Storizen Magazine February 2023 | Satyarth Nayak


Book Description

“If you don't receive love from the ones who are meant to love you, you will never stop looking for it.” This quote by Robert Goolrick caught my attention while I was in déjà vu of unrequited love! Love is a beautiful emotion; it can even spark that hope of life in once a supposedly dead man. Unrequited love, on the other hand, can make one do what may seem impossible to him. The theme for February 2023 – Remembering Unrequited Love was slightly a painful one but it was worth it. As India Celebrated Mahashivratri on 18th February 2023, being a Lord Shiva Devotee, I have followed him wholeheartedly and will keep following him as his presence in me gives me a special energy of its own kind. Mentioning Lord Shiva, we are always in search of answers to our questions related to the history, and the existence of Gods. Fret not! You will get the answers to most of your questions by reading this book. This month, we are super excited to feature the author of Mahagatha – 100 Tales from the Puranas, Making Puranas a Bestseller, Satyarth Nayak on the cover of Storizen Magazine. Check out the exclusive feature on page 6. Reading can be a mundane task and not liked by many of us nowadays. Do you know it has the power to change your personality? Check out the article inside to know how. As we are dedicated to our love for literature, we can’t stop loving the latest books and reviewing them for our readers. We are glad to introduce a new Book Reviewer - Kiran Adharapuram who would be reviewing selected titles along with our best and favorite book reviewer – Swapna Peri. This issue comprises reviews of 16 books that will make you read even more. Check them out now. Keep showering your love and we will bring in more valuable content to enlighten you. Happy Reading!




A Language Of Lies


Book Description

About The Book Orphaned at the age of five and disowned by his adoptive parents at seventeen, Sean Brignac discovered the truth about successful cons early in his life. Most people believe they cannot be cheated, and when they really are, they tend to live in denial. Thus, he created Prince Khalid, son of the Saudi King, and a philanthropist whose opulent lifestyle and infamous tantrums would reverberate through LA, Miami, Hawaii, western Europe, and Dubai for the next three decades. When the Prince of Fraud was sentenced to prison in 2019 for eighteen years, his exploits from his last global fraud were estimated at eight million dollars and counting. Based on real-life characters and incidences, ‘A Language of Lies’ revolves around the rise of an illustrious con artist; his lies, insecurities, attempts at establishing meaningful relationships, and the inevitable fall; while putting under scanner the role of his friends, collaborators and his victims. About The Author Saugata, currently a deputy general manager with the Reserve Bank of India, has served in Mumbai, the North-East India and Kolkata. His first book of short stories ‘They Go to Sleep’ (2019) has been a bestseller and of late been included in the undergraduate syllabus of a private university in Punjab. A former educator, public speaker and contributor to various magazines, Saugata has been editing a Bengali webzine of humorous writing ‘Sorosee’ since February 2021.




Vijyant at Kargil


Book Description

'By the time you get this letter, I'll be observing you all from the sky. I have no regrets, in fact even if I become a human again, I'll join the army and fight for my nation.' This was the last letter Captain Vijyant Thapar wrote to his family. He was twenty-two when he was martyred in the Kargil War, having fought bravely in the crucial battles of Tololing and Knoll. A fourth-generation army officer, Vijyant dreamt of serving his country even as a young boy. In this first-ever biography, we learn about his journey to join the Indian Military Academy and the experiences that shaped him into a fine officer. Told by his father and Neha Dwivedi, a martyr's daughter herself, the anecdotes from his family and close friends come alive, and we have a chance to know the exceptional young man that Vijyant was. His inspiring story provides a rare glimpse into the heart of a brave soldier. His legacy stays alive through these fond memories and his service to the country.




Amma Mia


Book Description

Is my baby not well? When can I introduce my baby to solid foods? Becoming a new mother can be an exciting yet overwhelming time. No matter how prepared you are, there will always be many confusing moments, opinions and a whole lot of drama! And just like any other new mom, Esha Deol Takhtani was faced with many such questions soon after the birth of her two daughters-Radhya and Miraya. One day, when one of her baby girls was throwing a tantrum, Esha decided to come up with a plan, one that would ensure her child eats right and is happy in the process! And thus began her adventures in motherhood. With the help of her cook, nurse and some of the best paediatricians in Mumbai, she set off on a journey to document her experiences in motherhood in the hope that it would help other mothers too. Packed with advice, tips, stories and easy and delicious recipes for toddlers, Amma Mia reflects the personal journey of one woman's transformation into a mother. Informative and easy to follow, this book will help new mothers navigate the ups and downs of raising a healthy toddler and make their child fall in love with food.




Bad Man


Book Description

A small-town boy, Gulshan Grover moved to Mumbai to pursue acting in the 1970s. At a time when most wannabe actors held out for a leading role, he made the conscious choice to opt for villainous roles. He went on to portray many memorable characters, with a career-defining role in the 1989 blockbuster, Ram Lakhan, that established him firmly as a villain in Bollywood. In this authorised biography, Grover tells his story - the films, the journey, the psychological and personal toll of sustaining the 'bad man' image, the competition among Bollywood's villains, the move to playing more rounded characters, and the challenge of doing international films.




The Swastika Killer


Book Description




Xianqui


Book Description

Year: 2019. The world is falling apart. The temperamental President of the United States of America, facing a tough re-election and playing to populist voter sentiment, has imposed trade sanctions on a belligerent China. Meanwhile, Chinese citizens, reeling from a disastrous economic meltdown, have taken to the streets in revolt. Staring at the bleak prospect of being ousted from power after 60 years of iron rule in the wake of threats both external and internal, the leaders of the Communist Party in China initiate military action, drawing its rival superpowers Japan and the United States into a conflict that portends an all-out nuclear war. As nations across the globe switch to emergency mode, Japanese intelligence reveals that China’s aggression could have been fuelled by a singular circumstance: the development of a vaccine based on ancient tribal knowledge that could tilt military balance in its favour. But what is this secret weapon China possesses and how can it be stopped? The fate of the world now rests on the success of a quest undertaken by an eclectic team – a Japanese policewoman, an Indian ethnologist and a young Indian mountain guide, assisted in part by a devious Russian geologist – to unravel the only clue they have at hand, buried in a fable from a time long past, when the magic of the shamans guided the rulers of Tibet. Will they succeed? Or will the Chinese foil their attempts and trigger the ultimate, apocalyptic war?




Other Side of the Divide


Book Description

Pegged on journalist Sameer Arshad Khatlani's visit to Pakistan, this book provides insights into the country beyond what we already know about it. These include details on the impact of India's soft power, thanks to Bollywood, and the remnants of Pakistan's multireligious past, and how it frittered away advantages of impressive growth in the first three decades of its existence by embracing religious conservatism. The book profiles extraordinary people-lawyers, poets, musicians and even a former military chief-who stood up to an oppressive state. It has historical anecdotes, like the story of an ordinary woman who became the 'muse and mistress', and often the 'brains behind the regime of a swinging general' who led Pakistan to ignominy in the 1971 war, that of a Sikh family which dared to swim against the tide to stay back in Pakistan after Partition, and a prostitute's son who uses his art to humanize commercial sex workers in defiance of a conservative society. The book attempts to present a contemporary portrait of Pakistan-where prohibition remains only on paper and one of the biggest taxpayers is a Parsee-owned brewery-as a complicated and conflicted country suspended between tradition and modernity.




The Struggle And The Promise


Book Description

'What is India's future? I deeply believe in India's promise, in our potential for great achievement. I am also old enough to appreciate our ability to snatch failure from the jaws of success.' THE PROMISE: Our diverse culture has something for everyone. Our young population is thirsty for education and achievement. And a strong private sector is our engine of growth. We can lead the world in the future. THE STRUGGLE: We struggle to create a business-friendly environment. We lag in innovation. Education, public health and quality of jobs demand attention. Our governments control some things too much and neglect others. How can the government, citizens and firms turn our struggle into promise and enable India to lead? How can we fix things by learning from best practices elsewhere? How can we ensure openness, inclusivity and innovation? How can independent institutions make up for low state capacity? How can our culture deliver leadership? In The Struggle and the Promise, Naushad Forbes answers these and other critical questions concerning India's progress. He provides a logical, actionable blueprint for getting the balance right between industry, institutions and policy. Backed by rigorous research and copious data, here's a book that shows how to fulfil India's potential.




Keepers of the Kalachakra


Book Description

A seemingly random selection of heads of state are struck down like flies by unnamed killers who work with the clinical efficiency of butchers. Except that they leave no trace of their methods. Welcome back to the shadowy and addictive world of Ashwin Sanghi. After The Rozabal Line, Chanakya's Chant, The Krishna Key and The Sialkot Saga, Ashwin Sanghi returns at last with another quietly fearsome tale-this time of men who guard the 'Kalachakra' or The Wheel of Time. Sanghi describes a world of people at war with one another-a boomeranging conflict of faiths that results in acts of such slow and planned human cruelty that they defy human imagination. Caught in the midst of this madness is Vijay Sundaram, a geek scientist who is only dimly aware that the wider sky outside his laboratory is stretched taut and close to being torn apart by forces that he wants simply to have nothing to do with. But events conspire to propel Vijay into the labyrinth of Milesian Labs, a centre of research deep in the forested hills of Uttarakhand. What he stumbles upon is a primordial clue to a galactic secret that could accelerate the downward spiral of humankind. Trapped and wholly unaware of his actual foe, Vijay races against time to save humanity-and himself. Zigzagging from Rama's crossing to Lanka to the birth of Buddhism; from the origin of Wahhabism to the Einsteinian gravitational wave-detectors of LIGO; from the charnel-grounds of naked tantric practitioners to the bespoke suits of the Oval Office; and from the rites of Minerva, shrouded in frankincense, to the smoke-darkened ruins of Nalanda, Keepers of the Kalachakra is a journey that will have you gasping for breath-but one that you cannot abandon till all the pieces of the jigsaw come together. Till you come up gobsmack against an end that you simply did not see coming.