Book Review: Colorful Notions: The RoadTrippers 1.0 by Mojit Goyal

In the fast-paced corporate life that we all lead, haven’t we often thought of just switching off and escaping on a long trip across breathtaking locales around the world? Whenever we meet our old school friends, planning a trip together figures topmost on the list (what happens to the plan is a different matter altogether). The bottomline is, we all want break from the monotonous cycle of work-home-work.

Imagine going on a road trip with your best buddies. Unforeseen adventures, the thrill of exploring a new place and most importantly, the much needed break – what more can one ask for? Reading this book ‘ Colorful Notions: The RoadTrippers 1.0’ by Mojit Goyal will kindle the spirit of wanderlust in you.

The book is about three friends – Abhay, Shashank and Unnati. The three youngsters give up their cosy life and set out on a ten thousand kilometer long journey across India. The book, a fictional travelogue, will grip your attention from the word go. While the two guys take turns to drive, the girl gives voice-over as they record their entire journey on a Handycam.

As any journey would bring with it, they encounter ‘ghosts’, near-death experiences, car breakdown, robbers and so forth. The book is nothing but a potboiler which can easily be translated onto the silver screen as the next ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ or ‘Zindagi Milegi Na Dobara’. One would crave with the urge to explore the great country of ours after turning the last page.

The writing was crisp and lucid. The plot has its share of laughter, pain, spookiness and thrill. The descriptions of places was detailed that would let your imagination run wild. I am already looking at my Calendar and getting my bakcpack ready for the next weekend destination.

My Rating: 3/5 stars

P.S. Thank you The Tales Pensieve for the review copy.

Book Review: Horseshoe Garage

You know the time when you start a book with absolutely no expectations and then you end up liking it so much that it blows your mind away? That’s exactly what happened with me for Horseshoe Garage. It was an amazing and unique read with a new concept. I really enjoyed it with its quirky characters.

‘Horseshoe Garage,’ by Hitesha Deshpande plots around dreams, car racing, love, underdogs and the achievers. It has all the tamasha of a Bollywood pot boiler, worthy of being adapted on celluloid by Dharma or Yashraj productions.

Horseshoe Garage is the story of Sav. He has always dreamed of making a car for Neo racing. He’s always loved the smell of burnt tyre and technologically advanced cars. So when Neo racing comes to India, Sav signs up for it. Then there is Naaz. She is a mechanic and basically a genius where is comes to any kinds of cars. She is one of the strongest female characters I have ever come across.

This is the story of human triumph, love, friendship, betrayal, passion. It is pacy, in sync with the times, not at all monotonous and speaks the language that any ordinary person on the street can relate to.

The author knows her cars well and even though I’m not a big car fanatic, she got me interested in all its dynamics. You can actually feel the thrill of racing in Horseshoe Garage. It was exhilarating. True, it has those few cliches, it has twists too many. But you will hardly notice them for the characters are so real, yet so unlike anything you would ever come across.

Overall, a fun read when you are travelling, or bored at home without internet. Thank you Leadstart Publishing for the book.

My Rating: 4/5 stars