2 States: The Story of my Marriage

Rating: 4 stars!

Style: Excellent

Content: Nothing you haven't watched in Hindi films before

With this book, Chetan Bhagat has come back to what he does best- Humour!

And after a long time, it's fun to read some good, clean comedy- no slapstick, no cheap cracks... just good fun. Especially for all MBA students- this book will definitely take you back to college with the very first scene! It will remind you of your first job (which most probably you hated as much as the protagonist does) and it will definitely make you laugh with it's subtle jokes about the Punjabi and the Madrasi (oops.. Tamilian) community :)

In the end, the book did come across as a tad bit long and there was an overdose of gyan about unity in diversity and how we should be united etc.

Yet, overall I would definitely recommend the book to people. It's a sure shot for those who want some light reading.

Off the Shelf

Xelf has recently been written about in the Indian Express.

The article is given below-

In these recession-hit times, watching a film in a multiplex will seem like a bit of an indulgence. Buying a stack of CDs and DVDs of your favourite films and pop artists may also be considered ostentatious. Indeed, if we can’t buy movies, and music, what do we do with our leisure time instead? Maybe visit an online book rental website?

Xelf, a website created by two city-based entrepreneurs promises to make your book-reading experience and affordable and hassle-free one. “Xelf is the first online book rental library in Kolkata. We have an exhaustive collections of paperbacks and hard-covers which can be delivered directly to your house, without the need to purchase. The delivery and pick-up is free and there are no late fees,” informs Ridhi Agarwal, co-founder of the website.

Xelf was created by Ridhi and her friend Amit Agarwal, with one motto- to offer a cost effective, convenient online service to the book lovers of the city where they can read more and save money. “The reason why we started Xelf was simple- we felt that there was a need for something like this in Kolkata- where people are culturally rich and yet they might not have the time to visit a library themselves. They just reserve the books online and we deliver them. We are already working with various schools and colleges in Kolkata to plan corporate memberships for their students,” says Ridhi.

Ridhi and Amit decided to fall back on word-of-mouth publicity to promote this website. “Our friends were very helpful.At the same time we have been very active on Orkut/Facebook,” says Ridhi. The entire funding for Xelf was done from both their savings. “Xelf has been running since the last 2 months and the response from Kolkata has been very good and we have great expectations from this city. Once we have created a sizeable base here, we plan to start operations in other cities like Durgapur, Bhubaneshwar, Guwahati ,” sums up Ridhi.

You can become a member of Xelf by registering yourself at www.xelf.in