Review: You Me 'n' Zindagi.

• Book: You me ‘n’ Zindagi.  
• Author: Compiled by – Harpreet Makkar and Aparijita Dutta. 
• Publication House: Omji Publications  
• Category: Anthology 
• Rating: 2.5/5

Story-in-Short:-

You, Me and Zindagi is all about things around, relationships, friendship, addiction and all that we can relate to. It gives a better insight into life which we live everyday, these twelve stories revolve around the pains and pleasures, the experience and learnings, the smiles and tears. The titles says it all, we at Omji Publishing House are looking forward to get your valuable feedback and participation so that the journey of You, Me and Zindagi soon becomes a journey of us. PUBLISHERS NOTE. 

Authors: Harpreet Makkar, Aparajita Dutta, Nehali Lalwani, Ila Garg, Shalini Katyal, Nilesh Gowardhan, Purendu Chatterjee, Abhijit Dahegaonkar, Subhanil Banerjee, Pulkit Gupta, Souvick Mukherjee and Swagnikaa Roy. 

In my view:

1) The Second Life – Harpreet Makkar I Rating: (2.5/5)

The Second Life is an emotional story of a beautiful woman. This story from beginning to the end the story stands perfect while generating interest among the readers. This story marks a good beginning to the book. 

2) Time Flies Love Stays – Neha Lalwani I Rating: (2.5/5)

It is a story from the past which has been narrated in a beautiful manner. This story too is interesting and a bit emotional. Also, this story too is interesting to read and captures utmost attention while reading. 

3) Peregrination – Aparajita Dutta I Rating: (3/5)

It is a story of Sourindhri and Triborgo who are deeply made in love. But things change with time. What this change has in store for the two is what you need to find from the story. The story is well-framed. 

4) Maya – Swagnikaa Roy I Rating: (2.5/5)

This story bring highlights the struggles and difficult life of a girl Maya. Maya at a young age witnessed household fights between her parents, dejection from her friends and sexual harassment from her uncle. This story is strong and comprehensible in the beginning but falls loose in the end. Everything happens too quickly in the story. The authoress could have moved ahead with the same strength with which she began the story. Yet the initial part of the story catches heart.

5) Just stay by my side – Shalini Katyal I Rating: (3/5)

To be frank, this story is really, really interesting. It is a story of Preeti and Rohit who see each other at a book launch and soon fall in love. Things go pretty in the beginning but turn upside down. What happens to their relation? Does it continues or it ends? Find it yourself from the book. It’s wonderful story that I enjoyed to the core. 

6) Love will find you – Nilesh Gowardhan I Rating : (2/5)

It is a good story and an enjoyable one. It is a story of Nandini and Rohit who met in auto. In the initial part Nandini shows not much attention and interest in Rohit. But they patch-up and experience love affair. Their love turns them into a couple.

7) A Story of Revenge – Ila Garg I Rating: (3/5)

This story of Ila is a crime fiction and not a love story. Aryan Kapoor a millionaire is killed and his younger brother Ayaan takes custody of his son Arun. Arun knows that Ayaan has plot the killing of his father and he then plans revenge. The way the story has been penned down is fabulous. Good work Ila! 

8) Why Smoke Cigarettes when there’s Oxygen – Abhijit Dahegaonkar I Rating: (2/5)

This story is of a boy who smokes and invites health problems. But in due course of life, he realizes that smoking is indeed injurious to health and then changes himself. Neither the beginning nor the ending of the story is interesting. On top there are too many grammatical errors in the story which switches off a reader’s attention from it.  

9) The Man of Wisdom – Subhanil Banerjee I Rating: (2/5)

The story teaches one the lessons of being honest. It is a story of a bright boy Sabyasachi who thinks of a robbery in a bank. He, along with three others executes this plan. Why did a bright boy plan such a cheap thing is what you need to search in the book. I would call it a partially interesting story. 

10) I can never forgive you – Purendu Chatterjee I Rating: (3/5)

It’s a long and beautifully written story of a girl Nupur who spots a bomb blast. She helps the victims and takes them to hospital. Meanwhile her husband informs her about the findings of Dr. Lawrence of his NGO who goes to South Africa for a research work which is linked to something in the present time of Nupur. What shocking thing does Dr. Lawrence finds and what link does it has? You will get it from the story in the book. Although it’s a long story but still it’s an interesting one. 

11) Silent Beackons – Souvick Mukherjee I Rating: (3/5)

This one is a mind-blowing story which holds a reader’s attention till the end. It’s a story of Arnab who goes on a trip to Roopkund for trekking with his friends. There he meets a girl who sells him woods and cannot get her out of his thoughts. The end of the story is given a touch of humanity. It’s an unpredictable story. 

12) Papa – Pulkit Gupta I Rating: (3/5)

It is a story of a married couple whose relation soon turns weird. This story has emotions perfectly mentioned in it.  The story truly won my heart.  It gives a lovely and happy end to this anthology. 

This anthology has a very little to praise. The editing of the book is very poor and there are lots of mistakes in the book. Those mistakes really turn down the interest in the reader. Stories by Aparijita, Shalini, Ila, Purendu, Shovick and Pulkit are wonderful. Apart from the stories of these five, others too are good. Over-all it’s a book with lots of typographical errors. Considering the goods and bads of the book, I would rate it with 2.5 out of 5.

• This book is available in bookstores. 

•  You can also get it online: Home Shop 18, Infibeam, Flipkart.