Rain.

What timing! It is raining cats and dogs during the second month of our delayed monsoon and this book by a debut writer comes along. Could not have timed it better.

This is a story about how rain, a boon for the majority of Indians becomes a bane for the protagonist. Though that part constitutes a very small part of the narration, that forms the basis of the remarkably well written book.

Once I started to read it, I just could not put the book down. The story grips the reader and it proceeds at breakneck speed till it is finished. Remarkably, all human emotions, love of the platonic kind, the romantic kind, the parental kind, the fraternal kind, the compassionate kind along with guilt, atheism, faith, astrology, reason, hatred, anger, frustration, hope and ambition, all are present in abundant measure.

The story unfolds at Pune, the city where I live and some of the characterisations bring up vivid recollections of others in the city. The middle class portrayed both in Pune and Delhi too does the same for me, as I have lived in Delhi too. Inter community marriage, Indian politicians, policemen, the poor, the rich and the homeless are all portrayed in a very realistic manner by the author.

I am glad that I bought the book. After reading the book I also came across an interview that the author has given to medical professional that throws some light on the author’s own personality. The interviewer has asked some very insightful questions and therefore the interview becomes a reading experience by itself. My readers can read the interview here.

If you are interested in a moving Indian story, do buy the book and read it.