BACK SEAT - A LITERARY MASTERPIECE

 

Wow, Wow, wow!! Aditya Kripalani's book 'Back Seat' has left me speechless. It took me two nights to get through 244 pages and when I came to the last and final page I continued to scroll down wishing that there were more pages that I could read. Aditya has an excellent command of the English language and lots of effort is placed on detail in the book. There are a number of colourful characters within the story line and each character is described in much detail. Every character can be visualized in terms of physical appearance and personality.It is almost as though you know the character on a personal level. I have visited India and I loved the vibe of Mumbai city. Aditya does an excellent job in describing Mumbai city as it is in reality.He simply brings the city to life. There is one scene in the book where Vijay stops the car opposite Shatranj Napoli and Olive and I had a huge smile on my face as I remembered having a sumptuous meal at the Italian restaurant during my trip. I recalled my experiences on Carter and Linking road as I read through this adrenalin pumping roller coaster ride. The only negative aspect of the book is its abrupt ending. I wanted to know more.I guess Aditya's rationale behind this, is to allow the reader's imagination to run wild. A more thorough spelling check could have been done as I picked up a few typos. Back Seat is a story that revolves around 15 year old Asawari Jog also known as Nikita who lives in a beach town called Ratnaghiri. Due to unfortunate circumstances she makes her way to Mumbai where she works as a dancer at Atithi dance bar, that is until a local politician imposes a ban on all bar dancers causing many of the girls to turn to prostitution in order to earn a reasonable living. Nikita's dream is to have her own restaurant so that she can escape from the body trade industry and after much effort she secures a restaurant premises by handing over a deposit to Mr. Louis for this dream venture.In order for her dream to materialize, she now requires to make up the rest of the money as soon as possible.

Nikita was never comfortable with the idea of prostituting herself to many men. She therefore,chooses the lesser evil by becoming Shashank's escort for one month . He is the troubled son of Mr. Inder Mehta, a Mumbai based film producer.I loved the way Aditya portrays Shashank's character. There were times that I actually felt sorry for him. I could feel his pain, hurt and all the emotional turmoil within him. The plot takes a twist when Nikita falls in love with Vijay, Shashank's driver. Vijay's past is equally painful and traumatic. Mumbai for him is an escape route, an abode where dreams come true. At this point in the book, you are desperately trying to get to the end of it to find out if Nikita's dreams do reach fruition or not.The book is captivating and Aditya does well in revealing bits and pieces of Nikita's life, leaving the reader constantly intrigued at every moment.Back Seat is a well written, thought provoking realistic tale that reaches the depths of human character and emotion. It has all the ingredients to turn the book into an award winning Madhur Bhandarkar type film. If you have not read a book in a while, I suggest that you get hold of "Back seat" right away. This is one book that you just have to read. My heartiest congratulations to Aditya. I wish him all the best and I am looking forward to his next book Front Seat

 
About The Author ( As taken from his book)
The author, Aditya Kripalani, has a passion for writing in its myriad forms—short stories, poems, scripts screen plays and magazine write-ups, on topics as varied as watches, films, fashion and fitness.He is a post graduate, qualified in Script and Film Screenplay writing from the Film and Television Institute, Pune, and has also taught screen writing at St. Xavier’s Institute of Communication, Mumbai. He currently heads the Script Department of one of the film industry’s established corporate film houses, I Dream Production. Thirty one year old Aditya is fond of cooking, music, travelling, observing and analyzing people. He has the ability to get into the psyche of the characters, male and female, and view situations from each one’s unique perspective. He has spent a major part of his life in Mumbai city which has moulded and influenced him tremendously. Multi-faceted Aditya has a degree in fitness training from the Reebok University and is a Karateka practicing Karate in the GoJu form of Karate.
Readers can interact with him by email at backseat.theauthor@gmail.com

Extraordinary People

The best thing about traveling is being able to meet really fascinating extraordinary individuals.A few months ago at King Abdul Aziz International Airport, I had the opportunity of meeting the lovely couple below.Both the husband and the wife are dentists. They are originally from Germany but were enroute to Malawi via Jeddah. It was the first time that they landed in Saudi Arabia and they were fascinated with the abaya clad women and the Arab men dressed in their thobes and shemaghs or Ghutras...I was really impressed and honoured to meet them. There are few good people still left in the world and it is because of these people that the world is still functioning....The couple chose to leave their first world country and carry out voluntary work in Malawi under the auspices of an NGO organisation. They were filled with enthusiasm and pointed out to me the importance of helping others...A thought ran through my mind whilst talking to them...In our narrow minded South African Indian and Muslim communities we tend to brand anyone who is not a Muslim as a nasaara or a kaafir etc etc...And yet look at the good work that many of them are doing...How many of our South African Muslim doctors would leave their practices and luxury homes to render out voluntary services in poor, impoverished areas across the globe....How many of them will leave their money spinning businesses to assist another human being? Sadly my friends, its just a handful!!!!!

Three days ago I met a fascinating French couple who were also in transit at King Abdul Aziz International airport in Jeddah. This couple travel from country to country in a caravan . They have driven from France to New Delhi, India three times already passing through Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan . So you probably wondering what do they do for a living. The woman does nothing and is more like a companion to her partner. Her boyfriend Ritcha, is a tattoo artist, musician as well as a fire juggler. The couple spend an average of six months in one country travelling from city to city . At each city Ritcha does fire juggling shows and plays music on the street attracting the public who give him money. He also does tattooing from his caravan. The couple are not religious and do not follow any specific religion as such. However, Ritcha was quite upset about the French government banning Muslims from wearing the headscarf. He mentioned to me that even Christians in France are not allowed to wear a cross. In his opinion, all women across the board should be wearing a headscarf as a symbol of modesty and respect.His favourite country in the world is India. He told me that he is taken aback with the warmth and hospitality of Indian people in general. "In India I feel free.The people are simple, down to earth and humble...I am yet to see another country like India." he said. I suggested to them to write a book about their travels and experiences. After having a short conversation with the couple I bid them farewell and a safe trip. What incredible, extraordinary people indeed!!!!! 

 

LUSTROUS HAIR;TRY CAMEL URINE

For those of you who are acquainted with me on a personal level will know that I love 'the ships of the desert'. At least once a month I go out with my Saudi friends to the desert to ride camels. Saudis in general love their camels too and they take much pride in looking after their camel herds.In Saudi Arabia camels are utilized for their meat, milk, wool and of course for camel racing. Many Saudi families also have camels as pets.In rural Africa, in areas like Mali and Djibouti,camels are still utilized to transport blocks of salt from the desert.

According to the Huffington Post, camel milk is the closest you can get to a human mother's milk, with ten times more iron and three times more vitamin C than cow's milk. I was quite surprised when I seen camel milk for the first time. It is very thick and frothy and from a distance it looks like thick fresh cream. Camel milk has numerous medicinal properties and health benefits.Low fat camel milk not only contains healthy vitamins and minerals but is also a rich source of insulin. The milk reportedly has a quart of insulin in each liter, making it a potential treatment option for diabetics.There are also claims that the milk can be used to treat crohn's disease, autism, improve male virility and also treat a variety of allergies.Camel yoghurt is also manufactured from the milk and camel milk chocolates are also produced by a company called Al Nassma. From a beauty perspective, camel milk is believed to treat a variety of skin conditions thereby improving skin tone and reducing wrinkles. I have a patient of mine who is in her mid forties. I always compliment her on her flawless skin tone. Her secret believe it or not is a few drops of camel milk and camel urine mixed with a little bit of aqueous cream. She told me that this mixture keeps her skin germ free and also gives her a lighter skin complexion. I guess this recipe will be able to rival 'fair and lovely'. She has asked me repeatedly to try this concoction for a few skin blemishes I developed after my skin burnt from incorrect dermatological products that were prescribed to me years ago. May be I should give it a try but I am not so sure if I really want camel milk and urine paste smeared on my face.Recently there has been much hype created about camel urine. In a 2009 article published in the Saudi gazette, it was mentioned that Saudi doctor, Faten Abdel-Rahman Khorshid has discovered that nano particles in the camel urine can attack cancer cells with tremendous success.Speaking to the Saudi Gazette, Dr. Khorshid claimed that she was inspired by Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) medical advice and that camel urine consists of natural substances that work to eradicate malignant cells and maintain the number of healthy cells in a cancer patient.“This treatment is not an invention, but rather, taken from our Prophet’s legacy,” she remarked. A Hadith narrated by Al-Bukhari (2855) and Muslim (1671) claims that some people came to Madina and fell ill with bloated abdomens. The Prophet (pbuh) told them to combine the milk and urine of a camel and drink that, after which they recovered. A swollen abdomen may indicate edema, liver disease or cancer."

During the reign of Cleopatra, Egyptian and Arab women dipped their hair into camel urine to produce sleek and shiny hair. This practice is still carried out in today's times amongst Bedouin women with the belief that camel urine is efficacious against dandruff and other diseases of the scalp. It is also claimed that camel urine promotes hair growth thereby producing thicker, longer, stronger, and a more lighter lustrous looking crop of hair.Camel urine is also said to be an excellent potassium sparing diuretic. Whilst watching a documentary on travel channel a few days ago, I was quite amazed at the fact that the Samburu people of Kenya who are closely related to the Masaai people, drink cow and camel blood to survive. Meat is only eaten on very rare occasions.

It is only in recent times that many studies have been conducted on camel milk and camel urine. It is in general a very new field of study that many Saudi scientists have now undertaken to pursue.Already in India, Russia and Kazakhstan, patients are prescribed camel milk to treat a variety of diseases like, Diabetes, Crohn's disease and tuberculosis. With only minimal studies carried out thus far the possibilities are of course endless. By simply marveling at the sheer beauty of these animals and pondering over the variety of ways in which these animals are a benefit to mankind, I can not help but realize that this is the reason perhaps why God Almighty specifically mentions these creatures in the holy Quraan."Do they not look at the Camels, how they are made? And at the Sky, how it is raised high? And at the Mountains, how they are fixed firm? And at the Earth, how it is spread out? Therefore do you give admonition, for you are one to admonish." Quran-Al-Kareem: Surat al-Ghashiya ~ 17-21

Source:

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2009071143333

http://www.livestrong.com/article/409153-health-benefits-of-drinking-camel-milk/

http://goafrica.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1%2FXJ&zTi=1&sdn=goafrica&cdn=travel&tm=4833&f=00&su=p284.13.342.ip_p531.60.342.ip_&tt=29&bt=1&bts=1&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.al-nasma.com%2F

http://cougarclause.com/2012/02/strange-beauty/

http://hadhramouts.blogspot.com/2010/07/of-camel-urine-and-milk.html

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