. Farookh Sensei.
"
You can stalk her @
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