Kuch nahi Badlega!

In the classic BBC political satire serial, 'Yes Minister', minister Jim Hacker asks his senior bureaucrat Sir Humphrey Appleby how to deal with a group of protestors. "Don't worry sir, just appoint a committee to examine their grievances," is the reply. "But wont that be seen as surrender," asks the worried minister. Sir Humphrey smiles: "Committees buy you time, Mr Minister, and time is on our side!" What was true of the past is no longer the case: notions of time have shrunk.

This is the age of 20-20 cricket, of fast food, of instant messaging on twitter & facebook, of 24 x 7 television, where today's news can become the next hour's history. We have a woman president, we've had a woman prime minister. Yet in 2012, one of the greatest tragedies in our country is that women are on their own when it comes to their own safety. There is currently no special law in India against sexual assault or harassment, and only vaginal penetration by a penis counts as rape. As a columnist in the national Hindustan Times said of the attack: "This is a story of a dangerous decline in Indians and India itself, of not just failing morality but disintegrating public governance when it comes to women." Samar Halarnkar added: "Men abuse women in every society, but few males do it with as much impunity, violence and regularity as the Indian male." Halarnkar then offered as proof a survey that caused indignation in India last month: a poll of 370 gender specialists around the world that voted India the worst place to be a woman out of all the G20 countries. It stung – especially as Saudi Arabia was at the second-worst. But the experts were resolute in their choice. "In India, women and girls continue to be sold as chattels, married off as young as 10, burned alive as a result of dowry-related disputes and young girls exploited and abused as domestic slave labour," said Gulshun Rehman of save the children foundation. But 45% of Indian girls are married before the age of 18, according to the International Centre for Research on Women (2010); 56,000 maternal deaths were recorded in 2010 (UN Population Fund) and research from Unicef in 2012 found that 52% of adolescent girls (and 57% of adolescent boys) think it is justifiable for a man to beat his wife. Plus crimes against women are on the increase: according to the National Crime

Records Bureau in India, there was a 7.1% hike in recorded crimes against women between 2010 and 2011 (when there were 228,650 in total). The biggest leap was in cases under the "dowry prohibition act" (up 27.7%), of kidnapping and abduction (up 19.4% year on year) and rape (up 9.2%). A preference for sons and fear of having to pay a dowry has resulted in 12 million girls being aborted over the past three decades, according to a 2011 study by the Lancet. It's also about the vacuum in the law, lack of security at leisure spots, lack of gender justice, lack of fear of the law, police and judicial apathy and the complete lack of awareness that men and women have the right to enjoy exactly the same kind of leisure activities." Our politicians can't afford to have a special session to discuss women centric issues, maybe that is one of the reason they have till date turned a blind eye to the women's reservation bill.

Last morning,I am sitting with my dad, discussing about the recent happenings in the capital and he convinces me that 'kuch nahin badlega'. It's all part of the system , he says. Its in our DNA. As long as the 543 goonda's are ruling, nothing will change in this country. Yes, i believe he is right. It really is a way of life now for people in the government and such is the plight of the common man. It's time we educate our men,change our beliefs and system. Its time for a revolution, and hope the generation X do something and change our beliefs.
And yes its time the PM realises 'Sab theek nahin hai'.

Review in Millenium Post newspaper

Bestseller book now on Kindle

Bestselling novel - Shit Happens-desi boy in america is now available for downloading as an ebook on kindle (amazon) Go ahead and read on!!! http://www.amazon.com/Shit-Happens-ebook/dp/B008732FY6/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1338466799&sr=1-1

Diary excerpts of a single boy

Each day, I am bombarded with the same question. Apart from family, even colleagues and friends keep irritating me now.
It’s reached its peak actually. The eternal question, “When aren’t you getting married?” Hello! Why don’t they understand? Is it necessary that every guy in this world has to get married? I really don’t think so. I want to stay happy. Well, that’s what my married friends say I am. They don’t quite relish the fact that someone their age is still happy. The wives are jealous as their husbands are able to hang out with their single friend and bitch about their wives. The husbands are plain jealous, period.

I am 30 and still unmarried. Yes, society has made its own rules. But for me, it’s my life. I won’t be bogged down with pressure. So what if most of my friends are married and some are even going to have children? I don’t see myself going down that path.

My parents, well, they don’t understand me. Having a girl friend is never good enough for them. For some reason beyond my understanding, they also want me to be settled and have my own life. How on earth, is earning for a wife and kids going to help me have my own life? Am I paranoid of additional responsibilities? Though I believe that I would marry someone who I want to be with the rest of my life, an arranged marriage is just out of the question.

I am someone who can’t really understand how people can bet their lives on someone they’ve barely met or known. The idea itself horrifies me. It’s like jumping in a well with a stone tied to your leg. Immediate Death is imminent. The idea that your parents help you in the process is evidence enough that they are partners in this crime.

Moreover, the idea of judging the other person by her looks, brain, height and education is something that I am unable to understand. Am I looking for a life partner or a piece of furniture that I can display and please my family/relatives with? Obviously, I am looking for love to happen. But for that I have to find the one that rings a bell in my head. It’s not that I haven’t thought about marriage.


So let’s just wait and see what is in store for me, Love Actually or Shit Happens!

Book review in Tehelka (Jan 28 edition)

Super nerd Anurag doesn't have much going for him except good grades, but he does get to go to the University of Rochester on a full scholarship. After saying goodbye to his highly stereotypical relatives, his world begins to change right from the american airport he lands in - first, the funny defeat of toilet paper instead of water, then the challenge of speaking to blonde bombshells. In New York, he falls in love with another student on his first day at college. Which is fortunate, since she ends up taking his virginity as well (though by accident). Anurag's new American rommate enters the picture as the girl's love - and soon we're in the thick of a full-eared Bollywood -masala love triangle.
This is a favourite literary subject today, but what makes Puri's work different is that its sincere and heartfelt. The author's bio coincides with his plot, which is perhaps why the book sometimes feels too full of detailed inner thoughts. In our cross-pollinated world, Shit Happens! is another example of how cultural alienation can only hinder you and how travel remains a viable antidote.

Book in Top 20 fiction in India Today latest December Edition

Thank you Readers!!

Merry Christmas!!
&
A prosperous New Year!






Book Events
1) Book released in Oct 1st week in Reliance Timeout, Ambience mall, gurgaon
2) Book launch coverage - HT City
3) Book review in Asian age, Indian express , Delhi times whats hot,
Jagran newspaper
http://www.asianage.com/books/desi-nerd-gori-hottie-634
http://post.jagran.com/shit-happens-1325162158

Awards

1) Book in Landmark top 10 best seller fiction list in all 4 weeks in November 2011
http://www.facebook.com/landmarkstores#!/note.php?note_id=10150422127693606
2) Book currently in Top 20 best seller list in Om book stores.
3) Book in December 2011 India today Top 20 fiction novels.
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/bestsellers-for-december-2011/1/165242.html
4) Book in top 10 in Afternoon , a Mumbai magazine
http://afternoondc.in/book-review/bestsellers/article_43349

Book Review by Youth website

Book Review: Shit Happens!

By Karan Puri

About the Book:

Anurag Sinha, a thoroughbred nerd, leads a cocooned life, confined more or less to the four walls of his room. A one-of-a-kind dad, a weepy mother and weird relatives complete his life. Average girls ignore him, hot girls bully him and school studs abuse him. His shitty Delhi existence goes on until the big day arrives. Our hero gets a scholarship. To University of Rochester. To New York. To United States of Bloody AMERICA! Life must only look uphill from now on. America must be at least hundred times better than India. But shit happens. All the time. Everywhere. Even in America! A roller-coaster American ride leads our desi boy to an exceptional journey rippling with twists and turns. Nonchalant blondes, mugless washrooms, strange slangs, good-hearted friends, beefy encounters, boozy nights and even a white girlfriend—America shows Anurag itself in all its psychedelic craziness. But dreams and roller-coaster rides don’t go on forever. What will happen to our hero? Will he return to his life in India or will he stay on? Dream on!

Review:

Okay, when one reads the description of the book above, it has a lot of promise and the title in itself portrays that it has got to be funny.

“Shit Happens” is a book in which most definitely a lot of SHIT happens but in a good way!

The book portrays the life story, well a part of the life story, of Anurag who is scared to ‘shit’ by talking to girls. Never ever has even spoken to any girl in his life and when he did, he felt an urge to ‘shit’ to put it in the broad sense.

The story begins on a really promising note. Anurag is a perfect nerd and has gladly accepted the fact too. The family portrayed too is a typical Indian family and you don’t find it hard to accept it and you might even find it relatable on so many different levels.

Shit happens is an easy to read roller coaster joyride of Anurag’s state of affairs from the time he lands in America (and the plane journey which is hilarious in parts) to whatever happens in his journey from the Airport to the University and after that. The characters of Lizzy and Aaron are typical as far as the life of an average American student goes even though I have my doubts as far as the mentality that has been portrayed is concerned.

The book is pretty fast paced and easy to read and there are parts which are beyond hilarious and you just have a good laugh as you go on reading. There are situations that have been picked up with a neat observation and have been portrayed well. If you think of it, the situations that Anurag faces throughout his stay in America appear to be close to real life. There hasn’t been much detail described in the book which even though isn’t a good thing but it goes really well with the theme, the fast paced story line.

The book throttles on and you just can’t stop laughing while reading certain pages. It pretty much portrays the truth of life- SHIT Happens in everyone’s life and sometimes you just can’t do anything about it.

There are moments though when you are tempted to think that it could have been described in a much better way but well this is a pretty neat try and a descent first effort.

Read this one for a couple of good laughs and even though you wouldn’t find it as the most ‘clean’ humor but well ‘shit’ can never be ‘clean’ can it? icon wink Book Review: Shit Happens! books way spotlight Shit Happens journey india hero Happens Book Anurag Sinha

All in all a pretty nifty try and surely a one time read for it’s entertainment value.