Tag: romance

If you grew up in the 1970s, then you’re probably used to the Gen Z assuming that you grew up  with fancy hairdos and listening to disco music. Although this assumption isn’t totally wrong, there was so much more to your childhood: The ’70s were a decade full of pre-Internet fun — like running around until sundown without anyone worrying.

The book Once Upon A Curfew talks about a turbulent period of Emergency and love amidst the difficulties. It is 1974. Indu has inherited a flat from her grandmother and wants to turn it into a library for women. Her parents think this will keep her suitably occupied till she marries her fiancé, Rajat, who’s away studying in London.  But then she meets  and falls in love with Rana, a young lawyer with sparkling wit and a heart of gold. When the Emergency is declared, Indu’s life turns upside down.

Now that you are starting to feel a little nostalgic, read on for some of good old 1970s memories! Here are some incidents from the book that will transport you back to the 70s India:

India Gate was an important meeting point for a stirring revolution.

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The bylanes of Old Delhi would draw people, with famous haunts like Karim’s.

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Indira Gandhi’s much-talked about campaign was in full-swing.

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Hindi Sahitya was very popular back in the 70s.

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When drinks were simply Campa Cola or the humble Shikanji.

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Bollywood had become an intrinsic part of the pop-culture.

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Kishore Kumar songs ruled the airwaves.

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The eyeliner game was pretty strong back in the 70s.

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The decade of 70’s gave birth to many fashion trends.

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Inflation, crime and taxes kept pace with the political havoc that was being wreaked.

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Regal was easily the most illustrious cinema hall in central Delhi and a sought after venue for ballets, plays and Bollywood talkies.

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On June 26, 1975, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi announced National Emergency on All India Radio. 

Get your copy of Srishti Chaudhary’s  Once Upon A Curfew today!

Rahul an intelligence officer on a secret mission is undercover at a major’s house. In the process, he falls in love with the major’s daughter, Akriti, unknowingly putting her in danger. To protect her, Rahul decides to hide her at his parent’s house. However, estranged from his family for years he must first make amends with them.

Just when he thinks he has found a haven for Akriti, she goes missing. That’s when a research wing officer is put on the job and Rahul realizes that she is someone who seems all too familiar. Or is she really?

As Rahul comes closer to the truth, he is faced with the biggest shock of his life.

Here we introduce the readers to the dynamic characters of Rahul and Akriti:

Rahul

What does it take to become an intelligence officer, to make a person stand out from the crowd? The hero of the book ‘The Secrets We Keep’ is a fine example to answer this question. As the book is a cross intersections of the past events and present day scenario, the readers witness the life of Rahul both as an adult and as an adolescent. Throughout his teens, Rahul was a rebellious child. He forged his mother’s signature on a complaint written by his school teacher and even stole money to buy his girlfriend a gift.

He was fighting a battle between the expectation of his parents and his own reality. Unlike his elder brother Karan, he was not excelling in academics, yet was exceptionally gifted in playing sports. Thus, following the traditional Indian mindset, his parents always criticized and demeaned him. This made him realize that his parents never truly saw him for who he was, which led him to leave home. Apart from that, he was also a romantic at heart. He fell in love with Akriti, yet when she was kidnapped he was the only one who could solve the case and save her.

As an adult, he was very calm and tactical. He was known to be a risk taker. Yet, it was the mistakes of his past that came to haunt him. His instincts and presence of mind is what made him decipher a web of lies. Overall, even though he is the hero of the book, he is a very realistic character. It was because of his carelessness that Akriti was kidnapped, yet it was due to his sharp mind that she was saved and a bigger threat was unveiled and neutralized. As a hero, he was charismatic and smart, and had the courage to accept the mistakes of his past.

Akriti

Akriti, as one of the leads characters of the book, is a woman who has good reflexes and instincts. When her house was attacked, she acted quickly and instead of rushing towards danger, she hid in her closet. She was a smart woman, who was in love with an intelligence officer, Rahul. Even though Rahul’s family did not approve of their relationship she never bowed down to their wishes and tried to adjust with them. She was a headstrong woman, who believed that moulding old traditions with newer ones was important to modernize with changing times. Overall, Akriti was an emotionally strong woman, who was not afraid of adversities. She faced obstacles and never ran away from them. She was courageous, believed in the power of love and was ready to fight for it.

To explore their passionate love story, read Sudeep Nagarkar’s The Secrets We Keep

House of Stars by Keya Ghosh, is a riveting tale. Kabir and Diya are trapped in a mall due to a terrorist take-over. As Kabir follows the most beautiful girl he has ever seen into the mall, suddenly a group of terrorists barge in. Making Kabir, Diya and the other people present at the mall their hostage, the terrorists make their demands clear. They come out with an ultimatum that until their demands are met, one hostage will die every hour.

As the situation begins to unravel in an unfavourable manner, Kabir and Diya are faced with the possibility of this being their only chance at love. However, they both have their fair share of secrets that might prove to be a hindrance to their love.

Here we tell you a little bit about the characters from the book:

Kabir

Kabir is a young boy, who comes to Mumbai with a specific aim. Burdened by a turbulent past, he has decided to forge a different path in his life which draws on amending a few mistakes that he committed earlier. Moreover, he has never gotten the chance to dig deep into the matters of love and romance, which is why he tends to be shy around girls. He is made to grapple with his affections when he comes across Diya. Taken in by her beauty and kindness, Kabir finds himself at a complete loss as to how he should be handling these feelings.

Diya

Diya is at the crossroads of breaking away from a domestic mould that confines her and debating whether it is the right thing to do. A timid girl with a domineering father, Diya has grown up in a strict household where everything that was thought to be right for her was imposed on her without any regard to what she thinks of it. Over the years she has learnt to remain silent and sacrifice the things she likes to the will of her father. As she begins her college life, she briefly encounters a hint of individual freedom, which forces her to contemplate on the things that make her happy and set her free. Coming from an influential family background, there are many limitations on Diya that weigh her down.

Aman

A lover of art and poetry, Aman is most interested in singing and writing songs. He is the lead singer of his college band and is adored by his friends. He is a gentle soul who advocates for the happiness of the people around him and consequently, helps Diya realise the true source of her happiness. Even in the face of adversities he never forgets his humane virtues and makes a conscious effort to make things pleasant for the people around him.

Mahendra Shyam Bhonsle

An old, retired school-teacher of political science, Mr. Bhonsle is a highly idealistic man. His strong belief in his ideals lead him to become disillusioned by the corruption that is widespread in the workings of the state. Although he is a patriot at heart, he dismisses the nation as a doomed country where the government and the state have fallen into ruins due to the shortcomings of social and political spheres. Resorting to alcoholism to abate his disappointment, Mr. Bhonsle becomes a bitter misanthrope.

Bhai Thakur

A power-crazed politician, Bhai Thakur actively encourages stringent patriotism in the country. He is shown to move the public with his highly polarized speeches, in order to gain the support of the community in majority. Time and again, in the novel, it is told that he has worsened the fabric of the society by giving out accusatory comments against the minorities.

Get to know more about their story in House of Stars by Keya Ghosh

by Tanaz Bhathena

The Beauty of the Moment began as a short story, one that I didn’t think I would write, because I’m usually uncomfortable writing about anything that’s too close to my own life.

The story, titled Last Days, First Days, was structured as a series of flashbacks and flash forwards, the flashbacks set in an Indian secondary school in Saudi Arabia, the flash forwards in a public high school in Canada. There was a girl named Susan, a boy who was not named Malcolm, and the story wasn’t about love, but about culture shock.

I grew up in the city of Mississauga, one of the most diverse cities in the greater Toronto area, with a large population of South Asians and Arabs, but the books that I read and the movies I saw catered primarily to a Caucasian demographic.

As a sixteen year old I realized quickly that wearing any Indian clothing made me stand out—and not in a good way. After a racist incident, where a girl tried to run me over with her bicycle, I eschewed my salwar-kurtas and stuck to Western wear for the longest time.

Now, over eighteen years after that incident, things have changed along with the demography. Indian culture has gained popularity in North America—largely thanks to the powers of Bollywood and globalization. Wearing Indian clothing doesn’t make you stand out any more than wearing Western clothing.

In publishing, things were changing, too. Writers in the YA community in America were the ones driving the change, forming an organization called We Need Diverse Books in 2015. In Canada, the Festival of Literary Diversity began in Brampton. Both organizations advocated for more inclusivity in the stories that were being produced and in the writers who were telling the stories. #OwnVoices, coined on Twitter by Corinne Duyvis, was turning into a revolution. More and more readers were demanding diverse stories—and that too by authors who had lived their characters’ experiences.

My first book, which you all know as A GIRL LIKE THAT, would likely still be languishing in a slush pile at a publishing house if not for these movements.

When the time came for me to write another book, I went back to Last Days, First Days and wondered: What if this were a novel?

I’d read a few books starring Indian American teen protagonists such as Tanuja Desai Hidier’s brilliant Born Confused. Yet, there were few if any books about first- or second-generation Indian Canadian teens. And there were no books that I came across that were actually set in Mississauga.

Back when I was a teenager—or even eight years ago (when I wasn’t), I wouldn’t have thought it possible to write a story about these things. I didn’t see myself on the page in North American fiction and I had grown used to my own exclusion.

So I went back to the story I had written, tore it apart and started rewriting a story that had my heart all over it.

I wanted to write a book that broke the monolithic view that North Americans can have of Indians, not realizing how diverse people from my birth country really are. I also wanted to show the world what life is like for Indians in the diaspora—with a focus on the griefs and the joys of displacement.

This book combines all three of my identities: Canadian, Saudi and Indian. Like Susan, I do not fit into a neat little compartment or category. But writing this book allowed me to realize that it is okay to stand out at times. To even step outside our comfort zones.

For me, writing a romance definitely was out of my comfort zone. So was allowing my characters to be teenagers and make the mistakes I made when I was that age.

The Beauty of the Moment is not perfect. It certainly isn’t the single best representation of Indian Canadian teens—and I don’t want anyone to see it that way. But I do hope that there will be teen readers who will be able to see themselves in the story and that there will be even more teens who will use the book as a window to cultures and experience different from their own.

Furthermore, I hope other writers—teens and adult—will be inspired add their tales to the repertoire of #ownvoices stories.

If the story you want to read hasn’t been told yet, the you must write it.

The world is waiting for you.

Tanaz Bhathena’s new book, The Beauty of the Moment tells the story of

Once Upon a Curfew takes us through the journey of Indu and Rajat; their love which blossomed during pre-Emergency India. With the socio-political situation of the time as a subtle backdrop, the book gives us a peek into love and romance in India in the 1980s.

The book introduces us to Rajat and Rana, two strong male protagonists, vying for Indu’s affection – each with a different demeanour and outlook towards life.

Who do you think you would have chosen? Take this quiz and find out.

To get a true glimpse of love in the decade of ’70s, read Once Upon A Curfew  by Srishti Chaudhary.

It is 1974. Indu has inherited a flat from her grandmother and wants to turn it into a library for women. Her parents think this will keep her suitably occupied till she marries her fiancé, Rajat, who’s away studying in London.
But then she meets Rana, a young lawyer with sparkling wit and a heart of gold. He helps set up the library and their days light up with playful banter and the many Rajesh Khanna movies they watch together.

When the Emergency is declared, Indu’s life turns upside down. Rana finds himself in trouble, while Rajat decides it’s time to visit India and settle down. As the Emergency pervades their lives, Indu must decide not only who but what kind of life she will choose.

Once Upon A Curfew beautifully portrays the difference between love then, in the 70s and now.

Here are some poignant quotes from the book that will surely melt your heart!

Even an act as tiny as looking into one’s eyes or extending a hand for a shake when meeting each other for the first time was considered bold and gutsy.

The use of first names without any salutation between 2 people who have just met would be a sign of a developing intimacy.

Subtleties were still very much in trend and flirting would almost always be way too polite.

It would not only be scandalous but also very inappropriate for a young boy and girl to meet at each other’s houses or even less crowded or empty public spaces. Coffee shops and restaurants used to be the dating hot joints of the times.

Physical expression of emotion was not the norm of the day; it could send a wrong signal or the person initiating it might actually be judged in a bad way.

The expression of one’s love was mostly through words and silent actions and not outright and sometimes over-the-top declarations of love so characteristic of today’s times.

Physical proximity or public display of affection was frowned upon and was not common so it made couples self-conscious and awkward when they had to diplay even the minutest of affection in public.

Get your copy of Once Upon A Curfew today!

In this scintillating romantic thriller, Rahul, an intelligence officer on a secret mission, is undercover at a major’s house. In the process, he falls in love with the major’s daughter, Akriti, unknowingly putting her in danger.

Just when he thinks he has found a haven for Akriti, she goes missing. That’s when a research wing officer is put on the job, and Rahul realizes she is someone who seems all too familiar. Or is she really?

As the ghosts of a past passion come back to haunt his love for Akriti, Rahul must race against time to save the girl who holds his happiness in her soul.

Read on for eleven of the most romantic quotes from The Secrets We Keep, lines that will stir your soul while reminding you of the addictive chaos of the most powerful and enigmatic of all emotions.

Get your copy of The Secrets We Keep  today!

Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin, is a big-hearted, captivating, modern-day Muslim Pride and Prejudice, with hijabs instead of top hats and kurtas instead of corsets. It introduces us to Ayesha, a woman who has a lot going on.

Her dreams of being a poet have been overtaken by a demanding teaching job. Her boisterous Muslim family, and numerous (interfering) aunties, are professional naggers. And her flighty young cousin, about to reject her one hundredth marriage proposal, is a constant reminder that Ayesha is still single. Ayesha might be a little lonely, but the one thing she doesn’t want is an arranged marriage. And then she meets Khalid… How could a man so conservative and judgmental (and, yes, smart and annoyingly handsome) have wormed his way into her thoughts so quickly?

Before you read the story, here are a few things to know about her:

She’s always in a hurry!

“Khalid had seen her several times since he had moved into the neighbourhood two months ago, always with her red ceramic mug, always in a hurry.”

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She has a very demanding teaching job

“They’re not my class, Ayesha thought. They need a circus trainer, not a teacher. She flushed, wiped sweaty palms on her pants and tucked the purple notebook back inside her bag. Mary stood outside, a look of pity on her face.”

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She likes writing (bad?) poetry

“The other teachers were teaching, not hiding and writing poetry. She squinted at the page, rereading her words. Correction: writing bad poetry.”

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She’s a little inexperienced but dreams of falling in love

“She remained silent about the other two items – exploring the world, falling in love- the first as impossible as the second. She had no money, and falling in love would be difficult when she had never even held someone’s hand before.”

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She believes that CHAI is life

“All she wanted now was to go home, drink a cup of very strong chai and reconsider her life choices.”

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She likes to PARTAY

“But not tonight. Tonight she was going to party like she was still an undergrad. Which meant takeout pizza and old Bollywood movies.”

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She immigrated to Canada at young age and understands the importance of family

“ When they’d first immigrated from India to Canada, Ayesha and her family had moved into the three-bedroom townhouse with Hafsa’s family. It was a tight fit for everyone, but her uncle Sulaiman insisted on hosting them. He had immigrated as a young man almost two decades before, and he was happy to have his family join him in Canada, despite the devastating circumstances.”

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She’s willing to make sacrifices for her best friend

“ The only thing she was looking forward to tonight was an early bedtime. But loyalty ran deep in the Shamsi clan, and Clara deserved a best friend who could stay up past eight.”

Ayesha at Last is enchanting, achingly funny and uplifting.

Ayesha Shamsi has a lot going on. Her boisterous Muslim family, and numerous (interfering) aunties, are professional naggers. And her flighty young cousin, about to reject her one hundredth marriage proposal, is a constant reminder that Ayesha is still single.

Ayesha might be a little lonely, but the one thing she doesn’t want is an arranged marriage.

Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin sheds some light on arranged marriage in the Muslim community. Read on to find out if Ayesha should give arranged marriage a chance…

Love is a part of the equation but not before marriage

“Love comes after marriage, not before. These Western ideas of romantic love are utter nonsense. Just look at the American divorce rate.”

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The guest list requires a lot more thought than expected

 “The wedding will be in July. Everyone will want an invitation, but I will limit the guest list to six hundred people. Any more is showing off.”

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Mothers can get a little carried away during the process

“Because while it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single Muslim man must be in want of a wife, there’s an even greater truth: To his Indian mother, his own inclinations are of secondary importance.”

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Sometimes it is the only way some people can find a partner

“He had been raised to believe that non-related men and women should never get too close- socially, emotionally and especially physically. “ When an unmarried man and woman are alone together, a third person is present: Satan,” Ammi often told him.”

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Religion is not part of the process but is an integral part of the individual’s identity

“His white robes and beard were a comfortable security blanket, his way of communicating without saying a word. Even though he knew there were other, easier ways to be, Khalid had chosen the one that felt most authentic to him, and he had no plans to waver.”

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First impressions are very important

“Well, I hope you aren’t comparing your situation to our little Hafsa’s many rishta proposals. Even if you are seven years older and only received a handful of offers. Only consider Sulaiman’s status in the community and Hafsa’s great beauty, her bubbly personality.”

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Everyone who participates doesn’t believe in the ‘Happily Ever After’

“A woman should always have a backup plan, for when things fall apart. You must know how to support yourself when they leave.”

Ayesha at Last is a big-hearted, captivating, modern-day Muslim Pride and Prejudice, with hijabs instead of top hats and kurtas instead of corsets. .