Into the world of a couple of soldiers- review of Heart of Bullets

Finished reading the last page of the book ‘Heart of Bullets’, written by Nikhil Kushwaha, and published by Petals Publishers, a few hours ago. Before we go into details about the book, let us know about the person who has penned it down.

About the author:

Founder of Perx Studio, a complete photography solution, and a professional photographer himself, Nikhil Kushwaha has already touched the hearts of many through his previous works, ‘Six Teen Mistakes’ published in 2014 and ‘The Waning Moon’ published in 2015.

Born and raised in the beautiful city of Ranchi, he graduated in 2013 as an Electrical and Electronics Engineer from NIST, Odisha and after working for some time, he left his job to change his dream into reality.

Get to know more about him: www.nikhilkushwaha.com, www.perxstudio.com or write to him at me.nikhilkushwaha.91@gmail.com.

About the book:

Now it is time to look into the book. The first thing that we come to know about any book is its title. The protagonists of this book are soldiers- for whom bullets are a part and parcel of life. But one cannot ignore that the same soldier also has a heart, and in this story, both the ‘heart’ and ‘bullets’ play crucial roles. In the beginning though I could not get the combination ‘Heart of Bullets’, but now when I have finished reading the piece, I can say that this title is the most suitable one for the book.

The first thing we see when we get a book in hand is the cover page. The front cover shows the silhouette of a battlefield cross. Behind the same, we see a war scene, with a chopper, fighter jets and APCs. In the front we see a soldier and a girl opposite to him. There are color combinations of saffron, white and green, the ones we see in the National Flag of India. The back cover shows a watermark image of a girl embracing a soldier. Now, the book has ambush scenes and also shows soldiers belonging to Indian Army get martyred. Other than this, we also come across the other side of a couple of soldiers- their love life. So going by every aspect, I feel the cover page is okay. But somewhere down the line I also feel it could have been better. The girl in the picture looks like some foreigner and when I had held the book in hand I literally had thought the female protagonist is a foreigner itself.

Now let us come to the main plot. This tale is of Arpan and Sam, childhood friends and presently soldiers under the Indian Army, and Shradha, their common love interest. Now, as the soldiers risk their lives to spot the enemies, get injured, and even lose lives, Arpan narrates their story to the doctor on duty, and we are taken to the past when the two soldiers and their love interest were students. In Arpan’s words we hear how Shradha and Sam had got into a relationship but eventually it ended in a brutal way owing to deeds of some cunning classmate of theirs who was jealous of their relationship. Towards the end of the story we see Sam get hit by a bullet and when he is almost dead, somebody comes to his rescue. A tale of friendship and true love, both personal and as patriotism, the book has beautifully been woven. The end, however, I felt to be bit unrealistic as well as predictable. Apart from this, the lines that described the love lives of Sam and Shradha were over-exaggerated, making the read boring after a certain period.

The language used is simple and lucid. The lives of Indian soldiers and what things they have to face owing to their duty is beautifully presented. The quotes in italics and poems also are superb! The book, however, has severe grammar errors which tend to make the read uninteresting at places. I would suggest the author to get the book properly edited during reprints.

I would grant the book 3 on 5.

At the end of the day, I would like to give my soulful wishes to the author for his upcoming works. All the best brother! Long way to go!