Book launch of my novels at the BilgramiAuditorium named after my father Prof.K. S.Bilgrami
My dream to launch my books at the ‘Bilgrami Auditorium‘ of PG department of Botany TM Bhagalpur University and visit the ‘Bilgrami Botanical Garden’ finally came true. The auditorium is named after my late father Professor Krishna Sahay Bilgrami, emeritus professor and ex Pro Vice Chancellor of Bhagalpur University. Father was the architect and founder of this department & had placed this institution on the map of India and world as it soared high in research. It was an emotional journey as we fondly remembered him, shared about his journey and how it inspired my own journey. Loved meeting our old associates and see the department flourishing well. Father Prof. K.S. Bilgrami was a great visionary who founded this department half a century back and was dedicated to high quality research encompassing and not limited to plant sciences including plant physiology, pathology, biotechnology, ecology, medicinal plants, biodiversity etc. Almost half a century back it was a melting pot to world renowned Botanists who converged here for All India conferences and fully appreciated his efforts. Was happy to see young enthusiastic students putting their best to carry forward the research and studies . Father’s aura still lives on and I wish the department continues to contribute to research and development in days to come.
I am grateful to Dr. Ajoy Kumar Choudhary , his student , current HOD who is dedicated to Bamboo tissue culture research, for organising a lovely interactive session with students and learned professors like Prof. K. K. Sinha, Dr. Sanjay Jha, ex Dean Prof. Uday Mishra, Prof. Rajeev Mullick , ex Pro Vice Chancellor, Patliputra University among others. I visited the premises after a long gap of 28 years . A sea of emotions surged and I was soaked in nostalgia.
The event was covered in newspapers ‘Dainik Bhaskar and Prabhat Khabar.’ I left Bhagalpur with bags full of happy memories. Could not meet several close people at Bhagalpur as had visited for a couple of days and had back to back events at the medical college and the department.
Signed copies of Blue Jeans are available at GRANTHALAYA bookstore of Bhagalpur. Amazon link is given in bio. #bookstagram #ProfKSBilgrami #tmbu #PGBotany #booklaunch #DrManishaSaxena #BlueJeansBook #NatalFault #Bilgrami #BilgramiAuditorium #BilgramiBotanicalGarden
Hey! Kindle edition of Blue Jeans is now available world wide. So get it delivered on a click.
Blue Jeans has been endorsed by leading journalists of India and has been well received by readers.
Endorsements and blurb of the book Blue Jeans:
Endorsements
A high voltage thriller set in an oceanic paradise, Blue Jeans sends the blood fizzing with its thrilling twists and turns!
Vinita Dawra Nangia, – Executive Editor, The Times of India
An intriguing plot, slow-burning mystery with action, energy and gutsy suspense. A must read.
Nona Walia, Journalist & Author.
Blurb
Jean, a beautiful blonde, sets foot in Goa and then mysteriously changes hotels and guises. Susan, a French tourist staying at Jean’s hotel, is found unconscious on the Baga beach. Casa Rio, a 450 year old Portuguese villa, converted into a lively hotel after the last land lady Amelia Rodrigues’ demise, thirteen years ago, suddenly comes into prominence. Who is Jean and what interests her in Goa? Is she an Indian albino or there is a mystery behind her origins? Is Banerjee, the handsome traveller Jean meets at a high end discotheque, trustworthy or a notorious drug peddler?
Enmeshed in intrigues, the plot twists between Susan’s case and Jean’s mission. Set in the gorgeous state of Goa with mesmerizing beaches, magnificent villas and rave parties, Blue Jeans is wrapped in mystery and mystique with a strong and bold storyline.
Click on the link below to go through the sample chapter of high voltage thriller ‘Blue Jeans’set in Goa.
How to increase your baby’s weight ?
Raising healthy kids is a matter of concern for families as we observe in our patients. So here are some tips on healthy diet for babies. Raise your kids with confidence .
How to increase your baby’s weight ? Raising healthy kids is a matter of concern for families as we observe in our patients. So here are some tips on healthy diet for babies. Watch on my YouTube and raise your kids with confidence .
Blue Jeans is a high octane thriller novel set in the oceanic paradise of Goa.
Dear readers and booklovers of the world,
With immense joy, I share that my second novel, a suspense thriller titled Blue Jeans, which is set in Goa has been released worldwide in the first week of April, 2022 via Amazon.
The book has been endorsed by leading journalists and authors like Vinita Dawra Nangia, Executive Editor The Times of India and Nona Walia journalist and author. Also it has been picked up for Book to Screen representation by The Story Ink.
On the very first day of Preorder it ranked #3 among Thrillers and Suspense at amazon.in
Blue Jeans at #3 in Hot New Releases in Thrillers and Suspense.
I have had two physical book launches of the same and an online book launch at the Kalinga Literary Festival. Sharing here the book cover and the YouTube link of the book launch . Do watch, get insight into the book, pick it up , read , enjoy and review it at amazon.
I hope you love the mystery woven around . As an author I always desired to put forth an enchanting book for the readers and here it is.
Also sharing the amazon links of getting Blue Jeans delivered at your doorstep.
Hi all!
Excited to share that Blue Jeans now goes international.
So all avid readers in the group outside India can pick up copies of suspense thriller ‘Blue Jeans’ from any of the links below.
A doctor desires to save and cure more and more lives while an author enlightens readers with a different philosophy, viewpoint or plot. When the two fuse, it’s surely a passionate prescription.
A Passionate Prescription
Anton Chekhov, the great Russian playwright once famously said, “Medicine is my lawful wife and literature is my mistress.”
Blue Jeans, my suspense thriller is available at amazon
With the publication of my second book, a high octane crime thriller titled ‘Blue Jeans‘, my thoughts wander to all the great doctors, who penned amazing books, which readers enjoy till date. All these doctor authors are my inspirations and as I take tiny steps into the world of literature, I pray God to bless me so that I am able to weave stories and keep up their name.
From writing prescriptions to heal the maladies to writing tales that heal the souls; from weilding the scalpel to cut across tissues or plugging in the stethoscope to hear the beating heart; to using the pen or keyboard to pour out expressions or listen to the symphony of life through naked ears sans the stetho; some doctors do have that knack to swivel smoothly from prescribing medicines to weaving tales. And believe me whenever the compassionate doctor, who brushes past the corridors of pain and death, takes to writing, the tales, poetry or prose ooze out deepest emotions. It’s not always morbid, but the doctor is wittiest at humour, sharp at bending a thriller, deft enough to weave a science fiction, create drama out of mundane or knit a literary fiction. Reading is a necessary prerequisite to writing. Thick volumes of medical books naturally make doctors avid readers, so books never intimidate doctors and the physicians with a flair for reading naturally make good writers. These passion driven writings or prescriptions for that matter have enlightened readers since years. Belonging to the world of both doctors and writers, I have been an ardent admirer of the let’s call ‘penning doctors’ since my early days. Be it the classic writing ‘The Vicar of Wakefield’ of Oliver Goldsmith or the lyrical poetry, ‘Ode to a Nightingale’ by the inimitable John Keats; the short stories of Russian doc Anton Chekhov; detective thrillers of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; the touching volume ‘Of human Bondage’, by Somerset Maugham; among the more classic ones or the later doc writers A. J. Cronin of ‘The Citadel’ fame; Michael Crichton, who earned laurels for ‘Jurassic Park’ or the master of medical thrillers Robin Cook; modern great Khaled Hosseini, who weaves heart rending tales from Afghanistan ; or the biographical and autobiographical works of Siddhartha Mukherjee and Paul Sudhir Kalanithi; docs have enriched literature with their quality works. Balai Chand Mukhopadhyay ‘Banaphul‘, a Bengali novelist and short story writer was an alumnus of Calcutta Medical College and worked as a pathologist in Bhagalpur, Bihar.
So when reading was a passion, writers were naturally always held in awe by me and unwittingly I embarked into this passionate journey of words and emotions although my own profession of paediatrician was replete with emotional tales of a different order.
My earliest literary pursuits date back to the short story, ‘His Possession’ published in the silver jubilee edition of the school magazine of Mount Carmel School, Bhagalpur. Later there were trysts with poetry and articles confined mainly to school and college journals at JLN Medical College. With the onset of digital boom I started blogging on @ibncj i. e. Citizen Journalist, CNN IBN. Somewhere though a desire to be a published author sparked and my debut novel ‘Natal Fault’ was born. Natal Fault is the story of two parallel worlds set in different time spans.The obsession with the difficult times of history during the World War II ; involvement with the miseries of patients of the degenerative diseases like dementia, the discrepancies that hit the medical education; the social divide and parallax which segregate humans, many times on basis of their birth; the existence of warring groups, societies even nations which owe their allegiance to different geographies again on basis of their birth; led me to knit a unique tale which binds the two worlds and resonates with Indian society as it spans almost seventy years. And come to think of it, ironically no one ever had any control on his or her own birth. But it is essentially the ‘Natal Fault’ of a child born in an underprivileged society which holds him or her back from reaching a mark he or she could only dream of. Natal Fault is thus a germinal idea around which the novel revolves in several layers of fiction. The socio-political grain of the novel is inspired from the prevailing structure and lives in our own society. Thus the novel is set in the fictional town of ‘Jeerulot’ which is representative of any B class town of our country with its attached morbidities. The name Jeerulot itself was inspired by the existing commonplace names of small hamlets of ‘Haldar’, ‘Haldarva’, ‘Hinglot’, as not a few metropolitan cities but the conglomerate of such towns actually make the Indian nation. Soldiers have been vital to a society since time immemorial and their unaccomplished love stories are equally intriguing. So love in times of turbulent wars was something that haunted me perpetually. I had to bring out that emotion and portray that pristine, everlasting love which was above all physical relations. Natal Fault is thus a passionate tale which tugs at the sensitive areas of human bonds and social norms. This was my debut attempt at writing a novel so readers might find some omissions but a writer continues to evolve and so shall I. In my second novel Blue Jeans, thus I have tried my hands at an entirely different genre and woven a more fast paced detectivecrimethriller. Mysteries had been my love since childhood. Thus weaving a mysterious plot and carving a thriller was a challenge I adored to accomplish. Hope readers would love it too. This one though set in Goa, India, explores a hitherto untouched storyline. Look forward to readers’ love for Blue Jeans .
The last couple of years have witnessed doctors working round the clock, fighting the pandemic and this period would enrich literature with some great tales oozing with passion in years to come.
A doctor desires to save and cure more and more lives while an author enlightens readers with a different philosophy, viewpoint or plot. When the two fuse, it’s surely a passionate prescription for the soul.
When the soul soaks in ecstatic enchantment.
Beyond dubeity ’tis love on a pinnacle
Virtuous, eternal, bewitching, divine and spiritual!
When the soul soaks in ecstatic enchantment. Beyond dubeity ’tis love on a pinnacle Virtuous, eternal, bewitching, divine and spiritual!
Few months ago I was asked by my literary friend Dr. Vijayalaxmi, to contribute to an anthology she was compiling and the subject was something which was above the physical form of being. Relating to the spirit and soul, the theme required to be pertaining to abstract and eternal.
I hadn’t forayed into this territory before but was nevertheless struck by the depth of it. So the very next moment I said I shall write something about love.
Love, the very abstract emotion is boundless in magnitude and pattern. Wars have been waged over love and lives have been lost just for love. Speaking of the pattern some say…. it’s true love. Well love is love, true or fabricated are only conditional phenomena which can be multifactorial. So unconditional love essentially radiates. It is devoid of any medium, any intention for that matter and hence sublime.
The untrapped, untamed soul or spirit which is abstract itself encompasses and is soaked in this flavour of love.
The shades of love have a vast spectrum ranging from obsessive, unrequited, requited, publicly displayed, unexpressed , immature, mature, infatuation, even sadomasochistic. It defies the rules of gender, age, nationality or perhaps species too. It is spontaneous, certainly not pretentious.
If you love a relaxed reading , this book is for you. Link is shared below.
But at the pinnacle of all, is certainly the one which is sustained in spirit and soul inspite of and despite anything or reason, it just prevails. This becomes metaphysical, divine and spiritual indeed. So sharing here my poem ‘LOVE ON A PINNACLE‘ now published in the beautiful anthology ‘Pause and Pen Whispers of theSoul’ along with three of my other poems, I WAS INYOU, IT ROSE FROM THE ASHES and I AM THE SPIRIT. There are a score of other talented writers too who have contributed poems, articles and short stories to the same. Also daughter, Shaurya has contributed two poems, I FOR INTANGIBILITY and PERSPECTIVELY YOURS.
‘It dismayed me to see these faces standing lost and lonely over the the heap of their own shed intellect. Alas! This autumn would not again bear green leaves..
‘It dismayed me to see these faces standing lost and lonely over the the heap of their own shed intellect. Alas! This autumn would not again bear green leaves….pg 139 Natal Fault’ – A sensitive tale of love, war with undercurrents of medical fiction. Do read a couple of pages from my novel Natal Fault and get your copies from Amazon.
World Alzheimer’s Day 2021: On September 21, the world acknowledges the day with the goal of raising awareness of the disease, common symptoms and risk factors.
Alzheimer’s disease is an irreversible, degenerative brain condition that gradually affects memory and thinking skills, as well as the ability to do even the most basic tasks.
Raise awareness and be compassionate.
Click on the link above for fully experiencing the joy of watching elephants.
August 12, is World Elephant Day . To express my love and admiration for the Elephant, a magnificent creation of God I share this video from my YouTube. This was taken at the Chiang Dao Elephant camp, Thailand and we were amazed to see that this giant beauty could even paint. I wish elephants both in captivity and the wild are treated well and elephant poaching strictly prohibited. Happy World Elephant Day !#WorldElephantDay #drmanishasaxena #travelogue #travelphotography #travelgram #travelblogger
Travel diaries from bejewelled green Wilson Hill ensconced in northern extents of Western Ghats
Even though I have been living in Gujarat for almost 27 years now I was unaware of a remote hill getaway, which actually forms a part of the northernmost stretch of the mighty and sprawling Western Ghats which roll along the west coast of India.
As the pandemic tended to wane and the weather became a bit more congenial with July gathering more moist winds and surrounds blooming verdant, the family desired an outing more so with the birthday of youngest one falling on a Sunday.
Yet to utter dismay of all the nearby beaches of Ubharat, Daman were closed on weekends to avoid large gatherings and break the chain of spread of deadly corona. Not wanting to tour the oft visited places in the vicinity I turned to Google to get some inklings. It was then Wilson Hill popped up in the list. Sounding somewhat exotic and a never before heard of place, it became the destination of choice unanimously for the pleasure of exploring.
Located it on the map, enquired a bit about the roadways leading there from friends who we found out had farms near the place and got set to depart early next morning.
Luckily this year rainfall has only been only mild so that flooding of roads was not feared and the smooth tarmac had not yet given way to potholes.
Deeper delving into the history of the place revealed that these hills were named by the erstwhile last king of the princely state of Dharampur, VijayDevji who dedicated it after Lord Leslie Orme Wilson, the Governor of Bombay from 1923 to 1928. Vijay Devji, a great patron of art and culture, even built a museum and named it as Lady Wilson museum after lady Winfred May Smith, wife of Lord Wilson. Coincidentally 1st of August, the day we visited the place was also late Lord Wilson’s birthday.
It was Vijay Devji’s ardent desire to develop Wilson Hills as a hill station for which he held talks with Lord Wilson but this plan couldn’t materialize. Hence to this day we witness unspoilt virgin natural charm of lush green forests, gently undulating hills embracing thick tufts of floating clouds, mighty cascading water falls and above all petrichor laden fresh cool breeze.
Wilson Hill can be reached after steep climb of sixteen switchbacks measuring long twenty kilometres from the foothills at Dharampur tehsil, Valsad district of Gujarat, India. Monsoons lend special charm and ooze a newfound vigour among travellers. The way itself is a resplendent delight marked with tiled roof houses, vast expanse of green paddy fields, herds of cows, buffaloes and scampering chicks, fowls and young children rolling along tyres. If you crave to satiate your drooling tongue and hunger panging tummy, you can have masala sprinkled boiled corn, freshly fried pakoras and of course the ubiquitous tea. Yes, chicken centres serving hot dhaba style desi chicken curry are aplenty on the way to the top.
So this winding path ultimately ends at the top of the hill where a historic chhatri offers a panoramic view of the place and Arabian sea far down beyond. This is said to be one of the few places in the world where sea is seen from the hill.
Carry umbrellas as rains precipitate every few seconds when dark clouds strike the hills and trees.
Don’t miss to visit the mighty SankarWaterfalls in the heart of the forests. Pangarbari Wildlife sanctuary is also nearby. The roads are excellent and all viewpoints easily approachable.
The fiery red Rhododendrons & their literary equivalent
So on way to Shimla by toy train I witnessed these beauteous fiery red flowers blooming in the wild amidst tall pine trees and enchanting the enamoured travellers. My family and I kept our eyes wide open just in case we don’t lose sight of any of these wildly scattered shrubs with real crimson delights blooming unsung among the tall pines. I even had the camera on so that I could trap its beauty for eternity in my gallery as the train chugged by. We wondered as to the name of this beauty lost in the woods and later much to my amazement, came to know that these were Rhododendron arboreum also known as Burans, Laligurans and sometimes Rebecca flowers which mainly grow in cold hillyterrains.
I had actually longed to see these magnificent flowers since the time I read ‘Rebecca‘ as they are an integral part in the description of ‘Manderley Castle’ in the much loved and intriguing novel ‘Rebecca‘ by Dame Daphne du Maurier.
The blood-red rhododendrons along with the white azaleas were cultivated by Rebecca. The menacing red rhododendrons definitely make us think of Rebecca’s spilled blood and even foreshadow the red flames of Manderley burning at the end of the novel.
Both dominate Manderley, at least from Mrs. de Winter’s point of view. The rhododendrons were all over the property, and various things owned by Rebecca held their scent. The rhododendrons literally represented wild, uncontrollable nature of nevertheless utterly beautiful Rebecca herself.
So for me it was sheer joy to embrace its beauty on the wild Himalayan slopes. No wonder one is awestruck at the sight of blazing red blossoms which are so inviting and enchanting. Daphne du Maurier has truly selected the flowers in her literary sojourn more so as they have a striking resemblance to her character.
#rhododendrons #Rebecca #Manderley #daphnedumaurier #drmanishasaxena #dr_manisha_saxena #shimladiaries #shimla #himalayan #flowers🌸 #literature #beauty #nature #travelblog #travelogue #lonelyplanetindia #
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