What do you think?
Rate this book
The Four Patriots
Have you ever fallen victim to the system? Felt humiliated and helpless? Have you fought back?Meet four such Varun, an NRI software engineer; Salman, CEO of Coffee Moments; Raghav, a virtuous politician; and Aditya, an altruistic businessman.Fate brings these four lives together at a crossroads, pushing these unlikely heroes out of their comfort zones to fight a seemingly unstoppable evil force which wants to hold our country captive. The four companions, who have always had each other’s back, will now come face-to-face with the biggest challenge of their lives—a labyrinthine plot rife with perilous twists and wicked turns. With the nation’s future at stake, will they be able to destroy the Chakravyuh intricately laid down by the enemies of India? Will they come out of it alive?A story about friendship, faith and courage, replete with romance and patriotism, The Four Patriots is a racy, contemporary thriller sure to give you goosebumps.Pick this book if you do not believe ‘is desh ka kuch nahin ho sakta’; and if you think all is not lost, this is a must-read!
- GenresFiction
312 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 29, 2016
41 people are currently reading
200 people want to read
About the author
Sumit Agarwal
31 books25 followersSumit Agarwal, MD, MLA Group of Industries, Kanpur was born in 1975. After completing his five year integrated course in Chemistry and a minor in management from IIT Kanpur, MBA-Marketing from NM Institute, he is now managing a group of chemical manufacturing industries in Kanpur (www.mlagroup.com )
A strong nationalist at heart, he is running an NGO, PRERNA (www.prernaa.org ), which is dedicated to the development of a stronger India. PRERNA is currently partnering management of 6 adopted government primary schools with an objective to facilitate best quality education in Government schools. He has been awarded by the Governer of UP for his contribution to primary education. He is also the founder of Kasauti, a consortium of NGOs to aid clean and answerable politics.
Through his first book “The Four Patriots” he aims to introduce and popularize a new genre- patriotic fiction, to encourage and inspire people to actively participate in the country’s development. Apart from the fact that the book is being published by Rupa Publishers, the leading publishing house in the country, the story has already been adopted for a movie by a leading production house.
He is also a music composer, lyricist, singer and writer. Over the last two years, he has composed many soulful songs based on relationships, patriotism and human emotions. Two of his songs have been aired on MTV Indies this year. His music videos can be viewed on his Youtube Channel, Sumit Agarwal,or on his website www.sumitagarwal.net.
An adept multi-tasker, he is also a speaker on topics related to nation building, work life balance and multi-tasking.
A strong nationalist at heart, he is running an NGO, PRERNA (www.prernaa.org ), which is dedicated to the development of a stronger India. PRERNA is currently partnering management of 6 adopted government primary schools with an objective to facilitate best quality education in Government schools. He has been awarded by the Governer of UP for his contribution to primary education. He is also the founder of Kasauti, a consortium of NGOs to aid clean and answerable politics.
Through his first book “The Four Patriots” he aims to introduce and popularize a new genre- patriotic fiction, to encourage and inspire people to actively participate in the country’s development. Apart from the fact that the book is being published by Rupa Publishers, the leading publishing house in the country, the story has already been adopted for a movie by a leading production house.
He is also a music composer, lyricist, singer and writer. Over the last two years, he has composed many soulful songs based on relationships, patriotism and human emotions. Two of his songs have been aired on MTV Indies this year. His music videos can be viewed on his Youtube Channel, Sumit Agarwal,or on his website www.sumitagarwal.net.
An adept multi-tasker, he is also a speaker on topics related to nation building, work life balance and multi-tasking.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 112 reviews
June 8, 2017
Well, that was something !
The best book I read this year on patroitism.
A thrilling ride it was!
Four young super excited men who are ready to do anything for their country's sake, take you on an unforgettable journey.
Their willingness to serve the country without any expectations will inspire a loads of people.
Set in the future years, the narration is exciting and keeps you stick to the scene without flinching.
You read a book that is well-researched and ponder to yourself 'where was it till now?'.
The characters are portrayed beautifully. I enjoyed knowing each of them.
The future technology added the science fiction genre to the novel.
The issues raised by the author are concern of the country and it's impressive that he has not stopped just there. He went on providing practical solutions after solutions to remove the barriers in the development of the nation.
The author's vigorous dedication to this story is motivating. At the end of the day I felt that these kind of books should be written more.
I know it for sure that the dream the author has seen while writing this book and the strong message he has tried to convey, would reach each and every youngster in the country.
Verdict : If you want to see what moving things some sensible men do, when they love their country, your destination is here.
May 2, 2017
If you are a fan of Movies like 'Nayak' or 'Sivaji', you will love this book. 'The Four Patriots' is a result of a strong patriot nationalist author's imagination. Sumit Agarwal had tried to revamp excitement of movies like Nayak to a country level politics. In the time of demonetisation such book can capture good mass appeal.
Book is divided into two segments. First segment started with four individual characters, Aditya, Varun, Salman, Raghav. Each of them has faced some difficulties directly or indirectly due to deep rooted corruption of country. Aditya lost his first love Alisha (foreign student from Australia) because her dad denied their relationship; as he cannot allow his daughter to marry in a country where law are taken for granted. Varun, working as a software expert in USA, wanted to bring reforms in Indian judicial system via his NGO. Salman was an orphan and was raised by a Hindu couple. His hard work has rewarded him with CEO position with Coffee Moments a famous coffee joints chain. But his emotional attachment towards his chawl has bound him with his roots. He wanted to uplift lifestyle of his neighbourhood. Raghav, niece of CM of a state, wanted to do good things in his assigned Educational Ministry, but his uncle transferred him to another department when he sensed Raghav's honesty was obstructing party's goal. These four individual instead of blaming the system for unsuccessful or slow process decided to enter into the system.
Second segment, started with 'Naya Bharat' coming to power with majority of seats. And just like Nayak movie they started their aggressive plans, starting from upliftment of education, showing Indian strength at Olympics, eradicating naxalism or terrorism, reduce corruption by 90% in 5 years. List is long. During this period, opposition party leader Jatin Oberoi (whose party has govern country for more than 5 decades) wanted to dethrone 'Naya Bharat'. He kept attacking this quadro but quadro were always ready with counter attack.
I found few flaws in story
Time lines were not sync with description at 2-3 points
Author's optimism was at peak while writing this book. Quadro were given more than 12-15 department (all important one) when they came into power.
Sport minister of India, just 20 minutes before competition entered into competition and that to in final round (how come??). Minister even won the competition against pro. (Fully Bollywood style)
Overall it is a good read, the only reason for low rating is my own high expectation from author on such topic.
Detailed review link - http://chevusread.blogspot.in/2017/02...
Book is divided into two segments. First segment started with four individual characters, Aditya, Varun, Salman, Raghav. Each of them has faced some difficulties directly or indirectly due to deep rooted corruption of country. Aditya lost his first love Alisha (foreign student from Australia) because her dad denied their relationship; as he cannot allow his daughter to marry in a country where law are taken for granted. Varun, working as a software expert in USA, wanted to bring reforms in Indian judicial system via his NGO. Salman was an orphan and was raised by a Hindu couple. His hard work has rewarded him with CEO position with Coffee Moments a famous coffee joints chain. But his emotional attachment towards his chawl has bound him with his roots. He wanted to uplift lifestyle of his neighbourhood. Raghav, niece of CM of a state, wanted to do good things in his assigned Educational Ministry, but his uncle transferred him to another department when he sensed Raghav's honesty was obstructing party's goal. These four individual instead of blaming the system for unsuccessful or slow process decided to enter into the system.
Second segment, started with 'Naya Bharat' coming to power with majority of seats. And just like Nayak movie they started their aggressive plans, starting from upliftment of education, showing Indian strength at Olympics, eradicating naxalism or terrorism, reduce corruption by 90% in 5 years. List is long. During this period, opposition party leader Jatin Oberoi (whose party has govern country for more than 5 decades) wanted to dethrone 'Naya Bharat'. He kept attacking this quadro but quadro were always ready with counter attack.
I found few flaws in story
Time lines were not sync with description at 2-3 points
Author's optimism was at peak while writing this book. Quadro were given more than 12-15 department (all important one) when they came into power.
Sport minister of India, just 20 minutes before competition entered into competition and that to in final round (how come??). Minister even won the competition against pro. (Fully Bollywood style)
Overall it is a good read, the only reason for low rating is my own high expectation from author on such topic.
Detailed review link - http://chevusread.blogspot.in/2017/02...
November 3, 2016
As a regular book reviewer, I am always in a Catch 22 situation when it comes to reviewing books that have been personally sent to me.
However, being absolutely fair to the job of reviewing something another might pick up, I have a long review for this one that will delve deeply into the positives and the negatives of this book.
Positives:
1. It's a rather fast paced book, the kind you can read while having a long soak in the tub or on a bus ride.
2. The story, to be very fair, is quite faithful to the life in the IIT(I happened to be in IIT Kanpur when the book reached me so, yes, I could relate).
3. For a first time author, the pop culture references, certain expressions and phrases, did quite a good job of making the characters seem more relatable. That being said, the expression does need more polishing, still.
Negatives:
1. At the very offset, there's a rather Two States-ish subplot, that gave
a) a very stale flavour to the first background story itself
b) a very stereotypical picture of the "foreigners" and their attitude towards India. For someone like me, who is as Indian as they make it but whose closest friends are "foreigners" I didn't quite like the depiction of a European/American person in this story. To me, the fact that every "white" person had some sort of a "racially superior" shade to his/her character was very unpalatable and nothing short of reverse racism.
2. Why is the author bent on showing heroes? The young India needs heroines too! Why is it that a woman who is independent, wants to work after marriage and makes friends with the "other" (or for that matter any) gender depicted as, to use the author's words, "a vamp", while her possessive, chauvinistic, violent husband still a hero in the story?
3. Why is it that all the heroes, when they fall in love, eulogise women who give up their careers, don't have any ambitions, don't stand up for their own rights (remember, if they do, they are vamps!) and are "dreamy" and think of themselves as someone who "is to be taken care of by a knight-in-shining-armour" and have absolutely no self esteem? What kind of game changing, path breaking hero would any of these four patriots be if they don't support one of the biggest causes all of India (media and socialists alike) is fighting for?
Far from gender equality, there were repeated instances of women who were far from what real girls, by and large are like, and based on some fantastic notion that combines Manu's idea of women with a soap opera wife.
4. Coming to the ease of the author with narration, there are quite a few rough patches in narration as well as grammatical errors, which I solely blame on editors and proof-readers. It's an author's job to write but a publishing team's job to make it presentable. You cannot roughly hew a couple of pages and leave it to a reader to punctuate, correct and tidy up the mess, dear publisher!
Unlike other reviews, I would, purely with the intention to be helpful and not patronising, offer the author a few suggestions:
1. Please, please remember that no society can change with just one half of the society participating in bringing about the change and the other half being represented as helpers/supporters/partners-in-bed. Your female characters need to be more than docile daughters, loving wives and adoring admirers.
2. Chetan Bhagat is not someone to model your novel after. Manju Kapoor, Vikram Seth, Navtej Sarna, Shashi Tharoor or Upmanyu Chatterjee might come in handy, though!
3. Read, my friend. Your USP is your expression. Now your job is to hone it and for that, read all the books you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, as long as ever you can. Reading makes writing more effortless.
4. Last one and this is for the publishers: Get a new team of editors, proofreaders and reviewers!
However, being absolutely fair to the job of reviewing something another might pick up, I have a long review for this one that will delve deeply into the positives and the negatives of this book.
Positives:
1. It's a rather fast paced book, the kind you can read while having a long soak in the tub or on a bus ride.
2. The story, to be very fair, is quite faithful to the life in the IIT(I happened to be in IIT Kanpur when the book reached me so, yes, I could relate).
3. For a first time author, the pop culture references, certain expressions and phrases, did quite a good job of making the characters seem more relatable. That being said, the expression does need more polishing, still.
Negatives:
1. At the very offset, there's a rather Two States-ish subplot, that gave
a) a very stale flavour to the first background story itself
b) a very stereotypical picture of the "foreigners" and their attitude towards India. For someone like me, who is as Indian as they make it but whose closest friends are "foreigners" I didn't quite like the depiction of a European/American person in this story. To me, the fact that every "white" person had some sort of a "racially superior" shade to his/her character was very unpalatable and nothing short of reverse racism.
2. Why is the author bent on showing heroes? The young India needs heroines too! Why is it that a woman who is independent, wants to work after marriage and makes friends with the "other" (or for that matter any) gender depicted as, to use the author's words, "a vamp", while her possessive, chauvinistic, violent husband still a hero in the story?
3. Why is it that all the heroes, when they fall in love, eulogise women who give up their careers, don't have any ambitions, don't stand up for their own rights (remember, if they do, they are vamps!) and are "dreamy" and think of themselves as someone who "is to be taken care of by a knight-in-shining-armour" and have absolutely no self esteem? What kind of game changing, path breaking hero would any of these four patriots be if they don't support one of the biggest causes all of India (media and socialists alike) is fighting for?
Far from gender equality, there were repeated instances of women who were far from what real girls, by and large are like, and based on some fantastic notion that combines Manu's idea of women with a soap opera wife.
4. Coming to the ease of the author with narration, there are quite a few rough patches in narration as well as grammatical errors, which I solely blame on editors and proof-readers. It's an author's job to write but a publishing team's job to make it presentable. You cannot roughly hew a couple of pages and leave it to a reader to punctuate, correct and tidy up the mess, dear publisher!
Unlike other reviews, I would, purely with the intention to be helpful and not patronising, offer the author a few suggestions:
1. Please, please remember that no society can change with just one half of the society participating in bringing about the change and the other half being represented as helpers/supporters/partners-in-bed. Your female characters need to be more than docile daughters, loving wives and adoring admirers.
2. Chetan Bhagat is not someone to model your novel after. Manju Kapoor, Vikram Seth, Navtej Sarna, Shashi Tharoor or Upmanyu Chatterjee might come in handy, though!
3. Read, my friend. Your USP is your expression. Now your job is to hone it and for that, read all the books you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, as long as ever you can. Reading makes writing more effortless.
4. Last one and this is for the publishers: Get a new team of editors, proofreaders and reviewers!
April 1, 2017
It is a story of patriotism, a story of transformation. It is a story of a country where the common belief is “iss desh ka kuch ni ho sakta”. It is a story of four people, like you and me, whose love for the nation and experiences with the system instigate them to take it through a metamorphosis.
Debut author Sumit Agarwal has penned down a real page turner that would keep you engrossed till the end. The pace is super-fast, the plot is enthralling-weaved meticulously through the pages, where small details emerge as major twists-an art that very few Indian writers have displayed! The writing is easy to follow and is done fairly well. The pain taken by the writer to research the nitty-gritties to make the story as close as possible to the real India is evident in all its aspects.
The journey of all the major characters (Salman, Varun, Aditya and Raghav) have been drawn out cleverly, that easily puts the reader in the protagonists’ shoes. The background stories added at required intervals added more weight to the storyline. The romance and other normal happenings were positioned in a manner to not only avoid overdoing the theme but also added some plausibility to the characters.
What is really uncanny is the similarity of events that happened after the book’s publication. Aditya’s move to purge black money from the country is quite similar (and sudden) to that of Modi’s move to demonetize, which was conducted with the same intention. There is also a scene similar to movie Dangal, where the coach asks the contender to be defensive, whereas the mentor asks him/her to be offensive, and following the mentor’s advice the contender leads the country to victory in that particular event.
In short, the book does well what it set out to do—inspire with a clear message that asks people to act in for their country and instil patriotism. It nudges the reader to go out and make an impact in any way possible, a much needed advice for the youth of the country. The underlying idea that anyone could bring about a change with their actions has been drawn out very well.
The book has been launched at a stage where people have started giving politics a thought beyond it being a mere topic of discussion, where the government is taking new steps towards the destination of making India a super power. In times where countries in the globalized world are taking a step towards protectionism, the writer calls out the youth to become the agents of change, to work towards making India the golden bird that it was.
However, the book was a tad too unrealistic. The almost miraculous happenings took away a bit of its credibility and made it appear filmy at lot of instances. Adding especially to the Bollywood-ish nature was the character Salman, who seemed to have emerged right out one of Bhai’s movies. Despite all the author’s efforts the characters were paper-thin, and villains were faded. In fact, the tyranny of villains was lost midway, and the protagonists were made way too formidable. Ironically, new India did not feature any woman at the vanguard-the women characters were present, to execute plans or for emotional support.
Would I recommend this book? For those who are looking for a thriller, or looking for a light read, this is the book to go for. It may not make a place in bookshelves, but it definitely qualifies for a good one time read!
Debut author Sumit Agarwal has penned down a real page turner that would keep you engrossed till the end. The pace is super-fast, the plot is enthralling-weaved meticulously through the pages, where small details emerge as major twists-an art that very few Indian writers have displayed! The writing is easy to follow and is done fairly well. The pain taken by the writer to research the nitty-gritties to make the story as close as possible to the real India is evident in all its aspects.
The journey of all the major characters (Salman, Varun, Aditya and Raghav) have been drawn out cleverly, that easily puts the reader in the protagonists’ shoes. The background stories added at required intervals added more weight to the storyline. The romance and other normal happenings were positioned in a manner to not only avoid overdoing the theme but also added some plausibility to the characters.
What is really uncanny is the similarity of events that happened after the book’s publication. Aditya’s move to purge black money from the country is quite similar (and sudden) to that of Modi’s move to demonetize, which was conducted with the same intention. There is also a scene similar to movie Dangal, where the coach asks the contender to be defensive, whereas the mentor asks him/her to be offensive, and following the mentor’s advice the contender leads the country to victory in that particular event.
In short, the book does well what it set out to do—inspire with a clear message that asks people to act in for their country and instil patriotism. It nudges the reader to go out and make an impact in any way possible, a much needed advice for the youth of the country. The underlying idea that anyone could bring about a change with their actions has been drawn out very well.
The book has been launched at a stage where people have started giving politics a thought beyond it being a mere topic of discussion, where the government is taking new steps towards the destination of making India a super power. In times where countries in the globalized world are taking a step towards protectionism, the writer calls out the youth to become the agents of change, to work towards making India the golden bird that it was.
However, the book was a tad too unrealistic. The almost miraculous happenings took away a bit of its credibility and made it appear filmy at lot of instances. Adding especially to the Bollywood-ish nature was the character Salman, who seemed to have emerged right out one of Bhai’s movies. Despite all the author’s efforts the characters were paper-thin, and villains were faded. In fact, the tyranny of villains was lost midway, and the protagonists were made way too formidable. Ironically, new India did not feature any woman at the vanguard-the women characters were present, to execute plans or for emotional support.
Would I recommend this book? For those who are looking for a thriller, or looking for a light read, this is the book to go for. It may not make a place in bookshelves, but it definitely qualifies for a good one time read!
September 16, 2016
Read the galley copy. Doesn't seem like the work of a first time author. He is gifted. I thoroughly enjoyed the book as is touches many fragile points of our country’s politics, which nobody today wants to, write on. By the time I finished reading the book, my patriotism was truly ablaze.
I hope this new genre that Sumit has attempted does well and maybe he can write a series on the Four Patriots like we used to have in our childhood.
I hope this new genre that Sumit has attempted does well and maybe he can write a series on the Four Patriots like we used to have in our childhood.
July 26, 2017
The Four Patriots follows 4 young Indian men who, during their everyday lives come up against the ‘System’ with consequences ranging from humiliating to heartbreaking.
Instead of taking things lying down, they decide to do something about it and that is where Sumit Agarwal’s debut novel gets interesting – because instead of rebelling, the protagonists decide to become a part of the system to change things from within. It is this idea and the way the author has managed to seamlessly fit almost every problem India has into one story that forms the novel’s USP. This is what I liked about the book and the author’s effort in this direction is commendable.
The narrative is split into 2 main storylines – the present day, following the protagonists after their party comes to power and flashbacks of each man’s life leading up to his decision to enter politics. Mixing the flashbacks with the present day is a nice touch since this lets the author try to show and not tell us the causes underlying the protagonists’ actions and the events that shaped them. It also allows for a sequel – one that shows us the four patriots’ 1st meeting and rise to power within the political party.
The style of writing is perfect for a Bollywood movie. Whether it works for you completely depends upon your preferences. For me, it did not, simply because the latter half of the novel began to resemble a Rohit Shetty directed Salman Khan movie complete with infallible protagonists, over the top villains, unrealistic (even after accounting for artistic license) scenarios and blushing ‘sanskaari’ heroines. This last thing is annoying- the author seems to imply that only a woman who puts her dreams aside to follow in the 'hero's' shadow is worthy of any of his protagonists. Ugh!
Apart from the above,I strongly believe the author needs to work on exposition – while the flashbacks help, most comes through via info dumps in dialogues. The sentence structure and dialogues themselves are awkward and clunky, possibly because the way we Indians speak English is extremely hard to translate smoothly in writing. I also came across several grammatical errors which calls for more observant proof reading.
I would hesistate to recommend this book – while the author has unique ideas about how to solve most of our nation’s problems, the downsides of this book severely hamper the reading experience.
Hence the 2 stars.
Instead of taking things lying down, they decide to do something about it and that is where Sumit Agarwal’s debut novel gets interesting – because instead of rebelling, the protagonists decide to become a part of the system to change things from within. It is this idea and the way the author has managed to seamlessly fit almost every problem India has into one story that forms the novel’s USP. This is what I liked about the book and the author’s effort in this direction is commendable.
The narrative is split into 2 main storylines – the present day, following the protagonists after their party comes to power and flashbacks of each man’s life leading up to his decision to enter politics. Mixing the flashbacks with the present day is a nice touch since this lets the author try to show and not tell us the causes underlying the protagonists’ actions and the events that shaped them. It also allows for a sequel – one that shows us the four patriots’ 1st meeting and rise to power within the political party.
The style of writing is perfect for a Bollywood movie. Whether it works for you completely depends upon your preferences. For me, it did not, simply because the latter half of the novel began to resemble a Rohit Shetty directed Salman Khan movie complete with infallible protagonists, over the top villains, unrealistic (even after accounting for artistic license) scenarios and blushing ‘sanskaari’ heroines. This last thing is annoying- the author seems to imply that only a woman who puts her dreams aside to follow in the 'hero's' shadow is worthy of any of his protagonists. Ugh!
Apart from the above,I strongly believe the author needs to work on exposition – while the flashbacks help, most comes through via info dumps in dialogues. The sentence structure and dialogues themselves are awkward and clunky, possibly because the way we Indians speak English is extremely hard to translate smoothly in writing. I also came across several grammatical errors which calls for more observant proof reading.
I would hesistate to recommend this book – while the author has unique ideas about how to solve most of our nation’s problems, the downsides of this book severely hamper the reading experience.
Hence the 2 stars.
February 22, 2017
I’m an avid reader and I strongly recommend this book, surely looks like work of an IIT’ian…too idealistic and ambitious at places, thought it all falls in place towards the end. The climax was like a Jeffery Archer novel.
January 5, 2017
The Four Patriots by Sumit Agarwal, an novel of patriotic, politics, friendship, love, heart breaks with visionary thoughts of getting India into a developed country. Novel goes into daily life problems that we faces but we not taken that into care.
Did you ever mocked by the dirty politics? Did you ever stuck in problems that because of careless of government? Did you ever wished to have a developed India? Read The Four Patriots - the author Sumit Agarwal's way to change the India.
The story is about The Four Patriots Varun, a NRI software engineer, loves Alisha. Salman, CEO of Coffee Moments, loves Mahi. Raghav, a virtuous politician, loves Neha. Aditya, an altruist businessman, is married to Prachi. Who they four turns victims to the mis governance and dirty politics. How they overcome and how they rise up in politics to make new and essential changes.
With the thoughts of meaningful, essential and patriotic author made it happens to read until the very end with thrill of what we expect to happens in India in upcoming years.
I see this novel as Sumit Agarwal's dream visionary of how he wants to see India next. Confined the thoughts well, in fact smartly to not indicate any of them really but hits hard on corrupted and loppers of society. Also the cover and name also well apt.
My rating - 4/5.
For Detailed - www.muraliryan.blogspot.in
Did you ever mocked by the dirty politics? Did you ever stuck in problems that because of careless of government? Did you ever wished to have a developed India? Read The Four Patriots - the author Sumit Agarwal's way to change the India.
The story is about The Four Patriots Varun, a NRI software engineer, loves Alisha. Salman, CEO of Coffee Moments, loves Mahi. Raghav, a virtuous politician, loves Neha. Aditya, an altruist businessman, is married to Prachi. Who they four turns victims to the mis governance and dirty politics. How they overcome and how they rise up in politics to make new and essential changes.
With the thoughts of meaningful, essential and patriotic author made it happens to read until the very end with thrill of what we expect to happens in India in upcoming years.
I see this novel as Sumit Agarwal's dream visionary of how he wants to see India next. Confined the thoughts well, in fact smartly to not indicate any of them really but hits hard on corrupted and loppers of society. Also the cover and name also well apt.
My rating - 4/5.
For Detailed - www.muraliryan.blogspot.in
December 7, 2016
What Would you likely do to see your country in a better state?
Do you want to make a change?
This book raises many questions as such and also suggests a resolution, this is about fighting against odds.
The four dynamic and enthusiastic youths, Varun, an NRI software engineer; Salman, A CEO of coffee moments; Raghav, a virtuous politician; Aditya, an altruistic businessman, they all are doing great in their respective fields but circumstances brings these four lives together to fight against India's long standing relationship between corruption and politics. They want to bring change in Indians politics and take the charge of the current situation and provided ideas for the development of the country and not just vocal about the problems. Everyone is equally responsible for the country's state but only few took the charge.
Sumit Agarwal's story is like a fresh breeze in disguise. The characters are very well woven. Author written the book with a positive approach to the problems our country currently facing.
It's a great read. Simple yet enthralling. An unputdownable.
https://thereviewauthor.wordpress.com/
Do you want to make a change?
This book raises many questions as such and also suggests a resolution, this is about fighting against odds.
The four dynamic and enthusiastic youths, Varun, an NRI software engineer; Salman, A CEO of coffee moments; Raghav, a virtuous politician; Aditya, an altruistic businessman, they all are doing great in their respective fields but circumstances brings these four lives together to fight against India's long standing relationship between corruption and politics. They want to bring change in Indians politics and take the charge of the current situation and provided ideas for the development of the country and not just vocal about the problems. Everyone is equally responsible for the country's state but only few took the charge.
Sumit Agarwal's story is like a fresh breeze in disguise. The characters are very well woven. Author written the book with a positive approach to the problems our country currently facing.
It's a great read. Simple yet enthralling. An unputdownable.
https://thereviewauthor.wordpress.com/
April 6, 2017
A masterpiece by Author Sumit Agarwal. The Four Patriots is one of the rare books capable of catching you off guard. A good political thriller this book provides opportunity for characters to develop on readers and form a connection with them .
Do read till the end to visualize the future, author sees for India.
A light read for people who are fed up with the system and hope to see some changes going forward.One thing i felt is ,This book has potential to be created in a Bollywood movie :).
Do read till the end to visualize the future, author sees for India.
A light read for people who are fed up with the system and hope to see some changes going forward.One thing i felt is ,This book has potential to be created in a Bollywood movie :).
March 6, 2017
4.5 stars
You may also watch a video review of this book on my Youtube Channel : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uUJd...
Pick this book up if you are looking for a thrilling page turner with a patriotic flavour. The Four Patriots is the story of four honest and selfless men named Raghav, Aditya, Varun and Salman who want nothing more than making their country great.
These four people happen to be from different walks of life but each one of them tries to contribute towards the betterment of the society on an individual level. In a country where the system is rife with corruption they often find themselves cornered because they are faced with many corrupt people but regardless they carry on with their zeal to bring about a change in the way things function. They finally start to realize their dreams when they are brought together by destiny under the leadership of Dr. Sabharwal who is as honest as a man can be. Their political party turns out to be one of the most work oriented group which constantly works towards the improvement of the nation. However, where there is good, there is evil too and so these honest men often themselves embroiled in the traps set by their enemies. Also the story covers the personal aspect of the lives of these four guys especially their love lives which adds a light hearted flavour to the story.
I found the story to be a gripping one along with the writing style being easy to follow and impressive at the same time. The story has some dramatic scenes too along with those emotional moments when one feels the love for ones country and gets a lump in one's throat.
Suffice to say , this is a thought provoking story and as an Indian you should really read it !
You may also watch a video review of this book on my Youtube Channel : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uUJd...
Pick this book up if you are looking for a thrilling page turner with a patriotic flavour. The Four Patriots is the story of four honest and selfless men named Raghav, Aditya, Varun and Salman who want nothing more than making their country great.
These four people happen to be from different walks of life but each one of them tries to contribute towards the betterment of the society on an individual level. In a country where the system is rife with corruption they often find themselves cornered because they are faced with many corrupt people but regardless they carry on with their zeal to bring about a change in the way things function. They finally start to realize their dreams when they are brought together by destiny under the leadership of Dr. Sabharwal who is as honest as a man can be. Their political party turns out to be one of the most work oriented group which constantly works towards the improvement of the nation. However, where there is good, there is evil too and so these honest men often themselves embroiled in the traps set by their enemies. Also the story covers the personal aspect of the lives of these four guys especially their love lives which adds a light hearted flavour to the story.
I found the story to be a gripping one along with the writing style being easy to follow and impressive at the same time. The story has some dramatic scenes too along with those emotional moments when one feels the love for ones country and gets a lump in one's throat.
Suffice to say , this is a thought provoking story and as an Indian you should really read it !
March 4, 2017
story of patriotism? I won't call it. A great political thriller... YES!
The book is just awesome. I hadn't expected much from the book but I have never felt so good to not get what I expected.
the characters, storyline and writing is brilliant. The way the author plays with your thoughts is mind blowing. I seriously felt like punching the author at times... out of love, of course.
The book has so many characters and I have never seen an Indian author give ample space to each of them. Even that small sidekick in the quarter part of the book manages to have a deep connection with you!
The storyline is awesome. I wouldn't say very unexpected BUT and there's a huge but for the author still keeps you guessing what will happen next. how many times has it happened to you before? a simple story and yet that excites and intrigues you in every chapter. How did he even do that?
If a book could show how much effort a good author has to and did put into it... this one does. I am lucky to have come across the book. Pick it up yourself and know why.
The book is just awesome. I hadn't expected much from the book but I have never felt so good to not get what I expected.
the characters, storyline and writing is brilliant. The way the author plays with your thoughts is mind blowing. I seriously felt like punching the author at times... out of love, of course.
The book has so many characters and I have never seen an Indian author give ample space to each of them. Even that small sidekick in the quarter part of the book manages to have a deep connection with you!
The storyline is awesome. I wouldn't say very unexpected BUT and there's a huge but for the author still keeps you guessing what will happen next. how many times has it happened to you before? a simple story and yet that excites and intrigues you in every chapter. How did he even do that?
If a book could show how much effort a good author has to and did put into it... this one does. I am lucky to have come across the book. Pick it up yourself and know why.
September 17, 2016
Not just for the heck of saying it but indeed a great read for Indian audience, I would appreciate if Mr. Sumit can get it translated to Hindi as well as there are many who would like to read it but might find language as a barrier. For me its a must-must read.
The minor use of Hindi at placed in the book has greatly increased its flavour.
A totally new style of writing, simple yet engrossing. I also liked the way the personal lives of the four heroes have been touched; there is a lot of depth. The female characters are also well developed. Lots of romance too!
The minor use of Hindi at placed in the book has greatly increased its flavour.
A totally new style of writing, simple yet engrossing. I also liked the way the personal lives of the four heroes have been touched; there is a lot of depth. The female characters are also well developed. Lots of romance too!
September 17, 2016
I love the way sumit has used difficult situations and later giving resolutions for the same coz we find often find our politicians being puzzled and struggling in every little situation…. The book really shows that nothing in this world is impossible….all you need is the ZEAL to bring a change.
The inter-linking of incidents is amazing. The research is also good I would say the way the problems have been brought up and their gravity conveyed.
The only negative point is too many characters, which a normal reader may find difficult to remember.
The inter-linking of incidents is amazing. The research is also good I would say the way the problems have been brought up and their gravity conveyed.
The only negative point is too many characters, which a normal reader may find difficult to remember.
September 17, 2016
Book is new genre off course; the author has also used humor at appropriate places which makes it distinct.
The characters are beautifully developed and the episodes in between have new twist every now n then.
Overall it was a joy reading the book. I wish the author great success as I can sense great caliber in him. Waiting for the next one to arrive….thumbs up for this one…KYA BAAT..!!
The characters are beautifully developed and the episodes in between have new twist every now n then.
Overall it was a joy reading the book. I wish the author great success as I can sense great caliber in him. Waiting for the next one to arrive….thumbs up for this one…KYA BAAT..!!
November 25, 2016
Please visit http://www.guptakaushal.in/2016/11/bo... to read the complete review of the book.
Should the display of patriotism, compulsorily, be restricted or expected from certain people only? Shouldn't everyone be responsible? This book tries to answer these questions.
The Four Patriots to me was like an ambition, both personal and public, written down with positive choice of words. As a country, India has a long standing relationship with corruption and politics, which everyone expects to end.
The entire narration of The Four Patriots is about the choices that one makes, how difficult is it to stay true to them, especially when they are in the larger interest of the nation.
I would recommend The Four Patriots to anyone interested in reading a fiction which revolves around patriotism.
Should the display of patriotism, compulsorily, be restricted or expected from certain people only? Shouldn't everyone be responsible? This book tries to answer these questions.
The Four Patriots to me was like an ambition, both personal and public, written down with positive choice of words. As a country, India has a long standing relationship with corruption and politics, which everyone expects to end.
The entire narration of The Four Patriots is about the choices that one makes, how difficult is it to stay true to them, especially when they are in the larger interest of the nation.
I would recommend The Four Patriots to anyone interested in reading a fiction which revolves around patriotism.
September 16, 2016
We need heroes like there in the novel, who take rapid fire decisions…its high time people… we cant just sit quietly and let these old wolves eat our generations like they have been doing for ages… a miraculous book.
Why don't we have more people writing on this genre - patriotic fiction?
Well done Sumit!
Why don't we have more people writing on this genre - patriotic fiction?
Well done Sumit!
February 16, 2017
The story is simple yet interesting. I couldn't resist reading the entire book in one sitting. I fell in love with the characters while reading the book. No use of heavy words, no complicated plot, yet each page leaves you craving for more. The drama and twists are like a bollywood movie though.
September 17, 2016
Just now done with reading a book with a very profound vision. The author has made some very nice twist in the book revealing them towards the end which makes your interest going. I must say the author’s vision is very audacious. I hope we can bring the changes to Indian politics soon.
July 2, 2017
Review:
Is India a world power? No. Then can India become world power? This book have some fantastic ideas to make India a world power.
Varun, Salman, Raghav and Aditya are four persons from different walks of life who have the same dream. Varun, an NRI software engineer; Salman, CEO of Coffee Moments; Raghav, a virtuous politician and Aditya, an altruistic businessman. The first part of book gives the background stories of these four persons and second half gives details of their thrilling journey.
The book is very idealistic and fantastic in the theme. Ideas of author are good and can work in an idealistic setting. These is a lot of corruption and resulting frustration with the current condition of India. People are fed up with this and want change. The book shows us a short cut where everything is set right in a short span of time.
Book has some good ideas like having election every two years so that manipulation game ends. Recording every act of corruption and use of media against the vested interests is good idea.
Still the book is casteist and misogynistic. The very first chapter talks of ending reservation without understanding its implications. The book is very harsh on women. They should sit at home if the husband don’t allow. It says it is ok for the hubby to smash computers and mistreat his wife.
Recommendation and rating:
I would recommend it to those who like to read an urban fantasy, upper caste misogynistic, right wing book. I give the book 3/ 5 stars.
Where to buy:
http://www.amazon.in/Four-Patriots-Su...
Blurb:
Have you ever fallen victim to the system? Felt humiliated and helpless? Have you fought back?
Meet four such patriots: Varun, an NRI software engineer; Salman, CEO of Coffee Moments; Raghav, a virtuous politician and Aditya, an altruistic businessman.
Fate brings these four lives together at a crossroads, pushing these unlikely heroes out of their comfort zones to fight a seemingly unstoppable evil force which wants to hold our country captive. The four companions, who have always had each other’s back, will now come face-to-face with the biggest challenge of their lives—a labyrinthine plot rife with perilous twists and wicked turns. With the nation’s future at stake, will they be able to destroy the Chakravyuh intricately laid down by the enemies of India? Will they come out of it alive?
A story about friendship, faith and courage, replete with romance and patriotism, The Four Patriots is a racy, contemporary thriller sure to give you goose bumps. Pick this book if you do not believe ‘is desh ka kuch nahin ho sakta’; and if you think all is not lost, this is a must-read!
About the author:
A graduate from IIT Kanpur, Sumit Agarwal is a successful businessman. He is also a music composer, lyricist, singer, actor and writer. His music videos can be viewed on his YouTube channel, or on his website www.sumitagarwal.net.
Sumit runs an NGO, Prerna (www.prernaa.org). Among its many social welfare initiatives, the NGO has adopted ten government primary schools, in order to facilitate quality education. He is also the founder of Kasauti, a consortium of NGOs formed to aid clean and answerable politics.
Is India a world power? No. Then can India become world power? This book have some fantastic ideas to make India a world power.
Varun, Salman, Raghav and Aditya are four persons from different walks of life who have the same dream. Varun, an NRI software engineer; Salman, CEO of Coffee Moments; Raghav, a virtuous politician and Aditya, an altruistic businessman. The first part of book gives the background stories of these four persons and second half gives details of their thrilling journey.
The book is very idealistic and fantastic in the theme. Ideas of author are good and can work in an idealistic setting. These is a lot of corruption and resulting frustration with the current condition of India. People are fed up with this and want change. The book shows us a short cut where everything is set right in a short span of time.
Book has some good ideas like having election every two years so that manipulation game ends. Recording every act of corruption and use of media against the vested interests is good idea.
Still the book is casteist and misogynistic. The very first chapter talks of ending reservation without understanding its implications. The book is very harsh on women. They should sit at home if the husband don’t allow. It says it is ok for the hubby to smash computers and mistreat his wife.
Recommendation and rating:
I would recommend it to those who like to read an urban fantasy, upper caste misogynistic, right wing book. I give the book 3/ 5 stars.
Where to buy:
http://www.amazon.in/Four-Patriots-Su...
Blurb:
Have you ever fallen victim to the system? Felt humiliated and helpless? Have you fought back?
Meet four such patriots: Varun, an NRI software engineer; Salman, CEO of Coffee Moments; Raghav, a virtuous politician and Aditya, an altruistic businessman.
Fate brings these four lives together at a crossroads, pushing these unlikely heroes out of their comfort zones to fight a seemingly unstoppable evil force which wants to hold our country captive. The four companions, who have always had each other’s back, will now come face-to-face with the biggest challenge of their lives—a labyrinthine plot rife with perilous twists and wicked turns. With the nation’s future at stake, will they be able to destroy the Chakravyuh intricately laid down by the enemies of India? Will they come out of it alive?
A story about friendship, faith and courage, replete with romance and patriotism, The Four Patriots is a racy, contemporary thriller sure to give you goose bumps. Pick this book if you do not believe ‘is desh ka kuch nahin ho sakta’; and if you think all is not lost, this is a must-read!
About the author:
A graduate from IIT Kanpur, Sumit Agarwal is a successful businessman. He is also a music composer, lyricist, singer, actor and writer. His music videos can be viewed on his YouTube channel, or on his website www.sumitagarwal.net.
Sumit runs an NGO, Prerna (www.prernaa.org). Among its many social welfare initiatives, the NGO has adopted ten government primary schools, in order to facilitate quality education. He is also the founder of Kasauti, a consortium of NGOs formed to aid clean and answerable politics.
May 14, 2017
The book was given as a review copy in exchange of an honest review. I have tried to be as honest and constructive as possible. A full, in-depth review will be published in the May issue of Telegram.
If you've seen Anil Kapoor's Nayak, you know what this book is about. It is a feel-good, larger-than-life story of common men taking on the 'system' and trying to overhaul it from the top down. The idea was nice, the execution less so. Some of the ideas of revamping the nation were intriguing, some optimistic at best, and some downright impractical.
While I was not expecting a very complicated plot, the story suffers because of:
1) Some very convenient resolutions to seemingly impossible situations. These ended up stretching the definition of larger-than-life by quite a bit.
2) The use of women as convenient plot points and nothing more. For a novel supposedly written to bring about a positive change in the country, there seemed to be very little focus on women as equal contributors, who were mainly restricted to the roles of love interests or compassionate characters.
3) Confusion. It felt as if the writer wanted to write the book as both a romantic novel and as an out-and-out action thriller, and ended up writing something that was neither. There are entire passages that neither further the plot nor add any depth to the characters.
4) Oversimplification and unnecessary exposition. Heroes are all virtuously good, villains are all despicably evil. Things just happen, because they're meant to happen; people just die, because, hey, emotional turmoil. And then there are bits where an omniscient voice intervenes in the narrative to tell us what the characters are thinking/doing, right after the characters themselves have told us what they are thinking/doing.
5) Poor writing. Yes, the book is poorly written. The language isn't the best, the segues aren't done well, and the narrative isn't smooth in most places. Dialogues are cliche and clunky and repetitive, but what's worse is that they neither make an impact nor are believable. There's also too much preaching in the book for my liking, but that is a personal preference.
Most significantly, however, is the fact that Four Patriots marks yet another editing fail by Rupa Publications, which really is setting some kind of benchmark when it comes to churning out books out of books replete with editing mistakes. Punctuation is awry, words are used incorrectly ('vile away my time' comes to my mind as a prominent example, as does that of mouser used instead of Mauser). Many sentences could have been framed much better to improve the flow, but have been included in the final print just as the author perhaps wrote them.
Please, dear writers, hire a good editor and/or beta reader for yourself (this is where I say that I might be available) before you pitch your manuscript to a publishing house. Not only will it help you weed out any narrative discrepancies, but will also allow you to refine your stories to their best possible versions. Please, don't let your stories suffer because of shoddy editing.
If you've seen Anil Kapoor's Nayak, you know what this book is about. It is a feel-good, larger-than-life story of common men taking on the 'system' and trying to overhaul it from the top down. The idea was nice, the execution less so. Some of the ideas of revamping the nation were intriguing, some optimistic at best, and some downright impractical.
While I was not expecting a very complicated plot, the story suffers because of:
1) Some very convenient resolutions to seemingly impossible situations. These ended up stretching the definition of larger-than-life by quite a bit.
2) The use of women as convenient plot points and nothing more. For a novel supposedly written to bring about a positive change in the country, there seemed to be very little focus on women as equal contributors, who were mainly restricted to the roles of love interests or compassionate characters.
3) Confusion. It felt as if the writer wanted to write the book as both a romantic novel and as an out-and-out action thriller, and ended up writing something that was neither. There are entire passages that neither further the plot nor add any depth to the characters.
4) Oversimplification and unnecessary exposition. Heroes are all virtuously good, villains are all despicably evil. Things just happen, because they're meant to happen; people just die, because, hey, emotional turmoil. And then there are bits where an omniscient voice intervenes in the narrative to tell us what the characters are thinking/doing, right after the characters themselves have told us what they are thinking/doing.
5) Poor writing. Yes, the book is poorly written. The language isn't the best, the segues aren't done well, and the narrative isn't smooth in most places. Dialogues are cliche and clunky and repetitive, but what's worse is that they neither make an impact nor are believable. There's also too much preaching in the book for my liking, but that is a personal preference.
Most significantly, however, is the fact that Four Patriots marks yet another editing fail by Rupa Publications, which really is setting some kind of benchmark when it comes to churning out books out of books replete with editing mistakes. Punctuation is awry, words are used incorrectly ('vile away my time' comes to my mind as a prominent example, as does that of mouser used instead of Mauser). Many sentences could have been framed much better to improve the flow, but have been included in the final print just as the author perhaps wrote them.
Please, dear writers, hire a good editor and/or beta reader for yourself (this is where I say that I might be available) before you pitch your manuscript to a publishing house. Not only will it help you weed out any narrative discrepancies, but will also allow you to refine your stories to their best possible versions. Please, don't let your stories suffer because of shoddy editing.
December 7, 2017
Book Title: The Four Patriots
Author: Sumit Agarwal
Format: Paper Back
Total Number of Pages: 312
Publisher: Rupa Publications India
Publishing Date: 12th Oct 2016
Printed Price: INR 65
ISBN-10: 812914204X
ISBN-13: 978-8129142047
Book Title:
The title of the book 'The Four' is very interesting and maintains the plot of the story a great twist story
Book Cover :
A very colorful, mysterious and interesting book cover. The image of four young men wearing different type of apparel depicts the different roles they might play in the book.
Plot:
The plot of the book is a perfect blend of many aspects that are seen in today's social life. When the good becomes bad and fights against the evil prevailing in the society, the entire present political system comes under threat. And is the threat is from the common man, the scenario becomes real hardcore.
The fight against the polluted political system in the country and the corrupted administration is the main plot of the story.
Every book must have some purpose and thus will have an impact on the reader's mind. And if a book also conveys and underlying social message is the ultimate beauty. The author has created such a good impact .. Kudos !!
Characters:
All the characters are very nicely sculpted and scripted.
Narration:
The narration is very nice and interesting.
Language and Vocabulary:
The language, grammar and vocabulary is well maintained.
My Final Verdict—
Go for it and you won't be disappointed !!!
Book title: 4/5
Book Cover: 4/5
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Narration: 4/5
Language and Vocabulary: 4/5
I personally rate the book 4 out of 5
Author: Sumit Agarwal
Format: Paper Back
Total Number of Pages: 312
Publisher: Rupa Publications India
Publishing Date: 12th Oct 2016
Printed Price: INR 65
ISBN-10: 812914204X
ISBN-13: 978-8129142047
Book Title:
The title of the book 'The Four' is very interesting and maintains the plot of the story a great twist story
Book Cover :
A very colorful, mysterious and interesting book cover. The image of four young men wearing different type of apparel depicts the different roles they might play in the book.
Plot:
The plot of the book is a perfect blend of many aspects that are seen in today's social life. When the good becomes bad and fights against the evil prevailing in the society, the entire present political system comes under threat. And is the threat is from the common man, the scenario becomes real hardcore.
The fight against the polluted political system in the country and the corrupted administration is the main plot of the story.
Every book must have some purpose and thus will have an impact on the reader's mind. And if a book also conveys and underlying social message is the ultimate beauty. The author has created such a good impact .. Kudos !!
Characters:
All the characters are very nicely sculpted and scripted.
Narration:
The narration is very nice and interesting.
Language and Vocabulary:
The language, grammar and vocabulary is well maintained.
My Final Verdict—
Go for it and you won't be disappointed !!!
Book title: 4/5
Book Cover: 4/5
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Narration: 4/5
Language and Vocabulary: 4/5
I personally rate the book 4 out of 5
December 24, 2016
Sumit Agarwal is prescient. The recent events in the country - be it the ‘Surgical Strike’ against Pakistan or the ‘Demonetization Drive’ finds its way in the novel ‘The Four Patriots’, way before they actually happened. Even if you don’t take this book as a blueprint for the development of the nation, it is a clarion call to all the youngsters out there that change is possible. If one man’s imagination can predict so much that’s happening in the country, think what can the collective minds of the youth be able to do if their passions are fired up?
‘The Four Patriots’ doesn’t ask you to be an all-out rebel, nor does it prescribe social media activism. It tells the story of 4 guys who participate in the democratic process, start from the bottom, roll up their sleeves & get their hands dirty, and are ideal enough to effect rapid change and pragmatic enough to avoid pitfalls. If I describe you the premise of this book, you would definitely start comparing it with ‘Rang de Basanti’. While RDB was a spectacular movie – it was a story of rebels. And because rebels clash with the system, it is difficult to effect a change in the system. If we were all to become rebels, then the country would erupt in chaos and anarchy. Today, Arvind Kejriwal is a politician – and he is taken much more seriously than Anna Hazare. This is not to dilute the missionary zeal in all of us – we protest as the citizens of the country, as is our right. Nation erupted when ‘Nirbhaya’ happened. We protested in numbers, the politicians took notice. Nation erupted when the previous government was inundated with the ABC of corruption charges. We voted in numbers, and a government was booted out.
But could we have done more? Can we be the change we want to see in the country? Sumit Agarwal has followed in the footsteps of our beloved former President Abdul Kalam, and ‘The Four Patriots’ is an effort to inspire the youth of the country. It is of course a drop in the ocean, but every drop counts. Imagine, how glorious it would be if India once again becomes ‘Sone ki chidiya’? It is POSSIBLE.
The timing of the book couldn’t be more right. The nation is gripped in a patriotic fervor; we are trying to define our collective identity as a nation. Are we an open-minded nation that embraces all faiths? Is it necessary to stand for the national anthem? Serious discussions and debates are going on about the ‘Right to speech’ and people taking offense. How should we calibrate our relationship with Pakistan and China? Will demonetization bleed the black economy?
I found Mr. Agarwal’s writing style to be quite interesting. He would leave a couple of Easter eggs in the very beginning, and they would all hatch as the plot thickens. So pages turn automatically. You are eager to know what happens next with the Quadro. The writing is confident, we are personally invested in the fate of the four protagonists, and their characters are well-sketched out. And they all come with their catchphrases – from Varun’s inspired ‘Jhakaas’ to Salman’s ‘Usko Prasad chahiye, dena padega!’, from Raghav’s ‘Be evil to some if you have to, for the greater good’ to Aditya’s ‘Ab dekhna nahin, karna hai’.
The plot is engrossing. The writing is fluid. Romance is in the air. And the message is crystal clear: Ab dekhna nahin……karna hai.
‘The Four Patriots’ doesn’t ask you to be an all-out rebel, nor does it prescribe social media activism. It tells the story of 4 guys who participate in the democratic process, start from the bottom, roll up their sleeves & get their hands dirty, and are ideal enough to effect rapid change and pragmatic enough to avoid pitfalls. If I describe you the premise of this book, you would definitely start comparing it with ‘Rang de Basanti’. While RDB was a spectacular movie – it was a story of rebels. And because rebels clash with the system, it is difficult to effect a change in the system. If we were all to become rebels, then the country would erupt in chaos and anarchy. Today, Arvind Kejriwal is a politician – and he is taken much more seriously than Anna Hazare. This is not to dilute the missionary zeal in all of us – we protest as the citizens of the country, as is our right. Nation erupted when ‘Nirbhaya’ happened. We protested in numbers, the politicians took notice. Nation erupted when the previous government was inundated with the ABC of corruption charges. We voted in numbers, and a government was booted out.
But could we have done more? Can we be the change we want to see in the country? Sumit Agarwal has followed in the footsteps of our beloved former President Abdul Kalam, and ‘The Four Patriots’ is an effort to inspire the youth of the country. It is of course a drop in the ocean, but every drop counts. Imagine, how glorious it would be if India once again becomes ‘Sone ki chidiya’? It is POSSIBLE.
The timing of the book couldn’t be more right. The nation is gripped in a patriotic fervor; we are trying to define our collective identity as a nation. Are we an open-minded nation that embraces all faiths? Is it necessary to stand for the national anthem? Serious discussions and debates are going on about the ‘Right to speech’ and people taking offense. How should we calibrate our relationship with Pakistan and China? Will demonetization bleed the black economy?
I found Mr. Agarwal’s writing style to be quite interesting. He would leave a couple of Easter eggs in the very beginning, and they would all hatch as the plot thickens. So pages turn automatically. You are eager to know what happens next with the Quadro. The writing is confident, we are personally invested in the fate of the four protagonists, and their characters are well-sketched out. And they all come with their catchphrases – from Varun’s inspired ‘Jhakaas’ to Salman’s ‘Usko Prasad chahiye, dena padega!’, from Raghav’s ‘Be evil to some if you have to, for the greater good’ to Aditya’s ‘Ab dekhna nahin, karna hai’.
The plot is engrossing. The writing is fluid. Romance is in the air. And the message is crystal clear: Ab dekhna nahin……karna hai.
November 28, 2016
The Four Patriots is a book with a fresh and novel concept that revolves and talks about the choices that one makes and how difficult it is to stay true to them. The book holds very contemporary and true to the current scenario and situation of the country and is a must read for everyone especially the youth. Many times we find ourselves discussing about patriotism but the big question is; should the display of patriotism compulsorily or it should be expected from certain people only. Shouldn't all of us be responsible? And this book tries to answer all these questions.
The generation X and Y are often heard of complaining about the shortcomings that are holding our country behind. But who never bother to step forward and work to make this country a better place to live. The Four Patriots gives them the confidence to them to do the positive things and take country forward. The sincerity and honesty with which this book is written is amazing.
The story revolves around 4 main characters Varun, an NRI Software Engineer; Salman, CEO of A Group of Coffee Store business; Raghav, who involves in the politics; Aditya, another businessman, and social reformer and their endeavour to make the country a better place to live. It deals with the problems like poverty, terrorism, naxalites, political problems and also provides possible solutions.
The style of writing is fresh, simple and intriguing. There is a lot of depth in the content and the characters are also developed very well. The title is apt and goes well with the content and story but the cover could have been better.
Overall The Four Patriots is a fast paced books that provides some serious thoughts to ponder after you finish it. It focuses on the saying; to see the change in the world you have to yourself Be the change. Great job done by the debutant author Sumit Agarwal. A very interesting read considering the current socio political scenario of the country. A must read for anyone living in India.
** I received a review copy of the book from Writersmelon in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. **
The generation X and Y are often heard of complaining about the shortcomings that are holding our country behind. But who never bother to step forward and work to make this country a better place to live. The Four Patriots gives them the confidence to them to do the positive things and take country forward. The sincerity and honesty with which this book is written is amazing.
The story revolves around 4 main characters Varun, an NRI Software Engineer; Salman, CEO of A Group of Coffee Store business; Raghav, who involves in the politics; Aditya, another businessman, and social reformer and their endeavour to make the country a better place to live. It deals with the problems like poverty, terrorism, naxalites, political problems and also provides possible solutions.
The style of writing is fresh, simple and intriguing. There is a lot of depth in the content and the characters are also developed very well. The title is apt and goes well with the content and story but the cover could have been better.
Overall The Four Patriots is a fast paced books that provides some serious thoughts to ponder after you finish it. It focuses on the saying; to see the change in the world you have to yourself Be the change. Great job done by the debutant author Sumit Agarwal. A very interesting read considering the current socio political scenario of the country. A must read for anyone living in India.
** I received a review copy of the book from Writersmelon in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. **
February 22, 2017
The talented Sumit Agarwal has left his mark in yet another field. This book certainly doesn't look like written by a debut author.
The story at times might look like the screen plots of movies like Nayak. We all must have watched the movie a couple of times, cause you know Zee Cinema had bought the rights and used to play the movie a lot. Anyway, so the story is an optimistic portrayal of what can happen in the country if the youth cares to take harsh steps.
The novel deals with patriotism and nationalism and is filled with high optimistic texture. The author's writing style is lucid and the narration is easy to follow. The story line is gripping and the book is a definitive page turner.
The book deals with the 2018 year and the political scenario of that time, how a corrupt political personality will be dethroned. It's an interesting thrill to follow.
All the four protagonists are woven brilliantly. I loved the character Aditya the most, maybe because I could link him to the author Sumit Agarwal, an altruist.
(To know Sumit Agarwal better, give this interview a look- dipanshurawal.com/interview-sumit-aga...)
The book has already been adapted for a movie. And, I'd be there to watch its movie, first-day first show.
The book cover looks attractive and the title is apt and meaningful. Like other books by Rupa publications, this one too has fine paper quality and professional type setting.
The only major flaw I noticed in the story is that it acts a bit too idealistic at times like all the characters were given important departments when they came in power and that too in more than one number. I hope the author will give his next book a thorough reality check before finalising it.
The story at times might look like the screen plots of movies like Nayak. We all must have watched the movie a couple of times, cause you know Zee Cinema had bought the rights and used to play the movie a lot. Anyway, so the story is an optimistic portrayal of what can happen in the country if the youth cares to take harsh steps.
The novel deals with patriotism and nationalism and is filled with high optimistic texture. The author's writing style is lucid and the narration is easy to follow. The story line is gripping and the book is a definitive page turner.
The book deals with the 2018 year and the political scenario of that time, how a corrupt political personality will be dethroned. It's an interesting thrill to follow.
All the four protagonists are woven brilliantly. I loved the character Aditya the most, maybe because I could link him to the author Sumit Agarwal, an altruist.
(To know Sumit Agarwal better, give this interview a look- dipanshurawal.com/interview-sumit-aga...)
The book has already been adapted for a movie. And, I'd be there to watch its movie, first-day first show.
The book cover looks attractive and the title is apt and meaningful. Like other books by Rupa publications, this one too has fine paper quality and professional type setting.
The only major flaw I noticed in the story is that it acts a bit too idealistic at times like all the characters were given important departments when they came in power and that too in more than one number. I hope the author will give his next book a thorough reality check before finalising it.
Read
November 30, 2016Stars, let's not get to that directly, let me review it first!
There are four unique, distinguishing personalities with their own traits and charms, as protagonists of the novel.
Their past and their personalities had been shown in detailed manner. Also, they are portrayed as victims of the great Indian system as one or the other way!
The author has tried really hard to make it as connecting as possible with the current situations and trends of India. In this effort to make it remarkably Dan Brownian, he might have lapsed as few points like the model of car of Salman (though not our own 'Bhaijan', but attitude wise his photocopy) and many more things. But, let's not get into that detail and see how the story is.
It seems just a little slow in start but in the second part goes so fast, it makes one feel where is this going? But that's alright till it keeps the reader in its gasp! Some might feel the pace intriguing, but that's a personal choice. The plot is good, on which there can be made a Bollywood drama.
Quite frequently I found the ideas of author too much ideal, to be implemented practically in our country.
To sum up all this, it is a feel good book, which can make one feel patriotic and even can encourage young generation to do something for the country!
Let's leave the ratings to the reader, as the author writes what he/she likes and reader reads what he/she likes! So, go find it out yourself.
There are four unique, distinguishing personalities with their own traits and charms, as protagonists of the novel.
Their past and their personalities had been shown in detailed manner. Also, they are portrayed as victims of the great Indian system as one or the other way!
The author has tried really hard to make it as connecting as possible with the current situations and trends of India. In this effort to make it remarkably Dan Brownian, he might have lapsed as few points like the model of car of Salman (though not our own 'Bhaijan', but attitude wise his photocopy) and many more things. But, let's not get into that detail and see how the story is.
It seems just a little slow in start but in the second part goes so fast, it makes one feel where is this going? But that's alright till it keeps the reader in its gasp! Some might feel the pace intriguing, but that's a personal choice. The plot is good, on which there can be made a Bollywood drama.
Quite frequently I found the ideas of author too much ideal, to be implemented practically in our country.
To sum up all this, it is a feel good book, which can make one feel patriotic and even can encourage young generation to do something for the country!
Let's leave the ratings to the reader, as the author writes what he/she likes and reader reads what he/she likes! So, go find it out yourself.
September 17, 2016
I don’t know from where should I start first of all I wanna congratulate sumit for writing on a topic which is our country’s utmost need at the moment.
Today each one of us is working hard to crack IIM’s entrance or to be top notch in the leading IT firm and all of us are well aware that our political system is deeply engrossed in corruption, even then none of us is making an effort to do anything about it, on top of it most of us don’t even bother to go to the polling booth to vote, thinking it’s a waste of time… I’m not sure who all are going to read this comment of mine but I guess this should show where we stand… just going to a cricket match and painting the national flag on your face does not make you a patriot… it is ‘US’ who has to change….change for good…it is our responsibility not to litter roads and don’t let anybody (no matter who he/she is) do it as well. Make sure you care for public property as your own property. I know this might sound very small in terms of changing the entire nation but we have al heard of that proverb that says – “Boond boond se sagar bharta hai…” I’m not a philanthropist my self but I guess to keep our country clean all we need to do is to CHANGE OURSELVES.
Today each one of us is working hard to crack IIM’s entrance or to be top notch in the leading IT firm and all of us are well aware that our political system is deeply engrossed in corruption, even then none of us is making an effort to do anything about it, on top of it most of us don’t even bother to go to the polling booth to vote, thinking it’s a waste of time… I’m not sure who all are going to read this comment of mine but I guess this should show where we stand… just going to a cricket match and painting the national flag on your face does not make you a patriot… it is ‘US’ who has to change….change for good…it is our responsibility not to litter roads and don’t let anybody (no matter who he/she is) do it as well. Make sure you care for public property as your own property. I know this might sound very small in terms of changing the entire nation but we have al heard of that proverb that says – “Boond boond se sagar bharta hai…” I’m not a philanthropist my self but I guess to keep our country clean all we need to do is to CHANGE OURSELVES.
February 14, 2017
i'm an avid reader...since school days i have been reading chetan bhagat and ravinder singh but when a friend suggested me to read THE FOUR PATRIOTS, at first i was not sure if i would like to read this....but m glad he forced me to pick this up....First of all the author shd be appreciated to have chosen a topic which is much needed for our youth....who somewhat like me have bounded them selves to read just a single genre ROMANCE with different flavors.....
The book talks about Making a better India and our contribution in it...we cant just sit on the fence and keep on cripping about the current conditions we need to work for it if we really want to see a better INDIA.....
a brilliant effort by the author........picking this topic really needs guts.....
The book talks about Making a better India and our contribution in it...we cant just sit on the fence and keep on cripping about the current conditions we need to work for it if we really want to see a better INDIA.....
a brilliant effort by the author........picking this topic really needs guts.....
December 12, 2019
I needed time to get into the skin of this book. There are a lot of characters. Most are youth of today's India who want to bring a change to the existing system. The idea is good and instead of mindless romance, it's refreshing to read a story that is different and inspires the youth of the nation to do something useful.
September 16, 2016
Really nice use of the subjects in the book... the interconnecting of the episodes makes it very interesting and holds the reader. all in all a very nice read. al the best to the writer.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 112 reviews