-->
Showing posts with label Contemporary Fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Contemporary Fiction. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 9, 2022

Semicolon, an intricate, beautiful tattoo created by Mohit; is inked with stream-of-consciousness; effectively capturing the mental turmoil of those dealing with traumatic past

 

Semicolon, an intricate, beautiful tattoo created by Mohit; is inked with stream-of-consciousness; effectively capturing the mental turmoil of those dealing with traumatic past

Book Review by Dhiraj Sindhi


Semicolon: a novel by Mohit Narbada Joshi


Semicolon: a novel by Mohit Narbada Joshi | Book Review by Dhiraj Sindhi | Indian Book Blogger  Contemporary Philosophical Fiction | Romance | Semicolon Movement | Mental Health
Semicolon: a novel by Mohit Narbada Joshi


AuthorMohit Narbada Joshi

ISBN: 978-9390909810

Genre: Contemporary Philosophical Fiction 

Length: 288 Pages

Publication Date25th October 2021

PublisherKalamos Literary Services LLP

Cover Designer: Rishikumar Thakur | Instagram: @bookcoversbyrishi

Order your copy right now: https://amzn.to/3CFkSEV


About the author:


Mohit Narbada Joshi is a PhD Scholar in the department of Humanities and Social Sciences at Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur. Graduated as an engineer, and post graduated in English Literature, he could no longer ignore his calling. He has been writing since middle school, and this would be his first published fiction work. He has also worked as an Assistant Professor of English with St. Xavier’s College, Jaipur. One can find his writing page on Instagram: @harsh_writes where he shares his short poems and musings.


Semicolon: a novel by Mohit Narbada Joshi | Book Review by Dhiraj Sindhi | Indian Book Blogger  Contemporary Philosophical Fiction | Romance | Semicolon Movement | Mental Health
Mohit Narbada Joshi


Instagram: @harsh_writes


DisclaimerThis review is only intended for initiating discussions. The opinions and views presented in this article are my own and do not reflect anything about the book's author. 



REVIEW

Contrary to the apparent perspicuity of semicolon (punctuation), Mohit Narbada Joshi tattoos an intricate yet beautiful philosophical fiction—Semicolon using the ink of stream-of-consciousness in different experimental ways; effectively capturing the emotional turmoil one goes through while struggling with mental health issues stemming from a traumatic past; ‘fresh’ in all aspects, including romance, this debut from a promising author defies conventions of the most popular Indian contemporary works.


Semicolon follows two independent storylines, that of Keshav and Dhara. Keshav’s part of the story is narrated using interior monologues and Dhara’s, in first-person point of view. Keshav is troubled by this voice in his head that knows everything that is going to happen and everyone he is yet to meet in his life. These words at the beginning of the novel, ‘future is not something to be created, but just the past that needs to be revisited’ establishes the element of magic realism that is characterised by the mystery that somehow the protagonist knows what is coming next in his life and the next moment.


Dhara is utterly distressed that she is being forced to see a psychotherapist after she has lost (almost) all the people she had ever loved. She is afraid of the “anticipated” closure that she ‘would end up breaking all her ties with all that once mattered to her and detach her from the remains of a life she fell in love with.’ Being a medical student herself, she knows how this is going to play out if she complied with how she was expected to just. Let. Go. I think this is the thing about therapy and mental health that people need to understand that it is really difficult to let go of the past and how? Mohit has successfully illustrated this elaborately throughout the book in Dhara’s account. The journey starts by admitting that you may need or want closure, but that might never happen. In fact, one believes that holding onto the past is logically the best possible way to be secure; this sense of security convinces one to carry the burden of traumatic experience at the cost of being in a state of hopelessness. And ‘;’ is the very symbol of affirmation against this hopelessness.


Apart from being an addition to the semicolon movement, this book contains countless other metaphors. The philosophical writing style complements the interior monologues, which form the foundation of the book. The book is divided into three parts following the three-act structure, which is often used in works of narrative fiction. The first part is as usual, dedicated to the character development and problem definition. Here, you get to know what protagonists are dealing with and how do they perceive it. 


In the second part, the story actually moves forward and so do the protagonists. Here, you come across many philosophical discussions and pieces of poetry while you are also being familiarized with more characters. Besides, the protagonists are undergoing the change of scene in their life for good. However, they’d have to confront their fears sooner or later and towards the end of the second part, they eventually find themselves on the path they dreaded for a long time. The structure of the book appears to be non-linear and readers may find it hard to connect the dots until the third part. In the final part, a proper climax takes place, which is absolutely mind-blowing considering how it resolves all the conflicts in the lives of protagonists. Readers are finally able to outline the actual sequence of the events and the mysteries are solved too.


It had been an emotional saga all along, although the climax had a pronounced effect on me. I could relate to both the protagonists on multiple levels which made me root for the characters till the end. Sometimes, I wasn’t able to keep up with the writing style, but I’m glad I put effort to understand the characters well. In the climax, it all did pay off.  The most I resonated with was Dhara, I could literally see myself in her shoes. I will end this review with her words from the iconic climactic scene, which also made me cry, even the second time as I read it to quote “I was too scared of what lay beyond the answers to the questions I had grown comfortable with.


Happy Reading!


Are you on Instagram and Goodreads? Let's connect!




Dhiraj's 2022 book montage


A Little LifeThe Endsemicolon: a novelThe Sage's SecretKanthapura

Dhiraj Sindhi's favorite books »




=========================

Follow me on InstagramFacebookTwitter, and Pinterest. Don't forget to subscribe for more content. Thank you so much for reading!

Will see you in the next post. Till then buh-bye. Take Care. Peace. ☮

Friday, December 24, 2021

Corporate Eagle: A Soaring Success Story by Madhukant Acharya

   

Corporate Eagle: A Soaring Success Story by Madhukant Acharya


Corporate Eagle: A Soaring Success Story by Madhukant Acharya | Book Review by Dhiraj Sindhi | Indian Book Blogger
Corporate Eagle by Madhukant Acharya


Author: Madhukant Acharya

ISBN: 978-1685233372

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Length: 180 Pages

Publication Date23rd August 2021

PublisherNotion Press

Order your copy right now: https://amzn.to/32oEoaS


About the author:

Madhukant Acharya was educated in some of the best schools and colleges in India and was adjudged the best student in his class. Soon after he joined the corporate world, working with eminent multinational companies and rose from a management trainee to the company’s board position in a short span of twenty years and was awarded 'Marketing Man of the Year' from the President of India. He has widely travelled in India and abroad and continues to be an avid reader. The author leads an active social life with friends and family and is a popular member of premier clubs. His interests involve being a fitness enthusiast and doing social and charitable work in rural areas. Many of his friends call him ‘people happy’.


Settled in Mumbai for nearly forty years with wife Kalpana, his children pursue careers in the US and Mumbai being doctors, engineers and MBAs. The idea of writing a novel motivated him some years ago after professional retirement when he rescheduled his priorities and lifestyle to devote required time to creating his debut novel Friends and five seasons in two volumes — Rupen's Early Years and Publishing hero Rupen.


Corporate Eagle: A Soaring Success Story by Madhukant Acharya | Book Review by Dhiraj Sindhi | Indian Book Blogger
Madhukant Acharya


Instagram: @authormadhukant

Twitter: @authormadhukant


DisclaimerThis review is only intended for initiating discussions. The opinions and views presented in this article are my own and do not reflect anything about the book's author. 


REVIEW


Corporate Eagle by Madhukant Acharya is a fiction book spanning Mohan Dutt’s twenty-five years long corporate life that is indeed, as the title suggests, successful and always moving in an upward direction; set in India, it covers a handful of remarkable events that took place from the late 1970s to the mid-2000s; the book depicts the journey of its canny, perspicacious and enterprising protagonist from being a management trainee to becoming the chairman and country head of the fashion and clothing company, for which he worked doggedly and made contributions that proved indispensable to the making of one of the top corporate giant conglomerate in India; gives you an insight into the challenges and crucial decision-making processes faced by companies and the ethics and policies to go by to keep soaring high in the air; lastly, it shows how giving back to the society (CSR) is important, not only for the economic and social upliftment of the country but also the company itself.

The stated corporate theme here has strong political overtones, which is obvious because the influence of politics within and outside industries cannot be overlooked in any case. The book also starts with the communists winning the elections and what followed was the exodus of industrialists from West Bengal to other parts of India because of the labour disputes and lock-outs. There are a lot of such political events in the book inspired by Indian political history. For instance, finance minister Manmohan Singh and prime minister PV Narsimha Rao doing away with the license-raj regime. The other part of the theme is corporate warfare, which includes dealing with other rival companies, countering their efforts of a hostile takeover, remaining competitive in the market, warding off unwanted influences, etc. The protagonist Mohan deals with it very tactfully and manages to keep his records clean. Additionally, he looks for opportunities to expand the company in whatever aspects he could. Being a chairman, he keeps every department head in check and provides required guidance dutifully. There come a lot of obstacles and challenges pertaining to income tax, shifting of headquarters, politicians withholding raw materials, the factory shut down, legal battles, etc. The author has given detailed insights into the decisions that the protagonist takes while dealing with the obstacles as well as while planning for the expansion of the company into various other fields such as Information Technology, Finance, Sports, etc. 

As you can see that the corporate journey of the protagonist as well as the company is very compelling, although the novel as a whole is not as compelling considering the plot, narration, and setting. The book reads as if being non-fiction, documenting the life of a veteran industrialist in a particular company, stating data and information without any regard for surrounding elements. This also makes it an overview of the many modifications and expansions that the company has undergone. For instance, a single chapter runs you through several years of company-related happenings but doesn't offer how it is executed on the ground. While the corporate-specific insights may be interesting, the novel falls prey to the problem of ‘too much information’, where each chapter has the potential to be an independent novel. Being a successful story, this novel doesn’t even have a single falling moment, a crisis or a disaster, which also discards any possibilities of having any climax. However, as compensation for the missing action, the novel has two significant sports events that will keep you on the edge towards the end. The book is definitely not what you would expect after reading the synopsis on the back cover, because the novel exceeds your expectations in the corporate aspect, while also failing to deliver what it promises—the presence of Kumud and Cindy. They were mentioned in the book now and then, but they didn’t have even the littlest of roles to play.


Happy Reading!


=========================

Follow me on InstagramFacebookTwitter, and Pinterest. Don't forget to subscribe for more content. Thank you so much for reading!

Will see you in the next post. Till then buh-bye. Take Care. Peace. ☮

Friday, September 24, 2021

A House Full of Men by Parinda Joshi | A Book Review

 

A House Full of Men by Parinda Joshi

Book Review by Dhiraj Sindhi



A House Full of Men by Parinda Joshi | Book Review by Dhiraj Sindhi | Indian Book Blogger
A House Full of Men by Parinda Joshi (Cover design: Sudeepti Tucker)



AuthorParinda Joshi

ISBN: 978-9354227011

GenreContemporary Fiction 

Length: 357 Pages

Publication Date: 8th September 2021

PublisherHarperCollins India

Cover Design: Sudeepti Tucker

Cover Designer: Website: platform-mag.com/ | Instagram: @sudeepti.tucker

Order your copy right now: https://amzn.to/2ZtAiwj


About the author:

Parinda Joshi was born and raised in Ahmedabad and later immigrated to Los Angeles with her new husband where she navigated the challenges of starting life from scratch in an unfamiliar milieu, enriching herself with an MS in computer science, testing her limits and redefining herself. She now resides in Silicon Valley where leads growth analytics for a startup in the fashion industry, is mother to her precocious mini-me, a budding screenwriter, a lover of modern poetry, fitness enthusiast, an avid traveler and photographer and a humor junkie. She is the author of two novels, Live From London and Powerplay. She has also contributed to a short story anthology, The Turning Point: Best of Young Indian Writers, and several online publications including GQ India and The South Asian Times (New York).


A House Full of Men by Parinda Joshi | Book Review by Dhiraj Sindhi | Indian Book Blogger
Parinda Joshi

Instagram: @parindajoshi

Twitter: @parindajoshi

Website: parindajoshi.com


DisclaimerThis review is only intended for initiating discussions. The opinions and views presented in this article are my own and do not reflect anything about the book's author. 


REVIEW


Hooking its readers from the very first page, A House Full of Men by Parinda Joshi—a contemporary fiction novel, introduces you to its complex protagonist with a complicated past that is weighing her down with anxiety laden with overthinking, misgivings and trepidations. After the demise of her mother some 10 years ago, she takes it upon herself to fill in the void that her mother has left in the Pant household and the lives of her grandfather—‘High BP’, her father—Ravi and her twin & younger brothers—Shamik and Nishant. Maybe because of the deep-rooted patriarchal mindset, she thinks, if not her, who will? Thus, she is the only woman in a house full of men, including a male dog—Bark Twain and a frame of PG Wodehouse in her bedroom.


The novel gains tremendous pace after 100 pages of the establishment of characters and the situation as in where the protagonist stands in her life. The spirit of this book is its characters that are either highly relatable or straight out of your screens that your mind actually associates the faces of actors to these characters. My favourite character is the soul of the Pant household—Kittu’s grandfather, who is portrayed as mostly witty and sarcastic, still the wisest of all. His humour is the best from what I have read recently. The novel, for a significant part, seemed to be inspired by Bollywood and Indian Television tropes, which makes that part completely irrelevant yet funny at its best. 


Kittu’s life is getting rough by day as her relationship is dying and she thinks she has got no one by her side to listen because her family members are mostly busy arguing with each other, and if not, dealing with their own issues. Kittu cares for everyone in the house but because of gender differences, no man of the house addresses or recognises her problems, be it long-persistent anxiety issues with regards to travel or her love life. This leads to Kittu closeting her feelings and emotions and out surfaces her personality that is obsessed with setting things right even if there’s nothing to fix, which makes her a complex character, a blend of pure concern and love for everyone, ambitions, a dozen troubles and unwanted thought spirals. 


Considering the overall story, there are quite many adventures, moments and dialogues that I loved reading. The relationship Kittu shares with other characters in the novel is crafted cleverly to induce a sense of attachment, which readers will happily subscribe to, instantly. The climax and the end are pretty satisfying as the author manages to wrap everything up smoothly. On the other hand, there are some references and details that don’t fit the narrative. Lastly, the author has tried to address the issues of name-calling and bullying. While the author may have achieved the effect she wanted to produce, although a part of it also encourages the internalization of such practices as well as homophobia. The said passages may be intended to be a mirror to the world or to tackle the very subject, but that would be incomplete or unfair unless of course, condemned the right way. 


Lastly, in A House Full of Men, I found a character with whom I could relate at many levels. Illustrious writing style along with some brilliant characters, this novel captures how holding grudges and prejudices can turn you into a different person altogether.


Happy Reading!

Thank you @vivekisms for the review copy!

=========================

Follow me on InstagramFacebookTwitter, and Pinterest. Don't forget to subscribe for more content. Thank you so much for reading!

Will see you in the next post. Till then buh-bye. Take Care. Peace. ☮

Sunday, June 13, 2021

Pallavi Aiyar’s Modern Fable 'Chinese Whiskers' Traces Highly Changeable Nature of Humans

Pallavi Aiyar’s Modern Fable 'Chinese Whiskers' Traces Highly Changeable Nature of Humans

Book Review by Dhiraj Sindhi


Chinese Whiskers: The Adventures of Soyabean and Tofu in Beijing by Pallavi Aiyar


Book Review: Chinese Whiskers by Pallavi Aiyar | Dhiraj Sindhi | Indian Book Blogger
Chinese Whiskers by Pallavi Aiyar


AuthorPallavi Aiyar

ISBN978-9390351633

GenreContemporary Fiction (Modern Fable)

Length: 242 Pages

Publication Date15th December 2020

PublisherHarperCollins India

Cover Design: Aaryama Somayaji

Cover Designer: Website: highonmangoes.com | Instagram: @highonmangoes

Order your copy right now: https://amzn.to/3xi7brw


About the author:

Award-winning journalist Pallavi Aiyar has spent several years reporting from, and parenting in, China, Europe, and Indonesia. She is the author of Smoke and Mirrors, Chinese Whiskers and Punjabi Parmesan. Pallavi is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, and a former Reuters Fellow at Oxford University. She currently lives in Spain with her family – human and feline.


Book Review: Chinese Whiskers by Pallavi Aiyar | Dhiraj Sindhi | Indian Book Blogger
Pallavi Aiyar

Instagram: @aiyarpallavi

Twitter: @pallaviaiyar

Website: pallaviaiyar.com/

Facebook: @paliaiyar


DisclaimerThis review is only intended for initiating discussions. The opinions and views presented in this article are my own and do not reflect anything about the book's author. 

"I started reading Chinese Whiskers when I was trying to cope with the Covid fatigue and anxiety because it seemed to me a feel-good, fursome book that could give me exactly what I wanted - joy and light. And since I have a cat visitor who everyday visits my home, it doubled my excitement and reading experience. I had not been reading for some time, but this book got me out of my reading slump. "


REVIEW

The novel coronavirus disease swept across the world recently, wreaking havoc in its wake to be coped with for the coming indefinite period of time. No sooner had the pandemic hit us than we made startling headlines such as this—“Our neighbours made us Covid-19 Pariahs” and this—“Doctors, nurses forced out of the flat by society”, and this—“Cleared by doctors, not by the public”. The social stigma during epidemics is nothing new because, for us humans, it is easy to blame or associate the fear of the unknown to ‘others’. From leprosy to Covid-19, the social stigmatization has posed a serious threat to the lives of health workers, patients, and survivors in the form of harassment and physical violence, making an already testing situation harder to fight with. If we can do this to our fellow beings, then animals don’t stand a chance to be excluded from such ostracism. Right, am I not?

 

The newly published edition of Pallavi Aiyar’s Chinese Whiskers—originally published in 2010 following the plotline based on the episodes of Chinese history such as the spread of SARS virus in 2003, Olympic Games, and tainted pet-food scandals—deals with the very idea of our coexistence with other living organisms, amongst a range of other subjects. Chinese Whiskers is a modern fable that throws us into the chaotic and ever-shifting landscape of early 21st century China; told from the perspective of two cats belonging to different backgrounds who are eventually brought together when a foreign couple (Mr. and Mrs. A)—living in traditional style courtyard in Beijing’s hutongs—adopts them. So, they start their new, indoors, pampered lives, away from their biological families.


Soyabean used to live in the courtyard of the Siheyuan (historical type of residence commonly found throughout China) owned by the Xu (human) family, where he was pampered by the grandmother of the Xu household who personifies Chinese traditional and cultural values, which her grandson is least bothered to recognize. Soyabean is a plump, funny, energetic, and proud cat who is now beyond excited at the prospect of modelling for a cat-food brand—Maomi Deluxe’s ad. On the contrary, Tofu is a skinny, quiet, anxious, and clever cat who used to live with her stray cat mother and her four brothers in a dustbin situated on a college campus and in the backyard of a once-famous professor—Old Man Zhao, who was denied the permission to teach after he wrote a book, controversial enough to cause agitation among powerful people.


As apparent it may seem from these little extracts from characters’ lives, there are distinguishable motifs in the stories they tell—some concerning economic inequality, some concerning moral disengagement, and so on. Pallavi has so effortlessly incorporated such heavy subject matters in a light, witty and innocent narrative of the felines that children could handily comprehend and reckon these patterns in their surroundings. Once these furballs take up space in your heart, there is no way they’re meowing out. They’ll charm you to care about them just like you would feel for your real kitten friends. You would want to stick with them through thick and thin.


This feel-good contemporary fiction picks up the pace and builds up tension as Tofu gets warned by her brother, “Ren are walking around with great white masks tied over their mouths so you can’t see their lips when they talk.” There are three major themes intertwined throughout the book. The first one deals with the “Bing du” virus outbreak, its effects, and people’s reaction to it, especially to the part where rumours suggest cats are the source of this virus. Another one contributes to the subject of rampant consumerism and its macro-economic, social, and ecological implications; how it can be used by wealthy people to fool or exploit their consumers. Global inequality is one such outcome of consumerism, further widening the gap between the rich and the poor in the age-old saying, “The rich get richer, the poor get poorer.” The third theme touches on the subject—empathy and morality. It is literally that “moral lesson” that every fable brings along. Apart from that, there are adventures, there are victories, there is hypocrisy, there is government, there are migrant workers, and there are protests.

 

Pallavi has cleverly given voice to not just two cats but two separate classes of cats—indoor cats and alley cats. The amusing and heartening viewpoint coupled with a page-turning plot makes Chinese Whiskers a pleasurable read. Moreover, this edition contains pawful of adorable illustrations by Aaryama Somayaji that really pour life into the story. I learned many Chinese words also that I have gotten used to.


Book Review: Chinese Whiskers by Pallavi Aiyar | Dhiraj Sindhi | Indian Book Blogger
Illustration by Aaryama Somayaji ©highonmangoes

In the end what you can take away from Chinese Whiskers is—what really matters is how we are striving to become more inclusive of others, not just humans, but all the living organisms and what kind of legacy we’re building to leave behind for our future generations. We need to learn before we have to learn it the hard way that we humans cannot heal on our own. Many fragile ecosystems are on the verge of collapsing. We need to respect and preserve the biodiversity of our ecosystems to develop more sustainable environments. The least we can do is embrace the idea of coexistence, be compassionate towards Soyabeans and Tofus around us because we, together with the plants, animals, and other organisms, complete our life-sustaining planet. 


Happy Reading!


=========================

Follow me on InstagramFacebookTwitter, and Pinterest. Don't forget to subscribe for more content. Thank you so much for reading!

Will see you in the next post. Till then buh-bye. Take Care. Peace. ☮

Sunday, May 16, 2021

Book Review: The Part I Left with You by Rahul Saini | Contemporary Fiction

    

Book Review

The Part I Left with You by Rahul Saini


Book Review: The Part I Left with You by Rahul Saini | Contemporary Fiction | Dhiraj Sindhi | Indian Book Blogger
The Part I Left with You by Rahul Saini

AuthorRahul Saini

ISBN978-9353451585

GenreContemporary Fiction

Length: 236 Pages

Publication Date30th March 2021

PublisherJuggernaut Books (Sales and Distribution - HarperCollins India)

Cover Design: Amit Malhotra 

Cover Designer: Website: https://www.amit-malhotra.com/ | Instagram: @gul_e_abbasis

Order your copy right now: https://amzn.to/3yhCQug


About the author:

Rahul Saini has a master’s degree in English literature. He is the bestselling author of many novels, including Those Small Lil Things: In Life and Love and Paperback Dreams.


Book Review: The Part I Left with You by Rahul Saini | Contemporary Fiction | Dhiraj Sindhi | Indian Book Blogger
Rahul Saini

Instagram: @writingrahul
Facebook: @rahul.saini.1213
Twitter: @writingrahul
YouTube: Writing Rahul



REVIEW


“Love feels like a great misfortune, a monstrous parasite, a permanent state of emergency that ruins all small pleasures.” – Slavoj Žižek
“Love feels like a great misfortune, a monstrous parasite, a permanent state of emergency that ruins all small pleasures.” – Slavoj Žižek


The Part I Left with You by Rahul Saini is a light-hearted, chucklesome and unputdownable contemporary fiction novel that dives deep into the waters of love; while exploring varied opinions on and experiences of love, relationships, break-ups and moving on, it strives to close in on the realities of this ‘ugly and cruel world’. The book narrates the stories of three main characters – one mostly witty, another melancholic, esoteric and the third who is turning over the page she was stuck on for long in order to start afresh.


The narration of this book involves all these three characters’ POVs. It is a fine and balanced mixture of different kind of narrative techniques, including first-person, third-person (limited omniscient) and epistolary style, which in my opinion, completes any piece of literary work because using these literary devices in the non-linear narrative writing keep us readers hooked and emphasizes on little themes of the story and it is what makes a truly gripping novel such as this. Rahul Saini has handily achieved this. On top of everything, the cozy contemporary writing style worked like a charm on me.


“Artists’ lives are just endless struggles and that struggle ends only with their last breaths.” – Rahul Saini
“Artists’ lives are just endless struggles and that struggle ends only with their last breaths.” – Rahul Saini


Talking about the content, each of the 34 chapters seemed to me like a separate short story discussing a distinct subject, idea or viewpoints, or narrating a subplot, backstory or (my favorites from this book) completely different short tales – story within a story – fascinating and magnificent. What I mean to say is that these chapters have something very unique to offer from craziness to drama to dreams to arguments to philosophy to romance to thrill to sorrow…you name it. These all short stories are linked together by these three characters and what they are seeking out.


Having said that, let me briefly introduce you to the characters. Ratna is in love with her favorite author, Ronit Sukhdev. The book opens with this amazing poem titled ‘Not Gibran, On Love’ written by Ratna (honestly, I recorded this poem several times day after day, but like most of you, I hated my recordings, so it only made to one of my best friends), for she is a literature and journalism student and for this fact and a little lie, she gets an opportunity to stay with the love of her life for a few days. While ecstatic Ratna wants Ronit to be a little cheerful if not as much as her, Ronit‘s life has come to a standstill as he hasn’t yet gotten over his break-up with Nitasha. He has completely isolated himself from the world and does not wish to publish his work anymore. It has been a year since the break-up and Nitasha is finally coming to terms with her choice of letting go of her relationship with Ronit and she’s carving the way out with newfound hope.


“To learn an art is an act of meditation. You can’t keep jumping around, running all the time, trying a hundred things, understanding nothing and pretend that you are learning everything.” – Rahul Saini
“To learn an art is an act of meditation. You can’t keep jumping around, running all the time, trying a hundred things, understanding nothing and pretend that you are learning everything.” – Rahul Saini


The best thing about this book is that it has books everywhere. In every alternate chapter, you can find book titles, quotes, bookstores or other bookish stuff. The author has expounded a lot of powerful arguments, opinions and statements on love, life and the world that are worth knowing by heart. I would like to quote a few such lines here. However, it doesn’t make the book downright ‘serious’. Nope. Rahul Saini has totally wrung out the essence of comfort and amiability from the writing style. Ratna’s character is a witty character, for she can turn anything into humour, be it because of her lack of wisdom or her childlike behavior. She’s a humorous character indeed, but not a caricature at all! I loved everything she did and how she behaved around her crush, for whatever reason, because I can’t imagine staying with my crush and not messing up. She made me laugh and some lines made me emotional too.


The primary theme of the book is what the title suggests. While it’s not appropriate to reduce any work to a sentence, it represents an idea that ‘when two people spend a lot of time together, they lose themselves and gain each other’. This is what is happening in the book. Now, I won’t go in-depth regarding this. There are plenty of other subjects discussed and tackled in those individual short stories I talked about, forming minor themes and elements that hold the potential to make a real difference. There are also things that you would want to ignore, which are just characters being themselves.


“If creative people were happy with the world around them, they would never feel the urge to create anything new.” – Rahul Saini
“If creative people were happy with the world around them, they would never feel the urge to create anything new.” – Rahul Saini


Anyway, my favorite take-away from this book are those unforgettable, significant stories/chapters that provide you the food for thought. Some of these are – one on Slavoj Žižek (yeah, I copy-pasted that), another on the mirror phase, and the third titled, ‘The Shark in the Pool’. Apart from that, I liked Ratna’s relationship with her father and the depiction of how differently books are important to the lives of authors and readers. Not eulogizing, but I can’t express my admiration enough for the illustrious writing style that really got me high; I relished it, of course except for a few parts.


Lastly, ‘The Part I Left with You’ is a charming, cozy contemporary book and an absolute page-turner that you would want to read around this time to feel lighter; it has way more tales and joy in store for you than what its synopsis promises. 


“When two people spend a lot of time together, they lose themselves and gain each other.” – Rahul Saini
“When two people spend a lot of time together, they lose themselves and gain each other.” – Rahul Saini


Happy Reading!

========================
DisclaimerThis review is only intended for initiating discussions. The opinions and views presented in this article are my own and do not reflect anything about the book's author.

Follow me on InstagramFacebookTwitter, and Pinterest. Don't forget to subscribe. Don't forget to subscribe for more content. Thank you so much for reading!

Will see you in the next post. Till then buh-bye. Take Care. Peace. ☮

Featured Post

Mihir Vatsa's Tales of Hazaribagh — An Authentic Portrayal of Being a True Wanderlust

      "In Tales of Hazaribagh, Mihir Provides an Authentic Portrayal of Being a True Wanderlust" Book Review by Dhiraj Sindhi Tale...

Popular Posts