My Book
I’ve always had this insatiable urge to write. Ever since I could hold a pen in my hand, I realized that there’s some demon in me that wants to come out. The paper becomes a battlefield, where words wage wars against each other, each one wanting to outshine the previous one for depth and meaning. I was fascinated by this contest.
In April of 2007, I had the privilege of becoming a published author, when my collection of short stores - Untitled - was published and released by Gypsy Books. The book has 25 short stories and I’ve decided to post five of the good ones on this page here. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them.
It took me close to three years to write these stories, and I was finally relieved when I typed out the last few words of the twenty-fifth story and let out a tired sigh of satisfaction. It’s an awesome feeling.
The book was reviewed in all the major newspapers and one particular line that I liked in Deccan Herald’s review was this:
The creatively written short stories, while taking the reader on a philosophical journey, give an insight into the lifestyle of the urban yuppie…
So, here are a few good stories. I hope you enjoy them. Comments and critiques are, of course, welcome. 
(P.S The files below are in the PDF format)
1. Ascent
3. The Inner Workings of The Female Brain
I’ll upload more of the book’s contents soon…
Cheers
Kudos~~*** these short stories are brilliant, I love the use of language and life… I can only imagine your inspirations…
A wonderful accomplishment. I’m looking forward to reading, and buying your book.
Here’s a link to a boring video I made. I did, however, mention your blog. I really should link to all the blogs I mention. I’ll do that tomorrow.
Anyway, here’s the link.
http://mariacristina.wordpress.com/2008/04/16/585/
@mariacristina
I thank you again for that wonderful video and for mentioning my humble blog… Thank you so much!!
I was reading “The Lady of Shalott,” by chance? I came across these lines, and wondered if you chose your blog’s name after this poem…
Out flew the web and floated wide;
The mirror cracked from side to side;
“The curse is come upon me,” cried
The Lady of Shalott.
@mariacristina
Actually, this poem occurs a couple of times in Agatha Christie’s novel “The Mirror Crack’d”… You’re right… this was what made me choose the title…
I loved the inner workings!!! lolzzz.!!!!!
Have you ever written a comedy? Just asking
@frangle
lol… thanks for dropping by…
@suda
Yeah man, I’m basically a comic writer… most of the stories in the book are funny… check out No. 2 and 3 above… both are funny…
I just asked because Pokie is still on my mind. Now I am gonna read them.
@ Yaake-have added this to my to-do list. Will read it for sure and leave my comments here. And hey isn’t Ancient mariner (The rime of ancient mariner??????)a classic poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge? it is one of my favorite poems. Intriguing title- Guess what I will start with this one only.
fruity
whoa !! dowloaded them ..would read it soon ..
congratz dude ….
writing a book isn’t easy and getting it published is even more harder..
hats off to you …
wish u all the success and may u write many more books…
and yeah send one copy of each book through speed post
will ya ??????
@suda
i’m sorry again… lol..
@fruitymind
i guess i borrowed the title from that poem… its my fav too! thanks… i hope u enjoy them!
@arvind
thanks man! writing the book wasn’t that hard, but publishing it was HELL!!!
Sure, email me ur address, i’ll sed the book across… I’ve already sent a copy to Ruhi, and she kinda reviewed it on her blog… here’s the link:
http://havetoremember.wordpress.com/2008/02/07/untitled/
enjoy
” writing the book wasn’t that hard ”
u sound modest yaar …
and
Are u serious abt sending it through mail ???
i was kinda joking
i would love to read it anyway …
arvind_1187@yahoo.com ..this is my email ID …
Yaake had sent me a hard copy of his book a long time back
I’m sure all of you are jealous. Probably you don’t remember the post where I’d put up a pic of his book. (Refer to the post Untitled).
In all this globalisation, this book is not to be found in the UK.
Ergo, some of us have to wait for our annual pilgrimage to India (for me, book buying is in Bangalore) to find a copy.
@Shefaly
Lol… Unfortunate, yes… I apologize for that… Yeah, you can buy it here in b’lore when you come. Just keep me posted and I’ll reserve an autographed copy for u…
Nikhil: Thanks! That would be great.
I stay with my folks in Indira Nagar so we shall have to find a way to meet up centrally somewhere that works for you too.
Have you read a book called ‘On The Nature of Human Romantic Interaction’? Karl Iagnemma is a robotics researcher in MIT and I kick myself for not having gotten him to sign my copy of the book when I researched there and kept up correspondence with him.. Its movie rights were bought last year or sometime before that. Hmm.
Yes, I should admit, I love to get books autographed. I always meet and speak with the authors instead of buying the autographed copies.
So far - Stella Rimington (the first female head of MI5; met at Henley), Michael Palin (who was a lovely man and we spoke about the Golden Temple; met in Cambridge), Vikram Seth (whose grammatical error in speaking I corrected, har har; met in Oxford), Craig Venter, Amartya Sen (both met in London). Imagine what hallowed company you will be on the autographed shelf!
@Shefaly
OH MY GOD!!!
Hats off to you! Lemme get this straight: u did research in mit??? wow! ok, here’s what we’ll do… i’ll give u copy of my book, autographed, and in return, u give me your autograph on a piece of paper which i’m gonna frame in gold and hang in my living room!! deal?
and i really do not deserve to be on ur shelf… put my book under ur bed or something, out of sight…
[...] by nikhil (one of the fellow bloggers around ) .This is his blog .check it [...]
Awesome Man!!
I can say that you’re talented even though I haven’t read any of the stories…
As a word of advice, I don’t think as good a blogger as you should still be on a free host like WordPress. Get a domain dude… Looks quite professional and comes dirt cheap. In case you have any queries please do tell me…
PS: I’ll get back to you after reading the stories..
Wow!! A published writer!! I have downloaded and will read soon. But I notice “comments wont be entertained”
@Sameer
Thanks man.. I’ve been meaning to do it soon!
@Reema
Thanks! And that disclaimer is only for one of the stories!
Okk i downloaded it first and opened…i have not yet opened the rest.
Hey, finally I read ‘A Drunk Train Journey’. It was good !! I knew (guessed) Bhaskar wasn’t all that innocent in the first place !! After reading all your posts, I was kindda expecting a twist at the end. Whens your next book releasing ?
Nikhil, today finally… my long waiting To-Do has been accomplished… read all of your stories… WOW! Havent looked for it yet, s i just finished reading these 5 just now… but is it distributed in the US?
Done reading your stories today - Oh my, they’re so wonderful! Thanks for sharing them, yaake
[...] , guess what ?? You can get hold of the soft copies of the first five stories of this book at nikhil’s blog . Yes he is on web . YOU can catch him here [...]
cool blog nikhil……..u just match our ideas……….ur stories really rock….even i like drinkin beer, partyin……….i’ll sure meet u when i’m in banglore…..we’ll sure have a party
just read your “A Drunk Train Journey”.
Good narration! But a bit more predictable after blood stain found on papps! But surely a good read! will read others sometime later.
will surely read!
it was gr8…..got 2 know abt u 4m arvind’s blog…must say u r a 1derful writer….
keep up d awesome work….
Read Inner Workings…LOL!
Fully intend to check out the others as well.
Cheers,
Quirky Indian
http://quirkyindian.wordpress.com
Wow! Thats too good. You have achived your dream so early.. I mean I see lot of people having their books published later in their life time.. Is the book available in shops like sapna?
I prefer read the hardbound one rather than on the computer screen.
Best Wishes!
@Reema
Take your time
@Priya
I dunno yet… I’ll obviously let u know first…
@Shiwuz
Unfortunately, no.. it was released only in india…
@Glaize
Thanks! Glad you liked it..
@Aravind
Oh, definitely! Let’s get drunk!
@Sakhi
Sure thing… take your time.. Glad u liked that one
@Riddhima
Hehe.. Welcome to MirrorCracked!
Glad you liked them…
@Quirky Indian
Welcome to MirrorCracked! Glad you liked it…
@Veena
Thanks for that lovely comment… Unfortunately, the book got sold out a long time ago.. I didn’t go in for a second edition… But, I’ve got a few copies with me for distribution.. I can send it to you.. Email me your address, I’ll courier it asap..
Why your book is not in a reprint… the stories are great. It is great to read on paper (though enviornmentalists would not vouch for it!
).
@Sakhi
I hate my publisher, that’s why… I’m looking for a new one!
Let me know when that happens! will like to BUY your book off shelf! All teh best…
@Sakhi
Absolutely…
Couldn’t wait for you paperback or hardbound edition to come on shelf.. so downloaded all your stories from here and red them… man, you ar too good!
liked the ancient wali story a lot, what a punch!
too good.
Others are also superb! you just rock!
so, you believe in life after death? hun!
cool yaar, ek copy mujhe bhi please bhej dena
jaspreet.hd [at] gmail [dot] com
@Sakhi
Thanks, I’m glad you liked it…
And no, I don’t generally don’t believe in that concept…
@Perx
Sure dude… will do…
@nikhil
thanx man
Will read these stories and look for the book here at shops for sure