Few months back, Spring Tide, in association with Parlance Publishers, Buddygifting, Chaisa Cafe and Bluegape, organized an online short story writing contest. Twenty five stories were selected out of hundreds of entries received and compiled into this wonderful book “Kaleidoscope”. Here’s what I feel about each story:
Hunter by Vivek Banerjee
This story has won its author the Best Writer award in this contest. I loved the climax of the story. Quite unexpected.
The House by Deboshree Bhatacharjee
This story is beautifully penned down. However, I was expecting something more.
Tale of the Knitting Yarn by Nabanita Dhar
I have often come across Ms. Dhar’s Indiblogger profile but never read her work, for no apparent reason until this one. Well, this, according to me, is the best story. I simply loved the use of Irony in the story. For me, you’re an uncontested winner. 🙂
Voice Male by Renuka Vishwanathan
This is also one of the top five stories of Kaleidoscope. It started off pretty well. The title, however, gave the climax away.
The Domino Effect by Deepa Duraisamy
This is a very well-thought plot. The story absolutely does justice to its place in the “Top Five Stories”.
The hike to the Temple by Prasanna Rao
This is again a gripping tale with an interesting climax.
Food by Vaibhav Mukhim
Well, this was a failed attempt at becoming a Dan Brown thriller in roughly 6 pages.
Happy Puppet by Bhavya Kaushik
This one surprised me with its well-researched and kuch hatke concept. I have read Bhavya’s work before and this story didn’t disappoint me either.
The White Dress by Garima Nowal
This was a quick and exciting read; a page turner. I am a fan of ‘flukes’. And this story had one.
Karma is a bitch by Rafaa Dalvi
The story progressed agreeably to a remarkable end.
Redemption by Harihar Adarsh
This story is different because it is not set in a contemporary period and not-so-different because its clichéd storyline.
The Last Date by Sarvana Kumar Murugan
A decent read highlighting some really important and grave social issues.
I love you too by Khushi Gupta
A love story stretched over a lifetime, penned in a few pages. Good job. The best thing about the story is the one-liners, every now and then. “Sometimes, the hardest thing and the right thing are the same.”
Alive Inside by Nehali Lalwani
Again, a story that leaves you surprised.
Theory of Evolution by Balaganesh Pitchai
Woah! Hats off to this guy for coming up with something like this! Although, I think the concept is too good to be finished in a few pages. This deserves a whole novel. 🙂
‘I’ Operated by Smriti Mahale
I read and read and read and read some more. But alas, nothing happened. The story doesn’t do justice to the intriguing title it bears.
The Star that Shines on Me… by Parul Tyagi
I think this story should have been one of the top five stories. While reading this story, I felt like I am reading some work of literature. It’s wonderfully written. The climax, however, was a little weak. Overall, bravo.
The boy who sold books by Anurag Bhatt
This was again an interesting read. First person narrations are always more absorbing.
Chaos by Rahul Biswas
Umm… it was okay.
Secret of the murderous wood by Sanhita Baruah
A story involving werewolves and vampires has become too clichéd. This, is one of them.
First Contact by Aman Mathur
A sci-fi bringing out a brutal reality. A story with a moral.
The Journey of My Life by Shishir Dhingra
Like I said earlier, I love flukes. And I love them more when they happen in a train journey.
( I have my reasons. Something similar happened to me, once. I met a guy. And our story also ended in a marriage. His marriage. With someone else. Now stop laughing and read the next review.)
The Unknown Destination by Aniruddh Naik
To be honest, the stuff went over my head.
Crazy Scarf by Prabhat Singh
A love story that makes you go “aw”. Yes. Only one ‘W’.
When love oozed out blood by Ayush Agarwal
A dramatic tale focusing on homosexuality and coming out of the closet. Again, a story with a moral.
Since the review got pretty lengthy, I haven’t mentioned what each story is all about. I would leave up to you all to find that out. I have just expressed my honest opinion about each story.
You can grab a copy of this wonderful book here!