Review: You, Me n Zindagi by Harpreet Makkar & Aparajita Dutta

Anthologies are becoming the food of life. A mix of experience and newcomers are being put together in order to produce books which answers all the questions of the readers in one place. Author Harpreet Makkar & Aparajita Dutta in their book "You, Me n Zindagi" try to take forward this ever growing chain of anthologies. So what different this anthology has to offer from the others? Let's find out. 

Life, love, friends,relations, everything seems so perfect in a fairy tale, but when it comes to reality, every small thing matters...
But what matters the most are the moments of our life that stay back in our memories for ever...
All of us sail through the crests and troughs of life... we all come across things which are memories soon... you, me n zindagi is a flow of emotions penned down in words... the experience of the contributors from around their own self and acquaintance....

First look at the cover and the title and it reeks of some desi touch to it with romance and other emotions at a high. The book cover has been kept simple and again hints at emotions being focused at throughout. The blurb talks about some life related aspects and other human emotions which are to be found in the book. It's a decent blurb which does justice to the anthology. 

Story No. 1:

A story of a woman and her life which has spiraled out of control and she needs to get hang of the things again. It's a good story with the emotional quotient working fine. Short form of  "and" shouldn't have been used. It doesn't leaves a good impact. The finishing touch is impressive.

Story No. 2:

 A story of past where some unsaid words and feelings are being spilled out in the present day to feel light. It's a story of emotions and realization and with a heavy duty past. It starts off well and gradually becomes predictable. A nice story.

Story No. 3:

A story of two lovers who are truly, deeply and madly in love with each other and circumstances play a crucial role in shaping up their relationship. The story has the choicest of words and exquisite touch to it but it feels incomplete and few editing blemishes take away the charm. The love shown is pure and vocabulary marvelous.

Story No. 4:

A story of a little girl who is a grown up woman now but has suffered a lot of trauma in her childhood and the constant questions which hound her. The story is an average story. It could have been handled in a better manner and lacked flow. Editing was a big let down and conversations were not up to the mark.

Story No. 5:

A story of a married couple and the happiness and the zeal fizzling out and turning into a big marital woe. The story is an apt real life description with some simple yet meaningful conversation. The entire setup is tailor made for people who have troubles in their relationship sometime or the other. A very good story.

Story No. 6:

A story of a girl and a boy who met and fell in love instantly. The story is a simple one and there is nothing extra special in it. The plot is pretty much on the same mundane romantic lines. There are mistakes which could have been avoided.

Story No. 7:

A crime thriller where a dead body is found on the streets and the case is closed without any interrogation. How does everything gets revealed? Who will do justice to the deceased? That's what the story is all about. Initial excitement is there in the story but it becomes predictable and straight forward. Narration is good but more suspense and thrill could have been added in it.

Story No. 8:

A lesson for many in form of what smoking does to people and it's ill-effects. The story has not been handled and edited well enough. The poor narration and mistakes results in an average outcome.

Story No. 9:

A story with a lot of past and lessons of life involved and how circumstances force you to tread on a wrong path. The story would have been better if at all the editing would have been handled in a better manner. The story was nice but lacked depth and emotional connect and felt incomplete.

Story No. 10:

A story of terrorism and politics being played at the behest of some people who don't want to see the country prosper and some faces which wear an invisible mask and leave very little to imagination. The story starts on a positive not and shows a lot of promise. Editing again leaves a lot to be desired as the momentum fizzles out towards the end. 

Story No. 11:

A story of a young man and his chance meeting with a girl on one of his vacations of the hills and then the sudden surge and change of thought process and meaning in his life. The story is good with a lot of humanity in it and a hope that people can take a cue out of it and do the same for the others whenever they get the chance.

Story No. 12:

A story of a married couple and how a minor issue becomes a big fuss and then ends up in a lost cause for many. The story has a good touch of emotions in it and has been scripted wonderfully. The emotions have been managed and spread out well. A lovely story.

The whole book had a very little to cherish and cheer about. Couple of stories managed to script and scrap their way through to the end in a proper manner. The stories which are worth mentioning are story no. 3, 5 and 12. 

The downside of the book is editing which leaves a lot to be desired. Most of the stories suffer from severe editing blemishes which takes away the charm and sense out of them. The raw baked form leaves the readers frustrated and a lot to ponder about. Grammatical mistakes, short forms for words and other errors hampers the progress time and again. 

All in all with an alluring title and a mix of experience and newcomers the book falls flat on expectations. The finesse and flair are missing and most of the times it is found short of enthusiasm and spirit. The book could have been given more attention and  possibly then the outcome would have been better and different. An anthology which suffers severely from basic mistakes and errors. 


RATINGS: 

2 OUT OF 5