Truly till the end of Time
By Abhishek Sanwal
BlueRose Publishers, 2019
Genre: Fiction
Luv (named after the eldest son of Sita) gets a
mysterious text from his college buddy Adi years after they graduated and
settled down. It reads, “The biggest achievement in life –tears in someone’s
eye for you. The biggest failure in life – tears in someone’s eyes because of
you.” Worried, he rushes over to meet Adi. Adi’s wife and parents are
completely unaware of the state Adi is in. He finds Adi in a darkened room
alive and just when he is relieved Adi is okay, Adi gives him something to read
– his diary from four years ago when they were still students.
Set in Chennai, this is not just the story of four
college buddies Adi, Jhilmil, Luv and Chabbi but also of Neel and Ria. It
uncovers the life of north Indians in South India and the author shuts out the
southern atmosphere, people, language, culture, using blah, blah which is amusing and
irritating at the same time. The characters speak English, Hindi or Hinglish. Just when you
think it might get boring or you know what is going to happen next, there are
surprise twists and turns that keeps you reading taking you along paths which
shock you. The ending is a big surprise.
While reading the book I realized how men are
allowed to retain their friendships by Indian society while women slowly drop
out of contact because they are forced to move after marriage – an unfair deal
or the ending might have been different.
The story carries with it some insights into how Indian society works,
especially for a north Indian person in South India and their terms of
acceptance of South Indian culture.
The writing is slow in the beginning and picks up
pace as the story moves forward. The prose style leaves a lot to be desired but
the author will go places if he gets a good editor. Otherwise a nice summer read.
If you wish to buy the book,click here
