Brajesh's Review: Kitnay Aadmi Thay?

This is a landmark book for me. This is the first time I have got an acknowledgement by the author and I can tell you, I felt awesome when I accidentally discovered the same.

Dipto is a dear friend, & I was eagerly looking forward to this book, after his previous one on Cricket - I pre-ordered the same :-). I must say the joy of discovering your name in print is an unmatched feeling, and in my case this has inspired me to do a book of my own :) Diptakirti Chaudhuri, I will hopefully reciprocate this acknowledgement one day.

Thank You Diptakirti Chaudhuri :) You are a gentleman and a friend I will treasure always.

Now back to the book content, being written by a friend I obviously have not rated the book, but any self-confessed bollywood fan MUST own this one. The book is constructed like a mosaic of trivia and that adds to the discovery and journey. What makes this book unique is it does not get caught in the clichéd lists and I must say the books gets better post intermission.

The second half has more commentary, the authors point of views on lists which are very hilarious and these make second half better.

Not Rated

Brajesh's Review : The Boss is Not your Friend

Everything and everyone is bad & evil in the corporate world. That's the basic premise of this book. Difficult to sustain an entire book on such negativity and author realises this quickly to add some humour. Still he can't get over the continuous negative overtone and the book turns into a drag. Avoidable reading.

Rating : 2.5 / 5

Kim's Review: It Can't Be You - A Spiral of Vengeance

Prem Rao is an Alumnus from my college - XLRI. After 36 years as a Management Professional, he entered the NaNoWriMo and 'It Can't be You' is the first fruit of that challenge.

Retired Colonel Belliappa is found dead in his room in his Roseneath Estate on 23 December 2000. His second wife - Elena (a German who is also his partner in his successful armaments firm), his daughter Shefali (a successful professional and impressive shot, with a questionable boyfriend whom she wants to marry) and his son Pritam (a creative type like his mother, hooked on drugs) are in the house befcause the Colonel wanted them there for Christmas and New Years. Bahadur who saved his life during the war and attached himself to the Colonel forever after is the only other person on the premises, or was there anyone else?

The story is told via 4 first person accounts: the Colonel, Elena, Shefali & Pritam. It would have been interesting to also hear the whole story of the Colonel's first wife, mother of his children - Dinaz Dastoor in her own voice. So while we can piece together her story from the other accounts, how much of it is clouded by jealousy, childlike innocence or post-demise deification?

Is the Colonel a psychopath? Is he a traitor to his country - selling sensitive information to his armaments clients? Are his wives unfaithful? Does he know? Were his tactics for stemming terrorism the answer to our current cross border problems?

So many questions, some of them are answered and some answers are only hinted at.

It was quite a good read. I finished it in 2 sittings. There is obviously a lot of research into Indian military history that has gone into this book. Most of these wars were before my time and while I was aware of bits and pieces, the flow in the book was logical and linear and hence a condensed history lesson too.

This book is on quite a few bestsellers lists and its a quick easy read. The ending was unexpected, but not improbable.

Rating: 3/5

Brajesh's Review: Doosra - A Tale Of Cricket, Crime And Controversy

Quick, Fast, Fully Filmy Masala. Clashing worlds of World Cup Victory, Match Fixing, PR Consultants, Media Tycoons &Channel Wars.

Rating: Not Rated as it's written by a friend - Jeeves Rajendra XLRI 97

Brajesh's Review: Cricket! All you Wanted to Know about the World Cup

Written by a dear friend from XLRI whom I have always admired for his perspective on films and a great sense of humor. While the book was for kids, I read it in one sitting and found many a great story I had no clue about.



Cricket! All You Wanted to Know About the World Cup