Book Blitz: Color Me Rich by Mohan Deep

Color Me Rich 

by
Mohan Deep

Blurb 

A sensitive love story of a handsome and talented struggling painter Akash Saigal. What happens when he marries an extremely rich and beautiful artist and art investor Zenobia Taraporevala?

Grab your copy @

amazon.com | amazon.in


Prologue ( A teaser)

J J School of Art, Mumbai.
Taking a charcoal pencil, Akash Saigal started drawing the wood-and-stone structure, popularly known as „Kipling Bungalow‟. He was sketching sitting on a bench on which, in another era, K K Hebbar, M F Husain, Syed Haider Raza, Sadanand Bakre, V S Gaitonde, even Dadasaheb Phalke had sat with their sketchbooks, sketching the house where the author of The Jungle Book was born.
Ganpat Gupte appeared along with two of his gang. Gupte was the nephew of a minister, or so he claimed, and had the arrogance that comes with power. 
“Ae Akash, kae karto?”
Akash looked up at the trio and said, “Nothing much. Just a drawing.
“Okay. What is the day today?”
“I should have known.Tere ko blue shirt hai na?”
Akash didn‟t get the connection, but Gupte‟s chamchas laughed knowingly.
The three boys sang in unison, “Monday, blue shirt. Tuesday, black shirt. Wednesday, blue shirt. Thursday black shirt. Friday, blue shirt. Saturday, black shirt. Sunday...laundry!”
If Akash was hurt, he didn‟t show it. He laughed sheepishly and continued sketching the bungalow.
But he would never forget this.

About the Author 

Mohan Deep, is an Indian author, painter and Feng Shui Master. Mohan Deep is the author of ‘The Mystery and Mystique of Madhubala’ (1996), ‘It’s My Life’ (Novel) (1997), ‘Simply Scandalous: Meena Kumari’ (1998), ‘Eurekha!’ – an unauthorized biography of Rekha. (1999), ‘Four Options’ (2000), ‘Feng Shui for the Bold & Beautiful, the Rich and Famous’ (2001) and ‘Nehru and the Tantrik Woman’ (2002). After a sabbatical of a decade, during which he touched upon the lifves of people as a Feng Shui Master, he is back with The Five Foolish Virgins, a book of fiction, to be launched in April 2013. Mohan Deep is arguably the only Indian author to write what is often described as controversial, unauthorized star biographies in India. Columnist-journalist and former editor of 'Illustrated Weekly of India', Khushwant Singh called him 'a truly gifted gossip writer'. “The maverick writer”, like columnist-reviewer-poetess Tara Patel described him has also been called William Goldman of Bollywood’s stars (By Behram Contractor, the Editor of Afternoon Despatch & Courier) (Source) Kitty Kelly of India (By R K Bajaj, the Editor of ‘The Daily’). Interestingly, almost every book he has wrote/penned has invited controversies for its bold content.

                          

         

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Celebrations on a Valentine's Day

 February 14th, many people exchange cards, candy, gifts or flowers with their special “valentine.” The day of romance we call Valentine's Day is named for a Christian martyr and dates back to the 5th century, but has origins in the Roman holiday Lupercalia. 

What amazes me that the male human who majority of them have no sense of planning a romantic evening are thrust upon this celebration. Thus, leading to most of them with a burden and stress for that special day.

We changed the table and our 9 fun ways to celebrate V-day

Uno: The most memorable Valentine's Day I ever had was; when we flipped the whole scenario, and I was supposed to surprise my better half with stuff while he would sit and praise for everything that I did. However, I was expected to act classy and bring out the best in that evening.

This was decided a month before the D-Day, and the man never brought it up or agreed to the above. Result: I thought the ball of surprise is in his court. 

Anyhow, the D-day is around the corner, he reminds me of the "decision", and just then my whole day was put on hold.

Dos: I quickly picked up the phone, asking for reservations at any restaurant, but even with a slack in the economy, these business establishments serving food and drinks were overly booked.

Tres: Anyhow, I thought I just go out and buy some gift and landed up paying double the price for it. Roses were incredibly priced as if they were gold plated, and his favorite cologne was sold out in many stores. My day went in planning stuff and little on my work.

Well serves me right, cause I was the one who asked for that change.

Cuatro: Evening comes, I bring "take out" from a fancy restaurant which took me an hour to get it. 

Cinco: Came home and placed it on an elegant dinnerware stating "I cooked it."

Seis:  Set the table with lights, Gold plated roses, Champagne, and some soft music.

We sat down to eat our "home" cooked meal, to which I repeated umpteen times more to console myself that I had planned out the evening well.

He started to dig in his plate while I watched him and I was hoping that my better half would appreciate my "home" cooked meal.

No response.

Hmmm

I put the fork in my mouth, and to my dismay found the food utterly bland.  "Eww, What happened, this was a good restaurant, and I waited for an hour to get my order," I said out loud!

There, that was the end of my white lie. I was blushing so hard that even the Red Roses were feeling embarrassed seeing my color since they thought they were the ones to bring in Romance in that room, but not now.

My better half broke the silence by a loud laughter, and I could not resist but, joined in.

No doubt that lead to the release of my stress hormones and love was back in the room.

Siete: The soft music synchronized with our heart beats and soon we were dancing arm in arm.

Ocho: Reminiscences of 'how we met', 'the awkward moments' made the whole scenario light up as we chuckled over our clumsiness and uncoordinated skills. 

 Just then the door bell rung. I jumped out of fright since it was not in the itinerary. While the better half nudged me to answer it, I opened to find a LARGE RED packet at my doorstep with a string hanging out. Instructions were to pull the string. Curiosity caught the cat, and I was quick to follow suit.

Nueve: The box popped open with helium balloons and a special gift. I did not have to guess on this one. It was from my Valentine indeed.

What made it even more special was that I was not expecting anything from him. On the other hand, I was disappointed at my planning, execution. 

Mantra for today: Expectations always lead to disappointment.

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This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.

Mirror Mirror on the wall...

"Mirror Mirror on the wall."
"What do my eyes say after all?"

Eyes?
Seriously!

Eyes say it all.

The sorrow
The glee
The sadness
The anger
The longing
The desperation
The satisfaction

“The soul, fortunately, has an interpreter - often an unconscious but still a faithful interpreter - in the eye.” 
― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

Eye movements are so closely tied to the way we think and act that they can even reveal information about our personalities. Although science has a theory behind the above: The answer has to do with the actual eyeball itself.  Everyone has a different structure of lines, dots and colors within the iris of their eye.  Some people may have similar eye color to each other, but the lines and dots on the iris are as unique as a fingerprint.
Although they vary from person to person, there are certain patterns contained within the iris which are widespread, and scientists at Orebro University in Sweden have proved that these patterns correlated with specific personality traits.

Sometimes when my mind is full of thoughts thus, confused whether to go left or right or to jump in or out or just can't figure out what to do next.
I tend to look at my reflection.

When I look in the mirror, I look into my eyes, and voila! By its emotions, I can translate my thoughts and the most appealing to me at that moment catches my attention. The eyes feelings once translated can be acted upon. It works wonders since I usually feel the heart beats get steadier, mind focussed, and breathing becomes normal. The eyes never lie and they are truly the window to the soul.

Mantra for today: “I like you; your eyes are full of language."
                                                                         Anne Sexton

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This has been a Finish the Sentence Friday post. This week’s sentence is “When I look in a mirror…”
Your hosts:
Me, (FindingNine.com) and this week’s sentence thinker-upper, April of April Noelle.

Finish the Sentence Friday is a link-up where writers and bloggers come together to share their themselves with a particular sentence. If you’d like to stay ahead of future sentences and participate, join our Facebook group.  Link up your sentence prompts below!

Review of The Brown Sahebs by Anupam Srivastava

THE BROWN SAHEBS 

BY 

ANUPAM SRIVASTAVA

Blurb 

The Raja of Teekra, a dusty and forgotten kingdom near Lucknow, gets lucky when the British Resident visits him but also brings with him a leading revolutionary. The Raja enters India's struggle for freedom and is rewarded with a berth in the cabinet of free India. He is shocked to see the ministers and officers living and operating like their imperial masters but is suitably rewarded for his silence. As he begins to enjoy the good life of Lutyens' Delhi, the British capital which India's freedom fighters abhorred, he faces only one adversary in his plans—his journalist son Pratap. A novel that will blow you away with its depiction of love, passion, intrigue and betrayal.

My Review

The Brown Sahebs is a plot that takes us back to the time when India was being ruled by the Britishers. Daulat Singh, the Raja of Teekra, a kingdom near Lucknow, is expecting a visitor for which the whole town is embellished and about 5000 partridges are bought for the Resident's hunting expedition. The Resident arrives with his wife, a leader of the freedom movement and an Oxford Graduate. This meeting is the beginning of a revolution which changes the lives of the Raja and his son, Pratap. 

Mystery begins!

What enticed me was the relationship between the father and son. It was just like today's times when pride overtakes thy love thus making the blood thicker and it's own enemy. Sad but true facts!

The flow of the story can be a little bothersome as it is slow and not smooth especially in the beginning. It was a struggle to stay hooked on to it. The book is researched well since the details of the time and characters are brought out well. Although, the plot has history, fiction, the struggle of power, love triangle, and a climax to keep the reader engrossed. 
This book could be of interest to those who love history and fiction. 

Buy @

|amazon. com | amazon.in | amazon.co.uk | Flipkart |

About the Author 

Anupam Srivastava was born in Lucknow, India, where his novel, The Brown Saheb's first part is set. However, he never lived there as his father and mother, Ashok and Veena Srivastava, lived in different parts of India. However, Anupam spent some of his childhood and most of his vacations in Lucknow where he flew kites and learnt about the craft of pigeon-flying. He went to a boarding school near Delhi, the Motilal Nehru School of Sports, Rai, where he played cricket but earned his college colours at St Stephen's College, Delhi, in cross-country running. He studied English literature (BA Hons and MA), won the college annual poetry prize while pursuing his MA, and being sure his vocation was writing and journalism, became a journalist with The Times of India in 1993. In 1999, he was awarded the British Chevening scholarship by the British government.

In 1999, he left journalism to work with the United Nations Population Fund in India in communications. Subsequently, Anupam worked with Oxfam India Society, Unicef and other development agencies. The Brown Sahebs is his first novel and tells the story of India not taking off its colonial clothing even as it became a democracy.

Anupam is married to Radhika Srivastava, and they have two children who figure in his children's novel, A Family Secret.

Stalk Him @

                           

Wordless Wednesday #117

When Super Bowl came to our Town!
I hopped and skipped to greet it before the D-Day!

Each seat was shining like Gold

Nah! not cause of the clear skies and temperatures in the 70's but since each chair was priced in FOUR digits.

Mantra for today: Draw boundaries when somethings are beyond your reach!

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Shhh...A Secret!

Nobody knew it!
Not until I gave it out!

This was a secret I told my friends ~20 years back, and while it was with me; it squeezed the pulp out of me.

Seriously!

It was so bad that I could hardly sleep since I would enjoy the "checking out" but giggle over it, ALONE!

That was so annoying, but I continued to do it.

Nobody knows that I had a crush on a guy!

Then finally, after a year or so I gave in. I told the world (i.e., my parents and 'close' friends)
Yes, it soon became "had" since I lost the thrill of giggling all alone.

Sure, that was the 80's then and talking about crushes during that time was a hush hush or let's say at least in my family.

Saying it out loud was like a tranquilizer to me, and I felt all my nerves relax as I was back to enjoying my teen years.

I also wanted to go back and have a 're-crush' on him. But, my solo harsh comments had wiped off all the cuteness in him.
Sigh!

“A good friend keeps your secrets for you. A best friend helps you keep your own secrets.” 
― Lauren Oliver, Before I Fall

Some Gyaan that I gathered after keeping a Secret
We keep secrets within or share it with just a handful of people cause we are embarrassed to say it out loud to the general public.

Then we fear about those secrets, and we stay cautioned about it always. It is like being on guard 24/7 or hounding like a dog over those people who know our code.

Just imagine all our energy is going wasted over people whom we confided in or just digging one's conscious over a secret we dare not whisper about it.

Research has indicated that usually woman can't keep secrets and tends to confide in people around and then repent over it. While men are from another planet, they can suck inside them way deep and thus, the reason of a pot belly!!

Either way, why keep secrets?

 Although again researchers have indicated that you ought to keep some from your friend, or a better half just to keep the relationship healthy.

Okay if you do want to keep them...flush them down your backside cause keeping it within you will just keep eating you alive.

Our memory is the basis of our intolerance towards anything unfavorable. Memories die hard especially the bad ones thus, difficult to eradicate from the grey cells.

I'd say, "If there is a will there is a way."

My 2 cents
Reason out within yourself about that little secret of yours and make a justification in your favor. This will definitely pep you up mentally and emotionally, and thus, help you let go of it. Also, if your unrevealed act is bid farewell in a positive way, the chances are that whenever you do get a flashback of it. It will not haunt you or make you feel guilty.

Mantra for today: Reason within yourself for every act and justify it for a life without secrets!


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This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.

A Particular Package

"Be careful. It's Fragile! " Dana hollered as she carried that extra bag while keeping an eye on him and that container.

He could not take the bulky weight and the package slipped. She was quick to come to his rescue,"Darn it! Where has all your energy gone?" she expressed in anger.

That remark infuriated him as he glared at her and inquired, "What is in this carton?"

"Just a gadget" she responded meekly.

He gave a confused look.

She did not care to elaborate and preferred to do the carrying herself while he eyed her with an enigma. 

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This post has been written for B-A-R