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Anil Nijhawan
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A Cobra's Bite Doesn't Hurt Kindle Edition

by Anil Nijhawan (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 213 ratings
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Kalu, kidnapped from an orphanage at the age of fourteen and trained to pick pockets, is forced into a gang of thieves in Bangalore. When Babu, their ruthless gang leader, murders his best friend Ramesh, Kalu – fearing for his own life – runs away to Kolkata. While still being pursued by Babu he meets and falls in love with Tanya, a stunning and gifted career girl from an upper middle-class family.
This powerful novel presents life in contemporary India with vivid realism. Evocative and beautifully written, with a love story at its heart, it embraces a wide range of human emotions and has many intensely dramatic scenes.
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  1. Print length
    235 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    March 6, 2020
  5. File size
    1669 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
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  8. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

Review

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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B085MNHMPC
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ The Conrad Press (March 6, 2020)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 6, 2020
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1669 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 235 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 213 ratings

About the author

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Anil Nijhawan

Anil Nijhawan

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Indian born, Anil Nijhawan is now settled in Berkshire with his wife Adarsh, a former school teacher, and a family of goldfishes in the garden pond. Anil's career has embraced working in the computer industry and running his own business. A keep-fit enthusiast, he has run the London Marathon on several occasions. His hobbies include world travel, not just for pleasure, but also to draw inspiration for his writing. He likes interacting with people. Please visit his blog/website. www.anilnijhawan.com

Customer reviews

3.8 out of 5 stars
3.8 out of 5
213 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Denny
4.0 out of 5 stars A different perspective of the poor of India.
Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2020
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The book begins with Kalu, the main character, telling the Indian Prime Minister in a letter the conditions in which he grew up. For me, this is the essence of the story. The squalor and terrible conditions of the orphanage in which he grew up are truly awful and must be addressed by a Prime Minister who claims in a speech that all the children of India are his children. The orphans are fed only enough to keep them alive, they are dressed in rags that are rarely washed, sleep in filthy beds and all around are rats. Then there is the physical and sexual abuse, and the corruption that allows children to be “kidnapped” by criminals. Kalu is kidnapped and taught to pick pockets to earn money for his bosses who keep Kalu and others in slightly better conditions than at the orphanage.

Kalu s account of living and social conditions in Kolkata reverberates with the many other books written about India’s poor. What makes this story so good are the cynical views of Kalu, his strength of character and the politicalisation of the issues by addressing the Prime Minister.

I recommend this to people who find Rohindra Mistry’s accounts of India too hard to bear. This author is no Rohindra Mistry but his writing is still compelling.

I did find the ending abrupt and unsatisfactory. The author seemed to run out of fuel - It’s not well crafted and needs more work. Nonetheless, this is good literary fiction, beautifully written with excellent dialogue and good prose.
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Brian Aird
5.0 out of 5 stars A Culturally Rich and Eye-Opeining Read
Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2020
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A Cobra's Bite Doesn’t Hurt by Anil Nijhawan is a vivid account of a young boy's journey.

The hero's name is Kalu...Cobra Kalu.

The reader is introduced to this talented young orphan who resides in an orphanage. The beginning of his story is fairly gruesome as it describes his life in this despicable place along with countless other young neglected boys and girls. Their "care" is provided by employees who could care less about the abandoned children and not only abuse the financial system provided by the government, but abuse the children physically, sexually and mentally.

Of significant note is the author's attention to great detail in regards to describing the deplorable conditions of the orphanage as everyone deals with vermin, rodents, poor sanitation, and even, yes, a cobra. Additionally, the novel is replete with the customs, language, sights and sounds from the country of India.

Ultimately, Kalu is kidnapped from his "home" and is trained in the art of being a pickpocket. Uniquely, the story is narrated by him and the narration is provided to the Indian Prime Minister through a dictation type machine.

A Cobra's Bite Doesn’t Hurt by Anil Nijhawan is a well-written and engaging novel about a young boy through young adulthood who has been abandoned in the country of India and is forced to fend for himself despite the fact that he is a ward of the country in a local orphanage in Chitpur. Despite the living conditions of the children residing in the orphanage, adventures and a life to be lived in order to survive, the narritive is overall an inspiring story of friendship, looking out for each other and surviving together against incredible odds as Kalu indulges in questionable behaviors as he battle life and defends his friends.

It is a story of friendship, survival, a near death experience, revenge and love that transcends even the caste system of India and begs the question of whether the ends justify the means.

A culturally rich and eye opening read.
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S. J. Main
4.0 out of 5 stars Good fictional story
Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2020
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A cobra’s bite doesn’t hurt is a fictional story about Kalu. Kalu is an orphan and from the age of 14 is forced to join a gang of thieves in Bandalore. Kalu’s life has no stability and the poor boy’s life changes when Ramesh, his friend is killed by the gang leader. He flees to Kolkata. That is when Kalu’s life changes as he falls in life and life in India advocates for a better beginning.

I found the literature to be so rich and inviting. The author spent a delicate amount of time making sure the character was likeable and it was very easy to bond with Kalu. The work really does impose a coming of age story and the fiction describes India beautifully. I recommend this book to fiction readers and anyone who likes the contemporary style of storytelling.
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Sure Enough
2.0 out of 5 stars Won't be reading any more
Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2021
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Unfortunately, I will not be reading any more by this author. He seemed to be attempting to write like Dickens in exposing the plight of the poor and disenfranchised in India. However he fell terribly short of the skill of Dickens. SERIOUSLY SHORT. The book is amateurish in its plotting and pacing. As I finished the book I found myself wondering what this book was about. In passing, the author managed occasionally to take the reader into the sense of helplessness experienced by those oppressed, but those moments are rare. The book's structure and organization seemed erratic and seriously in need of the services of a good editor. Actually ANY editor at all could probably improve the book. The book reads as though the author self-edited his work- yet he obviously didn't have the necessary skills or objectivity to do this properly. Miscellaneous word choices reinforced the impression that this was a do-it-yourself kind of novel without knowledgeable attention to those things necessary to an end result of a "good" book. Even a little passing attention from a cursory scan by a proofreader would have helped. (One example is the use of "want" when the correct word was "won't." Upon completion of the book, I felt really agitated. This agitation was not at the unrest caused by the horrible situation and conditions of the unwanted children of India. It was instead an agitation due to the nature of the writing itself. Time to bring out a more professional "Revised Edition." Please
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Top reviews from other countries

Pauline Johansen
4.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully Written tale of sadness
Reviewed in Canada on August 13, 2020
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What a sweet and sad book. The first person narrative gave it a painful immediacy. The intense details brought to life the horror of this young boy’s life. Written with sensitivity and kindness for the circumstance the. childreen and adults found themselves in.
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David Gee
4.0 out of 5 stars Retribution and romance in modern-day India
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 20, 2021
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Told in the first-person, this is the story of Kalu, a fatherless boy in twenty-first-century India abandoned by his mother. After a brutal orphanage childhood he falls in, like Oliver Twist, with a pick-pocketing gang in Bangalore. Then he escapes to Kolkata and a more independent life, still stealing but making new friends, including a higher-caste sweetheart and an elderly teacher to whom Kalu plays Cupid, attempting to reunite him with a youthful love lost to time and circumstance.

As well as romance, the novel contains some grim retributive violence. Echoes of Dickensian London abound, not just in the criminal underworld but with the unsparing portrayal of the harshness of life for India’s dispossessed. The writing is contemporary, with a lot of profanity, but the dynamic pace makes for an unputdownable if harrowing read.
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Priyakshi Rajguru Goswami
4.0 out of 5 stars A Poignant, Satirical and Humorous Story
Reviewed in India on May 28, 2020
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'A Cobra's Bite Doesn’t Hurt' by Anil Nijhawan, is the story of an orphan named Kalu. The novel is written in an epistolary form. Kalu dictates a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which his friend, Sanju, records in a ramshackle tape recorder and then types out. In this letter, he shares his life story and his observations of life in general. Abandoned by his mother when he was a baby, Kalu grows up in an orphanage in Uttarakhand where he encounters life in its most degrading form. Squalid living conditions, not having enough to eat, corruption, sexual abuse by the caretakers – these are commonplace occurrences. When an apparently well to do boy, Ramesh, arrives in the orphanage, Kalu takes an instant liking to him and they become friends. They make a plan to run away but before their plan can materialize, both the boys are kidnapped on different occasions and introduced to a life of crime. Kalu and Ramesh find themselves in the hands of a gang of pick-pocketeer which is managed by a dangerous and vicious criminal named Babu.

From here the story takes several twists and turns as the reader travels with Kalu through his various adventures. As Kalu narrates his story, he points out the various loopholes in our society and system and how the lower class is treated by the upper caste. He makes several witty observations and the reader can’t help but chuckle at the irony of it all.

Written in a humorous style, Kalu's story will keep you engrossed due to his sharp observations about life, politics and human behaviour. Though Kalu is a criminal, not once does the reader feel any revulsion towards him as he is a victim of his circumstances. Kalu didn’t choose to be a criminal. Given a choice, he would have loved to study and become a responsible citizen. He exposes corruption in the orphanage, in the police force and in the society around him. Despite his own circumstances, Kalu doesn’t grow up to be bitter or cynical. He has immense desire to do good to others and it’s ironical that the person who is on the wrong side of the law is a do-gooder while the people who uphold the law are of criminal mentality. It’s an Oliver Twist meets James Hadley Chase kind of novel and is poignant, sad, humorous and satirical in equal measures.
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Akash Sangwan
5.0 out of 5 stars A must read book. Really heart touching !
Reviewed in India on May 19, 2020
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It's one of the best book I have ever read full of action, adventure, love, pain, motivation and suspense.

It's a story of a boy named Kalu.

He is narrating this story. And recording it on a device to let prime minister Modiji know about him. And about a lot of kids like him.

Kalu is guy who got kidnapped at the age of fourteen. Very strong minded and courageous.

His mother left him after some years of his birth.

Then, he grew up in the orphanage in between a lot of bad things like sexual abusing, no one to love, violence etc.

There he faced a lot of difficulties.

Every single moment he was dreaming of to get out from there.

And suddenly he got kidnapped by some people.

There they told him to work for them as a thief or pocket picker. Kalu accepted it.

As, he had already faced so many bad things. So, he was courageous enough to do such things.

There he earned a lot of money and joy like clothes, watching movies etc.

But something was missing. And that was "Freedom." He was not able to do what he want. He was just like a pupeet with his control in the hands of his boss Babu.

So, somehow he escaped from there.

Then, he faced several difficulties.

In between all these things. Kalu always had a dream to meet his mother.

He once listened Modiji's speech. And then, he became motivated to tell Modiji his story.

And yes, Kalu is a thief due to his conditions. But a very kind hearted guy.

Whenever he robbed any poor person without knowing it. Then, every time after finding it, his heart became full of regret.

Like once he robbed an old man.

Then, when he opened his wallet. He saw that there was no money there.

Except a letter which that old guy Raju wrote for his love Saira.

So, Kalu immediately realized his mistake.

And became determined to reunite these two lovers. He became fully dedicated for it.

While trying to save his life from his old boss Babu.

So, what will Kalu do know ?

How will he save himself from Babu ?
And will he get succeess to reunite the two lovers Raju and Saira ?

What will happen to this story of Kalu trying to send his message to prime minister Modiji ?

My friends read this amazing book to find answers of all these questions.

Trust me guys, the way of presenting the content, the engaging way of writing, everything is amazing in this book.

The book is written in a really amazing way.

I am still having thoughts about Kalu. And his life.

I can feel the pain and those small moments of happiness. It's all because of author's amazing writing and creativity skills.

My friends, this book will make you realize the dark side of our country.

Where a lot of kids go through so many bad things like violence, sexual abuse, torture etc.

In their age of playing with toys they are doing crimes.

Guys, you will get shocked after reading this book.

You will see that how our country has the potential to do great things. How we have a strong mind and kind heart.

But due to some bad people in each sector of the system.

Our country is not growing that much.

Now you might be thinking that what can we do, right ?

So,my friends you will also realize that each and everyone of us can contribute a lot to stop these things.

Whether by helping some kids like Kalu's friend Sanju.

Or by informing the police. And other government officials if we see any of these things happening around us.

And nowadays by the use of social media. It's really easy for us to raise our voice against such injustice.

We can directly reach out to the highest government officials.

And for that we need to understand our responsibilities. Because it's our country. And we are responsible for everything happening here.

So, read this book guys.

And find out the story of Kalu.

I just want to thank the author for writing such an amazing book for highlighting these topics.

It's a really heart touching and eye opening book guys.

A must read for everyone.

My ratings :- 5/5
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Marilyn Pemberton
5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating title for an equally fascinating book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 28, 2020
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"A Cobra's Bite Doesn't Hurt" is a fascinating title for an equally fascinating book. I love the device of the narrator speaking directly to the Indian PM as it allows for humour and a more in-depth insight into the opinions, beliefs and hopes of Kalu. Kalu is an uneducated orphan kidnapped from the orphanage at the age of fourteen in order to be trained as a pick-pocket, which becomes his career as he gets older. Kalu is utterly engaging and although he is not the most honest of people, we forgive him, even when his crime is heinous, because he fundamentally has a good heart. He cares for the destitute, the hungry, the crippled, the unwanted - because he is one of them. The India Kalu describes is not on the tourist trail but is the India lived in by the majority of its population. The descriptions are both delicious and repellent; you can smell the wonderful spices and the obnoxious effluent in the same sniff. It is an honest book but by no means depressing. Yes, we mix with people who are crippled, poverty-stricken, disadvantaged and starving - but we also experience their small successes, their bursts of joy and their daily inspirations. Yes, Kalu tells of deprivation, corruption, cruelty and despair, but he also tells of hope, friendship, selflessness and love and it is these that shine through and are remembered. The ending is abrupt but I very much hope this is because Anil Nijhawan is writing a sequel; I really want to know what happens to Kalu and his friends. This book is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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