The Wanderer

He is a traveller. He's from the city of Mumbai, but he doesn’t like to stay long in the same place. He’s a passionate blogger and quite active on Facebook as well. He regularly updates about his ongoing travel stories. Also, uploads some of the lively photographs captured by his lens. Travelling is not just a hobby, in fact, it is his oxygen. Everywhere he travels he gets involve with the culture, the architecture, the food, the views and the romance. He loves to take photographs of almost everything - Mother nature, human being, food, street and the list just goes on. It seems he already travelled half the globe, but this simply won’t quench his thirst, his thirst for travelling.

Mr Deepak Amembal is a wanderer. I am quite jealous of the kind of life he's living at the moment. A few months back he completed his long motorcycle trip across India along with his group. They even travelled to Bhutan and Nepal. They traveled 13000 km in 72 days. While not travelling and blogging, Deepak Sir loves to read books. He indulge in all these passions full time now that he has retired from a day job that has provided him with funds to satiate his passions. He’s an avid blogger and his blog Mumbai Daily is very popular. If you visit this blog, I'm pretty sure you will get the smell of Mumbai. Apart from Mumbai Mirror, Mr Deepak is also active on two more of his blogs, Instant Words and Pets forever.

I'm so happy that Deepak Sir read my debut fiction novel. Well, it seems he liked the book and enjoyed it wholeheartedly. I am grateful to him that he reviewed 'Story of Tublu' on his blog.

"I enjoyed reading it. It felt as if I was sitting with him for a couple of evenings as he narrated this wonderful tale. Despite it being a love story it is not mushy. The idiom is Indian, nothing fancy in the language which is day to day and practical. I also liked the fact that equal importance was given by Jahid to the girl’s thinking and actions. The pace is consistent and the end of every chapter wants you to continue to the next as soon as possible. It is refreshingly Indian in its language and laid back pace"

To read the complete review please click the below link:
InstantWords/BookReview/StoryOfTublu


 Image courtesy: Mr Deepak Amembal

Grab a copy of Story of Tublu from Amazon or Flipkart. It is a Contemporary Fiction novel, published by LiFi Publications Pvt Ltd. The book has its share of drama, that entertains; humor, that makes one reminisce; love, friendship and emotions that defines the amazing journey that is, life.

Anirban Nanda

Anirban is a final year student of Electrical Engineering at Haldia Institute of Technology. He lives in Haldia, West Bengal. Though he is a technical student he loves to read novels more than his Engineering textbooks. Reading books has always been his favorite pass time. Anirban fell in love with writing when he was in class twelve. He has published some of his stories in his college magazine. His anthologies "A Phase Unknown Women-A Tribute Season 2" , "Dream-Castle" and "The Paid Eminence" are due release in April, 2015. He has also become co-editor of an international magazine releasing soon.

One good thing about studying in an Engineering college and experiencing hostel life is that you would remain a student throughout your life. No matter how hard you try, no matter how older you get, you simply can't get that hostel boy out of your life. Sometimes in one situation or the other, the boy inside you will show his presence. Even though hostel life is more or less the same in any college, but there's something different about life in an Engineering hostel. The best part is we never study, but somehow everyone pass the semester exams. 

My debut novel "Story of Tublu" has a glimpse of hostel life. Many readers even felt that the novel is about the life of an engineer. I always had the intuition that guys who experienced hostel life are definitely going to enjoy the book, at least our engineering guys. But then I am totally overjoyed that Story of Tublu is also liked by many others, beyond campus. 

I am glad that Anirban read my book. It seems he enjoyed it wholeheartedly and also shared a review on his blog.

"It's a wonderful debut for any writer. The tag-line of the story says ‘an amazing journey called life’  -an apt tagline indeed! It is literally a journey of life; filled with every human emotion possible -love, pain, loss, friendship, hate, jealousy and more. The story shows the transformation of adolescence to maturity which is done quite brilliantly for both Maina and Tublu -our central characters. The jokes of Ganesh and mischief of Pranjal is so funny that it will make you laugh like a mad. Hostel life is described nicely and it will compel you to take a walk down your memory lane. It's a fascinating and gripping story till the end which can be finished in one sitting. If you want a fast and good story in a simple language; grab this one"

To read the complete review please click the below link:

Review of Story of Tublu by Anirban Nanda

Grab a copy of my debut book 'Story of Tublu' from Amazon or Flipkart. It is a Contemporary Fiction novel, published by LiFi Publications Pvt Ltd.

Lucifer House Inc, The Fool

It was an electrifying feeling when initially I entered into the world of blogging. It was a different experience; interacting with so many people through my writing. It was fun and gradually somehow I got addicted to it. It has been more than two years and during this time I came across many bloggers who write in various different topics. One day I came across a blogger named "Lucifer House Inc, The Fool". The name had simply stolen my attention. I visited the blog and tried to find out, "what so fool about this Lucifer?" Well I got my answers there.

Later, we also got connected through Facebook. Like the blogger profile, Lucifer’s Facebook profile was also quite mysterious that time. I had a serious doubt about Lucifer, The Fool’s gender. But one day my confusion was over when I came across a Facebook post where Lucifer complained about the unwanted FB friend requests. But just a few days later I came to know that my assumption was completely wrong and I felt myself a fool. 

Well, Lucifer The Fool’s real name is Karthik. He is one of the veteran bloggers and he has been blogging for the last six seven years. Karthik lives more in fantasy than reality like Peter Pan never wanted to grow up. But he had no choice but to grow up and take up mundane pursuits such as Engineering, IT and Management Consulting. In order to escape from this cruel world of boredom, he is trying to create his own Neverland through his writing. He writes on his two blogs luciferhouseinc.blogspot.com and karthikl.com. He has so far published three stories – a science fiction, a paranormal thriller and an urban fantasy in anthologies ‘Ten Shades of Life’ , ‘Sirens Spell Danger’ and ' Voices Old and New' respectively. 

Karthik believes that there's a great advantage of being fool. One of the greatest fears people have in their minds is being taken for a fool by society. This fear makes people inhibited or pretentious. According to me, the best antidote for fear is to embrace the object of fear. So if I am already 'The Fool', I don't have to fear being considered a fool and can openly speak my mind.

It was a great pleasure for me to get a review of my debut novel from Karthik. He has included my novel in the genre of books that have spawned a whole generation of Indian writers who write on simple day to day themes that everyone can relate to in a kind of language that is commonly used by majority of Indians.

"Story of Tublu tells the tale of a simple village boy who comes to the city with his father and his experiences in various aspects of life as he grows into full manhood. The story takes us across various places in India and abroad and spans over three decades, giving us a glimpse into the life, attitudes and aspirations of a typical Indian twenty first century middle class male. Being a first time author, I must credit Jahid for putting together a coherent set of events that stay together over two hundred pages. 

It is a light breezy read. I would definitely recommend this book to all fans of Indian campus romances"

To read the complete review please click the below link:

Review of Story of Tublu by Lucifer House Inc, The Fool

Story of Tublu is now available at your nearest bookstore. You can also grab your copy from:

Review of Story of Tublu by Preethi Venugopala

Preethi Venugopala is a Civil Engineer by profession and an artist & writer by passion. Born in a land named as God's own country, Kerala, she is currently settled in the Garden city, Bangalore. You can find her reminiscing about her birthplace every now and then. Naturally, she is in awe of it. She blogs at tulipsandme.blogspot.in, quite a known place on the blogosphere. If you love positive stories and beautiful art then you must visit her blog, which promises happy endings and visual treats through her art works. She create portraits in Pencil and Charcoal. She also create paintings with oil, acrylic and watercolors. You can find her musings on random topics and also her latest art works on her blog.

Preethi has been published in an anthology, The Second Life by Write India Publishers. Her story in it 'The Arabian Dream' was appreciated by many. She also works as an editor and currently she is working as an editor to an Anthology, The Blank Space where 100 authors come together to tell 100 stories. She has also contributed 'The Eternal Love', a love story to it. She has been a part of Game of Blogs by blogadda where ten bloggers together created a novella. Preethi's team wrote a sci-fi novella starring aliens.

It is really a great pleasure to get a review of Story of Tublu from Preethi Venugopala. This is what she has to say about the novel.

"The book describes the life of the main characters in the same endearing style that Jahid writes his blog posts. Straight from the heart narration, from start to end, it doesn't deviate anywhere. Major characters that come into Tublu’s and Maina’s life bring in humor, adventure and even love. The adolescent adventures of Tublu and his friends is narrated with frankness. Ragging, embarrassing moments, crushes, love stories, the book is filled with anecdotes from Tublu’s life.

I finished reading it in three hours straight. It was a tension free afternoon read for me. Pick the book up if you want an escape from the gore and tensions that fill many of the books that come out these days"

To read the complete review please click the below link:

Review of Story of Tublu by Preethi Venugopala

Story of Tublu is now available at your nearest bookstore. You can also grab your copy from:

Review of Story of Tublu by Kalyan Panja

Kalyan Panja is a working professional and an amateur photographer. Also a true blood traveller, who travelled almost all the major portions of India right from his childhood, and still continuing the journey for search of unknown and hidden paradises spread all over the country.  To him travelling is not just visiting the place but also of feeling the smell of the soil there. Kalyan has a diverse range of passions who is as much a tech freak as a bookworm and tries to juggle his way through his different passions. From cool gadgets to mystery thrillers, you can find everything in his shelf who is surely going to try it, if it catches his mind. He has his own way with the ink and has a flair for creative writing and has contributed in different online spaces and magazines at different points of time. Still he believes he is only in the learning sphere and knowledge is unbound. Most important to him is not in knowing but in the desire to know, experience the unknown and go along to fulfill the unfulfilled dreams. Kalyan is a voracious reader – book reviewer and has a vivid library with rare and precious titles. He doesn’t let go of any book, if he can. Which explains why he still treasures the books he had read in his Nursery classes. 

I am glad that Kalyan read "Story of Tublu" and also shared his review on his blog titled Booktica

"The story delves in the complex nature of the friendship between a boy and a girl, following step by step their individual growth, how they influence each other, the good and the bad feelings that nourish decades of a true robust relationship. This is the kind of book that does not end. A novel of good, basic writing, without smearing or frills this book reflects the joys and sufferings of an entire generation smothered by an avalanche of images, sounds and information to the point of becoming spectators of their own lives because they lost the perception of the value of the things they have. 

It’s an essential book to read; it’s short and concise but  quite compelling and fascinating. The book works, because people today are too superficial and have definitely forgotten the existence of certain values, a fundamental time, such as friendship. The environments of the novel are also special and evocative and more than anything else is fascinating and you will love the way in which the author expressed his feelings towards totally different environments, describing them in order to capture the reader's attention.

This book is interesting and requires only a few pages to excite and impress deeply anyone who reads it"

To read the complete review please click the below link:

Review of Story of Tublu by Kalyan Panja

Story of Tublu is available at:

Review of Story of Tublu by Arish Dhawan

Arish Dhawan is presently pursuing his Engineering. Soon after completing his graduation, he’s all set to stick with the herd and joining the IT sector. But Arish believes that his writing is there to follow all along. Having done his schooling from a convent school, he has been reading poems by some of the world’s greatest poets ever since he was a small fry. And maybe that’s what made him want to pen down one on his own, and gradually he turned into a poet. Arish’s first poetry anthology, Alibi, was a self-published memoir with two of his batch mates. Not only that, he has written three more anthologies after that. 

Well, it has been a long time since I passed out of college, and it’s a delight to be in touch with young guys like Arish through our writings. I really get energized by interacting with them. I always enjoy writing about some of our those carefree college/hostel days. 

After completing my contemporary fiction book “Story of Tublu” I was pretty much sure that people of our generation, who had grown up in the Eighties and Nineties would just love the book. Those were the Pre Cable TV, Pre Internet days. The only source of entertainment those days was our very own Doordarshan. I was under the assumption that the new generation wouldn’t be able to co-relate much with the journey of Tublu, from childhood to adolescent to manhood. But then I was wrong. Story of Tublu is equally liked by the new generation; particularly the Engineering guys who thoroughly enjoyed it. 

Arish enjoyed reading the book a lot and it was a pleasure to read his review of Story of Tublu.

"This story is a wonderful rollercoaster ride from puerility, childhood infatuations, innocent talks, the love disease, hesitations, college and hostel life, drawing together to one’s parents, to being adults and eventually being parents themselves in the span of 204 pages, which makes it a perfect read for people of all age groups. The writing was simple beyond words. And that’s what makes it a fast moving, light and easy to digest story one can easily enjoy it in a single sitting. Everyone, at some point of time, finds himself reading his very own story. Every time Tublu hesitated to talk his heart out to Maina, I could feel a gulp stuck in my throat"

To read the complete review please click the below link:

Review of Story of Tublu by Arish Dhawan

Story of Tublu is available at:

Review of Story of Tublu by Mr Tomichan Matheikal

Mr Tomichan Matheikal has been a teacher throughout his career that spans three decades.  He started working in a convent school in Shillong, moved to St Edmund's College as a lecturer in English and then he left for Delhi where he has been  teaching English in a Public School ever since.  Teaching, reading and writing has been his passions.  Tomichan Sir wrote two books: English Poetry (Literary Criticism) and Yearning (Short Stories). For a long time, his writing has been confined to blogging. His writes a blog named Matheikal's Blog.

Tomichan Sir is a very active and passionate blogger. He writes about various topics, but it seems his interest is more inclined towards politics and religion. There’s always a sense truth in his writing and sometimes I could even smell a little bit of Atheism in it. Well, I feel truth and Atheism are very closely interrelated. I also have a sense of feeling that Tomichan Sir wants to educate the world in his own small way, through his blogging. He tries to tell people to be rational and not to believe in something, just because the rest of the world is believing in it. I think his students are quite fortunate to have a teacher like him. 

Tomichan sir is the kind of teacher for whom respect just comes aromatically from the heart.  I feel blessed to be in contact with such a person. Tomichan Sir is a man of literature; I am grateful to him and also feel proud that he has read my debut novel Story of Tublu. He liked the story and found the narration very interesting written with ample simplicity. Even though it’s a fiction, but Tomichan Sir feels that Story of Tublu is a kind of story that could have happened really. 

"Every line reads as if it is taken from actual life.  Every character is like someone we may actually meet in real life.  The author does not take recourse to any literary embellishments or sophisticated techniques to narrate his story.  It’s a straightforward narrative that comes in the simplest language possible"

To read the complete review please click the link below:

Review of Story of Tublu by Mr Tomichan Matheikal

Story of Tublu is available at:

Story of Tublu - Review by Prof Harish Narang

Dr Harish Narang is a professor of Centre for English Studies, School Language, Literature & Culture Studies, JNU. He is also the General Council of Sahithya Akademy, New Delhi. I am grateful to him that he took out time from his busy schedule to read my book. This is what Prof Narang has to say about my first novel.

In a recent study, Harvard Business Review called it 'a strategic tool with irresistible power'. The tool being spoken about is nothing but the age old art of storytelling - something that began with the dawn of humanity and that will last as long as humanity does. Over time, the art of storytelling has undergone a sea change - both in its content as well as the manner of narration. By the time the twentieth century arrived, it had become really esoteric. However, as the Harvard Business Review put it, you need to have a good story’ because 'as humans we know that stories work'.

Story of Tublu which the writer Jahid Akhtar calls 'An amazing journey called life' is one such story. The writer has certainly a story to tell – that of Tanmay alias Tublu and his father Bipin Bora and many others - and he knows how to tell it. Hemingway had once observed that the best way to tell a story is to tell as straight as possible and this is what Jahid Akhtar has done in the novel. 

Tublu and his father have a dream run in their lives after meeting Mr. Sharma when their home was destroyed by the surging Brahamputra, things keep on happening around them: Mr. Sharma, having helped Bipin and his son Tublu, develops cancer, arranges his daughter Maina’s marriage hurriedly with Suraj who commits suicide within days of the marriage. But there are many more twists and turns in the story before Tublu who had a secret crush on Maina since the childhood, is united with Maina in marriage thereby bringing the novel to a close.

In this age of post-modernist narration, where medium is the message and method has had replaced the content, Jahid Akhtar’s novel Story of Tublu is refreshingly different from many novels being written by Indians today. Located for a major part in the northeast of the country, the narrative is full of anthropological details of lives of people in that part of India, some of which are well-known and some less known. The end, in some ways, is predictable and not full of suspense as many stories these days are. And yet the writer manages to keep the readers’ interests alive until the inevitable happens, that is, until Tublu and Maina – a widowed mother of a five-year old son, located in Berlin get married.

All in all a very racy, engaging readable book.

Harish Narang

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