Name: 12 Hours
Verdict: ☆☆☆☆1/2 A very beautifully written Anthology. As a reader you will feel all the emotions clubbed together in one book. While reading this book. I cried, I laughed, I loved each and every moment and I too smiled with some of the stories. Very beautiful imagination. A must read book. Good Job done by the Author.
About The Author: Three terms aptly describe Mahi Singla – ‘Shopaholic’, ‘Coffeholic’, and ‘Voracious Reader’. Mahi is a Law Graduate from S.D. Bhinani College, Sriganganagar, but she left the practice because of her increasing inclination towards reading and writing.
Described as outspoken, bubbly, and extremely honest with her close friends, Mahi has always been inspired by Indian authors, like, Chetan Bhagat and Jhumpa Lahiri, as she strongly believes that Indian writers are at par with the foreign big-names. She idolizes Mr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam for his intelligence, writing skills, and humbleness. Some excerpts from his book ‘Wings of Fire’ always inspire her.
Mahi likes to indulge in different creative fields, and is good at craft-making, painting, dancing, writing and cooking. Among all her hobbies, she felt writing is the best medium through which she can keep her readers mesmerized by her thoughts. She specifically loves to write short stories, in which she tries to mix her experiences, observations and imagination.
She can be contacted at:
Email – [email protected]
Facebook – facebook.com/mahi.singla.10
Born in Amritsar, and brought up in Faridabad, Rohit Sharma is a Senior Software Engineer by profession. Working with one of the world's top MNCs, Rohit has successfully represented his organization in USA and England. Apart from being a Gold-Medalist in Engineering (Honors), and earning the title of the ‘Hall of Fame’ of his college, Rohit successfully represented his college at various dancing and sketching competitions.
Being an avid reader, Rohit loves to read fictions by Nicholas Sparks, Jeffery Archer, Sidney Sheldon, Dan Brown and Paulo Coelho, to name a few. Pouring out his innermost feelings via innumerable romantic poems and songs has been Rohit’s forte, making him a keen writer and a book reviewer too. His varied collection of poems and songs are available on his blog, while his writings have been appreciated globally, on outstanding poetry forums.
His debut romance-thriller fiction, ‘Te Amo… I Love You’ was nominated for the Commonwealth Book Prize, and has been declared as National Bestseller. A die-hard fan of Sachin Tendulkar, Lionel Messi and Roger Federer, Rohit loves to unwind either by playing one of his favorite sports or by exercising, dancing, sketching, and ‘sometimes’ cooking.
He can be contacted at:
Email – [email protected]
Facebook – facebook.com/rohitsharma.myself
Twitter – twitter.com/memyselfrohit
About The Book: Every hour of our life scripts a new story. And, every story is colored with a different feeling -
Love, Pain, Joy, Sorrow, Trust, Deceit, Excitement, Repentance, Respect, Humiliation, Loneliness and Anger
We all have been a part of these intense emotions, which our heart experiences. We grow among them, feeling them, living them every minute, every hour, and our life is incomplete without them.
12 HOURS is a collection of twelve engrossing and beautifully written stories, which express different emotions and pour out the essence of different relationships. Some stories will make you laugh, while some will shed your tears. Some stories will spread a lesson, while some will electrify your spine. Some stories will make you fall in love, while some will motivate you to succeed. Each story will try to touch one or the other emotion that is nested inside us.
In a nutshell, every hour of 12 HOURS will take you on a completely different journey by putting you amid the intriguing lives of the various characters, the characters that look very much real like all of us, the characters that belong to one or the other hour of our life.
Review: Short stories are very difficult to write, but they are interesting to read. As a reader I would congratulate both Mahi Singla and Rohit Sharma for a wonderful short story collection in the form of “12 Hours”. All the 12 stories really touched my heart. It was filled with all the emotions. I felt all the emotions in 12 hours. As a debut author Mahi really had a very good imagination.The blurb of each story is written exceptionally well which easily gives an idea of the story with wonderful sketches. I also loved the cover of the book which was a unique attempt by the authors. As a reviewer I would love to give my feelings individually for all the stories.
1. Story 1: “A Terrible Mistake”. Karan and Samira had an arranged marriage. Karan was perfect as a husband. Smart and handsome but still there was a problem with them. While reading this story I was sad for Karan. There was so much Thrill happening in his life. But the climax really shocked me. I could not imagine this could happen to Karan. I laughed too. Very nicely written story. While reading this story I felt as if I am part of this story imagining each and every scene happening in front of me. Loved it !
2. Story 2: “My Share of Ice Cream” This story was really a treat of ice cream for me. And yes love can happen to anyone and anywhere. Same thing happened with Vinay Bakshi , a handsome young man, who falls in love with his physiotherapist Anjali. I lived a romantic moment while reading this story. This story was sweet and romantic. The ice cream moment was really enjoyable and the way Vinay proposed Anjali was something different and romantic. I had a sweet and a Romantic smile after reading this story. A cute story for all the youngsters.
3. Story 3: “The Reason is You”: This story was really painful. While reading this story I had cried with pain in my heart for Heena when her father forced her to leave education and get married to a man much older to her. When she forced to leave her dreams and felt torture of his husband, I as a reader shattered and cried out of pain for her. This story is a lesson for all who cursed their girl child and forced them for early marriage. But there are angels of God in the world who help other selflessly. One such angel was Anwar for Heena. The end will make you cry with happiness. It’s true there are some people who respect women and help them to fulfil their dreams. I loved this story. One of my favorites. I appreciate the author for lovely imagination.
4. Story 4: “A Selfless Love”: Single Parenting is a tough job. Your whole life focuses on your Child and you pamper him/her too much which sometimes spoils your child. This is what's shown in this story. Ashish was a single parent who loved his daughter Koyal which resulted in turning Koyal as an arrogant child.But the climax really made me cry with happiness. I just enjoyed selfless love of father and daughter. The love and care of a father towards his daughter was really too good. His struggle for his child’s upbringing was appreciable. I really enjoyed reading the scene when father ran to search for his daughter in so much cold. That was a very emotional moment. This moment can’t be forgotten. Only a father can do this in the world. When I tend to get late from the office. My father calls me again and again to know my whereabouts. I as a reader can relate to this story. A father daughter relationship is nicely described.. After reading this story, I as a daughter realized my father’s concern towards me. A nice read.
5. Story 5: “He lost himself that day” After reading this story I am not in a state to speak anything. I am speechless. This is really a shameful incident and very common these days. Gang rape is a common thing in India. Men after heavy drinking turned into animal and destroy the life of a young girl. And also one should make friends with proper thinking. We daily come across men like Yuvraj and Siddharth who rape young women and satisfy their manhood. It is really shameful. The Author has beautifully narrated the story. I am shocked and cried after reading this story. I as a reader felt depressed when I read the climax of the story. Very nicely drafted.
6. Story 6: “An Accidental Marriage”… This story is also one of my favorite stories. A sweet romantic comedy about two friends. Rahul and Prachi they were best friend inseparable but fight with each other, Play pranks on each other and one of the prank leads them into marriage. I just loved the perfect timing of comedy. I was giggling while reading the story till the end. Author’s comedy timing is simply perfect neither cheap nor too loud. I just enjoyed each and every moment of Rahul and Prachi. I simply adore prachi as a character. She is bubbly sweet and full of life. One of the dialogue by Rahul was superb. I just could not control my laugh. When Prachi told Rahul that she is pregnant with his child, Rahul innocently told her “ I have never touched you. I only share my coffee with you, nothing else! And, no one gets pregnant by sharing a cup of coffee”. This was something sweet and hilarious. The end was very romantic and sweet. Overall it was light and a nice read.
7. Story 7: “Forgive me if you can”… It is a story of a young man Tahir who took the wrong path without realizing the consequences. But when he realized his mistake it was too late. The story taught the readers an important lesson. One should always choose the path after knowing it’s consequences. Because some mistakes cannot be rectified. Though, painful but a very thoughtful story. I cried when I read about Tahir’s family. Tahir without realizing the dark side of the world. Left his family and loved ones in pain. A very encouraging story for readers. It feels Author had done a very good research about Islam and jihad.
8. Story 8: “A Lesson Learnt Finally” It is a story about two friends Tanya and Annie based on the thought, “ if you have done something wrong with someone, you will never be able to sleep at night. The thought of wrong doing will keep haunting you.” I agree with this. When you have done something wrong, out of guilt you can’t sleep peacefully. That's what happened with Tanya. An unknown fear was there in the story but the end taught the readers an important lesson. This story gave me mixed emotions. Starting was sweet which made me smile about two best friends. In the latter part I was angry on Tanya as she does not know how to speak with people. She should have checked before scolding the delivery boy. I also got scared but in the end I had a relief smile. It is a simple story to read with an important message.
9. Story 9: “You are not letting me go” This is one of the heart touching love stories which touched my heart completely. I can’t stop my tears falling from my eyes. Rohan and Aarti’s true love made me completely speechless. It also gave the readers an important lesson one should not drink while driving. After reading this, I believe soul mates are there in reality. This story surprised me completely. The end was unexpected which really touched me. Each and every incident was nicely described.
10. Story 10: “ I am leaving You” this story teaches us one should never play with the feelings and emotions of others, Otherwise it will return back to us. As it is said “Karma returns back” Similarly Divya played with the feelings of other men, ultimately in the end she suffered a severe trauma. I really liked all the characters specially Sagar’s character as a phyco was nicely described. The end really painful. Sometimes strange past haunts you throughout and some incidence of past can ruin your whole life that is what happened with Sagar. When people want high hopes and took other’s feelings casually then there comes a single moment or people who change their life completely. A nice read.
11. Story 11: “A Picture Perfect Family”… A beautiful narration and a wonderful story. The end really surprised me. Tanuja and Pradeep were a picture perfect couple and after Pradeep left them their life shattered. But when Tanuja came to know the real truth she could not digest the fact which was really painful. When you love and care turned out just as a responsibility, It is very painful and difficult to believe. The Author has perfectly written this story. The whole concept made the story interesting to read.
12. Story 12”Beg me, To Get Me Back” This is the story which every common man can relate to. It is a tit for tat story. It clearly shows when we do something wrong to someone, it will surely come back to us. A story of a struggling writer Maithali who had faced several failures to become a successful Author. It clearly tells never underestimate the power of a common man. Every Successful celebrity was once a commoner. A good story for all the strugglers. Once should never lose hope. A good read.
As a reader, I just loved all the 12 hours stories. It contains all the emotions. Love, care, sacrifice, pain, sorrow and joy. I felt as if, I am part of each and every story. I cried when heena cried with pain. I laughed when Prachi played Pranks. I was sad for Tanuja. All the stories were good but my personal favorites are 2, 3, 6th and 12th. Since It’s Mahi Singla’s debut book I congratulate her for the wonderful imagination. And good luck for Rohit Sharma for his future.
The book can be purchased from: http://www.flipkart.com/12-hours-anthology-beautiful-stories/p/itmdn3hzuewq6j3g?pid=9789350880777&otracker=from-search&srno=t_1&query=12+hours&ref=80384eaa-5cd9-41c0-9eb9-f9613b16aafd
http://www.homeshop18.com/12-hours-anthology-12-beautiful-stories/author:rohit-sharma/books/fiction/product:30793843/cid:13167
http://www.snapdeal.com/product/12-hours/1888368383/?pos=0;0;1170
Verdict: ☆☆☆☆1/2 A very beautifully written Anthology. As a reader you will feel all the emotions clubbed together in one book. While reading this book. I cried, I laughed, I loved each and every moment and I too smiled with some of the stories. Very beautiful imagination. A must read book. Good Job done by the Author.
About The Author: Three terms aptly describe Mahi Singla – ‘Shopaholic’, ‘Coffeholic’, and ‘Voracious Reader’. Mahi is a Law Graduate from S.D. Bhinani College, Sriganganagar, but she left the practice because of her increasing inclination towards reading and writing.
Described as outspoken, bubbly, and extremely honest with her close friends, Mahi has always been inspired by Indian authors, like, Chetan Bhagat and Jhumpa Lahiri, as she strongly believes that Indian writers are at par with the foreign big-names. She idolizes Mr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam for his intelligence, writing skills, and humbleness. Some excerpts from his book ‘Wings of Fire’ always inspire her.
Mahi likes to indulge in different creative fields, and is good at craft-making, painting, dancing, writing and cooking. Among all her hobbies, she felt writing is the best medium through which she can keep her readers mesmerized by her thoughts. She specifically loves to write short stories, in which she tries to mix her experiences, observations and imagination.
She can be contacted at:
Email – [email protected]
Facebook – facebook.com/mahi.singla.10
Born in Amritsar, and brought up in Faridabad, Rohit Sharma is a Senior Software Engineer by profession. Working with one of the world's top MNCs, Rohit has successfully represented his organization in USA and England. Apart from being a Gold-Medalist in Engineering (Honors), and earning the title of the ‘Hall of Fame’ of his college, Rohit successfully represented his college at various dancing and sketching competitions.
Being an avid reader, Rohit loves to read fictions by Nicholas Sparks, Jeffery Archer, Sidney Sheldon, Dan Brown and Paulo Coelho, to name a few. Pouring out his innermost feelings via innumerable romantic poems and songs has been Rohit’s forte, making him a keen writer and a book reviewer too. His varied collection of poems and songs are available on his blog, while his writings have been appreciated globally, on outstanding poetry forums.
His debut romance-thriller fiction, ‘Te Amo… I Love You’ was nominated for the Commonwealth Book Prize, and has been declared as National Bestseller. A die-hard fan of Sachin Tendulkar, Lionel Messi and Roger Federer, Rohit loves to unwind either by playing one of his favorite sports or by exercising, dancing, sketching, and ‘sometimes’ cooking.
He can be contacted at:
Email – [email protected]
Facebook – facebook.com/rohitsharma.myself
Twitter – twitter.com/memyselfrohit
About The Book: Every hour of our life scripts a new story. And, every story is colored with a different feeling -
Love, Pain, Joy, Sorrow, Trust, Deceit, Excitement, Repentance, Respect, Humiliation, Loneliness and Anger
We all have been a part of these intense emotions, which our heart experiences. We grow among them, feeling them, living them every minute, every hour, and our life is incomplete without them.
12 HOURS is a collection of twelve engrossing and beautifully written stories, which express different emotions and pour out the essence of different relationships. Some stories will make you laugh, while some will shed your tears. Some stories will spread a lesson, while some will electrify your spine. Some stories will make you fall in love, while some will motivate you to succeed. Each story will try to touch one or the other emotion that is nested inside us.
In a nutshell, every hour of 12 HOURS will take you on a completely different journey by putting you amid the intriguing lives of the various characters, the characters that look very much real like all of us, the characters that belong to one or the other hour of our life.
Review: Short stories are very difficult to write, but they are interesting to read. As a reader I would congratulate both Mahi Singla and Rohit Sharma for a wonderful short story collection in the form of “12 Hours”. All the 12 stories really touched my heart. It was filled with all the emotions. I felt all the emotions in 12 hours. As a debut author Mahi really had a very good imagination.The blurb of each story is written exceptionally well which easily gives an idea of the story with wonderful sketches. I also loved the cover of the book which was a unique attempt by the authors. As a reviewer I would love to give my feelings individually for all the stories.
1. Story 1: “A Terrible Mistake”. Karan and Samira had an arranged marriage. Karan was perfect as a husband. Smart and handsome but still there was a problem with them. While reading this story I was sad for Karan. There was so much Thrill happening in his life. But the climax really shocked me. I could not imagine this could happen to Karan. I laughed too. Very nicely written story. While reading this story I felt as if I am part of this story imagining each and every scene happening in front of me. Loved it !
2. Story 2: “My Share of Ice Cream” This story was really a treat of ice cream for me. And yes love can happen to anyone and anywhere. Same thing happened with Vinay Bakshi , a handsome young man, who falls in love with his physiotherapist Anjali. I lived a romantic moment while reading this story. This story was sweet and romantic. The ice cream moment was really enjoyable and the way Vinay proposed Anjali was something different and romantic. I had a sweet and a Romantic smile after reading this story. A cute story for all the youngsters.
3. Story 3: “The Reason is You”: This story was really painful. While reading this story I had cried with pain in my heart for Heena when her father forced her to leave education and get married to a man much older to her. When she forced to leave her dreams and felt torture of his husband, I as a reader shattered and cried out of pain for her. This story is a lesson for all who cursed their girl child and forced them for early marriage. But there are angels of God in the world who help other selflessly. One such angel was Anwar for Heena. The end will make you cry with happiness. It’s true there are some people who respect women and help them to fulfil their dreams. I loved this story. One of my favorites. I appreciate the author for lovely imagination.
4. Story 4: “A Selfless Love”: Single Parenting is a tough job. Your whole life focuses on your Child and you pamper him/her too much which sometimes spoils your child. This is what's shown in this story. Ashish was a single parent who loved his daughter Koyal which resulted in turning Koyal as an arrogant child.But the climax really made me cry with happiness. I just enjoyed selfless love of father and daughter. The love and care of a father towards his daughter was really too good. His struggle for his child’s upbringing was appreciable. I really enjoyed reading the scene when father ran to search for his daughter in so much cold. That was a very emotional moment. This moment can’t be forgotten. Only a father can do this in the world. When I tend to get late from the office. My father calls me again and again to know my whereabouts. I as a reader can relate to this story. A father daughter relationship is nicely described.. After reading this story, I as a daughter realized my father’s concern towards me. A nice read.
5. Story 5: “He lost himself that day” After reading this story I am not in a state to speak anything. I am speechless. This is really a shameful incident and very common these days. Gang rape is a common thing in India. Men after heavy drinking turned into animal and destroy the life of a young girl. And also one should make friends with proper thinking. We daily come across men like Yuvraj and Siddharth who rape young women and satisfy their manhood. It is really shameful. The Author has beautifully narrated the story. I am shocked and cried after reading this story. I as a reader felt depressed when I read the climax of the story. Very nicely drafted.
6. Story 6: “An Accidental Marriage”… This story is also one of my favorite stories. A sweet romantic comedy about two friends. Rahul and Prachi they were best friend inseparable but fight with each other, Play pranks on each other and one of the prank leads them into marriage. I just loved the perfect timing of comedy. I was giggling while reading the story till the end. Author’s comedy timing is simply perfect neither cheap nor too loud. I just enjoyed each and every moment of Rahul and Prachi. I simply adore prachi as a character. She is bubbly sweet and full of life. One of the dialogue by Rahul was superb. I just could not control my laugh. When Prachi told Rahul that she is pregnant with his child, Rahul innocently told her “ I have never touched you. I only share my coffee with you, nothing else! And, no one gets pregnant by sharing a cup of coffee”. This was something sweet and hilarious. The end was very romantic and sweet. Overall it was light and a nice read.
7. Story 7: “Forgive me if you can”… It is a story of a young man Tahir who took the wrong path without realizing the consequences. But when he realized his mistake it was too late. The story taught the readers an important lesson. One should always choose the path after knowing it’s consequences. Because some mistakes cannot be rectified. Though, painful but a very thoughtful story. I cried when I read about Tahir’s family. Tahir without realizing the dark side of the world. Left his family and loved ones in pain. A very encouraging story for readers. It feels Author had done a very good research about Islam and jihad.
8. Story 8: “A Lesson Learnt Finally” It is a story about two friends Tanya and Annie based on the thought, “ if you have done something wrong with someone, you will never be able to sleep at night. The thought of wrong doing will keep haunting you.” I agree with this. When you have done something wrong, out of guilt you can’t sleep peacefully. That's what happened with Tanya. An unknown fear was there in the story but the end taught the readers an important lesson. This story gave me mixed emotions. Starting was sweet which made me smile about two best friends. In the latter part I was angry on Tanya as she does not know how to speak with people. She should have checked before scolding the delivery boy. I also got scared but in the end I had a relief smile. It is a simple story to read with an important message.
9. Story 9: “You are not letting me go” This is one of the heart touching love stories which touched my heart completely. I can’t stop my tears falling from my eyes. Rohan and Aarti’s true love made me completely speechless. It also gave the readers an important lesson one should not drink while driving. After reading this, I believe soul mates are there in reality. This story surprised me completely. The end was unexpected which really touched me. Each and every incident was nicely described.
10. Story 10: “ I am leaving You” this story teaches us one should never play with the feelings and emotions of others, Otherwise it will return back to us. As it is said “Karma returns back” Similarly Divya played with the feelings of other men, ultimately in the end she suffered a severe trauma. I really liked all the characters specially Sagar’s character as a phyco was nicely described. The end really painful. Sometimes strange past haunts you throughout and some incidence of past can ruin your whole life that is what happened with Sagar. When people want high hopes and took other’s feelings casually then there comes a single moment or people who change their life completely. A nice read.
11. Story 11: “A Picture Perfect Family”… A beautiful narration and a wonderful story. The end really surprised me. Tanuja and Pradeep were a picture perfect couple and after Pradeep left them their life shattered. But when Tanuja came to know the real truth she could not digest the fact which was really painful. When you love and care turned out just as a responsibility, It is very painful and difficult to believe. The Author has perfectly written this story. The whole concept made the story interesting to read.
12. Story 12”Beg me, To Get Me Back” This is the story which every common man can relate to. It is a tit for tat story. It clearly shows when we do something wrong to someone, it will surely come back to us. A story of a struggling writer Maithali who had faced several failures to become a successful Author. It clearly tells never underestimate the power of a common man. Every Successful celebrity was once a commoner. A good story for all the strugglers. Once should never lose hope. A good read.
As a reader, I just loved all the 12 hours stories. It contains all the emotions. Love, care, sacrifice, pain, sorrow and joy. I felt as if, I am part of each and every story. I cried when heena cried with pain. I laughed when Prachi played Pranks. I was sad for Tanuja. All the stories were good but my personal favorites are 2, 3, 6th and 12th. Since It’s Mahi Singla’s debut book I congratulate her for the wonderful imagination. And good luck for Rohit Sharma for his future.
The book can be purchased from: http://www.flipkart.com/12-hours-anthology-beautiful-stories/p/itmdn3hzuewq6j3g?pid=9789350880777&otracker=from-search&srno=t_1&query=12+hours&ref=80384eaa-5cd9-41c0-9eb9-f9613b16aafd
http://www.homeshop18.com/12-hours-anthology-12-beautiful-stories/author:rohit-sharma/books/fiction/product:30793843/cid:13167
http://www.snapdeal.com/product/12-hours/1888368383/?pos=0;0;1170