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Book Review : Ramayana – The Game of Life Book 3 (Stolen Hope)

I can summarize 2015 year for me as ‘Meeting Celebrity Year’. I met, talked, had photos, got emails and books autographed by celebrities such as Karishma Kapoor, Ranveer Brar, Aditya Bal, Vicky Ratnani, Amrita Raichand, Swati Jain, Saransh Goila and Ravi Subramanian. Addition to this, in the previous year I received Ramayana – The Game of Life Book 3 (Stolen Hope) with a personal letter from Shubha Vilas, the author too. 

Shubha Vilas though holds a degree in engineering and law with a specialization in patent law is a story teller par excellence, lifestyle coach, spiritual seeker and motivational speaker. His lectures and seminars are available on YouTube. He blogs at www.thoughtsutras.blogspot.in. In author’s words, “As you flip the pages of these books (Ramayana series), one thought is sure to pass your mind; never has the Ramayana been so applicable in our own lives!”

The opening lines of the book describe about it.

Have you ever felt that there should be a book that bridges the gap between the loyal, traditional approach to the Ramayana and the twisted, modern but exciting approach to the epic?

If yes, your search ends here. Ramayana – The Game of Life is a series that attempts to present an authentic rendition of the Ramayana in an absolutely modern and riveting manner. This book promises to enlighten the loyalists and entertain the modernists.

Stolen Hope is based on Aranya Kanda when Lord Ram, his wife, Sita and his brother, Lakshman lived in the forest and met many sages till one day Sita was kidnapped by Ravana, King of Lanka.  

This book is full of beautiful sayings and quotes which are very practical and goes with every age. Some of them I have listed for you, my dear readers.

1. Life often leaves you with limited options. Often the choice is between limited happiness and limited void.
2. Time is like a mocking bird. It waits for you to laugh at others and then mocks you in the most embarrassing and irritating manner.
3. People and situations in life appear like an ocean that seem deceptively simple but may actually be endlessly complicated.
4. Just as an octopus eats itself due to stress, a human is mentally consumed due to negative stress.
5. In the absence of somebody’s presence is revealed her true value. What presence cannot accomplish, absence can!
6. In the broken confidence of your enemies lie half your victory and the other half in your own ability to handle your destiny courageously.
7. While dissatisfaction is the backbone for creative excellence, it breaks the bones of mental peace.
8. Rama also wanted to teach the world that when one prefers the cheap attractions of this world over God, He silently walks away from one’s life. Maricha represents the fraud veil of illusion over intelligence that numbs the sense of discrimination. All have their own golden deer in life.
9. Sunlight can penetrate clean ocean water to a depth of hundreds of feet, because it is transparent. Similarly, for love to have a deep impact in relationships there has to be transparency that leads to respect between two people.
10. Anxiety is the worm that eats away one’s peace of mind.
11. A hurt hurts the most when the one you love hurts you the most.

‘Jeihe vidhi rakhe Ram teihi vidhi rahiye’ (Whatever be the circumstances created by God one should be happy and satisfied with that), this theory is beautifully explained in the chapter ‘A Reckless Request’ by the author.

Long ago, Sita had heard from a great sage that the center of happiness was not the world but the heart. Whenever and wherever your heart stabilizes, that is when and that is where happiness is born. Since Sita’s heart was stabilized on Rama, Her happiness did not depend on where She was – Ayodhya or the jungle.

These are my favorite lines from the book and are so true to the present context that happiness is not outside rather inside us. And we have to discover it!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this immensely insightful book whose strength lies in its simplicity and lucid writing. This book is like a priceless gem which is to be preserved, conserved and read again and again to absorb its deep teachings in our lives.

Movie Review : Bajirao Mastani

Like Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s movies, this movie too has marvelous and grandeur sets. This movie is based on the historical novel ‘Raau’ authored by N. S. Inamdar, a Marathi novelist. This romantic story is about the Maratha warrior Peshwa Bajirao and his second wife Mastani. Ranveer Singh as Bajirao looks like a warrior walks like a warrior and talks like a warrior. I must say one of his best performances. Priyanka Chopra as Kashibai, Bajirao’s first wife looks very attractive and does justice to the character. She has less scenes but her acting impresses much more. Neither Deepika Padukone’s looks nor her acting impresses. On a classical song while dancing her face expressions are very poor. The weakest point of the movie is that her face expressions more or less remain the same throughout the movie. Milind Soman is a great surprise. He acted in at least one movie. Tanvi Azmi as Bajirao’s mother acted very well. The rest of the actors also leave their impression on audiences.

The aaina mahal set is amazing and its reflection in Kashibai’s room’s curtain is quite impressive. The war scenes look real. The scenes created with graphics and the characters are blended too well that everything on screen looks real. Music and songs are melodious. The background music is pleasing. Costumes are attractive and eye catching.

First half is gripping and the second half is ok type and climax is bit weird, too lengthy and too slow. If the end has been changed the movie would have been far better. Even then it is a must watch on BIG SCREEN!

Rs. 500 less from ATM withdrawl

On 8^th Nov, 2015, I went to ATM of HDFC bank located in the society where I live. I used SBI Bank card to withdraw Rs.10000/-  and to my utmost surprise only Rs. 9500/- came out. In place of one thousand note there was one five hundred rupee note. Five hundred rupee was inserted between the thousand rupee notes. I noted the number of that ATM branch and called the mobile number mentioned on a slip attached to the ATM as there was no security guard. The person on phone suggested me to file a complaint in the bank whose card I used to withdraw money. I complained to the customer care of SBI bank as I used SBI card to withdraw money regarding the refund of Rs. 500/-. But my complaint was rejected saying that the 'ATM transaction was successful'. I felt cheated.

I request you to be careful while withdrawing money from ATMs. If any of you have faced the same problem and wish to file a case in consumer court then you can contact me.

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.