21 January, 2014

India Only #Giveaway :: The Homing Pigeons by Sid Bahri


Aditya and Radhika meet in school in Chandigarh, like each other but take separate paths soon after. They meet again as trainees of the same organization and profess their liking for each other. Radhika consents to her parents’ wish of marrying her to a rich NRI to save Aditya from taking wrong career decisions because of his love for her. 

Both are unhappy. Radhika’s marriage doesn’t last, nor does Aditya’s performance at work, which he manages to save, just in time. They meet again when he helps Radhika find a job after her divorce. They plan to get married, but Aditya’s parents refuse to accept a Hindu divorcee for their Sikh family. Aditya changes his behaviour, to enable Radhika to move away from him, which includes his insistence on Radhika’s aborting his child and his indifference thereafter. 

She moves to another city and marries a rich widower to spite Aditya, while he marries the girl of his parent’s choice after a brief stint with working abroad. Both marriages are disasters; Aditya gets divorced when his wife finds out that he is working as a gigolo after having lost his job in peak recession time, and Radhika’s husband passes away. Radhika’s friend Divya, who had also initiated Aditya into this whole ‘business’, insists her to meet Aditya for his ‘services’. They meet, make up, and get married. They settle at Ranikhet, teaching children values they had not managed to learn themselves. 

Note: This synopsis is linear narration; the story is not. It travels to and fro in time zones, in narrating stories from the perspective of both protagonists and putting the story across, almost poetically.


You can check my review of the Book :: The Homing Pigeons

'Grab it to enjoy this fantastic, and an altogether different kind of love story.' ~ Says Jaideep on Goodreads
'Everyone will Enjoy this book. Trust me it is a page turner. I truly recommend to all my readers to Purchase this book and Read it.' ~ Says Himani on Goodreads
'It is this realism that’s weaved so beautifully which manages to keep you hooked to the story.' ~ Says Amrit Sinha on Goodreads
'Kudos to Sid for comin out with this kind of a simple yet effectively narrated book.' ~ Says Vijaya Bharati on Amazon
'I admired how boldly the words flow and engage the heart and mind of the readers. I was initially afraid how Mr.Sid Bahri is going to end the story. But the execution was neat, justifiable and not overhyped. Overall, a remarkably brilliant , modern tragedy. The writing is flawless but the characters aren't.' ~ Says Infantina on Amazon


I was born in Gauhati, Assam in 1978 but my family moved to Chandigarh in 1980 in the aftermath of the ethnic rioting. My initial schooling was in Chandigarh (St. John’s High School and Vivek High School) and Delhi(Don Bosco) until I, barely, passed out of high school. I studied Hotel Management in Chandigarh but chose not to follow it as a profession. Instead, I joined GE Capital as a Process Associate - a fancy title for a tele-calling executive. Over the next thirteen years, I ascended the corporate ladder, a rung at a time, until I had worked with Aegis, Citibank and Serco in senior positions.

At each step of the veritable ladder, I questioned my existence and the work that I was doing. When the question became too frequent, I knew it was time to change course. Given that I was the General Manager of a division of Serco’s BPO arm in India, and successful, it was a difficult decision to break away from the rat race. But, I did. I currently live in the hills of Kumaon in a place called Majkhali, about twelve kilometres east of Ranikhet.

I wouldn’t have been able to make the move if it weren’t for my wife Puneet’s support and help. She encouraged me to write, even when I was in a full time job. I wrote by night and worked by day until I thought that I had a manuscript that I could send for publishing: The Homing Pigeons… 

Homing Pigeons was started in 2008, but it went into cold storage because I was too busy earning a living. A sort of living that filled the coffers but starved the soul. It was only in early 2012 that my soul revolted and refused to starve any longer. It was a decision of the heart to thaw the book and remove it from the dark confines of the cold storage. I leave it to you to decide if it is worth the pain.


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Giveaway
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