Book Review: Another Chance

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at  BlogAdda.com

 Another Chance is  An engrossing book by Ahmed Faiyaz  on fragile urban relationships. The author has thrown light on how delicate the modern day relationships are,one which cannot withstand the time and tide. The author also tries to portray the restless search for love and constant assurance of care, insecurity that the young generation is a victim to, via his protagonist Ruheen Oberoi.

In the author’s words the book is about :

This is the story of a depressingly gorgeous woman, Ruheen Oberoi.
A fragile beauty brought up by her indulgent Nana in Shimla. A woman stalked by a violent, obsessive son of a powerful minister. A woman married to a junkie in London who spends his days on a Playstation. Her passionate lover, Aditya Sharma, a successful Brand Manager trying to strike the work-life balance, wants another chance with Ruheen in Amsterdam. So does her old flame and best friend Varun Shetty, a recovering alcoholic in Shimla, finding meaning in life. Malika, a seductress wronged by her cheating ex-husband, wants Ruheen’s Aditya instead.
Who gets another chance? And with whom?

The main protagonist Ruheen Oberoi comes across as a person who is weak at heart and someone who takes all the decisions emotionally rather practically. Ruheen Oberoi meets the love of her life Aditya during her college days but doesn’t have the courage to fight her ex maniac boyfriend who is all set to destroy Aditya. Ruheen disappears all of a sudden and settles in with her Nana who has been her sole caretaker all her life. In shimla she meets Rohan  a junkie with whom she settles down in London against her Nana’s wishes and ends up having a married life filled with domestic violence and harassment.Ruheen manages to escape from the claws of Rohan and shifts to Amsterdam where she comes face to face with the love of her life Aditya Sharma who persuades her to give their relationship a last try. Both settle down in Mumbai and get busy with their fast paced life. Unable to get  along with Aditya’s hectic schedules which leaves no time for her ,Ruheen leaves Aditya and goes back to Shimla where Varun Shetty her old flame gives a new definition to her life.Now its for you to read and know whom Ruheen  spends the rest of her life with.

The best part of the book is its written in a simple language and it keeps the reader engrossed till the end.I craved for more and more till I reached the last page.The characters have been etched out well and somewhere it connects to all of us at some level. The cover of the book Is designed in a superb way.

Now comes the negative part of the book.There are some grammatical mistakes and spelling mistakes which should have been avoided .The usage of Hindi expletives should have been avoided .I seriously didn’t like reading those expletives in the book.  

Overall its worth reading and you can buy this at Flipkart.com!

A perfect Coffee time Book!

Overall Rating : 3.5/5

Kahani Thodi Filmy hai - Love En route!!

This is an official entry for Expedia  held by Indi blogger.

Life is a journey and we do end up bumping into all kinds of people , some good some bad ..Some end up leaving  their imprints in our lives and some we wish we never met. Some influenced us , some took us the wrong way . In short  it’s a lesson that you learn whenever you end up knowing someone new. We may also end up having bad experiences meeting up wrong people but then the best way to deal with it is to keep the best experiences that you had with them and chuck off the rest .These were the last lines of the book I was reading in and finally shut the book only to board my train which would take me from God’s own country to Mumbai.

Boarded the train with n number of suitcases and other stuff I barged into the AC compartment and finally settled down. Needless to say , the luggage comprised of sack coconuts, murkku (an Indian snack),kappa, banana chips, jackfruit  etc etc..all the specialities that kerala and  keralites are  envious about.And  they were all ordered to be brought by my mom ,her friends and everyone who enjoyed free cargo service..phew!! I sat down cursing everyone who  had insisted in getting all those stuff..Finally settling in with luggage I started reading the book again.“Don’t trust everyone blindly. Take your time to know people “… went the lines in the book .Suddenly a man in his twenty’s  sat next to my berth and settled in with his luggage.I  thought of giving him a smile but suddenly remembered the lines in the book and thought of going against it. I buried my face in the book and went reading again. The journey went  with both of us busy in our own world.

I finally thought of getting into a conversation with this fellow because there was nothing much to do about. I looked up to get into a talk with him when I realized he had dozed off. Time passed by and finally during the night time I got a chance to talk to him. I found him a bit reserved and introvert types and thought why I had even started talking to him. I felt as if I was better off myself. Finally wishing him good night I tried sleeping. But then I just couldn’t sleep because I was simply worrying about  my luggage, my laptop. Early morning at 4 my train reached my destination- Kalyan .I struggled with my luggage and finally felt relieved to have got it all with me. Boarded a cab to my place and finally reached home.”Madam 200 rupiah hue “ said the taxi driver as we reached my  place.”Arey ha baba deti hu…ruko to sahi!”I replied irritatedly as I kept searching for my purse.And suddenly I realized I had left my purse back in the train. Luckily had a few change in the other bag ,so got rid of the driver with the cash in the other bag. 

Crossroads of Life-google!!

I  regretted the fact that I had been careless about my purse.But I thanked my stars ,for the purse didn’t have too much of cash .I tried to recollect what I had seen last in my purse and I was sure there was nothing valuable  apart from a sim card , few visiting cards and 100-300 bucks. I planned not to tell to my parents or rather anyone about it because I dint want them to be worried about anything.As soon as I reached home, I slumped on to the bed only to be woken up at 10 am by my dad asking me in a tensed tone whether I had lost my purse. I  was shocked how they had learnt about it.I wondered what to reply.I was like “err..yeah..maybe.” and my dad was like ,”MAYBE????Look Rema(my mom) how careless our kids are”. I cut short the family drama that was about to unfold and asked him how he had learnt about it. He said someone had called up Anuj,my cousin in Bangalore and informed him about the purse and he had called us to inform about the caller  and purse .My dad went on,”Anuj being a nice guy immediately called us and he has given us the number of the caller.The caller had insisted anuj to get us to call him and take the purse from him”. I took the number from my cousin and wondered whether to   take pains for 100-300 bucks. Still I was curious enough to know who had taken so much pains to call up my cousin in Bangalore and how he had managed to get hold of the number. On calling him up he sounded  like a true gentleman and our conversation went something like this

Mr.X (as I would love to call him sweetly):Hello!

Me : Hi.This is Chitra.I had lost my purse in the Kanyakumari Express and I got your number from mr.anuj you called up in Bangalore.

X: hey hi ! I tried a lot to get in touch with you.

Me: Oh Really?!! it wasn’t needed though .I don’t think there was anything precious in itThanks anyways!

X: Oh yeah there are a few things.There are two photographs of yours, your fee receipt,your doctor’s visiting cards,your medical bills,your sim card,Anuj’s visiting card,your beauty parlor card,200bucks etc etc

Me: Oh!!quite a lot of things.I wouldn’t have wanted it back except formy medical bills.Can u just send it across

X:Where do u stay?

Me: dombivli. You?

X: Oh OKk!! I never come there..I stay in Andheri .

Me: I would prefer letting the purse go rather than coming all the way to andheri.

X:Hmm!! Ok I would come to Thane if you could catch up.

Me:Done !! 

We decided the venue, time and day and finally we hung up.I wondered whether he had actually called up people for my purse.Much to my surprise,the entire week I was flooded with calls from people asking me about my purse.I was surprised and embarrassed when my doctor called me up to enquire all was fine. I wondered what a fellow he was. So honest! I was impressed by the honesty. I thought of getting him a token of appreciation so that he never stopped doing such acts of honesty and kindness.

On the decided date , I met him at the venue .I was moving impatiently wondering who it would be.i tried calling him once and he had said he was reaching in no time. Finally got a call from him saying he had reached the spot.On turning back  , I saw a man in his twenty’s with his back turned towards me.I went upto him and said,”Excuse me! Are u..?” He turned back and I was shocked ,rather surprised to see the same ‘reserved’ guy in the next berth. He appeared more handsome now . I gave him the token of appreciation which he wasn’t ready to accept. After much coaxing he finally took it and bid me good bye. We stayed in touch after this episode through messages and calls.His honesty had floored me and to top it his charming looks and nature.

I had indeed met the best person who had influenced me with his honesty .I had indeed met someone who had left imprint in my life in the first few initial minutes of our meeting.It was destiny? Don’t know but then I don’t regret losing my purse even once coz Its been 5 years now and Mr.X is now my fiancée. Yes!!

i met the love of my life enroute .It was indeed a memorable journey so far!

My friend Nikhil….

Please note: There can be spelling mistakes and grammar mistakes but then this post focuses on the feelings more than the technicalities

Mr. Shetty be proud of the fact that you found a place on my blog ;) So just half an hour left for the last day to begin.. Hmmm…!!!

I still don’t remember how we became friends and how we started interacting .I think the project dinner played a catalyst. I never thought we could be good friends rather I never tried being one with you. I never thought giving you a smile...and I believe I too would have topped the list of gals whom you wish to slap once in your lifetime. And I regret it now.. it would have been great had we known each other a bit before than we did now..But then we have our entire life ahead. . And as u always say..”cancer se thodi na marne wala hu”…

I have always found you as a practical guy,very practical but then there have been instances I have seen the softer side of your personality. You have been a cute friend to me. And  I have always loved your sense of humor. You act stupid at times but then  I can bear your stupidity because you are completely worth it..One incident that I would always remember all my life is the way the you wiped off coffee from sandy’s hair and dress..That was one cute moment..now I know you would be like..”Me cute??? NAH!!!”.But then that was actually cute .. One thing I can’t forget to mention is you are straightforward and you don’t care about what people think about you .And that is the most impressive quality about you…That is one thing I like about you…ya just one thing :P hehe!!There is a caring side to your personality too. As also I found you too a bit emotional. You are someone who dreams big and aims to achieve them .I hope all your dreams are fulfilled  and you have a great future ahead.

Soulless Monsters!!! :P

Things  that I am going to miss right from tomorrow: 

1.  Our coffee breaks : they are going to be incomplete without you.No one can fill in your place and your absence would leave a void which cant be filled up.. And yes we have to look out for a new translator from tomorrow :P 
2.     The long walks after 8: Bearing sudhir’s traumatic life experiences alone are going to be be difficult with out you. :P And then we are the proud achievers of titles or rather epithets like “Heartless people”,”Perfect examples of Bad Listeners”, ”Soulless monsters”. Now achieving such titles  alone wouldn’t be that great without you being around.
3.  Our online chats: This is the very foundation of our friendship. I am going to miss this the most..But if you continue chitchatting no matter where you go I wouldn’t mind much…
4.    Me feeding you cakes: You have been my guinea pig heheh!!! Jokes apart..getting things for you have always been a great pleasure and they have given me a feeling of contentment…
5.  Your’s and sandy’s conversations and your and Miss H’s talks(not writing the complete name ..because her omnipresent bro may be reading this too :P:D) 
6.  And your message “Online??”

I am going to miss you loads nix J You are someone with whom I can comfortably discuss stuff and  my share of problems. Many don’t know that we are good friends and many may wonder why would I miss you but then this is a bond that I couldn’t share with many in the workplace. So that makes it even more special. It’s been great knowing you and I would always regret why we dint become friends a year back or few months back.. even though you would say “be thankful for the time spent and don’t regret the times we didnt “ I am someone  who wouldn’t come and tell you all this on your face about what I feel  so thought of expressing it through words..

I wish you all the best in life and hope you have a great great life ahead..

And hope to be friends forever  and hope we stay in touch  J Wish you all the best…