Love, Peace & Happiness: What more can you want?

Stories surround us. Stories about people like us who make difficult and often complex choices that sometimes astound us. You must have come across some people in your own life who closely resemble the characters in these stories. Maybe you have gone through trying moments in your life too. For instance, have you ever been bugged enough with your partner to want to leave? Have you ever had to choose between love and money? Have you ever had to compete with your partner? Have you ever felt that your family weighs you down when it comes to choosing your partner? At times like these, havent you wished that things happened differently and that you could change how they ended? Now you will control how the stories in this book end.

Each story centres on the life of an urban middle class character caught in a set of circumstances beyond his or her control. A Hindu girl living in with a Muslim boy is suddenly in the glare of global media in a reality TV show, a divorced cynical man faces the prospect of committing himself to a prostitute, a highly talented small town girl must choose between life and death. All must resolve the conflicts within their beliefs. Read the way the stories end in the book, but if you dont agree with the ending, visit the website riturajverma.com for alternate endings. If you dont like the way the stories end there either, write your own, and if your ending is selected, see it in print in the next print run with your name in the acknowledgements. Hoping to change the world, one story at a time

About the Author
Rituraj Verma started his career as a mechanical engineer having cleared the IIT JEE as a fluke. He pushed his luck further and by another fluke, managed to get into Tulane University, New Orleans, for his MBA. Naturally, he switched tracks to FMCG sales, retail, real estate and then finally, consulting. He met his wife, Smriti, at the Indian Railways Staff College in Baroda and has always claimed that she was the lucky one, which of course, is often debated in the family.

His true calling, however, seems to be writing, and this book is an act of subconscious expression, amalgamating real life stories with fantasy in a liberating manner. In his adventurous moments at home, he enjoys being referee to his son and daughter. Sometimes, he manages to sound tuneful when he is playing the electric guitar, though some neighbours disagree. When he is not playing the guitar, he is usually playing with his own hair on his head.