I have grown up reading foreign authors for the most part. I do love a good mythological fiction by Chitra Banerjee, but books by most Indian authors like Chethan Bhagat feel a tad bit fake to me. I have nothing against him, I just cant place my finger what exactly it is about the writing that doens’t resonate with me.
I expected to feel same about this book, but I was so glad to be wrong. Even the blurb gave me non-fiction vibes, so it was really surprising when I started reading. The writing style was very engaging, and kept my interested in finding out what happens next. I am not generally a huge fan of slow-paced books so I did find it a little tedious in the beginning, but the book made up for it in more ways than one!
The banter between friends, intelligent conversations, debates… I just couldn’t get enough of these things. And of course, it was refreshing to see ‘Indian slang’ 😀
So many thought-provoking quotes were littered throughout the book — although I was a little skeptical that 15-17 year-olds would have these thoughts. Reading such conversations made me feel quite undereducated tbh. But then again, I think that back then there was no social media, TV was rare, and perhaps thats why kids consumed a lot of rich content in the form of books. Plus it was a proper liberal arts college, so maybe it is quite justifiable.
For a book set in India in the 1980s, I love the openness with which sex and masturbation was discussed. I sure was a \*little\* grossed out reading some parts, but I still thought it was important to describe these incidents, for we would have never fully understood the protagonist without them. Also, hearing what exactly went on his mind during those times made me realise how confusing it must be for young men, just past puberty, still exploring their sexual preferences…. not understanding why they feel what they feel, and not being able to decide what is right and what isn’t… We are taught to treat male desire as vile, vulgar and disgusting, but the way the author put it across, we almost feel pity for the boy.
The protagonist was raised by his uncle who was a priest, and his parenting was so ideal! I longed for a person like that in my life. The book also talks about many systemic flaws — so many things were criticized by the characters in the book, small things included (like how problematic it is to say “izzat loot liya” while talking of rape) and I liked these bits. I’m also glad the book>! wasn’t entirely a happy ending — Yuri embarks on a journey to change some of these things in the system and help people, so a lot is left to our imagination :)!<
I hadn’t heard of Jerry Pinto before I read this book, and I’m so glad I decided to read it. Highly recommend!
P.S. I have heard that his other work, “Em and the Big Hoom” is much better, so if you’ve already read that, your expectations may not be met!
by saime9hana