Title: Decoding Life
Author: Vikas Singal
This is the second time I’m being offered with Vikas Singal’s short stories. Usually I can’t go through e-books, but I agreed to go through his e-book “And They Fell in Love” and surprisingly I completed it in a single sit. His first paperback book “Decoding Life” is a collection of ten stories offering readers a simple and light-read sprinkling emotions over it.
As the back cover says:’ “Decoding Life” is an anthology based on relations, love and human perceptions.
‘The Taxi Driver’ depicts the emotions of a young lady on a thunderous night in Mumbai when she takes a local taxi driven by a fiery driver. ‘A Rain Kissed Tuesday’ is a Hindu-Muslim love story where Aditya falls in love with Arisha on a rainy day.
One of the stories, talks about the tension and the excitement of rwo people who are about to get married, ‘Two states’ brings up the small environmental difference felt by two friends who are living in two different states.
This sparkling anthology covers a wide range of human emotions. This would make you feel good when you decode them one by one. The stories talk through silences and are very thought-provoking! Enjoy decoding the various codes of life we live…’
The taxi driver
Crime and fraud are so on top of people’s mind that even innocent seems criminal nowadays. Blindly believing someone is like walking on throne-full road barefooted. “The taxi Driver”, revolves around the same concept. This story reminds of a story I’ve once gone through in my school life. A good start of the book and a good storyline to convey the message!
A Rain Kissed Tuesday
Love stories based on cast are on top list in the market. In past few months, I’ve gone through numerous such stories where core theme is cast. One more love story based on the same theme came in front of me, portraying the same with a bit difference in the plot. If author has chosen quite a common theme, then my expectation is a different plot.
K.N.Laxman
It’s a human nature to judge people so frequently and comes up with a conclusion. To have perceptions about someone has nothing wrong, but when the perception is wrong, it could lead us to the state of sorry or guilt when we later realized how wrong we were. The story conveys the same and is narrated very-well to highlight this message. A nice story!
Switch it on!
A very diminutive story covering the lesson of selflessness. The story portrays a very common anecdote of life, many of us have encountered in our life, but very few of us could bring out a conclusion out of it. A nice attempt!
The Mistake
It is about the journey of friendship of Jatin and Nikhil and the bridge of understanding each other that has grown over time. A humorous story that teaches us a lesson through a meaningful story. Before acting on someone’s actions, place yourself at that someone’s position to know where the pit actually is.
Two States
This story is about two friends belonging to different states. The beginning of the story runs on adifferent track while the end or what the story actually wants to convey runs on different. Well, the story has nothing so significant to convey, it just tells the different ambience of two states, Rajasthan and Mumbai.
That Mysterious Girl
The story is about hardships of a girl and when she reaches to a point and is able to stand on her foot, what society thinks of her and the success she gains. The title suits very-well to the story. As the way narration of the story goes, a mystery is formed that goes on well with the story. The story has a pinch of reality in it that pulls readers more towards it. The procedure of juxtaposing of past and present episodes is done very-well, prior to a short story. It gives a very good message to the society-‘Not everyone selects the short cut road to success. Before you put your perceptions about someone, think about it.’
Vikas Singal’s stories are easy to go with and are lemned with simplicity. His stories’ main ingredient is taken from the reality of life. From happenings of life, he chooses some anecdotes and presents them before readers in a friendly manner. A light read book and one could complete it in a single sit. Novice readers out there, a good book for you.
Rating: 3/5
Reviewer : Shweta Kesari