Book Review of The Hunt for Kohinoor

The Hunt for Kohinoor

In the book, The Hunt for Kohinoor, Mehrunisa undertakes a nerve gruelling task on which, her father and Nation’s future is at stake. Mehrunisa knowledge on the Mughal History and in the Renaissance studies and being a natural linguistic, fluent in six languages makes herself the prefect bet to find his missing father and is lured up by RAW to save her country and in turn his father the “Snow Leopard”.

“Do you know there has never been a verified unprompted leopard attack on a human being? The only time the cat might become aggressive is if its cubs are threatened or it is” is the quote that I liked the most.

My Review

The story started on a lower note and after a few pages it caught up the pace with the fast changing situations and is an must page turner. There are many revelations about the history of India and Pakistan, which is quite fascinating. The plot is well placed and the story takes a quite interesting note when Mehrunisa’s father comes into action, the Snow Leopard. Raghav, Mehrunisa and R. P. Singh love triangle was brought action but was abruptly ended as the story progressed. Let us wait for the next book “The Peacock Throne Prophesy” to find out whom Mehrunisa chooses.

                                                Long story short The Hunt for Kohinoor establishes Mehrunisa as India’s lady spy who can decipher the past with her skill that she had gained being the daughter of RAW agent, and it shows her character of putting her country in the first place rather than anything else like her father. And the story reveals the extent and the limits she jumps over to protect her country and her father.

A must buy for anyone who has interest on the history of India and Pakistan mostly and who has the taste for adventure.

My review is done on request of “Varsha Venugopal” for Westland Ltd. I am indeed very thankful to Varsha for considering me to review the book “The Hunt for Kohinoor”, by Manreet Sodhi Someshwar.

About the author

An award-winning writer (Commonwealth Broadcasting Association), and copywriter (Creative Abbey), Manreet Sodhi Someshwar is a popular blogger as well. Her skilful writing and story-telling has caught the attention of critics, with Khuswant Singh calling her a “literary star on the horizon.” Visit her online at www.manreetsodhisomeshwar.com and the-long-walk-home.blogspot.com, via facebook at www.facebook.com/ManreetSodhiSomeshwar, via twitter @manreetss.

And you can see the official book trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9dbLjD8sIY

An Incurable Insanity

an Incurable Insanity

Book review

Book Blurb:

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. 

My Review

“Admit it boy, the harder you try the worse it gets. Love is indeed limitless.”

 “An Incurable Insanity” by Mrs Rao, depicts the life of an Indian girl who has arranged marriage and the values she has to uphold after the marriage. It’s a typical Indian love story and has its way of emotions and feelings as is India known by for the love it has for its loved ones.

The story introduces two lead characters Mr Shaan Ahuja (Mr. Grey) and Mrs Ruhi Sharma(Mrs Bee) and their married life. Things turned upside down for Ruhi when she confronts to the truth of Shaan, to which she responds.

She laughed. “That’s easy for you to say. You are a man! But

in this society, a woman rejected after marriage is like a pariah.

All the men who at one time used to flock around me would not

even consider looking at me again.” Smiling wryly, she continued,

“Besides, what about my parents, their dreams? What about all

that my father had to go through to get the best possible match

for his only daughter?”

Shaan closed his eyes…He hadn’t realized, but things were

much more complicated than he had imagined.

The story has all the mixed and raw emotions of a girl after being rejected quite surprisingly after her marriage. The emotions of love anger, anxiety, the longing for each other and the consequences they have to face, unfolds as the story moves from its first page to the last.

The subconscious mind thoughts in the story, that wouldn’t have been said instead, are first of its kind. The language is simple and it touches the Indian style of expressing one’s feelings and love.

Lastly I would say go ahead and grab a copy and a definitely a book for romantic book lovers.

About the Author:

Simi K. Rao was born in India and has been living in the United States for several years. Her contemporary romance novel An Incurable Insanity, published by Tate Publishing, was released on October 8, 2013. An Incurable Insanity is her first foray into writing. The inspiration for the story came from what she has seen transpire among and within the immigrant community. Some of the experiences included are her own; some have been garnered from friends and casual conversations with acquaintances. She also writes poetry, is an avid photographer, loves to travel, and is a practicing physician. She currently lives in Denver with her family.

My favourite season

The serene sunrise in the eastern horizon on a sunny day is just the treat for everyone’s eyes. It is brightest in the summer season and continues to grow as the month of May progresses.

                                                But on the 31^st of May the sun was amazed that it wasn’t the brightest star in the sky, for an even brighter and more glamorous star had taken birth on earth and the adorable smile of the baby boy, made the sun to soften its rays. It didn’t want to outshine the beauty of the baby boy.

                                                The summer season had just begun and, it brought the first fruit of the year with it. The birth of the baby boy was its first fruit of the year as the Mangoes are the king of all fruits; the baby boy was the king of the season, and the summer acknowledged it. Being a holiday it allowed everyone of the relatives to bless him and wish for his long life. The tiny eyes couldn’t decipher the world change around him that had gone crazy seeing him play with his tiny little fingers and hands.

                                                A hundred hands came to console him, if a tear dropped from the baby boy’s eyes. They just couldn’t let him cry for he was the star of the year. The butterflies, flowers, water in the pond and the fishes in it, made him even happier. The orchards of mango trees, blackberries, coconut trees, the palm fruit and the garden of flowers of every colour and shape amused the baby boy. He was in love with the season of summer.

                                                The scorching sun dried up everything in its way, the ponds, and rivers, each waiting for the rains to quench their thirst.

The thunder and the lightning gave a strong message to the rivers and the thirsty trees and flowers of the arrival of the rainy season.

The dust laden trees shook off the dirt and the flowers and trees quenched their thirst with the water poured from the clouds. The first rain drops gave a sweet smell of the soil. The farmers of the country side have waited long enough for the rains, and were ready to plant the paddy.

                   The baby is now two months old and the advent of the rains gave him a chance to enhance his curiosity of what the new season has brought for him with it. On finding no one to disturb him he put his hands out of the window to the pouring rain drops and found it fun playing with the water that fell on his cheeks and it ran down his face. His mother came running to the room, hearing his weird fun-making sounds. The thunder and the lightening frighten him and at the very moment amaze him also. Frightened, he runs to his mom and holds her tightly, closing his eyes. And after the lightning had gone he laughs almost simultaneously with the thunder.

                   The rain continues to pour for the next two months playing hide and seek with the sun.

                                                Now three months later the baby boy has stopped crawling and his curiosity leads him to learn a new skill of walking. It’s really fun walking with everyone encouraging him to walk and finds himself running to their arms. The first steps of the child give a feeling of intense happiness to his parents and instil new hope in their hearts.

                                                The harvest season was nearby and the baby steps are too small to walk to the paddy fields. His grandfather took him in his arms, caressing him all the way long. He had started talking by now. With every season he has learnt something new and the harvest season gives him the power of speech. His grandfather takes him to make a small tour to the golden paddy fields. The paddy dances with the winds blowing and the baby boy tries to imitate the dancing of the paddy fields. He yells out to his grandfather amazed at the beauty of the paddy and the birds that flew over the land.

                                                The nature created a perfect birth place for him and blessed him with its abundant beauty and a miraculous world.

                                                The paddy was brought by the labourers to the house where they are crushed by the cows to separate the rice from the husk. It took days to separate the rice. Once the rice had been separated they were filled in the sacks to be stored and to be sold.

                                                The winter season has made a peep into the life of the sweet baby boy to teach him a new lesson. His words were now clear could now be understood to a small extent. It was so cold that smoke came out of his mouth as he said to his mom. “Ma-ma”, “smoke coming out! My mouth.” which was duly acknowledged by his mom with a smile.

                                                Later that day, a calf was born to a cow. In a day or two it was galloping and was showing wonderful jumping tricks, and the baby boy couldn’t stop laughing and having fun with his grandmother. The calf was allowed to drink milk from the cow first and then it was milked. He tried his hand at milking but without much success.

                                                Nature had made many marigold flowers and roses to blossom in their garden. The garden looked like paradise from the top of his house.

                                                The year was now close to end and everyone was celebrating the arrival of the New Year with great pomp and show.

                                                The state he lived in celebrated thirteen festivals in twelve months, with the famous being the “Rath Yatra” at Puri. Puri is the abode of Lord Jagannath and the Lord of the Universe.

The baby boy was named Kishan on the 21^st day of his birthday and now has grown up quite a bit and is on his way to conquer the world in his own way.

                   I still feel jealous of the baby boy who had so much of fun playing in his village and I envy him of the wonderful days he had as a child that every child wishes to have cherished those days. Wish I have been as lucky as the sweet and adorable baby boy, every day of my life.

                             The summers, the rainy, winter seasons taught him many lessons of life. Of all the seasons the summers is the best, for it gives him a chance to look into the world beyond him, in the holidays.  It takes him to new destinations and gives him a chance to appreciate Mother Nature and the wonderful beauty it has created for every living being on earth. Seasons are the manifestations of Nature for every living being to closely relate with her and to unravel her hidden mysteries.This post has been published as a part of a competition in Indian Bloggers League. 

http://coupdeast.blogspot.in/ ,
http://www.writeupcafe.com/articles/1869/38/my-favorite-season/tab/2019 .

A haunted place

The recent happenings in the city have led two most formidable detectives Ali and Narendra to tighten up their belts for the haunting that has happened in the city. They were discussing about their investigation report that dealt with the death of a civilian and a detective. 

                                                At a far off place in the parking lot, stood a black Mercedes, in which a woman was watching the detectives. The detectives have already noticed the woman in the can and have by now reported to the security police who stood near the parking lot via SMS. For the detectives she was present in the parking area and for everyone else she never existed. The security guard replied back he was standing in the same place they said the car was parked. When they looked out, found the policeman’s body lay in a pool of blood.

“You shouldn’t investigate the case”, the two detectives heard it as if someone spoke in their minds.

                                    Melodious songs, dance and fund filled the air with joy as Sonia celebrated her 18^th birthday. It was fun hanging out with her friends late in the night and her first taste of freedom from the high school. The bill of the restaurant was quite high, and the cost wasn’t too high for Sonia as she is the Princess of the most renowned business man of the city.
                                    She went to pay off the bills and found that she has forgotten her credit card on her table. The bill was Rs 60,000. Afraid of being embarrassed she ran to her house only to never come back.

“Hey guys it’s time to go”, said Akash. “Someone call Sonia”. Her friends searched her everywhere around the place but couldn’t find a trace of her. Unwillingly they had to pay off the bills of the party but anger, mistrust, and betrayal filled their hearts as Sonia cheated them on her own birthday.
                                                Sonia was driving back home when she was kidnapped by someone she never knew and the people had some weird looking faces. And this was the reason she was unable to come back to her friends.

Her disappearance complaint was lodged in the police. And a detective was investigated into the matter where he found traces of blood in her car and a note, which read “I will never come back.” Her friends were inquired but none knew about her where-about and what happened to her.

In the midst of the eerie atmosphere, the dogs found a peculiar place surrounded by silence; here you can hear your own heart beats. It was a haunted place and no one has ever dared to have entered the vicinity of this place. The creeping doors, the stagnant pool and the old trees made the place even more horrible.

The detective was all by himself in the haunted place and his dog was his only companion. Though frightened he made his way to the haunted house.

“You shouldn’t be here”, shouted someone from the distant place. It is said the place is haunted by ghosts since long craving to find a way out from the mortals.

“Where is Sonia?” asked the detective in a trembling voice.
“I needed her soul to set myself free”, said the voice.

With a sudden flash a light shone on the Sonia’s body floating on the ceiling of the roof tied to a hundred of balloons. Blood was dripping from her feet. Frightened by the horrible sights and breathe stopping incidents happening around the place the detective fled away from the place. But the way he had taken to come into the house was now filled with a web of spiders. He struggled but couldn’t free himself from the webs. The ghosts suck his soul and every ounce of his body even the dog wasn’t spared.

The recent incidents and the disappearance first of Sonia and then the detective forced the Head of police department of police to give the task to the most experienced detectives Ali and Narendra.

The detectives were discussing about their investigation and the woman in the car was listening to their discussion as she was the very ghost who had suck up the souls of Sonia and the detective. The ghost had sucked the souls only to free herself from the mortal’s world.
                                                The detectives were led to the haunted house by the police dogs. Knowing night isn’t a good time to enter the haunted place turned away from the haunted house. They had planned to blast the house in the daylight.

The detectives, firemen, and the bombers were all present to blast off the place. They were all, ready to blast off the place, and pulled the triggered. There was a bang in the area but the place wasn’t destroyed. It seemed to have engulfed all the energy of the blast.

Beautiful angels came out of the haunted house and thanked the police, and to their utter astonishment, Sonia, the detective who went to the haunted house and the security policeman came out of the house.

A witch who stayed nearby revealed the fact that the souls trapped in the housed needed a huge amount of energy to free them. And the blast may have given them the energy to do so.

                                                The detectives stood bewildered looking at the haunted house. The place that looked scary a day before had transformed itself into a beautiful palace ever build by man on earth.

Revisiting the past

The rain, the ebbing and falling of the paddy, the grandma stories and many more situations comes into reality once he visits his past and finds out how his life changed since the days, that passed by.

The distant horizon looks untruly far and seems to be a place out of reach. The hot scorching sun seems to be burning away everything on its way.  Even after hours of walking, the horizon still remains the same; maybe he can hire a bus or rent a bike to reach the place.

But wait!!  What is this place?

He has been walking for hours, without noticing that it is not the place that he stays or the place he has ever visited.
So what is this place altogether?

Now, Arjun takes into account of the surrounding around him. It doesn't seem to be a pavement that he is walking but it is rather much more comforting.

What???-he exclaims to his wildest amazement it is the sky he has been walking on for a last few hours. Bewildered and confused of the world he is in, runs in the direction of the sparkling light.

It has been quite a while he has been running and his feet could no longer carry him any further. He stops running and collapses of the clouds. And it leads to simultaneous outburst of thunder and lightning.

                                                            The sudden lightning and thunder wakes him up, only to find him on his bed sweating. It has been raining in this part of the world for a few days along with the strong winds. He clouds seemed to move faster than and faster with the winds blowing them away.

He tries hard to remember what had happened to him in his sleep but without much success. He makes his coffee and get on the bed and takes a sip of his coffee.

                                                            Waking up in the bed at the middle of the night, to have fallen asleep in the middle of his working hours, have been happening for some days now, after the deadly accident, which nearly killed him.

The doctors declared him brain dead in the hospitals. But, on his funeral day he jumps out of his coffin and gives a wave of shock and frightens everyone in the funeral.

                        Ever since then he has been feeling dizziness and has found something as a broken link and emptiness, as he finds it hard to remember of what he dreamt. It seems as if the delusions of the past have found a way to his present, and he finds it hard to connect he broken link with the present.
                        The night is long and it is long before the first rays of the sun shines in the eastern horizon with the sweet chirping of the birds. The coffee and the warm bed lower his adrenalin flow and he his back to normal.

                        Arjun relaxes on his bed and starts reading his newly delivered novel “Inferno”, by Dan Brown. It hasn’t been long he has fallen asleep, before he suddenly finds being caught in a wind storm, with not less than a velocity of 70-80 km/hr,

engraving he rice sacks kept in the fields to be kept in the warehouse.

                        “Bring in the covers, fast it is going to rain heavily today”, shouts his grandfather from a distance. Everyone in the nearby run to and fro to save the rice sacks form being wet. The rain started after the entire heap had been covered and is now safe from being wet and wasted.

Now he realises that he has been transported 10 years to his past. The hours dreaming of a place in the clouds, was a story being narrated by his grandma 10 years ago. And he felt as if he is in the imaginary place created by grandma 10 years ago, so that he goes to sleep.

                                                Back in his bedroom he is smiling, dreaming of those place and the moments cherished.

Arjun is again awakened by the knock on the door and the alarm ticking. The dream seemed to fade away at this instance and he felt to be taken away from his village.

                        It was a Sunday and the knock on the door was the milkman. It is already 8 o’clock in the morning, but was till dark outside. He was felling sleepy and it was cool outside, and the accident has caused him to doze off more often than he did before it.

                        It is a bright sunshine and the aerial view is amazing. He finds himself on a tree plucking ripe mangoes and eating them too. The ebbing and falling of the

golden paddy and the lovely essence of the flowers in the garden nearby add to the beauty of the place. The cow herds, the boats near the riverside, kids jumping into the river, and the golden sunshine gives you a treat to your eyes and a peace of mind. This is only to be found on the country side, far away from the hustle bustle of the city.

                        Arjun’s brother comes running and shouting, “A group of monkeys are approaching, get down from the tree.”

In a hurry he jumps off and finds himself on a ship running after his mom. He was on a ship that came from Malaysia, to deliver the goods and in exchange to take coal.

                        It had been 10 years since he had ever gone a ship, and he was a kid back then, and was amazed to see the length and breadth of the ship. It was quite long and big even. He followed his uncle with the captain of the ship into the vast room of switches. Arjun, accidentally switches on a switch which starts of something and it blew an alarm. Thanks to Captain who switched it off, who was closely monitoring the curiosity of the young mind, in search of something new on the ship and to find out which switch, switches on what.

                        It was fun playing with the switches and the Malaysian toy the Captain gifted him.

The amazing past he had, had been a wonderful world. He wakes up in the morning just to find that the past he had visited was just a dream. The past and the present of his are altogether two different worlds. It was those moments of the past that made him of what he is in the present.

“Past is a good place to visit but definitely not a place to stay”, he says to himself. But he wishes to continue visiting his past only in his dreams.