Book Review
Rewind and Play by Tarun Gautam
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| Rewind and Play by Tarun Gautam |
Author: Tarun Gautam
ISBN: 978-8193642474
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Length: 166 Pages
Order your copy right now: https://amzn.to/2QSb2HP
About the author:
Tarun Gautam or TeeGee is a free thinker and a writer with a
soul. When not penning books, he is the Regional Sales Head for a leading
banking technology firm and has travelled to over 20 countries. He believes
experiencing varying cultures of countries such as Latvia and South Africa have
given him a unique world-view.
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| Tarun Gautam |
An engineer and an executive MBA from IIM Lucknow, Tarun
played a key role in the formative years of two consulting start-ups. Tarun is
also a keen golfer and yoga enthusiast.
REVIEW
Narration
Rewind and Play: Hostel diaries of a frustrated B.Tech is,
as the title suggests─
collection of hostel memories. The story begins with Raghav Diwan accepting the award for ‘most innovative consumer product of the year’. The story is narrated
in the third-person point of view. Later, Raghav Diwan meets his batch mates from the hostel in evening get-together and the story kicks off. They all start reciting
their best memories from their graduation days. So, each chapter is the third
person narration of those stories, making it a sort of collection of different short
stories with even different characters. The language is simple but there are
many grammatical errors as well.
Time, Location and Setting
Being contemporary fiction, Rewind and Play sets in current
time but the most part of the book is flashback which set in the late ’90s and most
of the events happening around their hostel. The story starts and ends with one
main character, Raghav Diwan but he cannot be called a protagonist because there
are lot other characters and have their fair share in the stories, or maybe
more than Raghav (if neglected opening and ending). Of course, we would follow
his character to see what changes the get-together brings to him, would it be
any helpful? As being B.Tech hostel diaries, it gives that back-to-college
vibes. Competitions, events, exams and projects are happening. And like many
other college books or specifically movies, there is ragging and conflicts.
Theme
As I mentioned before, Rewind and Play is a contemporary
fiction based on engineering-hostel life in India. First of all Tarun Gautam
describes Raghav’s life in America, who then faces some consequences at his
work. However, the main essence of the book is the life of an engineering student. Which
author has depicted very well using these short stories. Harpreet, Venky,
Aadil, Nafisa, Francis are his former batch mates and are in the US only so they
all meet for an evening get-together. It wasn’t predictable at all as there is
not anything to look forward other than what happens with Raghav Diwan after get-together.
Plot
Talking about the plot, there are 14 out of 19 chapters which
are the stories from their college days. First, there is a flashback of their
childhood, portraying how they grew to be engineers. Nafisa is the only girl in
their group but she is brilliant enough to not give up on her dreams. Harpreet
is that techie guy having coding skills. These are the stories of their
triumphs, from conquering their ragging task to acing inter-college
competitions. With each story, there is a learning lesson for their lifetime.
That makes it a worthy read that provides with unique and memorable experiences.
Though the end is satisfying and meaningful.
'The Universe tries to reveal its plan for you. If you get what it is, don't mess with it.'
My Views
Finally. I loved the element of politics in inter-college
competitions. Also, corporate politics. At some points, it was really funny that
I couldn’t control my laugh. There are lots of references used by the author here
and there. The stories were all worth it, but opening and ending seemed quite
disconnected to the stories being told. But that is my opinion. I’m sure anyone who has been through
engineering, like me, would love to read this book. It is evocative to relive
your college memories and it sometimes moves you.
Thank you Bookgeniepr for this review copy!! Happy Reading!
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