As I write this, I haven’t slept for thirty hours and my bank balance is lesser than it was when I passed out of college a year ago.
For the last fifteen months, I had been working in a small village, far far away from any civilization, in the middle of Bellary District, Northern Karnataka. It was a place so different that it went on to inspire me into writing a book on it called ‘I’m Not Twenty Four..’
But then the itch would just not die. I had to be back among books as soon as I could. In life, there are paths that you choose to take. Like you choose your education. And then there are paths which just happen. The way books happened in my case. And hence, I decided to start my own venture in book publishing.
A random conversation with a friend, four years ago led us both into taking a plunge into writing our first books. And today, I leave behind 7 years of formal education to tread a path many have tried with little success, publishing stories.
All I want to say to you is, today is the first day of the rest of your life. And it’s also a very good day to review what you are doing. Imagine yourself at the age of sixty and look at yourself backwards. Would you regret having made the decision you would make today? Or are you just setting yourself up for a bunch of regrets?
I know we all need to make money. We need to feed ourselves and the pets we might have. But all I am saying is, I haven’t heard of a man who has struggled diligently, believed in himself, persevered and not succeeded. All you have to do is to tell yourself that you will stick through the turmoil for long enough, possibly for three to five years in some cases.
So if you can do that, go follow your dream.
Durjoy and I will be launching our venture Grapevine India Publishers in September, 2011. Through Grapevine, we will be creating a community of authors, who bring out stories which truly stimulate the imagination of the Indian masses. We will be launching the following four novels in September, 2011:
The Extra Class – The Backbenchers series (by Sidharth Oberoi) -
Accidentally in Love… With him? Again?!? (by Nikita Singh) -
You Were My Crush.. Till you said you love me! (by Durjoy Datta) -
It’s First Love.. Just like the last one! (by Sachin Garg)
It is hard enough working on one book at a time. Working on these four books simultaneously for the last six months is a feeling I doubt would come back in my life. Since I have shifted to Delhi, I have been running around at 45 degree Celsius, getting tanned, meeting people.
I’d like to share the following points about it:

1. There is no better kick than being intellectually challenged and be emotionally thrilled at the same time. And there is no better way to experience it than pursuing your dream.
2. If you think you are lazy, incapable, not smart enough or don’t have an idea, then you, especially, should take the plunge. You need it more than the others. If you will make an unusual decision, you will hold the responsibility of making yourself not look like an idiot. You will stay up for thirty hours straight and stretch in a way you had never imagined. Trust me, I am saying this one from personal experience.
3. I meet around three to eight new people every day. And the spectrum of people I meet is broader than it could ever have been in the traditional career. I don’t have to laugh at their unfunny jokes and don’t pretend to enjoy what I don’t. It makes me hate myself lesser and helps me sleep better. And to be honest, their stories are much more fun.
4. All day long, I am in deep concentration. I might be writing, in a meeting, reading, talking on the phone, playing football or even pumping metal in the gym. I am focused on what I am doing. What is the value of that?
   Mostly people stay on their toes for the first few weeks of their work life. And then you are expected to do it over and over again. It’s not doing justice to your capability
5. I talk to many new writers almost on daily basis. I discuss their writing routines, how they became writers and what their aspirations are. It excites me. And it’s an excitement you can’t really replace with any other feeling in the world.
6. The luxury of not having to pretend that you are busy, like you have to, in every office in this world, makes you five times more efficient in life.
7. There is no Admin department to take care of the housekeeping. There are no travel desk guys, IT support guys, Income Tax return guys. I do it all myself. Accounts is not that arcane thing which happens in the other end of the company. And there is no guarantee that things will turn around.

But it’s a life worth living. I don’t mean to mislead you.
Evaluate your options. Whether you do or do not follow your dream, I would be happy to hear your story.

find more @http://sachingarg.me/

Priti Shenoy



34 Bubblegums and Candies was my first book and it went on to become a National best-seller. It is a non-fiction book, a collection of 34 real life common everyday incidents. Adapted from my blog posts, narrated in a simple, easy to read lucid style, the book was well received across all age groups.

Synopis as it appears on back cover.


Life is a bit like bubblegum and candies. Sometimes you have to keep on chewing so that you extract whatever you can out of it. Sometimes the bubble you blow bursts unexpectedly and you are left with a sticky mess. Sometimes you just have to lick it slowly and relish it. Sometimes you have to bite it to savour it. Sometimes you greedily bite off more than you can chew. Sometimes a hard boiled sugar candy slips down inadvertently and you bear the pain as it makes its way down the food pipe. At rare times when you manage to strike just the right balance, a feeling of contentment reigns supreme. Life does not come with an instruction manual, but you can still convert it to a ‘Do it yourself’ kit! It throws you surprises. At times it trips you and you figure out that the best way to deal with it, is to just lie there and laugh, before bouncing right back. 34 Bubblegums and Candies is a collection of 34 real life incidents.

These could happen to anybody and you will probably recognize yourself in them. Some are humorous, some moving, some thought provoking but each one brings out the trials and tribulations of a successful journey called life. 34 bubble gums and candies is one book that will tempt you, making you want to taste it, chew it, relish it. So what are you going to pick today--- a bubblegum or a candy?

Life is what you make it

Life is what you make it is at its core a love story, set across India in the late eighties and early nineties. It is a story of love, hope and how determination can overcome even destiny. It will be out across all major book stores in February 2011.


Synopsis as it appears on back cover


What would you do if destiny twisted the road you took? What if it threw you to a place you did not want to go? Would you fight, would you run or would you accept? Set across two cities in India in the early eighties, ‘Life is what you make it’ is a gripping account of a few significant years of Ankita’s life.
Ankita Sharma has the world at her feet. She is young, good-looking, smart and has tonnes of friends and boys swooning over her. College life is what every youngster dreams of and she also manages to get into a premier management school for her MBA. Six months later, she is a patient in a mental health hospital. How did Ankita get here? What were the events that led to this? Will she ever get back her life again?
Life has cruelly and coldly snatched that which meant the most to her and she must now fight to get it all back.



It is a deeply moving and inspiring account of growing up, of the power of faith and how determination and an indomitable spirit can overcome even what destiny throws at you.


A tale, at its core a love-story that makes us question our beliefs about ourselves and our concept of sanity and forces us to believe that life is truly what one makes it.

This days i m busy in reading Novels of DURJOY DATTA as follow:-

Somethng about Durjoy .....here...


   Durjoy was born on 7th February, in Mehsana, Gujarat, a place he was there to crawl out to this world and has never been back there since. He joined his sister in the family, who was already fighting it out since three years and they moved to New Delhi soon after. At Bal Bharati Public School, Durjoy tried participating in all sorts of projects, activities, and organizations for the sole reason that his parents pushed him. After failing miserably in them and even more miserably in dating someone he buried himself in books only to come out as fat and ugly.

Once school ended, and weight loss and cosmetic experts worked nights on him, he made a conscious effort to stop indulging any kind cerebral exercise and focused his energy on how to lie to your parents, how not to get caught, how not to flunk exams and how not to get dumped. This enlightening experience and the nagging friend of his, Maanvi Ahuja, pushed him to write his first book, Of Course I Love You…!.Till I Find Someone Better!, which was published in August 2008, and lay comfortably on the India Today bestseller list for a consecutive seventeen weeks(still counting…). He has since then harboured on the fact that he is the youngest and handsomest on the list, for he doesn’t really give credit for the book to Maanvi(his co-author), who is younger, smarter and gets all the fan mails.

His second novel, Now That You’re Rich….Let’s Fall In Love!, on which he barely managed to keep his name for the editor slashed almost all the stuff that he wrote (Maanvi continues to nag in this one too) was out in stores in August 2009, exactly a year after the first book. It got it’s bestseller tag in November 2009!
In between writing, and the other nonsensical things that he does, he worked a nine-to-five job at an Engineering firm, where he was held in high esteem for the photocopies he makes. But as newer technology made its’ way into the firm he had to make his way out. He has since joined Management Development Insitutute(MDI) and trying hard to cope up with smarter, younger kids.

Durjoy finished and published his third book, She Broke Up, I Didn’t…!..I Just Kissed Someone Else! In June 2010 and it went on the best sellers lists almost immediately. He is yet to stop grinning about it.

His fourth book, Ohh Yes, I Am Single...! And So Is My Girlfriend! will be available in all leading bookstores from January 2011.


Here are the novels of Durjoy ......



Of course I love you…, is a story set in Delhi, during the years 2006-2008 that revolves around colleges, nightclubs, relationships and friendships. It's about a young college going guy – Debashish Roy. Debashish Roy, is as his name suggests, is ordinary. What's not though is his enviable interminably long list of girls he had managed to date and taken to bed amongst other things. Things are going fine until one day, Avantika, a girl so beautiful that you would have a tendency to stab yourself back to reality, walks into his life and wrests away everything he has. As his relationship with her gets steamier and deeper, everything else in his life gets on a fast track to one direction. Down. Of Course I Love You…Till I Find Someone Better takes a dark and a hilarious view on modern day relationships in colleges. Narrated in Debashish Roys' unsure, confused and testosterone induced voice, it takes a jibe at college time romances. As Deb's philandering days come to an end with Avantika who herself two times him, he sees everything from being hunted and followed around the city, getting kicked out his college placements, Deb is tested in every which way possible….only to get dumped for a reason which is unfathomable even outside the realms of reality. As Avantika and his luck desert him, he lands up with a job in his father's previous firm, a government office amongst some people who weren't his father's best friends and makes friends with Amit, the genius of the office, who was yet to have his first conversation with a girl, as he waits for his life to sort out. And for Avantika to come back…..

Now That You're Rich…., is a story about four over achieving nerds who land themselves in job that pays at a higher rate that they could think about spending. But life isn't all rosy as Abhi and Shruti grapple with ridiculously workaholic yet charming bosses in crisp suits hired right out of hell. Saurav doesn't find the going easy either, as he struggles to make this way into the skirts of the incredible hot female colleagues. Garima on the other hand, aloof and distant, doesn't give a shit. Things are fine as they get along but…… As they fall in love, sleep around with all the wrong people and recession threatens to take the company down, their bonds strain…till one day, the very reason that got them together tears them apart. Money. Hideous human resource managers picking on them, horny seniors looking down their cleavages, piles of workload, crazy shopping sprees, crates of beer and endless cups of coffee………Out from college and into the real world…how does it change them? Love makes the world go round. But money buys the tickets. Money? Love? In this age old battle what wins this time? Based on real life stories and…..coffee break gossip..


She Broke Up, I Didn't! is a novel that takes a nasty dig at relationships, love and fidelity and what it means today. It tackles some of the very uncomfortable questions and tries to put those into perspective. It's the story of Deb and Avantika, , two management students whose pretty as a picture life is is thrown off track, after Deb, drunk as a pig goes ahead and kisses a classmate. To forgive is divine? Especially when it is just a mistake! What will Avantika do? Will she be able to forgive him? And what if Deb does it again? What if Avantika goes ahead and does the same? This is the story of a group of friends who battle the questions of infidelity, loyalty and love as they step out of their colleges. Is lust different from love? Are girls more tolerant? What would hurt you more? Your partner writing a love song for someone else? Or sleeping with someone else? Is the answer any different for the two sexes?






Not all love stories move linearly. Neither does this one. From a fat, ugly nerd who never had it in him to even stand close to anyone from the opposite sex to someone who gets dumped from breakfast and is in love again by brunch, this story traces the life and times of guy, who has the innate ability to fall in love...as well as to fall out of it. He is the perfect picture of the imperfect romantic. Even a fling for him is a budding short relationship for him as his endless pursuit goes on for the one who will make the stars in the sky shine a little brighter for him. Or at least make the night better. :) So who's the girl of his dreams? The seven year old crush? The first girl he ever kissed? The first girl he ever slept with? The one who never really loved him? Or the one he never intended to dump? Which one of these always has him crawling back to her every time his heart lay broken in his palms? Which one of these faces will he never be able to push out his head? It's always been easy for him to decide who he doesn't love. Will Durjoy finally be able to decide who he really loves?










After reading the novels of durjoy i m also intrested in writing a novel as it also my dream too write a novel on a lovestory 
so as i too have a love story i cn too write...

@Atul purohit