One Last Time ~ by Shubham Arora

On the Jacket:

One phone call changes it all for him. Her phone call. After one full year. She is in the US, informing him about her marriage. She wants to meet him.

He had moved on, at least that’s what he had made himself believe. Unsure of everything, he books a flight from New York to Carolina to give his past the final closure.

The journey brings all the painful memories back to him. They have both come a long way since they first met as kids and then again as adults, before parting ways and … moving on.

But flight 1549 is not destined to reach its destination. Unaware and oblivious, he is lost in his memories of her.
Ambala. New Delhi. New York.
Love. Career. Distance. Longing. Separation.
Will he realize her importance in his life? Will she ever find out who she is actually meant for?

What if he doesn’t live up to the day to meet her one last time?

Shelf : Fiction, Romance

Verdict : Grab a copy !

Review:

One Last Time is the second novel by Shubham Arora, which was published by Paper Clips. The book takes the reader on a journey of its own, travelling from Ambala to New York via Delhi.

When I first grabbed the paperback, it turned me a little off to see that the novel has been set up at three different locations. Since all the other novels that I have read in the past with this same pattern were a huge disappointment. But as soon as I started reading the book, the author proved me wrong by taking me in a different word of his work. All the three sections: Ambala, New Delhi and New York have been written with utmost sincerity and as a reader it was a pure delight for me to read the elucidations and intriguing details of each and every time frame of the protagonist’s life as he goes through with different notions of it at various locations.

Each city had an essence of its own, and one can observe the transformation of the protagonist’s maturity level while flipping through each and every page of the book. Although, I had no complaint with either the narration or the writing style of the author, but the ending of the novel left me waiting for more; May be because it  was written so well, that I never wanted it to end. I meticulously enjoyed reading each and every section of it, but it was the Delhi section of the novel which stole my heart away. I’m not at all a romantic guy, but the teenage budding and unadulterated romance literally took my heart away.

Shubham Arora really knows how to write a heartfelt and gripping piece, having the competence to hold the interest of its readers right till the last page, with words weaved together so flawlessly and an elucidation to die for! The best part about the novel was its realism. There was not even a single scene which I thought could be unreal. There were no over the top dialogues, any unwanted scene or over – stretched conversations. Author conveyed a very simple and profound story in the most poignant possible way.

I would gladly admit that Shubham is an Indian writer with an international calibre! Next time, when you visit a bookstore, do not forget to grab a copy of One Last Time!

~  Bhavya Koushik

 

Buttering the Boss

 

~ mysay.in

When Rama killed Ravana

During my childhood days I had a friend named Manu. Manu was an average student and he sucked big time in English grammar. At those times my mom used to think of herself as the author of Wren and Martin grammar book, so whenever my friends came to my house she will start asking questions on grammar. And one fine day Manu wanted to really learn English grammar from my mom. So after school hours he will go to his house, nicely dress and will come back to my house. My mom was delighted to have a new student that day and even though she was making poori masala she left it halfway and came to teach Manu.

 

Day 1

My mom : Ok Manu, lets start with active to passive voice.

Manu: Ok aunty

My mom: Most sentences will have a subject, a verb and an object Manu. In active voice the pattern remains the same and in passive voice the subject becomes the object and the object becomes the subject.

Manu: Ok aunty (oh my god, what is that smell which is poking my appetite)

My mom: Lets see an example, Shall we

Manu: Ok aunty (Is it poori masala)

My mom: Look at this example…Rama killed Ravana , which is the subject and which is the object ?

Manu: errr , aunty I think I am hungry… shall I go home, have something and come back?

My mom: No need to go home beta, aunty have made poori masala lets eat and may be we will continue the lessons tomorrow.

 

Day 2

My mom: “Rama killed Ravana” this is active voice Manu and the passive voice for this sentence is “Ravana was killed by Rama”. Now look at this, how will you change “Rama is going to kill Ravana” ?

Manu: Rama is waiting to kill Ravana ?

My mom: Remember Manu in passive voice the subject becomes the object and the object becomes the subject… here Rama is the subject and Ravana is the object..

Manu: ok, Ravana is being killed by Rama ?

My mom: No manu wrong, look at the sentence carefully and answer, the sentence is “Rama is going to kill Ravana”

Manu: errrrr, “Ravana is going to kill Rama ” ?

My mom: Oh my god, You should not change the meaning of the sentence Manu

Manu: Sorry aunty, ahh, err, hmm , “Rama is going somewhere to kill Ravana?”

My mom: Today’s tiffin is dosa, lets have it.

Manu: yaaayyyyy !

There was no day 3 or day 4. The lessons stopped and Manu is always weak in grammar. So when Rama killed Ravana, Rama killed Ravana and Ravana was killed by Rama. And if there are grammatical mistakes here, believe me even I hate grammar.

~ kalyan

 

 

WHAT RUSSIA DID, WILL INDIA DO?

With the current happenings around the world, everyone must have been aware of the Crimean (Ukraine vs Russia) crisis. As a result of the overall Ukraine-Russia issue, a part of Ukraine i.e., Crimea was annexed by Russia. India faces a similar problem with Sri Lanka over the Sri Lankan Tamils issue. In Tamilnadu, this is one of the major issues. It is so serious that it more or less decides the political rule of the state. In the past, there have been many protests by the student community and the people to vote in favour of US resolution in UNHRC. And India did vote in favour of the US resolution. More recently, there was another voting by the UNHRC on 27^th of March 2014. This time around, India abstained from voting on the resolution (proposed by US) against Sri Lanka. The resolution was successfully passed though India was absent. More than 20 nations favoured the resolution and 12 nations (including India’s neighbours China & Pakistan) were against the resolution.

Was it right on India’s part in abstaining from voting despite having heavy protest from southern tip of the country? Should India take similar steps like what Russia Crimea?

Why India should take similar steps like Russia?

Firstly, Russia considers Crimea as a strategic area and for security reasons Russia needs Crimea (previously Crimea was given to the Soviet Union by Russia in a gentlemen’s agreement & people in Crimea are Russian speaking people). Similarly, Sri Lanka is a strategic area for India. Sri Lanka is developing strong ties with Pakistan and China which are normally at logger heads with India. It is a well known fact that China is trying to cover India from all directions; in the north by itself; the west by Pakistan; the south by Sri Lanka; the south east by Myanmar. In the future, the relationship of Sri Lanka, along with China and Pakistan, may turn hostile towards India which is very dangerous. Thus in order to have some influence over Sri Lanka, India should have taken some steps similar to Russia and annex the north eastern part of Sri Lanka.

Secondly, people in Crimea were in favour of joining Russia. So, Russia proposed a referendum and at the end of the referendum 97% of Crimean people voted to join with Russia. Now, if we look at Sri Lankan Tamils, previously they wanted to be an independent nation. But after war and war crimes which followed, they will not be able survive as an independent nation. If a referendum was proposed by India, none would vote in favour of Sri Lanka and the result will be favouring India.

What will Pakistan do if India does like Russia?

The Kashmir issue with Pakistan is more than half a dozen decade old issue for India. This issue continues from 1947 till this very minute. There are two groups of people in Kashmir (both India and Pakistan occupied) – one group wants to join with Pakistan and the other group wants Kashmir to be an independent state. The Kashmir decided to be with India only because of its agreement in 1947. If a referendum is conducted, India would most probably lose Kashmir. Hence if India annexes the northern part of Sri Lanka by referendum/force, then the Kashmir issue will crop up and India would be pressurized to conduct a similar referendum in Kashmir.

What will be Sri Lanka’s reaction? Why India must not repeat Russia?

It’s very simple, if India repeats what Russia did (Crimea annexation), then Sri Lanka will be another hostile country like Pakistan with strong support from china. It will raise a question about sovereignty in the world stage. People of Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan government will press world countries for the action against India (even if Sri Lanka doesn’t do this, China and Pakistan would). So it is best if India doesn’t mirror Russia’s action

The above mentioned is just an assumption if India annexes NE part of Sri Lanka. Now, let’s have a look at the current situation. Was India’s standing in the UNHRC on the Sri Lankan issue right, despite having heavy protests from southern tip of the country?

How India’s reaction to the Sri Lankan issue was right.

First of all Sri Lanka is an independent country and India is a non-violent nation which doesn’t like war. Geopolitically annexing northern part of Sri Lanka isn’t a good economic or defence decision. So India won’t get its foot on Lanka even if many more Tamil speaking people were dead. India voted in favour of US resolution against Sri Lanka in 2009, 2012, and 2013 and also boycotted CHOGM summit 2013 in Sri Lanka. But in 2014, it abstained from the UNHRC voting on US resolution against Sri Lanka. For its decision in 2014, India said “resolution to investigate, assess and monitor the human rights situations in Sri Lanka is an intrusive approach that undermines national sovereignty”.

As earlier said, Sri Lanka being a strategic area, India must maintain a strong relation with Sri Lanka (even though India has the ability to defeat Sri Lanka in case of a war). If India presses for a referendum and a resolution against Sri Lanka, then china and Pakistan (both want India and Sri Lanka to be separated for strategic purpose) will grasp the opportunity to have more influence in Sri Lanka by supporting them. Thus India maintains silence despite all the protests from the southern states.

India doesn’t like any animosity between its neighbouring countries. But it is unavoidable in the case of Pakistan and china as both have territorial disputes with us. In order to avoid any future disputes and hostility with Sri Lanka, maintaining peace is the only option.

What India did or should do.

Maintain silence with a “Wait and watch policy” in order to avoid future animosity with Sri Lanka and hope for the UN to take action without getting itself involved. After all, India would not risk itself by getting involved in the civil matters of another country and end up losing its own territories to Pakistan and China.

~Yuvaraj Kandasamy

 

Labyrinth

Love,

You left

Without me

To the unknown.

Leaving me behind in an obscure town!

Here I’m haunted by daemons of our past.

So…come back soon.

Stop me to

Become

-Me.

~ Bhavya Koushik

RIVALRY OR FEUDALISM

The fight for the throne of Prime Minister has started, with a big bang. With the most eligible  bachelor Rahul Gandhi and the Guju Gir Narendra Modi as the prime candidates.
Within a month or two, their toil would bring them the fruit or thorns for that matter. No matter who sits on the royal seat, the million dollar quetion is will there be a change in the Indian Politics? Or still the mother will poke in and provide the expert opinion of rules to her kid. Or will India have to survive with the 5 year flaunting plan.
The plight of Indians is now in the hands of the Lord. Mercy pleaded.
~ Udita Joshi

The Game of Thrones

The world’s largest democracy is getting set to test the power of ballot box. As expected, the usual and unusual; the inevitable “Game of Thrones” had started among the political bigwigs of the Indian sub continent.  The so called Gandhian family under the banner of INC has tasted its mandate for a decade with wasting no opportunity to make India a banana republic; a common view of the real master of ballot box at least in papers; the so called public. The political rivals making no compromise and not wasting any opportunity in derailing the UPA, be it BJP, AAP, the left, third front comprising of the regional parties across the length and breadth of India.

The game has its roots not just a year ago before the elections; it’s firmly rooted and fed way beyond. The UPA government was put to litmus test couple of times to prove its numbers in Sansad Bhavan. They managed to prove it; the last minute saviour “Gandhi “had come to save them. I am afraid it’s not political prince Gandhi, the printed photo of Gandhi on a piece of paper played its usual role in tying the UPA rail together. It’s not just the UPA played its part with paper Gandhi, all the political parties made use of the perfect opportunity with this Gandhi. “Is it a curse or blessing, which India has to deal with Gandhi forever?” The ruling party had tasted victory again in proving their numbers.

The prime rival; who has its base at Ashoka Road has witnessed lots of confusion and commotion in selecting their Prime ministerial candidate. The stage was set and drama narrated and well executed by the saffron party in bringing the NaMo; the man who craned himself from the spoils of tea dust to the contestant of the most coveted South block, Raisina hill. He started with propaganda of Vibrant Gujarat and ensured that it got its tentacles across India. He made himself the inevitable choice of the saffron party yet lots of opposition sprouted within his party. The big guns of BJP were in no mood to put the NaMo chant on the fore front yet it was destined that NaMo has to be announced as the candidate for the coveted post. NaMo portray the developments of Gujarat- “Vibrant Gujarat”, also hiding behind it. NaMo and BJP trying to sweep Godhra riots and its bias towards the Muslim community under the carpet of vibrant Gujarat but the MEDIA, the INC, the third front has never failed to bring this to the fore front to hammer the chance of him being the next PM.

The newly sprouted mushroom out of the last rain- The AAP made a stunning performance in the local elections in the capital city yet failed to complete its full term; just lasted more than a month in power. The ambitions run so high after winning the local elections in Delhi, failing to realize that India is so big with cultural difference, regional difference, caste based voting, region based voting, language based voting and the list goes on. The fact that AAP has its base in cosmopolitan cities and highly educated communities cannot be ruled out but India’s mass lies in the villages and small towns where AAP’s strength has to be tested on.

The third front comprising of major regional parties across India and eyeing for the throne. No candidate is announced as the front runner of the throne yet making it very obvious that everyone wants to try their luck. No consensus has reached among them; it would be settled after the results based on their numbers in the ballot box.

The political stage is all set, every party, every candidate is busy in election rallies and making their voice heard. The masters are watching and the media has not failed to make use of this opportunity, be it – debates, interviews, news and political shows. Let the best win and capture “THE THRONE” and play the game for half a decade. Masters watch the game and vote the best.

~ Sathya