Book Review : Love. exe.

The tale of a girl,named  Nitya by Manju Nambiar is a feel good story.It is told in first person & with a lot of humour .This makes for smiles every now & then & the reading becomes a breeze !

Nitya is on cloud nine as she has secured a seat for post graduation at Stanford University ! And yet ,that is what creates problems...Indian parents prefer a girl getting married to a stranger a better option than travelling alone to a distant land even if its for studying & on a full scholarship ! The parents do not mind spending a fortune on the marriage as well . And, even that problem gets sorted Nitya's marriage gets fixed to Ganpaty   who stays in USA & that too , very near to Stanford University.

Fate has other plans for Nitya though. The wedding plans are shelved & Nitya goes to Stanford University alone & starts her studies. She makes many friends (  including  boys  ) & secures a top job . At her work place, she confronts Ganpaty with whom she was to get married.Nitya finds it difficult to handle this person, from her recent past. What is the reason ? Had Nitya fallen in love with Ganpaty ? And that love got reignited or is it something else ? Is Ganpaty in love with Nitya or is it only from Nitya's side ?

Has she not moved on as the wedding plans went awry ? Ganpaty has eyes only for Nitya ? Is Nitya being taken for a ride for the second time ? How can she be so naive, when she has been hurt & that too, when the wound is still fresh ? What about the parents of Nitya ? Do they know that Nitya has to face Ganpaty at her work place ? What about Ganpaty's mom, Janaki ? Was she the reason , the marriage never took place ? The story answers all these questions & how ! Never a dull moment in the whole narrative !

A must read, in this lockdown, to imbibe positivity !

LOVE.EXE: 
A Sweet Romantic Comedy Making You Fall in Love by 
Manju Nambiar

Blurb

If you are looking for a feel-good heartwarming love story with a happy ending, this is your right pick!

Nitya Balakrishnan, a young girl from Kerala had it all planned out. She was going to live the life of her dreams in the United States of America. And she thought she had nailed it when she was accepted into one of the best universities in the world. But the cosmos had other plans and conspired to drop love.exe into her.

He came with a bang and stole her away in a breath. Love was not quite there in her agenda, but her heart wouldn’t hear of it. The human heart has its own little brain with its strange logic that remains elusive to our reasoning. For once, she just let it be, only to realize that there is no undo button.

This coming of age, a beautiful tale of love, relationships, and dreams would prick your soul, bring a smile to you, and tear up your eyes. A must-read!

     

Grab your copy @

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About the author

"My work is mostly reflections on the society with a satirical flavor. The characters in my book are people you can easily connect to and have met all your lives. I try to make the read entertaining, light and pleasant. To me, writing is a medium to spread comfort, positivity and good humor.

I have had a racing mind since childhood, which does all kinds of analysis, interpretations and conclusions of everyday mundane events but have always held my tongue tight for fear of sounding politically incorrect. I found writing to be a perfect platform where I got to finally vocalize my thoughts and ideas. 

Manju Nambiar hails from the southern state of Kerala, India. A computer engineer by profession, she now works in one of the leading firms in San Jose, California where she lives with her husband and daughter. Her hobbies include reading, hiking, playing with her daughter and catching up on the latest technologies and trends in the Valley."

You can stalk her @

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Book Review : Mr Imperfect Series.

Aditi Chopra has penned three stories in "Mr Imperfect Series " .The three stories have characters who cross over from one to another of the stories.They are all linked in one perfect unit of a book.Yet ,each story is complete by itself.

The first tale is "House of Love " .It is about Nikki ,a real estate broker who falls for her client Karan.  Virat is Nikki's brother & training under her. Virat acres cares for his sister. Nikki's mom is fine with Karan as long as dad agrees to Nikki's choice. Nikki yearns for her dad to admire her .And when he does, Nikki seems to turn herself away from the love of her life. Will Nikki & Karan ever get together again ?Will it be, happily ever after for Nikki-Karan ?

The second story in the series is "Arranged Marriage " .It is about Sonali a girl from Meerut who marries NRI ,Ishan. Sonali loves household work.Sonali is shocked that Ishan says yes to get hooked to her. Honeymoon over ,they settle down in Dallas.It seems they have found love.Then Sonali gets a feeling that Ishan is trying to mould her. Is Sonali right ? Is Ishan trying to force his views on Sonali who is convinced that she is not the right choice for Ishan. Does Sonali leave Ishan to go back to India ? Is Ishan able to convince Sonali about his intentions ?

The last story in the "Mr Imperfect Series " is "Love Tango " It is about a dancer Maya & Tahir.Tahir is from Turkey.Maya is an Indian settled in Dallas.Maya falls for handsome Tahir.And soon discovers that Tahir has been using her.She is hurt .She withdraws from Tahir. Is Tahir taking undue advantage of Maya ? Is Maya right in assuming that Tahir is exploiting her ? Will they stick together or go their different ways ?

All these tales are of NRIs in Dallas ,USA. Aditi Chopra makes her characters travel to Alaska & other places in US.This adds to the beauty of the stories. They are all light romantic reads. And all the people are ordinary people who love & respect each other.They have their faults & yet are willing to overlook the faults in their lovers.A breezy read !

Mr. Imperfect Series 

by 

Aditi Chopra

The Blurb

Three intriguing women, Three Imperfect men, Three fascinating stories!

House of Love
Real estate agent Nikki Desai has a rule of not dating her clients. When she hosts an open house on a cold Dallas afternoon, she didn't know what was in store for her. Much like Dallas' unexpected weather, Karan Malhotra, a business consultant, walks into her life and challenges every belief she holds close to her heart. Karan manages to cajole Nikki, but is she making a mistake in breaking her rule by dating Karan?

Arranged Marriage
Arranged marriage - where love happens after marriage or does it? Ishan, a NRI from Dallas, Texas visits his home country, India and gets entangled in his parents' plan to get him married. Sonali is a simple girl from a small town called Meerut and has no desire to leave India. However, she reluctantly agrees to marry Ishan. But when she settles with him in a foreign country, she is completely lost and homesick. Will Sonali find love in a conventionally arranged marriage?

Love Tango
Maya Sarin is sensuous and enterprising. She runs a dance school in the suburb of Dallas. Tahir Ali is an aspiring author who owns a Mediterranean restaurant in the area. When his regular dancer bails out on him, he rushes in Maya as a replacement. Maya is the inspiration that he had been longing for; she feeds his creative soul. Do they have any future together? Explore their passion and intrigue in Love Tango.

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Meet the Author

Aditi Chopra was born in India and now lives in Texas with her family. She writes NRI (Non Resident Indian) fiction and non-fiction books.

Aditi has an engineering background but she has found her creative bone in fiction writing. Her stories range from Contemporary Romance to Women's Fiction. You might see a glimpse of Bollywood in her stories and will definitely enjoy the emotional ride.

Aditi focuses on leadership skills in her non-fiction books. Her readers get practical take-aways that they can utilize in their career.

Aditi is also a member of Women's Fiction Writers Association.

You can stalk her @

                          

         

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Book Review : God is a Gamer.

This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

Ravi Subramanian's latest thriller "God is a Gamer " is the first bitcoin thriller ! Ravi Subramanian is a banker .He has authored many books in fiction ,namely Bankerupt,The Incredible Banker,If God was a Banker,etal All his books have been been loved by readers in India as also abroad ! He has also penned a non fiction book "I brought the Monk's Ferrari ". 

 The book "God is a Gamer " is published by Penguin.It has an impressive cover .The title is embossed  in Golden letters.There is a stamp of a Bitcoin, also in gold ! The cover shows the White House at a distance & a man in black from head to toe standing in front of the White House.It appears as if he wants to confront the political establishment represented by the White House.

 This is story which unfolds all over the world in many places.Gillian Tan ,a senator and a trusted friend of US President is ambushed in Washington D.C. Gillian Tan seems to have the best of everything .He had a loving family & ab great career.Or was it just a screen saver ? There is Aditya Rao & his son Varun who are upbeat about their gaming company in Mumbai.There is Sundeep as also Swami who look up to Aditya Rao as their guru.Malvika is Swami 's boss & the two of them cannot get along.Many banks in India have outsourced lot of work to Aditya's BPO company.And when the ATMs are raided across New York in one single day,all hell breaks loose.Swami resigns .Aditya & his BPO unit are the main suspects.Malvika jumps to her death ( out of frustration) or was she murdered ? Tanya, Malvika's daughter accuses the Indian finance minister of killing her mother.Kabir Khan of CBI,India ,Adrian Scott,Special Agent,Tony in US & a host of others are having a hard time cracking the ATM heist,the death of Gillian Tan & Malvika & the blowing up of many laptops.And to top it all ,Bitcoins are being exchanged all over the world to cover up illegal deals in drugs & other contraband.Who is the brain behind all this? Why was Gillian Tan killed ? Is the finance minister guilty ? Is Aditya Rao, the mastermind behind the ATM heist ? Or perhaps, Varun as he is tech savvy ? Or maybe, it is the father son duo, who are up to dirty tricks.

The novel narrates how the internet age has made cyber crime, a harsh reality in the internet age.And many times,it is nearly impossible to point out the perpetrator /s .This is because, any server anywhere in the world can be used to commit a crime somewhere else.And if bitcoins( an internet currency )  are used instead of real currency,the cyber crime becomes a double jeopardy.That is,it is doubly impossible to unearth anything.

 The book is spread over 310 pages & is divided into 99 chapters.The book begins with a Prologue.Many chapters are just one page long.This encourages readers to finish that page & move further & so on.The mystery starts building up from the first chapter itself.There is never a dull moment.There is lot of technical lingo that is used & yet, it never gets monotonous.There are many characters & the author has managed to give equal importance to one & all.The story ends in a spell binding climax & how !A truly worthwhile read !

Sorry

 This is the age of saying Sorry .You must have seen it coming.All over the world,people from all walks of life started saying that they regretted the acts  and or omissions committed by them or their ancestors or their countrymen etal in the past.This regret was then given official recognition by the head of the State saying 'SORRY " to the victims  and or the survivors or the present day generations whose forefathers had been butchered.

Sorry ,I believe is a very convenient word .Convenient, as anybody commits a felony,an act or ommisssion to wrong another or others knowing it to be grossly unjust & then regrets by saying " Sorry ." Hence,it is the most abused & misused word of the English language.

Recently,the Canadian Prime Minister publicly apologized for being apathetic to the Kanishka tragedy.Now,the present Canadian Prime Minister was not responsible for the accident but he said he was regretful for the attitude of his administration .So ,in this case,someone who is hardly to be blamed takes the blame & expresses regret.Moreover,since it is done publicly & by Head of the State,it is a very strong apology.But do the victims feel that this is so ? Is it that all felonies can be done & then apologized in front of the world & so will be forgiven ?Also,as the government is expressing regret,all ought to be forgiven but is this workable ?Perhaps,this means that the said case or felony is a closed chapter now & all should move ahead.It also means that the victims need not keep harping about the same wrong doing.But naturally,there will be new wrongs which have been committed & will continue & so we must move on to those .

Similarly,the Pope has said that he regretted that children were sexually abused by the clergy in some European nations.The Pope probably means that such acts will not be repeated but how anyone can guarantee this is beyond me as the Pope has refused to bring the perpetrators to book.There is nothing which will debar anybody to repeat  such wanton crimes .How are these perpetrators different from other similar accused ? Only that these are from the Church -they enjoy a position of trust & hence the crimes are more grave.What about the victims who have suffered for years & come out openly now to complain ? Just a " Sorry " will never be able to erase all the painful & horrific memories for the victims who were so vulnerable at their tender age.

Come to think of it-if US were to say sorry to Japan for the Hiroshima & Nagasaki attacks, Israel were to say sorry for the acts it keeps indulging in Palestine et al,& so on & so forth,there would be peace .The Nobel Peace Prize would then go to the word " Sorry " ! But since,we have to keep giving Nobel Peace Prizes to so many people so as to appear politically correct,we have to keep indulging in acts of war.Then we can pretend to be making herculean attempts at brokering peace & be the contenders for the coveted prize,if not the winner !

When our Prime Minister went to Canada,he apologised at a meeting about the anti -Sikh riots .The idea behind this was that the Indian PM,himself being a turbanded Sikh,his public apology will carry a lot of weight.But can the Sikhs forget & forgive one of the worst nightmares they have faced ? They have lost so much that one brutualised victim had gone on record to say that they had lost all & had nothing left to loose ! If the ruling party thinks that justice has been done by the PM's public apology,then we need no courts,no judges,etal.All public crimes wherein a large number of people were involved can be settled out of court by saying sorry.Only individual acts & ommissions need to be tried & punished.So convenient-our courts as of now have enough judges to try these individual cases.So much time is wasted in having commissions of enquiry ,committees & sub committtees on fact finding missions.But once we no longer need them, where will our retired but pliable judges,beurocrats,politicians go ? They cannot fade into oblivion like us,lesser mortals.So for their sake,we  have to  pretend that we are indeed serious about meting out justice to millions who were affected by riots,Bhopal Gas tragedy & the like.

In case of Bhopal gas incident which left millions dead,disabled etal,,I think all our ministers,politicians,bureaucrats are in overdrive.They are all trying to go to US to supposedly get Anderson's extradition so that he will tell sorry for the mishap ! But then ,this will perhaps be the most expensive sorry so far ! We might even create a world record for the most exorbitant regret ! No because,Anderson or Dow,the new owners will pay anything but because of all the US jaunts by our countrymen !

Since the ruling party has regretted the acts which led to the anti Sikh riots,will it similarly accept an apology for the Gujarat riots from the Gujrat CM ? This has been rightly asked by the safforn party.If the  answer is in negative,may we know the reason.This is double standards-one for the ruling party & another for the opposition.No,I am not trying to say that the Lotus was right in the Gujrat riots & the Hand  was wrong in the 1984 riots in Delhi.I am just highlighting the dangers of where all this regret in the public domain is leading us to.Our netas are having a ball as they can aid & abet riots etal today & say sorry tomorrow & be done .There is nothing to refrain our so called leaders from repeating such wanton acts ad nauseaum.

Now,if we could say sorry like our netas,we could get so many things done or undone in our private lives.Men especially find it difficult or rather impossible to say sorry .They believe that they are infalliable as they are of a superior gender (? ! ).Most of all,they never say sorry to their life partners.Rarely when they say it,it is just in the air.There is no feeling of regret.It is as if they are obliging their spouses.But in private lives also, an act or ommission cannot be just wiped away by a regret hows ever heartfelt,the apology may be.Because all said & done,one cannot travel back in time & correct that which has been done.Unfortunately,a bigger & more brutual act may make us forget an earlier less painful folly.

So,let us be very careful when we say,do or omit to do something which might lead to consequences which may need more than a lifetime or maybe many lifetimes to regret.After all, as long as we live socially,our acts & ommissions affect one & all.

Yes,even I have felt wronged.I am awaiting regrets - private ones but will I be able to forgive &  more importantly forget ? Maybe, but, I am quite unsure.

Mossad : Should we copy ?

Newspapers have been reporting that Mossad ( the secret service wing of  Government of Israel )  killed Mahmud-al-Mabhuh,a top commander of the Islamist group that rules Gaza in a covert operation.The killing took place in Dubai by 11 operatives of Mossad.The 11 perpetrators are said to have  used fake passports of some European nations namely Britain,Ireland France & Germany & even  Australia.Witness how passports -the fake ones which  were utilised were not of US.The inside story may be that US knew or better still, planted this very idea of using forged passports of other nations . This has lead to diplomatic rows between Israel & these nations.It has been said that the Israeli' PM Mr Benjamin Netanyahu had in fact blessed the mission.Interpol is  said to have issued warrants for the arrest of the 11 suspects .Israel  as expected has disregarded that their PM be also arrested for this crime.

Vir Sanghvi in his weekly column in Hindustan Times on Sunday dated 21st February seems to be inspired by this operation.He is advocating that we also act similarly with Pakistan.He opines that as Pakistan continues to indulge in terrorist attacks in India , Pune being the latest victim,it is time that we resorted to tactics of Mossad.

There are a lot of differences between Israel & India.Israel was created so that the US could keep on supplying arms to a nation which is surrounded on all sides by Arab states.The US has also been able to indulge in petty politicking this way so that it can keep  its control over the oil reserves.This way the US can always earn & also continue interfering in an area which will remain in conflict.Moreover,whatever Israel does,all the western countries just accept it blindly closing their eyes to all overt & covert action by Israel to supposedly defend itself from Islamists.In fact,the jihad is all about being defensive against US & Israel .All the rest of the world is  just caught in the crossfire bearing the brunt of all this hate.

This will never happen for us-even when Pakistan is in the wrong as is now ,US continues to pay lip service to our protests & supports Pakistan.Similarly all the rest of the West follow suit as they are all cronies of US.Moreover,we cannot displease the Arab nations by indulging in acts to kill leaders of Islamic militant organizations.In today's world,there is so much interdependence amongst nations & that should be reason enough to co-exist rather than  mis- behave like Israel.Israel can get away with anything & everything as along as it is propped up by US.Surely,some day,this will also change & then it will be a pariah in  the  whole world. unlike now when only some states voice their mistrust of Israel.

We must constantly try to reach a settlement on all issues of conflict by peaceful means.Agreed that Pakistan is an adamant state.It is forever trying to intimidate us by terrorising but we musty persist with peaceful efforts.War is too uneconomical.Lots of people are killed by terrorists but for that to be avoided,we have to step up intelligence reports & act on those.Prevention is always better than cure.

All people want peace .Let it not be assumed that we are afraid.We  are not, but no war overt or covert like that being carried out by Israel can bring peace.Even if it does,it will be fragile.We want an everlasting peace & for that we have to struggle hard.Many may argue that maybe I am too much of a dove & not bothered about the many who are killed for no fault.Yes,it is easy for me to say this but I really believe that peace only can bring us all together.In a war only soldiers get killed,never the generals.This is what is happening now  in this battle between terrorists & the world.Only innocents get killed & hatred between communities is increasing.Let us do our best to develop an atmosphere of love & respect for each other & tackle terrorism.Then only, can we, thwart the attempts to create divisions among us all.

Self -regulation.

On 16thSeptember,2009,one of the headlines in the Times of India read that the government expects the pharma companies to do self -regulation.This is real news !

The article went on to state that most of the pharma companies in India are the MNCs which have been fined for gross improper conduct by courts in the US ,UK & Europe.The fine runs into several million dollars as they bribed doctors to change medicines & sent them on foreign jaunts for recommending their products et al.When in the west,the pharma companies can behave so blatantly in violation of all laws which are much more stringent ,how does the State expect that there will self -policing ?Moreover most of the pharma MNCs are at loggerheads with Indian pharma companies as Indian pharma companies make cheaper versions of drugs available to the Indian public.This is a huge loss for the MNCs in the Indian pharma market.There are many court battles being fought about patents & trademarks between the Indian companies & the MNCs over such matters.

With the elections around,it is understandable, that a lot of money has changed hands from the MNCs to the political parties.No political party seems to oppose self regulation in the pharmaceutical industry.This means that the MNcs have cultivated all of them without discrimination !

The Times report stated that the MNCs account for nearly 70% of the Indian drug market.With our rulers allowing the pharmaceutical industry to discipline themselves,this share of the Indian drug market will very soon become 100% !On second thoughts,if there is self -regulation allowed for all -industries,individuals,etc,is there any need for governance ? Obviously,there won't be, as that would be Utopia !