HDM3- A Complete Entertainer!!! (Book Rating- 4.40 of 5*)

Day: 1222

Blog post: - 127

Book Review: 11

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I am back with the book review of ‘Hey Dad! Meet My Mom…’ (HDM3) by Sandeep Sharma and Leepi Agrawal. This is the second book by Gargi Publishers which I have read and sharing my review here. My first book review of Gargi’s book was about ‘Hidden Husband’ by Shikha Kaul; which was highly appreciated by everyone and read by over 30.5k unique visitors till today. After reading ‘Hidden Husband’ and HDM3, I have become a fan of Gargi publishers’ books now. And one more book from the same publisher is on my bookshelf and that is ‘Her Resurrection’ by Soumyadeep Koley. Actually, HDM3 had been looking at me to be read and get reviewed for long days from my bookshelf. I am regretting not reading this book early. Now let me come to the detailed analysis of Hey Dad! Meet My Mom…

 (Book Cover of HDM3 | ©Wordpress)

BOOK COVER: A boy’s image while looking backward raising a hand seems like he is calling his dad. The couple is sat in a boat beside the boy. Flying birds indicate the scene of dawn. An umbrella in a girl’s hand indicates rainy season. Monument in the cover shows that cemetery place is near somewhere. Title 'Hey Dad! Meet My Mom' perfectly suits to the book cover and plot. I would give 5 of 5 to Jimmyeric Films & Media for the cover design of HDM3.

FICTITIOUS CHARACTERS:-

1. Puneet Shrivastava: Authors portray Puneet Shrivastava as a protagonist in HDM3. He is the narrator of the story.
2. Rishi: Authors portray Rishi as the second main character in HDM3. He is a boy of 10 years age.
3. Roshni Bhatt (Rosh): Rosh is a dream girl of Puneet.
4. Mrs. Bina Shrivastava: Authors sketch Bina’s character as the typical mother of Puneet. I am sure that readers would relate their own mother with her character.
5. Mr. Rajiv Shrivastava: Rajiv is the name of Bina’s late husband and Puneet’s father.
6. Dr. Sharad Taneja: Dr. Sharad is Puneet’s uncle and he works as a psychiatrist in his clinic.
7. Maya: She is the owner of her coffee shop.
8. She: She is the mysterious character. You should read the book to know about her.
9. Myra: Authors portray Myra as Puneet’s girlfriend.
10. Mrs. Martha: Puneet’s house owner in Ahmedabad.
11. Ashish: A bachelor of third year engineering and Puneet’s roommate in Ahmedabad
12. Yash Agrawal: Puneet’s senior in Computer science engineering and a roommate in Ahmedabad.
13. Umesh: Puneet’s roommate in Engineering in Ahmedabad. Authors portray his character as a complete girls’ database. Hehehe!!!
14. John: Authors portray John as a friend of Puneet’s seniors who has 6 abs with an impressive physique.
15. Rahul: Authors portray Rahul’s character as a Puneet’s senior. He represents guys in institutions who follow senior attitude.
16. Taxi Driver: Authors give a glimpse of a taxi driver in Ahmedabad whose presence is really short in the story, but he represents whole community of his occupation in big cities like Ahmedabad.
17. Baba: Authors portray Baba as an exorcist.
18. Adi, Riya and Kiara: Authors portray their characters as secret in Rosh’s life. Kiara’s name reminds me the central character of 'It Doesn’t Hurt To Be Nice' by Amisha Sethi though there does not exist any kind of relation in between both books.

SETTING: - The story of HDM3 is narrated into 22 short chapters. Authors use present tense to narrate the story and flashback scenes are narrated as usual in past tense. Regional words are printed in italic fonts. Short chapters increase the curiosity to finish the book in one go.

LOCATIONS: - The story of HDM3 runs around several locations like Puneet’s house, Maya’s coffee shop, Myra’s PG house & Dr. Sharad’s clinic from Delhi and St. Xavier’s College Ahmedabad & Kalapur railway Station from Gujarat.

LANGUAGE & WRITING STYLE: Authors scribble the story in simple language and narrative style. Use of capital letters to stress on words and italic fonts for regional words make the book interesting.

INTERESTING FEATURE:

(©First page of HDM3)

Every chapter of HDM3 begins with the shadow image of a married family (introduced on the first page) and ends with a graphic image of a little boy.

PLOT and SUMMARY: - ‘Hey Dad! Meet My Mom!!!’ begins with a comic conversation. The story is based on Puneet’s daydreaming and nightmares but authors cover so many genres within 157 pages only. Authors don’t stretch the story so every single page becomes worth reading and entertaining. Rishi’s appearance in Puneet’s life commemorates ‘chemical locha’ in the Bollywood movie ‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’ where Munna (Sanjay Dutt) could see Mahatma Gandhi (Dilip Prabhavalkar). Rishi’s character relates a character of the Karna in the novel 'Karna’s Alter Ego' by Surendra Nath Mohanty Ji in which Karna appears in protagonist Vasu’s dreams. Authors refer a quotation from the Mahabharata- “Jurm karne se bada paap jurm sehna hota hai.” Authors inform about Laughing Buddha as “Laughing Buddha is a Feng Shui article. It’s the indicator of good luck or good charm. And there’s a saying that, if you wish for something while touching the stomach of this idol, your wish will get fulfilled soon.” The suspense keeps unrevealed until the end so the book becomes interesting. The twenty-first chapter is one my favorites. A poem ‘Hey Dad! Meet My Mom!!’ by Payal Srivastava is just like a cherry on the cake.

The first interaction between Puneet and Rosh is described wonderfully. Date scene in ninth chapter is scribbled sweetly so reader feels that the scene should never end!!! Romance and intimate scenes are scribbled beautifully. Authors indirectly comment on mantras in a satiric manner. Authors comment on superstitions in Indian society through the protagonist’s observation. Puneet’s Sarcastic comment on spelling mistakes, hot seat, and boring songs in barber’s shop show deep observation of saloon by authors. The one name written in my diary was commemorated while reading about Roshni’s diary as the scene does relate to my own life- “I never shared my dream with anyone, as I even felt afraid to share it with myself. The only one who knew about it was ‘My Diary.’” Authors comment on flirt as “You know I have heard or maybe read somewhere that boys think that flirting with girls seems to be cool and girls like that but frankly speaking most girls don’t like this flirty nature of boys.”

Authors sketch a realistic picture of local vegetable markets in India, bargaining skills of Indian housewives like Mrs. Bina Shrivastava make readers laugh. They sarcastically remark readers’ attention on the dark reality of love birds’ shameful activities in public places like parks. Puneet’s past takes us in flashback and commemorates the college days. They narrate the realistic picture of juniors’ torture and ragging by seniors in colleges, and warn the seniors- “Look, if you are trying to rag me then listen everyone, it’s an offence and if any faculty sees you, you’ll have to undergo serious punishment, and if I report your act to the police, you can’t even imagine what will happen to you, your entire career will be spoiled.” Authors comment on parents’ and society’s refusal for love. They comment on addicted persons in an ironic way- “For a smoker and a drinker, there are only two occasions when they smoke or drink; one, when it rains and the other when it doesn’t.” While reading about coma, it seems that authors would research a lot about this unconscious state of mind; I would like to note some extracts about this state from the book- “Coma, as you may know, is a kind of sleep which usually occurs because of some kind of a trauma. Now, when we sleep, usually our last thought gets trapped in our mind and reaches our unconscious mind which slowly gets jumbled with our memories and produces a weird kind of a dream. We all experience this.” “In the same manner, a state of coma also traps our last wish, memory or thought and produces dreams when we are sleeping deep in coma.” “But there is one strong difference between coma and a normal sleep and that is the activeness of our unconscious mind.”

FAVOURITE QUOTES FROM THE BOOK:-

1. “Time is pretty strange concept actually. When you waited for it, it seemed to stand still and when you wanted it to stay, it flew away quickly.”
2. “People very correctly say that love makes you do things, you’ve never done before.”
3. “Don’t follow the crowd, follow your heart because the crowd may lead you to your destination but your heart will surely lead you to happiness.”
4. “Before falling in love I had always wondered, what were the topics that lovers could talk about for so long at all odd hours of the day but now I realized that the topics didn’t matter, what mattered was the feeling that on the other side of your phone, there lay someone who was dying to stay with you; who was missing you terribly, just to get a glimpse of you, to touch you and feel the happiness of heaven, to realize that love is truly beautiful.”
5. “Life is nothing but a place to enjoy the feeling called love. When you are in love, there’s nothing right and there’s nothing wrong, there’s just one thing and that is love itself.”

DRAWBACKS: - Though there are not too much printing errors in the book, I found two typing errors in it- ‘of which’ is repeated on page 33 and Dr. Sharad Taneja’s surname ‘Taneja’ is written incorrectly as ‘Ahuja’ on page no. 85. Though Rs. 150 are not too much, I think the price of the book is a bit expensive. I know the strategy behind prices of books but I think it would be much better if HDM3 would be available in between Rs. 100 and Rs. 120.

REVIEWER’S VERDICT:-

(©Rajesh D. Hajare | Facebook)

‘Hey Dad! Meet My Mom…’  by Sandeep Sharma and Leepi Agrawal is the combo of realistic and unrealistic theme filled with fun, comedy, motivation, philosophy, love, romance, emotions, fear, mystery, suspense and all that stuff need to be a perfect entertainer. The book does not let you put down and suspense increases curiosity to know an unexpected climax. I won’t hesitate to recommend HDM3 to my readers.”

MY RATING:- 

I would give 4.4 out of 5 stars to the book ‘Hey Dad! Meet My Mom…’ by Sandeep Sharma and Leepi Agrawal.

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OVERVIEW OF HDM3

Right since childhood, the world in which we live teaches us to bury our ‘bad’ past somewhere deep inside us and just move on. So deep, that even we can’t possibly dig it back out.

What happens when a 10 year old child, who claims to be your future son, comes to you to help you find his mother, who’s your perfect match? What happens when a girl starts turning your dreams into nightmares? What happens when your ‘future son’ starts haunting you? What happens when your FUTURE starts bleeding into your PRESENT through your PAST?

‘Hey Dad! Meet My Mom!!!” is nothing less than a roller coaster ride of mystery, love, comedy, fear and suspense. So make sure you don’t forget to expect the unexpected!!

(Watch this amazing book trailer of HDM3 on Youtube (©The Authors Blog))

PRAISES ON HDM3 :-

“A cute story with just the right amount of humor thrown in – ‘Hey Dad…’ serves as the perfect Sunday reading recipe” –Shomprakash Sinha Roy (Author of ‘Life served hot’ and ’21 things about Romance’).

“‘Hey Dad…’ starts with fun and laughter, takes you towards love and romance and ends up making you realize a big lesson through many twists and tales. Surely a page turner and perfect entertainer.”– Abhilash Ruhela (Ace blogger/ book reviewer)

“The one love story that’ll leave you with Goosebumps”– Mallika Nawal (Author of ‘I am a woman & I am on SALE’ (Nominated for Hindu Best Fiction Award 2014))

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR (Sandeep Sharma):-

(©Author Sandeep Sharma (Facebook)| PC: Tushti Bhatia)

Sandeep Sharma, a dreamer from Agra, the city of love and the Taj Mahal, is currently in his final year pursuing B.Tech (Civil Engineering) from JSS Academy of Technical Education, Noida.

He is very passionate about writing and has been writing short stories for a personal blog since 5 years. He has also co-founded ‘The Author’s Blog’ which is a kind of a platform which tries to bridge the gap between authors and readers. He is an avid reader and loves to review books on his blog.

He has been previously associated with many anthologies as a contributing author.

Sandeep Sharma loves to spend most of his time with his parents. According to him, “Parents always have so much to teach, it’s just a matter of your learning desire and time.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR (Leepi Agrawal):-

(©Authoress Leepi Agrawal | Facebook)

It is said that books are a person’s best friend, so Leepi Agrawal started spending her with this special friend who then led her to write stories and poems at an early age. The Times of India gave wing to her writing by publishing her works in their esteemed newspaper.

Leepi is an “Ahmadavadi Chokri” filled with zest and always strives to mark her work with perfection.

She is a final year student and a gold medalist for her academic excellence in Masters of Computer Applications at Indus University, Ahmedabad. She has won the TechFest in April 2014 at college and state level.

As writing is her passion, she loves to roam in the “gallis of Ahmedabad” so that she can explore more about her birthplace through writings. Apart from the previous successes of her short-stories, now even one of her poems has been acclaimed on an international platform.

She is quite obsessed with writing, wires and machines and subsequently her obsession has turned into her passion and profession.

Today is her birthday, so let’s wish her warm greetings on her birthday. I hope she would like this review as a small gift from her reader on her birthday!! Wishing her a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY..!!

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A glance on HDM3:

• Title: HEY DAD! MEET MY MOM…
• Brief Title: HDM3
• Authors: Sandeep Sharma | Leepi Agrawal
• Publisher: Pulkit Gupta
• First published by Gargi Publishers (in January 2015)
• Edited by Gargi Sarkhel Bagchi (Facebook)
• Design and Typeset by Ajay Verma (Facebook)
• Cover Design by Jimmyeric Films & Media (Facebook)
• Copyright: ©Sandeep Sharma
• ISBN: 978-81-92960-98-2
• Genre: Fiction
• Pages: 164 (including cover)
• Price: Rs 150/- (incl. all taxes)
• Reviewer: ©Rajesh D. Hajare (RDH)
• My Rating:  (4.4 out of 5 stars. | Good)

HDM3 is Available on major online stores…

Amazon Paperback (4/5) | Amazon Kindle | Flipkart (4.2/5) | PayTM | 

Goodreads (4.02/5) | Facebook

• Sandeep Sharma can be contacted through:

Facebook Profile | FB Page | The Author’s Blog | Goodreads

• Leepi Agrawal can be contacted through:

Facebook | Goodreads

• Publishers can be contacted through:

Pulkit Gupta | Gargi Publishers | @GargiPublishers | Blog | Website

• Reviewer can be contacted through:

FB Profile | Official FB Page | Twitter | Goodreads |  +917588887401 (WhatsApp)

Amazon Reviewer’s Ranking (#272272)

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Disclaimer:

1. Few quotes are mentioned in this review from the book HDM3 with the permission of one of the authors of the book Sandeep Sharma. Reviewer doesn’t claim to be a writer of quotes mentioned in this review.
2. Review Copy of HDM3 was sent to the reviewer by an author Sandeep Sharma.
3. This is not a paid review.
4. This is my personal opinion and analysis of HDM3 and readers’ reviews may be different about the same book.
5. Reviewer of this book works as the President of Gondia District at Akhil Bhartiya Marathi Sahitya Parishad, Pune.

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My Review of Gargi’s book:

Hidden Husband by Shikha Kaul (Rating: 4.5/5, Visitors: #30600)

Related Reviews:

1. Karna’s Alter Ego by Surendra Nath (Rating: 4.5/5, Visitors: #12240)
2. It Doesn’t Hurt To Be Nice by Amisha Sethi (Rating: 4.15/5, Visitors: #4980)
3. The Pocket Love Story by Ajitabha Bose (Rating: 4/5, Visitors: #9360)

Previous Review: Khel The Writings by Vishal Goswami (Rating: 3.25/5 Visitors: #2640)

Reviews coming soon…

1. You Are The Best Wife by Ajay K Pandey (by 7th Feb)
2. Without You by Preethi Venugopala (by 14th Feb)

Now Reading: Heart of Bullets by Nikhil Kushwaha

Books reading soon…

1. #IAm16ICanRape by Kirtida Gautam
2. Her Resurrection by Soumyadeep Koley
3. Klass by Prita Yadav
4. Unanswered by Kunal Uniyal
5. Swachchhandi by Pranav Joshi

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Unique Visitors Counter: #397056  

‘KheL- The Writings' by Vishal Goswami… What a Terrific Game!! (Rating: 3.25/5)

 Day: 1214th

Blog Post: 126th

Book Review: 10th

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I have read ‘KheL- The Writings' by Vishal Goswami. This is the first book I have read in this new year 2016. The book is published by Frog Books in association with Leadstart Publishing Pvt Ltd.

Detail Analysis of KheL – the writings

© Source: blog.blogadda.com

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Book Cover:

© Front Cover of KHEL - The Writings

Abandoned haveli (mansion) can be seen on the front cover.  A witch with scary eyes looks hanging behind the abandoned haveli. An image of a skeleton on the ace of red heart  (♥A) looks terrific. Blue background indicates horrible dawn or night. Overall Mishta Roy has designed a catchy front cover which suits to the book having a horror theme. Book's title KheL – the writings  is printed in red colors so it looks like written by blood. The writings indicate the story of game of cards having horrible messages written on those. Book title carries the subtitle Jo Likha Hai Wahi Hoga.

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About the Author:

Author Vishal Goswami (Image source: ©Urvi Goswami | Facebook)

Vishal Goswami is a an MBA-Finance graduate from Boston, U.S.A. and is passionate about reading and writing in all its forms, whether fiction or non-fiction and also all other genres. He is active on Twitter as "WriteNow@WritetoFite," tweeting about more contemporary topics and new movie analysis and ratings.

Blurb of the book:

© Back Cover of KHEL - The Writings on Amazon.in

 

The abandoned Haveli in Bhramdev Brahmdev, a hill station near Mumbai, is known amongst the local population to be haunted. People keep away from it.  A group of youngsters decide decides to explore it and what follows is a horrifying reality they do not live to relate.

Sanya Sharma is an investigative journalist, with a shattered life and a grieving past. Having lost her husband and little daughter within a span of six months, her once perfect life is a distant dream. Depressed, unable to concentrate on work and barely paying attention to her ten-year-old son, she takes help in alcohol and regular visits to her psychiatrist.

Her last chance at redemption is a case of mysterious deaths on small hill station. What follows is a series of mysterious, eerie and horrifying events that Sanya cannot understand and final with the help of local police inspector turned friend, it dawns upon her that the Haunted Haveli is not just small town hocus-pocus but a reality that had turned on her. The evil that she encounters slowly affects everything around her and she knows that it will finally consume her.

But why? What were the deep, dark secrets of the Haveli's past? What was the Nawab family's past? Who is the old woman haunting her? What are the cards and what is the card game? How is such a horrifying situation merely a game and how is she to play it? Why do the writings on the cards come true and people die? She has to find a way to save herself and her son from the evil and the game of cards that makes everything come true. People around her are dying one by one making her wonder why she is spared. Will she play the final KHEL – The Writings – or will it be the evil that will end the game?

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Setting:

The book contains 25 chapters. Each chapter is short so the book becomes page turner and increases curiosity. The author uses the present tense to narrate the story and flashback scenes are described in past tense as usual.

Locations: The story of KHEL – The Writings runs around an abandoned haveli near hill station of Brahmdev, Chandarpur, Mumbai. There is a glimpse of a church in Mumbai.

Writing Style: Author Vishal Goswami uses the descriptive style of writing. The book begins with a fast pace and becomes slow after middle part but overall this book has fast pace so this is a page turner. English grammar and italic fonts are used properly except in 'About the Author' and 'blurb' sections. This book is a suspense thriller with a horror theme. The author maintains the suspense till the last, he knows where to stop?

Characters:

Khel – The Writings  has 15 major and 8 minor characters as follows.

1. Sanya Sharma: Author introduces Sanya Sharma in the third chapter. She is the main character in the story. She works as an investigative journalist at an Indian Times.
2. Krish: Leader of ghost hunting pilot project
3. Raj: Sanya's boss and an old friend at Indian Times
4. Old woman: Author portrays her character like a witch.
5. Samira: Author portrays Samira's character as Sanya's daughter.
6. Rohan: Author portrays Rohan's character as Sanya's son.
7. Dr. Pooja Malhotra: Pooja Malhotra is a psychiatrist.
8. Bahadur: Author portrays Bahadur's character as a watchman of an abandoned haveli.
9. Richa: She is the owner of her own restaurant named Richa's Dhaba.
10. Kabir: He is an inspector of the case of continuous deaths in abandoned haveli.
11. Anthony: Author portrays his character as the father of a church.
12. Mary: She works as a sister in a church of father Anthony. I feel her entry better in the second half than the first one.
13. Mrs. Gomes: She has a great knowledge of a black magic.
14. Nawab Saheb: Nawab Saheb was the owner of an abandoned haveli who doesn't believe on superstitions like black magic.
15. Aunt Rosy: Author portrays her character as an exorcist.

The author sketches 8 minor characters like Amit, Anjali, Ayesha, Ali, Mrs. Nawab, Gupta, Mr. Pawar and Sanya's mother.

Plot:

The author describes a background of an abandoned haveli in detail. He gives glimpses of black magic and superstitions, he tries to comment on superstition in the tenth chapter but says nothing against such black magic and superstition. Card games (Khel) turns horrible with ‘the writings' on them because whatever written on the cards become true (Jo Likha Hai Wahi Hoga.) Author releases abandoned haveli's truth in the fifth chapter. So many twists and turns make eighth chapter interesting. Horrible experiences and incidents are described by the author in chapter twelfth and thirteenth. Chapter fourteen is full of action and fighting scenes. The suspense starts revealing after an entry of Aunt Rosy in chapter twenty-first. The author tries to give a touch of internet use for search in chapter 22. The suspense keeps releasing in a twenty-third chapter. Curiosity to read climax increases per chapter in the book. Author elegantly connects the first chapter with the last one. At the end, the book ends with a totally unexpected climax.

Drawbacks:

The book has many typing and printing errors in the book. Double inverted comma begins in the second paragraph from bottom on page 85 but doesn't end and vice versa on page 121. Third typing error I found is about the name of a character. Mrs. Gomes is printed in the fourth paragraph on page 129 which should be Sister Mary. And one more typing error is a difference between the name of location (i.e Brahmdev is printed inside the book and Bhramdev is printed in a blurb.) So I think book editor Cora Bhatia should check typing and printing errors while proofreading before printing it.

Reviewer's comments and Rating:

© Rajesh D. Hajare

KheL – The Writings  is a fiction horror and thriller but the book doesn't make you fear as much as one can expect after going through the book cover. So I would love if the author had used more horrible scenes in the book. However each chapter of KheL – The Writings  increases curiosity and suspense and the book has a totally unexpected climax. Finally, I would say, it depends on totally you that whether you read this book or not; but I would say just one thing that KHEL – the writings is a perfect page turner and one will not disparate after reading it.

I wish that I could give 4 stars to the book but I don't find this book up to the mark of that level due to several print mistakes and other terms so I would give 3.25 out of 5 stars.

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Khel- the writings (in a glance):

© Watch this amazing video book trailer of Khel the writings on Youtube

• Title: KheL – The Writings
• Subtitle: Jo Likha Hai Wahi Hoga
• Author: Vishal Goswami
• Publisher: Frog Books
• An imprint of Leadstart Publishing Pvt Ltd.
• First Edition: In India, 2015
• Copyright: © Vishal Goswami
• ISBN 978-93-52013-22-7
• Book Editor: Cora Bhatia
• Cover Design: Mishta Roy
• Layout: Panwar Media Services
• Price: Rs 145 (India); US$ 6 (Elsewhere)
• Page count: 146 (excluding cover)
• Reviewer: ©RAJESH D. HAJARE (RDH)
• Rating: 3.25/5 (Average)

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Book and eBook available here:

Amazon (3.9/5): Book | eBook |[Reviewer's Amazon Ranking= #283717 ]

Flipkart (1/5) | rediff

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Notes:

This is my personal opinion about the book KHEL – The Writings, and your views about the same book may be vary.

Disclaimer:

1. A review copy of KHEL – The Writings was sent to me by author Vishal Goswami for an honest review.
2. Reviewer of this book is working as Gondia District President at Akhil Bhartiya Marathi Sahitya Parishad, Pune.

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Connect on Web:

• Follow on Goodreads: Author | Reviewer | Khel (3.67/5)
• Follow on FB: Khel | Vishal Goswami | Leadstart | Reviewer's Profile | Reviewer's page
• Follow on Twitter: @Leadstart_P | @RDHSir
• Website: Leadstart Publishing

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• Upcoming Reviews by RDH Sir:

1. Hey Dad! Meet My Mom by Sandeep Sharma | Leepi Agrawal (by 28th Jan)
2. You Are The Best Wife by Ajay K Pandey (by 7th Feb)

• Now Reading: Without You by Preethi Venugopala
• Books Reading Soon:

1. Heart Of Bullets by Nikhil Kushwaha
2. #IAm16ICanRape by Kirtida Gautam
3. Her Resurrection by Soumyadeep Koley
4. Klass by Prita Yadav
5. Unanswered by Kunal Uniyal
6. Swachchhandi by Pranav Joshi

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IT DOESN'T HURT TO BE NICE: Beautiful Illustrations with Spiritual Theme (Rating: 4.15/5)

Day: 1204

Blog post: 125^th

Book Review: 9^th

First Book Review in the New Year 2015

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I am back with one more book review. Yes! I read IT DOESN'T HURT TO BE NICE by Amisha Sethi. Before writing my review, I would like to thank my friend Tushti Bhatia from Author Paradise for gifting me such a NICE book.

©Book cover of It Doesn't Hurt To Be Nice

BOOK COVER

Front cover of IT DOESN'T HURT TO BE NICE is attractive. Use of different colors in title attract readers' attention. Smiley for alphabet ‘O' in DOESN'T makes happier. It feels that a paper duck has just freed from hands of an unknown girl. Paper duck seems flying with a thread of love in a mouth. Two paper boats look there. Title It Doesn’t Hurt To Be Nice carries subtitle 'Rediscover Life/ Spirituality, served with a Pinch of Salt and Humour' but the subtitle is not mentioned in the book. Background scene on the back cover is also catchy. A girl's image while running backward holding her dress towards camels in the desert seems like a scene of any Bollywood movie. Overall Pinaki De  has designed a perfect cover for the book published by Srishti Publishers. 

ABOUT THE NICE AUTHOR

Author Amisha Sethi (Source: ©Goodreads)

Amisha Sethi is an executive scholar from Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Chicago, and holds an MBA degree in Marketing from Amity Business School. She was awarded the "Young women rising star" at World Women Leadership Congress 2014 and has won numerous awards and recognition in her corporate life. Along with holding top notch positions in leading companies in the past thirteen years, she has also done extensive research in ancient scriptures. In this book, she uses certain hilarious, dramatic and enthralling experiences of a young girl to understand the ultimate purpose of life – to be a better human with each passing day.

BLURB OF THE BOOK

Kiara is a dynamic, thirty-something girl who has reached great heightsprofessionally, and is the apple of the eye for almost everyone who knows her. But she never took any short cuts to become happier, wiser, healthier and more compassionate.

She had to find rays of hope where the dark tunnel seemed unending, and identify shade in life's burning path. She found little pearls of wisdom in chasing her dreams, in spreading laughter, in learning from scriptures and philosophers, and even at one point in almost ending her life.

More than Kiara's story and the wisdom she achieves through the various dramatic and hilarious experiences, this book is a motion picture with you in the lead role. You as the ‘hero' who can beat the most stubborn of villains – most of which lie deep within us… our fear, unkindness, selfish interests, negative thoughts and jealousy. You as the ‘heroine' who is sharp and witty in talking, selfless and caring in love, and charming and beautiful inside out, like none other (perhaps a 2.0 version of you).

Walk with Kiara to find a better you, because It Doesn't Hurt to be Nice.

INTERESTING FEATURES

 

Visual representation from the 1903 edition of the Mahabharata

 

The demon Mahisasura destroyed by the Hindu supreme lords, Ancient sculptures at Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu, India

The Story is narrated into 10 chapters and every new chapter is directed by a cartoon with an idea about next chapter. The picture of paper duck looks in the beginning of each chapter. Many chapters start with a spiritual quote or a thought. Symbol of heart (L♥ve) in a box as a prefix to quotes catches attention. Pictures are also printed for the reference of few scenes from Hindu mythology.

SETTING

It Doesn't Hurt To Be Nice is based on different themes like spiritual, psychological, philosophical and thriller. The story of the book is set in past tense. 

Locations: Story runs around different location like Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai and Chennai in India; Indonesia, Singapore, Pakistan, Chicago and Los Angeles (USA) and Canada. Description of Jakarta Airport Indonesia and Universal Studios Singapore are scribbled in detail so the reader feels like a live experience. Swat Valley in Pakistan is described in brief, but wonderfully.

Language and Writing Style: Authoress uses the style of diary writing to denote particular period. She doesn't use complicated language so one can understand the story in an easy way. Spiritual words, sentences,thoughts and quotes are printed in italic fonts so one can find those easily. She mentions so many mantras, phrases, proverbs, figures of speech and quotations for the reference. I found a unique feature in her writing style. She uses both Devnagri and Singlish (Sanskrit and English) fonts along with the meaning of Mantras from Hindu mythology. I liked this experiment by the authoress Amisha Sethi and wish this experiment would be followed in English literature by other authors too who refer regional language in their books.

CHARACTERS:

Authoress Amisha Sethi sketches over 34 characters in the book. Kiara and Ram are main characters in the plot. I found 14 major characters and 16 minor characters among those 34, and other 2 characters are spiritual. Authoress introduces each character individually.

MAIN CHARACTERS

1. Kiara Seth: Authoress describes Kiara as the main character of the story. So obviously, readers get to know the story through Kiara's eyes. Her character's name Kiara sounds like a foreigner.
2. Ram: Ram is the second main character in the story. Authoress portrays his character as a good looking guy, Kiara's classmate, boyfriend and the husband.

MAJOR CHARACTERS

1. Mr. Thakral: He is the father of Kiara.
2. Kiara's Mom: She is a native of Gujarat.
3. Ram's Mom: Authoress portrays the character of Ram's mom as a conservative woman who doesn't like a sister-in-law in a role of a working woman. Her character represents the real conservative mother-in-laws living in the society.
4. Kiara's Dadi (grandmother): Authoress portrays her character as a caring grandmother and grand-grandmother.
5. Ana: She is a young cousin of Kiara.
6. Nirvaan: He is the son of Kiara and Ram.
7. Rajan Singh Sodhi: The then HR Head in Kiara's office
8. Shalini: Authoress sketches her character as an ex- colleague of Kiara who is 36 years old corporate diva.
9. Sandy: He is an ex-colleague of Kiara and a colleague of Shalini.
10. Samay: Authoress portrays her character as a young 30 years old retail marketer.
11. Jasbinder: He works as the Senior Communicator Marketer in the advertising company where Kiara works.
12. Agastaya: India CEO at Kiara's company.
13. SK: Authoress portrays her character as the most popular young actor in Bollywood. SK is the short form of his name SanbirKapoor!! No! I didn't misspell!! It's Sanbir (anyway what did you think?) No he isn't who you thought but he seems like a replica of the actor who just appeared in your mind after reading the name.
14. Muslim woman: Authoress portrays her character as a helping tourist from Swat Valley, Pakistan.

MINOR CHARACTERS:

1. Rohan: a chocolate boy in Kiara's college
2. Sid: Kiara's friend
3. Ajay: Typical guy in Delhi University
4. Divya (Diva): Kiara and Ram's classmate
5. Adi: Ram's friend
6. Basanti: Sandy's supposed to be wife
7. Heena: Kiara's friend
8. Rajat: Heena's boyfriend
9. Fei Zim: 30 years old Chinese woman
10. Nilesh: Nirvaan's classmate

There are few more minor characters like Reshma, Simmi, Ronik, Devina, Gauri and Noori.

SPIRITUAL CHARACTERS:

1. Nachiketa: Young character in Katha Upanishad.
2. Yama: God of Death. Authoress gives his reference from Katha Upanishad.

PLOT:

The story and plot of the book 'It Doesn't Hurt To Be Nice' by Amisha Sethi is narrated into 10 chapters. In the first chapter titled ‘Oh God!' Kiara sarcastically comments on nicknames and she remarks about embarrassment boys and girls have to face because of childish nicknames in their younghood. She gives short but important information and meaning of Gayatri Mantra and it's origin. She explains that how kids are taught to fear to the god by their family and appeals in her quote "Dothings not because of a fear of God or any kind of pressure, but to grow the fruits of love, trust and truth."

Second chapter ‘Give Unconditionally' is about the importance of selfless donation. Authoress' research on food and realistic figures of malnutrition are really horrible and make sensitive readers worried. Kiara appeals for selfless donation- "The $240 billion net income of the world's hundred richest billionaires would have ended poverty four times over, according to the Oxfam report released in 2013. Imagine: just a hundred people can eradicate extreme poverty from the world and feed the billions of hungry people on the planet. Forget the billions… Can you attempt to feed just one person every day or week or month or even a year selflessly? One who is truly in need?" She explains food donation as "The spiritual teachings of the ancient Upanishads consider the giving of food as the most honorable donation."

Authoress defines trust as "Trust is the basis of any relationship that one might have with animate and inanimate beings on this planet."and "Trust is the foundation for peace, growth and evolution. The biggest enemy of trust is deceit and diffidence." in the third chapter Trust, Trust and Trust.

The fourth chapter ‘Fear Nothing' is bit longer. Authoress gives a glimpse of an arrange marriage fixing process. She writes about the problems in working women's life that how they have to face their duties for the family and obstacles in maintaining the balance between house and office. She indirectly criticizes TV series. A bittersweet conversation between Ram and Kiara in their husband and wife relationship is really enjoyable to read. Authoress fabulously compares incidents in Kiara's life with a cricket match. Authoress describes the philosophy of death through the character of Yama "The ignorant run after sensory pleasures and fall into the cycle of numerous births and deaths; but the wise, knowing that the self, the soul is deathless, try to attain the lord of love within themselves and become one with him. The supreme one is beyond name, fame and form. It has no beginnings and no ends. Beyond time and space, it's immortal. Those who achieve self are forever free from death. When the body dies, the self does not die."

I am sure that you won't control yourself from laughing out loud while reading the conversation between Heena and Kiara about CH₃CH₂OH. Authoress gives all boyfriends (lovers) a message not to demean girlfriends in the next chapter ‘The Art of Detachment’. The title of the sixth chapter ‘Kindness is Your Character; Don't Lose It' is meaningful itself. The genre of the book suddenly turns into a thriller when Nirvaanbecomes missing in chapter seven. The scene becomes more interesting after entry of a Muslim woman. Author gracefully tries to change the negative image of Muslims into positive in readers' mind, and she became successful in what she wanted to convey by connecting Hindu and Muslim in one bond in an incident takes place abroad. She writes- "When God created this world, I am sure he never thought that his most intelligent life forms would divide it into segments based on caste, creed, colour, religion, names, nationalities, districts, designations and the like." "The biggest religion on this planet is love." A bittersweet conversation between Kiara and her mom is also enjoyable. And yes, the title of this chapter ‘Never Stop Thanking' is also noteworthy. Authoress explains 3 DAs (Damyatta, Datta and Dayadhavam) from Brihadranyaka Upanishad in the next chapter ‘DA, DA and DA'. Authoress informs about biophoton emission with reference. She explains a philosophy of fullness from Bridaranyaka Upanishad with easy examples and she elegantly connects the spiritual philosophy of fullness with the biological theory of DNA in the second last chapter ‘The Light Within You'. She suggests her readers get control over thought by spiritual powers in the last chapter ‘Master Your Thoughts'. In the end, the book is concluded with the poem ‘As I Promised God'.

Nice QUOTES

Authoress' study, knowledge, reading so many authors can be seen from so many quotations. It seems that she would have referred so many scriptures from not only Hinduism but from Buddhism too. So the book conveys a message to respect every religion.

1. "You are what your deep driving desire is, As your desires, so are your thoughts, As your thoughts, so is your will, As your will, so are your deeds, And as your deeds, so is your destiny."– Vedanta
2. "Respect food, give food, the body is made of food… Food and the body exist to serve the ‘self'. Don't waste food, water and fire… fire and water exist to serve the self. Grow more food; the earth can deliver food in abundance. Earth and space exist to serve the self. Refuse not food to the hungry, for when you feed the hungry, you serve the Lord." – Taittiriya Upanishad
3. "The marg of satya (the path of truth) and faith (an undiluted reverence for the Supreme Being) is the way to achieve and create everything which exists and will exist on this planet."
4. "Every experience, good or bad, is to make you realize that ‘trust in self' and ‘others' is the foundation of a pure mind and heart."
5. "You had nothing when you were born and will take nothing back with you when you die. Just live life with the purpose of fearing nothing and loving everything that nature has to offer. After all, there is a bit of you in everything you see around you. Our own bodies are made up of approximately seventy percent water. Ancient Indian sages believed that from water came plants, and from plants came all living creatures and the basic germ of humanity."
6. "Biochemistry tells us that human beings are composed of different types of large molecules: proteins, nucleic acids, lipids, and carbohydrates. These molecules are held together by intermolecular forces. Imagine what would happen if all of these molecules start to fight with each other? I wonder if our body would hold out even for a day. Similarly, we human beings are held together by a spiritual force: the force of love, compassion and light. How can we survive together if we don't appreciate the very being next to us?"
7. "Free yourself from the fear of me, the fear of seeing me in intergalactic form! I am in every form both material and living, only a still mind with peace at heart can attain me, Those whose minds are fixed in me in total faith, He who hates none, he who has no envy or ego, He who is kind, full of love, graceful, compassionate, Stays the same in happiness and sadness, He who is forbearing, masters his thoughts, Unattached to fear and anxiety is dear to me, Those who are dear to, reach me." – Lord Krishna inspires Arjuna
8. "The ones who break trust or are insecure, no matter how much they earn or gain in a short horizon, can never be a true yogi." –The Bhagavad Gita
9. "You came empty handed and will depart empty handed. There is nothing that you truly own in this world. What is yours today will belong to somebody else tomorrow, and the day after to somebody else. There is simply nothing that you are going to take with you. The pure self which is inside you, is absolutely complete, and the one who realizes the self, realizes the love of the Lord. Fear not what is not real, never was and never will be. What is real, always was, and cannot be destroyed. There is neither in this world nor in the world beyond, happiness for the one who fears." – TheBhagavad Gita
10. "There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills." – Gautam Buddha (the enlightened sage who was the leader and founder of Buddhism (583 BC))
11. "Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely." – Gautam Buddha
12. "When words are both true and kind, they can change the world." – Gautam Buddha
13. "Three Golden rules of life, Who is helping you, don't forget them, Who is loving you, don't hate them, Who is trusting you, don't cheat them…"
14. "If things are going your way, it is good. But if they are not, relax because it's going God's way."
15. "A true leader never claims but distributes success."
16. "Fear is much like a false verification that appears to be real. The biggest fear for humans is the idea of losing what they have, or what they perceive in their minds as their ‘own'. Fear is like fog, that can impede your vision without prior notice. Today, most human beings fear almost everything in their lives. We are scared of losing our jobs, status, power, love, money, house, property, girlfriends, youth… the list is endless. Whereas, in reality, there is nothing that you ‘own' in this world; simply nothing and thus, there is no reason to fear the loss of it."
17. "Fear is nothing but a figment of our imagination; we fear that something might happen, not something that has happened in the past or is happening right now. You are here in the present moment but your mind is in the future scaring the daylights out of you. This is one of the reasons for all the anxieties, restlessness and corrosion in our relationship. If you fear nothing, you can achieve almost everything."
18. "The biggest gift you get from God is a bad time, because that teaches you in the real sense what is good in your life."
19. "One of the best ways to become detached is to forgive and forget."
20. "Evil is nothing but an absence of kindness."
21. "In this so-called corporate jungle, there have to be people planting seeds of trust, help, team work and above all, kindness. And that can only happen when you are not inhibited by mindless insecurities."
22. "The world has enough for everyone's need, but not enough for everyone's greed." – Mahatma Gandhi
23. "Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love." -Rao-Tizer(4th century BC)
24. "What lies behind us/ And what lies before us/ Are tiny matters compared to/ What lies within us." –Ralph Waldo Emerson (an American essayist, lecturer, and poet who led the Transcendentalist Movement in the mid-19th century.)

Hurting DRAWBACKS:

1. Weak proofreading: punctuation marks are missing in some lines.
2. No use of italic fonts to highlight Hindi words and improper use of italic fonts.
3. Use of names of several brands like Adidas, Nokia and Blackberry, and the names of living celebrities Bappi Da and Angelina Jolie.
4. Use of short forms like c'mon for come on and ASAP for as soon as possible. Using short forms is against ethics of literature in any language.
5. The book Price Rs. 175 is expensive a bit but it's OK for this book because of its genre.

REVIEWER'S NOTES:

©Rajesh D. Hajare

It Doesn't Hurt To Be Nice is the fabulous book authored by Amisha Sethi. The book It Doesn't Hurt To Be Nice is a perfect entertainer with an interesting plot which doesn't let you put down the book. I would recommend this book to every human being living on this planet who think that he or she is nice or want to be nice. So… are you NICE? Or would you like to be NICE? Then just go for it. Because IT DOESN'T HURT TO BE NICE.

My RATING: I will give 4.15 out of 5 stars to this really nice book IT DOESN'T HURT TO BE NICE.

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BOOK IN BRIEF:

©Amisha & Smokey's Viral Video II It Doesn't Hurt To Be Nice (©Youtube)

• Title: IT DOESN'T HURT TO BE NICE
• Text and Illustrations by AMISHA SETHI
• Publisher: SRISHTI PUBLISHERS & DISTRIBUTORS
• First published in 2015
• Text Copyright: ©Amisha Sethi, 2015
• Illustrations Copyright: © Amisha Sethi, 2015
• Cover design by Pinaki De
• Binding: Paperback
• Printed and bound in India
• ISBN- 978-93-82665-48-9
• Price: Rs. 175
• Pages: 144 (excluding cover)
• Genre: FICTION
• Rating: 4.15/5 Stars (**** | Nice)
• Reviewed by: © Rajesh D. Hajare (RDH)

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Notes:

1. This is my honest analysis of the book IT DOESN'T HURT TO BE NICE and your reviews may be different.
2. The Review Copy of IT DOESN'T HURT TO BE NICE was sent to me by Tushti Bhatia (Author Paradise)
3. This is not a paid review.
4. Reviewer of this book is working as the President of Gondia District at Akhil Bhartiya Marathi Sahitya Parishad, Pune.

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• My Top Reviewer's Ranking on Amazon.in: #310550
• Unique Visitors of my previous review (A Minute To Death): #2730
• Unique Visitors of previous Guest blog post: #720
• Total No. of unique Visitors: #392076
• Also read: My Book review of Karna's Alter Ego by Surendra Nath(Rating: 4.5/5, Unique Visitors- #7260)

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Buy this nice book online at…

©Amisha Sethi

• Amazon.in (4.4/5)- Paperback | Kindle
• InfiBeam (5/5) | Paytm | Flipkart (3/5)
• Upcoming title from the same author: Love is Simple … but why are men so complex!

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Join the ‘Nice Gang':

1. It Doesn't Hurt To Be Nice: Goodreads (4.04/5)
2. Amisha Sethi: Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter | Website
3. Srishti Publishers: Facebook | Twitter
4. Tushti Bhatia: Facebook | Twitter
5. Author Paradise: Facebook | Twitter
6. RDH Sir: FB Profile | FB Page | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon Reviews | +917588887401 (Whatsapp)

Reviews coming soon:

1. KHEL - The Writings by Vishal Goswami (by 20 Jan)
2. Hey Dad! Meet My Mom by Sandeep Sharma and Leepi Agrawal (by 28 Jan)

Now Reading: You Are The Best Wife by Ajay K. Pandey

Reading soon:

1. Without You by Preethi Venugopala
2. Heart of Bullets* by Nikhil Kushwaha
3. #IAm16ICanRape by Kirtida Gautam
4. KLASS