I regret not having read this book all this while. It had been lying around for a long time in my bookshelf. Its not that I had not been reading; I had been reading more than ever. I’ve never been fascinated with stories about love and marriage; mainly because I don’t have a very socially acceptable views on the same; but that’s a different story altogether.
Anupama had told me about this book, and Raksha had been kind enough to send this book too! Autographed and with a note! There are very few of those I have. One of them being a compilation of adventure stories signed by Ruskin Bond.
Like most other reviews I’ve done including Preeti Shenoy’s ‘Life is What you Make it‘ which still figures on top in the list of Google search results for the book; I won’t be revealing anything about the story or much about its characters. Now reading this book, there are clearly many characters but none have been worked on as much as two – Aditya and Tina. Tina is the girl everyone will fall in love with and perhaps she may also be the girl of your dreams. She’s been painted well.
Aditya on the other hand what every guy wants to be. While Raksha tries to paint the picture clearly about their chemistry and their tribulations; I for one could not help but sympathize with Aditya. Tina is of course the darling every girl will empathize with from a woman’s point of view. I could also draw a few parallels like the relationship Tina had with Prats; much like how Panchali had with Krishna in Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee. There perhaps lies the beauty in this book; you wouldn’t really hate or strongly dislike any of the characters. You either love them, or you learn to live with them. However, more insight into the mind of Aditya would’ve been welcome; because it does tend to move towards painting him in a negative light.
The book takes a break here and there goes into flashbacks and its put together well. As the blurb mentions, Tina’s friends all come together finally. This isn’t a fairy tale, nor does it have any happy endings. Its a human story; about regular people. Like you, like me. Don’t expect miracles, its a plain jane story about what could happen with young couples and there would be numerous such stories as well. Only this perhaps got put in words so beautifully. This is a journey into many lives, and how they all finally make it. Don’t expect happy endings like I told you before; look for hope! Because that’s what sets this book apart. It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from the movie Shawshank Redemption, ‘Hope is a good, perhaps the only thing’.
This book has a strong case to be made into a movie, and even the book plays out well in your head like movie. I give this book a thumbs up!
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The book is also on Facebook !
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