To Catch A Smile.

There are often a lot of requests and favours and the like that everyone has to entertain in life. And from those we chose what we can do – mostly because we want to and/or it is nice. Now there are lot of suggestions/concerns/requests that come in through this blog, and “to catch a smile” was one that I enjoyed. Vivek’s request was that I read his book and review it – thanks for the book!!!

Now the review! What do you get when you combine an Engg. Degree and a PGDBA from IIM-A ? A guy who writes a book? I haven’t researched as yet, but mostly these mba grads write a lot (sometimes a lot equals nothing). Hardly a few of this species make a good read. “To catch a smile” is a first attempt and a good one I must add. 23 short stories that the author says arouse feeling in something that could be passed as mundane. Now when one student asks another for a pen in a classroom, it could be simply put as a sentence, most engineering graduates would make a paragraph of the same to pass in the English paper, and then there are the imaginative ones, who would build a story around it. It could be short, long, or even a screenplay. That is the essence of story telling.

In my first sitting I read three short stories. The thing with short stories is they are – short. The leave you in a jiffy; they leave you wanting for more; the three stories did, and soon the others too. The author surely got his recipe to short stories right. And once I finished the book, I realised that the stories improved, in context, in imagination, in personalities, in theme and in portrayal. And slowly but steadily, what could have passed as a conversation went on to become a short story.

Some of the lines that the author came up with are worth mentioning, mostly because I dare to assume, it comes from his heart, and also because it feels good.

“I wrote my first story to impress someone, and then wrote the subsequent ones to please myself”

“Life can be strange. So strange that it becomes funny, often unintentionally.”

“You begin to find good things in others only when you are told nice things about yourself”

And a book review often ends with a rating, I would rather deal with a recommendation – to readers who want to do some casual reading, enjoy light hearted conversations between characters and go through the simple incidents that, am sure one has experienced in ones life.

Also recommended to those who are bored with reading short stories that probably are equivalent of chapters, these stories are Short! : )

*You can only find the book for purchase online at India Plaza, and if you want to get more about the book, visit tocatchasmile<dot>com