ABOUT BOOK
12
strokes of life is a collection of 12 short stories. From the hilly terrains of
Matheran to the IT hub of the country, from the historically rich city of Bidar
to one of the fastest growing cities of India, Coimbatore, these stories are
set in varied locations. From an
overconfident
youth longing for success to a determined old man termed insane by neighbors,
from a married lady in search of true love to a young girl fighting against all
odds to overcome her worst fears, the characters are very much alive and can be
related
to people
around us.
The
stories belong to different genres and try to send across a message to the
reader which is though everyone paints a unique picture of life based on their experiences;
it never stops to amaze us. After all, life has infinite strokes. Read the 12
strokes of life to know the hues and shades of the journey of a few.
Paperback:
160 Pages
Publisher:
Gargi Publishers
Release
Date: 15th May, 2014
ISBN-10:
8192960900
ISBN-13:
978-8192960906
Product
Dimensions: 21.2 x 12.8 x 2 cm
ABOUT AUTHOR
Durgesh
Shastri is a computer networks engineer currently working as an asst. professor
in GNDEC, Bidar. A social worker, his NGO is actively involved in spreading
computer and social awareness in rural areas. His first book, 12 strokes of
life, has been
critically
acclaimed by many professional reviewers and readers alike while his short
stories have featured in 5 anthologies in 2014 alone. He also has a poem to his
credit, published in an international poetry book when cupid struck its arrow,
which was reviewed by the famous Indian actor, Aamir Khan. An alumnus of the
prestigious PES university and RV college of engineering, Bangalore, Durgesh
has always been a voracious reader and the works of Sidney Sheldon and Jeffrey Archer have
motivated him as a writer. He has reviewed several books online and continues
to try his hand at creative writing during his spare time.
REVIEWS
REVIEW BY PRIYANKA BATRA HARJAI
12
Strokes of Life by Durgesh Shastri is a life bearing soulful collection of inspiring short stories.
Indeed, an apt title visualized. One fact that needs to be highlighted before
starting a formal review is author’s story telling / story writing skills. I have by now, read a
handful of short stories collections but none is close to this one. Be it story
telling skills,
be it selection of stories, be it its plot or characterization or anything; everything
is in perfect sync.
The
author sets the mood right from the beginning, keeps you glued with the story till the end and
leaves a trail of thoughts behind once you finish. Every
single story is a perfect primer for an individual book jacket. Flavors are varied but the combo is
vibrant and soothing. The icing on the cake is the tactful restoration of suspense
by the end of each of the story.
Every time,
I finished reading a story, I craved to read more and could not accept it’s UNTIMELY
end. I would definitely like to read more from the author’s desk.
Coming to the short story
collection:
1. The
Anonymous Donor is a story about Kanha Agarwal, a real estate shark who has ambitions to
become a politician one day. In his desire, he competes with a neighboring temple’s caretaker to secure more financial assistance. His aspirations
shatter as the priest gets a decent donation from a anonymous donor. Who is the
donor?
Why did
he or she chose to remain anonymous?It was a thrilling read as a totally unexpected climax
awaits.
2. A
Grave Mistake is about an incident in Kanchan’s life. A grave mistake that we all might be compelled to attempt but
only to regret afterwards. But, is falling in love (just what Kanchan did) such a grave mistake OR falling for love (just what Kunal did) should be termed a mistake?Understand how our actions transform into mistake!
3. The
Carefree Butterflies is a nerve wrenching story about Charulata and Suhasini.
They were a simile of carefree butterflies until a mishappening shatters their
life. What was it? Will they be able to restore their carefree attitude? Yes, but
sadly, at a cost.
4. Deepak’s
Superstitions is a light-hearted and humorous account about Deepak’s
superstitions. A young boy entangled in glossy chain of superstitions fights
with his destiny one day. Will he succeed to overpower the superstitions or
will he once again fall into the
dark well?
5. Lazy
Sunday is a hard hitting story that has a strong message enveloped in words. An attempt to
redefine the logics of ‘REALITY’.
6. The
Lost Lady is a sweet close to heart and a heart warming story. It is about an
old lady who forgets her way back to home. It is about the events that happen
with her all day long. Will she get back to her home or will she fall prey to
some trap?
7. Sweet
revenge as the name suggests is a sweet story of a small boy taking revenge for
his mother. Society is full of unethical social morons who don't give a damn to
other living individuals. This story is an attempt to take a stand and fight
for justice and earn self respect
8. Communication
disasters is a jovial
but tricky story. The story highlights the importance of communicating not only
the words but emotions
as well. You will definitely enjoy the
Sumit’s non verbal communications and how he landed a job based on his
so called weakness.
9. A
Magic Lost is a journey down the lane with the main lead. Kit flying is a easily relate-able emotion for every single Indian. Author has carved a beautiful love story
around the theme but it gets stained with blood. Read the story to learn how
these blood stains Barr the vision and hence the lead loses his magical skills
to play with winds.
10.
Romance is Matheran is a heart touching and very emotional romantic story. If you
respect love, read the story and you will redefine the eternal feeling once
again.
11.
The Unanswered Questions is
a funny tale of a bus journey. A boy meets someone’s during
the journey and opens his heart out to him. He considers him to be his
prospective father in law. You definitely gonna enjoy how he gets answers to
his unanswered questions.
12. The
Unfulfilled Wish is the
best of the collection. Ironically a satisfying story for those who love to read
and read to love. Yes, I am in my complete senses, as I am phrasing my sentences.
A story about identifying and respecting true love irrespective of the
glamorous barrier termed – age.
To sum it
up, a must read for all those who enjoy relishing short but meaningful stories.
A nice pick for gifting someone who loves to read. Printing quality is good.
Nice job done
by Ila
Garg as the editor.
REVIEW BY INDIANAUTHORS.ORG
12
strokes of life is a collection of 12 short stories. From the hilly terrains of Matheran to the IT hub of the
country, from the historically rich city of Bidar to one of the fastest growing
cities of India, Coimbatore, these stories are set in varied locations. From an overconfident youth longing for
success to a determined old man termed insane by neighbors, from a married lady
in search of true love to a young girl fighting against all odds to overcome
her worst fears, the characters are very much alive and can be related to
people around us. The stories belong to different genres and try to send across
a message to the reader which is though everyone paints a unique picture of life
based on their experiences; it never stops to amaze us. After all, life has
infinite strokes. Read the 12 strokes of life to know the hues and shades of
the journey of a few.
REVIEW BY SHARANYA BHATTACHARYA
There are
a few books which will drag your attention towards them and before you read it,
you will get the feeling that this book is going to be good. The quality, the
cover, the color combination and the blurb of the book reflects the same kind
of feeling. The first
impression
of the 12 stokes of life by Durgesh Shastri is quite remarkable.
According
to the back cover: 12 strokes of life is a collection of 12 short stories. From
the hilly terrains of Matheran to the IT hub of the country, from the historically
rich city of Bihar to one of the fastest growing cities of India, Coimbatore,
these stories are set in varied locations. From an overconfident youth longing
for success to a determined old man termed insane by neighbors, from a married
lady in search of true love to a young girl fighting against all odds to overcome
her worst fears, the characters are very much alive and can be related to
people around us. The stories belong to different genres and try to send across
a message to the reader which is though everyone paints a unique picture of
life based on their experiences; it never stops to amaze us. After all, life
has infinite strokes. Read the 12 strokes of life to know the hues and shades
of the journey of a few.
The
author has narrated each story in quite a simple way; no unpronounceable words and no unnecessary usage of phrases.
The simple way of the narrating keeps the flow and will engage the readers till
the end. I am sure the readers will love the names of the stories. Just like
the name of the book, the author has given a similar effort in choosing the
appropriate name for each of his stories which will definitely generate curiosity among the
readers.
The
stories are very different from each other and the readers will close the book
with mixed reaction. Where one story will regenerate the faith in god, then
another story will make the readers heaved a sigh of relief at the end. The
characters are also very different from each other and very much relate-able to the readers in itself. I
would be wrong if I say that this book does not have love stories, but those
are not the regular clichéd ones.
The most
interesting part about this author is, he has tried to install a positive thought among the readers through
every story penned down by him. Not that he was successful every time but kudos
to the author for choosing such a less traveled path. The stories of this book
lack consistency. When the first story will raise the reader’s
expectation then the second one isn’t able to maintain the standard set by the first one. Not that every
story has flaws and can be written in a better way but most of the stories
does.
I felt
sometimes the author has lacked patience and without describing the situations has concentrated more on
finishing the story which will disappoint the readers. The editing was a bit
weak too and could have been done in a better way. After judging all the negative
and positive points of the book, I escalate the author for such a brave attempt of writing something out of the
box and will encourage him to continue writing unusual stuffs. Overall I would
rate this book a 3.75 out of 5.
REVIEW BY TIMID FINGERS
Blurb: 12
strokes of life is a collection of 12 short stories. From the hilly terrains of Matheran
to the IT hub of the country, from the historically rich city of Bihar to one
of the fastest growing cities of India, Coimbatore, these stories are set in
varied locations. From an overconfident youth longing for success to a determined old man termed
insane by neighbors, from a married lady in search of true love to a young girl
fighting against all odds to overcome her worst fears, the characters are very
much alive and can be related
to people around us.
The
stories belong to different genres and try to send across a message to the reader which is though everyone
paints a unique picture of life based on their experiences; it never stops to
amaze us. After all, life has infinite strokes.
Read the
12 strokes of life to know the hues and shades of the journey of a few.
Verdict: ’12
Strokes of Life’ is a collection of twelve short stories written by author
Durgesh
Shastri. Each every story has a different message to deliver and a different
tale to tell which I think
is the most interesting fact about the book.
The name
sounds very impressive and will definitely drag the reader’s attention. Twelve stories which tell different tales of life can
easily be termed as the strokes of life. I appreciate the designer for such a
wonderful cover
which makes the first impression quiet striking.
This is
not regular that an author choosing to write an anthology collection because I think conveying a message
through a short story is much tougher that conveying through a full fledged
novel but this author has shown the guts and came up with a short story
collection which is commendable. Needless to say; the author has a story teller
within and also has a fluent narrating style. The easy going words will help
the readers to maintain the flow.
Each and
every story has a very good message to convey. Not every story ends with a good
note but will definitely have something to learn from the story and I believe
that is where the author has focused more, on giving a moral. Stories have different
scenes, different background and have unfolded in different states of India, which
makes this book all the more interesting. All the characters are so real, that one
can easily relate them.
At times
I felt few stories lack description, few stories feel like they are written in a hurry and there
are few which couldn’t connect with the readers. A few editing errors are also spotted
here and there. I would appreciate the author for this attempting and would
love to read
some more in from his in future and would expect that he will keep this things
in mind.
There are
four or five stories which immensely touched my heart but the best of the series was ‘The
Anonymous Donor’
Final
Words: A very nice attempt by Durgesh Shastri and I appreciate the author’s effort for penning down
wonderful short stories which left lasting effects among the readers.
Rating: 3.5/5
REVIEW BY SMITA SALINS
'12 strokes of life', is a book written by the talented Durgesh Shastri and published
by Gargi Publishers.
The
lovely cover has been designed by Amol Karambe. This book is a collection of
12, very interesting stories, from different walks of life. There are loads of
surprises, and elements of suspense in stories like ‘The
anonymous donor’ and ‘the unanswered question’, while stories like ‘A grave mistake’ and ‘Romance in Matheran’, will surely melt your heart, and bring a tear or two to your eyes.
‘Sweet revenge started off as a sad tale, of a woman beaten by her
husband, and sexually exploited by her husband’s boss; but ends with a
happy surprise which is sure to make you smile.
‘Deepak’s superstitions’ is a story which talks about the ill-effects of superstitions on a person’s life,
and how everything got back on track, once he stopped believing in such
nonsense. There’s a lesson to be learnt here for everyone.
‘Carefree butterflies’, ‘a magic lost’ and ‘communication disasters’ are devoid of any strong lessons or morals, but still make for
very interesting and intriguing reads.
‘Lazy Sunday’ was quite funny, with a twist in the end. But my favorite story
was ‘The lost lady’. It was truly hilarious. It was a heady mix of suspense, drama,
tears and laughter. I enjoyed reading it the most.
All in
all, ‘12 strokes’ is a goody bag of surprises and mixed emotions. They are beautifully written stories, which are
sure to keep you glued to the very end.
Definitely
an interesting read.
To order your copy from Amazon Click Here or to order it from Flipkart Click Here
