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blogger, book review, breakup, characters, Emotions, fiction, Humor, makeup, modern technology, nihar pradhan, short stories
“Story telling is the best form of communication – It triggers imagination, stimulates inspiration and creates an impression.” Quotes author Nihar Pradhan . 
Author: A renowned blogger at https://nrpin.wordpress.com That apart, he is a consummate multi-tasker. His technical expertise takes shape as Digital Strategist and Process Innovator. His creative side emerges in blogging (Nature and nurturing ideas) and photography.
Theme: A collection of 40 stories depicting myriad characters in stages of evolution – either emotional, physical, professional or familial. Themes I could discern, include:
1] Humor : Nihar has a subtle humor, predominantly by twisting words. Examples, like ‘Today I have to serve them tea. It’s not my cup of tea.’ and ‘He didn’t like the ringtone of his house bell. Not everything in life is to one’s favorite tune.’
2] Personification of inanimate objects : As seen in ‘Mirror’ (She reflected the entire gallery of my emotions) And in ‘The Lost Glory’ with the enigmatic and fragrant Jasmine.
3] Study in contrasts: In ‘Agony of Life’, the protagonist rejects the medical profession for fear of blood. He gets an epiphany on the casual barbarism of terrorists only when he undergoes a personal trauma. In ‘What’s in a name’ , Nihar elaborates on gender discrimination via the aptly titled girl-child Dukhi.
4] Symbolism: Nihar touches upon flimsy weakness of human relations and dysfunctional families in today’s world. In ‘Makeup & Breakup’, Divorce rejoices when the marriage rate shoots up, since ‘They are all my potential customers.’ In ‘Sunday newspaper’, the family’s plan of a cosy lunch gets blown away by each member’s individual plans. Symbolically, the newspaper lies scattered into its separate pages.
5] The author also has a voracious appetite for food. It is obvious in his sumptuous descriptions of cold coffee, South indian thali, Hyderbadi biryani and Bengali fish.
Room for improvement: ** SPOILER ALERT** Some titles are a dead giveaway for e.g ‘Mirror’, which could have given a better, pleasant jolt with another name/ title. The language is impeccable, however it tends to be over descriptive at places – especially when it nods at branded products.(Brushing my teeth with anti-germ Pepsodent and mowing my cheeks with Gillette Mach3 triple blade…) The use of italics in inexplicable at places, for e.g She quipped, chuckled Rahul, asked his Mom.
Overall: A very promising debut by Nihar Pardhan, as he captures the nuances of everyday characters and events to give a newer insight. Looking forward to his next series.
Publication: Lifi
MRP: Rs 270/-
Award: ‘Mystery Continues..’ top finalist in All India Fiction Writing Competition by Oxford Book Store.
Impractical Dreamer 
I like the things that you pointed to. Sounds like a thought-provoking book.
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yES, it is worth a try.
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Nice review. Writing short stories is so much harder than writing novels. This sounds like a good read.
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Yes, do visit his blog too. He writes quite well and upon relevant topics.
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Sure, will do that.
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Speaks the author herself! Have you a collection of short stories awaiting in the wings?
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Not right now. But sure hope to have a collection of short stories too some day!
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Do let me know when that happens! Would love to read the book.
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Thanks for the wonderful review. Will look for this one.
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Sure. His blog is wonderful too. He writes extensive blogposts and takes time out to have equally detailed conversations with his fellow bloggers/commentators.
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Though I have been following Nihar Pradhan’s blog, I didn’t now he had written a book. What a shame! Thanks for this review.
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I know, he never showcased this aspect of himself. I came to know by serendipity, through one of his comments on my book. Then I made it a point to purchase it.
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🙂
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Thank you Dr Sweety for your wonderful review and yes, those nice suggestions which will help in my future books.
Just for my own interest which are the 2-3 stories which you liked the most. Also did you feel the language was tough and choice of words was affecting the flow of reading…earlier I had received few feedback, but many others had different view, how you felt on the usage of words.
My pleasure to read your review.
Have a lovely weekend.
😀
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Hi, I liked the ones I mentioned specifically by name – the titular one, Agony of life, what’s in a name, lost glory etc.
lIKE I mentioned, the language was top-notch, but sometimes it needs to be a little conversational and less descriptive.
How long ago did you write this collection?
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Yes, I agree it went more descriptive, I realized it later…
I keep travelling a lot and this has been written over the years at airport to places where I have time, I was not ready to publish but many suggested why not and just compiled old stories into this book. Though I keep writing on diverse topics that’s what keeps me going and being the field of technology and shifting creative writing takes lot of time and energy and still learning the art of balancing technology with writing.
Thanks once again for sharing your review and being so balanced in your feedback.
take care and have a nice weekend.
😀
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Thanking you for the sporting attitude. Wish you the best for a new book soon.
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Hey, Nihar. You were going to add a few things about points I may have missed or misinterpreted in your stories. Would you like to elaborate on them? ALSO, let us know your fav stories and why?
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Yes Dr. Sweety, I am loving this discussion. You have made a beautiful analysis of the book with critical insights. Few things I just wanted to add to the discussion. I felt the language and choice of words could have been little simpler and yes, I went little overboard on narration which could have been pruned a little more.
The stories had a message and, most tale had a “twist in the tail”…it was a basket of multiple themes from mystery to romance to humour. I also wanted to give a social message in bulk of the stories which included the girl child discrimination to the issue of terrorism. I don’t know whether I managed to reach out to the readers.
Also stories like “Mystery of Patterns” to “Life without Purpose”, was the mystery a surprise or was predictable. Being before the NDA vs. UPA national election I wanted to give a twist of humour to the national election debate through a dialogue between marriage and divorce…
I also made an attempt at providing a balanced fusion of facts and fiction, and tried not to get skewed either way, more of facts brags and more of fiction drags…I don’t know how much I succeed in these aspects.
For me the top ten stories which are close to my heart are as follows;
-The Mirror
-Mystery Continues…
-Storm before the Romance
-Makeup and Breakup
-Mystery of Patterns
-Life without Purpose
-Entrepreneurship
-Sunday Newspaper
-The Voice
-Food 4 Thought
Love to hear your views and I am enjoying this discussion.
😀
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Wonderful! Your list of favs matches quite pleasantly with mine. I think, instinctively, the readers enjoy what the author has enjoyed writing.
Fact drags and fiction drags … now that’s a great quote!
Yes, you did succeed in your endeavours. But since you mentioned that they were written long ago, did you ever feel like re-writing any of the stories? The way we feel like re-blogging an old post, but by tweaking and modifying it.
So , given a chance, which 3 stories would you rewrite, how and why?
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When I look back, though the theme and message remains untouched in many but the treatment and the structuring could have been better, though I had a strong intent to give a special composition to the subject in the following three, it could have been much better.
1) The Brain Behind the Beauty
2) Wife’ Day
3) Questions without Answers
In the first one, crescendo could have been built better with a nice twist to entire setting in the cafe. In the second a more humor could have been incorporated during the dialogue and I could have been more creative. In the third I wanted to convey a very profound message how incidences in life changes our fate forever and bright careers goes into darkness. I felt it didn’t come out with full intensity, the character depiction needed better finesse.
More than anything I enjoy such quality of dialogue and discussion which is always enriching and highly insightful…
😀
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Hmm, yes the suspense could have been built up more taut, for that ‘Oh!’ moment. Do you think the third one could have ended on a hopeful note, with the protagonist rising like proverbial Phoenix, instead of allowing fate to rule her life?
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You are right, the suspense could have been more gripping and tighter, sub-plots could have been imagined differently and weaved through proper selection of words. Third one, I thought so same way but than it could imitate our Bollywood movie which I didn’t want to touch in any of the stories, wanted each stories to be as much realistic and on the ground where we all can relate not left to the imagination or world of fantasy.
stories are what touches and moves us…
😀
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Hmm, well debated.
And that feeling of dissatisfaction speaks well of your hunger to excel. Otherwise you would stagnate as a writer. Good going.
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Seems a good read. Themes that you highlighted are suitable to my taste. Thanks for the review. 🙂
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Yes, short stories have their charm. One can always flip to the next one. The length of a few pages can still create so much. Glad you liked the themes I chose to highlight. Would love to read your (analytical) review of it.
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Hi Dr Sweety…whenever you get time pls go through this story of mine “Voice of Nature” and share your feedback…the link.
https://freeditorial.com/en/books/voice-of-nature
Thanks in advance…
Best Wishes
Nihar
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Hey, I could see only the synopsis. Did you send me whole of it?
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Hi, Just download from the link. The entire stuff is there…
😀
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Ok, got it. Its quite a long one. Give me some time to read this, please.
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Absolutely no problem, please take your time. It would be my pleasure to hear your feedback. So nice of you…and thank you so much.
😀
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I will surely do that at the earliest. Is it written as a prelude to a new novel or as a blog competition?
And if Mythology interests you, I would love to have your feedback too, on my novel.
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Yes, just give me sometime, I will definitely go through your novel, it is in my agenda, just not able to get the right time, I want to properly go, as Mythology I just don’t want to run through, I want to absorb and analysis thoroughly and cherish very bit of it. Yes, it is part of a long-short story competition, if it is good enough, I will extend it to a book form….let’s see, your feedback matters.
😀
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Hmm, well I’ve never won a story competition, so I may not be the best judge. But I’ll try my best.
Is it a Genre based competition or free topic?
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I just somewhere, and it was a free topic and I was writing on a story, thought why not submit it…it is not about judging, your views matters and your thoughts will make me learn better, you as a beautiful writer can bring so many new dimensions to writing and I enjoy such perspective and lovely discussion…:D
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Oh, I see. Sure, will do that. Afterall, everyone loves to distribute free advice. And its always nice to read somebody else’s creative thought process.
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Creative exchange of ideas only multiplies each other’s creative juice…it is not about advice or suggestions but about the learning and sharing…
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Seriously, we should form a beta readers group. It’ll be great to bounce ideas and see our writing thru other eyes.
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Good idea, this will help all…we can try out.
😀
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