~Jab se I've started reading trash~. Review on Jab Se You Have Loved Me - S R Saha

I was browsing Crosswords here in Pune, after having accomplished little in my stay here. Somehow I find books to be more interesting than people, plus, in books one can always fast forward to the good bits, which is not the case in real life. Actually, I was looking for a good translation of Mein Kampf (the original Oxford translation has long been out of print in Australia, but thankfully I found it here in India). Whilst browsing the fiction section, I came across this famed novel – “Jab se you have loved me”, which was perched beside Arundhati Roy’s “God of Small Things”. I didn’t know whether to feel sorry for Arundhati Roy (in a literary sense) or be delighted for S.R. Saha, for being put in such esteemed company! I remembered deepak27’s DP about fake reviews about this book, which raised the question whether or not this book actually existed. It was a find! I felt that I had unlocked one of the mysteries of our era. I turned over to find the price –Rs 100 and prepared to pay for my own torture. I had heard that mister Saha was a disciple of Chetan Bhagat and even though I do not consider Mr. Bhagat a laureate, yet I’ve appreciated his writing skills, especially the use of colloquial similes. Whether or not he had earned the right to have a follower in mister Saha, I would soon find out.

Plot:

The plot is extremely basic and doesn’t do much to surprise you. The book’s plot is like the caricature of the decent elder brother of Hindi cinema – never overreaching and playing within its limits, which let me tell you, are plenty. This is the story of Atin and his friends Luv, Iqbal, Russel, Raj, Rumia and testosterone…. Oops… I mean… sex… Oops… I mean, what’s the word? Ah, yes – love. I think mister Saha got a bit confused between lust and love. His definition of love at first sight stems from watching the back of a transparent top of a girl who has come in, dripping wet from the rain. What’s the use of the top, I wonder? Wouldn’t the ‘love’ be stronger if she wasn’t wearing anything at all?

Atin is an IITian who is jobless because he had dreams of going to the U.S. and thus declined job offers when he was on campus. Now, neither is he in the U.S. nor does he have a job. He is living with his aunt ‘Pissi’ (not to be confused for a fancy word for ‘piss’). He meets Ujani, who is a graduate in Bio Sciences from Calcutta but she too is job hunting. They meet at the place where both of them had an interview for a job. Atin is turned down, while Ujani arrives late and is thus shunned as well. Atin teames up with Luv, his best friend, to find out the whereabouts of Ujani, mainly because she set his tongue wagging with the see through show. Of course, the true gentleman that our protagonist is, he falls in love with his heart and feels nothing in his pants (that feeling is reserved for later, but lets not go into graphic detail).

Luv lives with his two twin sisters who constantly keep wreaking havoc by playing pranks on Atin and Luv. Atin decides to sell caller id systems to sustain himself while he is unemployed (starting from his uncle!). Each of Atin’s friends are unsatisfied with what they do. Ujani has a degree in Bio-Sciences but gets a job as an airhostess. Luv studied Chartered Accountancy but ends up as a stockbroker. Iqbal has a degree in Philosophy but he runs a shop (but considering his philosophical concepts, one can ascertain that his definition of ‘philosophy’ is that of armchair philosophy, rather than aesthetic, analytical or continental one). A bit of research on this character was required. Actually…. Wait… research on all characters was required. People who are versed with their professions will find discrepancies. I can only speak for philosophy, but real chartered accountants and stock brokers will find that their profession has also been turned into a mockery.

Then there is a Slumdog Millionaire twist as well. Atin becomes the rags to riches example. How? It does not matter, for the author believes in entertainment before logic. And, as expected, in the end – Aal izz well…

Writing Style:

Mister Saha’s writing style is similar to Chetan Bhagat, but not as refined, which does not even make good masala fare. The book heavily relies on one liners and colloquial humour punches, but the finesse isn’t there. Since this is his debut novel, I won’t be too harsh, but mister Saha would do well to refine his expression (sentence structure, coherence etc). He should take inspiration from Dan Brown, who unarguably, writes the best masala fare today, but his plot structure, research, and accuracy of statements are much more profound. Entertainment shouldn’t come at the cost of accuracy and research. Even Chetan Bhagat put a few Australian touches which were authentic in The Three Mistakes of my Life.Saha’s writing appears too superfluous. He has the imagination in his similes and the colloquial touch but in such a simple narrative, that becomes a mockery. For example – The beginning was very innovative with almost a Kaun Banega Crorepati feel – the three circumstances that Atin visualizes in his head, once he sees the receptionist. That was a great bit of innovative thought, but it looked childish on paper. It needed to be refined for better impact.

The book is almost completely reliant on slapstick or sarcastic humour which dwells in the minds of the characters as they visualize situations. A little bit of variety on mister Saha’s part would have been appreciated. The book becomes monotonous after a while. Even the expressions aren’t as crisp as Chetan Bhagat. The point is – he tries to copyhim, not use him as an example. We have seen what Chetan Bhagat can do, we would like to see what you are capable of, mister Saha.

Presentation:

I finished the book in one hour. It was that light. And after that it felt a complete waste of the 100 rupees. The book has no ‘repeat’ reading value. Compare that with “C” by Tom McCarthy, which is priced at rupees 699, hardcover, I’ve read it 4 times already in the last three months, yet I discover something new! The sarcastic, self indulgent tone, which carries on throughout the novel is established in the “Acknowledgements” itself – “It is customary for authors to drop names on this page”. I liked that. It was simple, yet effective. But then, mister Saha goes on an overkill. Too much of the same thing becomes repetitive. The use of old song titles as chapter names was a novel idea. It sums up the theme which will be explored in the whole chapter. For example – ‘Woh Pehli Nazar’ describes the first meeting between Atin and Ujani. There are a lot of grammatical errors in the book, not only in tense, but in verbs, expression and coherence as well. Lack of articles is also a glaring glitch. Indian authors (by which I mean Indian born and raised) seem to neglect ‘a’, ‘an’ and ‘the’ like they were born out of wedlock in the English family. Such mistakes are 2-3 per page. The grammar Nazi that I am, I have highlighted and corrected them, more for the ease of my reading than anything else.

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