Book Review - Made in China by Parinda Joshi

Title: Made in China

Author: Parinda Joshi

Published by: HarperColiins Publishers, 2019

Price: Rs. 250

Pages: 306

Rate: 4/5

The Blurb speaks:

“Raghu Mehta is a desperate man. His handicraft imports business has unexpectedly collapsed and cash is drying out quickly, his wife thinks he is a loser and society considers him irrelevant. Meanwhile, his closest friends and family all seem to be running flourishing businesses and living luxurious lives in Surat, the diamond capital of India.

A trip to China to scout for a new consumer goods business offers a glimmer of hope. But Raghu instead gets sucked into the black-market trade in the back alleys of Beijing. Everything about this new opportunity goes against his god-fearing, vegetarian, middle-class mindset - can he quash his natural instincts to make a success of it?     

Darkly comical, 'Made in China' is a soul-stirring and thrilling entrepreneurial journey of a man willing to do anything he can to make it big.”

The book starts with a dream sequence reciting the typical aspiring middle class people to dream big. The dream is described in such a manner that the protagonist, dashing Raghu in a tweak will own the heart as an established, famous and wealthy businessman. But it’s just a dream. And the dream too doen’t miss the typical male chauvinist insecurity to see his wife with another person. The portrayal of Raghu’s character from the beginning to end is sketched with subtle attainment. Mainly when you have Rajkumar Rao in your mind who played the role of Raghu in the movie Made in China after this book, the character comes out too lively. Raghu, a middleclass Gujarati businessman suddenly get doomed to his ongoing business and then incidentally landed up in China to start afresh a new way to earn money, a new way to give a kick start to a new business. Business is flowing in his blood and being a true blue entrepreneur Raghu always looks positive to choose the path of being a successful businessman any time soon.  The struggling journey of Raghu continues with ups and downs painting some hilarious incidents through out the book.  Whether Raghu will turn out as a renowned wealthy businessman or not, the readers have to finish the book. The suspense shouldn’t be broken at any cost. The story of Raghu’s struggle floats with a gripping thrill, where the writer meticulously described how Raghu reached China and his experiences over there then back to India with a new aspiring dream. Few hilarious moments would bring tears in your eyes. Like - being a hard-core vegetarian, Raghu is served with the typical non-veg Chinese food that is also when his hunger pangs almost thrust him to starve to death. Thinking in mind the dishes like gobi manchurian or fried rice are going to be served, his encounter with rattlesnake or baby cobra’s heart is thoroughly rib-tickling.

Parinda has described the dungy lanes and the lifestyles of China in such a manner that one will literally feel walking as a shadow of Raghu. Though the elements of comedy is fully tried to be incorporated, keeping in mind the genre Dark Comedy, Parinda to some extent failed to create the magic. The characterisation of each role portrayed vey soundly. One will always feel like meeting them in person, not as a character from the novel. Even the description of the places where so well described that it intends the reader to visualise as if being there. Being a budding script write Parinda Joshi did a praiseworthy job. The grip in the writing skill and usage of a vast arena of vocabularies call for an applause. Hope the movie will do the justice to the book.

Book review: Meant to be Together by Faraaz Kazi

Title: Meant to be Together

Author: Faraaz Kazi

Published by: Srishti publishers & Distributors, 2019

Price: Rs. 195

Pages: 218

Rate: 4/5

The Blurb says:

“Preeti Thaker moves to Mumbai to run away from herself, to put behind a painful childhood, plagued adolescent years and the recent death of her only support system – her brother. She is on the verge of ending it all, succumbing to her depression, when the doorbell rings. Little does she know that answering it will change her life forever! The guy on the other end of the door will offer her solutions to all her problems, but in the process, she will end up losing the only thing she had never lost till date – her heart!

Inspired by the true story of an artist who found that love was the only colour missing from the palette of her life, 'Meant to be Together' is a tale of love, friendship, courage, determination and above all, hope. Hope that makes us look for the rainbow when it rains and for the stars when it is dark.”

Book covers attract me first then the blurb on the back. The fascinating book covers instigate my creative thought process to accumulate all the imaginary components to reckon the storyline. When Faraaz extended the blurb of ‘Meant to be Together’ with a request if I could review the book, my reply was affirmative as I liked the story line. Honestly the book cover didn’t reach my expectation ( as the cover tuned to me cinematic) but the story did.

Preeti Arora, the protagonist had a challenging childhood. Preeti’s childhood projected in front of me the thousands of girls who had complications and that suffering led to psychological trauma. But few turns Lucky like Preeti to get a super supportive brother to pull her up, fearing off her woes to boon. But Preeti’s tragedy struck fate turned out to be too cruel when it took away Preeti’s most favourite and loved person, her brother. From her childhood Preeti loved to pour her heart out to her paintings. The colours on the canvases were her soul friends who silently bore all the secret stories, the stream of thoughts and her sufferings. Those were not mere paintings but each cried out the inner agony of Preeti. Being a financially Independent lady she had chosen to lead an independent life style staying alone, confining all the paintings rather her secret talent only in the bedroom. But suddenly like a dream one day a magician entered in her life who gradually started to change her life with the colours which were totally throttled in her paintings but not in her life. Sameer Arora, the hero, remained the rain man unless he himself fell in love with Preeti head over heals and Preeti too. But this love story didn’t turn out that easy as it looked like. The love story of the duo was articulated in such a way that one would drawn him/herself in the stream of emotional upheaval. Sameer’s appearance with the gang of his friends injected the life that was totally missing in the lifeless life of Preeti. The fun that she had missed in her college days almost returned back. Sameer’s extreme jovial nature, for a moment, didn’t let anyone feel the pain he had gone through, only one would keep on speculating - was Sameer hiding something!! It has a rhythm to flow you down till the end and then let you take a breath. One need to wait till end to know if the duo will become one soul or not. 

I found a very interesting point after finishing the book. Though the storyline and the book cover project to a mere love story, that has two love birds with differences. But ironically it spreads the truth of life. Preeti and Sameer are the epitomes of life. One shows the pessimistic side of life that dejected people to live in hell and the other one always tries to spread happiness around him suppressing all his grief. This philosophical aspect of life skilfully penned down by Faraaz. Even the epilogue at the end was quite new to me how the writer brought himslef as a character to give the stroy a more realistic look. His accomplished flare of writing skill and the dramatic aura of the book will surely hook his readers to keep on reading till it ends.  Faraaz Kazi who is known as ‘ the Nicholas Sparks of India’, fascinatingly ended up his truly romantic novel – Meant to be Together. 

Review: Amritsari Express

Address: Amritsari Express
South City Mall,
375Prince Anwar Shah Road
Kolkata

One of the most perquisite advantages that the modern era offers us is a Shopping Mall – a place to live up to a shopper’s dream to indulge in an exquisite utopia. Apart from exhibiting the renowned fashion brand chains and bringing the bare necessary living essentials under one roof, the main attraction is always the junctions where the food meets the foodies. The Food court is proliferating with high demand as this one place brings up the flavours from different region, encompassing a diverse array of cultures, countries and cuisines. Recently, after almost a decade, the food court of South City Mall, Kolkata, is refurbished and reopened with new offerings.

Chur Chur Parantha with Dal Makhani and Onion Salad

It’s been just a month and half that not all but few food stalls in the Food Court of South City Mall, Kolkata, have opened. Apart from the well known food joint chains, few stalls strive to partake the regional cuisine of India. One such is Amritsari Express. As the name suggests, there is no need to explain what cuisine is on offer.  They vouch to bring on plate the authentic Punjabi flavours picking up the most praised dishes that a Punjabi cuisine is respected for. The menu offers a plethora of pure vegetarian varieties of Paranthas/ Stuffed Paranthas with lip-smacking sides, Naan and Kulcha platters, Biriyani and rice combos, Flavoured lassis and many more.

Paneer Kulcha

The dishes, we tried, were Chur Chur Parantha along with Dal Makhani and Onion Salad,  Aloo PyaNj Kulcha with Rajama Curry and Onion Salad and Paneer Kulcha with Butter paneer and salad. The ghee slathered Paranthas/Kulchas are well made, very filling, well stuffed and tasty. The curries were silky smooth which were drown out by the flavours of nose prickling aroma. It flooded all my senses with heady froth of perfect blending of all spices that a Punjabi dish called for.

Here I should correct myself a bit. When people question about the authentic taste of a dish belongs to a particular cuisine, it becomes too judgmental. Like here, I have never been to Punjab or can’t vouch that I know exactly how authentically a Punjabi Dal Makhani or Rajma curry should taste. But I really rely on my sensual coherence that has already cooked up the dish in my mind with all the experiences, I have gathered so far. And if my taste bud approves, my heart smiles back with satiation. Here the dishes from Amritsari  Express have made no exception. Really enjoyed their food which are perfect pinch to value money. 

Specially to mention about their flavoured Lassis. Five types of chilled Lassis were served - Mango Lassi, Kesar Lassi, Strawberry Lassi, Rose Lassi and Sweet Lassi. It is so difficult to mention which one tasted better than the other. All were equally tasted good and won over my quenched soul - thick and perfectly balanced.

Happy to mention that Kolkata has one more destination to head ahead to enjoy pure vegetarian Punjabi meal. Food Plazas or Food courts always stay near to my heart. This is one place that you will never get bored trying out the same menu. So many food stalls with so many varieties, will always keep your taste bud changing. A place to succumb yourself with your near ones and let the flavours to seduce you. 
Happy Eating and Happy Blogging.

[Disclaimer: This is not a paid review but an invited on. Whatever experience got plated was served honestly.]

Book review: Bestseller by Ahmed Faiyaz

Title: Bestseller

Author: Ahmed Faiyaz

Published by: Rupa Publications India Pvt. Ltd 2018

Price: Rs. 295

Pages: 190

Rate: 4/5

It took me a while to reconcile that the novel itself was called “Bestseller”. First the title and then the blurb made me more inquisitive to swallow down the pages. A story revolving around the Publishing house Kalim, seaming a bunch of captivating characters, was so well narrated and portrayed that compelled me to finish the book at one go.  

The blurb reads:

“Akshay Saxena, an out of work editor of a defunct literary magazine in the UK, is told to move to India for a year to help shore up the value of Kalim, an ailing Indian publisher. Akshay finds himself in a job where he has to do the impossible. Angus Lee, the new owner of Thomson Lee Books, wants at least five bestsellers in the coming year, failing which the business would be wound up. He has to find a way of making a success out of books he would never publish or would never even read. To complicate things further, he has to contend with motley crew of has-beens and misfits working for the publishing house as well as wannabe writers, dealing with their follies and derisive tactics, and battle his own affections for Zorah Kalim, the impulsive daughter of his former boss. Will he succeed in bringing out that one ‘bestseller’ from his publishing house? And what about his own life and love in office? Find out in this riveting read. ”

Bestseller in simple term was the story of Akshay Mathur’s struggle to sustain with the protocol of the moribund publishing house and his own code of conducts. The time span of 367 days stated how a sinking publishing house restored to a summit that actually called success. I found two protagonists who eventually and parallelly faced the same fate – Akshay Mathur and the Publishing house Kalim. Both of their lives were compromised, burdened  and dimming. Akshay was deep in debt and sneaked an escape from UK to look for a better life in Kalim – the publishing house in India. His past story did not gloriously scream but told that he was a divorcee. His honest approach towards an editorial’s job was in stake, all beamed up in the novel to raise a question in the minds of the reader- what future was waiting for Akhshay and the publishing house. On the other hand the Publishing House Kalim was almost on the verge of closing down. How Akshay and the Publishing House Kalim unwantedly tied up their future with the prim and pompously glittered world of celebrities highlighting their lifestyle, played a crucial role here. Fake and false fame was actually the other side of the picture that often success is mistaken to – Ahmed sarcastically and humorously presented it in novel. It was a captivating story that heralded to engage its reader without taking any break. The characters were portrayed in such a skilful manner that they came almost alive as the story developed. The relationship between Zorah (Daughter of Iqbal Kalim, the founder of Kalim publishing house) and Akshay started with a quick note where the hunger of the body spoke first but then it ended up in a true love story. All the characters – Sita, Tarun, Anya Malik, Roshan Khan, Angus Lee, Mr. Samuel, would make you feel that they live in your neighbourhood and you met them on and off. 

I must appreciate the simple colourful and interesting book cover that might attract the readers at fist glance. A publishing house or an editor’s job always looks luring and coveting. But we hardly get a glimpse of the inside story of these places. The pressure, the politics, the fame game everything was narrated in this book with minute detail. While reading the book I almost became a part of the lives of Kalim. Ahmed’s writing skill is utterly commendable for the easy and simple flowing language. He knows how to hold a grip to keep thoroughly engage his readers from the beginning till the end. The book really didn’t fail me except one error. In the book it was mentioned that Tamas was written by Bapsi Sidwa where Tamas was written by Bhishm Sahni. Coming back after 6 years, Ahmed Faiyaz truely won the heart of the readers once again and did a commendable job I must say.