Arathy Nair
ISBN: 978-93-81115-01-5
Frog Books; Price: Rs 50; US $6; Pages: 42
Emotions, without which, life is not life and you are not you. Enjoy. Cry out. Lose your temper. Be innocent. Make mistakes. Have confidence. Trust someone. Be honest. Believe in something. Love. Hate. Have an urge. Have faith.
A Slice of Life attempts to bring out the different slices of life in its variant moods; you can meet different persons in different contexts in different emotions — it may be either you or someone known to you, for sure.
Whether it is the persons or contexts or emotions, they are all known yet different, apart from the one thing in common: Life.
About the Author
Arathy Nair is based in Trivandrum, the capital city of Kerala. She has been born and raised in this city. After she graduated in English Language and Literature from Mar Ivanios College, Trivandrum, she went for Company Secretaryship, and eventually took this up as a profession — being a Company Secretary.
Arathy ventured into writing by chance when, one fine morning, she set to write the blurred events of a feel-good dream which she wanted to imprint in her memory. This was her first serious attempt at writing; prior to which she used to write, mostly short poems, in her schooldays. She can be contacted at aarthi.nair@gmail.com
Francin Pinto
ISBN: 978-93-81115-00-8
Body & Soul Books; Price: Rs 95; US $8; Pages: 88
Jessica, a highly self-motivated yet confused suburban young woman, is trying hard to keep up with the rat race of Mumbai life. Like many of her generation, she has jumped from pure science to management in the hope of suitable livelihood opportunities.
In the garb of a management project, she begins a journey which explores everyday Mumbai life and accidentally moves towards mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, attempting to unravel the fine line between the sane and the insane.
She keeps revisiting, in vain, topics like the role of childhood experiences, environmental stimuli, adolescent peer pressure, the increasing stress among individuals living in a tech-savvy world, and so on.
It becomes an unending tryst to arrive at some conclusion about what contributes to converting a normal individual to an individual without an inch of sanity.
Shadow of Schizophrenia is a witty, straight-forward, critical-yet-contemporary take on the present-day Mumbai life. It at once touches the heart, enlightens the senses and helps heal hidden wounds, while offering a fascinating new perspective to helping us manage ourselves and our relations.
About the Author
Francin Pinto, 37, is a mother of three lovely daughters and lives in Bombay, India. She is a teacher at heart.
Francin is a social worker on the move empowering the masses through NGO Garbage Concern (www.garbageconcernindia.org). Professionally, Francin is an environment entrepreneur working with 3-S Envosolutions (www.3senvosolutions.in).
Francin loves life. She, who leads life ‘king size’ and dares to be different, can be contacted at francinpinto@gmail.com
Madzie Sethna
Celestial Books; Rs 145; US $12
For a 19-year-old freshly-graduated interior designer, receiving an offer to work with a rich client who offered not only his penthouse, but also his newly-acquired office to design, was like manna from heaven. But were his intentions honourable? Did he really intend to use the skills of the young designer only professionally? What was the outcome of their close interactions?
Here is the story of a young girl who lived and learnt the cruel side of life with its external beauty in the form of plush decors, designer furniture, exotic and artistic displays, resulting in lavish designer homes and offices before finding internal harmony, peace, happiness and, most of all, beauty.
About the Author
Madzie Sethna is a designer and avid collector of antique furniture, art and exciting memorabilia as well as unusual look’n’knick-knacks. The author graduated from design schools in Pennsylvania and New York. This is her first serious attempt at writing.
Madzie’s entire family of four generations believes in the Shri Aurobindo Ashram and regularly travels to Pondicherry twice a year and owns homes there. There is a lot to learn and gain from the teachings of the Mother and Shri Aurobindo as well as Auroville, she believes.
Douglas Misquita
Frog Books; Rs 350; US $16
FBI Special Agent Kirk Ingram’s life is torn apart when his family is brutally murdered before his eyes. Devastated physically and psychologically, he vows to destroy organised crime in all forms.
Across the globe, an international trade house brings terrorist activities and organised crime together in a deadly nexus that threatens to bring the world-order to the point of anarchy.
And only one man stands in the way of global terror and paranoia — one man seeking redemption, and waging a personal battle against the demons of his
past…
About the Author
Douglas Misquita holds an MBA in Information Technology and Systems and a Bachelor in Electronics Engineering and is currently working in the telecommunications industry. Haunted is his first published work and was written while the author was in engineering college and reworked for publication.
Besides writing, Douglas is an avid musician — playing the guitar and harmonica, and enjoys singing, composing and arranging music, watching movies and loves travelling to places steeped in history.
Follow Douglas Misquita on Facebook and dropdouglastuning.blogspot.com
December 31, 2010 Sunil Poolani
Books
Fotis Galanopoulos
Virgin Leaf Books; Rs 145; US $12
Though dream and reality are two different streams, their fusion is what makes art meaningful and enriching.
Likewise, verse and visual art too make an evocative synthesis in this beautiful volume.
About the Author
Fotis Galanopoulos was born in 1961 in Drama, a small city near Thessalonica in Northern Greece.
At the age of 19 he went to Pantova in Italy to study Medicine, but, after he witnessed the street picture galleries in Venice, he decided to abandon his studies and delved into the world of fine arts, especially painting. Today his works are exhibited in many art galleries across the world.
Fotis can be reached at fm03art@gmail.com
December 18, 2010 Sunil Poolani
Books
A terrifying and mesmerising romantic medical thriller
Romaan Shaikh
Frog Books; Price: Rs 95; US $10
“I will give no deadly medicine to any one if asked, nor suggest any such counsel.”
— The Hippocratic Oath
Dr. Aditya Verma, a world-renowned neurosurgeon based in London, is approached by his Indian counterpart to take up a challenging and complex case of a woman suffering from neurosis following brain damage.
He finds her condition to be critical. Will he be able to save her or will he lose her? The story moves into the realm of a spine chilling suspense, set on the journey of medical adventure…
About the Author
Romaan Shaikh earned his post-graduate degree in chemistry from Aurangabad, Maharashtra. He currently runs his own business, Microphase Diagnostic, a franchise of Birla Diagnostics, Aurangabad.
This is his first work of fiction; he divides his time between Mumbai and Aurangabad, and can be contacted at romaan.shaikh@gmail.com and visit him at www.romaanshaikh.com
December 16, 2010 Sunil Poolani
Books
Dipak Premchandani
Frog Books; Rs 95; US $10
Sunny Ahuja tells it like it is – the story of his life, to fill up the hours of aimless palaver just a few nights before his convocation ceremony, at one of the country’s premier B-School in a crapulent state of mind. An account on Annie, who along with being his childhood friend has always been a Good Samaritan to him.
But lately Annie has a crush on Sunny, and just hours before her disclosure, Sunny has just got hooked up with his voluptuous office colleague, Neha Rawat. An account on how he goes along with both of them.
But, in the process of chronicling the entire version to his friends, in the intoxicated state, he doesn’t become conscious of the fact that he is stripping up his secrets one after the other − the secrets which can drastically narrow down the number of guests on his funeral.
For the Sake of It is a tragicomedy debut novel, a polemic against social poignant issues, written by a youth to transfigure the youth. It is a sine qua non for those who are in love, been in love, or lost in love.
About the Author
Dipak Premchandani completed his graduation from Calcutta University in 2009. Currently, he is pursuing chartered accountancy, and is an accounting executive in a construction company, but for leisure on weekends, he resorts to his passion for creative writing. Having won many competitions for his school in this field, he has also been a freelancing journalist for The Times of India.
For the Sake of It is his debut novel at the age of 24. He can be contacted at dpremc@gmail.com as well as on Facebook.
December 15, 2010 Sunil Poolani
Books
Siddarth Dudheria
Virgin Leaf Books; Rs 95; US $10
Where were you when the MIG 21 crashed in the fields?
What were you doing when crimes were committed against children in a suburb of Delhi?
How did you feel when you were a child, running around in the rain?
Where were you when the country wanted you to exercise your right to vote?
When did you not trouble your mother for the homework?
How did you feel when the one you loved the most thought otherwise?
What do you do when the prices rise?
How did you feel when you reached the office after a long journey from home?
There are many such questions that this book of poetry tries to answer. Everything, animate or inanimate, has its own lyric.
And every lyric has its own lyricist. This collection of poems tries to explore subjects ranging from a burning candle to our inability to use our right of franchise when it matters the most.
About the Author
Siddarth Dudheria, 26, is an engineer, credit analyst and a poet. The first two feed his passion, which is the third one. He did his MBA from SP Jain Singapore and currently works with Fullerton Financial at their Abu Dhabi office.
He was born into a family of businessmen who have travelled the length and breadth of India to discover the perfect spot to do business. He still does not know how his father chose Madurai as the perfect spot. He is a Sagittarian by his date of birth and by heart. He always believes that there is light at the end of the tunnel and no matter what happens, hope is still the most powerful word.
Apart from work and other mundane stuff, Siddarth is engrossed in writing his first novel.
More about him at www.siddarthwrites.com
December 2, 2010 Sunil Poolani
Books
Nivedita Sawlani
Celestial Books; Rs 60; US $12
“Welcome to the other side”….An insight to Life between Lives!
By Understanding Death We Understand Life:
JOURNEY OF THE ETERNAL SOUL FROM DEATH TO BIRTH
Birth and Death are the beginning and the end of Earthly life. Many different sources of evidence have been found on the existence of an afterlife.
After reading Life Revisited, you will gain a better understanding of the immortality of the human soul. This book reveals the mystery of life in the spirit world after death on Earth. It is a compilation of recorded information to get a better understanding of human life, spirit afterlife and other related concepts such as the purpose of life and reincarnation on Earth.
My goal is to share the mystery of the ‘other world’. Death will no longer be a terrifying end but a transition to greater peace and eternal love. We shall all have to cross this threshold one day. Is it not better to do this knowingly, instead of being pushed into the unknown mystery? You will begin to understand the reasons behind events in your own life and day-to-day challenges will be met with a greater sense of purpose.
Knowing that when we pass on from this lifetime, we will be somewhere beautiful, filled with love and meet up with loved ones, is deeply healing.
This book will bring solace and comfort and bestow a profound understanding to those who have suffered bereavement on the painful loss of their loved one.
About the Author
Nivedita is a working woman, but a mother first. She holds a Master’s Degree in Sociology. She currently resides in Dubai with her family.
December 2, 2010 Sunil Poolani
Books
Rohit Prakash
Virgin Leaf Books; Rs 395; US $25
Arindam, the charming but diffident lad who has alwas played second fiddle, finds himself in a mysterious world embroiled in a power-linked mission to save ‘the third world’, ‘the real world’ and ‘the land of the unknown’. If evil wins in the third world, it will spell destruction for earth, ‘the real world,’ as the two worlds are interlinked. It will cause jeopardy to the ‘land of the unknown’, said to be the seat of the Great Lords… Having a gargantuan creature as his only patron, will Arindam succeed in redeeming the earth by discovering the brewing conspiracies in the unfathomable third world and annihilate the forces of evil lurking there? Arindam and the Kalyug Debacle Premonition is a breathtaking, roller-coaster adventure to unravel the puzzles and find the answers to these crucial questions. The author in his debut novel uses Indian mythology in a subtle yet powerful manner, creating characters of legend and fantasy, who inhabit the unknown world. Replete with amazing mysteries, twists and turns, this wonderful adventure is a page-turner that children will find difficult to put down and making adults turn their clocks back to retrograde, bringing out the child in them.
About the Author
Rohit Prakash, a first-time author, comes from an Indian family that takes pride in being part of a rich cultural heritage and traditions that date back to ancient paramparas, now entwined with modern day living. He is a descendent of a long line of ancestors who have been appreciated mainly for their scholastic attainments. Rohit is also a software engineer. He has used his creative acumen, passion and enthusiasm to write this novel, utilising an extensive ‘mind’s eye’ to delineate a story intended mainly for children of today — but also for older folk who enjoy turning back the clock and revisiting their juvenile days. He believes Arindam and the Kalyug Debacle Premonition is the first of many such stories which will kindle the interest of every avid, young reader. In addition to being a writer, Rohit would like to develop his talents as a singer and emerge as a varied artiste. He can be contacted at rohit1987prakash@gmail.com
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