The Vivekean Times

I have been picking up and browsing, treading my way carefully through the minefields, yet taking time to smell the fragrance of the roses. I found it to be a delightful collection – a veritable ’bhel puri’, a combination of political, religious, moral values to satisfy all tastes and appetites. I was impressed by your reflections in the poems ‘Philosophy of life’, ’Pleasure’, ’Love’ ’ Dreamer’, Thinking,’ and the touch of humour in, ’Trying to enter Heaven,’ and ‘The Husband’ and the note of sadness in ’Agony’ and ‘Night after Christmas’. The essays ’Sport in India’ gives a good insight into Indian sport and Indian sporting legends past and present. ’Tryst with Destiny’ gives a sweeping view of Indian history and the hopes and expectations of a nation while your ‘Mumbai for all’ reveals a true Maharashtrian-East Indian spirit and love for our culture and heritage….I could go on…however, I will conclude by saying that the book as you so well said in your introduction is a literary col...

Rose Gardens and Minefields,  a  collection of my finest poems, short stories and essays was published last month. This book was published by Leadstart/Frogbooks. It's a must-read. It will entertain and enlighten you. It shreds the veil from the face of the Dark Age. No, I'm not referring to the past dark ages but the present one where people blindly follow dictators, tyrants, terrorists, other fools (politicians, religious nuts, etc), instincts, and the evil path. Yes, the earth has become more hellish than hell itself. We use our logic in a warped manner to justify horrendous acts of violence, genocide, murder, infanticide, etc and we think we are smart. For example, oh he's a poor farmer living below the poverty line...he had to kill his young daughter because he could n't afford her dowry. If you were in his place, you would understand....Understand, my foot. This is precisely the Dark Ages, I m talking about as there is a thick cloud of bigotry which ...

I have been picking up and browsing, treading my way carefully through the minefields, yet taking time to smell the fragrance of the roses. I found it to be a delightful collection – a veritable ’bhel puri’, a combination of political, religious, moral values to satisfy all tastes and appetites. I was impressed by your reflections in the poems ‘Philosophy of life’, ’Pleasure’, ’Love’ ’ Dreamer’, Thinking,’ and the touch of humour in, ’Trying to enter Heaven,’ and ‘The Husband’ and the note of sadness in ’Agony’ and ‘Night after Christmas’. The essays ’Sport in India’ gives a good insight into Indian sport and Indian sporting legends past and present. ’Tryst with Destiny’ gives a sweeping view of Indian history and the hopes and expectations of a nation while your ‘Mumbai for all’ reveals a true Maharashtrian-East Indian spirit and love for our culture and heritage….I could go on…however, I will conclude by saying that the book as you so well said in your introduction is a literary col...

My book "Rose Gardens and Minefields" had received critical acclaim from a top book review site, Indian Book Reviews. I had submitted my book for the review over a year ago and hundreds of books were reviewed in that period. Didn't know what it would turn out like, but I was thoroughly pleased with the outcome. Check out this fabulous review at http://www.indianbookreviews.com/2012/07/16/a-little-bit-of-this-and-that/ For the uninitiated, "Rose Gardens and Minefields" is a compilation of poems, short stories and essays that cover a plethora of topics. It was published by Leadstart Publishers under their Frogbooks/Virgin Leaf imprint a couple of years ago. This book can be purchased at a sum below Rs 100 or $2 at various book stores across India including some Landmark outlets, Happy Book Store (Bandra) and Granth (Juhu). You can even purchase it online at Amazon and Flipkart.com. Happy Reading!!!

This is just to let you know that my book "Rose Gardens and Minefields" has received critical acclaim from a top book review site, Indian Book Reviews. I had submitted my book for the review over a year ago and hundreds of books were reviewed in this period. Didn't know what it would turn out like, but I'm thoroughly pleased with the outcome. Check out this fabulous review at http://www.indianbookreviews.com/2012/07/16/a-little-bit-of-this-and-that/ For the blissful ones, "Rose Gardens and Minefields" is a compilation of poems, short stories and essays that cover a plethora of topics. It was published by Leadstart Publishers under their Frogbooks/Virgin Leaf imprint a couple of years ago. You can refer to the review and the Wikipedia entry for a better understanding. This book can be purchased at a sum below Rs 100 or $2 at various book stores across India including some Landmark outlets, Happy Book Store (Bandra) and Granth (Juhu). You can even purchase ...

'Twas the night after Christmas, when partying was done, The world had got drained of all the laughter and fun, Empty booze bottles lay scattered around, Ambitious Christmas dreams had crashed on the ground . The feelings of peace, love and goodwill had gone, Men fought and quarreled till the break of the dawn, Sorrow and depression were replacing happiness and cheer, This would be the trend until Christmas next year. The shopping spree was over, the money had vanished, The spirit of Christmas had been altogether banished, The decorations so beautiful, no one admired them any more, This joyous, merry season had become a bore. I sat on the sofa, a frown on my face, My world was in tatters, I was losing the race, My wife had been crying, her eyes were quite red, She cursed me so fiercely, I wished I was dead. The children were sad, no smile did they give, Their cheeks stained with tears, they were learning to live, For their fantasy world had been smashed into p...

The Husband is the family head The brains are his wife, He is the one who earns the bread Which she ruins with her knife. The husband works hard all day And when he returns home, His wife will look up and say "Here comes the dirty Gnome". Taking the Hint, he has his bath And sits down for some leisure, From nowhere her naggings suddenly start Then they vanish with his pleasure. He wears his clothes with wounded sulks As they go on a shopping spree, She keeps on purchasing objects in bulks Till they finally run out of money. His wallet empty, he inserts the key And dumps the cargo in Then they settle for a cup of tea She expresses her satisfaction with a grin. He switches on the idiot box While she prepares their dinner, She changes the channel with defensive talks Without a struggle, she emerges winner. The husband slumps to sleep at last Till the dawn eventually breaks, He encounters her once more at breakfast Funny looking faces she mak...

You can purchase Rose Gardens and Minefields online (at a reasonable price) by visiting the following sites: http://www.bookvook.com/book/details/rose-gardens-and-minefields-23-99314.html#3 http://www.a1books.co.in/rose-gardens-minefields/itemdetail/9380154798/ http://www.flipkart.com/rose-gardens-minefields-vivek-pereira-book-9380154794 http://books.rediff.com/book/rose-gardens-and-minefields/vivek-pereira/ISBN:9789380154794/96796185 http://www.infibeam.com/Books/rose-gardens-minefields-vivek-pereira/9789380154794.html http://www.simplybooks.in/rose-gardens-minefields-vivek-pereira-book-isbn-9789380154794-98916 http://www.africanwriter.com/store/100-10313-9380154798-Rose_Gardens_and_Minefields.html http://www.amazon.com/Rose-Gardens-Minefields-Vivek-Pereira/dp/9380154798/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1295517055&sr=1-4

Rose Gardens and Minefields, a  collection of my finest poems, short stories and essays was published last month. This book was published by Leadstart/Frogbooks. It's a must-read. It will entertain and enlighten you. It shreds the veil from the face of the Dark Age. No, I'm not referring to the past dark ages but the present one where people blindly follow dictators, tyrants, terrorists, other fools (politicians, religious nuts, etc), instincts, and the evil path. Yes, the earth has become more hellish than hell itself. We use our logic in a warped manner to justify horrendous acts of violence, genocide, murder, infanticide, etc and we think we are smart. For example, oh he's a poor farmer living below the poverty line...he had to kill his young daughter because he could n't afford her dowry. If you were in his place, you would understand....Understand, my foot. This is precisely the Dark Ages, I m talking about as there is a thick cloud of bigotry ...

I have been picking up and browsing, treading my way carefully through the minefields, yet taking time to smell the fragrance of the roses. I found it to be a delightful collection – a veritable ’bhel puri’, a combination of political, religious, moral values to satisfy all tastes and appetites. I was impressed by your reflections in the poems ‘Philosophy of life’, ’Pleasure’, ’Love’ ’ Dreamer’, Thinking,’ and the touch of humour in, ’Trying to enter Heaven,’ and ‘The Husband’ and the note of sadness in ’Agony’ and ‘Night after Christmas’. The essays ’Sport in India’ gives a good insight into Indian sport and Indian sporting legends past and present. ’Tryst with Destiny’ gives a sweeping view of Indian history and the hopes and expectations of a nation while your ‘Mumbai for all’ reveals a true Maharashtrian-East Indian spirit and love for our culture and heritage….I could go on…however, I will conclude by saying that the book as you so well said in your introduction is a literary coll...

The demise of Sunil Poolani, the executive director and editorial head of the Fiction division of Leadstart Publishing, is definitely a tremendous blow to the publishing business in Mumbai. It is also a huge loss for writers like myself who had received support and guidance from this extremely helpful person. Despite his busy schedule, Sunil would always find time to talk to us or send an email regarding our queries or reservations. Yes, we will miss him a lot. When I heard the sad news  from Douglas Misquita, the author of Haunted (an amazing novel), I simply could not believe it as Sunil was in his early Forties. Yet he had achieved a lot in this relatively short period of existence. He had transformed the publishing landscape in Mumbai by giving opportunities to aspiring writers of English fiction and non-fiction. Any writer worth his salt in these genres would know how difficult it is to get published in Mumbai where publishers prefer to publish ...