Vishal Anand's Blog, page 2

That thing called ‘Free Copies’!

Before I begin telling you what I exactly mean by this post of mine. Let me tell you a short story: story of a reader, a reviewer and an author.

It was month of February; year 2013. Delhi Book Fair was going on. Readers, reviewers, authors and all book lovers crowded Pragati Maidan. It was those days when Vijay, a book lover and reader decided to meet Himadri at Delhi Book Fair. Himadri was a well known book reviewer. Any author who would write a book was bound to send a copy of his/her book to Himadri. Vijay being a student could not spend much on books. He had good friendship with Himadri. So, he asked her to bring two books with her that day. Himadri did it as said by him. In book fair, Vijay met other authors. He asked one of those authors to sign the autograph for him. They didn’t have a paper other than those two books. Vijay opened the first page of the book and asked the authoress to sign on the first page. 

‘The book belongs to someone else and you’re making me sign it,’ she said smiling and signing the book for Vijay.

Vijay smiled and replied, ‘Who cares? It’s just another book that came for free.’

The very next day Vijay met the author of the same book in the book fair. The author was kind enough to drop Vijay to his place of residence. They both sat on Vijay’s room. Vijay picked out his book from the cupboard and asked him to sign it for him. The author turned the page and found out that he signed it for Himadri while he himself went to give the book to her. He turned the first page to find the book signed by the authoress on the first page. That was one of the embarrassing situations for Vijay. Though the author signed in the little space left below authoress’ signature, Vijay was left with a guilt; the guilt of disrespecting the book that the author wrote after hard work of many sleepless nights. 

Time passed and then Vijay himself became an author. Now, he understood what really a book means to an author and what actually a free copy is.

Before I begin telling you any further, let me tell you two things. First of all, Vijay is no one but me. Secondly, before I tell you anything about free copies, I would like to tell you a little about publishing industry and the process.

Publishing industry, as I have known it in recent years is much more complicated than what I had seen it from a reader’s eye few years ago. Readers see it as a money making industry; giving glory, fame and money to the authors. However, the actual scenario is just the opposite. I wondered it to follow a simple rule. Write a book, sent it to publishers, they will publish it and bang! You’re an author. But recently with the increasing number of manuscripts that are floating in the market, it is really difficult for any publisher to read each and every manuscript. Tell me! What would you do if you get as much as 50-60 mails per day. I believe you would too look for an escape. Moreover, try visiting a Landmark or Crossword near your place. You may notice the book section getting small and being replaced by eatables or toys. Publishers are making less money. So, to tackle this, there are hardly few publishers who publish books with traditional publishing. For other aspiring authors, there is a simple rule: pay and get published. Authors with no choice have to go for it. No matter, how he pays the publisher. Whether it be his dad’s hard earned money, borrowed up money from friends or a personal loan, he pays it to the publisher to fulfill his dream.

What next? The book goes in pre-order at different online portals. The author shares the pre-order links and bang! A chatbox opens up with a message – ‘Yaar! Mere ko ek copy sign karke bhej dena.’ Or, ‘Arey, aap to mere ghar k kitne pass rehte ho. Aapko to khud book sign karke deni chahiye.’ Few of those messages get those copies for free. But then, this has just started man. There will be another set of facebook friends whom you may have never met even want signed copies of your book. By signed copy, it doesn’t mean that they will cherish it. It means they want a free lunch.

Come back to author side again. You may wonder how many free copies he gets from the publisher. Hardly, five to ten or maximum twenty! Enough? No.. not really. Actually the number of people who want free copies are not less than 50 in any case. Now, suppose author wants say few more copies from his publisher, what will he do? He will surely take a price from the author. These books are sent to authors at a discounted rate that may vary from max 40 to 50% discounts. Suppose, there is a case for few seconds, let us assume that author gets something called ‘free copies’, what will he do? If I were an author in that place, I would like to take maximum copies from my publisher and sell it to distributors, retailers and other book sellers at a price that my publisher does and make hell lot of money to recover the investment I made or even gain more. But then, why can’t a publisher give it for free? No matter, one does not think but book printing and transporting it to distributors is a bigger part of the cost at which the books is sent to the distributors for distribution.

The author though has to buy few copies for him. Why? Every author wants his book to reach the masses; he sends it to bloggers, reviewers and newspapers. Once I asked Mr Anand Neelakantan, #1 bestselling author of Asura: Tale of the Vanguished whose book had numerous newspapers coverage for months. My question was simple - What is the ratio of the newspapers coverage to the books that has been sent to newspapers? I was amazed at his reply. The actual copies that have been sent to newspapers were around 200. However, the newspaper coverage was hardly 20-25. It brings the ratio to be 1/8th or 1/10th of the actual books sent to these newspapers. In most of the cases, author is bound to take this burden as newspaper is a strong media to reach the masses.

In my other conversation with Mr. K. Hari Kumar, the bestselling author of ‘When Strangers Meet’, I came to learn about a new story. Hari was to attend some family function that night when we were talking. I wondered family functions are good place for an author to speak about their work. But again to my surprise, Hari told me that every relative of his wants a free copy of his book and it’s useless to talk about his book to them.

Disheartened, I looked for a solution. I mean, the author who is already burdened with the heavy loan he took while getting his books printed, what should he do? And, the solution came in the form of a website named www.getsignedbooks.com, a venture by Dipen Ambalia, who is himself an author of three books till date. Getsignedbooks is a concept where an author can sell his personalized signed books at a price he/she wants. I got listed my book there and whenever there is a ping or comments saying, ‘Yaar! Mere ko ek personalized signed copy chahiye.’, I would smile; share my book link from the website and ask the person who demands it, ‘Please! Go ahead. ’ Only genuine people who needs authors personalized copy will buy it then, others will never demand it again, nor buy it.

However, not many authors have registered their books on the website. They are still troubled, working hard to sell their books. What should one do as a reader? Trouble him more by asking free copies? I believe, no. With this post, I just want to request every reader not to demand for free copies. No matter you don’t read your friend/author’s work, but at least don’t bother him by asking a free copy. Trust me, if you really deserve it, he/she will surely send it to you. 

That’s all I have with me for today. Hope I didn’t hurt my readers very much. Just a request! Think before you drop a message in author’s chatbox – ‘Can I have a signed copy of your book?’

Book Review : Beyond Birkie Fever (Walter Rhein)

Book:  Beyond Birkie FeverAuthor:  Walter RheinPublisher:  Rhemalda Publishing
It's not every day you log into your mail and find a mail from a person living thousands of miles away from you. It was the last day of July when author, Walter Rhein sent me a mail for the first time. He came across this blog and few reviews here. He gave details about this book and asked me if I can review it.
Two things always stop me from reviewing books. First, when you start doing it regularly, you get a plenty of requests to do it. I neither have time, nor the zeal to read every other book that’s available in the market. Second, my reviews about a book are generally not good. Honest reviews have always brought troubles for me. Still out of curiosity, I visited amazon link of Walter's book, he shared to me in his mail. With the quoted price there, I was sure about one thing. 'I'm not going to review this book.' Moreover, I was not sure how much my review will help Walter. But, I knew I may be the only Indian, he must have asked to review his book. So, my reply would not only be mine, but will represent a nation. He will make a picture of India and its people from my reply. So, I replied him with my views few days later. He still asked me to review it; inquiring my address.
Almost a dozen of mails got exchanged after that before the book finally reached my address in the last week of September. Even before I could open the envelope with the book, the sender’s location brought a smile on my face. It's not every day you get an envelope with a US stamp on it. I opened the book a few days later.
Author's Bio from the book: Walter Rhein was born in northern Wisconsin. As he grew up, he developed a deep appreciation for cross-country skiing, the American Birkebeiner, and the Worldloppet circuit. His pursuit of international cross-country ski races sparked a powerful wanderlust that resulted in a ten year period spent living and working in South America. However, a true skier cannot resist the call of winter forever, and Rhein was recently relocated to Wisconsin, at least for the time being.
Beyond Birkie Fever is an adventurous journey of author, Walter Rhein in America's greatest cross-country ski race called American Birkebeiner. He shares with his readers how his journey as a skier changed since a kid of 7 years till date with details explaining his experiences beyond anything that one would ever hope to imagine! Let us dig out to find more about the book.
Every year, thousands of people journey from all over the globe to Hayward, Wisconsin, for a world-class celebration of life, winter and the competitive spirit. Prior to the race, local participants find themselves in the throes of a unique and natural euphoria. They thrill at the prospect of participating shoulder to shoulder with elite international competitors in a wild race through the great Northwoods wilderness. The book is a common person's Olympic ideal!
The cover page has an image of few skiers skiing with their full zeal, which surely goes with the book. Though I got this book shipped at my place, still if I would have noticed it at a bookstore, I would have picked up the book. However, there is some scope with the cover for improvement. The page quality is good. I have not read many paperback or hardbound books from foreign authors so can't comment about the standards followed in other countries.
When you start with the book, you find founder David Landgraf's account of the first Birkie. I would say it's a good idea to start a book like this. It's like giving a cricket lover, a book written on Cricket starting with the interview of Sachin Tendulkar. A straight six by the author on the first ball itself! Those who have been involved with ski races will surely appreciate it.
I found language used at the start of the book a little tough. Maybe, I felt so as being an Indian, I don't use words used by the author here in my daily talks. But, as you move with the flow, you find it to go smooth. Incidence one after another of the author's life keeps you moving with the flow of the book. Narration by the author is brilliant and would make you imagine yourself drown in the story. I belong to a country where there is not much snow. Still, I could imagine the plot very well. The part where author mentioned about his grandfather is really humorous. I didn't expect such a good end from the author after few setbacks with his health. Though, he fully convinced me with the end of the book.
At the end, I must say, it was a refreshing read for me as I have been continuously reading Indian plots. The author was tremendous in taking me to a different world. I would rate it a 4.25 on a scale of 5.
There are two drawbacks I found with this book. First, editing part could be taken better care of. Second, if the author wants to trap markets like India, he must reduce the price of the book. 
On a personal note, I would like to thank Walter Rhein for choosing me to read this book. His next book, 'The Reader of Acheron' is soon going to hit the market. I wish the author, all the best for his next book and other future endeavors.
You can get kindle edition of the book at http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Birkie-Fever-ebook/dp/B00FEPQ212/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-1&qid=1314120830

Short Story : I like her

‘Yes, I like her!’ I said.She did not reply for few minutes.‘What is there in her that is not in me?’ she questioned with anger mixed in her voice.‘She makes me smile whenever she stands in front of my eyes,’ I replied her honestly.‘Hmm..’ Her eyes turned moist.‘I think smile would not be the perfect word here. I really die laughing when she is standing in front of my eyes,’ I said making the situation worse.‘Is she a Delhite?’ she asked further.‘Umm.. Not really! She is actually a Punjabi.’‘She must have fooled you by her talks.’It was time for me to be silent.‘Speak up!’ she shouted.‘Yeah, it’s something of that sort you can say.’ I did not have a choice other than being true. I was really bowled by anything this girl spoke.‘I know. All Punjabi girls are like this.’‘Hmm..’ I nodded.‘How long have you known her?’  her voice was turning sober every passing second.‘I don’t know,’ I replied.‘Days? Weeks? Months? Years? What?’ her voice rose this time.‘Maybe, an year. Or, maybe more,’ I tried my best to remember when I saw her first time. But, I could not remember that moment.‘Fine,’ she said wiping the tears which rolled down her eyes.‘Are you OK?’ I asked her.‘Yes, I am.’‘All right,’ I replied, meekly.‘Is she very beautiful?’ she asked.‘Not really. But, she is my favorite. I love hearing to her.’‘Fine! Best of luck with your future,’ she tried to smile this time.‘Thank you,’ I smiled.‘Take care. Bye!’‘Bye!’I turned to pick up the bottle kept to my right and gulped a few sips. I got busy with my daily work. After few hours, I logged myself on facebook.‘Can I see her pic?’ my chat box popped with her message as soon as I turned online.‘Yes, here it is,’ I said pasting https://www.google.co.in/search?q=Bharati+Singh&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=mqn6UeK_NIyyrge82YGwAg&biw=1366&bih=667&sei=nan6UYTcGdHIrQe0pIDIDg in her chat box. :)

Book Review : Dented & Painted (Tirupathi Khemka)

Book:  Dented & Painted
Author:  Tirupathi Khemka
Publisher:  Notion Press

These days if you ask me to read a short story or a short story collection, I will be more interested in it than I could ever be. It is because of the short story collection I am working for these days. However, that is not the reason you will find me biased towards this short story collection. 
Somewhere in mid of May, Notion Press organized a contest and the winner was to receive a copy of “Dented & Painted”. To my hunger for free copies, I participated in the contest and like most other times, I won it. The copy of ‘Dented & Painted’ written by ‘Tirupathi Khemka’ reached my address in no time.
Businessman, industrialists, leader, visionary, innovator and philanthropist, Tirupathi Khemka, is known for his Midas touch. He added panache to everything he undertook; be it creating and managing multi-million dollar businesses, revolutionizing the power generation industry, pioneering the concept of airline charter in the country, breeding industrial relationships or generously supporting social causes. He has extensively travelled across the globe and has observed different societies, cultures and people as a profound enthusiast of human character.
Dented & Painted is a book that talks about 23 independent women who were oppressed, abused and used, and stories of women who avenged, repelled or survived in author's own word. Let us find out what it has to offer to its readers.
We live in tough times. Manhood established his world with his set of rules; womanhood strikes back, unfortunately playing by the same rules. Here is a collection of touching true stories of modern women and their lives in a contemporary society.
The cover page has an image of a woman, half wrapped in a saree. It is one of the covers that cannot be described in words. The cover page is capable of attracting you towards the book.  As you further turn the hard-bound cover, the page quality has been marvelous. It is one of the best page qualities that I have read in recent days which give a feel of its own. 
Language of all stories is crispy, engaging and touching and narration too has been good. There are a few typos that appear at the end of the book but that can be ignored. Just a few stories are normal wife-husband stories but they are very few and most of the stories are good which make you forget about them.  In recent months, we have found rape as an inhuman act but I believe the author has done its best in attracting us towards other issues faced by women. Few stories really showed how a man can go out of humanhood to play with a daughter/lover/wife's feelings. I am mentioning few of my personal favorites for your reference:
1. Prerna: Prerna story appalls me. It squeezes my heart and makes me think why should a child be pushed to the edge where the only option left is repulsion/withdrawal? And what should the society do to a man who pushes a child to the edge by molesting his/her body and soul? And what should be done to the man who does that to his own child?
2. Nikita: Nikita knows what she wants and she uses all her charms to get it. Fair? Unfair? Who’ll judge?
3. Chaaya: Why are woman suppressed? What Kind of a father would treat a little girl so brutally? What kind of a man treats his wife so inhumanly? What makes these men beat, rape and suppress woman in their lives? And how can a woman change this?
4. Tasha: Every decision has a price to pay, are you prepared to pay the price commanded for this choice? What will a child conceived in an orgy be like? For people who attend orgies, what age do they think would be good for their children to start attend orgies themselves? 
5. Mrinalini: The thing that keeps bothering me about this story is, why victimize faith?
6. Jhanvi: Why did she go back? She had the chance to get out of it. And why was she clinging on to Ritz? She knew he had got her into it?
At the end, I must say ‘Dented & Painted’ is a must read. I would rate it 4 on a scale of 5. The stories take you to every color of womanhood. You can feel the need to change your thinking that has been ruining the life of woman in many ways, may it be her father, her lover or her husband. The author has done a tremendous job in showing all the characteristics of woman. He leaves us with lot of questions in our mind. Do we really have the right to call us civilized with these questions? I really don't have an answer.
The only drawback I found with this book is it's price i.e. Rs 450/- Although, the book is hardbound but still I believe the author as well as publisher should have lowered the book price to make it reach the masses because many stories needs to reach to every mind.. every soul.
On a personal note, I’d like to wish Notion Press all the best for providing such a platform to many writers who are now heroes among their friends. And, I wish the author, Tirupathi Khemka best of luck for the book. I would love to read any future books by the author. 
You can get a copy of the book from http://www.flipkart.com/dented-painted/p/itmdhr85fytq9hya?pid=9789382447443

Life Is What You Make It!

Hold On! I know as you read the title of this blog post, you may think I am going to talk something about one of Preeti Shenoy’s book here. But, I would clarify that I am not. I am going to talk what the title actually means.
It has been one year now I have been blogging here. Few of you appreciated it and few others chose not to speak anything after reading my blog posts. Some of you imagined the short stories I wrote on this blog while some of you said me to work on my grammar. Each of your comments and feedback were important and is treasured to its best.
I started this blog almost one year back with the blog post titled, life similar to a samosa chat (http://vishalanand07.blogspot.in/2012/05/life-similar-to-amoa-hat.html) and as I complete one year of this blog I felt like writing a blog post again titled on life.  Let me tell you the reason why I started with this blog first before coming to what actually I want you to tell. 
For past few years I want to be an author. It was four months when I was tired sending my sample chapters to several publishers one after another with no positive response. And, the rejection is really painful. But, I did not want to kill my passion for writing. That was the time and my reason why I wrote the first blog post here. 
Himani Goyal, a dear friend and renowned book reviewer was the first to appreciate my blog post. And, appreciation has immense power in it. It was all your love that made me to write blog posts one after another. I started writing poems and short stories time to time. Most of them were appreciated by you. I even wrote few blog posts in Hindi which were loved by few. Meanwhile, I got approval for my first book from one of the leading publishing house. However, the publishing process is still a long way.
It was in December last year when one of my short stories, a day before my divorce got huge response from the readers. Getting wonderful response from the readers about my short stories, I started penning down all the short stories idea I had in mind. Till now, I have written 14 short stories and am planning to release my anthology. I have already sent the sample stories to few of the publishers and will send to few others in coming days. 
I don’t know how long I have to wait before becoming an author. I don’t know how many of us leave our dreams midway when we are tired trying it. It’s not about me. It’s about anyone who has ever dreamt. It’s about anyone who dared to dream big. Few of us leave our dreams when we see it’s getting tough to achieve them. I may have done the same a year ago. But, I didn’t. I may have been lucky to achieve my dream. But now when I see it, I smile thinking about my past. 
If my book could have been out a year ago, I would have been happy. There could not have been this blog, there could not have been my short stories collection and most importantly, there would not have been you reading me. So, at the end I believe what happened is not at all bad. It is actually the best that could happen.
Past one year has taught me a lot. I have made few authors, literary friends who admire my work, come forward for suggestions and feedbacks, and stop me from committing faults. I have learnt not only from my mistakes but more importantly from other mistakes. That is what I believe life is all about.
That’s all I wanted to say today. I hope I made my point. I know each one of you reading this, may have numerous dreams on your eyes. I don’t want you to leave them mid way. You may get obstacles, you may get slow to reach them but I don’t want you to kill them. Because you know ‘Life is what you make it’. 

Good Deeds, Great Returns

We all must have heard about the proverb, 'Kar Bhala, Ho Bhala' from our childhood. I don't know what we say it exactly in English. But it's something like 'Do good, get good.' With the increasing rush in everyday life, we all are forgetting this and no more believe in this. Today, I want to share with you a small incident that actually happened with me few months back.This blog would have been a little popular by that time. Maybe, that was the reason when I logged in my facebook account, I had a message in my inbox.HiMy book "ABC" by PQR Publishers has just released. I was wondering if you do book reviews on your blog.Let me know. I can send you a copy.ThanksXYZI had never done a book review.  Neither, had a plan to do that in the near future. ‘No ma'am. I don't do book reviews. But, if you want I can send you the names of book reviewers who does that and are well known at facebook,’ I replied instantly.‘Yeah, that will be good. Thanks,’ said the authoress.I narrated name of seven reviewers one after another with a little knowledge about how they review a book. The authoress knew few of them, however was unaware about few others.‘If you want I can talk with him for your book. He knows me well,’ I offered the authoress.‘That would be good. If I have his address I can send him a copy,’ came her reply.The authoress has full confidence on her book. She believed that her book has no errors and contains a good story.  So, she decided to send her book to every reviewer I suggested. She asked me to help me with the reviewers she does not know to which I agreed. While we were about to end our chat, a message popped on my chatbox , ‘Thanks man will send you a copy if you haven’t ordered my book yet. Give me address.’I was surprised by her message. I repeated again, ‘I don't review at blog.’‘Not for review, to enjoy!’ she replied.I laughed at her innocent reply. I thanked her for the offering and confirmed the reviewers she did not know. I promised to arrange their addresses.‘Thanks. Get their address and give me yours,’ she insisted again. ‘Ma'am! Why are you taking trouble to send me your book? I don't expect anything in return of helping others,’ I explained her.‘Why not? Why are you taking trouble to help me? I want you to read it!’ she questioned me again.‘I am like this only from the day I know myself,’ I replied with a smile.‘Well I'm like this too. I have to do my karma.’ She seemed to be in no mood loosing.I promised her to send my address with the addresses of the other reviewers she don’t know. We ended our conversation with another thank you from her end.Her book reached me on 9th January. Due to my busy curriculum and other free books that I received in free book giveaways here and there, I read her book last month. She although did not lose any chance to abuse me publically for not reading her book even though it was sent to me free of cost.As I was wondering what to write this month as my blog post, I thought of returning her good with a little good I can do. Yeah, I am reviewing her book. I don’t know how good or bad I review a book. So please, forgive me if I do a blunder. The review is written below.
About The Author: Ashwina Garg lives in Hyderabad with her husband and two kids. She studied accountancy and has worked as an entrepreneur, a German translator and a technical writer.  Synopsis of The Book:  Studied hard? Got the perfect job? Found the perfect mate? And Still Screwed up your life? Is it possible to do everything right in your life and still not be happy? Meet Sanjay, Aditi, Mayank and Jayshree.
Sanjay is US-returned software millionaire determined to have an arranged marriage aftr slling his company and braking up with his two-timing girlfriends.
Aditi is a commitment-phobic writer who cant figure out what her next book is about but has perfected the art of break-ups Manyank and Jayshree are the perfect couple. If only they werent dealing with rude relatives, killing deadlines, procreation pressures and those ultimate romance-killers... monotoy and boredom!
This light-hearted story traces the lives of these four successful, thirty-something friends who all come to the same conclusion...
My review: I have divided my review into two subparts. Pros and cons about the book. So here it is:
Pros of the book: I got to read something different. Shrishti Publishers has been coming out with so many college romances. So, I felt good seeing something out of college. Aditi's character in the book is too strong. I fell in love with her character while reading it. Sanjay in the book was good too. Their romances were explained well. Although, I feel it is tough to make me smile. But, the authoress did it with her book. I even dropped a few tears when Sanjay proposed Aditi. The chemistry between the other characters, Mayank and Shree is also shown well.
Cons of the book: The authoress had talked about so many brands that were appearing as aliens to me. For a moment, I thought her crazy. Beginning of the story is not so good. Moreover, the authoress has used names of so many dishes that are cooked in south. The book lacked suspense.
Overall, the book can be read in your leisure time. I would rate it 3.5 on a scale of 5. I would ask my readers and friends to please comment below how was the review. Thanks, in advance.
Note:I am not open for book reviewing. My curriculum keeps me busy. So, if I get a book I don’t know when I will be able to complete it. Therefore, I kindly request my author friends not to ask me to review their books.

How I Fought Plagiarism And The Ways To Curb It! - II

*             *              *
Jolly sardar stretched his hand as he saw me coming after my first lecture. Balwinder aka Ballu has been studying with me for the last one year but I have never seen such a big smile on his face while greeting me. We made a handshake.
‘What an article, sir jee?’  said he.
‘Did you read it?’ I asked him with a surprise.
‘Almost half, then, there was a power cut. But, what I read was superb. You really write well,’ he said still holding my palms.
‘Just trying my hand on blogging,’ I said as I slowly pulled out my palm from his long, heavy fingers. We both moved in opposite directions in fraction of seconds.
Although it felt great getting appreciation from my classmates but there was still a pain in me of the last night. I attended my lectures for the day and went back home.
* * *
After having my dinner for the day, I wrote a long post mentioning my blog post link, Aakash blog’s link and my grievances at indiblogger family at the facebook. Priya posted the link to other blog posts or websites from where Aakash copied his several other blog posts. Several other fbians joined our discussion on the post and started giving their suggestions. I was talking to them when suddenly a chat message popped out. It was from someone named, Namitha. I greeted her. She suggested me to post comments at Aakash’s blog and also to ask my friends to do the same. I did not understand the logic behind it. But Namitha persuaded me by saying that we should try to get so many comments there that the blogger feel ashamed of his plagiarism act. Priya was the first to comment on Aakash’s blog, followed by few others who were part of the discussion in the indiblogger family at facebook. I started pinging all my online friends and requested them to comment on Aakash’s blog. Soon Balwinder, Aastha, Naren, Aabhar and few others commented on his blog. Every comment was cursing the blogger for his act. It was total ten comments when Naren asked me to stop.
‘He might not be  aware of the evil. Is it right to post so many bad comments?’ he asked me.
‘What can we do otherwise?’ I replied with another question.
‘Can’t we wait a little? The guy does not seem to be online.’
I thought for a moment. I was of course hurt by the act but the good part somewhere deep in my heart still did not agree to hurt the ones who hurt me.
‘OK, we should stop today with the comments but if the guy does not remove his blog post after two days, we will continue with it with a faster speed,’ I declared finally.
Naren agreed for my condition with a smile. We all departed for the day and decided to act more rigorously if we did not achieve our goal after several comments.
*            * *
Few more appreciations from few others literary lovers came to my chatbox within next days. The pain was reducing gradually and slowly but I almost decided not to blog anymore. But, then she pinged. Who’s she? She is Deepika. I added her just the last day when saw a friend request from her. We exchanged the normal hi/hello stuff and then she sent me the link to a facebook profile. It was profile of Aakash Mishra.
‘Are you sure? Is he the same guy?’ I asked Deepika.
‘Yeah, I am chatting with him. :)’ she replied back.
I took Deepika’s pardon and tried to read about me of Aakash’s profile. He was some engineering student from some engineering college from the NCR region. Luckily, he was in my friend list so I was able to get all his details now. In the recent months, my friend list has been increasing with greatest speed from requests from literary lovers and people who somehow read my blog. He might be one of them. I sent the profile link to Priya. She cursed me by saying that she is seeing no input from my side to punish the culprit. I could just smile at her comment.
‘Hi,’ I wrote to Aakash.
‘Hey,’ he greeted me back.
We shared some normal conversations before I gave him my blog link asking him whether he copied my post from my blog.
‘Yes,’ he replied it without hesitation.
‘Have you heard about plagiarism?’ I asked him.
‘No,’ he replied in no seconds.
What should I say to a guy who was so innocent, who did not know the meaning of plagiarism? He just completed his higher secondary school last year and joined some engineering. He believed that knowledge is important but not the way how it is shared or from where it is copied? How could I punish such an innocent guy? We did not exchange any words for few minutes.
‘What are you doing?’ I asked him after several minutes.
‘Was searching for the meaning of plagiarism.. Is online from mobile, so, it’s taking a little time,’ he explained.
I laughed out loudly on his sentence. I took a deep breath and explained him about the act of plagiarism and the plagiarized articles. He took no seconds in deleting his copied blog post. He promised me that he will delete all his plagiarized articles in a day or two or will try to give credit to the original authors and also will renovate his blog. I felt better after two full days. We talked about several other topics. He was greatly impressed by the talks we made and asked me for a guest lecture at his college. I would have loved to have the honor. But, I spend all my lectures sleeping in the first bench. How could I give another set of students same sort of torture? It took me long to convince him that I won’t be able to come to his college for the lecture. We still chat several times on several other topics and I really find Aakash a nice guy.
So, this is my story of my plagiarized article. I hope I did not bore you much. By the way, there are a lot of ways to curb this act. There are good html codes available on internet which when you paste in your blog/website can disable right clicking of the mouse thus preventing the copying option. But if you are not comfortable so much with html codes, you can always use copyscape.com. There are limited number of times when you can use it. But, if you need an urgency for it, you can surely buy a premium copy. And, if not there are always people like Namitha who come with a boom to save bloggers like me. Go on commenting the blog. By the way, I am not using html code for this blog post, nor will use copyscape for it. Why? Because I want you to share this short story in your blog/website even without giving me a credit because some kid taught me some day that knowledge should be spread, no matter from where we copy-paste it. That’s all for today, keep blogging, keep smiling. Bbye for now.. :)

How I Fought Plagiarism And The Ways To Curb It! - I

Thanks for the great response that you all gave me for my first short story – Life after college. May be that is why I am trying to write more and more these days. I think after writing my blog for more than four months now, I can call myself a blogger. Although, I never wanted to become a blogger but still I am now. I had a dream, the dream to become an author. But the process of getting published is really very time consuming and I may also call it frustrating some time. And, I did not want to kill my passion for writing. So, that’s how I became a blogger and you are here. Hey wait, this is not a story on how to become a blogger? But, the story of a blogger through his blog. I have changed the name of the characters for any disputes. So, today let me tell you another short story. 
Following my rule of posting one or two blog posts every month, I was still confused what to write in my blog this month. Today is a Sunday and normally this is the day when I write my blog posts. I opened the word document and went deep into the ocean of thoughts and after thinking a lot posted my article named, ‘The True Meaning of Victory’.  Since, I was already late for my dinner, I went out to have it. When I returned it was already 10. Now, my blog needed some visitors. Because when you write something you want others to read it. There may be a lot of ways to drive visitors to your blog. At a later stage when your blogs becomes popular search engines play a vital role. But, my blog was still to get its popularity at Google. So, I use facebook, the love of so many youngsters these days. I am a member of more than 100 of the literary groups with thousands of members in each of them. I posted my blog link with few lines from my post in several of the groups after I updated my blog posts in my status. The people who even did not open the blog started liking my status by just reading the line from my blog. On the other tab, my gmail was open as always. I checked in my mail that a comment was written in my blog post. Just this message in my inbox brought a smile on my face. And, why not, it was less than two hrs and I received a comment on my blog. What could be better than this for a blogger?  I went to my blog and checked for my first comment. I felt like somebody has taken my kidney out of my body after reading my first comment. It said, ‘Awesome Words! I am copying it ....’ 
     All my hard work and thought process was of less importance now. The time value of 2-3 hrs that I spent this evening meant nothing. The comment was from someone named ‘Aakash Mishra’ and trust me if the guy would have been standing in front of me, I would have taken no seconds to kill him. I had a deep pain. I didn’t know how to react, what to do, whom to ask for help? I searched through the long list of my online friends and my eyes stopped at Abhinav. Abhinav is one of the leading blogger of the country and has more than 700 posts in his blog now. His admirers include leading movie actors to the bestseller authors from the industry.
I did not feel like greeting him. My first words in our chatbox were, ‘Yaar, updated my blog right now and the first comment is I am copying it. What should I do?’
‘Tell him to give credits,’ he replied back instantaneously.
I thought for a moment. Do I have a choice? With a sad mood, I wrote those words, ‘Aakash, it would be really great if you mention at the end of your post/article that it is copied from the blog followed by the link, I don't have a problem in that.. :)’ and asked Abhinav whether it is fine to post in my blog comment.
He replied with a yes and we ended our conversation by greeting each other.
I felt more upset for that moment. Allowing someone to copy from your answer-sheet in exam is easy, but allowing someone to copy it from you blog with a smiling face is very difficult. Although, I did the tough job by replying to his comment.
     However, I was not happy. Can’t anything be done with those who rob our contents? There should be a way to punish them? I had a lot of questions fighting in my mind with no answers. I felt like my head was going to burst. I shut down my laptop and kept it in my cupboard, switched off the light and rested my head on my pillow.
*             *             *
It has been almost an hour since I switched off  the light. The time can really be very slow when you have something going in your mind. I was almost tired by changing sides of my bed when the James Bond in me shouted out, ‘C’mon, you can’t let it go like that; wake up and search for the culprit; punish him or teach him a lesson.’
        I don’t know others. But the James Bond in me never listens to me after he decides about something. I woke up and in just few seconds was switching on my laptop. Aakash teasing comment was still ruling on my blog post. I clicked on to look for his blogger profile. There was no picture of the blogger and not enough detail. I started clicking on his blog shown in his blogger profile one after another but, still was unable to find mine blog post.  
‘Oh, I must use copyspace.com,’ my mind gave me a quick thought.
Copyscape.com is a website which shows the links of all the websites or blogs that are copied from a link when you paste the link on the search bar. I pasted the link of my blog post and here it was. Aakash blog’s link was shown below. I took no time in reaching his blog. My blog post was in front of my eyes with the same title, same picture, but no link of my blog in it. I went to contact us page of the blog and was disappointed not to find any details of the blogger. I flipped among different posts and pages without any use. I logged in my facebook account back and pinged Abhinav.
‘I got the blog of the guy and my post but no reference :(,’ I wrote in the chatbox.
‘If he does, it’s very nice. If not, you can do nothing. That happens bro, get used to it,’ he replied back in another second.
‘All my words, my views, my ideas,’ my pain showed in my words. ‘How can anybody post it in his/her blog?’ I questioned him although I knew he doesn’t have an answer to my question.
‘It happens, with me it happened a several numbers of times,’ he replied back.
     ‘And, even the same picture from my blog.’
     ‘The side effects of publishing our views on our blog which is open to all..’
    I gave the culprit link to Abhinav and asked Abhinav if I can somehow find his email id. None of us exchanged any words for next few minutes. I still moved from one posts to another of the blogger for may be finding even a small and minute detail of the blogger but of no use. I mean, I had only his name ‘Aakash’ and that too in a country where there is a Aakash studying with you in all your school or college days.
     ‘There are no details available about the blogger,’ Abhinav replied after few minutes.
I felt disappointed. I closed my chat window without replying him any further. I tried to look for other updates in the facebook but didn’t find anything interesting now. I saw an update from Priya. If I don’t tell about Priya the story will be incomplete. Priya is also a blogger. We are from the same city, the city of Delhi but we never met each other and enjoy our presence together at facebook. Life at facebook is so different. We don’t know each other well. We have never seen each other but still we share a special bonding with each other. Although Priya and I may be of similar ages but her profile shows she is the managing director of some magazine that I have seen only at her profile. I pinged her with my problem as she was upset with the same problem of plagiarism just few days back. She understood the whole problem and asked me to report about the plagiarism at Indiblogger Family group at facebook. My mind and body were in no mood to take more pain and so, I shifted the plan for further proceedings next day.
     For remaining part of the story, visit http://vishalanand07.blogspot.in/2012/10/how-i-fought-plagiarism-and-ways-to_12.html

So, it’s a bandh today!

“We live in India and are proud to be Indians,” all of us are used to of saying these words since our childhood. But, today I don’t feel so proud of being an Indian. Today there has been a bandh called by the opposition party in the name of hiked diesel prices, reduced number of gas cylinders, FDI in retail and so on. There has been a bandh few months back in May too. But still I am not able to understand this way of showing the protest. Is it the correct way to show our anger? I don’t want to discuss here which party is correct or which party is wrong. But these lonely roads in the city haunt me even in my dreams. 
I am not someone who gets deeply affected by the bandh or any of the hiked diesel prices, reduced number of gas cylinders or FDI in retail. I am just a common young guy who travels in the bus when required, had to rush to his hostel canteen when he feels hungry and no matter whatever the retailer charges, he will pay the price. Then, why am I mourning? I am mourning because I think about millions of young kids who woke up early this morning and rushed to their schools but had to return after seeing a big lock on their school gate. I think about that passenger among those thousands of passengers of the trains whose train was stopped by some protestor and he could not reach home on time where his mother was still ill and looking for him before she takes her last breath. I think about millions of laborers who could not go to work because of this bandh and will starve with hunger. I think about millions of shopkeepers who are forced to close their shops by some party.  I think about millions of those auto rickshaw drivers who would still be looking for passengers and so on. And, I feel so sorry because I can’t do anything for any of them. I am writing this article because once somebody told me that pen is mightier than sword and I believe if at least one of you understands my reason to write this article, the goal is achieved.
I don’t say that we should not protest against evils prevailing in the society, we should and we must.  But, I believe that bandh is not the correct way to do it. We can always opt for better ways. Maybe, we should try to protest in front of the Constitution. Maybe we should stop the vehicles of those politicians who are behind these steps and not the poor auto rickshaw-walas. Maybe we should not try to affect our daily meals but of those politicians who fill their belly to its maximum capacity before coming out for a bandh. I think then we would be able to show our protest in a better way and we all could call ourselves- “a proud Indian.”

The True Meaning Of ‘Victory’

I always used to find the true meaning of the word ‘victory’ from my childhood. When I was a small kid, I used to top in my class exams, my teacher used to say that I was a victor and achieved victory. But then, I would look at not-so-happy face of my dear friend who was second to me in the exam. Does that mean victory comes after making someone sad? I was not sure. I tried to find it at different places, searched for it in the playgrounds of school, mark sheets of colleges and so on. But still I was not satisfied. For me, a victory does not mean to hurt someone neither does it mean to upset anyone. Some friends said me that Google is the best search engine available in the world. You feed any words in it and there will be millions of results within fraction of seconds. I searched for victory meaning in it. It said, ‘An act of defeating an enemy or opponent in a battle, game, or other competition: an election victory’. I was still not convinced. Is defeat of an opponent required to be a victor? Many years passed but I was still unable to find the true meaning of victory. Then, one day, I found it. I found it just in my home.

      My father and elder brother used to do hand wrestling from the day I was a kid. My dad is of course the strongest man I have ever seen from my childhood. I would sit by side of my brother and cheer him up. But my father would defeat him all the time and smile at us. But one day, I found my elder brother winning over my dad. And, still the same smile on my dad’s face. Who is a victor – My brother or my dad?

      We spend days eating food cooked by our mother from our childhood. We try to find mistakes in the food that mothers cooks and try to eat less by making small excuses. I and my younger sister were no different from other kids. But the day when my sister made her first chapatti and my mother ate it, she had a smile on her face. The half baked chapatti tasted her better than what I could imagine. Who is the victor – My sister or my mother?

      May be that was the day I could find the true meaning of the word ‘victory’. I think it does not mean to defeat someone, neither to show someone low in front of others. It means to bring smile on everyone’s faces that are associated with it. Hope you are smiling at the moment. Take care, bbye for now. :)