Book Review: I am Papa

Author:  Pranav Bhattacharya

Format: papaerback
Language: English
Pages: 246
Price: 150 (cheaper on internet retailers)

Publishers: Expression publishing

“It is burden of being a father- retirement never seems blissful!”- quoting a papa I know of. The cover of the book-“I am PAPA” gives you a half profile of an old man- you might begin to wonder- a half face profile?—I guess it is meant to bring out the ordinary feature of any senior citizen, any father, any retired man and anyone who harbors more acumen that what meets the eye. And Prof. Arya is one such a man. Like all other senior academics he thought retired would be blissful- a span of life that would be void of running about, attending classes, and carrying out the burden of a man in service.

And troubles are known to come to your home unannounced-the youngest son of the house goes missing. It is a question of decision- a test of self criticism- for a man who had lived half of his life demeaning the boy, considering him nothing better than a day dreamer- where he should go on, how should he take action and  look for the bemused prodigal. The story is about a father’s journey from one place to the other, a journey where he meets people from all walks of life, rubs shoulders with sadhus who can cross all limits of indecency. He encounters social figures living under the belly of metro cities, flies off to unknown destinations with pimps and human traffickers so as to say. The plot will, in short never give you a reason to stop at one place. A book that carries the essence of movies like “a Wednesday”, “sarhansh”- it is easy to follow the shadow of a man who is in search of his son, and it is equally painful to become a by stander to watch panic stricken faces of the older son and the grieving mother. Help comes for places least expected- think of a high profile prostitute joining the search party- a foreign small time news channel making a show stopper out of a humble teacher. Yes, it does sound like ‘Ripley’s believe it or not”- but as a part of a racy story- all the twists and turns fall in place one after the other.

I believe something should be kept incomplete- just like the story of Karina and Mel. They clandestine relation even if pictured out in reality would stop at a dead end. Otherwise- the story should go on and find its own way in the form of a sequel- we need to know what happens to Prof. Arya, how well does Sunil understand the strange way of his father’s sacrifice and adoration? And we need to know how the Saffron clad brigade of the now exterminated Big Man retaliates?!

About the author:

Pranav Bhattacharya is a Banker by profession.  An engineer by initial training, he went to business school at the University of Texas at Dallas for an MBA. He lived and worked in the US for 10 years, before he moved back to India, to become a part of her success story.

Pranav has been married for almost a decade, and lives in Pune with his wife and 2 children.

He presently works for a Financial services provider in Pune.

Further details:

website: www.pranavbhattacharya.com

contact author at: bhattacharya.pranav@gmail.com        Mob number : 9552561011

 

Book Review: The Long Road

Author: Dr. Vivek Banerjee

Format: Paperback
Language: English
Pages: 176
Price: Rs. 150.00

Publishers: Cedar books ( Pustak Mahal)

Yes! Every one falls in love, or let’s just say it” oh Gosh, we tend to fall up and down that bumpy road marked with roses and hearts:. Now, why bumpy? Yank your head- bumpy because, roses have got thorns and if the heart is involved you got to have heart breaks and heart aches. Yes, as I said, people from all walks of life have the right to fall in love. We have engineers drowning in the sea for it, we have lawyers quitting their logical senses- and getting “dillogical”. Just, when I learnt about Dr. Vivek Banerjee’s “The Long Road”- I had the following thoughts cropping up.

1. 1.    Good- now doctors are head logging with IITians and writing love novels


2. 2.    Wow- doesn’t seem a racy less rehearsed plot.


3. 3.    OK well- got pairs to judge marriage, love and relationships


4. 4.    Oh well- seems like I am saved from getting into the shadows of Mr. “I”.


5. 5.    A Doc writing could also mean medical terms gnawing at me, (cold shivers) “Do I need to check medical tomes now!!

The days were saved but for point number five. The oldies would remember the song, “ajib dastaan hai yeh”- Raj Kumar and forever white saree clad Meena Kumari. The 'Dil Apna Aur Preet Parayi'- silent adoration and the rest. I wanted to draw your attention to it simply because there the medical terminologies were missing, by God’s grace!
And if we are not looking at point 5 but the rest- I should say- “HMM, now I know why The Long Road- was the shortest way to the heart.”


Innocence is the right chord to make the readers at home with the book and simplicity is the ever burning torch that serves as the guide through the mazes of the mind. The words long Road, seems tell you that to understand the mutual ways of human adjustment, to survive through the thinning lines of relationships, you need to go through methods- the road is never the same for each one of us- yet the emotions overlap.


The tale smoothly swirls around Hina and Ranjiv-perhaps more so around Rahul and Sarika. Where one couple is still trying to understand the reasons behind what makes them stay together- falling in and out of love marks their journey: the other pair is more into adjusting through life, giving up on little things yet even one of them do feel the pang of inner mind. The idea of the Lion getting his super share is lost in between, when a man lives by the rules his wife makes for him.  
The chemistry between Hina and Ranjiv are perhaps present in the plot to reveal the nuances of the real society, whereas the other couple delineates experimentation- pushing the laws at the brink and forcing variations that might snap off ties any moment.


I would suggest readers to consider “The long Road” quite akin to the one each one of them is walking on. The reading style afterall does project required maturity to address relationship issues.


My Rating: 4/5

About the Author:-

A pediatrician by profession, Vivek Banerjee lives in Saharanpur with his parents, obstetrician wife and two children. The pressures of his profession leave him with little leisure but he still finds time for his varied interests. An avid traveller, he has covered the length and breadth of the country in real life and the rest of the world in his imagination.  A voracious reader, music lover, self-confessed geek and an amateur ornithologist, he would rather walk the road less travelled, given the time and opportunity. A Bengali by birth, he has grown up in various towns of North India and studied in many different schools and colleges. He started writing on Rediff blogs where he is known as Ben and went on to write this novel. He has also authored many short stories as a preparation for writing this novel.

Further Details:

Author's website:http://banerjeevivek.webs.com/

Facebook Profile: http://facebook.com/dr.vivek.banerjee

Fan Page:- The-Long-Road-a-novel-about-doctors

 Online links to buy books:- Can be bought from major online portals.