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Sunday, November 24, 2013

Touch of Mist book Review by Meghant Parmar


Source - http://booksallaroundme.blogspot.com/2013/11/review-touch-of-mist-by-deepika.html

Source - Expressions: One too many

Volatile nature of relationships is nothing new in today's world. Petty issues can cause a lot of distrust and uproar in a healthy relationship. The pressure of work and family together is not that easy to handle nowadays. Author Deepika Muthuswamy in her book "Touch of Mist" has penned down one such story on relationships. So is this in sync with the real life scenario? Let's find out.

Reena was distraught. It seemed unbelievable that she too had succumbed to this rat race of life. The consequences had been dire: a marriage that had broken even before the profundity of those three magical words, I Love You could sink in. Touch of Mist is a glitzy, modern-day love story of two young, sophisticated, IT professionals, Gautham and Reena, who meet by chance, sparks ignite and they fall head over heels in love with each other. They tie the knot and start a new life. But no sooner do they do that that fights erupt and egos clash. The first casualty is love, which plummets and marriage turns miserable; break-up beckons and the relationship dies. Aftermath. Does Reena commit suicide or fall in love with another person? Does she reconcile with her first love Gautham? This story meanders through different emotions that touch the lives of the protagonists such as love, friendship, marriage, heartbreak, grief, anticipation, humor, disgust, joy, fear and ends with a heart-warming credo that Life is to Live.
First look at the title and the cover and both the things won't give an out of place feeling. In fact it's a beautiful cover image to go with a novel. The blurb talks about a woman and her life's woes and what all happens to her during her entire journey. The blurb is a good blurb considering the fact that the book talks about relationship and issues in it.
The story is of Reena & Gautham two I.T employees who meet by chance, become friends by chance and by chance their love story clicks and culminates into marriage. Reena is a shy woman whereas Gautham is an extrovert personality. They face a few hurdles before marriage when Reena's father fix her her marriage to Sandy one of their known ones. Gautham somehow wins back his love and together they start a new life. But things go haywire from the 1st day after marriage when small fights become big arguments and the trust and compatibility issues crop up. Behaviors and tempers are on a rise and even after a lot of cajoling their mutual friend Kishore nothing seems to get their marriage back on track. So will they be able to get back together? What role Akshitha plays in their lives? What will happen to Reena? What will be the end of this love story? That's what the story is all about.
The make and break relationships, the instant love stories and the trust issues afterwards are the flavor of the book. This book can be easily related to real life scenarios nowadays where newly weds are at each other's throats for small-small things. The beauty of the story lies in the various aspects covered under this story be it love, nature, emotions like trust, temperament etc. The second half of the book is enthralling and first half holds the charm of the story equally well.
The downside of the book is editing which goes for a toss towards the end of the book. The character name Akshitha has been goofed up many times, spelling mistakes,grammatical errors made it very shabby towards the end. The end could have been done in a much beautiful manner. It looks quite incomplete and doesn't fits well with the entire story. Translation of regional language words in English should have been there too in the book.
Overall it's a good experience for the readers and there's a touch of both joy and sorrow in the book. For most part it'll remain on track but will waiver off suddenly. It's a combination of today's relationship plights and a beautiful love story.

RATINGS:
3 OUT OF 5
Review by Meghant Parmar




Touch of Mist Book Review by Nachi

Touch of Mist - Book Review by Nachi

Source - Mobsmile

It was my second book this year; fortunate to read this book very early after publication.  It is also my second book of a female author following Preeti Shenoy's "Life is what you make it". I expect a good love story with intriguing scenes; well, I am not disappointed.

It is an easy read; It has nearly 200 pages where I finished in 3 hours. The book contain main two characters; Reena and Gautham, two IT employees fall in love with each other. Their parents open heatedly accepts their marriage. They soon got married and lived happily ever after.
I know what are you asking, No problem at all? Is this a fairy tale ? Humans always have problem, don't they? Yes, they do. Their problem is themselves. Gautham behaves completely like a man where Reena does like a woman. They share their opinion which leads to argument which leads to fight; then they got separated, they missed each other, finally they reconcile. Interestingly, It was not happened once. Through out the book, it happened 4 or 5 times but not in one scene you feel like bored. We can easily imagine their lives with ours.

The other two main characters is Gautam's dad and his friend Kishore both giving relationship advises. Others are just passing clouds. Overall, it is an awesome work by an debutant author Deepika Muthusamy. She has a long road to go. I never felt like reading a female author book. She matched superbly with male thoughts through out the book.

Source -  Mobsmile.blogspot.in

Positives

  • Gautham's character is lovely; he is the matured, soft nature guy that ever woman needed in their lives. But at the end he turns completely like Reena.
  • Reena's has a mixed character; She is very matured, innocent and at times foolish and helpless. Her character develops well after her suicide attempt. I want to thank Deepika for that, how many female authors giving less importance to female character.
  • Kishore's character is a great relief because the first phase of the book has only Reena and Gautam. It's good to have the third guy; he was good in advise. He does that through out the book.
  • Gautam's dad has less dialogues but his character is a remembered one. 
  • Scooter drenched scene, Cricket stadium scene, Walk at the night scene, Proposal scenes, earth quake scene, Gautam and Reena's fight are the best scenes in it.

Negatives

  •  Gautam and Reena's fight was interesting at first. But they keep doing that through out the book obviously for different reasons which makes a slight discomfort. 
  • Reena became a social activist and got famous towards the end. It was really filmy.
  • Honestly, no love making scene in a love story but has two or three romantic scenes.
  • Overall, a good read worth for your time. 


Touch of Mist Book Review by Nabanita

Book Review - Touch Of Mist

 Title: Touch Of Mist
Written By: Deepika Muthusamy

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18742394-touch-of-mist
Source: Goodreads.com
About Deepika Muthusamy (From the book) –

A blogger and an avid trekker, Deepika Muthusamy enthrals us with her debut novel, “Touch of Mist” as she captivates her readers by delineating human emotions at its depth. Charming and versatile, she is set out to elucidate her theory of life through her novel.

ISBN: 978-81-8253-440-7

Cover Price: Rs. 250.00

Rating:  3/5

Something about the book (from the book’s cover):

Reena was distraught. It seemed unbelievable that she too had succumbed to this rat race of life. The consequences had been dire: a marriage that had broken even before the profundity of those three magical words, “I Love You” could sink in.

“Touch of Mist” is a glitzy, modern-day love story of two young, sophisticated, IT professionals, Gautham and Reena, who meet by chance, sparks ignite and they fall head over heels in love with each other.

They tie the knot and start a new life. But no sooner do they do that that fights erupt and egos clash. The first casualty is love, which plummets and marriage turns miserable; break-up beckons and the relationship dies.

Aftermath. Does Reena commit suicide or fall in love with another person? Does she reconcile with her first love Gautham?

This story meanders through different emotions that touch the lives of the protagonists such as love, friendship, marriage, heartbreak, grief, anticipation, humour, disgust, joy, fear and ends with a heart-warming credo that “Life is to Live”.

Now for my View:

The work load at office these days is so much that it has really been hard to keep up with my reading. But having assured Deepika that I would review her book, I had to find time. And so I did at the very first respite from work.

‘Touch of Mist’ is a love story about two young IT professionals, Gautham and Reena. They met, fell in love and sailed into the sunset after their wedding. But wait, was that all there was to it? Definitely not, that’s when their story began. Their love suddenly was clouded with ego clashes which then became the only discernible truth about their relationship. Deepika began her story where other stories end and that’s what I liked about this book in the first place. What happened next? That’s what the story is about.

It’s nice to see a blogger come out with a book. And hence the book became a tad bit more special. I would definitely recommend it.

‘Touch Of Mist’ is an easy read and I finished it in a span of just 2 or 3 hours. A book that holds your attention right from the first page up until the last is a winner in my mind. AndDeepika’s first novel does just that.

Easy Read!

Touch Of Mist’ is about modern day relationships and emotional upheavals that couples go through. All in all a great attempt by Deepika in her debut.

Of course, editing is one aspect which could have been improved. It seemed to have been neglected, which if done properly would have only added to the charm of the book.

I think the story and the subject that Deepika chose for her first book had a great potential. It could have been even better but then what you get is not a less enjoyable read at all.

So give it a try and let me know your views on the book.

Friday, November 22, 2013

Congrats on your Doctorate

My dear Doctor Akka 
Big Kudos for your Doctorate in physics 





"PHD" - The top academic degree requires lot of Tenacity, Passion and Discipline.

Definitely you must have faced obstacles in laboratory access and Guide support when you shifted to Malaysia. But you utilized the opportunities you had in Malaysia and work around the challenges and came up with flying colors.

Since I was with you when you were doing the MPhil, I know the amount of hard work, dedication, Motivation (tion, tion, tion) you put in for mastering. For PHD!???? My head swirls

Just wondering, After all with MPhil you achieved 100% results in your teaching career.….with PHD? Your students are gonna rock for sure

All the best Akka, for your new career which is going to kick off in couple of Months. 3 Years of sacrifice for your family and Kid is a brave step any women would step back to take. But you did with all your confidence. You will go heights for your stamina and sacrifice

I am very happy to be a part of Doctorate family 

Friday, November 15, 2013

Trip to Horsely Hills

It was tempting to visit Horsely hills  for four reason:
  1. The Name was elegant and classic. If it would have been, “Yenugu Mallamma Konda” (old name of Horsely hills) definitely I might have not preferred. (Something like avoid vada, but rather eat it when sugar fillings and chocolate toppings are added and named as "donut")
  2. When you wiki Horsely hills, I got all tempted attractions like the road leading to the Horsely hills is extremely scenic and panoramic, with Mahogany, Jacaranda, Sandalwood, Gulmohar and Eucalyptus trees lining the road in the form of a dense... all bla bla bla. 
  3. To get lost and fall in love with the untouched natural outskirts rather than being in the polluted Bangalore environment
  4. It’s nick name was Andra Pradesh Ooty. 

Striking Trip to Horsely Hills:
As per our plan we reached KR puram at 6.30 AM. We were the first one to reach the place, but in fraction of minute all the people gathered and we started our ride.
I must mention it’s a gift to start the ride by crossing the hanging bridge flyover. The climate was extremely chill and the road was completely covered with fog. After our breakfast at Chaitanya fast food, teasing Chaitanya to offer the breakfast as complimentary, we started back. The road was little challenging with lots of speed bumps (10 being the max) and 5 hair pin bends.

Finally we reached the Horsely hills and found few adventures activities like Zorbing, Rappelling, ATV-Bike, Archery and Water walking Ball. We thought of trying Zorbing, but since prior reservation was needed we could not roll downhill inside an orb. We found interesting naming for the guest house, “Whispering winds”

Later we thought to explore the tiny zoo. The so called Million dollar bird Emu by Tamilnadu people, Peacock, ducks, deer and crocodile were the few birds we could find. We spent some time sitting near Manasa Sarovar lake and discussed about the future trekking events and had chocolates. Finally we went to a restaurant that welcome us with "Excellent and Mouth watering food"
We order the food and kept waiting..
Waiting...
Waiting...

Even the crocodile which was Dozing with its eyes and mouth open in the zoo must have woke up and started doing its job. But still we were

Waiting...
Waiting..
Waiting..

Minutes Passed ...
Hours passed...

Finally I saw the waiter coming up with plate, but it was veg fired rice.. oh my god, I ordered Chicken Fried rice. It was my mistake, I must have had the food which he brought. But thinking, just adding chicken pieces to veg fried rice, wont take much time, I requested him to bring chicken fried rice. The server took the order back but again took one hour just to add the chicken pieces.

I think he has added waiting charge, otherwise bill must have not crossed 3600 just for 14 people.
We started descending and finally stopped at tea shop.
After tea and coffee we had feedback session and started back to our respective places.

Just one line about the trip?
I am in love with Nature :)

P.S
For Corporate and Group packages at Horsely hills Contact – 8897906455, 9000028644

Friday, November 8, 2013

Saturday Series - Interview with Ramesh Tehlani

Saturday Series - Interview with Ramesh Tehlani

It’s time to meet another debut author and learn from their successful publishing journey. Here, we go an interesting interview with Ramesh Tehlani, who believes, "Focus, smartness, proper marketing, management & quality of work are the key to success"

What inspired you to write ?

Every day is new day and world is changing very fast. It gives us opportunity to see very interesting things, circumstances and stories. These stories can motivate and entertain others, but not all. So, I decided to share such personal experiences and stories, which gave me motivation and entertainment. I wanted to share my thoughts. Objectives of entertainment, motivation and sharing of my thoughts with people inspire me to write this piece of fiction.
  
What was the hardest part about completing your book? 

First hard part was to keep suspense in the story till the end with entertainment. 
Another hard part was Editing. I believe my English is not well, so getting editing done was very tough task for me but luckily I found some people, who helped me to get over this challenge. 

Did you learn any lessons in the book creation process, if so what where they? 

I learnt many life-changing lessons. First is, I learn the story telling. I learnt to enjoy hard work with great objective in mind. I learnt to express my honest feelings, without fear of critics. Writing book and getting it publish is not less than like any NASA mission for people like me. It took me 4 years to complete the manuscript and get it publishable.

What tips or advice do you have for aspiring authors? 

My tip to new authors is to knock as many doors as possible. Getting publish is a long journey. If you are dreaming for being published writer, fight for your dream.

Are you writing or planning to write an additional book(s)? 

Yes. I will surely write in future.

What else would you like to share about you or your book - She Fell(Fail) in Love.. Once Again..

About me, I am very straightforward and aggressive person. I love to follow my dreams.  Mission of my life is to help and give smile to people. Book is based on my real life experiences and learning about ethics, spirituality, corporate politics. This book is my effort to entertain people.

How can people find out more about your book - She Fell(Fail) in Love.. Once Again..

Book is available on leading websites like flipkart.com, amazon.in, bookadda.com etc. and soon it will be available on kobo, diesel and various book channel distributors.
These are some links about book and its reviews

facebook link goo.gl/q0tNl3

Goodreads.com : goo.gl/TT3cOM

Ila Garg : goo.gl/sGd4uH

Meghant Parmar : goo.gl/EmKqlV

Flipkart.com : goo.gl/KDF5vJ

Amazon.in : goo.gl/y1mnOP

Bookadda.com : goo.gl/mmQtKG

On a typical weekend, what do you do?

Nothing special. I am businessman and run a real estate company. So I used to work 7 days in week. Whenever get opportunity and spare time, I like to watch new movies.

Lessons learned in your life?

Honesty and hard work pays but with focus, smartness, proper marketing, management & quality of work.


Tuesday, November 5, 2013

I got Liebster Award...





I got Liebster award from Khushboo Motihar.

Liebster award is an appreciation from fellow bloggers and your chance to introduce yourself to other awesome bloggers. If you receive this award, you are expected to:

  1. Post 11 facts about yourself
  2. Answer the 11 questions the tagger has given you
  3. Tag 11 more Bloggers (with no more than 200 followers; no tagging back) and make 11 questions for them
  4. Tell the people you tagged that you did


11 Facts about me :
  1. I love to dance in the rain.
  2. I go crazy on seeing puppies. 
  3. I hate people who lie and avoid them abruptly.
  4. I don’t like reading, I hardly read 4 novels till now.
  5. If I like someone, I would love them from the depth of my heart and will fight for their well-being. 
  6. I love to drive car alone
  7. I love to be spiritual
  8. I like to carry a smile on my face :) but I hardly do :P
  9. People think I am a very strong women..
  10. I love tea and love it when I have it with my dad 
  11. I love sports and outdoor activities. 
11 Questions From My Nominator

The craziest dream you ever had?
I still get at times.
I have failed in my School exams :P

How many gol gappas can you eat at a time?
Not more than 25

Your favourite toy as a kid?
As a kid, Now and forever - its teddy bear.

A superpower you wished you had?
To go invisible :)

The funniest prank you have ever played?
I never played prank. Because, I am basically a good girl :P

Which one do you prefer: Riding a roller coaster or reading your favourite book?

Riding a roller coaster

Walnuts, cashewnuts, almonds or pistachios?

All the above :P

Swimming in the pool or relaxing in a bath tub?

Swimming in the pool all alone

What would you name your pet monkey?

I dont like monkeys. So defenitely it wont be my pet.

Salsa or Bhangra?

Salsa

And finally a sensible question, what inspires you to write?  

Self satisfaction

My 11 questions for the Nominees

1. why did you start blogging?

2. Your favorite blogger and why?

3. Tell about yourself?

4. Three things, that makes you happy?

5. What you do, when you are bored at home?

6. what is the first thing you do in the morning & the last thing you do at night?

7. what do you think about Friendship, love and marriage?

8. If money doesn't grow on trees then why do banks have branches?

9. Your first crush?

10. What do think about sachin retirement?

11.Why Manmohan Singh never open his mouth?

My Nominees
  1. http://mobsmile.blogspot.in
  2. http://www.mehek.in/
  3. http://jayantiblogshere.blogspot.in/
  4. http://swarnpriya.blogspot.in/ 
  5. http://www.abhrapal.in/
  6. http://bbsearchingself.wordpress.com/
  7. http://jyothisdayout.wordpress.com/
  8. http://sulaimansait.blogspot.in/
  9. http://poojashridhar.blogspot.in/
  10. http://fugleman.blogspot.in/
  11. http://www.thesolitarywriter.com
P.S 

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Trekking to Narasimha Parvatha and Kudlu Teertha

Trekking to Narasimha Parvatha and Kudlu Teertha

Distance from Bangalore: 362 Kms
Trek difficulty Level: Moderate to Difficult
  • Day 1 :
    • To Reach Narasimha Parvata
      • Route -  From Malandur to Peak (13 kms). 
      • On the way halt at BARKANA FALLS. 
  • Day 2 – 
    • Reach Kigga 
      • From Narasimha Parvata to Kigga (6 kms)
    • Sirimane Falls
    • Kudlu Theertha Falls 
    • Shringeri Sharadamba Temple
Day before the trek:
This trip was absolutely an unplanned one for myself. Since it was a wild card entry I did not arrange sleeping mat/sleeping bag/Raincoat/Poncho.
Two day trek in dense Rain forest without any planning?
My “I can” attitude pushed forward and we all gathered at Shantala Silk House. Luckily one person had both Sleeping mat and sleeping bag, with sense of relaxation I adopted (grabbed) the sleeping mat and took care of it so much as if it was my child. Our TT started around 10 PM and after chit-chat we went to sleep.

Day 1:
Around 4 AM we are asked to get down from TT as the vehicle tyre got puncture. Luckily it stopped in front of a tea-stop. Grabbing tea, we shared our previous trekking experience. We realized Nisha was missing and started to scan. Then we found her sleeping into an Auto which was parked in an auto stand. The TT resumed after the tyre fix. Aftermath, we did not sleep for a while. Because the road view was too good.

After 3 hours, we reached an ancient house in DODDAMANE. The famous Malgudi Days serial was filmed in this place. After fresh up, breakfast we packed our lunch and went to the guide’s house. Since, the guide was almost late for 2 hours, we started exploring the paddy fields and started playing cards. The guide’s wife treated us with tea.



Finally the guide arrived and after applying tobacco oil to protect us from leeches, we headed towards Narasimha Parvatha.

It was extremely dense forest with loose soils and leeches. On the way, we came to know its heart of naxalite area. But no such signs. Within 5 minutes of walk, I started to notice a leech crawling on my shoe. Scared by the huge Google images of Leeches, I stopped walking and tried to pull it out. But One, 2, three,.. … uncountable leeches started crawling all over me.  Getting them off was also difficult. I was so panic and started running to escape from them. Some one said it’s not a vampire, ignore it.. but I do read, Leeches drink 10 times of its own blood.:( I don’t want to donate such huge liters.
As soon as I saw the water stream I went in, removed my shoes and shocks. There were around 15 leeches crawling in the socks. I got vexed and threw my socks and changed to slippers and started hiking to Barkana falls

Barkana Falls








The view from Bankana fall was panoramic. The far end of the falls was extraordinary. It made me to forget my feet which was full of blood streams and leeches. After having lunch in the waterfalls, we stared back. The trek route was difficult. There were no proper trails. Almost 13 kms walk, It was little weary and started to longing for the old house that was constructed in the top of the peak. Its has been told that room was made by forest officials for Naxialite operations. Not sure how far it is true. Finally after drenching completely in rain and few minutes of walk, we reached the peak.

We were informed that “The old room was Very neat and clean” But it was full of water and filthy. The roof of the house was broken due to which rain has entered the house. We did not carry tents. Now we were not having any place to sleep. But we pulled up hope and decided to rejuvenate the house.

Few of the memorable moments at the peak.

  • With branches of tree leaves we made a broom and poured the water out. 
  • Re-Engineering - We requested one person to climb on the top of the house and re-engineered the house roof. 
  • Sharing - We were not having cups, yet we prepared delicious soup and shared. (By emptying the noodles cup and used it as a soup cup)
  • Candle light - Situation game. 
  • Ready made MTR's 
Finally we all slept. I was not having sleeping mat and was unable to sleep due to the bone chilling cold. Luckily I had a sweater, but it was sleeveless. But as the saying goes, “where there is a will, there is a way." I put my hands inside the sleeve, but still it was ice cold. 

Day 2:
Sirimane Falls:
The next day morning, we woke up early to see the sun rise. But It was misty and could not see the sun rise. After hunting all the snacks we had, we started getting down. The trek route was visible and it was pretty easy to get down?

We thought of visiting Sirimane Falls which was just 5 kms from Kigga. Though the waterfalls was beautiful, we were unable to enjoy as it was crowded with people. We saw people polluting the water by playing with color powder. Though we did not enjoy much in the water falls, we enjoyed the food items that was available in the waterfalls. Cucumber and orange with chilly… bajjis.. hmm . Lip-smacking.Then we packed the lunch and started to trek to falls.

Kudlu Theertha Falls:
After crossing the delicate burma bridge, we walked around 4 Kms. The track was super. I was so happy and started admiring the beauty of think forest. After crossing a water stream, again we trekked around 4 kms. But after that the real trek started. The huge forest begun with huge slippery rocks and soil, broken branches of trees and LEECHES. But this time, my attitude towards Leeches changed. I did not bother much about it.

Finally we reached the falls. Water gushing between two steep hills from a height of about 300 feet was an enormous and enriching view that took away the tiredness of walking and leech bites. My mind started playing Dheem Thana Na song from Rythm movie. At that moment, I fell in love with Nature.
It was getting dark, and we started descending. It was completely rainy when we are descending.
Finally we reached our vehicle and started grabbing the foods, since we did not have from the morning.
On the way, we visited a famous temple and returned back

Friday, November 1, 2013

Saturday Series - Interview with Mehek Bassi

Interview with Mehek Bassi 


Reading an author interviews is always a great way to see a writer’s footpath to success. It’s with great desire, I am going to interview and share the experience of upcoming authors. It always makes us energetic to learn from their successful publishing journey.

And my first interview with Mehek Bassi – an adoring young writer.



What inspired you to write "Chained"
Chained started as a daily diary, which turned into a short story, and with addition of some more fictional elements, it took the shape and size of a book!


What was the hardest part about completing your book? 
Getting a book published is multiple times harder than writing it down, but frankly, Chained was a project which was completed very smoothly, without any hurdles, because it wasn't started with an intention of getting it published!

Did you learn any lessons in the book creation process, if so what where they? 
Of Course! The most important lesson that I learnt was, be honest with your work. Write straight from your heart, and not your mind. People these days are copying down content from other books or movies or TV Shows, but that's not justice to your work.


What tips or advice do you have for aspiring authors? 
Be yourself! The only advice I give to every aspiring author. Because if you try to be someone else, or write in someone else's style, you'll be creating a piece that's already selling in market under a famous name!

Are you writing or planning to write an additional book(s)? 
Yes, I'm currently working on a book named 'Heer', which will be released next year (hopefully!)

What else would you like to share about you or your book - Chained.? 
Well, about myself? I am a very straightforward, god-fearing, down to earth person, and I never wanted to become an author! (*laughs*). And about Chained, well, it's not only my first book, but I've poured my heart in it. It will always remain closest to my heart, and nearest to me on my bookshelf.

How can people find out more about your book - Chained? 
I have a website: http://www.mehek.in Where you can find all the information about me, my books, my short stories, my blog and everything a reader might want to know!


On a typical weekend, what do you do?
Sleep! Because that's what I crave the most in weekdays. Engineering, and writing, don't go smooth together. For writing you need free time, relaxation, peace and a mood to think, and in engineering, you hardly get any of it!

Lessons learned in your life?
One and the only most important lesson I've learned is, if you love something/someone, never let it go. Relationships once lost, can't be formed again in a similar way, never hurt your loved ones because of your ego. Because the regret you will feel later, will kill you inside...