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"MyTimesTales"..A reflection !

My mother would read out the bed time stories for me from Rudyard Kipling's" Jungle Book" I grew up re-reading Jungle Book till the time I got addicted to the those daily comic strips in TOI which introduced me toTarazen and Phantom. So goes My Tale of My times "Jab Mein Chota Bacha Tha."

Very recently I was privileged to get a complimentary copy of Short Stories"MY TIMES MY TALES" (Published by:Peoples Syndicate Pvt Ltd) This  is a collection of 27 short stories .All the 27 are captivating and are first person narratives. Each of them revolve round those 'here and there' incidents that we stumble upon in our everyday life  The way these random thoughts and incidents are brought out as a story does keep the reader both engaged and engrossed. 

The author Dinesh N Verma is a retired civil servant. This book of short stories is his first venture into the domain of storytellers. Like me I am sure every reader of this book will find him a master narrative. His subtle sense of humor and those simple  perception of life as captured in words are amazing. Here are some stories I would like to reflect upon

TRAPPED IN A RING..This is about how a precious  gold ring belonging to an ancient royal family costing in lacs gets  picked up as junk for Rs.20/ and how it subsequently  travels round and finally lands up with the same vendor from where is was bought  for just that Rs 20/- A beautiful narration of what we call destiny

RELIGION OF A DEAD BEGGAR: This is a story of a beggar,his wife and his son who were given one wish which had power to change their lives However call it quirk of fate, at the end of it all they find themselves back again as beggars.This story reminded me of one of my favorite number "Que Sera Sera" (What will be will be) sung by Doris Day

DR COMMONSENSE: This remains my favorite. The author's description of Dr ShambhooNath is perfect sketch to the last details.  His inimitable style of wearing the stethoscope, his style of treatment speaks of grounded simplicity. At times commonsense can prevail over medications as the line of treatment and that is so very true.

This collection of short stories is bound to leave the reader asking for more. Do grab a copy as it lasts..




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