Pensha

Hijabistan has sixteen stories of women wearing a veil. To call them powerful would be a cliche. In the words of Sabyn Javeri, the author – 'The one thing in common I found when researching these stories was that all the women I spoke to were hiding something. Therefore the title ‘Hijabistan’ or land of the hidden. Not hijab as imagination has limited it – you would be surprised how many people can’t think beyond hijab being a garment. For them the word is incapable of having any other meaning and it is this stereotype boxed thinking I wanted to challenge.' Here, Javeri talks about what it means to be a Muslim woman wearing a veil. Telling stories no one wants to tell Javeri, who is known for her full length novel Nobody killed her, says that short stories are her first love. The Hijabsitan, published by HarperCollins, has couple of stories which were published in magazines. The author says, “Many of the stories were written at different times, place and durin

Chatting up brand consultant and advertising veteran Kartik Kompella who has come up with a slick, fast paced book titled A Pitch for Love. Set in the realm of advertising, A Pitch for Love (HarperCollins), is funny, wicked and deliciously gossipy about the going-ons in Leapfrog, a Mumbai company. It is also very ‘insider-ish’, so laypersons like us will learn how big deals are cracked, what professional rivalries can lead to and the sleeping around (or not) that comes along with it. It is in this world that Prachi and Drona collide and learn to lean on each other, trust and then eventually fall in love. Brand consultant, Kartik Kompella, who has worked in advertising for several years, tells us more about his protagonists and how he wrote their story. Was it important to be on a safe footing for your first novel and that’s why you chose to set it in the world of advertising, which you are familiar with? My first novel was a noir thriller which I never showed to a publisher. It

Preeti Shenoy, who was in the city recently to launch her new book, The Rule Breakers, tells us why we don’t need someone to make us happy As the story progresses, you find yourself rooting for Veda, a quintessentially, small town Indian girl of the ’90s, who gives up on her dreams to fulfill her parents’ wishes. At the end, she writes to her sister, that she may have lost the love of her life, but has found herself! A realistic story well written is what we tell Preeti Shenoy, author of The Rule Breakers. Shenoy agrees and says, “I am satisfied with the book. The Rule Breakers was a difficult book to write. It took me five drafts. There’s so much happening in the book. There’s the danger of the subplot taking over the main plot, but we managed.” Published by Westland, it is Shenoy’s 11th book, and already a sequel is brewing in the author’s head. At the moment, however, she is basking in the praise of the early reviews for the book. In Pune to launch her latest work, Shenoy e

We catch up with romance novelist Nikita Singh, who was in the city to promote her latest book, Letters to My Ex Haven’t we all had friends, couples-so-much-in-love, who develop cold feet at the last moment and then call off the nuptials? This is also the story of Nidhi and Abhay; Nidhi calls off her engagement, leaving Abhay without a clue of what she is thinking. Unable to say things aloud, Nidhi starts writing letters to Abhay. But doesn’t post them. Nikita Singh’s Letters to My Ex allows her protagonists to think, ponder and come to terms with the baggage that is bogging them down. The New York-based author was in the city to promote her book, published by HarperCollins. We caught up with the author, who works as a social media manager for a solar manufacturing company. And, moonlights as a romance novelist. More about the book... You have said in the book that it was easier to get into Nidhi’s head. Is she like you? Nidhi is not like me. We share some common traits thou