Sharmishtha Basu's Blog: Sharmishtha Basu writes, page 116
July 26, 2020
Coming Kingdom December 2019 Critique by Troy David Loy
Coming Kingdom December 2019 Critique by Troy David Loy
https://www.amazon.com/author/troyloy
One rainy evening A young woman, a “computerwali,” braves torrential weather while she journeys to the bus station from work. Does she survive the terrible weather?
One romance, two twists Nat and Mahua have a thing going between them, but the triangle is completed by one Rekha, and complicated by Nat’s past with her. When he now is obsessed with Mahua, does his relationship with his parents and inheritance still hold?
Our deed The Infamous Trio riff on the poisoned romance of Jayant and Bina, wed without dowry. Family and friends barred from her parents-in-law home for her status, she slowly turns on and divorces her spouse after having more than enough of ill treatment. What happens when Jayant remarries with his parents’ consent?
Our God Ratna discovers Meera, a young dalit woman and child hiding from pursuers in her car, and drives from the scene with them. After saving them, she finds out why, do things work out for the better for all?
Of Thrones and palaces A deposed, impoverished queen, struggles for her family, with dignity and principles intact. When Tamanna is writing a book on Indian royals, and sees the queen praying in a temple without a home. She sees her one last moment, but does Tamanna realize the woman is royalty?
Perseverance is not worthiness Mahesh was adopted from poor parents, by his wealthy aunty, but lacks any real strength of character. As a lifelong chronic complainer does he find love anyway? When his brother Ramesh and young Nellie are in love with each other, Mahesh tries to part the two lovers through trickery and employment blackmail, and then his malice and obsession grow. But his plan backfires when his foster parents realize his efforts, and punish him accordingly. well written, this one!
Petty things Aravind and Sukesh are best friends, and when Sukesh gives food to a starving poor man at a woman’s, Sneha’s, ask for generosity toward the man. When other destitute people gather for similar generosity, things go better than otherwise for them, as the donations of food and clothes snowball within months, when things work out for all, destitute and employed alike.
Pig pen Tinni and Tusi talk about life to, with, and among pigs when Tinni’s father threatens to throw her in the pen. Why is this? This one is an interesting take from the perspective of the very young! Much more realistic than Charles Schultz’s “Peanuts.”
Pigs When life as a pig or pig farmer becomes a topic of conversation between Mohit and Sohan, it turns to the matter of two girls, Gina and Regina, and the matter of the two is brought home for Sohan.
Playing with fire This is a story within a story, when Pradeep hears the tale of young Priya who falls prey to a conniving predator. Pradeep gives her parents a piece of his mind about raising their daughter!
Poisonous minds The Infamous Trio gossip, this time over the stalking of a young woman by a John Shah who drove away those who truly love her, but could not destroy her integrity.
Prince and the ordinary man Two women discuss the merits of two men, Madhavesh and Sukesh, and which of the two would make the better groom.
July 25, 2020
Agnimalya December 2019 Critique by Troy David Loy
Agnimalya December 2019 Critique by Troy David Loy
https://www.amazon.com/author/troyloy
Missed chance An older man, nicknamed “Grumps” gets a stern talking to about trying to win back a younger flame who now wants naught to do with him.
Missing persons list Young Moyna is missing, possibly abducted on her way to school. What is going on, and can they find her before it’s too late? Who is responsible? When a wealthy woman seems connected to this and other disappearances mysteriously vanishes herself, only to reappear elsewhere, the hunt is on! While the missing girls are yet to be found by the end, I found this story a good way to raise social consciousness on this very sort of thing happening in real life!
Money and love Smriti and Anirban are coworkers, and seem perfect for each other in other ways as well. Smriti has ideas of her own, but refrains from romancing him. After he helps her find a new job elsewhere, they meet again, much to the delight of them both!
Money, money, money When Chandra finds a dream job in another state, things seem peachy…until suspicions of something terrible going on arise. While the guilty parties do get their comeuppance by the end, it would be interesting to read in more detail how that happened!
Monsters A human trafficking racket has been investigated by the police for years, and when officer Chandraneel decides to tackle the ring another way, less direct, one that perhaps will succeed where the law has failed!
Mother Mahesh and Uma have trouble having children despite their undying love. But a child indeed comes through another channel in the form of a foundling discovered by Mahesh! Named Esha, the child grows into a young woman studying at university, meets a stranger with connections to her – by birth! Is this her true mother? The phrase “true mother” is a little tricky when it comes to being abandoned as a child!
Natraj Sneha falls for a local teacher, her feelings only growing, until she notices a gap in his facade of chastity! She soon falls OUT of love, in a most liberating way. This one I enjoyed.
Nice family Mohit and Dinesh discuss the relationship of Mohit’s son to one Mrinalini, who may not be as she appears…or IS she? Does she turn out to be the genuine article, and is the real trickster is revealed?
Nightmare in suburbia There is a plot, involving blackmailed pawns as partners, or perhaps just minions, in crime. Here are two related stories of skullduggery done in service to a vile puppet master.
Now or never The Infamous Trio, Mrs. Gupta, Mrs. Ghosh, and Mrs. Sinha gather again to gossip, this time about shy Ramesh and Sophia. Do they call Ramesh to talk, and find his real reasons for not pursuing Sophia? Do they manage to convince him anyway? This one was fun!
Nymph A demon decides to lounge about on a peaceful day in the form of a bird, and gets shot! When a gentle hand picks him up, and his injuries are cared for, he cannot forget this good turn done to him! He falls for young Tamalika, seeking marriage, but her parents will have none of it! When a demon’s attraction is motivated by something much baser than love, what is he to do? Seek revenge, of course! But does it work as planned? What happens when he sends a nymph to seduce her?
Come smile with me 26.7.20
have a great day full of joy and laughter!
lots of Love.
Sharmishtha Basu
https://gumroad.com/sharmishthabasu
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https://paypal.me/sharmishthabasu
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July 24, 2020
Agnishatdal Ashar 1427, June 2020 Critique by editor sharmishtha basu
Agnishatdal Ashar 1427 June 2020
( https://shoptly.com/sharmishthabasu )
Critique by Sharmishtha Basu
Agnishatdal Ashar 1427, June 2020
https://gumroad.com/l/mNnNi
https://shoptly.com/i/bb7o
By your good old editor! Few words about the works of my much cherished authors. So the critiques will be honest, short and sweet!
Megh by Labanya: A romantic poem, filled with romance. Beautifully penned!
Political propaganda by saptarchi: I too would have loved if Indian government cleaned up and kept Ganges clean instead of building Ram Mandir and Statues! But who will convince these dramabazes that!
Fogline by Brieuc Martin Onraet 3: Funny piece Brieuc, I loved it! “Pink things with big ears that eat everything and are delicious to eat…” You are awesome!
When Gold went on a trip by Raghunandan Kuppuswamy: Poor fellow, getting both ears cut off by a crazy man and his son! Well he had earned a fistful of those coins if not more!
Liftoff by Troy David Loy: Great description of an alien ship, wish I could imagine things the way you do! Let us see where Meera’s ship takes her!
Relativity not reality… by Dom Collucci: Beautiful words of wisdom! Great piece of work soulbro!
Bitter Pill dose 32 by Bitter Pill: politics 7: Indian politics has sunk to its lowest level till date. That part is for sure, and in the next four years it will sink further, the signs are loud and clear!
Crows 3 by Brendan: Loved the description of that small patch of land and the way Brendan described the bonding we have with earth and sun! one could actually feel his words, reading them.
The shearer by Pat Ritters 4: Great character building piece, stealing breads and sucking the inside and leaving the crust on the table! Not a nice thing to do! Very bad!
I believe that will be it for my critique as an editor, you will have to read the rest in Ezine. Of course there is truckloads of more works there!
July 23, 2020
Agnishatdal Ashar 1427, June 2020 Critique by Labanya
Agnishatdal Ashar 1427 June 2020
( https://shoptly.com/sharmishthabasu )
Critique by Labanya
Agnishatdal Ashar 1427, June 2020
https://gumroad.com/l/mNnNi
https://shoptly.com/i/bb7o
Hi friends, let us begin!
The ezine begins with a tribute to Madhav, never heard his name, his philosophy flew above my head but he has tried two noble things in his life, eradication of devdasi system and offering dolls of dough instead of animals in sacrifice.
Political propaganda by saptarchi: Next came Saptarchi with another article I quite agree with, politics these days is more theatrics than running a country. If you don’t believe me listen to a few lectures of political leaders! Just like S I too feel sorry that Indian Government did nothing to save Ganges or other water-bodies in the country.
Fogline by Brieuc Martin Onraet 3: I really love the style of Mr. Onraet’s writing. Well, human beings are 62% pig, good take!
When Gold went on a trip by Raghunandan Kuppuswamy: That is what you get for mutilating a corpse! No respect for dead! Just like Hollywood horror movie characters! Good turn Mr. Raghu.
Liftoff by Troy David Loy: Another piece on Meera, her new alien spaceship is about to fly! Great piece Mr. Troy.
Relativity not reality… by Dom Collucci: great poem Mr. Collucci, beautiful words of wisdom.
Bitter Pill dose 32 by Bitter Pill: politics 7: Politics was always dirty, Indian politics one of the dirtiest, and BJP has taken it to lowest level, no other party in the world will be able to compete with them methinks!
Crows 2 by Brendan: Great piece by Mr. B, a beautiful description of a small piece of land untouched by human hands and the connection of nature with her children is beautifully captured in the piece. Rather enjoyed it!
The shearer by Pat Ritters 4: Great piece Mr. Ritter, rather enjoyed the personal touch of this piece, cutting woods, stealing breads!
Treats:
Four lovely shots- from Agni’s April photography.
The link for videos on stories is certainly worth checking out. Wonder if there is a YouTube channel too!
Confessions of an alcoholic by Pat Ritter: Sounds like another story with a message from Mr. Ritter. So many families are destroyed by alcoholism!
Pikatron by Troy David Loy sounds like a great reading material with fractals as added beauty!
SBs’ book in amazon, A bouquet of wild flowers – a collection of poetry, sounds good! Will be checking on them, maybe grab a copy and critique them too!
Bade Gulam Ali- I have heard his name only, will check out the videos in YouTube.
Matt Daemon: Is really handsome! I have watched only few action movies by him and he is good in all of them.
Naseeruddin Shah- Naseeruddin Shah is truly great actor. I have watched at least a dozen movies by him and he is really great in majority of them.
Youtubia-Unsane Will keep in mind to not watch it. I too get really angry when the blurb of the book says exactly opposite of the content! But these days people will do almost anything to sell their products!
Minutes Together: this month’s story is quite fascinating, a trip to an almost impossible land! A story from Urania’s table 2, loved the description of the land and its people.
Loved the Bengali poem and the hindi poem both. Thank you for adding my work Megh in your ezine Agni.
Dhruba- This one is truly beautiful, I have forgotten the story of Dhruba, thanks for the reminder.
TnW- Handpicked- Sometimes God truly rejects our suicidal prayers! Lucky us!
Scaredy Stick- True again Mr. Stick, your fears are quite valid.
The sketches all through the ezine were pretty, very colourful and lovely.
That is it I guess! See you again next month, and thank you Agni/Sharmishtha for translating my works!
Yours sincerely,
Labanya
July 22, 2020
Agnijaat Ashar 1427, June 2020 Critique by Labanya
Agnijaat Ashar 1427, June 2020
( https://shoptly.com/sharmishthabasu )
https://gumroad.com/sharmishthabasu
Critique by Labanya
Agnijaat Ashar 1427, June 2020
https://gumroad.com/l/HJNol
https://shoptly.com/i/bb7n
The scenario is grim, ever since the lockdown has been lifted the virus is on a rampage across the country, things are getting worse every day. Don’t count much on governments, take care of yourself! Take care of your own safety as much you can!
The Ashar issue starts with a sketch of Bankimchandra Chatterjee whose Bengali is still incomparable. Too tough for me though! But his expertise on Bengali without losing sweetness of language is beyond question.
Indie Author Speaks 13: This month Agni speaks about consumerism in creative world, yes, critiques certainly have become quite business men and women these days, take it products, books, movies, arts- they make lots of money out of their pen! Pretty tragic for creators for sure!
FTQFS: Happiness certainly has its own taxes!
Techbabble: Agreed again, these days smart phones and internet is so wrapped in bizarre rules and statements that keeping your privacy is next to impossible! It is sad how greedy some people can get!
Kingdom of the fallen 1 and Kolkata blues: Agree with both again! India is no country for honest people, be a crook, a sell it all then you will shine, otherwise life is sheer dumb luck-based! If you are lucky you will be able to live a life of peace and affluence, otherwise you will most probably be dead. Same thing applies about Kolkata too!
SOS: Agreed, those who don’t understand love and respect should be erased from wise men and women’s lives.
Intriguing Tales: New section! Good! The first tale is about arrogance of demon kings Shumbha and Nishumbha, honestly, their types are all over the world! Who make the lives of free women a pure nightmare!
History of India: Very interesting piece but I wonder how much accurate it is! We have read in many old stories that the kings were on chariots. Actually I don’t recollect any king fighting a war on an elephant! Sorry, but can’t really believe this piece!
Amphun: It certainly left a track of wreckage all over the state! That part is for sure. Thank God that it reduced its intensity from super cyclone to severe cyclonic storm! It brought down most of the trees in Kolkata! That is a big, bad news!
Fun and Frolic section:
Hollywood by Pat Ritter: This one sounds like an interesting story again.
Urania’s Table 2: Maybe I will ask Agni for both the books in return of reviews!
Pikatron December 2018 critique by Editor: Will have to get the newsletter from Agni.
Star Trek the original: This series is mind-blowing! I loved this series a lot!
Indian Raga Now:
Begum Akhtar- She is amazing! I have already heard quite a few songs by her on YouTube and plan to check out for more.
Suraiya- She was walking, talking beauty and poetry in one body!
My big fat Greek wedding: This movie is hilarious! Fantastic script, acting and everything!
Jyeshtha Shot: lovely photos! All were good but the butterfly shot was best.
Youtube channel: Already checked them all out.
Storytime: Ancestors: Loved it.
Gupt Navratri: This one too is certainly going to get devoured by Corona! It is not celebrated much anyways. Actually I came to know about this festival just now.
Theme: Unicorns- pretty paintings.
The cartoon Mr Stick: What kind of monsters can ask daily labourers for train-fares after robbing them of their livelihood? This government has enough money to cover two states one after the other by LCD TV for their virtual rally to get votes and can’t afford food and transport for poor labourers? Boy! Are these human beings?
In the end quite enjoyed the Ezine, and its colourful sketches/paintings especially they are refreshing and pretty!
That is it I guess! See you again next month, and thank you Agni/Sharmishtha for translating my works!
Yours sincerely,
Labanya
July 20, 2020
Waves that became songs2020 in kindle
Waves that became songs:
This year I have added a bunch of new type of poems in my own created styles, seventeen and seven. These mostly circle around life and of course nature and other things too show up in these. These are fresh lot, recently written (2016-2019), hope you will like the new additions and the style.
I don’t write genre-wise books, I think they will be monotonous, hope you agree with me.
A few words left by readers for the 2015 book
Troy reviewed waves that became songs
I enjoyed this! July 5, 2015
As a collection of poems, this one was a pleasure to read through, while taking in the authoress’s evocative imagery, which supplemented the text wonderfully!
July 19, 2020
the prisoner of sand castle 2020 in Kindle
the prisoner of sand castle
This year almost all stories are about human beings barring one, that one of course has been tried to make scary! My favorite type of story- supernatural! The remaining stories are about different types of human beings and the way they are! The title story has been edited and changed a wee bit here and wee bit there! Hope you will enjoy the book.
Words left by readers (about the previous issues of this book)
F. E. Esparza reviewed The prisoner of Sand Castle
A Thinker December 27, 2015
I found this book to be interesting to read. The stories are very short and entertaining but I feel they don’t end properly as some feel like cliff hangers. I don’t know if that was the writers intention to do. On the flip side it does give a reader thoughts to ponder on what happen next. So I do have to say this book does make a reader think and captures a persons attention.
Troy reviewed The prisoner of Sand Castle
Enchanting! April 30, 2015
This is an excellent collection of short fiction with cool Indian themes. I’ve always enjoyed Ms. Basu’s paranormal fiction, and this is no exception! My favorites from this are the collection’s titular story, a chilling piece titled Scarecrow, and The Woman in White, of strange goings on in a nightspot. Three thumbs up!
July 18, 2020
The bridge of her dreams 2020 in Kindle
The bridge of her dreams
This year the book is mostly about human beings. The title story is almost same, I have done some editing, a little change here and there, will do that every year-brush up the title stories. The rest of the stories are divided into two major categories- human beings and fantastical creatures. Some are fun and some are not at all fun! Hope you will enjoy this year’s book.
Words left by readers
On the previous issue of the book
Troy reviewed The bridge of her dreams
An excellent read! September 1, 2017
Written from an Indian perspective, this is an anthology of micro-fiction; fantasy, sci-fi, and horror tales. My favorite is the title story, in which a young woman’s strange recurring dream leads to a startling realization during a trip to university in Kashmir. Another is The Creature, in which an SOS signal from an alien planet turns out to be more trouble than it’s worth. Check this one out!
Come smile with me 19.7.20
have a great day full of joy and laughter!
lots of Love.
Sharmishtha Basu
htttps://gumroad.com/sharmishthabasu
https://shoptly.com/sharmishthabasu
https://paypal.me/sharmishthabasu
https://patreon.com/sharmishthabasu
https://www.amazon.com/author/sharmishthabasu
Sharmishtha Basu writes
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