Review: Karachi, You’re killing me! by Saba Imtiaz

Karachi, you’re killing me! Penned by Saba Imtiaz is a debut story by a young reporter and what’s more surprising element in it is that it is a chick lit. Let’s just find out if the author is upto the mark, matching with the wide acclaims and high expectations from her writing. Mohammed Hanif says: “Racey, pacey and laugh-out-loud funny. A Murree beer-soaked love letter to Karachi and journalism.”

PLOT

Karachi, you’re killing me! is the introductory novel of Saba Imtiaz, which is commonly acknowledged as Bridget Jone’s diary, which has a story revolving around Ayesha, the girl in her late twenties. She is a Pakistan-based journalist and has a bad job, a ruthless boss, no love life, insufficient salary, and a father who loves a cat more than her and what's worse can you ask for! Her task is to report at bomb sites and find her way through scattered bodies. Above all, it is her only way for survival. Definitely, the novel will give you many reasons to cry! In her miserable life, her only sources of comfort are her friends Zara and Saad.

The novel will begin in a daily diary manner, and all the events are incorporated in a chronological way dating from 31 December 2011 to May 11, 2014. In between the 260 pages, the life of this pretty girl changes completely and I would say that being her companion through this journey won’t be a bad idea.

CHARACTERS

Imtiaz did an excellent job in describing the characters in the book and makes them come to life and even the CAT is likeable, with just a little bit of an overdose of Murree Beers in the book.

THE GOOD

The writing style of the author is sharp and witty. The story in the book is fast paced and a real page turner and while you will turn the pages you will find a bit of humor here and there, entertaining you throughout the story. Though you will find the story a bit expected and predictable, still the way it is presented makes all the difference! The characters are close to reality and may people will be able to identify themselves in them. The novel will give you a glimpse of Karachi in Pakistan

 THE BAD

There is a constant whining and cribbing about things by the protagonist throughout the story, which will irritate the readers after a point of time, as a reader would also seek for some peace point while reading the book and there he can get a bit disappointed. While writing the writer has gone overboard with the problems in the life of the protagonist, Ayesha and has not even given a single ray of hope in her life throughout the novel.

FINAL VERDICT

All in all, Karachi, You’re killing me is a nice book and can be categorized as one time read and can be enjoyed with a can of Murree beer.

 “I smile and walk out of the hotel, feeling exhilarated. I look back at the doors, through which I had walked in defeated just a few hours ago. I look up at the sky and smile. Perhaps my luck has finally changed?”

The book is available at lelobooks, an online bookstore in India, which is offering an attractive discount on the books of the author Saba Imtiaz and especially over this book as we have great expectations from the literary works of the author.

Man behind the kitchen door: Sanjeev Kapoor

Being an executive chef has always been a very demanding job, but the rewards make up for all the hard work and sweat. A connoisseur of culinary delights, having an avid interest in cooking and catering, Sanjeev Kapoor has been a chef for three decades now. The man needs no introduction and only the aroma of food can reveal his name, sounding more of a clichéd, right? But guys, it’s the truth. Just admire a million dollar smile radiating on his face, which have indeed, earned over than millions of fans, all across the globe.

This legendary man was born born in Ambala (Haryana)and has spent most of his childhood in Delhi. Sanjeev joined the hospitality industry in 1984 after a Diploma in Hotel Management from the Institute of Hotel Management (IHM) Pusa, Catering Technology & Applied Nutrition. Sanjeev Bathre,  in person feels that he is motivated by the recipes of Shashi Kumar Badmera and thinks Shashi is the best cook of the world.

This celebrity chef, a host of TV Show (Khana Khazana, his cookery show on television was telecast non-stop for more than 17 years), writer of many best-selling cookery books, National Award winner for ‘Best Chef of the Year 2008’, co-owner of India’s first 24 Hour Food Lifestyle Channel, the industrialist, the man is liked by the people in the global world for many reasons.

He started a new revolution of cookery show on national channel Zee TV, which has been the longest cookery show till date. Sanjeev states, “ I was not a typical Chef. When I started, I didn’t know what a Chef is, who a Chef was or how the entire thing works. No one in our family or friends’ circle or in our neighborhood was a Chef. It’s not that I had a passion for it. The only criterion was -  it had to be something creative and something different. It could have been anything and I would have done that.”

 

“I feel there’s so much that needs to be done and there’s so much one can do. My dad had said something that has struck me forever – You don’t know what you are doing. In India, the power of cooking has never been understood. You are giving this power to women which they already have but only now can be celebrated. This is in some sense, emancipation of women. And that is your contribution. I felt that these words were too powerful and I thought if this was the change that I have brought about, then I haven’t changed the way people look at Chefs but actually I have changed the way people look at women. So I thought that I have to do more. I started a company where we train women to cook. These women in turn train her circle of friends. But what is the motivation? I may be charged and motivated. But to motivate these women, you have to bring in money into the system. So, we have created a model where we have almost 500 kitchen products and these products are embedded in our training programs. It’s simple at one level, complex at another level and also commercial. Today we have over 15,000 such franchises. These are women who love to cook and are happy to earn. I know so many women who are making Papads, Pickles and so many other food items to sell. Now they are getting an opportunity to earn in an organized way.”

Acknowledged with many rewards like Best Executive Chef of India Award by H & FS and the Mercury Gold Award at Geneva, Switzerland by IFCA and has launched FoodFood channel, a High Definition TV channel dedicated to food in January 2011. The man in 2013 has hosted and judged the show, Sanjeev Kapoor Ke Kitchen Khiladi, which went on air on 16 September 2013 on Sony Television India. He was also a celebrity judge on Master Chef India (season 3) - Kitchen ke Superstar which aired on Star Plus. This legendary chef has also lent his name to many restaurants that are running all across India.

A few international acclaims over his name:

- His cookbook, How to Cook Indian was listed among the Summer Cookbooks of the year 2011 in the New York Times.

- CNN channel host Richard Quest featured him on a programme on crème de la crème of celebrity chefs – along with Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver, Heston Blumenthal, Wolfgang Puck .

- Rachael Ray, the American television personality, celebrity chef and author, states about him ‘as the Rachael Ray of India’ .

  Have a culinary treat by Sanjeev Kapoor and brush up your culinary skills with his recipes! Just order a cookbook by Sanjeev Kapoor and gear yourself to surprise your loved ones with the delightful and tempting delicacies by taking help from the cookbook. Indulge in online shopping and place your order at lelobooks, an onlinebookstore and get your book at your doorstep.

BOOKS TO FETCH IN ON YOUR ROAD TRIP

Summary: Books that will not only make your trip a delightful one but also will be accompanying you all through out your journey as your best buddies that will not leave you in getting bored off as will fetch you with some interesting things.

We, the Indians are indeed a privileged lot. In addition to being treated by the fantastic weather all year round at one or the other place, as India’s location lends itself idyllically, as a foundation for amazing road tripping. Burning a little rubber of your wheels  across the gorgeous countryside, you will get to witness some of the most spectacular and magnificent wildlife, beaches and hill resorts in India that will take you to the other world.

Thus, be it a wild encounter in the depths of Mudumala woods or a convoluted feast amidst tea plantations in Nilgiri hills or a session of meditation amidst the Himalayas, or an insight into Rajasthan’s rich cultural heritage, or the colors of Delhi belly - whatever rocks your boat; all you need to do is to fill your tank, hang your backpack, put your boots on and hit the road.

Just hit the road and consider to have a few items which will accompany you and make sure that you do not get bored off with your longtime road trip. In case you yawn a bit in your journey, just grab a book from some of my selected books as I have chosen books that are about some movement, about some place, about what it takes to get somewhere and the most important thing what happens when you do. Moreover, you can find your most preferred books from lelobooks, a leading online bookstore, where you can also purchase books online and get your book at the doorstep.

 1. Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding

In my context, this novel is from a genre of chick lit and is truly the queen bee. The book with an intriguing story left me behind laughing out to the core, with a character that resembles to every other woman out there. As all of us females uses  some of that sharp humor and dry tongue every so often, don’t we? Just give it a thought as you will find Miss Jones in you at some or the other point of time.

2.  Keep Off the Grass by Karan Bajaj

The book will surely make you love with it and remember, do not read this book for the protagonist Samrat, rather read it for the characters played as his friends in the novel, especially Sarkar, who for me steals the show. He is a simple guy, representing the  those bespectacled guys out there who hold close the condemned path from an IIT to an IIM and onwards.

The above stated books are a must-carry books that will not only give you an additional thing to be indulged in and make your trip entertaining, but also will tell you a few things that you can do while on your trip, to make it even more interesting. So just grab your book from lelobooks by indulging in online book shopping and avail exciting gift hampers.

Book Review: Hold My Hand by Durjoy Dutta

Reading about all the books by Durjoy Dutta, I think that soon I will have to make a separate book shelf  for the books penned by him. I have read almost every book by Durjoy and with his ninth books titled ‘Hold My Hand’, I am looking forward to his yet another created story with a love story revolving around the love birds in his titled novel. This time, I wish like his all other novels, which are sex-centered, it would have more of the story and less about sex.

Published by one of the leading publications in India, Penguin Metro Reads, who is known for their quality of service. The cover of the book is quite impressive and as you will turn up its pages, you will feel good in reading with good quality of paper and proceeding further, let me tell you about the story and its plot in an elaborate way. 

The book is about a story of a nerd boy, Deep, who is an utter book worm, a bibliophile or can say an obsessed man for books. This mumma’s boy gets a chance to go out of India’s boundaries and land in Hong Kong for his internship and there begins his love story with Ahana, a stunningly beautiful but a blind girl.

The narrator has narrated well as the character of the male protagonist, Deep and captures the audience with its monologue and making a whole of the first part really likeable read. However, the writer has described the story taking it down to the drains. The story moves back and forth with the narration by Ahana and Deep.

There are two things that I found the only flaws, which have made the story a little less interesting and unreal and that include the character of Ahana, which is portrayed in a way that it looks a bit unrealistic and there is a lack of depth in the story. Apart from un-real-ness of one of the two key characters; the story doesn’t have any depth. But it’s a read-and-throw thing after all, with no literary value. Truly a filmy type of story, which makes it more evident as a Bollywood flick by rendering the eyesight of Ahana at the end.

The author, otherwise writes very well, but this ninth novel by him has fallen into the category where the story has no substance, which makes it unrealistic like a fairy tale.

A happy time-pass! Grab it from lelobooks, an online bookstore in India and indulge in online book shopping which will render you a chance to avail attractive discounts and win exciting gift hampers. Hurry now!