The first thing I realized after reading this book was that it had the exactness of a powerpoint presentation. Just the right number of characters that people can remember and would be turning back pages to find out who they’d actually reading about. Quick witted humour laced with sarcasm, delicately bordering on insolence. From a practical perspective perhaps, there’s not much. A boy and a girl meet, fall in love, overcome some resistance from families, but eventually get married. There. You have the story. But that would not be right. It just isn’t that simple, not yet. There’s a lot more to it, still.
The obsession of north Indians with food, and of south Indians with education. The brawls in a Punjabi family and the solemnity of a madrasi home. You could almost end up doing a comparative analysis of the two. Generalizations galore, yet underline the uniqueness of the human mind . The simplicity of the emotion called love, the subtleties of which make you smile, probably compare your love story if you ever had one. The complexities of human equations. The sensitivity of a troubled parent-son relationship, brought about in a delicate manner, and you end up sympathathising with the son and can’t help but cheer as things fall into place towards the end as the father emerges as the ultimate hero. The helplessness of a mother who puts up with a bad marriage to avoid the ridicule of a so called modern society. The society, which conveniently changes loyalties as and when it wants to. The generations, and the way they think, the thinking heavily drugged with what the older generations thinks, and sometimes, without a reason of it being right or wrong. A revolution in a wedding almost getting awry, catalysed by a sense of age old morality against the evil called dowry, which still plays a major role in all marriages, albeit in different proportions and under different connotations. The customs and traditions one generation painfully tries to hold onto for as long as is possible, and another tries to get over with in the least possible time.
The belief of children that they are finally adults, and the difficulty of parents in accepting the same. The power, or lack of it in making life-changing decisions of both. And finally, the celebration of love over all other emotions, across boundaries, both physical and mental. And Happys endings!
The obsession of north Indians with food, and of south Indians with education. The brawls in a Punjabi family and the solemnity of a madrasi home. You could almost end up doing a comparative analysis of the two. Generalizations galore, yet underline the uniqueness of the human mind . The simplicity of the emotion called love, the subtleties of which make you smile, probably compare your love story if you ever had one. The complexities of human equations. The sensitivity of a troubled parent-son relationship, brought about in a delicate manner, and you end up sympathathising with the son and can’t help but cheer as things fall into place towards the end as the father emerges as the ultimate hero. The helplessness of a mother who puts up with a bad marriage to avoid the ridicule of a so called modern society. The society, which conveniently changes loyalties as and when it wants to. The generations, and the way they think, the thinking heavily drugged with what the older generations thinks, and sometimes, without a reason of it being right or wrong. A revolution in a wedding almost getting awry, catalysed by a sense of age old morality against the evil called dowry, which still plays a major role in all marriages, albeit in different proportions and under different connotations. The customs and traditions one generation painfully tries to hold onto for as long as is possible, and another tries to get over with in the least possible time.
The belief of children that they are finally adults, and the difficulty of parents in accepting the same. The power, or lack of it in making life-changing decisions of both. And finally, the celebration of love over all other emotions, across boundaries, both physical and mental. And Happys endings!
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