Syahi, The Power of pen: a review

10 wonderful writers, one successful anthology, edited by Aman Sharma and Nehali Lalwani, foreword by Vinit K Bansal (I am heartless, Wo chali gayi and uff ye emotions fame), yes, I am talking about Syahi- The Power of Pen. A beautiful saga of short stories, and an aptly chosen name, this anthology is undoubtedly one of its kind in this genre. The concept of bringing all budding authors at one place in itself is a very nice concept. Coming to the book, the book has two very beautifully designed covers designed by Sunill Kaushik and the covers are very wisely designed according to the book. Each and every story has a charm of its own. I would like to go one on one for this book.

Starting with the very first story by Apoorva Arora, An odyssey of Discovering life... again- This story is indeed one of my favorite

stories from the book. Very beautifully penned and described story, Apoorva has done a really good job in penning this down.

Better Late than never by Hitakshi Bawa- The feel of sweet, innocent and successful love of Aakriti and Viraat is an inspiration to many such lovers who feel nervous before proposing anyone. It has a very moral to the story which tells the readers that one should never let a moment of happiness go and one should always listen to his/her heart.

Letting Go and It’s never too late by Aman Sharma- Apart from editing and compiling the book, Aman has penned down two very beautiful stories for the book. Letting go deals with the pain in the heart when one decides to let the love of his life go but for the betterment of their future. It’s never too late is a beautiful story of love which has a moral that it is never too late to be with the person who you loved forever. Both the stories have very strong feelings described in them that too in a very beautiful manner.

26/11-A dark twilight and A lesson for life by Nehali Lalwani- Editing the book might have been a very hectic work but still she has written two very strong stories for the book. 26/11 is the story of maybe just another life whose family was ruined in the incident of 26/11, whose life can never be the same after that. Both her stories portrays life in a very strong form.

Life a vague mystery by Khushi Gupta- At times in life, we make decisions according to what we see or what we feel to be right, but it is not necessary that what we decide is always correct. We should always see the other side of every story. Khushi, here, shows the very concept in a very beautiful form with an example of a family. The story leaves your heart filled with emotions.

Shattered Tatters and You amaze me by Ayush Agarwal- Both the stories show what life is all about. I would term Ayush as one of the finest writers of this anthology. These two stories being my super favorite. Having a very beautiful flow of writings, the writer can show even the hardest of emotions in a very subtle form.

Sometimes its not simple and That night @ 12 by Neoni D’souza-Again, one of the strongest writers of this book, Neoni has done a commendable job in both the stories. The revenge portrayed in her first story was well executed in a written form whereas the pure beautiful soul in the second one was worth a read. Her writing style being very simple yet sober, she knows what magic words can do.

The survivor- U’khand food disaster and To be hanged till death by Omung Goyal- Depicting humanity in the form of words is a very difficult task to take over but still, Omung has done a wonderful job in both the stories. The incident of U’khand food disaster in the words of a survivor was a beautiful read. The second story shows that humanity actually exists in the world. Both the stories have a wonderful mix of human emotions which makes them a good read.

3 Sins by Salli Shah and It all Started with a key by Shrutee Parekh- The sins of being a girl child, life this is what the theme of the story 3 sins is. The truth of many household in today's time of being a girl child is very well described by Salli in her story. It all started with a key by Shrutee also deals with one of the important part of the society. The pure love of a person is very rarely found in today's time but love still exists above all, this is what the story is about.

Among the negativity of the book, I would say, one more round of editing was needed because there are a few grammatical errors in the book. Nonetheless, I would like to congratulate all the authors for writing such a beautiful work and to Aman Sharma and Nehali Lalwani again for compiling a beautiful collection of stories. I would like to give this anthology all in all a 4 out of 5 and wish them luck hoping for many more to come.