THE INDIAN COMMENTATOR

Half Empty to Half Full: The Mindset Pivot is written by Srishti Baweja and published by Gurukul Publishing, Hyderabad. Srishti Baweja is the co-founder of E2E Networks Limited and serves presently as its COO and whole-time director. Half Empty to Half Full is her debut book. In this book, Srishti Baweja shared her deep convictions about how a changed mindset can positively influence one’s personal as well as professional life. As the title rightly suggests, the half-empty or the half-full mindset plays an important role in deciding our choices. The author begins the book with a “preface” and a “prologue.” The preface was short and felt a welcome gesture into the prologue. The prologue is like a vortex that will draw you right into the heart of the book. It speaks in detail about what made Srishti an author. She takes our hand and walks into the deepest and occasionally painful memories of her life. Reading this prologue made me see myself in a mirror, when I was in my younger days, ...

"Until I Find You" by Kanchana Banerjee is a captivating fiction thriller set in the charming town of Bannod in Rajasthan. The narrative revolves around two key characters, Jenny and Virat, each on a personal quest for redemption and truth, respectively. Jenny finds herself tirelessly searching for the son of her deceased best friend, while Virat, a determined police officer, is driven to solve the mystery behind the sudden disappearance of Jenny's crush. As fate would have it, their paths cross, and they find themselves reluctantly joining forces to achieve their individual goals. The plot of the story is peppered with both expected and unexpected twists, leading up to a climax that will leave readers in shock. The author skillfully crafts well-defined characters who grapple with themes such as cults, rape, and the vulnerability of victims. Through their experiences, the story delves into the profound impact that people's susceptibility can have on surrendering their...

When you are the owner of a sole proprietorship even Sundays are no off days. you have to work hard to make your visions a reality. Of course, it is important to have a vision. When writers Kalam was starting I had a vision of Helping India Write.  My friends, who took part in this journey along with me also realised the importance of the vision. Many people are crippled by the fact that they do not have control over their written language. When you do not know how to write properly or how to write efficiently you could be losing out on many opportunities. It is the mission of WritersKalam.com to go into schools, colleges, and other educational institutions to help students and teachers find a balance between their language and writing skills. With this purpose in mind, we started a journal, the first independent online journal in India, The Holistic Pine. When I see the massive reception the journal is receiving I feel proud about the decision of starting this journal. The Januar...

  The Holistic Pine, an independent international monthly journal is creating ripples in India and abroad with its treatment of subject matter and audacity of presentation. The avid reader found one’s haven of reading inside the pages of The Holistic Pine. The pine revolution of reading is an offshoot of Writers’ Kalam, a knowledge-based educational venture initiated by the renowned Indian English author Anu Lal. The venture envisions catering to the rising demands in bridge courses that can help candidates seeking future employment opportunities in equipping themselves better to meet professional challenges.   The second issue of The Holistic Pine came out in December of 2022 and the timing of this issue couldn’t have been better. The new year broke with the stupendously insightful read on the various arenas of education. With J Krishnamurti, philosopher and educator on its cover, the journal carried articles like “Period Education Project”, “God’s of Education”, “Death ...

Often we ponder the causes that drive a writer to give shape to his thoughts in the form of literary art. We seldom consider the reasons that motivate us readers towards literature and art in general. The laymen take it for granted. Is art such a social or cultural product that we should take for granted as a side-effect of human existence? When the IS demolished the statues of Bamiyan, the underlying message was clear. Art is not just a natural byproduct of humans interacting with humans or nature or supernatural forces. It takes a conscious effort, a step towards the unknown, to entrench oneself or the culture in the world of art. Art, like science and philosophy, takes the torch of investigation forward. Its most important function. Literature, the art of words, is our concern here. “The novel is a meditation on existence as seen through the medium of imaginary characters,” suggests Milan Kundera in his Art of the Novel .  Milan Kundera Certain novels draw our attention not just...

  I have been mulling over a pestering question. The question is connected to a book that I have been working on. How would an inter-religious couple bring up their child? The answer is on the table for everyone to see, open and uncomplicated. It’s easy. They will bring up their child without any religion and let him choose a Faith all by himself when he comes of age. What an idea sir Ji! It’s schadenfreude to just let the child -future adult- choose a religious faith from the available options as if it’s as simple as choosing a data pack from your cellular company’s advertisement. As in the case of choosing the data plan, any decision awaiting a choice from a bunch of options always entails stress and anxiety. Is choosing faith as easy as choosing a data plan? Remember, this is not the data plan for a month or a year. This is a plan for your soul, which may have implications for an eternity to come.  Also, there is the question of human rights. The child has the right to know...

  This morning, I stumbled upon a live signing session by one of the best selling authors of the fantasy genre, Brandon Sanderson. The American writer also dabbles in science fiction, and his books find readers across the world.  Here is his advice for writing, which he delivers during one of his live book signing sessions. He conducts these sessions online, on Youtube, often. This one is the twenty-sixth live book signing session.  

For the first time, for my tenth book, I broke my convention. My convention was to release the book in quiet solitude. No one probably realizes that a new book has been released into the vast sea of other books, into a battle for attention by authors, reviewers, and publishers.  This time, I decided to ask my readers on Instagram their suggestions regarding the release date of the book. To my surprise, many responses came and all of them were extremely useful for me to fix the release date of my book. The book that I am talking about is my new book Stories We Live . The finalization of the release date of Stories We Live was inspired by this social media event. The question was asked, if they could suggest a release date, on Instagram, which was later shared on Facebook and WhatsApp.  Most numbers of suggestions were received on Instagram. The names that I would like to acknowledge here are, author Devika, my buddy Divyank, author Krithika Sharma, Deepti Gupta, Ashwini Iyer, ...

  Hi, Anu Lal here.  I have news of great joy to share. My new book is released; an anthology titled  The Notions of Healing .  Renowned scholar Dr Arunlal Mokeri has written a magnificent  Foreword  that aptly positions the anthology in the broader spectrum of pandemic literature. Sixteen superbly talented writers from Kerala to Kashmir have contributed to make this book a reality.  Along with sixteen coauthors, we explore the many notions of healing during the times of the pandemic.  Please support this endeavour with your feedback on the book. I request all my readers, friends, colleagues and students to purchase a copy of your chosen format. Please share the links with your friends, in various groups and also with your colleagues. Kindly notify librarian of your institution and please do not stay back from gently forcing the librarian to purchase a library copy at the earliest. This will make sure that our students would also get a chance to r...