23 March,2010 07:59 AM IST | | Lindsay Pereira
Penguin India is out with short novels to read while you make your daily local metro commute. Great idea. But if the publishers had dropped by at Rajiv chowk at 6 pm, they'd have realised 'How to Travel Rush Hour with a Smile' might have sold more copies
Love Over Coffee
It's a vaguely interesting conceptu00a0-- the idea of a series of short novels for people who travel by train. The people at Penguin India might not be as familiar with public transport in Mumbai as they are with the Delhi Metro, so one can forgive them the notion that reading while battling a sea of commuters is a pleasurable experience. Still, assuming a few lucky readers do find the space to hold a book between stations, Love Over Coffee (from the Metro Reads series) isn't such an awful way to pass the time. It's about an IT professional and his struggles with love and other issues at work. The price may be a deterrent though, considering the next Chetan Bhagat novel may soon be available for 50 bucks less.
Dreams in Prussian Blue
Paritosh Uttam, Rs 150u00a0
Usually, when a character in a novel mouths the phrase "I kid you not," this should be taken as a sign that it's time to reach for a better novel. Still, considering Dreams in Prussian Blue belongs to Metro Reads, one can afford to plough through simply because one isn't expecting the unexpected. This one's about a young woman called Naina, who loves Michael, who is as selfish as most men are anyway. When an accident leaves him blind though, it's Naina who slips up. Much of this can, with hindsight, be adapted by Ekta Kapoor. The only good thing about that possibilityu00a0-- the phrase "I kid you not" won't make it to television.
Where Girls Dare
Bhavna Chauhan, Rs 150
Here's the dealu00a0-- 52 female cadets training to be officers in the army, 400 male cadets struggling with the idea, and one convoluted tale with a predictable ending. It's what you get when you pick up Bhavna Chauhan's Where Girls Dare. There's the usual bickering, anecdotes related to physical training, and the heads-up on how hard life in the army really is. Interestingly, Chauhan actually joined the Officers Training Academy in Chennai, stood first in the order of merit and bagged six proficiency medals. So, on the plus side, at least she knows what she's writing about.
