Book Review: The Deliberate Sinner by Bhavna Arora

This was the first time i read a first book from an author...;)

About the Author: I better let Bhavna speak about herself - Here is the link from her website - About Me

Review:
First and foremost, very congratulations to Bhavna Arora for her debut writing. A debut which challenges the norms of society. A debut which speaks of women empowerment.

Book Cover: A picture speaks a thousand words. So does the cover of book. It forces the reader to try and make several assumptions about the contents.

What I felt about the book:
The blurb says "Is there an acid test to gauge the success of a relationship?". I so wish there was. The success or failure of relationships is never guaranteed.
The book was actually a roller coaster ride and i could not close it before finishing. I finished the book in 2 stretch... The best part was that although i predicted the climax, but i still enjoyed reading it to end. The characters are nicely written and well crafted.

I hate the parts in books which spoil the 'Love Making' snapshots. Thank god, The Deliberate Sinner did not went into that section. The scene was described very beautifully.

As the pages turned, the main character evolved along with her challenges and agonies of life. Almost every girl would be able to relate to the plots in some way or other. The way Rihana copes up with life is actually quite practical and every second girl on this planet tend to make the same moves. May be that is the reason the book seems so practical.

I need not mention that a girl's life takes a completely unknown turn the moment she says yes to marry. So did Rihana's life. I really appreciate and bow to author Bhavna Arora for making her lead strong headed and ambitious.

It's sad but true that women in this society are not allowed to make mistakes. They are meant to be perfect. The story lines very deliberately portrays this cruel concept of society as well. The book displays women as strong and ambitious but also soft at heart. She is actually a girl next door from inside.

Author Bhaavna Arora has molded the characters quite well and i had some takeaways from the book:
1. Sixth Sense - believe it or not every girl on this planet has this as a strong capability
2. Learn from you mistakes
3. Women have to be bold and independent in order to survive in this cruel world.
4. "Pain and pleasure are inseparable"
5. "...if girls were not narrated stories of a prince rescuing the damsels in distress, they would not have waited for miracles to happen but instead been a little more realistic..."

There were many incidents which made me smile. I would definitely ask my husband to go through the book...;)

Thank you so much Blogadda team for the wonderful book. One could not ask more than a free copy of book. This adds to my collection. Last, but not the least, thank you for selecting me for the review.

Would Rihana be able to change her husband? Would her husband understand her needs and make deliberate efforts to fulfill them? Would their marriage survive? Would she surrender to the circumstances?
Read out the book to find answers...

I note down the lines which make me read them again from the books I read.
Here are my favourite lines from 'The Deliberate Sinner'.

Phew... finally I reached 500 words!

This review was written as a part of blogadda review program.

Have you committed a sin deliberately? How did you like the book? Would you go ahead and read it after my thoughts on it? Write your heart/mind in comments section. I would be glad to read out your end of thinking on the book.

What the Bat - Black WishList

Name any 5 black things u would love to posses.
I asked this question to my friends (). Believe me, it was fun. All the answers were divided into 2 groups- girls and boys. The winner according to me was my brother. Although, his answer also lied into guys answer, but he had one unique point - theme. He seems to be obsessed with batman these days, so his black wish list had batman in each pick. Here was his list:

1. Bat Car
All the guys named a car on their list as first wish. I had dreams starting from audi, lemosen, Farari jaguar, name it. All stands zero in front of this black beauty.

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2. Bat Bike
I have not met a guy in my lifetime who does not dream to own an eye popper sports bike. Hayabusa topped the list. I am sure they did not look closely at this black diamond. Very true, one need an eagle eye to spot diamond in between a pile of coal from miles above.

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3. Bat suit
Remember the Kareena Kapoor dialog from movie kabhi kushi kabhi gam? The guy to get on her top had to be 10 on 10 in three things - Good looks, Good Looks and GOOD LOOKS.
Well, what better piece of cloth than the bat suit to make the damsels go week in their knees. Do not forget the cost of being the wannabe man..;)

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4. Bat Copter
Whole world is fascinated by choppers. All Bollywood Heros make their grand entry from a helicopter. All Hollywood action Heros do their best stunts while under the giants fans. Who on the planet would not love to have the stunning black copter in his name?

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5. Bat Wings
When everything is super fascinating, the bat wings have to be with him. After all, flying is one of the top things man has not been able to do without the help of giant machines.

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That was the small wish my brother had. After 2 minutes, he added - "Black Money too". I completely agree, it would be needed to support the lifestyle that comes as a package with such marvelous wish list.

What say guys?

This post is a part of #WhatTheBlack activity at Blogadda.com

What would be you wish list for a particular colour? I am sure it would be interesting to read. Pen them out in comments section.

RELIGION - My Definition

Religion
Definition: A religion is an organized collection of beliefs, cultural systems, and world views that relate humanity to an order of existence.

Re-read the definition - Beliefs, Cultural Systems, and the world views that relate humanity. Humanity, yes all the collections relate to Humanity. Thus, for me, there is only one religion and that is "Humanity".

Actually, till date i have not come across any line in any holly book from any religion which teaches to divide people. All of them at one point or other asks their followers to be kind to other humans.

Even one of the most debatable religion Islam has below lines:
“Whoever kills a person who has a truce with the Muslims will never smell the fragrance of Paradise.”

But, before people misinterpret it to be kind only to Muslims, better they read below:
“Beware! Whoever is cruel and hard on a non-Muslim minority, or curtails their rights, or burdens them with more than they can bear, or takes anything from them against their free will; I (Prophet Muhammad) will complain against the person on the Day of Judgment.”

The holly Bhagwad Gita also says that Work is worship - "Karm hi dharm hai".

Below is my own definition of Religion I could think of:

R - Right
E - Enlightenment of
L - Love,
I - Influential enough to be
G - Generous &
I - Irrational with
O - Open-minded 
N - Nourishment

Religion is over-rated only in the mind of some greedy people who do not have anything else to do in this world - Empty head is a devil's mind. In fact, I am in agreement with father Mahatma Gandhi when he said "The most heinous and the most cruel crimes of which history has record have been committed under the cover of religion or equally noble motives.".

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Do we stop working with a colleague if he/she is from different religion? I am sure - no- because we get paid to work. Then, why does this word comes as an hindrance when it comes to personal matters? If that is so, then I am sorry but I have to say that we are taking the path to hell. Because, all religions ask us to become selfless.

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Guys, it's actually high time to move on from this word and let come light come in.

This post is written in response to Indispire - Topic - "Is religion over-rated? what is your take?"

How would you define 'Religion'? Put in your definition in comments section.

For The Love of Books & Kids

The moment I read this topic, i recalled my thoughts. I often say that I really want my kid to be a reader. I don't mind if he becomes a bookworm - obviously out of textbooks as well. Ironic but so true it is that kids who read books have always been treated as socially incapable nerds without the realization that probably these were the kids who made history.

Reading books has reduced dramatically in today's youth. This might be true to some extent pertaining to other sources of inculcating this blissful hobby - eBooks, internet, fancy newspapers, and many more. For those who say that they do not have time to read a book, I say that you do not want to. If i want to read a book, I read it anywhere and any time - finish a chapter sitting on toilet seat, trying to read while in cab (which I always fail after 5 minutes - to dizzy), reading some lines in between my computer recognizes my commands, family watching TV- I reading book in between them, thinking that this is last chapter Ii read for the day at night (not closing until I  cannot recognize words) - anywhere!!!

Coming to the reading habit in kids, it's true that some kids might develop this hobby by themselves. There are definitely some ways we can try to make out kids start reading and love books:

1. Narrate Stories ASAP

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Kids love stories. ASAP means as early as possible. I started telling small poems and stories to my son as soon as he started grasping things. Although he cannot speak as of now, he is still learning to do so, he can narrate some 2 or 3 stories to me in actions! How i do that? I ask him which story he wants to listen today? He says - bho bho - i narrate him "The Greedy Dog". He says - peehoooooo - I narrate him - "Rabbit and Turtle with a peacock friend added in between". He says - kho kho - I narrate him - "The cap seller and Monkeys", the cap-seller becomes his favourite animal or a smart kid.









2. Buy Them Books with pictures ASAP

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Remember the movie - Baby's Day Out? The kid could not have survived if he had not seen the bo bo book.
As soon as my kid started showing interest in cars, I bought him a transport book with big pictures. Kids have some fancy with animals so I also bought him an animal book. Everyone was surprised that he was able to recognize almost all animals and vehicles from the book in days.
as he grows up, i am starting to buy him small story books with interesting pictures, colours and graphics. Kids tend to get attracted to the images rather than the text.









Well above two have been applied by me till now, there are other tips as well. Read below:

3. Read with them

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"When I say to a parent, "read to a child", I don't want it to sound like medicine. I want it to sound like chocolate. " — Mem Fox
If we tell the kids to do something and we never do that ourselves, they would definitely come back ans say - "But you do not read!." i am sure we would not have an answer to that. Reading with the kids is a great idea. A team always score more as opposed to an individual.
Read with emotions and emphasize on words rather than plan reading. Picture this- "A big jungle" and "A big (eyes and hands wide open) JUNGLE (with force in voice)" and see the difference.
As kids grow up, try setting a time on how many pages one can read, just for fun.







4. Gift a book

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Instead of buying them an expensive video game or toy, buy them a new  colourful book every month. Kids have a short attention span and thus get bored with the same kind of stuff. It is likely that they have not finished reading a particular book, yet they don’t want to continue. A new book every can also serve as an incentive for them to finish their current reading material as soon as possible.











5. Try Reading  with Role Play

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Any child would love to see their mom and dad making funny noises or acting. Interactive and informal games that are fun and enjoyable could also do the trick. we can use a combination of interactive storytelling with interesting props, role play and open-ended questions that give full freedom to the child's imagination.





In short, make them feel that reading that book is real fun.

Remember - "Reading should not be presented to children as a chore or duty. It should be offered to them as a precious gift." — Kate DiCamillo

This post was written in response to Indispire - Topic 20

Do you love books? What do you think is the key which can make kids love books more? Drop in the comments.