What would you do if fate kept bringing you back to the one who got away? In The Right Guy, author Tarun Vikash spins a heartfelt tale of missed opportunities, unexpected reunions, and the courage to finally say what’s in your heart.
Read this exclusive excerpt where Dhruv and Avni face the harsh realities of love, family, and the courage it takes to hold on to the one who matters most.
The Right Guy || Tarun Vikash
***
A Week Later
I reached Chennai.
Avni’s mom had asked me to meet her urgently. I was really nervous. Avni had not told me anything. She just said that something had happened at Bala’s wedding because of which her mom and dad were really upset. I’m already scared of Avni’s dad. I reached Avni’s home and Uncle opened the door. He looked at me angrily and went inside to his room. Aunty immediately came to the door and welcomed me in.
‘Dhruv, I think you are aware of what happened at Bala’s wedding,’ Avni’s mom said.
‘I don’t understand, Aunty. What happened?’
‘Look, we know Avni likes you and even you like her. But it will be good if you stopped meeting her from today onwards.’
‘Amma, please don’t talk to him like that,’ Avni interrupted.
Avni, let me talk, please.’
‘Aunty, did I make any mistake? I am sorry if I have hurt anyone,’ I said.
‘It’s not about you, Dhruv. It’s about your family.’
‘What happened, Aunty? Did anyone call and say something to you or Uncle?’
‘What was the point of getting Avni’s kundli matched with yours at Bala’s wedding, when I haven’t given any approval of your marriage with her?’
‘Huh? When did this happen?’
‘Ask your sister. She did all this,’ Aunty said. I looked at Avni. She nodded.
‘Your sister shamed my daughter in front of all the guests there.’
‘But what happened? Avni, at least you tell me,’ I asked.
‘Avni is manglik. And, till date, only we knew that. But now, due to your sister, everybody knows. In fact, your sister and Bala’s wife even laughed at Avni.’
‘Do you see my daughter? She’s still defending your sister. But what did your sister do? She made a joke about my daughter in front of so many people. Do you know that the pandit said, in front of everyone, that my daughter is not a good match for you? How do you expect me to feel, Dhruv?’ said Aunty.
‘Aunty, I had no idea about all this. I am so sorry, I’ll speak to—’
‘Now, all my relatives know about this. This is a gross invasion of our privacy, Dhruv. I didn’t expect this of your family. Does your mom know about this? Do you know how much we are being mocked right now? In our family, everyone has got to know that Avni is a manglik. Now, who will marry her?’ said Aunty.
I wanted to say that I would marry her but it was not the right thing to say right now. I was really scared. Why would Didi do something so stupid? Damn.
‘Does your mom know about this kundli match?’ Aunty asked me.
‘Aunty, I myself got to know about this today. How would Maa know?’
‘Check with your sister. She must have already informed your mom as she did to the rest of the world.’
‘I am really sorry, Aunty. Didi would not do anything to hurt Avni. This was all a mistake.’
‘I am not saying anything to you, Dhruv. Just don’t meet Avni from now on.’ Avni held her mom’s hand tightly.
‘We can’t get our daughter married to you. Not today, not ever,’ Aunty said.
‘Aunty, I apologize again on behalf of Didi. Everything will be all right. My mom doesn’t care about all this. She already loves Avni so much.’
‘That is why your sister made a joke of my daughter. Is it?’
‘Aunty, to be frank, everyone in our friends circle knows that Avni and I want to marry each other. Maybe that is why Didi might have asked the pandit to match our kundli.’
‘And what about the mockery we are getting from everyone? Do you know what people are saying about my daughter now? We can’t even go to their houses now.’
I did not know what to say. I shouldn’t have come alone. I shouldn’t have even come here. Why did you do this, Didi?
‘I am sorry, Aunty,’ I said, folding my hands.
‘He is still here?’ Uncle entered and spoke to Aunty while looking at me.
‘Appa, please,’ Avni said.
‘Hi Uncle,’ I said, as I stood up. Uncle did not say a word.
‘Tell him not to meet my daughter from now onwards,’ Uncle said.
***
Get your copy of The Right Guy by Tarun Vikash on Amazon or wherever books are sold.
When love, family, and ambition intertwine, craziness and magic are bound to follow. In Swati Hedge’s Match Me If You Can, pub owner Jaiman Patil is smitten with journalist Jia Deshpande, who loves to play matchmaker. As their lives get more tangled, Jaiman’s feelings for Jia grow stronger, and her matchmaking efforts start causing chaos. In Mumbai, though, happily-ever-afters are never far away.
Read this exclusive excerpt to find out what’s really going on!
Match Me If You Can || Swati Hedge
***
The Patils’ and Deshpandes’ lives were so intertwined that when the time had come to name Jia, a year after his best friend’s son was born, Papa simply took the first three letters of Jaiman’s name and scrambled them up to create “Jia.”
It didn’t stop there. Papa and Mr. Patil became business partners, raking in millions in profits throughout Jia’s and Jaiman’s teen years, until Mr. Patil decided to start something of his own and went to America to set up the new industrial business. That was right around when Jaiman was moving to Pune, a few cities away, for college. After Mr. and Mrs. Patil left, and then Jia too, for journalism school in London, Jaiman became a permanent part of the Deshpande family.
Jia would return to India during winter break to find Jaiman mixing plum cake batter in the kitchen, throwing his head back and laughing at one of Papa’s corny dad jokes. He would pause to check if Mamma’s glass of wine needed refilling, and ask Jia’s sister, Tanu, about her latest legal clients. He’d usher Jia over to the kitchen counter and show her pictures of all his weekend getaways with the Deshpandes, which happened every other Saturday, since his college was only a three-hour drive from Mumbai. It was surprising to see how easily he had made his way into her family’s hearts. So much so that when Mamma’s cancer took her away over five years ago, right after Diwali, after Jia had graduated and returned to Mumbai for good, Papa brought Jaiman along with them to scatter Mamma’s ashes in the sea. When Tanu broke down as those ashes disappeared into the waves, it was Jaiman’s shoulder she cried on.
“So how was work today?” Jaiman prodded, and Jia looked up from the tomato sauce dripping from her fork onto the plate.
“It was all right.” Jia shrugged as she helped herself to more lasagna. “I pitched the new matchmaking column to my boss last week, but Monica still needs more convincing that I’m the best person to run it.”
“Oh, wow.” Jaiman raised a thick brow. “Sounds like a big responsibility. But there’s nothing Jia Deshpande can’t do when she sets her mind to it.” He winked at her before swallowing his next bite.
Jia ignored the rush of hormones that flooded her body at his wink and the way his tongue darted out to lick the side of his lip. It was hard to be mad at Jaiman for taking over her life when he was this . . . nice. No wonder everyone in her family loved him.
She let out the smallest of sighs and returned to the rest of the lip-smacking lasagna sitting on her plate. “Maybe I’ll make lunch for you tomorrow, Papa,” she mused aloud with the next bite.
“The chicken breasts I bought during my last grocery run won’t stay fresh for too long.”
Papa shook his head. “Don’t worry, Jaiman used them for lunch today. You should have been there!”
“Yum,” Jia agreed, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. Papa interrupted her train of thought by speaking up. “Jaiman also took me to the doctor this afternoon. My chest was hurting so bad, I was sure it was a heart attack.”
Jia didn’t react. This had happened three times so far. No, not an actual heart attack scare. Papa’s unwarranted trips to the cardiologist.
“But then it turned out it was just gas!” Papa chortled. “Just like last month!”
The only person Papa hadn’t seen for his presumed illnesses was a therapist. The one kind of professional who could actually help him, Jia believed. He had kept the grief of Mamma’s death to himself for five long years now, allowed it to manifest in unhealthy ways, like imagined sickness and fretting over every little thing. Perhaps it was his coping mechanism—assume every minor problem was a dangerous illness, so that it could be detected early, unlike Mamma’s cancer.
Jia hoped she might, someday, set Papa up with someone wonderful who would ground him into reality and bring him some peace. But knowing her father, knowing how devoted he’d been to Mamma, it was unlikely to happen. Maybe falling in love wasn’t a choice, but working on nurturing that love within a relationship absolutely was. And it was a choice Papa wouldn’t be willing to make with anybody except Mamma.
After dinner, as she was putting her plate in the sink—the housekeeper would do the dishes in the morning—Jaiman sidled up beside her, the citrusy scent of his cologne heavy in the air. Jia didn’t understand how a man could smell this good the entire day. It should be illegal. She turned to him, arms folded, trying not to visibly inhale.
“Good job on the lasagna.” He grinned at her. “Thanks. I have to get back to the pub now. Do you want to join me? I could use your help taste-testing some new drinks.”
Jia’s gaze went to the wall clock hanging in the living room across from the open kitchen. It was just past ten, and although it would have been smarter to spend the rest of her night brainstorming ways to convince Monica, maybe a cocktail or two wouldn’t
hurt.
It was Friday night, after all. “Sure,” she said finally.
***
Get your copy of Match Me If You Can by Swati Hedge on Amazon or wherever books are sold.
Loving someone who doesn’t love you back is something many of us have experienced. Rithvik Singh‘s I Don’t Love You Anymore offers solace to those who feel deeply and love unconditionally. Here are five powerful selections from the book, each one a gentle embrace for the heart, reminding us that healing and letting go are part of the journey. Dive in and let Rithvik’s words be the comforting companion you need on your toughest days.
I Don’t Love You Anymore || Rithvik Singh
***
If you ever knew someone who loved you enough to be terrified of losing you, I hope you know how rare it is to find someone like that. Someone who would leave flowers on your dining table, kisses on your forehead and the scent of love in your heart. Someone who would gently hold the pieces of your heart on days when life gets too hard. If you ever knew someone who loved you the way the sky loves its stars, I hope you didn’t end up breaking their heart.
And if you did, I hope life breaks your heart too.
***
You’re not the kind of flower
that can be plucked
and put in someone’s hair.
You’re the kind of flower
people find too pretty to pluck. The kind of flower that deserves to keep blooming.
***
Things are hard with people who don’t love you hard. People
whose love isn’t the ocean but its waves. The ones who always
leave you confused. They don’t tell you that they love you, but
they also don’t accept that they don’t. They hold your hand but
refuse to hold your heart. They lend you space in their heart,
but they don’t let you stay in it.
***
I’ll watch nine episodes of a show in one day, but keep postponing
the last one. When things change. When fate changes. I avoid
watching it. I try not to make it to the end. I bury my curiosity
and start another show. I go out and meet a friend. I do
everything I can to not let the show end. But I know I’ve got to
face the ending, no matter how much it terrifies me, or how far
I try to run away from it. I know the show has already ended. I
know the ending won’t change. This is not about the shows.
***
Love
It’s in having tea at midnight with someone who is used to
having it at night, only to give them company.
In forgetting the distance between cities and crossing it with
a smile on your face—only to put a smile on the face of the
person you love.
Seeing a flower shop and immediately getting a few for someone.
Sitting on video calls at night and not talking to each other
because you’re both tired, but never being too tired to not
make some time for each other.
Holding hands in busy streets and holding them tight at the
end of a busy week.
It’s in refusing to let distance change your feelings. In ensuring
that love never leaves.
Ever wondered what happens when teenage romance collides with life’s unexpected curveballs? In Fool Me Twice by Nona Uppal, the answer unfolds amidst the bustling streets of New Delhi. Brace yourself for a whirlwind of emotions as we delve into Sana’s journey of love, loss, and the resilience that follows.
Read this exclusive excerpt to know more!
Fool Me Twice || Nona Uppal
***
‘Ashish, can you cut it out, please? You’re going to get us arrested.’ Bani had been game for Ashish’s plan in theory, which meant she, half-drunk on a pint of beer, had nodded furiously when he had explained it. Now that they were mid-execution, it seemed at least slightly criminal.
‘I’m too young and pretty to go to jail.’ Ashish turned around to glare at Bani.
‘I’ve got this,’ he hissed back.
‘Bhaiya, in sabka kitna (How much for these)?’ Ashish asked the man handling the roadside bird shop, pointing to all the birds on display. ‘And the ones at the
back too.’
The shop, called ‘Flying Dreemz’—a five-minute walk from our school, Horizon High International, in Hauz Khas—adorned the streets with the pastel hues of pink, blue and green cages that could only do so much to hide the sad faces of the birds trapped in them. The shopkeeper was understandably suspicious. Was he being recorded for a prank on TV?
‘Sab? Fifty ke fifty? Pakka?’ he confirmed. The deal was one of those too-good-to-be-true kinds.
‘Haan, pakka. All birds, no discount. Kitna?’
Ashish had no way to determine if the price the shopkeeper quoted was a steal or a loot. When his father had handed him the stack of notes, he’d been ultra-generous. ‘Make sure you get her something nice,’ he had said, patting Ashish on the back.
Handing the shopkeeper the money warily, Ashish wondered if this was going to be a disaster.
‘Badiya sir,’ the shopkeeper said, comically bobbing his head as he retrieved the notes from Ashish.
Having successfully completed the transaction, Ashish looked at Bani with his ‘Are you game?’ eyes.
‘This could either be epic or an epic blunder,’ she blurted out, her hands fixed on her phone camera, with Ashish positioned in the centre of the shaky frame.
‘Lekar kaise jaayenge aap inhe (How will you take these)?’ The guy asked Ashish, eyeing his i10. ‘Truckwruck ka kuch arrangement?’
But carrying the birds home was not what Ashish had in mind.
One by one, he unlocked the cages that weren’t really locked in the first place. Having been born and bred in captivity, it took a few seconds for the birds to
realize what an open cage meant. Only when one of them dared to flap its wings and fly into the blue sky did the others realize they could do it too.
‘Yeh kya kar rahe hain aap?’ the shopkeeper shrieked, finally looking up from counting his earnings.
‘Saala paagal!’ he scrambled to lock the leftover cages, yelling profanities at Ashish and Bani, but it was too late. The last bird had already flown away.
Ashish hadn’t gone mad, though. Far from it. Every day for the past two years, Ashish, Bani and I had walked out of our school’s main gate soon after the final school bell for a quick ice cream before heading back home. Our trusted Kwality Walls cart was usually parked right next to this bird shop, the ownership of which had been passed down to many different men over the years. Despite looking forward to my Cola bar all day, my skin burning from the sweltering heat, one look at the birds would make me lose all my appetite. I admit that it was mostly silly. But I couldn’t drown it out. All those pretty birds locked away in pastel-coloured cages, waiting for someone to set them free. Instead, they were bought by rich people and carried in cars to jazz up their maximalist homes.
It was one of those things I thought no one was noticing, a two-second glitch on my face that the most attentive of eyes could miss. Here’s where I got it wrong—Ashish was always looking. So, for my eighteenth birthday, when his consistent pleading for me to tell him what he could gift me failed, he rejigged his strategy. What could he do that would mean more than buying me a pair of shoes I would ditch for my Bata chappals or a bag to fill with stuff I would much rather carry in my hands?
After capturing the rainbow colours in the sky as the birds flew away, Bani panned the camera towards Ashish’s face. ‘Look here,’ Bani signalled.
Ashish faced the camera. ‘I don’t know if this is stupid,’ he said. ‘Umm, it probably is. But, fuck it. It fits because I’m stupidly in love with you. Happy birthday, Sana.’
Bani turned the camera around to record herself.
‘If you think it’s stupid, it was all his idea,’ she said, laughing. ‘But I love you too, munchkin.’
The end was a lot choppier than the rest—the camera being stuffed, while still on, in Bani’s bag, as they escaped in Ashish’s i10 that drove like it was always in second gear. I saw the video and heard the entire story a week later, on the night of my birthday, as Ashish and Bani sat next to me and played it on Bani’s laptop. Scrunching up the fabric of my loose t-shirt to wipe the fat tears trickling down my cheeks, I broke out laughing as the end scenes rolled. This kind of luck and love, I realized, might just be illegal to possess.
***
Curios to know what happened next?
Get your copy of Fool Me Twice by Nona Uppal wherever books are sold.
Love is in the air, and our curated collection of romance books is ready to steal your heart this Valentine’s Day! From sizzling meet-cutes to soul-stirring tales of love lost and found, these books are bursting with passion, drama, and everything in between. Get ready to fall head over heels into a world of romance like never before!
Fool Me Twice || Nona Uppal
Set in New Delhi, Fool Me Twice is an unconventional story that will stump readers expecting a good, old romance trope. We meet and fall in love with a young couple planning their futures together when life rudely hijacks the steering wheel. Exploring the ways a twenty-year-old navigates grief and life after a loss that shatters most fifty-year-olds, Fool Me Twice looks at the complexity of falling in love ‘again’ at an age where most are falling for the first time, and what it feels like to move on from mourning one great love to make room for another.
All That Sizzles || Sakshama Puri Dhaliwal
A spicy meet-cute that will delight your rom-com palate!
Wedding planner Tanvi Bedi is all fired up about her latest project, the $100 million wedding of a media heiress. The only hitch is her high-profile client’s wishlist chef, Nik Shankar. Weddings are a complete no-no for Nik, but there must be something—or someone—he can’t resist.
Nik Shankar’s lifelong dream of inheriting his ancestral home is in jeopardy due to his estranged grandfather’s absurd caveat—Nik must get married to claim the property. When Tanvi storms into his office, an inconceivable solution presents itself: Nik will craft the wedding if Tanvi pretends to be his fiancée.
What starts as a recipe for disaster whips up into a delectable feast of simmering chemistry and fiery passion. But as the line between fake and real blurs, Tanvi and Nik must confront their inner demons before their charade goes up in smoke.
Could love be the secret ingredient they need?
All He Left Me Was a Recipe || Shenaz Treasury
Part fact, part fiction, All He Left Me Was a Recipe is a never-ending pursuit of love, a quest for the ever-elusive ‘Mr Right,’ all while kissing the ‘Mr Maybes’. It’s a rollercoaster ride through the fabulous and often hilariously complicated world of modern dating where love, lust and culinary metaphors are on the menu.
From ‘a-ha’ moments to giggles and even some epic heartbreaks with a fair share of tear-shedding, this book is a VIP pass to Shenaz Treasury’s heart in all its shapes and forms over the years. Every story wraps up with
a recipe—a memento from each of these unforgettable encounters—along with some timeless life lessons.
So, pour a glass of wine, get comfy and dive into a world that’ll make you laugh, shed a tear or two, and who knows, you might just find yourself along the way.
The Henna Start-Up || Andaleeb Wajid
Abir Maqsood is angry.
She has things to do: a career to carve, money to earn, and, in the small stuff, a dining table to fix. But there are many obstacles in the way: lack of money, her parents’ over-protective attitude, and a most annoying distraction in class called Arsalan.
When her mother is not paid her dues for her henna service, Abir resolves to help her by creating a henna app. Her college is also running a programme for student start-ups so things look most fortuitous. But the path to getting funding is littered with more thorns than roses.
As Abir navigates through college, friendships and social pressures with determination, will she find the freedom that she is truly looking for?
Zen || Shabnam Minwala
In this deeply addictive, sweeping book about the life and times of the two Zainabs, is captured a short history of Mumbai, and of India. Of what we were and what we have become.
Zipping between the past and the present, between midnight’s children and millennials and getting both right, Shabnam Minwalla has crafted a page-turner whose heart is open, inclusive and populated by a host of memorable characters. -Jerry Pinto
Terminal 3 || Debasmita Dasgupta
It’s August 2019 and Khwab Nazir is waiting to board the plane at Terminal 3 of New Delhi International Airport. Set to represent India at an international jiu-jitsu tournament, Khwab nervously looks towards her unknown future. She also reflects on her complicated past-of growing up against the insurmountable difficulties
of life in Kashmir.
Between happiness and emptiness, desire and grief, penance and peace-Khwab has endured. She has a dream that life will be a paradise, one day. Breathing against the backdrop of conflict, Terminal 3, is the story of the everyday people striving to live their dreams in the Valley.
The Girl Who Kept Falling in Love || Rheea Mukherjee
Told through the lens of urban myths, accounts of past lovers, bared confessions and half-truths that make up Kaya’s world, The Girl Who Kept Falling in Love dives deep into the futilities of being attached to global aspiration and fighting institutionalized hate while chasing a universal need for love and acceptance.
It was Always You || Sudeep Nagarkar
Have you ever regretted a lost love?
Karan and Shruti are a happily married couple. Until Karan’s ex resurfaces into his life one day. Soon Karan finds himself getting nostalgic over matters of the heart and thinking fondly of his first romance. Will he put his steady and seemingly perfect marriage at stake for his ex-girlfriend?
Meanwhile his best friend Aditya finds his own relationship with his wife Jasmine going through an emotional turmoil. Will both friends work towards keeping their marriage afloat, or make a decision they would later regret?
The Perfect Us || Durjoy Datta
Love is not having to hold back . . . but will she ever truly let him in?
Avantika is an investment banker, an ambitious go-getter and the exact opposite of Deb-a corporate professional turned failed writer, turned scripter of saas-bahu serials.
They’ve been together for ten years, surviving everything from college to rave parties to annoying best friends, including Shrey, who has no respect for personal boundaries, and Vernita and Tanmay-the annoying yet enviable ‘it’ couple who seem to have it all.
Now Avantika wants to take the next step. But will Deb be able to catch up? Or will it rip them apart? No matter how hard he tries, Deb can’t convince Avantika that he’s the one for her. Not as long as she is broken and her past looms in the background-pushing her, troubling her, goading her to question if their love is enough.
Will Deb be able to find their perfect place? The Perfect Us is love’s struggle to find a happily ever after. . .
Heart Tantrums || Aisha Sarwari
In order to be able to survive, Aisha Sarwari was told, love and devoted acts of service will always light the way. These however, become the very reason of her complete unravelling.
In this large and messy voice of a memoir, Heart Tantrums artfully describes the scatter of catastrophic losses-the loss of her father in early adolescence; leaving behind her family home in East Africa; and trying to fit into a completely different culture in Lahore after marriage. In 2017, when Aisha first held her husband Yasser Latif Hamdani’s brain MRI against the light, she began to also lose the man she loved to a personality-altering brain tumour.
I Too Had a Love Story || Ravinder Singh
Do love stories ever die?. . . How would you react when a beautiful person comes into your life, and then goes away from you . . . forever?Not all love stories are meant to have a perfect ending. I Too Had a Love Story is one such saga. It is the tender and heartfelt tale of Ravin and Khushi-two people who found each other on a matrimonial site and fell in love . . . until life put their love to the ultimate test.Romantic, emotional and sincere, this heartbreaking true life story has already touched a million hearts. This bestselling novel is a must-read for anyone who believes in the magic of love . . .
Something I Never Told You || Shravya Bhinder
When in love, you tend to take each other for granted, and sometimes, that can cost you a lifetime of togetherness . . .
Ronnie knew that his first crush was way out of his league, and yet he pursued and wooed Adira. Shyly and from a distance in the beginning, and more persuasively later. He couldn’t believe it when the beautiful Adira actually began to reciprocate, falling in love with him for his simplicity and honesty.
Slowly, as they get close and comfortable with each other, life takes on another hue. From truly magical it becomes routine. There are fights and then making-up sessions-a clash of egos and doubts.
Things begin to change for the worst.
It is too late.
Ronnie and Adira will probably never find their forever after . .
Something I’m Waiting to Tell You || Shravya Bhinder
‘Letting go of her was not easy but winning her back was harder than anything I could have ever imagined’
After nearly losing the love of his life to a terrible accident, Ronnie realizes how much he loves Adira and what an idiot he had been to hurt her. What’s more, her overprotective mother now takes care of her, and does not like Ronnie being anywhere near her daughter.
He’s going through hell-unable to go back in time and fix things, unable to say what he missed saying to her, ‘I love you . . .’
All he wants now is a second chance, to trace his steps back into a loving relationship and win Adira over. It will not be easy because life is tough; love, even tougher.
Something I’m Waiting to Tell You is the sweet, intense conclusion of a story that started with Something I Never Told You, a book that will teach you a thing or two about soulmates.
Make A Move || Stuti Changle
Join rising YouTube star Alara, struggling but hopeful stand-up comedian Aarav, and zany but zen beach shack owner Ricky on a quest for the truth in You Live Only Once.
Discover yourself with Myra, Kabir and Sandy, three individuals who refuse to give up on themselves as they make life-changing decisions, in On the Open Road.
Embark on the adventure of growing up with Iti, Nishit and Shelly in Where the Sun Never Sets.
Bestselling author Stuti Changle’s trio of novels are life-changing stories of human relationships, of introspection, and of having the courage to follow your dreams.
Now together in this boxset, they promise to entertain, inspire and, of course, compel you to Make a Move.
World’s Best Girlfriend || Durjoy Datta
‘When he turns, I see his eyes. There’s a sense of surety in them, a sense of danger, a sense of entitlement and definitely, arrogance.’
Daksh and Aanchal meet under improbable circumstances in the most unlikely of places-a posh resort in the Andamans. While Aanchal is fighting hard to escape the shackles of a lower middle-class existence, Daksh is aimless and unsure of what his future holds. Strangely, they are drawn to each other.
‘My gaze drifts to her exposed back, and the tiny knot that secures her shimmering choli in place. Emotions of anger mix with a strange desire in me.’
Four years later, when they meet again, Daksh’s world has crumbled around him. The burden of caring for his sick father and six-year-old sister has left him with little time for anything else. Yet, despite their diverging paths, Daksh and Aanchal find themselves reconnecting in unexpected ways. Their mutual attraction deepens.
Till now, fate has been pushing them together, but what will happen when they decide to take matters into their own hands? Will life be as they’ve imagined, or will destiny take even that away from them?
World’s Best Boyfriend || Durjoy Datta
Hate, is a four letter word.
So is love.
And sometimes, people can’t tell the difference…
Dhurv and Aranya spend a good part of their lives trying to figure out why they want to destroy each other, why they hurt each other so deeply. And, why they can’t stay away from each other.
The answer is just as difficult each time because all they’ve wanted is to do the worst, most miserable things to one another.
Yet there is something that tells them: THIS IS NOT IT.
If you want to know the answer to it all, read the book.
Get ready to embark on a passionate journey with our handpicked collection of romance and poetry books. From chance encounters to forbidden desires, love’s complexity to timeless verses, these stories have it all. Ready to fall in love with words? Keep scrolling!
World’s Best Girlfriend || Durjoy Datta
Daksh and Aanchal meet under improbable circumstances in the most unlikely of places-a posh resort in the Andamans. While Aanchal is fighting hard to escape the shackles of a lower middle-class existence, Daksh is aimless and unsure of what his future holds. Strangely, they are drawn to each other.
Four years later, when they meet again, Daksh’s world has crumbled around him. The burden of caring for his sick father and six-year-old sister has left him with little time for anything else. Yet, despite their diverging paths, Daksh and Aanchal find themselves reconnecting in unexpected ways. Their mutual attraction deepens.
Till now, fate has been pushing them together, but what will happen when they decide to take matters into their own hands? Will life be as they’ve imagined, or will destiny take even that away from them?
The Girl Who Kept Falling in Love || Rheea Mukherjee
When Kaya meets and falls deeply in love with a fellow activist from the very religious community the country is actively trying to erase, her twin purposes are miraculously aligned in an intoxicating combination that she becomes immediately fearful of losing. In the midst of spirited protests and rising violence, Kaya bears witness to vast human suffering while experiencing profound joy. It is time to make a choice. Kaya knows if she chooses love this time, she will betray everything she has claimed to believe in. If she is willing to do that, can Kaya truly be loved by the person she most desires?
Told through the lens of urban myths, accounts of past lovers, bared confessions and half-truths that make up Kaya’s world, The Girl Who Kept Falling in Love dives deep into the futilities of being attached to global aspiration and fighting institutionalized hate while chasing a universal need for love and acceptance.
A Touch of Eternity || Durjoy Datta
Born on the same day and at the same time, Druvan and Anvesha know they are soulmates in every sense of the word. Their parents, however, refuse to accept their ‘togetherness’ at first and try to tear them apart. Druvan and Anvesha hold on to each other against all odds.
In the same timeline, the world is on the brink of a major scientific breakthrough that could make reincarnation possible.
This is an opportunity for the two to prove their love and to tell the world that it is love that can make the impossible, possible.
Druvan and Anvesha participate in the experiment as if their life depends on it, because it does. Will the dream of a man to control love and life come true? And when the time comes, can one stay true to their soulmate?
If It’s Not Forever It’s Not Love || Durjoy Datta, Nikita Singh
To the everlasting power of love . . . When Deb, an author and publisher, survives the bomb blasts at Chandni Chowk, he knows his life is nothing short of a miracle. And though he escapes with minor injuries, he is haunted by the images and voices that he heard on that unfortunate day. Even as he recovers, his feet take him to where the blasts took place. From the burnt remains he discovers a diary. It seems to belong to a dead man who was deeply in love with a girl. As he reads the heartbreaking narrative, he knows that this story must never be left incomplete. Thus begins Deb’s journey with his girlfriend, Avantika, and his best friend, Shrey, to hand over the diary to the man’s beloved. Highly engrossing and powerfully told, If It’s Not Forever . . . tells an unforgettable tale of love and life.
Till the Last Breath || Durjoy Datta
When death is that close, will your heart skip a beat? Two patients are admitted to room no. 509. One is a brilliant nineteen-year-old medical student, suffering from an incurable, fatal disease. She counts every extra breath as a blessing. The other is a twenty-five-year-old drug addict whose organs are slowly giving up. He can’t wait to get rid of his body. To him, the sooner the better. Two reputed doctors, fighting their own demons from the past, are trying everything to keep these two patients alive, even putting their medical licences at risk. These last days in the hospital change the two patients, their doctors and all the other people around them in ways they had never imagined. Till the Last Breath is a deeply sensitive story that reminds us what it means to be alive.
Wish I Could Tell You || Durjoy Datta
A disillusioned and heartbroken Anusha finds herself in the small world of WeDonate.com. Struggling to cope with her feelings and the job of raising money for charity, she reluctantly searches for a worthwhile cause to support.
For Ananth, who has been on the opposite side, no life is less worthy, no cause too small to support.
Behind them are teams for whom going to extraordinary lengths to save lives is more than a full-time occupation. In front of them is the virtual world of social media-watching, interacting, judging, making choices, and sometimes, saving lives.
From the virtual to the real, their lives and that of their families, entangle in a way that moving together is the only solution. They can’t escape each other.
In this world of complicated relationships, should love be such a difficult ride?
Your Dreams are Mine Now || Ravinder Singh
‘It can’t be love . . .’ he thinks and immediately his heart protests
They are complete opposites! She’s a small-town girl who takes admission in Delhi University (DU). An idealist, studies are her first priority.He’s a Delhi guy, seriously into youth politics in DU. He fights to make his way. Student union elections are his first priority.
But then opposites attract as well!
A scandal on campus brings them together, they begin to walk the same path and somewhere along,
fall in love . . . But their fight against evil comes at a heavy price, which becomes the ultimate test of their lives. Against the backdrop of dominant campus politics, Your Dreams Are Mine Now is an innocent love story that will tug at your heartstrings.
It was Always You ||
Karan and Shruti are a happily married couple. Until Karan’s ex resurfaces into his life one day. Soon Karan finds himself getting nostalgic over matters of the heart and thinking fondly of his first romance. Will he put his steady and seemingly perfect marriage at stake for his ex-girlfriend?
Meanwhile his best friend Aditya finds his own relationship with his wife Jasmine going through an emotional turmoil. Will both friends work towards keeping their marriage afloat, or make a decision they would later regret?
You only live once || Stuti Changle
What if you ran away from your life today?
Twenty years later, three people are looking for you.
One is dying to meet you again.
The other wishes you had never met them.
The third wishes they could have met you at least once.
You are one person. Aren’t you? But you are not the same person to each of them.
Find the answers about your own life in this story about searching for love and discovering yourself. Join a broken but rising YouTube star Alara, a struggling but hopeful stand-up comedian Aarav, and a zany but zen beach shack owner Ricky. Together, take the journey to seek the truth behind the famous singer Elisha’s disappearance somewhere by the deep sea in Goa.
Will you be able to find Elisha? Or will you end up finding yourself?
Soft Animal || Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan
March 2020: Thirty-six-year-old Mallika Rao is largely insulated from the struggles of the millions fighting for their existence all over India. Instead, her Delhi flat and her husband threaten to imprison her as she searches for the confidence that has always eluded her. A rescue dog in her care provides more fulfilment than her husband, who is consumed by work and self-obsession, and she must also confront the universal challenges of having a woman’s body.
Soft Animal unfolds in urgent present tense with illuminating flashbacks, whip-smart dialogue and conspiratorial footnotes. Bringing the deftness of deadpan humour and the precision of meticulous social observation to the self-delusions of India’s privileged urban middle class, Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan’s latest channels an uncomfortably-and sometimes heartbreakingly-intimate experience of millennial marriage that is seldom portrayed but all too real.
Tiger Season || Gargi Rawat
Sunaina Joshi is a reporter with a leading news channel.
Her day-to-day work involves reporting on urban-centric, health-related issues; myriad subjects that bore her, leaving her jaded. Her real passion is a life in the great outdoors, and reporting on wildlife and the environment, something she is unable to do as often as she would like. Unexpectedly, a fabulous opportunity falls into her lap when her channel is commissioned to run a campaign on tiger conservation, featuring a Bollywood star who is trying to resurrect his image and career following a drug scandal.
Yusuf’s Fragrance || Mufti Mudasir, Mahmud Gami
It can be said of the 19th century Kashmiri poet, Mahmud Ga¯mi that he was a pioneer in introducing the Persian genres of the ghazal, nazm, masnavi and na¯t into Kashmiri. Mahmud Gami’s contribution to Kashmiri poetry is unique in both scope and depth. Not only is he the first truly prolific poet who has written entirely in the Kashmiri language, but much of his poetry also stands out for its beauty of expression and depth of thought, such as in the lyrical romance of Shireen Khusrau, Yusuf Zulaikha, and Layla Majnun. Yusuf’s Fragrance is both a celebration as well as an homage to Gami’s oeuvre. Through these beautiful verses, we explore themes of love, both physical and metaphysical, philosophy, folklore, and tradition through different narrative devices, such as nazms, masnavis, and vatsuns.
Kural || Tiruvalluvar
A celebrated work by the greatest poet of classical Tamil literature Tiruvalluvar probably lived and wrote between the second century BC and the eighth century AD though his dates have not been conclusively established. The work by which he is known, the Kural, comprises 1,330 couplets and is divided into three sections-Virtue, Wealth and Love-and is based on the first three of the four supreme aims prescribed by Hindu tradition: dharma (virtue), artha (wealth), kama (love) and moksha (salvation). Taken together, the three books of the Kural inform, criticize and teach the reader, in brilliantly styled and pithy verse, about life, love and the ways of the world. Translated and edited with an introduction by P.S. Sundaram
Appeasement of Radhika || Muddupalani, Muddupalani (Tr Sandhya Mulchandani)
An erotic narrative poem that explores desire and jealousy, love experienced and love lost, Radhika Santawanam is the most recognized work of nineteenth-century poet and courtesan Muddupalani.
Celebrated as a literary masterpiece in Muddupalani’s lifetime, Radhika Santawanam was banned by the British in 1910 when it was published again, a century and a half later, with critics panning its graphic descriptions of lovemaking. And, after another hundred years, this epic is now available in its entirety for the first time in English translation
Professor, author, screenwriter, Erich Segal’s words were known for winning hearts. While he taught us about the beauty and magic of true love, he also articulated the pain of heartbreak and loss like no one else could. His books are time travelling machines, taking you on journeys into strangers’ lives, helping you figuring out your own.
On his birthday, here are six times he taught us about love, life and everything in between: When he reminded us that true love cannot be lost. When he defined the complications of life so easily. The time we learnt that no one is perfect. When he taught us the simple trick of true love. When he perfectly captured the world around us in one simple sentence. When he dared to show us the sad reality.
His words never fail to make us feel alive and fall in love, over and over again. If you haven’t yet read any of his books, just pick your favourite quote and start with that book! So, which magical world are you going to travel to today?
