The Secret : The Sacred & Not So Sacred

The Secret By Rhonda Byrne

Price: Rs 251/-

Of all the words that exist I believe the word "Secret" is most "beckoning". The moment one sees it somewhere or hears it...he/she is instantly pulled into it. It's human to have an unrestrained desire to know information that have been kept hidden. Every living or non-living soul in the world has some or the other secret and each of them  feels an abstruse desire to know other's secret without revealing their own.


But then there are some greatest of them ....well..that's what they seem to profess ...who are way too brave, bold and daring that they go onto reveal their secrets( I wonder if they truly mean when they call it Secret...) not only to just few closed ones but to the whole world. And the best way to do so is through the medium of entertainment....such as Film, TV show, Newspaper....and of course Books.


Last month...I picked Rhonda Byrne's The Secret given to my so called human desire to know all secrets in the world. One night I even dreamed myself as the President of United States and hence in the power to know every Secret in the world...courtesy Hollywood's National Treasure : Book of Secrets.


Now the Book....
Some  Good Points....


1. The hardcover looks great
2. Pages are all glossy and feel aberrant in my hands
3. Every chapter starts with a picture of an Alpenliebe candy
4. And the teaser given at the back...Huh..!!
5. And talks mostly and only about "Law of Attraction"




One and the only Bad Point:
It's bore to the core.


If I say I hated it...would be too much but then I can't help say that It's boring.
The book is heavily focused on wealth and creating abundance through law of attraction. "The Secret" is a self-help book which tries to convince the reader to be happy now, and to think happy thoughts all the time in order to attain any goal in life. I agree with positive thinking but not to the extend that this book explained its magic and power.


It is really only the power of positive thinking, which, I agree is very influential in our lives. This book is a bunch of quotes from "experts" of this theory. Some of it are good, helpful or insightful, but when Rhonda Byrne says that she learned everything that there is to know about quantum physics because she just felt like learning about it and believed that she could learn it, and how she doesn't exercise or eat healthy but still weighs 110 pounds simply by thinking herself thin, I want to vomit. I couldn't take it.


Needless to say that there are people who have loved and praised it but then they seriously need some help..not the self-help ones.
I'll ask you not to buy the book as its pdf is easily available.


My Ratings : * *


It also said that if one thinks too much about something...he/she would positively have it through Law of Attraction. 
Next instant...
I think...I'll meet Katrina Kaif and she'll fall in love with me and eventually marry me. I kept on thinking it throughout the day...but ...what...?
Like you don't know...huh..!!






The Sacred Secret by Ravi Kapur
Price: Rs 250/-

About this Book:

This book tells about the seven wonders of the world and the spiritual secrets behind them.

Someone dies...leaves a letter behind asking his descendants to go look for seven wonders of the world and seven most influential personalities in the history and find about their secrets and power.

This is a well told story and interesting too for its different plot. Though at times you feel you should just leave it aside and get on with something more interesting but, mind you, it takes its pace gradually.

I liked it but not much given to few boring chapters and hence would give it not more than three stars.

My Ratings: * * *

Some more Books and their Reviews

Here's a quick glance over a list of some of the books that I've finished reading and a short review for all those who might be interested.



1. Six Suspects by Vikas Swarup

It's Vikas's second book after Q & A. Like you all know that "slumdog millionaire" is an  adaptation of the novel Q & A  by Indian author and diplomat  Vikas Swarup and won many oscars for reasons unknown to me.


But I'm sure Six Suspects  wouldn't get anywhere near to it. But if well made by a Bollywood director except for Ram Gopal Verma...it is sure to win, at the very least, some zee cine award...or something like that.


Now as for the plot...the book tells us a story about Vicky Rai, the corrupt son of a corrupt politician, who kills a young woman in a fit of rage.  Despite the presence of several witnesses during the murder, Vicky is acquitted by the Indian judicial system which is not a rarity in our country. When Vicky is shot dead at a party (now that is extremely rare for it to happen here in our country) celebrating the verdict, six suspects emerge: a Bollywood actress, a tribal, a petty thief, an American visitor, a bureaucrat and a politician. Each has a motive, each has a gun, and each one's life is filled with coincidence.


Vikas Swarup is good but not at his very best...that's how I felt. Though..the book is readable and sometimes doesn't fail to amuse you but what struck me hard is the way Vikas Swarup smartly and brilliantly encompasses modern India's many issues in four hundred seventy pages. Terrorism, poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, and endemic institutional corruption and lots more. Well...that's obvious as it comes from the position he holds for Indian Govt.


If you want to have a good time pass....and wanna watch an indian bollywood movie through a book...then this a book for you.

My Ratings are :  * * * and half




2. Afterwards by Jaishree Misra 



Jaishree Misra is one of my favorite author for the way she weaves complex emotions into the plot of her books with an ease that they straight away seep through your heart.


Well  this book tells us a story, set in the backdrop of Kerala and London, of a failed marriage....love of a man for another man's wife....their burgeoning relationship followed by, in the end, loss of lives  and the flood of excruciating emotions that one goes through "Afterwards".


My Ratings are : * * *

Book Review: Twilight Series

Twilight Series

Author: Stephenie Meyer

Price: Rs 1400

Connaught place isn't far from my place in NOIDA. It's about 30-45 mins distant. So once in a week one can easily spot me  strolling down its wide yet crowded pathways with some or the other friends of mine. So, like so many times, One day I went out again with a close friend of mine who happens to be an avid reader but not as serious as me.

We were simply taking a walk down the pathways in a brightly lit CP taking in its exquisite and unparalleled beauty when all of a sudden it dawned upon me that my dear friend wasn't walking beside me anymore. I looked around and found her nowhere in the crowd. 

It's only then you realize power of your mind when thousands of sick thoughts cross  through it in a fraction of seconds. It was only a moment before I could feel  my muscles go stiff with fear and anxiety that I happen to look down and there I found her, to my relief, bend  on her knees looking down over a set of books available for sale by the roadside stall. Well, these roadside book stalls are quite a common thing to spot around CP and mind you they  offer original as well as the pirated copy at reasonable prices.

Once I found her with anxiety throbbing through my veins, I realized she's as much a serious reader as I am and seeing the same level of love toward books as I have in my heart,my tension,anger and fear...all subsided.

I walked up and knelt down just beside her. To my surprise, I found her eyes wide with a look of horror into them....I wondered and looked in the direction of her gaze and found a set of four books in her hand. Only then did I realize it's not horror rather boundless love for a things called "Books" and found myself a lot more behind her in terms reading and love for books.

Having seen me kneeling beside her,  she passes the books in my hand and goes on to explain me in detail about the book ,which was then  followed by  hundreds of "wow!" and some strange sounds with her eyes glinting sharp over the books in my hand.

It was then she introduced me to Stephenie Meyer and her four books with three of her books sequel to one another in sequence.

Her first book : "Twilight" which was soon followed by a sequel "New Moon"...which led to another sequel "Eclipse" to be followed by the last book in series "Breaking Dawn".  That was more than enough to convince me of writer's immense talent and power of imagination.

I wondered at the calibre and ability of writer to write 4 books one after the other..bound around the same story and all of them being the bestseller. Well that's quite obvious for she wouldn't have come up with the next book had her previous book been a disaster. I didn't   buy the book then as I was short of money then and had already bought books for the week.

After that It started to feel quite usual to go through same experience everytime I went out with a female friend and finally after having seen so much of drama and madness, I eventually buy the whole set.

I start with the first book and finish it in just 3 days....

I start with the second book and finish it in 3 days...and now I'm reading the    third one...it's incredibly great so far.

Let me give you a glimpse of its storyline first....

The whole series is a love story with loads of twists and turns.

 Twilight is told by 17-year-old Bella Swan who is character so accurate and well described that you'll find yourself falling in love with her as you turn page after page.

And it's not just Bella...there are other characters which, I bet, would steal your heart  away with their beautiful and apt description.

It's a story about Bella swan who happens to fall in love with Edward Cullen who possess an other-worldly and irresistible beauty and grace to which Bella is drawn.

Twilight is the tale of Bella and Edward's burgeoning relationship, brimming with standard teenage drama alongside the unexpected, because, after all, Edward and his family are vampires. These immortal friends have chosen to deny their urge to drink human blood, instead slaking their thirst with the blood of animals. Bella soon finds out, however, that not all vampires in her life are constrained by such scruples.

Mind you its a triangular love story which you'll find only when you come to second book.

Twilight is an easy and enjoyable read. When reading Twilight one really connects with the characters and their emotions, regardless how much of a macho man you claim to be. Its first-person viewpoint keeps the the pages turning. This isn't a masterpiece of literary achievement, however. You have to take it for what it is –- a unique and entertaining, if not flawlessly written, story. 

Twilight will almost certainly appeal to teenage girls and many women of all ages, but probably not to the majority of males not at the very least by same level.

In a nutshell....It's a book for everyone and must for every girl. Its romantic theme, gripping plot with simple writing style would make you fall in love with it and keep you hooked  for very long.

Though I'm still reading the third in series but I don't doubt giving it all 5 out of 5. 

A perfect book for every reader...!!

In the end there's something else I wanna tell you all.....

I have a friend who I keep telling to read books and even gave her few but she never read them. She never took any interest in reading. It was one day after I finished Twilight that I asked her again to read ...if not the whole book but at the very least 2-3 chapters of it. 

After loads of prodding...she, eventually, gave in and started with the book...

And this is what she texted me after a week.....

"I'm sorry Raj...I know..I'm bugging you a lot with this twilight thing but I can't help. Twilight is making me completely mad....I even saw the movie after I read the book...wow..!!

I'm not able to think beyond it....i'll soon be buying the whole lot very soon...all four.

Thank you so much for giving me this. I'm not able to concentrate on anything...All I think of Edward and Bella...sometimes...I re-read it and it's not only me who's smitten....there are a whole lot of them back in college who are as mad as i am.

I know...M sounding all weird but then that's how it is..:)"

I smile in response...!!! 

Books and Life

I know it's been really long since i have come up with any post of late...but now things wouldn't be the same anymore. I'm back to my world with loads of things up on mind and will soon be putting them up on this part of cosmos too. Until now..I was too occupied with more important things in my life...things that had to be done before I could start with less important things but now when I'm over with those...I'm all set to entertain and amuse you all with my posts.

While I was busy doing my daily chores there was one thing that never left my side...not even for a second. It's the only thing I need to survive alone apart from basic necessities of life.

They were none other than my "books". In the last few days I got to read some amazing books...some bestsellers..some classics...some "chicklits" too and I'm still on my way to read even more.

I'll be putting detailed reviews of them all on my blog very soon but for now i'll just let you know the books that you can buy and enjoy and the ones you should stay away from.

I'll be putting Book Reviews including their details and everything....Bestseller list for the month....Books you must read and have and books that you should avoid.

Anyway...These are some of the books that I've been reading in last few months and here's a quick view of their details and  ratings in case you're in too much of hurry to buy and can't wait to have their complete and honest review by me.

1. Twilight Series           

Author: Stephenie Meyer

a)Twilight

Rating : *****

Price: Rs 280

Paperback: 464 pages

Subjects: fantasy, love, teens & young adult

ISBN: 9781904233657

Publisher: Little Brown

Published: February 2007

b)New Moon

Rating: *****

Price: Rs 260

Paperback: 608 pages
Subjects: fiction, horror, love, paranormal, romance

ISBN: 9781904233886

Publisher: Little Brown

Published: September 2007

c) Eclipse

Rating: *****

Price: Rs 300

Paperback: 558 pages
Subjects: fiction, love, romance, science fiction, vampires

ISBN: 9781904233916

Publisher: Atom Books

Published: 2008

d) Breaking Dawn

Rating: ***** 

Price: Rs 450

Paperback: 640 pages
Subjects: fantasy, fiction, love, romance, vampires

ISBN: 1905654291

Publisher: Hachette

Published: August 2008

2. Faking It 

Author: Amrita Chowdhury

Rating: ***

Price: Rs 225
Paperback: 225 pages
ISBN:    8190617321
Publisher: Hachette

Published: June 2009

3. Sister of My Heart

Author: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Rating : ****

Price: Rs 310

4. The Secret - Hardcover

by Rhonda Byrne

Rating: ***

Price: Rs 533
Hardcover: 198 pages

Subjects: non-fiction, psychology, self help

ISBN: 9781847370297

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Published: November 2006

5. Keep Off The Grass By Karan Bajaj

Rating: * * *




6. Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini

Rating : * * *

7. Lashkar by Mukul Deva

Rating: * *

These are just some of the books and there are many more. I'll soon be putting up their reviews too.

Have fun..!!

Guest Blogger Special - Dream Merchant

This is a beautiful composition so I thought I would share it. I fell in love with it when I read it. I am not sure of the author to acknowledge, yet kudos to him as he laces words beautifully to create a fairytale.

*******************

She dreams of her knight and longs for companionship. As her thought shapes into an expression, the words sway like this..


“In this world full of hurt and pain,
I need someone who would help me through the rain.
To comfort me when Im sad,
Doing everything just to make me glad.

In this world I need a Brave Knight,
Who would never give up any fight.
A knight who would dry away my tears,
Telling me to overcome my fears.

A knight who loves me for who I am inside,
With him there’s nothing more I need to hide.
A person who will still be standing strong,
Even though everything has gone wrong.

I need someone who is willing to give me more,
Someone I can call my Knight In Shining Armor”


And the Knight muses on and fills all his love to pen his promises which flow this way..


“Love is a many splendored thing, they say,
And I believed it when you looked my way,
Out of the blue, things seemed to happen
By chance or destiny, is the question.

Living my life so long, without knowing your existence,
Then came a day we felt each others presence,
Guess what’s meant to be will always find a way,
Love creeps into hearts and decides to stay.

A love so exquisite, yet so intricate,
In a world of only “you and I”
A love we can’t even demonstrate,
A secret we have to keep for life.

I love you, honey, and it’s from the bottom of my heart,
I would wait for the day when you say “I Love you” back,
You make me fly without wings,
You make my heart wants to sing.

Every moment I spent with you,
Is every one of my dreams coming true,
More than words, I want to show you how I feel,
Someday, some place, sometime, I will.

Love is a journey for two,
Step by step, me and you,
The future we can’t see,
Let love lead the way for you and me.”


Their dreams connected and as the fate choose to unite them under the blessings of heaven. And then they lived happily ever after...

**********************************************

There are times when life plays the dream merchant. There is a thin line between truth and fantasy. How much ever we wish we want our wildest dream to be true, life will have different plans.. The best way to brave it is to greet the situation with a big smile and savor moment by moment with no expectations..

Love Story..!!

I came across this beautiful, short and sad love story and thought would share with you all. I was deeply touched by it and hope the same for you too.
Enjoy..!!
10th grade

As I sat there in English class, I stared at the girl next to me. She was my so called "best friend". I stared at her long, silky hair, and wished she was mine. But she didn't notice me like that, and I knew it. After class, she walked up to me and asked me for the notes she had missed the day before and handed them to her. She said "thanks" and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I wanted to tell her, I want her to know that I don't want to be just friends, I love her but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why.

11th grade
The phone rang. On the other end, it was her. She was in tears, mumbling on and on about how her love had broke her heart. She asked me to come over because she didn't want to be alone, so I did. As I sat next to her on the sofa, I stared at her soft eyes, wishing she was mine. After 2 hours, one Drew Barrymore movie, and three bags of chips, she decided to go to sleep. She looked at me, said "thanks" and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I want to tell her, I want her to know that I don't want to be just friends, I love her but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why.

Senior year
The day before prom she walked to my locker. My date is sick" she said; he's not going to go well, I didn't have a date, and in 7th grade, we made a promise that if neither of us had dates, we would go together just as "best friends". So we did. Prom night, after everything was over, I was standing at her front door step. I stared at her as she smiled at me and stared at me with her crystal eyes. I want her to be mine, but she isn't think of me like that, and I know it. Then she said "I had the best time, thanks!" and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I want to tell her, I want her to know that I don't want to be just friends, I love her but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why.

Graduation Day
A day passed, then a week, then a month. Before I could blink, it was graduation day. I watched as her perfect body floated like an angel up on stage to get her diploma. I wanted her to be mine, but she didn't notice me like that, and I knew it. Before everyone went home, she came to me in her smock and hat, and cried as I hugged her. Then she lifted her head from my shoulder and said, "you're my best friend, thanks" and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I want to tell her, I want her to know that I don't want to be just friends, I love her but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why.

A Few Years Later
Now I sit in the pews of the church. That girl is getting married now. I watched her say "I do" and drive off to her new life, married to another man. I wanted her to be mine, but she didn't see me like that, and I knew it. But before she drove away, she came to me and said "you came!". She said "thanks" and kissed me on the cheek. I want to tell her, I want her to know that I don't want to be just friends, I love her but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why.


Funeral
Years passed, I looked down at the coffin of a girl who used to be my "best friend". At the service, they read a diary entry she had wrote in her high school years. This is what it read: I stare at him wishing he was mine, but he doesn't notice me like that, and I know it. I want to tell him, I want him to know that I don't want to be just friends, I love him but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why. I wish he would tell me he loved me! `I wish I did too...` I thought to my self, and I cried.

My Fav Pic(k)

Ever wondered what's an idle life? For me here it is. I wish I could too sit, as shown in pic above,beneath a tree as green and dense as that,holding a book in my hand,sitting by a beautiful calm lake surrounded by beautiful,grand and breathtaking view all around me,far away from hustle-bustle of big cities. All I wish is this and nothing else in life.
May my wish be granted my lord..!!