Aug 27, 2003 01:34 PM
5166 Views
(Updated Oct 30, 2003 11:01 AM)
I purchased this book from the Delhi book fair this year. I was conned into buying such pathetic book by the cover preview. It gave a false impression that it will be some interesting story exploring relationships. But I was seriously disappointed. It was a very nonchalant approach to depict the Delhi's society- be it middle class or upper hip class. The writing style was too casual.
The story revolves around two families, Sachdevas, the rich ones and Menons, the middle class. Neena is daughter in law of Sachdeva household. She has a friend Gayatri Menon. The younger son of Sachdeva’s, Tarun, falls in love with Gayatri. After chapters n chapters of wooing, Gayatri finally relents to Tarun’s advances. Sachdeva’s are naturally against this match(here starts the typical rich-poor drama). The novel end abruptly, without any conclusion, so I cant throw much light on what was the intention of the author to write such a long saga of boring events. May be she decided that she cant really find a suitable end to such bizarre web of incidents and characters.
The characters sound sleepy, as if in trance. All of them fail to impress or make any long lasting impression.
I will just mention 4 main characters of the novella. Rest all are not worth mentioning.
Gayatri: Pretty south Indian girl. Completed her Phd in UK. Sounds impressive??? But believe me her character could have been much better if handled carefully.
Neena: The only saving grace. Bubbly daughter-in-law of Sachdeva’s. She was hell bent on getting her brother-in-law engaged to Gayatri. She presented a sweet picture. I wonder why her mother-in-law hated her so much.
Tarun: The boy in love. Every now and then, the author mentioned that he was Casanova, but there were hardly any incidents supporting this claim. Whenever a character is sketched, there should always be supporting matter for the characterization, which was lacking in this case. He appeared to be very amiable gentleman, quite opposite of what was mentioned in few fleeting lines.
Rohit:The dumb husband of Neena. He was supposed to be a successful businessman, yet when he went abroad for the first time, he was acting as if he was just out of school. Atleast author should have given him a dignified landing on British soil. He has a fling there, which was grossly mishandled.
The attraction of the servant for the lady of the house was presented in very bad taste. The leading pair Gayatri and Tarun had a very college-going teen romance. None of them appeared to be grown up mature human being.
All men were made to look stupid, as if they had nothing else to do except to listen what their wives say else they were totally drowned in business.
The incidents woven around the characters were just too boring.
Overall a bad book. Don’t waste your time, it’s too precious to be wasted on such a crap (who knows this better than me, who spent 1 hour in trying to figure why at all I bought this horrendous book)
