It is not meaning that the individual searches for in their life, but at the ground level, what the person is seeking is hope, life-lessons, the truth and a dash of motivation every now and then. All this search makes one feel a sense of fulfilment in their life. Learning is a part of life and man’s quest for life-lessons will never cease until death. Presenting you a collection of short stories, which is an attempt to make you see life and its subtle messages through a different lens.

    But the scenic Villagio Hotel hides a dark and bizarre secret. Check-in Checkout is the story of those secrets. Behind the renovated majestic façade, laminated polished exteriors, fresh-smelling and brightly painted rooms lie old, rotting innards, musty corners and creepy crevices. The place houses some chilling horrors, seething in unknown corners, which stir to life in the darkness of night. Between check-in and check-out, the guests of the Villagio Hotel experience blood-curdling horrors.This book will take you on a thrilling ride, with ten gripping stories depicting different genres of horror – urban legends, revenge spirits, gore, modern-day haunting, psychological horror & satanicpractices. Come uncover the grisly and ghastly tales of the travellers who visited the Villagio Hotel from different parts of the world.But remember! In this hotel, you are not alone…someone somewhere is always watching you!WOULD YOU DARE TO STAY A NIGHT?

    Each story digs into one of the five period related problems: Pain | Staining | Sexual Inhibition | PMS | Taboo, through each one's journey. The title signifies the second day of a woman's period, which is said to be the toughest of the five days. The stories are a reflection of the less acknowledged society around us. Through menstrual problems as a window, the book is an attempt to bring light to the intriguing yet briefly understood aspects of womanhood in different age groups.

    Nida is no different.Coming from a broken marriage, she dreams to spend her life in the arms of her lover. Reality, however, has other plans for her. As she goes through different phases in her life, she encounters various heart-wrenching experiences along the way; all in her journey to be a rebellious author. Turning to comfort in everyone she meets, trying to cope up with the betrayals of her most trusted friends, Nida understands what it means to be independent when it’s her against the world.From the late-night escapades with her boyfriend in the chills of Simla, to attending her mother’s marriage, to write about all the outrageous books, to adopting an orphan child; join Nida in Litany of Woes as she searches for love in all forms and to the realization that it is indeed just a word after all.

    But there is more to the stranger than what appears on the surface. A Train Story is a flash read (bite-sized stories) by Himanshu Goel, author of Tulsi and A Rational Boy in Love.

    Aamir an MBA graduate resides in Delhi. He was separated from his girlfriend Shikha during the Lucknow riots three years ago. Aamir has been living a depressed and a stressful life for the past three years. His best friend Bhaskar insists him to see a psychologist. Aamir decides to consult a psychologist named Samaira who is also a friend of Bhaskar. On the other side his mother wants him to get married and settle down in life. She is unaware about his affair with Shikha. Aamir shares his past with Samaira during his counselling sessions. After spending a lot of time with Aamir, Samaira also starts feeling strongly for him. She starts leaning towards him. Samaira also try to convince him to move on before sharing her feelings with him, but Aamir stays adamant on his decision and continues his search for Shikha. Aamir’s quest for Shikha guides him to beautiful Ladakh. But could Aamir find Shikha? What exactly happened during the riots that separated the true lovers? All the answers unfold in the climax of an enchanting love story.

    Three years later, a British National claims to know her whereabouts minutes before departing for London Heathrow. The Police of two states is pressed into a joint manhunt. ‘They Go to Sleep’ is a racy thriller on police procedure and criminal psychology. In the year 2043, when nobody sends a letter anymore, an unlikely candidate decides to write about his springtime memories that are soon going to be erased. When his identity gets revealed, the impact on several individuals and the society at large assumes epic proportions. ‘A Man of Letters’ is a science fiction with humane emotions at its core. A promising poet meets his muse on board a train. They share a captivating conversation but forget to ask each other’s name. Will they be able to meet again in an Indian metro? ‘What’s In a Name?’ is a humorous look at everything Bengali: gossip, fish, cutlets and the Kolkata Book Fair. These three stories are joined by nine equally exhilarating tales of ordinary people and the choices that they make under extraordinary circumstances. The compilation will surely compel the readers to keep their midnight lamps burning.

    More than a decade apart in age, they cannot help but feel attracted towards each other. However, can two people with such a vast age difference be compatible? Sometimes It Happens explores the fun and turmoil as they fall in love, get laughed at by their friends and then develop cold feet, thinking about the repercussions their age difference could have on their relationship. They say love is blind. So will two smart professionals decide to listen to their hearts or will they listen to their mind to avert what may be the biggest blunder of their lives?

    The stars may collude to bring you down. But God has a plan, always the best one for you. You need to trust it, live it and enjoy it.Amrit, an accomplished doctor with a fetching personality, blames himself for his wife Niharika’s death. He is stuck in his past.Arpita, a simple girl, fighting many complexes, cheated in her marriage, is not ready to trust anyone in life.The Stars, ever conspiring, bring them together. But can they be together for a lifetime? Is it facile for Amrit to let go off past? Is it possible for Arpita to trust someone again? Will Arpita ever be able to see herself through Amrit’s eyes? How do the stars conspire bring Niharika into their lives?Does the destiny unite them finally or push them away forever?

    With no future in Indian law enforcement, she turned to working alongside the law. Now running her own agency out of her claustrophobic basement, Rashmi is dying for a notable case and a big break.A wealthy entrepreneur with a troubled, drug-addicted son seems like the perfect client. But when Rashmi and her impetuous, barely-competent employees stumble into a Dark Web-based investment conspiracy, the detective knows she has kicked a hornet’s nest. Rashmi might just solve the case – but only if it doesn’t kill her, destroy her agency, or make her betray her father’s legacy one last time.

    It’s an elixir that rules the world !Aryan, a whizz-kid from New Delhi has topped the reputed Engineering entrance exam with Rank no. 1 and he joins a top-notch engineering college.He met with Ananya at the college fashion show. She aspires to become a successful model.Aryan got bowled over by Ananya’s hot drop gorgeous looks and nice as pie attitude. His seniors,batch-mates,friends and elder brother tried hard to advise and instruct him to have a successful ‘love affair’ with Ananya.Still, he failed miserably fifteen times and he was unable to express the three magic words to her. In the meantime,Aryan helps Ananya to achieve the success. Also, he unravels the troubled past of her. It makes him unravel the true meaning of love.What it means to be in a love affair.Could he find it?Would he be able to solve the chinese arithmetic called love?How did Uncle David as his Godfather help him in his endeavour?Could he find the real meaning of love?Which circumstances make him a rebel in Ananya’s love?Quotes from the book -“Two people can’t love each other , only their soul does!”“Love empowers you... if not so, you are really not in love!”"loneliness tastes like wine, and it intoxicates the human mind in a similar fashion!""Rejection never means denial. It means that one needs improvement.""He gave me new gifts every month that helped my heart buy his dreams so easily!""Heartbreaks and break-ups show the inner side of a person. Embrace them happily"." A day after a breakup teaches a lot more than a year of love. It's like a time travel machine. It needs life to understand love until you have a breakup""Love yourself first before getting lost in love!""The soul doesn't have a voice of its own, but it speaks a lot when you are sad or heart-broken"."Love that makes you forget, even yourself is just an attraction. It's not love. I thought at that time. Since then, I ignored the signals of the heart and followed my mind.""Aryan, Love becomes pure when it empowers both of you and that only makes true love"."A wounded girl with scars and wounds at her heart and soul will never appreciate the roses of valentine’s day by an amateur lover like me. She needs a character of a man strong enough to connect with her soul and let her heal".Bromance is the perfect anti-dote of a break-up.List of Chapters1. Love Infection2. An Imperfect Date3. Love Vs. Bromance4. Connecting the Dots5. A Girl with Scars6. Paris fashion show7. Two Birds in a cage8. A Fish in a Pond9. Stronger than Ever10.My Uncle’s Wisdom11.Fear of Fall12.Breaking the Cage13.Now a Celebrity14.A Friend indeed-- The Beginning --The shabby, worn-out door has a unique nameplate engraved on it - 'Sherlock Holmes at work: Do not disturb'. When you knock at it, you will be disappointed exactly like us, who get disappointed on proposing to any girl of this college on a Valentine's Day.Neither do the bell at the extreme left side of the door will do any favour to you as it has the ghost of a shy one-sided lover and it will not entertain you nor the hard-pressed knocks at the door would have any considerable effect.But, just step five or six steps backwards from the door, summon the aggression......From the Memory LaneIt is said- Honesty is the best policy. But, I would like to add something to it...Friendship and honesty are the best policy. It helps us in getting success in any relation without remorse and guilt. Life is short, don't waste time in ruining a relationship, instead of it; try to build rock-solid relationships on the ethos of friendship.True love always keeps us empowered and blessed. There can't be true love without the essence of friendship into it.Good Luck & thanks..

    Because let’s face it! We hoomans are obviously stupid and trust me unicorns are never wrong. Did you know? The horn of the unicorn symbolizes ultimate truth and it has the power to pierce the chest of anyone who tries to lie. Damn!‘Uuuuuuuunicornnnnnnnnnnnnn,’ I yawned, waking up, after being thrown back to our crap-shit called Earth.‘So fellow hoomans, let’s begin.’About the book:This book is a sarcastic and humorous take on various themes like love, life, humanity, healing, and heartbreak - expressed through 51 beautiful chapters of relatable quotes, musings and poems. It basically deals with what we humans go through on a day-to-day basis. Moreover, every chapter is accompanied by a unique and perfectly orchestrated author's rant or opinion focused on one single person; You.

    However there comes a time in every writer’s life when the need to have one’s work appreciated by others overcomes the reticence of their nature. With this book, I have reached the point where I can let you, the reader, enter. See me. Maybe some of the poems here will resonate with you, and that understanding, that secret “yes, I know what she means”, from a stranger, is what I seek.

    

    Control over law and order has long since passed from the hands of the administration to caste-based gangs and organized crime syndicates enjoying political patronage. Kidnapping has become one of the flourishing businesses of the state, while every other industry has dwindled down and the development plank has gone on a pause mode, on account of Rangdari, which is yet another booming business apart from contract killing, smuggling, illegal tree cutting, and vehicle snatching. Migration to other states is at peak: not only of big businessmen, but also of lowly laborers. And those who can’t leave the state are either sucked into the crime world or are forced to live under fear. Albeit the local newspapers everyday sketch the sordid saga of the state, the execrable condition is not likely to improve by any means in the near future. Digambar Babu, a middle-aged man of a small town Motihari (the place of Mahatma Gandhi's Champaran Satyagrah), is dejected and dismayed for his family falling apart, and so sets himself on a mission to make amends for the mistakes he has done in the past. Shakuntala Devi, his wife, infuriated at herself for having devoted her whole life selflessly and arduously for her ungrateful family, wants to make up for the injustice she has done to herself, by living the rest of her life selfishly. Sarvesh, their asthmatic son, whose first marriage perished about a decade ago, is still struggling with both his career and his married life, and Nisha, their daughter, is married to someone whom she thinks she will never be able to love. The biggest threat to the already troubled family is Nisha’s ex-lover Kanhaiya Tiwari, who is the youngest corporator of the town, and has sworn to ruin the family. Shyam, Nisha’s husband, who is ‘the absorber of the emotions’, in keeping with his fluidity, writhes in pain but transforms time and again, in order to win his wife’s heart, while Savita, Sarvesh’s current wife, colludes with Kanhaiya Tiwari in his evil intent, in order to have all the strings of the family in her hands. Benighted in Sodom, they weave their web of Karma, and fabricate their fates, but the biggest sufferer in the ruthless game of dominance and survival are the innocent children of the family.The story tries to draw parallels between Digambar Babu’s disarrayed family and the disordered town. The novel is inspired from the real events happened in the town during 90’s era of jungle-raaj.