GREY OAK & THE BOOK LOVERS 'WRITE A STORY, GET PUBLISHED' WINNERS!

Forgot to mention the winners of Grey Oak and The Book Lovers 'Write a story,get Published' short story competition exclusively for Wassup Andheri. 

We received over 100 entries and it was quite a task choosing the final 3 that made it, nevertheless thanking all those who participated and sent their stories to us. 

The names of the 3 winners are: Rahul Biswas,Parimal Datta & Subhasis Ghosal. Congratulations to the winners and wish them a great writing career ahead! All the best!

Grey Oak&The Book Lovers present 'Write a story, get published!'

An exciting new contest exclusively for all out blog readers and book lovers. The Book Lovers and Grey Oak publishing have an exciting short story writing competition lined up only for Wassup!Andheri ! The winners get their stories published in Grey Oak's Urban Shots series. All you budding writers your time starts now! Read the details and send your entries to bookwelove@gmail.com . So read the details real quick and send us your entries NOW! 

The Book Lovers:Day 2&Day 3 at Wassup Andheri

Day 2:  Friday 1st March 2013

4-5pm 

S. Hussain Zaidi - A man who needs no introduction, his books have been bestsellers, a veteran crime reporter & author of Black Friday, Mafia Queens of Mumbai and the latest Dongri to Dubai that covers the life of Mumbai Mafia Dawood Ibrahim joins us to give his valuable insights on Crime Writing. Be there to get tips from the man who witnessed it all.

5-5.30pm

Creative Writing workshop by Salil Desai                                                                                        A perfect blend of crime & fiction is his forte and to let you learn this fine art, Salil Desai will be at Wassup Andheri for an exclusive discussion on Crime Writing.

Day 3-  Saturday 2nd March 2013

4.30-5.30pm 

Talk on Travel & Photography Travel Writer & Avid Photographer Rishad Saam Mehta author of Hot Tea Across India talks to the audience about his adventorous experiences while travelling & his anecdotes with photographs of the usual and the unusual during his road trips.

The Book Lovers at Wassup Andheri on Day 1-28th Feb 2013

The Book Lovers is back along with Wassup! Andheri this year. And as promised we are bigger...better and grander this year! With an exciting line up of events. Here is the itinerary we have lined up for you for the four days starting from 28th Feb to 3rd March 2013.

February 28th 2013 Thursday

 

• Panel Discussion : 5-5.30pm Noted women authors Milan Vohra, Madhuri Banerjee and Pia Heikkila who have made their mark in the Literature World are here to get into a discussion on "Writing for the women of Today"
• 5.30-6pm Book Launch:  Harlequin Contest Winner and India's first Mills& Boon Author Milan Vohra launches her 2nd book Tic  we're 30 at exclusively at Wassup!
• 6-6.30pm Interaction & Fitness Workshop by Abhishek Sharma  author of Fitness on the Go will show us some simple fitness techniques to lead a healthy life without compromising on your daily routine
• 6.30-7pm Music Video Launch of The Oath of Vayuputras - His 3rd book is eagerly awaited, his fans  have all queued up, the pre-orders have begun. Can you guess which author are we talking about? Yes it is none other than Amish as he launches the full music video for his third book exclusively at Wassup! Andheri and talks about his last book in the Shiva Trilogy series'The Oath  of Vayuputras'

Guest Review: Cut Like Wound

Book reviewed by: Mahathi Ramya Vanapalli

Book details:

Title: Cut like Wound

Author: Anita Nair

Publisher: Harper Collins

This is my first novel of Anita Nair’s. I love reading Indian authors, but never got a chance to read a gripping thriller from them. This is the first phsyco thriller that I read from an Indian author and I loved it.

Plot is about the investigation of similar serial crimes in Bangalore by an experienced inspector Gowda. Though Gowda is not young and dynamic, he is the hero of our story with his small imperfections.

Story starts with a burnt body of young male prostitute in Ramzan month and series of murders of random men on every Friday with peculiar ligature strangulation on neck. Author introduces us to corporator Ravi’s life in parallel. What is the relation between murders and Corporator? How Gowda finds the pattern in the killings? Remaining story is about the clues and findings of Gowda. Gowda’s problems in his family life, affair with his ex-girl friend etc., also form a part of the story. Climax is good and unexpected.

What I liked?

Story seems to be intriguing till the end. It is a medium paced psycho thriller. It met my expectation for sure. Characterization and writing style are impressive. Climax is good, Reader will be sure of the murderer from the middle of the story, but suddenly realizes that it is not that person.

What I didn’t like..

Motive of the crime doesn’t look very convincing. Sometimes, We feel , story is dragging and going no where, but, from the middle of the novel it picks the proper pace.

My overall rating: 4/5

Guest Review: The Householder

Author Amitabha Bagchi

Reviewed by: Amit Gupta

I must admit i was not a big fan of the writer's debut novel, 'Above Average'. I thought it was a book which was true to its title. But in his next book, the writer explores the dark underbelly of power, greed and corruption in Delhi. It has delicate touches of humour and sensitivity which is rare to find in the India based fiction writing these days.

The novel incorporates two worlds — New Delhi’s babu-dom and the flashy gen-next culture of Gurgaon’s call centres. He takes us into the labyrinth of bureaucracy to meet Naresh Kumar, PA to Shri Asthana, IAS. Although he failed to make the grade as an IAS officer, Naresh learnt early in life how to negotiate the path to success — from upping the dowry amount set by his father to securing his first bribe. Naresh’s moral justification is that he is a householder, a man whose primary duty is to provide for his family.Naresh’s life progresses satisfactorily until a series of calamities occur. A complaint on a deal — which helped Naresh pay for the catering and the tent-wallah at his daughter’s wedding — leads to a departmental inquiry that results in Naresh being suspended. His daughter Seema’s marriage flounders because she has not borne the obligatory child despite IVF treatments. His son Praveen, who works in a call centre, gets implicated in a murder and runs off to Manali. And moreover, he is attracted to a widow colleague Pinki, who has marriage plans of her own. The Householder is about how Naresh charts his journey through these turbulent waters. The writing is taut in most cases and even though the book does get slow at times, but then picks up pace once more toward the final leg. Amitabha writes about a world where money rules and nothing can be done without it – he presents the dilemma of a common man – of morals, of the metaphoric good and evil and the choices we make.The writing is taut in most cases and even though the book does get slow at times, but then picks up pace once more toward the final leg. Amitabha writes about a world where money rules and nothing can be done without it – he presents the dilemma of a common man – of morals, of the metaphoric good and evil and the choices we make.

There are scenes which stay with you - like the one where the mother and the daughter in a casual dining table conversation discuss about men's approach towards sex or the one where Naresh is fired.  The decaying moral fiber of the society and families, in general always loom around in the background and gives us a surprising, yet disturbing overview of each of us as individuals.

I am going with 4/5 for Amitabha Bachi's 'The Householder'. It is slow at times, but in the end it is an extremely rewarding read. It promises to break new grounds and in make sure, it achieves that with some solid storytelling. Don't miss it.

Review: Garbage Beat

What happens when what you see on television news channels makes you want to be like one of them? When the glamorous news reporters covering Bollywood beat makes you think that this is the dream job that you got to have? How would you convince your parents that you want to make a career in the cut throat television industry instead of becoming a doctor or an engineer as they had planned?

Meet Laila the protagonist of the book Garbage Beat who does exactly that. She is ecstatic when she lands up getting her dream job in her dream channel but not all is as glamorous and beautiful as she thinks it would be.  As she gets busier with her own role, working odd hours to cover film events and report them for her channel she ends up distancing herself from her dad- who as per her will never understand her and her boyfriend Rehan. To top it all her constant fights with her hard to please boss/ editor Bunny who doesn’t stop to remind her that there are others waiting in queue to get Laila’s job.

The television industry has its fair share of glamorous people but the industry also has its set of eccentric but fun bunch working there – having worked in the television industry I can say it with confidence! So in every channel you will find the kind of people described in the book.  While reading the book I was almost taken back to my days in the TV industry. The author has managed to capture the essence of television industry well, could be because she herself comes from there.

As Laila struggles her way trying to excel in her chosen career of TV journalism, as a reader you end up engrossed in her story, her struggles, her laughter and her tears. It is an endearing story written straight from the heart by an author who has looked and worked in the industry closely.

A fun fast paced read. For those in television industry will enjoy reading it and those who wish to make a career in it will get a glimpse of how the industry works especially the entertainment news industry.

Interesting debut by the author looking forward to many many more.