The Bund, Shanghai, China

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Recently I got a this great opportunity to visit the beautiful city, Shanghai. It's a wonderful city with many tourist attractions.
The Bund is one of the best places one can visit in Shanghai. It's a waterfront on the bank of river Huangpo on the western side. We can see many buildings on this stretch of a mile with great historical & architectural importance. The best part I liked was the waterfront. No doubt, it's crowded over the weekends, but it's a nice place to have a nice walk with cool breeze & glittering buildings on either side of the river. The Bund faces the Pudong area which is the other side of the river having the yet another tourist attraction, Oriental Pearl Tower.
This reminded me of the Lakeshore drive of Chicago actually. If one is in Shanghai, then I recommend to have this place at the top of the list to visit.

Can love happen twice?

This is the sequel to 'I too had a love story' in which Ravin loses his love, Khushi in a tragic accident. 

After this loss, Ravin finds it difficult to come to terms. Deciding to move on with his life, he travels to Belgium on one of his project requirements. There he finds Simar, who is pursuing her MBA there, and starts getting acquainted with her. As he starts getting close to her and getting attached, many things comes to his mind questioning his loyalty with his past. Considering this as a second chance he moves on with the relation with Simar. Simar was overwhelmed when she finds about Khushi from him. He asks her to read his book 'I too had a love story' written in remembrance of his first love. She was moved with this and in fact brought her closer to him. Ravin falls in love the second time.

But one fine day, Ravin is told of his project moving to offshore because of which he has to return to India. This news comes hard to both of them but they decide to keep things going by being in constant touch and moreover finding solace in the fact that Simar is due to finish her MBA in few more months. 

Back to India, Ravin finds it difficult to be away from her during his initial days but slowly get back to his routine as even Simar gets busy with her internship. And now when they start deciding about their future, difference in opinion develops and things turn sour. Ravin finds Simar to be totally a different person now with her new demands and future plans but tries hard to bring the relationship back on track. His efforts go in vein and Ravin's life goes for a toss when he eventually couldn't do anything to bring her back in his life.
This story is narrated by Ravin's friends in a radio show where they were invited including Ravin, who couldn't turn up, to talk about the success story of 'I too had a love story'.

There were few things which I liked a lot like the truth-or-dare game Ravin and Simar play. The author was inconsistent with few others like when she creates a scene after getting drunk in a restaurant and never talk about it any time later not even the next day. I had thought the feathers which Simar had gifted him would be used for some good later in the story, with the importance given to it, but that didn't happen. I also felt the twist brought at the end of the story was a misfit, just because of the way the story had built up.
Nonetheless a good read perhaps not as good as 'I too had a love story'.

I too had a love story

One not-so-fine day, bored with the activities in office, I decided to shop online. I went through few newly released books and then I happened to stop at the book by Ravinder Singh, 'Can love happens twice?'. It was quite sometime, I was searching for his first book 'I too had a love story' with my friends as I had read good reviews about it. So I went ahead and ordered both of his above mentioned books. The books were delivered in couple of days and was happy to get back to reading during my bus commute.

"Tere jaane ka asar kuch aisa hua mujh par,

tujhe dhoondate dhoondate, maine khud ko paa liya"

The book starts with these nice words and was quite apparent from this, and with few prior reviews, that I'm up for a true love story with a sad ending. The story is about Ravin and Khushi who happen to meet in a matrimonial site and suddenly in no time get close to each other over phone and eventually fall in love. They soon find themselves smitten with one another that they cannot wait to talk to each other even if it just for few minutes at the end of day. They decide to marry before meeting even for once. The magical love had cast its spell on them. After many days of talking over the phone, life gives them a chance to meet up.
The author then takes us through this wonderful rendezvous; the airport scene where they meet for the very first time, where he totally gets lost in her beauty, his introduction to her folks at her place and the drama that follows where Ravin & Khushi had to lie to her mom and escape in order to spend some quality time with each other. Not to forget the eventful journey they encounter while returning to home.
Life was beautiful for them now. Everything was falling in place as per their plans. Their parents met and decided on the engagement and the marriage. Everyone was getting ready with the engagement preparations which was due in couple of days time and that's when something terrible happened. When one was experiencing a beautiful fairy tale, fate decides to show the bitter side of life. A wonderful love story ends with a very sad note.


The author has given the readers with enough romantic substance to feel for, humour and drama to enjoy and a lot of genuine sentiments and emotions that makes one cry. And one can spare the author with his first book for trying too hard at just few instances.
I enjoyed this wonderful, simple and touching story.