Book Review : Milan

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From the author of The Accidental Wife, Simi K. Rao!
When a daughter turns marriageable age, what should a responsible father do?

Easy–wed her to the most suitable boy who comes knocking on their door.

Jai Bharadwaj, Mili’s father and owner of The Serenity Tea Estate in the idyllic Nilgiris would’ve probably liked to do the same, but being who he was, he had to ask her first.

But what would Mili say?

Review:

Indian weddings are like chocolate, you can’t get enough of them. But then, they need to be sold in really good wrappers for you to even consider them. Milan being ‘A Wedding Story’, had expectations raised to give us a good peek at a grand Indian wedding. The author is already writing a series on Arranged Marriage and this novella is probably an offspring of the same.

Firstly, the cover is gorgeous. It kind of glowed on my reading device and looked dazzling, much like an Indian wedding. The book started with a lot of promise giving the readers a glimpse of beautiful Connoor and into Mili’s life. Mili is an aspiring musician who wants to make something big out of her life. Just then, comes a marriage proposal from someone she considered a dork in school. He’s Ahaan and her parents as well the entire town is enthralled by him.

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Book Review : The Accidental Wife

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From the author of Inconvenient Relations Simi K Rao! If you enjoyed Inconvenient Relations, you’ll love The Accidental Wife, a new contemporary romance from Simi K. Rao. Some accidents are meant to happen… Dr. Rihaan Mehta is a brilliant young neurosurgeon who has no inclination for love or marriage. According to him wives and girlfriends are annoying accessories that one can do without. But when his mother dangles the sword over his head in classic Bollywood style, he succumbs, and sets out in search of a bride who would fit his ‘requirements’. But can Rihaan deal with what he gets instead? Scroll up to buy The Accidental Wife now to experience this contemporary romance with a multicultural twist.

Review:

Snow in New York, some love and hate romance, an intelligent Indian couple and a twist in the story. If you’re familiar with or like any of these, you’ll like the book too. Simi K. Rao seems to weave her novels effortlessly, if you follow her books closely. I’ve read her earlier one, and liked it much, which made me pick up this one with much anticipation.

Simi chooses her characters carefully – while Rihaan is a typical New Yorker, Naina is our strong urban feisty lady. When they meet, sparks fly and they fly to New York together after a series of incidents and mishaps. They are married accidentally but what transpires between them is beyond explanation. They debate whether it’s really love or only biology, as per Rihaan, the neurosurgeon. Naina has a past, is a teacher and clicks photos to bring about a change. Continue reading →

Book Review : An Incurable Insanity

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Her heart fluttered when she heard the sound of the key turn in the lock. She quickly adjusted her maroon silk sari with the yellow border, the one that had caught his eye, and waited eagerly for his footsteps. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven… Yes, exactly seven steps before he stopped, hesitated for a few moments, then removed his shoes one by one and arranged them neatly side by side on the shoe rack. She smiled. He had been mindful of taking his shoes off every day now. “I am not used to it, but I will if you want me to. It’s probably a good thing to do anyway.” As he settled down, he would pick up the TV remote and, without looking at her, would say in his smooth baritone, “So how did you spend your day, anything interesting?” Shaan Ahuja found himself bowing to tradition and agreeing to an arranged marriage to the beautiful Ruhi Sharma. He went through the motions but had no intention of carrying through on his vows. His last foray into matters of the heart with an American girl had left him scarred and unwilling to try again. Thoroughly disillusioned and disgruntled he wasted no time in making his intentions clear to Ruhi on their wedding night. But, he was completely unprepared for what his new wife had in mind.

Review:

Just when I had thought I had enough of Romance novels in 2013, another one came to me as the first book to be reviewed in 2014. I don’t know if it is coincidence or serendipity that the more I wanted to run away from Romance genre, it keeps coming back to me to usher the new year together. I’m not sure which genre the others have put this book into, but when I read it to the entirety, I would definitely term is as a Romance novel.

Author Simi K. Rao had me into a little surprise when her first chapter introduced the protagonists as Punajbis. Now, I’m strictly not a racist/provincial here, but being a writer myself, I know that most authors stick to their comfort zone in their debut books. Simi has managed to inculcate the perfect Punjabi flavour to her protagonists. The story is a racy, passionate, fierce, often violent, and completely on-the-edge romance. It is that kind of romance which most people are afraid of since its a little too much to handle.

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CalcuttaScape : Simi K. Rao

Presenting a new section to the readers : CalcuttaScape. It would be a guest column on One and a Half Minutes, in which published authors will write about their experiences on visits to Calcutta. I will be approaching non-resident authors who have visited for a vacation or stayed in Calcutta for a short while.

I know, dear readers, the first question cropping in your mind would be, why Calcutta? I’m not sure if I have a satisfactory answer for this one. It is my city, at times it has been my muse, it has been a companion in my early adult years, it has been a witness to a major part of my life. This is probably my way of paying a tribute to Calcutta, by bringing to you words flown from famous authors, on a city that never ceases to amaze.

The fourth article in this column is from Simi K. Rao, the author of ‘An Incurable Insanity.’

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Calcutta For The Soul

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It’s said that memories fade with time which is probably a good thing or some of us would find it impossible to go on. But there are certain reminisces that cannot afford to be forgotten. They are like precious keepsakes that need to be extracted from the dusty realms of time. They have to be caressed and fondled with affection; reinforced and perhaps refurbished before being tucked away securely again.

One such precious memory that I’ve guarded fiercely is that of my trip to Calcutta. Over the years it has been revisited a million times; edited and imbued with subtle nuances so to add color and character.

I was perhaps ten, twelve or thereabouts (my mother stresses on the later and she is probably right because I’m pathetically poor with specifics.) The trip would never have come about hadn’t it been for my father, who after one of his numerous travels brought back an exquisite Bengali handloom cotton striped sari of olive green and cream. It became my favorite. My mother looked lovely in it. He also spoke of a land rich in culture that had produced the likes of Rabindranath Tagore, Vivekananda, Satyajit Ray and of course the indomitable Kishore Da. Therefore armed with miniscule amount of education and barely suppressed curiosity, I embarked on my sole journey to the east, with my tiny family in tow.

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