My favorite Romantic Novel of 2011

Ashita, a new romantic novel written by author Kapiel Raaj, which is based on true events of his life, mixed in with fictional romance, was a perfect package of emotions, laughter and pure love. When author wanted a reader to cry, I cried and balled, when he wanted to show what love and those first time feelings were of meeting someone new are about, I felt those within me like a jolt, and when author wanted to make a reader laugh, I laughed my hearts out. It’s not very often an author comes by that can make a reader feel certain emotions when it’s meant to. Ashita showed me personally what true love is, and how it feels like to perhaps meet your first and only soul-mate.

I had over ten of my friends read the novel, and out of those ten friends, not a single one said I didn’t cry. Three of my friends even related to the book because they had experienced something similar to it; a relationship between a Muslim and a Hindu. We can’t live with each other, and we can’t live without each other. Indian is India because we have Muslims living and loving the country with many other religions. But a love story between a Hindu and Muslims somehow always becomes a classic fairytale of Romeo & Juliet, or like in India we say Veer-Zaara. Some of the greatest movies and loves stories in India have been between a Hindu and Muslim; Ashita just pushes the mark to another level of intensity, emotions and soul connection. The author was seriously hurt in his relationship for him to pour so much emotion, that every page on the novel vividly describes a situation as if a reader is watching it front of their eyes.

There are many romantic novels around the world that I’ve read. People like: Paulo Coleho, Jodi Picoult, Daniel Steel, and of course Nora Roberts, but there is something about this new author Kapiel Raaj and his style of writing, which not only makes the book a easy, smooth read, but, its description of each scene is done in a way which I haven’t seen before in a book. Once I became a fan of him after reading Ashita, I bough his other book 'Palena: and her royal guard’. Again, during reading the book, it felt like a classic movie, with each scene simmering pure energy of love, and emotions which binds two strangers who were at different ends of a channel. In the novel Palena, I see how the author gave the princess his own personality, persona, the way he think & feels about the world.

This is not something I am assuming because I know the author personally. Kapiel Raaj himself wrote in his blog how he gave the princess his own thought process and personality. Both Ashita and Palena had surprise endings which easily shakes the reader to its core. I feel if Dr. J passed on the torch to Michael Jordan, and Kapil Dev passed on the torch to Sachin Tendulkar, then all our new age romantic authors have passed on their wisdom and talent to Mr. Raaj. I am desperately waiting for his next romantic novel 'Aasika’ which he announced on his facebook fan page. Not only this man is genius author, but he is equally a brilliant film director and actor. It is only a matter of time when we see him in Bollywood films.