Book Review : The Bestseller She Wrote

In less than 24 hours, I finished the novel ‘The Bestseller She Wrote’ by Ravi Subramanian. Because of my busy schedule it took me additional hours to read it otherwise the book is so gripping and interesting that it can be read in merely 4 hours. I find the time to read it because of the personal touch from the author who sent me a signed copy of this novel. What to say more that the author is so humble that he dedicated this book to the readers!

This book is dedicated to all my readers. Especially those who glimpsed their reflections in its pages.

Aditya Kapoor, paperback king had everything name, fame, money, good job and nice family till he met Shreya, young ambitious management trainee from IIM Bengaluru who wished to be a successful author like him. Lots of events took place when their worlds collided and the story moved with a fast pace taking interesting and breath holding turns. It is a story of love, trust, passion, lust, betrayal, rejection and redemption.

Some of the lines that I liked from this novel are as follows:

1. I don’t say anything doesn’t mean I don’t notice.
2. I hate it when people don’t give a book its due respect – most of all, people who are, or want to be authors.
3. He has over 8000 books lying all over his house – on shelves, packed in cartons, some even warehoused. So much so that when you walk into his house you may feel like you’ve walked into a bookstore.
4. Someone once said, “Find what makes you happy and go for it with all your heart. It will be hard, but I promise it will be worth it.”
5. A book is an expression of an author’s creativity. Do not demean it by calling it a “product”.
6. There has got to be a difference between peddling a bar of soap and selling a book. A book is a lot more personal, a lot more involving.
7. And as far as marketing my books is concerned – it’s simple. If I spend a year writing a book, I will leave no stone unturned in making sure that everyone knows about it, and buys it. I don’t mind my books adorning bookshelves as long as the bookshelves we are referring to are not in bookshops, but in people’s homes.
8. If after reading my book, you hate it, please write to me. I can’t refund your time, but to make up for it, I will gift you ten books of your choice. Think of it as kind of a money-back guarantee.
9. Oh …oh…oh…Stop, stop, desi John Green! Stop dreaming. It’s not easy to write. Even if you write rubbish, it takes time, effort and skill. Do you realize that?
10. Then why is your face looking like a roasted brinjal?
11. Over the last few months she had read and re-read all his books. And here he was, a couple of feet from her, breathing the same air.
12. I was living the lives of the characters through your book. That’s the level of association it created.
13. I was not reading the story. I was living it.

Ravi Subramanian, the author is an banker who has written books like ‘If God Was a Banker’, ‘I Brought the Monk’s Ferrari’, ‘Devil in Pinstripes’, ‘The Incredible Banker’, ‘The Bankster’, ‘The Bankerupt’ and ‘God is a Gamer’. He has won lots of awards like The Golden Quill Readers’ Choice Award for ‘If God Was a Banker’, The Economist Crossword Award Book Award in 2012 for ‘The Incredible Banker’ and The Economist Crossword Award Book Award in 2013 for ‘The Bankster’ and The Economist Crossword Award Book Award in 2014 for ‘The Bankerupt’.

I strongly recommend this book for those who love books and for those who want to be an author.  

I am reviewing ‘The Bestseller She Wrote’ by Ravi Subramanian as a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

Cooking classes at Gourmet High Street

It was fun to attend cooking classes by celebrity chef at Gourmet High Street, Leisure Valley, Gurgaon. I learned the Sugarkraft by Chef Swati Jain and chocolate gol-gappas by Chef Saransh Goila.

For SugarKraft the theme was Christmas, I and my team prepared Christmas tree, Penguin, Snowman and other decorative items like bells, leaves, flowers etc with sugar based products which have edible colors. The pieces are glued together using edible glue. Muffin decorations made by our team won a prize. In the end of contest Chef Swati Jain gave away the prizes.

I prepared a dish with chocolate for the first time and preparing gol-gappas was an awesome experience. I was in Foodies team. We prepare the chocolate gol-gappas and decorate it with dry coconut powder, for filling we caramelized the peanuts and cut strawberries in small pieces. For liquid which is to be filled in gol-gappas we took vanilla ice-cream and milk. Mixed them and serve them with vanilla pod and strawberry pieces. The ready dish was very pleasing.

Chef Saransh tasted our dish and liked the caramelized peanuts very much.

Gourmet High Street Gurgaon

I participated in a contest on Facebook and won a free pass to Gourmet High Street, Leisure Valley, Gurgaon. I went there on 4th Dec, 2015 and first time saw the world famous Chef Sanjeev Kapoor who is owner of Food Food channel, hosts program named 'Khanna Khazana' and one of the judges of MasterChef India. 

I got the chance to click a photo with Chef Ranveer Brar, Judge of MasterChef India and host of TV shows like Snack Attack, The Great Indian Rasoi, Homemade, The Breakfast Express etc.

I also got the chance to meet the Chef Vicky Ratnani who is the brother of famous photographer Dabboo Ratnani and his famous TV shows are Vicky's World, Vicky Goes Veg, Vicky Goes Foreign and Do It Sweet. 

Mummy Ka Magic famed Amrita Raichand who is also an actress and I can be seen in this photograph.

Model, actor and Chef Aditya Bal who is reviving the lost recipes of India in the program 'Lost Recipes' on EPIC channel. I am great admirer of his culinary skills. Before taking up cooking profession, he was a model and acted in movie named 'Mashooka' in 2005.

It was great experience to meet all these Chefs personally whom I had admired watching their cookery shows on TV.

Snack Party with Karisma Kapoor

I was highly disappointed on seeing the results of photos clicked by a blogger friend. Two were blurred and one was with my eyes closed. I was feeling low as I came all the way from Gurgaon to meet Karisma Kapoor in the ‘Snack Party with Karisma Kapoor’ which was organized in Hotel Sheraton, Saket, New Delhi by Indiblogger and McCain. I was standing next to Karisma Kapoor on the stage but not a single click was worth to be put on a social networking site and to boast about it. I desperately wanted a nice photograph with her. During the whole program my mind was busy, distracted and not able to enjoy the surroundings because of the poor results of photographs with Karisma Kapoor.

In the end, there were snacks. I couldn’t enjoy them much as I wanted a photograph with Karisma Kapoor. The organizers gave four packets of different McCain products with a cook book. That too couldn’t bring a smile on my face. As I was leaving the hall, one of the organizers called me and said that you could collect your photo frame from the reception desk. I turned back halfheartedly to collect it. But my joy new no bounds on seeing a perfect photo framed in it. That was the biggest surprise of the day! The photographer standing right in front of the stage took the photo perfectly. Everyone was smiling, not blinking and looking straight into the camera making it a best click. I was smiling not only in the photo but in real as well. 

Orange Lozenge

I love to experiments with food. I have tried out Aloe Vera veg, Pumpkin seeds veg, no oil tinda with Italian flavors, gol-gappas filled with sprouts, fried gavar ki phalli, cucumber cake, banana spinach smoothie and raabri prepared from channa flour which are all off beat recipes. This time I decide to try out a new dessert recipe. Dessert is a course generally used to conclude the main meal. In dessert there can be many foods such as cakes, pudding, tarts, pastries, ice creams etc. Because of natural sweetness and distinct flavor fruits are generally added in the desserts. I give a twist in a dessert recipe and make an eggless cake which is sweet, sour, salty and hot as well. For sweetness instead of sugar I use sugar for sourness I use orange juice, for saltiness of course salt and for hotness I use green chilies. I add coconut powder for wonderful texture and nice taste whereas mint for its refreshing flavor and cool taste. I name it as 'Orange Lozenge'.

Preparation Time – 10 minutes

Cooking Time – 8 minutes

Ingredients

All purpose flour – 1 cup

Malai (Cream) – 1 cup

Curd – 1 cup

Desiccated coconut – 1 cup

Orange juice – 1 ½ cup

Grated orange rind – 2-3 tea spoon

Sugar– 2 cup

Butter – ½ teaspoon

Salt – ½ teaspoon

Green chilies – 2

Mint – 5- 6 leaves

Finely grated almonds – 2 table spoon

Method

1. Sift all purpose flour with baking powder.
2. Mix dry coconut powder, Sugarfree Natura, and salt in it.
3. Extract the juice from fresh oranges and sieve it. Throw the pips and use the fresh orange juice for preparing the dish. Mix orange juice and grated orange rind gently in the dry mixture.  
4. Grind green chilies, mint leaves with curd. Mix malai and curd lightly in the mixture without lump formation.
5. Grease the sides and bottom of baking dish with butter.
6. Pour the mixture in baking dish and sprinkle finely grated almond over it.
7. Cook it in microwave for 8 minutes.
8. On cooling cut them into pieces. Serve them.

Taste – It is a light, moist cake with a tender crumb. It melts into the mouth giving the relishing taste of coconut and orange with a flavor of mint. It is sour and sweet, salty and hot.

Now, I can satiate my sweet tooth without compromises.

Jaipur

Jaipur is my favorite city which is also known as ‘Pink City of India’. It is the capital city as well as the largest city of Rajasthan, a northern state of India. It was founded by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amer. He shifted his capital to accommodate the increasing population and to meet out the scarcity of water. He planned the city according to the principals of Vastu Shastra. Jaipur is considered as the first planned city of India. It has three gates, eastern gate is known as Suraj Pol, western gate is called Chand Pol and the northern gate faces the old capital. Most of the buildings were constructed on the basis of rules of Shilpa Shastra. To welcome Prince Edward and Queen Victoria, during the reign of Sawai Ram Singh this city was painted pink. Many of the avenues, main buildings and complexes were remained pink giving it a distinct appearance of ‘Pink City’.

Jaipur is well connected by road with Delhi, capital city of India and Agra the main center of attraction of India through Golden Triangle. It is a connecting city between Delhi and Mumbai on National Highway No.8 and between Bikaner and Agra on National Highway No.11. National Highway No. 12 links Jaipur with Kota. It is well connected with other tourists’ places of Rajasthan such as Udaipur, Jaisalmer and Jodhpur. Inside the city it has good connectivity with wide roads and quite good number of broad streets interconnecting each other. Road network follows a definite hierarchy as most of the roads run east to west or north to south. Even through rail Jaipur is well connected to the major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai. Jaipur has the metro service for better connectivity within the city. Jaipur International airport is well connected with national and international flights. It also provides air cargo services.

The places of tourist attractions are Jal Mahal, Hawa Mahal, Lakshmi Narayana Temple, Jantar Mantar, Amer Fort, Diggi Palace, Nahargarh Fort, Jaigarh Fort, Albert Hall Museum, City Palace, Vidhan Sabha, Garh Ganesh Temple, Sheela Devi Temple and Kale Hanumanji’s Temple. Sisodiya Rani Bagh, Ram Niwas Park and Kanak Vrindavan are decently maintained parks in Jaipur. Gardens at Amer Fort are also major tourists’ attraction.

It is the major hub for arts and crafts like blue pottery, marble work, handicrafts, antique furniture, jewelry, bangles, carpets and metal works. This city is famous for typical Rajasthani dishes like dal batti churma, missi roti, bajre ki roti, gawar phalli ka saag, gatte ki sabzi, papad ki sabzi and lahsun ki chutney. Sweets like gevar and gujia are liked by everyone. Laal Maans and safed manas are relished by non-vegetarians from all over the world. The snacks like pyaz kachori and mirchi bada are the specialties of Jaipur.

The road side greenery, unique architect and its landscapes make Jaipur one of my favorite cities in India for a nice drive.

Exercise for thyroid patients

These days thyroid problem is increasing especially in young ladies. The medicine(s) which doctor prescribed are a way to keep this disease under check. To cure it some yoga exercises are to be done at least three times in a day. One of the most effective exercise of thyroid is Ushtraasana.

Sinhasana doesn't look pleasing but it gives extremely good results to thyroid patients. If you hesitate to do it in public, do it when you are alone at home.

Watch these videos. These exercises are very easy to do. Share it with your friends and relatives so that maximum number of patients can be benefited with these yoga exercises.