Review: When the Signal turns Red

The debut novel by Jayanand Ukey deals with the travails of a young couple just out of college who have landed their dream jobs. Girish Khedekar and Prajakta Chitre are engineering students who have fallen in love in their college days. Both of them have bagged campus placements at enviable companies. They have decided to work for a few years and then inform their parents that they wish to get married.


However, by a sudden twist of fate, Prajakta’s parents come to know about it much sooner and they demand to meet Girish and his folks. The meeting goes well and both the sets of parents agree to their children’s decision to get married.

Just as the engagement preparations are on, by a turn of events, both Girish and Prajakta lose their jobs and their getting married is as stake. In the meantime, Prajakta’s parents arrange to have her married off to another guy – one of their family friends. The reason given is that no father can marry off his daughter to a person who does not have a job. However, the parents are not at all worried about the fact that their daughter also has lost a job.

Priyanka and Girish then set about trying to remedy the situation to their benefit. It involves a long chase scene to a mall in Navi Mumbai and back which seemed straight out of a Bollywood movie. At the end, how Girish resolves the events which have happened and manages to win over Priyanka’s parents forms the climax of the story.

The book is an easy read and can be finished in one sitting.

For me, however, it offered nothing new. The story is as old as mankind itself and there is no new treatment by the author.

In the book itself, there are several grammatical mistakes which could easily have been avoided by proof-reading. Also, there are a couple of logical errors – for instance, the author mentions that because of the global crisis, the Nifty falls 6,500 points in a day which is practically not possible. Also, the author tries too hard to explain the global economic crisis and its effects. Apparently, people are clued to the business channels at every single point in time to take in every negative update which comes in.

The characters are developed on a superfluous level and you do not really feel for any of them. Also, the fact that the company chooses to lay off some employees and then immediately takes them back on a layoff rehabilitation programme is unbelievable to say the least.

I am going with a rating of 2/5. It is a simple love story which does not demand much from the reader. However, there is no novelty in either the treatment of the story or the ending. Also, the title of the book has no correlation in any way whatsoever with what the story has to say.

Disclaimer: A copy was given to me by Jayanand Ukey for the purposes of review.

Review: The Secret Wish List by Preeti Shenoy

I am a long-time reader of Preeti Shenoy’s blog (www.justamotheroftwo.blogspot.com) and won The Secret Wish List in a contest on her blog titled Wishlist Wednesdays. Around the same time, I also had an opportunity to meet her when she came down to Mumbai to launch the book (http://pallosworld.blogspot.in/2013/01/meeting-preeti-shenoy.html)


The Secret Wishlist revolves around Diksha, Ankit, Tanu, Sandeep and Abhay. It starts off in Chennai, where, as a sixteen-year-old, Diksha is like any other typical teenager. She and her best friend Tanu spend hours and hours of time studying, discussing the latest crushes and gossiping. Enter Ankit, Diksha’s elder brother’s friend. Both Ankit and Diksha start liking each other and spending quite a bit of time together without the knowledge of either the parents or her elder brother. When the first opportunity for an overnight travel for a school project arises, both of them jump at it. However, things there take a turn for the worse due to which the lives of Ankit and Diksha are forever changed.

Cut to the present. In Bangalore, Diksha is married to Sandeep and they have a son Abhay. Diksha’s entire day, rather, existence revolves around both of them. Right from making the morning tea, to breakfast, lunch and dinner to catering to every whim and fancy of Sandeep and Abhay, Diksha seems to not have an individual life at all. She does not seem to mind her daily mundane life either.

However, a sudden event in her cousin’s life seems to jolt her out of her existence. At the behest of the cousin, she decides to try and take some control over her life and makes a wishlist – a list of things which she truly wants to do. Included in the list are items like snorkelling, getting drunk and learning salsa.

By a fortuitous turn of events, Tanu (who has been working at Gurgaon and recently re-located to Bangalore) re-enters her life and tells her that Ankit has been wanting to get in touch with her since a long time. With this conversation, Diksha’s heart and mind are forced to confront whether she would really want to meet him; if yes, what would the future course of action be, etc. How the issue is sorted out forms the climax of the story.

The best part about Preeti’s writings is the time and effort spent in etching out each and every character and the interactions between them. Diksha as a bubbly teenager; Diksha as a housewife; Diksha as a housewife wanting to live out her wishlist; Diksha as a housewife imagining what it would be to go back to Ankit – all the various stages have been carved out beautifully. Sandeep’s character has been shown to be a typical, male chauvinist who only cares for his well-being without giving a thought to what his wife wants. He cannot even imagine that she may have any wants. He comes across as extremely selfish and a person quite easy to hate.

Tanu has been portrayed as Diksha’s best friend – someone who has her best interests at heart and who forgives her friend’s faults. Ankit is the ideal guy – someone who is compassionate, caring and concerned; who wants to fulfil each and every wish of Diksha at whatever cost it entails. He lets his heart rule his mind.

The relationships and interactions between Diksha and Tanu, Diksha and her husband, Diksha and her son, Diksha and her parents, Diksha and her salsa instructor, Diksha and her mother-in-law, Diksha’s brother and Ankit and finally Diksha and Ankit have been developed in great detail.

Another aspect about her is the way she tackles “difficult” subjects such as having an extramarital relationship. Sure, we all scoff at the mere idea but we do not bother going behind and understanding the reasons for it.

My takeaways from the book are:

Parents may not always have the children’s best interests at heart. As parents, it is very important to be friends with your children and to really understand what is going on with them. If you are going to dictate and expect your child to only do what you want him/her to do, they are never going to be happy.

True love does really exist. You may not realize it immediately and it may take its own sweet time in reaching you. But it will eventually. Also, along the way, you may have to face some difficulties. But it will definitely be worth it. The only thing it demands is that you have the courage to accept it when it finally comes your way. Rest everything shall fall in place.

Marriage is a process of give and take. It is a process of compromising. It is not just expecting the wife to do all the work while the husband earns money. It is about realizing that your wife may also have some hopes and aspirations. It is about understanding that sometimes all one needs to do is lend a ear.

Lastly, friendship is a unique bond. You may be best friends but one act of indiscretion could cause a crack in that friendship. However, that crack could soon be mended as well. Your friend will always have your best interests at heart and will go out of the way to make sure you achieve them. Your friend will never judge you. You may not speak for days, weeks, or in the case of this book, years on end but when you do, you will catch up like there has been no break in between. That is the true test of friendship.

I was left wondering at the end what would have happened if Diksha had been in a happy marriage and Ankit had re-entered her life. Maybe, Preeti could re-write the book with a different ending :)

Like I mentioned at the beginning – I won this book in a contest organized by Preeti. And the post I wrote for that contest (http://pallosworld.blogspot.in/2013/01/i-wish-i-had-one-more-chance-to.html) has been read by over 400 people till date. Guess, that is the power of Preeti’s blog.

Review: F?@K Knows by Shailendra Singh

F?@K Knows has been written by Shailendra Singh, a sports marketing guru, an advertising whiz and a Bollywood producer. He is better identified with Precept Advertising, the Sunburn festival and with movies such as Pyaar Main Kabhi Kabhi and Phir Milenge.


The book is a self-help book with a difference. Unlike other self-help books which are too preachy and, hence, come across as heavy, Shailendra adopts a unique style to present his views. The basic underlying principal is that F?@K knows why some things (both good and bad) happen to certain people and not to others.

The book advises the reader on:

• Finding yourself

• Following your heart

• Achieving your goals and

• Living life like you give a f?@k

The genesis of the book was the fact that Shailendra lost his father to lung cancer and he himself had heart-related problems. This led him to evaluate his life – what was he doing, where was he going, was he happy being where he was, etc.

The book has a few gems which are worth mentioning: “You realize you only have a few precious minutes in everyday to make the most of it.” “Monitor the P&L of your life as diligently as you balance the P&L of your company.” “You can only make fun of something that is popular, otherwise the joke is not funny.” “Being human is to realize the power that we have to make a difference.”

The author exhorts us to make a bucket list and actually keep ticking off items as we move along. He reiterates this point in three chapters just to drill it in. As a step towards creating the list, he suggests first making a list of things we do not ever want to be. A unique feature in the book is that he suggests mailing him our bucket list and he will remind us in six months about it!

He calls himself a life enthusiast and mentions that he is always pretty optimistic about everything around. He asks us to replace ‘have to’ with ‘want to’ and see the difference for ourselves. He asks us to not accept substitutes for the real thing and to lobby our successes. He also teaches us about the Chi F?@k Po exercise which consists of Block, Choose, Divert/Embrace.

The book has a nice compilation on a list of people who have made their mark on the world and have died pretty young. Prominent among them are Bob Marley, Madhubala, Steve Jobs, etc.

The writer’s writing style is casual and simple. Profound thoughts are put across in such a fashion that it is easy to grasp and implement them. The author cites quite a few examples from his personal/professional life to drive home the point. The title of the book is quite eye-catching and, needless to say, f?@k has been used quite liberally in the book. For those who may tend to get scandalized with its over-usage, please do not read it.

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

Happy Women's Day!

Among the barrage of contests centered around International Woman's Day, I posted this on Tushky about what my ideal woman would be like. Do read it and provide your feedback/comments.

http://www.tushky.com/blog/?p=15

Kai Po Che: A Review

Having read all of Chetan Bhagat’s four fictional novels till date and enjoyed the movie based on Five Point Someone and not even watched the movie based on One Night at the Call Centre, I approached this movie (based on The Three Mistakes of My Life) with a little trepidation.


Firstly, the movie had mostly newcomers with no star names to boast of. Secondly, its director – Abhishek Kapoor – had only one success to his credit – Rock On. And, thirdly, the movie was to be set in Ahmedabad (or, as the locals call it, Amdavad) and not some foreign locales or some exotic places in India.

The trailers looked promising and Swanand Kirkire’s lyrics, along with Amit Trivedi’s music, were a treat to listen to. As the movie’s release came closer and closer, I was interested to watch the movie the first weekend itself. In preparation, I did not read any reviews of the movie as I wanted to go with an open mind free of bias and prejudices.

*** SPOILERS MAY FEATURE IN THE REVIEW ***

I must say I enjoyed the movie. And so much that I did not mind catching it a second time the next weekend with my mom. The movie sticks as close to the book as possible considering Chetan Bhagat was also one of the scriptwriters.

The movie starts off slowly and builds up quite a pace till the interval. After the interval, the events unfold with speed and you are caught up in it like a whirlpool.

Three friends, in their early twenties, start a business in Ahmedabad. They open a shop selling sports equipments and also provide cricket coaching along with it. Govind, the money-minded friend who loves maths; Omkar, the simpleton who likes nothing better than to spend time with his friends and Ishaan, the friend who loves cricket and is an ex district level cricket player. Ishaan’s sister, Vidya, who hates maths, is coached by Govind who ends up falling in love with her.

Their business picks pace nicely and just when they think of expanding they are hit by the circumstances which took place in Ahmedabad in 2001-2002; from the earthquake to the riots following Godhra. The movie does not judge any of the events or the characters but only presents them as a sideline to the main story – the friends and their relations affected by the happenings.

Other characters in the movie include Omkar’s mama (mother’s brother) Bittoo who is actively involved in politics and wants Omi to get involved as well, Govind’s mother who earns a living selling snacks and Ishaan’s father who expects his son to start earning a living soon.

A young nine-year-old Ali also joins the coaching academy and Ishaan is excited at his cricketing prowess and feels he has the potential to make it big.

There are only three songs in the movie and none of them feel out of place. My favourite has to be Maanjha sung by Amit Trivedi.

For me, the most interesting part of the movie was the inter-personal relationships. The camaraderie between the three friends is the most obvious one. Ishaan and Omi are game to take risks and explore life while Govind is the more calculating one wanting to plan everything. He is also fond of money and wanting to strike it rich. His friends make fun of him for this. References such as “baniya” are peppered throughout the movie.

Govind’ relation with Vidya, Ishaan’s sister, starts out only as a teacher-student; however, it soon progresses into love. When Vidya asks him why she can not be his friend, he, like a typical Maths student, says I can give you four reasons – you are my brother’s sister, you are younger to me, you are my student and you are a girl.

Vidya’s relation with her brother is like a typical brother-sister relationship. She hates him for hogging the remote and not having the time to speak to her but she is equally concerned about his well-being and is proud of him for having made a mark in cricket.

Omi’s relation with Bittoo mama is functional at first; he has the deposit needed for the shop which the three friends need. However, later, as Omi starts working for the party and getting involved, the relation slowly changes to a mentor-protégé.

Ishaan’s relationship with the young Ali has been shown in an exceptional manner. He is impressed with the young lad Ali and wants to coach him to do better. However, he gets angry with him for not paying attention and Ali runs away from the field. Instantly, Ishaan feels sorry for his behaviour and goes to Ali’s house to apologize. When Ali starts performing brilliantly on the field under Ishaan’s coaching, Ishaan cannot help but feel proud.

I found myself smiling at quite a few scenes in the movie. When Omi and Ishaan ask Govind to dance with them when they go away for a Sunday; when Vidya tells Govind that Govind should take her to see the new shop at the mall first; when Omi and Ishaan hug each other after India’s victory after they have had an altercation earlier; when Govind sees Ishaan getting serious about a school presentation.

My verdict: Go see the movie and discover the scenes which make you smile. It is a beautiful tale of following your dreams, come what may, with your friends and discovering love in the process.

Women in Media & Movies

Through this blog post, I shall try to represent the role women play in the media and the movies. I shall examine the topic from two viewpoints – one is the portrayal of a woman in the movies & the media and the other is the participation of women in both these fields.


Let us begin with a field which interests us most – Movies. Most of us have grown up watching movies and still enjoy watching them immensely. They say one can lose oneself at the movies and one can also find oneself. It is said that movies have a tremendous impact on our thinking and our perception, though it be unconsciously. Walt Disney said, “Movies can and do have tremendous influence in shaping young lives in the realm of entertainment towards the ideals and objectives of normal adulthood.”

The way women have been portrayed in the movies has changed over the years, especially in India. Previously, there were not many women-centric roles or movies and the heroines were forced to play second fiddle to the hero. They were supposed to be pretty and mouth a few lines of dialogue but beyond that nothing much was expected from them. One can count on one’s hand the number of movies in which a woman could have been said to have made an impact. Arth, Aandhi and Mother India are some of the movies which come to mind.

However, this has changed in recent times. Women are being portrayed as strong and intelligent and quite a few movies have been made where the woman plays a central role. Films like Kahaani, Saat Khoon Maaf, No One Killed Jessica, Fashion etc. have brought to the fore the strength of a woman actor – they were able to carry the entire movie on their shoulders. There will hopefully be a situation where the heroine-oriented movies would be as many as, if not more, than the hero-oriented movies.

In comparison, Hollywood has been churning out plenty of movies where women have a central role with no assistance whatsoever from the hero. They have had movies like Stepmom, Kill Bill, Charlie’s Angels, etc. where women display their prowess in roles ranging from melodrama to action. We definitely need to learn from them!

As far as the participation of women in movies goes, the emancipation of women has definitely aided this. More and more women writers and directors are now entering the realm of movie-making and are not afraid to take risks and make movies. Thus, we are seeing a whole bunch of movies made from the viewpoint of the women wherein the sensitivity and the inherent nurturing aspect of the woman comes to the fore. Recently, names like Juhi Chaturvedi, Gauri Shinde, Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti come to mind.

Let us now move onto media. The current boom in the media industry has given rise to several different television channels and many newspapers. Women have been making their mark in this industry as well right from being correspondents to editors to anchors on channels doling out information on general news to indulging in business discussions and expressing their opinions on sports channels. Anchors like Sonia Singh, Shireen Bhan, Menaka Doshi, etc. have made an impact in the field of television.

Needless to say, the opening up of the media has given women immense opportunities. This had led to women reading up on a lot of things, keeping themselves updated and abreast of the recent happenings and discussing current affairs with the who’s who of politics, business, media and sports.

However, the portrayal of women in media is not very encouraging. A lot of advertisers portray women in a negative light – often showing them as objects of desire. Open any newspaper these days and one is subjected to several articles/advertisements showing women in a semi-clad state. This is not respectful to women and needs to be avoided. Advertisers along with the media representatives need to frame policies to address this.

To sum up, as Yves Saint-Laurent, the French fashion designer put it, “Over the years I have learned that what is important in a dress is the woman who is wearing it."

This post has been written for Indusladies.com Blog Contest http://www.indusladies.com/forums/blogs/induslady/indusladies-4th-annual-international-women-8412/

IndiBlogger Meet – An Afternoon of Conversations, Music and Food

I recently had an opportunity to attend an IndiBlogger meet (http://www.indiblogger.in/bloggermeet.php?id=186). It was organized by IndiBlogger  in association with HP and Otto Infinito (http://www.ottoinfinito.com/) to launch HP’s Connected Music together with Universal Music and Hungama. This was my second blogger meet; having attended the Stayfree Women for Change meet earlier.

The place chosen was beautiful, one has to visit Otto Infinito at BKC to experience it. They have a huge setting outside and an equally huge setting inside. Since it is a Mediterranean restaurant, it has been done up in white and blue colours, reflecting the colours of that region.

After our registration, we were all seated around several tables. Anoop Johnson then started the session. They gave us chart papers and sketch pens and asked us to go around introducing ourselves to each other. It was a mad scramble as people rushed to each other to ensure maximum autographs on their charts. The IndiBlogger team kept distributing headphones in between to keep up the tempo. Headphones were distributed for women with dupattas, guys with headgear and people with the maximum signatures on their charts :)

Then Ranvijit Singh, CMO, HP India, took us through the Connected Music. (http://www.hpconnectedmusic.com/uk/en). He explained the concept of availability of several genres of music and the ease with which one could search based on a song, an artist or lyrics. One could also give their feedback on the available or not available music options. Also present at the venue were Neeraj Roy, MD & CEO of Hungama and Vinit Thakkar, Digital Head of Universal Music.

Otto kept serving us delicious starters and juices during the event. Their square-shaped thin crust pizza was the highlight. :) 

Next it was the turn of Conroy Saldanha, Otto’s GM and Chef Azaad to take us through their concept of the restaurant and its offerings. Chef explained that it was an all-day dining restaurant with lots of different options for people to try out.

Then it was time for food. Yummy! There was tortellini pasta mixed with beetroot juice and spinach juice giving it a nice red and green colour respectively. There were also mixed vegetable skewers. We really enjoyed the food given that there was a lovely breeze blowing that day.

At the meet, I had the opportunity to meet and catch up with some really lovely bloggers – people who blog about Mumbai, food, fashion, technology, Navi Mumbai, etc.

I also won myself a brunch voucher at Otto for knowing what “Otto Infinito” means. Yippee! For the uninitiated, it means, eight to the power of infinity and stands for the cuisine of the eight major Mediterranean countries (France, Italy, Lebanon, Tunisia, Spain, Greece, Turkey and Morocco).

Finally, to round off the event, we got together in groups based on our music preference and actually sang! Our group was Bollywood numbers and we kept howling, “Tera, tera, tera” – the famous Himesh number. We sang three songs – Fevicol, Munni and Sheila and won each of us headphones. You can imagine how well we sung :)

The event might have come to an end. But the memories will not. And the bonds I forged that day definitely will not. I look forward to interacting with the bloggers again. And I definitely look forward to visiting Otto Infinito once again, at a leisurely pace – to enjoy the desserts, this time around. Thanks IndiBlogger for organizing an afternoon full of animated conversations, good music and tasty food!!!