Fascinating Quest: October 2014

Thursday, 30 October 2014

Revenge is unforgiving... (God is a Gamer - A Review)

Book: God is a Gamer

Author: Ravi Subramanian

Genre: Fiction (Thriller)

Published by: Penguin Books

No. of pages: 310

Cover price: Rs. 299

‘God is a Gamer’ is the story of three friends, Swami (an alumni of IIM Ahmedabad and a banker, just as our author is), Aditya and Sundeep (the latter two have a BPO and a gaming company).

The gripping tale of ‘God is a Gamer’ includes an assassinated American Senator, a mysterious suicide, a Cabinet Minister, a rebel, riots, phishing scam, hacking, corporate politics, romance and much more. And all these stories seem to come together effortlessly, making for this engrossing read.

‘God is a Gamer’ by ‘Ravi Subramanian’ starts in the headquarters of Mastercard and Visa. It goes on to mention Wikileak’s use of bitcoins. I googled the latter and it is a fact.

I love reading stories, where the fact paves way for fiction. Fact and fiction are interwoven and make the story ‘real’. Actual events and people are used to create fiction.
After reading the book, google gets overworked as I try to figure out what's make-believe and what's not. And some of the facts are surprising. Fact is stranger than fiction, after all.
Add to that, the probability that even fiction is somehow representative of what actually happened, but is not known in the public arena. Makes it all the more exciting.

The tale of ‘God is a Gamer’ is told with many clues strewn over in the narrative and many twists too. Often I felt I knew who had done it, or for that matter what is being done. And then I realized I was wrong. Even when everything fell into place finally, nothing was right. The ending of the book thrilled me the most. Nothing is at it seems. And yet, it was so probable in hindsight.

Corporate politics in ‘God is a Gamer’ is dusty, but not filthy.

I knew of Bitcoins as virtual money vaguely, before I read this book. As I read it, I learnt some and as usual, I googled some. The mystery of creator(s) of Bitcoin makes for another engrossing angle in the story. As I said before, fact and fiction blended makes for a wonderful read.

The title of 'God is a Gamer' felt so right, as I read the last page of this thriller by Ravi Subramanian. The many coincidences and twists and plannings... God is a Gamer. This book is one of the very good books I have read in quite a while. I highly recommend it.

Blurb
What happens when you cross gamer, banker, politician and terrorist with virtual money? From the bestselling author of If God Was a Banker comes the first ever bitcoin thriller. God is a Gamer is a world where money means nothing, martyrs are villians, predators are prey, assassination is taught by the ancient Greeks, and nothing is as it seems.
Moving from Washington's Congress to Delhi's finance ministry, the beaches of Goa to the corporate boardrooms of Mumbai, this is Ravi Subramanian's most gripping novel yet.

Meet the author
www.ravisubramanian.in

Thanks blogadda for the author-signed copy of this book.

Click for My Review of Ravi Subramanian's If God Was a Gamer

This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for http://www.blogadda.com for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

Wednesday, 22 October 2014

More worldly than you think... a poem

What is Indian, I wonder
as I pen down these words
India in itself is so diverse
that it is a task of sorts

When did it happen that
I could flaunt my passport
The change was gradual
I realise in retrospect

When did it happen that
India got noticed on world map
It had lost its place over
centuries of struggle, it's sad

'Sone ki chidiya' lost it's wealth
and ability to fly
When did it happen that
it again could soar so high

A feeling of confidence
seeped into us Indians
as India is wooed
and the world beckons

India is accepted in the world
Or is it, world accepted in India

Friday, 17 October 2014

Her Masterpiece... Flash Fiction

The photo prompt for this week's Friday Fictioneers

(copyright Douglas MacIlroy)

He entered the room in the evening. He looked around trying to look at things through her eyes.

There was an artwork using delicate sea shells and pebbles. It looked beautiful to him just as it was.

But alongside lay more stones and a bigger shell. What had she planned to do with it, he tried to imagine.

She always jokingly referred to this artwork as her ‘masterpiece’. He knew she actually meant it.

The room was the way she had left it that night almost two years ago. She had wanted to work a little longer. He had insisted otherwise.

She never woke up the next morning.

Prompt by and Shared with -
Friday Fictioneers

Thursday, 16 October 2014

My first Indiblogger meet #WORDUP

My first Indiblogger meet... my first blogger meet ever

I didn't know what to expect. I reached around 9:25 am, expecting hardly anyone would be there. I was so wrong. There were quiet a few bloggers around.

Through the day, there was an excitement in the air. Excitement and enjoyment of being a blogger.

Renie Ravin said that there's no way to describe bloggers.
There's no such thing as a 'typical blogger' - something I realised as I looked around. There are different types of blogs and the same goes for bloggers.

I blog because I like to write. My blog is mostly about poetry and fiction, with my rare travel experiences thrown in.
It was a inspiring to meet writers who blog for a living, or want to blog for a living.

What I learnt -

Discover your passion.
Give accurate headlines to your blog posts, even if they are not always attention-grabbing.
Do not follow anyone else's style. Be inspired by others, but work on being unique.
No guest blogging. (I am not entirely convinced about this, but I know the pros and cons better now)
Never give your content for free.
Spring clean your blog. Get rid of the old irrelevant stuff. Let go when needed.
Rethink the ads on your blog. Think of the readers first.
Interlinking the posts is good for the blog.
Use google webmaster tools and google analytics.
Sell yourself. 'Apne Muh Mia Mitthu' / Blowing one's own trumpet is good for a blogger.
Have your own website. Ditch blogspot.com (I have decided not to do so, at least for now)
Snighda Manchanda's presentation on 'Creative Writing' was a delight, explaining the seven basic story plots with reference to the famous movies and books.
Do not overdo the social media sharing.
Set a deadline for monetisation of your blog.
Don't create content for yourself or your friends.

There was a lot of talk of SEOs, typography, blog design and other technical stuff. Not all of it made sense to me, but I do know more about it now than I did before.

I learnt a lot through the day, met bloggers whose blogs I read and appreciate, had a lot of fun, had good food, met people passionate about what they do, enjoyed a stand-up comedy performance and was even entertained by good music.

Prizes were won... I didn't win anything though :(
Despite not winning the vouchers and the phones, I got a backpack, a speaker, lots of great information, tons of motivation to write more, a day spent with fellow bloggers and good food at BluFrog.

#WORDUP experiences of other bloggers

Sunday, 5 October 2014

My memories with you - a poem

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 49; the forty-ninth edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

Image Source

Your face

key to my past

Each expression

an experience portrayed

Memories abound

as I look at you

The goodbye

coming all too near

No image

can capture this air

My memoirs

about to be lost to fire

You left

my future is lost

I ache more

so is my past

I stare

wanting to preserve you

My guide

to go down the memory lane

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton. Participation Count: 02