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A Crackerjack Life : Stories You’ll Never Forget: Stories You'll Never Forget
These are memoirs of my life as a fighter pilot, a mountain trekker, a bon vivant and a lover...
1. “Rajiv still flies with his keyboard. He writes with a fighter pilot’s swagger and attention to detail. Fighter pilots like old hunters, have a reputation for tall tales. Rajiv tells short ones, with aplomb and gusto. He writes with felicity and a sense of irony and wit, so rare these days.”
- Mohan Guruswamy
2. “This is that rare kind of book, that slowly consumes your senses, and then suddenly overwhelms you with cinematic swell, leaving a smile on your face and joy in your heart.”
- Sanjiv Bhatt, IPS
1. “Rajiv still flies with his keyboard. He writes with a fighter pilot’s swagger and attention to detail. Fighter pilots like old hunters, have a reputation for tall tales. Rajiv tells short ones, with aplomb and gusto. He writes with felicity and a sense of irony and wit, so rare these days.”
- Mohan Guruswamy
2. “This is that rare kind of book, that slowly consumes your senses, and then suddenly overwhelms you with cinematic swell, leaving a smile on your face and joy in your heart.”
- Sanjiv Bhatt, IPS
178 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 27, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 13, 2018
Rajiv Tyagi is a great story teller and keeps you bound to the chair with his book. Once you pick it up, you forget many an errand or task that you had planned for the day. I was only forced to abandon the book when my wife assigned some tasks which could not be ignored.
I did not read the book from the beginning to the end, but, after the first one, I read the stories in random order after selecting the story based on the title. One can begin anywhere and finish anywhere, but you cannot skip any story.
The stories are all fascinating. They are a vivid picturisation of events as they happened and give an insight into Rajiv’s multifaceted talents. While reading, you get the feel that you are actually present when the events are taking place. The stories are short and crisp and deal with a variety of topics.
I am looking forward to more from Rajiv.
I did not read the book from the beginning to the end, but, after the first one, I read the stories in random order after selecting the story based on the title. One can begin anywhere and finish anywhere, but you cannot skip any story.
The stories are all fascinating. They are a vivid picturisation of events as they happened and give an insight into Rajiv’s multifaceted talents. While reading, you get the feel that you are actually present when the events are taking place. The stories are short and crisp and deal with a variety of topics.
I am looking forward to more from Rajiv.
April 1, 2018
Unforgettable indeed
I had 2 fears before I started reading this book. 1. Am I setting up myself for disappointment because of my high expectations. 2. Will it be more of the same stuff that I have already read on Rajiv's timeline on FB. By the time I was on the second story, I knew I was on to something exquisite. Rajiv writes with both his head and his heart. Mostly his heart. Each of the stories is different from the other. If one leaves you in awe, the next could make you well up and then the very next one leave you in splits. Together, they make a heady bouquet of emotions. I highly recommend it to not just readers but also to budding writers to learn the fine art of telling a good story simply and with power.
I had 2 fears before I started reading this book. 1. Am I setting up myself for disappointment because of my high expectations. 2. Will it be more of the same stuff that I have already read on Rajiv's timeline on FB. By the time I was on the second story, I knew I was on to something exquisite. Rajiv writes with both his head and his heart. Mostly his heart. Each of the stories is different from the other. If one leaves you in awe, the next could make you well up and then the very next one leave you in splits. Together, they make a heady bouquet of emotions. I highly recommend it to not just readers but also to budding writers to learn the fine art of telling a good story simply and with power.
July 1, 2019
Rajiv is mesmeric when he's telling a story. He reminds me of Coleridge's Ancient Mariner. The poor wedding guests never had a chance once he started on his Rime, and the reader here will find it difficult to put it down once s/he starts reading .
"A Crackerjack Life" makes for racy reading, then slow rereading. I could imagine a Pahadi woman with a blue threaded mangal sutra. I felt the helplessness and the stoicism in the 'Saanu ki' in Dheendsa's story . I felt Seema's silent approving support at Poonam calling off her daughter's wedding. I felt such a thrill at the Director of the hospital in Jakarta finding the single missing photograph for his wall. "Lost and Found" was like a movie zigzagging its way through flashbacks and forwards. I loved it when his grandfather realized what his grandson as a MiG pilot actually was... that moment when his fond indulgence changed to awe. Others have written about Miss Dhillon and his Vasectomy story, but I was actually touched most by two.. Virender, the langda, and Dheendsa's sortie. Rajiv has been sparing of emotional details but I guess, I might be wrong, that the loss of these two impacted him for a long time. Something in the way he holds himself back in these two stories is very telling.
Rajiv is a raconteur, the after-dinner-holding-a-glass-of-whiskey-and-enthralling-his-audience kind. Even when you don't understand the parts when he's explaining the technical bits, you file it away for later checking up on Google and continue reading because you don't want to stop the flow. And then you actually don't Google, because you've understood what he wanted to say and it doesn't matter any more.
There's such a wealth of detail, he's almost Dickensian when he's describing the starry nights, the bleak countryside, the vehicles, the engine, the snow, the sandstorm, the darkness, the camaraderie, the everything. Remember we used to look at scenes through a bioscope? Reading "A Crackerjack Life" is like viewing a pilot's life through a bioscope.
I'm waiting for his next book. And I'm hoping that he doesn't renege on his "that's a story for another day" about Wing Commander Nasir Hanfee. I know there's another great story there waiting to be told.
"A Crackerjack Life" makes for racy reading, then slow rereading. I could imagine a Pahadi woman with a blue threaded mangal sutra. I felt the helplessness and the stoicism in the 'Saanu ki' in Dheendsa's story . I felt Seema's silent approving support at Poonam calling off her daughter's wedding. I felt such a thrill at the Director of the hospital in Jakarta finding the single missing photograph for his wall. "Lost and Found" was like a movie zigzagging its way through flashbacks and forwards. I loved it when his grandfather realized what his grandson as a MiG pilot actually was... that moment when his fond indulgence changed to awe. Others have written about Miss Dhillon and his Vasectomy story, but I was actually touched most by two.. Virender, the langda, and Dheendsa's sortie. Rajiv has been sparing of emotional details but I guess, I might be wrong, that the loss of these two impacted him for a long time. Something in the way he holds himself back in these two stories is very telling.
Rajiv is a raconteur, the after-dinner-holding-a-glass-of-whiskey-and-enthralling-his-audience kind. Even when you don't understand the parts when he's explaining the technical bits, you file it away for later checking up on Google and continue reading because you don't want to stop the flow. And then you actually don't Google, because you've understood what he wanted to say and it doesn't matter any more.
There's such a wealth of detail, he's almost Dickensian when he's describing the starry nights, the bleak countryside, the vehicles, the engine, the snow, the sandstorm, the darkness, the camaraderie, the everything. Remember we used to look at scenes through a bioscope? Reading "A Crackerjack Life" is like viewing a pilot's life through a bioscope.
I'm waiting for his next book. And I'm hoping that he doesn't renege on his "that's a story for another day" about Wing Commander Nasir Hanfee. I know there's another great story there waiting to be told.
February 9, 2023
A dash of Indian macho
He write a lot on army, airforce, combat, life, liquor, women, education and society. I did a speed reading. He is very active on social media.
He write a lot on army, airforce, combat, life, liquor, women, education and society. I did a speed reading. He is very active on social media.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews