Sunday, 13 May 2012

I'm Not Twenty Four... I've been nineteen for five years...


Saumya…
A unisexual name…

This is the basis of Sachin Garg’s “I am not twenty four… I’ve been nineteen for six years”

I really loved the plot. I was able to relate to the dilemma of the protagonist. After all, my name is also unisexual – Satya! I have seen surprised faces when they come to know that Satya is a girl… And not a boy!

Saumya is a MBA fresher who is placed in a dream job. She feels excited and shops relentlessly. As soon as she lands on her first job, she and her colleagues as well realizes that the profile is designed to suit a man! Her job drains her emotionally.

She decides to quit the job. Yet she feels bad to admit her failure. The dilemma of her mindset is beautifully captured by the author.

The story takes a ‘U’ turn on the introduction of Shubro. He is portrayed as a hippie who is least bothered about life and relationships. He sleeps with beautiful ladies…. Stays at exotic places… But only for a tenure of 90days!!!

Saumya gets swayed off her feet by his looks… And hey! Mere looks… This aspect takes her from a twenty four years old lady to a nineteen years old girl!

The story moves rather slowly. You start understanding characters. You realize that Saumya represents today’s breed of girls – a girl by looks; but a man by thoughts!! And Shubro comes out as a playboy interested in doing social work.

Towards the end, all the characters become stark white, all the grey patches in Shubro’s character is erased. And all ends well!!

But wait…
I loved the book as it took off. I wanted to read more about how Saumya would handle the difficult situations. I wanted to know how she would face difficulties and come out successfully. I wanted her to be the Gen-Next kind of a girl. But, she was as confused as any other girl would be. She was scared. Yet she was determined though she was unsure of what the determination was about. I loved Saumya in short!

However, as the story progressed, the focus shifted from Saumya to Shubro… The author was struggling to justify Shubro. More drama was added in the name of flashback.

In short… I loved the book because:
v  a male author has beautifully captured a female’s mindset and has done a commendable job.
v  His narrative is crisp and gripping.
I hated because:
v  I did not understand why all the people we meet should be very good? They can be bad also right? The justification of Shubro’s character was too much of drama.
v  The story moved away from the plot towards end. Saumya became yet another girl who is ready to sacrifice her goals and ambitions for the man of her dreams. On the other hand, the man just follows his dreams.

The book could have been much better….

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