Wings of Silence

Wings of Silence

Author : Shriram Iyer

About the Author : Bangalore-born Shriram Iyer, a management professional based in Melbourne, Australia, has authored several short stories, theatre scripts and screenplays for short films. Silver-medalist under the Shankar’s International Award in 1996 given by the President of India, Shriram is also a professional singer who has to his credit an Indian pop album, Is Dhundh Mein, (released in 2007 by well-known singer Shankar Mahadevan) as well as over 400 concerts in India, Australia, New Zealand and USA. Wings of Silence is his debut novel.

"A spellbinding story...the real winner in this exhilarating but tender tale is unconditional brotherly love that Shriram Iyer describes in mesmerizing and elegant prose." - Oswald Pereira, Bestselling Author, The Newsroom Mafia.

I cannot really wipe out the smile on my face, even when I sit to review this book. You know there are certain books that you just skim through and it doesn’t really make you happy and then there is “Wings of Silence”, which makes you respect relations, understand certain intricate details in relationships, and communicate without language.

So to start of with we are given a glimpse of Ajay Sethi, an ex Air India official, who was captured and imprisoned in line of duty, and later how he escapes with an injured leg. Here we can easily picture a man of few words, bound by discipline and duty , to whom “Failure” is a word he omitted from his life.

His two sons : Saurav Sethi and Raj Sethi, take the story forward. Raj, the eldest ,is born deaf, owing to which he has a difficult childhood, as compared to an ordinary child, or rather as compared to his younger brother Saurav Sethi, or the one with  a “Midas touch”.

Saurav becomes the son his Father dotes on, as he epitomizes Strength, courage, determination, ambition, focus – all what his father set his life by. The brothers are as different as chalk and cheese, and the same is well described by the author, with a description of their rooms, which in a way described their life’s.

Saurav, grows up to be the next Tennis Star, and in the meanwhile his brother is left out in the rat race. His father completely dotes on him and spends his “Life” completely dedicated towards his sons “tennis career”, whereas he completely ignored his elder Son’s need for acceptance.

As situations unfold, the brothers bond emotionally, and Saurav takes it upon himself to resurrect his Brothers Life, which was crumbling down, much to the annoyance of his father. He helps Raj become the Person Raj aspires to be, by being his constant support and guide. He is helped in this ambition by his “soulmate” Shalini, and his aunt Sheela.

Shriram Iyer has beautifully unfolded a Family for us through the pages of his book. A family with characters that will make you laugh, cry, and empathize with. Characters  you would be able to relate with.

His style of writing is such that it enables for a fast paced read. Events have been well researched. The triumph of the characters feels like a personal triumph for the readers.

Having said all of this , if you ask me what was it that I did not like about the book, id say (a very personal desire) , I would have been happy if all the characters got what they wanted. But well, in reality , that is something that would have been inappropriate. Are you wondering what im talking about??? If Yes, grab a copy of “Wings of Silence” , because this is one “hell of  a book”, and I would absonfreakinlutely want YOU to read it.

 For the AUTHOR, Hats off sir, for a fist timer, you are simply “Rocking”, awaiting your next book.

Oh and my Rating: 10/10 . (like you didn’t know it already)


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Two Minutes

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<blockquote>
This post has been published by me as a part of the <b>Blog-a-Ton 29</b>; the 29th Edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following <a href="http://blogaton.in/"><b>Blog-a-Ton</b></a>. The topic for this month is 'TWO MINUTES'.
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He told me of yellow flowers and meadows without boundaries,

Of cattle’s and farms and a dream,

Where I was his and he was “the one made for me”

Do you believe in love?? Do you feel it exists?? The typical “kahin na kahin , koi na koi, kissi ke liye bana hai types?? I did not till I met him. 

It was not love at first sight, there were no violins playing or any sort of signs, that the heavens are assumed to put in front of you, stating that he is the one. Nothing!!!. Just a casual hello, a cordial smile, some conversations over coffee, and a good bye. There wasn’t an urge to see him or hear from him again.

But somewhere, somehow, there was a feeling, a feeling of having known him earlier, a feeling that connected them both on a different level altogether. Was it love?? No not yet.

His company put her at ease,

They laughed over things that only they could understand,

The felt complete in each others presence

And yet , they were not in love.

Silence between them was comforting

There was no awkwardness

They could discuss about the stars and the moon

And about the shapes made by the clouds..

It was beautiful, yet undefined

Were they in love?? well not yet.

Their conversations unfolded their past,

Something which they never spoke about,

Was out for the other to hear.

Their fingers touched

And longed for each other

Yet they were not in love.

Their hands entwined themselves

And their eyes found each others,

A million questions fluttered through them, before their lips met

The questions were left unanswered, yet they had their answers

Somehow, they still were not in love.

Her eyes bore his stories

She was confused beyond words, of why he made her feel this way

His mere presence made her happy

His proximity to another female made her green with envy

And yet they were not in love.

Milte hain hum juda hone ke liye

Milte hain hum juda hone ke liye,

Uss gham main bhi ek alag sa nasha hai,

Kyunki uske har alfaz main tumhara naam hai.

They spent days together, and now it was time to leave,

A feeling of loneliness crept inside her,

But she wanted to be strong and pretend,

She hugged him good bye

And thought she would get over him

But she was wrong

As her every thought was going back to him.

And yet she was not in love.

She dreamed of yellow flowers and meadows

She dreamed of being there with him

She was afraid of being hurt,

And realized it was the same for him,

He had many plans,

And she was nowhere in them

She was hurt to realize , that maybe it was only she who was in love with him.

Of flowers and meadows,

Of cattles and farms

A dreadful night, and it all came crashing down.

He was to go far away from her, far away from this world

As death sought his soul

She ran towards him,

And held him in her arms.

“I love you”, she whispered in his ears

Their eyes met, their fingers entwined

She prayed for two minutes more of his life.

Death bowed before her love, and granted them 2 decades

But they still were not in love.

They were in something beyond,

Beyond something

That even love couldn’t comprehend.


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<blockquote>
The <b>fellow Blog-a-Tonics</b> who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective <b>posts</b> can be checked <a href="http://www.blogaton.in/2012/06/rules-and-reminder-for-blog-ton-29.html"><b>here</b></a>. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following <b><a href="http://blogaton.in/">Blog-a-Ton</a>.</b></blockquote>
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"Love aaj Kal"

Many eyes looked at the couple, who were lost in each others eyes, oblivious to the world. They held on to each other, unaware of the glances and smirks.

“oooh, im gonna watch it soon” crooned a girl, staring like the rest, at the Movie Poster.

Once Again

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 27; the 27th Edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton. The topic for this month is 'Once Again'.

Ek baar phir is dil ne kisi dil se pyaar kiya

Ek baar phir isne apne khuda se shart lagayi,

Ki iss baar aey , khuda

mEre dil ko na dhuka

Mujhe pyaar se hai pyaar

Uss shabd se na bada meri nafrat

Meri mohabbat ka kar thoda izzat

Ussey meri muhabbat ka ho jaane do yakeen

(Once again this heart fell in love

 Once again, it ran a stake with the lord

 That this time around, lord

 Don’t hurt my heart

 I’m in love with the idea of love

 Don’t increase my hatred towards that word

 Do respect my Love

 And let him realize that my love is true )

She sat nibbling on the end of her pen, when he walked towards her. She looked up, and closed her diary, and sipped on the coffee,  which he had bought her. She smiled and looked at him. He smiled back.

“Chale”,(shall we), he smiled , as he crushed his cup, and aimed it at the nearby bin, it missed and it fell.

“mmmm”  she left her coffee unfinished, and sat behind him, on his bike.

The Devotion of Suspect X

When you are presented with an opportunity to read something that has apparently been a “best-seller”, having sold over 2 million copies, you would obviously not let go of that, right?

Title: The Devotion of Suspect X

Author: Keigo Higashino.

                                               

About The Author: Keigo Higashino was born in Osaka. He started writing novels while still working as an Engineer and won the Edogawa Rampo Prize for writing at age 27. The Devotion of Suspect X has sold over 2 million copies in Japan and has been made into a cult film.

Do I like this book: Hell yes! Having read snippets about the book, we realize that the story revolves around a single mother (Yasuko), and her Daughter (Misato), and how their world turns upside down, when her ex-husband (Togashi) returns after 5 years. The novel starts of, with a murder being committed, and that takes up 2 chapters of the book, and you are left with wondering, what comprises the remaining chapters. However, the author has interwoven his story with such brilliance, that you would not feel like letting go of the book without a complete understanding of the story.

The Land of the Wilted Rose

Mental Note to Self : Never (NEVER) READ a book, you accidently clicked on to REVIEW.

About the Author : Anand Ranganathan read Chemistry at St. Stephen’s, Delhi, and thereafter went to Cambridge for his BA in Natural Sciences. He stayed on at Cambridge for his PhD and post-doctoral studies. After returning to India, he joined the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology at Delhi, where at present he is researching tuberculosis and dengue, among other things. The Land of the Wilted Rose is his debut novel.

My Rant on this book : Honestly, i was putting of reviewing this book, until I got a reminder from BLOGADDA about the same. I could review it in THREE WORDS … “WHAT A MISTAKE”

Are we still reading for more??? Alright here goes : SO I was a little apprehensive as to how to review this Book, especially as I was having a tough time reading the same. So then I force myself to start , and turn the pages(read), and well the only thing that kept running in my head was , the authors reason of wanting to come up with this novel. We all are accustomed to Gandhi, and having a “White Mahatma” did not clearly make any sense to me.

The Prank

“Rayan , trust me its gonna be funnnn”.. she said ..her eyes widening ….

She loved doing crazy things, and playing pranks on strangers was one of them.

“But Gianna, are you sure? you sure no one ….”

“Stop being a wuss, Rayan, I’m sure……All you have to do is wait for my signal, and then we say , hey you are on candid camera of sorts, trust me it will be fun”.

“hmmmmm, are you…”

“YESSSSSSSS, I am, let’s get started, we need a perfect person or victim” she smiled and rubbed her hands together.”

 “Alright”

No sooner did she set across, than he switched on the record button, Better have it set than hear her nag later, he thought.