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Skylines
A woman is like a palette of colours. Just like the colours, she too displays a different tint and shade at different points of time. The colours you perceive are the ones you make her show. If you love her, she will adore you; if you give her wings she will soar but if you hurt her, she may take time but will one day bounce back in retaliation.
'Skylines' is a collection of fourteen different stories which revolve around women - the buoyant teens, the chirpy youth or the matured ladies. Different encounters and circumstances in life make them either very tender, fragile or reactionaries and bigots. Do read on to understand these colours of life...
'Skylines' is a collection of fourteen different stories which revolve around women - the buoyant teens, the chirpy youth or the matured ladies. Different encounters and circumstances in life make them either very tender, fragile or reactionaries and bigots. Do read on to understand these colours of life...
148 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2014
7 people want to read
About the author
Neelam Saxena Chandra
86 books102 followersNeelam Saxena Chandra continues to break new ground with every book she publishes. Known for her simple yet eloquent language, she creates emotional connections with her readers. Her motivational poems and live solo poetry presentations on Facebook have garnered over 8 million views. She has graced numerous national and international platforms, including SAARC, Sahitya Akademi, Jashn-e-Adab, Poets Across Borders, and USA Radio. She has also been featured on media platforms like Doordarshan, Doordarshan Sahyadri, and in leading newspapers such as The Hindu, Dainik Bhaskar, Amar Ujala, and The New Indian Express. Four of her books were launched at the prestigious NCPA, Mumbai.
An officer with Govt of India, Neelam holds a degree in Engineering from VNIT and diplomas in IM&HRD and Finance. She further honed her financial expertise with a summer course at the London School of Economics. Her prolific literary career includes 7 novels, 9 short story collections, 46 poetry collections, and 15 children’s books, with more than 2,000 of her works published in various journals and magazines. Bilingual in English and Hindi, she holds a record with the Limca Book of Records (2015) for the highest number of publications in a year.
Neelam's accolades are numerous. She has won awards in competitions organized by the American Embassy and Poetry Council of India. Her children’s writing has earned recognition from the Children’s Book Trust, and her work has been honored with the Sohanlal Dwivedi Puraskar for children’s literature by the Maharashtra State Hindi Sahitya Akademi. Other notable awards include Bharat Nirman Literary Award, Rabindranath Tagore International Poetry Award, and the Premchand Award by the Ministry of Railways (twice). In 2021, one of her poems was placed 7th in a contest by NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness, USA). In 2014, Forbes listed her among the 78 most popular authors in India, and she recently received the Reuel Lifetime Achievement Award from The Significant League.
Her bestselling works include the short story collections Lines of Fate, The Chiseled World, and Rang Bhara Tohfa; the Hindi poetry books Kai Basant Dekhe Hain Maine, Tilism-e-Zindagi, and Moh Se Bandhi Main; the novels The Red Diary and Karmic Threads; and English poetry collections such as Splinters of a Broken Mirror, Garden of Fragility, Beneath the Dead Skin, and The Lost Mint Taste.
Neelam’s writing spans a variety of themes, including motivational, social, soulful, romantic, and nature-centric reflections. She finds deep philosophical connections between human life and the elements of nature—plants, rivers, and mountains—and explores life’s meaning through these metaphors.
Connect with Neelam Saxena Chandra
Website: neelamsaxenachandra.com
Facebook: Neelam Saxena Poet
Instagram: @neelamsaxenapoet
YouTube: Neelam Saxena Poet
Twitter: @chandra_neelam
An officer with Govt of India, Neelam holds a degree in Engineering from VNIT and diplomas in IM&HRD and Finance. She further honed her financial expertise with a summer course at the London School of Economics. Her prolific literary career includes 7 novels, 9 short story collections, 46 poetry collections, and 15 children’s books, with more than 2,000 of her works published in various journals and magazines. Bilingual in English and Hindi, she holds a record with the Limca Book of Records (2015) for the highest number of publications in a year.
Neelam's accolades are numerous. She has won awards in competitions organized by the American Embassy and Poetry Council of India. Her children’s writing has earned recognition from the Children’s Book Trust, and her work has been honored with the Sohanlal Dwivedi Puraskar for children’s literature by the Maharashtra State Hindi Sahitya Akademi. Other notable awards include Bharat Nirman Literary Award, Rabindranath Tagore International Poetry Award, and the Premchand Award by the Ministry of Railways (twice). In 2021, one of her poems was placed 7th in a contest by NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness, USA). In 2014, Forbes listed her among the 78 most popular authors in India, and she recently received the Reuel Lifetime Achievement Award from The Significant League.
Her bestselling works include the short story collections Lines of Fate, The Chiseled World, and Rang Bhara Tohfa; the Hindi poetry books Kai Basant Dekhe Hain Maine, Tilism-e-Zindagi, and Moh Se Bandhi Main; the novels The Red Diary and Karmic Threads; and English poetry collections such as Splinters of a Broken Mirror, Garden of Fragility, Beneath the Dead Skin, and The Lost Mint Taste.
Neelam’s writing spans a variety of themes, including motivational, social, soulful, romantic, and nature-centric reflections. She finds deep philosophical connections between human life and the elements of nature—plants, rivers, and mountains—and explores life’s meaning through these metaphors.
Connect with Neelam Saxena Chandra
Website: neelamsaxenachandra.com
Facebook: Neelam Saxena Poet
Instagram: @neelamsaxenapoet
YouTube: Neelam Saxena Poet
Twitter: @chandra_neelam
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 22, 2016
Skylines is a collection of fourteen stories, all dedicated to women, all talking about the extraordinary in the mundane. On the first glance these are stories about the routine lives of women but when you read a few of them one sees the thread that binds the tales. Women who face the odds and strive, women who fall or face hurt yet they survive, sometimes through a life time.
Any of the girls in the story could be your neighbor, relative or friend and you see the beauty these stories celebrate. From ordinary people come actions that change the path of a life. A husband who is a better father or a friend who unlocks the path of life and love; a friend who forgets her friendship and a mother who stands up silently, all this and more are a part of these stories.
Love Locks, The Shimmering Sun, The Conquest and Acts of Despicability were thought provoking reads. The Hiatus brought tears to my eyes; such love and longing. Facets of Love was an enlightening read; sometimes one’s own garden is greener indeed! Few of the stories like Horizons of Hope and Lessons in Prudence made feel the desperation, pain and sadness faced Aradhana and Neha.
The language is simple and fluent everyday language. It will find favor with readers, no jargon or superfluous words. The one thing that I did not like was that a couple of the stories were a bit predictable and obvious, one odd story was a bit long winding and I could see them finishing a page of two sooner. With simple, clear writing the author gets her message across as she champions for the abused, hurt, ignored, silent woman.
Neelam is the author of more than 30 books and it shows in her works. She has the pulse of the reader and right from the first story I wanted to read the next and the next. Pity it only has 14 stories, I am sure a few more could be added.
This is the perfect example of the resilience, faith, hope and strength of a woman. Pick this book to feel good, smile and remind you that hope is the strongest feeling in the world.
(© I received a copy of the book from the author; the review is my own honest opinion.)
Any of the girls in the story could be your neighbor, relative or friend and you see the beauty these stories celebrate. From ordinary people come actions that change the path of a life. A husband who is a better father or a friend who unlocks the path of life and love; a friend who forgets her friendship and a mother who stands up silently, all this and more are a part of these stories.
Love Locks, The Shimmering Sun, The Conquest and Acts of Despicability were thought provoking reads. The Hiatus brought tears to my eyes; such love and longing. Facets of Love was an enlightening read; sometimes one’s own garden is greener indeed! Few of the stories like Horizons of Hope and Lessons in Prudence made feel the desperation, pain and sadness faced Aradhana and Neha.
The language is simple and fluent everyday language. It will find favor with readers, no jargon or superfluous words. The one thing that I did not like was that a couple of the stories were a bit predictable and obvious, one odd story was a bit long winding and I could see them finishing a page of two sooner. With simple, clear writing the author gets her message across as she champions for the abused, hurt, ignored, silent woman.
Neelam is the author of more than 30 books and it shows in her works. She has the pulse of the reader and right from the first story I wanted to read the next and the next. Pity it only has 14 stories, I am sure a few more could be added.
This is the perfect example of the resilience, faith, hope and strength of a woman. Pick this book to feel good, smile and remind you that hope is the strongest feeling in the world.
(© I received a copy of the book from the author; the review is my own honest opinion.)
September 3, 2015
I highlight the specific aspect of this compilation of thirteen power packed stories of womanhood. Identifying this work as a book or a compilation will not be justified towards the effort put in by the author by choosing this theme and giving it this pristine treatment. I quote – this is an introduction to womanhood – it is being a woman!
She being a grounded and self-made personality is the perfect crafter of the words and the fabricator of different shades of a woman. You all might be thinking, as to since time immemorial, the feminine gender has been given various and numerous introductions and countless names so what is so unusual about this kind of introduction to womanhood? Well, it is about the craft of storytelling technique. No powerful script is effective enough unless and until it is presented in an acceptable and impactful manner and Neelam Mam is one such undisputed craftsperson.
I found the cover going to some other frequencies, other than the theme of the book but the stories are just perfect. She picks up women from around you, around me and around her, they are someone whom we spot in our daily lives, sometimes in our neighborhoods and sometimes within us and weaves thoughtful stories around them. They might be fictional or inspired from real life incidents but are not very much far from reality. The stark veracity of the situation is that she is ‘strong’ and ‘action-oriented’. She doesn’t waits for someone to come and change her fate rather she writes her own destiny and influences those who are connected with hers!
Source: https://booksnewsindia.wordpress.com/...
She being a grounded and self-made personality is the perfect crafter of the words and the fabricator of different shades of a woman. You all might be thinking, as to since time immemorial, the feminine gender has been given various and numerous introductions and countless names so what is so unusual about this kind of introduction to womanhood? Well, it is about the craft of storytelling technique. No powerful script is effective enough unless and until it is presented in an acceptable and impactful manner and Neelam Mam is one such undisputed craftsperson.
I found the cover going to some other frequencies, other than the theme of the book but the stories are just perfect. She picks up women from around you, around me and around her, they are someone whom we spot in our daily lives, sometimes in our neighborhoods and sometimes within us and weaves thoughtful stories around them. They might be fictional or inspired from real life incidents but are not very much far from reality. The stark veracity of the situation is that she is ‘strong’ and ‘action-oriented’. She doesn’t waits for someone to come and change her fate rather she writes her own destiny and influences those who are connected with hers!
Source: https://booksnewsindia.wordpress.com/...
May 16, 2017
Neelam Saxena Chandra's Skylines published by Authorspress gives a new hope and new wings to the field of creative writing; especially when the market seems jam packed with cheesy, pop-fictions. The author comes out successfully engrossing with her narrative ability, mainly, due to her flamboyant portrayal of women, which is rare to find. Read the full review here: http://reviewsindiamagazine.blogspot....
February 16, 2015
It is a collection of short stories about women dealing with some social issues. As a reader, I loved the content of the stories. Sometimes we get bored by reading love stories, This book will make you happy. A light hearted and simple book to read. The Author had beautifully incorporated the social issues which makes the book an interesting read.
Full Review: http://www.himanipassion.com/book-rev...
Full Review: http://www.himanipassion.com/book-rev...
December 5, 2014
Loved some of the stories a lot. My favorite are The reverberations, the hiatus.
March 9, 2015
Beautiful collection.. Read full review here.
https://samvednaayen.wordpress.com/20...
https://samvednaayen.wordpress.com/20...
April 27, 2017
Skylines by Neelam Saxena Chandra is a collection of 14 short stories narrating simple stories from daily lives of an average Indian woman. They are tales celebrating the grit, determination, strength and fortitude of a woman.
The stories per se are not innovative or exceptional. In fact, many are clichéd and predictable. The only stories that I could bring myself to like were Time’s Wounds and Acts of Despicability. Lessons in Prudence could have been better written to bring out the pathos of the mother. Facets of Love, The Bolted Fortitude and The Shimmering Sun also have potential for pathos that has been missed because of the story being crammed with action rather than add a bit of description and pathos. Many of the stories weren’t coherent in the time-space: for example, Love Knows No Bounds went so abruptly from past to present to past to present that I couldn’t follow the narrative until almost the end.
The writing is riddled with Indianisms in language – my pet peeve in this book being the use of “expired” for dead: a word I think is highly inappropriate considering that a person is not a batch of medicine to reach expiry date. Another one is “stated” for said (or another flowery synonym): this is too press-release-y and formal to flow with the content.
The stories are action-driven rather than narration-driven. The narration moves from action to action, helping the story move forward, but this prevents us from sympathising with the characters or situations. I could not identify with or invest in any character because of this.
The author also tends to wind up stories with explanations or preaching – as in the first story The Three Men in Her Life – instead of leaving it to the reader to understand.
The dialogues are stilted and don’t flow smoothly. Overall, a certain archaicness in the language mars complete enjoyment of the stories. If the author can rid herself of the influence of the vernacular and introduce a little bit of poignancy into her narrative, she can produce great results.
The stories per se are not innovative or exceptional. In fact, many are clichéd and predictable. The only stories that I could bring myself to like were Time’s Wounds and Acts of Despicability. Lessons in Prudence could have been better written to bring out the pathos of the mother. Facets of Love, The Bolted Fortitude and The Shimmering Sun also have potential for pathos that has been missed because of the story being crammed with action rather than add a bit of description and pathos. Many of the stories weren’t coherent in the time-space: for example, Love Knows No Bounds went so abruptly from past to present to past to present that I couldn’t follow the narrative until almost the end.
The writing is riddled with Indianisms in language – my pet peeve in this book being the use of “expired” for dead: a word I think is highly inappropriate considering that a person is not a batch of medicine to reach expiry date. Another one is “stated” for said (or another flowery synonym): this is too press-release-y and formal to flow with the content.
The stories are action-driven rather than narration-driven. The narration moves from action to action, helping the story move forward, but this prevents us from sympathising with the characters or situations. I could not identify with or invest in any character because of this.
The author also tends to wind up stories with explanations or preaching – as in the first story The Three Men in Her Life – instead of leaving it to the reader to understand.
The dialogues are stilted and don’t flow smoothly. Overall, a certain archaicness in the language mars complete enjoyment of the stories. If the author can rid herself of the influence of the vernacular and introduce a little bit of poignancy into her narrative, she can produce great results.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews