Baaz (National Bestseller)

Anuja Chauhan

Apr 2017 · Sold by HarperCollins

About this ebook

Now in a fresh new look!

'The high priestess of popular fiction...' THE ASIAN AGE

1971. The USSR-backed India-Mukti Bahini alliance is on the brink of war against the America-aided Pakistani forces. As the Cold War threatens to turn red hot, handsome, laughing Ishaan Faujdaar, a farm boy from Chakkahera, Haryana, is elated to be in the IAF, flying the Gnat, a tiny fighter plane nicknamed 'Sabre Slayer' for the devastation it has wreaked in the ranks of Pakistan's F-86 Sabre Squadrons.

Flanked by his buddies Raks, a MiG-21 Fighter; Maddy, a transport pilot who flies a Caribou; and fellow Gnatties Jana, Gana and Mana, Shaanu has nothing on his mind but glory and adventure -- until he encounters Tehmina Dadyseth, famed bathing beauty and sister of a dead fauji, who makes him question the very concept of nationalism and whose eyes fill with disillusioned scorn whenever people wax eloquent about patriotism and war...

Pulsating with love, laughter and courage, Baaz is Anuja Chauhan's tribute to our men in uniform.

Ratings and reviews

Anuja Chauhan is one of the ONLY Indian writers whose career in writing I follow religiously and read her books as soon as she writes them. Chauhan manages to capture the essence of India in all its glory, gets her humour and chemistry on point and throws all her characters into such unique settings. In fact, there’s nothing I don’t love about her books. And so when my sister told me that she was releasing a new book, I compulsively stalked Anuja Chauhan’s twitter to wait and see what this book would be all about and when I could get my hands on it. Baaz did not disappoint. In fact, the fact that this was centred on a boy made it all the more fun, especially since Anuja’s last two books had a huge smattering of girls, filling it to the brim. As I laughed, prayed for my three mains in the Indian Air Force and took this journey with them, I was only reassured of my love for Anuja’s books and writing. THOUGHTS: 1. I loved the banter. I loved all three of our main pilots – Maddy, Raka and Ishaan but more than anything, I loved the camaraderie they had between them, their jokes and their backstory. 2. I love the way Anuja writes – in English, but an Indianized version of English showing off the Hindi and the way some native language speakers alter the language. More than the actual descriptions, this creates that authentic Indian atmosphere I’ve spent my whole life in. 3. Her writing style is so unique. It’s all told in third person, but in the midst of a chapter the viewpoint will chance from one person to another just to give you a deeper insight into the minds of all her complicated characters. It’s so different from what I’m used to and I love it. 4. I feel like I should mention the names and nicknames in the book. Each of them is so perfectly crafted (Carva-lho) (Sorry non Hindi people) and makes me laugh the minute their name and personality is connected to some sort of joke, reference or nickname. 5. I haven’t read many military books before, but everything about the war, the strategy and the piloting manoeuvres were described enough to make me understand and yet didn’t bore me even a little. 6. The only reason I’m taking a star off this book is because that ending was so Bollywood and Filmy that it made me cringe. As did the whole cast being moved to Dacca. I honestly just wish it was edited out. This book is just one more masterpiece doled out by the top fiction writer in India, who will permanently reside on the top of my auto buy author list. A truly spectacular insight into India, War, Love, Feminism, Patriotism and Family in the 1970s.

By far the best book I've read after the Shiva Triology...Finished it in 3 days... I just fell in love with the book, its characters and most importantly Ishaan Faujdaar a.k.a Baaz... Have always been wanting to join the Airforce and this has made my vision stronger. Every conversation would be so gripping and I would keep reading it till late in the night.. Every character has been given well thought and funny nick-names like Ishaan (Baaz or Shaanu), Rakesh Aggrawal (Raka, Aggrawal sweets),Carvalho(called kuch bhi karvalo), Maddy is also amazing And Tehmina Daddyseth (Tinka)... Overall a pleasure to read... Even though I was disappointed with the ending, was crying and it took me a few days to recover from the Baaz factor 😂. Long after the book is over you can hear the characters talking and also the soft music playing in the Sarihind club. The characters have been described as such that you feel attached and they feel real!

Anuna Chauhan never disappoints you..never! Same goes with this one.If you have loved her other chic lit ones (or not),you'll still love this one.

About the author

Anuja Chauhan worked in advertising for over seventeen years and is credited with many popular campaigns, including PepsiCo's Nothing Official About It, Yeh Dil Maange More, Mera Number Kab Aayega, Oye Bubbly and Darr ke Aage Jeet Hai. She is the author of six bestselling novels (The Zoya Factor, Battle for Bittora, Those Pricey Thakur Girls, The House that BJ Built, Baaz and Club You to Death), the screen rights for all of which have been acquired by major Bombay studios. She lives outside Bangalore in an empty nest with her husband, Niret Alva, with whom she shares three valiantly adulting children and a varying number of dogs and cats.