Meet the Chakraborty called Novo Neel

It was a cool October evening that I found myself in the Walden,  one of the most prominent book houses in the city. I said hi to the guy in the counter as usual and went on checking the best seller list first. After a couple of minutes gazing through them,  I left for the usual session where my favourite authors books are placed. That day I remember well I was searching for Irving Wallace's 'The Seven Minutes'.

I was actually passing it on many times. It was said to be one of his best books (I usually take the best things at the end of the spree. By that time I read 10 books of his). After picking it and a coupla books by Richard Feynman I returned to the counter.  The boy who knew me well pointed to a corner and asked me have you read that book?  I replied NO. Am not interested in the fiction by current generation Indian authors. 

But he asked me to wait a minute and brought that book and forced me to read the content of the back cover.  It was interesting.  He gifted me that book and said. Try it. If you don't feel like it's not good stuff,  return it to me.  I'll pay for it. 

The book was 'That Kiss in the Rain'.

While on the bus,  I picked it for a light read. The prologue wasn't that impressive for me. I placed it back in my bag and forgot about it for some time as I immersed myself in a Feynman book.

A Couple of weeks later I again picked it up and wanted to give it a try. I again went through the prologue part. This time also I didn't feel impressed,  but something caught my attention. The language was good. Not simply good. It was something with noticed.

Slowly but steadily I followed what was written in the pages.  Whenever I felt bored by the content,  I slipped a couple of pages. After reading some 80 pages like that,  the reading speed picked up and I began to experience  power of the writing. Not only the subject dealt was making me curious,  I was hooked to the style of the author. Some of the sentences were so beautiful that I had to pick up a pen and Mark them for another read.

Well,  while it had taken me more than a week to finish the first 80 pages,  next part was finished in a trout in just three quarters of a an hour. I felt like I must finish now!

Finally I found an author who made me say wow!  After reading his book. It was the first time I felt like that for a contemporary Indian author.  The story told was good. The language was superior. And some of the quotes and thoughts expressed in it were nothing short of a miracle.

The style of writing is what makes me read a book generally.  Here is the one of the very few persons who made me to search for his entire collection.

Though it's well past mid night when I finished the story,  I telephoned the guy who have me that book and asked him if they/he have other books of the author.  I was told this man had written only av couple of books. And the the one I read was his second book. The first one was out of stock. I asked him to notify me if... ;-)

I found his blog Thanks to the book (after a few months) I just read. Some of the posts are great. I bookmarked it. From it, I was directed to his Facebook page. There I found about his latest novel 'How About A Sin Tonight'.

The first of his works was not available for me for some time. But thanks to flipkart.com and with the help of a friend's alert I got it a week back.

Surely this is the first time since Ayn Rand and Irving Wallace and Richard Feynman, I searched specifically for the complete works of an author. Especially among numerous current generation Indian authors.

Seem like 2012 is a great year for my reading habits. I found another one like this. .. This time a late Swedish journalist.

So,  that's it! My recommendation is...

Meet this Chakraborty called Novo Neel. It will be a great company on the highway of your book reading. The subject may or may not be for your liking. But you will still read him. That's the power of his writing.

Romantic, philosophical and something more you yourself have to experience.