Book Review – Of Dreams

Now this is the 1st book for which I was asked to write a review. Obviously it wasn’t a paid one before you start thinking I am being paid to write good things . But instead I got this opportunity because my couple of book reviews till date seem to have been liked by some people around. Anyways let’s get to the point.

‘Of Dreams’ is the first attempt at writing by Aditi Talwar Sodhi whose different from our regular out of college writers in the sense that she is an MBA professional with pretty good experience in the advertising industry. When you read the synopsis you realize that the book is about three girls and their dreams and what happens within. 3 girls? Now that’s something different than the regular boy-girl love sagas or gang of boys stories floating around in the Indian market.

Can Entrepreneurship really be taught at B – Schools?

Entrepreneurship has been the most abused word around according to me. Each and everyone seemingly want to start their own venture. Each and everyone think making business plans is as easy as writing a mail. Each and everyone think that getting the funds for the same will be pretty easy. Each and everyone want to be his / her own boss.

Short Story 2 – Everything happens for a reason!

“Do we have a future together? Don’t you think that the distance between us would make things really difficult?”

She looked at me with nervousness and bloodshot eyes. Eyes that seemed to say a thousand words; eyes which had dark circles around them from days of staying awake talking at nights; eyes in which I had seen the kid in her jumping and smiling over the last two years.

“We will be together Anahita. It’s just a matter of a couple of years before we can tell our parents. Rather than worrying about destiny, we would write it ourselves.”

Seeing the confidence I had in us, she snuggled into me as she had always done over the time we had started seeing each other. It was an indication that she felt secured and protected and I loved that. Sitting together in her ‘Mary’ (her affectionate name for Maruti 800), both of us were lost in the memories of the past.

Meetup with Ahmed Faiyaz – Writer of Love, Life and All that Jazz & SIBM Pune alumnus!

Ahmed Faiyaz is at the far left. This pic is from one of the earlier book launches and not of the event which I attended

For the uninitiated Ahmed Faiyaz is the writer of Love, Life and All that Jazz, a fairly recent novel about 6 friends and how their lives change after college. I had reviewed this book in one of my earlier blog posts (http://bit.ly/9LvqlS). It is a really easy and sweet read about friends and the best part about it is the fact that it doesn’t include any of the usual sex, intimacy and things like that.

I must admit that I did pick his book because he is an alumnus of SIBM Pune. The fact that someone after doing CA and MBA would get into writing excited me a lot. And I myself being an avid blogger, twitter addict and aspiring novelist, I was really interested to meet him. So when the opportunity came along, I grabbed it with both hands. A week back he sent me a direct message on Twitter asking to attend a discussion on the book at Landmark, SGS Mall, Pune on 23rd July if possible.

Finally I did reach the venue on time. Interestingly, that was the first time I had been to Landmark in Pune . All the panelists in the discussion were personalities in their own way; Deepak D who became a children author at a pretty old age because he didn’t have his heart in his job, Abhijit who was in the same batch as Ahmed and followed his dream of becoming a musician, Sahil who has become an entrepreneur at the age of 21 itself with a restaurant called Yolkshire in Pune and being a part of Tossed Salad – Pune’s Lifestyle Portal and Ahmed itself.

The discussion started off with a few songs by Abhijit. Then it moved on to discussing Ahmed’s book. Things like how he came up with the idea of the book, about following one’s dreams, the biggest difficulty for a writer, which character he associates himself with etc were thrown at him by the different panelists and the small audience. Ahmed answered all the questions in a very affable and friendly manner which was the first thing I noticed about him when I met him. His way of communicating with the audience was as simple as his book.

On being asked as to how did get time to write a book despite having a very taxing Consulting Job with Dubai Health Authority (DHA), he replied that he used to take out nights and even weekends to write. That factor shows the determination in him to follow his dreams. He could as well have been happy with the amount he would be earning with DHA. Truthfully speaking I was surprised hearing his decision to get into writing full time. But I am sure he must have thought over it for a long long time before deciding it because it surely isn’t easy to leave a high paying job for something you don’t know whether it will succeed or not. One more thing I liked about him was the fact that he agreed to say that he relates to the main character of the book, Sameer. I doubt if many writers really tend to accept that. Instead they end up saying that it’s “A true story”. Now who really knows what’s true and what’s false?

All in all it was pleasing to talk to such a person. In India, it’s one thing to be allowed to follow your dreams and it’s another to really follow despite being allowed to follow. Whatever may be the end result of his books, Ahmed Faiyaz has aimed to be different and I surely believe he will create a legacy wherever he goes. It was awesome meeting you yaar.

Maan I really do look up to you especially for 2 reasons -

1. You are from SIBM Pune
2. Despite everything you followed your dreams of writing.

The best part of the evening!!! – As we were leaving, I asked him about when his next book is coming up. Instead he asked me, when’s my book releasing.

Monsoon at SIBM Pune Lavale Campus!

The clouds have come down the hills,

The wind is hustling the leaves and making one feel really cold,

The visibility has dropped to less than 100m,

The whole campus seems so beautifully misty and foggy,

The paths leading to the college campus are gleaming with pure (yes it feels so at least ) water from the sky,

The window in the classroom never felt a better place to sit near than now,

The umbrellas and raincoats have come out in full force,

The beauty of small waterfalls formed on the hills nearby is not to be missed,

The area around never looked as green as now with each leaf of a plant gleaming with droplets of water,

Yes GUYS!!!!

This is the monsoon at SIBM Pune, Lavale Campus – Can surely give Lonavla, Mahabaleshwar or Khandala a run for their money!!!!

Book review – Dork

Dork is the story of Robin Verghese (Were Geese) or “Einstein” who passes out of WIMWI (Well Known Institute of Management in Western India – IIM A) to get a job in Dufresene Partners. It’s written by Sidin Vadukut. First things first, Thankfully its not the usual boy+girl+other hot girls+thinking of sex etc etc etc kind of novel which youngsters nowadays have come about to write. It is a journey of this Malayali guy into the corporate world and then to stardom.

The book is really amazingly written. Its witty and funny throughout with not a dull dialogue in between. The fact that its someone’s diary entry makes it even more compelling. The first part about the placement where Robin wants to get into Goldman Sachs and a day zero job is so real life which anyone of us MBAs can easily associate with.

His mottoes like not making friends with people from the same state, keep the code of ethics of Dufresene and some others are really awesome. The way he handles his clients problems maybe a bit melodramatic or filmy but its nicely put. Some may say that the life of consulting firms has not been exactly shown or maybe a bit changed like for eg: how he fools the boss about putting a statue for the dog, but then guys its a novel and really good at that.

I am sure people would say that the end is filmy but its apt and very nicely done. All in all an enjoyable and compelling read for the youth of today. Awesome stuff! Way to go Sidin!! I am sure its gonna be a treat to read your future books..

AND YEAH ITS GREAT TO SEE SOMEONE NOT TRYING TO COPY CHETAN BHAGAT FINALLY!!!!

Rating – 4.5/5