I have read many fiction styles, romance, thrillers, suspense, motivational, even corporate fiction. But they say there is no end of creativity in literature. Two weeks back I stumble upon this wonderful genre which was based on the stock market. The first thought that came to my mind when I saw the title "Dalal Street" by Anurag Tripathi was that the book may be based on Harshad Mehta or Ketan Parekh kind of scam. And that thought gave me a strong reason to check the book. Apart from its genre & title, the eye-catching cover got my attention. I think one way or another I would have taken this book on my shelf for sure.
Book Blurb
A group of young Indian business school graduates are attracted to jobs in a high paying trading company. This batch of hardworking, intelligent and ambitious friends is focused on success in the fast paced, hyper competitive world of stockbroking where greed, use of cunning and wealth are the stepping stones to survival and success,. The survivors are the winners.
A satirical thriller of dark humour in which superfast action to tip the scales of finance and fortunes to one’s favour and achieve quick wins are the order of the day, Dalal’s Street explores the complex interplay of human relationships and etches out the rise of the protagonist through a test by fire.
The protagonist of our story is Varun Agarwal. His friends Pooja, Devika & Anil played a good role in the story. Varun's father had lost substantial money during Harshad Mehta scam. Though strictly forbidden by his father, he saw a good opportunity in the stock market. So when in campus placement a company appeared with the opportunity all 4 joined the company, though each had different reasoning behind so. The company they joined was working on a cut-throat competition model. It was an extream reward & penalty driven company. So their rush to survive made them go through extreme pressure. They made some wrong choices in the process. At a point, Varun lost a good amount of money from his relatives invested in the market. Things became tough and Varun left his parent's place as his relations with his father deteriorated. On the other hand, a business tycoon wanted his company's share price get increased to meet his business objectives. Varun and his friend were entangled in this cycle. Anil was badly impacted due to this turmoil. Can Varun turn the tide & correct things? Read the book to know more.
The book covers some interesting details about exchange & broker houses. Starting from intra-day trading, delivery, future & options to the settlement. Many such informative details were given with the proper context of the story. The story shows how can someone inflate prices of shares without even having any solid financials. It shows how the sentiment of retail investors put them into mostly loosing end of the game. I would say an eye-opener even for a first-timer.
The combination of love, lust & greed made the book/plot a fun read. Each character is portrayed with clarity. You will feel like watching a stock market-based movie. The dark humor covered by the story will keep you engaged. The best part is the climax, that has put the book on my top favorite list. I am not going it to open the secret, you need to read to know that.
This goes long back. Nearly a decade before I wrote the first word of The Tree with a Thousand Apples, I was a student who happened to read an article on the then ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in Lebanon. I couldn’t understand much of world politics back then, but what I could not forget was that the article was written from the point of view of a ten year old boy. This boy had just lost his home, his town and his family, even though he was not a part of Hamas and he was not an Israeli. He was a Lebanese, the place which was not on either side of the conflict. I found that very peculiar.
Irrespective of how I felt, the boy had lost what he had lost. I too was a boy back then, and how would I have felt if I had lost my family and my home at that age? There won’t be any more birthday parties for him, he won’t play with the neighborhood kids when the evenings dawned, he won’t be caught cheating during exams. No, it was not just an attack on his home. What that boy had truly lost was his childhood. He would have wanted to ask questions, but from whom? He must have forged an enemy in his heart, a nameless one. Yet, even though I could read and witness that, maybe I could not really understand it very well. Maybe because as someone who had seen a very comfortable childhood, what could I have known about the pain of losing one?
It was when I was in Kashmir, the heaven on earth, that the anonymous boy from the article came alive on the streets. I could see mute and stoic boys and girls who wanted to laugh and cry, I could hear things they wanted to say but kept hidden behind their little concealed smiles, just as the one in that photograph. Children of army men who went to school every day fearing whether the bus they travelled in would be blown up, children of civilians who couldn’t play cricket without knowing if their playground may become a battleground soon, children of Kashmiri Pandits languishing in camps of Jammu who seemed to have forgotten how Kahwa is made. Children who had lost their childhood, who were not on either side of the conflict, yet had grown to choose one. A side where all of them were right and all of them were wrong. I could see that the Lebanese boy in that article and his nameless enemy too were no one but the same children.
The Tree with a Thousand Apples is the story of three such children who don’t just exist in Kashmir, they live with us and around us. They don’t yet know the world they are in and all they want is for us to find them. They know that if we don’t give them a home today, there will be another boy in the future sometime, who too would lose his childhood. They don’t want to tell us any of their grand stories because they have none. All they want us to know is that their childhoods long for a birthday party and neighborhood games, that they are just three children who were asked questions they didn’t know the answers to—they are just children like us…
"If a criminal was once a saint & a saint was once a criminal, then who is the criminal & who is the saint?" - a wonderful line from a wonderful book. I am glad I got chance to read 'The Tree with a Thousand Apples" by Sanchit Gupta.
Book Blurb
Inspired by true events, this riveting narrative traces the lives of Safeena Malik, Deewan Bhat and Bilal Ahanagar, three childhood friends who grow up in an atmosphere of peace and amity in Srinagar, Kashmir, until the night of 20 January 1990 changes it all. While Deewan is forced to flee from his home, Safeena’s mother becomes ‘collateral damage’ and Bilal has to embrace a wretched life of poverty and fear. The place they called paradise becomes a battleground and their friendship struggles when fate forces them to choose sides against their will. Twenty years later destiny brings them to a crossroads again, when they no longer know what is right and what is wrong. While both compassion and injustice have the power to transform lives, will the three friends now choose to become sinful criminals or pacifist saints?The Tree with a Thousand Apples is a universal story of cultures, belongingness, revenge and atonement. The stylised layered format, fast-paced narration and suspenseful storytelling make for a powerful, gripping read.
It is a story of Deewan, Bilal, and Safeena. A Kashmiri pandit family of Deewan has to leave J&K within a day. It is like you get only 20 minutes to pack things which you have gathered or nurtured for life. Bilal, a Kashmiri Muslims, who turned into terrorist due to mishap of the military. Safeena, a peace loving girl, fights for missing people in her locality. No matter how chaotic situation became, people were adjusting to circumstances. But it gave birth to revolution when circumstances became unbearable. Each of them met such circumstances which forced them to take extreme steps.
"The Tree with a Thousand Apples" is not a story, but a journey. For people living away from Kashmir, it is a place for which our country fighting for years to keep away from Separatist or Pakistan. But we hardly think about the people who live in Kashmir. It is the same place which was known as heaven on the earth. Their culture was peace oriented Sufi sect. But today it is turned into a battlefield. Those who don't know the reality simple curse Kashmiri. Sanchit has tried to show about real peace loving spirit of Kashmir.
Things I liked in the book are Poems, Story telling and Characters. If you really want to enjoy this book. Spare 5-6 hours aside. Have cups of coffee on table. Finish this book in one go.
Can you brief us about yourself? Your background, personality and your writing journey?
I was born and brought up in the hills of Himachal Pradesh. As is the case with most of us, I became an engineer and a management professional soon after and worked for 7 yrs in the corporate world. I worked as a brand manager with ITC, Mahindra, Star India and Pernod Ricard.
Along with it, however, I have always been a writer. I was the editor of my college magazine, worked as a copywriter, wrote several short stories that got published in esteemed journals and magazines, became a radio host and worked as executive producer for television. Today, I am a full time author and screenwriter while ‘The Tree with a Thousand Apples’ is my first book. My first film, a romantic comedy titled Behen Hogi Teri, is scheduled for release in May 2017.
Is "the tree with a thousand apple" you debut work?
I have been a published short story writer. My stories have been published in several magazines and journals like Muse India, Contemporary Literary Review India, Indian Ruminations, The Orange Flame Literary Review and Qpeka. At Tata Lit Live My Story contest, I won the 3rd prize in 2012.
Can you tell your journey through your book? How did you get the idea for the book? When did you actually start writing this book?
If you ask me why I wrote this book, the answer in one word would be- Empathy. I lived in Kashmir in 2009 and saw a 12 year old Kashmiri Muslim boy sit beside a 20 year old Indian Army soldier sipping cups of Kahwa together. My very good friend and roommate in college was a Kashmiri Pandit. I have heard stories from all of them, and I could see that they were all right in their own world, yet their viewpoints were so apart each other’s. I just wanted to tell their story as honestly as I could. I wrote the book in 2013.
The subject matter reminds us of The Kite runner based out of Afghanistan. Such a book is rarity in the Indian fiction market and quite a brave book to write. Can you tell us your views on it?
A lyrical narration, raw characters and stark realism, The Tree with a Thousand Apples highlights the perspectives of four different points of view – young directionless militants, Kashmiri Pandits exiled from their homes, duty-bound army officers and innocent civilians rendered as collateral damage. It unravels the right vs right conflict that exists in the region, and the ignorant apathy which the citizens outside this jannat live with. A story of cultures, belongingness, revenge and atonement, it revolves around the lives of three children and their friendship that battles the sides fate forces them to choose, and not of the land they live in. The question it asks is simple but not an easy one to answer: Is the only way to pay for our sins to commit another?
Do you have a trailer of the book? Would you like to share it with us?
Yes, I have a trailer and the link as per below. It has got around 60K views on FB and 13K views on YouTube
The novel depicts the coming of age of three young children and how the turbulent situation in Kashmir impacts their lives. What made you choose children as the main characters of your book?
Children don’t have a prejudice for the right and wrong. They don’t live amid barriers of caste, religion or borders that we have created for ourselves. In spite of the world asking them to choose sides and make judgements, our children in the book know only how to love each other. You can say I have been inspired by Scout and Jem from ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird’. What one learns and does in their childhood is innocent, driven not by worldly hate but only compassion for everyone around us.
You have called Kashmir as a “paradise turned battleground” as the friendship of the three characters struggles later. What do you have to say about the return of Kashmiri Pandits to the valley or your view on ‘Kashmiri Muslims’?
You see when we call Kashmir a paradise, I don’t think it is about the lakes or snow capped mountains. I think it has always been about this extraordinary communal harmony called Kashmiriyat that existed between Hindu Pandits and Kashmiri Muslims for thousands of years, something which the bond of friendship between Deewan’s and Safeena’s families represents in the book. Today, it is not that piece of land which is a battleground, that is immaterial, it is their friendship which is.
Walls will always divide and separate areas will always mean the same, be it in Kashmir or any other part of India. I am of a strong belief that Kashmiriyat can and will return to the valley. People who have not been to Kashmir and only heard/read about it through social media may find it strange to know that Kashmiris (both Pandits and Muslims) are in fact one of the most coy, polite and good natured human beings. The local Kashmiri doesn’t want to pick up the gun and kill their Kashmiri Pandit friends who may return to the valley, just like Bilal doesn’t want to when Deewan comes back. Does Deewan fear Bilal when he returns twenty years later? Yes he does, it is natural to. Both Bilal and Deewan are right from their own point of views, yet what happens when they come together, is what the book tells us.
What motivates you to write? And what are you working on next?
I don’t think just motivation is enough for a writer. It needs to be desperation, for the story to burst out of you and bleed on paper. Next, I am working on two projects. One is on quarter life crisis in a man’s constant struggle between passion and profession, while the other is a tale of magical realism in a fictional town.
Readers usually expect author as big time reader. Under which reader category you put yourself. Avid Reader, Normal Reader or Casual Reader? Tell us more about your reading habit.
I am a normal reader. I don’t look at reading at more and more books, but each book I read, I like to go into its depths to understand the themes, metaphors, the subject matter and the writer’s craft.
How deep you plan when you write? Do you plan everything or keep it upto your mood and imagination at time of writing? Do you keep changing roadmap of the characters of your story?
Both. There are two types of writers- The Gardeners, who keep plodding their way into the story step by step, and Architects, who make a blueprint of the whole story before plunging themselves in. I work both ways. While I do have a blueprint ready before I begin, I plod and delve word by word as I begin to write. Characters take shape as I get to know them better, even if the key plot points are already there in my mind. The key thing is to know what your themes are, and remain honest to them.
If god gives you chance to pick one of the literary work of any person on the earth as your own work, which one would you pick? Why?
I would have to pick two the list- ‘Train to Pakistan’ by Khushwant Singh and ‘A Farewell to Arms’ by Ernest Hemingway.
Do you have a mentor? What is the best advice you have got from your mentor?
No not really a mentor, but the best advice I have got is to know why you write and think long-term.
Can you tell something to our aspiring authors which will boost their confidence?
Be true, be honest to your view of the world and have the courage to stand for it. Do it because the fire inside you will not let you live unless you do. That’s the only good fight there is.
Let's meet a lawyer by education and traveller by passion, the author of "There are no Gods in North Korea" Anjaly Thomas.
So Anjaly, can you tell us how was your childhood? Were you as energetic as you are right now as a traveller?
At school I am told I was quite a terror – in the sense, I refused to do homework and insisted on being outdoors all the time! Strangely I was good at studies despite never paying attention in class.
What are some day jobs you have held?
I have worked with the new Indian Express in Bangalore before moving to Dubai and working with newspapers and magazines here.
With travelling and writing, were you able to dedicate time for reading?
Oh yes, I still read, but I admit, not as much as I used to earlier. I suppose that is because I use the time to write and as you grow older a lot many things take your time and attention – My favourite authors still continue to be Agatha Christie, Hemingway, Jeffrey Archer, Alistair McLean, Fredrick Forsyth, Jane Austen – but I also read the newer books by random authors as well. But I still love the older generation of writers.
Provide you details to get chance to win your copy
https://goo.gl/MTx7ZL
When did you start writing?
My first ever published article would be on my college wall magazine! You won’t believe it, but I used to be shy as a kid – so shy that I wouldn’t show my writing to anyone! I’d of course participate (and win) story writing and essay contests, but showing off poems and stories I wrote as a passion - never!
When did you decide to become a writer?
You know, no one really decides to “become a writer.” You either have it in you or you don’t. If you have it in you then sooner or later things work around in a way that you turn your attention to writing and that becomes your priority. Because writing is not an instant decision and a book is not the result of a finger- snap – it takes patience, time, effort, focus and is a lot of investment in knowledge and self-development. To be a writer, you must first become knowledgeable – else, what are you going to write if you know nothing or have experienced nothing? It would be very silly if someone said “today I decide to become a writer” – to be one is a process and everything that happens in your life adds to it.
What are your ambitions for your writing career?
I write because I love to. I am not the kind of writer that lets “ambition” piggy-ride my passion. I will never let my passion become my ambition because if I let that ever happen, I would have lost the freedom to write what I love.
Do you have a special time to write, or how is your day structured to accommodate your writing?
No. no such thing. I write when I have the urge to, which fortunately is often. When I find myself experiencing the “writers block” I force myself to write, even incoherent words. Writing like I said is not easy – one has to train the mind to write.
Can you tell us about the books you have written so far?
I have written FIVE books so far, this includes two commissioned TRAVEL BOOKS. However, my first novel or travelography was ALMOST INTREPID and now THERE ARE NO GODS IN NORTH KOREA. Both these books are my experiences and stories from my solo travels around the world. There was a self published book of poems – I am not particularly proud of that, but there it is!
What genre are your books?
Travel. I am a traveller and I have plenty of stories to tell – real life stories that one cannot dream up in an armchair.
Can you describe your current book in few lines? What’s it about?
THERE ARE NO GODS IN NORTH KOREA is a book based on my experiences of traveling in NORTH KOREA. It does not tell you what you want to hear – it tells you my reactions and feelings to situations I encountered there. I write real stories of my travels and experiences on the road. That doesn’t require any research!
Who is your favorite character in your book and why?
I am my favourite character!!!! I am kidding, of course – my favorite characters are those people I have met and interacted with in different parts of the world who have enriched my life and experiences.
Do you have a trailer or do you intend to create one for your own book?
Release date
Book was launched on May 6, 2016.
What are you working on at the minute?
A new book, but I am going to keep that a secret. It’s NOT travel book in the strict sense.
What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
This is my favourite bit – there is only one thing to say – to be a writer, you must WRITE. No matter how many advices you seek or get, you won’t get far if you don’t actually write anything. Write consistently and coherently if you intend for others to read it.
There are some books which has interesting plot and characters that you forget about other negative points of book. 'Men and Dreams In the Dhauladhar' by Kochery Shibu is one such tale which kept me reading book till last page in-spite of many dull phases.
Blurb of the book -
A hydro power project in the remote Himalayas. Three people brought together by fate. Nanda, an engineer from Kerala at the dam construction site hiding from his past, from the law, torn between the love of his dear ones and the traditional kalari code of revenge. Khusru, a boy displaced from his native village in Kashmir, a gambit in the terror plot threatening to blow up the dam, working as a labour at the site. Rekha, a Kathak dancer in heart, a doctor by profession, arrives at the campsite as the consort of Khusru.
A village that accepts the dictates of modernity with a heavy heart, its population steeped in superstitions and religious beliefs. All throng the camp site like moths to a flame. Some escape untouched,successful; some miss a step and perish. Each has a story to tell and a dream to realize. The fury of nature and hardship of project life has no mercy for the weak and time for the dead. Like an eternal spectator the Dhauladhar watches as men risk their limb and life in their quest to full fill their dreams
I don't want to brief about story this time. I will discuss few points I marked through out story. Let me start with negative point first so that positive points will cover up afterwards.
For me book has two stories.
Story revolves about dam construction.
Story revolves around terrorist plan to blow dam.
First story is boring and I would say not at all required. No body have noticed even if it is not present. Removal of that part will comprise original story to 50%. Even till last 240 pages I felt that dam construction would have something to do with main plot, but apart from Khusru joining labour camp nothing interesting was there. I was about to finish book because I didn't mind reading technical description but I don't know how many non-engineer/non-technical person can bear it.
Now coming to second story, main crux of the book. Author has cover up the boredom spread over construction details with equally interesting characters and plot. This part shows how deep information author has gathered to write each and every incident and character. Author has created not just main character Nanda, Khusru or Rekha, he created a detailed background for their family as well. Struggle starting from each characters' father or grand father or great grand father to that particular character was given with appealing description. One could visualize beauty of Pakistan Controlled Kashmir or Dhauladhar just by description. Again this story also has few points or detailed characters which I found useless from story point of view. One more thing that disappointed me was climax, I didn't felt that book finished. Talking about ratings:
Cover - 4.5 / 5 (Nice cover)
Language - 4 / 5 (Easy and straight)
Story Line - 2.5 / 5 (Given for main story only)
Content - 3.5 / 5 (Because of boring dam construction logs)
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